The sounds of combat were almost a daily occurrence in Ith. Raya woke to shouting that morning, but was relieved once she had sat up and repositioned her auditory senses. The cries of fighting were too far away to be within her own territory. Her scouts reported that the borders between factions were now frequently marked by discarded corpses. At least the factions kept their controlled regions a little cleaner. Raya’s patrols helped ensure a similar bubble of tranquility within her small partition of Massed Alley.
At breakfast, Raya reviewed some financials that Toma had prepared for her. The friendly innkeeper of the Blue Evening Inn now accrued his expenses largely from Raya’s faction. Though it was not a matter that irritated him, Toma provided Raya with the bill. It was easily covered with donations from her nearly two-hundred followers.
Some mornings, as she assessed the numbers, Raya was struck by how many people were here because of her or her actions. It was disillusioning, in a way; Raya had not freed two hundred people from prison. She had not even spoken to half of them and she had certainly never asked to be their leader. She only spoke of peace and did her best to help those who asked for her help.
It was Axar and Ailo that came to her for help that day. After she had finished her paperwork and a small loaf of seed-bread smeared with goji jam, Raya found the duo waiting in the common room. Axar regarded her gravely and said, “For the fifth time in as many days, I’ve spotted guards watching our patrols. The City Watch.”
“What do you think it means?” Raya asked.
“They are preparing an attack,” Ailo explained. “When Axar brought this to my attention, I snuck into Pranan’s Hill and spent a few evenings drinking at popular military bars.”
Raya leaned onto a tabletop. “And?”
Ailo crossed his arms. “They consider our jailbreaks to be akin to Domeran’s crimes. They see us as lawbreakers and we’re an easy target that is irritating their borders.”
Axar bent forward at the waist, speaking urgently. “They are assessing our strength. It could be tomorrow or in a month’s time, but we need to do something about this.”
Raya sighed, but nodded. All three of Ith’s major factions dwarfed her group. Raya’s band of misfits would not survive an attack from any one of them. It was a grim line of thought and full of drastic options. The obvious option was to swiftly ally herself with another faction. If the City Watch was after her, someone protecting her would have tactical reason to support her, contrary to her last few months. But this would put Raya’s people at another faction’s mercy.
She had to consider another option. “Surely not all of the City Watch men are radicals. Could we not persuade some members that our intentions are better than Domeran’s? We may have broken the letter of the law, but we have done a fraction of the damage that he has to this city.”
Axar nodded. “That might work. I know the City Watch is operated by a council—the Advisory. It used to counsel the Mage Kings specifically, but now operates like the next oligarchy. The commanders that serve on the Advisory used to disagree for the sake of providing their old masters multiple perspectives. I’m certain old rivalries still stand. But trying to contact a Commander so directly could be dangerous.”
“So, we start with some subordinates,” Raya decided. “Why don’t we gather our group to get some volunteers? I need some trustworthy individuals to avoid detection; a group infiltration is too risky.”
There was no shortage of volunteers for the stealthy incursion, but Raya chose Avri, Ailo, and Benn to go. Dondar was eager to support the venture, but Raya asked him to sit this mission out. The three chosen spies would act separately, attempting to gossip with, bribe, or persuade guards to lend useful information. The goal, of course, was to identify which City Watchmen might be willing to meet with Raya and Axar to discuss their role in Ith.
After the meeting was dismissed, Axar invited Raya for more training in the nearby alleyway. The front door of the Blue Evening Inn lit up the room when it opened, and Raya stepped out into a warm, sunny day. Some days kept Raya so busy she barely caught a glimpse of the weather. She followed Axar across the street, and waved to one of the patrols as she let them pass in front of her.
Once they reached the alley, Axar kept hold of the two sparring swords and turned to speak with Raya. “I don’t think you should send Avri on this task,” he told her.
“Why not?” Raya asked. Avri had been one of her most passionate supporters since her rescue.
“Given her background, I think she is the least likely to support an alliance with the City Watch.” Axar started stretching his arms for their training. He was a muscular man and often wore sleeveless tunics for flexibility and comfort. His short black hair gleamed with its first layer of sweat as he exercised and continued to speak: “I think she could damage relations before they even get started.”
Raya shook her head. “Avri knows she needs to be careful. If she does anything rash, the others could get hurt, or we could. I don’t think she’s so bent on vengeance to do anything to endanger us.”
Axar shrugged and tossed her a sparring sword. He didn’t repeat himself on the matter. Axar and Avri seemed to butt heads on most matters, Raya had noticed. Given her history with Axar, she was more inclined to trust the ex-slave woman. This mission would certainly test Avri’s loyalties.