With the unexpected excitements in the Wild, Pari was hours later than she’d planned. She worried about what Arkav had done in that time. Had he managed to maintain the ruse that she was still in the carriage or had the servants found out? Had he stayed in Sagan or continued on their mission to bring the Sapphire High Lord to justice, or had he abandoned the mission entirely to search for her?

Just so long as he hasn’t had another another episode. Anything but that.

They met a patrol of guards who were much more polite than the last ones she’d encountered, even offering to provide escort. An unexpected side benefit of travelling with a Sapphire Deathless. Pari noted their faces with distaste. Something in them spoke of meanness, and a delight in petty power. She felt a moment’s pity for the other traders that would have to come this way and almost asked Vasin to bring the guards along, if only to get them out of other people’s business for a time. However, the risk of being identified was too great and so she remained in the back of the wagon, hidden.

Not long after, they arrived outside Sagan. Things appeared quiet, enough to give her hope, and she saw that the Tanzanite carriage was parked on the Godroad. The Dogkin had been untethered and had taken off, and only one servant remained, suggesting that Arkav and the others had gone into Sagan itself.

She came to sit next to Varg. ‘It looks like I won’t be needing you for a while. Check the house here is still intact and then get back on the road.’

‘You said you were going to go past Lord Rochant’s castle.’

Here we go. ‘I did.’

‘Does that mean I can go up and see her?’

‘Hmm,’ she said, drawing it out a little. ‘I suppose so. But don’t get too distracted. I want you on hand when we confront Yadavendra, just in case things don’t go to plan.’

‘Things never go to plan.’

She admonished him with a finger. ‘You’re starting to sound like Sho.’

‘Reckon that’s a good thing.’

‘Ha! Perhaps it is.’ An image of the old seneschal came to mind. She’d seen a lot of different servants in her lifecycles. Most were lost to the grind of time but some managed to haunt her long after they were gone. Sho would be one of those. She knew it.

‘Lord Vasin,’ she called, and the Deathless landed by the wagon instantly. ‘Might I ask you to honour Sagan with a visit?’

‘I could,’ he replied, ‘but it will seem strange. The elders of Sagan will be unsettled.’

‘All the better to allow me to slip back within my entourage unnoticed.’

‘Very well, but I need a reason to be here.’