Mart puts his hand on his brows to shade his eyes. But it is no use; the sun is shining directly to his face. The humid weather has made his brand new, fine clothes stick to his body. He tries to stay put and look ahead calmly. But he is not just annoyed by the heat; this talk with Akhgar has made him anxious. He doesn’t know what he wants to speak to him about. Akhgar is always too careful not to have such one to one meetings in public. Perhaps having become the First Disciple has given him a new confidence. They don’t need to be scared anymore. He should be more confident too. He is no longer a third-tier disciple. Having dealt with the refugee crisis and sending back the fire stricken women and children to their ships has granted him a secure seat in the Circle. But being a Circle member is not enough for Mart. He desires to become the First Disciple in the coming years, giving speeches to the pilgrims in the parting ceremony of Akhgar like he did today.

“Everything went according to our plan… Except for Tirad getting away!” Akhgar says. Mart sighs. He is relieved that Akhgar’s important matter is Tirad’s escape and nothing else. But Mart is not worried about Tirad, since he is not smart enough to understand about their affairs and dealings, yet clever enough not to return to the Saviour Ship or Oxan. Living on the sea will not suit Tirad because of his weak heart that makes him unable to swim, he will surely die soon. He tells these to Akhgar assuring him that Tirad will never come back to make any troubles and that they could assume him dead. But Akhgar shakes his head. Mart knows he will not be blamed for having lost the Saviour coins, both the coins that Tirad had took from his room and the one thousand three hundred coins that somehow he had stolen from the naval guard. Akhgar had said so before that such victories have heavy prices and those coins were a part of it. He doesn’t say these to Akhgar, he just waits to see what Akhgar is sorry for, shaking his head like that.

“The people of the sea are scared. They believe a mad disciple that we introduced as the criminal might attack their ships and burn them down,” Akhgar explains and adds that they have had six reports from the ships declaring incidents with the Saviour missioners with two of them murdered. Mart already knows these and he blames himself for not having predicted such reactions but he doesn’t say anything to Akhgar who is determined that such attacks and killings of the Saviour missioners should be stopped. Such killings would definitely weaken the Saviour Ship and the Circle. He says fishers and divers attack anyone with a Saviour tattoo especially after the cruel death of the naval guard and Mart’s agent. Mart shakes his head, not because he is sorry, he just wants Akhgar to know he understands. He shouldn’t let Akhgar continue this conversation since it will reveal Mart’s fault as not having dealt with such reactions on the sea. Mart stops Akhgar and says he knows how to handle the situation. Akhgar waits for Mart’s ingenious idea with a spark in his eyes.