Targun*

Targun's plan was formulating into so much more than he'd pictured the night before. It would've been easy to sell Shakur out to the king. As simple as telling Erya that the High priest was handing out gems to citizens to blackmail them into dividing the leaders, or whatever else he had planned. However, the recent news meant those plans would have to be adapted.

Shakur was hell-bent on preventing the tournament by using influencers to turn the leaders on each other and convince Erya that one would have to be chosen before they did something to choose for him...

Targun wasn't a fool. Shakur would have others to do his dirty work. There would be hundreds of addicts ready to do anything for their next fix, and if that meant using nefarious means and well-crafted plans to turn the competitors on one another, well...

Still, Targun didn't think the leaders would succumb. He'd observed each one. There was nobility, honour, and worse respect among them. They wouldn't be capable of killing another, even if they didn't know the truth... no, Shakur would've failed, unless there was something he was missing. He never knew with the wily High priest.

And that's why he had to form his own agenda. The extension of the competition to include all Aradian's meant that he not only had a chance to prove himself, but to take his rightful spot.

Again, he wasn't a fool, he would need Shakur, access to Stone-abilities would be crucial as would be the High priest's minions in distracting the leaders from the tournament.

He glanced at those leaders standing on either side of the king as the announcement was made.

Targun should've been standing up there with them. But soon he would rule them. As he would the entire crowd that jostled around him excitedly as they were informed of the possibility of power. He wasn't worried about any of them, as talented as the soldiers were, or gifted some of the workers, there was no chance they would overcome a Forician, and there was even less hope that they would defeat the leaders when Erya would gift them with any number of his enchantments or heritage powers.

But he had studied them for years, they were always his competition, and they didn't even know it, or him. He knew their weaknesses, their strengths, what drove them — to their knees, and he would use it all, every scrap to ensure his victory.

"Once you have applied," he tuned in to listen to his king, "your name will be drawn against a location of one of our outer cities or Aradia itself, you will then have to defend it against the influx of Forician's that have bypassed our shields and found their way to our shores."

The crowd inhaled as one. Stilling as if fear had frozen them in place. They stared at their king, shock holding their limbs as if they were puppets.

"But I have faith in you, in all Aradian's; that you will destroy the enemy, slay the monsters who invade our shores, and when you do, when you hold the head of those aberrations in your hands, when you drive your weapons into those monsters, you will have a place in the tournament. A deserved chance to rule."

Fear snapped like a twig in flames. As if the king's voice was magic and his words had leant strength and bravery to his offer.

Targun watched in silence as the crowd erupted into cheers, as they swayed with pride and joy at the king and the opportunity he had provided.

He didn't move. He stood still, avoiding any contact from the masses. This wasn't some prize, it wasn't to be celebrated. The shield had failed. The enemy was on the shores. And this tournament was pointless, a way to extend the lives of those who would be dead as soon as it ended. And now the king was asking his people to go up against the foulest, most powerful of beasts across Myrrindia. Targun was disappointed in Erya. But it had given him a chance, and he knew he would do things differently.

He joined the line to submit his name, annoyed that he had to be subjected to this, none of the other leaders had been forced into —

"Ah, I thought I'd find you here."

Targun cringed. His posture straightening as if shocked.

"High priest," he bowed straight-backed.

"What are you doing here?" Shakur snapped ignoring the crowd listening in.

"I am entering the tournament," he stated as boldly as he could. If he was to rule, to win, he couldn't be seen to be weak when questioned. Even if it was by the most feared man on the continent.

"No, you're not, you insolent boy."

Shakur somehow loomed ever him, his shadow cooling the climate of Aradia in a way that wasn't normal.

Targun knew he wouldn't use physical brutality in front of witnesses, but magical...

"You will not risk your life like this."

To the people around it would look like a father caring about his son. But it wasn't like that. Shakur didn't care about his life, he cared about his insurance policy, in the result of his most despicable act. An act so foul...

