VAERA

One ten since the Mark of the Other One blossomed.

As she left the Amber Falls, Vaera left a few extra coins on the table. To be on the safe side. The bar was important to her. It meant the world to her that the lot in Amber Falls counted her as one of their own. Although not because she felt the need to belong somewhere.

But in her mind she cursed Mei with all her perfect height and pleasantly plump figure and especially those annoyingly perfect blonde curls. She was a constant reminder of what Vaera was not like. Then again, being able to easily disguise herself as a man or crawl through tight spaces had saved her neck a few times. No one could call her ugly, she just did not have the looks to wear a dress.

Autumn was in full swing, although in Whitefall you could not always tell. Warm seas surrounded the city, the plants never withered here, and the sun was shining most of the year. If you would believe what the people were saying, the voidstone up in the Palace of the Pureblooded was to blame for the overcast weather. Vaera knew better. Autumn weather was always fickle, even here. Vaera took off without looking where she was going, her mind working overtime.

Those damned voidstones. Ever since the Mark of the Other One had blossomed, those damned relics of an ancient, bygone world had broken. And everyone was talking about everything related to the stones. For several days now, people would try to get Vaera to do favours for them by sharing or making up one idiotic story after another. Now Mei had joined this crowd of idiots.

But there was the matter with the oracle. Vaera had seen others bring up the missing children, and every time the keepers had said to leave that topic alone. It was foul play, and there were whispers it might involve the Grandkeeper himself.

Usually it was not a problem, as the children missing were from either Dorwald or Ildar. However, there had been a few nasty incidents when children from Whitefall itself had gone missing. It was one of those dirty public secrets you ignored as long as it was not your back-yard problem.

The palace now lay almost directly left of her, up several cliffs. One of Mei's comments had left her itching and curious. 'Go look at the front of the palace.' She had seen the mages, but maybe there was something new today. Not like she had anything important to deal with.

Narrow streets and staircases wound between white houses. Built out of and inside limestone cliffs, the lower tiers of the city were packed tight. You could barely tell where one house began, or the other ended. Until you reached the two upper tiers. There were houses built on higher cliffs, but as usual the ideas of up and down were decided by where the wealthiest were living.

The houses up here were tall and wide. Different from the chiselled mounds, most of the city was built out of. Several kinds of stone bricks and ornate carvings decorated the houses. And wood was used in the construction. Wood was a luxury here in Whitefall.

The land owned by the freehold and beyond was nearly barren, most of it a desert of rock and sand. There was enough good soil for a few bigger farms along the riverside. Other than that, the only things that grew out there were stocky bushes and shrubs.

Over time, several trade routes had converged at Whitefall. The city grew fast and could suddenly afford everything it could not grow or dig out of the earth. It did not have much of an army, but because of its wealth, it could afford to buy peace from the surrounding kingdoms. Moreover, that the most powerful mages outside the Empire had made their home here helped an awful lot. Speaking of mages.

Vaera glanced behind her as another trio of acolytes clothed in yellows and their traditional pale blue tabard passed. Usually they spent most of their days in the Palace of the Pureblooded or outside of the freehold. But these days several groups of three wandered all across the city. In the early hours, you could see them sitting in the middle of the streets as if it was perfectly normal.

She made it up the final wide staircase, and the front gates of the palace stood in her view. And in the middle of the grand square stood a Hand of the Magnus. One of the selected great mages, personal assistants and near equals of the Magnus, the Archmage of the Arcane Crux.

Vaera froze for an instant. The Hands were always an intimidating sight. Quickly, but with measured paces, she resumed her walk across the square. There were two more Hands in the distance. All three were in full garb, as if prepared for war. Chain mail decorated with shiny copper leaf was peeking from under their regal blue tabards and their darkened reinforced leather leg armour was decorated with the same copper leaf. She was especially jealous of their quality boots.

A prickling sensation behind her ears grew worse. Vaera was not especially astute, she was not gifted with the flow, but she could grasp presences of power. Few beings could fully read the flow. Maybe less than a hundred on the entire continent of Tavran, or so it was said.

She looked up towards the spire towering above the city, and she came to a halt. The only spot that marred the sight of this brilliant limestone city. Uninvited, the black mass drew her mind in, a cold crushing her thoughts. The presence of the voidstone hung in the air, barely held back by whatever power contained this raging flow.

You did not need to be a mage to understand. The Hands were building a barrier to shield the city. They had been doing this for days now. Looking around, she saw small markings carved on the sides of statues and into the pavement.

She was not even sure anymore what she should do or whether she cared about Ramsey or the possibility of making coin off Mei's story.

"Vaera?" A boy was standing in front of her. Confused, she looked around to see where the brat had come from.

"What do you want?" She was not in the mood for this. She knew the boy from somewhere. Must have been one of the errand boys.

"You need to be down at the freight harbour. As soon as you can."

"What? Why?" Vaera frowned.

"A job."

This made little sense. "We don't do business. What are you trying at?"

"Apparently you do." The boy said defiantly.

"We do not."

"You do. How about you listen to what I have to say first? You need to be down at the warehouses. It's the third one. You need to get the goods and deliver to the buyer." But Vaera interrupted the boy.

"What merchandise? What is trading hands at the third warehouse? That isn't even ours. That is a legit business. Who told you this? Is this a prank?" Her frown deepened.

"Since you can't listen, here." The boy held out a piece of paper. Someone had drawn a blue hand overlooking white cliffs onto it. "And this too." A pale blue droplet on this one. "The Grandkeeper said he would flay me alive if I took a peek inside. You need to be down at the third warehouse. The second card will give you access to the seller and the funds, they have been told. Ninth desk. The first one will show you your destination, where the buyers are waiting."

Vaera stared at the cards in her hands. This had to be a joke. "Jaybird said that?" A smirk appeared on her face.

"You might be close to the Grandkeeper, but if I were in your shoes, then I would not risk pissing him off."

"Do you take me for an idiot?" Vaera growled. "Everyone was there when the announcement was made. Jobs are on hold."

"It's your choice. You can waste the client's time if you want to. Go straight to the Grandkeeper if you do not believe me."

"Who put you up to this?" Vaera demanded.

"Jaylen. The Grandkeeper asked me to." The boy walked past Vaera, but she made a grab for the brat's shoulder and yanked him back.

"Stop it with the jokes and tell me who put you up to this? Was it Ramsey? You do not appear out of the blue and say I have a job from the Grandkeeper outside our territory."

"I just did that. You do not push me around, Vaera. You might be the favourite, but you are an idiot. You can sit here and waste time or you can do your job. If you want to risk being flayed alive, then be my guest. A lot of people are after your position." The boy pulled himself out of Vaera's grip and walked away.

Now what? She eyed the cards in his hand. Jaybird's droplet looked genuine enough. She had seen the district keepers pass these on to her and others sometimes. But why was the other card carrying the Crux's symbol?

Come to think of it, who would dare pull a prank like this? No one would dare anger the Grandkeeper. But getting a job from him did not improve Vaera's mood. Jaylen had been too interested in her these past few moons. And Vaera was determined to keep away from him. He was dangerous.

If this was a job from him, then she could not sit around. But why would he use the Crux's symbol? Damn it! Damn him, damn Mei, and damn Ramsey. By the Six Makers of Light! Somewhere along the way, this day had taken a turn for the absolute worst. Vaera hurried back the way she had come.