Witches Against the Merchant
Ben Williams
Ben Williams lives in Los Angeles, where he can frequently be found outside, observing the ravens in his neighborhood. You can find him online at https://benthewriter.neocities.org.
Walis stepped through the curtain of blue and gold beads into the Melondrop Taverna. Evening's cool drifted in past canvas panels suspended loosely above. The center of the space stood open to the sky, where day's last vestige had given way to stars. Beneath the opening, the taverna's twisting ficus rose from a bed of soil. It was a foreign tree, introduced to Qandar centuries ago by The Conquerer's people. White candles on brass saucers burned dimly on the taverna's low tables.
Armik the Singer sat near the entrance, strumming a languid tune on his tambor. Narsa, Yovi, and Subin sat in the far corner. On their table, a roundbread, tapenade, and three earthenware bowls of melonwine. Several patrons glanced up at Walis as he entered, then returned to their hushed conversations. He approached the trio of witches.
"Greetings, ladies," Walis said.
"Ladies?" Narsa arched an eyebrow.
"I--," Walis started, before clearing his throat. "Greetings. I am Walis. I would inquire about your services."
"Sit, Walis," Subin said. She motioned to the open spot next to Narsa, across the table from herself and Yovi. He eyed their roundbread as he sat, but no one offered him any. Narsa sipped her melonwine.
"What does the guild want?" Subin asked. The onyx-studded wrist sheath Walis wore made clear his membership in the thieves' guild. Two stones meant he was of the guild's second rank. The guildmaster's allegedly bore a five-stone quincunx, though the witches had never seen it.
"I am not here on guild business. I come simply as Walis, not as a guildsman."
"And do you have silver, Walis?" Narsa asked.
"Yes."
"Then what do you seek?" Subin asked.
"A merchant named Yarvin has taken my sister. He means to make her his wife. His fourth wife."
"What business is it of yours who your sister weds?" Subin asked.
"She does not wish it," Walis replied. "Yarvin has seeded her and claims that means she is now his betrothed. He is keeping her at his compound in the Merchants Quarter until, when the snows upon the high passes melt, he can take her to the Southlands. He intends to move her far from Qandar, where she will know no one, nor even the tongue."
"Why do you come to us? Round up your guildsmen and go handle this yourself," Narsa said.
"Yarvin has long paid protection to the guild. They will not move against him at my request. And there is also the matter of--" Walis started. He swiveled his head, looking over both shoulders, insuring none were listening. "We know not how to halt a birth safely. Nor is it something any in the guild would risk. The guild wishes no extra scrutiny from The Theocracy."
"Is that all, then? Your sister wants to undo this conception?" Subin asked.
"Yes. Caz does not wish a child," Walis said. "Not with this man."
"She will need to tell us this herself," Yovi said. "We must be certain the decision is hers."
"She would tell you," Walis insisted. "It is Yarvin's excuse for abducting her, for keeping her locked away. No child, no marriage. No marriage, and Caz can return to her life."
"Then we will ask her, and if it is as you say, by the Old Ways of Hawthorn and Honeysuckle, it is her right to release herself from this burden," Subin declaimed.
"30 silver," Narsa said.
"30 silver! Don't you think that's a--" Walis started.
"Two stones," Subin said, pointing at his wrist sheath. "That means you have coin. You're not some lowly one-stone footpad."
"What of the principle of it? Is that not your motivation? That is what we have heard, that you are ladies--" Narsa narrowed her eyes "--women, that you are women of principle."
"We are. That is why we would undertake this, but principles do not pay for melonwine. Nor bread, nor beds," Narsa said.
"Nor do elixirs craft themselves," Subin said. "You ask an illicit and expensive unguent for your sister. Do you know the ingredients one must procure for this? Do you understand the skill it takes to formulate? Would you really wish an inferior tonic for your sister?"
"No," Walis conceded. He reached beneath the table and counted coin while Narsa, Yovi, and Subin drank their melonwine. He placed a pouch on the table. "30 silver."