The High priest had no idea he knew about it. But he did. He did and it repulsed him. The anger sickened him, the vengeance, it wasn't a part of Sulphite religion, he was tarnishing his beliefs. Letting emotions overwhelm logic. He had to punish himself. But that could wait.

If he didn't play his cards right, he would be magically wounded, and the tournament and his plans would be nothing more than a dream.

"High priest," he said as respectfully as he could muster, "would it not be prudent to enter. I won't risk myself. But" he leant in, "I could watch, influence, find openings."

Shakur laughed, and magic gripped his bones, he knew what it felt like, it searched him for something to break that hadn't been broken before, something that would prevent his entrance.

"Lies," Shakur hissed, a whispered spittle, anger almost unconstrained.

"You want glory boy; you do your gods a disservice."

Targun stood deadly still, waiting for the break. The pain. The end.

"Shakur, what are you doing to that boy?"

Targun opened his eyes to find Merran of Temis staring down the High priest. The captain of the guard on her heels and a multi-coloured parrot on her shoulder.

The magic grip loosened, and he almost sagged with pain and relief. "Merran, where have you been? The king has been worried about your absence."

"She asked you a question," the captain growled. The parrot clicked its beak ferociously and for a second Targun imagined it shifting into a great beast. He shook the image away; the pain was getting to his head.

"I was just explaining to my protege here that he cannot —

"Shakur, do not make me call the king and have you explain that you were using magic on this boy."

The High priest paled. But he didn't back down. "I wasn't doing anything of the —

"Quiet," Merran interrupted again. "I felt it. There was intent to hurt. To break. To damage."

"You can't possibly know that you're a little liar, like all of —

"Careful Shakur," the captain intervened.

Targun used the distraction to move forward with the line, he was two places away from the glass bowl. He had never seen the High priest treated like this. Especially, by woman.

"Using gift-abilities on another is a punishable crime. I will have you arrested."

Shakur laughed. "Firstly, you can't prove anything. Secondly," he gripped Targun by the scruff of his neck pulling him out of the queue.

So close, he thought, so close.

"I have control over my priests, not, the law captain."

The captain of the guard glanced at the princess of Temis, resignation of her face. It was true. They couldn't prove it. And Shakur owned him. Would always own him.

"Now, if you two wouldn't mind, we've got things to do."

The captain nodded, eyes not leaving Shakur's face. But Merran pushed passed the High priest and looked into his eyes. She had never been this close. Her gold-rimmed turquoise eyes, tanned face, and braided sandy coloured hair obscured his entire view. "If he ever does something like that again, you come to me, I'll find a way to prove it."

Tagun nodded. He found himself wanting to thank her, but he squashed the thought. He'd never show her gratitude.

And then she did something else, just before the High priest pulled him away.

Targun was smiling as he was non to gently guided away from the crowds. He kept his eyes on the princess. Saw as she skipped into the line, laugh with a few people in the queue and eventually place the paper with his name on into the glass bowl. The same paper she'd taken from his hand.

He couldn't help himself from silently thanking her as her eyes found his one last time before he was tugged back into the shadows...

Merran*

Rueben had been flying high over the palace when Merran had felt the magic. It wasn't the first time she'd experienced a feeling like it. But it was the first time it had made her sick. The intent to hurt was poisonous. But unavoidable. She had to stop it. She had no choice. If she didn't end it, she was certain the pain would've affected her both mentally and physically.

"What on earth was that?"

Merran glanced at Shè. The captain was pale. Probably because they had just threatened the High priest. Not an advisable move in Aradia's political climate.

"He was hurting that boy," Merran spat angrily.

"And you say you felt it?"

Merran stopped. "You don't believe me!"

"No, I do, that's why I backed you up Mer, but... well, I've never heard of someone feeling the use of stones before. Not to mention your affinity with enchantments."

"You still haven't explained exactly what you mean by that."

