Koj'Ineh'Mirrad eased the document into a gap between his back and the armor he wore to shield himself from the sun. It should be tucked in with the extra cloth and veils beneath to cushion the metal. Adjusting his grip within his leather metal-plated gloves, he took hold of a lantern pole and climbed.

Koj grew up in civilization under the sun, but after his return to the shadow forests and swamps of Ineh, he took every opportunity to relive the legacy of his blood. A world of branches and trunks wasn't that far off from a world of walls and overhangs if he looked for it.

He made his way to Caius' establishment. Even at this time of night, the main lobby was bustling, and the line of people waiting to enter was extensive. So as usual he in through the window near the roof, just in Caius' office.

Caius was busy with some workers. They were moving a large empty glass orb-shaped container out of the office. Koj landed heavily behind them, not surprising Caius, but the workers jumped and dropped the container, shattering it, and sending glass scattering across the floor.

Caius shot back at him with a mildly annoyed look but quickly returned to the workers. "Don't be alarmed; he is with me. I apologize for my colleague's behavior. He gets a kick out of spooking people. No, no, don't worry about the mess! I have someone clean it up later." He shut the door behind them and returned.

"You did that on purpose." Caius accused.

"What in ball?" Koj motioned to the fragmented container.

"Oh, that thing. Yeah, see, it had a Night-Blood in it."

Koj flinched slightly in surprise. "Night-Blood?"

"Yeah, one was caught and Barjol sold it as his big surprise at the auction. "

"You were there?" Koj asked, surprised. Why had the Kes-Blood sent his brother, and Koj, if he planned to be there as well, and not tell either of them?

"Yes, I was." Caius admitted. "Not like my presence would have changed anything if you had known, we each had our part. As wildly entertaining as my brother's show was, my eyes were on the auction."

Koj nodded. He could accept the explanation. He saw out of the corner of his eye another of Caius's new acquisitions: some kind of device with tubes and containers interconnected.

At this time the door opened and a couple of men dragged in somebody. The prisoner had his head covered in a black cloth, and while he was panicking, he was far too weak to do anything about his situation. Their loose attire reminded Koj of the pirates. They took their prisoner into the office and strapped him down to one of Caius's chairs.

Caius look between them and the prisoner, "What is this?"

"The bounty boss!" They declared. One of them pulled a paper out of his belt, unrolled it with a proud 'snap', and handed it to Caius. Koj could not read it. Thankfully, they continued, "One Kes-Blood with a ruined right ear! Matches the picture and everything!"

Caius's expression shifted quickly from confusion, to shock, to a twitching smile barely restraining laughter. "But we already-! Oh, please tell me you kidnapped him again! That would be too much!"

"Again?" They wondered.

Caius, with a flick of his wrist, pulled the bag from the prisoner's head. Koj blinked in surprise. The bounty looked vaguely like Valspear, but was noticeably thinner and a little malnourished. His cheekbones were more prominent and his facial structure was longer. Also, while Valspear's ruined ear looked crushed and clawed, this man's ear only looked crushed.

He did not look like Valspear, but he did look like the picture. Koj saw the confusion.

The prisoner's countenance was the expected degree of panic and confusion. His eyes shot from one side to the other taking it all in, paling increasingly white between the blood stains around the chair, the painting depicting destruction, the pirates who kidnapped him, but most of all he paled on seeing Koj in his height wearing full armor. To his credit he didn't make a sound nor wet himself like Koj expected.

Caius' joy fell. He clicked his tongue, "My bad, I should have been more specific or removed the bounty. The job was already fulfilled." 

The pirates were noticeably disappointed. They bowed, made whispered apologies, and turned to leave, but Caius surprised them by snatching handfuls of coins from his desk and holding it out to them.

"I gave you one job to do, and you did it. Its not the full reward, but I appreciate the effort at the very least. It was my mistake, not yours." They happily took the money, thanking him many times. Caius waved them out. "Just tell the barkeep to take down the poster and call off the hunt. Its over."

When the pirates left, the Kes-Blood prince turned his attention to the prisoner. The prisoner shook under the full attention of his capture. "What happened to your ear?"

"W-work a-accident." The prisoner immediately replied. "I-I was c-ca-carrying a heavy load for my master and f-fell."

