The common room of the inn was dark and smoky, filled with dark and smoky people. Kiri pulled her hood down as low as she could and tried her best not to look like a woman. She was wearing her Firebrand clothes under her cloak since her dress made for an unmistakably feminine silhouette. The innkeeper knew she was a woman; it had been impossible to hide when she showed her coin and requested a room. She had the kind of voice that couldn’t be disguised as male. But as soon as she got that room she shed her dress and came back downstairs cloaked and hooded, and took up her current station right by the fire.
It was amazing that they needed a fire, but the desert shed daytime heat so quickly that Kiri found herself warming her hands that only a few hours earlier had been unpleasantly sweaty. She didn’t know what she was hoping to accomplish by being down here anyway. It seemed like the only thing that could happen was for word to get to the Thief Lord about her, and he might realize who she was. Then again, maybe she could just show herself. If he showed up to confront her, maybe she could somehow get the Sceptre away. She sure didn’t have a clue how else to get close to him. Of course, if he did come for her, he’d probably not be alone, and she would. Since he’d won their last confrontation on his own against four on her side, that sounded like bad odds. So she put it in the back of her mind as a last resort. Better to set up a fight she had a chance to win. A surprise attack seemed like the best chance, if she could come up with a way to do it.
The door swung open and a woman entered the room. For just a moment, everyone stared, and then they quickly switched to studiously not staring. Not an eye in the room was on the woman now, except Kiri’s.
The woman who stood in the doorway, hands on her hips, turning her head back and forth, scanning the room, was one of Mala’s guards. Kiri was sure it was the same one who had escorted her the day before. Shendra.
Shendra’s eyes landed on Kiri and she strode purposefully toward her. People moved out of her way while somehow still managing not to look at her. So much for not being noticed, Kiri thought when Shendra stopped beside her. Then again, no one would look right at her, so even though they knew she was here, they might not be able to recognize her face if they were to see her again in the future.
“We must speak,” Shendra said. “My Lady says that-”
“Wait.” Kiri held up a hand. She heard a man at the nearest table give a nervous-sounding cough. Apparently he didn’t think it was a good idea to interrupt Shendra. “Let’s go up to my room so we can speak in private.”
Shendra pursed her lips then nodded. She didn’t seem to mind that Kiri had interrupted her. “It is acceptable,” she said. “Lead the way.”
~
No sooner had Kiri closed the door behind Shendra than a timid knock sounded at it.
“Who is it?” Shendra asked before Kiri had the chance.
“The keeper, Lady Shendra,” a wavery voice answered. “I have brought refreshments.”
Kiri checked with Shendra, who nodded, then opened the door. The innkeeper, a thin, spindly old man with wild white hair and leathery brown skin, shuffled into the room. He was carrying a tray loaded down with food and drink. Kiri took it from him, worried he might drop it. She stilled a glass that was still wobbling from the old man’s trembling. How had he ever made it up the stairs with this? And how had he made up a tray so quickly in the first place? He stood staring in the doorway after Kiri had placed the tray on a table. She had worked as a server herself long enough to know exactly what he was waiting for, but she had hardly any money.
“Umm-” Kiri looked to Shendra and made a small gesture toward the old man. Shendra stepped forward smoothly and pressed something into the old man’s hand that caused him to break into an only partially toothless grin as he bowed his way out, pulling the door firmly to behind him. It was nice to see that Mala’s servant wasn’t any more cheap than Mala was. While Kiri didn’t know of any particular need for extra money in the current situation (excepting, apparently, tips) it was always good to have it available.
Kiri took a seat opposite the table from Shendra, putting the full tray between them.
“My Lady sent me on an urgent errand,” Shendra said as soon as Kiri was seated. “She is disappointed that you were not able to stop Lord Useph from returning home. Now that he is home, she is in danger and cannot act freely.”
“It would never have worked,” Kiri said. “He knows his way in and out of that palace far better than I do.”
“Clearly he is on his guard,” Shendra said. “He used the Traveling stone.”
