And there was a crackling fire burning brightly inside it. Shadowy figures broke apart and approached when we neared.

“Dagan! Someone’s here!”

Dagan shoved me behind him and had his emerald dagger in his hand before I could blink. Nasu threw himself atop the cart in front of Arwia, brandishing his sickleswords.

“Get down!” he hissed to her, and she ducked beneath the linens.

“Who’s there?” Dagan commanded.

“A-zu!”

A woman’s voice echoed from the Libbu, and before we could even make another move or better prepare ourselves for impending bloodshed, we were surrounded.

By Koru. Eight of them.

Commander Ummi, scraping her teeth with a stick, and Humusi, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, stepped from the shadows. Higal followed, burly hands on thick hips near her battle-axes.

“What are you doing here?” I breathed.

“You are not a quiet plotter. I heard you and Arwia on the steps,” Ummi said around the stick in her mouth.

“But we never said anything about going to Wussuru then. Did we?” If we were this bad at sneaking around our allies, what chance did we stand in Alu?

She spat something out on the ground. “You said it in your home.”

“You were spying on us?” Nasu snapped.

Higal laughed, a full-bellied sound that echoed through the courtyard. “We do as we are told.”

Arwia poked her head up from the cart. “Are you going to take us back to Manzazu and tell Sarratum Tabni what we’re doing?”

Dagan stepped forward with his dagger poised to throw.

“Put it away, farmer,” Ummi ordered, both of her battle-axes suddenly in her hands. “We’re not here to turn you in. We’re here to help you.”

Nasu flicked his gaze from Dagan to Ummi but did not drop his sickleswords. “And defy your sarratum?”

Dagan stepped forward. “Yes, please explain.”

“I could kill you in three seconds, boy.”

“And I could kill you in two,” Dagan growled, his dagger twitching in his hand.

“Stop it. Both of you.” Arwia climbed down from the cart, her long braid trailing after her like a rope. “Sheathe your weapons.” She looked around at the rest of the Koru who’d encircled us. “All of you.” Her hands trembled as she held them out, but she did not back down.

Slowly, his eyes watchful, Dagan slid his knife back into his belt, but stood at the ready, muscles tense. Ummi twirled her battle-axes and sheathed them in one smooth move, smiling broadly around the stick in her mouth.

“Please tell us why you’re here.” Arwia held her hand out to Ummi.

“I told Sarratum Tabni that we’d accompany you to your destination to guarantee your safety. And here I am.” She bowed. “She wanted you watched on the path to Enlidu. She doesn’t know you’re here in Wussuru or what you plan to do, because I kept that from her.”

“Why would you do that?” I asked.

“Because I believe in what you said on those stairs, A-zu. If you move into Alu swiftly, with stealth, you could rid your city of that maggot and be done with it.”