Narsa took it and assessed its weight. "Yarvin? At the Merchants Quarter?"
"Yes. Two great junipers rise above his compound's wall, plain to see from Silver Street. His guards wear orange sashes," Walis said.
"Your sister. How does she look?" Yovi asked.
"Sandy hair. Brown eyes, light like birchbark. 20 years in age," Walis said.
"We shall go tonight," Subin said. Her sisters assented with a nod and returned to their bread and melonwine. Walis felt dismissed, so he stood and departed, disappearing through the clacking curtain.
The witches ate their roundbread and tapenade. Iolanthe the Proprietress came to their table. Her black and gray hair was braided neatly, and she wore raiments of the people of The Last Sea, a tunic and cloak of blue linen bearing a 16-pointed gold star, the sigil of The Conquerer. "I don't want any trouble with the guild."
"You need not worry," Subin said. Iolanthe, unconvinced by Subin, turned to Yovi.
"My sister speaks true. Walis was here on personal business. The guild is not involved," Yovi said.
Narsa held up her empty bowl. "More melonwine, please." Iolanthe brought another round, and Narsa closed their weeks-old tab.
# # #
Three stood in Dimdusk Alley, which they shared with a soot-black cat. It appraised them silently through peridot eyes. Scent of spice and sound of commerce wafted into the alley from the nearby Night Market.
"Find Caz," Subin said to Yovi. "Tell her Walis has sent us. If she should not confirm his claims, return to us and we will consider this task complete and keep the coin. Should she wish to liberate herself from Yarvin's seed, she must send a servant to inform the guards to expect a pair of midwives." Yovi turned to Narsa. Narsa nodded agreement to Subin's plan.
"We will wait a few moments and proceed to the compound if you have not returned," Subin said. Yovi spread her arms, closed her eyes, and transformed small into a sunbird. Her feathers were green and brown, highlighted with violet iridescence. She flitted into the night and passed from Dimdusk Alley out over Silver Street. She saw the many tents and carts of the Night Market arrayed within Halfmoon Plaza, where streams of hagglers, carousers, merchants, performers, and thieves plied the night.
She flew above the Prosperity Arch, the gate through which Silver Street passed from the Market Quarter to the walled Merchants Quarter, its wide and quiet streets a haven for traders who traveled the Carnelian Road and transited riches through Qandar.
Yovi spotted a spacious compound along Silver Street where two junipers rose inside its walled forecourt. Two orange-sashed guardsmen kept watch on the street outside. She dipped lower and drifted past the compound's open windows, where white gossamer drapes fluttered in the night air, lit gold from within. A young woman with sandy hair and brown eyes sat alone in a small room on the second story of the building's back corner.
Yovi flew in and transformed again into a woman. She held her finger to her lips, signaling to the startled occupant to remain quiet. Yovi spoke softly, "Are you Caz?" Caz nodded. "I am sent by your brother. Walis."
"Why has he sent you?" Caz whispered, glancing nervously toward the door as she did.
"Do you wish to be relieved of the burden of the merchant's seed and to be released from this union?" Yovi asked.
"Desperately, yes. Can you help me?" Caz stood.
"Yes, though not alone. My sisters will come soon. Send a servant to notify the guards you have been feeling unwell, and that your midwives will soon arrive." Caz went to the door and called into the hallway. A servant came, and Caz implemented the ruse.
"It has been long enough," Narsa declared. Subin reached inside the leather case slung about her for a small jar of viscous oil. She unfastened the lid; the contents smelled of primrose and nettle. She and Narsa dabbed some onto their fingers and rubbed it upon their faces and hair. Subin's hair, straight and black, became wavy and red. Her dark eyes turned green, and her complexion became pale and freckled. Narsa's corkscrew curls of black became blond and straight. Her hazel eyes turned blue. The two looked at each other, and Subin grinned.
"I hate this. Why is my hair this color?" Narsa complained, holding forth strands from her head to see them.
