It was late at night by the time Yuriko and the others left the Weyr household. Izna’s mother had broken down at the news that her son had been brought to the Traitor’s Gate, which was the name of the prison in the northern district of Salazha. It was the same name as the First Councilor simply because her family was one of the Great Merchant clans that have ruled Haveena since its founding. According to Orrin, anyway.

After her husband and daughter brought her away from the antechamber, Izna’s father returned to thank them for bringing news. He told the twins that they shouldn’t linger here, and return to where they had lodgings. He also firmly rebuffed their attempts to offer help.

“I cannot, in good conscience ask,” the man said grimly. “I will go there at first light.” Sweat beaded on his brow and dripped down his nose from nervousness. “Thank you for letting us know so quickly, if not, I don’t know what will happen to him.”

He was trembling though, and his knees were shaking. Yuriko’s perceptive aura caught all of it while he tried to pretend all would be well. Still, they’d done what they could.

Unless they went to the Traitor’s Gate and broke him out…

Yuriko shook her head. There was no need to do so, unless they had little choice. Still, she couldn’t help but think that this was connected to the nameless. Given what Desire said, Yuriko couldn’t help but think that there was a lead there. People disappearing, and nameless Chaos Lords made from an abominable mixture of multiple Animas…

“We should send Miss Saki to scout this Traitor’s Gate, Yuriko,” Asami said through her wind whisper, “and we should wait in the inn. There’s no safe place to wait, and going there blind isn’t a good idea.”

“I want to see the prison,” Orrin whispered.

“It’s too risky,” Asami said sternly.

“She’s right,” Yuriko said. “I also want to see the prison, but it’s better if we bring Dee along. Maybe she can detect if there are nameless here.”

“So, we’re going back to the inn, just like that?” Orrin huffed, clearly distressed.

Yuriko paused, then asked, “Is Izna a good friend of yours?”

The twins exchanged glances and sighed.

“I guess, yes. A few years back we frequently came down here, and Izna’s family were quite welcoming. He’s a friend, and I can’t just leave him to his fate,” Braden explained.

“Alright, let’s see what we can see then,” Yuriko decided.

“You want to go there?” Asami asked incredulously.

“Yes. Saki, bring us there, then go back to the inn and bring Desire to us.”

“Yes, young mistress.”

With Asami grumbling her complaints, the five of them went through the unlit streets and snuck to the northern district. There were a couple of close calls during their journey when they found themselves in between two converging patrols. They avoided it by shimmying up the building and crossing over it to drop down the next alleyway.

The prison was an entire city block with four pace high stone walls lined with spikes at the top. She could jump over it easily, but the street surrounding it was well-lit There was also a watch post at every corner, and with the riot today, the guards looked alert.

They stayed within the shadows of the alley, though Yuriko was wary of a random patrol. The twins and Asami were suitably cautious and sneaky, but she was feeling ill at ease. They pulled back farther away, having felt something staring at her. The feeling intensified for a few moments before breaking off.

Saki frowned. “That was an alarm formation. Young mistress, you and the others will trip it if we come too close.”

“That can’t be active during the day,” Orrin muttered. “Too much chance of pedestrians tripping it.”

“You’re right, but fewer people come to this block than the others. What now, young mistress?”

“Can you capture one of the patrolmen or guards? Without alerting anyone?” Yuriko ventured.

“You want to interrogate them?” Saki asked with a raised eyebrow. “My memory wipe technique isn’t perfect.”

“I know.” Yuriko sighed. Commanding someone affected by her Mien that deeply to forget her had failed, but she thought of a workaround. “I’ll deal with it. And if it doesn’t work, we can just kill the prisoner,” she continued in a cold tone.

“Alright. Young mistress, and the rest of you, please return to the inn. The streets aren’t a good place for an interrogation. Young mistress, I’ll bring our captive there discreetly.”

Yuriko nodded and the four of them returned to the inn while Saki vanished from sight. Ironically, her attendant actually beat them to the inn, appearing in the boys' room with someone trussed up and had a sack over his head, feigning unconsciousness. Yuriko could easily tell from the even yet deliberate movement of his chest as he breathed. That and his eyes were open underneath the sack.

Sheamus put the captive on a chair, tied him up and gestured for the others to move behind him. Asami’s Animus spread out and coated the walls, door, and windows.

Saki looked at Yuriko for confirmation before pulling the sack off the man. He had been gagged with some bits of cloth cut from his undershirt and some twine.

Yuriko pushed her hood off her face and stared into the man’s eyes. His pupils dilated and his cheeks, already somewhat red from being restrained, turned crimson. She noted other physical reactions, too.

She focused on her Mien, pushing it to envelop and bind the man completely. Her Mien reached over, forming a chain of golden light visible only from the corner of her eyes. The dreamscape didn’t intersect the material realm all that easily. There was no resistance at all. The chains slipped into the guardsman’s Anima and bound his core. In fact, she had the sense that he actually chose to open himself up rather than resist.

She saw the hints of Aspiration behind his eyes, which faded away after a moment. Instead, his entire Anima quivered and bent. She could feel her Mien presenting her with a choice. Take him completely and utterly, or simply touch him. The first option was permanent and pretty abhorrent to Yuriko, even if the man was a member of a state fighting against her own.

She used her kinesis to undo his gag, and the man licked his dry lips, worked his mouth for a few seconds, then asked, “Wh…who are you?”

“That doesn’t matter,” Yuriko said slowly, “Will you answer my questions?”

“Of course.” He broke into a bright smile. He was a young man, probably a decade or so older than she was. Ruggedly handsome, with a square jaw. Clean shaven too, which highlighted an inch-long scar across his left cheek.

