Daezin held herself back from running, but just barely. Aetran kept pace the whole way, not saying a single word. Daezin had a lot of questions but fear kept her mouth closed. Fear that Aetran didn't lie. Fear that she really had seen the future.
Daezin knew she neared the brothel because a crowd of people were gathered around. Half dressed clients and professionals hung about in windows and doorways, others huddled around the door. Whispered conversations floated by in the air. The words “murder” and “blood” floated by many times and a shudder rippled through her body.
Daezin pushed through the gawkers and one of the muscle employed by the business stopped her at the door.
“No one inside. The watch is investigating the crime scene.” His bald head glowed under a sheen of sweat in the light behind him.
“My brother is inside.”
“I’m real sorry, ma’am, but orders are orders.” He did seem genuinely sorry but he was still a wall. A large, bald, sorry wall between Daezin and her brother.
Aetran pressed coins into the man’s hand. “The lady really needs to see her brother. You understand?”
The man checked the hallway behind him and then the color and weight of the coins in his hand. He nodded. “Since it’s family. I suppose I could make an exception.”
He stepped aside long enough for Aetran and Daezin to get past and went back to his living wall duties.
Inside a few quiet working ladies and their clients sat on chairs in the two downstairs rooms. There were a lot fewer clients than she would have expected for this time of night. Daezin suspected that several found an urgent need to be elsewhere when the watch was called in.
Hefler wasn’t down here. Daezin went up the stairs. Knots tied up her stomach. She had hoped to find him down here. Healthy and fully dressed. Upstairs meant he could be half naked--or more--and decidedly unhealthy.
At the top of the stairs it was easy to figure out which way to go. Hefler stood outside a room three doors to the left.
“Hefler.” Daezin rushed over and embraced him.
He returned the hug. His was shaky and too tight but she wouldn’t complain. He was alive. “Sis. Sis, it’s Tansy.”
Daezin let go long enough to look at his face. “What do you mean ‘it’s Tansy’?”
“Tansy. She’s dead. I was the one who found her.” Hefler’s voice broke at the end.
“Tansy’s dead?” Daezin knew she repeated what Hefler said but she couldn’t seem to make an original thought of her own. There was a roaring sound in her head, like a waterfall is just around the corner. The sound took up all the space in her mind. Daezin let go of Hefler and stepped numbly over to the door. She raised her eyes from the floor and saw the room she’d seen before. The same twisted red sheets on the bed. The same white upholstered chair in the corner where clients threw their clothes. The same brass-framed mirror over the cherry wood dressing table.
Arranged on the floor as if she slept, hands clasped on her chest, lay Tansy. A thick red crescent bisected her throat. Her skin pale, her dressing robe neatly open down the front. On her chest, just above her hands, carved in her flesh was that angular spider again. A diamond and eight chevrons.
Daezin cursed. Words and insults gathered up over years of dealing with people from the lowest ranks of life became fodder for the curses.
One of the Watch officers in the room escorted her away from the door. “Miss, you can’t be in here.”
Daezin didn’t stop cursing until she stood back on the street, several blocks away from the brothel. Daezin turned around to where Hefler and Aetran were. They’d silently followed her the whole way. Not once did they interrupt the quiet litany of foul-mouthed curses.
“You knew. You knew that this would happen. Why didn’t you stop it?” Daezin really wanted to punch his chest again. She’d bruise him later and then eat sweets squirreled away for a bad day. If this didn’t count as a bad day, she didn’t know what would.
Aetran shook his head. “I didn’t know. Exactly. I just knew you’d get proof tonight about the visions.”
Hefler looked from the armed man to Daezin and asked, “Sis, who's this and what did he know?”
“This is Aetran and he knew that I saw what happened to Tansy.” Daezin's shoulders slumped. She walked again and explained about the visions, the dreams, and the crystal. She finished the story as they arrived at the Swaying Goose and she didn’t hesitate to invite Aetran up to their rooms. She had no secrets from him anyway and she definitely didn’t want to talk about this where someone could overhear.
