Akna put her hands to her head and rubbed her temples, squinting against the glare of the sun on the snow. The noise was just too much, particularly all the people yelling, practically screaming as they called out wares or questioned vendors. It was worse than Dorg. She’d been through Quorge’s market numerous times before—even if she’d never really stopped there—and it had never been this bad that she could remember.

“YOU OKAY?” Corvin screamed at her.

She winced and shook her head at how much it hurt her ears.

“ARE YOU HAVING A HALLUCINATION?”

She winced again. “Do you have to be so loud? I can hear you, you know?”

He peered at her. “Huh?”

“I said, do you—”

“Yeah, I heard what you said, but I didn’t think I was being very loud.” He wasn’t yelling anymore.

Neither were the people in the market. There was still a lot of noise, but it was more like what she was used to. Her head still hurt, and there was a slight ringing in her ears, but that was the only indication that anything had been amiss.

“Honest,” Corvin said. “I was just...I mean, you have to talk a little loud here, but…”

Akna shook her head. “No, that’s okay. You weren’t being too loud. I was just having another hallucination that everything was really loud. That’s a new one. I haven’t had one like that before.”

Corvin’s eyes widened and he smiled broadly. He looked about in each direction, and dashed around people, and behind and around the nearest merchants’ carts. He returned to her a few seconds later. “I don’t see anything weird.”

Akna patted him on the head. “That’s okay. It was probably just another normal one.” As if any hallucination could be considered normal.

Corvin had been a little over-zealous in searching for a source to any hallucination she had. Not that she minded. She was grateful for it. But so far, there hadn’t been anything for him to find. She hadn’t had very many, and she had even slept a little better the last two nights. Corvin had been watching her for four days now, so maybe it was having a positive effect. Maybe whoever had been doing this to her couldn’t get close enough with Corvin on guard. Maybe in a few more days, she’d be sleeping normally again. That would be such a relief.

Pedrin approached them, dragging a large, full burlap sack behind him. He pulled it right up to Akna and let go of it. “Flour. Should do us for the next couple weeks. If we live that long.”

“You’re expecting me to carry it, aren’t you?” Akna said.

“You’re the strongest of us.” He had another bag over his shoulder, which he slid off and handed to Corvin. “A dozen chickens.”

Corvin leaned forward slightly as he took the bag. “Hey, this is heavy.”

Pedrin shrugged. “Not as heavy as fifty pounds of flour.”

Akna picked up the sack and groaned. “This would be easier if you Arnorins wore less restricting clothing.” She was grateful for the clothes Ezmelda and the Council had given her, but they didn’t fit properly and they weren’t designed for unrestricted movement to begin with. She really wished she had her jerkin and skirt back.

“Sorry,” Pedrin said. “Not much I can do about that.”

She sighed. “I know. Corvinian and I will take this back to the Hall of Knowledge. Will you be okay getting the rest?”

“I hope so,” Pedrin said. “I’ve never bought for such a large group of people before. I’m not really sure how much to get or how heavy it will be.”

“We’ll come back and give you a hand after we drop these off. Come on, Corvin.” Akna slung the sack over her shoulders. Her arms were already hurting from the strain.

They made it as far as the edge of the market when Akna stopped.

“Too heavy?” Corvin asked.

She shook her head.

A familiar figure stood a little farther down the street, two City Watchmen at his side. Akna wasn’t sure she remembered his name. She’d only met him that one time with Felitïa, and had nearly picked a fight with him. He had been a Watch commander then. Maybe he still was, given the Watchmen with him. But he was also now dressed in the pinkish mail of the Bloods.

Akna turned around. “We’ll take a different route.”

“But this…” Corvin started to say. “Oh. Yeah, okay.”

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It had been foolish to come out of the Hall of Knowledge like this. She’d known the risk, known how easily she could be recognised. Pretty much everyone except Corvin had been against it at first, but she’d convinced Zandrue and Ezmelda that it was necessary.

She had to give whoever was manipulating her mind a chance to get close to her—a chance for Corvin to spot them. They weren’t likely to come back into the Hall of Knowledge any time soon.

