Sometimes diplomacy didn’t work, it was important to remember that it wasn’t your fault that the other party refused reasonable terms. That was their shortcomings, not yours Nicodemus reminded himself.
The sorcerer didn’t know who owned this part of the dock, he hadn’t really cared. It was most likely in the notes his associate had provided, but there hadn’t been time to read all of it. As such the girl might very well be right that he was trespassing, which meant unless she was lying that she was if not working with the owners then at least known to them.
Interesting, he filled that away for later. Always good to have another avenue to finding her again, should he be unable to get the prize he had come for this night. Which seemed more and more likely as she escalated her earlier aggressive stance even more. Now she had dipped fully into the theatrics pool, trying to scare him off? It might have worked on lesser men. The uninitiated or ignorant, but not him he seen far deadlier works of magic. He was a sorcerer of
Elbion and was made of sterner stuff.
His medallion shaking more urgently underneath his coat in response. The entity within itching for a fight, it always did, any chance to be loose was welcome, he could feel it at the edge of his mind. Circeling, ready to leap if he let it, but he didn’t. Its presence a known factor and easily ignored.
“I see.” Nicodemus responded as he considered turning the whole thing into a robbery after all. He was reasonably certain he could, if push come to shove deal with them both, at the very least until the rest of his hired thugs could get there. The entity gave a pulse of excitement at his thought. It all came down to if it would get him the Heart. He had no solid proof they had brought it with them. They could very well have reached an agreement to deliver it at a later date.
Meaning he’d start a potential lethal fight for uncertain gains. His eyes taking a quick glance at the squared wooden board by the fire. It was clearly a part of their deal so securing it could be a way to gain leverage.
Was it worth the risk though? That was the question the sorcerer contemplated. Her stance was reminiscent of what he had seen Dreadlord apprentices use, it was enough to make him pause. His assessment of the situation changing, was she working with them? If so he might just have stumbled into something a lot bigger. More risky, but potentially also more rewarding. Perhaps a retreat would be the best course of action for now, when he knew more about the woman he could negotiate from a position of strength.
“ I’m sorry we could not reach an agreement this evening.” Nicodemus said his hand moving towards his coat pocket before freezing. Not wanting to cause a misunderstanding he quickly continued
“I’m getting a business card from my left breast pocket” before proceeding to pull it out and placing it on a crate to his side.
“When either of you want to take things a bit more seriously and stop with the theater. This card has the name of an associate that know how to reach me. Good evening to you both.” He didn't turn his back on the duo as he started to back away in the direction he had come from.
