For a few seconds, Noram was incapable of breathing or even thinking; such was the shock his mind suffered. Eventually, he coughed a few times and brought the goblet in his hand to his lips and downed the strong wine with a single gulp. In his long years of scheming and plotting against others, this was the first time he was sitting across from someone who gave him such a dreadful feeling of danger.
It was the dream of every political player to know what plans their opponent had without sacrificing any strength. In fact, espionage, Noram's forte, was precisely developed in order to have a full grasp of an opponent's intentions. Thus, it was the summum of Noram's career to have his greatest enemy's full plans and machinations in his grasp. However, he never expected that this would be willingly offered by that very same enemy.
By his own mouth, no less!
"Why?" Was all Noram could bring himself to ask. He didn't even entertain the thought that Farmer was lying to him. He wouldn't really get any further advantages out of that particular ploy than he already had. Plus, Noram's instincts told him that Farmer was being perfectly honest.
"Isn't it obvious?" Incredulously, and somewhat mockingly, asked Farmer. "Because this game is proving to be far to boring. Don't play me for the fool, Noram, we both know that the way things are going, that pillock of a city lord will lose miserably within two days. As matters stand, I need not do anything else and he'll still fall."
"Yes, as much as I want to disagree, this much is true." A pained expression flashed across Noram's aged face. He seemed to want to struggle against this fact, but he was intelligent enough to realise that denying the truth would serve no purpose whatsoever. Furthermore, to finally face the man he considered to be a great enemy only to find out that he viewed this entire affair to be of equal importance to a child's game was a severe blow against his already faltering mind. "I've just received a report of your recent movements across Yort and I must say, there's little to nothing that Nightsky can do to stop you at this particular point in time; unless something significant were to change."
"And, pray tell, what does that report say?" Curiously asked Farmer, not truly caring about the report's contents at all.
"Not much, if we're being honest." Sighed Noram. "First there's the matter of your alliance with lady Mhyrrah. Although there was no evidence of you two formally joining hands before this evening, I've received word that her company is preparing to announce the preparation of a massive auction tomorrow morning. The invitations and other hired advertisements that have been prepared state that something truly spectacular is going to be auctioned: the remains of a ninth level draconic beast. You arrive in Yort, visit her shop, and suddenly Mhyrrah gets her hand on such a beast; one doesn't need to be extremely intelligent to put two and two together. Plus, I'm guessing the auction is actually your idea. To announce such an auction would definitely carry a certain degree of danger with it; Mhyrrah would never willingly put herself in that position unless she had the backing of a formidable force. In this case, you."
"Guilty as charged." Smiled Farmer mischievously.
Ignoring the pirate lord's smile filled with ulterior meanings, the old spy master continued with his explanation. "Second, you met with old man Ming and forced him to hand you all the information he had on the city's inner workings. It's not an exaggeration to say that his collection of intelligence is second only to mine and the Silverbrow family's. From his perversely detailed reports and intellignece, you should already have a firm grasp on Yort's underworld as well as its political superstructure. Right now, Ming's selling as much information about you as he possibly can in order to make up for that loss. However, I also have the distinct impression that this is part of your plans and that you're perfectly aware of his betrayal."
"I am aware, indeed." Nodded Farmer. "But you're missing part of the story regarding Ming, if you want to know what it is."
"We'll get to that later." Refused Noram in dismay. He wasn't mentally prepared to be faced with how wholly inadequate his own intelligence service was when Farmer was their adversary. "Third, just this morning a new narcotic found its way into the city. I wouldn't usually pay attention to something as petty as narcotic substances, but the timing is just too delicate. In three days, a disciple selection tournament is supposed to take place in front of the city lord's mansion for the two main schools in the region; meaning that the city is in a heightened state of scrutiny. Hence, it's highly disturbing that a drug managed to pass all control channels we had in place; if any petty criminal could do it, then Yort is done for. Plus, it's somehow made its way into the city guard! Even if you told me you're not involved in that, I wouldn't believe you. Am I right?"
"You're about half-right." Said Farmer as he unceremoniously poured himself some wine without it being offered.
Noram decided to ignore Farmer's comment and unwanted advance against his alcohol and continue with the final point of his explanation. "Fourth, and entirely due to city lord Nightsky's mismanagement of the situation, is the exponentially growing discontent in the city because of his reckless incarceration of innocent civilians. That tactic of sowing discontent between a lord and his subjects by simply waving your hand politely at a few of them is a basic technique that the city lord should have seen through immediately. Usually he would have. But he is completely adamant that you've been hired by Zed's wife to topple his government and must thus have deep connections with the city."
