Obran and Erkin rushed back to the southern gate arriving just as Zico, Tomas, and Tori were led in—thankfully they entered without incident. As the carriage entered Obran and Erkin kept their cloaks up and followed from a safe distance. But no one was taking interest in the carriage or interest in them and in the quiet cold streets everyone seemed to have other concerns.
Soon the wagon stopped at The Whispering Cricket where an attendant took their baggage and another led the wagon to a nearby stable. Obran stood a block away; he wanted to make sure no one had been alerted or rushed out to message someone else. Finally he saw a window open and a light go up in a room on the third floor facing the street. Good choice, he thought.
"Everything seems okay, let's go to the abbey bro," Obran said.
They headed to the eastern district, taking a different route so any guards wouldn't notice them going back and forth. The streets, shops, and tenements were quiet and the mood a bit tense. Obran had sensed that feeling when word of the Carthiginian invasion had first arrived. Everyone seems worried.
It took them about fifteen minutes before they reached the abbey. This one was a bit larger than the one in Remus; there were more followers of the way in the north and this new faith, which had long been persecuted in the capital, had for whatever reason become popular among the Celts and Etruscans in the north.
It was another expanded villa. As in Remus the monks operated a soup kitchen and a place to sleep for those in need. A priest or monk—Obran was not sure—welcomed them and told them about the basic rules and meeting hours if they were interested. Obran wasn't so he and Erkin merely found a spot to rest in the atrium, near the garden, where a several crippled and disfigured humans rested in the shade of an olive tree. If we stay near the sick humans, no one should bother us, Obran thought. They ate some of their fae food and Katrina arrived a few minutes later with Corvus dutifully by her side, and though she was dressed in her modest shepherdess attire, her hair in a bun, she still got plenty of attention—even from the so-called monks.
"Glad to see you both got in safe and sound," Katrina whispered as she sat down next to them.
Obran handed her some fruit, chestnuts, and sun baked bread.
"Yeah, no problems," Obran said.
"Your sheep are okay?" Erkin said.
"Yes, they are resting," Katrina said.
"Tonight both of you please keep a low profile while I'll go check on the others," Obran said.
"You don't want me to come with you," Erkin said.
"I can come too. You might need my sling and staff," Katrina said.
"I'm sure I could but I can sneak around better alone," Obran said.
"But they will close the gates here at 9pm. I doubt they will bend the rules like in Remus," Katrina said.
"I'll try to come back before then if not I'll find some place to spend the night, don't worry," Obran said.
After they ate they all napped since they hadn't slept much on the road; Obran even trusted Corvus to keep watch. Afterwards they toured the abbey: its temple, kitchen, and garden and Erkin even agreed to attend a reunion that evening with Katrina—though he said it was more out of his natural gremlin curiosity and scholarship than for any belief. So at dusk Obran donned his cloak, gladius, and crossbow and prepared to leave.
"Be careful," Erkin said.
"See you soon, I'll say a prayer to the Martyr for you," Katrina said.
"Uhm...thanks..." Obran said.
Obran brazed the chilly evening, making his way to the forum. If asked he could say he was getting food there. In the forum several orators were speaking; local elections were in a couple of days and all spoke about the greatness of their candidate and how they were favored by the King. The forum market was closed except for a few food stalls but Obran didn't bother to stop and continued to the inn. There in the alley he instantly noticed the inn's windows were closed and a white handkerchief had been hung out the closed window. That was the signal that something was definitely wrong.
Dammit...not more trouble....
Obran quickly looked for the tallest tenement nearby. He needed the best view of the area and of the inn. There was no one outside the inn but he still didn't want to approach it knowing it might be a trap. Instead he walked to the corner tenement and began to climb. It wasn't difficult, even at five stories; during the war he'd climbed over city walls, gates, and forts many times, sometimes just using his claws, and his cloak and small size made him hardly visible. Once on the top of the tenement he looked in every direction. Still he couldn't see inside the inn. All the windows and doors had been closed so he'd have to get closer. Obran dashed and jumped to the building next to him rolling as he landed. It had been a while since he'd done anything like that and now he was full of adrenaline. He looked down and sighed; it was about a four story fall and gremlins like humans were not immune to fall damage. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and dashed and jumped onto the next tenement, reaching the building in front of the inn.
But there was nothing, barely even any light through the cracks and hardly a sound. All the sounds from the tenements also made it hard to hear. So should he just stroll into the inn? Damn it, he thought. What else can I do? He was about to climb down when he looked down the alley parallel to him. There he saw a pair of horses hitched in a stable next to their carriage; they had Roman saddles which the army had just started to use. Don't panic, he thought, at least it is not elves. Okay, they are captured and probably being interrogated by Romans. They have the inn closed off and are probably on alert for my arrival. Two war horses meant at least two officers and there could be more legionnaires on foot. Obran needed to get as close and sneak in by one of the windows to take them by surprise. One last run and jump and he landed softly on top of the inn. He pressed his ears to the roof but still didn't hear anything. He listened through the chimney and heating system and finally heard something that sounded like two humans arguing, a man and a woman, but he couldn't make out any of their words but one did sound like Tori. Peeking over the edge, he could only guess if the windows were locked. He'd have to climb down and try the windows one by one, use his claws to unlock it. Suddenly he heard a buzzing near his ear. For a moment he thought it might be an arrow and that he was dead, but no, it was different; it was the wings of a fairy. Mara...198Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5qLiTqmKNY
