-------------- Tales of the Raptors – Ladies in Waiting

Of them all, only a few had actually met the one they called Garot. Garot Alkhallis was his name, or so they said. Yashifa had spent enough time on the streets, and though she had little to do with the guild other than fleecing them from time to time at card games, even she knew of the legendary master gunfighter. It was said that Garot was trained in the desert, the Deep Desert. He was Frelenat. That was clear enough for all to see. But what none knew about him was what Hildy had managed to uncover.

Garot had a secret. Everyone in the Xanth Guild had secrets. That was nothing new. But Garot’s secret was the kind that got you killed if Haziz Fekesh was to find out. Hildy had many devices at her disposal, and more magics, and a few special friends who owed her favors. One of those favors she’d cashed in some time ago to find out the secret to this dangerous pistolero. What she discovered was most illuminating. She had to be very, very careful about that secret, and after using it to get Garot’s allegiance to her cause, had her memory of the event wiped clean. Now, all she remembered was that she’d voluntarily given him his secret back in exchange for his loyalty. None of this, of course, would she share with the Cliff Raptors.

When the time finally came for them to come together for their first major mission, with Weregilde already under Mistress Sabine’s control, some would meet Garot for the first time. They met in the library at the Bloque House, outfitted for a journey and impatient to be kept waiting.

“I’m telling you Colonel, this guy,… who is he? Garrot? Garot? Carrot? Whatever. He’s gonna be some kind of smelly, fat, greasy Guild pig. I know the type. They reek of hatred and bile. They’re monsters to women and worse to their own sex. I’m telling you,… Colonel, Colonel? You’re not listening to me again. I said,…”

“Yashifa.”

“I’m telling you,…”

“Captain!”

“Yes, Colonel.”

“Shut up.”

It was then Yashifa noticed the rest of the Cliff Raptors all looking at the door. Sabine and Najalla were licking their lips. The Githzerai had a perverted smirk on her face. The Colonel just seemed to want to be left alone. And the assassin? Well she actually seemed to be smiling.

The man at the door was smiling back. He nodded slightly. He had an air of confidence and unearthly good looks that would stop a room,… just like it just had.

“My apologies ladies. Terribly sorry for keeping you all waiting. A spot of bother on the way out here tonight. Hildegard, my dear, aren’t you going to introduce me to these ravishing ladies?”

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