Blood and Gold: Chapter 7

[jiminee]

 Here's a long chapter to make up for that short one! Enjoy c:

The party of four climb out of the hole, and Zisteau replaces the stone. It’s dark, well before dawn, and the forest is silent. They walk quietly towards the city wall, boots wet in the dew. Vechs lags back to speak to Aureylian as Nebris moves quickly ahead.
“Why did you give Nebris a dagger?” Vechs hisses.
“You saw that?”
“Yes,” Vechs says, although he does not want to give away his secret night vision. “I have good eyes.”
“It was very dim, but okay,” Aurey says. “I thought he might need something, just in case.”
“Was that yours then?” Vechs asks. He knows she has a blade, but not that there were any spare ones.
“Uh, no. It was a spare I’ve had for a while,” Aurey says. “I thought the new guy could use at least a little self-defence, you know? We don’t want to lose him.”

Vechs doesn’t say anything. He’s seen that blade before, and doesn’t care to think about the implications of it being passed on to Nebris.
Nebris’ head whips around at the crackle of leaves behind them. Vechs looks around too, and sees the man. His heart sinks and his head spins at the same time, a knot forming in his stomach. He shrinks back, moving closer to the group as Zisteau and Nebris fall back to investigate. As BdoubleO saunters out from behind a tree, Zisteau frowns and his hand moves to his hip.

“Oh would you look at that,” he says. “It’s Naziv.”
“Go away,” Zisteau hisses. “What are you doing out here?”
“You’re not denyin’ it,” BdoubleO says. “That confirms it, I guess. Favern.”
“You caught us,” Zisteau says irritably. “Congratulations.”
“C’mon man, it wasn’t that hard to figure out,” BdoubleO says. “A half-Grax, a green-eyed woman, a guy with goggles, and another guy all arrive in the same area at the same time? Everyone in the blyxin’ world knows about you four.”
“They do?” Zisteau stops at this, interested. But BdoubleO is now staring at Vechs. He winks at Vechs, who looks at the ground.
“How are you?”
“Blyx off, Bdubs. Seriously.”
“That’s not what you were sayin’ last night,” BdoubleO says.
“What do you want?” Vechs says. Zisteau watches him.
“I just wanted to see you again!” he says. Vechs looks up in time to see Aurey raise one eyebrow. He narrows his eyes behind his goggles.
“I’m kind of busy at the moment,” he says. “We should go,” he says to the others. Zisteau keeps watching BdoubleO as they walk off, leaving him standing in the forest with a grin on his face.

“I don’t like that guy,” Nebris says. “He’s like, following us or something.”
“You think?!” Zisteau turns around. “He’s going to tell every thief in this blyxing forest that we’re Naziv. Then we’ll be screwed.”
“Vechs already was,” Nebris smirks. Aurey puts a hand to her mouth to stunt a giggle.
“Not funny, Nebris,” Zisteau says. “This is serious. He’s probably going to try and sabotage anything we do.”
“He said everyone in the world knows who we are,” Aurey says. “How did that happen?”
“The posters,” Vechs says. “We’re wanted.”
“I haven’t seen any posters,” Zisteau says. “Plus, Nebris wouldn’t be on them.”
“Zisteau,” Aurey says. “He thinks Blame’s Nebris. Which leads to our other problem. Or rather, Vechs’ problem.”
“Can we not talk about this?” Vechs says quietly. “Plus, we’re at the branch.”
He points up. Zisteau nods once, and begins to climb the tree. One by one the four scramble up the tree branch and drop onto the wall, then down onto the ground.

