* * *
Maliar murmurred a few words and used her now hot dagger to seperate Brigit's seal from the scroll. Opening the scroll, she scanned the contents quickly. Slowly, she began to smile. "Good work."
The leather-clad lurikeen shrugged. "The princess wanted ta keep this secret. Easier ta intercept that way." He canted his head, looked up at her cooly. "Bonus on this one, right?"
"Of course, of course." Maliar waved her hand dismissively. She paid well for information from the palace and the 'shade knew that as well as she did. "Hmm...."
The 'shade waited patiently. She might have more work for him.
Maliar read over the scroll once again. Orders for each of the lords to send a contingent of men to help defend Dun Cruachon. That wouldn't do at all. If that keep was better defended, less guards would be killed. If the Court wasn't forced to keep their men in reserve in case another keep worth of guards were slaughtered, then the Court could turn its attention to aiding the mercenaries in conquering Albion and Midgard.
That would be very bad for her plans.
The plans would also go badly if Brigit suspected that her orders were going astray.
Maliar already had the knack for Lord Cruachon, Lord Crimthain, and Lord Scathaig's writing. She'd need more references to the others, though.
She rolled the scroll back up and sketched a symbol on it. Setting it on a stone plate, she turned her attention to the lurikeen.
"I need two documents with samples of handwriting from each of Lords Bolg, nGed, da Behn, and Ailinne." Maliar tapped her lip thoughtfully. "Triple the normal rate, Shaidar."
He nodded and slipped into the shadows as the scroll burst into flame.
The End