Secrets of the Swords, Book 1

Chapter 15: Seeking a Source

"The Rebel King may be mad, but he's not stupid," Seolosu hissed. "His advisors have eyes and ears everywhere, and in case you forgot, you're wanted in all four countries of the Central Territory. What in the name of the heavenly realm are you doing here?"

She was, of course, telling him things he already knew. Ulsper took a breath. "Do you think I just came for a visit?" he said. "Suthe and I need your help."

"Who, her?" Seolosu tilted her head in Suthe's direction, and Ulsper noticed that the druith was still sitting on her rock, gazing up at the two of them and looking a bit bewildered.

"Yes," he said, before turning to introduce Suthe to the general in Montese, hoping that it would help put her mind at ease.

"She doesn't seem like she's very open to helping us," Suthe muttered uneasily. "Maybe we should just leave..."

"Not yet," Ulsper said. Suthe gave a hesitant nod of agreement, and he turned back to address Seolosu.

She spoke first.

"This has to do with the Twin Blades, doesn't it?" she said. "Of course it does. Why else would you be here with a Montesian girl? She's a druith, isn't she?"

Ulsper inclined his head in confirmation, and Seolosu swore under her breath.

"Figures. And Sylterran spies are practically crawling all over the place looking for you." She shook her head. "I honestly don't know if I can be of much help."

"We just need a place to stay, and some information," Ulsper said. "Then we'll be on our way."

Seolosu sucked in a breath through her teeth as she thought over his request. "You know the swords aren't in Andilir," she said. "So why did you come here?"

The mountains around them echoed with the sound of a blast from one of the mines on the other side of the city. Ulsper waited until the sound had died down before he replied.

"We can't handle the swords if we don't know what we're dealing with. There must be someone here, from one of the forges, maybe, who knows more details. All I know is from the pages of an old monk's journal and bits of pieced-together bedtime stories. That won't be enough to stop this mad dash for the power that they contain."

The general straightened up and cast a wary glance over her shoulder. "I'll have my apprentice bring you to a safe house," she said in a lowered tone. "You can trust her. I'll meet you there later and we can discuss further."

"Where do we meet her?"

"Behind the courtesan house on Middle Mountain Road. There are always foreigners hanging out around there, so you should blend in fairly well."

"That would be the first place the Imperial Guard would look," Ulsper said with a shake of his head. "It's too simple."

Seolosu crossed her arms with a sigh. "Which is why it's perfect for someone like you," she countered. "You're too experienced to attempt such a novice hiding strategy, or so they think. They expect you to be blending in with the locals, not taking the easiest disguise among all the tourists. Even if they send someone there, it'll still be difficult for them to find you."

The general looked over at Suthe. "Just make sure your friend there understands not to blow your cover, okay?"

"She won't," Ulsper said. At least, as long as she can control her druith traits. Hopefully, she would gain more power over her magic after a few lessons in meditation.

Another explosion went off, this time closer, from the base.

"I can't stay any longer," Seolosu said, turning to leave. She had only taken one step when she apparently thought of something and half-turned back to Ulsper.

"It's been a while since you've visited the country, so I just thought I'd remind you," she said. "If Nem Koel hasn't shown up by the clockwork hour, it means you're on your own. Make sure you're indoors before then."

"Thank you, Seolosu."

The general gave a short nod and set off. Ulsper watched her go for a moment, searching for any signs that he had made the wrong decision in asking the general for help. But Seolosu left as quietly as she had arrived, and spared not one glance back over her shoulder to check if he was still watching her. She had confidence, then, but whether it was that he wouldn't be caught or that she would be able to betray him was yet to be seen.

"So, uh, what do we do now?" Suthe asked from the rock on his left. "What did she say?"

Ulsper reached out a hand to help her up, and she hesitantly took it. "You'll need to stick close to me," he told her once she was back on her feet. "We're going to a brothel."

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So I think my current writing strategy is to write a lot of chapters ahead, not like what I wrote and want to fix it, but not be motivated enough to fix it, so then wait for a long time until my standards have lowered and I come back to the chapter and think "eh, whatever, I'll just post it."

It's short, but I hope you enjoy anyway.  :)  Also, I've never been much of a fan for posting pictures of characters, since I like readers to come up with their own ideas of what the characters look like.  But, I also always like to create pinterest boards of my stories, with several different possible depictions of what my characters might look like.  So I figured I'd just post a few--so think of them more as suggestions than as definitive casting or anything.  I'll start with Seolosu for this chapter (gotta love Zhao Wei), then move back and catch up on Suthe, Ulsper, Marrene, and the others in future chapters.  Unless I find a picture of a super exciting building or something that perfectly captures the setting.  Which, for an author, hey, it's pretty exciting.  XD