Spymistress

Biara sat in a plush chair, the back covered in a soft leather high enough to reach her mid-back. Wearing nothing more than a towel and sitting with her legs crossed, she leaned back, her arms resting on the overly-wide stuffed arms of the chair.

Behind Biara, one of her servants stood with an ivory-handled brush in hand, carefully running the brush through the Magistrix's long fire-red hair. Kneeling in front of the chair, a stylist was carefully applying the finishing touches to Biara's pedicure, and an apprentice stood beside the chair, murmuring quietly as he applied magical incantations to Biara's freshly finished fingernails, the spells designed to enhance the beautification already completed.

A short distance in front of the chair in the dressing chamber, three rather uncomfortable looking blood elves stood silently in place, attempting to look anywhere but at the Lady of the House as she went through her morning pampering. After a few moments of studying them, Biara smiled, addressing them from her place in her seat.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," she began, her tone welcoming. "I know that things have been a bit...out of sorts within the walls of this House as of late, and I wish to firstly assure you that I am about to set things straight."

The three elves said nothing, merely shifting in place. Three pairs of fel-green eyes met Biara's gaze, and one of the elves coughed uncomfortably at the thought of the issues that had been occurring within Sunfire Estate.

"As you all know, we have had an unfortunate change in our spy network," Biara continued, ignoring the uncomfortable silence. "While I dearly regret the loss of Braeth'el as our Spymaster, it is far past time that I took a more direct hand in these matters. Serious issues face us in these troubled times that we must focus on and deal with as swiftly as possible. The downfall of the Warchief has sent ripples throughout the Horde that will take much time to heal. In the meanwhile, law and order are in jeopardy whenever the normal order of things is interrupted, and that leaves House Sunfire vulnerable."

The three elves exchanged glances, one of them finally speaking, "Lady Sunfire...what exactly do you propose to do? We've had no orders for weeks now. Your sudden summons was a surprise frankly, as we thought our purpose here was finished."

Biara held up a hand to forestall any further questions, pausing to admire her freshly painted nails, "Not at all, in fact we have only just begun. I have decided to take on the role of the House Spymistress personally. Unfortunately, I do have many duties to attend to as a Magistrix, so I will need to rely heavily upon your expertise to accomplish our objectives."

The spy that had spoken shook his head, his objections carefully worded, "Lady Sunfire, with all due respect...do you have any experience at all with-"

Biara's warm smile turned somewhat frosty as she stared down the spy, "I have seen Braeth'el at work, and have had many occasions to interact with spies in other Houses. My sister took one as a lover once, and one of my dear friends, Mister Daser Grimm, was in the line of work. I assure you I am familiar enough with your basic functions to lead a successful program. It matters little anyway as we have no choice in the matter. If we are to prosper, we must make sure that further setbacks do not occur. It has only been through my scrying magic that we have uncovered any threats as of late, and this must change."

The elf that had been speaking nodded slowly, bowing his head, "As you wish, Lady Sunfire. We are yours to command."

Biara nodded, shifting in place so her stylist could begin working on her other foot, still admiring her nails, "Very good then. I have a number of small tasks that I wish to have completed for starters. They are in no particular order of priority, and I will leave that to you to sort out as you are the experts. Firstly, I wish someone to observe my sister at all times. As she is slowly healing, I fear she may put herself in situations that could cause...complications to our tenuous position. You must keep me informed at all times of her whereabouts and activities."

One of the elves bowed and saluted, "It will be done, my Lady."

Biara grinned, warming up to her new role, "Excellent! Secondly, we must locate our former Spymaster, Braeth'el. He has escaped my grasp but I know he is within the city; he could not have gotten far. He knows things that could pose a grave danger to this House. Find him. I do not care what condition he is in when he is returned, but be warned that we have already lost several agents and men searching for him."

"My Lady, don't you think this is a bit unwise-" one of the spies began.

Biara cut him off with a heated glare, "No, I don't think it's unwise. If he falls into the hands of our enemies it will spell disaster for this House. I have already headed off one emergency this week, and I've no need for additional issues to come up. Find him and bring him in."

"Yes, my Lady," the protesting spy said quietly.

"Good, that is what I like to hear. I know you will use your best agents to accomplish this task and put the necessary resources to it," Biara continued. "Finally, I am concerned about House Dawnsea's attempts to obtain my property. I am not entirely convinced that House Felo'melorn will be able to adequately keep the artifacts that they are recovering from my sunken vessel secure. I want to know the moment they are pulled from the sea, and where they are being stored. If the situation degrades, we can...secure them directly as need be."

"As you command, Lady Sunfire," the last of the spies said. "We will try to infiltrate House Felo'melorn as needed to keep an eye on this matter."

"Good, good!" Biara said cheerfully. "That is all for now then. Once you've brought back more information we can examine it and see what else needs to be done. You are dismissed."

The three elves bowed deeply before turning to leave. Biara sighed, leaning back and enjoying the pampering she was receiving. She knew that it was going to be a long day after having a rather busy evening assaulting her mother's holdings, and she had much work to do with the Magistrate. Such were the stresses on her that she was now forced to hold audiences in a bath towel when she should be relaxing.

On the plus side, it seemed that being a Spymistress was exceptionally easy! She'd already set her agents to work and knew that in due time her network would bear fruit. As she enjoyed the feeling of the brush running through her hair, Biara sighed and closed her eyes, a grin on her face.

She had no idea why people like Daser always made the business seem so difficult and dangerous. You simply ordered your agents out and then studied what they brought back. How hard could that be? There was little to fear in such games; it wasn't like addressing the Magistrate or engaging in a spellduel after all!

With that settled in her mind, Biara began to plan out the rest of her day. It would take much effort to stay on top of events and she had no intention of letting House Sunfire go the way of House Dayfire.