One Sun to light the world each day

One Sun to shine on as we play

One Sun to keep the dark at bay

One Sun to watch us as we pray

— Empire of the Sun, Children's Rhyme

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"Do you trust that man?" Lyka's tone was flat after they walked out of the room together.

"Primrose made a decision." Shurra kept her eyes firmly ahead of her.

"If Prim and this Molam are wrong," Lyka looked about to confirm if there were any others nearby, then lowered her voice, "We won't have much recourse, will we?"

Shurra rounded on Lyka, stopping the both of them in their tracks. The Northerner's voice lowered. "Speak your mind, Lyka."

Lyka raised her chin to look up at the tall Northerner. "We're trusting our lives to an untested man. Aren't you Northerners supposed to only trust those that have feats and merits?"

"Being acknowledged by Primrose is a feat. More so if he is truly selected by the Oracle." Shurra's expression stayed neutral. "Unlike the Sand Dwellers of Oasis, my people prefer to be on the initiative. Sticking your head into the sand does nothing about the Bloody Prince."

Lyka bit the inside of her cheek, but found a heavy hand on her shoulder. Spinning around, she was greeted by Kalle's bearded face.

"That's quite the murderous look you have there, Lyka." The alchemist greeted her with a cheery smile. "We're one group here, yes? Remember that Primrose told us before we joined: our backgrounds don't matter here. We work together to achieve greater things."

"You were born a Northerner. Stop acting like you aren't one of them."

Kalle's face darkened and his eyes darted to Shurra before he responded. "I'm an alchemist now."

"Primrose is the only one of us that can See, too, so how do we know if he's truly sent by the Oracle or not?" Lyka glowered at Kalle, leaning against the wooden wall with her spear tucked into the crook of her arm. "He doesn't look like a fighter either. How convenient and absolutely useless for when we enact his 'plan.' And if he's wrong, we all die?"

"We can't always agree with Primrose's decisions, but we are better off committing to them. That's the whole point of being one group. I'd have thought you understood that, Lyka." Kalle frowned. "You've followed and protected Primrose longer than I have. Did you suddenly realize that this is dangerous?"

"Prim has shown she is qualified. Molam is unknown!" Lyka stamped her spear into the floor to emphasize her point. A side door opened and a curious head poked into their hallway. Kalle waved at the man cheerfully, then gestured to the three of them hosting a discussion before the head nodded and closed the door again.

"Lyka, outbursts are for the meeting room." Kalle said mildly. "Primrose would frown at this poor behavior in front of the others."

"Poor behavior," Lyka snorted. "Wait until the group hears that someone untested will soon make life and death decisions for us?"

Shurra crossed her arms and turned to Kalle as well. "We were discussing Molam's lack of meaningful merit."

Kalle's cheerful face turned to one of somber seriousness. "Lyka is not from the Northern Plains, so she wouldn't know, but Shurra, you know what the mark of the Oracle means, surely?"

"He's met the Oracle. So?" Lyka crossed her arms as well. "Millions visit Sanctuary every year."

"And how many actually meet the Oracle? She's not someone you meet based on connections, wealth, or power." Kalle looked at Lyka, "The Lord of Sands has never been granted an audience with the Oracle. None of the mursashu have ever been allowed to meet the Oracle either, and that is their hereditary wish. Isn't it one of the most famous sayings? 'Only the rich are qualified to tell you what money cannot buy?' The Lord of Sands and none of the three Mursa have qualified for a meeting with the Oracle, yet Molam has been granted the Oracle's mark."

"Unless that means he's a full Titled One and can keep us alive from the Tempest, this means little to me or anyone else for that matter. We earned our position being auramasters." Lyka threw Kalle a look. "Or in your case, an accomplished alchemist," she amended.

Kalle's gaze fell on Shurra even as he spoke to Lyka, "The Frozen Saint was the last known person to carry the Oracle's mark. For it to appear again means that the Oracle herself is acting, even if only through a proxy."

"Yes, a tremendous accomplishment considering the Frozen Saint's well-known current predicament." Lyka exhaled a laugh, "The Oracle sits in her mountain and makes us do her bidding, only for even Titled Ones to fail all the same."

"You speak as someone that has clearly not seen the depths of the Glacial Chasm or the aftermath of their battle," Shurra leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. "But at least the Frozen Saint was worthy enough to have met the Oracle. Frozen or not, she is still alive after fighting the Bloody Prince and only so many can claim that as an achievement. And what has your precious Lord of Sands accomplished?"

