Jale awoke with a start and turned in the bed trying to judge how much time had passed. The merry sounds within the bathhouse had diminished significantly, and there was an immediate sense of stillness within its walls.

Jale glanced to the left and found Drean fast asleep amongst the blankets beside him. He smiled. Who would have thought that the last place in the kingdom Jale wanted to be in, would lead to him finding him someone so wonderful?

He watched for a while longer. Drean's calm face and the soft rise and fall of his chest. Jale would have to find a way for Drean to visit once he returned home. They had only known each other for a short time however, Jale could not imagine not having this fun and confident man at his side.

Jale rose from the blankets, relieved himself in the privy chamber and poured himself a cup of water. The warmth had escaped the room, he noted, and he again wondered at how much time had passed. Maybe it had been the coolness that had awoken him. Upon a second glance at the bed, he decided against that. It was a comfortable haven of blankets and body heat.

Jale turned slowly. There was nothing amiss in the room, it was still their private slumber. Jale reached for his clothing, including his coat and ventured towards the door. Maybe it was something outside. He stopped and reached for his sword to be on the safe side, and continued on his way.

The bathhouse was quiet, the earlier evening's adventures having ended hours ago. Usually, Jale was sure the owners would have closed by now and kicked everyone out, but with the current royal clients they had only gone out of their way to ensure everyone's comfort.

The passageway was empty. Jale stopped at one of the closed slatted windows that looked out into the street and levered it so he could look outside to get a better sense of the time.

The town's main street was dark apart from one or two lanterns. It was also empty and covered in snow. He scanned up and down the street, the windows of each building boarded up for the night against the cold. There was nothing there. It was a peaceful evening with a soft snow falling.

Jale stopped short.

There, in the shadows, at the corner of one street and another, a flash of movement caught Jale's eye. A hint of black material? Or was it a shadow? Curiosity piqued, Jale spun from the window and headed towards the bathhouse's front door. He had to find out. If the person was back again for the Prince, Jale was going to find out who they were and let them know they were not welcome.

The evening's freshly fallen snow crunched under his feet. He came to a stop in the middle of the quiet town's street. His breath swirled in front of his mouth while he searched the darkness. Maybe he had been mistaken. Maybe he hadn't seen anything at all. Maybe Prince Rathner's words had gotten under skin without his knowledge.

Jale's feet edged closer and another flicker of movement caught his eyes. He paused, trying to determine whether a threat existed. The shadow that he had spied from inside did not move again, remaining out of the street lanterns' reach. It wasn't a figment of his imagination.

Was it one of Menelt's men? Was it one of the town folks, suspicious and shy who just wanted to watch the noblemen from a distance? But why would they have drugged the Prince? That wasn't a good precedent, and it was an action that needed to be addressed. They had no time for silly games.

And then, a horrible sinking feeling of fear. Had they missed someone sneaking through the pass? Were they infected and didn't want to be found? They could infect the whole population of this community and the two camps before they knew it.

Jale walked slowly towards the corner but decided not to get too close, just in case.

The figure suddenly stepped out, and Jale gasped. Whoever this person was, it was not one of Menelt's men. They weren't one of the town folks either, and it wasn't someone suffering from the plague. Tall and slender they walked with their head down before they lifted their head. The hood edged back allowing for Jale to get a glimpse of their face.

"Do you need help, friend?" Jale asked, holding his hands out and away from his body, his sword not hidden but idle in his right hand. "I have not seen the likes of you before. Are you from some other parts I have not heard of?"

The figure did not respond. It blinked slowly and Jale stared. He wasn't sure but were its eyes beginning to get brighter? Were they getting bigger? Gold now, shinning, blinding almost? Jale lifted his hand to prevent his eyes from being damaged and then, all of a sudden, there was only darkness.

>>

"Jale!"

Jale blinked. He was in the street and the sky was still dark in the middle of the night. It took his eyes a few moments to adjust. The street was empty, quiet and disturbingly there was no sign of the being that had stood in front of him. The skin on his arm burned as if he had been standing under the hot sun for a long period of time.

"What in the empty hells?" Jale spun in circle, bewildered.

It had been Prince Rathner who had called out to him.

