"The city's nice and all, I'm just a bit overwhelmed," Wyva smirked, taking a slow sip of his overpriced mead. "I never expected such a beautiful city to have so many beautiful women."
He was rewarded with a chorus of giggles from his growing audience.
In Potaan, the local men apparently paled in comparison to him. Then again, most men did. In this fortress of iron and obsidian, genuine attention was harder to come by than religious blasphemy, a stark contrast to the effortless warmth of Rému.
In Rému, Wyva had every young woman in the city under his thumb the moment he flashed a smile. Here, a smiling man was a rare, exotic creature. He was currently running better odds than playing poker against the blind and deaf.
Unfortunately, the universe sensed he was having a good time and decided to drag him back to ground level.
Standing in the doorway was a very annoyed Logun.
"Excuse me, ladies, but duty calls," Wyva said, slipping away from the table with a lingering wink. "Save some space for me later, gyé."
"Gyé," they responded in a melodic, lingering chorus.
What the hell? Wyva mouthed as he reached Logun.
"Vanqis bought Relik," Logun said, already walking off at a pace Wyva wasn't prepared to match.
"Vanqis?" the Alven teen repeated, his charm vanishing. "We have no pull with that walking insane asylum."
"No one has pull with Vanqis. Not even the Sar can get him to listen," Logun replied, his voice tight with a frustration that bordered on fear, "worst part is, he's heading back to Salaam. He wants to 'research' the markings on our favorite unmarked person."
Wyva shook his head, trying to keep up as they wove through the crowded streets, "What's so special about those markings? I mean, this is the second time Relik's been saved from a grave because of them."
Logun snorted as they bolted toward the Temple district, but then he shrugged with just enough hesitation that Wyva knew he was holding back.
"He's a bomb, isn't he?" Wyva asked.
"What? No, you idiot," Logun spat. "The thing is, based on how the lines of a seal are drawn, we can usually pinpoint a relation, or even a reason for the Vesselling."
"Like how sealing a bit of Astra in everyone lets us more or less access each other's memories?"
"Exactly. But the thing about Relik's seal..." Logun paused as they rushed up a staircase as wide as it was long. "The thing about Relik's is that it reveals absolutely nothing."
"Okay. Big whoop," Wyva shrugged, unimpressed by the technicality.
"That," Logun added, his voice dropping to a whisper, "and the fact that it was written using a method older than the Astran Empire itself."
Wyva froze dead in his tracks. A myriad of questions anchored him to the marble floor; questions he hadn't thought to ask when he first pulled Relik's body from the sand.
The boy was supposedly tossed into the river on the far side of the border. He had survived every turn, every jagged rock, and sustained no real damage. His clothes had been torn to rags, but the skin beneath was pristine.
Wyva allowed himself a deep, shaky sigh before running to catch up with Logun.
The situation was still a blur of obsidian and gray, but he could tell one thing for certain: Many people were going to die for whatever he's hiding.
________________________________________
Relik sat in the Beem; directly across from him was the very Hurc responsible for nearly beating him inside out not ten minutes ago. He stared at the hulking man, who wasn't shy about staring right back.
The boy wanted to say something, but his jaw felt too heavy to move. Even though they had said he was free to go, his hands remained clasped behind his back in cold-iron chains that felt as though they weighed as much as he did.
"My name's Veech, by the way," the Hurc grumbled, finally removing his polished steel mask.
"Yeah, I heard the Shiear say it in between punches," Relik muttered, rolling his eyes before looking anywhere but at his only current companion.
"I'm sorry about that. Just had some steam to blow off."
"Glad I could help."
"It's just... my brother. He was part of that recruitment class."
Relik's head snapped up, his eyes widening. He scanned the Hurc's features, searching for a resemblance. "Gouti?"
Veech nodded slowly. "Did he die fighting?"
Relik didn't hesitate this time. He gave a singular, heavy nod.
Veech snickered, though his face quickly twisted into a mask of displeasure. "I told him it was better to be a live coward, you know?"
Relik allowed the silence to wash over them both, the only sound being the dry click of his own throat as he swallowed.
"Look, regardless of what Hukaam says, it's not your fault," Veech said, his voice dropping to a rough whisper. "Every recruit from Potaan was trained just enough to know how to flee successfully. Jace must have given them one hell of a speech if he convinced them they could do more than that."
"He was... infectiously good at speeches," Relik admitted.
Veech chuckled darkly. "At the very least, his spirit is free now. Free to stalk as many women as his heart desires."
Relik managed a small, pained smile, but his eyes fell to the floor of the Beem. So many families suffering, he thought. And I'm the one without a family, left to live. How could I not hate it?
The sound of leather shoes creaking echoed at the Beem's entrance.
"Good. The package is secured, and I have someone to carry it," Vanqis said, flashing a bright, clinical smile at Relik and Veech respectively. "Alright then, let's get moving."
"Wait!" Veech held out a massive hand, blocking the path.
Vanqis spun, his annoyance shimmering through for the first time. "And why, exactly, would I do that?"
"The kid didn't get to Potaan alone," Veech countered. "He had an escort that I'm sure he'd like to keep."
"Thankfully, it doesn't matter what he would like. I don't enjoy pulling rank, but I am a Shiear."
"And I can fold an Alven into a perfect ball using my bare hands," Veech replied. It was a poor attempt at a debate, but the threat was heavy enough to hang in the air.
Vanqis looked the Hurc up and down, toe to head and back again, before sighing and dropping into the seat next to Relik. He didn't have to wait long. Wyva and Logun rushed through the entrance seconds later, breathless.
"Gyé, Logun," Veech greeted, closing his eyes and offering a curt nod.
"Gyé, Veech," Logun replied with the same grim gesture.
Relik's eyes narrowed as the Beem door hissed shut, "You guys know each other?"
"Of course," Logun grunted. "This is Bara's son."
A second wave of realization dawned on Relik, but he stubbornly refused to give it any more mental energy. All of this recalling exhausted him on all fronts.
"Are we putting this needle on the road or not?" Relik asked.
Vanqis sighed, burying his face in his palms as the Beem began to hum with power. "I do hope this is the trip that kills me."