Mirella bit into the tender flesh of an imported fruit, savoring the dark sweetness of the red pulp within. The duskiness of sunset in the Harbor covered her scantily clad form in hues of rose and ocher, warming her already toffee and cream skin and alighting in her cinnamon-gold hair like fire. At her feet rested the materials Corwynn had given her, plus some she'd dug up in 'research.' She was as cool and calm as an apex predator, knowing she was completely out of reach for all those that could hold ill will towards her, knowing that anything she wanted, she could have. And she wanted a great deal.

Turning her eyes to the darkness of the sheltered shop behind her, she mused about her beatas. Renata and Yulina were supposed to arrive soon, so that they could go a-hunting. Corwynn's quest was turning out to be quite difficult; no one in Old Rose claimed to know anything about her, or her history. Amani was born the moment she washed up on the shores of Anaxas, for all they were telling. Although her wiles had gotten her nothing more than that, she'd enjoyed herself as always and knew now what wasn't there, almost as important as what was for the searchers. Amani ad no history here, which meant her history lie somewhere else, and with practicality the witch looked over the choppy waters towards the land of spices and sand, Mugroba.

Not being one much for mystery and belief, Mirella knew that beyond the sea where where the real answers lie. Amani could hide things from foreigners on foreign soil, but not from her own kind, not all of them anyway. She was born, she had lived to adulthood. Unless everything was razed from the earth where once the strange galdor’s life stood, Mirella could find it, know it, and with that know Amani as only her own kin did. Maybe even better; she’d know Amani like Amani knew herself. That’s why she was with the Henchwitches; she could find a needle in a haystack, blindfolded, so long as the haystack wasn’t getting enough— satisfaction as it thought it deserved. Sometimes the haystack even liked the blindfold, or wanted one on itself. No problem.

However, there were thing yet in the Harbor left unturned. Sex wouldn't buy everyone, afterall. She needed... support, in the form of muscle and blades. Without her sisters, Mirella would have to go back to Corwynn empty handed. This way they all had a little fun and Mirella could be safe in the knowledge that she'd done good in the eyes of Corwynn... and Hawke, who would also be receiving a copy of whatever they found.

Licking juice from her fingers with slow, deliberate strokes, the witch settled in for a wait. Renata and Yulina often had other duties to the BB to fulfill; Mirella’s hours might be languid, but she doubted her sisters often were. Truth be told, she missed them and their brutal bloodthirsty ways. Ent enough trouble t'stir up these days.

Yulina had been delightfully busy torturing various sources of information all day. It was messy, loud, and terribly exciting. Her pale, scarred face was still flushed an uncharacteristically delicate pink with lingering thoughts of all the fun as she stalked through the alleys to meet Mirella and Rinata.

Content in the chill of the rain, appropriately seasonal long coat flapping in the wind as it fought to cling to her slim knife-like figure, the green-eyed witch peered over the tall collar to grin wickedly as she spotted her curvier counterpart. Sidling up to the other witch like a shadow lengthened by the sun, Yulina spoke tauntingly,

"Evenin' to ye, beata. I 'eard ye 'ad somethin' interestin' for us, eh?" The inquisitor tended to enjoy cutting to the point, as usual, corners of her mouth curling downward into an appraising scowl, "Though, I'll admit I'm surprised to 'ear who this is for."

They were never far apart, even though Silas was splitting them up more and more these days. It only took a moment for Rinata to appear after Yulina had spoken. She grit her teeth as she glanced at her sisters, hoping that Mirella would get through the explanation before she noticed that Rinata's headwrap was stained redder than usual.

"That towhead golly," she spat, grinning. Work was work, and she loved work. "Didn't realize we were his personal errand whores, now. Nobody tells me nothin'."

"We ent, darls." She sighed, motioning to the papers and tools at ehr feet. "I thought that more'n th'golly'd want t'know. He likes knowing everythin there is t'know 'bout here. An' nobodys talkin. Wiv th'drain an' now this... I wanted t'make sure there were those in th'Harbor what still feared the name o' the Bird o' Prey, nya?" She twirled once, flirting her eyes at the pair, when something caught her notice.

"Rin!" She cut the act and flew to her sister's side, beautiful face coiled in concern. "Was this? Yer macha face is all..." She delicately caressed her cheek, looking to both her companions. "Th'drain, gods damn their eyes?" She fumed silently for a moment. Yes, this mission had a dual purpose.

