The pair stood before a building that stood out compared to the rest of the whole city. In contrast to the tent like structure this building appeared to be made out of sandstone. It also appeared to have inscriptions on every surface of it and on closer inspection they appeared to be names. The building was taller than any other building in ambis and it would be more suitable to call it a tower than a house.

Hands swarmed around the building and as Kagi and Umbren passed they looked at Umbren uneasily. Outsiders were apparently not allowed, well until now apparently, but Umbren was starting to think that Kagi had lied to him.

“Kagi who exactly wanted to see me.”

Kagi shrugged, “For some reason Vale and Sadine wanted to see you the moment they arrived in Ambis. Did you do something?”

“I hope not.” Umbren said uneasily, he couldn’t afford any mistakes.

Finally, the two spotted a spot of green in a sea of black. Alsarie stood next to the door with a vigilant attitude. She looked much more refined compared to the last time Umbren had seen her, but her green eyes were still like daggers.

When the pair arrived at the door they were greeted by a spear.

Kagi tried to puff out her chest, but her voice came off uneasy, “Alsarie I was ordered by Vale and Sadine to come here.”

“I know, but I don’t have to be happy about it.” Alsarie said bitterly, she turned her dark gaze onto Umbren, “Why does he take such an interest in you. Have you even met the other Hounds yet? Now you're summoned by Vale. Don’t let it get to your head because you sure as hell don’t deserve it.” She slowly lifted her spear, “I’ll be watching.”

Umbren smiled and nodded, knowing that anything he could say would only make things worse, and ended with a spear through his chest.

Umbren and Kagi walked through the door, and once it shut behind them, Umbren let out a sigh of relief, “She hasn’t seemed to have changed.”

Kagi clutched the hilt of her sai, “I’ll get back at her one day.”

“You don’t have to go that far,” she didn’t seem to hear him, “So where are the bow sisters.”

Kagi shook the thoughts of Alsarie from her head, “This way, follow me.”

The base of the tower was one big circular room filled with bookshelves, containing a myriad of subject material. Rugs and pillows were scattered around the room. So that Hands could lounge around and take a break from combat.

As one looked up, they could see a spiraling staircase rising through different floors that overlooked the library with twenty rooms each.

Umbren looked around in awe at the number of Hands that he saw, “I didn’t know that there were this many Hands.”

“Well not really. We're all just gathered in one place right now. The majority of us will be leaving soon.”

“I guess the luxcians are becoming more active.”

“Yeah, I honestly feel bad for them. Imagine trying so hard and failing to even come close to your goal.” Kagi said with both hopefulness and eagerness in her voice.”

Umbren once again turned his head upward towards the hundreds of rooms above him, “Does each Hand get their own room?”

Kagi gave Umbren a smug grin, “Of course the Hand’s would get their own rooms. I mean do the Hounds…”

“KAGI WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT IN HERE.”

An old woman stomped over to the pair. She had a hard face covered in scars and was missing a couple fingers.

Kagi almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of the woman's voice and her previous attitude vanished and was replaced with a meek one, “Mistress Vesara! I’m sorry, but I was ordered to bring him…”

“Ordered!? By who? No man has been in this house for years! Not even Mortis! And now you bring this…this…Hound! I can even Imagine what you were planning to do with him.” Vesara waved her hand at Umbren, prompting him to take a step back. He didn’t want to get involved in the Hands' business.

Kagi responded frantically, “I’m sorry mistress, but Sadine told me to go and bring him here. I tried to protest, but…”

A deep red rose in Mistress Vesara’s face, “Lies! Sadine would never do such a thing! She might be brazen, but not enough to do this! Honestly, this is why we shouldn’t allow people at your age to…”

A violent crack rose up from the center of the room silencing the old Hand, “You’re right Vesara. Sadine didn’t want the boy to come. That was my decision,” Vale held a closed book in one hand. Her eyes sharpened to a degree that even Alsarie would envy, and her voice was filled with a playful venom. Her voice rang through the base of the tower, not only because of the quiet atmosphere, but also because of its authority.

Vale turned to look at the women behind her with a dry smile, “But why my sister decided to pass the responsibility of getting the boy to another eludes me.”

Sadine gave a casual shrug while she sharpened an arrow, “Seemed like a lot of work, and that mouse wasn’t that busy.”

Kagi’s face became bright enough to pierce even Morta’s darkness when Vale intervened, but when Sadine spoke it twisted into one of resentment, “I was busy though.” She mumbled.

