We didn't know where the best place to start our search would be, but we figured Varragher would be a safe start. Deorcae had agreed not to meddle in my business until my time was up, so I at least felt secure in knowing that Daya couldn't ask her informants about my whereabouts or my requests. Ambrose and Fal decided to check somewhere else, an old friend in the Ring that Fal had often traded with. He wasn't too far off, and so we agreed to meet up at their Waystation when we were finished with Varragher. Since we had brought Durabi with us, the boys were moving slower. If we were lucky, we would arrive before they could meet with him and speak to him together.

I had to wrap Sidra up properly. The poor thing hadn't learned that by disguising herself as a man at first glance she was making her life much simpler. She walked timidly by my side as I ventured into the tavern where we had last seen the informant.

He didn't look busy, as it was still the early morning, but was examining a coin closely when I came to the side of his table. He didn't even have to look up. "Find what you're looking for?"

I slid into the booth, patting the wood beside me to signal Sidra that she should follow suit. Varragher's eyes slid over to her, his left eyebrow arching upwards as he looked back to me as if to ask who Sidra was. "A client. He wishes to remain anonymous. He and Daya are trying to research Deorcae."

"What about him?"

"Everything." I said with a roll of my eyes. "They're adamant about finding it all fast. Is there anywhere you can point to that would have lore on him? Or why he disappeared? Or anything related to him?" I picked at my eyebrow, trying to act exasperated without overdoing it. "You'll have Daya's favor."

Varragher blew air out of his mouth and slouched back in the seat, tossing the coin up into the air a few times before it clattered down onto the tabletop. The ringing of the metal on the flat slab of sheetrock pierced my ears despite the generally loud tavern. "I have a few colleagues I could point you towards, but I would hope you know by now, wannfota, that my business lies in the business of others. Exciting things like those twins or that book? That's different. Those are things that sprout up and attract a lot of eyes. What you're asking for is a little too old and dusty for me." He leaned forward, lowering his voice. "And, I only say this because I'm rather fond of your business, but I know you aren't taking orders from the top." A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. Before I could say anything else or ask what he knew, he continued. "If you're looking to make a little side money, I'm happy to help. You put up with a big beast, and I commend you for it. I can't blame a fellow wanderer for trying to make the most of their time." He slid the coin in my direction.

I slid it back to him. "I'm not taking your money on top of you keeping a secret and giving me information. That's a favor too heavily owed back."

"That it is." He laughed heartily, waving to the guard beside him. "Fetch me a drink."

"What information can you give me?"

"Names of a few gangly types. Academics and all that. True worms of the book," he smiled, but when I didn't return the emotion it dropped. "Rewani Acosta has always been interested in magic. He tends to find himself in quarrels with Fallon Ere. The two out-bid one another often enough, but I have never paid too close attention. If neither of 'em don't have what your client is looking for..." Varragher shrugged as he thought to himself. "I would check the birthplace."

"The what?"

"The birthplace of Deorcae. Or, at least, his hideaway."

"I'm not familiar," I admitted.

"There's this poem, which I won't bother reciting for you, too eerie, that describes Deorcae as a king who needed a throne to overlook his kingdom. Up north, off the coast, there's this big black rock. They call it Deorcae's Throne. If you're lucky, they'll have a visitor's information booth." Varragher scooped up the drink that his guard had brought over to him. He lifted it to his lips and chugged for a few seconds. I looked to Sidra, but she was looking at her hands.

"What do you want?"

"Can it be a favor owed? I have no need for anything right now, not even coin." He waved his hand.

I sighed, but accepted his deal. "A favor owed it is, then." I motioned for Sidra to rise, and I followed after her. "Varragher?"

"Yes?"

"This stays between us."

"Of course."

I nodded and led Sidra out of the dim building. As we reached outside, Sidra moved closer to me, whispering, "What do you think we should do next? Isn't Rewani the one Fallon said he was going to be seeing?"

