They were drawing stares.

Suthe slowly turned, taking in the sights around her, but acutely aware of the curious, and sometimes suspicious, looks of other people passing by. Her first instinct was to look down and avoid their gaze, but they were just as foreign to her as she was to them, and she found herself staring right back at their glossy black hair and peculiar clothing.

The painting, Suthe learned, had been of Fai, an old Andilirish city in the north of the mountain kingdom. The city had once been occupied by miners and jewelers, but gradually the jewelers had left for the more temperate climate of the capital in the south of the country, and Fai's buildings had grown shabby with the remaining occupants living on only modest mining wages.

There was, however, a strong military force in the city, with a large training base just on the outskirts. Echoes of explosions often alternated sources between the blasting in the mines and the training exercises from the base. Every time a blast went off, Suthe felt like jumping out of her skin. She didn't know how the locals could stand it.

"Remind me to teach you some Andilirish meditation while we're here," Ulsper muttered as Suthe followed him through the winding streets of the city. Another detonation had just sounded from somewhere to their right, and Suthe had nearly dropped the canvas bag that Marrene had packed for her.

"I'm surprised they can meditate in this constant noise," Suthe said. "Will it help me get used to the explosions?"

Ulsper shook his head. "No, but it will help you be less jittery. Your immune system won't be able to keep up if you're always this tense, and you'll get sick more easily. It might also help with the development of your—" He paused for a moment as an older couple strolled past from the opposite direction, and tugged his hood lower. "—skills."

My magic. Suthe tried to ignore the curious gaze of the elderly couple, acutely aware of how much she and Ulsper stood out here.

"Okay," she whispered, trying to keep her voice low. "So where are we going now?"

Ulsper let out a long breath. "There's someone here who owes me a favor. A general of the ninth infantry unit."

"And he's here in Fai?"

Ulsper spared her a sidelong glance. "She is."

"She?"

Ulsper remained silent.

"So what is she going to help us with?"

"Connecting us with people we can trust. In case you'd forgotten, Sylterra has sent out their most talented to search for me, and your country has declared the arrest of all of your kind. It won't be easy finding answers about the Twin Blades without getting caught in the process."

Suthe gulped. "You really think this general won't betray us?"

The muscles in Ulsper's jaw tightened. "I'm fairly certain."

"Only fairly?" It didn't sound promising to Suthe. "And what if she does?"

"She won't."

"But you just—ack!"

Suthe's interrogation was interrupted as Ulsper suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her into the shadows of an alleyway on their right. Annoyed, Suthe twisted out of his grasp.

"What was that for?" She took a step back and put her hands on her hips.

"Shush." Ulsper pulled her back against the wall of the closest building and gestured to the main street. "Look."

Three people on horseback were headed their way. The person at the head of the small party rode astride a magnificent chestnut stallion with a polished black saddle and reigns, while the other two rode gray geldings outfitted with equally expensive-looking riding gear. All three wore black cloaks with the hoods up, but Suthe noticed a long flame-colored braid snaking out from the hood of the first rider as they passed.

It was only after the clip-clop of hooves faded that Suthe felt Ulsper relax, and he let go of her. Suthe immediately stepped away and turned back to face him.

"Explain."

Ulsper scoffed. "The Imperial Guard, of course. Searching for me."

Suthe frowned. "But they're nothing like you and Marrene. They're so..."

"Showy." Ulsper finished. "Of course. Kalasha usually is."

"Kalasha? You know one of them?"

"Second Captain Kalasha Urpechpine. She's not a spy, so she's never quite mastered the art of subtlety. That, and she thinks that dramatics can make up for lack of skill." He shook his head.

"So, she looks scary, but is actually really incompetent?" Suthe asked, feeling her hopes rise a bit.

"No. She's dangerously good at her work. But I'm better."

It would have sounded cocky from anyone else, but there was no satisfaction in Ulsper's tone—just the simplicity of a stated fact.

Still, Suthe didn't find it very reassuring. "If they're looking for you, shouldn't they be, well...a bit subtler than that?"

"Either she just arrived in the city, or she has a trick up her sleeve," Ulsper replied. "Bringing attention to herself could allow the opportunity for one of her cohorts to slip away unnoticed and find the information they need. We can't let our guard down, even if we think they're gone for now."

His words only furthered the anxiety Suthe felt. She hastily tightened the ties of her cloak and made sure that her hood was firmly over her head. "How much farther until we reach the military base?" she asked.

