Next. What could have been in the basket? Illicit goods of some kind, assuming the griffon was wanted for the contents he had been transporting. Stolen items. Banned items. Smuggled items. Something Cas wanted, probably something she could smell. That ruled out most of the kinds of valuable goods that would be a target for theft, jewellry, paperwork, money. Not stolen, then. Hang on, what had the mechanic said? There’s all kinds of regulations on live animal imports. Why?
Finding the centralised Customs Office wasn’t difficult. It was located centrally, sitting between two of the cross-city roads, with most of the day to day work being farmed out to smaller offices at each gate and zeppelin dock, similar to the one at the airstrip. The clerk at the front desk was happy to help, and seemed glad just to have someone to talk to in the vast, deserted main lobby. It seemed the central office really didn’t get much traffic.
“We keep copies of all the records here. Other than that it’s just for show, if I’m perfectly frank. As the flow of goods is so important to the survival of Spire, Customs has a lot of say in how things are run. It looks bad if we don’t have a big impressive building in the city centre,” the clerk explained, conspiratorially, before leaning back in his chair with a wink. “So, what can I do for you today, ma’am?”
“I was wondering if I could look at a copy of the regulations on animal import and export. The firm I work for has a... a client who believes she has found a niche market she wishes to exploit, but is of course cautious given Spire’s reputation for tough rules in these matters. We’ve been asked to look at the legal standing for such a venture.”
For a brief, paranoid moment she was sure that the clerk was going to turn her down, that Sergeant Gloria had warned them that she might show up and that they were not to give her anything. Then common sense kicked back in; Gloria had no real reason to suspect she would be here, and honestly probably saw her as nothing more than a nuisance, anyway.
“Not a problem. Of course, anyone can access copies of the regulation documents, and for a nominal fee we can provide you with a personal copy.”
“That won’t be necessary at this point. I’m strictly here for an initial feasibility examination.”
The clerk spent a few minutes writing down a suggested reading list, a long column of section and clause codes that might be relevant.
“Of course, the list is not exhaustive, but it’s likely to cover most of what you need to know.”
* * *
Two hours later, Hearthfire emerged, coughing, from the archive room, certain that her coat would never again be free of dust. Or her lungs, for that matter.
“Find what you were looking for?”
“I did. It seems I can tell my superiors to tentatively give the go-ahead. Uh, by the way, I happened to notice that transporting cats through Spire for the purposes of trade is specifically banned...?”
“Oh. That’s part of our open-borders agreement with the lowland provinces to the east. Cats are considered a nuisance animal down there, and owning one is an offence. Even transporting them through and on to other destinations is illegal, so to cooperate with their policies, we’ve enacted a ban here, too.”
“Nuisance animals?”
“They’re not native to this part of the world. They caught on as very popular pets in recent years, but they escape and breed in the wild, and cause havoc if not kept in check. It was decided that it would be best to stop any more being introduced, while they try and come up with a way to deal with the ones they already have, I think.”
“Is it well enforced, this trade ban?”
“As well as any of them. There’s still a lot of demand for them, and there are always ways around, if you’re willing to pay enough money. There’s always something of a black market around anything we ban.”
“Huh. Interesting. Well, thanks for your help. I’m sure my firm will be requesting copies of the relevant regulatory documents soon, and I’m sure it’ll be me who has to bring her flank all the way out here again to pick them up.”
“No problem, ma’am. Happy to be of service. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay.”
Out in the street, Hearthfire couldn’t help but shake her head. Cat smugglers! Really? She dearly wished she could go and see Gloria and confirm her suspicions, but that was a sure way to land herself back in hot water.
Still, it didn’t really help her, even if she was right. What was she going to do, wander into suspicious looking back alleys and see if anyone offered to sell her a purebred kitten? Cats surely weren’t exactly difficult to hide if you were determined to keep them away from the inquisitive talons of the law and didn’t mind keeping them cooped up somewhere. It would be getting them into and out of the city that was the tricky bit.
