The moment the cell door opened, Darius knew straight away that the young man had been expecting them. He didn't even seem surprised to see the Guard colonel and his lieutenant. He was simply sitting in the corner of the small room with his knees pulled up to his chin, tapping out a steady rhythm against the wall. He greeted their intrusion into his seclusion with nothing more than a weary glance from his dark-circled eyes.
'We need to talk.' Bleist didn't want to start off too harshly. He preferred not to have to resort to drastic measures, though such methods were not entirely unfamiliar to him.
'The colonel has guessed.' The young man's emotionless, flat whisper sent shivers down his spine. Darius would have preferred stammering and the panicked terror manifesting itself in a dozen different ways. 'That there are three of us...' The hollow voice broke, suddenly turning into a dry sob. 'And now the medic says they're done for… That there's nothing to be done…' The soldier rested his forehead on his knees, hiding his face.
'I need to know where those vials came from.' Earl emphasised the end of the sentence, trying to grab the lad's attention. 'Who gave them to you, and why?'
The question, cast into the dim light of the cell, seemed to echo through the stone corridors with a phantom reverberation. Yet they waited patiently for the youngster's response.
'It was less than half a month ago that we were sent on guard duty. We were supposed to be there for a week, but as there were a lot of convoys setting off, the senior officer was driving everyone to work. The three of us were working at the gate, because that's where we had to check who was leaving, who was arriving, and what they were carrying.' The lad tried to tuck his head in further, but couldn't manage it. 'When the day was drawing to a close, the militia would start boozing. We weren't exactly holding back either...' He added, even more quietly than before. 'The thing is, that day we'd had a row with two of the governor's men, so we'd found ourselves a spot off to the side. Once everyone was properly drunk and snoring all over the place, we heard a banging on the barricade. It was dark, and since the others were completely out cold, the three of us went to check it out.' The lad nervously scratched his head. 'I know we shouldn't have, that it was dangerous, but our heads were already spinning, so there was no point in thinking.' He paused for a long moment, during which he seemed to be struggling to catch his breath. 'There were four of them, waiting for someone to open the door.' He shook his head as if, with hindsight, he was berating himself for his stupidity. 'Abdul shouted at them to get lost, that they should come back in the morning. He said it was late and the outpost was closed. And they said they had to come in and that we could work something out.' He snorted in disgust. 'It was...' For the first time, the soldier looked up and gazed at Bleist with a clear-eyed expression. 'Before, we'd sometimes earn a bit on the side… We didn't do it often, but the governor's men were always getting their hands dirty. Either something'd go missing from the cart, or a purse would jingle where it shouldn't. All sorts of things.' He sighed and hid his face again. 'Then we thought we'd get a share too. When we took down the barricade and opened it, all four of them squeezed in. Abdul drank the least, so he was the one who talked to them. It went quickly, they didn't argue, and they handed over the silver without a fuss. Only afterwards did they start asking how to get into the enclave without anyone checking them. But we're not that stupid.' He said the last sentence with clear irony. 'Abdul said the money would be enough for entry, but they'd have to sort out the rest themselves, unless they chipped in. And then one of them took out the vials, going on about what they weren't, and how good and expensive they were.' The young man bit his lip in frustration. 'He said everyone would get one if we showed them how to get into the enclave.' He clenched his fists in a gesture of helplessness. 'With the lads… well, sometimes we'd grab more than just beer and booze… So we got tempted.'
'You showed them how to get past the sentries?', the lieutenant asked, clearly struggling to keep from shouting. 'To random strangers who paid for it with drugs?'
Al-Satar's reaction was met with silence, or rather, complete disregard. It was hard to say why, but for now, that wasn't what was on Darius's mind.
'What did those four look like?' Bleist quietly hoped that one of these highly unusual travellers would match the description of the soldier Rocha had met before his death.
'They had hooded cloaks, so there was no way to get a proper look, and even if they hadn't, it would have been hard to focus enough to remember more.' The soldier shrugged, and his voice began to lose its energy again, as if he were falling into a stupor.
'Maybe they had something distinctive? A weapon, a symbol, something unusual?' Earl pressed on.
'Nothing. . .' the young man replied hesitantly. 'They just avoided the light and turned away whenever anyone tried to look under their hoods.'
'Get to the point,' Belist snapped. He was slowly beginning to lose his patience.
'That's enough for now, Colonel,' the surgeon interrupted him gently. Oxern entered the cell and deftly made his way past the officers. Shehed leaned over the cowering lad and gave him a quick once-over. 'We won't get anywhere with him today. He needs a bit of time to calm down and speak properly.'
Bleist reluctantly agreed with the medic and left the room. He had a lot to think about and even more pieces that didn't fit. He headed towards the courtyard to get some fresh air and find himself a bit of space.
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The square beyond the gate was almost empty and shrouded in deep shadow. The sun had long since begun to disappear below the horizon, so the high walls completely blocked out its glow. The sky above the courtyard was slowly filling with pale stars, for the time being. It looked as though a quiet night was on the cards. At least as far as the weather was concerned.
'I should have done something about Murphy ages ago,' Al-Satar almost growled. He seemed embittered and somewhat weighed down by the information he had just heard. 'If only I weren't afraid of his father...'
'We all make mistakes,' Darius said, looking at his companion. 'Unfortunately, you eventually have to pay for every one of them.'
The lieutenant didn't reply; he just looked around. Apart from the two of them and one of the Ruby Guards, they were alone, or at least out of earshot of bystanders.
