Al-Uzza thought about the mission she had been given by the Empress. "What are these rumors that you have heard?" she asked. Sindal folded her hands primly before herself and had a look of long suffering cross her face for a moment at the question. "If I have learned anything, it is that sometimes a rumor holds greater truth than the speaker realizes," Al-Uzza said in a matter of fact tone, "For the rumors to have reached your ear, they must have been significant. Which makes them quite likely to be more than a mere rumor. Either they are fact or deliberate misinformation."
Decebal absentmindedly rubbed his jaw with the back of his left hand. "The most egregious of them is that Govenor Bastizia intends to give the city over to the invaders from the high reaches. They say that he strangled his wife and murdered their son." Sindal shook her head slightly. Decebal shrugged. "Others say that the son murdered his parents and intends to turn the city over to the invaders. None of the people coming have seen Bastizia but they are the lowest of the low. They'd have no place in the govenor's palace."
"And yet you have spoken to them," Al-Uzza said mildly. Sindal set a restraining hand on her husband's wrist before he spoke. Al-Uzza watched this with some interest. "Lady Sindal, what news have you heard through the whispers of the priestly orders?" Sindal glanced briefly at the acolyte in white. "I have come to make inquiry into this matter, not to place on display her Serene Highness's acolyte, it would be wise to answer the question. And, for that matter, why is it that Erlion has not attended this meal and council?"
"Brother Erlion watches the sand mirror for news of Acidavia. Strange things have been imprinted in the mirror and he has been attempting to interpret them." Sindal answered. "I can not read the mirror but even I was alarmed when the sand cast itself out of the bowl when Sarben fell."
"The sand of the mirrors is delicate and sensitive to many things. Was the bowl disturbed in any fashion or a breath of air through the room?" Al-Uzza asked, finding herself thankful that her time as a librarian and secretary meant that she had some familiarity with the magical communication devices of the priests of Ashur.
"Lady Al-Uzza, the bowl was undisturbed and the air was still. The sand lifted up and then cast itself out as though the bowl was thrown to the ground," Sindal said. Al-Uzza squinted at her. "Come, I shall show you the mirror chamber. Perhaps Erlion has learned something from the movement of the sands. Or perhaps brother Althos can help read the sands." Decebal nodded in agreement with his wife's decision.
"Then he can tell you what he has seen. As for the poor, their rumors reach me because I walk the city. Sometimes in disguise and sometimes with the guard but I walk the city daily as a consitutional and to measure her health. Midloth is a small city, I can make the circuit by midday on a busy day and still conduct business. I take different routes through different neighborhoods. The wealthy are quick to pay homage, the merchants are quick to offer goods, and the poor are quick to speak."
"Most unusual, Govenor Decebal," Al-Uzza said, "I had not heard of such a custom before." She and her party followed Sindal and Decebal through a small doorway and down a corridor. Two doors stood at either side of the corridor. One opened on to a monk's cell. That door stood partly open. Al-Uzza glanced briefly in and could dimly see a desk piled with parchement beside a cot.
Sindal opened the closed door and gestured Al-Uzza and her party in. For a moment, Al-Uzza questioned if this were an elborate trap of some kind. Iona, the acolyte of the Silent Sisters who stood right behind her, coughed softly. Al-Uzza gave a small sigh, resettled her veil on her shoulders, and stepped through the doorway. Beyond the door there was an antechamber with curtains hanging across the second doorway. "Brother Erlion, what have you seen this day?" Sindal asked as she approached the curtained door way and the others entered the room. They could see the glow of torches beyond the fabric of the curtain but the antechamber was gloomy and dark, especially after the door to the corridor was shut.
Once the door into the corridor was shut, Sindal parted the curtains and passed through. As Al-Uzza followed, she realized that Decebal remained in the antechamber. Iona and Althos passed into the chamber behind Al-Uzza. Brother Erlion was a gnarled looking man of some age. She was surprised he was the one to watch the mirror for the last person she had seen so stooped with age was blind. He leaned heavily on a cane as he walked around the bowl on a pedastal. The bowl was black obsidion, known by the common people as dragon's glass. Within it, Al-Uzza knew would be a layer of black sand from the distant sands where the bowl had been fashioned. The four torches in the room threw a lurid light that glinted on the sand.
A line moved in the sand squirming left then right. As it reached the edge of the bowl, it turned and circled the bowl. Though no hands touched the sand, it moved of its on accord tracing shapes as though something were moving over the sand. Al-Uzza knew that the sand mirrors were attuned to each other and that which was done to the first would be reflected in the second. Thus, she watched the ceaseless movement in the sand mirror with some confusion.
Althos looked at the mirror. "That's no human hand," he grunted. Erlion looked over at him. "It's a snake. Where are you viewing?" Althos continued.
"Acidavia, of course," said Erlion.
"Someone has put a snake into the sand mirror and covered it. It is a trapped animal making these signs." Althos said.
"What makes you so sure of that?" Al-Uzza asked, looking expectantly at the monk.
"Because if I were going to kill the brother watching the mirror, that's what I'd do," Althos answered, "When did this start?"
"This morning," Erlion said, "Perhaps an hour after you signed that you were moving towards us."
"Were there signs in the mirror before then?" Althos asked. Erlion shook his head.
"Wait," said Sindal, "The sands moved as though someone was brushing away a message at dawn."
"Was there anything there before dawn?" Erlion sighed and shrugged.
"You were sleeping, at a time like now?" Althos said indignantly.
"I am but one man, one old man." Erlion sighed, "My apprentice went away to the war of the south." Althos swore.
"You believe someone wrote a message late at night and another person erased it before putting a serpent in the bowl and covering it?" Al-Uzza asked. Althos gestured towards the bowl. "Then it may be that Acidavia is compromised already," Al-Uzza said with a sour expression.
"Perhaps, but perhaps they haven't moved yet. Because the bowl continues to show signs of the serpent's presence." Sindal said in a hesitantly hopeful tone.
"We must leave tomorrow for Acidavia," Al-Uzza said briskly, "And a company of strong soldiers must come with us."
"I haven't the men to spare," Decebal said morosely.
"The Empire demands it, Govenor," Al-Uzza replied sharply. Decebal was silent. Sindal looked at Al-Uzza with an inscruitable expression.
After a long moment, she said, "We can not send away the city guard. There are, however, bravos for hire."
"Your coin pays for it," Al-Uzza said in a flat tone. Sindal gave a small nod.
"Althos, go with their messenger tonight and make sure they are sturdy," Al-Uzza said to the monk as she turned her gaze upon him. "Tomorrow morn, you may find yourself a war leader rather than a companion."
"How far is it to Acidavia?" Al-Uzza demanded, warming to the idea of bringing a company of soldiers to mete out the Empress's justice.
"A day's ride, if you push your horses and the weather's fair," Decebal answered.
"Julara's mercy is with us. It will be a day's ride regardless of the weather," Al-Uzza answered.
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