Umbren on the other hand was wondering why Vale had called him here. He hadn’t interacted much with her or her sister when they had last met. He also hoped that he hadn’t done anything that would have insulted the Hands. But most of all he was trying not to laugh at Kagi, being called a mouse.

Mistress Vesara’s confidence never wavered, “Vale! How could you, of all people, approve of this! What would Lady Morta think!”

However, Vale never wavered either, “Lady Morta is the one who wished for me to see him.”

The red immediately vanished from Mistress Vesara’s face and was replaced with a pensive countenance, “Lady Morta?”

Vale nodded.

Mistress Vesara furrowed her brow, “Alright then, but I expect an explanation later,” and with that she walked off to the other end of the room to the carpet she previously inhabited.

A shiver ran through Kagi’s spine as she led Umbren to the center of the room where the sisters were. Vale was laying on her side while Sadine went to work on her equipment behind her cross-legged.

Vale sighed, “Sorry about that. Vesara is…a part of the old guard. She’s very stubborn when it comes to tradition.”

Umbren bowed as he drew closer, “Mistress Vale, Mistress Sadine,” Kagi let out a small sound because of his formality, “I heard that you wanted to see me.”

Sadine all but ignored Umbren’s greeting, “What took you so long, mouse.”

Kagi’s cheeks became beet red, either from embarrassment or irritation, Umbren didn’t know, “I came as quick as I could Sadine.”

Sadine pointed her arrow at Kagi with a dark expression, “What’s with that whiny tone?”

Kagi’s posture became stiff as she hurriedly bowed over and over again, apologizing.

Umbren had never seen Kagi act in such a way. Usually nothing could break her confidence and energetic nature, but now she looked like a wounded kitten. Though his mind didn’t stay on that for long as Vale’s intentions for him still made his stomach turn.

He looked to Vale in a questioning manner, looking for answers, but what he got back was a raise of the eyebrow, “Hmm, yes I did call you here, but I don’t intend to do anything to you myself.”

“Then who…”

An arm seized the back of Umbren’s hair and pulled his head back. His hand instinctively went for his knives, but the face that greeted him stayed in his hand. He saw worn but quizzical eyes, and a mouth that was twisted into a permanently baffled expression. Her eyes seemed to study all that was in them and naturally compelled Umbren to study her.

The woman's mouth turned into a smile, giving off the impression of discovery, “Well I haven’t lost any blood yet,” she again pulled back on Umbren’s head, making him clench his eyes shut, “That won’t do. You’re going to have to open them. I won’t let you go until you do, and try not to blink either.”

Umbren slowly opened his eyes and the woman's eyes narrowed as she scrutinized his. Suddenly she let go of his hair, “Done!”

Umbren rubbed his scalp as Vale considered him, her expression unchanging, “Well Zenie?”

Zenie clapped her hands together excitedly, “He’s clean!”

Vale gave a visible sigh of relief as Sadine stopped to consider Umbren then went back to her work.

“I mean no disrespect mistress, but who is she and why did she do that?” Umbren said as he continued to rub his head.

Vale raised her towards Umbren, effectively silencing him, and turned back to Kagi, “Alsarie is still outside, correct?”

Kagi, who was still fixated on Sadine, was caught off guard by Vale’s question, “Yeah! And she wasn’t too polite either about me bringing him here, even though you ordered it!”

Vale put a finger to her temple, “I’m not surprised by that. It was hard enough to get her out there,” She let her hand fall and gave a smile to Umbren, “Firstly we have dinner to get to soon, so let’s do something about that hair while I tell you what you want to know.”

Umbren tilted his head, “Dinner?”

The carpets had been pulled out of the way and replaced with a mat for Umbren to sit on while Zenie cut his hair. Zenie was a peculiar old woman. She appeared to be younger than mistress Vesara, but her eyes seemed older. She uses scissors with such finesse while she cut Umbren’s hair that he suspected that she had combat experience, yet no scar could be seen on her body. Her bright green dress also contrasted with the black cloaks around her. She was an anomaly.

Though what bothered Umbren more were the eyes that rested on him. Umbren thought that he could feel all the Hands’ eyes on him. Whenever he looked to validate these thoughts, the Hands would turn their heads and whisper to each other in low voices. He couldn’t say he could blame them. He was a Hound in the Hands’ house. Not only that, he was at the very center of it, conversing with their leaders, and getting a haircut by who might as well be another important figure.

“Mistress Vale, are you sure it's okay for me to be here?”

Kagi had been suppressing a laugh ever since the mat was brought out, “You embarrassed Umbren?”

