GILT

Only The Wise Profit

Artūras marveled at Hadley with a straight face. Taken aback and not about to show it. He knew the girl was intuitive, but she had just picked up on something he himself didn't even know.

Though he was privy to much, Ludovic kept Artūras in the dark on deeply personal matters.  On one woman, one Queen in particular. If his brother omitted an element of their plan, there was a good reason for doing so.

"There is no other way to enter Eternal Hell." Corwin's scowling cut the silence, "If there were a way around the seal, I'd know how."

"My, my. Someone thinks highly of themselves." Artūras leaned on the counter and shifted towards a smirking Hadley.

"Of course, I could say the same about you."

Her smile fell short. The audacious eternal irked her something fierce. "I said you two have another way in, not that I knew what it was."

She shrugged, glancing at Ludovic who she thought, nodded in approval. He respected Hadley. Only a few centuries old, her abundant thirst for knowledge and unending loyalty have come into play many times over. If she were a bit older, if his young brother was not so surreptitiously smitten with her kohl rimmed eyes...he may have let himself feel more than just respect for the Informant.

"We'll be on our way." Ludovic mulled no longer, rolling up the map as Artūras slung the heavily adorned passage cloaks over his shoulder.

"Ah-ah-ah," Corwin interfered with pale fingers curled around the parchment. "What of my payment then?"

"You want payment?" Artūras let the fabric cascade down around him and fall to the floor. His stance fluidly evolved from idle to hostile in an instant.

Before his aggressive steps reached the retreating Informant, Ludovic sighed at the both of them. Some things really never change.

"Brother."

Artūras halted and bore a deadly gaze through Corwin whose sweaty palms shot up to resist.

"I--you two owe me, from last time as well, I--" The Informant sputtered and kept retreating, stopping only when his body was effectively shielded by Hadley.

She looked behind at the weak-kneed eternal in distaste, then back to the shockingly silent Artūras inches now from her face.

"What do you want, Corwin?" Ludovic pocketed the map and reasoned.

"What do you have?" He snapped.

"Nothing material worth note of." The eldest brother produced a rare smile for the group.

Hadley stared at him wide eyed, her mouth abruptly turning to sand. Letting her mind wander only a moment before crossing a familiar inquisitive path, "What exactly are you suggesting, Ludo?"

"Upon our return, I will give you both the means to bypass any seal on The Gate. A way in at any time gives you Informants no need to starve in between ushering the dead immortals."

"You want to pay an Informant...in information? That's rich, but still not rich enough for my tastes." He thought it once over, knowing what hunger becomes him on such revolving whims of the Queen.

"Even if I complied, how could we trust what you say to be truth?"

"Believe it or not Corwin, Informants do not know everything. It would be decidedly wise of you to take my offer."

"And if you don't return, what then? Snider is left high and dry, as per usual." His arms flung out, an exaggerated measure that portrayed his self preservation to the letter.

"We will return."

"But what if she--"

"Corwin, we will return."

Ludovic's voice resonated through them, a remote maliciousness carried on the tone. Once he had his brother's acquiescence in this endeavor, Ludo gave in to the longing that dwells in the deepest fathoms of his heart. It's a weighted feeling, desire and revenge. He had somehow let the two meld together over the long years. The definitive line was blurred to say the least.

And he realized how compromising these emotions could be. How his blithely adamant demeanor veined into a flinty, venomous temperament that threatened to alter him completely. How if he didn't take care, this undertaking could cost him everything.

Hadley sensed a shift in the normally coltish, headstrong eternal. His eyes were rippled waves as rage and desperation clashed beneath the surface. She made out faint signs of apprehension before a well established stoicism reclaimed his olive skinned face.

Ludovic wordlessly nodded to her once more, his customary way of bidding farewell. Saddened by the curt visit, Hadley could only return the gesture. She then let a sly smile stretch across her face when she saw Artūras was first out the door. His goodbyes typically involved a more... hands on approach.

The hushed Informant beside her also seemed pleased Artūras had heeded his brother's warnings this time and left without any destruction. Corwin could only hope and anticipate their return. The first time he had ever willingly wanted to see them again made him chuckle briefly before suffering an evil gaze from Hadley. She poked a finger into his concave chest, detesting his obnoxious behavior.

"You Corwin, are simultaneously imbecilic and rapacious...though I can't say which is worse."

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