"Hey, Jerlis," Rymar said as he entered the room first. "Drozel."

"I'm assuming this is a discussion we need to be here for?" I asked, looking at Drozel instead of the red-and-black man who ran our town.

Drozel just cracked a smile. "We were waiting, Zasen. Don't get testy yet."

"Sit," the Mayor said, gesturing to chairs. "I've already had three different runners bring me three different letters of complaint. They all mention a Mole."

"A Mole girl," I corrected. "Well, a woman, and the first female of any age we've seen."

"Who doesn't speak Vestrian," Drozel added. "That's an important fact he'll likely leave out."

I took the chair beside him with a weary sigh. "No, she doesn't speak our language, but she has been communicating. Gestures, mostly. Enough to make me think she can learn our words."

"And then?" Jerlis asked.

"Until then," I corrected, "we'll convince her that working with us is to her benefit, so that once she knows our words, she'll tell us everything we want to know about their base."

"Like how to get in," Rymar added.

"And you approved this?" Jerlis asked.

Rymar grunted before waving that away. "We were passing the Mole base, coming back from our trade talks with the Reapers, when the base opened. My four bodyguards pulled me down into the grass. While we watched, two Mole men dragged that woman to the tree and chained her there."

"As a sacrifice?" Jerlis asked.

All three of us nodded, but it was Drozel who spoke up next. "I was sure it was a trap. At first, Zasen agreed with me. We waited, refusing to move while they might be watching. It took the entire night."

"Not a fun night," Rymar grumbled.

"But," I said, taking over, "the girl managed to free herself. Drozel stood up and she bolted. Rather than risking her telling the Moles we'd come so close, I intercepted her. The idiot was running straight for a coyote den!"

"Because it wasn't a trap," Drozel admitted.

Jerlis just nodded his head slowly. "And why is she here again? You dragged a Mole all the way back from their base because why?"

"A Mole woman," I reminded him. "A weak, underfed, possibly abused woman. One who has clearly lived underground with them, so likely knows all the things we've been trying to figure out. From the layout of their base to the methods to get inside, she has the information. Unless we want to keep waiting for them to show up again randomly, this is the best chance we have of stopping them forever."

"Uh-huh..." The Mayor didn't look like I was convincing him. "So what do you plan to do with her now that she's here?"

"I thought we could put her in a jail cell," I explained.

Drozel's head snapped over. "And risk the people beside her?"

"Never mind the riots that's likely to cause," Jerlis pointed out. "I think not."

"We need to keep her someplace secure," I insisted. "Someplace comfortable enough I can interrogate her while convincing her it's a friendly visit."

A laugh burst from the Mayor's lips. "You?"

"Me."

"After you spent the last ten years doing everything in your power to make sure all Moles know your name?" he went on. "Stamping your sign on their dead skin! Zasen, there's a reason you're the head of city defenses. It's not because you're a nice guy who is easy to talk to."

"I am," Rymar offered. "Let Zasen be the bad cop. I'll play the good one."

"And your other roommate?" Jerlis asked.

I waved that off. "Kanik's going to be busy with school again soon. If he has time to help, we'll find a way to use him - or anyone else willing to befriend her."

"It's a bad idea," Drozel said. "If she's a spy, all he'll be doing is feeding her information."

"And if she's a spy, then why did she try to run away last night?" I asked. "Why has she fought back?"

"To convince us!" Drozel snapped. "Fuck, Zasen. You know how this works. She ran while we were all still awake and talking. She fought us, but never hit hard enough to hurt. What if all of her resistance was carefully designed to make her look weak and non-threatening?"

I just gave him a weary look. "Drozel, you saw her. She is weak and non-threatening."

"She's thin," Drozel explained to Jerlis.

"And has almost no muscles," Rymar added. "Very malnourished, uncalloused skin, and covered in bruises."

"She's also young and cute," Drozel said. "Twenty, maybe twenty-five at the most. I'm guessing she's about five and a half feet tall, possibly a bit less. Orin-colored, of course, but with an attractive face. You know, exactly the type of lure that should appeal to men. A pretty little victim who needs to be saved."

Closing my eyes, I groaned. "What do you want to do with her, Drozel?"

"I wanted to kill her before she got her chain unhooked," he reminded me. "Fuck the Moles. The men, the women, and anything else they have down there."

"And now she's here," Jerlis said. "We can't turn her loose, because Drozel is probably right. She'd just run back to her people and tell them everything she's learned."

"Like what?" I snapped. "Where we are? They know that. How many of us there are? It's not hard to guess, considering they've seen our houses. When we move, how we move?"

"Where we move," Drozel countered. "We have so many vulnerable places. The market, as an example. Our library, schools, or even the docks!"

At the side, Rymar leaned over his knees and began to scrub at his face. "She wouldn't see any of that from a cell, Drozel."

"And I don't want the riots," Jerlis reminded him. "Yes, Drozel told me all about the reaction when you passed the market. A mob? Really? What do you think our citizens will do if a Mole is left in a cell for weeks on end? Months even! Who knows how long it would take before the damned thing could learn our language!" He shook his head. "No. The last thing we need is for someone to not be arrested because she's taking up needed space. Worse, for another prisoner to be harmed when the mob tries to break in and kill her."

"So what?" I asked, lifting my eyes to his. "What exactly should we do then? Do you really want to let a chance this good go to waste? Because if I kill her, that's exactly what will happen. There is no way to get the information out of her head after I break her neck."

"So have them watch her," Drozel suggested.

That made all of us look over at him. "What?" I snapped.

Drozel gave me a smug look. "You think she's so helpless? Then move her into your house. There's three of you."

"We'd have to set a sentry every night!" I shot back. "No."

"Thought she was weak and non-threatening?" he taunted.