"What an idiot!" Laughed Farmer out loud. "But you know better, don't you?"
"Not really." Responded Noram whilst smiling self-deprecatingly. "At first I thought you were seeking something; maybe a forgotten treasure or something along those lines. Now, however, I'm more inclined to believe you have a penchant for doing these kinds of things for no reason whatsoever."
"For no reason?" Farmer got angry for the first time since he'd come into Noram's room. "No reason whatsoever?! You are mistaken, old man. I have a good enough reason. The reason being that idiot who had bad intentions towards a member of my crew! I will bring chaos to Yort because an important person in the city tried to hurt someone under my protection!"
Noram was stunned into silence by Farmer's outburst, more so than when the pirate lord had appeared in his room uninvited. It seemed that matters were far simpler than he'd first imagined. Farmer wasn't operating under some intention of obtaining an unknown benefit; he was doing this for the sake of avenging his crew member! Furthermore, he wasn't saying he would get revenge or kill the one responsible; his statement was: I will bring chaos to Yort. The unsaid meaning behind this claim didn't escape Noram. Farmer was saying that he would destroy the foundation that allowed Lenion Nightsky to abuse his crew-girl.
For a moment, Noram couldn't help compare Farmer with his own liege: Theo Nightsky. Both men were like the sky and the earth. One was willing to do anything for his subordinates; the other was willing to slaughter any innocent in order to protect himself. How could these two ever be placed on the same level? They simply couldn't! Once that thought crossed his mind, Noram couldn't help but curse himself for not being able to see the city lord in a favourable light. After all, he'd sworn an oath of fealty to that man many, many years ago.
Sighing in sadness and resignation, Noram couldn't help but to bring out another bottle of wine. He was truly at a loss regarding what Farmer's intentions towards his person were, but he felt that such a man of integrity deserved a good drink.
"Thank you, good Noram." Nodded Farmer in appreciation, seeing the gesture of goodwill that the old spy master was extending him. "Regarding your report and subsequent conclusions, there's quite a lot of mistakes or areas that are lacking in content." There was no more ridicule in his voice. Rather, Farmer was speaking as a master of a craft who was instructing a favourite pupil.
"Please enlighten me." Seeing Farmer's disposition, Noram couldn't help but act accordingly and pay close attention to whatever Farmer had to say.
"First, there's the matter of the auction. The auction, by itself, shouldn't be a bad thing for the city of Yort. Quite the contrary, it should be a great boom for its tourism in the short and the long terms. However, have you considered just how practitioners of the martial world will react once they hear the news that people in this city got their hands on a level nine draconic beast? They'll go completely mad with greed. Need I elaborate on the outcome of that?"
Noram paled in fright. He hadn't fully considered that possibility, but now that Farmer was pointing it out, he could well imagine how events would develop after a few weeks. From all over the continent, prominent figures and masters of arcane energy would come to Yort in search for anyone who'd purchased part of the draconic beast. Violence was almost certainly guaranteed!
"Let's forget about that for now." Farmer interrupted Noram's trail of thought and brought the discussion back into his hands. "Let's look at old man Ming. You're right, if I didn't want him to betray me, I would have killed him as soon as I got what I wanted. That much is certain. However, would I really leave someone like that without a leash to control him? Would you?
"No, you wouldn't. And neither did I." Farmer drank another goblet of wine before he deemed it necessary to continue. However, Noram didn't even consider pressing Farmer to speak, such was the level of respect he held for the pirate lord. "I left a girl there to keep an eye on him and also feed him some false information. Basically, everything that Ming told you, came from me. At the same time, my agent is convincing Ming that the most reasonable course of action for his organisation is to go into hiding and continue supplying with information on my movements which would, of course, be relayed by my agent. Effectively, in a matter of days, I'll have deleted the Moonlight Pavilion from the streets of Yort and by the time they realise what's happened, it will be far too late for Ming to do anything."
The old spy master took a long breath of cold air. This move was brilliant to the extreme! Old man Ming was currently fearful that Farmer would find out about his betrayal and seek him out. Thus, his organisation going into hiding wasn't too absurd a possibility. In fact, it was very possible that Ming and his family would leave the city for a period of time if he decided it was best for him to hide out and wait for Farmer to leave or die. Just as Farmer said, by the time he realised he'd been fooled, it would be far too late for him.