“You’re getting better at this,” Vechs says approvingly to Nebris, who smiles. Once inside a small alley, Zisteau doles out instructions.
“We are going to take a route that takes us near the palace walls,” he says. “I want two of us to go to the front and two of us to stay around the back. All we’re looking for is places that might help us get in: inconsistencies, trees, weaknesses. Whoever goes to the front will have to scout around the gate whilst avoiding guards. Nebris, Vechs, you’ll go to the back. Me and Aureylian will go to the front. If anything happens, don’t leave him behind, okay?”
“I wouldn’t do that,” Vechs says. “How long do we stay there?”
“Don’t be seen,” Zisteau says, ignoring his question. “They must not find out we’re Naziv. Have a good cover story, and take off your goggles, Vechs.”
Vechs nods.
“We’ll meet back here in a few hours. If we’re not here, wait, but don’t act suspicious.”
“I know all this,” Vechs says. “Let’s just go.”
The four trudge up the hill, taking many twists and turns in a route far more complicated than Vechs and Nebris had taken on their way to the marketplace. As they climb the hill, Vechs catches glimpses of the palace between the taller buildings; there are golden spires and windows reflecting the pink hues beginning to stain the edge of the horizon. Vechs is excited. The palace of Corax is famed for its extravagance. Built of naturally occurring sandstone from beneath the dunes, the tallest domes and spires are lavish with gold plate. The doorways and window frames are carved with ornate designs and encircling the entire palace are two high walls. Between the walls, a lush green lawn thrives despite the desert heat creeping in from the north.

Vechs moves close to Nebris. “Our job should be simple,” he says. “Boring, even. Since there aren’t any entrances at the back that I know of, so therefore there won’t even be guards.” He lowers his voice. “Zisteau deliberately gave us the less-dangerous job.”
“Why?”
“Because, you’re new. Obviously. He wants you to learn without getting caught, or dying. Also he doesn’t trust me to not get into trouble.”
“Is that good?”
Vechs sighs. “I guess. I deserve it, anyway.”
“Because of what you did with… Bdubs?”
Vechs nods a little. “I’m not reliable.”
Nebris shrugs. “I don’t believe that. You’re very good at this stuff, even when you get distracted. Zisteau needs to lighten up.”
Vechs giggles. “He does.” He pauses. “Thank you.”
“I’m glad I was put with you, anyway. Zisteau kind of scares me.”
“Don’t let him scare you,” Vechs insists. “He’s fine. I wouldn’t mind being put with him if I didn’t know he would just complain about me the whole time.”
“Why does he hate you so much?” Nebris asks as they turn up another small street.
“Oh, he doesn’t hate me!” Vechs says. He sounds surprised. “He’s just being him. He cares a lot about the integrity of the team.”
Nebris looks at the ground. He hesitates before saying, “I’m sorry to tell you this. But last night Aurey and Zisteau were talking. Zisteau said he considered kicking you out of Naziv.”
“Yeah, he says that all the time. I’m used to it. I know he loves me, though. He could never kick me out.”
“Aurey said that,” Nebris says. “I guess it’s true.”
“It is true,” Vechs says. He smiles. The palace is in front of them, down a wide main street that their alleyway turns into. The tall wrought gates are closed, and four guards stand either side of them.
“Okay,” Zisteau says. “Vechs, Nebris. Go around the back. If you follow that street there, you should find a way to the back.” He points towards a small street coming off the main one. “We’ll scout the front.”
“Okay,” Vechs says to Nebris. “Let’s go.”
“Hey,” Zisteau says. “Be careful?” He says it like a question, and looks at the reflective lenses of Vechs’ goggles.
Vechs nods. “Don’t worry. We’ll be fine.”

He begins walking across the road with Nebris. They find that the street wraps around the palace in a circle, concentric to the palace walls. Nebris wonders if the wall is a perfect circle. On top of the wall are iron spikes, in better condition than the ones that surround the city. Spaced evenly around the wall are small turrets, each with a little windowed room under the dome with enough space for a man to stand with a crossbow. Currently, they are empty.
“Look,” Nebris says, pointing to a turret. “If they put guards in one of those, we’re screwed.”
Vechs shakes his head. “I don’t think they will. If there was supposed to be defence in those turrets, they would be here at night. Or 24/7. I think those are only in case of the palace being sieged.”
The sky is getting lighter, with wonderful gold and pink hues swirling up from the east edge of the sky over the desert. Vechs hasn’t ever seen the palace at sunrise before, and is glad he does now. The gold reflects the rising sun brilliantly, and the sandstone is washed pink.
“That’s breathtaking,” Nebris says quietly. Vechs nods. They’re far around the curve of the wall now, and if he looks back, Vechs can’t see the entrance to the street. They’re near the back of the palace.
“Keep checking the wall,” Vechs instructs Nebris, who nods. There’s a silence in the air that is comfortable enough for neither man to want to speak much. The wall is in good condition, looking as if it is maintained regularly. As they walk and the sky gets lighter, the houses on the street thin out and deposit the two on a worn-out lawn at the back of the palace. There are trees here and there, a bench and a large fountain.

