The rattle of a key in the lock. Then, frustrated, cursing when realizing that it was bolted.
"It's bolted from the inside."
"Then he's in there. My lord! If you can hear us, please respond!"
They watched through the monitors and said nothing.
A different monitor caught their attention. Losham was striding toward the front doors of the mansion, his assistant trying to keep up with his purposeful strides.
Someone must have notified him of the situation. Hakum, most likely. Either that or he had felt the lord's absence, sensed that something fundamental had changed.
Of course he had. Losham was smart, much smarter than most of the people trying to get into this office.
They had studied his file, reading every document in Navuh's private system that they could access. Fifteen centuries as chief advisor. Eidetic memory. Excellent strategist who was patient and planned twenty steps in advance. This was a mind that saw patterns, constructed plans, and executed flawlessly. They could use him to their advantage.
Navuh's notes had been revealing. Suspicions about independent wealth. Questions about loyalty. Plans to audit, to test, to verify.
Navuh had been right to be paranoid.
Through all eight pairs of their eyes, they watched Losham on multiple monitors as he entered the mansion, climbed the stairs, and approached the corridor where the crowd was gathering outside this very door.
Decision time approaching.
Should we absorb him into our collective? Use him as one would an appendage?
Would he fall under our thrall like everyone else?
They needed to test him before they revealed themselves.
One of them stood and walked over to the window, looking down at the compound. The others remained focused on the surveillance feeds.
Eight bodies, one purpose.
The knocking grew more frantic. Hakum was nearly hysterical now.
They could have eased his mind, thralled him to go back to his chair and not tell anyone that anything was amiss, but that would have been much less entertaining.
Soon, they would reveal themselves. Soon, those outside would know that it was a new dawn on the island. Soon, they would make it clear that they were in charge.
On the monitors, they watched Losham round the final corner, take in the scene, the crowd, the locked door, Hakum, and the guards' distress.
His expression barely changed. But they saw it. The minute shift in posture. The calculations running behind his eyes.
"What's happening here?" Losham's voice cut through the chaos, calm and authoritative.
Everyone turned toward him with obvious relief. Someone who could take charge and relieve them from the burden of thinking. These people followed orders, and they needed someone to issue them.
"Commander Losham," Hakum said. "We know now that Lord Navuh has locked himself in his office. We tried the key and found that the door was bolted from the inside. The lord is in there, but he doesn't respond. Also, the harem reports that all the ladies are missing. We don't know what has happened."
Through their collective consciousness, Dave watched Losham's mind work. Saw him constructing scenarios, and they wondered what he had come up with. The truth was that they didn't know what had happened to the ladies or to the lord. All they knew was that his life force had suddenly faded and then disappeared altogether.
Navuh was most likely dead, but whether he killed the ladies or there had been some foul play in the harem, Dave couldn't say. The shaman was a prime suspect because he wasn't who he seemed to be. Perhaps he was an assassin. Perhaps he had been sent by the Brotherhood's enemies to kill the lord and his ladies.
"Step aside," Losham said. "Let me try."
The crowd parted. He approached the door, approached them, though he didn't know it yet.
Three measured knocks. "My lord? It's Losham. May I speak with you?"
