Candle flames flickered as wind, sneaking in through the barely open window, made its rounds around the dark room.

At the back wall was Noor, standing nearly overtaken by a shadow. His eyes remained lowered as he bit his finger nails nervously while being rather forgotten by the rest of the company in the room.

However, Rami was more nervous than his companion. He stayed seated at the round table where he was instructed to take a seat that evening. The smell of the gardenias that covered the main hall that was supposed to have been mourning him had crept up the stairs and into Nanji’s study, the room Rami was currently fidgeting in, almost following his tail not wanting to let go of the one that had risen unexpectedly.

Rami knew it was Nanji’s personal space the moment he walked into the dark room. The round table sat at the back while an ornate desk facing two large windows overlooking the gardens below sat at the edge swept with paper stacking every inch of it. The rest of the walls were covered with towering bookshelves, not one shelf without a stack of books filling it to its brim. He was surprised to find that Nanji was a book enthusiast despite Dolovan mentioning Nanji’s reputation for being illiterate for a considerably long period of his life. Nevertheless, if it were up to Rami he would gladly spend all day in Nanji’s study going through papers and books nestling himself in the world of the tangible word, but instead here he was having to convince the unreal, the fact that he was indeed the man who had risen tonight.

He tried clearing his throat but caught himself as he spotted Venom’s eyes lingering on him. Despite his young age Elyan, better known as Venom, had prominent wrinkles creeping up at his eyes and forehead almost as if life had beaten him down multiple times making him permanently adopt a scowl. Elyan held a firm gaze on Rami from the corner of his eyes while fiddling with the thin gloves. The poor gloves seemed to be taking the brunt of the contempt bubbling up in its owner’s heart, getting wrangled every now and then. Rami immediately looked away not wanting any attention from Elyan who seemed to be fishing for something to pick on.

Butcher, sipping on his drink, oozing a harsh smell of alcohol, grunted loudly while rubbing his unusually smooth bald head catching the attention of the two at the round table with him.

“Where is he?” he grumbled. Rami wondered if Butcher was even speaking to them when Kamaru, commonly addressed as Choker, appeared from the shadows from behind the door and replied, “On his way.”

Kamaru, with his hefty salt and pepper beard, swiftly took a seat next to Rami, planting his heavy hand on Rami’s shoulder and giving it a good squeeze.

“Glad to have you sitting amongst us again, Azul, as you might have heard many times tonight already.”

Rami did not think Azul was as popular as he was until tonight when everyone in the packed hall greeted him individually to express their happiness and gratitude as soon as Nanji’s arms welcomed him in a heartbeat. He barely had any time to breathe. It was almost two hours in when Nanji finally called the night off and requested everyone to go home in high spirits and spread the word that the Circle was once again complete with the Ravenous of all making his come back from the dead. Nanji then proceeded to call an urgent meeting with the high ranking members of the Circle which obviously included Rami.

Rami pursed his lips smiling at Kamaru’s kind words and nodded. And for a moment Kamaru seemed taken aback by Rami’s gentle response but soon he too returned the smile falling into his seat.

The door to Nanji’s study pushed open at once revealing the man himself speaking to a lady who swept past him and away from the view.

“That would be all, dear,” Nanji added before turning and entering the room, making the four seated at the round table spring up at once. The door closed behind Nanji as he pulled his face from the shadows and into the light. The massive brooch in the shape of a neat ornate dagger pinned to his coat glistened in the candle light as his dark eyes fell on Rami beaming curiously.

He sighed.

“What a relief it is to see that you have finally made it back home, Azul…” Nanji spoke with a satisfied smile, while waving for everyone to take a seat.

“...I heard they treated you quite poorly this time, not even letting you send word to us until the day of the trial. I would have sent Kamaru right away to the King’s court if we knew in time. And to think you endured all that torture after getting thrown into the dungeons. Whatever did they want from you this time?” Nanji asked quite casually.

Rami cleared his throat while remembering the exact words Dolovan made him memorize for every single variant of a question Nanji could throw his way. “Remember, shoulders back, chest forward, and with a low voice…” Dolovan’s annoying voice rang through Rami’s ears. And just as she had commanded, Rami’s chest prodded forward and his chin titled lower hoping to pull out a low tone.

“Oh just the obvious, everything and anything about the Circle,” he looked around making eye contact so stubbornly with the rest, “which they failed to collect yet again, as always.”

Elyan’s snarky smirk caught Rami’s eye.

