Chapter 121: The Audit of False Debts"The wine press is swarming with Geller’s hired thugs," Aether noted, already checking the thin, steel pins hidden in his sleeve. "Two at the door, one pacing the catwalks, and the merchant himself is currently busy terrifying a sweet, elderly grape grower who wouldn't know a fraudulent promissory note if it bit him on the thumb. If we go through the main gate, we’re just two more trespassers for the slaughter."Calista scanned the stone architecture of the fermentation house. The building was an imposing, fortress-like structure, its walls thick enough to keep the temperature constant for the barrels within, but its drainage system was ancient. She pointed toward the rear of the building, where a slurry of crushed grapes and discarded stems was being pushed out through a rusted iron grate."The secondary sluice," she said, her voice barely a breath. "It’s built for runoff. It’s narrow, it’s slick, and it’s likely ignored by everyone who doesn't w

Chapter 123: The Horizon Opens"Useful it is," Aether sighed, his eyes glinting with that familiar, reckless spark that had once been the bane of every magistrate in the capital. "But if I emerge from this pipe looking like a discarded vintage, you are buying me a new coat. And it won't be a modest one."Calista didn't waste time on a retort. She shoved the rusted grate open with a grunt of exertion, the metal screeching against the stone in a high-pitched protest that felt deafening in the humid afternoon heat. Without waiting for Aether to lament the state of his wardrobe further, she slipped into the dark, slick passage, her boots finding purchase on the moss-covered limestone.The air inside the sluice was thick, cloying with the smell of fermenting sugars and dark, earthy rot. It was a sensory assault, but Calista treated it like any other trench-warfare environment: she adjusted her breathing, focused on the structural integrity of the masonry above, and kept her eyes peeled for