The city of Saria was older than the City of a Thousand Lights by at least a millennium, and it wore its age well. The honor of being the Dominion’s capital changed back and forth between some Zarian cities regularly, but Saria had been at it this time for half a century, and that showed. I hadn’t seen more grand spires in any other city in this world. Its inhabitants had brightened the city with many colors, as if they wanted to spite the war. The streets were broad and often lined with trees, they’d built many fountains and public buildings that signs identified as libraries or galleries, and music drifted on the wind.

It only made the signs of deterioration stand out more sharply.

The city’s inhabitants hurried about their business grimly, with more hushed curses and displeased muttering than laughter. Several of the buildings in the districts farther from the center had obviously been damaged. There were a lot of armed figures present on the streets, but whose presence they displayed seemed to vary depending on which area you were in. Temple knights and noble family guards outnumbered regulars from the Dominion’s army. Others wore no obvious uniforms, but it was apparent they worked for the High Temple. At least there was no open fighting in the streets, but I’d be very surprised if there hadn’t been violent incidents.

I wasn’t quite sure whether to feel pleased or troubled. Looking down at the city from my current spot on one of the hills the city was built upon, I studied it, tracing the patterns and flow of people and qi. I didn’t find anything I’d consider significant, or even helpful.

“My skin hasn’t stopped crawling since we got here,” Yarani muttered. “Do you have to dally?”

“Of course, ground your airships,” I answered in a lazy tone. “Everything’s fine and dandy, isn’t it?”

Yarani sighed, but visibly relaxed, and nodded. I smiled at her as I turned back and brushed a strand of black hair out of my eyes.

For obvious reasons, I’d given myself a thorough disguise. I was now a curvy, slightly taller black-haired woman with a hooked nose and pockmarked skin. I’d also disguised my qi presence, with the help of a few special talismans, but also manipulating my qi systematically myself. I’d been channeling fire qi off and on, and modified the veil over my qi signature. By this point, I seriously doubted anyone short of Isuro himself would pick me out of a crowd. Of course, I might just meet him now. Who knows?

I grimaced and started walking, turning my focus back on the present. Vana had just appeared across the yard, and I hurried up to catch her.

“Is everything alright?” I asked.

“Yes, don’t worry.” She smiled, although it couldn’t quite hide the tension in her bearing. “I’m not a hundred percent sure of the circumstances surrounding our friend’s apprehension, but I am quite sure that my own activities weren’t discovered. Quite apart from the fact that I wouldn’t be here if they were. But let’s join the others, if you would?”

I nodded. She’d taken us to a safehouse in one of the more mercantile quarters of the capital. From the way it was appointed and warded, I knew that it had been built with House Siranum’s resources, not the Basement’s. But that didn’t matter much, as long as she was confident of its privacy. We wouldn’t be using it for long, anyway.

Inside, Kajare, Tenira, Elia, and Lei had settled down in various seats. We hadn’t taken anyone else into the city except for Aston and a few guards. This endeavor rested on secrecy more than strength. I knew only the fact that he couldn’t physically restrain me had made Aston agree to it, anyway. But surprisingly, I felt quite calm and at ease.

“Do you know who has him?” Elia asked as soon as Vana came in.

The Zarian nodded. “Not every detail, but in general, yes. The High Temple’s agents, and specifically their temple warriors, are the ones who got him. I made some inquiries and have narrowed it down to two probable locations. I don’t think they’d keep him in the central temple complex, too high a chance for him to pick up something useful.”

I ran a hand through my hair, wishing that Ceion was here. Hashar had carried a message to him, but we’d have to do without his input.

“That makes sense,” I said. “It was them who originally chased him, anyway.”

“I thought so. That doesn’t necessarily help us get him back.” Vana straightened her collar and sighed. She let her gaze sweep through the room. “I have to admit, I’m not so sure about this. You being here, I mean. I understand that you want to help him, but this is … well, ‘dangerous’ is putting it mildly.”

“Believe me, we’ve had that argument.” I glanced at the others, too. “These all insisted on coming along.”

I knew I could have forced them to stay behind, but I didn’t. I guess I’m not that callous. Elia had every right to be here and would have been hard to stop, anyway. And Lei went to support her.

“I’m not certain if your own presence here is any wiser,” Vana said carefully.