I put my hand on her back, moving her along with me as we weaved our way through the Waystation. We had taken Durabi, thankfully, but that also meant that Fallon and Ambrose were likely moving slower than we were. "We don't do anything. Not yet. We still have no idea how they're doing, so there's no use in worrying about it right now. We have a lead other than Rewani, and if that comes up with nothing it may lead to another lead as well. We have more options."

"But we don't have that much time to sift through them all."

⇼❂⇼

When we arrived at the inn that Fal and Ambrose planned to stay at, I asked for a reservation under the name of Fenric Comb. The innkeeper was hesitant at first, but I yanked the scarf around Sidra's head down to reveal her face. "I have a business meeting. I was told to come here."

The innkeeper nodded, muttered something about a room number, and pointed around the back. "First floor. Orc too big. Past the tavern." The lines in his face were deep, and his dark skin contrasted with his graying hair and almost milky eyes.

I nodded my head, grabbed Sidra by the arm, and pulled her alongside me as I made my way. Sidra scrambled to replace her scarves and hissed at me as we went around the corner. "I can't believe you had the audacity to use me like that."

I laughed. "What, can I say? You're an amazing cover. Normally being alone draws me too many eyes, but having a desert orc or a girl by my side helps." I sighed, taking in her nervous eyes as she fussed over her robes to ensure that they mimicked mine. "I'm sorry, Sidra. I know you've been running from that. While I'm here, though, you don't have to worry about anyone taking you. I want to make that clear." I turned her in my direction, fixing the scarves around her eyes to cover her long lashes.

She nodded, but didn't say anything.

I knocked on the door I thought the innkeeper had mentioned, and Ambrose swung it open with ease. I rolled my eyes. "What would you have done if it weren't me?"

"I don't know anyone else who has the restraint to knock one time, Aumee."

I pushed past him and saw Fal in the corner of the room. "You haven't met with him yet, have you?"

"No. We only arrived here about an hour ago. We wanted to rest. I wanted to rest, at least." He pointed to all of our packs for our camping. "I had to carry all of that, need I remind you."

I smiled. "It's understandable, Fal. I wanted to be there when you met with Acosta anyway."

"All four of us? What would be our cover?"

"You tell me, you know about him. What do you think would be the most successful?"

Sidra perked up. "I have an idea." She motioned to her bag, to her spellbook. To Deorcae's spellbook. "There's a cloaking spell in this book. At least, that's what it sounded like. It's simple enough that we could try it out." She gestured to her brother. "We can keep the same plan. Ambrose is trying to get his fighter into the Ring, so the two of them can be present, and Mr. Honey Tongue can divert the conversation towards the artifacts Fal says he should have in his office."

"I've visited his office before. His office was a complete mess, of course. So fitting for someone like him." Fal scoffed, and I figured it wouldn't be a great idea to bring up that he didn't have the most organized office or library either.

"That's a great plan, Sidra. We'll do that. Can you practice on your brother now?"

"Why me?"

"Because I won't feel bad if something goes wrong," I said with a smile as I clapped him on the shoulder and sat him down on the bed in front of his sister. "Come on, Ambrose, she'll be more careful with her own brother on the line."

"One would think that."

⇼❂⇼

"Rewani is such a prick." Fal spat as we left his Rewani Acosta's building. "He had the nerve to talk bad about me right in front of me!"

Ambrose played the whole 'I want to put my fighter in the Ring' and secured a meeting with Acosta. Then, when the conversation was feeling good, Ambrose asked him about the artifacts he had laying around.

"He had the nerve," Fal continued complaining," to say that he had one of the best collections in the Waystland and that he put collectors in Arden to shame. He--"

Ambrose asked him what his interest in relics was in, and Acosta divulged about all the research he had done on Deorcae. He gave a short lesson. Ambrose asked him about how Deorcae disappeared and he said something about a stone, but that it had gone missing from its original resting place at Deorcae's Throne. Other than that, he didn't have a ton of artifacts but rather quite a few books and other readings. Ambrose kept asking about Deorcae's disappearance and he showed him a few things, but it was all very vague. Just something about a stone that could contain his power.