"What are you doing?" Prince Rathner asked, striding towards Jale, his hand on the hilt of his sword as he looked around the deserted street. "Did you see something?"

"You didn't...?"

The Prince frowned. "What was it?"

It was not often that Jale was left without words. He shook his head trying to clear his thoughts. They were foggy, tired and distorted.

"I saw it," Jale finally said. "What you saw, well, I think it was what you saw. I thought I saw something from the inn. I came out, and they came from the shadows." Jale pointed to where the figure had emerged. "They were in a black cloak."

Prince Rathner rubbed his chin. "Really? You saw it too? This isn't some kind of continued trick?"

"Prince Rathner," Jale said as calmly as he could. "Does this look like a trick to you?"

Jale held out his arm, the one that was burning and pulled up the sleeve revealing his skin on the inside of his forearm. There, bright red, etched as if with a fine pen, was a swirl of red markings.

It was not a picture or a symbol that Jale might recognize. His skin was on fire. He bent down, grabbed a handful of snow and placed it on the burnt skin.

"Trust me," he said, looking up at Prince Rathner. "This is no joke. I would not do this to myself."

Jale saw the Prince visibly swallow before he stepped forward pulling up the sleeve on his arm as well. There on his skin was the same swirled inked design. "When I came to speak to you earlier, I didn't want to show you this. When I blacked out yesterday, this is what happened."

Jale gazed at Prince Rathner's arm. "They're the same," he gasped. "How? Who would do this?"

"What is going on here?" Prince Rathner asked, looking around the empty streets.

"I don't know," Jale said weakly. "All I know is that I don't like it. It's cowardly. If someone wants to start something, come at us face to face."

"Prince Rathner?" Delba called, and both men startled. Prince Rathner and Jale turned to face her. "Why have you left me at such a ghastly hour?" She glanced back and forth sulkily between the two men. Her manner and her acting stopped when she saw their expressions. Her voice became serious. "Something has happened, hasn't it?”

Jale and Prince Rather looked back at each other. Prince Rathner nodded and Jale shook his head.

"No," Jale whispered. "We don't know anything about her, and we don't know if these," he waved his arm, "have anything to do with the town folks."

"If you are willing to trust me, you can trust Delba."

Jale rolled his eyes. "She must be good in bed then. You've only known her for one evening and she's already got herself wrapped around your finger."

Prince Rathner frowned.

"I'm sorry," Jale responded. "I don't trust many people."

"Even in my one evening with Delba," Prince Rathner stated softly, "I've learnt that she isn't from here. She's from The Lost Desert regions and for someone of her standing, she is well educated and well-traveled. She could possibly know what these are about."

Jale glanced at Delba skeptically. He hadn't had anything to do with the woman apart from being introduced to her briefly on one of the first nights upon his arrival. Jale was aware that she gave off a more sophisticated and suave impression than the other local ladies, and she was apparently more selective on who she bedded. Trent and Hoele both had spoken highly of her. It was a misjudgement on his behalf that he had believed she wasn't more than what this small town represented.

"Fine," he said. "I want to get to the bottom of this."

The pair turned only to find that Delba had snuck up on them while they had been whispering.

"What are you two conspiring about out here in this freezing street while you're half naked?" she asked with a warm smile on her face.

Prince Rathner held out his arm. "Do you have any idea what this is all about?"

Curious, Delba glanced down and as soon as her eyes fell on the etched design on his skin, she exhaled slowly as if she was trying to steady herself. She looked up at Prince Rathner and took his arm to enable her to look at it again, closer to her face. She murmured something to herself.

"He has one too," Prince Rathner informed her, nodding his head in Jale's direction.

Delba shot out her hand and took Jale's as well. She glanced around the street nervously. "We need to go inside to talk about this," she said urgently, looking at the pair with fear in her eyes.

She turned and hurried back to the bathhouse, not waiting to see if they agreed or disagreed. Jale and the Prince looked at each other again and started after her. They were greeted by a half-naked Drean stumbling down the hallway.

"What's going on?" he asked sleepily.

"I'm not too sure," Jale responded, and he grabbed one of Drean's hands.

Jale followed after Prince Rathner with Drean in tow. When they reached the room that Prince Rathner and Delba had been using, they entered with Delba closing the door securely behind them. She gazed at each in turn.

