They reached the outskirts of Ancyra at midnight. "How will your team be deployed here?"
“There should be one watching the road. The leader will be at an Inn called The Caravanserai, where many caravan masters stay. The rest of the team should be with him."
He handed her a flask of water, "Here, clean your face. It's all bloody. You will stay here. Like I said, you’re marked, and I can find you anywhere you go.”
The Ebon by the gate proved to be trickier. No convenient shadow was near him, and he didn’t want to crack his shield and make noise. So he changed his appearance to that of an old man in his seventies and wobbled toward him, feinting drunkenness. Regardless, it wasn’t silent, and the only thing that saved him from being caught was that he stored the body and skimmed to a shadow before the gate guards could investigate. He needed to come up with a better way to break the shield.
Finding the inn also proved arduous. At that time of night, there weren’t people to ask for directions, so he roamed the streets until he perceived the signature of the Ebon. Fortunately, killing the other three wasn’t a problem, even though one had been standing guard. But there should have been four. One was missing. And although he extended his senses, he could not find him.
They quickly returned to the caravan just in time to wake up Skandar and begin the day. He just sat Viper next to Osman without an explanation. The older merchant had by now learned not to ask questions. ‘Maybe she’s the reason Ohran doesn’t want my Leyla,’ he thought as he drove. The caravan skipped Sarmalius to be in a position to sell in Ancyra during Pazar.
The following morning, Skandar was ecstatic at not having to exercise that day. Renier said his goodbyes to Osman, Captain Hazim, and the few friends he had made during the trip, and the three entered the city. As they passed the gate, Viper saw an Ebon watching the gate.
“My lord,” she said, trying to distract Renier, “I’ve been thinking these days, and perhaps I could serve you from now on. I have many skills,” she finished suggestively.
Renier ignored her distraction and told her, “signal your friend to report your failure and that the Ebon should stay away from Ancyra.”
Renier got two rooms at an inn toward the east end of town. He left Skandar meditating and went with Viper to the other room.
“Before you get ideas, go across the street and tell your idiot minion to go and deliver the message. If he does anything to you, he’s dead. If he doesn’t leave the city immediately, he’s dead. I have his signature and can detect him anywhere in the city. After he leaves, come back here.”
Viper returned a few minutes later, and Renier confirmed that the Ebon was leaving the city. “Wait for me here!”
It wasn’t far from Imam Yusuf al-Ankari's home, and he was at his door after a few minutes of walking. He could feel the power of the array that was protecting the house. ‘There are people that can make arrays this powerful? Maybe the ancient knowledge of the sects hasn’t been lost at all.’
He presented himself to the Imam with the letter and handed the manuscript. The Imam had a few questions. Then he thanked him, and he left. He had left the manuscript because it was worthless. He read the embedded soul stone, which seemed part of a map to one of the ancient sects. But Auberon and the Ebon had destroyed all the other ancient sects long ago. Only Ombre Island remained, and although she had been ridiculed at the time, Ayg had prepared with enough Reserves to last twenty millenniums and an army of golems to maintain and defend the island. The last bastion of humanity if the sect could not be rebuilt and Penumbra wasn’t stopped.
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“Sırçalan, the man you described, visited the Imam this morning for about an hour, then he returned to the Inn. We saw him enter the city with a woman and a young boy. By the looks of the woman, she was an Ebon Specter.”
“Continue to follow and report his activities,” ordered Meryem. ‘He finally came,’ she thought. She had been waiting in Ancyra for almost two weeks for his arrival. Now, to arrange a serendipitous meeting.
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The following day, after training and breakfast, Renier left Skandar in the room they shared and hired a carriage to take Viper and him to the Pasha’s Estate.
They circled Ancyra using the same road that Renier had used to escape many years before. Three, three years before. It was hard for Renier to keep track of the timeline. Passing the thicket where he had left Gazi's body, he remembered he currently looked like him. He dropped the disguise in favor of a seventeen-year-old Renier. He didn't want anyone to know his actual look. He also put on an extravagant hooded silk robe over his leather armor.
Viper was wide-eyed, ‘It’s the boy. All this time, I’ve been with the boy!’
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"Soldier, I need to see Mustafa Pasha. I'm Renier Menart; tell him it's an urgent matter," said Renier in a commanding tone to the gate guard at the estate gate. The guard was going to protest but thought better after seeing the well-dressed foreigner. "Yes, efendi."
The old gray-bearded Pasha sat in his study drinking tea when Renier and Viper entered, led by an escort of seven guards and the guard captain. The Pasha looked at the two but said nothing.
"Selamün aleiküm, your Excellency," said Renier.
"Aleiküm selam, young Ohran or should I say Renier. I'm surprised to see you," answered the Pasha.
"Your Excellency, thank you for your previous hospitality and kindness. My time here training with Gazi and Captain Kemal was invaluable. Also, I want to apologize for bringing an attack on your house. I did not know the Ebon Specters were hunting me. I am, however, here to make some amends. Could we discuss this in private, your Excellency? Some matters need confidentiality."
"Nonsense. The cousin of the Sultan is always welcome," he turned to the guards, "leave us!"
Renier turned to the captain, "If I could put her in your care while I talk to his Excellency. She is my prisoner and extremely dangerous," then to Viper, "if you try anything, you're dead."