"You look different. That's what matters," Subin said.
"Why will it not become purple? Or pink?" Narsa asked.
Subin shrugged. "There's naught in my formulations to control the outcome to that degree, sister."
"Let us get on with it," Narsa said. They exited Dimdusk Alley onto Silver Street. They passed beneath the Prosperity Arch and continued along Silver Street until they spied the compound with two junipers. Two guards stood by the open gate. The witches approached.
"We are here to see the young mistress," Subin said to a guard. She spoke effervescently and smiled brightly. Narsa stood quietly.
"Midwives?" he asked. Subin nodded with a curtsy. "Go ahead in. She's expecting you." Subin bowed her head, and the two entered the forecourt. They passed between the junipers and knocked on the door.
# # #
Three stood with Caz in her chamber. Subin took a small hexagonal vial of lavender liquid from her case and offered it to Caz. "Please understand that this will expunge the seed from you, and dissolve Yarvin's pretext for marriage. It is your right, by the Old Ways of Hawthorn and Honeysuckle, to so choose your destiny."
Caz did not hesitate to accept the vial and quickly quaffed it, then returned the empty container to Subin. Warmth spread through her body, and she felt her burden lifted. She exhaled deep with relief. "I am indebted, but I must ask, is this all there is to my brother's plan? He believes Yarvin will simply let me go now?"
"He has it wrong, doesn't he?" Narsa asked.
"Yes. Yarvin declared the pregnancy to be proof the One True God wishes me to bear him many children," Caz said. "But he is only a faithful of The Theocracy when he is in Qandar. When he goes south past the mountains, he prays to their 10,000 gods. He will profess any belief that grants cover to his behavior, and he will pay off any with the power to question him. He means to add me to his collection of wives. No, he will not let me go. I must escape this place and flee Qandar or this man will take me somewhere far away and I will be his captive forever."
"Do we mean to allow this, sisters?" Narsa asked.
"We do not," Subin said.
Yovi, knowing her sisters intended the illest of fates for this man, paused and steeled her gentle heart before answering. "We do not."
"You should not have to run from your home to be freed from a marriage you do not want," Narsa said to Caz. "Where is he now?"
"He stays day and night in his quarters, tallying his silver, receiving only weather reports from the Nephological Society and talk of the day from the Market Quarter."
"What of his other wives? Will we find them with him?" Subin asked.
"His other wives live elsewhere along the Carnelian Road. In Bukira, Kashien, and Ashkar." Caz said.
"Where are his quarters?" Subin asked.
"The first door on the left," Caz answered.
"See if anyone is outside," Subin said. Caz cracked the door and peeked out. She shook her head.
Three crept into the corridor, lit dimly by a single torch. "Yovi, you will restrain him," Narsa said quietly, then turned to Subin and continued, "And you give him reason to keep silent." When they reached Yarvin's door, Yovi crouched down and closed her eyes. Her shadow briefly assumed a feline aspect, as the strength of the tiger came into her. She looked herself, but was transformed within. Subin slid her hollowknife from its sheath. Its silvery blade glinted in the flickering torchlight. Their eyes met--Narsa, Yovi, and Subin--and they readied themselves. One breath. And another. Narsa glanced to the doorknob.
Yovi threw open the door and leapt into the room. Yarvin stood from his seat at the head of a long table covered with many silver ingots. Yovi rushed forward and pounced toward him, her hands outstretched before her. He reached for his sword, but Yovi was too fast. She grasped his arm, preventing him from drawing his blade. She twisted his elbow and spun behind him, pinning his arm to his back. Her other hand cupped his mouth that he could not shout for his guards. Just as he began to grunt and reach back with his free hand, Subin was beside him, the tip of her hollowknife at his throat. His eyes widened, but he remained silent. He lowered his hand and froze.
