“Captain? We have a few human men who want to speak to someone who’s in charge.” Linda Skylark, now a sergeant, poked her head into the office, and Desa looked up with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh? Why is that, and who are they?” the Captain asked, shuffling the papers she had to the side.

“It’s another of the small bands of people we’ve seen trickling in, though there’s something odd about this group. One of them is a slave, and the others are armed. The man in charge called himself Umar, and he strikes me as more of a bandit or such,” Skylark explained, shrugging slightly. “Wish I could tell you more, but I’m not sure of anything else. They’re a bit suspicious, but not quite as much as some of the others who’ve shown up.”

“I wish we had a better way of figuring out who to let in than looking for command sigils,” Desa muttered, frowning deeply. “Still, we let in the adventurers, and we need to help slaves. I really doubt Kelvanis would have many volunteers who’d be willing to be branded in order to infiltrate the city.”

“I agree with you there, Captain.” Skylark nodded quickly, before pausing and asking, “What do you want me to do?”

“Show them in, and I want you to stay here as well. No more than two of them inside, though,” Desa cautioned, frowning as she added, “We don’t want to give them a chance to attack if they aren’t friendly.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Skylark nodded and quickly slipped out of the room to retrieve Desa’s visitors.

While the younger woman was gone, Desa quickly put away her documents. None of them were very important, but it was best not to have anything that a spy might be able to use out and available. A minute later Skylark returned with two human men, and the Captain found herself studying them closely.

The man in front moved with a grace that spoke to her of familiarity with forests, as well as the stride of a trained warrior. He was stocky and well-muscled, if on the thin side, and his eyes and hair were both pale brown. Two empty sheaths hung from his belt, each for long, curved daggers, and his swarthy skin was weathered from a great deal of time outdoors. His worn leather armor and clothing spoke of a great deal of time as a woodsman. The odd combination of weaponry and outfit intrigued Desa.

At his side was a clumsier-looking man, tall and with a large nose. The man was even thinner and didn’t move like a warrior, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. The man had thin red hair and blue eyes, and also sunburned sometime recently, from the flakes of skin on his face.

“This is Captain Desa Iceheart,” Skylark told them, stepping to the side as she closed the door. The two men were studying Desa as she looked them over.

“May I ask what your position in Beacon is, Captain?” the first man asked calmly, his eyes intent.

“I command the city defenses, and answer only to Her Majesty,” Desa replied shortly, leaning back and steepling her hands in front of her. “Who are you?”

“I see. I’m Umar Sharptongue, and this is Adrian Chandler,” the man replied. “I’m here to ask a few questions. Mostly I’m wondering what your intentions toward Kelvanis are.”

Irritation rushed through Desa at his tone, but she suppressed it quickly, taking a breath before replying flatly. “Kelvanis won’t rest until we’re destroyed, so they’re an enemy that must be defeated utterly.”

“But what of the common folk of Kelvanis?” Umar asked, almost challenging her. “Most of them haven’t had anything to do with attacking you, or the nations of Sifaren or Yisara. What about them? Are you going to slaughter them wholesale?”

“Of course not!” Desa spat, standing up in outrage. “Oh, they aren’t innocent, since they’ve allowed the rulers of Kelvanis to get away with enslaving thousands of others for decades, but we would never do something like that! It’s the rulers of Kelvanis that have to be eliminated, not every man, woman, and child.”

“Is that the opinion of your Queen as well?” Umar asked, his manner softening as he continued, holding up a hand to forestall her angry retort. “I’m asking for a good reason, Captain Iceheart. Please?”

“If anything, Her Majesty has been a moderating influence on the rest of us,” Desa replied, harshly stepping on her urge to speak more vehemently. “What are you doing here?”

“Most of Kelvanis considers me a bandit, Captain, but I’m glad to hear that your Queen feels similarly to you. To answer your question, I’m a representative of the much-diminished Crown Loyalists of Kelvanis,” Umar replied, smiling slightly as he explained further. “While we don’t have immense resources, there’s more of us than I think the Archon believes, and we would love nothing more than to take down the current leadership. Tell me, would your Queen be interested in an alliance?”