"I haven't have I. Well, let's just say most people who can access an enchantment, be in clothes, food, water, can use it in the most basic of conditions. I can summon food and clothes if I know where they come from. I can turn water on and off. And this is after years of training. But you, you can alter the state of water, and conjure food and clothes from who knows where."

"What do you mean?" She asked feeling strangely guilty.

"Well, the food you got us this morning, not only came from Temis, but from someone's table."

"So, I stole?" Merran said, her worst fear confirmed.

"Well, yes and no." Shè laughed. "It wasn't like you knew what you were doing. And like Shakur said no one could prove it."

Because no one can do it. Merran heard the unsaid words.

They didn't matter the mention of the High priest overrode everything else.

"How is it that that monster gets away with everything? Surely you have the power to arrest him for..." she trailed off. Realising that there was really no way to prove it.

"Shakur is the un-proclaimed leader of the Sulphites," Shè said leading her to the spot where Reuben has landed, "and he controls the Kava mines and all the Stone abilities. If we make a move against him, someone worse could take over, or the Sulphites could revolt with their powers, and you know what they can do."

Merran nodded. "If I do become queen, we're gonna find a way to stop him."

"Count me in," the captain said.

She closed her eyes. "There's nothing I'd like more than to get rid of that little plotting zealot."

Reuben fluttered from her shoulder and shifted into a gold and silver dragon. His scales resplendent under the strong Aradian sun.

They had landed behind a line of tall trees to hide his presence. It was probably best since the appearance of Reuben in this form to a crowd who feared his kind almost as much as the Forician's could have caused a riot.

"Although, you have a lot to do before you even begin to think of the tournament."

If anyone else had said it, Merran would've known they were speaking about facing a Forician, but because it was Shè, she knew she was referring to the clear animosity between the other leaders. They were still split down the middle. As she would've expected, the captain had noticed the rift. "I'll talk to them," she climbed onto Reuben's back, the Whirbeast had laid flat on the ground to allow them to reach his massive flanks.

"That's good enough for me," Shè leapt up in one graceful and fluid movement that made her scowl, "because I'll give you one hint about what's to come, you're going to have to rely on one another more than you could possibly know."

Merran nodded. She knew that once the victor was crowned heir, they would need the support of the others to solidify their position. But there was a look in the captain's eye that said she was missing something important and before she could ask Reuben took off and shot towards the clouds, the wind taking the words away from her...

They flew high to avoid any stray eyes. Flying in a wide arc that took them close to the great shield of Aradia. Flying parallel to it Merran could feel the power radiating off it. Strands of various abilities that she swore she would be able to detect if she'd had enough time. However, Reuben was too fast, and the view too mesmerising. From their vantage, sifting into view beneath the low hanging clouds she could see the entire Terraced city. Great steps leading towards the castle and then the Myre and the Divide and beyond. She thought she glimpsed a shadow in the water below, but Reuben changed direction heading straight towards the lowest Terrace.

"You sure you don't mind me joining you?"

"Not at all," Merran responded, surprised the wind didn't whip her words away.

Shè looked at her over her shoulder, disbelief etched in every freckle.

"I've met him once and he was arrogant and cocky and..." she trailed off as she realised the captain was smiling at her with a twinkle in her eyes. Merran shook her head. Shè was too perceptive. Not to mention she knew Merran far too well. Not many people could get under her skin, and the reason Avesh had was clear enough.

Reuben swerved to the right and then dropped out of the clouds. The Whirbeast dove so fast Merran didn't even have time to yelp.

They landed among a cluster of coral covered boulders, and Reuben shifted below them, slow at first so they could get their balance and then faster, until he was a chameleon, his skin the colours of their surroundings. It would've been impossible to pick him out if she didn't know where he'd shifted.

"You think he'll still be here?" Shè asked.

Merran walked around the boulder. "I didn't see him at the ceremony."

The captain followed. "So, you were looking." She didn't miss the implication.

Merran stepped around another boulder, brushing her hand along the rough surface. Feeling the familiar textures of hard shells and soft Polyps.

