Edeline had never liked standing watch. It always left her grumpy and worn down the following morning, even though they alternated throughout the nights. While it was not nearly as bad as when they first set out from Hallowscroft, she still would have preferred to shelter indoors if at all possible.

  And yet compared to this sentry duty they had just finished, she would rather be doing that.

  Being made to stand out in the heat all day was bad enough. But where they stood at, just on the inside of one of the street barricades sealing them off from the rest of Lasfont, offered no shade in the middle of the day. Strange how the sun had not seemed nearly this harsh on the journey here, but now it was different. Edeline felt like a slab of overcooked meat, left to roast over a fire for too long.

  Walking down the narrow dusty street, Edeline wanted nothing more than a drink, a bath, and some time to lay down. Perhaps they could put off reporting back to the captain until after they had rested a bit. It would give them time to organize their thoughts, because with the state she was in right now...

  "You alright?" Myronel asked.

  "I have felt better," Edeline admitted, realizing that he had been talking to her this whole time. Tired as she may be, there was no excuse for her paying her brother no attention.

  "I can see that," Myronel noted, a hint of amusement in his voice. "If you want, you can head back to rest and I can handle talking to the captain."

  Tempting as that was, it would not work to earn Captain Takhat's trust. "We both ought to be there," she pointed out. Of course, her earlier thoughts on delaying the report wouldn't work either. Aether, there really was no other way to go about this. She would just have to endure.

  Myronel said nothing, but the look on his face told Edeline just what he was thinking. If she was not so exhausted, with a growing headache, she would argue the point, bring up that he need not worry. She had faced so much already. This was nothing in comparison, and Edeline would get through this too.

  She had to.

  Arriving at the building where the captain had set up her headquarters - a repurposed house where most of the remaining town guard now stayed - the two of them walked up to the doorway. This place actually had a wooden door, instead of the curtains that were apparently the standard in most of Lasfont. Edeline's guess was that the original occupant, whoever they were, was Hyarchian.

  Myronel, without hesitation, pushed the door open roughly and went inside. Edeline followed, surprised he did not knock as he usually would have. Perhaps the ordeal of the day had gotten to him as well.

  Sitting on a table, instead of the chair beside it, was Takhat. A little strange, but Edeline knew better than to publicly question the woman about it. Takhat, for her part, was looking over a piece of paper with a scowl.

  "Ah, it's you two." Setting the paper aside, Takhat slid off the table, landing on the floor with a bounce. "I assume Arru and Osmar took over for you like I ordered."

  Edeline did not recognize either of the names, but assumed they were the two men who had relieved them. "I believe so," she said.

  "I certainly hope I don't have people trying to impersonate the town guards," Takhat said with a snort, the words bringing a bitter memory to Edeline's mind. The captain's expression softened as she looked them over. "I bet you're both glad to get done with standing around out during the day."

  "It wasn't that bad," Myronel claimed. Edeline held back a groan, wondering how he thought a statement so obviously false would pass muster.

  Naturally, it did not. "Don't try that. I can see you're tired. Truth is, I normally have my men standing guard on half day shifts. The only reason I left you out there was to give some of my men a chance to rest. We may have plenty of food and supplies, but even with all the additional help I've had, manpower...that's still limited."

  "Understandable." Myronel said with a nod.

  "You two can sleep in tomorrow morning. I'll have something for you to do after midday, but I can assure you it won't be as sentries." Takhat paused a moment, looking over at the doorway. "Might even send you out to search for survivors, if you think you can fight."

  "I don't think that's a problem." Edeline's thoughts immediately went to her spells. Using the most powerful ones would not be practical, since someone could see or hear them from across Lasfont. She had other options she had been working on, although her progress on those had been...less than ideal. Regardless, if it came to a battle, Edeline was prepared.

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  "I'm not surprised," Takhat said, "You don't see women carrying weapons unless they know how to use them." She reached over and patted her spear, which was leaning against the closest wall.

  Edeline glanced down at her sword. Well, not really her sword, since that one had shattered back in Kelshir, forcing her to borrow this one. It was a still a solid blade, and she'd adjusted to it quite easily. That aside, it was not and never would be her primary weapon.

  "Get some rest," Takhat continued, "And good work. I'll see you tomorrow about-"

  The door swung open, and Nela strode into the room. It occurred to Edeline that perhaps the actual reason Myronel hadn't knocked on the door was Nela's influence. Two of a kind, in their own way.

  Nela stopped for a second on seeing Myronel, clearly not having expected to encounter him here. "Isn't this a party," she muttered, audible to everyone, then stepped forward. "Finished up with my work, so thought I'd come by."

  "Where's Hamond and Jylania?" Myronel asked.