Narsa closed the door behind her and walked across the room. She took from her satchel a small stone. Unremarkable gabbro, granular and gray. She stepped close to Yarvin and held it before him in her palm. She whispered eldritch verses, and with her other hand fluttered her fingers. Wisps arose from the man's body as she coaxed out his soul. She plucked a strand of his soul as it wavered in the air about him and wound it around her finger. "One million years you shall contemplate the existence of an object. One million years you shall lie beneath the Zaf as its waters eat you slowly to silt. You shall be aware each second of your slow disintegration. One million years you shall know what it is to be at the mercy of forces around you, with no agency to resist them."
Narsa continued pulling the strands of Yarvin's soul, unraveling them from his corporeal form. His eyes became dull, and his body lifeless. Narsa's eyes glinted darkly, and she seemed for a moment immense and terrifying as the space distorted around her. She pressed her finger to the stone and uttered despondent tributes to forgotten gods of demise. Yarvin's soul unwound from her finger and infused into the stone. When it was done, she patted the stone lightly, then stowed it in her satchel.
Yovi moved Yarvin's corpse to his bed, where she and Subin removed his sword and leaned it against the bed frame. They pulled the blanket over him and rested him to appear comfortable. Any who came would be certain he passed in his sleep. Yovi had been careful to leave no marks, and Subin had kept the tip of her hollowknife from his flesh.
Narsa stood by the silver-laden table. "Surely they will not notice a missing ingot or two, will they?"
Subin came over and examined the ledger that lay open on the table. "He was in the middle of counting it. I do not believe anyone will notice three missing." Narsa took an ingot. It was weighty. A hundred silver in value. She put it in her satchel. And then two more.
They left as they had come. Yovi as a bird through Caz's window after informing her it was done, Narsa and Subin through the front gate as midwives. One freckled with red hair and green eyes, the other bright blond with eyes of ice. Three converged in Dimdusk Alley. Narsa and Subin rinsed themselves with green-tinted water that smelled of cedar and basil. Subin's eyes became dark, and her wavy red hair straight and black. Narsa's eyes became hazel, and her blond hair turned to corkscrew curls of black.
Narsa led them a different route home, by an overlook above the riverbank. Narsa retrieved the stone with Yarvin's soul from her satchel. She tossed it unceremoniously into the Zaf, where it sank into night-black waters. Three stood looking across the river to the Blighted Steppe, moonlit and endless as the sky.
Armik the Singer sat near the entrance, strumming a languid tune on his tambor. Narsa, Yovi, and Subin sat in the far corner. On their table, a roundbread, tapenade, and three earthenware bowls of melonwine. Several patrons glanced up at Walis as he entered, then returned to their hushed conversations. He approached the trio of witches.
"Greetings, ladies," Walis said.
"Ladies?" Narsa arched an eyebrow.
"I--," Walis started, before clearing his throat. "Greetings. I am Walis. I would inquire about your services."
"Sit, Walis," Subin said. She motioned to the open spot next to Narsa, across the table from herself and Yovi. He eyed their roundbread as he sat, but no one offered him any. Narsa sipped her melonwine.
"What does the guild want?" Subin asked. The onyx-studded wrist sheath Walis wore made clear his membership in the thieves' guild. Two stones meant he was of the guild's second rank. The guildmaster's allegedly bore a five-stone quincunx, though the witches had never seen it.
"I am not here on guild business. I come simply as Walis, not as a guildsman."
"And do you have silver, Walis?" Narsa asked.
"Yes."
"Then what do you seek?" Subin asked.
"A merchant named Yarvin has taken my sister. He means to make her his wife. His fourth wife."
"What business is it of yours who your sister weds?" Subin asked.
"She does not wish it," Walis replied. "Yarvin has seeded her and claims that means she is now his betrothed. He is keeping her at his compound in the Merchants Quarter until, when the snows upon the high passes melt, he can take her to the Southlands. He intends to move her far from Qandar, where she will know no one, nor even the tongue."
"Why do you come to us? Round up your guildsmen and go handle this yourself," Narsa said.