Lyka growled. "You Northern savages are all the same, always thinking that fighting is the only —"

Kalle stepped in between them, a firm hand reaching out to ensure that Lyka's spear stayed where it was. "To reiterate my point, the Oracle's mark is an accomplishment by itself. Shurra, you should know of the legend where the Frozen Saint united the Northern Tribes. That was the trial required for the Frozen Saint to receive the Oracle's mark. I imagine Molam did not receive the Oracle's mark without overcoming a trial."

Shurra's eyebrows came close together and even Lyka exhaled with momentary surprise. Though the tales of the Frozen Saint were not often told in the Endless Sands, her accomplishment as the Frost Saint uniting the scattered Northern Tribes under one banner to meet the Empire's Northern Conquest was still well known. That the Northern Tribes could even be united was something the Red Emperor was said to have failed to do.

"This is true?" Shurra asked in a low voice.

"It's recorded in many Libraries, including the archives of the Fallen Star Pavilion," Kalle stepped backwards from Lyka, but his eyes were still focused on Shurra. "The tribes value individual merits, but the mark that Molam carries is as good as any tattoo. If it helps," Kalle clasped a forearm with a hand, "Think of it as a tattoo only very few can See. And I know neither of you care for Flangel the Wise, but Molam has Master Flangel's approval as well. That is enough for me."

Lyka's eyes shifted to Shurra, who wasn't looking at her. Shurra's lips were a thin line as her blue eyes contemplated Kalle's disarming smile.

"Now," Kalle continued, "Whether the two of you have fully accepted Molam as part of the leadership or not isn't important right now. The important thing is that Primrose has made a decision, and it's up to us to go about with our tasks. Where we come from isn't important. It's what we are here to do that matters. I believe both of you were given the task to gather information on different sides of the city, correct?"

"I will follow Primrose's lead and see how Molam does, so long as he does not get in my way." Shurra pushed her way past the two of them, leaving first and ducking through the frame. The door closed behind her retreating shadow.

"And what about you, Kalle?" Lyka chose to wait, not wanting to walk out just yet and have Shurra leer at her vulnerability to the cold. She hoped that one day Shurra would be forced into an extended stay in the Endless Sands and she would be there to see how Northerners fared in the heat. "Still making warming stones or refining your fire powder?"

"Flame powder," Kalle corrected her, "If you're this interested, I could show you. In fact, Molam asked me to do something very interesting just now, and if you would just come to my lab and —"

"No, I wouldn't dare intrude upon your work," Lyka shuffled towards the door with haste, extricating herself from the alchemist's passion for his craft, "As long as we're all being useful. I have a duty to perform now, so go have fun with your glass toys."

Without waiting for a response, she pushed her way out of the door and into the cold.

***

As a result of its unique topography and being built right next to the River Jiang, JiangXi had a floodline. Buildings were discouraged from building below the floodline due to near yearly floods from RainBringer, and this forced the people of JiangXi to make full use of the limited space atop the Jadeite Cliffs. This in turn meant that the city lacked an area for the usual slums associated with a city of its size.

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But even the Empire's various initiatives to take care of the needy did not mean that all resources were used efficiently. The City Lord's Mansion sat at the highest point on the Jadeite Cliffs and even the casual observer could see how the buildings became less extravagant as one traveled down the cliffs and approached the water's edge. The docks stood in various states of disrepair despite the importance of JiangXi's river trade. The newest City Lord cited the unpredictable nature of the floods as a reason for the city to not invest in what could easily be destroyed, bidding the trade merchants themselves to invest in the docks if they wished.

A row of cabins lined the edge of the docks and above the water line. Here lived those who could not afford to live higher up on the cliffs, for they could scrounge for work and purpose when the tradeships came in. The cabins were built out of flimsy materials that provided scant shelter; Lyka suspected the residents here did this because it was easier to build newer ones than risk losing it all from a flood that traipsed above the water line.

She passed into the area without a lantern, navigating in the shadows and approaching one of the cabins with boarded windows. With a furtive glance to see that no one followed her, she opened the cabin door and slipped in, not taking off her hood as she soaked in the inner heat of the cabin. Another solitary figure sat hunched over a chair in the room, stoking a flame in the room with metal tongs and did not look up at her entrance.

Lyka kept the door open with one hand, then spoke in a clear voice. "May you prosper under the Sun."

