After worrying so much about how he was going to get Zae Zin Nim to agree, she had just accepted his conclusion. Kai had gotten used to his life being difficult at every turn, so it felt strange when something went smoothly. Suddenly he had a goal and a path forward.

The conversation with her had also refined his central purpose: even if he could go around rescuing every single worker from every single mine, that wasn't his objective. He had been a hunter, he was still a warrior, and maybe he was a monster... his purpose was to fight. Gaining the strength to defeat the Diamond Crystalliers who would be standing in his way was a goal he could feel in his gut.

Which didn't mean he would be leaving behind the others that he assisted, just that they would keep moving forward. Now that things were decided, he went back into the city to look for the guards. It didn't take him long to find the spearwoman, for once not trying to ambush anyone.

Instead Crysrinnia sat in one of the outdoor cafes, which once would have been abuzz with nobles but now served as a simple kitchen. When he approached she looked up at him with a strange expression.

"I thought... no, never mind." It clearly took some effort to find a smile, but then it didn't seem so forced. "What is it?"

"We've mostly come to terms with Omilaena," he told her. "She'll be serving as figurehead, but as you've already figured out, we can't count on her. Have you given more thought to what we discussed?"

"I have a plan for coordinating with our own mines and pit. If you can get us more connections from others, we won't refuse them. But can you get the shipments across Krysal?"

"Not from the other side, but maybe. What's stopping you?"

"Honestly? Mostly Romastir." Crysrinnia sat back and gestured toward the city walls. "Too much of our trade has to go through them. We tried to ignore the main roads and go around, but navigating all the hills wasted too much time."

"How are you getting any trade through at all?" Kai asked. "Even if the merchants want their profits, they have a lot of leverage against you."

"The truth is that we have a connection on the inside." She leaned closer and lowered her voice. "I don't know who it is or anything about them, but they have some power. Whoever they are, they sign letters as 'the Servant of Romastir.' They've obscured shipments, warned us about crystalliers, and more. It seems they're running some kind of operations against the crystalliers, under their own noses."

"I guess that's good, but why are you telling me this?"

"After what you said, I think we need to work with them directly. As the others get desperate, more and more people are suggesting we attack Romastir, and we're not ready. But if we could find the Servant of Romastir and convince them to join forces... maybe we wouldn't need to attack at all."

That would give them a target less dangerous than Yulthens, a city to test their new alliance and their plans. The more Kai thought about it, the better he liked the idea. Since it was the closest city to New Laeneria, it wouldn't waste much time even if it turned out to be a fruitless chase.

Kai learned everything Crysrinnia knew about the "Servant of Romastir," including the various signs and procedures for contact and hints about their identity. He was already familiar with the city and its defenders from his previous stay there, so they wouldn't need to spend much time preparing. Once he had everything he needed, Kai thanked the spearwoman and headed out.

"I thought about what you said." She spoke up abruptly, as if she hadn't planned to. When he turned back, she went on in a lower voice. "About my name. Because you were right."

"I'm sorry for pushing on that," Kai said. "It wasn't my place to-"

"No, I said you were right." She drew herself upright. "My real name isn't Crysrinnia, that's what I started calling myself when we took the city... and when I started acting like a crystallier. My real name is Cragrila."

To be honest, Kai had barely thought about their conversation, since he had been so obsessed with saving Zae Zin Nim and then dealing with Omilaena. The idea that a few of his idle words had an effect on this woman's life was sobering and discomforting. He wasn't sure if he would make it better by adding more, but he couldn't help himself.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"You could say that my name isn't really Kai Clanless." He raised both hands with a shrug. "But I lost my family name a long time ago, and my adopted family threw me out. Are any of those more 'real' than the other names? I've decided that I'm Kai Clanless now, so it's who I am."

"Maybe for you, but not me." Cragrila stood up and met his gaze with hard eyes. "Despite everything that's happened to me, I still thought of the nobles as better. Superior, or at least more refined. That ends now. We keep our own names, we don't have to chase theirs. I am Cragrila of H District."

"Then I wish you luck with them." Kai reached out to shake her hand and, after a moment of hesitation, she clasped it firmly. "I look forward to fighting alongside you, Cragrila."

She gripped his hand hard, then stood back. Kai gave her one more smile and then returned to the estate.