"Yarvin has long paid protection to the guild. They will not move against him at my request. And there is also the matter of--" Walis started. He swiveled his head, looking over both shoulders, insuring none were listening. "We know not how to halt a birth safely. Nor is it something any in the guild would risk. The guild wishes no extra scrutiny from The Theocracy."
"Is that all, then? Your sister wants to undo this conception?" Subin asked.
"Yes. Caz does not wish a child," Walis said. "Not with this man."
"She will need to tell us this herself," Yovi said. "We must be certain the decision is hers."
"She would tell you," Walis insisted. "It is Yarvin's excuse for abducting her, for keeping her locked away. No child, no marriage. No marriage, and Caz can return to her life."
"Then we will ask her, and if it is as you say, by the Old Ways of Hawthorn and Honeysuckle, it is her right to release herself from this burden," Subin declaimed.
"30 silver," Narsa said.
"30 silver! Don't you think that's a--" Walis started.
"Two stones," Subin said, pointing at his wrist sheath. "That means you have coin. You're not some lowly one-stone footpad."
"What of the principle of it? Is that not your motivation? That is what we have heard, that you are ladies--" Narsa narrowed her eyes "--women, that you are women of principle."
"We are. That is why we would undertake this, but principles do not pay for melonwine. Nor bread, nor beds," Narsa said.
"Nor do elixirs craft themselves," Subin said. "You ask an illicit and expensive unguent for your sister. Do you know the ingredients one must procure for this? Do you understand the skill it takes to formulate? Would you really wish an inferior tonic for your sister?"
"No," Walis conceded. He reached beneath the table and counted coin while Narsa, Yovi, and Subin drank their melonwine. He placed a pouch on the table. "30 silver."
Narsa took it and assessed its weight. "Yarvin? At the Merchants Quarter?"
"Yes. Two great junipers rise above his compound's wall, plain to see from Silver Street. His guards wear orange sashes," Walis said.
"Your sister. How does she look?" Yovi asked.
"Sandy hair. Brown eyes, light like birchbark. 20 years in age," Walis said.
"We shall go tonight," Subin said. Her sisters assented with a nod and returned to their bread and melonwine. Walis felt dismissed, so he stood and departed, disappearing through the clacking curtain.
The witches ate their roundbread and tapenade. Iolanthe the Proprietress came to their table. Her black and gray hair was braided neatly, and she wore raiments of the people of The Last Sea, a tunic and cloak of blue linen bearing a 16-pointed gold star, the sigil of The Conquerer. "I don't want any trouble with the guild."
"You need not worry," Subin said. Iolanthe, unconvinced by Subin, turned to Yovi.
"My sister speaks true. Walis was here on personal business. The guild is not involved," Yovi said.
Narsa held up her empty bowl. "More melonwine, please." Iolanthe brought another round, and Narsa closed their weeks-old tab.
# # #
Three stood in Dimdusk Alley, which they shared with a soot-black cat. It appraised them silently through peridot eyes. Scent of spice and sound of commerce wafted into the alley from the nearby Night Market.
"Find Caz," Subin said to Yovi. "Tell her Walis has sent us. If she should not confirm his claims, return to us and we will consider this task complete and keep the coin. Should she wish to liberate herself from Yarvin's seed, she must send a servant to inform the guards to expect a pair of midwives." Yovi turned to Narsa. Narsa nodded agreement to Subin's plan.
"We will wait a few moments and proceed to the compound if you have not returned," Subin said. Yovi spread her arms, closed her eyes, and transformed small into a sunbird. Her feathers were green and brown, highlighted with violet iridescence. She flitted into the night and passed from Dimdusk Alley out over Silver Street. She saw the many tents and carts of the Night Market arrayed within Halfmoon Plaza, where streams of hagglers, carousers, merchants, performers, and thieves plied the night.
She flew above the Prosperity Arch, the gate through which Silver Street passed from the Market Quarter to the walled Merchants Quarter, its wide and quiet streets a haven for traders who traveled the Carnelian Road and transited riches through Qandar.
