The kitchen at the medic’s house was enormous. Nua sat at the table with a mug full of warm gruel, overwhelmed with the riches that surrounded her. In the caravanserais, the food arrived at the table already prepared. It was her first time to see a whole salted ham resting on a wooden stand, together with freshly baked flatbreads in stacks, wreaths of garlic, laurel, and other herbs hanging on the walls, barrels and sacks full of flour, tubers, lentils, or whatever could be kept in them. So people could live like that, too – it was not a special luxury for the inn’s important guests.
Her gruel seemed plain, but it turned out that there was butter and honey in it. The cook poured it from a large pot standing on the stove. At the moment, he was portioning the food into bowls, which in turn were taken by the kitchen helpers to carry outside, probably for the patients. Nua noticed that the tableware was ceramic, not wooden, just like in the best caravanserais they had visited. Even the tiled stove differed from Hala’s like night from day; instead of being coarse and ochre-colored, the tiles were coated with deep red glaze, and they displayed pictures of farm animals. She couldn’t stop glancing at them from time to time. She would love to come closer and inspect each image, if only the situation was less serious.
And also if the glares of the kitchen staff weren’t reminding her that they were not welcome.
Ashra sat at the opposite end of the table, sipping mint tea. At first, the cook forbade her to enter. Then – at least in Nua’s imagination - the caravan’s leader spread an aura of overwhelming self-confidence, creating an area where no one could so much as blink at her, appropriated two kitchen stools, and asked for breakfast. It was a perfect conquest and Nua noted that she needs to ask Anki later if such charisma, when lacking status to support it, could be achieved with sorcery.
None of the mercenaries was around, except for Oswald and Lykomedes, still guarding the door. Ashra ordered the kitchen boy to bring them some breakfast as well.
“Now then,” she said. “Tell me exactly what happened. Start with your fight in the evening. The medic is convinced that you’ve beaten up a whole angry mob.”
“There’s not much to it,” Nua said. “They were five of them, all drunk. They could not see in the dark, and I had Shadow.”
Ashra nodded, not surprised in the least.
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“That’s what I thought. It was still very brave of you,” she said as if pondering on her words. “It required fast thinking. And also, levels of stamina I would not expect out of you.”
“She suspects something,” Anki whispered.
“That’s a stretch. Why would she?”
Ashra put her hands together, leaning on the table. Now she was speaking in a low voice.
“Hessa didn’t fight the ghouls. There was someone in the canyon,” she said. “Or what was left of them. What did they look like?”
“Oh,” Nua thought, and aloud she answered. “A man, from the look of it. Tall, dressed in green clothes, and wrapped in a cloak. Azurian, I guess. His skin was chestnut dark and he didn’t have a beard.”
“Did he show any trait that seemed to you more than human? Frightening strength, for example? Or an ability to fly?”
Nua glanced at Anki. Her usual tactic was to lie for as long as she wasn’t caught, but right now, she guessed it was a bad idea. Hessa could verify her words later. It was better to be honest.
“He ran across the walls,” she said. “And he was crazy fast.”
Ashra nodded again. Nua felt a pang of anxiety.
“Anki, do you know if she could recognize how he died? That, you know, there were two people fighting him?”
“The corpse was mutilated,” said the king. “She won’t know for sure. But if that priestess of One has any knowledge of medicine, she could have gleaned some clues from the body.”
“Hessa will tell her.”
“That is a risk. We should probably leave the caravan before she wakes up.”
“Leave, and for what?”
“To explore the ancient ruins, obviously.” The king shot her an incredulous look. “This is the most important thing right now.”
Nua frowned. The most important thing right now was Hessa’s survival.
“And if I decided to trust her?”
“She’s Old Azurian,” he said. “Do you want more assassins after you?”
“Let me at least find out if she’s that hostile.”
“Your choice. Just don’t be sorry later.”
Ashraqat sipped her tea.
“Running across the walls, that would check out,” she muttered. “He had an animal with him. Could you tell me what it was?”
“I don’t know,” Nua shrugged. “Some sort of a reptile with shrunken wings, no eyes, and a long snout.”
“Damnation.” Ashra got up. “Finish your food. Idris should be done booking us a place to stay; it’s the same caravanserai the others will join us in. If Raya does not…” she ran her hands through her hair. “I need to wash and talk to her, dammit.”
“She knows what a sniffer is,” Anki chipped in. “And judging from her reaction, she thinks it was after Hessa.”
“She doesn’t use sorcery, though.”
“She could have other secrets. Or she’s able to use it when she gets her hands on some ether. Remember, you’re an exception. Awakened users were uncommon in my days, and now they are, most likely, exceedingly rare.”
“Why? Was that thing dangerous?” Nua asked out loud.
“Not on its own, but its masters are,” Ashra answered. “We’ll speak of it later.”