The King's Knights

Chapter Twenty-Four: Seynaran

Seynaran at last.

It stood before Fayn on the horizon, walled and growing outward. She'd been here before with Uncle Hawkthorne and been introduced to things. So she knew who to talk to and why, though they did not know her. Looking to her companions, she stretched out and tossed the piece of the Devouring Sword in one hand. After a moment, she put it back into her bag.

"Well, there we are," said Fayn.

"So I gather," said Varsus. "Ham, how do you think we should do this?"

"Well, starting with a frontal assault won't do much good," noted Ham. "Let's go in front of the east and flank them. We'll take our enemies off-guard and strike before they can react."

Silence.

"Ham, I wasn't talking about sieging the place," said Varsus. "I meant our investigations into the temple."

"I know what you were talking about," said Ham. "We should go in by a different gate."

"Ham has a point," noted Fayn. "Which direction you come from can make a lot of difference. If they know we came from the King's Road, they'll know something about our plans.

"Confusion could be useful."

"You guys are really hardcore about walking through an open gate, aren't you?" asked Tayuya. "Let's see what our friends have to say."

"Not yet," said Fayn quickly. "I need to talk to you." Better not let these two mice getaway.

"Sure, what do you want?" said Tayuya.

They went over to one side.

"We have a problem," said Fayn, smiling.

"What kind of problem?" said Tayuya, brushing back her hair.

"House Korlac is out of control," said Relma. "It took a lot of effort to start those mass hangings. Obviously, Relma isn't exactly fond of criminals. Sometimes, you can get a cure worse than the disease."

"Okay?" said Tayuya, an implicit question in the word.

"Varsus over there is a nice guy," said Fayn. "I like him.

"Joseph Korlac is a nice guy, too. And he is his Father's son. Relma sent me out here to ensure things weren't carried away. I can pull rank on him."

"What the fuck should I care about any of that?" asked Tayuya, leaning back.

"You're in the Sorcerer's Guild, Tayuya," said Fayn. "The Sorcerer's Guild has control of the city watch through Vines. Now, there is no way that anyone could operate without some underworld connections. You had to get your hands dirty if you wanted to plant anything.

"Now, I don't know what you're doing out here. But I know that Korlac's vendetta against crime is limited only by what he can achieve. If you set enough barriers in front of him, he will stop. Right now, you're walking through an open gate, and House Korlac is behind you."

"Are you threatening me? Because that's not going to go how you think," said Tayuya with a smile.

"I'm warning you against doing something foolish," said Fayn, smiling back. "If you'd like a threat, I can give you one right now;

"'If you interfere with this mission, I'll burn you.'" Fayn smirked and shifted a hand closer to her crossbow. "See, that's a threat.

"If you two walk through that gate as things stand, we will be on opposite sides of history. I don't know what kind of setup is going on here if there is one, but I think you do.

"There are two possible futures ahead of you;

"In one future, we part company here, play some gambits or whatever, and things get nasty. No matter what happens, some of us here are probably going to die. Neither one of us is going to succeed in our missions either."