Private Tales A Silver Tongue Turned Gold

[Tal]

Alliria - Shallows

"Oi!" His voice bellowed out through the warehouse, head shaking. "Careful with that you fucking 'git."

It was almost painful to talk like that, but he had picked it up over the last few months.

He'd found that the folk around here tended to react better when you spoke in their own tongue. Probably something about how they felt threatened if you sounded too smart or whatever. Tal didn't much care to look into the psychology of it, all that he cared about was making sure that things got done when they were supposed to.

Otherwise it'd be his hide, and he wasn't quite ready for anyone to collect that. "Make sure that Lyrum makes it safe!"

Tal shouted, his head shaking as he turned away from the dock.

"Boss."​

It was Alric who caught his attention as he turned, a fat pig of a man who had the girth of a barrel and the charm of a cherub. His face was serious for once, his expression dark enough that Tal might have guessed that someone died. Lips thinned almost instantly, fingers lacing into a fist as he pulled out another cigar from his shirt pocket. "What is it?"

"Caught a girl sneakin' onto the docks. Not sure who she is, but...she's talkin a bit crazy."​

A sigh escaped him.

"Right. I'll see to her. Make sure Vorin doesn't hear, yeah? Least til I've settled it." The man quickly dipped his head in a nod as Tal began to move towards the office.

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara really hated when she got caught. She prided herself on being better but she had been sloppy here. She had agreed to help a "friend" out with a job that was supposed to be a simple in and out. She should have been able to do it easily but she was distracted when the men snuck up on her. They had confiscated all her weapons and were now dragging her along to see their boss.

"Really, guys, I can walk. I won't run." She had said it several times but she just got grunts in response. Of course, they were not going to believe her when she said she couldn't lie. She certainly wouldn't in their shoes.

The two men brought her into an office and practically threw her down into the chair. "You could be gentle! I am a lady! I look forward to the day when I get to kill you," she smiled sweetly and crossed her arms over the chest.

 

[Tal]

Tal took a long drag of his cigar as he stepped into the office, glancing at the two thugs who were still standing on either side of Inara. "Really?"

He glanced at the girl.

"Seems a bit much for someone her size." Not that he was under any impression that a woman couldn't be dangerous. He'd seen throat cutters who were twelve years old down here in the Shallows. The slums of Alliria were not a pleasant place, and one had to learn lessons fast.

Which would of course beckon the question why he was sending the thugs off. "Rest easy lads, I'll take it from here."

It was because everyone needed a friend, particularly those caught sneaking around.

Tal aimed to be that friend, at least until he figured out what this was about. The thugs both shrugged in unison, heading out the same door Tal had come through. "Now, mind telling me who you are, Darling?"

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara watched the guards leave with a smug satisfaction. She could fight off this man in front of her if she needed to but she couldn't take on three men. Nope, that was beyond her abilities.

"I am," she shut her eyes as a jolt of pain flicked through her body. Even though this curse had been with her for more than a few years, she still tried to lie and she was always quickly reminded of the consequences. The inability to form the words and pain. She hoped that stupid spirit enjoyed this shit because Inara certainly didn't.

"I am Inara," she finally growled out. It was not frustration towards him. It was definitely the situation as a whole. Luckily, her curse didn't give her a compulsion to talk more than necessary.

"Who are you?"

 

[Tal]

Tal raised an eyebrow as the girl practically bit at him. His head shook. "That's a nice name."

He commented.

"But what are you doing on my docks, Inara?" Notably, he did not answer her question. He didn't really need to. These weren't his docks per-say, they belonged to the Syndicate, but she didn't need to know that.

Nor did she need to know his name. Perhaps if she proved to have something interesting that would change, but for now he just wanted to figure out what in the fuck was going on. "This isn't really the place for beautiful women."

He told her. "Lest you didn't notice."

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara let a full minute of silence pass before she answered. She went through the truth in her mind and then picked out the ways she could skirt that truth. She failed a lot of the time but sometimes she would phrase it just right to let the half truth slip out.

"I was hired to come here and procure a package." That was the truth. It just wasn't the whole truth. "Your men snuck up on me. Very rude of them. You know, they aren't really nice. You should work on your customer service."

