Eleena simply nods, as if she's heard this story before.

"No," Lady Dyrianna says. "No-one should." 

She settles her hands one atop the other on the table. "As such... I am strongly inclined to give you excellent terms on a property on Besmarra's Boardwalk. It just so happens that an illegal brothel was recently discovered operating there, without any guild license, staffed primarily with slaves. The property was forfeited to the Church of Calistria in the court case." 

She smiles slightly. "I am inclined to lease the resultant property to you for five years for the sum and total fee of one gold piece."

Eleena's eyebrows rise. "That is remarkably generous."

"There is a catch, as always. The property is in a shambles, having been not taken care of properly by its former owners. The furniture will need to be entirely replaced, as will the carpets. Sections of it need repainting. The remodeling to make it sanitary and livable is estimated to come to slightly over ten thousand gold pieces."

She raises an eyebrow. "House Avenstar is willing to extend a loan for said amount at three percent, with no interest for the first year."

"I see." 

Eleena crosses her arms. "And in five years?"

"Then another arrangement will need to be made. I do not expect that the Church of Sunaira will wish to be operating entirely out of a dockside brothel five years from now."

It seems like a very good deal. Suspiciously good, in fact. 

"And I would retain entire control of the hiring and firing decisions of my establishment?"

"It would be your leased property. You may do with it what you will. The Guild license requires a certain minimum standard of care for one's employees, but I do not anticipate it to be difficult to reach for a woman such as yourself. You've experienced those standards for yourself in the Coins, have you not?"

"I have."

This is a suspiciously good deal, and yet she still can't seem to find where the real catch is.

"I would like to write in a clause for an agreed-upon maximum rent upon the renewal of the lease."

Lady Dyrianna coolly regards Eleena for a moment. 

"Very well," she says. "It's a reasonable clause."

Kumi has a distinct feeling she's out of her depth right now. 

She watches and listens.

Lady Dyrianna reaches into her desk and pulls out a prepared pair of contracts.

"These should settle the matter. I recommend you review them thoroughly."

"I would like these reviewed by a lawyer whom I trust, rather than by myself."

"Of course," Lady Dyrianna says. "A sensible precaution."

She looks over at Kumi. "Then, if there is to be no agreement on said matters today, I have a small parting gift."

Kumi raises her eyebrows. "Go on?"

She opens another drawer of her desk, and takes out two small glass vials. One is full of a thick amber liquid, and in the second rests a single small cyan blossom. 

She places the cyan blossom on the desk. "This is a flower from the Rose Bowers. It is an unusual blossom. It propagates quickly in the presence of positive energy, and has useful properties as both a contraceptive and an aphrodisiac. I believe that if planted in a room where regular healings occur, this single blossom should provide enough of its kin that its properties will be freely available to all your staff. The name that has so far been attributed to it is Sinflower." 

She then presents the ampoule of amber liquid. "This ampoule is full of an alchemical contraceptive formula that was recently divulged to a House Avenstar alchemist in a dream. It is cost-efficient, being estimated at only fifty silver a dose due to using the common parsley plant in its preparation. Unlike the Sinflower, it requires no magical upkeep. I gift you the knowledge of this formula and a sample to reproduce it from. House Avenstar expects to be selling it within a week." 

She rests her hands on her desk. "Let it not be said that Calistria does not repay her debts."

Eleena's looks at Kumi seriously. 

"Should you take the blossom, or shall I?"

"I'll take the first cutting. You'll have more clerics to propagate it with."

Eleena nods, and picks up the vial with the small cyan flower. 

"You'll have it," she says.

Kumi takes the ampoule of amber liquid, and curtseys to Lady Dyrianna. 

"Thank you."

"Put it to good use."

She waves her hand in a dismissal.

Kumi passes the contract to Eleena, gets up from her chair, and goes.

Eleena follows her.

They make their way back to the Temple of Shelyn in silence.

Only once they are safely in the warded chambers again does Eleena speak.