Lord Riggins was a tired young man. His eyes were ringed with old, dark circles from many sleepless nights. But he didn’t look frail, even as he hunched forward in his chair. His elbows rested on his table, holding his chin on his knotted fingers. His tired eyes roamed from left to right, and the severity of his frown made the moment longer than it was. He didn’t speak, and neither did David.

  Captain Iliana had warned them to speak truthfully and plainly. David had planned to do that anyway.

  “You could have sent them to me, Iliana,” Lord Riggings said. He carried the tiredness in his voice. “You didn’t have to come here, too. Who holds your position while you are here?”

  “I was relieved by the Kadin’s group, my Lord,” the captain said, bowing. “I thought it wise they be brought to you before the others find them.”

  Lord Riggins nodded with a grunt. His eyes veered away from David to the others behind him again. Then he leaned back to rest on the wooden back of his chair. David didn’t know what to make of the man. He wore a Lord’s robe— fine grey fabric edged with black threads. The shoulder of his sleeves had patterns sewn into them. Patterns David didn’t understand.

  What held David’s attention, though, was the man’s ring—the one on his thumb. The green stone was a dull, tiny thing. Almost forgettable, only if you couldn’t sense the power in it. Besides that, he could sense nothing else in the room.

  Still, David strained his perception, reaching to see if there was anything beyond what he could see.

  “You don’t have to search,” Lord Riggins said, eyeing David. “That was what you were doing, yes?”

  David tried to keep his expression neutral. The man’s gaze had hardened. The tiredness had—for lack of a better word—vanished. He sat up straight, staring at David pointedly. He seemed refreshed, as if he’d drunk a dose of nourishing essence. Or his exhaustion had been reduced by magic,

  “You do not have to fear me, either,” Lord Riggins added. “You are not the first climber to cross our lands.”

  David nodded, still taut with worry. “You know about the tower, and people like us. Do you know about the one who made this tower?”

  Lord Riggins nodded stiffly. “We have heard the stories. Our seers have gleaned more from the Lady’s Light, too. By her grace.” He said the last part with such reverence that David almost cringed.

  “By her grace,” Captain Iliana echoed, touching the air to place her fingers against her tongue.

  “And what have they gleaned?” Zoey asked from beside David. Lord Riggins narrowed his eyes at her, but Zoey didn’t pull away. The man sighed, running his ringed fingers over his face.

  “Nothing I can share with you without the king and the First Hand,” Lord Riggins said. “But first, I must ask you why you travel the tower. Are you like us? Brought to this world against your will?”

  “No,” David said. “ But we are prisoners of a kind. Where yours was plucked and imprisoned, ours is routinely ravaged by monsters from the tower.”

  “By her grace,” Riggins said, the power in him seemed to bleed out. “Then you are not so different from us. And perhaps, we are aligned in what we seek to achieve?”

  David regarded the man with skepticism. He couldn’t decide if they were liars or fools being herded by Ishkar. He would have liked to probe some more, but he was tired.

  “Perhaps,” David agreed. Lord Riggins nodded, standing up. His robe was fastened at the waist. He retrieved a sheathed long sword next to his chair and slid it down his belt. Captain Iliana stood straighter as the man walked around his table and gestured for them to follow him.

  The Lord was taller than David expected. Broader back, too. He seemed a man who knew what to do with the sword. And if David could go by anything he’d noticed, there was some kind of magic in that ring.

  Not someone you want to mess with, Ignis supplied. David nodded as they walked out into a narrow passage. Lights hung from above, encased in thin, clean glasses.

  “We need to know more about this place,” Aza suggested. David turned around, taking stock of the others. Gis walked silently beside Carlos. She had withdrawn since the Questioner, still troubled. Much of Zoey’s anger had ebbed. Chloe followed in front of her, and Elisha stood behind them all.

  “Where are you taking us?” David asked. Iliana walked in front of him, and Lord Riggins was in front.