Caius nodded. Immediately, the prince stooped down on his knees and unshackled the prisoner. The slave did not react immediately, his eyes jerking between the open shackles and Caius.

Caius said, "It seems there has been some miscommunication that has dragged you into a bit of a mess. Wrong person, wrong place, wrong time, whatever it amounts to: you are here by mistake. Do you know me? I am Caius'Ronlin'Kes."

"Caius," The other Kes-Blood repeated, understanding dawning on him. "My king?"

"Indeed." The former king smiled widely. Caius took a cup from his desk and passed it to the man. "Come come, have some water, you look like you were about to pass out. Feeling better? " After a couple sips and deep breathes later, the man nodded, and looked relieved to see his king instead of the monster he envisioned. Caius also unlatched his key and produced a few tower coins. "This key goes to the hall-door there, and take this for your troubles. Splurge a little, tell your kids how you had a bit of an adventure!"

"I certainly did!" The man laughed. "Begging your pardon, my lord, but you about scared the life out of me."

Caius chuckled with him and escorted him to the glass door leading to the hall. "Ruffians will have that affect on people. Good workers, but horrible public relations." Caius closed the door behind him. They shared a wave. The man walked down the hall towards the other end.

Caius pulled a lever.

The hall lights magic disappeared, leaving it bathed in darkness. Immediately there was a faint pouring sound from within.

"My lord, its dark. I can't see anything but you," The man said.

A moment later was splashing, the man yelled in surprise, and ran in the opposite direction. He fell, screaming in pain, and splashed his way towards the end. Then the sounds ceased all at once.

Caius looked on into the darkness in wide-eyed, unblinking ecstacy.

He blinked himself out of it, and shoved the lever back up on the wall. The light returned to the hall and Koj'Ineh saw the entire room had been covered in Night-Blood. The Night-Blood fled from the light, pouring into a grated crevice on the floor out of sight. The room was immaculately clean to a shine, save for the broken glass. The key was lodged in the keyhole, but was only turned part way.

"Damn, I forgot about the glass. I really thought he had a chance there." Caius clicked his tongue.

Koj'Ineh gulped. He had seen that face before, and it was not a happy memory.

Caius took a moment to wash his hands in a basin, but just as quickly looked over his shoulder at Koj and smirked, "How long you going to stand there enjoying the show? Come, come. Let us attend to the business at hand. I apologize for the wait, but there is nothing that gets the blood pumping like a good tragedy."

"Hail to the culmination of Ronlin," Koj said, managing to keep his emotions void though the helmet would have distorted his tone anyway.

"'Culmination'! That is a big word for you! Thank you." Caius smiled. He sat in his chair the size of a throne, brought his hands together in anticipation, and said, "Now, about that book."

Koj cleared his throat. He only had a fraction of a second to make his decision, but his instincts lead him on to it. He didn't know if it was a mistake, but his instincts had not lead him wrong yet.

Koj bowed his head slightly, removed his helmet, and whispered, "Not there."

"Pardon?" The king's smile dimmed.

"Your brother - great aid. Book -not there."

Caius sighed. He rubbed his face furiously. "Sun-damn'd idiot is more paranoid than I thought! We will have to push back the time-table to acquire the information the old-fashioned way."

Koj nodded.

Caius continued, "I'm not putting up my end of the deal until this is done, and you -not- coming through is jeopardizing it."

Koj nodded.

"Most of all, I'm not buying my brother his nephew from slavery. I get what I want, he gets what he want, but seeing as you didn't come through, none of us are happy. Including all those slaves we are trying to free. You have many people to apologize to, my friend."

"I make apology."

"See that you do. But more than that, you are going to make up for it." Caius pointed a finger at him. "Getting the information will be harder now and time consuming. You better be prepared for the task at hand. I am not making everyone else step up to accomidate your incompotence. Which, incase you didn't understand, means laziness."

Koj nodded.

Caius sighed, threw himself back in his chair, put a hand over his face, and with the other hand waved him away. "Leave me. I'll need a few days to figure this out."

