"Think so."

"Good."

She grins as their shadows step in - and bursts into motion, drawing her blades and beginning the fight.

It's five against two, right now. Rather unfair. Harkon's people should've brought more backup. 

Their loss is Elana's gain.

Taking them down nonlethally - and quietly - is harder than killing them, sadly, especially since vampires are exceptionally difficult to knock unconscious. Still, between the two of them they can manage to take at least one alive with a small enough scuffle it shouldn't be reported from this neighborhood.

Then once they have removed their captive to a private location, they have a few questions.

Questions he's rather reluctant to answer, all things considered.

Then they will just have to persuade him.

Harkon is terrifying, but so are Elana and Lace, and they're the ones presently persuading him - 

He spills.

Harkon has been playing things close to the chest, but he wants both women - alive - and everything Elana or her mortal pet are carrying. The reward is extravagant, somewhat less so if the mortal dies, backed with threats if Elana dies. He's been claiming that the time of Sun's Death is imminent. He's been procuring strange things, and no one's sure what everything is - this particular vampire hasn't heard anything about Azura's Star, but has heard about a golden bow with an unknown (or secret) enchantment. This vampire also overheard someone questioning Harkon's insistence on keeping Elana's follower alive; Harkon claimed it was the will of the Lord of Darkness, shutting down all further questions.

There's more - information on who was present in Harkon's court as of this vampire's last visit, especially. Harkon's current court seems to be running thin - he's sending out agents, of course, but also thinning the ranks of the imperfectly loyal.

Elana snarls at the mention of the Lord of Darkness, and has to visibly restrain herself from killing the vampire on the spot.

Lace takes over most of the interrogation after that, resting her hand on Elana's shoulder or arm at times. (Elana's rage does seem to help their captive's willingness to cooperate.)

Eventually, though, Lace exhausts what he knows - or at least what she can get out of him. She glances at Elana. "I think we're almost done here."

"Then we have no further use for him."

She nods, lashing out and killing him.

"Well, we learned a pretty good bit."

"I will kill him."

Lean. "I'll help."

"I don't know that I want him to even see you."

Nuzzle. "I can be your hidden help, then."

Hug.

Tight hug. 

"It sounds like Harkon is trimming his entourage for us."

"One good thing. He's probably trying to cut down on the chance he'll get stabbed in the back... But he might keep using his dispersed agents for missions like this anyways."

"And now we know what rumors to plant."

"With any luck he'll send his most loyal for some of them."

"We can only hope."

Quick kiss. "Well, we'll handle it either way."