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hey make it past the gates at last. Maqis studies all of them carefully and says as they cross through the courtyard, "I know what Shakra's business involves, but what of you two?" "I bear news from a far land," says Lirixa simply, and looks curiously at So Fooyan. "I suspect I am studying the yang, right now," he says. "I have no fixed home to return to. 'For when peace ends, peace has ended.'" All four of them reach a waiting room that is guarded by two soldiers. Maqis salutes the soldiers and says, "I'll inform the commandant of...this arrival." There are six chairs in the waiting room; Lirixa looks longingly at them but seems not to want to be the first to sit. A vase sits on a table in the corner, containing sprays of (out-of-season) forsythia blossoms. After he leaves, a trainee in a gray smock appears, a lad who squints as if he can't see their faces very well. "Would you like something to eat or drink while you wait?" "Water, thank you," says So Fooyan. "I, too," says Lirixa. Shakra remembers the taste of honey-sweetened punch with persimmons from her last visit and asks for that. The trainee nods, and leaves. Shakra takes a closer look at the vase with its flowers: nothing unusual, just forsythia branches that have been cut and brought indoors so their yellow blooms can brighten the room. Then Shakra takes a seat and waits. Lirixa casts Shakra a grateful look, and also seats herself. The trainee returns with water for So Fooyan and Lirixa, served in durable-looking wooden cups, and the persimmon punch for Shakra. Shakra sips her punch, enjoying its flavor, and the feeling of having safely completed a task, however small, in a world that seems to have lost much of its predictability lately. At least she should learn more soon. To stalk, one must either know the prey, or have evidence of it. So far she has only heard echoes.
Back: So Fooyan & Shakra's Prologue 8 Flame image courtesy of Mystiqal's Animated Icon Library.
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