Yuer tapped his slender fingers against the darkwood arms of his chair, calmly considering the puzzled middle-aged man in front of him. This man was the current senior overseer within Mash’kanta headquarters. He was the person responsible for contracted trade deals that exceeded the threshold of ‘moderate’ profit. Yuer was led to his office shortly after he entered the building; a half candle-hour or so after concluding his meeting with Ivak. In fact, the youth had been sitting in his chair for a while now and the overseer had yet to say a word in regards to Yuer’s proposal.

Yuer could see the confusion which visibly creased the man’s dark-skinned face, making him look much older than he probably was. He appeared both baffled and uneasy. Yuer couldn’t blame him. After all, it wasn’t every day that a seasoned merchant would meet a Dasrari young master who was willing to sink five hundred silvers into buying off every single Asaf seed stocked within every Mash’kanta warehouse across the capital.

The man was likely perplexed as for what a youth like Yuer would need an entire residence’s worth of a common Masqafi herb’s seeds. Not only was the Asaf herb one of the cheapest and most common herbs in the capital, it also had little medicinal value. If it wasn’t for its slight ability to aid in indigestion, no one would even bother to gather them in the first place.

Yuer imagined the senior overseer probably believed him to be the type of pampered young Dasrari who was so well-off that he developed a sharp decrease in his mental capabilities. Yuer would have thought the same of himself if he didn’t have an actual reason for doing what he was doing.

Eventually the man cleared his throat conveniently before starting in a pronounced tone, “Esteemed client, I apologize beforehand if my words sound deterring but it’s my duty as an overseer here to do my utmost in advising any respective clients on whatever deal they wish to finalize with our organization. The order your esteemed self wish to conclude with our office might need further consideration. While, it will be grossly profitably for us and our associates, meaning the herbalists and gardeners who are registered to us, it will be a significant loss for our esteemed client. A single Asaf seed costs a measly tenth of a copper coin. Five hundred silvers equals a five thousand copper coins. You wish to buy half a gold piece worth of Asaf seeds which would equal around fifty thousand seeds. If we are to allocate each thousand seeds to a single sack, the final calculation would come to a total of fifty sacks. Dealing in this particular herb, which has never known a rise in its value since its discovery, is not a profitable venue. In the Mash’kanta, we value profit like every good merchant does however we also honor integrity. Therefore, I’m offering your esteemed self council and a period of time to reconsider your order.”

Yuer leaned his cheek against his clasped right hand and took a moment to meditate upon the man’s long-winded ‘thanks but we would rather you do not’ speech. The overseer had more than enough reason to be reluctant about accepting his order. He was likely worried about the ramifications of indulging of a young Dasrari master who probably acting without the knowledge of his clan’s head. Yuer understood that the Mash’kanta wouldn’t want any possible friction with any Dasrari clan. The merchants’ coalition already walked on a thin line with the Dasrari.

For the recent ten summers or so, the Mash’kanta had been steadily and increasingly amassing wealth and influence within the Semani Empire. This development put the Dasrari on edge. Since its establishment as a nation, bloodlines and castes were everything in Sema. The Dasrari had banked the stability of their power upon this very principle but due to the strengthening of the Mash’kanta’s influence, the former had started to grow uneasy as it dawned on them how powerful money could be, even in the face of bloodline.

The merchants of the Mash’kanta were slowly beginning to become to the Dasrari what the Zaradate Temple had always been to the Reznali; a social and political ‘enemy’. However, despite this apprehension, neither party could do without the other for the Mash’kanta benefited from the Dasrari and the Dasrari benefited from services only the Mash’kanta could provide for them. Ultimately, it became a classic case of ‘I abhor you but I cannot do without you’.

Hence, the senior overseer’s willingness to decline a five hundred silvers offer of profit. Yuer however, knew exactly what he was doing and he had no desire to neither change his mind nor waste any more of his time.