I glared briefly at Tenira, who looked like she might start grinning. “I’m the most skilled shapeshifter on the continent,” I responded calmly. “Not to mention my other unique talents. If there is going to be some sort of infiltration mission, my abilities will be crucial.”

Vana nodded with manifest unwillingness. “Alright. I can’t argue that point. I suppose that brings us back to the issue at hand.”

“How safe are we here?” Yarani cut in. “I know our disguises are good, but what about the location? Any potential wards over the city?”

“It would be hard to give you any assurances,” Vana replied, now sounding more businesslike. “I can’t speak to your disguises, although my own artifacts don’t pick them up. The location should be secure. A few other people in my family know about it, of course, but they have no reason to care if I’m using it to stash some agents, and bigger things to worry about besides. Our other friends have also prepared a few surprises in case problems do arise. There are no wide-scale wards over the city that would cause issues, although I’d advise against walking into the temple of the Storm and asking around.”

“Dang, there went my first plan,” Yarani said drily.

I chuckled, and leaned against the wall, taking note of how everyone looked. Yarani and Lei seemed focused, while the rest showed clear signs of nerves or unease, and Elia clearly had trouble just staying in her chair. The way she constantly tapped her feet on the ground and her fingers on her armrest was annoying, but I bit back the urge to complain.

“Well, we clearly need to confirm just where he is,” I said. “That’s the obvious first step. But besides that, I think we can’t afford to be too myopic. The situation is chaotic and fluid enough that ignoring everything else in the city would only bite us, but we might be able to use it.”

Tenira looked thoughtful. “Now that you are here after all, we need to reconsider our assumptions.”

“Exactly.” I smiled at her, then looked back at Vana. “I’ll give you what help I can in terms of dealing with the families and politics. In fact, it would probably be best if we have a long conversation later.”

She looked dubious. “Well, if that’s what you want.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not just pumping you for information.” I smiled and shrugged. “I do some of my best work with that kind of thing.”

Her expression cleared, and she nodded, more deeply this time. By some unspoken agreement, we’d been avoiding using names or titles. On the off-chance someone managed to listen in, our identities wouldn’t be immediately obvious, for all the good that did. But she clearly hadn’t forgotten who I was.

“Then perhaps the rest of us could start doing some reconnaissance,” Yarani suggested. “I know it won’t be the same as if you went yourself, but if you talk to us about it, we might still have a chance of stumbling on a good lead. And we’d probably have to split off, anyway, to cover more ground.”

“I can have a few people do some scouting, too,” Vana said. “It’s nothing we aren’t already doing.”

“Of course. Just be really careful. Only preliminary intelligence gathering, getting the lay of the land, nothing active or anything that would would cause you to draw attention.”

Yarani inclined her head, and the others copied her.

“Actually, there is an opportunity here, if we’re quick,” Vana said. She tapped a finger against her chin. “One of the probable target locations I mentioned is going to be more accessible. We’ve already mapped out patterns of shift changes, and the priests there typically go out and minister to the needy on a regular schedule, mostly feeding some poor low-tiers.”

“Then we should hurry,” I said calmly. “But not rush into things unprepared. For now, why don’t you give us some background?”

Vana nodded and started talking. She laid out her thought process and what information she’d gathered quickly and clearly, explaining why and where Elis might be held and what we would have to be careful about. I paid attention not just to her words, but to the way she spoke, her reactions and attitude.

“Thank you,” Tenira said. “That should be all we need to get started.”

“If I may, I think we need to address another question.” Lei leaned forward, looking intently at Vana. “Do you know why they were after him in the first place?”

Vana hesitated, glancing again at Elia. “I suspect there are several reasons. You know that he was active as an investigator and intelligence broker in the northern Dominion?”

We nodded. “He doesn’t talk much about it, but apparently he was pretty successful,” Lei said.

Vana shrugged. “Well, I imagine that’s the main reason. They don’t like people like him outside their control in any case. And when it’s someone in a potentially sensitive or dangerous position, that’s even more true. Of course, it could also be that his specific bloodline was considered a threat. He didn’t keep it very quiet, after all. And given the associations …”

I snorted. “It really says something when these concepts in particular mark you as someone’s enemy. But I think you’re right.”

