Chapter 195 – An Unexpected Encounter

Mirian took her quarters at a random inn in Urubandar, disguised again as Micael Sulalnahr. She had traveled alone this time. She’d secured her room with her usual ward scheme, then slept. In the morning, she sat down with her usual bundle of broadsheets. At this point, it was more to practice reading Adamic than because she thought she would find anything new. She started with the first few articles, and they were exactly the same as she’d remembered.

Then, an absence caught her eye.

There’s the two rafts colliding on the river. The usual about refugees and distant battles. But what happened to the party in the Dusk Palace?

Mirian went back through the papers, scouring them for any reference to the guards being called on a rowdy party there. There was no mention.

Either the party didn’t happen at all, or the guards weren’t called, or the paper was changed. But I’ve already been through here three times, and it was mentioned each time. Her first thought was Ibrahim. Is he getting his agents here early? Or is he here himself?

Then another thought, one of pure terror: Did he bring Atroxcidi?

Mirian immediately stood, summoning her spellbook to her hand and sending the broadsheets flying. She began casting soul divination spells in quick succession, then arcane divination spells that might catch a powerful caster. A mental tug directed her to look south, but then she realized she was just looking at an artificer’s shop. There were only two people in the shop, a master and an apprentice. No threat there. She looked around more of Urubandar, eyes darting around the streets, heart pounding.

Then she grit her teeth, forcing herself to breathe.

It’s one article. Ibrahim can’t have possibly traveled this far that fast. There didn’t seem to be any gates in Urubandar or Rambalda. Even someone with an enhanced levitation spell like the one she’d developed wouldn’t be able to travel that kind of distance. And why would he have suddenly abandoned his conquest? There’s no way he found out about a single undead being whisked away at the end of the 194th loop. Even finding out about the Elder gates wouldn’t let him know I was here…

She continued looking around. A thousand normal souls, walking about the city in no particular hurry. Unless Liuan Var told him I was coming here. Though as far as I know, she hasn’t set foot on this continent. And if she thinks Atroxcidi has the power to remove temporal anchors, she’d be even more cautious interacting with Ibrahim. Zephyr falcons from Akana to Rambalda still would take time, as there’s no direct route. And even then, she would need pre-existing communication protocols that anticipated his movements, because Ibrahim can’t be staying in Rambalda to contact Atroxcidi. The necromancer is too far east.

Mirian slowed her breathing, trying to relax. She would stay cautious, but she didn’t need to panic.

I’ll start by investigating the Dusk Palace, she decided.

She kept her soul-sight on as she walked towards the fourth hill along the riverside, scanning the streets for anything unusual.

Everything seemed normal. She didn’t like that. Either this other Prophet was trying to evade Ibrahim’s gaze like her, or they were attempting to hide in the shadows for a more nefarious purpose. She had to act as if it was the latter.

A divination spell detecting common glyphs used in combat spells returned positive; there was a cluster of them in one of the buildings near the Dusk Palace. Mirian approached the area, already in the form of the Dusk Waves, ready to deploy a prismatic shield at a moment’s notice.

Two guards stood outside a building. A crowd of people had gathered around and were talking near a street vendor cart.

“What happened?” Mirian asked.

“Hmm. Nothing good. The guards say one of the occupants was murdered.”

That confirmed there was an anomaly in the loop. Perhaps a poor laborer in the slums wouldn’t have been reported on, but the people that lived in this district were wealthy enough to be commented on. “That’s terrible! Does anyone know why?”

He shook his head. “That man over there said he walked in and found the body burnt to cinders. It must be a mage of some sort, since the rest of the building wasn’t touched.”

The man in question was sitting on the ground just behind the guards, weeping softly.

“I sent my manservant to fetch a black veil for him,” another man said. Murmurs of agreement sounded. It was clearly the right thing to do.

“Who would do such a thing?” Mirian said.

“All sorts of terrible types,” said a silver-haired woman in a tone that implied she had just imparted a great piece of wisdom.

“Perhaps a robber. A lot of the folk that pass through here are quite unsavory.”

“I heard the guards talking, though. Didn’t seem anything was taken.”

“How strange.”

Mirian’s eyes drifted to the Dusk Palace. The horseshoe arches were layered with colored stones that evoked the horizon at sunset. The architecture reminded her of the Artificer’s Tower in Torrviol. “What goes on there?” she asked.

One of the men shrugged.

Another said, “Not sure yet. It just got bought from one of the trade guilds.”

“Oh? When was that?” Mirian asked.

“A few days ago. Sixthday. Why?”

“Just curious. Apparently it was quite noisy there last night. I’m surprised no one summoned the guard on them.” She wasn’t sure if that was actually true this cycle. She’d been staying at an inn too far away.

“Seems like it,” one of the women said, nodding towards one of the gates to the palace.

Mirian realized laborers were loading empty wine casks onto a cart while a grumpy looking camel stood by, chewing on something. She looked down the street. Another cart was coming, being pulled up the street by a pair of desert eximontar. That meant the driver was an arcanist, and the fancy scrollwork on the wood and ornate blue and gold coverings marked the carriage as belonging to someone with money. It was a large carriage. Mirian used detect life, and saw it had eight people crammed in it. That was strange. Usually, someone traveling in that kind of luxury did so because they wanted comforts and plenty of room.

The crowd continued to pass rumors around. Mirian moved on, walking along the roads that circled the Dawn Palace. As soon as she found an empty apartment, she broke in using a bit of raw force magic to open the lock and began to cast divination spells. She started by looking for wards that might detect common divination spells, then looked for anti-divination wards, then worked her way down a list of common glyph constructions.

Her suspicion only grew. The palace had basic ward architecture, but several wards had been allowed to wither and would need to be re-scribed, probably at great expense. There were few protections. Critically, there was no levitation protection at all. While common combat spells would trigger alarm wards, she had plenty of spells that wouldn’t. She practiced casting telekinetic rip, a spell that could either be used to disarm an opponent—or, if one were especially brutal, dis-arm them.

From the window, Mirian watched another carriage full of people move in. She thought of Aurum’s gala. Is this a meeting of the powerful? A plot to control Persama? Perhaps they waited for Lord Saiyal to be absent. But is his position so weak? Or has Ibrahim already sent messages south that will precipitate a rebellion? Her mind whirled with the possibilities.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

She used spell enhancements to extend the range of her detect life. There seemed to be a large gathering in the main hall of the building. There were dozens of servants moving about. She used heat detection spells to map the kitchens, then water detection spells to figure out more about the layout. Near the ballroom were elaborate heated baths, and the kitchens were cooking up what appeared to be a hell of a feast. In the basement, more wine casks were being cracked. A gala for sure. That was strange though, because the major players, including several of Lord Saiyal’s allies, were all in Akana Praediar.

A coup, then. Or at least, the beginnings of one. Or perhaps an opportunity to learn the minor noble players of this city. Every city had factions. It was just a matter if the conflicts among them were public or hidden.