It was starting to feel more like winter. The grey of the sky was all consuming, as it always was in the city, but the cold was starting to really bite. It had been almost two months since he had broken into the University. Two months since he had been unceremoniously let go from his arrangement with the Mage.

It had taken a while for the presence of the Guard to climb down to normal levels, but it had. Rumours swirled around the Slums about the ‘University Heist’. Some said that it was an inside job, some Mage’s had tried to rebel against the Emperor and sought to take over the Empire. Others thought it was an excuse for the Emperor to put in place more restrictions for the poor. But when those hadn’t materialised, and no war was started against the Emperor, everything had sort of died down.

Life was truly back to normal. Jano looked to the sky and saw the clouds darkening. Night was coming once more and more quickly. “Gallan - are you just about finished?” he asked.

“Yeah, only a few more stones to shape and then we’ll be done.”

Gallan was a sculptor. A bloody good one at that. She specialised in morphing stone into fantastic shapes and she had caught the attention of the higher ups. She couldn’t move it into structures or hold those in place as well as Jano, but she had a real artistic talent. If she was born a couple of Classes higher, she could have even studied at the University.

They had worked together on previous jobs, before he had his power restricted and she was the first person Jano visited when he had them back. Gallan could do her work quickly and expertly and she had been teaching Jano. Mercifully, she hadn’t asked about the restoration of his magic. He assumed she didn’t care, as long as he could do the work. “Good stonesmiths are rare these days” she kept saying.

The noble houses loved to outdo one another, so talented stone smiths always had work. However, she only needed him for certain jobs. Even still, he had plenty of money left from the Mage, so he would take what he could get.

“Right, there you go you floaty bastard. Get them stuck in the middle of the wall there and we’re off.” She shouted up.

He gathered the newly formed stones and arranged them delicately into the structure. It took him all of five or ten seconds. He was much quicker than he had been previously. He felt his power much more keenly. Every morning he would wake up and check, but so far, Darrel’s magic still worked. He was still a Class Seven.

They were working on one of the nicer houses in the Middle. Once the job was complete he was set to earn a few fullcoins for his trouble. Not bad for a few days' work, but not a patch on what the Mage had paid him.

Gallan gave the owner of the house an update and said their goodbyes. He finished setting down his relatively new tools and the two workers headed away from the house.

“Any update on jobs after this one?” He asked.

She shrugged her shoulders and raised the flat of her palms to the sky.

“Nothing yet, most things that come up are small jobs that I can just attend to.” She gave him a sympathetic look. “You’re the first person I’ll come to though when something comes up. And it will.” She gave a sympathetic look which betrayed her words.

Jano whistled softly as they walked. The work was much better than it had been before, but it was still inconsistent. Darrel had warned him that according to the official records, he would still be a Class Ten. So he couldn’t advertise his services down the usual routes. But he was getting by through carefully selected word of mouth. Even still, anything was better than the workhouse.

Gallan stopped outside of one of the Middle’s taverns. It was cold, as the daylight was being swallowed by the darkness but there were still plenty of folk standing outside, enjoying mugs of brown ale and wine.

“Fancy a drink?” She asked. “On me, fair day's work and all that.”

Better work or not, he still needed to keep the boss happy. “Only if it’s something dark and bitter.” He said.

“Is there anything else worth drinking?” She chuckled.

They walked into the tavern and the smell was instantly overpowering. It was a sweet smell, mixed primarily of alcohol, sweat, dirt and food all mixed together in some unholy alliance. It brought a small smile to Jano’s face.

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The tavern keeper served them a big mug of brown ale and they took a seat by the open fire. It was so warm that it felt like the side of his face was on fire. There was a reason most people only came to the fire to get warm and then left to do their drinking somewhere else.

They both took large gulps of the ale. It was smooth and bitter, with quite an odd aftertaste which Jano couldn’t quite place. He knew that after two or three, the same aftertaste showed up the next morning, just less pleasantly. Gallan shuffled in her seat, changing the angle of her body to the fire.

“The guy we’re doing the house for loves a good chinwag.” She said. “He’s got such a nice place because he’s one of the keepers of the University.”

Even next to the roaring fire, he felt a sharp cold pain at the mention of the place. He nodded, urging her to carry on.

