Yuze left the three of them bent over the atlas. Eirian in the center with Chenzhou and Mingzhe pressed close on either side of her, arguing over which tribes were more dangerous and where the first attack of the season would be.
They'd spent most of the day going over the intelligence reports and their steps going forward.
Yuze was mentally rearranging assignments in his head as he made his way back to his office. Snake was due in shortly and she was always early.
A small part of him was surprised she wasn't already waiting outside his door, but he made it into his office and to his desk before she knocked lightly on the door.
Yuze had been composing his questions in his head since Emmy had told him what she'd seen, and he had to resist the urge to jump straight into questioning her.
Snake was far too smart to not pick up on any change in Yuze's normal behavior.
As it was, she glided over to his desk with a smile, robes flowing behind her. "Good evening, First Eye."
"Evening, Snake. Take a seat, please."
There was nothing out of the ordinary as she smiled warmly and took the chair closest to his desk.
"How have things been?" That wasn't too obvious, was it?
"Interesting." Snake admitted and Yuze's heartrate spiked. "I've seen many positive changes in the Camelia since the explosion. It seems Lady Ye is truly talented."
Yuze nodded. "She is."
Lines appeared around Snake's smile, but they disappeared quickly. "I assume others have reported the tribal movements?"
"Yes, I was hoping you would have some insight. The reports are concerning to say the least."
Snake nodded and handed him a scroll filled with neat, concise writing. "My sources confirmed the Bandri called the conclave early. Officially, it's due to an early change in the weather and its effect on crops. There are fears there won't be enough food for a longer winter?"
That was interesting. The only real change in weather had been the warmth that returned when Eirian purged the miasma.
Had the miasma been powerful enough to affect the borderlands?
There was no way.
Maybe it had blocked the Camelia from feeling the normal effects of the weather for so long that they'd forgotten the normal weather shifts?
"Has there been a significant change in the weather over the prairie land?" Yuze asked.
Snake's smile turned indulgent, and slightly patronizing. "Not enough to justify concerns over the weather."
"But your sources said nothing different? Officially." Suspicions aside, Yuze was not going to recommend war based on supposition.
Snake frowned. "No, but I have a few more contacts to meet with. I'll have something soon."
It was on the tip of his tongue to ask about the security breach, but there was something, some pit in his stomach, some instinct that stopped him.
Snake leaned forward. "Is there anything else you need me to look into? I'm planning to be out for a couple weeks this time, so I'll have time to really dig in."
Yuze leaned back. "The most serious concern is the conclave and any plans the tribes have to start the fighting early."
She seemed almost disappointed by his answer. "And the search for the poisoner?"
"That's taking a back seat to the tribes." Yuze said. "Lady Ye will look into when she has the time."
"Oh…Lord Ye seemed quite intent on discovering where the pendant came from."
Yuze frowned at her insistence. "He still is, but the more immediate threat takes priority."
"Of course." She sat back.
Yuze took a moment to scan the scroll. She'd recorded the dates and times of all her meetings; alongside the most important information she'd gleaned from them. She'd even included a few notes about the sources she's met with and how trustworthy she deemed them to be at the time. "Thorough as always."
She smiled widely. "Thank you. I take pride in my work, should you ever find it lacking, I want to know."
Yuze nodded, re-reading her note about meeting with a Bandri tribeswoman who'd been planning to attend the conclave. The Bandri were typically patriarchal, though women held certain positions of power in the tribe they typically worked behind the scenes. Having a female Bandri attending the conclave was a rare event, but Yuze didn't recognize the woman's name. "This Bandri woman-"
"She's the current leader's sister." Snake answered.
"I don't recognize her name? I thought we had the entire family mapped out?"
Snake shifted and frowned. "We did, the Bandri leadership changed over the winter. It went to a younger son from a fourth wife. It was unexpected, so perhaps you didn't map out that far?"
Since he couldn't immediately argue, Yuze let it go. He also didn't remember any reports about a change in leadership that significant. He'd have to go back and pull the reports after she left. He plastered a smile on his face. "You're probably right."
Besides, what did gain from lying about that? Yuze's other intelligence agents would report on the Bandri too and it was impossible for Snake to convince all of them to lie about the same thing. Intelligence agents were distrustful by nature and rarely trusted other agents they didn't know extremely well.
At the very least, Fox wouldn't have gone along with it.
Maybe he should talk to Fox? He was the most familiar of Yuze's agents with the northern tribes anyway.
"I heard you sent the Vermeer back into the vault?" Snake said suddenly.
The change in conversation took Yuze a second to process. How had she known about that? "Yes. They're working on updating the Inventories. Discrepancies were discovered the last time they were in the vault."
"Oh. What was missing?"
Yuze frowned. "That's need to know." Perhaps it came out harsher than it needed to, because Snake jerked back like she'd been slapped and Yuze immediately felt guilty.
A knock on the door interrupted before he could apologize.
~ tbc