The crowd cheered wildly, the story was a ludicrous one, but the performance was exceptional. “I have never seen such mastery of shadows in my life” cheered a member of the audience, “To the lady who conducted the show, if you can hear me please consider my proposal of marriage. ” rang another cry from the crowd. Ervinos and Aikaerine were just as taken by the performance as any other. The beautiful costume design, the dance of the shadows, the incredible music that worked in perfect harmony with the other parts - how could Ervin be anything but impressed?

Katerine, however, was stuck in deep thought of a different nature. Something about the story stood out to her, a story so simple yet profound in its implication. It raised more questions than answers, but it was far too interesting an idea to ignore. She raised her head after moments of silence and muttered to Ervin, “I need to find out where they heard this story.”

Ervin looked around and could see none of the actors, never mind the old man or lady. The organisers around the tent had already begun funnelling the crowd out of the tent, with a row of them blocking the crowd from accessing the actor's area. With how busy this exhibit was, who knows when they would get a chance to speak to someone who could answer their questions? But he was not one to let a friend down, so instead he chose the direct route.

“When you see an opening, just run straight into the actor's lounge, I’ll be right behind you.” He declared with a smile on his face. Katerine nodded, ready to make her dash.

Ervin rose from his seat and made a break straight for the lounge, as expected a guard stepped in his path politely. He was not expecting the young boy to be so agile, as he spun away from his grip and ended up behind him. Ervin then ran straight to the side, leaving a huge gap for Katerine to run through. “Phase 1 complete,” the boy thought to himself, as now all he had to do was shake the organiser chasing after him. The Mukuru headed straight for the side of the tent and slid in between the layers. The guard tried his best to reach him, but no adult could fit such a tight space, Ervin was able to run to the back through the layer and emerged into the actor's lounge right in time.

“Looks like we have some trespassers again, ” laughed the lady who conducted the show, sizing up the two children who had sneaked past the guards. “At least it isn’t the guy who started asking me to marry him.”

The actors were clearly used to being harassed after a show, but the two kids were too adorable for them to allow the guards to eject them. “How can I help you, little girl?” asked a performer, waving away the guards as Aikaterine looked upon them with wide eyes.

“Please, I beg you, my lady. Tell me where you heard this story. I promise I’ll keep your secret and won’t tell anyone!”

The whole tent burst out with laughter, as the two children pleaded with sincerity. Most of the troupe didn’t think the story was anything but a funny old tale, building up the mystery of its source was simply a way to enhance the experience.

“That story has little to do with any of us, my dear” explained the conductor, “The one who brings this story is old man Marco, the master of shadows. He’s usually much too grumpy to see visitors in his room, don’t blame us if his version of this story sounds less magical” she said, pointing them to a room in the back.

The two thanked the actors and dashed in to see the master of shadows.

Marco was sitting in his room quietly in prayer. The children walked in to see the old man muttering to himself with his eyes closed, clutching a gold pendant in his hand. The shadow master paid the children no heed, seemingly lost in his own mind.

Ervinos and Aikaterine approached cautiously, the sight of the old man in his unkempt clothing was enough to cause concern. As they got closer, Ervinos could hear that his chant was just a single line, repeated again and again: “I seek forgiveness from the Rihla”.

“Hello there, oh shadow master” greeted Aikaterine, with a stiff tone and formal bow. “We greatly enjoyed your show, and hoped we could ask you some questions on the story.”

The old man jerked back to reality, dropping his pendant onto the table in surprise. The piece was intricately designed with a golden, radiant sun in the centre and a silver crescent moon lying beneath it. He glared at the two children like they had deeply offended him. “What do you want?” he snarled.

“Where did you hear the tale you presented in the show?” pestered Aikaterine, who would not be discouraged. “Why did the humans in the very beginning use their arms to help them walk, why did they have so much hair on them?”

“Tale?” seethed the grey-haired man, “You dare call the proclamations of the Divine Prophet a tale?”

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He slammed his hand on the table and looked Aikaterine straight in the eyes. “This is a story that was told to him by the Benevolent One Himself! Did you not hear the message in the show? You must repent for the sins of humanity before the Final Cry.”

The girl was well-read enough about the world to know that this was a Lightseeker of Rihla, but she had never heard of the Lightseekers requiring followers to repent for any sin. The books Aikaterine had read said that the one true God, the Rihla, had ordered its people to follow their King and live by a code of morality, lest their souls would be claimed by a Demon. “What is the Final Cry” she asked meekly.

The shadow master lit the candles in his room and walked around to shut out all sources of light. He then used his skilful manipulation to project images on the back of his tent. He showed humans running in terror as flames engulfed everything around them. “The world itself will tremble, the skies will be filled with fire, the shriek of trumpets will fill the sky as the Demon on the other side of the World rises and punishes humanity for its sin. He will enslave all of humanity and torture us for the rest of our existence, and when he is satisfied with the pain he has caused us, he will end it all and swallow the world whole.” The old man coughed but struggled to finish his increasingly crazed rant. “The signs are all around us, child. The Empire has fallen into chaos, with sickness on the street, and hunger in the home. The mad Emperor orders his own people killed in droves, and the provinces whisper of civil war after a thousand years of peace. Do you not see? These are all prophesied as the signs of the Final Cry! Only those who find the path of light, acknowledge that they are the children of murderers and repent for their sins will be reunited with the Rihla. Do you not want salvation, little girl? Do you want to be skinned alive and burnt and resurrected every day? Submit to the Rihla before your soul is too polluted to be saved!”