“Good, good, but I heard they tortured you quite badly–,” Nanji pressed on.

“Nothing I couldn’t handle, obviously,” Rami charged in with his prepared answer sounding quite strung that it made even Noor bite his lip nervously listening to Rami spit out his answers. Rami was too quick. He was beginning to sound restless. He was beginning to sound like Dolovan on a bad day (which was most of the time).

A beat of silence passed as Nanji observed Rami seated at the edge of his chair. And suddenly Nanji planted his hand on the table and turned his body to meet Noor’s eyes, hiding in the shadows behind him.

“I did not know you employed private spies outside of the Circle,” Nanji said, observing terrified Noor from the corner of his eye.

Rami felt his heart race. They had hoped Noor went unnoticed by the overlord. But the overlord was the head of the organization for a reason.

“Y–Yes, well, I heard whispers of the King’s guards wanting to mess with our smuggling operations sometime ago. I wanted to employ some spies detached from the organization, spies who could not be linked back to us. I guess they came in handy this time.”

Nanji turned back to Rami, lifting his brow, “They?”

Rami gulped. His prepped answer was considering Yulhan in the equation as well but it was only Noor with him tonight.

“It’s only two…so far.”

“Where’s the other?” Nanji’s eyes locked on Rami’s.

Rami felt himself gasp. He did not have an answer. Had Nanji perhaps caught him now?

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“He’s securing the perimeter. Making sure we were not being followed by any guards,” Noor spoke up at once, recovering their position, exchanging a quick glance with Rami.

Nanji fell silent processing Noor’s answer then slowly nodded in acceptance and fell back into his seat lighting a thin roll he pulled out from his shirt pocket without a second thought. Noor and Rami exchanged another swift look making Rami ease up seeing how Nanji was done with his questioning, at least for now.

The smell of burnt green hit Rami’s nose as he watched the head of the Circle puff out clouds before folding back onto the table with the thin roll between his fingers.

He sighed, “I’m glad to have you back, Azul. It would have been a grave loss if you were to have truly passed on. You must go home now and rest. Take a break before resuming your duties. Don’t you agree, Butcher?”

Butcher took a large gulp of alcohol before nodding away, “I’ll hold the fort down for you for another couple of days, young one.”

Rami almost pursed his lips with a smile but caught himself early enough to stop his old habit and simply give a firm nod in Butcher’s way.

“Although, you might have to send for your people. I dismissed them from their positions last week. They were getting out of hand with no leader and I did not have the time or the money to manage twice the amount. And here…” Butcher reached for his belt and pulled out a stack of keys. He threw it across the table and into Rami’s palms, “...the keys. I’m sure you’ll need those to get back into your place.” He took another swig and crashed back into his seat letting his eyes droop shut.

“Good, good. Anything from the two of you for Azul?” Nanji looked at Kamaru and Elyan. Kamaru casually stroked his salt and pepper beard while giving a lazy head shake while Elyan remained upright and cross armed staring back at Rami.

“Any concerns, Elyan?” Nanji asked, noticing his spymaster quiet and unresponsive. Elyan released his knit brows to finally turn to Nanji and speak in a soothing voice as if he had it all ready at the tip of his tongue all evening.

“Of course, I have concerns. It is indeed rather concerning that we have a high ranking member of the Circle disappear for over two weeks and end up unscathed at our doorstep on the night of his very funeral.”

“Unscathed?!” Something in Rami snapped. Maybe it was Elyan’s brash look or entitled tone that made Rami irritated to the point his composure suddenly began to crack.

“Yes, unscathed. I don’t see any visible torture–”

“I am half my weight. I can barely breathe through my nose. Do you want me to strip naked and show my scars or something?” Rami let his mouth run, unable to digest Elyan’s crude face.

“Let’s all be civil here now,” Nanji said, making Elyan look back at his boss.

“All I am saying is it's plenty of time to strike a deal with the King’s guards or perhaps the King himself, switch sides, betray your own–”

“And you have evidence of that?!” Rami blurted out, pouncing onto his feet.

Elyan whipped his head around to hiss back, “Perhaps you should prove your loyalty. I doubt they lie in the same place they once were. I’m sure that is what everyone is thinking,” Elyan looked to the others in approval only to be met with blank and avoiding stares by both Butcher and Kamaru.

Nanji’s arm fixed itself under his chin while his brows knit in thought. A beat passed as Rami’s eyes lingered between Noor and Nanji not knowing what to say.

