“Even if a situation looked like it was headed to the best possible solution, prepare for the worst possibility nonetheless. That way one wouldn’t be caught off guard when it inevitably happened.” - Old folk saying.

“Your Excellencies,” greeted Zayid once they were in his private room, which had been enchanted against eavesdropping in several ways. Zayid had recognized Aideen pretty early on, and it had not taken him long to guess that whoever was being accompanied by Aideen herself must be no small fry either. As such, he had always treated the three of them with great deference and respect.

“Zayid,” greeted Aideen back with a nod. The three of them sat cross-legged on cushions laid out on the floor of the room as was the local style. “We just returned yesterday, and only wanted to ask you one question today.”

“Please ask your question, Your Excellency. I shall strive to answer it as best I can,” replied the crime lord of Shahadur with a humble bow. From their short acquaintance, Aideen had learned that the crime lord was surprisingly a religious man, a devout worshiper of Tohrmut. He had also spent some years of his youth in the Lichdom itself, which apparently left him with very deep impressions and a nearly blind sense of loyalty to the nation.

“Why?” asked Aideen simply. “From what the three of us have seen, you, or rather, your organization clearly have enough power to simply lay low and stay out of this civil war,” she added with some curiosity. “I believe most people in your position would have done just that, even if your loyalty was not bound to another nation to begin with.”

“A fair question, Your Excellency,” replied Zayid with a nod of his own. “If I have to outline my motivations to throw my lot into this civil war, then I would have to elaborate a bit on several things that led me to that decision. The pragmatic answer is that this is an opportunity to allow my people a new chance at a proper life, as well as increasing our general influence on the Emirate’s society in an open and aboveboard way, which I believe does not contradict my mission here on behalf of His Holiness the Bone Lord.”

“I would agree to that interpretation. There is no harm in having some of you in a position of great influence if it is possible to reach it,” said Aideen with an understanding nod. “Carry on.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“A more emotional reason would be because I am all too aware of the nature of the brothers vying for the Emir’s throne,” stated Zayid confidently. “The older brother is a selfish, small-minded boor and barbarian who would stoop to any depths to satisfy his desires. It probably wouldn’t surprise you that he used to frequent establishments under my jurisdiction… In hindsight I regret not having someone slip a dagger into the base of his skull back in those days…”

“As for the young Emir, he’s almost a polar opposite of his older brother,” continued Zayid. “The young man is… for the lack of a better word, too nice for this world, much less for a leader to be. If there was anything good that came from this conflict, it would be the wake up call the young Emir received as to the nature of this world we live in. The kid was far too nice, far too trusting. He probably wouldn’t have lasted long if his brother chose more discreet, insidious ways to contest his position rather than an open rebellion.”

“I’ve seen his type several times in my travels, yeah,” nodded Aideen with sympathy. “Sometimes being a good person is detrimental, unfortunately. I definitely could see why you favor him over his brother, though.”

“There is also a third, personal reason behind my action, Your Excellencies,” supplied Zayid honestly. “Before I explain the details, I trust that Your Excellencies have met with my nieces by now, yes? The three of them are going to be my successors, which was part of the reason I had them travel with Your Excellencies.”

“Yes, we have met them. Good girls, they seem pretty focused and devoted, too,” noted Aideen. The leader of the group she had traveled with was a young assassin who was one of Zayid’s aforementioned nieces. The other two had led the groups Kino and Eilonwy had been in. While Aideen and the others couldn’t say they knew those girls well, they had also gained some understanding of them after working together for two weeks.

Of course, the girls had also notified Aideen and the rest of their allegiance shortly after they met, which helped smooth things out as well.

“My own offspring weren't up to the task, so I had sent those three girls to the Holy Land when they were young to see the splendors with their own eyes,” explained Zayid. “Other than the three girls and my own two disappointing offspring, I have another relative, a late sister who is a good bit younger than I am, and through her, a nephew.”

“Oh?”

“That nephew of mine happened to be the young Emir,” said Zayid as he closed his statement with a surprising bit of information. “My younger sister was a famous courtesan in the Emirate, so famed that she even caught the eye of the previous Emir himself. While my sister unfortunately passed away during childbirth, the Emir had always doted on her son, who is the current young Emir.”

“The young Emir himself is unaware of our… familial relationship, and I intend to keep things that way, maybe until I’m at my deathbed,” continued Zayid somewhat passionately. “It is probably the main reason I had thrown the full force of my organization behind him. I couldn’t bear to leave my younger sister’s only child to suffer under his half-brother’s tyranny. If Your Excellencies wish to blame me for mixing in personal feelings and duties, I will accept all responsibilities. My nieces should be able to handle things even without me.”