The Persecuted

Chapter 21

They had the funds. Their contact to the south eyed the pouches and licked his lips. His long beard was a shiny black and his brown eyes matched the colour of his skin. He wore the customary white turban of his people which would have drawn a lot of attention had they been anywhere but the harbour of the largest trading city within hundreds of miles.

"This is the initial payment in full?" the man asked and grabbed one of the pouches. The coins inside let out the melody any merchant enjoyed hearing.

"In full," said Nora. She took a sip from the cup of water she had ordered. The tavern was quiet and they'd found a secluded corner in which to conduct their business. There was a lot of money involved so keeping prying eyes away from their dealings was a good idea, though their contact had marched in with four heavily armed mercenary guards so anyone looking to rob him would have to think a few times whether it was worth their life.

The man gave both of them an inquisitive look. He lingered on Adan a bit longer than on Nora on the account it was the first time he was seeing the young man. "This is not an easy thing you are asking of me."

"We know, Yusef," said Nora. "But it is the arrangement we have made with your people. This has been in the works for decades and you know it. Now that time is finally upon us it is not the time to start having second thoughts."

Yusef nodded. A customer entered the tavern letting in a fresh breeze of salty air from the harbour. "We have the place and time. We have the payment. I believe this will be enough for now. I trust you will have someone out to meet the forward party?"

"We will be there," said Nora. "We will give further instructions at that time."

Yusef nodded again. "Then I will start sending the needed messages. Two weeks and you should meet the force in the agreed upon spot."

"Very well," said Nora and stood up. Adan did the same and gave the man a slight nod before following her out of the tavern. He felt oddly light not having to carry so much cash on him and it wasn't just the weight of the missing coins that did it. They had taken the important step in furthering their plans. The plank covered street they got on was busy with carts rolling every which way filled with goods. The piers started to extend straight from the street and there were several ships unloading their cargo while others took theirs in.

"That went well," said Adan and followed Nora. He glanced around nervously. It was still an odd feeling walking out in the open with nothing to cover his eyes. He'd had a lot more practice during their walk to the coastal city and could now keep his eyes looking normal for long stretches of time without much effort.

"Let's hope everything keeps going as well as it did now," said Nora and dodged a cart. They left the plank road and entered the part of the city that was built on solid ground instead of stone stilts over water. The traffic died down considerably as soon as they left the harbour.

They hadn't had any trouble getting the funds together. They had been dispersed just as Nora remembered, though it had taken them time to visit each stash. The biggest concern had been ordinary bandits once they'd had enough coins to fill a backpack, but they had kept to well travelled roads and faced no troubles.

"We have two weeks. What will we do?" asked Adan. Nora stopped and looked around before grabbing his hand and pulling him to a silent alley between two stone buildings.

"It will take us a week to get where we need to be," said Nora. She continued looking around to ensure no one was looking or listening in.

"That still leaves us a week," said Adan and kept an eye out as well. They may not have had the World Destroyer eyes to give away who they were, but when you had just hired an army of twenty thousand to take over the kingdom you were in you didn't need to be one to get in trouble with those in power.