Yovi spotted a spacious compound along Silver Street where two junipers rose inside its walled forecourt. Two orange-sashed guardsmen kept watch on the street outside. She dipped lower and drifted past the compound's open windows, where white gossamer drapes fluttered in the night air, lit gold from within. A young woman with sandy hair and brown eyes sat alone in a small room on the second story of the building's back corner.
Yovi flew in and transformed again into a woman. She held her finger to her lips, signaling to the startled occupant to remain quiet. Yovi spoke softly, "Are you Caz?" Caz nodded. "I am sent by your brother. Walis."
"Why has he sent you?" Caz whispered, glancing nervously toward the door as she did.
"Do you wish to be relieved of the burden of the merchant's seed and to be released from this union?" Yovi asked.
"Desperately, yes. Can you help me?" Caz stood.
"Yes, though not alone. My sisters will come soon. Send a servant to notify the guards you have been feeling unwell, and that your midwives will soon arrive." Caz went to the door and called into the hallway. A servant came, and Caz implemented the ruse.
"It has been long enough," Narsa declared. Subin reached inside the leather case slung about her for a small jar of viscous oil. She unfastened the lid; the contents smelled of primrose and nettle. She and Narsa dabbed some onto their fingers and rubbed it upon their faces and hair. Subin's hair, straight and black, became wavy and red. Her dark eyes turned green, and her complexion became pale and freckled. Narsa's corkscrew curls of black became blond and straight. Her hazel eyes turned blue. The two looked at each other, and Subin grinned.
"I hate this. Why is my hair this color?" Narsa complained, holding forth strands from her head to see them.
"You look different. That's what matters," Subin said.
"Why will it not become purple? Or pink?" Narsa asked.
Subin shrugged. "There's naught in my formulations to control the outcome to that degree, sister."
"Let us get on with it," Narsa said. They exited Dimdusk Alley onto Silver Street. They passed beneath the Prosperity Arch and continued along Silver Street until they spied the compound with two junipers. Two guards stood by the open gate. The witches approached.
"We are here to see the young mistress," Subin said to a guard. She spoke effervescently and smiled brightly. Narsa stood quietly.
"Midwives?" he asked. Subin nodded with a curtsy. "Go ahead in. She's expecting you." Subin bowed her head, and the two entered the forecourt. They passed between the junipers and knocked on the door.
# # #
Three stood with Caz in her chamber. Subin took a small hexagonal vial of lavender liquid from her case and offered it to Caz. "Please understand that this will expunge the seed from you, and dissolve Yarvin's pretext for marriage. It is your right, by the Old Ways of Hawthorn and Honeysuckle, to so choose your destiny."
Caz did not hesitate to accept the vial and quickly quaffed it, then returned the empty container to Subin. Warmth spread through her body, and she felt her burden lifted. She exhaled deep with relief. "I am indebted, but I must ask, is this all there is to my brother's plan? He believes Yarvin will simply let me go now?"
"He has it wrong, doesn't he?" Narsa asked.
"Yes. Yarvin declared the pregnancy to be proof the One True God wishes me to bear him many children," Caz said. "But he is only a faithful of The Theocracy when he is in Qandar. When he goes south past the mountains, he prays to their 10,000 gods. He will profess any belief that grants cover to his behavior, and he will pay off any with the power to question him. He means to add me to his collection of wives. No, he will not let me go. I must escape this place and flee Qandar or this man will take me somewhere far away and I will be his captive forever."
"Do we mean to allow this, sisters?" Narsa asked.
"We do not," Subin said.
Yovi, knowing her sisters intended the illest of fates for this man, paused and steeled her gentle heart before answering. "We do not."
"You should not have to run from your home to be freed from a marriage you do not want," Narsa said to Caz. "Where is he now?"
"He stays day and night in his quarters, tallying his silver, receiving only weather reports from the Nephological Society and talk of the day from the Market Quarter."