Still, she didn't miss a beat. "Well, I wasn't gonna waste the captain of the guards time by coming down to the lowest terrace if I saw him at the top."

Shè's laugh was a tinkle of bells. "Well come on then, point him out."

Merran set off for the beach — well, it wasn't so much a beach, as an exposed bit of rock that had been worn into sand by the constant tide.

The low levels were beautiful. A vast expanse of exposed coral, multi-coloured limestone covered by still glowing hues of what looked like underwater flowers, all of them different.

Starfish and shells and seaweed littered the rocky floor. Merran picked out Reuben whizz by, the Whirbeast grabbed a small blinking red shell and disappear from view. She was about to tell Shé when she noticed Avesh wondering towards her.

He was smiling, a big happy smile, but it wasn't for her, it appeared as if he were generally happy down here. He met them amidst a crowd of people, all of them searching the beds for shells, stones or creatures that could be traded.

"Well, well, well the captain of the guard and a princess on the low levels, I never thought I'd see the day, did you Tobias?"

A tall, big-built man shook his head. "Nah Vesh, would think the smell'l send em running ey."

Avesh nodded. His green eyes twinkling. "Well, best see what the problem is with us being down here, maybe I can talk them round."

Merran scowled. He knew exactly why she was here. He had invited her.

"Your majesty, captain," he practically bowed, "please let me take you on a tour of the low levels."

"That would be appreciated." Shè was far politer than Merran expected her to be.

She set off towards the sandy-beach. Moving away from the Aradian's scourging the reef for treasures.

"It's good to see you again Merran, I'm glad you came."

Merran almost lost her cool. Almost. But she kept her temper in check. She had to around this one. How could he think he'd get away with embarrassing her in front of people and then acting polite when he was away from his crew.

The deep breath was exactly what she needed. The sea breeze reminded her of Temis, of a place where political games and puzzling interactions were put on the end of a fishing hook and cast into the ocean. Even now, Merran picked out a line of men on the edge of the cliff, their fishing rods in hand lines bobbing in the waves. She would've loved to pick up her own rod and join them, maybe catch herself a Forician right here.

Avesh didn't bother waiting for her response. "And the legendary Captain of the guards, Sheylar, it is an honour."

"No need for that, not if Merran's right and you can help us."

Merran kicked at a strand of seaweed that had clung to her boot. "Well, can you?" She knew it was rude, and she regretted losing her cool, but he was infuriating. He acted like he wanted to help, and then he was downright rude to her and nice and respectful to the captain. Then again, she was legendary, she had overcome all odds to earn her title, her position, she was a master strategist, swordswoman, archer, not to mention she rode a Whirbeast, Of course Avesh was starstruck.

Avesh stopped on the small beach. It dipped into the ocean. The low tide riding up and down gently, like kids ride compared to the rollercoaster that would come. The sand below their feet was a fine silver dust that made the sea look strangely dark.

He rubbed his polished scalp as if he was looking for hair. "I can't be tied to this, there are ears and eyes everywhere, I hoped that the low levels would be busier, less noticeable. But showing up with the captain of the guard. Well, it looks suspicious."

"We will try limit your role as much as possible."

Avesh nodded at Shè, gratitude clear in his green eyes.

"Are you afraid?"

Merran almost bit her own tongue off. What was going on with her, why would she ask that question? He was trying to help, risking something he feared to do it, and she was —

"It isn't me," he whispered, "my family, my sisters. The terraces are not as safe and happy as they're made out to be."

Shè shot her a look that clearly said don't say anything and Merran obliged. Ashamed of her last outburst even though she was still annoyed. Although she didn't know why, well, she knew but she didn't want to admit it.

"What exactly is happening, that requires such secrecy?"

Avesh glanced around, his eyes and ears alert. "There have been deaths, disappearances. All hushed-up, and all surrounding the in-flux of Stones that have entered the markets at Festiva and by association the Terraces, you have no idea what happens to those that use them."

Shè nodded for him to go on.

