Oshrit and Eskinder slunk off into the night. Xerxes wasn’t convinced that the incident would result in them staying away from him. Growing up in Harborview on Mannemid, he’d known plenty of individuals with personalities similar to Eskinder. He was the kind of person whose quest for vengeance would only end in death: either Xerxes’ or his own. What was more, now that had been defeated twice by Xerxes, he wouldn’t attempt to gain the upper hand in a duel. Whether it was poison, an ambush by hired killers, or something else, it would surely be an underhanded tactic.

Hopefully we can get out of this city before it becomes an issue.

He made his way back to the appointed meeting spot without further incident. Katayoun was waiting for him at the smoking cafe, at a table overlooking the water. When she saw him approaching, her face lit up. He kissed her and sat down.

“We were starting to get worried,” she said.

“Sorry. Things just happened one after another. I talked to Gandy, and I know what we’re supposed to do next.”

“Good. Did you hear about the incident?”

“Incident? No….”

“Abhorrent attack to the north of the city. Everybody’s talking about it. A big checkpoint on the road between Puabi and Eresh was overrun. A bunch of people died.”

“Shit, why didn’t they say something to me?”

She shrugged. “Word on the street isn’t good. People aren’t happy. They think the loyalists and the sheikists are more concerned about who’s in charge than they are preparing to defend the city.”

Xerxes thought about the procession he’d encountered and wondered if that had something to do with the incident. “They’re probably right. Regardless, we need to move quickly. There’s something we have to get our hands on. A key. Where are Kash and Dasi?”

“Gambling,” she replied with a smile.

“Let’s get them and then find somewhere private. I’ll explain everything.”

Once they were together back at the smoking cafe, he went into all the details. There was a lot to unpack, so much so that it took nearly an hour to go through the basics. They went on to talk about possible plans going forward. The biggest piece of the puzzle was missing; where exactly was the statue with the key?

Without that piece of information, it wasn’t possible to make any definitive plans. They eventually came to an agreement on the next step. Tomorrow, Xerxes and Kashtiliash would go back to the inner city looking for the key. Katayoun and Dasi would prowl the city in the hopes of somehow finding some magical resources. For instance, some Concentrated Melam Pills. At the moment, Dasi was still too low on melam to use any of her shapeshifting abilities. And given that they needed to ‘liberate’ a key from the sheik, those abilities could very well come in handy.

As Katayon led Xerxes down the hall toward their room, he said, “It’s all coming together. We’ll be done here soon.”

“I know. Done and back through the Gateway.”

**

Early in the morning, a scream from the streets woke them.

Xerxes looked out of the latticed window and saw people hurrying back and forth everywhere. “Something happened,” he said.

Katayoun sat up in the bed next to him. “What is it?”

“Not sure. Let’s go down and see if we can get any news.” He climbed out and started dressing. Katayoun provided him with a silver chain that he put around his neck. If he did manage to get the key, that would be the place he put it.

In the common room, one of the serving girls explained. The Abhorrent had finally arrived.

Kashtiliash and Dasi came downstairs as the serving girl finished her story and left to get them food.

“What’s going on?” Dasi asked.

“Abhorrent attack,” Katayoun said. “The horde from up north is finally converging.”

“Shit,” Kashtiliash said.

Xerxes tapped the table. “It’s not unexpected. And it shouldn’t interfere with our situation. Let’s get to the keep and find that key. Then once they transfer Black Jackal, we can get out of here.”

“What about the Unsighted?” asked Dasi.

Xerxes had shoved that issue to the back of his mind. Bringing the Unsighted with them on the journey back to the Gateway would make things go much more slowly. However, Xerxes was loath to truly abandon them. “It’ll be Gandy’s call. He’s still in charge.”

They ate quickly, then Kashtiliash and Xerxes left for the inner city.

The streets weren’t exactly in chaos, but they felt different from before. People walked faster. Less people talked. Xerxes thought back to the capital city of Mannemid, and how everything had seemed strange during the Abhorrent invasion.

With the pass he’d been given, they got through the inner wall gate, then made their way toward the keep.

Inside, a sergeant met them with an apologetic look. “Seer Yahel said she’s running behind schedule, and asked you to wait in the Corn Courtyard.”

“Where’s that?” Xerxes asked.

“Just around the corner. I’ll take you.”

