Days passed as they cruised to Arn Allinor, the Endeavour staying at full thrust night and day. It almost physically hurt Rhys to think of the extra cost in fuel, so instead, he busied himself with checking on the engines and making sure everything was in working order. Running an ordinary ship like this would strain a whole range of the systems that kept the ship going, so it only made sense.

Rhys didn’t allow Lucy down to the engine room, so the maintenance of everything there fell squarely on his shoulders. Zaxx seemed to take care of most things, but it was good practice for Rhys to work everything over and make sure there weren’t any problems. Besides, it gave him something to do.

The journey from Arn Gol to Arn Allinor was around a full week under normal circumstances, but their fast pace shaved an entire day off that estimate, and they arrived at dawn on the seventh day.

Oliver was down for the day shift at the helm, but Rhys had found himself being awoken by a concerned looking Tom and had joined the rest of the crew on deck as they drew closer to the spire.

The source of Tom's concern was easy enough for Rhys to spot once he was on deck.

Hovering above the city of Arn Allinor was perhaps the largest cloud ship that Rhys had ever seen. Even from a distance, the ship's sheer size was easy to see. It dwarfed that of the Endeavour with ease.

The ship's scale was impressive, but what sent a spike of ice into Rhys’s gut was the black and red colour scheme it bore. A chilling combination that he remembered well.

‘Captain, there’s a cutter approaching!’ Tom called out from the prow, pointing to starboard, where a small ship was angling to intercept them. It bore the same black and red colour scheme as the large ship.

Rhys was frozen with indecision, but Oliver was already slowing them down. There was no escaping this now. Not that they could have run far anyway.

‘Abyss swallow me, what is an inquisition ship doing here?’ Lucy asked under her breath, giving the approaching cutter a wary look.

‘Hail the ship!’ A deep male voice called from the cutter as it drew close. Looking over, Rhys saw a tall man in a thick black cloak standing at the prow, the red eye on his breast just visible.

Rhys knew that red tears were added to the eye that denoted the individual's rank from the last time he'd seen an inquisitor. He couldn't see the number of tears from here, but that didn't matter. Any rank of inquisitor was bad news for them.

The inquisitors had executed the artificer that had created Zaxx's core without hesitation. They were hard men and women with no tolerance and no sympathy. The worst part was that the inquisitors hadn't actually found the core that Rhys had taken. No, the artificer was executed for some experiments on contacting things like Zaxxrthryn. The penalties for actually summoning something like Rhys's bound companion would be far, far harsher.

It was Rhys's nightmare in the flesh to see one of their ilk approaching the Endeavour with a cluster of grim-looking soldiers behind them. He’d done what he could to forget about the inquisitors. He could only hope they weren’t here for him.

The inquisitor cupped his hands and shouted to them again, Lucy and Tom turning to look at Rhys for guidance.

‘We hear you!’ Rhys called back, moving over to that side of the Endeavour as the cutter came alongside them. His hands were trembling, and his voice had cracked, but he was in control. He could do this.

‘Do not change your speed or heading. We’re coming onboard!’ The inquisitor called back, gesturing to the soldier at the helm of the cutter to close the gap.

‘You heard him, Oliver, keep us steady and no sudden changes,’ Rhys said, trying to act a little more stable than he felt. He was controlling his breathing, keeping it even and not letting his panic carry him away.

‘Aye aye, Captain,’ Oliver said, his knuckles white as he gripped the helm.

The cutter matched their speed and smoothly slid over to them, several black-clad soldiers clambering on board with rifles in hand. The soldiers all wore black with a downward-facing red dagger emblem on their uniforms, the symbol of the branch of the Alliance army that was solely commanded by the inquisition.

A few more soldiers came over with ropes, securing the cutter to the Endeavour with practised efficiency. While they worked, the others watched Rhys and his crew with their rifles at the ready. None of the weapons were pointed directly at them, but it was clear that the soldiers were on guard and alert.