“Justice is an arbitrary concept and in practice depends a lot on a given society,” Elia said. She shook her head. “But given how things stand right now, you’re right that it is pretty telling.”

Vana looked hesitant. Finally, she let out a soft sigh. “It might also have had something to do with more specific details of his heritage. Especially his father. And yours, of course.” She nodded to Elia.

My friend leaned forward, her eyes narrowed. “We’ve been chasing down hints and breadcrumbs of his story for months now. I know he was involved in some surprisingly high-level political events here. Before his elite unit was suddenly transferred to a far frontier and he got killed in a skirmish, allegedly.”

Vana grimaced slightly. “I know. That’s because he was, though not a member of the Basement, working with – and for – it.”

I blinked. Elia’s eyes widened, then narrowed again, slightly. “And you’re only telling me this now?”

“I wasn’t aware of it when I first met you,” Vana responded calmly. “This was before my time, and it’s not talked about much among the organization. But after I started working more closely with your brother, I realized I’d heard about his father before, and I started chasing down more information. I mentioned it to one of my associates, who said that they’d heard the name before. I told our friend when he arrived, though I think he might have known or suspected already, and was going to let him shake loose more details. Obviously, events didn’t work out that way.”

I sat back in my chair, frowning in thought. This was pretty interesting. It still didn’t answer how Elia’s father got outed or who exactly killed him, but there was definitely a chance this contributed to Elis’ situation. And on a personal level, this would only make Elia and Elis more inclined to keep working with the Basement.

“This is interesting,” I said, “and I really mean that. But it’s not going to help us right now.” I looked at our hostess. “We should get started. Would you come with me? We can walk and talk.”

Vana straightened up. “Of course.”

I quickly said my goodbyes to the others, then left the room and the building. I glanced around, then crossed the courtyard, Vana following me, and headed left.

We walked in silence for the first minute or so, getting from the street to a side alley that passed beside a small park. Behind a low wall at the crest of the hill, it offered a good view of the lower regions of the city. I put up a discreet qi shield to stop our conversation from being overheard.

“Before we start talking about the general situation, there is one thing I’d like clarified,” I said.

“What is it?” Vana looked a little wary.

“I have no problem with the Basement taking Elis,” I said, keeping my tone even. “But Elia is not going to get caught up in it.”

Vana almost missed a step. Her face hardened. “Of course,” she said stiffly. “We are not planning to recruit her. May I ask what brought this on?”

“What you said about their father, of course.” I raised an eyebrow. “It’s quite clear that he was intentionally killed, and most likely because of his involvement with the Basement. That means someone, the wrong someone, knew about it. It might have been sheer luck, with nothing you could have done about it, but it’s also quite possible that it was a security failure on your part.”

“I take your point.” Her tone was even colder now. “But I do not appreciate the insinuation. This is a mighty thin basis for making any accusation like that.”

“I am not making any accusations, or this conversation would go differently.” I shook my head. “I know this was years ago, and I’ve been generally impressed with your outift’s grasp of operation security. Still. Whatever leak this may have been will have to be stuffed, ‘Spark’. If my friend gets harmed because of your people, I will be … unhappy.”

I noticed that Vana clenched her fingers into her trousers and her knuckles whitened, though her voice was still even. “Oh, really? And you think we will just let it happen? Perhaps you should choose your words with a little more care.”

We’d been slowing down, and now I stopped. “There’s something else you may have forgotten and should keep in mind.” I turned to face her more fully, leaning forward slightly, my voice calm, quiet, and even. “This is not an alliance of equals.”

We locked eyes and I held her gaze for long seconds. She broke eye contact first, looking down.

“I appreciate the risks you’ve been taking on our behalf,” I said in a warmer tone. “We’ve both, our respective organizations, profited from this association, and on a personal level, I have absolutely no desire to end it. I respect and admire your commitment and skills. The Basement has proved itself to be both an excellent tool and good and valuable allies.”

But not essential. We could win the war with or without them. And a resistance organization in your enemy’s lands was an asset, one in your newly conquered lands a liability. I refrained from pointing that out.

“Of course, my lady.” Vana smiled, no hint of any tension remaining. “Much appreciated.”

“Good.” I returned her smile, injecting some cheerfulness into it. “Then let’s talk about the city and what we can accomplish.”

It was, I reflected, going to be a long day.