A lost opportunity, Somewhere else... Options

[Will]

The tall, thin, Ancient Folk reclined further into his couch, popping grapes into his mouth as his hair seemed to blow and ruffle in a breeze that was not there. He addressed the hooded figure who stood, uncharacteristically, in some discomfort before him.

“Failure? I had begun to believe you incapable of such. Well, well, well, my faith in fallibility has been restored...” The hooded figure did not take the bait. His tormentor did not expect him to, as the consummate diplomat, even in failure, he was above such things, so the Ancient Folk continued. “Am I to understand that the Mercenaries that were engaged were not typical of Primus’ finest?”

“No, they were unexpectedly, thoughtful and perceptive…”

“Perhaps next time we should suggest to our allies that they seek out more power hungry or just more powerful Mercenaries with less inclination to cerebral acts”

“I fear that there is no ‘next time’; the opportunity is lost to us. He will be on guard now. The traitor may well come under suspicion and is of no use to us.”

“Pity, it would have made a good replacement for that which was cast into Nothing. I guess we will need to continue to rely upon The Crossroads for the foreseeable future”