Ice water ran down Rhys’s spine as the soldiers finished securing the cutter, and the inquisitor boarded the Endeavour. Two bright blood-red teardrops were marked next to the eye on his uniform, the same rank that Rhys had dealt with before.

‘Good day. I apologise for our intrusion. Nevertheless, it is necessary. We have recently found evidence of a rogue artificer in the region,’ the inquisitor said, his deep voice severe and grim.

Rhys felt his heart flutter at the other man’s words, his palms sweaty as he tried to look impassive.

‘Rhys, should I do anything to assist?’ Zaxx asked in a soft whisper, making Rhys flinch and draw the inquisitor’s gaze. After a moment, the man turned away, and Rhys whispered for Zaxx to do nothing while keeping his mouth as still as possible.

Thankfully, no one noticed Rhys’s whispered words, and the inquisitor clasped his hands behind his back before continuing.

‘I know this is a concerning matter. However, rest assured that we have captured the person in question. They are to be executed today once we have extracted all the information we can from them. That being said, they may have accomplices that are at large. For the time being, we are searching any and all vessels entering or leaving Arn Allinor. For your own benefit, please tell me now if you have anything incriminating within your cargo hold, for we will be searching it.’ The man’s gaze was cold and resolute as he looked at each of them in turn.

Rhys felt a wave of relief sweep through him as he realised that they were just checking the cargo, followed by concern as he remembered Otto’s special crates. While Rhys doubted that whatever herb was in there would be of interest to the inquisition, better safe than sorry.

‘I can honestly say that there is no cargo on board which would be of note,’ Oliver said, his voice trembling a little as the inquisitor turned to fix him with his piercing gaze.

‘Very well. Lead my men to your hold, and they will begin the search,’ the inquisitor said, gesturing to a nearby soldier.

‘Of course, this way, please,’ Oliver said, turning to lead the way belowdecks, three of the boarding party going with him.

‘Now. Please tell me who is in charge, the name of the vessel and your reason for being here,’ the inquisitor said calmly.

‘I’m the Captain, my name is Rhys Hunt, this is the Endeavour, and we’re here to deliver cargo. Some of it is our own, some is contracted from a merchant chain,’ Rhys said, wondering how he could tell Zaxx to store the crates before the soldiers got to the cargo hold.

‘Very well, go, fetch your captain’s medallion so I can record the details,’ the inquisitor said, dismissing him with a nod to the stairs.

Nodding, Rhys hurried to the stairs and down to the hall below. He glanced back to make sure he wasn't being followed before whispering as fast as he could as he ran to his cabin.

‘Zaxx, if Oliver and the soldiers aren’t in the hold yet, store the two crates from Otto. If they are, store the contents but leave the crates there, as long as they won’t notice.’

‘Yes, Rhys. I have stored both crates, and the soldiers have now entered the cargo hold. The pocket dimension is now full until the crates are removed.’

‘That’s fine,’ Rhys said under his breath, exhaling heavily as he opened the door to his cabin and got his medallion from the drawers next to his bed. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Rhys got himself under control and jogged back to the stairs.

There was absolute silence on the deck of the Endeavour as Rhys returned, the inquisitor extending a hand to Rhys as he finished coming up the stairs. Walking over, Rhys passed the medallion to the other man, who in turn read the details aloud.

Rhys was a little confused at first why he was doing that. It was only when he saw that they had been joined by a second member of the inquisition that he understood. The new inquisitor had only a single blood tear for their rank and transcribed the details that the first was providing onto a wax slate.

The junior inquisitor manipulated their ironwood stylus with speed and precision, taking only moments to copy Rhys’s information and confirm it to his superior.

‘Good. Now, you, what is your name?’ The inquisitor said, turning to point at Tom.

‘Tom Morgan, Sir,’ Tom said promptly.

‘Next, you, what is your name?’ The inquisitor continued to Lucy, who looked uncomfortable at the attention.