At last, Kamaru slowly titled forward addressing Nanji,

“To Elyan’s point, we are indeed cautious when having men rejoin the Circle, however, it is Azul we are talking about here. He’s no mere low ranker. He’s the coin master, and has been a loyal dagger for over a decade.”

“He is not above our traditions!” Elyan put his foot down. Rami’s eyes glanced at Noor who was as equally terrified as he was. This wasn’t exactly going in the direction they were hoping the conversation would go.

“Oh Elyan, it’s Azul! You would know him better than anyone, and you think he would betray us?!” a drunk Butcher spat out before resigning himself back into his seat.

Rami gulped once more as his eyes found Nanji’s which were suddenly holding a firm gaze on him as if peeling his layers one by one. “Remember, you are Azul. Do not hesitate for even a moment for they will sense it. Do not let your guard down…” Dolovan’s words rang through Rami’s mind as he looked deeper into Nanji’s dark eyes.

“Calm down, all. It is true that we are talking about our very own Azul here, a loyal dagger through and through…” Nanji said, finally, making Elyan look away in disappointment.

“...However, to Elyan’s point we must follow our rules and traditions. None of us are above the Circle’s rules, not even I.”

Rami’s brows knotted in confusion. What was he supposed to do now? How was he supposed to prove his loyalty to the Circle? What was happening?

Elyan’s shoulders were suddenly propped open and his proud smile only got larger as time went by as Nanji puffed the thin roll between his fingers and looked back at Rami, “I’m truly sorry to put you through this, Azul. But Elyan is correct.”

Rami froze. He was not entirely sure what to do. And for whatever reason he capitulated almost immediately as the last few words expelled from Nanji’s lips as if his only option was now to fully give in.

“Right…Fine. Yeah, so um,” Rami found himself stammering before finding his words, “What do you want me to do?”

Nanji smiled then turned to Elyan and repeated, “What would you have him do, Elyan?”

Elyan’s face lightened up in a second thinking deeply before replying.

“I have a task that needs to be done urgently. One of our major delivery routes in the North West was disrupted by the King's army a few days ago. They currently have some of my best men in captivity. I want you to raid the garrison at the North Western border. Free our men and bring back our stolen goods.”

“That's far too large of an undertaking for someone who might not have the workforce for it–” Kamaru jumped in immediately in Rami’s defense.

“I believe that is a doable request for someone of Azul’s capabilities, he is after all exceptionally skilled at raiding,” Nanji said, quick to cut off Kamaru.

Elyan then asked, “But is it an adequate request to prove one's loyalty to the Circle? Does raiding a garrison and freeing some men prove one's undoubtful loyalty?”

Rami paused listening to Elyan’s words.

You suggested it, you fuck!

Rami wanted to spit the words out but held himself watching Elyan metaphorically rubbing salt so deeply into his wounds. It was evoking a sense of reason as to why someone would potentially want to chuck a drink at another’s face. Rami never understood why people would react that way so physically and dramatically, but seeing Elyan jabbing away at him, he so desperately wanted to throw Butcher’s drink across Elyan’s dull face.

Nanji puffed out the last bits of the thin roll before he crumpled the rest in his balled fist before looking up at his audience held in a tense pause. Nanji sure knew how to hold tension, then release it when he wished and as he commanded.

He cleared his throat then looked at Rami.

“Ah! That is an excellent question, Elyan. Although I would love to keep you youngsters in here all night and come up with some creative solutions, I am afraid I need to retire for the night soon. You know how my wife is. She has me going to bed early these days, she’s quite particular about my wellbeing…”

Nanji wiped his hands off a small handkerchief he pulled from his coat pocket then looked back up to continue.

“....Let us do this. Azul, you have five days to plan and raid the garrison and free Elyan’s men…” Nanji said, as the corner of his mouth curved as if he had been itching to say the next few words, “...But that is not all. For the sake of proving your undying loyalty to the Circle of Daggers, in addition to the raid, I ask that you bring me the head of Sir Tucci Bari, the head Knight of the North Western garrison. Oh how I would love to do it myself, but I ask you, my dagger, to do me the honor.”

Rami felt a pang in his heart. That smile at first glance seemed so harmless. It was the same smile Nanji carefully plastered across his face when he first met Rami at the funeral hall and embraced him with open arms. It was the same smile Rami felt a sort of ease as if it resembled a father simply happy to see his son return from war. But here, in Nanji’s dark study, with a cloud of puffs looming over his being, Rami felt that smile take the form of something devious, something of unavoidable pain.