Oh, there it was. That irritating nervous talking that she held not control over sometimes.

 

[Tal]

Double speak, or thieves cant as it was known by some was the art of saying one thing but meaning another. In Tyre it was practically a language of its own, and the same could be said for Alliria. Tal had always enjoyed it, the little lies that weren't lies. The words crossing over each other to a degree that only a few could read.

It was part of the job, and part of how he'd managed to survive for so long. "Yeah the boys don't know much manners."

He said in agreement, walking over to a nearby desk. With a jerk he pulled one of the chairs out from under it, dragging the thing across the room and eventually setting it directly in front of Inara.

A smile flashes over his lips.

"I'll have to send em' to finishing school." He said. "Expensive but they might come out better for it."

His head shook. "But I'll see about that later. For now you can tell me when you were trying to procure."

 

[Inara Irren]

The man sat in from of her and that smile told her that the interrogation was about to happen. She narrowed her eyes at him and that smile. She was not sure what she thought about the man but she was sure she was not going to like him in a little bit.

Inara pursed her lips at his next question. She couldn't tell him what she was trying to procure because she had no idea. She just knew where it was. She had obviously stumbled onto something bigger than just robbing a simple merchant. She would kill Myrus if she saw him again.

"You think I am beautiful?" Inara asked sweetly, avoiding answering his question.

Knowing that wouldn't buy her much time, she relented. "I have no idea what I was sent here for. I just know that I was told to bring a strong bag and which crate it was in. In and out. Simple. I am going to kill my friend when...if...I get out of here."

 

[Tal]

Tal just smiled, tipping his head. "No denying it."

The words hung in the air for a moment as the truth spilled from her lips. A frown touched his face for a moment, drawing away that smile.

That had been...entirely too easy.

Usually when it came to something like this there was a slew of denials, some more lies, at least an avid amount of double speak before the truth could even be rooted out. Yet here he was, five minutes in and had already got part and parcel.

"Uh huh." Tal said slowly. "And who might your friend be exactly?"

There were few people stupid enough to try to steal from the Syndicate, and in particular, him.

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara just shook her head at his next question. If she opened her mouth, she would tell him. She closed her eyes to go through the possible words she could use that wouldn't involve her giving a name.

"It is a man. A little taller than me. He has brown hair and he is obviously not very bright." She smiled at her interrogator. "Listen, we aren't even friends. I just needed some extra money and he had something available."

Her fingers were practically digging into her palms now. She wished she could just give another name. She wished she could say that she had no idea the guys name but she couldn't.

"I think we should just forget all about this and you should let me go. No harm, no foul."

 

[Tal]

Tal listened to the woman speak in half a dozen circles, frowning for a moment as he desperately tried to figure out what was going on. It was likely she couldn't quite make up her mind, as though her words were not her own.

A hand came up, and he took another puff of his cigar. "Well, I wish I could, Love."

He said.

"But you happened to wander into a place you can't easily walk out of." His head shook, as though he were truly regretful. "Tell you what, give me a name, we'll take a little trip and then..."

Tal shrugged. "Then maybe we can forget about this."

This time as he spoke there was an edge to his tone, something dangerous that hung in the air.

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara knew he wasn't just going to let her go. She was not sure whose territory she had stumbled into but she knew she wasn't leaving alive. She, of course, would not go easily.

"I could do that but I know you are not going to let me go. You're going to kill me. I could spill my guts to you, sing like a little choir bird, and you'd still kill me. I am not going to betray someone and still get killed for it. That is not a good friend."

She said it all so nonchalantly like she wasn't staring death in the face. She hadn't missed the shift in the mans demeanor and tone.

 

[Tal]

"Oh so it was a friend." Tal said with a knowing smile.

The girl had a point of course. More often than not in a situation like this a reputation had to be upheld, and the Allir Syndicate had a particularly gruesome one. Yet Tal had discretion enough, and he knew when there was something more to be gained.

There was a reason that they trusted him, and it was most certainly not because of what was locked away within him. "I'm a business man, at the end of the day."

He told her.

"I do what makes sense." Tal leaned in slowly, casting some of the ash from his cigar onto the floor. "Your 'friend' sent you here, half sure you were going to die. That wasn't very friendly either, don't you think?"