So Mala did know about them. Kiri had been avoiding mentioning them because she didn’t want to give Mala information she didn’t already have. Not a good attitude to have with an ally perhaps, but Kiri wasn’t sure that Mala was really her ally. If it weren’t for Useph’s frightening behavior, Kiri felt Mala might not be on her side at all.
“Why did she think he wouldn’t use the stone?” Kiri asked.
“She hoped that his guard was not up,” Shendra said. “He does not routinely use the stone here. It is simpler to travel with his entourage without it.”
It made sense. “Well, it’s done with, anyway,” Kiri said. “You said you had an errand?”
“Yes,” Shendra said. “My Lady wants to know more about this Sceptre. She feels that it is a danger to her.”
“It is,” Kiri said. “It’s a danger to everybody. Mala already told me she had noticed a change in Useph’s behavior. It’s going to do that to everyone. It probably is responsible for the incident this morning, too. Things like that will just keep getting worse as long as the Sceptre is here. It brings out the evil in everyone around it.”
Shendra didn’t show any reaction, neither skepticism nor concern. “I will pass your words on to my Lady Mala,” she said. “Let us eat together, as allies.”
“If we’re allies, we need to work out how to get that Sceptre away from Useph,” Kiri said. “It needs to be returned to its Eldan guardians.”
For the first time Kiri saw a flicker of reaction in Shendra’s eyes, but she quickly covered it by popping a cabbage roll in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed while Kiri stared, then washed it down with a mouthful of wine before saying, “I will pass your words on. Whatever we are to do, she will decide. I will return at the same time tomorrow to bring her words to you.”
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“It’s going to be hard to make plans that way.” Kiri said.
“My Lady appreciates that, I’m sure,” Shendra said. “If plans are to be made more urgently, I will take my Lady’s part.”
Kiri couldn’t argue with that. She set into the food, which was delicious, but she wished Shendra would leave her to it. It was hard to appreciate a meal with the silent warrior woman watching her.
~
It was getting late, but Kiri wanted to get out of her room. It felt stifling after the hour that she had shared it with Shendra, even though the guard was now gone.
It was probably sheer force of habit that sent Kiri out the window instead of the door, although she told herself she did it because it was the wise decision. She had been too noticeable as a woman alone the night before. Better to creep across the rooftops as the Firebrand. If anyone saw her word might get back to the Thief Lord that the Firebrand was in town, but by now he probably expected her anyway. He knew that she knew he had the Sceptre, and he had to know she’d come for it.
It was nearly as easy to go from rooftop to rooftop here as in Laed. For Kiri, the familiar activity had the effect a leisurely stroll might have for an ordinary person. As she had hoped, she felt herself relaxing. Right up until, just as she was making the leap from one building to the next, she heard a pssst from below. She fumbled the landing and fell forward onto her elbows. Ignoring the stinging in her arms, she swiveled around to look over the edge of the roof. Had that hiss been for her?
It had. Garon was standing below, his upturned face catching the moonlight. A tall, cloaked figure loomed beside him. “Kiri!” he hissed. “Come down!”
Kiri glanced quickly up and down the street before dropping down next to him. At least Garon had the sense not to draw attention to her in front of other people. The street was completely abandoned. “I guess there’s no point asking what you’re doing here,” she said. “Did you at least talk to Neal before following me?”
“Of course we did,” Garon said. “Don’t you trust me? I’m a grown man; I manage a deck crew. I wouldn’t leave work undone.”
Kiri rolled her eyes. “Then how-” she waved her hand, cutting herself off. “Never mind. There’s obviously a story to it, and I need to catch you up on what’s been happening here. We can’t stand here like this, though. Someone’s bound to come by, and I don’t want to be spotted as the Firebrand if I can help it. And it looks suspicious anyway, talking huddled in an alley. After this morning, the guard are going to be on the lookout for activity like that.”
“What happened this morning?” Garon asked.
“That’s part of what I’ll tell you,” Kiri said. “We’ll go back to my inn. I’ll have to give you directions. I’ll be going back on the rooftops so no one will spot me.”
“We saw you,” Riular said in a low, flat tone.
“He’s right,” Garon pulled his traveling cloak off and pushed it into Kiri’s arms. “This will work better.”
