Compromising Principles

-Border Forest, Near Jocelynn's Brothel. 0 DSTR, mid-morning-

"I cannot be of any use to you. I won’t tell Dalen authorities that you are here, it isn’t my business anyway," the woman replied after a few moments. Katya saw her glance at the tent before she continued, her voice perceptibly lower, "My mother could be of help to you, though. That is, only if you are willing to tolerate the use of magic."

Katya froze. She should have known that her mission would put her in this situation, where she would have to choose between using forbidden magics, compromising her values for the sake of much needed expediency, or sticking to her principles and significantly increase the risk of failure or worse. In truth, Katya did not have a good plan for how she would go about finding Sabina and the book once she finally got into Dalen. She had been considering stopping by most of the local taverns and asking if anyone had seen her, but after seeing the one Innkeeper's aversion to compromising her guest's privacy, Katya was starting to realize that her idea probably would not work.

Now it was Katya's turn to look at the tent. She took a deep breath, then started to walk toward Celestia in what she hoped was a non-threatening fashion. When she was close enough, Katya whispered, "What can your mother do for us, and where can we find her?"