Blaidd had not come looking for trouble with Zhao Si just because he had nothing better to do. He had a specific mission, a new task Ranni had assigned him: track down the Black Knives.
The Black Knife Assassins came and went without a trace, and Ranni could never quite put her mind at ease. Plotting something momentous with people whose backgrounds she knew nothing about was hardly a wise move. That momentous undertaking was, of course, stealing Destined Death, which Maliketh had sealed away. Ranni and her co-conspirators were all waiting for the right opportunity.
But trouble had struck on Rykard's end first. The Gelmir God-Devouring Serpent had gone berserk and wrecked Volcano Manor, and the Two Fingers had learned that Rykard was secretly harboring heresy. Now the entire Volcano Manor was under the Two Fingers' control. No one could leave or enter, and no intelligence could get through. Ranni had no idea what situation her brother was in.
She had wanted to ask a Black Knife Assassin to investigate Volcano Manor, only to discover that she could not find one at all and had no way to contact them. Normally, the Black Knife Assassins came to her. Ranni had no means of reaching out herself.
Being left at someone else's mercy-Ranni greatly disliked that feeling. In the plan to steal Destined Death, nothing could be allowed outside her control, whether a person or an organization. The fact that their target, Maliketh the Black Blade, was missing was already beyond the scope of the plan. Now the Black Knife Assassins had vanished too. How could that be acceptable?
At a time like this, she had to send out Blaidd, whom she trusted most. Blaidd had met a Black Knife Assassin and caught her scent. Now was the time for