Night covered Yggdrasil.
The city looked beautiful from above.
Lights glowed from windows.
Lanterns illuminated narrow streets.
The mountain breeze carried distant conversations through the districts.
From a distance, everything seemed normal.
It wasn't.
Kai and Andre were currently hiding inside a storage room behind a bakery.
The owner had no idea they were there.
Andre was eating bread.
Again.
Kai had stopped questioning where he got it.
Some mysteries were better left unsolved.
"You think Akshay is alright?"
Kai asked.
Andre took another bite.
"No."
Kai frowned.
"That's not very reassuring."
"You asked what I think."
Andre shrugged.
"He just got arrested."
Fair point.
The room fell silent.
For the first time since escaping the palace, they actually had time to think.
And Kai hated it.
Because the more he thought, the worse everything looked.
The evidence.
The convoy.
The council.
The timing.
It all felt planned.
Too planned.
Like pieces moving across a board.
And they had arrived halfway through the game.
A knock suddenly echoed through the room.
Both men froze.
Andre immediately reached for a loose wooden plank he apparently intended to use as a weapon.
Another knock followed.
Then a familiar voice.
"If you're planning to hit me with that, at least aim properly."
Andre lowered the plank.
"Zindine."
The hidden door opened.
The hooded merchant stepped inside.
Book in hand as usual.
Kai had begun suspecting the book existed purely for dramatic effect.
Zindine looked at the room.
Then at Andre.
Then at the pile of missing bread.