((sfsr!))

Yulina hissed, "Everyone'd be that damn golly's whore if 'e 'ad 'is way of things 'round 'ere, I tell ye—"

The slim witch was interrupted by Mirella's swift movements towards Rinata, and her green eyes narrowed at the combative witch with a more detached sort of concern than her more voluptuous and younger counterpart.

"Who did that to yer face?" The inquisitor allowed herself this distraction, and her tone implied she only wanted to know so things could suffer something terrible. Business was important, and Yulina definitely wanted to know what in all of Vita Corwynn could possibly want their help with ... but, she wasn't about to let the damaging of a Henchwitch go unnoticed, either.

Rinata looked embarrassed; the head wound was throbbing, and not very well hidden by the cheap fabric of the headband. She had not meant to take attention away from the mission, and being wounded was weakness; if she was not strong, she was worthless to the witches.

"My own fault," she answered, sounding more tender than usual in response to the caring treatment of her sisters. "There were too many of them. And with my sisters spread too far away by so much work and so many jobs, I was imperfect."

She smiled, showing a gold tooth.

"Let us take care of the golly's business," she said, hating every word. "Hawke tolerates him. He must be worth pleasing."

Mirella reluctantly nodded, pursing her lips delicately. She would have healed it then and there if she were certain no magic would be needed for the rest of the night. No one hurt her beatas, no one. Hmmph. she would have skipped the lay if she knew she was needed.

Nevertheless, it was time to talk business. Shrugging, she spared one last sympathetic glance at her sister. "Aye, then, let's get to it. Turns out there's more'n th'drain going on under noses here. Been quite a few... interesting characters turnin' up in the Rose o' late." She kicked the bag lightly at her feet, knowing by heart the names and dates but this way there'd be something for the higher-ups to read, since she wasn't too good at it herself.

"Dren, a golly who ent got much of a past tha' can be followed has... set our fine blondie golly's feathers all in a ruffle. I ent been able t'find much out about him, other than he's been seen wit..." She paused, trying to think. "Ah yes, Amani, mug woman who ent got a lot of history here either, an' she seems t'be his obsession o' late. An' normally, I'd not think o' takin' ye into such a personal case--" She grinned, her meaning clear. I'd not get you girls involves unless it could be fun. "--Oi got a feelin' tha' this could lead t'places we have a distinct interest in." Corwynn hadn't been specific as to how mcuh she needed to search, and Mirella's curiosity got the better of her. "Oi gota feelin' that if we follow this lil trail to it's end, we'll find things of great interest to Cor, as well as Hawke. E'en my inland contacts ent got nuthin on th'pair."

She shrugged delicately. "An it ent nice keepin' secrets from me an' m'dear beatas, is it? I'd like t'scour whatever info I can outa th'harbor before goin' and checkin' in on my friends across th'water."

Yulina hissed in displeasure, uncomfortable with the thought of all three of them being the golly's call girls, even if Mirella was fine with the title. She ran gloved fingertips impatiently over the scar that ran across her face from ear to ear, a sign of thoughtfulness to those who knew her. The slim witch shrugged after a few moments of silence, deciding that new information was always good information,

"It ent nice to keep secrets from 'Awke, let alone us, beata. There'll be some blood to spill if there's trouble we weren't told about up front. I can dig into the ears I know an' keep to myself, an' if need be, there's always scryin'."

She grinned at this, but it was cold and threatening, regardless of the level of excitement in her voice, "I just ent gonna do a job because that golly wants in someone else's pants, includin' yours. 'Opefully, there's good reason to be lookin'."

Rinata scoffed, tossing her long, dreadlocked hair aside.

"You know Cor," she said disdainfully. "If he ent trying to get up someone's skirt, he ent himself. But he ent daft, and wouldn't waste the King's girls on something if it was just personal."

She glanced sideways at Mirella. "Least I do hope so," she said, pursing her lips. She didn't have an opinion on Mirella's personal business, but she felt naturally protective of her sisters; it was so easy to be used if you got involved with people you were in business with. Especially if they were gollies. Especially if they were Corwynn.

"Let's get to it, then," she said, impatient to get this over with. She had a long morning of drinking to look forward to.