“I appreciate your honesty and honorable character but the five hundred silvers, which I’m paying you with in exchange for the seeds, are not included in the Ayaseen clan’s assets. They are, in fact, my personal inheritance.” explained Yuer.

The overseer argued still, “Even if it is so esteemed client, the Asaf herb isn--”

Yuer cut the man off, voice firm and even, “I am well aware of the meager monetary value of the Asaf herbs. However, I don’t plan to change my mind. If the deal was to fall through, I shall bear full responsibility for my own choices. The Mash’kanta won’t be held accountable for anything.”

The overseer sighed, looking defeated. “Alright, I will meddle no further, esteemed client.”

He then took out a sheet of paper and a brush and began to write down the terms of their exchange. After agreeing on the date of delivery being a three days later and its place being Ivak’s temporary residence in the capital which the Reznal refused to stay in, Yuer signed the contract, took a second ascribed copy of it and left the Mash’kanta headquarters.

It didn’t take him long to reach the central plaza where he left his companions. The shadowy figure that followed in his tracks since he left the Ayaseen residence never let up their pursuit. Yuer pretended he was none the wiser as he parted the carriage’s curtains and hopped on it.

He was greeted by three familiar pairs of eyes. Sakina offered him a bow, Hasha acknowledged him with a dip of a chin while the little boy dashed to him, the force of his enthusiasm nearly knocking Yuer into his seat. The Dasrari youth chuckled and patted the child’s head. He pulled out three wrapped candied apples he bought in his way here and gave one to the boy who, in return, gifted Yuer one of those small and rare smiles of his. The youth offered the two remaining apples to Sakina who took it with a little shy look in her face and Hasha who didn’t waste time munching on the sugary snack.

Through a sugar and apple stuffed mouth, Hasha asked in her native tongue, “Are we going back to the residence or are you going to mee---”

The Mesrin girl hadn’t managed to finish her question before Yuer cut her off with a shake of his head and a pointed look at the driver’s seat. The redhead appeared to instantly understand his unspoken warning.

In this ride back to the Ayaseen residence, Yuer didn’t wish for unwanted ears to eavesdrop upon his conversations, even if they happened to be in foreign tongues. As Yuer instructed the driver to take them back ‘home’, not a single word was exchanged throughout the ride.

As soon as Yuer returned to his personal quarters, he found Akra sitting in his favorite chair, gracefully seeping tea from his favorite teacup, utterly unbothered by the fact that she was encroaching upon a space that was not hers.

But then, she had always owned every corner within the Ayaseen residence. It didn’t matter that his things littered this courtyard, it didn’t matter that he slept and ate within these walls. After all, these walls themselves and the very breathing air between them also belonged to the woman in front of him. In her own way, she never made him forget this one fact: He was here because she allowed him to be here. He would leave the day she decided he needed to leave and only to the man she would allow him to ‘choose’.

Yuer didn’t know whether to cry or to laugh at how utterly idiotic his past self was to not have seen through her. He had believed her controlling ways to be ‘caring’. In what manner was cutting him off from the outside world and monitoring his every single move ‘caring’? In what manner was raising him to be soft, weak and stupid ‘caring’?

As Yuer looked at Akra’s mouth on that teacup, he swallowed down the urge to bury her alive with his Earth Echo. Despite the strongly violent impulse that seized him, Yuer didn’t allow any of his true feelings to surface upon his face and instead plastered a perfectly gentle smile on his lips. He walked to her and properly bowed, just like the good ‘child’ he was supposed to be, “Greetings to consort mother.”

Akra didn’t response right away. For a moment, she busied herself with steering her tea which Yuer suspected of having no actual need to be steered. This was her ‘thing’. She would occasionally behave as such making him wait when there needn’t be any reason to do so. She would often cut him off while he spoke with a mere snap of her fingers, a pointed glance or a turn of her face, little things that remind him where he stood in this residence, little things that reminded him he was stupid and of no significance beyond his Alikana-marked identity.

