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“Who approved the lease?” I ask.

“The market clerk. The application carried a guarantee from a southern wholesaler.”

“Which wholesaler?”

Joran names a trading house that appears neutral in public accounts. Its caravans use roads controlled by one of Varrus’s allies, but so do most merchants entering the ridge from the south.

“The guarantee was filed nine days ago,” he continues. “The stall opened three days later.”

“Before Nessa received the threat.”

“Before the karasu recorded it. We cannot establish when the merchant first approached her.”

The sequence suggests preparation. It proves neither the reason for Nessa’s misdirection nor Varrus’s larger design. A new seller entering Lowtown before a coerced recommendation may be part of Varrus’s design, or it may be the ordinary movement of winter trade.

I mark the guarantor’s name for Sarveth. “Trace the wholesaler’s last six shipments.”

“Already ordered.”

Joran has anticipated the same question. Good.

“What did Fiona purchase?” I ask.

“Six wrapped herb bundles,” Joran says. “The scout could not identify the plant from his position.”

I continue reading.

A delivery wagon entered the market during the conversation. Buyers crowded between the watcher and Fiona. The wagon’s canvas blocked his view as Nessa led her into the narrow western passage.

He lost close observation for thirty-seven breaths.

When his view cleared, Fiona was examining herbs at the K’sheng stall. The scout moved nearer, but overturned baskets and the wagon prevented him from entering the passage without drawing attention.

He heard none of the purchase negotiations.

“Thirty-seven breaths,” I say.

“He counted.”

“He lost the subject at the point most likely to matter.”

“He could have exposed the watch by forcing a path through the crowd.”

The choice was correct. I dislike it anyway.

The scout regained sight before Fiona paid. Nessa left immediately afterward without returning to her stall. Fiona questioned the trusted herb vendor, then departed Lowtown under her visible escort.

The covert guard remained behind.

Less than an hour after Fiona’s purchase, a dark elf arrived through the southern market entrance. He wore no house insignia, but the road watcher recognized him from an earlier caravan linked to one of Varrus’s trade intermediaries.

The agent entered the K’sheng merchant’s rear room.

He remained inside for eleven minutes.

The scout observed both men through a gap in the shutters. They spoke. The merchant placed something on the table. The agent either collected it or covered it with his hand.

The watcher could not hear the exchange. The object was too small to identify.