“Well screw you too!” Sechen spat as she slammed the door to the eighth shop that had given her the exact same answer; she wasn’t worth enough to shop there. “Bastards wouldn’t even look at the crystal. Not worth enough my ass, pricks just didn’t want to sell to someone not in fancy clothes and way too much makeup.”

She looked down at the list and watched as the one thing that had revealed itself disappeared. Prisoner had enchanted it to somehow sense when one of the items were close, but that didn’t matter if Sechen never got a chance to ask the pompous pricks behind the counters to sell her their wares. Novia had turned out to be a unique gem just for hearing them out, and Sechen crossed off another shop while noting which item it sold for later.

The pen caught on the map and belched a large puddle of ink onto the paper. “Of course you would. A few hours of pointless running around and twenty eight shops later, and all I’ve got to show is a spoiled map.”

Sechen looked up at the sky, hoping to tell what time it was, but was reminded that this entire district always existed under the dim light of dusk. She hemmed and hawed about regrouping at the statue, but there was no way eight hours had gone by. Three, maybe four, but nowhere close to eight. And she still had far more than half the shops left unmarked. Sechen searched for a moment before settling down on an overly ornate bench which had to have cost more than a good chunk of the things in Prisoner’s crystal; the fact it hadn’t been stolen yet spoke either to the general population’s wealth, or their fear of retribution. Maybe both.

“Hey, you’re that girl that was with the terrifying guy.” An athletic woman in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt walked up to Sechen, dripping with sweat and drawing attention from everyone. Sechen noted the insignia emblazoned over her heart, and on the bottom of her shorts. “Do you remember me?”

The woman pointed at her face as Sechen studied it, but she couldn’t find anything resembling recognition in her mind. Her hair was nearly shaved on the sides and filled out to merely short on the top, a splash of burnt caramel over her otherwise olive complexion. Sechen couldn’t make out any obvious manifestations, but her irises had ten sharp edges instead of the clean circle that was the norm, and inside of them were pupils that didn’t seem to have a single shape, like paint constantly pushed and rearranged on a pallet.

“Not you exactly, sorry.” Sechen said, scooching over to give the woman a place to sit. “You’re from General Temery’s unit, right? I recognize the insignia.”

“The insignia’s for Hoalt’s army in general, but yeah. My name’s Paui.” Paui wiped her hand off on her shirt, then frowned down at it. “I’d offer you a handshake, but look at me.”

“So why’re you here now? I thought you guys were supposed to go to the glacier.” Sechen asked. “Did things go wrong already?”

“No, Glasrime wouldn’t do that.” Paui fanned herself as she sat down next to Sechen, her breathing calm and measured. “After we got welcomed, Temery sent me here to deliver a message. About your scary chaperone, actually. Is he here with you right now?”

“Prisoner?” Sechen tilted her head and chuckled. “I guess he’d seem scary if you hadn't talked with him. He’s more annoying, really. Yeah, he’s here somewhere. So don’t think you can get away with killing me in the open.”

Paui went wide-eyed in surprise. “Is that what you think of us?” She asked with genuine hurt in her voice.

“Just call me cautious.” Sechen shrugged. “Why’re you here? Not, like, in the city, but sitting here with me.”

“I just wanted to say hi. Sooo… hi.” Paui smiled awkwardly. And didn’t move. “How do you like the city so far?”

“It’s…” Sechen bit back what she wanted to say, reminding herself that this was one of Hoalt’s people she was talking to. “Fine. A little too rich for my blood, but fine. Met this crotchety old Novia guy, but he turned out to be pretty nice. As for the other shopkeeps… the best thing I can say about them is nothing at all.”

“That’s why most of us don’t live in the night district. A few of us do, but the gilded district is just so much nicer if you want to do anything but shop all day and eat at fancy cafes. The whole place is runnable, which is super nice for someone like me, and there’s always something going on in one part of the district or another.” Paui clasped her hands and leaned back over the bench. “How long are you staying? A few days? A week or two?”

“No idea. We have to do something here, then I guess we’ll be off to wherever we need to go next.” Sechen shrugged. “A lot of stuff went down, and I don’t know if it’s safe to stay in one place for more than a while any more.”

“Hoalt could protect you.” Paui offered. “But I’ve got a feeling your chaperone wouldn’t like that. Temery was a little too quick to try and get on his good side, and after we got the Issi readings back from our diviners, we all had to offer her an apology. Whoever he is, he’s absurdly powerful and not aligned with Glasrime, which was good enough for Hoalt before.”

“You think Hoalt wants to recruit Prisoner?” Sechen raised an eyebrow, trying to envision Prisoner working underneath the being he’d called ‘old scaly’ and the ‘overgrown gecko'. She just couldn’t picture it. “That ain’t happening.”

“Temery told me the same thing, but we can’t just ignore protocol. I’ve got a meeting scheduled with Hoalt for a few hours from now, but it’s really just a glorified drop off. So I’m free for a little while, if you want someone to come shopping with you.” Paui offered. “Temery would yell at me if I didn’t at least offer to help.”