There were various steps to be taken to prepare, but most of them didn't involve their final decisions or destination. Zae Zin Nim had gone to retrieve the diamond star from hiding and was carefully ensuring that it was unharmed. He had already made sure they were supplied, supported by some of the workers in the city. So that left all the details, which meant...

As a last step, he went to free Omilaena. He wasn't sure whether Zae Zin Nim was being cautious or simply petty. Being stuck inside the chakra prison had certainly left her discomforted, not to mention that her dress was a bit rumpled. It managed to look good on her anyway, somehow.

"Is this finally happening?" she asked. She pretended to be examining her fingernails, but he could tell she was eager. "You're going to decide whether you want to ravage me or let me go?"

"My companion wanted the former, but I talked her down." Kai activated the mechanism that turned off the prison and the chakra walls came down.

Omilaena stood up and stretched with a long sigh. She absolutely made it into an unnecessary performance, thrusting out her chest as she had her arms overhead. But because she was actively taunting him, Kai didn't look away, just blatantly stared. Now that she wasn't threatening him or trying to murder anyone, he could admit that she looked fantastic.

When she saw his gaze, Omilaena laughed and shot him a coy wink. "Alright, I won't try that on you anymore. Unless...?"

"We need to discuss strategy," he told her firmly. "But first I have a question... did you throw that fight against us?"

"No." Omilaena folded her arms, seduction replaced by irritation. "Maybe things would have gone differently if I had used more lethal tactics or fought to the end, but I wasn't toying with you. I underestimated your coordination and you got the upper hand. If you had decided to kill me, you would have had a good shot at it... surrendering was a very calculated risk."

"Well, good. Unless that was just to massage my ego?"

"I told you, I take power seriously. That's my honest evaluation."

Before their conversation could continue, Zae Zin Nim walked down the stairs. She glowered when she saw Omilaena, but just stuck her hands into her sleeves. "We're ready to go. Do we have a destination?"

"A destination and a plan," Kai told them both. "Omilaena, what do you think of taking on Romastir?"

As it turned out, she'd considered it more than a little. One city had been enough for her experiments, but the merchants in Romastir had continually got in her way. Because Zae Zin Nim wasn't opposed either, their plan was set. The only difficult part sounded like it might be keeping the bloodlust of the two women in check.

Before they left the basement, Omilaena raised a single finger for them to halt.

"Wait. If we're really working together, I want to make a show of good faith." She flicked her wrist and suddenly there were several needles between her fingers. "I'm what's called a Lethal Artisan. If you didn't already guess, I can produce items from my own chakra. Not just anything, as I need a detailed diagram first. But I mostly fight with weapons I create myself."

"So you just pretended to let me take your weapons." Zae Zin Nim narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You think this will make us trust you more?"

"I'm telling you now. I can produce needles, syringes, and most of my poisons. But if you ever meet any other Lethal Artisans, don't expect them to have the same abilities, because we're each unique."

"What about the smoke?" Kai asked. "Same ability?"

"No, that's my other primary capacity: the Heart of Poison." Omilaena laid a hand flat over her heart. "There's poison interwoven with my body on every level. I can secrete poison from my nails, and the smoke is a specific applied technique. By the way, this sort of power doesn't advance the way yours does, I need new materials. If you ever run across any especially powerful or unique poisons, please let me drink them."

Zae Zin Nim folded her arms and stared back. "Will you give us the antidotes to your poisons?"

"I trust you," Omilaena said with a wink, "I don't trust you that much."

For his part, Kai was less suspicious. Maybe he didn't trust Omilaena's moral character, but he thought he knew what she truly wanted, and that was in some ways better. She had every motive to work together with him and it took an absurd set of assumptions to make this all into a long con.

Back near the beginning of his time in Krysal, he'd been a crystallier venturing into the city of the feared Maneater. Now he was leaving the city with her in tow, for nearly opposite purposes. It felt like an insane change and his only disappointment was that he hadn't figured it all out sooner.

"Are we ready to go?" Omilaena asked as they walked toward the crystal vessel. When she reached up to the side, Zae Zin Nim swatted her hand away.

"We are ready to go, but you don't get to ride. Figure out your own way." That said, she grabbed Kai's sleeve and leapt into the ship, trusting him to jump along with her. He played along and, once inside, gave Omilaena a shrug. She rolled her eyes and headed in the opposite direction. Soon they were all flying out toward Romastir.

The last time he'd fought crystalliers in that city, it had been to test himself and earn his way to Yulthens. This time promised to be much bloodier.