“A public park,” Vechs says. There are no people in the park, but he expects there will be soon. Thin paths snake across the lawn. There is no cover here; the trees are too thin to provide any good places for sneaking around.
“What do we do here?” Nebris asks. Vechs considers. The park slopes gently downward, just like everything in the city.
“We can have a quick look around before people arrive,” he says. “We’ll leave if anyone comes.”
They move up to walk close to the wall. Vechs taps bricks that look loose and Nebris watches for people as they move around the curve. Vechs glances up towards the spikes; they are all in place, looking deadly sharp. There are no trees close enough to the wall to warrant even a second’s thought towards using that method to get in.
“They’ve got this place pretty secure,” Nebris says.
“And this is only the outer wall,” Vechs replies. He’s beginning to lose hope. Zisteau and Aureylian should be having better luck, though. They’re going to see how the guards at the front are when it comes to security.
The pair move around the wall, checking for inconsistencies. Nebris glances down the park and sweeps it with his eyes, looking for any sign of people.
“See anybody?” Vechs asks, tapping a brick with his finger.
“No,” Nebris says. “It’s actually really quiet.”
“Strange,” Vechs says, looking around the empty park. He sighs. “Guess we’d better head back now. Or soon.”

“We need to test their awareness,” Zisteau says. “See how good they are at spotting threats, that sort of thing. Also we need to work out when the guards are changed, and how.”
“I have an idea,” Aurey says, peeking out from behind the building where they are currently loitering. They have a clear view of the front gate here, along with the pairs of guards keeping watch along the wall.  The guards look alert, holding their spears perfectly vertical as their eyes scan from under their low-brimmed helmets.
“Lets do some scouting around first,” Zisteau whispers. “And keep your voice down.”  
“Gotcha,” Aurey says. “What do you want to do?”
“We should go down that side street, and spy on the guards from there,” Zisteau says. He points down a laneway that leads towards the palace. Aurey nods, and follows him. As she does, she notices activity beginning to spring up in the larger streets: windows opening, lights turning off, shops setting up displays. People emerge like ants from the shadows, bringing a voice to the before-silent streets of the golden city.

“Less sneaking around,” Zisteau says. “Act normal. Blend into the crowd.”
Aurey looks at her companion. Zisteau has never really blended into crowds; even the reduced presentation of his Grax features due to his half-humanness is strange to see. Many people on the continent have never seen a Grax before, even a mixed one, and they tend to stare. Besides, there isn’t much of a crowd to blend into. Just a thin scattering of people emerging from their homes and wandering into the open air.
They get to the side street without incident, and find that it connects to the circular road that goes around the entire outer wall of the palace. From here, they can see the two guards closest to them. The guards look straight ahead, unmoving.
“What do we do?”
Zisteau takes something out of his pocket.
“Is that Vechs’ watch?”
“I borrowed it,” Zisteau says. “I need it.” He checks its intricate face. “It’s seven thirty-two am. Let’s wait twenty-eight minutes. I want to see if they’re changed on the hour. But we’ll have to do something less shady than just standing around here. Go to a shop and buy something.”
“Buy,” Aurey asks, “Or buy?”
“Actually buy something,” Zisteau says. “No point in stealing now. I brought cash.”
He hands Aurey a small pouch. “There’s about thirty gallam in there. Get some food, or something.”
“What about you?” she asks.
“I’m going to watch,” he says. “Subtly. In such a way that nobody will notice me.”