“And he said ever since that break in last month, things have been a bit… crazy over there. Apparently, the Emperor might even be forced to visit the city.” She said in as much of a hushed tone as she could muster through the din of their tavern.

Jano tried to show interest, without looking too interested. “I thought that had all died down? What could the Emperor want to come to this place for?” He replied. “He hasn’t been here in years. Everyone knows Qursa is the capital of the Empire in name only.”

She smiled at that. “Well apparently, they haven’t found anyone involved. So they wanted it all quietened down. Swept under the rug. But it’s all bells and whistles up there still.” She took another drink from her mug and took advantage of a brief quiet moment to order two more drinks from the keeper.

“The keeper pretended he didn’t want to go into too much detail, but after all of two seconds, he was spilling everything. Basically, they think the break in was done by someone who wants to tear down society. They’re treating it very seriously. Now they even think it could be an inside job.” She stopped talking as the keeper brought the drinks.

Jano started to grow very cold. Had he assisted in some evil plan? He hadn’t asked too many questions, he’d just done what he was told, he couldn’t stop the thoughts invading his mind. He wiped a long line of sweat from his brow, though it was not caused by the fire. He nodded uneasily along to her words.

“And then he couldn’t tell me anything else. But it’s nice to know the high and mighty in this place have their problems too. As long as it doesn’t hurt me or my own, then I’m not too fussed about what happens. Unfortunately, Mage’s do pay the best and I’m this close to getting in with that lot.” She held up her fingers about an inch away from one another and grinned like a drunken idiot.

He laughed at that and nervously took a sip of his drink. The rest of the evening in the tavern was spent discussing the fine details of stone sculpting. After it had grown very dark outside, Jano thanked her for the drinks and offered to walk her home.

“Nah thanks. I’m going to pick off one of these lucky beasts here.” She gestured to the patrons of the bar generally. It was getting late in the night and the pickings were slim. “You go on though. Give my love to Alsace.”

He nodded to the tavern keeper as he left and received a similar nod and a grunt in response. Outside, the chill of the air felt even colder after hours next to the roaring heat of the fire. It was a rare clear night in the city. That meant it would get bitterly cold. It was said that the city only turned clear when the Emperor visited, so perhaps what Gallen was saying was correct after all. He shuddered and started down the path.

The Emperor was something close to a force of nature. He was apparently all powerful and even all knowing. He didn’t have any reason not to believe that, as everyone in the city shared his power. Jano pulled his cloak tight to his body and shivered, not entirely from the cold.

He made his way through the stone labyrinth that was the Middle, taking care to avoid the stone home of the Mage. He thought back to that secret place of music and fine wines, though he couldn’t remember the way back now if there was a knife to his throat. There was something comforting about knowing that there were places hidden in plain sight and he briefly thought about trying to hunt one out.

As he walked, his hands buried deep in his coat, his thoughts returned to the rumours Gallen had mentioned. And the night he spent running from the Mages and the Guard. He had been so terrified of being caught. Even so, he enjoyed the thrill a little. He couldn’t deny it.

He passed onto the dusty ground of the Slums. Despite it being winter, they had less rain than usual and the ground was surprisingly firm. The clear night made the air so cold, that he could not even smell the waste as he walked. Everything seemed fresh.

He was near home, passing by one of the Outer Walls, as this section was better maintained than most in the Slums he didn’t pay much attention to his surroundings. He lazily walked around a corner and was suddenly met by furious hazel eyes, set in a metal helmet. The Guard had dark skin and thick armour. “Finally. You.” The Guard said as she grabbed him and pushed him against the wall which he had just turned.

Jano’s heart started racing. They had been waiting for him? Had they figured out it was him at the University? He noticed the Guard was alone. He debated drawing on his power, as Darrel had shown him. He began to gather stone essence. His mind remembered the runes for the stone spear and stone began to gather near him. Could he really kill a Guard?

Something told him to stop. He noticed two blades sticking out of her back in an X shape. Now that he looked at her eyes, and that was all he could see in the darkness and shadows of her helmet. They seemed familiar. He let the last of the stone spear fall uselessly to the ground.

“Jano, we need somewhere to talk. Now.” She said. He recognised that voice. Jano relaxed. Nara.