Kathlin glanced briefly down at the book in her hands, before slipping it back into her pocket. Hester, apparently sensing danger took flight from her shoulder to vanish somewhere at the top of the walls of shelves. “Okay, okay. Move where?”

….

“…Any ideas, Lass!?”

“…If I had any ideas, I would be a lot closer to solving this locked-room-mystery thing…” Kathlin mumbled a little testily as she looked around, trying to figure out what best to do with the tramping of steel boots bearing down on them. Ragnar, about to give up and barrel straight towards the White Hand all guns blazing, found himself pulled back by the girl as she rolled him into the dusty trunk of archived papers, closed the lid and arranged some papers tastefully on top. “Uh, lets try this. Try not to breath too loudly, okay?”

The little dwarf successfully hidden along with any expletives he might choose to share with himself, Kathlin turned to run deeper into Alfidious’ quarters. Along with his office and extensive library, there was also an alcove leading to a small living area where the man had clearly retired to those times he had spent the entire night in his office without returning to his lady wife. Rattling the key briefly in the lock, Kathlin gently opened the door to a mahogany wardrobe to clamber inside. Pushing aside velveteen dressing gowns and evening suits, she shut the door quickly behind her to pull out the small bent wand that she carried and squint at it. [i]“I do think that this thing’s defective”[/i]

Poking it at the door, the seal of the two wardrobe doors became encrusted in a thick layer of ice, effectively holding them together. Screwing up her eyes as she shivered in the sudden cold, Kathlin squinted through the keyhole at anything she could see from her current vantage point, listening carefully to the White Hand. 

*

Liaena schooled her face into careful impassiveness as she listened to Rithrynn babble, her heart meanwhile sinking like a stone. Confusion, or unawareness that she had even left the building was what she had been hoping for. Instead, she got fairly obvious attempts to cover up her movements, which under the circumstances was precisely the last thing that she wanted to hear.[i] “Light…whatever he did, she’s still under it. I need to be careful”[/i]

“…Nothing useful then? Fair enough. I just thought you might have found something to help Sharon” Liaena remarked a little acerbically. Her eyes drifted over the contents of the room, laughing, drinking, partying Night Elves. “You guys [i]are[/i] here as his bodyguards, after all”

Naliyah, who had been snuggling up to Rithrynn, suddenly popped up to give her a quizzical look. “We’re here as someone’s bodyguards?”

“….”

“Yes.”

[i]“And to be very much in my way, apparently”[/i]

“But yeah. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about, Rithrynn” Liaena continued, completely ignoring Naliyah. Looking up at the uncomfortable Night Elf, she allowed some excitement to seep into her voice. “I’ve been doing some legwork, and I think I’ve got an idea of where Sherpa might be hiding himself…” 

Locking eyes with Rithrynn, Liaena carefully mouthed ‘Cathedral District’ at her. Satisfied by the way the Night Elfs eyes suddenly widened that she had gotten the message, Liaena stood up, brushing herself off before grinning wickedly up at her. “I think I’ve nearly got him now. I just need some help to pinpoint him, if you’re interested?”

Motioning towards the door, Liaena glanced back at Naliyah, before raising her eyebrows coldly at Rithrynn. “…but then if you’re too busy doing nothing, then don’t worry about it. I’ll just figure it out by myself, and then take it to Captain Serphia. Then [i]she[/i] can lead the op”