'It was all too much for me,' the officer suddenly confessed. 'I couldn't react in time; I went along with everything that was happening, thinking we'd manage somehow. Nothing worked out.' He sighed heavily, trying to calm himself down a little. 'First tax evasion, a drop in security, bandits, and now Aphalis being handed out as bribes.' He gritted his teeth. 'I suppose the only thing missing is a dark wizard, and we'll have the full set of troubles.'
'I admit that when I set out for here, I had a completely different idea of Bushtabhar. The reports and documents paint a very different picture of the enclave. They mention problems that no one here has heard of, and what plagues the inhabitants most isn't in the papers.' He shook his head, not knowing what to make of it all. 'Since I arrived, I've found more questions than answers here.'
'The charm of this cursed place.' The lieutenant laughed hoarsely. It seemed that his earlier tirade had helped him, and he had shed some of the weight. 'I could swear that ever since Murphy turned up, something's been haunting us all.'
'I'd be careful with statements like that; who knows if they might turn out to be true?' Darius smiled wryly.
'That would be such a simple answer,' the officer sighed.
Suddenly, a rider on a foaming horse burst through the main gate. Even from a distance, it was clear he was agitated. Without waiting for anything and paying no heed to etiquette, he rode up to them. The soldier dismounted right next to the lieutenant and seemed to try to salute, but it was of little use; he was too tired even to raise his hand.
'Lieutenant, I report that the investigator has arrived from Alexandria with reinforcements,' the messenger gasped. 'They're at the port and preparing to cross the lake.'
'Quick,' muttered Bleist, realising that his report must have sent the African headquarters into quite a panic. They'd acted much faster than any army procedures would have dictated. 'How much support did they send?' he asked, wondering how the additional troops would help him with his ongoing tasks.
'A battalion, Colonel.'
Darius was surprised by the number of troops the generals had managed to deploy to such a remote location in such a short time. It meant they were either extremely well organised, which Bleist doubted, or the unit was stationed in a nearby enclave, serving as a reserve force intended to be sent to Bushtabhar. Another unusual factor. Earl was beginning to seriously wonder to what extent the army commanders were aware of what the situation in the enclave under the current governor's rule actually looked like. The only question was whether they were waiting for a pretext to act, or whether there were silent supporters of Count Murphy among them?
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Bleist leaned against the battlements and looked out over the city from the gate. The arrival of further military units caused quite a stir among the inhabitants and the merchants staying in Bushtabhar. The mere appearance of the Guard was an event whispered about throughout the metropolis, but it seemed that everyone who could move had come out onto the streets to see the column of infantry. There were no cheers, no joy, nor any palpable optimism, however. The crowd simply stood and watched in silence as the soldiers marched towards the citadel.
Inside the fortifications, there was a frantic rush of activity. The garrison bustled about like headless chickens, trying to hastily prepare accommodation for the reinforcements. They had little time and an enormous amount of work – they had to find space for a battalion of six hundred soldiers by the end of the day. The arriving reinforcements thus constituted more than half the infantry present in the whole of Bushtabhar. The citadel could accommodate them, but it would take some time.
The commotion did not go unnoticed by the governor either, who, at the same time as receiving news of the army's arrival, learnt of the detention of his mercenaries at the northern entrance to the enclave. The enraged chamberlain Burtch appeared shortly after the return of the messenger whom the lieutenant had sent to Murphy's palace. The halfling did not find Al-Satar, as the officer had gone from the port to meet the battalion commander and the investigator sent from Alexandria as soon as possible. No one wanted to speak to the cursing official either, which infuriated him even more. Fortunately, the chamberlain quickly took offence and returned to Murphy, snarling his farewells.
The only people who didn't seem to care much about the current events were the Guards. It seemed everyone assumed that the arriving reinforcements would relieve them of the extra workload, or at least allow them to focus on their own tasks rather than putting out the fires constantly breaking out all around.
'I wonder who they've sent.' Rex lost interest in the panorama of the silent city and scanned the sandy horizon.
'Aphalis is no joke.' Darius watched the officer riding at the head of the column, though he was still too far away to make out his rank. 'They've probably chosen someone with experience in such matters. I wouldn't be surprised if it were a diplomat, given Murphy's approach to everything that's going on here.'
'Someone's going to have a tough nut to crack.' The corporal gave a wry smile. 'I wouldn't want to be in his shoes.'
'Don't jinx it at the wrong moment.' Bleist shot a sidelong glance at his deputy. 'Nothing here has been straightforward from the start, so I won't believe it'll suddenly become so.'
'I prefer to be an optimist.' Rex shifted his gaze to the approaching column. 'The colonel should be too.'
'Uh… Maybe it really will…' Darius trailed off mid-sentence. The vanguard of the first company, which had arrived as reinforcements, was already approaching the foot of the citadel, and the second had just emerged fully onto the town's central square, yet no further soldiers appeared behind them. Warriors emerged from the alleyway, clad in sand-coloured leather armour and lion skins draped over their shoulders like cloaks. They wore helmets shaped like jackal heads, held short spears in their hands, and carried chepes at their belts. Bleist counted twelve foot soldiers, and right behind them, mounted on a massive karven, a priest clad in a sand-coloured robe and a black-and-silver jackal mask. Right beside him rode Lieutenant Al-Satar, reporting something, or so one could gather from the officer's gestures. Behind them came another twelve warriors and the rest of the infantry. 'You were right, Rex,' Bleist merely muttered. 'The high priest of Arnas has been appointed investigator, though I've no idea what a desert god's hierarch has to do with solving drug investigations.' He pushed himself away from the railings and set off at a leisurely pace towards their current headquarters. 'I just hope he knows his stuff and isn't as arrogant as the other priests of Arnas I've met,' he said when the corporal caught up with him. 'In any case, talking to him is going to be a struggle.' He sighed almost martyr-like, but received no consolation.