"And may water collect where you rest." The one stoking the fire replied, not turning around. "Close the damn door, it's cold."

Lyka obliged. "A fire at this time? How extravagantly privileged, Agytha."

City Lord Agytha turned around, revealing her striking, dark-skinned face framed by dark brown hair that fell to her neck. Her eyes were golden, heavy-lidded, and almond-shaped above a pointed nose. "And what point is there in being a 'privileged' City Lord if I came here to freeze each Winter's Sorrow? But enough, I cannot be here long; that damned Mursa wants another meeting. Why did you schedule this so abruptly? This better be important."

"Quite a few things, really." Lyka sat down in the other empty chair and pulled back her hood. "Primrose has accepted a man named Molam into the group, supposedly sent by the Oracle herself. And also, the group is staging a jailbreak in three days, looking to capture you then distribute the goods to the city." She leaned forward, basking her hands in the warmth from the crackling fire. "Important enough for you?"

The City Lord didn't respond for a lengthy moment. "And I'm hearing about this now … why?"

"Because the man joined barely two days ago and we were just made aware of the plan this afternoon." A brief pause. "To be specific, this Molam only told us of this this afternoon. Primrose didn't know either."

"Primrose didn't strike me as the type to trust someone that easily."

"She doesn't. But as I said, apparently he carries the Oracle's mark and she has been waiting for him for some time now, so he could join as the strategist. She told me the Oracle would send someone, but it's been so long that..." Lyka rubbed her hands together and shifted her chair closer to the flames, "Well, I guess I had thought it wasn't happening."

Agytha put down the tongs and turned her full attention to the other woman. "Gods be damned, why now? Three years I've been here and now we finally have everything finalized with that cheeky Mursa to get the goods to the Endless Sands." The City Lord's voice turned deadly calm. "There's no guarantee that if we turn the full force of the city guards on the movement, the Oracle would send the Whale of ZhiXia here. Or to Oasis."

Lyka shook her head. "Too risky, especially now that there's two individuals that are here because of the Oracle. You need to bring back the Tempest. It's the only way to put a stop to the plan without directly violating the Lord's agreement with the Bloody Prince," Lyka urged.

"You were supposed to keep Primrose's group in line."

"I can't. Not anymore. 'Controlled opposition' my ass, you were supposed to manage public sentiment much better than this." Lyka hissed at Agytha. "We needed to do this without bloodshed and now everything's gone to shit. If we let too many of the Empire's citizens suffer as a result, the Bloody Prince will turn his sight onto Oasis."

"Is it my fault I couldn't possibly predict that fire in the Slumbering Forest?" Agytha's face was grim, her lips pressed into a thin line. "Would you rather I allow logging and risk the Forest waking up? The citizens will just take and take; they don't know when to stop even if it means damning all of us."

"I know that!" Lyka exhaled with a look of exasperation. "Give some wood back to the citizens. Do something. Give me something to work with here, before they get it into their heads to actually attack!"

"I can't. The contract with the Mursa is already in effect." Agytha rubbed her hands over the heat of the flames. "You know I can't break it. Unless you'd like to kill me, which would end the contract."

Lyka kicked a nearby chair, making a drawn-out noise of frustration. "Don't you tempt me, I would if it didn't mean that I would need to deal with your problems on top of my own," she glowered, then shook her head. "You need to call back the Tempest. We can still delay this without causing an issue, and if the Tempest just returns long enough to keep them in line then they won't do anything before Winter's Sorrow. I can't talk them out of it without an actual threat."

Shaking her head, the City Lord turned back to the fire. "The Tempest is out on the Empire's orders."

"I thought the Empire ordered her to aid you, per the agreement between the Lord and the Bloody Prince. Isn't she supposed to help you maintain order?"

"Just because one is granted rule over JiangXi does not grant one command over a Titled One." Agytha snorted with derision. "No, she was ordered to aid me and protect me in my capacity as City Lord but that's besides the point. The Tempest left to hunt the UnSeen after receiving a missive from the Bloody Prince himself. They think this GloomSire stole from Crimson City's Palace." She stared into the flames. "I don't know what it is, but based on the urgency which she left, it's something very important to the Bloody Prince. Only he has enough power to motivate her like that."

Lyka seemed baffled, then whistled with admiration. "A new Titled One, and already stealing something from the Bloody Prince himself? This GloomSire must have too much sand in his ears."

"Which brings us back to the main problem. I can try calling her back, but the Tempest might not respond. For her, the Prince's orders take priority." Agytha turned a log. "And I don't know how far she left in order to look for the UnSeen."