"What of his other wives? Will we find them with him?" Subin asked.
"His other wives live elsewhere along the Carnelian Road. In Bukira, Kashien, and Ashkar." Caz said.
"Where are his quarters?" Subin asked.
"The first door on the left," Caz answered.
"See if anyone is outside," Subin said. Caz cracked the door and peeked out. She shook her head.
Three crept into the corridor, lit dimly by a single torch. "Yovi, you will restrain him," Narsa said quietly, then turned to Subin and continued, "And you give him reason to keep silent." When they reached Yarvin's door, Yovi crouched down and closed her eyes. Her shadow briefly assumed a feline aspect, as the strength of the tiger came into her. She looked herself, but was transformed within. Subin slid her hollowknife from its sheath. Its silvery blade glinted in the flickering torchlight. Their eyes met--Narsa, Yovi, and Subin--and they readied themselves. One breath. And another. Narsa glanced to the doorknob.
Yovi threw open the door and leapt into the room. Yarvin stood from his seat at the head of a long table covered with many silver ingots. Yovi rushed forward and pounced toward him, her hands outstretched before her. He reached for his sword, but Yovi was too fast. She grasped his arm, preventing him from drawing his blade. She twisted his elbow and spun behind him, pinning his arm to his back. Her other hand cupped his mouth that he could not shout for his guards. Just as he began to grunt and reach back with his free hand, Subin was beside him, the tip of her hollowknife at his throat. His eyes widened, but he remained silent. He lowered his hand and froze.
Narsa closed the door behind her and walked across the room. She took from her satchel a small stone. Unremarkable gabbro, granular and gray. She stepped close to Yarvin and held it before him in her palm. She whispered eldritch verses, and with her other hand fluttered her fingers. Wisps arose from the man's body as she coaxed out his soul. She plucked a strand of his soul as it wavered in the air about him and wound it around her finger. "One million years you shall contemplate the existence of an object. One million years you shall lie beneath the Zaf as its waters eat you slowly to silt. You shall be aware each second of your slow disintegration. One million years you shall know what it is to be at the mercy of forces around you, with no agency to resist them."
Narsa continued pulling the strands of Yarvin's soul, unraveling them from his corporeal form. His eyes became dull, and his body lifeless. Narsa's eyes glinted darkly, and she seemed for a moment immense and terrifying as the space distorted around her. She pressed her finger to the stone and uttered despondent tributes to forgotten gods of demise. Yarvin's soul unwound from her finger and infused into the stone. When it was done, she patted the stone lightly, then stowed it in her satchel.
Yovi moved Yarvin's corpse to his bed, where she and Subin removed his sword and leaned it against the bed frame. They pulled the blanket over him and rested him to appear comfortable. Any who came would be certain he passed in his sleep. Yovi had been careful to leave no marks, and Subin had kept the tip of her hollowknife from his flesh.
Narsa stood by the silver-laden table. "Surely they will not notice a missing ingot or two, will they?"
Subin came over and examined the ledger that lay open on the table. "He was in the middle of counting it. I do not believe anyone will notice three missing." Narsa took an ingot. It was weighty. A hundred silver in value. She put it in her satchel. And then two more.
They left as they had come. Yovi as a bird through Caz's window after informing her it was done, Narsa and Subin through the front gate as midwives. One freckled with red hair and green eyes, the other bright blond with eyes of ice. Three converged in Dimdusk Alley. Narsa and Subin rinsed themselves with green-tinted water that smelled of cedar and basil. Subin's eyes became dark, and her wavy red hair straight and black. Narsa's eyes became hazel, and her blond hair turned to corkscrew curls of black.
Narsa led them a different route home, by an overlook above the riverbank. Narsa retrieved the stone with Yarvin's soul from her satchel. She tossed it unceremoniously into the Zaf, where it sank into night-black waters. Three stood looking across the river to the Blighted Steppe, moonlit and endless as the sky.