In the night, a message

[Rance]

Papa had plenty of underlings willing to deliver the message.

It was a simple one, scrawled on parchment with writing from a child's hand, words made out of lines that so badly wanted to be words or proper language. It was given to one of the staff in the Broken Dagger, who was instructed by way of a few extra coins -- ones she had taken from Papa's purse -- to slide it under the door of a Miss Ariane Carnath-Emory.

i want to learn how to use a sword.

It was signed in a very simple hand -- a young, budding signature that Ariane might have never expected.

Avel.