Twilight's End

Part 5 - Surprises

"You're probably wondering why I'm here, and not in my uniform."

"Um, yes." Though I have a few more pressing things on my mind.

Malz sighed and leaned against the bar. "It's been an eventful morning, Vessa."

Morning. That penetrated the fog in her mind.

"You mean day, Vigilant. It's evening outside."

"No, I mean morning. By my reckoning it's barely past midday."

"Look at the light," she said slowly, as if speaking to a child, gesturing at the few small windows in the darkened common room.

"Yes, look at that light. It's all the city's seen for nearly half a day."

"What?"

A line of spittle escaped from the slack corner of his mouth, but Malz didn't seem to notice. "The sun, Vessa. The sun is gone. Instead, we have only twilight."

"The sun is gone?" she repeated, stunned.

"Gone. Why? Well, there are a number of theories being bandied about. But the one I give the most credence to comes from the high priest of Aradeth the Golden, the Great Effulgence himself. I mentioned Aradeth the last time we spoke – I'm sure you remember. He's one of the more popular sun gods in Malakesh these days."

"I remember," Vessa whispered.

"That's good. Anyway, the high priest has told the duke that the sun was taken away by his divine lord."

Numbness spread through Vessa as the Vigilant spoke. She had a strong suspicion where this was leading. "And why would Aradeth take away the sun?" she heard herself say from far away.

"Apparently the god is enraged! Last night thieves broke into a manse in the Bright Quarter that his faithful servants use as a residence and stole his most precious artifact."

"Oh."

"Yes! And not just any thieves, as the house was protected by very powerful wards. No, someone extremely skilled at untangling complex sorcery was part of this robbery. I wanted to ask your partner about this, since he's the best I ever encountered at such things. Now, I know it wasn't him, as you told me yourself that you two are only doing honest work these days, but I thought he might know who else was capable of such a dastardly act. So, do you know where Del Amoth is?"

"No."

"I see. Well, when he does turn up – or crawls out of whatever gutter he's fallen into this time – please come at once to Stonespear." The Vigilant blew out his one good cheek, gesturing towards the windows and the bruise-colored sky beyond. "The duke certainly wants to resolve this mess as quickly as possible."

Malz made to turn away, but Vessa laid a hand on his arm. "Wait, Vigilant. You never told me why you're out of uniform. What happened this morning?"

"Oh. Please excuse me, my mind is elsewhere. I'm here" – he leaned in closer, whispering conspiratorially – "in disguise to get the pulse of the Rat Quarter after the riots this morning."

"Riots?"

"Yes. Six dead and three dozen more wounded, including a few guardsmen. The priests of Aradeth badly misplayed their cards – when the sun refused to rise, they started preaching loudly to the good citizens of Malakesh that it was their god who had stolen it away, and that it would not appear again unless this artifact that had been taken the night before was returned."

"Oh, no."

"Yes, you know the Rat as well as I do. The denizens of this quarter do not take kindly to being threatened. The response was predictable – by claiming responsibility for the missing sun, they made themselves into a very convenient target for mob violence. And if my guardsmen had not been in the area trying to keep the tensions between the Day and Night zealots from boiling over, I think all of Aradeth's faithful might have been torn to pieces. Xeno and his followers haven't escaped the city's wrath, either, as they are seen by most as simply being the reverse side of the same foreign coin – remember, both sects are very new to the city. Right now the priests of both gods are barricaded in their temples, afraid to even walk the streets."

"This all occurred today?"

"It's been a busy morning. And there's something else."

Vessa pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to steel herself for whatever surprise was coming next. "Yes?"

"The priests of Aradeth aren't talking . My whispers tell me that the high priest has contracted with one of the shadow societies to get back the stolen artifact."

A wave of coldness washed over Vessa, and she had to stifle a small moan. She and Del had striven very hard to avoid their attention over the years, turning down any job that they suspected might brush up against their interests. The societies were tight-knit organizations that controlled the darker trade that coursed beneath the surface of Malakesh. Every illegal vice in the city could be traced back to them – dreamsmoke, slaves, poisons, outlawed thaumaturgies, assassinations. They were one of the pillars that held up the city, along with the merchants, the nobles, and the duke himself. Some would argue the most powerful of the four . . . and now they were looking for her and Del.

"Do you know which society?" she managed to get out, hoping her face hadn't gone completely ashen.

"The Lost Men."

Bad. Very bad. She needed to find Del, immediately, before they did. Or she'd be fishing pieces of her partner out of the Bloat. Luckily there was only one place her partner would have gotten off to with a purse full of gemstones – despite his many promises to stay away.

"Vigilant, I don't mean to be rude, but I suddenly remembered a very pressing appointment I have elsewhere."

He flashed her another of his gruesome smiles as she pushed past him, hurrying for the door. "I thought you might. Godspeed, Vessa."