Hefler sat next to her on the bed, quiet, his thinking face on. Aetran settled on a low stool by the fire and picked up the poker.
“The crystal. What is it and what does it do?” Daezin asked.
“It focuses your visions. Those dreams you had were unfocused visions of the future. You could say that they were floating out there and your sleeping mind snagged them from the air, like a fisherman’s net.” Aetran added some wood and managed to get the flames going again.
“Can it stop the visions?” I hugged my knees to my chest and leaned against Hefler.
“No.” He said quickly. Too quickly maybe? "Nothing can stop the visions. You need to use them, to help people.”
Daezin snorted. “I can barely help myself. I can’t help anyone else.”
“It’s true.” Hefler said. She glared at him and he shrugged. “What? It’s true.”
Aetran leaned forward, forearms braced on his thighs. “The seers taught me some techniques to help you control the visions. You could have more control over when they come and what you see. With practice and time.”
“You are going through a lot of trouble to help someone you barely knew a long time ago. And I don’t believe people help other people from the goodness of their hearts. What’s in this for you?” Daezin studied Aetran. What game was he running? What did he think this would get him?
He turned back to the fire and fiddled with the poker. “The seers did something for me a while back and I’m returning the favor.”
“What did they do?”
“It’s not important.” He swung his gaze back to Daezin. “I want to know what you know about Tansy’s murder. If you saw her murderer, we can catch him. Make sure he never does something like this again.”
Daezin stood and put her hands on her hips. “No. No murderers. No helping people.” Daezin couldn’t stop the sneer that came with those words. “You can go now.” She pointed to the door.
Aetran stood and strode closer until his chest brushed hers and his nose was less than a finger's length from Daezin's. “You will regret that decision. Mark my words.” He turned on his heel and marched to the door. He turned just before opening it and gave one last parting shot. “Hefler, watch your back.” The door closed behind him with a loud click.
Daezin looked at Hefler sitting on the bed, eyes wide. “He was bluffing. The visions are merely a trick of my mind. Interpreting clues that no one else sees. He’s somehow doing this. It’s some sort of long con. I don’t know how he is doing it but he is. I just wish I knew what he wanted.” She patted Hefler’s knee. “You’re going to be fine. If you weren’t, I’d know right? I mean I wouldn’t know know. But I’d know if you were in danger.”
“Daezin. You’re babbling.” Hefler stood and put his arms around her.
“I know. You’re right. It just seems like a good time to do it. The visions can’t be real. It’s a trick. I don’t know how it’s done but somehow Aetran has to be involved. They started right after he showed up. Those men, Lord, Vigosh, and the Allandai shaman, they were a part of the set up. They were there to sell it.”
“Sis.” He gave her a soft shake until Daezin focused on his face. His dear, hazel-eyed, dimple-chinned face. “Why would he do this to you of all people? Why go through all this trouble?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe it is some sort of sick revenge for escaping the village before the Charkneth invasion. He had a wife and probably a brat or two as well when it happened. For that matter, I don’t know how he survived it. Maybe he became a traitor.” Daezin patted Hefler’s chest. “We can figure out the reason later. For now, we need to figure out how he is giving me these visions and how to stop them.”
“For now, I think you need some sleep. We’ll figure out what we are going to do in the morning. We’ve both had a shock and you, at least, have been busy offending our clients all day. I think sleep is in order. We’ll sit down and formulate a plan over breakfast.”
“I am tired.” Daezin nodded. “We’ll do this your way. But first,” She reached inside her shirt and pulled the crystal over her head. “Can you take this? The bastard gave this to me, to manipulate me or something. I don’t want to wear it anymore.”
“Are you sure?” Hefler cupped my hand with the crystal in it in his.
“Yes. You keep it and I’ll prove that this is all some sort of trick.” Daezin hugged Hefler again and left the crystal in his hand. “Good night.”
