Mist Rising by Eve Langlais
Chapter Thirty-Six
Knowingshe was probably being spied upon, Agathe took her time returning to the inn, talking to people she met along the way, browsing the shops. She tried to spot her tail. Xaav, with his lack of hair, would have stood out. Actually, any of the Ghosts in their silver armor would have drawn attention. Meaning, whoever spied probably wasn’t someone she knew. It might not even be a soldier.
Eventually, she spotted her spy. A man armed with a sword, which peeked from the opening of his cloak. He picked up her trail, and while he did a decent job of ducking from her, once she’d spotted him, he was easy to lose. From a nearby rooftop, she watched him frantically search. How long before he reported to Maric that he’d lost her again? And why was she being so ornery about it?
Agathe kept to the heights to make her way back to the inn, an easy thing to do given the buildings were close together. She didn’t climb down until she reached the inn. She went up to the third floor and knocked once before entering Hiix’s room. Venna happened to be there, as well. Both turned wide eyes on her with weapons drawn, ready to slice her.
“Glad to see you’re alert,” was her casual greeting.
“Where have you been?” exclaimed Venna.
“Out. Why? Has something happened?”
Hiix chewed her lower lip. “Baer was just here asking where you’d gone.”
“Not sure why it’s any of his—or anyone else’s—business,” Agathe sassed. “The Soraers of the Shield answer only to the Goddess.”
“Do you think it’s wise to antagonize the general knight?” Hiix proffered.
Venna wrung her hands. “If you make him angry, he might arrest you.”
“Do you think he would?” The idea piqued her interest. “I wonder if they jail people somewhere in the city or within the Citadel…”
“You can’t be serious,” Hiix snapped. “How is being put in a cell supposed to help?”
“It’s better than sitting in this room doing nothing.”
Venna stiffened. “For your information, we’ve been busy. Look.” She bustled to a table and held up a book. “The King sent this over. It’s a history of King’s Valley’s.”
“And? We’ve read that story before.”
“The widely disbursed version, yes. The very first monarch’s scribe wrote this one.”
Oh, that was interesting. “Does it differ from the usual accounts?”
“This one actually states that the reason for settling here was because of the appearance of the mist.” Other versions had them living here lawlessly and without prosperity until the King took them in hand.
“Does it mention the origin of the mist?”
“Just that the mist began appearing one day and swept much like a sickness across the land, forcing humanity to climb a mountain to escape it.” Lending credence to Maric’s claim that there used to be other places outside King’s Valley once habitable to people.
“It’s a good start. I wonder why the King sent it.” Had Maric spoken to him and convinced the King to let the Soraers help?
“Who cares about moldy old books,” Hiix jumped in. “While she’s been bookworming, I’ve been studying some of the city’s defenses. They’re using some innovative ideas to fight all kinds of monsters, not just those on the ground. Things that we can implement at the Abbaes and towns on the rim.”
“Not sure a moat would have helped us in the cliffs.” And most of the rim towns were situated atop rock or on the very edge.
“They’ve got actual archers. Also, a thing called a ballista, which fires giant missiles into the sky. And a chemical compound that, when lit, acts like daylight that can drive the monsters back.”
“I had no idea.” It struck Agathe that while she’d been moping, her friends had actually been productive. “Tell me more.”
Discourse would apparently have to wait, as the door to the room slammed open.