Umbren blushed despite himself. Anyone would in the situation he was in.

Vale waved her hand dismissively, “I’m sure some would say it wasn’t, Vesara for example, but there was no helping it. Morta wanted me to check on you, a sentiment I also shared, and if I took Zenie outside then I wouldn’t be able to come back to the house.”

A low chuckle came from behind Umbren, “Oh c’mon now Vale, don’t be like that. I haven’t seen the city in ages. Ever since this new war broke out, handling Avayev has become much more difficult, and I haven’t been able to find the time to come down until now.”

“Why don’t you just take Sadine?” Vale asked.

“And what? Be abandoned in the middle of the mist district!”

Sadine looked to protest, but eventually shrugged, “You’ve seen worse anyway.”

Umbren could feel Zenie working faster with the scissors, “That’s not the point! You shouldn’t leave anyone alone in such a place, especially me. Seeing the fruits of my labor be used in such a way is disgusting. I swear if I ever see the Hounds again, I might just die.”

Umbren’s head was swarming with thoughts. This woman cutting his hair governed Avayev!? Avayev!? The paradise on earth where all tenebrage go to be buried. She was cutting his hair!?

Umbren had to speak up before the Hands’ conversation made him ask a question, he had no business in knowing the answer to.

“Mistress Vale, why did Lady Morta want to check on me?” He asked

Vale’s expression soured, “Because you’re a Hound and with such a position comes…unfortunate consequences.”

“Unfortunate!?” Zenie let out, “It’s downright tragic is what it is. Using Rena Root like that should be a crime. I don’t know why Mortis allows it. Especially during the last war with the children. The children! It’s sickening!”

Umbren had to say something fast to allay the fear of being cut with her scissors, “What is she talking about mistress?” He asked nervously.

Vale furrowed her brow, “I don’t know much about it. Only what I experienced with Alsarie.”

“She was a Hound before she became a Hand, right?” Umbren didn’t know if he had overstepped his bounds with the question.

Vale nodded gravely, “She was a wreck when we got her. Violent outburst, sobbing spells, paranoia, lack of appetite, none of us knew what to do with her. Not even Morta. She would only ever calm down when Mortis came to visit her, but still…” Vale looked to Sadine in frustration, “Then one day she apparently vanished. Would you like to tell the rest of the story sister?”

A smirk crept its way onto Sadine’s face, “What? I didn’t do anything wrong? All I did was lock her in a room for a couple of weeks.”

“Despicable. I still can’t believe you treated her like an animal when she was like that.”

Kagi started to cover her ears and edge away from the conversation. Her fear of Alsarie seemingly prevented her from knowing about the women’s vulnerable moments.

“What does that have to do with…what Mistress Zenie did to me?” Umbren asked as he was starting to itch all over from his fallen hair.

Sadine rubbed her head and went on, “The only thing that would calm the thing down was Rena Root. When I asked her if she knew why she told me that the Hounds…took something for battle.”

Zenie let out a low cry behind Umbren though it eluded him as his mind went back to a night one year ago in the outskirts of Haden when Mortis tried to give him a canteen of something.

"For when you find yourself not able to follow through on something. This will make you be able to get past that stubborn voice in your head." He had said back then.

Umbren nodded his head, but Zenie didn’t seem to mind, “When I became a Hound Mortis tried to give me something that would allow me to carry out tasks that I couldn’t do otherwise.”

TheVale sat up and her face became stone and her voice hard, “Did you take it?”

“No, I refused.”

Vale slowly laid back down with satisfaction, “As you should. Under no circumstances should you ever accept it. I and Sadine will personally make sure of that.”

Umbren looked to Sadine and received a severe nod.

With the silence the whispering of the Hands around him were only more pronounced. Surely the Hands kept no secrets from each other. He wondered if the Hounds were like that also, but from the rumors he heard he didn’t think so.

“Now Umbren I also heard about the incident with the fulgcere earlier today. What do you know about that?” Vale’s voice left no doubt that this was a command and not a question.

Umbren went on to tell them of the events that happened earlier that morning. He didn’t know much about the fulgcere, so he didn’t have much to tell, so he hoped that the information he provided was satisfactory.

Vale appeared to absorb everything he said, including the way he said it, but Sadine didn’t seem to be listening.

Vale looked to Sadine, “I would say we know as much as we can know. Think we're ready for the dinner?”

“Yep.”

Suddenly the scissors stopped clipping Umbren’s hair, “Well we best get going or we're going to be late. I’m sure someone will come by and clean this mess up.” Zenie said with a cheerful grin.