"They get hooked," he said, "turn into addicts craving the Stones, I've seen people that I've known my entire life, good people with families and jobs and friends, and then in the space of a day they're lost, or worse, they turn into the worst versions of themselves, or they die."

He said that as if it were a blessing.

"Why hasn't this been reported?"

"Someone is keeping it on the down-low," he said mysteriously, "to be truthful, I've only heard about the death of one person, the others just disappear and are never heard from again. Their families have spoken to someone at the palace, even to... soldiers. but nothing has been done about it or investigated. I don't know if they don't believe us, it hard to convince anyone that stones are being spread, but it's happening and its dangerous. I have little sisters living here. I don't want this to impact them."

Merran agreed. Sulphites were religious about keeping their stones in their own hands.

"I will make an announcement at the next Festiva, that all cases must be reported directly to me."

Avesh nodded, gratitude shimmering in his eyes.

Merran finally found her voice. "Have you heard anything about a woman called Misa?"

Avesh shook his head. "No, who is that?"

She shrugged. Thinking it best not to worry him further with the story of a woman luring girls into the caves to work as slaves.

"Just a name I heard."

"Is there anything else?" Shè asked.

Avesh pursed his thin lips in thought. Rays of sunlight broke through the clouds and lit his skin into a shimmering bronze. "One other thing, but it might be nothing. Apparently, the High priest was seen at the Festiva last night."

Shè's eyes widened. "Hmmm."

And then her eyes went distant. "Well, thank you for everything Avesh. I will try my best to keep you out of the investigation."

"It's not like I don't want to be a part of it, or help... more," the angles of his face stood out, sharp high-cheek bones, strong curved jawline and shadowed stubble, "it's just my sisters. I can't get them involved in this because someone hears me snitching."

The captain nodded. "I get it, now, we must go." She sounded urgent. "It was lovely meeting you."

Avesh dipped his head. "An honour captain."

"Merran of Temis, I hope to see you at Festiva when the captain makes her announcement."

Of course, he did, Merran thought frustratingly, he was insufferable to her, but infatuated with the Shè and if she was there, he could use her to speak to the captain again without it looking conspicuous.

"Thank you for telling us what you've seen and heard," she managed as politically as possible. She turned, only to find Shé hurrying into the shadows. She had to run to catch up.

"Shè," she finally huffed out, a little out of breath, "where are you going?"

"It's Reuben," she said, eyes focussed on the boulders where they'd landed, "his found something. And Merran," she said, her voice shaking a little as she lost control, "his talking to me."

"What did he find?" Merran struggled to keep up with the captain as she dodged and weaved around boulders heading for the vertical shaft of rock that led up to the second terrace.

Shè surged forward not even breaking stride to respond. "It's difficult to make out, but Merran," and this time she did stop, "Reuben has never been able to string words together, our conversations have always been limited to single word or emotions. Something changed. I'm getting snippets of what his seeing, hearing and his trying to communicate."

"So, take a breath Shè, what can you see, what is he saying?"

The captain closed her eyes, freckled face scrunched in concentration. "The images are pretty dark, but it's almost like there's stars, but that can't be possible, can it?" She cracked open an eye, doubt on her face.

"What else?" Merran pushed.

"Um, I can hear water, running and dripping."

"And what is Reuben saying."

"It's just words, repeated over and over, but I can sense him."

"What are the words?"

"Shaylar. Low. Move. See. Know."

It didn't make much sense, well, it shouldn't have, but Merran found her mind piecing it together without her. "You said you can sense him?"

Shè nodded.

"I think his using your name in an attempt to get you to follow him."

The captain nodded and without another word moved closer to the ocean battered wall of rocks that rose towards Terrace two.

Merran had an idea where the Whirbeast had got to. And exactly what he was seeing.

It took them awhile to get to the wall, piled ribbons of slimy seaweed blocked their path. Remnants of the ocean that would fill the low level at high tide. The scarred wall was a result of the waves that would pulverise it, but it had withheld. Exactly like what she assumed was beyond.

