I shook my head.
“Then we can leave it for another meeting at another time. Speaking of…”
“Fourteen minutes remain,” the younger lawyer said.
“Two more questions,” I said. “Then I think we’re done, unless Rose has something to say. You said the cost of working for your firm… a few hundred to a few tens of thousands of years of service? A loss of identity, a loss of a name?”
“If you rise through the ranks, you might even take the name of Mann, Lewis or Levinn,” the young man said. Distracting me.
“And what happens to you?” Rose asked.
I bit my tongue before I snapped at her. She was interrupting my line of questioning.
“We’re done,” the young lawyer said. “Early. Not easy, I assure you, but it’s an option.”
“Which is why you want to recruit,” she said.
“A part of it,” he said.
“But there’s something else, isn’t there?” I asked, before I could get interrupted again. “Hundreds or thousands of years of employment, a loss of identity, a loss of our name. But you didn’t say that’s everything.”
“No. We didn’t,” the blonde lawyer said.
“What’s the catch?” I asked.
She frowned. “In the process of signing the contract, you agree to give them a foothold.”
“Them?” Rose asked.
“Them. You should know who I mean. You hand over things of value, and they take them. Footholds. To help them climb forth from where they’ve been banished or bound, or give them a foundation to better leverage their strength. A room, a house, a pen, a sword, a companion.”
A pair of shears.
“I could go into detail about the benefits, the why of it, but I would be frittering away your time. There is more on the subject in the library.”
“I think I get it, even without the books,” Rose said. Quiet. “We make that deal, to save our hide, and they get stronger, making life harder on the rest of humanity.”
“Theoretically,” I asked, “what would happen if I swore, right here and right now, that I was never going to take the deal?”
“We would conduct business as the contract with Rose D. Thorburn mandates,” the older lawyer said, “But you would find that we, like the universe, had far less goodwill towards you.”
I nodded.
She shifted position. Her tone somewhat softer than it had been, she said, “I can’t speak for the others, but I would respect you for it, I would understand. In the end, however, business is business, and we have our obligations.”
“Sure,” I said.
“Is there more you would like to ask along those lines?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No. But I’d like to ask if you could deliver this letter. Unless there’s a flaw in this plan I’m overlooking.”
“There are complications,” the young lawyer said, “But there will be complications with any route you take.”
“If you were to take it yourself,” the woman lawyer said, “Or have a more direct hand in it, you reap a greater reward.”
“Personally restoring balance to the grand scheme of things… I can’t help but feel like this is dangerous. Karmic retribution. Promoting eye-for-an eye thinking. How do you know if things are balanced?”
“You pay attention,” the old man said.
“Right,” I said. I frowned. To have the lawyers deliver the letter or go myself?
“I think I might have to ask you to deliver the letter,” I said. I couldn’t ignore the hatchet, or my hand. “I’ve got something else to take care of.”
“If I may suggest a compromise,” the young woman said. “I’ve been working for several days, and I’m due a break. I could spare an hour, if you can see to that something else and find time for the errand.”
“The escort didn’t work out so hot for us the first time,” Rose murmured. I could see from movement of the lawyer’s eyes that she’d heard, but the woman gave no other sign.
I shook my head a little. “It’s-”
“The object under your coat demands your attention. May I?”
I withdrew the hatchet, but I didn’t hand it over.
“I’ll help,” she said. “No trickery or sabotage. I can guarantee you’ll be better off than if you saw to it yourself.”
“You’ll see us safely the entire way there and back?” I asked. “And while we’re there?”
“As safely as you allow,” the lawyer said.
Rose chimed in. “You promise not to carry out any tricks or traps at least until the next time we meet?”
“Yes,” she said.
“This won’t count against our time?” I asked.
“No cost, insofar as something can have no cost.”
The other lawyers were standing. The younger one looked at his watch. “Then we’re done, with just over ten minutes remaining on the clock. Thank you for the hospitality.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, feeling wary.
The older lawyer extended a hand. I hesitated, then shook it with my numb hand. He didn’t react.
“You should only be seeing one of us at a time, now that introductions are done,” the older lawyer said, letting my hand go. “Barring exceptional circumstance, or a request to join the company.”
I nodded.
“We’ll see you later in the day, Ms. Lewis,” he said.
“You will,” the blonde lawyer said.
I’d expected the two men to disappear, but they left through the front door, collecting outdoor jackets along the way and pulling them on as they made their way down the front steps.
Leaving me in the company of Ms. Lewis.
“May I see it?” she asked. “The imbued object?”
“I promised it I’d keep it warm,” I said.
“Not exactly true, is that?” she asked me.
I frowned.
“I’m fairly well versed in seeing the nuances of karma at work. You’ve come very close to lying a few times in a short span of time, and you’ve each outright lied at least once in the half hour prior to our arrival.”
“Oh hell,” I said.
“It’s easy to slip, at first,” she said. “In this case, you’re bordering on a lie, but you’re still telling the truth. Rose here promised you’d keep it warm. Your promise was implicit, and because Rose is an extension of you…”
“It’s borderline,” I said.
“Being more honest means you stock up more goodwill with the universe and any others you meet. Borderline dishonesty is useful, lying by omission is better yet, and unvarnished honesty is better still. I can’t quite interpret it, but perhaps you were joking? Sarcasm?”
I thought back.
“Shit,” I said. “So… what? I lose my power?”
“You lose some. And a mere ghost gains more influence over you, even through a circle, or when bound into an object. It’ll take at least a week to wear off. Luckily, there aren’t many things in this house to hear, hm?”
“And me?” Rose asked.