‘Lucy Val Drack,’ she said after a moment of pause, her words causing a surprising amount of reaction among the inquisition members.

‘Val Drack?’ The main inquisitor queried carefully, his subordinate pausing and looking up from his tablet with wide eyes.

‘Yes, my father was Walter Val Drack.’

‘Interesting,' the inquisitor said, seemingly at a loss for words as they shared a glance with the comrade. 'There is no need to conduct a full search at this time. When my men return from the cargo hold, we will be on our way.’ the inquisitor continued after a moment, his tone far more reasonable than when he’d first boarded their ship.

Lucy shifted uncomfortably and looked to Rhys for support, but he was busy being as bland as possible. As far as he was concerned, the inquisitor's leaving was the best result possible.

The inquisitors lingered for another minute, at most, before returning to their cutter, the soldiers with Oliver joining them a few minutes later when they had finished searching the hold. Once they were all onboard, the ropes were cut, and the cutter itself dropped down from the Endeavour.

Feeling confused by the whole situation, Rhys watched the cutter until it was clear it was heading back to the vast ship above the city.

‘Lucy, why did they react like that to you?’ Tom asked once Rhys gave them the all-clear.

‘I don’t know,’ Lucy said with a slight frown. ‘The military quite respected my father for his innovations, so maybe that?’

‘I don't think a little respect calls for an inquisitor to act like that,’ Tom said with a raised brow. 'Unless he had a position of authority or something?'

‘Which he didn't. They did respect him, but not to that degree. I don’t understand,’ Lucy said, frowning all the more as she stared at the receding cutter.

‘Well, it’s a mystery for another day. Let’s get down to the city and get our deliveries done,’ Rhys said, ushering them to get moving and to stop dwelling on the issue. He wanted to get down to the city and blend in with the rest of the ships.

‘Speaking of cargo, Captain. The crates from Mr Kraus aren’t in the cargo hold. Do you know where they are?’ Oliver asked, making Rhys pause mid-step.

‘Ah, the cargo, yes. I actually hid the crates in a space that I have for priority cargo,’ Rhys said, telling a specific version of the truth. ‘I’ll put them back shortly.’

Oliver frowned and glanced around before stepping in close, ‘Captain, if you want to smuggle things between spires, that’s all of our business, not just yours. I’m not opposed to moving some goods on the quiet, but I need to know about whatever we’ve got on board. I almost told those soldiers that there would be crates in there as well as pallets.’ Oliver’s voice was pitched low enough to keep his words between them, which Rhys appreciated.

‘You’re right. I’m sorry, Oliver. I should have told you. It’s just that the client asked for absolute secrecy,’ Rhys said, scratching the back of his neck as his cheeks flushed red.

‘Well, it’s your ship, but in my eyes, secrecy means restricting things to only who needs to know. I’m the cargomaster, which means I need to know. I can’t do my job properly otherwise.’ Oliver said, crossing his arms and giving Rhys a firm look.

‘Okay, I know when I’m wrong. I’ll make sure you know going forward. For now, I’m going to go down and get the crates back in place. If there’s anything else you want to talk about, think about it and let’s have a sit down after we’ve landed, okay?’ Rhys said, giving Oliver a rueful smile. ‘I need your help if I’m going to get the hang of this cargo business.’

‘Yes, Captain,’ Oliver said, his stern expression melting into a small smile as he nodded and left Rhys to go and speak with Lucy.

‘Okay, time to put those crates back,’ Rhys said softly, mentally directing the statement to Zaxx. Rhys made sure to start down the stairs into the Endeavour to cover himself. He had to at least pretend to go and find the boxes.

‘Shall I replace them exactly where they were before?’

‘No, wait for me, and I’ll point out where I want them,’ Rhys said as he headed down to the cargo hold. He was going to make sure the crates were placed to one side, as though he’d brought them back and couldn’t get them back to where they’d been. Despite the issue with Oliver, the storage upgrade was already showing its worth.