“Would she?” Sechen asked dryly.

“No, but she would look all disappointed and shake her head while sighing. It’s a little worse somehow.” Paui chuckled. “So how about it? Having someone like me around might help with those shopkeeps you were having trouble with.”

“I don’t think they’d let you in with…” Sechen started, but stopped herself as she looked Paui over once again. “What happened to all the sweat and Issi?”

Paui held up a rectangle of thin metal between her fingers. “Cleaning tag.”

“Cool. Yeah, I could use some company. I’m sick of talking to myself.” Sechen stood up and pointed at the next shop she’d set her eyes on. “I’m not exactly the best conversationist. Conversationalist. Converser? You know what I mean.”

“You seem fine so far.” Paui said as she stood and stretched her arms high above her head. “I know the old bat that owns that store. Maybe I can get you a discount.”

“They really don’t like you, huh.” Paui said as she shot a venomous look back at the young man who’d just finished calling Sechen a slew of unflattering names. A few of which were new, even to her. “Bigots.”

“Eh.” Sechen shrugged. Her mirror image in her headspace had said things far worse than anyone else could even hope to come up with. “As long as Prisoner has better luck, I don’t care. The sooner we can get out of this place, the better.”

“The night district? Or the Gilded Night?” Paui asked.

“Both, but more emphasis on the night district. Not sure what I expected here, but it was more than this.” Sechen crossed off the store, not even bothering writing the ingredient that had revealed itself. She didn’t want to give that shopkeep any business at all. “All these shops, and only one’s given me a chance. I shouldn’t have let cloudy stay back there with Novia.”

“So that’s where Metea/Irric is. I thank you for telling us.”

Sechen sighed and rolled her eyes. She knew that voice, but not the tone that went with it. Brynn was always quiet and a little standoffish, but now she was full of arrogance and superiority. After the ambush a week or so ago, Sechen had been wondering how long it would take for the next group to show up; she just hadn’t expected it to be Brynn’s.

“Maybe don’t try to fight Novia.” Sechen said as she turned around, coming face to face with Brynn’s unbelievably condescending expression. It was almost comical. “He’s a little too strong for you, even if you tried to three on one him. Hey, Hugil. Arvay.”

Hugil waved, and Arvay nodded, but neither of them said a thing. They both had something wrapped around their necks, but Sechen couldn’t make them out through the haze of obscuring Issi.

“Don’t talk to the help. I’m the only one you should be conversing with.” Brynn said coldly. “You betrayed Glasrime’s trust, ran to one of their greatest enemies, and abandoned your patron. You don’t deserve to be a practitioner.”

“Just a warning, but if you start fighting in the streets Hoalt’s gonna stomp you down to a paste.” Paui interrupted. “Just thought you’d like to know.”

“Oh, I’m aware.” Brynn sneered. “Hiding behind someone powerful to obscure your own weakness. It really is a shame someone with as much potential as Revelation wasted all of her time on a slug like you. Maybe if she’d accepted Glasrime’s offers, she wouldn’t have gotten stolen away by someone vile like Rainshear. A pity, really.”

Sechen tilted her head to the side, expecting Brynn’s words to hit her far harder than they had. She saw Paui grimacing off to her right, and she couldn’t even summon that level of anger. “Is that all you came here to do? Berate me? Can we go now?”

“Yes, but know that we will always be watching you. Every noise in the dark could be the end of your freedom. The second you leave the Gilded Night, we will make your life a living nightmare for what you’ve done.” Brynn smiled wide and spread her arms theatrically. “Enjoy your last few nights of peace, failed apprentice of Revelation. Because these last nights are your last.”

“You said ‘last’ twice in the same breath.” Sechen pointed out.

“Goodbye, failure. The next time we meet will be your last.” Brynn turned and flipped her hair over her shoulder, walking past Hugil and Arvay before they shot Sechen a look she couldn’t decipher and themselves turned to follow Brynn.

“Well, that was interesting.” Paui chuckled, then scratched her cheek with one arm across her chest. “If they’re supposed to be spies, or even scouts, they’re some of the worst I’ve ever seen.”

“Even as intimidators they failed pretty badly.” Sechen agreed. “Could you make out what was on Hugil and Arvay’s necks?”

“The two behind the main girl? Some kind of Issi, but it didn’t feel like a technique. More like an oath, or a bond. It’s on most of those Glasrime apprentices.” Paui shuddered. “I hate the way it feels. Like a collared dog who knows they’ll get put down if they step out of line.”

“Why couldn’t I see them before?” Sechen wondered.

“Have you ever seen a Glasrime apprentice outside the glacier?” Paui asked, and Sechen signaled that she hadn’t. “That’s why. In the glacier, they’re always close enough to Glasrime. Outside of it, Glasrime needs some way to control them. But that middle girl didn’t have one on. Wonder why.”

“You heard how Brynn talked. I doubt she needs to be controlled at all.”

Paui shuddered. “That’s a scary thought.”

“More like a sad thought.” Sechen tapped her map. “The next one’s the last Prisoner mapped out for me. Thanks for keeping me company.”