It had been another long day at the Archives, finding very little about anything. Raya had found one book about a conspiracy theory involving the city of Saanazar and the Grey Brethren, a distant religion. She couldn’t even find any conspiracies about Vagren or Ellakar. She almost fell asleep a few hours after their lunch break. Benn had poked her to wake her up, and they’d both laughed about it.
Dondar had seen a few other meetings taking place at Nalisa’s house, but nothing more than they had already seen. Since he started the task, he’d seen four meetings, and Miss Lotha had only attended the first of those. He speculated she may have returned to Olston, but there was no way to be certain without finding out where she slept. Dondar had told Raya the evening before that the magician reappeared at that address he’d follow her home after. Raya didn’t like his obsession, but at least she could be certain of his loyalty.
Benn interrupted her thoughts by slamming his book closed and sending a cloud of dust into the air above him. The archivists did their best to keep the massive academy clean, but there were thousands of titles in the fifty-room building, and only a handful of them. Benn had shaved yesterday morning; when she started from his tome thump, he grinned cleanly and said, “I think we’re done for the day, you?”
“I think so too,” Raya said, with a small smile. She was quite certain that she was going to be out of shape if she kept spending all her days plumped down in front of a reading table. She stood up and waved to Omanah. He’d sort out the books they had borrowed from the shelves.
“Let’s grab something to eat,” Benn said. He led the way to the front staircase of the building. It was overcast and grey, as it always was. Raya missed the sunshine—she felt the gloom weighing on her spirits now, but Benn managed to stay positive. “Do you want pastry or something greener?”
“Something greener,” she said. She’d been living at an inn for weeks now. She wasn’t offended by the food choices of Vagabond’s Rest, but she did want some fresh vegetables and fruits from time to time.
Benn took her to a small patio where they served salads. “What if we are chasing shadows?” he asked.
Raya shrugged. “I don’t feel like we’re wasting our time. Do you?”
“No,” he said, smiling.
She smiled too, and took another bite of lettuce and carrots. “What if we aren’t?” Raya asked. “What if we’re on the trail of people powerful enough to call up a volcano to kill their enemies?”
Benn shrugged. “Truth will prevail,” he said, confidently. “You’ve seen more refugees in the past few months than I have. You think they’ll let the truth go, if they learn it?”
Raya shook her head. They kept eating, but the disturbing topic had left a bad taste in her mouth.
Benn must have noticed, for he piped up after his current mouthful. “Think about the people at the Old Wall, in Ellakar,” he said. “There’s always going to be perseverance and hope. That’s what we need, not doubt and fear. Caring—that’s what’s important.”
“You’re right,” Raya said, smiling. It sounded like something her parents had always said to her. Benn had never known his father, but his mother had raised him in one of Vagren’s poorer boroughs. She was now remarried to a man who had the coin to care for her, while Benn’s job at the inn provided for himself. “Will you visit your mother again in the next week?” she asked. He had visited her a few weeks ago.
“No,” Benn said. “But I will before we leave Vagren.”
That caught Raya off-guard. They hadn’t spoken of what would happen next, because they didn’t know. She had assumed Benn would go back to his job for Master Kama, but she would certainly miss him. Now he sounded as though he’d like to follow her.
They had finished their salads, and he paid for them before they left. It was a quiet day in the streets. They passed a man sweeping ash off his deck.
“All the world is falling apart, but we’re still finding time to eat salad,” Raya said.
“Of course,” Benn said.
Raya grinned. “Remember when we ran through here to escape the slavers?” she asked. She had been in Vagren that time to visit shenshar Threjar and a few others, the powerful Houses in charge of the city.
“I do,” Benn said. “That’s why we go home at this time, not later tonight.”
“That’s horrible,” Raya said, but she had grown oddly accustomed to it. Vagren felt like a normal place now, though it had once been a dangerous and ominous metropolis to her.
Benn shrugged. “Just have to know what’s safe and what’s not. I’m sure the hills around Olston aren’t perfectly safe either.”
“Hardly,” Raya said. “You just have to know what to do in different circumstances.” She knew, to be honest, she had been lucky to never run into dangerous bandit troubles like they had in the ruins of Ellakar. Bandits were a real problem everywhere. At least the slavers were bound by some laws.
They were getting closer to the Vagabond’s Rest. “I’ve really enjoyed these last few weeks,” Benn said. “Despite all the danger.”
“Me too,” Raya said, smiling. They paused in front of the house a few paces from the inn’s front steps.
“I’ve been focusing on our search in the Archives like I have to,” Benn said, nervously. “But I’ve been distracted too. I keep thinking about you. Would it be alright if I kissed you?”
Raya blushed a little, but tried to keep her calm. “I’d like to say yes,” she said, quietly. “But my whole life is up in the air right now. We were just talking about how dangerous our task could be… I think we should wait until it’s done.”
Benn recovered well. “Of course,” he said, grinning. “I’ve got your word then. I’m only joking!” They laughed, and kept moving toward the inn.
“I wonder if Dondar is back yet today,” Raya said.
“We’ll see,” Benn replied. They climbed the steps to the crowded common room. Their footprints were left in the grey dirt on the wooden stairs; the low hanging skies couldn’t keep her spirits down anymore. They were investigating the destruction of a major city, and that had to be her first concern. But as they helped Master Kama keep his half-drunk patrons happy, Raya felt how happy she was, and she wished she had a different concern at the top of her list.