She was wearing a hood and scarf to obscure the tattoos on her face, but she couldn’t afford to take chances, especially with someone who had interacted with her in the past.

They cut back through a corner of the market and exited by another street.

“It figures that guy would join the Bloods,” she said as they walked.

“You know him?” Corvin said.

“Unfortunately.”

A horn blew in the distance. There were often odd sounds in this city, and this was far from the first time there had been a horn amongst them. However, this was louder and deeper than the ships’ horns and bells heard from the docks.

There was also the fact the market went quiet for a moment as people stopped their buying and selling to look in the direction of the sound.

Akna put the wheat sack down. “What was that?”

After a few seconds, the general din of the market picked up again as people resumed what they were doing.

“It sounded like a warning horn,” Corvin said. “Or a call to arms. The town guard in Mesone sometimes used them to call other guards from a distance.”

Akna stared at the sack, not wanting to pick it up again. It had felt like more than fifty pounds. “Makes sense. We use horns in Ninifin, too. I guess I’m just a bit jumpy.”

More rumbling came from the distance. Then another bang and another. Distant yells were next.

The marketplace quietened again, and people looked nervously about once more.

The yells in the distance weren’t stopping.

“They’re coming from the south,” Akna said. “By the docks, I think.”

Corvin looked to the south, but there was no way he would be able to see anything. “Should we do something?”

Akna shook her head. “Too risky. We could be recognised.” Besides, she didn’t have a spear with her, just her daggers. A spear would have been too noticeable.

There were more rumbles and what might have been crashes.

Was someone knocking over buildings? A disturbing thought.

She heaved the sack over her shoulder again. “Let’s just get back to the Hall of Knowledge. Maybe we’ll learn what happened later.”

The yells, rumbles, and bangs only lasted a few more minutes. By the time they reached the Hall of Knowledge, the city had mostly returned to normal. The only difference was, everyone they passed was speculating what it might have been. A few people even asked Akna and Corvin whether they knew anything.

Climbing the icy steps of the Hall of Knowledge with a fifty-pound (or more) bag of flour was not fun. It wasn’t even easy to take breaks as they climbed. The steps were too narrow to easily sit the bag on them without it starting to slide down. Corvin did his best to help her hold the bag in place when they did stop, but the stops didn’t provide much rest. Akna was drenched in sweat by the time they’d made it a quarter of the way up.

They’d made it about halfway up when a winged figure—an Isyar!—landed at the top of the steps. The Isyar was carrying someone else.

Could they be Jorvan and Meleng?

They looked like Jorvan and Meleng. No, they looked like Meleng and a different Isyar. But the Isyar didn’t matter. All that mattered was Meleng.

Akna nearly fell over, she was trembling so much. She did lose her grip on the sack and it fell. She paid it no mind. “Do you see them, Corvin? Please tell me you see them.”

“I see them,” Corvin said.

“Meleng!” she called out. “Meleng, is that you?”

“Akna?” came the call back.

Akna wiped tears from her eyes. “Yes, it’s me!”

Jorvan, also carrying someone, landed by Meleng and the other Isyar. Then, two more Isyar landed as well. Jorvan had obviously succeeded in bringing others back with him, but she didn’t care about that right now.

She hurried up the steps.

“Um, Akna?” Corvin called. “The wheat.”

“I’ll get it later.”

“It rolled down to the ground and split open.”

“It can be replaced.”

She slipped once as she climbed, cracked her chin against the steps. She probably shouldn’t have been going so fast, but she didn’t care. She scrambled to her feet again.

“Careful!” Meleng called down.

“I’m okay!” She tasted blood, but that was fine. She’d heal.

Meleng grabbed her hand as she nearly fell again at the very top. “You really should be careful on those steps. They’re… Are you all right?”

Akna threw her arms around him. “You’re here. Thank the gods you’re finally here.” She buried her head in his shoulder, her body shaking, and began to cry. First, gentle sobs, then full out wails.

Meleng held her close the entire time.