  “Your time with the Questioners was not as revealing as they ought to be,” Lord Riggins began. “But instead of that, we should have taken you to the First Hand. She will know if we can trust you. And then we will share what we know about the gates.”

  “Gates?” David asked. Another piece of information to didn’t make sense. Lord Riggins grunted, taking a left turn. David stepped out of the path of a red-haired woman carrying a heap of paper.

  “We just want to know how to leave Balorn,” David said, hoping he sounded as tired as he felt. “We don’t want to get involved with anything troubling. I promise we will not cause you any—”

  “Too late!” Lord Riggins wailed, turning around sharply. They all stopped. And David expected the man to go for his sword, but Lord Riggins sighed. “I am sorry. I know there is a lot you don’t know yet. We can’t let you leave Balorn, not yet. Perhaps after you see why I say this, you will understand.”

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  David drew close to the man, staring into his weary eyes. “Are we your prisoners?”

  Silence spread in the passage, and David noticed Iliana shuffled restlessly. Those behind him were calm, though. Watching.

  “No,” Lord Riggins answered finally. “Not yet. You are free to roam the city, if you must. But it will serve you to listen to me. We are not enemies. Our Lady of the Light has shown us the way.”

  “Why are you still here?”

  Lord Riggins turned to Zoey, annoyance in his eyes. He looked ready to grab her by the neck. He shrugged.

  “Power,” he said, turning around. They started the march again. David waited for the man to explain what he meant, but Lord Riggins didn’t say another word until they stopped in front of a double wooden door.

  The passage was silent. There were no other doors in this wing of the structure, and David had a feeling he couldn’t recall his way back to this place.

  Lord Riggins turned to them. “You speak for the rest, don’t you?”

  David nodded.

  “Then come with me. The others can wait out here.” He placed his hand on the door and knocked softly. “Iliana, I doubt they are in danger here. You can leave.”

  “I would rather she stayed,” David interjected quickly. Lord Riggins raised his brows and shrugged. The door slid apart, and a scent of harsh spice or incense wafted out, filling David’s head with a mixture of unknown fragrances.

  “Come,” a voice said.

  They stepped in, and the doors slid closed softly. Inside was a large room lit by flickering lights hanging from the walls. In front, against the far wall, was the statue of a woman in a sheer robe holding up the brightest light in the room. Still, the illumination was soft, subdued.

  Lord Riggins bowed deeply to the veiled woman sitting at the foot of the statue. David looked around, drinking up the sights around him—robed figures with their faces hooded.

  “By her grace, Lord Riggins,” the woman spoke. She was in a sea of fabric, like a squid. Soft hums filled the room, so low that David couldn’t believe it was coming from humans.

  [You have entered a sanctified space!]

  [The First Hand of Ishkar has extended to you the blessing of her abode!]

  [Your arrogance has been forgiven!]

  “By her grace, Lord Ruler,” The woman said. David was stunned at first, then he let out a groan. He should have expected that she would know who he was. The surprise faded fast.

  “You know who I am,” David said, ignoring Lord Riggins’ surprise. “And yet you let us be questioned.”

  “What I know is incomplete,” The First Hand said. Her voice was a whisper that traveled clearly, reaching him where he stood. “Our Lady shows the path, but she doesn’t hold our hands. I have seen only a glimpse of your glory. And I know that you and the others can save us.”

  “Different tower, the same drivel,” David muttered. “But I guess you know that we are not enemies?”

  “All you have are enemies, Lord Ruler. You lose friends while your enemies grow in strength and number.”

  “I guess you do know me,” David said, trying for sarcasm. Yet, he could tell that she wasn’t amused. “Lord Riggins here thinks we can help each other. He speaks about a gate?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, and a deep silence swallowed them all. It grew until David felt an inexplicable discomfort. When she spoke again, David felt the relief of one who had almost drowned. “What lies on the other side of the Gate will save us all.”