Half of his lifetime was spent under this very woman’s thumb. Her compulsion toward control and belittlement was ingrained in the very bones of her long, lean body. Akra wasn’t Akra when she didn’t at least attempt to make him feel less than he was.

Another moment passed before Akra put the teacup on the table and looked up. Her eyes were as deep as they had always been, not a hint of feeling could be glimpsed in them, “I see that you are back. Did you buy the books you wanted?”

“Yes, consort mother. You had been very kind to allow me this last wish of mine. I shall never forget your benevolence, not only in indulging me throughout my life but also in raising me so wholeheartedly.”

Yuer complemented his show of fliality to his clan’s ‘mother’ by dropping to his knees and kowtowing to her. Akra let him bow for a moment longer than necessary before allowing him up. She casually remarked, “A good child, indeed.”

She then beckoned him forward so that he could take a seat in his own outer chamber. Yuer maintained his tender smile as he took a seat next to her.

She turned to him, her tone although impassive sounded especially keen to Yuer’s ears, “I wasn’t aware you brought new servants into the residence.”

Yes, here we are. The real reason you bothered to come to this courtyard.

“I am to leave the residence in matter of days so I wished to acquire few servants I can take with me into my new abode. Sakina, although hardworking and loyal, isn’t enough to meet all the needs of a Reznal’s residence.” explained Yuer.

“His highness, the Malhada, has more than enough servants to operate his palace. You can always pick some of them to serve you. There was no need for you to waste your money.”

There it was; the jab Yuer expected. What Akra meant to convey to him was that there shouldn’t have been any need for him to waste ‘clan money’ on such superfluous ‘whims’.

Yuer’s voice developed a remorseful tone, “I sincerely apologize to consort mother. I should have consulted with you first but I didn’t wish to bother you with such trivial things. I merely passed on few words to Sakina and had her visit the Shefrin market during her errand for ink and paper yesterday.”

“How can the addition of new Shefrin servants into the Ayaseen residence of which I am the Dasiri not concern me?” retaliated Akra.

“I’m sor--”

Before Yuer could fully convey his apology, she cut him off, “The Mesrin?”

“I wanted someone with a robust and strong body who can defend his highness and me against thieves or anyone who might wish to harm us during public outings. Yesterday, Sakina told me she overheard the common-born speaking of newly Mesrin Shefrin who would be put on sale and I thought I should acquire one since they are well-known for being great warriors.”

Akra fell silent for a moment before pointedly inquiring, “Blessed?”

“Unblessed.” answered Yuer seamlessly.

At his answer, a sharp derisive laugh spilled from Akra’s twitching lips, “Oh, tender simple child. Do you think his highness, the Malhada, would need some unblessed barbaric mountain she-beast to guard him? He is already surrounded by the best personal guards money can buy. Not only are they blessed but they are also experts in combative arts. Ah, what do to with you?” Having managed to suppress her mirth at last, Akra added, “Well, she is already paid for so it would be inconvenient to send her back to the handler. I believe I will just have to indulge you once again.”

Yuer dipped his head as he thanked her for ‘indulging’ him, “Many thanks to consort mother.”

Akra however didn’t seem to be quite done with her interrogation, “And what of the Valquari child? And the other one that Walan had just found in your servants quarters?”

Yuer pretended to hesitate for a bit before timidly replying, “I told Sakina that if she found any young children on the display stand that day to spare them by buying them. The other boy was also on there and the handler said he could read and write. I previously told Sakina to buy those who are literate because I believe it to be cruel to waste their abilities on becoming manual laborers or potential pleasure Shefrin.”

Akra remained silent for moment. Her frigid gaze fixed upon him as she commented in a tone slightly icier than her usual, “You have always been like this; tender-hearted. You wish to save all the unfortunate in the world. Does it make you feel good? Helping those who cannot help themselves? Does it warm your heart? Does it make you feel important?” With each question, her intense gaze grew a little harder, a little more hateful. At last, she contained herself by turning her face away, “This habit of picking up strays needs to stop at a certain point. I allowed it before with that servant girl of yours and I will allow it this one time since you are leaving the residence but you have to think of his highness, the Malhada. In the future, you should refrain from such inconvenient sentimentalities.”

