Cessy checked the copied dispatch's wax seal in the cistern passage and recognized Malakor's retrieval syntax before opening it with her thumb.
Cessy traced her fingertip over the wax seal of the copied parchment dispatch, recognizing the stylized sigil immediately.
"The phrasing uses the third underworld retrieval syntax," she noted, her voice flat and devoid of emotion.
"Only one operative writes with that exact mixture of polite flattery and veiled extortion."
"An old acquaintance of yours?" Lucan asked, leaning against the passage wall with his arms loosely crossed.
"A broker named Malakor," she answered, handing the parchment to the underworld swordsman.
"He brokers escaped underworld defectors and sells their location coordinates back to the royal courts."
"He thinks I am hiding in the mortal provinces like a frightened stray animal waiting to be collared."
"Does he know you are aligned with a celestial summoner?" Lucan inquired, scanning the encrypted runes.
