"What?" Gwen had stopped eating.
"Yeah, I know. He's the Arishok, the body of the Qun, and one agitating male."
"Andraste's flaming ass, Sis. You sure know how to pick 'em."
"Yeah, tell me about it." Their conversation had ended there. Gwen had no words and Sicilia never finished her meal. She had argued with herself whether or not to go to the coast that night, but she knew Haiden and Markl would be waiting.
"Hey, guys, sorry I'm late. Gwen was off work today so we had dinner together," she said putting on a fake smile.
"It's fine. I was beginning to wonder if you would come or not," Markl smiled as she sat down between them. "Haiden brought dinner so we already ate."
"Oh, good. I felt a little bad that I didn't bring you something, but I was already halfway here before I remembered."
"Is something wrong? You seem a little off," he said with evident concern.
"No, I'm fine," she lied. "Gwen and I were just having a long talk." Sicilia stripped her boots off and buried her feet in the sand. "So, have you gotten any more leads on this Torren guy?"
"Not yet. We've got three or four more days until that trader comes back into town."
"That long? It seems like it's already been a week." Letting out a sigh, she fell back into the sand. "So who wants to get their ass kicked?" A wicked smile played on her face.
The next two days played out in a similar fashion. Sis would spend her mornings and afternoons in the marketplace, talking with various possible employers. She had managed to sell enough potions and poisons to pay for the next week at the inn. In the evenings, she would be at the coast sparring with her companions. Today wasn't much different. After a busy day, she sat on the beach with Markl as they waited for Haiden.
"You never did tell me how things went over with the Arishok the other night." Now that he was alone with her, he struck up the conversation to see if Haiden's fear was justified.
"It was…interesting." Sicilia brushed the sand from her hands.
"That's not saying much."
"Let's just say that I got to see a whole new side to him."
"It sounds like you had a good conversation rather than a fight." Markl was starting to see Haiden's fear realized.
"Yeah, I guess. We still argued, but I think the reason he's so angry is just because he misses home."
"I imagine so." It was justified. "Did he see me?" he asked changing the subject.
"If he did, he didn't say anything." Sicilia lifted her feet from the sand and watched as it filtered between her toes. Glancing up, she notice Haiden approaching from the right, which was unusual. "What are you doing down there?" she called out.
"There's an oyster bed down the coast a ways. I felt like-" He stopped, lifted his foot, and glanced down. "Oh, damn. There's a sea turtle nest here."
"Oh, no, did you step on them?"
"Just a couple. Their almost ready to hatch. Looks like there's a ton," he said crouching down to get a better look. "Anyways, I just felt like having oysters tonight instead of sandwiches." He walked carefully around the nest and made his way over to them carrying a canvas sack.
"Sounds good." Growing up near the sea, she and her brother used to gather oysters all the time. Her brother had taught her how to shuck them as soon as she was old enough to hold a knife.
"I also found this," he said holding up a rounded oyster; the outside was a deep muddy brown.
"A pearl oyster?" Her brother had found one once; the pearl inside hadn't been large enough to be valuable, but they had given it to their mother as a gift. She had worn it as a necklace every day.
"Yeah, I thought we could open it up and see if there was anything in it." Drawing out his knife, Haiden ran it along the outside, taking off the feathered edge. He gripped it tightly as he pushed the blade between the clam's hinges. A pop could be heard as he twisted it. After discarding the top shell, he pulled a tear drop shaped pearl from the muscle. He held it out to her. Laying it in the palm of her hand, she smiled. It had an iridescent hue, the color ranging from a deep green at the tip to a fiery orange at the widest point. The pearl was almost a half inch long.
"Wow, I've never seen one like this," Markl said gazing over. "It's probably quite valuable."
She handed it back to Haiden, who put in in a small pocket in his pack. He dumped out the sack full of oysters and began shucking. Sicilia pitched in, too, making things go quickly. After their feast, she groaned. "I don't know if I'll spar tonight. I ate too much."
"Me too," said Haiden. He laughed as he watched Markl down the last oyster.
"Thanks, Haiden. The oysters were great," Markl managed to say while savoring the mouthful.
"Yeah, they were delicious," she agreed.
"Anytime."
He watched as they ate their meal, laughed, and conversed. A part of him had wanted to partake, but that part was miniscule at best. The Arishok stood at the docks, his arms crossed at his chest as he watched them. He could barely hear them, only their laughs had been audible.
"What are your orders?" The Ashaad had come to him after finishing the task that had been given to him.
"Get it done." The Arishok had made it clear to her that he did not want her interference and since she refused to let it go, he had decided to be one step ahead of her. The Beresaad had found a man named Torren, a trader who lived just outside the gates. He would see this done himself rather than let a human best him.
"I hope he didn't come back early. I don't want to give him a chance to have already left." She kicked up dust as they made their way down the path. A log house could be seen nearby. The morning air was a comfortable warmth and dew still clung to the grass.
"It's possible, but-" Markl stopped. "I don't think he'll be leaving."
"What?" She stepped closer, eying the house. The door was open and she could just barely see a boot jutting past the doorframe. "Damn it!" She ran to the house and peered inside. The body was covered in blood.
"His throat was cut," Markl said as he examined the man. He picked up a small knife that laid next to his hand. "Looks like he did it himself. His body is barely warm; he couldn't have been dead for more than a few hours."
"I'm going to look around for the book or at least some sign of where it is," Haiden said rummaging through some papers on the desk. "Why would he kill himself?"
"No idea." Markl rose from the lifeless form and assisted Haiden's search.
"Hey, isn't that the Imperial seal?" Sicilia's attention was still on the body, but she saw a letter lying underneath the desk. A cracked red wax seal bore the symbol of a sun. She returned to examining the body as Markl picked it up.
"This says that they departed Minrathous almost three weeks ago. Well, this was definitely our guy, but how do we know if they already have the tome or not?" Markl's voice sounded defeated.
"It takes about three weeks to get to the ports North of Ayesleigh at the hook in Venefication Sea if they took a ship. With the winds being as favorable as they have been, it might've taken them two and a half. There's no way they could've gotten here that fast. It should take them another three days at least, a week at most, to get here." Haiden seemed confident in his calculations. "But that'll do us no good if we still don't know where the tome is."
"I think I know who might," Sicilia said removing a finger from her mouth. The taste was chalky, but bitter. "The red underneath his fingernails isn't blood. It's paint."
A/N: Sorry it's taken a couple days to get this one posted. I wasn't able to get a hold of my Beta so I edited this one myself. The poll for my next fanfic is still up on my profile. There's one vote for an Ouran fanfic so I need more opinions! I may be behind on posting the next few chapter, but I will really try to keep posting on my original schedule. Thanks!