The morning arrived much too early for Nua’s taste. She woke up curled up on a bedroll, shivering and nauseous. Reflexively, she extended her hand where the old tiled stove should be, still emitting heat after the evening meal, but she found none. Then she realized that she wasn’t sleeping in Hala’s kitchen this night.

She rubbed her bleary eyes. All around her, women were getting up, gathering their belongings, and talking. Nua had a faint memory of walking to one of the common rooms for the night, and that Hessa personally made sure that she would get a bed. She remembered one of her neighbors kicking up a fuss, probably over her ancestry, or perceived lack of cleanliness, or both and calming down after a short discussion.

Other than that, she had a blurry recollection of the entertainers, Anki’s strange story, and his outrage. She checked her surroundings and found her sack. Despite nausea, she found herself hungry for one of Hala’s flatbreads, although they were probably crumbled right now. It seemed that she was sleeping with the sack under her head.

The more she was thinking about it, the more details were coming back. Were all the legends about the gods misshapen tales about the Forsaken? Did Anki really have a daughter? What did he expect from her student – to get into the ushumgar and rain revenge on the whole Tiberian empire for the ill-treatment of the Unsagga? Initially, that was what she thought, but now she had doubts. The world was bigger than she expected, and she hasn’t even seen that much. That revenge business just didn’t seem feasible for one person, even if she gained unimaginable power and waged a war in Anki’s name. Which she didn’t want to do, justice or not. The world was harsh and unjust by its nature, but bringing war to it seemed just like adding one wrong thing to another.

“Damn Anki”, she muttered. “I have such weird thoughts today and it’s because of you.”

The king did not reply. She figured out that he was probably exploring, and that he would tell her about his findings later. She found a latrine – it was awkward to use it with strangers sitting in a row, but fortunately, they ignored her. Then she joined the crowd in the courtyard.

It was still dark. Wagons and bashmu were slowly moving out through the gate. The deafening clamor of yesterday’s gathering got replaced with weary animal noises and occasional shouts. Still no Anki in sight, Nua had to navigate the crowd on her own, and the first group she recognized were the mercenaries, leading their steeds out of the stables. She hit her forehead with her palm, then ran to the entrance.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Hello”, she shouted to the first person walking out. “I’m looking for Hessa. Or captain Idris. I’m Hessa’s new helper.”

The man focused on her and only then she had a good look at whom she asked for assistance. He was wrapped in loose, sand-colored clothes, with a wide-brim hat and a scarf that made his face barely visible. From under the brim, strands of oddly colored, bleached hair were sticking out. He was wearing darkened eyeglasses, and the only visible patch of his skin – his nose and upper part of his cheeks – were of raw, pink color, and flaking.

Nua had never seen a leper before. They lived in their isolated village outside town. She knew, however, that the disease caused blindness and made hair bleach. Was it possible that one of them was traveling with a caravan? Why wasn’t he wearing his warning bells, then?

“Sir, are you sick?”, she blurted out without thinking.

The mercenary sighed.

“No. I’m blond.” For a moment, he took off his glasses. He did not seem blind, all right, although his eyes were of rare grey color. “Lykomedes, nice to meet you.”

“Nua. I’m so sorry.”

“That happens.”, he shrugged. Now that Nua heard his voice and had a better look at his face, it was clear that he wasn’t much older than her, and also badly sunburned. Not a leper at all. “I’m far from home.”

This was interesting.

“Are you from the North?”

“No, from the West. Old Mycenae. I don’t want to be rude, but are you from here?”

“You mean my eyes?” Nua stared. The guy traveled half of the world and he didn’t know his basics. “I’m Unsagga. Hessa’s the same, you noticed?”

“Don’t blame me. You two look different.”, he said. “And talk differently, too. It must be regional, right? Idris is over there”, Lykomedes pointed in the direction of the stable. “He should know about your boss.”

“Thanks.”

“Hey, join us in the evening.”, Lykomedes said. “We play dice.”

“I’ll probably have a lot of work. I don’t know if she lets me.”

“Sure thing. The invitation’s open”, he nodded, then went on his way.

“I see you found a friend”, Anki remarked. Nua jumped up.

“Please don’t. And he’s not a friend. Just clueless. He shouldn’t talk with me like that.”

“Like what? Like with a human being? This is how it should be. He’s fine.”

“River God, and I took him for a leper”, she sighed. “He’ll change his mind once he learns.”

“Nua. Has it occurred to you that with Hessa as an informal second leader of this caravan, his attitude is normal here, and what you’re used to is an exception?”

Nua gave Anki a long thoughtful look.

“Lots of things here are different than normal. Have you learned anything interesting?”

“Oh, plenty”, Anki’s voice was smug. “I’ll tell you on the road. I had a good look at the map and there is a place we absolutely need to visit.”