They followed the sergeant through a few corridors, then out into a wide courtyard. “This isn’t it,” the sergeant said. “It’s on the other side.”

As they crossed the courtyard, Xerxes looked over and saw a group of servants loading some items onto a cart. One of which was a statue of a tree. A bronze tree, festooned with keys. He nearly tripped over his own feet.

“Say, Sergeant, what’s going on over there?”

The sergeant stopped walking and tucked his fingers into his belt as he looked across the courtyard. “Oh that? They’re loading up the ransom. Er—” he licked his lips “—the payment for that Captain Gandash of yours. To get him back from the rebels. The sheik’s handing over a bunch of old artistic type stuff. Vases. Statues and the like.”

Xerxes glanced at Kashtiliash out of the corner of his eye. The bearded mage was already looking at him.

“Nothing much to look at, Sir Mage,” the sergeant said. “This way.”

As the sergeant trotted onward, Xerxes watched as three servants threw a tarp over the bronze tree statue.

Dammit, so close. He was tempted to simply run over to the tree right then and there. However, it would have made a scene, and that wasn’t what he was aiming for.

After another set of corridors, they were in a much smaller side courtyard. Ceramic tiles covered the walls, with a motif of a corn harvest. The sergeant had them sit at a table at stone benches, then stood casually off to the side.

Xerxes rested his chin on his hand and leaned his head forward.

You saw it, he projected to Kashtiliash, more of a statement than a question.

Yeah. It’s right there. For the taking.

Except we can’t just go over and grab it. The existence of the Key is supposed to be a big secret. Any ideas?

Kashtiliash only shook his head.

Xerxes looked over at the sergeant. If they could get rid of the man, it wouldn’t be difficult to simply run back into that courtyard. Then maybe he could create a distraction and grab the key. If only Dasi could be here with enough melam to do some shapeshifting.

“I need to take a piss,” Kashtiliash said loudly. He stood.

The sergeant looked over. “Oh. Er…”

Kashtiliash took a step toward the corner of the courtyard. “I could do it here, if you want.”

“No!” the sergeant yelped. “No, that’s not necessary. The latrine is just down that corridor. Turn left, go straight, then right, and after that….” The sergeant cleared his throat. “Never mind, I’ll just take you.” He looked at Xerxes. “Sir Mage, can you just stay put until Seer Yahel comes?”

“Of course, Sergeant,” Xerxes said. Good thinking, Kash.

Kashtiliash followed the sergeant out of the courtyard. The moment they were gone, Xerxes stood and raced back the way they’d come, using all the High Seer speed he dared to draw on.

Seconds later, he was in the doorway looking out into the courtyard. The carts and servants were still there. By now, about half the carts were full, leaving a large pile of various items waiting to be loaded onto the empty ones. He could see the top-heavy shape that was the bronze tree. How could he get to it?

He looked around the courtyard, hoping to find something he could use as a distraction. Could he knock down a pillar? Somehow start a fire?

Before he could decide on a course of action, movement attracted his attention from the far side of the courtyard. Out of the same doorway he, Kashtiliash and the sergeant had just come through minutes before, appeared Seer Yahel.

Dammit.

She hurried over to the carts, where she exchanged some words with some of the servants, and made a cursory inspection of some of the loaded carts.

Then she turned and started heading to where Xerxes lurked in the shadows.

Suppressing a sigh of disappointment, he went back to the corn-themed courtyard and sat back at the bench.

Yahel arrived moments later. “Hello, Seer Xerxes. Er… you came alone?”

He flashed a smile. “High Seer Kashtiliash had to visit the facilities. I’m sure he’ll be back in a moment.”

She sat across from him at the table. “In that case, we’ll just wait. I have a lot planned for you today.”

“I look forward to it. Er, Seer… is there any news about the Abhorrent?”

“They’re gathering,” she said. “But I wouldn’t worry about it. Eresh fell because of poor leadership and crumbling infrastructure. A group of blind bandits could have broken through their city wall. The situation is very different here.”

“Oh.” She’d never seen meteors the size of city blocks falling from the sky and smashing into a city. But for the moment, he bit his tongue.

“Don’t let mundane matters like that worry you. Once High Seer Kashtiliash returns, I’ll take you on the grand tour. We can even go to the city walls if you’d like a firsthand look at what’s going on outside.”

“I think I’d like that.”