Yuer stared at the profile of Akra’s turned face. A vicious little smirk painted itself across his lips. He apologized to her in a voice that didn’t match his expression, “I understand, consort mother. I shall heed your words.”

Akra gracefully rose to her feet, her dark red robes flowing behind her as she sashayed out of the room. When she was but one step away from leaving, she turned back to Yuer, her gold bonding earring jingled in the wake of her movement, “Since you have expressed your need for a personal guard, you might as well take Zarat along with you.”

Yuer’s face broke into a smile; a big, blinding smile. He bowed waist-deep to Akra and vehemently bellowed, “Many thanks to consort mother for gifting her humble son with one of her most treasured personal guards! Your magnanimity is boundless.”

The Ayaseen Dasiri acknowledged her adopted son’s show of gratitude with a flutter of her kohled eyelashes and left.

Yuer remained where he was. His blue eyes followed Aka’s disappearing figure before shifting themselves to his favorite cup, sitting atop the table. The imprint of Akra’s rouge stood starkly against the white porcelain, appearing offensive and filthy to Yuer’s eyes. This cup was once his birth mother’s, a part of her dowry. Akra knew how much he cherished it and yet she drank from it in front of him, tainting it with her spit, with her Ugafir poison.

He shuffled toward the table and lifted the cup. His slender fingers brushed against its smooth and cold rim in slow, measured touches. He then strengthened his hand with a layer of Earth Echo and coldly watched his own hand as it crushed the precious cup into tiny million pieces. The jagged edges of the porcelain bit into his skin and blood oozed out of his fingers. The red droplets tumbled down to the floor, joining the many fallen and broken pieces of yet another lost memento of his dead mother.

Something swelled within him, something dark, violent and terrifying. It resounded with his rage, his hatred and his blood-thirst. Tendrils of black, ominous ink seeped out of his oozing blood, pooling around him, dancing around him. The swirling, pulsating ink relentlessly whispered to him in what had become a familiar, dissonant mimicry of a human voice:

((Die! She shall die!))

((With her blood, we shall quench our thirst))

((With her flesh, we shall sate our hunger))

((Die, she shall die!))

((She who had hurt us))

((She who had betrayed us))

((Her soul, we shall have!))

For the first time since he had acquired his new Echo, Yuer remained fully conscious of himself as it conjured itself. Instead of growing anxious and terrified of those grating voices, Yuer felt a strong sense of kinship in them. They felt him, they knew him. They understood him. With them, he didn’t have to pretend, he didn’t have to hide. With them, he could hate and rage and they wouldn’t judge him or tell him to be any other way.

Yuer lifted his bleeding hand and closely watched the streaks of pitch blackness seeping out from his many open, little cuts. He caressed them with his fingers and they curled around his hand, quivering and pulsating around his skin in what appeared to be uncontainable joy. The youth brought them closer to his lips and whispered to them, “Yes, her soul we shall have. Don’t you worry. ”

The voices laughed, their cackles sounded like the shrilling of nightmares:

((Yes ! Our heart!))

((Yes! Our blood!))

((For you, we shall cleanse the world!))

Shortly after the sunset, Yuer called Hasha and Tamine to his inner chamber. The youth used his Earth Echo to temporarily coat the walls of his room, insulating it from the rest of the residence.

He first beckoned Hasha over, handing her a sealed letter that held neither sigil nor address. He clarified to her in Mesrin, “This is the letter you are to give to the Shakoura tonight.”

He walked back to his deck, pulled something out of one of its drawers and gestured for Sakina, who hadn’t left his side in candle-hours, to come closer. He showed the two items to her and explained, “This is my Temple token and this is my letter to the Tewekaga. You will sneak out of the residence with Hasha. You will take Tamine with you and escort him to the Temple.”