XXX

I was unable to sleep. Knowledge gave rise to emotion, and emotion stirred up dormant energy to act, to move and to kill. Restraint and reason kept me from doing the latter, so I settled with the former. I busied myself with anything my eyes could settle on and my hands could reach while my feet were not far from Aelius as he finally slept quietly; and at a certain time of night that turned out to be making broth. The water was clean and clear from the tower, but my fiance's father would often make something similar when one of us fell ill.

A knock on the door snapped my attention to the present. A second knock proved my senses correct, and I opened the door to find a tall armored man just outside.

"Koj?" I wondered. "This is soon. Is Caius requesting me already?"

"No." He answered. He looked about nervously and asked, "May I enter?"

"Of course." I shut the door behind him. "How did you even enter the tower, much less find me?"

He did not answer. Instead he paced about quickly, his hands jittered, clenching and unclenching, and he peered his head into my room. I whispered, "Please don't. Aelius only just fell asleep."

Koj'Ineh removed his helmet and put it on the table. Unlike other Mirrad-Blood, his hair was as thick as vines and scaled as snakes. Much of his skin was scarred from cuts and ancient burns. His eyes glowed a slight yellow in the dark, while I stood in the light next to the small brick fire stove.

"Aelius is your child?" He asked.

"Sun-Child, it is similar. It -uh- means-."

"You do not have to explain. I am familiar with your customs." He interrupted gently.

I nodded, and my brows furrowed. His accent and speech had changed. His accent was distinctly Kes, and his mastery of language had grown unnaturally in a day. "You are more familiar than you let on." He did not immediately answer, or get to the point, so I asked, "Why are you here Koj'Ineh?"

"I am trying to understand something." He breathed and asked, "You and Caius are kings of Kes and brothers, correct?"

"Half-brothers." I answered. "His mother was a noble woman from an arrangment and mine was a baker the king took a fancy to for a day."

"What are your relationships with your mothers?"

"Quite well." He blinked in surprise. "You thought we were on bad terms? Ha! We were both doted on. I was a bit distant, as time and distance causes, but every visit was pleasant. My mother married, gave me many step-siblings, and the husband is welcoming. We exchanged letters during my time in Ire."

Her letters back, or rather scribbles, were among my most precious possessions I left behind in Ire. Her handwriting was rather sloppy, only having started learning from her husband, but it never failed to excite me.

He interrupted my brief musing, "What of Caius and his mother?"

"Probably just as pleasant, if not more so. She was around often, afforded a noble education, and possessed good sense but found it difficult to discipline us. I was a wild child getting us in trouble and Caius was hard headed, albeit disciplined and proper."

"What of your teachers? Surely as royalty you had teachers."

I nodded. The broth made noise so I attended to it while I answered, "We both had the same teacher. A funny old man named Abhdon. His teaching usually involved sticks to the head. He never had to hit my brother much, but it was a daily occurrence with me. If you shaved my scalp you would find a couple scars."

"Your father?"

I sighed. I hoped he would be getting to the point soon. I patted the spoon, laid it aside, and with a cloth in my hands, pulled the pot from the pit and set it aside to cool. I patted my hands and returned to him.

I said, "As you can guess, we had the same father. Father was the king, and neither of us was much fond of him, for many reasons." My ear ached with the reminder of his cruelty, yet, the passage of time had allowed perspective. "Despite his moments, we desired his approval. He encouraged us to become our best by competition, and, because past kings always killed their brothers, had us seek different strengths so we would have a use for each other no matter who was chosen as his heir."

This answer did not help him and he turtled back into the shadows a bit. I wished I could know what he was searching for because it seemed he was asking the wrong questions. I had only met known him for a day and already he was seeming spooked.

"Then why are you and he so different?" He finally asked. "I consider myself a good judge of men. Despite what you may think, I have not been in his employ long. Yet, in a short time, I find your intentions genuine and his actions leave me questioning his."

So, Caius had said-or-done something to set his friend on edge, enough for said friend to come to me, a man he kidnapped this morning, for answers, as if he had the honest expectation I would give them, give them truthfully, and not turn him over for the disloyalty. I'll let him keep his privacy in what occurred between them, but I could guess Caius attempted to hurt or kill someone in a brutal way. Just at five years he was trying to stuff my toy down my throat. (After I beat him with it.) He would have grown more sophisticated since then.