The cloak was a little too big, but that was probably just as well, since the hood hid Kiri’s face more that way. She tugged at it until the hem was just hanging above the ground. She didn’t want to drag it through the streets. This place was cleaner than Laed, but it was dusty and dirty enough.
“Don’t forget the mask,” Garon said.
Kiri tugged it off and shoved it into the pocket of Garon’s cloak. She stepped past Garon and beckoned them on. “Follow me.”
~
The streets were quiet. It was fully dark now, and most people had gone home. Their oil lamps made the windows of the two-story mud-brick houses into little boxes of faintly glowing light. Kiri led Garon and Riular out of the residential streets and across the plaza where she had eavesdropped the night before, but even that was nearly empty. A few people sat alone or in small groups at the tables, but all conversation was hushed. Perhaps the nightlife didn’t get into full swing here until later. Or the events at the memorial had convinced most people to stay home.
They had left the plaza, and were nearing the inn, when they first heard the distant sound of shouting. It was not one person shouting, but the overlapping roar of many voices raised together.
“What’s going on?” Garon asked.
“It comes from the palace,” Riular said, pointing a long finger.
“I didn’t think it would happen again so soon,” Kiri said.
“It is the Sceptre.” Riular said confidently. “He must have used it already, for so many to already be affected.”
“He did,” Kiri said. “And there was an incident this morning. But this sounds worse. We should check it out.”
“We can’t do anything about it,” Garon said. But he was already turning toward the commotion.
It only got louder as they approached. Every now and then a group of men would rush past them, always carrying torches, or knives, or something like that: something that could do damage. By the time they could see where the crowd was assembling, the noise had become deafening.
There was such confusion it took Kiri a few moments to figure out what was really going on. The crowd was huge, filling the whole area in front of the palace gate and spilling down the roads that led off it. They were rushing the gates, but the gates held against them. Nearly everyone in the crowd seemed intent on assaulting the wall. They were shoving forward, even climbing over one another in their rush to reach the palace and attack with whatever they had brought.
A line of tall, shining shields were lined up on the walk above the gate, and archers shot over the top of them into the crowd. No one seemed to care that they were being shot at. Kiri, Garon, and Riular pressed their backs against a wall and let the crazed townspeople rush past them. No one took any notice of them, just as no one seemed to be noticing one another at all. Their entire focus was the palace. They beat at the gate, but it did not even stir. If they had been organized at all, the Thief Lord’s palace might have been in danger. But it was strong, and stood easily against their haphazard assaults.
A flickering light moved forward through the crowd. It caught Kiri’s eye because it was bluish, not like the orange light from the torches. Its bearer reached the front of the crowd and threw it at the gate. All at once, the blue flames burst out, covering the gate. It didn’t catch, but the clothes of those nearby did, and stirred at last from their mindless assault, they ran away, burning, into the crowd. Where the fire went, the crowd’s madness ended. The all-out assault was abruptly changed into a panicked flight. As they ran, a group of guards in full armor surged forward, driving their long pole-axes into the crowd. They fanned out, and no-one stood against them, though an unfortunate few who had fallen in the panicked flight were plucked up and arrested. The guards sat them, one by one, in a line in front of the gate.
Garon plucked at Kiri’s sleeve. “Are you listening? We have to go!”
Kiri glanced at him. He was edging around the corner, and Riular was a few steps down the road. But her attention was still on the line of prisoners. She looked back at them, and lifted her right fist. The glow grew visible even with her hand closed as she pulled in power.
“No!’ Garon pushed her hand down.
“But they’ll kill them!” Kiri protested.
“She is right,” Riular said.
“Of course I am!” Kiri said. “They attacked the palace.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Garon said. When Kiri’s eyes narrowed at him, he hastily added. “I mean, it doesn’t change the fact that we can’t help them.”
“I can,” Kiri said. Her hand was still hot.
“It’s too risky,” Garon said.
“The Sceptre must be recovered,” Riular said.
“You’re right,” Kiri blew out a long breath.
Garon didn’t waste another word now that Kiri had agreed. He grabbed her wrist, avoiding her hand, even as the glow was fading, and ran.