* * *

“What’s the holdup, Ed?” Rene asked, the portly, plain woman shaving a stick impatiently as they waited for the fire to get warmer. She was eminently forgettable, with brown hair and eyes, and just plain enough to not be memorable.

Edward was similar in a lot of ways, though his hair was almost black and he had a wiry body instead. He shook his head, murmuring, “Trouble. We’ll have to tell Kevin when we get back, but I spotted a large group a bit to the southwest. They’re mostly slaves, but I recognized a few of the abolitionists that were supposed to be dead. Including Slaid Damrung.”

“What? Kevin put a dagger into his eye as he was leaving their manor five years ago! He loves telling that story,” Oliver protested, the handsome blond foreigner offering one of the sausages to Rene, who savagely speared it before holding it over the flames. “How could you see him there?”

Edward shrugged, settling back and shaking his head. “I’ve no idea how he survived, but he’s missing an eye, so Kevin must’ve been mistaken about how deep his knife went. Regardless, it means that some of our old contracts are still alive and kicking.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Xaris rumbled, and they all looked at their tall, lean leader, his voice deep despite his slight frame. His eyes were like coal, and his smile was unfriendly as he shook his head, running a hand over his shaven skull. “Our current contract is more important. Leave them alone, we’ll talk to the Guildmaster once we’ve dealt with the dungeon. Old contracts can always be dealt with later.”

“Sure. Seems like a better idea than trying to get too fancy,” Oliver agreed.

“How hard do you think killing the dungeon will be?” Rene asked, glancing at Xaris curiously. “I didn’t think it would be easy, mind, but the question won’t leave me alone.”

“Depends on a lot of things, but dryads don’t like fire, so we’ll start there. The city actually should make this easier, if rumors are accurate and the dungeon keeps coming out to talk to their nobles,” Xaris told her, sitting back on his rock and stretching his legs. “That’ll mean there’s a shortcut somewhere. We just need to find it, and as soon as we’re in range, we shut the damned thing down and kill it. Get in, kill it, and we’re golden.”

“Assuming the teleport stone works,” Oliver muttered softly.

“It should. Kevin checked it before even taking the contract,” Edward replied, beginning to heat his own sausage. “I don’t think he’d sacrifice all of us pointlessly.”

“He wouldn’t, but mistakes happen. We’ll take this slowly and carefully,” Xaris told them, smiling again as he added, “Though I doubt that it’ll take us too long. It shouldn’t cause any problems if we wait a week or two.”

* * *

“Slaid Darkeye, is it? I’ve heard of you,” Phynis spoke in a friendly tone, standing as the man stepped into the small dining room. The man had short-cut black hair and a black eyepatch over his left eye, but his beard was well-trimmed and he was surprisingly handsome, despite the numerous scars that adorned his arms and face. He was also wearing plain but reasonably nice clothing. She suspected that he kept the clothing mostly for meetings like this one.

“Queen Constella, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Slaid replied with a bow, smiling slightly. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you know of me. The question is how much you know about me.”

“Your actual name is Slaid Damrung, survivor of the Damrung Massacre, when your entire family was murdered in the night. Your grandfather was Duke Damrung, and was the last noble of Kelvanis to resist Ulvian Sorvos’ control of Kelvanis,” Phynis replied calmly, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow. “You have partnered with the few surviving abolitionists in Kelvanis, along with the old Crown Loyalists, to try to overthrow the current regime. My family supported you as we could, as did the crown of Yisara, as I recall.”

“Sounds like you know more than I thought you did,” Slaid replied with a chuckle, smiling and nodding around the room. “May I ask who else is here? I don’t recognize any of the others except for Umar and Adrian.”

The former was lurking near the punch bowl, while Adrian chatted animatedly with Ruby. Apparently Adrian was the representative of nearly a thousand escaped slaves, which had surprised Phynis until she’d learned that he’d been an extremely skilled healer and vocal opponent of Kelvanis’ government before his enslavement.

Nodding toward the corner, Phynis began simply. “The dryad in the corner is Sistina, the intelligence of the dungeon and architect of our little city. She’s also my lover, along with the Jewels. They are the ladies who you see scattered about the room with unusual hair colors, Ruby is talking to Adrian. Each of them were priestesses of Medaea that were captured and enslaved by one of Kelvanis’ Adjudicators before their rescue. They have a relationship with Sistina and myself. Captain Desa Iceheart is by the window with Court Mage Farris, they were both my guards before I left Sifaren, and are among my most loyal servants. Yes, Farris is made of stone, her body is that of a golem. The situation there is a touch complex.”