Aurey frowns, but takes the money and walks back down the alley. On the street they left, several shops have opened. She sees a small bakery and heads for it.
A bell above the door tinkles as she pushes it open. There is only one other customer in the shop, and she recognises his voice as soon as she hears it. She turns towards the man, surprised.
“And I need you to…” his sentence ends as he hears the bell. He turns and stares, along with the shopkeeper – an old man, with a long beard and a beat-up grin.
“Well hello there,” BdoubleO says. “If it ain’t Aureylian.”
“What are you doing here? We just saw you…” Aurey bites her tongue hard, cursing herself for almost saying that in front of the Coraci shopkeeper.
“I know,” BdoubleO says. “I came the same way as you. Mustn’t have seen each other.”
He turns back to the man. “Anyway, the usual, please.”
The shopkeeper nods. “Certainly, sir.” He puts a loaf of bread into a small bag, handing it over the counter.
“See you later,” BdoubleO says, taking the loaf. He winks at Aureylian and leaves the shop. She stands there, slightly dazed and wondering if he even paid for the bread.

“Hey,” the shopkeeper says. “Can I help you?”
“Yeah,” she says, nodding. “I uh…”
She scans the display of loaves, cakes and pies. “Did you know that man?”
He nods. “We’re old friends. He’s great business, too.” He pauses. “You seem to know him.”
“Yeah, yeah. We’ve, uh. We’ve met before.”
“What did you want?”
“I’ll take two pastries,” Aurey says, pointing to the savoury pastries. The man nods, taking two and putting them in a bag.
“That’ll be one galla three,” the man says. Aurey fishes in the pouch for two gallam. She hands it over to the man, who gives her six kye as change. She smiles.
“Thank you.” With a nod, she leaves the shop. It’s nowhere near eight am, so she wanders up and down the street a few times, looking at the shops. The day is heating up, the sun well in the sky now. After Aurey has passed the time, she heads back towards the corner where Zisteau was watching.
“Did I miss anything?” she says, coming up behind him. He jumps.
“Did I scare you?”
“No,” he says. “You didn’t. And, it’s about five minutes to the hour. You haven’t missed anything.”
Aurey pulls one of the pastries out of her bag and hands it to him. “Here. You know, something weird happened in the bakery.”
“What?”
“I saw BdoubleO. He was talking to the shopkeeper. They know each other, apparently. But he must have followed us, because I didn’t see him on the way in.”
Zisteau frowns. “I hope he didn’t follow us,” he says. “If he has an agenda, I’d much enjoy not getting involved.”
Aurey shrugs. “I don’t understand him, I think he’s harmless. He hasn’t done anything sinister to us, yet.”
“Aside from sleeping with Vechs?”
“That’s not sinister. It’s stupid, but I doubt he meant anything by it.”
Zisteau snorts, and turns his eyes back to the guards. Aurey watches too. Zisteau checks the watch.
“If they’re changing on the hour, it should happen now,” he says. He doesn’t take his eyes off the guards, but the statue-like men do not move.
“They have to change sometimes,” Aurey says. “They’d get so tired, otherwise.”
Zisteau nods, and frowns. “If they change at night… but no. That would still make for 12 hours without a rest. That just cuts their strength by making them tired. And we’ve heard all about Corax’s tight security. That’s not conducive to what we’re seeing here.”
“What are we doing, then? Are we going to wait?”
Zisteau nods. “No harm in doing so.”

The pair wait for another hour, watching the guards intently and shrinking back behind the corner any time they’re in danger of being seen. The guards seem to be made of stone, immobile and rigid. Zisteau shakes his head, frustrated, after nine am has been and gone with no changes. Aurey has been observing the Coraci; they do not go close to the palace gates at all. Even though the road leads right up to the gates, every person who needs to go past the guards skirts well around them on their way to whichever street they need. Aurey wonders if this is because of their viciousness. She would like to see what happens if somebody gets too close. There seems to be no way of testing that without injury, though.
“Do we go back now? See if Vechs and Nebris are done?”
Zisteau sighs. His shoulders slump. “I guess so,” he says. “Let’s go.”
Aurey hates to see him defeated like this, and know he was set on figuring out the guards today. But there is more time, there always is. Lack of time to do things has never bothered the group, the only deadlines being ones they’ve set as challenges to themselves. But Zisteau had a goal in his mind today, and it wasn’t met.

A man walks through the forest, thin and worn down. He looks starved, his face almost skeletal. His clothing is simple and grey, baggy on his body. He carries nothing with him, and anyone looking at him would say that not even his dignity is left.
He is deep in the forest now, away from the road, but ever closer to the city. Soon he will have to stop and ask for directions.