Daezin settled into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. She stared at the dark ceiling and fear writhed its way into her belly. It came in quiet and slow, and grew. Soon it was a heavy mass of worms. Daezin flopped to her side and watched the coals in the fireplace grow dimmer.
To distract herself, Daezin used an old trick from her childhood that helped get rid of the nightmares. Brick by brick, She built an image in her mind of a dream she wanted.
A dirt path ran between two hills and ended in a sheltered valley. Cupped in its bowl was a cozy cottage with whitewashed walls and neatly thatched roof. Flowers grew all around the front of the house. Behind it was a sturdy barn and yard where Hefler worked with the horses. Out further was a small pond with cattails growing along the shores. A man, his back to her, tossed yesterday’s leftover bread at a flock of ducks. Finished, he started to turn and...
...Aetran wielded a sword against a giant lizard with ropes of saliva dangling from its wide maw. The lizard swiped Aetran with one black clawed hand and Aetran went flying...
...A large man, stomach oozing onto his lap, sat in a throne at a table with a large map spread across it. He laughed and pointed at a spot on the map. Underneath one well-manicured nail was the word, Corethe. Behind his chair stood an Allandai shaman...
...Flame flickered across an image carved in shiny black stone. The angular spider crawled up the plinth and grew to encompass the entire view...
“No!” Daezin shot out of bed. Her feet hit the cold floor. “Damn it. Not again.” A few more curses escaped her lips before she got herself and her breathing under control. “I can do this. The dreams were on my mind. That’s all. Naturally, I’d dream about them.”
Daezin stared at the bed for a long moment. Unable to make herself get back in, Daezin stirred up the fire again. She got the blankets from the bed and plopped down in front of the fire and wrapped herself inside.
When daylight came, she still sat there, staring into the fire and making plans for how she’d earn extra money. At least until these dreams, visions, delusions, went away.
“No. I don’t want you picking pockets. It is not a solution.” Daezin said for the second time in the last ten minutes.
“Sis, without the fortunetelling, our income is shot. At this point, we don't have any information to sell. And no leads on anything new." Hefler sighed. "I’ve already cancelled the new coat of paint. We need to give up one of the rooms, cut back on your special teas and pastries if we want to make it through the next month." He shrugged. "Maybe a windfall will land in our laps if we put our ears to the ground. Someone somewhere has to be up to something that someone else will pay for. Or someone is desperate to pay to keep things quiet. But we can’t count on it. Not right now.” He grasped her hand and squeezed. “I know it won’t solve everything, but it will help and it's something I know how to do. It can help us get by. Maybe buy you a pastry on a cold windy day.” The corner of his mouth tilted up in a half-grin.
Daezin let go of his hand. “No. It’s too risky. I’ll think of something else. No pick pocketing. Understand?”
“Sure.” Hefler didn’t look happy with the decision, but he’d live with it.
Daezin stood, gathered her things and threw her cloak on. “Money won’t make itself, so I am out to see what I can see, hear what I can hear. You’ll be all right?”
Hefler nodded and she left.
Fatigue weighed down her limbs, but the threat of starvation was goad enough to get her out the door and on the watch for opportunities to make an extra coin.
Daezin spent the bulk of the day haunting the open-air market. People from in and around town mixed with people from overseas in a soup of shouts, smells, and the clink of coins changing hands. And beneath it all were those who preyed on the crowds and the unwary.
Including me.
Daezin eavesdropped. She cheated. She scammed. Daezin used every trick she’d learned in the seven years since she’d left home. It definitely wasn’t wise. Daezin had at least three more months here before the weather warmed enough to allow the two of them to safely move on. Daezin refused to look closer at her reasons for so many cons in such a relatively small time and space.
When the skies dimmed and the market stalls closed, it was time to leave. Next up were the taverns and gambling halls and Daezin even knew of a bearbaiting tonight. She cut through a series of alleys. She felt eyes on her back for the last hour and no matter how many times she checked the rear, Daezin saw no one. A circuitous route would either reveal the watcher or lose them. At this point, she didn’t much care which.
