Amanda hated to sound like she was making excuses, but she didn’t have many options. “The dungeon is… difficult. Picky. From what my agents have told me, Kyrine insists on testing the candidates in the traditional Eosorean ways, putting them through a physical confrontation and then an interrogation before she will accept a full binding. The other dungeons have all been much more malleable, much more eager to gain a Keeper.”

“I see, so you’re telling me it’s all the fault of Kyrine?”

“I believe so, sir.”

“The thing is, Agent Fallon, a less generous man might say that you were shirking your responsibility. One death, or even two, we might put down to acceptable margins of error, but five…” He shook his head. “That’s not the kind of thing we can just brush off. I take your point that the dungeon is a difficult one, but it’s your job to manage that effectively. So, I have to ask myself, who is at fault here? Is it you, or is it your team?”

Amanda had to work hard not to roll her eyes. “Well, I wouldn’t exactly say that my team are the best performing of the EDI’s agents. I guess that I have to take some responsibility, but I have to work with the agents who are assigned to me.”

“Hmmm… Well, I’m not going to reassign those agents now, in the middle of a field deployment.” The Director paused for a moment, looking at her quizzically. “You want a new assignment, is that it? A new team of agents and an easier dungeon to find a Keeper for?”

A different dungeon and a new team would definitely increase Amanda’s chance of success. Not only would it keep her in the agency, but it would mean that she would be more able to deliver useful intelligence about the different dungeons to Queen Viera.

Failure at the agency would result in unemployment or a move to some less prestigious government department, but should Amanda fail her Queen, she would be put to death, her essence absorbed by the drow royal guard.

“Yes, sir,” she replied to the Director’s question. “I would like a new assignment. If possible.”

There was silence as the Director chewed the side of his mouth in thought. In that moment, with his big body and his curling horns, he looked like a cow chewing cud. The other agents mocked the Director behind his back for this little habit, but Amanda would never do so. Not because she respected the man, but because she feared what he would do if he ever found out what his subordinates said behind his back.