"Next is the matter of the narcotics. I had a member of my crew go around befriending a few key members of the city guard that, thanks to old man Ming, I knew were crooked. My man had one thousand gold coins he spent to drink, eat, and gamble with them. Needless to say, they very nearly became sworn brothers!" Laughed Farmer. "Next, my man gave them all a sample of an extremely addictive drug which gives the user a feeling similar to absolute bliss. It's a recipe I got my hands on during... an unfortunate event of the past. Anyway, the guards loved it. Then, my man established himself as the sole means of supplying the drug. This, in itself, wouldn't be too dangerous for the city of Yort. But, I should now explain that you're this night's last visit according to my schedule."
"What do you mean?" Asked Noram with an inkling for what it was that Farmer meant. If his suspicion was right, then Farmer had completely gained the upper-hand against Nightsky.
"Before I came here, I visited every single supplier of Techfiss in the city. They're all dead now. Which means that the city's supply of narcotics will be completely interrupted in the coming hours; with the sole exception of the drug that I'm supplying. See what I mean?" Farmer smiled evilly at this, which made Noram's back drench in cold sweat. "Oh, I should also add that whilst my drug doesn't really pose a threat to anyone's life, withdrawal from this substance will severely incapacitate any addicted person for at least forty-eight hours. Now, tell me, what do you think would happen to the city's defences if I suddenly stop selling the stuff when most of the city guard become addicted to it?"
Noram blanched. If things really did proceed as he said, then it was as good as handing Farmer the key to the city.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Farmer snapped his fingers in a comical display of forgetfulness seen typically in street plays. "I've also visited about half of the city's most important officials tonight. I haven't said anything to them. I did, however, stab their pillows with a knife and leave a note threatening them to stay out of my way."
Another bombshell! An official's life was his most prized possession, and threatening it in such a discreet fashion would ensure that the threat would be abided by. Furthermore, by only threatening half of the officials, Farmer was ensuring that for at least a few days chaos would reign in the city lord mansion. In addition, no one would know who was on the same boat; leading to a situation where each affected party would keep quiet about the whole affair. No member of the higher strata of society would willingly admit their security to be inferior to another's.
"And, finally, there's you." Said Farmer snidely. "You wouldn't honestly believe that I would willingly tell you all of this out of the goodness of my heart, would you?"
"I do not." Admitted Noram with a nod. "But this is puzzling to me. I can think of nothing that you would want from me as payment for this information. And I hardly expect you to want to start scheming all over again, which makes me think you want to kill me. However, you've already said you won't kill me and I believe you." Pondered the old spy master out loud. He felt a little embarrassed at his poor skills of deduction in front of Farmer. "Please enlighten me as to this point, good Farmer." He said, hiding a faint blush.
"Very well, good Noram." Farmer smiled in understanding. "The answer lies with Nightsky's paranoid reaction that led him to apprehend a lot of innocents earlier today. Now, that alarm you heard earlier was me being 'accidentally' spotted killing a few of your guards. After I leave this room once we end this conversation, I'll be spotted once more. Can you imagine what Nightsky will think when word reaches his ears that his greatest threat has spent an hour and a half with the head of the city's intelligence?"
"He'll never doubt me. We're brothers." Resolutely said Noram.
"Really? Maybe in times when things are normal. But will he truly trust you given the dire nature of these circumstances?" Wondered Farmer out loud. "Maybe he will, maybe he won't. If I wanted to make sure that things would go according to plan, I'd kidnap you this moment. But I don't want this game to be too boring. It's up to you whether you'll be able to convince Nightsky to trust you. If you can, then things might be a tad more interesting. If you can't... Well, there's no need to elaborate on that point, is there?"
Farmer's words had left Noram visibly shaken. Even without the pirate lord's prompting he couldn't help but question whether he would believe his own words if he were in Nightsky's shoes. What was he to say to Nightsky? That Farmer came over and confessed all his plans in order to make things a tad more interesting? Once the city lord was done feeling insulted, he would execute Noram without a second thought.
Noram looked at Farmer with an even greater degree of fear in his eyes. This man was truly the most dangerous person he had ever crossed paths with, and he was starting to regret ever having the pirate lord as an opponent.