Daezin left the alley that ran behind a candlemaker's shop and turned on to one that wound between a bread maker and an ironmonger when a soft moan from behind the remains of a crate interrupted her thoughts.
A real cry for help or a trap? Daezin inched closer. Daezin saw his feet first, boots missing. Bloody scrapes on pale skin. Next his trousers and then the blood. There was blood everywhere. All down the front of his battered shirt. In pools on the ground where he slumped. She stared at Hefler’s pale face, and her eyes burned. Tears wouldn’t fall. Her limbs wouldn’t move. It was like being in the vision all over again. Only this time, this time it was real.
Warm hands settled on Daezin's shoulders and moved her aside. She watched while Aetran knelt on the ground next to Hefler and pressed fingers to his neck and checked his injuries. She wanted to yell at him, “Don’t touch him. Don’t you dare touch him. This is all your fault.” But the words wouldn’t come. They remained stuck in her throat. Daezin could only stare while the roar of a nonexistent waterfall filled her ears.
Hours or moments passed. It felt like the former but was probably the last. His feet gleamed all white skin, red bloody scrapes, and blue veins. Clean. His well-cared-for boots were gone. Hefler kept all of his clothing in good repair. While neither of them could sew, Hefler polished leather better than anyone else she knew, and he wasn’t forever finding new rips in his clothing like Daezin.
Hefler would need his boots when he woke up. Daezin dug through piles of debris in the alley determined to help. Determined to find them. "Where's his boots? Hefler is going to be so pissed that his boots are gone. I need to find them." A dull roaring filled her ears, a keening that she didn't recognize as coming from herself.
"Daezin!" Aetran's sharp tones brought her up short. He'd called more than once but she didn't want to hear him. Didn't want to hear him say that Hefler was dead.
Daezin sucked in a breath, and it rattled its way into her chest. She sucked in one more and this one went in much more smoothly. Daezin straightened her shoulders, clamped lips together, and turned around.
"I think we can move him now. Carefully. We'll stitch him up back at your rooms." Aetran moved to one side. "I'll need your help lifting him without tearing open his wound anymore."
Daezin blinked. "You mean he's still alive?" She swore her heart began to beat again in the moment when Aetran nodded.
Between the two of them, they were able to get Hefler off the street and into their rooms with little more damage. How they got through the streets and through the common room with no one stopping them Daezin would never know. In their rooms, Aetran proved that he knew how to use a needle and thread much better than either of them did.
When he was done he sat back against the wall on the floor and let his hands dangle over bent knees. "And now we wait."
Trying to sleep on the edge of a bed, balanced between squishing your injured loved one and ensuring he doesn't slip away in the night, is an endeavor that results in nightmares about falling off of cliffs and walking the plank on a boat. Daezin'd take either one over visions of Hefler dying.
"Waking up cuddling with you is almost worth the pain."
The low rumble of Hefler's voice tugged her from sleep. Daezin couldn't help the convulsive hug. "You're awake!"
"Ouch. Obviously." Hefler coughed. "Water?"
After Hefler drank a mug of water and Daezin moved to a low stool at his bedside, she touched his arm. "What happened?"
Hefler winced. His embarrassed face. "I know you said you didn't want me to but we needed the money. Things have been so hard for you lately and I wanted to get you one of those pastries you like so much." He shrugged. "And dinner. Dinner would be so very nice."
"Hefler." Her not-happy voice.
"Fine. I went pick pocketing."
"You went what?" She stood and paced. "You got caught, didn't you? You got caught and someone knifed you for your trouble." She slapped the top of his head. "You were stupid and you were stabbed. Serves you right. You are too old. Too smart for this. We have other ways of making money. Safer ways of making money. Gods forbid, if we have to we can always do honest work. While we are being honest, I have no marketable skills but you could do honest work. You are amazing. I can't believe you almost died trying to get me a treat." Daezin sat on the edge of the bed and cried. And not neatly. Big, messy tears fell from her eyes and snot bubbled from her nose.
