"Any news?" Elsa asked.
"Nothing at all. There is no information about the coming of a visitor in any of the other kingdoms. And, for now, none of the search teams have found anything. What about yours?" answered Ricardo.
They two were in a corner of a large room of the royal palace, in a seemingly casual conversation, but from which they had made sure not to be heard. They knew there were spies in the palace, whether they were rebels or from other noble factions. And all of them would be delighted to see them fail and erode their influence.
"The only thing we know is that the rebels are also moving, but it is unlikely they have any information."
"It is the situation I hate the most. Not only we don't know where our enemy is, but we don't even know if there is any," complained the man.
"It would be nice to have found a corpse, but nothing we can do. We have extended the search to the sapphire forest and will also monitor the dungeon, you know that visitors liked them. Although I think it's too early for him to get there. He can't have gathered enough power yet," Elsa concluded.
"Don't rely too much on it, there is much that we don't know about them. For most of them, we have no idea how long it took to gather their strength when they returned."
"Yes, yes, I know. We are alert to any news in the other areas."
"We will send patrols to the ruby forest, but it isn't easy to mobilize so many forces without raising suspicions" Ricardo complained again.
"It is ironic. We must do it discreetly when all our enemies know what is happening."
"As always it is. You have to keep up appearances even when everyone knows you're keeping them. For this hypocritical society."
The man raised his glass and the woman did the same, toasting with both glasses and shaking the wine contained.
"Good wine," granted Elsa.
"Elven wine, forty years old. They are a constant stone in the shoe, but we must recognize that they know how to make wine."
"Definitely. If it weren't for that, there would be more supporters to invade them."
They both laughed at the joke, although they knew there was some truth in it. Some nobles valued their earthly pleasures more than anything else.
"No news, none of our scouts has found anything," informed the corpulent man, who was called Threefingers.
"Neither contacts in neighboring countries know anything. It seems that nobody knows who has come, or if he's alive, or hiding, or training. For now, he's a ghost, or she," added one merchant.
"Nobles are in the same situation. They don't know anything, or they're hiding it very well," a maid intervened.
"The truth is that, until now, we'd never known that one had returned until was recognized by someone. So we don't know if it's normal or a strange case," Threefingers tried to relax the tension, somewhat nervous about the silence of Lidia, who simply nodded.
"We've no choice but to remain alert," she, who had been one of the most requested courtesans years ago, assumed. She had been smart enough to save for her retirement, and she had still many contacts and influence. After all, she knew many secrets.
"Yes, for now we've no other choice. I'll be out of the city, inquiring. If you need anything, talk to Ted, he'll know how to contact me," Lidia finally opened her mouth, looking more thoughtful than depressed.
There wasn't much more to say or do, because everything continued the same and the rest of the projects had been frozen until something was known about the visitor. Therefore, the meeting ended shortly afterwards and everyone left for a different exit. Each one knew the path that had to follow inside that labyrinth, to which few ventured and of which they only knew a part, but enough so that their comings and goings didn't raise suspicions.
Lidia followed a slightly longer path. She, whose age surpassed that of most humans, had had the opportunity to explore a little more of those tunnels. But what was going through her head weren't the multiple possible paths or the previous meeting, but what one of her collaborators had told her.
She was part of a small secret group even among the rebels, a trust group, a group with a common goal, with a common inspiration. And what one of them had told her was still echoing in her head:
"In the emerald forest there's a spring, and there was a great battle recently, apparently between ants and animals. And that forest is one of the places where visitors used to go."
"And what is the importance of a battle for a spring? Not something so strange," Lidia had answered.
"Hahaha. You're always just as impatient. Lid, let me finish."
"And you're always beating around the bush, Ferna. Say what you have to say at once," she pouted.
"The first thing that caught my attention was that there were almost no carcasses, as if they had been taken away."
Lidia had nodded, hopeful and ignoring the smile of her interlocutor. It is known that other visitors who had returned could dismember and retrieve the carcasses with ease.
"Then I found charred remains of what looked like arrows, and also some rounded crystals, like a pot that has been broken into pieces, in addition to other signs of fire."
"So, there was something more there than animals and ants. An intelligent being. Maybe a visitor..."
"Yes. It isn't the only explanation, but it's a good sign. Because, who else would be so crazy to get into one of those battles? It could be him."
Lidia nodded again. It was still early, but she couldn't keep her heart from beating hard at the possibility.
After discussing it, they had decided to focus their attention on the sapphire zone, because if they was powerful enough to get into that battle, they would surely have changed areas.
If they were right, they had a small advantage now, since they could avoid wasting their efforts in other areas. If not, they would be wasting time. In any case, they had decided not to say anything to the rest of the rebels. They knew there were spies among them.