"Is there no way to hasten the process of bringing what the Lord wants back to Oasis?" Lyka asked. "At this rate, we'll risk everything we've worked towards the past few years."

"No, the River Jiang froze far too early. The Mursa's ships are locked in the ice until Spring's Blessings, unless you have some method of thawing that ice from here to Heaven's Wake. And I doubt money can convince Mursa Shang to move his mursashu during Winter's Sorrow." Agytha seemed deep in thought. "Three days, is it? That's when the Pavilion predicts IceMourne will arrive with Winter's Sorrow."

"The strategist said that once Winter's Sorrow arrives and the Tempest isn't here yet, she is unlikely to be able to return before Spring's Blessings and the Empire cannot send reinforcements."

"So he wants to keep us isolated from help." Agytha sighed. "And how will the jailbreak play into this?"

"The members number well past five hundred with the inclusion of those in the jail. That's more than the city guards. The idea is once you're captured, the city guards have no reason to stop the group from distributing resources to their family members." Lyka pulled out a map of planned waves of movement throughout the city. "Here, here, and here. That's where they'll start to attract attention, and then a wave of members will stage the jailbreak when the city guards are all pulled away. Finally, they'll want to capture you depending on where you are at the time."

Agytha studied the map. "He wants to start at the bottom of the city?" she frowned. "I can understand it being a diversion as that's the furthest from the Mansion and the barracks are on the upper side, but even if the city guards are forced to defend these storage houses it's a terrible idea. The pathways are intentionally designed for the city guards to reach the docks without being hindered. Not to mention that these… insurgents," she said the word with venom, "Would meet the city guards on their way up. Are you sure that's it?"

Lyka shrugged. "That's exactly what I've said in the meetings and he assures me it's not an issue. Perhaps he's counting on the citizens to join and help?"

"That's possible, but I doubt enough of them will be willing to risk it to make a difference. They can't possibly resent me that much or I wouldn't still be here."

"It's your own fault that the citizens hate you." Lyka told her flatly.

"They can hate me all they want." The City Lord shrugged, then lowered her tone. "Are you sharing their sentiment now, Lyka? Did you forget why we're here; to get all of this for Oasis?"

"Of course not." Lyka's amber eyes reflecting the firelight. "The Lord is relying on us to keep things discreet."

The flames crackled as Agytha stoked the fire again, the two women falling silent as they gathered their thoughts.

"If we fail the Lord, it's not just about our families anymore. The established systems and hierarchy of Oasis hinge upon this." Agytha murmured in a low voice. "I'm going to use what you've told me to ensure we don't find ourselves struggling through quicksand." She gave Lyka a direct stare. "Delay as much as you can. Or we'll have to do the worst." Agytha wrinkled her nose. "Remember what the Lord told us to do to the ones that have met the Oracle."

Lyka hesitated. "If we just kill the strategist, there is a chance for dialogue. There's no need to kill Primrose as well."

Agytha shook her head. "You would lose your position, Lyka. You told me yourself that Primrose was waiting for the Oracle to send someone. Well, this strategist is that someone, and we have our orders from the Lord. It was time to say your goodbyes regardless. We're just acting ahead of schedule."

"We were to do this without bloodshed." Lyka reminded Agytha in a brusque tone. "The Lord promised that the Empire's citizens wouldn't—"

"They're not citizens!" Agytha slammed a fist into the table, making Lyka flinch. "Primrose grew up in ZhiXia City, didn't you confirm this yourself? She and this strategist are both sent by the Oracle! Even the other two, that alchemist and the Northern Warrior, they're savages from the Northern Tribes! Cut off the head and the group won't resist. The Empire wouldn't mind if we killed them at all. Especially the ones the Oracle chose."

After a moment, Lyka sighed. "If it happens."

"But if it happens, I need to know you can do what you need to do, Lyka. Look at you! A few years in close proximity and you're advocating for Primrose; are you out of your mind? Have you forgotten what the Lord said? Both of them — and believe me, I mean both — they must die for us to be able to face the Lord, face the people." The City Lord's gaze did not stray from Lyka's. "Will you do your duty?"

Lyka blinked, then returned Agytha's gaze and murmured, "Duty above all."

Agytha allowed the silence to linger before she stood up from the fire and walked to the door. "Duty above all."

Lyka stared into the flames as the City Lord left her alone in the cabin.