“Yes,” I said stolidly.I snagged his sleeve and tugged him behind me as a stream of shrieking children passed.“Tane and I will go in alone, if need be.”
“You intend to Otherwalk into the Ess Noti.”
I shrugged, pretending to be far more nonchalant than I felt.“I walked into a prison to save you, and you were quite the task.Little more than dead weight for half the escape, I might add.Why shouldn’t I be able to walk into the Ess Noti and steal a book or two?”
Ben considered me archly.“Dead weight?I remember saving your life.”
“I saved yours at least twice.”
“You have no idea what you are looking for or where to find it.”
“I’ll start in the infirmary.Tane can read Mereish and we move through walls.I have a good chance.”
He simply grunted at that, though I was still left with the feeling I had lost the argument.
The gate to the inner city was open and unguarded.Beyond, humanity condensed even further.Inns and taverns crammed in beside tenements, constructed of both wood and stone and occasionally slate.There were more sailors, men and women alike marked out by their short coats, broad gaits, and black-rimmed eyes.
The gates to the Old City, however, were not so welcoming.The ancient walls were thick and high, and, beyond them, the towers and roof of official-looking stone buildings loomed.There were many gates, each one named in Mereish and leading, presumably, to various compounds.All were closed, guarded, or both.
No children played here.No one loitered, chatting in a brief wash of sunshine in the wide, circular road that surrounded the Old City, or lingered around the statues that graced its circumference.I saw a couple try to sit together on the edge of a fountain, only to be barked away by two passing soldiers.
We took a second to breathe as Ben finished eating a large, flat pastry that had appeared from nowhere and brushed off his hands.
I stared at one particularly grand spire, capped with a shrieking dittama weathervane.
“This may be harder than I expected,” I murmured.
“Nonsense,” Ben scoffed.Two soldiers strode past us, a man and a woman, and his chin drifted to one side.“Follow me.”
***
I had made a mistake.That became quite clear to me as Ben and I saluted our way through the closest gate and entered the Old City, dressed in slightly mussed soldiers’ uniforms.
In my mind, this endeavor had been simple: stay hidden in the crowds as we weaved through the streets until Tane noticed something that would identify the Ess Noti’s headquarters, since I doubted there would be a sign.
But there were no crowds on these streets, no common folk with common concerns to conceal ourselves among.Almost everyone was a soldier, though their armament varied and their uniforms were diverse, from plum to grey to dark yellow.Some stood guard.Some patrolled.Some hastened on errands.Servants and clerks formed the remainder of the population, moving efficiently with their heads down.Lastly, we spied well-dressed men and women of ambiguous affiliation.
This way, Tane whispered in the quiet of my mind.
I nodded Benedict down a sidestreet and into an even denser region.The streets, alleys, stairs and bridges became positively labyrinthine, and we were forced to wait in line to pass over a narrow canal that stank like a flooded cellar.
Then, rising amid the towers, I spied a dome of stone in varying colors and patterns.Through Tane I felt a stir—the presence of other ghistings and a sense of the Other itself.
Down the street, a large but otherwise unremarkable set of double doors stood unguarded.
“We’ve found it,” I murmured to Ben.“That must be the Ess Noti.”
We situated ourselves in one of the many alleyways, and I took a few moments to calm my nerves, eyeing the walls and doors of the building I intended to enter.My nervous hands, fidgeting with my uniform, quickly discovered the woman I’d stolen it from had a fondness for sweets, which I grudgingly shared with Ben.I paced.He stood stolidly, less emotive than the walls all around us, but accepted a sweet and began to suck on it distractedly.
At last, Ben prompted, “Are you ready?”
I paused, a sweet lodged in my cheek.“Yes.Wait for me as long as you can.If all else fails, we reunite at the cathedral.”
“Which cathedral?”a female voice asked.
“The one with—” I began to reply thoughtlessly, my tongue overridden by a wave of Magni magic.
A blonde woman strode towards us, dressed in fine but practical Mereish clothing.A man came behind her, dressed much the same and leveling a pistol as he did.