“Tell me about the Traitor’s Gate, please.”

He puffed up in pride. “It’s a holding area, impossible to get into and impossible to escape!” he boasted.

“What about the prisoners inside?”

“What about them?” He snorted in derision. “They’ll be moved out soon enough, then the city will be rid of them.”

“Where will they be taken?”

“South. Possibly to Uaran, but only on the way to Ivala.”

“What for?”

“Indentured service.”

“What does that entail?”

“Trench diggers, manual labour. Among other things, I think.”

“You don’t know?”

“It is different for each one…” He hesitated, clearly in conflict with his thoughts.

“What is it?”

“But lately, they are all being sent south, marked for the same destination.”

“Which is?”

“I don’t know the cypher.”

“What else?”

“I know nothing else…” His countenance lowered and he looked on the verge of tears.

Yuriko glanced at the others and nodded. “You will tell no one of me, and what happened here. You will act as if you had not been abducted and were simply indisposed.”

“Yes, mistress.”

“Sleep.”

His eyes closed and his breathing evened out. Saki gagged him and put the sack over his head. Then, she carried him over her shoulders and called the Shadows to conceal both of them.

“That was disturbing,” Asami muttered.

“Hmm?” Yuriko asked.

“The way you commanded him and the way he complied. It was…”

She broke off with a shudder and avoided looking at her. Yuriko looked at Gwendith, who smiled encouragingly. Heron did the same, but the twins, Braden in particular, looked spooked.

Sheamus cleared his throat and said jokingly, to ease the tension, “Much as I’d like your lovely company, I think I’d like to turn in.”

“Oh.”

Yuriko and the other girls shuffled out of the room, each with heavy thoughts. Yuriko shivered as she considered what she had done. The marauder before had been the first she actively used her Mien on. It had been a bit difficult then, but now…

It was as easy as breathing.

____________

Mid-morning the next day, Yuriko returned to Tackles and Bits to find out if Mr. Weyr managed to get his son out of the Traitor’s Gate.

Apparently not.

The store was open but the attendants inside looked harried and absent-minded. Izna’s sister sat in a corner behind the stall looking at nothing. Yuriko approached the girl and asked, “Your brother?”

“Gone,” the girl choked. “Father said they sent him away.”

“Where is he? Your father, I mean?”

“At the city hall now.”

“I see.” Yuriko murmured, “I’m sorry.”

The girl just shook her head and Yuriko left. She hurried back to the inn and saw her group already at the reception area, waiting for her and Saki to return.

It didn’t take much longer for her attendant to arrive and she said, “There was a convoy of carriages that set out from the prison and headed to the docks. I saw the prisoners loaded into a barge. They set off as I was leaving.”

Yuriko nodded. “Let’s go.”

They filed out of the inn and marched south. They used the main streets this time, and the city seems to have recovered from the havoc yesterday, though the residents still seemed shifty and spooked. There was a steady stream heading towards the gate, however, and the closer they came to it, the slower the flow of traffic became.

Finally, they saw that there was a long line right at the exit. The guards were carefully inspecting and interrogating those leaving. In fact, Yuriko saw that they often pulled people out of line and brought them into a building off the side of the gate.

She noted that the people being taken looked like farmers, refugees, or the poor. Foreigners too, she thought when one woman who wasn’t dressed in a poncho was led away.

“Do we…?” Braden asked nervously.

“No,” Yuriko answered. “We’re already behind.”

“What are you going to do?” Asami asked.

“What I have to do.”

Yuriko took a deep breath. She thought back to how her Mum used her Mien. A simple command, given with absolute confidence. It was either that or they try to sneak away during the night.

When they reach the gate and the guards barred their way, she simply looked at them, pushed back her hood enough to expose her face, her real one and not the illusion Desire usually put over her. She released her hold on her Mien, then said, “Let us through.”

Both guards froze, their expressions changing from confusion to anger, to surprise, then adoration. Yuriko felt the same choice the moment her Mien made a connection, and of course, she chose a temporary bond. The guards smiled and parted, gesturing for them to proceed. Yuriko whispered as she passed them, “Tell no one about this.”

But of course, there was no way that would cover everything up. There were dozens of witnesses not to mention even more guards. But the fact that they had been let through meant that the other guards wouldn’t interfere. Not immediately anyway.

With her heart racing, Yuriko pulled her hood over her face again to hide it and then walked steadily past the gate. She half expected an outcry to happen, and every shift she could perceive through her aura made her want to bolt. Her friends were equally nervous, too, but a few minutes later, they were through.

____________

In an enclosed room several blocks from the Traitor’s Gate, a weary man with dark hair and eyes poured over a pile of reports. Hundreds of scrolls crossed his desk every day, and all of them were urgent and important. And upon his shoulders rested the security of his nation.

Lawrence Tang, the Haveenian Security Director, drew a heavy pull from his pipe. The smoke calmed him down, though he suspected it was the reason why he had such nerves to begin with.

He took a new scroll and opened it, skimming through the details. It was from his counterpart in the city-state of Garamus and was an update on an important incursion into the bowels of the plane.

His bound spirit twinged and he frowned. He pulled another scroll from a different pile, opened it and reviewed the details. This one was a report on the battlefront. His frown deepened, then he cursed as his powerful intuition screamed at him. His hands flew towards a fresh scroll delivered just a moment ago, about a certain operative that had been missing from his unit and found with his mind nearly shattered.

He grabbed all three scrolls and rushed out of his office and hurried to the palace. He hated being forced to leave his office during the day because it was usually when he carried bad news. He only hoped the First Councilor was in a better mood today.