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Fic: Conflict of Interest
Jun. 21st, 2013 01:01 pm"Who is the client this time?"
"We were contacted by our old friend The Night Watchman. But the advance team reported the mission is on behalf of...a knight..."
"Unusual, but pleasantly challenging. Do we have a name?"
"Sir Guy of Gisborne, milady captain."
"Guy? Guy of Gisborne? Are you jesting?!?"
"No... Until recently he was Master at Arms to the Sheriff of Nottingham. The incident seems to be associated with a falling out between them. And something about Black Knights."
"I've no bloody interest in the politics of the thing...Black Knights support Prince John's bid for the throne. Black Angels support John's efforts to get his throat cut by a disgruntled mistress. And Richard's efforts to similar effect if it comes to that."
"So? What's this Sir Guy to do with you?"
"Remember the story I told you, of how I came to be that monster's wife?"
"Yes."
"The man who sold me...the thrice-bedamned son-of-a devil, my own miserable brother...was Guy of Gisborne."
"...oh."
There are bonuses that sweeten the deal. Guy will owe her. Nottingham's Night Watchman will be in their debt for once, rather than the other way around. Guy might even respect her after this, though she's certainly not holding her breath.
The targets are all right bastards. Vaisey is an amoral sadist and it will certainly be pleasant to take him down if time allows. But the others, Vincent de Mortemer and Phillipe de Grenville, and their private guard... they're the kind of men every Black Angel hopes to meet and deal justice to, if it's her last act on Earth. She wonders if her husband knew them. Certainly they're kindred souls.
And Guy will owe her.
"We were contacted by our old friend The Night Watchman. But the advance team reported the mission is on behalf of...a knight..."
"Unusual, but pleasantly challenging. Do we have a name?"
"Sir Guy of Gisborne, milady captain."
"Guy? Guy of Gisborne? Are you jesting?!?"
"No... Until recently he was Master at Arms to the Sheriff of Nottingham. The incident seems to be associated with a falling out between them. And something about Black Knights."
"I've no bloody interest in the politics of the thing...Black Knights support Prince John's bid for the throne. Black Angels support John's efforts to get his throat cut by a disgruntled mistress. And Richard's efforts to similar effect if it comes to that."
"So? What's this Sir Guy to do with you?"
"Remember the story I told you, of how I came to be that monster's wife?"
"Yes."
"The man who sold me...the thrice-bedamned son-of-a devil, my own miserable brother...was Guy of Gisborne."
"...oh."
***
In the end, they take the job. Because, of course, it's exactly the kind of job they take. There are bonuses that sweeten the deal. Guy will owe her. Nottingham's Night Watchman will be in their debt for once, rather than the other way around. Guy might even respect her after this, though she's certainly not holding her breath.
The targets are all right bastards. Vaisey is an amoral sadist and it will certainly be pleasant to take him down if time allows. But the others, Vincent de Mortemer and Phillipe de Grenville, and their private guard... they're the kind of men every Black Angel hopes to meet and deal justice to, if it's her last act on Earth. She wonders if her husband knew them. Certainly they're kindred souls.
And Guy will owe her.