His head shook. "So I'll make you a deal. Take me to him, and I can give you my word you'll make it out of this unscathed. Provided you never come back here after, anyway."

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara barked out a laugh at his deal. She would have been dead long ago if she fell for the slick words of handsome men. Okay...that one time didn't count! She came out of it alive...just minus the ability to lie. Never again.

"Let me make you a deal..." She said as she leaned forward in her chair. "Since I do not trust your word one itsy bitsy bit. I will not take you to him and you will still let me walk out of here."

She was a business woman too. She knew many things about the underworld of Alliria. Just because she couldn't lie that didn't mean she didn't still play her games. Her inability to lie actually came in handy sometimes.

In this case, her friend was her business partner. She was able to say they weren't really friends because they were closer than friends. They were like siblings. So they were friends but they were also siblings and business partners. She loved the great ways she had figured out how to skirt the truth. She could call him a friend because that is how she had introduced him many times.

She also really didn't know what was in the crate. She had specifically told Myrus to not tell her in case she was caught. He was the only other living soul who knew of her curse...and believed her. She had told many people over the years but they all thought she was lying.

Always cover your bases for future word play uses. Always.

"I have another job to get to in," she tried to calculate what time it would be now. "a few hours. Big to do, some noble needs his pretty little girlfriend on his arm at some gala," she smiled. "Unfortunately, his pretty little girlfriend is terribly sick and I have to be there to," she pursed her lips. "To help him still have a good night and all."

She'd been working on getting into his and his girlfriends life for months now. She was so close to gaining access to his house and the lovely stash of gold and other shit he kept there.

 

[Tal]

"Ah." Tal said, not hiding the disappointment in his tone.

He took in a long drag of his cigar, his head shaking. The small stub nearly touched his lips as he let out a long smoky breath, the scent of Allirian Tobacco filling the room. Tal seemed to let the scent linger in the room, the tension rise.

Before she could move Tal suddenly reached out.

His hand clamped upon her form, he pinned her back against his chair. Another hand plucked the cigar from his lips, and then he stared down at her.

"I see you misunderstand. who you're dealing with." The words came as he pressed the stub against her thigh, burning through her clothes and into her skin. "You're gonna miss your party, love."

He added. "And a lot more.""

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara cried out as the cigar burned her skin. "Motherfucker," she bit out at him. This wasn't the first time she had been burned but that didn't make it hurt any less.

"At least tell me your name before we get to the torture. I am a fucking lady," she said defiantly.

Inara had a problem with authority. She also had a problem with picking the wrong people to fuck with sometimes. She was increasingly curious who he worked for as well.

"Or at least who you work for..." She added as the sting of the burn came back to the forefront of her mind.

 

[Tal]

Tal flicked the now simmering butt of the Cigar onto the ground. It rolled for a few seconds and he watched it come to a stop before he turned his attention back to the girl. A chuckle escaped his throat, head shaking. "Kress."

He couldn't quite believe it.

"You've no idea what you've walked into, huh?" Tal himself wasn't all that famous, he was just an underboss. Two rungs below the triumvirate itself. There were a few who knew his name, knew not to try to fuck with a man as ambitious as him, but it wasn't likely that she'd know him herself.

Especially with how little of an idea she seemed to have about where she was. Those who weren't new to the Shallows all knew who owned these docks. It was part of the point. A deterrent from thieves and the like.

"Your 'friend' most not like you very much, love." Tal said as he plucked a knife from his belt. There was something odd about it, the blade was shaped strange, like a long sharp canine, the metal a bright blue with thin lines of red. Not steel, but something else. "These docks belong to the Allir Syndicate, sweetheart."

That was a name everyone knew. Though the Syndicate had originated in Alliria, as it's name suggested, its reputation had over the years spread throughout Arethil's largest cities. Not because their influence had spread so far, but because the rumor around them had become something of a boogyman to every City Watch and investigative service.

They were hardly the largest, or even strongest, but they had a reputation for utter brutality.

Wherever the Syndicate went, bodies quickly piled up. No one knew the names of the bosses, and it's operators were mostly ex-soldiers, mercenaries, or thugs of a sort that most would consider little better than butchers.