Oh pony, I hope Cas is okay.
She was a tough cat, for all that she was a prima donna and an attention seeker. Hearthfire was sure that she’d be all right. Somewhere out there, Cas was probably out doing exactly the same thing, aimlessly wandering the streets, searching.
Right. No moping. Hearthfire was going to do everything she could, even if that meant just walking down random streets until she happened upon her friend. There were still several hours before dark, and she refused to let herself become disheartened. Even if she had to give up for the night without success, she would be straight back out tomorrow morning.
As she walked, the crowds thinned slowly as the daytime rush of commerce and trade gave way to the more sedate nightlife of the city in the evening. Lanterns were being lit all along the streets, griffons whooshing from lamp post to lamp post with glowing tapers in their claws. It was a cheery glow, very different to the ghostly evanescence of the magic orbs Manehattan’s streets deployed for illumination after dark, but the minor difference combined with Hearthfire’s layers of worry to produce an uncharacteristic bout of homesickness in the unicorn.
The further out she went, the more widely spaced the lanterns became, and the less populace the streets grew. It was almost full dark now, and she was just passing the first few low, square mound shapes of warehouses as she realised that she should be turning around soon. She was already faced with the prospect of navigating back to the hotel in the dark, and there wasn’t much chance of finding anything out here when she could hardly even see.
As she turned around to leave, she missed the shadow that flitted from the roof of one warehouse to the next. The last thing she heard was a soft rustle of feathers through the air as her unnoticed stalker dropped on her from above.
* * *
Everything hurt.
When she tried to move, it hurt more, and she muggily realised that she had been hobbled. Cold stone pressed against her right side where she lay on the floor. Opening her eyes gave her a view of wooden panelling a few inches away from her nose. Somewhere behind her, hushed voices were talking. She tried to twist her neck to hear better, but it just made her head spin and her vision blur, and she decided to stay very still.
“...sure its the one?”
“I’m sure, there aren’t that many unicorns in Spire. The Bronze had a big long chat with her after that mess on the up. And then not four hours later she comes poking her muzzle around here? It can’t be a simple coincidence.”
“Well, what in fur and feathers do you expect me to do with it? If you’re wrong...”
“If I’m right, we would all have been cooked chickens by now if she’d gotten much closer before I stopped her.”
There was a theatrical sigh.
“All right, all right. Get ready to move everything. I’ll find out what it knows and whether we need to be panicking or not. At least it’s a foreigner, so if this was all a huge mistake, no one’s likely to notice that it’s missing right away, hmm?”
Scratching-ticking sound of avian talons and pounces on the bare stone.
“Are you awake? I am currently holding a crossbow. If I see so much as a glimmer from your wretched horn I will not hesitate to take drastic and permanent action. Clear?”
Hearthfire nodded carefully, doing her best not to let her head fall off, as it felt like it might do at any moment. The authoritative voice was male, gruff but carefully enunciated. She found herself imagining eyepatches and facial scars.
“Good enough. Start at the beginning. What did the guards want with you this afternoon?”
She considered lying, but her head was buzzing and she barely even trusted herself to talk coherently at this point. She managed to get her throat working properly on the second attempt.
“They wanted to know what I saw up on the viaduct.”
“Which was?”
“Nothing! The sergeant kept asking if I could identify the griffon who jumped off, but I wasn’t even that close.”
“So why did they want to talk to you, specifically?”
“I don’t know.”
“Guess.”
“...I only arrived in Spire today. My cat ran away, I just wanted help getting her back. Maybe they thought I was suspicious because I was new in the city with an animal?”
There was a tick-tick-tick of claws on wood. Drumming impatiently against the top of a crate.
“All right. Let’s pretend a believe any of this for a second.”
“It’s the truth!”
“Let’s pretend. How did you end up here? Why were you sticking your muzzle where it didn’t belong, and spooking my associates?”