Sakina took the letter and the token with a bowed head, “Yes, esteemed young master.”

Yuer turned to Tamine, “Sakina will escort you to the Temple plaza’s gate but you will have to continue on your own. Once you are inside, give the Helisari on guard duty this token and tell them that you have to meet the Tewekaga on behalf of the token’s owner. The Helisari will understand. Once you meet his Holiness, hand him my letter and he will admit you into the Kumatani. You will be assigned to the Kumatani living quarters at the left tower. You remember what we have agreed upon, don’t you?”

Tamine vehemently nodded, “Yes, Exalted One. I need not reminding.”

Yuer smiled, liking how agreeable the Undercity boy had become. It was nice to see a pawn that understood where he stood on the chessboard. Things would continue to be fine as long as the pawn remembered where his loyalties lay.

Yuer said to Hasha, “Use your Earth Echo to sneak them out with you.”

Hasha expressed her compliance with a curt and brief nod.

Yuer strode to the open window and stared at the rapidly darkening sky, “Before you leave, Make sure you eat your fill. Also, Tamine?”

The hazel-eyed boy turned to Yuer, “Yes, Exalted One?”

“On my desk, there is another letter. One that is for you, it contains guidelines to nudge you in the right direction with your research. There is also a commissioned request of mine; I have given you the timeline of a one summer cycle to achieve it. So, work hard. We will continue to communicate through correspondence. Take advantage of your errands outside of the Temple to send me any updates. Make sure the Tewekaga doesn’t know it. I will have someone deliver you your monthly pay when I am no longer in the capital. They will also bring you any instructions I might send you.”

Tamine bowed, a grateful smile broke across his otherwise serious face, “Yes, Exalted one, I appreciate everything that you have done for me and I promise I shall do my very best to meet your expectations.”

Yuer smiled, “Good, good.”

The youth then walked to Sakina, “The Dasi is out?”

The servant girl affirmed, “Yes, esteemed young master. Esteemed Dasi has left the residence since morning and he is likely to spend the night at the Agriculture Chief’s residence. Winter will be here in two months time and the Agriculture Department is especially busier than most with the storing of food and revision of resources. This is the busiest time for its officials, including esteemed Dasi.”

“I see,” said Yuer who was more than happy not to see that man. However the youth also knew he had to face him tomorrow before the harem Selection. There were certain things that one could not escape.

Just as Sakina expected, Naer didn’t return to the residence and Yuer had to endure a long dinner with Akra that refused to end. Both of them remained silent for most of it but that didn’t account for the wealth of unsaid words that hang between them in the thick, stifling air of the Ayaseen dining hall.

Yuer managed to excuse himself by pretending to be sleepy and waning to read a bit in his bed before escaping the clutches of that hall and its occupant. He requested Sakina to light three one-hour candles, and waited for each of them to melt all the way down, one after the other. Once the last candle melted into nothing, he asked Sakina to quickly survey the courtyard under the guise of bringing water. Once he was reassured that the residence was asleep, he took Sakina and walked to the servants’ quarters where he met Hasha and Tamine, both of whom were draped in long, grey cloaks similar to the one Sakina had donned on herself.

He guided them to his courtyard’s garden which was at the corner of the residence where its northern and eastern walls met.

He nodded to Hasha who stepped forward. She arranged Sakina, Tamine and herself in a neat close line and conjured her Earth Echo. She erected the flat ground beneath their feet shaping it into a rising plateau which eventually matched the height of the northern outer wall of the residence. As soon as each one of them jumped from the plateau to the thick residence wall with the width of two arms, the plateau crumbled down the ground, swallowed once more by the flat ground.

Yuer watched the three disappear from above the wall, turned around and returned to his inner chamber. The little boy had long fallen asleep on Yuer’s bed after several writing lessons. The older youth didn’t wish to disrupt his sound sleep so he moved to his outer chamber where he busied himself with practicing the steps to his great and long awaited ‘dance’.