6 Conspiracy

The desolate slums of Yanoku City: Summer of the red moon. 

Zedd left the arena then headed for the slums. There was an errand he had to run before looking for the man called Cane. He enjoyed watching him fight, and hoped to have him by his side. People avoided him as he strode through the maze-like streets of the slums. 

A foreigner who walked the slums always looked conspicuous, and the hood that covered Zedd's face made people suspect him even more. He had to keep his identity hidden. The slums teemed with all sorts of people. On top of hiding his face behind a hood, Zedd had also altered his appearance with a spell. His black eyes were infamous in the Kozagan Desert. He didn't want to attract unwanted attention. 

Zedd soon reached the old marketplace. He approached an old woman who stood behind a stand with fresh apples on display. Upon laying eyes on the hooded stranger, the woman frowned. 

"There's no need to be wary, I'm just here for the apples," he said once he noticed the woman's distrust. 

"How many d'you want?" the woman crudely asked. 

"Just two," he answered.

"One silver Krown!" the old woman almost barked at him.

"A silver for two apples?! Lady you're outright ripping me off!" Zedd exclaimed. 

"Take it or leave it. That's the price for not showing yer face." 

With a sigh, Zedd took a silver Krown and handed it to the old lady. "Do you know where Agatha's old apothecary is?" He asked while the woman bit on the coins. 

"The place's gone for twenty years now my boy. Some gang's gone and occupied the place since then. 'Tis their new base they says." She cackled before a coughing fit interrupted her. 

"What happened to Agatha?"

"Who are you to ask about 'er?" the old woman was clearly not happy to speak to the outsider. But her curiosity got the better of her. 

"I'm an old relative," he lied. "I'm writing a book about our family. So I'm curious to know where my great-aunt lived."

"I can tell you about 'er, for a price." The old woman smiled. Her teeth were still miraculously in place despite her old age, albeit jaundiced and crooked. 

Zedd sighed. "I'll be happy to provide. But how am I to know that you knew my aunt?" he asked.

"Oi, Rollo!" the woman shouted at the stand opposite her. An old man selling spices on a wooden stall stood from his chair. "What you want old hag?" 

"Tell this fella here that I knows Agatha!" 

"That old hag used to play near 'er shop all the time. She was but a sickly child then, pulled away from 'er sick mother's tits. Agatha fed her and took care of her for years." 

 "What's your name?" Zedd asked, a bad feeling engulfed his entire being. 

"Lyanna, what of it?" the old woman answered.

From his coin purse, Zedd took a couple golden Krowns and handed them to the lady. "That's more than you'll make in a month. Would you mind joining me for lunch? You can tell me all about Agatha." 

The old woman greedily took the coins then smiled, revealing her crooked teeth once more. Her eyes sparkled as she bit the gold coins. Once she made sure they were real, she hid them in her bosom. "I'll only eat at Meruka's Grill. She makes delicious mutton." 

'Your teeth will crumble before you could even chew on the charred meat,' Zedd thought. "How about I take you to a nice place in the Financial District? I bet you'd like that." 

"Hey, t'was me who told you about that old hag's past. How about you take me with you?" the old spices vendor asked. 

"Sell yer powder and shut it!" the old woman barked. She turned to Zedd then. "Why're we still standing here?" 

"How about packing up those apples?" Zedd asked. 

"Let them rot! Or let that gang take 'em, I don't care. I'll get more tomorrow." 

Zedd led the woman toward the Financial District. They soon reached a restaurant in which they served delicious, tender basilisk meat. The owner, Patel, welcomed his honored guests with reverence. The two were shown to a private room where they were served cold drinks before the food arrived. 

"We can eat and talk in peace here. No one will disturb us." Zedd was observing the old woman while sorrow gripped his heart.

"Young man…" She took a cold glass of date wine and stared at it for a while. "Ya still got a question needs answering. Who are you? How do you know Agatha?" 

"I'll answer your question shortly. There's something I want to know before that. Your name is Lyanna, isn't it?" he asked, frowning. 

The old woman nodded. 

"Who named you?" 

"My mother, bless her soul," she replied. 

"What was her name?" 

"What's all the questions about me?" 

"Just… Answer the fucking question, would you?" 

"Please," the old woman said in a childish tone. 

"What?" 

"Please, we says please when we asks a favor." 

"Please answer my question," Zedd conceded with a heavy sigh. 

"My mother's name was also Lyanna."

Zedd fell silent. For what appeared to be hours, the two sat down in silence. Lyanna didn't seem bothered by that. She just observed him while he furrowed his brows and tried to control his heavy breathing. She sipped from her drink and enjoyed watching the man's troubled face. 

A knock on the door brought the silent man back to life. Food was brought in, and Lyanna quickly switched her attention toward the food. They served her first, basilisk meat with a side of baked potatoes and more date wine to wash it all down. 

While the two ate, Zedd asked Lyanna more questions about Agatha, her life when she was younger, and the gang that took up residence in the slums. After the meal, Zedd paid the old woman for the information she had given him. 

Zedd sat alone in the private room, his mind in shambles. 'Lyanna, how are you alive?' he was absorbed in thoughts of his past when Patel, the restaurant's owner, came in. "Sir, you have a guest waiting outside. He says his name is Tristan." 

"Tristan! Yes, yes, please let him in." 

***

In the meantime, the chancellor had called for an urgent meeting with the city nobles and faction leaders. They were the people who controlled Yanoku in the shadows. They called themselves the Scions. Eight people sat around a round table in one of Athagar Castle's spacious council rooms. One seat remained vacant.

"I called you here today to discuss what we'll do with Viraldo," the Chancellor said after all his guests arrived. 

"According to Alistair, the man went to negotiate some peace treaty with the empire," the leader of The Children of Na'ar, the strongest mercenary faction, spoke. 

"Sakhin, what do your intelligence officers have to say about this?" the chancellor asked. He was addressing Sakhin Jabeer, the master of spies. 

"Viraldo went to negotiate a peace treaty yes. The emperor was in Helton for the inauguration of the Gates of Mercy. The master met him there in secret," Sakhin reported to everyone present. 

"That bastard!" one of the nobles exclaimed. "He thinks he can buy his own safety and neglect us all?" 

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," a rich and influential merchant spoke. "Do we know what terms he negotiated with the empire?" 

"Sakhin, do you have any answer for Lucius here?" the chancellor asked. 

"The empire will leave Yanoku alone during the invasion of the West." 

"In exchange for what?" the man called Lucius asked. "Nothing's given for free, especially when it comes to the emperor." 

"The emperor will send half a dozen warriors to join the Hunt," Sakhin answered. 

Murmurs of indignation filled the room. "What does he think he's doing?!" some shouted. 

"He means to bring disgrace to our nation by inviting those blood thirsty imperialists!"

"They surely have other plans. They mean to take whatever they find out about our city's defenses to their empire."

"Gentlemen, please," the chancellor urged. "There's no need to give empty speculations now. I called you here today for a different reason."

"It's to discuss what we do with Viraldo," the leader of the mercenaries said. "I say we kill him for treason." 

"Mere days before the Hunt? The Three Headed Dragon won't be too happy about that," Lucius, the perfume artist, said. 

"I don't think the Hunters would object to the execution of their master," the chancellor commented, a smirk on his face. 

"What makes you think that?" Frinz, the Alchemy Faction leader asked. 

"Sakhin, invite our guest to the table," the chancellor urged his master of spies. 

Sakhin obeyed then left the room. Shortly after, the master of spies reappeared with a man at his heels. "Meet Alistair, the Guild's brains and true leader."