Merran kicked a heap of brown seaweed away. "Anything now?"

Shè fought off her own ocean plant, she put her hand against the dark beaten wall and focussed. "Nothing, the trail ends here."

"Low," Merran murmured, and then got onto her knees despite the slimy wet seaweed. She moved some of the ribbons with her hands and —

"Here!" She exclaimed. Hidden beneath clumps of seaweed and shadowed so it was almost impossible to make out unless you were led to it, was a small opening in the wall, the top of it came up to her knee and it was wide enough to allow one smallish person entrance.

Shè crouched down. "Move," she repeated Reuben's message.

Merran didn't like it, but she got onto her back and squeezed herself into the gap, moving into the opening, there was a tiny moment of panic where the rock pressed against her sides, but the pressure released and she found herself staring up into the sky, tiny flecks of light blinking back at her, only these weren't stars. And this wasn't the sky.

"See!" She whispered into the darkness.

"Know!" Was the captain's awestruck response.

"I didn't know the old prison stretched into the low levels," she murmured getting to her feet and dusting herself off.

"Yeah," Shè said still sounding mesmerised, "actually, before the explosion the levels didn't exist. It was a single wall of rock that protected the island from its enemies."

Merran could imagine the rock served as a great barrier to the Forician's. It was probably why Aradia was built in this spot. With the Myre behind and the wall in front, it would be easily defensible. Or so the captain would've explained, if she wasn't giving her own history lesson. "Before the shield was formed, and the civil war erupted, the Sulphites used the old cave system as a way to imprison people. All they had to do was make minor alterations and they had a prison. In fact, in —"

Merran cleared her throat and Shè stopped. The captain was also a scholar and was besotted with war and tactical stories of old. The idea that an old cave system had been turned into a prison, and then used as a talisman to end the battle was something Shè had definitely studied.

"Sorry, but we're looking at what's left of Aradia's history."

"I think we're looking at the resources behind a crime syndicate," Merran pointed towards the stars blinking above.

"Because unless I'm very much mistaken, those are the fragments of ability-Stones that should have been blown up when the prison was."

"They were blown up," Shè corrected, "this what's left."

Merran agreed, but what was left here was still powerful, even the tiniest pieces still radiated a sense of something, she could feel it, despite not being able to put a finger on exactly what it was.

Shè moved further into the chamber. Merran was still taking in her surroundings. Now that her eyes had adjusted, she could make out more of the room. She was in a narrow passage, rubble piled in front of her forming a sort've passage that ran parallel to the rock-wall at her back. The stack of stones also glimmered with a few pieces of Gift-stones. But these were minute, and most had been pulverised by the collapse.

"Merran!" Her name echoed into the silence making her jump.

She made her way down the narrow corridor, side-stepping huge rocks and debris until the passage ended at a dark wall. A wall she imagined was the end of the Terrace.

"Shè," she called. Her voice sounded like a gunshot echoing eerily through the empty cavern.

"Squeeze passed the rocks."

Merran found a small opening against the far and slipped into it.

She emerged and gasped. She imagined the hidden caves as a little labyrinth of connecting tunnels, but this... she should've expected it when she saw the stones shining so far above her. It awed her. The chamber was huge, a vast empty space that she was sure stretched under every Terrace. And in every surface, she picked out different coloured flecks, and with each one came a sense, a feeling of power, each sparked a different response within her, however, she didn't understand them. Had no notion of these feelings that each conjured.

"Someone has been mining these," Shè said. Tone serious.

Merran nodded. Where the floor should have been strewn with debris from the explosion that had brought down tonnes of rocks, it wasn't. Instead, it looked like huge boulders had been broken down and divided into smaller piles. And in most of these piles the specks of coloured stones had been removed. It was no more than a rock pile.

"Do you think this is where the stones that Avesh mentioned come from?"

