“Don’t worry! My house is big and I’m sure we can hide.”

Before they could protest, Naptunie went out first, tip-toeing to one of the large houses by the seashore. The docks were calm compared to the streets, but if anyone had looked up at the wrong moment from the street, they could easily be spotted. They put Ashen on Darsan’s back at the rear and quickly followed Nana to her house. There was a back door, and a porch under which they could finally get a bit of shelter from the rain, but before they even dared to knock, the loud voices coming from the inside had them all crouch down and hide.

“You’re acting like bandits!” shouted a loud voice. “Who do you think you are, to barge in and claim to check the houses? What does that mean?! You Yekara think you can do whatever you want! This is not an order from the King, and even if it was, this is my house and you will not be taking one step inside!”

“Move aside, or we will force our way in! The man you call King committed treason and tried to run away instead of stepping down and negotiating with the rightful heir!”

“Rightful heir, my ass! I’d rather eat all the rotten meat in the Kingdom than believe what comes out of your mouths! I will only obey the one King I acknowledge, the White King! As if I would trust a Yekara!”

“This is your last warning!”

“Fine!” a female voice shouted. “Search if you want, we’ve got nothing to hide! But you’d better not steal a thing, and I swear you will get payback for this, you dogs!”

Next to them, Naptunie looked on the verge of crying, with her little fists clenched. Tessandra put an arm around her shoulders and exchanged a glance with the siblings. Naptunie’s family was a no-go. They felt sorry for them, and they could hear the ruckus inside from the Yekara searching all over the place for them. Some of Naptunie’s younger siblings or cousins were crying, probably afraid.

Quickly, they walked away from the house’s rear porch, and went back out in the rain, to hide between the boats.

“I can’t believe this!” cried Nana. “Those... savages! I hope they eat rotten meat and die!”

“I’m sorry, Nana,” muttered Tessandra, “but now we know we can’t hide in the Capital. They’ll search all the clans we were allied with first, and I don’t think they will stop until they get what they want...”

“The outskirts,” said Cessilia. “We c-can try to go th-there, and it will b-be safer to reunite with K-Krai too. But we have t-to be quick...”

She was worried for Ashen. Darsan was big and doing his best not to move him, and they had covered him with the fur coat, but his situation was already critical, and now they couldn’t even find a safe and dry place to lay him. They all quickly got back on Kian’s back, already drenched, and Kassian tapped his dragon’s back.

“Wanna go find Daddy?”

The dragon emitted a little, high-pitched growl, suddenly speeding up against the stream. Soon enough, the bridge appeared far above them, seeming rather calm. When Kian used his wings to jump up and climb once on the pile, and then jump again to land on top of the bridge, Cessilia immediately realized why: the Yekara had closed the gates.

Luckily, they had probably focused their forces inside the Inner Capital, and focused on no one entering, because there was no one to stop them when Kassian easily opened the heavy doors into the Outer Capital. As soon as they stepped foot there, Krai’s large head appeared, and Kian jumped on the Black Dragon to play.

“Hey there!” smiled Darsan.

Krai answered him with an angry growl, suddenly turning its red eyes on him. Darsan jumped and immediately stepped back, cautious.

“If I were to bet,” Tessandra whispered to him. “I think Uncle is still upset with you...”

“Not funny, Tessa.”

She chuckled, but they quickly walked past the pair of dragons to follow Cessilia and Naptunie in the streets. There were still refugees from earlier, who raised their heads, curious to see them again, with the King lying on Darsan’s back. Thanks to that, though, the word quickly traveled to their allies still there. Bastat was the first to appear at one of the doors and quickly invited them inside.

“What’s going on? Is that... His Majesty?”

“A lot of bad stuff,” groaned Tessandra.

The brothers quickly cleared a table to lay Ashen down, and his state was immediately revealed to Bastat, so shocked she put a hand to cover her mouth.

“Are the d-doctors of the Hashat T-Tribe still here?” asked Cessilia.

“I-I believe they went back when they announced the doors were going to be closed... Lady Ishira thought something odd was happening, so she went to check. But they did leave plenty of medicine behind.”

“G-good. I will need it...”

