The two elves waited until the captain was seated behind his desk before shoving the assassin into a chair opposite him. Nijem couldn't help but notice that they seemed to be making a point of treating him as roughly as possible, and as they locked his manacles to the chair, the older of the two leaned in and hissed what was presumably a rather impolite phrase in Elvish at him.

"Good to see you too, Artemis," the assassin said calmly. "Can't say I envy the class of job you're taking nowadays."

"That's enough, thank you," Einar interrupted without looking up from his desk. "Miss Umyr, Mr. Rhowan, that will be all."

The elves saluted and turned to leave. Artemis made sure to dig the heel of her boot into the assassin's foot on her way out.

"Now then," Einar continued once they had closed the door behind them, "where to begin?" He gestured to the several stacks of papers covering his desk. "The good lawmen of Uyalon certainly have a lot to say about you, Mr. Havarin."

"Did you bring me up here to read police reports at me?"

"No, I did not. You're here to answer the questions these reports couldn't... most importantly, I would like to know the true nature of your business on Badhir Island."

Sorodath glanced up at Nijem with a tired look. "Were you not aware there's a small fortune waiting for whoever brings your centaur friend's head to the guild? I'm surprised he didn't make that clear to..."

"He did, and I'm not buying it," Einar interrupted calmly. "A small fortune for a band of pirates, perhaps... but frankly, isn't it a bit below your usual pay grade?"

Sorodath did a rather convincing impression of a stone wall, and he and Einar seemed well on the way to glaring holes into each other's skulls when Nijem decided to interject.

"I'm aware the pay might not be relevant—you don't strike me as someone who takes a job simply for the money," he said. "But I will admit I didn't think I was quite infamous enough to find myself hunted by an assassin of your reputation."

"Unless, of course, that reputation has been exaggerated," Einar muttered, leaning back in his chair. "Considering you were bested not only by Captain Nijem, but by a lowly band of pirates... You would've bled out right there on the deck if we hadn't been there to rescue you! Forgive me, but that doesn't quite sound like the famous Crow we've all heard so much about."

"I'm having a bad day," the assassin growled in response, glowering across the desk at the captain.

"Oh I don't doubt it. In fact, I think 'bad day' is underselling it quite a bit," Einar said, shuffling through the stack of papers. "I'd heard rumors that you'd fallen out of favor entirely with the assassins' guild. I found it hard to believe, but..."

"Ah. Rumors." Sorodath made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a snort. "You mean Artemis has been running her mouth. I knew she was pathetic, but I didn't know she'd fallen all the way down to being a sellout."

"Where I get my information from is not the question at hand," Einar snapped. "And I'll thank you not to insult those under my command, bounty hunter or not. I realize it must be a hard pill to swallow, being surpassed in standing by a much younger assassin, but..." He paused momentarily, then chuckled to himself. "I suppose even a guildful of murderers doesn't take kindly to someone who kills several of their best men!"

The assassin shouted what Nijem assumed to be yet another Elvish obscenity and lunged across the desk towards Einar. Even though he was greatly hindered by the chair hanging by his chains behind him, Nijem decided not to risk it and immediately grabbed onto the back of the chair, slamming it back down onto the floor and pulling Sorodath back down along with it. To his credit, Einar barely flinched—though he did jump to his feet.

"It appears you struck a nerve," Nijem calmly noted, keeping a firm grip on the chair just in case the elf would attempt another lunge.

"Indeed," Einar muttered, getting back into his chair. "But I'm getting tired of this. What were you doing in Nar Badhir? Do you know about the child?"

"You can insult me all you like," Sorodath growled, his face betraying no knowledge of anything. "Drag my name through the mud if it amuses you. You'll have to try harder to get any secrets of the guild out of me... even if I knew them."

Einar sighed and glanced up at Nijem. "Any thoughts?"

"If the guild is privy to the information you're looking for, it's unlikely that this one wouldn't know it," Nijem responded. "Unless he really has fallen so completely out of favor."

"Artemis assures me that the guild has several good leads to what I'm looking for," Einar said, leaning back in his chair and thinking for several seconds. "So I suppose we'll find out just how out of favor the Crow has fallen..."

He got up and walked to the door, cracking it open and muttering something to one of the elves who were still standing guard outside—Rhowan, if Nijem recalled correctly. A few moments later, the door opened completely, revealing a woman carrying a large bag. She was relatively petite, her skin was an olive tan from many years of sailing the void, and her long brown hair was neatly tied up. But what grabbed Nijem's attention the most was the eyes behind her large, round spectacles: they had a cold, distant look in them that did not agree at all with her otherwise very pleasant demeanor, and he would be lying if he said it didn't make him a bit nervous.

"Mr. Havarin, I believe you already know our healer, Dr. Bjork," Einar said, walking back to his desk and sitting down. The assassin didn't reply, but the doctor smiled warmly. The warmth still did not reach her eyes.

"Stabbed again?" she asked. "Or are you just happy to see me?"

"Let me guess, you're the backup plan?" Sorodath said casually. "I assumed you were a woman of many talents, but I hadn't pinned you as an expert in interrogation."

"It aligns pretty well with my main hobby," said the doctor, putting down her bag on the desk and opening it to reveal all manner of instruments, vials, pills, and powders. "It's really all very fascinating... did you know, for example, that it's about as uncomfortable to mend a bone as it is getting it crunched?"

"I don't think we'll have any more need of your insight, Captain Nijem," Einar said quickly, gesturing towards the door. "Thank you for your help."

Nijem did not object, and he made sure to close the door behind him.