The captain shook her head. "No, this is literally an underground operation. Whoever is behind this doesn't want word to get out about fragments of stones. The Sulphites would take it all, it's the way they work. Besides, this explosion destroyed everything." Shè pointed to the furthest wall. "Those walls stood after the explosion, and there aren't any Stones in them."

"Maybe they were mined?" Merran suggested.

The captain shrugged. "I don't think so, I reckon the Sulphites knew this was a stronghold where their powers would imprison anyone who fought their rule. And if it extended, if they suspected there were more, they would've search for Stones after the explosion. Nope, anyone who saw that eruption thought that whatever was down here would be destroyed."

It made sense. Sulphites were religiously overprotected about what they saw as their Stones. Their abilities. If there was a chance that more existed, they would search. But that didn't explain how full-powered Stones were being found on the surface.

"We should still look around," she suggested, "make sure."

Shè nodded.

In front of them was a stairway built against the wall. It went up forever, thousands of stairs, and it was remarkably intact, unless —

"it's been fixed," Merran said noticing the pillars beneath and newer wood in places where they must've worn down.

"This seems to be some operation."

Merran agreed. This had to have been going on for a long time to mine the rock, sort it and rebuild.

They took the stairs slowly, and carefully, going higher and higher, until the gaps showed nothing but darkness. Merran's knees almost buckled with each creak, her stomach heaving at each groan.

"Where's Reuben?"

"His scouting ahead. He found a cave off to the side. Not long till we reach it."

"Great," Merran responded, eyes still drawn to the darkness below, but now, and she didn't know if it was her mind playing tricks on her eyes, it was lighter, and she could make out the floor, and rocks perfectly shaped for impaling.

"So, Avesh seems nice."

She knew Shè was trying to distract her. She had been on a Whirbeast flying high above the ground, but she trusted Reuben far more than a rickety old staircase that had barely survived an explosion. Still, the topic, the distraction couldn't make it worse.

"Maybe to you Captain," Merran's laugh was hollow, "but he is outright rude to me. You heard him acting like we were there to inspect or shut them down. Like I'd imposed on him. He asked me to come down here and talk to him."

Merran knew she was ranting but she couldn't stop, not when she'd built up a head of steam. "And then he acts like he wants to see me again. But he hasn't even acknowledged me or said one good thing."

She stopped when she realised the captain was laughing at her.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Well, you," a blatant response, "you're so perceptive Mer, yet you missed everything because you like Avesh. You were too focussed on yourself and your feelings that you didn't see what was going on."

Merran loved how forward Shè was. She said it exactly like it was. But now, well, she found being on the receiving end wasn't at all pleasant.

"Merran. He was protecting himself and his family, if people saw him welcoming to us with open arms, he would look suspicious, but if he plays it like we're the enemy, he hides the fact that his helping us. And he can play both sides. He likes you why else would he want to see you at Festiva. Why would he take such a risk otherwise?"

It was one of the rare times she was left speechless. She simply had no retort, the idea of Avesh risking himself like that excited and terrified her at the same time, and she knew which emotion was stronger, she was frightened for him. Which only meant she had to solve this faster.

"So, what do you think about the information he gave us?"

Shè nodded as if she understood Merran's train of thought, and exactly what it was. Figure out who was behind the distribution and Avesh and his family would be safe.

"It's bad Mer, whispers have reached the castle. The distribution of Stones is a problem. For one we have people who could end up using abilities that would make others bend to them, for another most of those stones are uncontrollable and the user won't know what it does, which brings me to the biggest issue. The stones, as you know are addictive. The source that comes with them is the worst kind of drug there is. Power normally is, to feel it just once is enough. The ability to do something you believed was impossible. And all the while it's killing you from the inside. If it doesn't end, we could see at best an epidemic, and worst, a war led by people who for the first time in their lives have power over their neighbour and enjoy it."

