The safe houses were becoming something of a constant feature in Jano’s life now. He was growing used to the decoration, the food and the fire, though those were now extinguished so as to eliminate any chance of giving away their position. He had walked into their private meeting room to find it packed with the renegade Guards and the Slummers who had escaped alongside them. To say the general feeling in the room was panic would have been an understatement. Still he moved towards Nara.

Nara paced between groups of people. Guards, the rescued Slummers and a small but almost delirious man, who seemed to own this particular branch of the safe house. He was jumping up and down and gesticulating wildly. There was apparently uproar above. Raiding parties going through known hideouts. They had posted one of the rebel Guards at the door, just in case. But it wouldn’t take them long to discover who had been part of the failed rebellion.

He had heard the desperate rumours of an escape, a final stand or even trying to melt away in the Slums. He didn’t participate. He only sat and thought of Alsace and Dariea. They were tossed across the room and kept from him by the Emperor so easily. He knew he should be lucky he wasn’t just squished like a bug by the Emperor and that somehow they escaped, but that thought never lingered for too long.

Alsace. She had looked so beautiful and she hadn’t so much as looked at him. She couldn’t do or say anything, she’d have been threatened by the Emperor. He would have killed her. He tried so hard to remind himself. Still his head was spinning. Why would he take her in like that? It couldn’t be as simple as leverage or just simply doing it because he could. Could it? His brain whirled.

Nara finally collapsed into a chair next to him. She flung her head into her hands in exhaustion. “Fuck me. This is bad.” She said through a sigh.

Jano dragged his focus to her. She had saved his life after all. Her plate armour was now dulled and splattered with blood. He wasn’t sure if it was her blood or someone else’s, but she didn’t seem to be bleeding as far as he could tell.

“The Emperor…. he’s…. so strong. Didn’t Dareia know?” He stammered out through the racket.

“She did. But she tried anyway. Judging by that big beam of darkness, we’ve failed. And.. we’ve lost one of our most powerful allies in the process.” She choked a little as she said it, her eyes red as though tears should be rolling down her cheeks. None did.

Beam of darkness? The torrent of essence from his dream flashed before his eyes. Nara didn’t look like saying anything further, so he kept it to himself.

“He took Alsace too. I don’t really know why. I failed.” He said rubbing his head with his hands, this time wiping away half formed tears.

Nara looked towards Jano, she had a hard face, but she looked vulnerable as she began to talk. “Dariea and I planned our escape afterward. Where we would go, who we could be…” she looked up to the ceiling and then back to Jano. “I always thought she was crazy. But I believed in her vision of what the city could be if we were successful. I just never thought if either of us would get captured, it would be her.” She smacked her leg in anger. The sound ringing off into the distance and drawing some interested stares from dejected faces.

When he realised that he wasn’t the only person who had lost someone, he had to stop feeling sorry for himself. There had to be something they could do. He felt a strong sense of resolve within himself. He realised that the last few months were the only time he had really felt alive for a very long time. What would be the point in giving up now? No. He wouldn’t. It couldn’t be over.

“So how do we get them back?” He said. “There has to be a way.”

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Nara looked at him. “After all of that, you want to head back in?”

Jano nodded. “Dariea would do the same for us. And Alsace is still there, I need to help her. Or at least offer her a way out…. if she still wants one that is.” The idea that his wife might actually prefer the idea of being part of the Emperor’s court hadn’t crossed his mind until then.

“I’m sure she will. But that’s suicide Jano. If Dariea couldn’t defeat him….” she began.

“We don’t have to defeat him. We just have to escape.” He said. “Let’s leave the Empire toppling plans to Dariea and focus on what we can actually control.”

Nara scowled at him, but after a moment or two her face softened. “That actually makes some sense. But we’d still likely die. Do you have a plan?” The hopeful look on her face was quickly extinguished when he shook his head.

He looked at his wrist, Class Seven still pulsated in purple letters. He hadn’t thought about it since Dariea had told him that none of it really mattered. It didn’t matter to her, because she lived outside of the rules of the city. But to everyone who lived inside the grey walls of Qursa, it did.

“Can I give Dariea my power?” He asked. He’d never thought of it before, but if the Emperor managed it. Surely Dariea could too. Nara looked at him confused.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“Well, she contracted with me. Well technically Darrel did, but she said that the Emperor draws his power from the citizens of the city. Could she do the same?”

“You managed to contract with two people?” She said that as though it was impossible. Jano wanted to pick her up on it, but she continued. “Well maybe, but she still wouldn’t be able to match the Emperor. She didn’t even come close.”

Jano pushed himself forward on his seat. “Again, she doesn’t need to beat him. But giving her my power might mean we can break her out and escape from the city, without dying. All of us. Alsace too.” He said, getting excited. “She is almost as strong as he is. We have to try.”

“We need to do something as soon as possible. You said it yourself. We might as well go back now. They’re probably not expecting it. Hang on, couldn’t the Emperor take your powers away as part of the Guard?” He asked.

“No.. The Guard don’t get their magic from their contract with the Emperor, though we obviously have one. We are made to be part of the Guard from the very moment we’re tested. If our physical attributes suit the ‘ideal’ parameters for the Guard, then we’re moulded to become one. If we pass the tests, then we’re strengthened by a series of potions and artefacts. We can only use magic in a very limited way, the rest of our abilities are within us. Also, I’m not sure it’s as simple as just destroying the contract.”

“Well, let's try it. We may as well. After all, they’re going to probably hunt us down regardless.” He said.

Nara sighed, exhaustion plain on her face. She had carried him all the way back after all. “When did you become so sure of yourself to start making plans like this?” She punched his arm as she said it. In his head, Jano didn’t feel sure of himself at all. Quite the opposite really.

“I’m not sure. I just know we have to do something. As Dariea said, there comes a time where you just have to put it all on the line. Guess the Emperor taking my wife just to spite his oldest friend is probably that time for me.” He shook a little as he said it, he was doing his best to sound confident. In truth, he was terrified at the prospect of returning and a little excited.

Nara sat a little longer. Moments passed with Jano listening to the background din. The Slummers were being handed small bowls of food. Rebel Guards were chatting nervously amongst themselves. She looked at him finally and shook her head. “Let’s do it. But let’s do it at midnight. We may as well give ourselves some chance in the shadows. It’ll let me get some rest too. It can only be us two. We can’t drag the others into this.” She said as she observed the surrounding exhausted bodies in the safe house.

“How are we going to get in?” She asked, a hint of nerves flashed across her face.

“Sewe—-“ he began.

“How did I know you were going to say the bloody sewers?” She slumped in her seat. “You’ve been hanging out with Dariea way too much. But fine.”