Miles away from Iyasgorth and the Dreadwood Forest., in the old Ebonreach capital of Haelling Cove, life was slow. The successful Tokuan raid that occurred over a year previously was but a painful memory, but so too was the prestige and economic activity being the capital had brought the city. Those residents who’d left for Trackford were replaced by opportunistic refugees from Trent, but they were taking their time settling into life in the city. No longer did the town square bear the scars of wrecked and burned buildings, but there were still plenty which were simply abandoned.
At midday in an alleyway adjacent to the main street a woman suddenly burst through the the shuttered window of an old warehouse. She was skeletally thin and deathly pale, and immediately stumbled to the town square, pleading with the bewildered onlookers.
‘Water… food, please,’ she begged until her legs would no longer support her. She collapsed to the ground, weak but conscious.
Peasants and merchants crowded around the spectacle, staring at the woman dressed only in tattered rags but who nevertheless spoke with an air of nobility. Some went to call the city guard.
‘I daresay I recognise you, though you are certainly worse for wear,’ one of the merchants said, handing her a piece of bread which she immediately bit into. A nearby peasant poured her a mug of water and she slurped this down noisily before she’d even swallowed the bread. ‘Are you the Countess Kaeya Tfaeller?’
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‘Aye,’ she said. ‘I am her.’
‘You were thought dead. Your brother and sister will be overjoyed to hear of your survival if your sister’s heart is capable of joy any longer. Why have you been absent for so long?’
‘I fled into my portal during the Tokuan raid, and when I emerged their agents were waiting for me and bundled me into that warehouse, which must be owned by their patron. Thankfully, my captors became careless and I managed to flee into my portal once more. Eventually, my supply of food and my ability to steal it ran out and I was forced to attempt a more permanent escape from the warehouse. Thankfully, they seem to have recently vacated it.’
‘That is a thrilling tale, my lady,’ the merchant said, handing her more bread. ‘I suspect that if the warehouse was used to house Tokuan raiders then it was covertly owned by agents of Vizonia. No doubt you will have the matter investigated to be sure.’
‘That is my second order of business, after a bath and a meal. I fear that I am so far out of the loop as to be looking at it from afar, for I know not why the Vizonian Order would have any sort of relationship with Tokua. No doubt, a lot has happened in my absence, though affairs in Haelling Cove seem less dire than I feared following the success of the Tokuan raid. Tell me, who rules Ebonreach at this time?’
‘Duchess Saemara rules,’ the merchant informed her. Of her transformation into a nymph he chose to say nothing, lest he draw the noblewoman’s ire. Nevertheless, his words caused Kaeya to stiffen in annoyance.
‘We will have to see about that,’ she replied sternly. ‘For she stands behind me in the line of succession.’