Turning slightly, she nodded as she continued. “Albert Windgale is the leader of the Western Adventuring Guild in town, and he’s speaking with Earl Thatcher, a Kelvanis soldier who defected some time ago. I don’t see Kassandra just yet, but the sun hasn’t fallen, so I’m not surprised. You won’t be able to miss her, she’s a human and unnaturally pale. She’s going to be running the Mage Academy in Beacon. The others declined to attend, I’m afraid, so whoever is here will have to do.”

“That’s a lot of women, Your Majesty. Why?” Slaid asked curiously, looking at the room of people from beside her. Along one wall was a table of refreshments, and Phynis moved toward it slowly, with him following in her wake.

“Well, it started with my personal guard all being female. Then we had the priesthood of Medaea show up, who were also all women. Add to that the preponderance of slaves who happened to be nearby being women, and it snowballed. Numbers have equaled out now that we’re freeing laborers and farmhands, but at the moment men in the palace are outnumbered by women almost eight to one,” Phynis replied wryly, shaking her head. “It wasn’t intentional, but once someone pointed it out a week ago, I haven’t been able to avoid noticing.”

“Fair enough. It’s definitely something I noticed right away.” Slaid seemed amused and smiled for a moment, before his smile faded and he asked more seriously, “That being said, I have to ask what it is you had in mind? You’ve got a massive city here, but it’s almost deserted.”

“That’s our main problem. We have powerful defenses, and the more time passes, the more golem soldiers Sistina can build for us, but it’s a matter of time. Kelvanis is attacking Sifaren as we speak, and things are starting to unravel all around us. We don’t have time or manpower, Slaid,” Phynis replied, the weight of her position descending on her again. “Sistina can easily make weapons and armor, but we don’t have the people or the time to train them to fight. I suspect we’ll be able to defend Beacon against almost anything Kelvanis can throw at us in the short term, but…”

He nodded as she trailed off, his voice serious. “I entirely understand. The reason I ask is that while we have a lot of people in my organization, we simply can’t equip them properly. More than a few times we’ve considered going to Sifaren or Yisara and working out of their territory, but that would make us like foreigners. Even now I’m loathe to simply join you, but at this point we don’t have much of a choice. I could have a few thousand men and women here within weeks if I asked, but the question is whether or not you’re willing to take the risk of their presence.”

Phynis understood his point clearly. A few thousand trained soldiers inside the walls could be devastating if they were hostile, but she nodded and smiled at him, beginning to fill a plate with food. “While I would be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about the presence of so many outsiders, I have few options at present, and everything I’ve heard about you helps to put me at ease. If you’re willing to bring them together, I’m more than happy to work with you, Slaid. There’s only one thing we need to address first.”

“When to stop, if we win, and who gets what,” Slaid replied levelly, prompting a nod from her as he smiled and nodded. “I won’t stop until the Archon, the Adjudicators, and the Justicars are removed from power. Everything else can be rebuilt into a new government, given time. I consider that to be victory.”

“I require slavery to be abolished in Kelvanis, and for Kelvanis to return to its borders from 20 years past, unless the native inhabitants choose to remain as part of the nation,” Phynis replied, her voice calm as she added, “Former slaves must be given enough to survive for a year and allowed to leave the nation.”

“I see no issue with that,” Slaid agreed, pouring a glass of punch. He extended it, and Phynis clinked a glass of her own against his.

“Excellent. Do we have an agreement, then?” she asked.

“I believe we do,” Slaid agreed, and both of them took a drink. A moment later, he chuckled darkly. “I do believe diplomats would have a fit of apoplexy at how we just negotiated, though.”

“It’d be good for them,” Phynis replied brightly, smiling as Diamond approached. “We can figure out exact details in the coming days, but I think we have a basis for working together.”

“Indeed. Making certain that Ulvian Sorvos is buried in an unmarked grave,” Diamond spoke softly, prompting growls of agreement from everyone in earshot.