“I’ll send someone to fetch it right away,” nodded Bastat, immediately gesturing to one of the servants present, “but... by the gods, what happened?”

“Actually, you can tell us that while we heal him,” added Kassian, walking to the other side of the table Ashen was lying on. “I think I have a lot to catch up on.”

However, Nana suddenly stood up, still looking upset.

“I… I think I should go and warn my uncle.”

She left without adding a word, and a heavy silence followed her departure. It was as if now that they had finally found a place to stop, all the tension was getting even heavier. Seeing even the usually cheerful Nana so upset was depressing too. Tessandra sighed, and sat down in one corner of the room, exhausted. Darsan decided to stand by the door, glancing through the window from time to time with his arms crossed.

Lady Bastat’s servant quickly came back, arms full of medicine and as many medical tools as they could find. Once the water was hot and both she and Kassian had washed their hands, with her brother’s help, she immediately began providing the best help she could to Ashen. His state was terrible, but while his chances of survival were low, they weren’t nil, and she had to focus on that. Cessilia began to explain the whole situation to both her brothers and Bastat, everyone else listening in complete silence. She spoke with a monotone voice, not raising her eyes once, as if speaking helped her remain focused and calm. For a long while, only her voice filled the room, with the rain quietly pouring in the background. Naptunie didn’t return, but a younger cousin of hers did come to deliver some food for everyone, and say she had fallen asleep at her uncle’s.

When Cessilia was done explaining, they were still doing their best to save Ashen. She had her arms soiled with his blood up to her elbows, but she was confident he’d make it. It was already impressive that he was still alive and breathing, and she was prouder than ever of him.

“Those wretched Yekaras...” groaned Bastat. “They will definitely pay for this. I won’t recognize a king that is no better than the tyrant.”

“...I’m so s-sorry about your f-father, Lady Bastat.”

“Do not be.” She shook her head. “He met an honorable end... Our tribe believes death is the opening of a new life, in which our actions in the previous will help the gods decide our next destiny. I will mourn him later, but first, I need to be sure his spirit can be avenged. This fake king will not be recognized by my tribe.”

“I doubt they will be going by the popular vote,” scoffed Tessandra. “They wanted to end him and use force against all the other tribes to comply. The Pangoja probably already fell, and they corrupted enough Royal Guards too...”

Her voice broke with those last words. Cessilia felt sorry for her cousin. Even if they kept hoping Sabael had survived the fight in the cave, not knowing about his whereabouts was too hard...

“They won’t be able to take the city if all the tribes resist,” insisted Bastat, “and I know most will. No one is foolish enough to believe in a king supported by the Yekara Clan, of all people.”

“B-but what can we do?” muttered Cessilia. “Ashen’s heavily injured, and we c-can’t keep him hidden here for long. Once they r-realize he’s not in the Inner C-Capital, they will c-come for him here...”

“...Unless someone can offer you all a safe place.”

They turned their heads to see who had spoken.

That person had arrived from the door behind Bastat, completely silent. Everyone became on edge, Tessandra even putting a hand on her sword, but before she could draw it, the stranger started to remove their hood. Cessilia immediately recognized the woman. It was the one who had stared at her while she helped with the flood earlier, with the peculiar dot and lines tattooed on her face.

“Greetings, Princess,” she said with a polite smile.

“You...” muttered Bastat, staring at her tattoos. “You’re... from the Cheshi Clan!”

The woman nodded, as she slowly removed the rest of her hood, revealing tattoos that went all the way around her completely shaved head.

“My name is Aglithia. I am the third daughter of the Cheshi Clan Leader.”

Cessilia and Tessandra immediately exchanged a shocked look. The Cheshi Clan had been surprisingly quiet, if not invisible, ever since they had arrived in this Kingdom. From what Yassim had told them, they were considered the wisest clan, but they had also completely removed themselves from the political circle ever since Ashen had suddenly gotten rid of the violent Kunu Tribe, which gave mixed signals about their intentions.

“...What d-do you want?” asked Cessilia, a bit doubtful. “This is our first t-time interacting with one of your p-people. I d-don’t understand why you would help us n-now.”