The bed shifted behind her and warm arms pulled her close.
"Daezin, sweetie." Hefler pulled her into an embrace.
Or tried.
"No. I'll hurt you"
"You'll hurt me if you don't let me hold you." Hefler guided her head to his shoulder.
Daezin opened her mouth.
Hefler interrupted. "And don't worry about your snot. I can handle snot on my shirt."
They cuddled for several moments. Daezin let Hefler's warm body... warm alive body comfort her. He stroked her back with calloused hands and she listened to him breathe. Eventually, she brought herself and her emotions under control and sat up.
Hefler lowered himself back onto the pillows. "Better?"
"Yes. But if you busted a stitch, you'll be sorry." She shook a finger at him.
He lifted the tail of his shirt and checked the bandage. "I think it's good." He dropped the shirt and grabbed Daezin's hand. "Dee, I hate to spoil your image of me but I didn't almost die trying to get you a treat."
"What do you mean?" Daezin looked pointedly at his thick bandages. "You better not be trying to pull a tough guy attitude on me. You most definitely did almost die heading out there to snag some bling without a team or youth to help you."
Hefler shook his head. "I mean this didn't happen because I tried to lift something from a mark's purse. I never even got to the crowds before I was jumped." Daezin's mouth dropped open and Hefler hurried on to add. "No. I don't know who did it. I am not sure why either but if I had to guess, I would say that your new acquaintances from Livikta lumbered up the coast to say hi."
A chill slithered down Daezin's spine, and it wasn't caused by the weather outside. "Are you sure?"
Hefler shrugged. "As much as I can be. The man who attacked me was as large as a mountain--your words, I believe--and kept asking me about the lying liar who lies... what do you know? what did you see? who have you told?" He shrugged again. "It sure sounds like your old friends."
Daezin froze. They were hunting her down? She thought that she had gotten away clean. She didn't even take anything with her. Why would they need to see her again? Why would they target Hefler instead of her? She began to shake and sank to the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest and stared at the opposite wall.
What was she going to do now?
Despite Hefler's suggestion that Daezin trust Aetran for answers, Daezin knew that he had very strong reason to hate her. Instead, Daezin went to the motherlode of know-it-alls, the bastion of belief and trivia, the museum of Corethe. She had visited the museum once before and was promptly kicked out for laughing at every display in the first room. It seemed that every artifact in the place was dedicated to or created by a deity or magic or both. She didn't believe in any of those things, but Daezin figured that the people after her may believe in it--after all they hired a magician to magic the truth out of her--and it was their beliefs that might be motivating them. And Daezin considered herself a master at manipulating the superstitions of others. But first, she had to understand the superstition before she could weaponize it against her attackers.
If this didn't work, she could always run. She'd call that option number two.
The sea winds and storms hadn't been friendly to the exterior of the museum. It's pale grey limestone was pitted and scarred but still pretty... if you were into architecture, and stone, and stuff like that. Double wide wooden doors of a dark blue greeted visitors while the quill and scroll symbol of Deja, god of knowledge, leered from above. Daezin tossed a rude gesture at the symbol before pushing her way inside.
Scholarly types wandered up and down the quiet chambers lined with curious artifacts, scrolls, and other ephemera of history and flimflammery. By scholarly types, she meant folks who were pale from lack of sun and squinty from peering at tiny, and in some cases, imaginary details on parchment or stone. She didn't trust these guys much... most of them were devoutly dedicated to religion and the belief in magic... but they were so-called experts in the weird and mystical. In other words, someone here would be the perfect person who ask about the talisman she had seen... and maybe even about the tattooed weirdo whose spit had started this whole thing.
