Red met with Reu and Bellare in his foster father's backroom. The trio had a map on the table in front of them.

Bellare was pointing to the shipping route his seed donor supposedly took. Red couldn't help but feel a touch of doubt as he listened.

"What do you think lad?" Reu said. The other man watched his expression and picked up on Red's hesitation.

"It's too neat," Red said bluntly. His father was an Emperor. The man didn't get there by being stupid. He was the only son of twenty-five children who clawed his way through blood to sit on the throne. His father's ruthless endless greed provoked him to conquer even more lands for Habrin. This wasn't a man who could be tracked so simply. Red didn't believe for a moment that this cunning man was going senile this easily.

It was too convenient for the Sosia to say that his father had departed on a ship, and that route was discoverable. The Sosia told him, and he must have also said that to his brothers as well. This could be a trap set for all of them to fall into. It would be fitting for their father to set them up to fall on their swords of greed.

"We'll follow it but with caution," Red said over the silence that lingered. "It could be that he's gotten careless in his old age."

"It's worth a shot," Bellare said. "I'll go."

"No," Reu spoke up before Red could. "We'll give your younger brother a shot at it. We need you in the palace. There's more unrest after the dragon incident." Reu's lips quivered when he said dragon.

Every man at the table had a moment with the word. Akkad's battle with the flying lizard had gotten wilder with each retelling. Lizards, aka dragons, were in high demand. Even in the streets outside the smithery children were welding them as weapons for fun.

Akkad couldn't show his face outside the palace grounds without being sung tales of his battle with the dragon.

Thanks to all of this, Akkad openly declared war on Red. Akkad had sent countless debt collectors Red's way, hoping one attacker would get lucky.

They hadn't so far, but Merin was upset with all the chopped body parts they had to dispose of daily.

Red looked out one of the tiny peepholes Reu had in his backroom. Given her history, Merin was with him today. If she escaped his view for too long, trouble followed.

He could see her talking to strangers. She stood out even dressed as a man. Merin had her pangolin strapped to her robed back and the lizard. Letha was with her, and the two women were covered, but Red wanted to keep an eye out. Women were plucked off the streets to be sold whenever the chance presented itself.

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He wanted her to be in the backroom with him, but her eyes sparkled like a star when she saw the marketplace. Red softened when she turned those eyes up to plead, and he allowed her to frolic in the market.

It wasn't the smart choice for either of them, but she deserved a bit of fun. Merin could also take care of herself, which was necessary.

The market is where a lot of crime happened.

"You have such a powerful influence that everyone wants a little piece of you," Merin told Azucio in her native tongue. She could comfortably whisper to the dragon in her own tongue. Doing so minimized the chance that someone else would overhear.

Merin had to disguise her voice as gruff, but from the looks that lingered, she didn't think she was doing a good job of it. So, she tried to limit her words.

Acuzio made a little chirping noise, but to her ears, it was as if she could hear the dragon say, "I'm the best."

Merin wanted to ask why Mordecai had left the dragon behind, but she was worried it was a touchy subject. The boy said he would return, so maybe she'd find out later. For now, she was going to go shopping.

The marketplace had delightful scents, pretty baubles, and exotic animals. Merin soaked in the new sensations with wide eyes. She missed being able to do this kind of activity!

She fingered a silverly blue silk that she ached to wear. If only the Russus role didn't limit her to the ugly orange hues. Merin twisted her lips in thought and mentally tried to imagine shades of blue that could work with orange.

"It's not impossible..." She said half in thought as her fingers ran through the silk.

The man selling wares caught her wrist, and Merin blinked at him with narrowed eyes.

Letha moved within a heartbeat to place her sword at the man's throat. "Drop your hand." The bodyguard demanded.

"You have a pangolin and lizard...you are Russus Merin. I need your help." The man said. He let Merin go, but his eyes were sticky glue on her face. "Please, Russus."

Merin nibbled on her lip, marveling that she was becoming infamous for the company she kept. "If you know I am Russus, then you understand the crime you committed." She said. She used her hand to signal to Letha to back down. The other woman did so smoothly, but her tall frame stayed taut.

"I tried to get your attention, but you only looked at my silks..." The man said.

Merin winced at that. She was obsessed with color now that she was stuck with the ugliest one for the rest of her time in Habrin. Anytime she saw shades other than orange, she gushed. "You're excused this time; what do you need my help with?"

"My son...he's dying. The rumors say you healed Rutilus Akkad's face...can you heal my son?"

"Bring him to me," Merin said. "I'll have a look."

The man all but abandoned his stall in his haste to grab his son. Less than thirty minutes had passed before the man returned with a six-year-old boy in his arms.

The boy had extensive burns across his flesh. Merin gasped at the boy's face, which was littered with scabs, and his holeless pupils.

This was the same kind of scars the Sosia had.

"What happened to him?" She said, lowering the wrapping around her face. She couldn't believe this could have happened to a little boy.

"He contracted Febris. His body could fight it off, but the damage was done. The fever burned his body, and he lost his eyes. He's barely able to stomach food. He's getting weaker by the day."

Merin had never heard of a disease that caused burns to the body. Was this part of the Elan curse? Her heart ached, and she reached out and healed the little boy without caring what attention this would attract.

Soon, Merin had people of all ages with similar scars lined up for a cure.