Xerxes and Kashtiliash didn’t discuss the matter until they were back at Zaidu’s tavern, in a corner booth with ales in front of them.

“What the hell happened?” Kashtiliash said.

Xerxes took a long sip of ale. It was more earthy compared to the ale on Sin-Amuhhu or even Mannemid for that matter, but he didn't care. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

“Probably politics.”

“What do you mean?”

“Factions. Scheming. That stuff happens in war.”

Xerxes thought about it. “The mission did have something to do with nobility. Let’s wait until Kat and Dasi get back. They might have found out something else.”

They didn’t have to wait long. The two women returned less than fifteen minutes later. Spotting Xerxes and Kashtiliash in the booth, they sat.

“Did you hear the news?” Katayoun asked. “About Gandy and the others?”

“That they got arrested?” Xerxes said.

“We heard.” Katayoun turned and waved at the only waiter on duty. “More ale,” she said.

“We couldn’t get any details about the circumstances,” Xerxes continued. “What about you?”

“We heard a few different stories,” Dasi said. “But in all versions, Gandy and Black Jackal ended up captured by loyalists.”

“Who?” Kashtiliash asked.

“There are two main factions vying for control of the city,” Katayoun explained. “The local nobility, headed by Sheik Hatim. And loyalists who side with the Mage Parliament from the capital.”

“Well shit,” Xerxes said. “Monsters are raining down from the sky, wiping out entire towns and cities, and they’re sitting around arguing about who’s in charge?”

Kashtiliash made a spitting sound. “Nobles.”

“Exactly,” Dasi said.

The server brought two more ales. Katayoun and Dasi took theirs.

“Cheers,” Kasthiliash said.

They drank.

“What’s worse,” Dasi said, “is that the city to the north, Eresh, has been written off as lost to the Abhorrent. At least, that’s what people are saying. And the mages here haven’t done jack shit about it. The attacks started in small waves. Then it turned into a tsunami. Some people escaped, but the stream of refugees stopped about two days ago. Now everyone’s expecting that tsunami to head in this direction.”

Xerxes tilted his head. “What did you say that city was called?”

“Eresh.”

It triggered a memory for Xerxes.

“Just don’t forget me on your way back from Puabi,” the constable Daniyel had said. “That is where you’re heading, isn’t it?”

“We’re actually traveling to the city of Eresh,” Gandash had replied, “north of Puabi….”

Was it possible the constable Daniyel had been part of it all? Who else had been privy to their travel plans, other than the elite members of the military and the Parliament on Sin-Amuhhu?

“What are you thinking?” Katayoun asked.

He blinked. “Nothing that matters right now. Our next step is obvious. We have to get to Gandash. Any chance you figured out where he is?”

Dasi shook her head. “Not exactly. But the city is basically split by the river. The west side, which we’re on, is loyalist territory. The other side is controlled by Sheik Hatim.”

“That explains what happened to Gandy,” Xerxes said. “He went to the main gate just like we did. Which is on the west side of the river. He walked right into loyalist territory. Probably got identified and led into a trap of some sort.”

Kashtiliash took a sip of ale, then, keeping his head lowered and voice down, said, “We should watch what we say.”

Dasi looked furtively out at the common room. “Good point.”

“We still have a few hours left to prowl the streets before the curfew,” Xerxes said. “Should we go back out and dig for some more information?”

“Yeah,” Katayoun said. “Should we start with him?” She nodded her shoulder slightly to indicate the owner of the establishment, Zaidu, who was tending the bar.

“Too risky,” Kashtiliash said.

“I agree,” Dasi added. “We have no idea where his loyalties lie. Say the wrong thing, we could end up right next to Gandy in jail.”

“I vote the same,” Xerxes said. “So let’s head back out for another two hours and ask some questions. Same teams as before?”

The female mages nodded, and they dispersed again.

**

The second trip was even less fruitful than the first. They gathered tidbits of information and details, but nothing actionable. For instance, it seemed certain that Gandash and the rest of Black Jackal were inside the inner wall, which was also where the main keep was. They also learned that the loyalist faction was led by a High Seer named Arshaka.

They determined the basic layout of the inner city, which consisted of four sections: Brightsword Ward, Sapphire Village, Water Town, and the Market Warren. The first two locations were in loyalist territory, while the other two were controlled by Sheik Hatim. Also, the keep was in Water Town.

After meeting back shortly before curfew, they discussed their options.

Getting past the inner wall required a special pass that cost twenty shekels. It seemed primarily a way to keep out the low class citizens. Neither Kashtiliash, Katayoun, nor Dasi had that much money on them. However, Xerxes still had some of Purattu’s loan money left, as well as some of the savings his parents had given him.

It made his heart sink to consider spending it on a silly pass, but the alternative was sneaking inside. And security on the inner wall was even tighter than on the outer wall. In the end, they agreed that Xerxes would buy the pass and go through the inner wall to look around. First thing in the morning.

They rose early. Katayoun accompanied Xerxes to buy the entrance pass. As it turned out, the process was more complicated than simply handing over money. There was an interview process that caught Xerxes by surprise. They wanted to know how he got the money, and what his business was past the inner wall. He made up a story about being a sword dealer looking for quality longswords. By throwing in some of the terminology he knew, he convinced the interviewer and got the pass.