A petrified half lizard, half bird the size of a loaf of bread caught Daezin's attention. She moved closer to read the placard. "The axovian was a native of the jungles of Eruvia. Pejan Seguant recovered this specimen on a trip to the ruins of Furxe in 3009. Legends tell conflicting stories of this beast. In one, they are described as ravening beasts who breathed fire and were just one of the many dangers of the jungles of Eruvia. In another, they are described as beloved family pets and familiars of the Xavi. Whatever their true history, these creatures have long been extinct and answers to their true natures are in short supply."
Daezin snorted. In other words, they were guessing. She shook her head. Maybe this wasn't the best idea.
Daezin turned to go but was intercepted by a petite woman with white hair and burnt orange robes.
"May I help you, young lady?" The voice whispered into the quiet space.
Daezin schooled her features into an expression of politeness. "I need to speak with an expert on antiquities. Is there someone that has a moment to speak with me?
Again, a whisper issued forth from the small woman in the loud colors. "I'm afraid you'll have to be a bit more specific than that, young miss. There are many areas of expertise in this museum. Not just anyone will be able to help you with anything. Do you have an antiquity you'd like evaluated?" A hint of curiosity flashed across the attendant's placid face.
"Umm... I don't have it with me and this is a sensitive manner." Daezin nodded knowingly, all the while completely not knowing what she was doing here. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. "The antiquity has a... umm..." Daezin leaned in and lowered her voice even lower than the attendant's. "It has a spider on it. Does that help?"
"Oh indeed, it does. A spider is a symbol of Deja, the deity of knowledge. You're in luck. We have the foremost expert on Deja's history and antiquities working here." The attendant turned and led the way into the bowels of the museum.
[Describe more of the museum here]
"Archivist Aschengael prefers to work in the basement... she says it's something about the way the energy eddies down here that makes it ideal for her." The attendant knocked on a wooden door. At the sound of a gruff, "Enter," she opened the door.
The door swung open on a kaleidoscope of artifacts and detritus. Rocks in a variety of colors perched next to bits of string and small handheld tools that had no obvious use. Just inside the door lurked a knee-high statue of some six-legged beast with smiling teeth but scary eyes made of some kind of blue stone. Fabric in nearly every color of the rainbow and a few that definitely didn't exist in any nature Daezin had seen draped from the ceiling to the floor in one corner. And the books... and the scrolls... the sheer amounts of paper crowded out every corner of the desk, most of the floor, and nearly every available cranny of the shelves that lined two of the four walls of the room.
And in the middle of the room, at the desk sipping a mug of something, sat the most unusual person Daezin had ever seen. And Daezin liked to lie to herself about how much she had seen, but she had never seen anyone like this. The person had pale black hair--yep, pale black. It wasn't grey. It wasn't white. It was pale black and cascaded well past narrow shoulders. In fact, the entire body visible above the desk was narrow. Skinny to the point that the worry about this person's diet crossed Daezin's mind. Skin of a paler hue than most and eyes that were nearly colorless were offset by bright orange robes with a dozen woven bracelets and necklaces encircling bony limbs. In the pale black hair, bits of carvings and beads were seemingly haphazardly slung. But somehow, Daezin sensed that this person rarely did anything without a purpose despite the chaotic appearance of the room and their adornments.
Archivist Aschengael stood from her chair and Daezin couldn't help the widening of her eyes. This person stood taller than anyone else in Daezin's acquaintance, and not by just a little bit. This person redefined the word tall.
"This person has questions about an antiquity of Deja that crossed her path. I told her that you were our foremost expert here in the museum. Do you have a few moments to help, Archivist?" The attendant's voice wasn't any louder here in this chaos, and in fact, seemed somehow smaller still surrounded by the loud colors and clutter.
Colorless eyes scanned Daezin from toes to top. Seemingly, it took barely a moment, but Daezin still squirmed under the intense gaze. "I see. Yes. Come in." The archivist gestured to a chair lost under a stack of books and a coil of some sort of cord. "Clear that off and please sit down."
