“I swear, Balbinus. They are getting bolder and bolder by the day.”

Nua promptly slumped, leaning on the guard so he would have to be the one carrying her weight, and perhaps, eventually, let her go. Unfortunately, the vigile had no trouble lifting her by holding her arm. They were large people, perhaps not as large as Flavius the explorer was, but still, well trained and well fed. The one who caught her, grey and grizzled, had pale skin like the fish merchant, which was uncommon in the Overlord’s Mercy; the other was dark like the dead Overlord’s son. Neither had his fashionable coiffed beard or any beard for that matter. Vigiles doubled as firefighters, so sporting any kind of facial hair, or long hair in general was strictly forbidden.

“Take the loot.”, the grey one said. “Be careful, she might bite.”

“It’s fish”, Balbinus sighed. “Gods, why does it have to be fish.”

Nua pressed the package to her body with one free hand. She did not try to fight the vigile. That would be unwise; no law was forbidding him from killing a thieving Unsagga on sight. Her heart was beating fast as the sparrow’s wings. This time I’m really, truly dead, she thought. I have no way to flee, I can’t use ether yet, and there are no ancient machines for Anki to control. Think, Nua. Think!

“It’s mine!”, she started, “And rightfully bought! The great lady Flavia, River God bless her, told me to get… a troncon… of razorfish for her… majestic supper tonight. She will be very mad if she does not get it, and you don’t know what she can do to you! She has ether.”

That last one, Nua realized, might have been too much, because both vigiles exchanged surprised looks before bursting into roaring laughter.

“Little rat,” Balbinus said, “If you bought it, why were you running?”

“Oh, don’t humor her.”, snorted the gray one. “Let’s get going. The pillory is not far away.”

“She’s too scrawny to fit into the pillory. I say, just cut off her right hand.”, the vigile retorted. “Serves her well.”

“She’ll bleed out.”

“You care?”

“Killing kids is not my job.”

“It’s so obvious that you’ve been sent from the upper circle, Quintus.”, Balbinus puffed. “She’s no kid. And she’s beast-eyed. That lot has more young than stray cats, and they’re sturdy. She’ll live. If she does not - culling them is good for the city. Otherwise, they’ll take us over by breeding.”

“Anki”, Nua looked around, paying no heed to the offensive words. “If you’re here somewhere, please help me. They want to cut off my hand.”

“So I’ve heard.” Anki’s replied at once, seemingly very flustered. His blue form hovered above the older vigile. “That would be unfortunate.”

“Can you stop bleeding or regrow limbs?”

“Not at this point, no”, he said.

“What good are you with your ancient magics if you can neither heal me nor get me out of danger?”

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“I will not try to remind you how you got in that particular danger in the first place. Believe me, I would relish dealing bloody vengeance on that ruffian if I could. Please, Nua, let me think.”

Meanwhile, Quintus turned to Nua.

“The stolen goods. What stall did you get it at?”

“Are we seriously returning the fish?”, Balbinus asked, and eyed the package that he had just wriggled from her. From the way he was looking at it, Nua guessed he was thinking that it would go well with a piece of flatbread and some wine. “The fat’s dripping.”

“I don’t know about you. Myself, I’m seriously getting into the good graces of that merchant”, Quintus retorted. “And his denarii.”

“Fair.”

“You know, Nua”, Anki remarked, flying forward. “He might be closer to his goal than he thinks.”

She looked ahead, her gaze following the spirit. While it seemed to her that the chase lasted for hours, it was not that long, really. Also, her path to the entrance was more complex than for someone who could walk unperturbed. There were two silhouettes already on the way to the guards, the elegant lady and the merchant. Not that minion clerk who had served her. The blue-skinned, four-armed, seven feet tall Vedan boss.

“Why, if it isn’t the illustrious Flavia herself.”, Balbinus guffawed. Quintus smacked him on the back of his head.

“I have an idea”, Anki said meanwhile. “How do you feel about a bit of acting?”

Nua let out a long, nervous breath.

“Anything that gets me out of here.”

“Excellent. Then, on my sign, pretend to faint. Then, pretend to wake up all of a sudden as if possessed and repeat the words after me.”, Anki syllabized three words. “Try to sound exactly as I do, accent and tone.”

“Is it a spell?”

“No, just words.”

Nua cursed under her breath. This was very different from Azurian, and even some of the sounds did not seem to exist in both tongues at the same time. Once again, the king was assuming things were easy when they were not.

“I have no idea how to listen to those words, let alone speak them. I’ll butcher that, Anki.”

“I’ll decrease my mental shields for the time being and think directly in the language. I am fluent at it, and it should have an imprint on you.”

“Oh. By the River God, I hope it works.”

The thought exchange lasted several heartbeats, allowing the new arrivals to approach. The merchant bowed his head to the lady.

“And here’s our thief, madam,” he said with a slight accent. “As you can see, she has been intercepted by those two courageous guards who recovered your purchase.”

Balbinus nodded and extended the package to the Vedan as if he wanted to do it all the time.

The lady wrinkled her nose.

“It is ruined.”

“I am willing to recompense for your trouble and let you choose another slice of similar weight, on the house.”, the merchant smiled. “In hope that you’ll be a returning customer.”

“That would be most kind of you, lord Dhurandhara.”

“Do you know that this is a fake name?”, Nua said. “The nonhuman Vedans have their own language, which is different than of the humans living in their country.”

“I know the Vedans, Nua.” Anki mumbled. “I also know that they almost abandoned the use of their original language, leaving it only for ceremonial purposes. And that was a thousand years ago.”

“Are the words… no way!”

“I just hope that they’re as unchanging in their customs as always and still remember.”

Meanwhile, the lady continued.

“Thank you, vigiles. I dearly hope that the thief rots in the stocks.”, a cruel smile played on her lips. “Or better yet, let me take her. She has gotten in the way of my mistress Drusilla Prosperina and so I will serve her justice myself.”

The spirit was baffled.

“I do not understand. Did she just openly announce the name of her lover in public?”

“No, Anki, she’s a noble house slave that went shopping. A cook or the housekeeper, most likely.” Nua sighed. “It would be nice to be one of those. That’s a good life. If not for my eyes… and that I’m from the Bottoms… and the mashed brain thing…”

“Nua.” Anki’s voice suddenly grew harsh, and angry. “I cannot believe you just said that. Never, ever dream of being anybody’s slave. The way you are, destitute and fighting for scraps, is better than the fate of this woman. Poverty destroys the body, but slavery chips away at the soul. No human ever should be the property of another. That’s despicable.”

“You sound like you’ve an axe to grind.”

“Maybe I do. Now, I’ll count to three and we start. Please, do not lapse in focus this time .”