We all stayed silent as Fal continued on with his ranting. Heading back to the inn, we took a backway and came up on the stables. Durabi was staring hungrily at a girrab that stood confidently in the stall beside him. The girrab's ears were tall, perked up at the sound of us nearing it, and I couldn't help but notice with amusement that its feet were the same size, if not larger. Brown spots dotted its hind and long neck, almost like a cushioned mosaic. While Daya favored the much faster saladassi, girrabs were the next best thing for travel. Next to those were cam-vans, a hooved creature with little speed but enough strength to carry a caravan of people.

I tossed Durabi a snack, and snuck a carrot into the pen of the girrab. As I was feeding them, I noticed a sign with directions for the inn: on the first floor there was the tavern, the check in desk, the stables, and the bathing room; on the second food there were rooms and room service; and on the third floor there were just more rooms.

A bathing room. I hadn't had the luxury of one of those since leaving Arden the first time around. The idea of sinking into hot water played in my mind as we all journeyed to our room. As soon as I crossed through the door, I let my bags fall to the floor and began removing the scarf around my head. I reached up, itching at my scalp, but it only made the itch worse. My hair hadn't been touched in weeks, and it felt like all of the sweat and filth was beginning to get trapped under the thick layer of curly black hair. I wanted to scratch at it, but steeled my jaw and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Are you listening?"

I looked up to see Fal staring at me. He sunk onto the bed, and I listened as the wood creaked beneath his weight. His limbs extended outward as they bumped into a cabinet. "What should be our next move?"

"I'm not sure," I answered truthfully. "Our backup plan was going to Deorcae's Throne, but it seems someone has already beaten us there. Maybe we can find another way. Maybe there's a spell that can make the book destructible. Or maybe..."

Sidra sat down on the edge of the bed, making sure not to disrupt Fal's spread out body. She shook her head as she spoke. "It just doesn't make sense to me. He was captured by some magic rock? A god? There's no way someone just tossed a rock at him and he was stuck in there. Besides, if it's so powerful, then... wouldn't he have had to escape from it? Perhaps Daya found the rock and released him. And if Daya released him, she probably has it."

"I'm not sure about that, either. I was there when Daya first encountered him.. We were in the desert, and what we thought was a Baurpei had stumbled upon our campsite. Instead of fighting it off, Daya tried to bind it. I was told to hide so I didn't see it, but that's how it happened. It was already released." I tried to massage my neck, my eyes falling shut.

"So what then? How would he escape if he was being held in there for so long?"

"Perhaps the magic just weakened over time. That's a thing, isn't it?" Ambrose looked around to everyone. "Maybe not."

"Well... dark magic is an extension of Deorcae. It's what kept him powerful for so long." Sidra began digging through the contents of her bag for the spellbook. "Perhaps it's been doing the same. After he was... dealt with, I suppose, dark magic became controversial. Taboo. With enough years between him and new generations, perhaps people forgot how much power dark magic had. It could have given him enough power to wake him up." She began flipping though the book. "Here. This is written on the first page. By performing the rites contained, you provide your darkest god strength lost within the rituals. It goes on to encourage spreading the knowledge and word of Deorcae." She closed the book.

This was all too much. "Great. So magic gives him power. No wonder he sought out a deal with Daya. Their partnership makes both of them more powerful. People like your parents were only doing the same without the knowledge of it all. And there are plenty of others who practice  dark magic out there, it's just that they usually keep a little more quiet." I grabbed the knife from my waist and tossed it a few times. "If that's the case, then there is a good chance that the rock was either taken by Deorcae himself or by someone else entirely. Either way, we don't have the time to find it again." I shrugged, crossing my arms and wandering over towards our dusty little window that let us see into a pathway of the Waystation.