Merran weighed the possibilities in her mind. The captain was right. She had pinpointed facts she hadn't even considered. These were humble people, who lived, worked and in the main had a good life. But just because there was peace didn't mean every citizen was at it. There were plenty of people who followed the rule for fear of the king's power, the laws that covered them or the people's retribution and judgement if they stepped out of line. With power that all fell away, if they could gain like-minded individuals and more stones... it would be bad. For everyone.

"What if we tell the people what the stones can do?"

It was something she had been pondering for some time.

"No, "Shè said, "if the people know that the Sulphites have been using the stones to kill them it could spark a civil war."

It was probably why the Sulphites had never told them the secret if it ever came down to it. They would share the power to kill their fellow Aradians.

The captain read her thoughts. "I know warning them makes sense, but it hasn't been necessary. They never parted with their stones. It was what they fought for."

Which begged the question, who was it, and why were they doing now?

She voiced these thoughts. "So, if this operation and the one he told us about are different, who and why is somebody handing out Stones?"

Shè shrugged. "That is what we have to find out?"

"And Shakur?" Merran was breathing heavily now, the steps felt like a never-ending cycle.

"It's odd that he was in Festiva," Shé commented, "but I don't see why he would want to hand out stones, not to mention he was the one who advocated for them to stay in the hands of Sulphites and in the mines of Kava."

"A perfect cover," Merran thought aloud, "and as to the why it's clear he doesn't want this tournament to proceed, he wants the king to choose an heir as soon as possible. A disruption like this could force the king's hand."

Shè stopped on a platform a few stairs above her. "You're assuming he would be brazen enough to blackmail the king into picking an heir or watching the impact of the stones."

Merran hadn't thought of it in that respect. She had assumed the selection would stabilise the anxiety around the topic, a new leader, a restored shield, a satisfied high priest who would stop handing out Stones. Unless he was trying to gain the people's gratitude in some way, which still didn't make as much sense as Shè's deduction.

"I think you're onto something Mer," Shè surprised her, "but I don't think its regarding the selection of an heir."

She hadn't said tournament and Merran picked up on it right away. "So, the High priest is using people to —

Her brain sparked. "The man who made us jump; he was trying to pit us against each other. But why would Shakur want us to fight. It's a tournament, we're competing?"

"When this is done you won't be."

"I don't know, it seems like an awful lot to do to cause a rift between leaders, unless he favours a competitor and is trying to..." Merran threw up her hands. She was going to say support one, but it didn't make sense.

"I don't know what, but we need to arrest him, question him and see what he knows."

Shè chuckled. "As I've told you Shakur is immune. We can't arrest him on a suspicion and a visit to the Festiva, if we did it would probably start a war..."

Shè trailed off, but Merran had already cottoned on. "If it was him, he got that man at the Festiva to tease Kaijan about the stone coming from Kava and ensure everyone else knew about it. If you had him arrested, they would think he were being framed and..." she didn't need to finish. Even years after the civil war, if a high priest was arrested without cause, the Sulphites would turn on them, and with their stones versus the king's power, well, it would be interesting.

"It's one angle, but there are others and other people who could be responsible. Still, I will keep an eye on Shakur, hopefully I can catch him in the act."

Merran reached the platform and suck some air into her lungs. She was about to ask Shè about the other angles, when she turned and started towards a carved opening in the rocky wall.

"Come on," the captain said not even out of breath, "Reuben is this way, and his found some familiar faces."

They weren't under the terraces any longer, instead they had stepped into the walls and the cave system Misa had boasted about. There were no traces of the Stones here, instead it was pitch-black.

She couldn't see anything; she held out her hand and it disappeared from view.

"Shè!" She called out.

"Don't move Mer, I don't know what's in front of us, but Reuben's understanding of these caves is they aren't normal."

"What does that mean?" She asked frozen to the spot.

"Don't know, he can't really articulate the difference, but watching through his eyes made me feel a little nausea's."

"So, how do we get anywhere, do we go back?"

"Normally, I would say yes, but not today."

Merran didn't get the chance to ask because at that moment a bright light dropped from the ceiling and then started bobbing towards them...

***