The walk to Marco Street was short enough that Percy's thoughts had somewhere to go.
Calrath. He had turned the name over several times since Zara's message the previous night and come up with nothing useful.
Percy's memories had a reasonable coverage of the surrounding districts, neighboring towns, trade routes that passed through the city, names of places merchants sometimes mentioned at the Shrewsbury Drunkard. Calrath did not appear anywhere in them.
Which meant it was either very far, or in a different country entirely, or both.
"I should have checked it when i was there , how could i forget it so easily. "
The building had branches across multiple nations according to what Lyro had told him, which meant their records probably covered geography that Percy's memories didn't. A city name, a country, maybe a rough sense of the distance between them.
" No matter , i can just check it tommorow or at evening after work ."
Whether that information would be useful was another question. He wasn't sure what he would do with it even if he found it. He filed it away and turned onto Marco Street.
---
George Eats was open.
This was fortunate given the hour, which Percy had not entirely thought through when agreeing to bring three people here before the working day started. The sign above the door was lit and through the window the interior glowed warmly.
Gareth looked at the exterior with the expression of a man reserving judgment. Miss Gracy looked at it with the expression of a woman already forming one. Silia stood slightly behind them both with a small smile and said nothing.
Percy pushed the door open.
The owner looked up from behind the counter. She was the same woman Mrs. Callyst had been speaking with on Percy's first visit, somewhere in her late forties, with the alert look of someone who had been up since before the sun. Her eyes moved across the group and settled on Gareth and Miss Gracy with the particular attention of someone trying to read a situation quickly.
Gareth was already looking at the menu board. Miss Gracy had turned slightly to examine the nearest wall.
Neither of them said anything.
Silia stepped forward.
"Good morning. We spoke with the owner of this property recently about the possibility of a private gathering." She smiled. "We wanted to see the place ourselves first."
The owner's expression shifted immediately to something between pleased and nervous. "Of course, of course. Please, look around as much as you'd like."
Her eyes moved back to Gareth and Miss Gracy.
"Probably figured they were the main judge , what a great intuition."
Gareth was still reading the menu. His expression had not changed but his eyes were moving steadily across it which Percy had learned to read as a good sign.
Miss Gracy had moved further into the room and was looking at the floor, then the ceiling, then running a discreet glance along the edge of the nearest table.
The owner watched them both with the focused anxiety of someone waiting for a verdict.
Several minutes passed. Percy stood near the entrance and said nothing because there was nothing useful he could add.
The place looked exactly as it had when he had come with Mrs. Callyst. Clean floor, simple furniture, no smell beyond something faintly savory from wherever the kitchen was. He had made his assessment already.
Gareth lowered the menu slightly and made a sound in the back of his throat.
"Well." He set it down. "I suppose I can say it isn't expensive."
Miss Gracy completed one final slow look around the room. "The place isn't luxurious," she said, "but that isn't an issue. It looks hygienic." A brief pause. "And I don't smell any foul odour."
From either of them this counted as an endorsement.
Silia's smile widened slightly. She turned back to the owner. "In that case, I'd like to discuss the possibility of reserving the space for an evening. We have a gathering planned in three weeks, around the Galeo Festival."
The owner's nerves shifted immediately into something more businesslike. "Of course. How many people were you expecting?"
The two of them moved toward the counter and began talking. Gareth drifted toward one of the tables and sat down, apparently intending to study the menu more thoroughly now that the inspection was officially over.
Miss Gracy remained standing, though her posture had eased slightly. Percy leaned against the wall near the door and watched.
It arrived without warning.
His hand moved to his coat before his thoughts caught up, fingers finding the handle of the revolver through the fabric. He did not draw it. He just held it there.
The pull was coming from outside. From the left, down the narrow gap between George Eats and the building beside it.
Percy counted.
One. Two. Three.
He kept counting and kept walking, out through the door and onto the street, turning left without stopping. Twenty seconds passed.
He was still walking. The sensation was still there but weak , he could now with his will choose not to walk but he decided to take a look since he didn't find it particularly strong nor dangerous and his hand was still on the revolver so that gave him some sense of security.
Slowly he reached the gap between the buildings.
A narrow alley. Dark despite the morning, the buildings on either side close enough that the growing light hadn't reached the ground yet. Percy stopped at the entrance and looked in.
"Why, is it always dark alleys."
He peered around the corner.
And to his surprise, he saw Lyro was standing against the wall with his back to the street and his coat open, from the look of it he appeared to be relieving himself on the wall .
Percy remained staring as Lyro glanced over his shoulder. His expression did not change.
"Valemont."
"...Derm."
Both looked at each other silently, as Percy began to lose even a shred of respect for this man before him .