Figuring that cooperating would lose her nothing, Daezin moved the stuff to the floor and sat. Once she sat, the clutter in the room and the odd colorless gaze made Daezin squirm, and strangely, fight to breathe. She would have to see if she could replicate this set up for her act. The gullible might be more likely to part with their wealth if they felt like this too.
"So, you found an antiquity of Deja?"
"I, uh, didn't know that it was related to Deja... umm... I'm not a devotee of the gods." Feigning expertise in this circumstance wasn't likely to get her very far. "Not too long ago, I witnessed two gentlemen with a medallion of some sort. It was about a hands-breadth wide and made of copper, or at least copper-colored metal. On the front side was a very stylized image of a spider. On the back, there were faint markings that I couldn't make out."
The archivist nodded and stood up. "Yes. Yes. The spider is an obvious symbol of Deja, sitting in the middle of a web of information and knowledge. The copper is a bit unusual but... hmm." Aschengael rummaged in a stack of scrolls balanced on the back of a stuffed spotted creature that Daezin didn't recognize before fetching a stack of parchment from beneath a jar of green liquid. She laid it out across the top of the detritus strewn on her desktop. She pointed to a corner of the document. "Is this what the spider image looked like?"
Daezin scooted to the front edge of her chair. On the faded document, a spider made of faded blue ink crouched amid regimented lines of text in a language Daezin did not recognize. "Yes. That's the spider. What can you tell me about it?"
Aschengael grinned. "Only that it is the symbol of Deja, a goddess of knowledge and prophecy. She is considered a bit of an odd one among her many holy siblings. She has a sense of humor but also a lot of power. I mean, after all, knowing everything and everything that will happen before it happens means that she can literally do anything she wants. Yet, she maintains a low profile among the gods. She doesn't court favor among you mortals. Some question why she is one of Nykt's children that even bothers with Kadegan."
"You mortals?"
"I misspoke. We mortals." The archivist winked and returned to her seat. "So, it is apparent that this antiquity isn't in your possession. Why would you go through the trouble of doing research on something you merely witnessed in passing?"
Daezin ran her thumb under the leather band she wore around her right wrist. "The trouble is in that I am now being chased by the owners of said antiquity. And I want to know why. I didn't take anything from them. I hardly spoke with them, and yet, they have followed me here to Corethe and they've endangered my livelihood and my companion. I need to understand why, archivist."
"Call me Aunum. I sense we'll become great friends."
Daezin snorted at that. She tried to turn it into a cough but the expression on Aunum's face indicated that she wasn't buying it.
"All right. Let's work through this." Aunum stood and came around to lean on the front of her desk. "You only saw this artifact and now they are after you? You sure?"
"Definitely." Daezin's thumb slowed and stopped on her pulse point under the leather band.
Aunum met Daezin's gaze and held it.
And held it.
And held it.
"Fine. I tried to get a better look. They grabbed me. They spit on me during some sort of mumbo jumbo ritual wherein I touched the thing. And I skedaddled. I got out of there and didn't look back. As I said, I only saw it. I just left out the in between parts. I wasn't lying." Daezin swallowed with a suddenly dry throat.
"Hmm."
"Hmm? That all you have to say? Hmm??" Daezin jumped up. "I should have known that this was a waste of time."
Daezin turned to leave. Aunum stopped her with a hand on her wrist.
A swooping glide of time whooshed by in which mountains rose and fell, forests grew from nothing, rivers changed in their course, cities grew to greatness and fell to ruins, and through it all, Aunum stood unchanging in the middle of it all.
"Crap." Daezin yanked her wrist free of Aunum's grasp. Or rather tried to. Aunum's grip didn't change, didn't ease, remained completely unaffected by Daezin's efforts.
"Interesting."
"What is?" Daezin would have pouted if she didn't already feel like she came off as a child in her present company.
Aunum's eyebrow rose for a moment before she grinned. Ripping off the leather band, Aunum revealed the mark below. The mark that Daezin had kept hidden for as long as she could remember. The mark that her family made her keep hidden. The mark that caused her brother to betray everything they loved.
