"What the hell is this?" she demanded. He pursed his lips at her tone, but he decided it wasn't an issue worth pressing at the moment.
"Have a seat, Ms. Jacobs," he said calmly, sitting down in the chair behind his desk. "We have much to discuss. In the past you have had... Difficulties paying the Harvest Tax in full and on time. I imagine you might be interested to hear that I am willing to offer a reprieve of sorts for this tax cycle." He knew it was probably a risk, mentioning the past event. Few people knew what really happened, and it wasn't something he was keen on letting become common knowledge. It could set a dangerous precedent.
Then again, he thought, so could this.
"I need you to understand that this must be handled with the utmost discretion. You can't tell anyone that I'm even offering this." Noah took a deep breath and crossed himself like his mother used to, silently asking preemptive forgiveness from a god he wasn't sure existed.
"I don't know how well you know Martha Remmington," he began, "but she's a scheming bitch. I need you to get Evanne and Evelyn away from her."