Ulsper slipped from the shadows of the alley and headed back on the main road. "This way."

"That doesn't answer my question," Suthe grumbled, hurrying after him.

~*~

It was five booms later—though whether from mining or training explosions, Suthe didn't know—before they finally reached the base. Of course, neither of them could just waltz through the entrance, so Suthe found herself sitting on a rather uncomfortable rock in the shadows at the street corner, tracing shapes in the dirt with a stick she had found.

"Are you sure she's in there?" Suthe asked for the third time. Ulsper spared her an annoyed glance before returning his gaze to the base entrance.

"Or," Suthe continued, "what if she's in there, but doesn't come out? They have houses and things inside the base, don't they? What if her house is in there?"

"They have tents," Ulsper corrected, "that are used by the new recruits. Soldiers, captains, and generals live in the city, just like everyone else."

"Oh."

Suthe hugged her knees and went back to drawing with her stick—only, the end caught on a pebble, bent, and then snapped. Suthe held up the broken twig in dismay before casting it aside with a sigh.

"It's almost lunchtime," Ulsper said. "She should be coming out soon."

Lunchtime. That hasty breakfast of scrambled eggs Marrene had served that morning seemed so long ago now. If Suthe were still at home in the bakery, she and her mother might have just pulled out a batch of spiral rolls to fill with rice and lentils.

A breeze threatened to dislodge Suthe's hood, and she pulled it lower with a shiver. And it would be warmer in Montmyth, too. Though Ulsper had promised that the city wouldn't be as snowy and cold as it had appeared in the painting in Calatar's apartment, it was still chilly here.

Standing beside her, Ulsper suddenly shifted.

"That's her," he said. Suthe's head shot up, all thoughts of hunger and cold leaving her immediately.

"Where?" she asked, before her eyes settled on the lone figure leaving the base.

Suthe had been expecting a battle-hardened middle-aged woman, covered in scars and scowling at anyone she met. Instead, the general was younger than Suthe had imagined, perhaps early in her third decade, with smooth tanned skin, full lips, and delicate, arched eyebrows. The woman's jet-black hair was pulled back in a loose topknot, and throughout the course of the day, several strands had come loose and now fell on either side of her face. A long, sweat-stained red tunic with a black and gold hem covered dusty off-white trousers stuffed into black leather boots. Somehow, the general made disheveled and dirty into a work of art.

Suthe twitched her nose in speculation. Could someone so pretty actually be trusted? It seemed to her like only cheaters could get away with fighting and not having a single bruise or scrape to show for it.

It only took a few moments for the general to realize that she was being watched. The woman turned, and stilled when she caught sight of Ulsper and Suthe lurking in the shadows.

"She has a bow?" Suthe observed as the general then began approaching them. "Isn't that a bit outdated?"

"Not if you know how to use it properly," Ulsper replied, keeping his gaze ahead. "Andilir has a unique style of archery that it's kept despite the years of technological development. She must have just come from instructing a class."

"But...they still use archery in real-life, on the battlefield? It doesn't put them at a disadvantage?"

"They don't use it as often anymore," Ulsper said. "Now it's usually only brought in to battle to use as a last resort. The last time archery was really used was in the uprising of the Rebel King twenty years ago."

Still, Suthe was having a difficult time coming to terms with the fact that Andilir still favored such outdated technology. "But, arrows..."

"At least you don't run the risk of an arrow backfiring in your face if you go to shoot it."

He had a point there. Suthe shut her mouth just as the general came to a stop before them and hissed something at Ulsper in her native tongue. Ulsper replied in his usual even tone, too fast for Suthe to make out any of the foreign words he said, though Suthe thought she had heard her name mentioned. Introductions, perhaps?

Her guess was confirmed when Ulsper then turned back to face her.

"Suthe," he said. "I'd like to introduce you to General Seolosu Yenh."

~~~~~

Heyyyy, long time no see!  Sorry for my long delay in posting a new chapter.  You're amazing if you've come back to keep reading this new update after me being MIA posting for so long.  What do you think of the general?  Can she be trusted?

I couldn't find a picture that looked exactly like how I imagine Fai to be--either the buildings were too shiny new or depressingly falling apart.  Fai is just very shabby, but still livable.  So I decided on a close-up image of a building corner instead.  :)

Thanks for reading!