  "I'm here," Jylania said. She'd quietly entered the room, reminding Edeline that the girl was capable of being unnoticeable whenever she wanted. She was not alone though, as beside her stood the woman they had briefly talked to last evening.

  "How did she do?" Captain Takhat's question was clearly directed at the woman.

  "She's the real thing. A lot of the people there are doing better already, with the herbs she gave them, along with a few spells here and there."

  "Impressive," Takhat turned to look at Nela, a smile growing on her face. "If you can keep this up, we'll all be in a better state."

  "That's the problem. I can't." Nela looked straight into the captain's eyes. "That was most of the supply of herbs I carry, including all my mint leaves. I'll use up the rest tomorrow. So unless you have some stored away with the other supplies, there's not a lot I'll be able to do going forward. Healing spells only go so far."

  Takhat let out a frustrated sigh. "Of course it wouldn't be that easy, would it?"

  An awkward silence followed. Not able to think of anything to say, Edeline chose that moment to grab another chair and lower herself into it. No offense was intended to Takhat, but Edeline needed to get off of her feet, if only for a bit.

  "I suppose this is a better problem to have than before," Takhat said, walking back over to the table and picking up the paper she'd been holding before. "I can see about the patrol tomorrow possibly searching one of the homes of Lasfont's healers, although I can't promise they'll find anything you can use."

  "Better hope they do, or I'm going to have some very grumpy patients." Nela crossed her arms. "And I've already got one of those. I do not need more."

  "I swear, he secretly wants to banish every woman in all of Hyarch." Takhet shook her head. Edeline supposed it was Jisry, going by the earlier mentioned. Maybe standing guard all day was preferable to dealing with that man.

  "He'll learn one way or the other, even if he'd rather the hard way. But enough about him." Nela took another step closer to Takhat. "I've a question for you."

  "Ask away."

  "One of the people I looked at mentioned he was an ashabti." Nela drew in a deep breath. "What is that exactly?"

  It had been a long time since Edeline had witnessed someone's mood transform this rapidly. Any joy, any irritation, it all vanished in an instant, replaced with a fierce angry intensity. Edeline could swear that she could feel the heat coming off of the other woman as Takhat advanced towards Nela. Myronel started toward the pair, clearly intending to interpose himself between the two.

  "Who was this?' Takhat growled.

  "Uh, Senby. One of the people I was caring for," Nela said quickly, taking a brief moment to compose herself. "He said he was one after I saw his back, which had some symbols branded onto it."

  Takhat spun and stalked back over to the table. After a moment, she pounded on fist down on its surface. "Two years I spent working on that, and it was all for nothing."

  "Two years working on what, exactly?" Myronel asked.

  "Lord Lasfont's decree was that the practice of having ashabti would be banned here." Captain Takhat started to pace as she spoke. "I was the one charged with enforcing this decree. For all the good it did." She suddenly stopped pacing, her attention once again on Nela. "Where is Senby now?"

  "So, where is Senby now?" Takhat asked, her attention once again on Nela.

  "He was healthy, but someone apparently didn't have the time to check his injury." Nela shot a sideways glance at the Remuati woman. "So I did, and let him leave."

  Takhat's eyes narrowed as she turned. "...Merytuya. You knew, didn't you?"

  The woman shrank back. "I...I was running around handling so many people. And then there was Jisry complaining or making trouble. I couldn't be everywhere."

  Going by the look on Nela's face, Edeline doubted this was the entire truth of the matter. The question that remained was just what Merytuya had attempted to accomplish. Of course, they did not have any proof of it.

  "You could have told me," Takhat said, "And from now on, you better, or I'll have you on chamberpot duty."

  "Right," Merytuya said with a low voice.

  "I'll have to send someone to look for Senby." Takhat resumed pacing. "If there are other ashabti, he might be able to tell me just who."

  "We could look for him," Myronel volunteered. Edeline nodded in agreement. It certainly would be an easier task than standing exposed to the sun all day.

  "No, I'll need you elsewhere." Takhat's earlier remark about a lack of manpower came to mind. "Although...yes, that could work. Tell me, what has your other companion been doing this time?"

  "Hamond? He was taking a walk around," Nela said. Of course, Edeline recognized that the unspoken detail, that Hamond was gathering information.

  "Since he seems to have nothing productive to do, tell him to come meet me in the morning." Takhat smiled coldly. "That's something he can work on."

  Edeline found herself clenching her fists. She had hoped to spend some time together with Hamond, but if he was going to be off searching for Senby, that wouldn't be possible. Perhaps she would just sleep in.

  "Now, I have other matters to see to," Takhat continued, "You're all dismissed. I'll see you all tomorrow."

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