Lady Delia Azarine sat, folding the skirt of her dress underneath her, biting the plump flesh of her bottom lip. It was cool in the shade of the tree, but she couldn’t bring herself to enjoy the relaxing spot. Should she start with the good news, or the bad? “The payment, yes,” she said, looking up into those arresting green eyes, debating—struggling—with herself on how much to tell him. No, she needed to be honest.<br/><br/>“Well, the matter is … well, let us first discuss payment. I would offer you three hundred gold crowns for the amulet’s return. However, it would not be your offer alone.” Lady Azarine looked away. She had heard the rumours and knew, as did everyone, that Variel had a close, fierce rivalry with the adventurer Esmeralda Everstone—a rivalry that had come to blows on more than one occasion. She turned back to face him, watching his eyes closely for any glint of recognition that he might had understood her meaning. “Had it been my choice, I would have come to you and you alone. Your reputation among the ladies, as I say, is generously mythic. But my father … he knows Esmerelda personally and thinks she will be able to bring it back. But he doesn’t know this man who stole the amulet as I do. He’ll not be stopped by her, and once he’s beyond the town of Jilan, we’ll never see him again.”<br/><br/>Lady Azarine could feel her heart fluttering in her chest again. “And of course,” she laid her gloved hand delicately on his knee, “there are other arrangements that could be made to settle the matter of my debt.”<br/><br/>The light sound of a tattering silver tray appeared nearby, and Lady Azarine quickly withdrew her hand, her cheeks flushing brightly. Kaiyah returned, with a sparkling silver tray holding a silver jug of water, a pitcher of ice and two cups, one gold and one silver, and began to pour water and ice.<br/><br/>“Will there be anything else, Sir?” Kaiyah asked pleasantly as she poured.