"Sounds safer."

"It is, but it's still not quite as fun as the Service. Before, we kept score by staying alive. Here, it's more a contest of reputation, rumor, and hearsay."

"You can keep it," Miranda said calmly.

"Why don't you come join me?" he asked. "I still have a place open in my staff for you."

"I'm sure it also includes a place in your bed," Miranda winked.

"Well, I'm sure you wouldn't find the idea to be repulsive," he said calmly.

"I was never meant to settle down, Jander," she told him with a gentle smile. "In a way, I'm already married. It's just to my job."

"Ah well, one can always try," he sighed, then he stood up. "I think the two of you had best get back to where you belong. If I stay in closed doors with strangers too long, certain people may get curious, and I'm sure that's something you'd prefer to avoid."

"No doubt there," Miranda said as she stood. Jander escorted them to the door, where he took Miranda's hands and gave her a lick on the cheek. "You keep yourself well, Miranda."

"I always do, Jander," she replied, patting him on the cheek.

"What was that all about?" Tarrin finally asked after they had left the building.

"Jander has a crush on me," she replied matter-of-factly, almost as if she were discussing the weather. "I used to use that against him, back when he worked for Damon Eram."

"That's mean, Miranda, playing with his affection like that."

"I told you once before, Tarrin, I'm not a nice girl," she told him with a wink. "In my line of work, love is a weakness to be exploited. I'm not about to ignore such an available opportunity."

"Sounds lonely."

"It can be, but the rewards do occasionally make up for it," she told him.

"How far did you have to go to do your job?" he asked in a hesitant curiosity.

"Are you working around to asking me if I had to flip my skirt?" she asked, then she laughed. "Sometimes I forget how naive you are, Tarrin. I'm not a virgin, if that's what you're asking. Sometimes luring a mark into bed was part of what had to be done to get information. And it's not an entirely unpleasant thing to do, you know. The right mark can make it very entertaining."

Tarrin blushed, and looked away from her. That made her laugh harder.

"Come on, admit it. I know you're not as pure as you're trying to make me believe. That Were-cat blood of yours runs even hotter than ours. I've heard yours and Allia's little discussions about that."

"You're impossible."

"No, I'm just not embarassed," she retorted, jabbing him in the ribs. "I heard you and Jesmind had quite the emphatic relationship. When you weren't trying to kill each other, you were-"

Tarrin poked her in the belly, just hard enough to make her cut her statement short. "What me and Jesmind did is no concern of yours," he said primly.

"True," she admitted, "but neither of us are the angels you want to make of us. I'll promise not to be shocked that you're not pristine, if you promise not to be shocked that I'm not either."

Tarrin looked at her, then he laughed helplessly. "I'm not used to this from you," he said.

"You've never asked before."

"You've just totally destroyed my vision of you," Tarrin teased.

"Sure I did," she said scathingly.

Tarrin laughed again. "Well, I guess I can agree to that. But I don't think I want to know any of the details."

"Come now, Tarrin, I'm not about to spend days going over my numerous affairs and conquests with you," she grinned. "I demand reciprocation when I do that, so you only have enough stock for one lurid tale. And I just gave that one to you."

"Lurid? There was nothing lurid in that."

"I'll just have to give you lurid, then," she winked. "A garment by garment account of the first time I seduced Jander."

"I think I'll pass."

"Too late," she teased. "Now you're going to hear it, whether you want to or not."

"Not today," he said, then he lunged forward and started running away from her.

"Tarrin!" she called in surprise, picking up her skirts and running after him. "This is not funny! My big sister will kill you if you leave me alone!"

That was about the only thing that reminded him of where they were and what their position was. He slowed to a stop and let her catch up to him. Being playful was all well and good, but they were in a town which was full of potential enemies. And what was worse, he just made Miranda shout out his name, which was probably heard by half the other people on the street. He berated himself for his carelessness as she reached him, giving her a pained look.

"I just messed up," he said with sincere chagrin. "I'm sorry."

"I did too," she said with a wince. "I called for you out of surprise. I know better than that. A first mission rookie wouldn't have made such a stupid blunder. Right now, we need to get back to the ship without attracting any attention to ourselves, and making damn good and sure nobody is following us."

"I think that's a really, really good idea," he said, taking her arm after she offered it to him.

Miranda didn't know the streets of Tor very well, and neither did Tarrin. They meandered almost aimlessly while keeping the docks in view, which sat at the bottom of the shallow depression in which the city sat and were visible from almost anywhere in the city, to mark their progress as they moved towards them in their roundabout pattern. Tarrin didn't really feel all that much fear or trepidation at what they were doing, but his mind was clearly focused on the task at hand, and his eyes searched the other pedestrians to see if they seemed hostile, or seemed to recognize the pair. Miranda was the one who kept watch for anyone that may be following them.

After nearly half an hour of zigzagging through the streets of Tor, Miranda pulled them into a narrow alley between two warehouses near the docks. The alley was strewn with empty wooden crates and other refuse, some of it not smelling very pleasant. "Come on, now we hide and see if someone comes looking for us," she whispered to him as they retreated down the alley. Miranda silently cursed as they reached a corner of it, and found a stone wall blocking the alley some paces away. The alley only had one entrance. "Hide," she said, ducking behind a stack of crates near that corner. The crates were old and rickety, and they had wide areas between the slats that would let someone look through them to see what was inside. In this case, they let Tarrin and Miranda look up the alley with them blocking anyone from seeing them, for the alley's gloom made the crates' interiors dark.

They waited in tense silence for nearly ten minutes, until a single lean man appeared at the end of the alley and stopped. He was thin and wiry, rather tall, with greasy black hair and olive-colored skin that marked him as Torian. He had a shortsword in his hand. Another man appeared, then another, then another, and they kept appearing at the end of the alley, until nearly twenty men, all armed, blocked off the entrance to the alleyway. From the lighting and the way the swords reflected it, Tarrin figured that they were either highly polished, or they were silvered. He doubted such ruffians would take such care of their weapons, so he decided grimly that the weapons were silvered.

Twenty men blocked off their escape, all of them holding weapons that could deal him real injury, and Tarrin was unarmed. But the alley was very narrow, only about eight spans wide, and it would prevent any more than two of them from threatening them at any one time. Tarrin weighed the options quickly. Sorcery was an option, but the Goddess' warning reminded him that he'd have to change form to try that. He may have his regeneration in human form, but not his Were-cat body's power and resistance. Just like when Sheba attacked, he thought if he could use it quickly, maintain contact for an absolute bare minimum of time, he may be able to get them out without endangering himself.