Less than twenty minutes later, he was making his way through the gate of the inner wall. That was when he found out that, if he’d wanted, he could have brought his longsword. As long as you had a pass, you could bring weapons. Presumably the heavy presence of the city guardsmen was why. They were in pairs at every intersection, and also patrolling the streets.

Xerxes had grown up in the slums of Harborview. But he’d prowled the rest of the capital city in his years. He’d been to Garden Terrace, sometimes with Gandash, and sometimes alone. He knew how to carry himself.

He walked with confidence, not looking at anything, yet at the same time, using his peripheral vision to study everything.

He headed east until he hit the river. To the right, the river went under the wall. To the left, it snaked through the buildings. From his vantage point, Xerxes could see two bridges. He walked along the ‘waterfront,’ stopping every so often to lean out over the water. Before long, he could see the main keep rising up in the distance, on the other side of the water.

About an hour later, he’d gone from the south part of the interior wall to the north part.

This place isn’t that big.

From the north, he made his way along the wall back to the gate he’d entered through. That took a bit longer. But at least he had a better idea of the general layout and size.

Alright, let’s see if I can find a good place to start asking questions.

Rich neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods were similar in many ways. Often, both had easy access to gambling halls and brothels. The difference was how much money you needed to patronize such locations.

At the moment, Xerxes didn’t want to spend any money that he didn’t have to. So he wandered the streets in seemingly random fashion, while in reality criss-crossing the west side of the inner city in a way that would allow him to get an overview of the entire place.

After another hour, he’d seen about a quarter of the city from the south up. Of course, there were plenty of locations that were off limits. Entire blocks were walled off and gated. There were streets or alleyways controlled by heavily armed guards.

Bit by bit, he was working his way through everything he could.

On the very north section of Brightsword Ward, he found something very suspicious.

It was a nondescript five-story building occupying an entire quarter of a city block. It had gray walls with no windows on the first two floors, and barred windows above that. But it was the spell formations ‌that stood out to him.

Mage sight revealed a complex network of glowing light that covered the entire first floor. He had to double back before confirming there was only one entrance, that being a heavy wood door on the south side of the building. It was unguarded, but mage sight confirmed that it had a huge concentration of spell formations.

Not being particularly proficient in spell formations, he wasn’t sure what they were. But one thing was obvious; this place was supposed to be secure against incursions by mages.

He left the area and went back to the river for about twenty minutes before circling back. Across the street from the five-story building was a three-story tavern. He went inside, climbed to the third floor, and took a seat at a window that gave him a good view.

Sipping an ale, he watched the place. There were no signs of life or movement.

Maybe it’s nothing. A storage location for weapons and medicinal pills.

Then he saw movement in a third-floor window. Someone was inside. He narrowed his eyes in the hopes of making out more details.

Someone approached the barred window. A man, with numerous facial piercings.

Ningsummunu!

It was definitely the Sin-Masu mage, though he had several days’ worth of facial hair that he usually kept shaved.

I found them.

But now what? Ningsummunu left the window after a few minutes, and after that there wasn’t any movement.

Xerxes ordered food and thought as he ate.

An hour later, there still wasn’t any movement, and he had no ideas. The server took away his dishes and brought another ale.

Xerxes tapped the table as he eyed the building. The server brought the ale.

“Say,” Xerxes asked, “is there a place around here that sells paper and ink?”

“Sure, two blocks down.”

“Hold this table for me, I’ll be right back.”

“You can’t just leave….”

“Right. Here.” He threw some minas on the table, plus extra. “Is that enough? I want this same table when I get back.”

“Sure.”

Fifteen minutes later, he was back with a few sheets of parchment paper and some writing utensils. Thinking back to the Rabya’s classes, he used a simple cipher to encode a message.

It’s me, X. Can you get a message to G. I’m here with a few others. What can I do?

Taking the paper, he folded it in half, then stuck a narrow piece of sharpened wood in the crease. He also put in a very small packet of dry ink. Then he proceeded to fold the paper several times in a specific way.

This is probably a dumb plan. In fact, I know it’s dumb.

Sometimes, dumb ideas were the only ones that worked. After finishing the world, he had a small paper bird.

Waiting until the server had left the room, and after making sure no other patrons were watching, he stuck his arm out the window and tossed the bird. Then he prepared to rush down the stairs and out onto the street in case it missed its target.

It flew straight, then veered to the left.

Shit.

A gust of wind spun it to the right. It reached the window, going right through the bars.

I can’t believe it worked. Seriously.

A moment later, Ningsummunu’s face appeared. Xerxes put his hand out the window with two fingers raised. The Sin-Masu mage saw him and nodded.

Then Xerxes waited.

The server came back a few minutes later.

“Found the paper, I see,” he said.

“Oh yeah,” Xerxes said. “I’m just in the mood for poetry. Could I have one last ale?”

“Sure.”

The server left, and Xerxes scratched a line of poetry onto the paper that he remembered from classes on Sin-Amuhhu.

Minutes ticked by.

And then a paper bird flew out of the window across the street. The wind caught it, and it fell to the pavement below.

Shit.

He got to his feet and was leaving just as the server returned with another ale.

“Sir?” the server said.

“Uh.” Xerxes paused, grabbed some minas and handed them to the server. “Put it on my table. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

He ran down the stairs.