“That’s enough.” came a shout from behind the two scared children, the presenter had heard the commotion and come to see whether the children were OK. “You’ll have to forgive Master Marco, he has had a long, tiring day, and just gets cranky quite easily. He’s from the Northwest province of the Empire, right before the Desert of Ruin, so he’s not used to the humidity here.” she smiled, as she calmed the old man down.

“More importantly,” bubbled Ervinos, using the chance to get his question answered. “How do you control the shadows so masterfully? I’ve never seen the shadows bend to someone's will like that! If I didn’t know better, I would say this is a kind of magic!”

Suddenly, both the presenter and the old man snapped to face the young boy. Marco pointed his finger at Ervinos and let out a raspy accusation. “You! Are you a spy for the Empire? First, you Diafthoreat Imperial scum stray from the path of the Rihla, then you betray the Lightseekers by destroying our places of worship without warning, and now you hunt us in foreign Kingdoms?! Will you only be satisfied if you have my life?”

Ervinos opened his mouth to deny the charges, too flustered by the man's aggression to fully register what was happening.

“You children should leave now,” declared the presenter curtly, before Ervin could offer a defence. The situation was uncomfortable enough that neither child put up much of a fight, they quickly shuffled out of the room and ran out of the tent.

The two stayed silent for a minute, taking the whole interaction in.

“I’m sorry I asked you to help me find the source of the story.” began Aikaterine, blaming herself for the unpleasant exchange.

“I decided to do it, so you have nothing to be sorry for” consoled Ervinos, who had regained his composure a little quicker than his scholarly friend. “It was scary when we were in there, but nothing bad happened. Still, that old man really was crazy, huh.”

“Exactly!” complained Aikaterine, as she led Ervinos away from the tent, “It was a fun play, but he clearly lost his sense of reality a while ago, trumpets in the sky as the world goes up in flames? Ridiculous! He was so mean for no reason, right? Next time I see him, I’ll give him a proper piece of my mind,” finished Aikaterine.

“Yeah, it would be giving him too much importance to let him ruin a great day” concurred the young Mukuru, also quite shaken by the experience, “I heard from Father that the Diaf Emperor recently turned against Lightseeker groups in the Imperial capital.” he added, “Maybe losing his home and being banished from the Empire drove him over the edge? Also, now we know why the play is only in the Kingdom for such a short time.”

The little girl nodded in agreement, she had noticed the sudden change in the presenter's tone as well. “The Empire takes the enforcement of the ban on magic use in Ikona very seriously, if they heard rumours of this show they would come down on them with incredible force. Even if the Sufundiso guards heard rumours of magic, they would probably take action preemptively just to avoid the Empire’s ire.”

The two children skipped along as they left the tough encounter behind them, they checked the time and realised that Ervinos needed to be at the Royal Lodge soon. They grabbed one last honey cake for the road and hurried out of the bazaar district.

“I’ve never seen magic before.” marvelled Ervinos, “It wasn’t what I thought it would be, but it was beautiful. Thanks for bringing me here, Aikaterine, and for showing me around your city.”

“You don’t need to thank me for things like this you fool, ” giggled the little girl, “that’s what friends are for. I’ll be expecting a similar tour when I come to visit you in Paligxulu.”

“Of course, I’ll show you all the best places.” exclaimed the boy, as he started listing the various things to see in his swampland abode.

The two kept chatting until they reached a magnificent set of gates. No doubt, this was the Royal Lodge.

The guards at the gate delivered a well-refined salute, and the doors swung open without anyone asking them a single question. Ervinos was impressed by the reception, did they know he was Mukuru and thus pay him more respect? Either way, it was a refreshing experience after the events in the tent. They walked through the garden courtyard and came to the main entrance of the Lodge.

Aikaterine, who it seemed was going to guide Ervinos all the way to his father at this rate, walked in first. Ervin took a second to admire the surroundings, before trying to step inside, but he was stopped abruptly by the guard at the door. “No entry without a pass, young man,” he said sternly.

“Ahem” grumbled Aikaterine on the other side, “he’s with me.”

The guard did a full swivel to face the girl, struck a magnificent salute, and replied loudly, “My apologies, Your Highness, ” he turned around to Ervinos, “Forgive me, respected guest, please proceed.”

Ervinos Mukuru stood, rooted to the spot, “Your Highness?!” he thought, as the pieces began falling together.

“Oy, Ervin, what’s wrong? Your face looks weird,” asked Katerine, ignorant of the storm in her friend's mind.

“Aikaterine. What’s your full name?” stumbled the young boy,

“How silly of me, did I forget to say? Aikaterine Ikona, nice to meet you.” she grinned, without a care in the world. “Now let’s go get you to your parents, you’re late enough as it is.”

The princess of Ikona yanked the stunned little boy and dragged him up to the Queen’s meeting room.