"What about what Ambrose said," Fal spoke up. "I think he's right in that a stone in itself can't contain a god. There had to be a spell for it. Or some sort of magic involved in order to reduce him to a rock."

"And if magic was needed to put him away, then..." Ambrose looked to me with bright eyes.

"Magic is needed to put him back," Sidra finished.

Everyone was looking at me, waiting for me to confirm their theory. Daya. She was our only chance at stopping this. Without her magic, who was there in the Waystland that could follow through with the spell Deorcae likely needed in order to gain his strength back? If Daya was gone, we could either buy the Wayst some time or be given a better chance at finding a way to stop him.

But I couldn't say it.

If I said it, then it became the next step.

If I said it, Daya would become the next step.

"Aumee," Fal said as he rose from the bed and lumbered over me. "This is the next best thing that we can do."

"I know."

"Are you onboard or not?"

"I don't really suppose that I have a choice."

"You do." Fal looked at me with pity. I hated that. But I didn't have the willpower in me to argue with him about it. I didn't have the willpower in me to pretend that I was okay with it all.

Daya was the person who brought me in and gave me a home. I did terrible things to please her, which is by no means a healthy relationship, but she at least cared about me. She cared about a lot of the girls that she took in. With power like hers, she didn't truly need any of us. She didn't have to treat us well and find the best men for us. But she did. She does. If Daya is out of the picture, what happens to the rest of those girls?

But, if she isn't, what happens to everyone else?

"I do have a choice. And I've made it. Daya is our only shot at this. So we need to move fast." No one moved a muscle. Fal placed his hand on my shoulder but I sidestepped out of it. "I'm going to go wash up. I haven't bathed in weeks." I began picking through our packs and pulling out my robes and sashes and scarves. "If I'm going to be in the sanctuary, I at least need to keep up appearances." I grabbed a few coins and turned away from their steady gazes, pulling the door shut behind me with a little too much force.

I tried to keep a clear head as I made my way to the bathing rooms, where a few women met me with eyes focused on the floor. They took my bloody, dirty clothes without question, and I saw their hands shake as I slipped a few extra coins into their palms. They uttered their thanks and rushed to show me to a small pool in the floor. One woman whispered as she bent down to test the waters. "This is our cleanest one. We're supposed to save it for important guests. Please, take your time."

I nodded my head and began to undress. The feeling of peeling the sweaty clothes away from my skin was amazing. There was hardly a breeze in the room, but the bathing house jutted out from beneath the rest of the inn, which meant there was a small skylight in the ceiling. I watched as the light danced on the ripples in the water, flashing against the red tile at the bottom of the tub. The waters weren't clear as they were in the oasis, but they were clear enough that I could see the cream-colored grout between each tile.

I sunk into the water, letting out a moan as it enveloped my hot skin. The water was cool. I carefully brought it up over my neck and cheeks, but didn't want to risk covering the rest of my face in this strange water. I dunked my head back, marveling at the way the water tickled my scalp as it moved through my hair. I should have undone my hair, but it was already too late. I took my time in the bath, and watched as my fingers pruned ever so slightly.

"Madam, your clothes are being dried as we speak. We realized you didn't have any clean clothes. What would you prefer...?" The woman stood at the foot of my tub, her hands wringing the brown cotton cloth in her hands.

I couldn't help but laugh. How had I managed to forget something like that? "Do you have any clean clothes on you? Or... in the back? I would happily buy some."

"No, Madam, we don't. Not even personal." She looked concerned.

"Can you fetch the woman from room seven? Could you ask her to buy me some clean clothes from the marketplace? Nothing too pricy." I rose from the waters, reaching out to grab the simple wrap she held. "Until then, I'll just dry off in here if that's alright."

"Of course, Madam."

"Oh, and one more thing, is there a mirror anywhere in here? And could I bother you to fetch me a knife as well? Or some shears? Whichever you find easiest."

"Oh... of course, Madam."

"I won't turn either of them on you," I reassured her. "I just need to cut my hair. That's all."