"I don't know what the symbols mean, but I have seen them before," she said, still in a whisper despite the privacy of the room.

"What symbols?" Drean asked. Jale held out his arm, and Drean examined it, the color in his face draining away.

"Why do I get the feeling that we're the only ones who don't know what's going on?" Jale said to Prince Rathner.

"How and when did you get them?" Drean asked seriously, now looking at Prince Rathner.

"Prince Rathner received his last night," Jale informed him. "Mine just now."

"Just now!" Drean exclaimed.

Drean and Delba shared a look.

Becoming irritable, Jale asked, "What do you know of them?"

"All I know is that the design is used by the Talekan Assassins," Delba whispered even softer than before.

"The who?" Prince Rathner asked.

"Are they linked with the mountain clansmen?" Jale also questioned.

"No," Delba shook her head firmly. "They are a group of assassins who are believed to have originated in the desert cities. This symbol and the location of it on your arms, is associated with them. I have seen these symbols from time to time since I was a young girl."

"Me too," Drean added. "I have seen symbols similar to these on my travels. There are stories about these assassins, but what you need to be more concerned about, is who the assassins are working for. While they work for themselves most of the time, they have been known to take money from well financed sources to complete tasks."

"What?" Jale asked. "How can we not know of these assassins?"

"The Talbecan Empire and Keglar Kingdom are far away from the desert cities," Delba stated simply. "Maybe that is why."

"Why would assassins be putting symbols on us?" Jale asked. "Have we suddenly been targeted for assassination? This doesn't make sense." Jale rubbed his forehead clearly perplexed. "Why would these assassins bother to mark us? Why not just assassinate us when they saw us in the first place? Who would even know we are here?" He turned to Drean. "What do you know of these assassins?"

Drean swallowed and looked at Jale nervously. "I'm sure its fine," he said, trying to sound reassuring. "All I know is that people can be marked as a possible future target. If you receive one of these symbols, its widely known that trouble is soon to follow."

"There are, however, different symbols that they use," Delba added. "Depending on what symbol you have received, depends on what you have been targeted for." Delba shrugged. "The Talekan Assassins are known for completing many underground dealings. You need to know, no matter what mark you have received, the Talekan Assassins don't stop until they have completed their task." She swallowed anxiously. "There are stories as well but they are only stories."

"What stories?" Prince Rathner asked firmly.

"It's nonsense. Just that they have magical powers," Delba said, waving the comment off. "That they can see into the future. It's just myths and legends amongst the desert people," she added quickly.

Jale scoffed. "This all sounds crazy. I don't believe it for one second."

"I have heard these stories too," Drean said in support of Delba. "Stories from other travelers on my journeys. You never know what is real or not though. I've heard that they're not only assassins but a sworn group of people who try to seek order and control of what's happening around them."

"Well, I think someone is just trying to mess with us," Jale declared. He didn't like speculation and stories. He wanted facts and so far, this discussion sounded very removed from facts.

"We need to let our men know," Prince Rathner said thoughtfully. "No matter what these symbols mean, we do not know what kind of threat we face. We also need to know if anyone else receives a mark. It wouldn't be right to let them go about their business without knowing that there is a person roaming around the place, up to who knows what."

"I agree," Jale responded. "And I want a no kill order. I want to question this person. Who goes around giving out tattoos to people without their consent? I'm expected to go around wearing this thing for the rest of my life?"

No one answered Jale's last question, an underlining fear amongst them.

They parted for the night, Jale and Drean deciding to return to their original room. There was still a couple of hours before daybreak and Jale wouldn't mind getting some more sleep, if his racing thoughts would allow him.

"I think I might take you up on your offer after all," Drean commented as they closed the door to their room.

"What offer is that?" Jale asked, walking straight towards their bed.

"To keep you company in your tent on a regular basis, if the offer still stands, of course," Drean added quickly. "I want to keep an eye on you."

Jale smiled. "How endearing." He pulled Drean in for another kiss and then whispered, "Of course, the offer still stands."

Drean allowed Jale to pull him once more onto the bed although the feelings of passion had long ago dissipated. Now they held onto each other for comfort.