[coronatiger]

8th of Mitra’s Second Month, year 412

O Ashtar, Mother of Snakes, Keeper of Death’s Door, hear my confession!

Someone knocked on my door in the morning, and I got up and opened to find Xipil outside. He had drawings of fangs, a spiral and a flower in the face, and I asked if he’d had fun with Lunari while I rummaged for a mirror. I completely forgot to ask why he didn’t use the window to enter. He went to sleep, and I went to have breakfast.

The merchants were there already, and one of them scowled at me. I smiled inwardly; I had been loud enough last night to make them believe Lunari was there. Outwardly, I feigned a hangover and ignored the merchant. He pointedly ignored me as well. Grogg came to have breakfast, and I kept up the charade, unconvinced of his ability to keep a straight face if I clued him in on my act.

I asked the innkeeper if it would be difficult to hire someone to take us back over the river. Not at all; with Sulla closed, business here was slow, and many would be eager to earn a few coins. I glanced at Grogg, who had taken up needlework, and was embroidering ravens onto a piece of cloth. His steady hand surprised me, for he is usually rather clumsy.

I went to wake up Xipil and Lunari. A hunch told me we might want to get out of the area, in case they’d been observed last night and someone came to investigate. I left the inn to find transport while Xipil and Lunari got dressed.

We had walked a distance to the east, yesterday, so the rowers had to take us downriver again before crossing. Lunari ran his mouth off, telling tall tales and engaging the rowers in conversation. At one point I had to hint to him that he shouldn’t talk about the Farmers’ Republic.

We paid the rowers when we arrived at the makeshift harbor village outside Sulla. We found a ship going downriver tomorrow morning; it would make a short stop in Byblos before continuing towards Sam. The whole journey would take four days. Two groups of merchants and a trio of Amrosh cavalry had also bought passage.

Lunari and I haggled a little with the captain, as I thought he suggested an unreasonably high price at first. Grogg helping with loading the cargo would lower the price even further.

When we got a moment alone, Xipil and Lunari told Grogg and me what had happened at the stone circle last night. Xipil had meditated, and Lunari had thought that the spectral priests had noticed it somehow and became worried. Xipil alarmingly remembered nothing from his meditation. He was completely out of touch with reality, and failed to wake up even when Lunari painted on his face.

Lunari went to the marketplace to buy fabric for Grogg, the price of his labor. I stayed near and on the ship all day. We already had a cabin under deck where we could store our baggage and where we’d spend the nights aboard.

In the evening, Xipil pointed at some stars and told me that was the Snake constellation. I didn’t think it looked anything like a snake. What’s happening on the sky doesn’t interest me. Grogg asked if I could see a raven on his shoulder when I looked through the ring. I did. Apparently, the raven had disappeared inside him for a while. He held some food up for the imaginary raven to eat. I shook my head and went to bed.

O Ashtar! I surrender my life to Your coils. Take me while I sleep, or grant me another day in Your service, as You will.

Lunari asked if my tongue was split like Xipil’s. I pretended to be asleep.


9th of Mitra’s Second Month, year 412

O Ashtar, Mother of Snakes, Keeper of Death’s Door, hear my confession!

Someone from the crew knocked on the cabin door in the morning, impatient for Grogg’s help. The troll left the cabin and the rest of us went back to sleep.

When the ship cast off some time later, the Amrosh soldiers stood in the stern, looking back at Sulla. Lunari and I walked over to them to chat. Lunari told the story about how he and Grogg beat Gromgar, again. Something was disturbing one of the soldiers, a man named Batto, and he paid little attention to the story. I didn’t like the way he stared at me, and eventually, he dragged his companions away to their cabin.

I hurried down to our cabin which lies next door to theirs, and listened to the wall, indicating to Xipil, who was there to conceal his lizardness, that he should do the same. My hunch paid off, for Batto told the others, Hadi and Moshen, that I was a wanted killer, who had committed murder both on Amrosh land and in the capital. Xipil looked at me questioningly, but I only shrugged my shoulders and focused on the conversation behind the wall. Batto told his friends that he was a former member of an intelligence agency called the Moon Shadows, and as he still held some sway there, he took command of this situation. For now, they would pretend that nothing was wrong. I heard their door open and close, and then it was silent on the other side of the wall.

It is true that I’ve sent souls to You from those places, but I don’t consider myself a murderer any more than an executioner is. Xipil and I discussed possible escape routes. He wasn’t very keen on the idea of being interrogated, so if I run, he’ll come with me. We agreed that we needed to bring Lunari and Grogg up to speed on the situation, so we went up on deck where the crew had prepared soup.

Xipil went back to the cabin after eating, but I sat down with Lunari and explained to him about the Farmers’ Republic, a relatively safe subject, while keeping an eye on the Amrosh people. Moshen looked at us over his shoulder, and I smiled and waved. The separatist Farmers’ Republic is a topic best discussed in private, I explained to Lunari. The people living in the region of Arland to the south and west of Sam would very much like to have their own sovereign state. Talking in support of the Republic in the rest of Arland can get you arrested for sedition, while talking disparagingly of it while there can just as easily spell doom. In Sam, where I’m from, you need to be extra careful, for you never know who is listening.

I wanted to get Lunari down to the cabin, with Xipil keeping watch, before I broached the more urgent subject. Lunari asked if I’d share a drink with him tonight, and just as I acquiesced, one of the merchant parties drifted over. I felt we couldn’t leave them, so I waved Grogg over and asked if he could fetch Xipil.

I played moklatar with Lunari until Xipil arrived. I excused myself for a moment and told the lizard man that I wanted him to keep watch while I talked to Lunari and Grogg. As long as the Amrosh people were on deck, we should be able to talk safely.

The merchants were rather insistent that I should play more, and were clearly betting on the game. They kept badgering us to play, and in the end, I had to be rather blatant when I invited Lunari down to our cabin, but that took Grogg out of the picture. Lunari would have to fill him in later.

I revealed to the elf that I’m a bounty hunter, and that all my kills have been sanctioned, so I don’t consider myself a murderer. I admitted to have taken a life ten years or so ago, without orders, but claimed self-defense. I could hear the wheels turning in Lunari’s head when he calculated how young I must have been at the time. I left out that some of my kills were direct orders from You, that they weren’t recognized as legal by the gentiles. He wouldn’t understand. I told him I needed to pray, and he left me alone.

After a while, You gave me guidance. Batto, my accuser, may die if I choose to make it so. You showed indifference to the fate of the other man, Moshen, but Hadi must live to return to Amrosh. She had given me no indication that she was one of Your followers, so I struggled to see why. In her mid-twenties, she is rather cute, but that shouldn’t matter to a goddess. However, far be it from me to question Your wisdom.