Once alone, Renier continued, "Your Excellency, the prisoner is called Viper; she was the vice leader of the assassins that attacked the estate. The leader and all of the other members of that team are dead."
The Pasha's eyes grew wide.
"They are part of an organization called The Brotherhood of the Ebon Tulip that operates out of Egypt. I believe I've killed almost all of the members operating in the Empire. There's one more team south of Hisn-Mansur, but I will take care of them once I’m done with my business."
The Pasha didn't know how to answer. Each thing that the young man said was more outrageous than the previous. 'The Sultan's men have been hunting these people for years and suffered many losses, and this… boy claims to have killed them. Impossible,' he thought as Renier continued.
"If we could go to a courtyard and have it cleared of servants and guards, I will give you the bodies."
"Yo-yo-you have the bodies," the Sultan rose and led him to the back courtyard, "clear the courtyard. Everyone leave!"
When the courtyard was empty, Renier started to take out the bodies of the Ebon. The Pasha almost fainted. Not from the blood or the dead, but because they were appearing from nowhere, 'what kind of person is this?'
Normally, Renier would not have shown his capabilities, but he needed the Pasha’s help, and a little fear was good, ”Your Excellency, I would ask two favors if I could entrust sending two letters and help me purchase a small estate near the City. I’ll return to my inn.”
“Nonsense, how could you stay at an inn? You can stay here until you’re settled.”
“Excellency, I have a young traveling companion - an apprentice, if you will…”
The Pasha interrupted before he could continue, “I’ll have my guards get him. He can stay in your old room, and you can have the main guest suite. Please, I insist!”
“Thank you for your hospitality, Excellency. I’ll accept it. It is best if my real identity isn’t known, so if you permit me, I’ll get him, and when I come back, I’ll come as Ustası Ohran, Gazi’s Nephew.”
The Pasha agreed.
“I’ll leave Viper as your prisoner. I promised I would not kill her, so I would appreciate it if she didn't die. I'm sure you have many questions for her. Needless to say, what you have seen today should be kept confidential."
"Yes. Hazreti Renier. It will be as you command."
"Thank you, your Excellency. Please have the guard captain bring the prisoner so I may release her to your care."
Sometime later, the captain brought Viper to his room.
"You will be the Pasha's prisoner. He has agreed not to kill you, but you should answer his questions and work hard for him," Renier told Viper as he performed a mend and removed her corruption, "I removed your corruption. Don't think of it as a kindness. I want you to have a long life as a slave and pay for your murders.” Viper’s eyes watered. She had never imagined she could be rid of the corruption. She silently cursed the Ebon that had corrupted her as a child.
Later that day, when Renier returned to the Estate in his young Gazi persona, the gate guards had already been alerted, and a maid led him to the pair of rooms they would be using. As he passed, he heard one of the older guards comment, “It’s uncanny; he looks just like the Çavuş.”
Skandar’s jaw dropped when he saw his bedroom. He had never seen a bedroom with its own private bath.
“Could you have our clothes washed?” Renier asked the maid, “And please bring the evening meal to our rooms.”
“Skandar, remove your clothes and leave them neatly folded by the door. Then take a bath,” Renier instructed as he left for his room.
Renier automatically returned to his old habits when prayer was called that evening. As he knelt on the prayer mat, he noticed an old image with a poem underneath that was framed on the wall. ‘Where have I seen that before?’
Then he suddenly remembered. Without finishing his prayer, he went to the table and took out both journals. ‘That image is identical to the one on the inside cover of the first journal.’
In lands where ancient whispers roam, Beneath the stars, in heavens' dome, Tales of empires, grand and boon, In the shadow of the crescent moon.
Through bustling bazaars, scents entwine, Where sultans dream 'neath moon's soft shine, Secrets held in night's sweet tune, In the shadow of the crescent moon.
On seas where daring souls do swoon, Far from the hearth, 'neath sun and moon, Their hearts hold tales, both old and new, In the shadow of the crescent moon.
‘In the shadow of the crescent moon! It fits.’
152 16 146 76 89 47 52 24 236 38 207 54 52 24 225 64 113 98 256 65 225 85 256 65 12 54 89 47 52 24 236 38 177 30 125 96 236 38 207 54 177 30 236 38 146 76 89 47 98 39 256 65 256 65 146 76
All the repeating letters matched if every pair of numbers substituted for a letter.
He tested it on the last message in the journal.
“You must get the manuscript at all costs. Meet with Meryem and assist her as she directs. She is in command of the operation.”
’So she lied. She wasn’t just a guard,’ he mused as he double-checked his work.
He had a key he could work with to decipher the messages.
He would work on deciphering the book during the following days, but it wasn’t urgent.
Before bed, he took out the cube and sent a message to Imam Akkaya. “The manuscript has been delivered safely, and I’m settling down near Ancyra. I hope you don’t mind, but I’ll be posing as yours and Gazi’s nephew.”
Then, he penned a letter to the Sultan and another to his aunt Theodora.
As he lay in bed before he fell asleep, he whispered, “Gazi old friend, your murder has been avenged; I hope you rest in peace. Now is Gustav’s turn.”