Beloved Zann,

Srix wasn’t around.

I had told Candur that I would think about his problem, but I didn’t. I worried about Wande and Jhus. And I worried about them harder everytime I saw a new thing. The longcoach back to the city was an hour late, and when it arrived it had broken windows and was lurching on one wheel. Near the coach stop, there was a round burnt patch of grass with some miscellaneous dark objects in it.

All I knew about what was happening in Crideon was what Tharus had told me. And he obviously hadn’t seen it for himself. He’s a giant anteater.

On the way into town we passed a farmhouse I remembered seeing every other time I had made this trip. Except now it had been burned down. I saw a dog slinking behind the charred remnants.

A mile later, we passed a gibbet that definitely hadn’t been there before. There were two laurans hanging on it.

I had my reasons for being a Rosolla Guard, for working at the palace. They weren’t worth Wande’s life. And if it was as simple as trading one for the other, I would know what to do. Maybe she and Jhus would be home when I got there.

The longcoach was almost full. The other passengers were either soldiers, who looked young and confident and stupid, or people, who looked anxious. They had a lot to look anxious about. There were more burned-out houses and buildings. More dead people. We got stopped twice by patrols in the road. One patrol was a group of masked fellows with farmhooks and the other one was soldiers in an unfamiliar uniform. Lord Clear’s men, I guessed.

It was even worse when we got into the city. We could hear explosions in the distance, and the damage was everywhere. Almost everywhere. When we passed through a richer neighbourhood, that part still looked very nice. But everywhere else. The longcoach didn’t go all the way to Blackfloors Square, but let us out in a smaller square some blocks away. I guess Blackfloors Square was too dangerous.

I made my way to our roost. I had my baton with me, that Srix had been teaching me to use. I didn’t plan on cracking anybody’s head with it, but just the sight of it might make me a little safer.

When I got to our building, it seemed intact. That was one of my worries put to rest. But I climbed the stairs to our floor, and saw a note tacked on the door. It was a message to Wande that I was waking up. So she hadn’t even seen the message? Where was she?

I went in. They had gone.

I knew right away that they had gone. I don’t know how I knew, but I did. The air seemed warm and unbreathed in just that way. I checked the sleeping rooms, and some of their things, that they would use every day, weren’t there. So they had gone on their own.

There was a place in the kitchen where Wande would leave notes for me, a gap under the cold bin. It wasn’t an obvious place to hide something. I checked there. No note.

Where were they?

Love,

Ybel