The Red Throne by Fuad Baloch

Author:Fuad Baloch [Baloch, Fuad]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Red Crescent
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

6

Rebellion

1 night before the Grand Celebration

* * *

Palvar took in a deep breath, but the night breeze offered up nothing to relieve his shot nerves. The city would be marking the Grand Celebration tomorrow night. He looked around. In the starlit night, he and the captain were the only two figures Palvar could see in the abandoned alley.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” whispered Captain Habbra. “I should return with more men.”

“Do that and we will alert our quarry,” said Palvar. “No, we’re here, and we’re going through with it.”

Words were easy things to say, for they didn't always have to adhere to reality. Moreover, if Palvar continued to tell himself he’d succeed, fates would take notice. An old Nikhtun saying that he hoped carried a kernel of truth.

“What if we’re wrong?” murmured Captain Habbra. “I’ll lose my post. What about you?”

Palvar forced a smile. “I… I stand to lose a great deal more. Look at it this way, though, even if we’re wrong, at least we would’ve had some excitement to show for it.”

A frog croaked behind them. Captain Habbra wheeled around, drawing his sword in one smooth movement.

“Nothing there,” whispered Palvar.

“I see that,” replied the captain, his eyebrow twitching.

The docks had been abandoned a decade or so ago when the then Sultan ordered a bigger harbor to be built some distance away. With no humans to maintain the area any longer, both desert and salty ocean water had come to reclaim their dues. The road under their boots was covered under a thick layer of slippery sand and the squat buildings and dockyards had started rotting.

“Come,” said Palvar, pointing at the warehouse directly ahead. “That’s the place the magus said to visit in the night.”

“If there is a rogue magus there, shouldn't we be keeping far away from it?”

“Never knew a captain of the City Guard to be this scared,” noted Palvar sarcastically, then raised a placating hand. “But do I really need to spell out to you the name of the one man who has the means and motives to carry out these attacks, and why we must proceed on our own?”

“We have no proof.”

“There,” pointed Palvar, “we shall find it.”

“Inquisitor Fan—”

Palvar raised his index finger. “Inquisitor Fan is someone who knew quite a great deal about the dead custodian when we first met him.” He raised his middle finger. “He is the only one who could detect a magus at the scene and he assures us there wasn't any.” He raised his ring finger. “The moment a magus as much as hints at the possibility of a magus operating on their own, the inquisitor shuts us down.” He raised his fourth finger. “Then, the inquisitor assures us not to worry about the warning a man gave us in his last moments.” He raised his thumb. “He refuses to tell us whether the magical artifact has been located or not.” Palvar clenched his fingers into a fist. “Together, where do all these facts take us?”

“All theory,” huffed Captain Habbra.

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