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Aralim 27

1479 - 3 - 4 Aralim 27

The morning was rainy again, but only a light drizzle dampened Aralim’s dark grey robe as he followed Miresh through the bustling city streets toward the Iron Palace. As he rounded a corner and a barrel overflowing with assorted coloured citrus, he spotted the guards of the outer Palace wall, overlooking the streets in small towers surrounded by winding stairs. As they approached the front entrance of the Palace, the arching stone thoroughfare, Aralim notices something new. The usual guards, with grotesque or ornate iron armaments, flanked the line of Aura that permitted entryway to the Palace grounds, like usual. Continue reading Aralim 27

Aralim 26

1479 - 3 - 3 Aralim 26

Miresh was gone again, this time watching a blacksmith at work with hammer and grindstone, repairing blades and armour. Aralim agreed to play a game of cards with his friends, and he picked up the strategy quickly. It was a betting game that involved an unusual deck of cards. While in Aralim’s homeland, cards consisted of three numbered suits, Hayan assured him that this was a normal arrangement. There were two colours, usually red and grey. Each colour included two of every card—two Rulers, two Masters, two Commoners, two Slaves, as well as optional wild cards. As the deck was rather small by his experience, he found he could quickly count the cards and guess accurately what might be dealt. Unfortunately, everyone who played could too and Naeen quickly outwitted both Hayan and Aralim. Continue reading Aralim 26

Vaenuth 39

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Tagg and Vaenuth shared a coffee on an open patio roof, at a small Lo Mallago Cafe called the Imported Shrine. Indeed, everything sold at it seemed to be a delicacy from afar, save the coffee. Tagg informed her of her ignorance—coffee didn’t grow in Lo Mallago yet, not even in the jungle woodlands that had re-grown after the Orrish’s blight. Continue reading Vaenuth 39

Lerran 35

1479 - 2 - 30 Lerran 35

Tass looked into her coffee and frowned. “I read it twice, but I don’t fully understand.” She set the letter down on the table without looking at it. “Do you trust this?”

Lerran tilted his head. “I honestly don’t know if I can trust Havard or not,” he said. It was the same letter he had received a few days earlier, stating that Antha would soon betray the position Lerran had given her as Captain of Sheld’s Guard. Continue reading Lerran 35

Vaenuth 38

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Novon put her back against a wall that time, and neither of them held back. Someone in another room called for them to be quiet, but they weren’t, and they didn’t. The muscles in his back felt like iron, but rippled like the surface of the sea as he lifted her up and down. Vae threw back her head, but it smashed off the wooden wall with a thump and she started laughing until everything else robbed her of the rest of her breath and she finished with a panted gasp.

He poured her tea, later that afternoon, and they shared it at a small round table. Continue reading Vaenuth 38

Raya 23

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Raya tried to ignore the fact that Benn could pick a lock. It was early morning—the sun hadn’t even sent its light over the horizon of Vagren’s walls—and they hid in the garden on the side of Nalisa Orr’s address. The young huntress didn’t ask her friend how he had learned to use pin and shift to flick the latch open, but he did it easily enough and admitted Raya to the shadowy corridor within. Continue reading Raya 23

Lerran 34

1479 - 2 - 27 Lerran 34

Groggily, against the blinding sunshine, Lerran opened his eyes. Tass’s legs were entangled with his own, though one of his feet was stuck out of the blanket in the chilled air. Lerran had only warm memories of the night before, so he let his toes curl in the cool breeze that drifted in the window with the rays of golden light.

They ate a small breakfast together, provided by the household staff. Lerran smiled when he tasted the hint of cinnamon in his coffee. News had reached them yesterday of a volcano in the distant city of Ellakar. Supposedly, its destruction had been absolute, and the sound and sight of the blast had been seen for hundreds of miles around. Lerran told Tass that he though he heard a strange thunder on the road to Lo Mallago, and she laughed. She had heard the same thing, one day in the garden. Continue reading Lerran 34

Vaenuth 37

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The village of Wartha Mull housed no more than fifteen hundred, with a few streets and outlying farms with barley or maize growing in patches. There was a palisade wall over a small ditch, to keep out as many wild animals as possible, and a single guard on duty where the trail entered the town. Continue reading Vaenuth 37

Vaenuth 36

1479 - 2 - 25 Vaenuth 36

Before the sun shone, Vaenuth was awake. She glanced at Novon, who’s bed she had shared now for a second night, and quietly climbed off of his mattress. Before she could get her sandals laced up, she felt him stir, and his hand gently rested on the brands in the middle of the back. “Is today the day?” he asked, quietly. She had told him she would be leaving, abruptly, to complete private business. Judging by the presence of her weaponry and the sharp lines of her muscles, he knew it was not the task of a travelling merchant. Continue reading Vaenuth 36

Raya 22

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Benn led the way through the streets of Vagren and Raya tried to keep up. Their path was crowded with barrel-laden wagons, fruit selections with slight sides of tabletop, guards with brass shirts and metal-tipped canes, and permeated with the whispering air of distant lute chords, honey-scent and warm wholegrain bread. Gone were the slavers that had once chased her; in Vagren, anyone breaking the law was fair game for slavers, hence the Silver Guild and others hunting the streets after curfew. Raya shrugged away the memory. She strode through a cloud of white baking smoke, and watched Benn’s short brown hair swaying as he walked. He looked back and smiled. “It’s up ahead,” he piped. Continue reading Raya 22