  “A war?” David asked. He hadn’t sensed the city was at war. But that clarified some things for him. “You want us to fight for you? In Amareth’s tower, I have power. Here, I am just as ordinary as Lord Riggins.”

  “You need not lie,” The First Hand said. “And you are wrong. The war is a symptom of a larger problem.”

  “Which is?”

  “Survival,” The First Hand said flatly. And when David didn’t respond, she forged on. “Our survival depends on how soon we retrieve what lies on the other side of the gate. This is the test we must pass to survive.”

  “When you said vanish, you meant that literally, didn’t you?” David asked, his suspicion coming to the fore again. “Your city is slowly fading.”

  “It is.”

  David whispered a curse at Balek. These were lives tossed on the board for amusement. So many people would die, still. Those who didn’t win would simply vanish like dust in a windstorm. He could imagine it. Such a waste. David wondered if he should tell them about Ishkar. Would they even believe him?

  “You don’t have to intervene,” Vith said. “This is what we have been looking for. Get it and leave them.”

  You have no regard for humans, Ignis said. But David is different. They are like him. And he has seen death.

  “And he can do nothing to change their fates. This city, the next, they have all been condemned to Balek’s game.” David heard something underneath Vith’s sharp retort. Frustration? Annoyance? He couldn’t tell with any clarity.

  David knew she was right, though. There was nothing he could do to help. They’d die, and he would carry them with him as he traveled the tower. And they wouldn’t be the first. How many more would he have to watch meet their end? The answer was more.

  “Whatever is hidden within the gate, I will need it too,” David said. “For now, I know nothing about this tower.”

  “We can help you with that,” Lord Riggins said. “You are not the first climber we have met. Many have gone through the gate. The Qael Dorei have sent in rankers of their own. But no one has returned. The soldiers believe we are sending people to their deaths.”

  David nodded. “Perhaps you are.” He frowned as something occurred to him. “If the Lady of the Light told you about the gate, who told the…” David struggled to remember the name Lord Riggins called.

  “The Qael Dorei,” Lord Riggins muttered. David nodded.

  “They claim their false god told them about the Gate,” The First Hand said. “But we believe they had a spy in Balorn. But that doesn’t matter much to us anymore.”

  “True,” David answered. “But why should I help you?”

  “You want out of this world, Lord Ruler, so do we,” The First Hand said. “We want to survive whatever slow death is coming for us. The king hides the sickness growing in the city well, but soon there will be too much to hide.” She paused, and for the first time since David entered the room, she moved. Her head lifted, and he had the vague sense of being measured or scrutinized.

  “And I can help you too,” She said finally. “But to do that, I would like you to put your faith in me as I would in you, Lord Ruler.”

  That answered another question he’d been asking himself. “When did you do it?”

  “Our Lady Ishkar protects us. From the moment you reached Balorn, her gaze has been on you.”

  “Smart,” David said, nodding. “I guess you will remove the block imposed on me only when I agree to work with you?” Her silence was answer enough. David flexed his fingers. Now he could understand how Lord Riggins could tell he was trying to use his perception earlier. He was curious how the magic here worked, but first, he needed to know if working with these people was the right thing to do.

  “I speak for my family, but I don’t decide for them,” David said. “We will need to rest and discuss what you propose.”

  “Of course, Lord Ruler. We will provide whatever you need.”

  David nodded. “You can call me David,” he said as he turned to leave. Lord Riggins bowed to her again before following behind David.

  Outside the room, the air was cleaner. The others met him with curious eyes, but David waved for them to wait. Iliana had stepped away from them. She walked over to them at Lord Riggins’ gesture.

  “You will provide whatever they need to be comfortable,” he ordered her. “I will write to your Loran, you will stay with them until they have made their decision.” To David, the man nodded with new respect.

  “I hope you will be careful not to let what you have learned reach the people.”

  “Of course,” David said, following Iliana.