 

[Inara Irren]

Every inch of her body tightened in fear at the only two important words to leave his mouth. Allir Syndicate. Inara felt like she was going to throw up. That fucking asshole was trying to get rid of her. But she also knew the wasn't going to walk out of this no matter what deal the man in front of her offered. Her last run in with them left her dead in the alley. Different city, different time.

"Well your organization has already left me dead once so now I know I'm not walking out of here alive. Your deals cannot be trusted." She spat out at him.

She had no love for the Syndicate. They were essentially the reason she could no longer lie. Sure, she had fucked with them first but still.

 

[Tal]

"Well, then it appears you're not a very good learner." Tal said with a smile, leaning back in his chair once more and letting that odd blade settle in his lap.

Fingers ran up through his hair for a brief moment.

Killing her would have been quick, easy, simple. A blade over the throat, corpse thrown into the sewer. No one would much care, and the gators would probably get her before anyone was the wiser. That still left him with a problem though.

Who had sent her. "If you're going to die anyway."

He pointed out.

"You have nothing to lose." A shrug rolled over his shoulders. "Your friend sent you to die, so he's no friend at all."

Tal glanced down at the blade. "So I can torture you, we can go back and forth, and I might eventually get my name or not..."

He looked at her. "Or you can just tell me what I want, and have at least the slightest chance of getting out of this."

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara glared at him. She really didn't want to tell him her partners name but he had brought this on himself. He knew her history with the Syndicate and he still sent her without a warning. He needed to die but it was her who would kill him. Not this man.

"I will tell you but I get to kill him. He's my partner and he knew more than he told me. It's only fair that I end him..."

If she was going to die too, she was going to go out on her terms at least.

 

[Tal]

Tal chuckled. "Sure."

He didn't much care who killed the man.

The consequence would be the same, didn't matter who held the knife at the end of the day. All Tal had to do was make sure that the docks were actually secure. The Syndicate would have his nuts if something went wrong.

Not something he could afford at this stage, not when Vora was so bloody fucking close to handing over what he needed.

"After I ask him some questions." Tal added in a caveat. "Then you can do what you like."

As long as it meant killing him.

 

[Inara Irren]

"Myrus Cashe," Inara said quietly. She really hated to throw him under the bus but this man was right about Myrus setting her up.

"And I live?" She asked. She still didn't trust the word of a criminal but it was worth a try. At least she would get her revenge first.

 

[Tal]

The name meant absolutely nothing to him, but that wasn't really much of a surprise.

Alliria was filled with so many criminals that most would struggle to even start to think of them. Cut throats, thieves, robbers, and whatever the fuck else permuted this city as much, if not more than normal business men. He shook his head as he answered. "If you take me to him."

Tal answered with a shrug.

As far as he could tell Inara hadn't been the one behind this, and...well his word didn't really mean fuck all. If this Myrus character implicated her, a knife could always find her throat later.

"Just need to know my Docks are safe." He said with a shrug. "Do that, and you'll be fine."

Not a lie, exactly.

 

[Inara Irren]

"What can I call you?" Inara asked as she stood from the chair and dusted herself off.

The trip to Myrus' house didn't take more than an hour. At this time, he would be there all cozy on his couch enjoying some whiskey before heading to bed. She knocked on the door twice and slammed it open into the face of the man who answered the door before stepping in.

Myrus was in his mid forties with black hair that had started to grey already. He was taller than Inara and kept himself in fighting shape.

"What the fuck, Inara?" He said as he stumbled back before catching sight of Tal. "Whoa, I didn't mean for you to get caught!" He continued as he backed further into his house.

 

[Tal]

"You can call me Tal." No reason to keep that from her anymore. He had managed to get everything he wanted, or at least close to it. He wasn't quite sure yet how this would all end, but as they stepped from the docks his hand came up in a snap of fingers.

Two men, not the same who had lead Inara into the room quickly fell into step behind them.

All four made their way through the Shallows, cutting through the slums and walking down dark alleys until finally they arrived at their destination. "Wait outside, make sure no one leaves."

Tal told to the two thugs as Inara stepped towards the door.

As she swept into the room Tal stepped in behind her, lighting another cigar. A small smile touched his lips as the man glanced at him.

"Well, it's nice to be recognized." He mused. "Your girl here didn't even know who I was."