Kelas ir'Daran was sat at his desk, as he so often found himself these days, reading through mission reports. It had been some time since he'd been in the field, and he occasionally worried that he was going soft. He didn't regret his change in circumstances, however, he'd moved up from being a pawn to being one of the players at the board, and he couldn't fault that. Soft as he may have gotten, compared to his youth, his ears still picked up the sound of muffled footsteps approaching his office door, and his hand slid to the wand he kept under his desk.
Three knocks at the door.
"Enter."
The door opened tentatively, and in stepped a human man that seemed to be in his early 40's, with the first signs of age starting to weather his features. The man gave a salute, and his features melted away into the perfectly malleable form of a changeling.
"Aunn, reporting in, sir."
Kelas squinted in suspicion. Aunn wasn't supposed to be returning for some time, and they were to give their reports via dead drop.
"I have unfortunate news, sir. The Swords of Liberty are scattered, the Red Owl taken prisoner by Breland's Dark Lanterns."
Kelas sighed. Of course they had, why would he expect anything different of Brelish terrorists? You just can't find the help these days.
"Did they find evidence of our involvement?" Kelas asked.
"No, I don't think so. I was very careful to ensure our interactions with the Red Owl were never recorded."
Kelas nodded, good, Aunn had acted sensibly and followed their orders. This was a setback, but not the disaster that it could've been.
"There's something else. The Red Owl, they were Haydith ir'Wynarn."
Kelas' eyebrows raised, equal parts shocked and intrigued. "The Karrnathi princess?"
"Yes, I'm fairly certain it was her. I've seen her at court."
Fascinating.
"Well, the papers dropped the ball on that one. This is good, Aunn, we can use this. Haydith hasn't been arrested, that would cause a diplomatic incident, so Breland is harbouring and sheltering a known terrorist against their own crown. I couldn't have hoped for better."
Aunn waited patiently, flinching at the excitement in Kelas' voice. Normally, when Kelas got this animated it meant that he was about to beat Aunn or their siblings. Thankfully, this wasn't one of those times.
"I have your new orders. Leak this to the papers, Voice of Breland first. I'm sure the Brelish people will love to know that their favourite guest is a terrorist."
Aunn nodded, and walked out of the room. They closed the door and let out the breath they'd been holding in, glad that they had delivered the news without being hit. Right then, Aunn had work to do.