"I don't know," I answered. "I can't explain him. Worse, I can't understand him, and I have tried. I thought I did. He is my brother but every year he is more of a stranger."

For what little it seemed to be worth, this denial of an answer gave him a measure of peace. Perhaps the idea that he wasn't going mad or wasn't alone in his confusion was enough. His composure softened and his stance opened.

The moment was broken by violent coughing in the next room. I had heard coughing before, but there was something crude, deep, and wet about this sound which set my hair on edge, something I had never heard before. I ran into the room, but Koj'Ineh was already ahead of me on the bed pushing Aelius onto his side while vomit poured from his mouth. Koj pressed his knee up against the boy's back and pulled his lower arm back, putting him into his abdomen while he coughed and choked.

"Do you know how to clear his air!" Koj demanded.

"No! I-"

The words were barely out of his mouth before the Mirrad-Blood was jumping over the boy to his other side, and firmly holding his torso, drove his knee up into the boy's gut. A large amount of vomit blew all over the man. Immediately Aelius was breathing easier, albeit still hoarse. 

"He cannot be on his back!" Koj'Ineh whispered. "His body is possessed by death and eating itself, which the body rejects."

"What can we do about it?"

"The broth you made: put a handful of salt, oxidized hongcha leaves, and sugar in it."

I entered the main room and opened the chest of ingredients next to the stove. "I have salt but what is a hongcha leaf?"

"Skip it, you would know it if you had it. Honey will do in place of sugar."

"That I have." 

I mixed the broth more, put it in a bowl, and brought it. Koj reached out with extremely long arms, took it, and with practice, helped Aelius up into a position where he could drink semi-unconciously against his chest. The boy gagged a bit at first, but quickly he calmed into a better sleep again.

Against the silence, I wiped my wet cheeks and steadied my panicked breathing. That was close. I had no idea what to do, and if this man hadn't been here... 

"Thank you," I said.

"You need to keep a constant vigilance with him. I've seen this many times. Even the strong die." He looked up at me, the grim expression told me just how experienced he was with this. "If it is well with you, I will stay and help. Caius is unhappy with me and I have no where else to be anyway."

"Please do." I both pleaded, and agreed. I raised my shakey hands and clenched them, but they would not stop shivering. "I can't do this alone."

The rest of the night settled into a somewhat peaceful routine. The Mirrad-Blood removed his armor and put his belongings in the corner. The room was kept dark for his comfort and he kept his eye on my nephew as he sat with his legs crossed next to him. The events of this long day finally caught up with me and I passed out in my chair for an hour before jolting awake again. We said little besides the few instructions he gave me because we changed the sheet twice, both times I had to take it out and scrub it in the floor's fountain. 

There were no windows to signify the day, instead magic light appeared from the ceiling with the sun's appearance and this, to my amusement, scared Koj'Ineh. He jumped under the bed hard enough to shake the floor. The sight of him peering out from under the mattress left me falling over in laughter. He poked a hand out, and quickly pulled back. He tried again, and found the magic light did not burn as the sun did. He hastily put the armor on and sighed in relief.

Koj knew what we needed better than me, so he left for the market while I kept vigilant, for what little it was worth. He returned with several different plants, a sealed bucket of milk, and some meat.

"What's that for?" I wondered.

"Breakfast." He started preparing the ingredients as if it was his kitchen area. With the authority to his medical knowledge, it pretty much was. "And our friend needs a special kind. Red meat will help his recovery, but it will still be a month before he is recovered."

"A month!"

"Two months without the diet."

I gulped. Perhaps it was ignorance but I had hoped it would be a few days. "Thank you."

I left him to his work and sat by Aelius again. His harsh breathing set me on edge, anticipating another fit. Now, under the full of the light, I could grasp the wholeness of it. He was paler than the white clothes, his lips were void of color, and his eyes were completely white.

"Wait a minute." I whispered to myself. I held the boy's eyes open and gazed into them. Every moment looking into the ghostly pupils sent my heart beating faster. "Koj'Ineh! Something is wrong!"

"What is it?" He dropped what he was doing and entered. Guessing the answer, he stooped down and looked with me. "I see. This happens sometimes with sudden blood loss."

"He isn't dead or dying is he?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"He already was, but we are reversing that. No, this is something else. He is blind."