General Vanra was incredibly busy, Aralim learned. After his tea with Emperor Tag’na, Aralim arranged to meet with the military commander, but the soonest date had been over two weeks away. While he waited for the 1st of the 12th Moon, he arranged a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and also asked about Aglo, the Minister of Industry, who had tried to have Aralim killed after his exit from Rema.
Muria, the foreign advisor, had very little information about the state of affairs in Rema. Almost all her sources were those beyond the realm of Numa’nakres. When Aralim asked about the recent crime wave in the city, she told him what the general public knew—that a string of murders had begun 8 months earlier. During the first four months, the targets were single guards or those patrolling in pairs; these were set upon during the night and left dead and displayed in the streets of Rema. In response, the guards had rounded up dozens of known or suspected felons and gangsters, to no avail. None of them had known anything of use. Recently, the attacks had elevated and guards now moved about in larger groups for security. The only civilian victims that Muria knew about were one Selected and a family related to one of the higher-ranking guards that had died.
Her focus on events overseas was far stronger. The city of Starath, she told Aralim, was heavily besieged by a pirate fleet. Grand Mage Rattar was trapped on the isle now, though he might have been able to force his way out if, it came down to it. Using magic to Journey away would have been costly, due to the chance of his death should he attempt to sail away through pirate-infested waters. Though he was stuck, he had proven invaluable as a gatherer of information. It seemed the cities of Bellasa and Aloor on the Great Isle still stood against the bandit alliance. Rattar and his colleagues in Starath had been trying to send out communication to nearby cities on Radregar to come to Starath’s rescue before the Great Isle fell. Should Bellasa and Aloor be taken, the armies and their alleged mage-commander, would be joining the pirate forces at the siege of Starath.
Aralim didn’t know what to make of it all—especially the Grand Mage’s involvement. In his first year in Rema, the Numa had not interacted with their surrounding lands in any greater measure than trade. Why was Rattar risking his life to aid one particular conflict? Was it so severe that the First Council saw it as a threat to Numa’nakres? That seemed incredibly unlikely.
Aralim’s second point of investigation was far less revealing. The Councillors he spoke with told him that Aglo was still serving on the First Court of Rema. Though he didn’t ask outright, it seemed that none knew anything about punitive action against Aglo or anything about his involvement with crime factions. That evening, Aralim told Miresh how strange it had seemed. She piped up with what she knew. Tag’na himself had told her that she needn’t worry about Aglo sending further assassins, after he had been taken for three days into the Emperor’s custody. Miresh didn’t know any of the details of what had transpired, only that Aglo had seemingly changed his ways.
At last the 1st of the new month arrived. Aralim arrived at Fortress Marana early, and waited in the barracks for a few moments. While there, he ran into Yovin. The guard was on his way to Palace sentry duty, so they only spoke for a few moments. It seemed the guards of Aralim’s ambassadorial trip had settled into their previous positions well enough; many of the other guards had commended them for their vast journey to the east.
Aralim was shown into General Vanra’s office soon after that. Though the Emperor’s Aura was certainly present in the military garrison, it was a page that showed him the way. Vanra had set up his headquarters in the same chamber as General Ro, though he had decorated it a little more than his predecessor’s sparse style. Tapestries of angular designs hung along the walls and the chairs had been replaced with more comfortable seats.
Vanra stood up to greet the Walker. “Aralim, I’m very glad you safely returned. May I pour you a drink?”
To Aralim, the forty-year-old General had changed quite a bit. Before, he had been a slightly plump man, despite his admirable performance in the military as a tactical commander. Now, Vanra had lost a dozen pounds or more, his hair was combed back, and his expression looked toned by days of stress. Aralim inclined his head to Vanra and said, “If you’d like. It looks like you have made this office your own. Is the position suiting you just as well?”
Vanra quickly poured two glasses of wine. He handed Aralim one, and then stood beside his desk. Aralim set his staff near the door and then sat down near the desk.
“The position is, but the times are not,” the General responded. “More soldiers have already died under my command than during all of General Ro’s days.” After that, he drank half of what he had just poured and reached to refill his drink. “I apologize for the anticlimactic reception you received upon your return to Rema. His Ascendance and I agreed that not announcing a specific date would make it less likely that you’d be targeted.”
Aralim shrugged. “It’s quite all right. I was never much for ceremony. You’re taking these troubles with the gangs quite personally, it seems.”
“My men have been targeted quite personally,” Vanra replied. “To shirk that would be to disrespect their loyalty, would you not say?
“I’m not sure. I know so little,” Aralim said. “I’ve only heard that guards have been targeted directly, and that they must now travel in groups.”
Vanra sighed. “To spare you the graphic details, we have lost nearly a hundred guardsmen so far and we know nothing about our enemy.”
“Nothing at all? Not even a consistency in their brutalities?”
“No, we have that,” the General said. He finally sat down behind the desk and set his glass on the tabletop. “They consistently display their victims in a public place, suspended by rope or deposited against some structure, with each guard’s weapons and armour stripped and collected in a pile beneath them. The means of injuries inflicted does vary, but not the state in which their bodies are displayed.”
Aralim blinked. “And there has been no activity outside the attacks on guards?”
“Crime continues, of course, but nothing that seems to fit with these methods.” Vanra let out another heavy breath and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “We haven’t announced it to the public—I will trust your secrecy—we have found civilians dead at these scenarios. Likely they were witnesses who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. We are fighting something akin to a military outfit, trying to take the city from us. And—I’m afraid it may succeed.”
Aralim narrowed his eyes. This man was nothing like his predecessor. General Ro had spent twenty years trying to find vengeance for his wife—twenty years without losing hope. Vanra was cracking under the pressure of one year. “If you’re going to give up hope, you have already lost.”
“Oh, I’m not,” Vanra snapped. “But His Ascendance is. I would rather continue doubling the strength of our patrols until the entire army is deployed. If I don’t solve this, we will abandon Rema. He has not said it to me, but Greatfather Athanu warned me that these were the stakes.”
Aralim blinked. “To the Emperor, martial law is the same as letting Rema burn, I’d imagine. He doesn’t speak fondly of the last time he went to such lengths. Let me see what I can find out myself. I am just one man, but that might work in my favour.”
“Very well,” General Vanra said with a smile. “I cannot guarantee your safety, but perhaps the Emperor’s Aura can. If you get me anyone, even just on suspicions, I will act to learn what we can.”
“No one has guaranteed my safety since I first came to Rema,” Aralim said, with a scoff. “In fact, it has often been the opposite from the First Court. My place on the Path has served me so far.”
Vanra nodded. “Then may it now serve us all. Oh, look at this before you go.” Vanra pushed his wine glass away from the edge of the desk and opened a drawer. From it, he removed a small leather strap, as though one from a pack or piece of armour. It was marked with an embossed symbol—two triangles with their backs aligned. A small diamond shape joined the two. “This mark identifies my operatives. Some have it tattooed on them or wear it on their gear.”
Aralim raised an eyebrow. Vanra had spies and still had so little information? He hoped that the prowess of the enemies roaming the streets of Rema was not the only reason for the lack of insight. He needed to speak with Greatfather Athanu now, and then maybe Aglo himself. Aralim sighed as he stood up to leave. He wouldn’t have anything for Tag’na for a while, it seemed.