"I want him readable," Louisa replied, stepping even closer until the heat of her body brushed against Cathy's uniform.
"Compromised is simply a pleasant side effect. I need to know what he's truly planning and what he wants from this visit. A man with his guard down whispers things a man at a breakfast table never will."
"And if he doesn't respond to the approach."
Louisa looked at her steadily. "He will."
"You are certain?"
"I am certain," Louisa said, her eyes darkening with satisfaction, "because I sat across from him for an entire breakfast and watched him manage himself so carefully around every woman in the room. A man who has to work that hard to control himself around women has not conquered his weaknesses. He has only learned to keep them at arm's length. Your job is to close that distance before he even realizes it's happening."
Cathy was quiet for a moment.
"He is Arch Mage," she said. Not as a complaint. As a variable being placed on the table.
