Xerxes didn’t pay attention as they made camp that night. He knew he should meditate, or study the Asgagu Sebum rune. But there was no way he could calm himself enough for either activity.

As he lay out his bedroll, he noticed someone had cleaned his sword for him. He suddenly wondered where all the bodies were.

“Left ‘em behind,” Aniskipel explained. “Captain said she’d go back later.”

“What about Bel?” Xerxes asked numbly. “And the Abhorrent?”

“Lowered some tarps weighted with rocks to cover them.”

Now Xerxes started thinking about what the animals would do to Bel’s body. It made him so sick he couldn’t stop tossing and turning. He was tired of sleeping on a bedroll. He wanted to be back home in the capital. To have dinner with his parents and sister, then snuggle in a blanket while wind whistled across the paving stones of the city streets.

Eventually, he fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning when he woke, he realized their convoy was sharing a roadside campground with some other travelers. It looked like a group of families, traveling with mules and a wagon.

Xerxes stared at them without realizing what he was doing, until one soldier said, “Come eat.”

It was Shiram from Squad Two, who made a nice spicy porridge. Everyone was circled around, including Captain Ishki and the sergeants, but not Gandash, who lay in his bedroll unmoving.

Xerxes reached over and touched his friend’s shoulder gently. “Food’s ready,” he said quietly, expecting Gandash to still be sleeping.

Instead, Gandash replied, “I’m good.”

He sounded perfectly awake. Xerxes suppressed the urge to press him to eat, and instead just said, “Gotcha.”

He quickly did his morning prayer, then headed over to the campfire. There, the soldiers ate Shiram’s porridge and chatted in low tones.

“I talked to one of them when I went down to get some water,” Shiram was saying.

“Them campers?” asked Jarad from Squad Three.

“Yeah. They’re from the capital. Said things aren’t looking too ‘ot there.”

Captain Ishki looked up. “How, exactly?”

Shiram looked uncertain. “Sorry, Captain, I didn’t press for detail. ‘E just said they thought it best to leave before things got really bad, as ‘e said.”

Ishki looked at Tamharu, and he looked back at her.

“Captain, shall I…?” Tamharu said.

She nodded.

He quickly finished his breakfast, then walked casually over to the other campers and started making conversation.

A few minutes later, he returned. Sitting, he kept his voice low and said, “There’ve been incidents in the capital,” he said. “Rumors of riots. Murders. That sort of thing. But nobody seems to know what’s actually going on. Those folks—” he gestured across the campground with his thumb “—are convinced it’s the Cult of the Eternal Father.”

“The Eternal Father cult?” said Sergeant Aniskipel. “They’re more active in the capital than people believe.”

“You have experience with them?” Captain Ishki asked.

“Yep,” Aniskipel said with a click of his tongue. “In my younger days, I was assigned to ‘Igh Seer Ninsunu, although that was back before she was an ‘Igh Seer. Remember that fellow from Fal she arrested?”

“Hillalum,” Xerxes said, remembering the story told by Gandash a few days before.

“Yeah, that one,” Aniskipel said. “Well, ‘e was deep in the cult. ‘Course that was before my time. But even years later, ‘Igh Seer Ninsunu was still trying to track down leads from Fal, and I was there. Arrested quite a few, and killed more than one or two.”

The soldiers lapsed into silence.

When Captain Ishki finished her meal, she got to her feet. “It doesn’t bode well. An Abhorrent shows up, maybe more than one? Then Eternal Father Cult activity in the capital?” She frowned. “Let’s get going. I want to make good time today.”

And they did.

Signs of civilization grew more and more prevalent, and as the terrain and climate changed, Xerxes’ suddenly realized how much he wanted to be home. His thirst for adventure had been sated, and in fact, he now had no desire for anything even resembling adventure.

Worse, the thought of Abhorrent in the capital made him think about all his friends and family there. His father, mother, and sister. The disciples he trained swords with. The mages who had taught and tutored him. Were they in danger?

He rode next to Gandash now. It was hard to determine what was going on with his friend. He didn’t slump in the saddle like he had immediately following the incident at the bridge. But his gaze was vacant. He hardly spoke more than a word or two in response to most questions.

When they took a short break halfway to lunch, Tamharu pulled Xerxes aside and suggested to give Gandash space.

He took the advice. He rode next to him, occasionally offered a few words here and there, but did little else. At lunch, Gandash ate, so that was good.

Traffic began to get heavier the further they got into the interior of the kingdom. However, it didn’t take long for them to realize that virtually all of it was headed in the opposite direction as them.

Inquiries were made, and it became more clear than ever that there was unrest of some sort in the capital. Tamharu was usually the one who dug for information, and each time he came back with different stories and opinions.

“I keep hearing about riots,” he said. “But no clear explanation why there are riots. I heard an inn collapsed with everyone inside it. Someone claims a killer stalks the streets. It’s impossible to tell what’s real and what’s made up.”

“Any further mention of cultists?” Ishki asked.

“Yeah.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Me either. There’s one thing for certain: more and more people are leaving.”

That night, they camped outside of town in an area with at least eight other traveling groups.

Before, Captain Ishki had been worried that questions might be asked about the load they bore. But nobody asked, or even seemed to care. The talk in the camp was all about the activity in the capital.

“Captain, mind if I stretch my legs?” Xerxes asked after dinner.

“Go ahead. But stick close and keep your mouth shut about everything, understood?”

“Understood.”