Darius was extremely surprised that the journey to Atlantis had been so straightforward. The following morning, after the Guard's body had been discovered, his remains and those of the late Caim Rocha were placed in coffins on a large cart drawn by four sturdy horses. It was not a particularly fast cart, but it was necessary given the weight of the lead sarcophagus in which the agent's cursed remains had been placed. Fortunately, the two City Watchmen whom Bleist had decided to take with him to the capital were able to drive the cart. Apart from them, the colonel was accompanied only by six Ruby Guards. Rex and the rest of the squad were to continue investigating certain leads. They had little hope that it would yield anything, but it was better than idly waiting for Darius to find out something from the encrypted manuscript or the City Wardens' archives.
Given the distance they had to cover, they had to split the journey into two parts, so he was once again forced to spend the night at the Southern Star inn. Earl wasn't particularly pleased about this, but he still preferred it to sleeping under the open sky in unfamiliar surroundings. He still had enough sense to make the wise choice. They set off on the rest of their journey well before dawn and, as a result, were able to feast their eyes on the walls of Atlantis that very evening, although Darius felt the greatest relief at finally escaping the African heat.
Seeing his home town, he wanted to be back home as soon as possible, but his duties prevented him from doing so. He had to oversee the transport of all the evidence right through to the very end. This included both the items found on the deceased and their bodies. He intended to lock the former in a safe in his office, and hand the bodies over to the medical staff so that an autopsy could be carried out as soon as possible.
With no other choice, they set off through the city. Their procession attracted more curious glances than the mere presence of the Guards would have done. Darius understood perfectly well why this was the case. It was not every day that one saw a simple cart laden with a tarpaulin-covered load, driven by City Watchmen, flanked by the Ruby Guards and supervised by a colonel of the Azure Guard. Especially as the whole motley crew looked, even from a distance, as though they were weary from their journey. However, the curiosity this aroused was not apparent in the reactions of the inhabitants of Bushtabhar.
Passing through the city gates and travelling through the town went smoothly. No one stopped them, let alone asked any questions. A minor problem arose when they began climbing Mount Soljan. The horses slowed considerably and trudged slowly up the road, which was not yet all that steep. By the time they reached the Azure Guard's fort, where the medics were stationed, it was already quite late. Not wanting to waste any time, Darius had written a letter in advance containing orders, or rather a well-reasoned request, to prioritise the post-mortem examination of both bodies. Given their condition, it was necessary to hurry, though for different reasons in each case. Four heavily armed men and the two City Watchmen remained by the cart. The latter were to wait there for a decision on their fate.
Bleist set off towards the Palace of Light with the other two. It was only when he reached the very top that the earl thought of the report he was supposed to submit. Despite the late hour, there was a good chance that one of his superiors was still at his desk. A quick glance across the square allowed him to draw a small conclusion. The calm prevailing near the entrance to the east wing suggested that the Grand Master had, for once, finished work on time; it was also possible that Master Tilion was attending to matters requiring his presence outside the Palace.
Darius therefore directed Bellator towards the western entrance. He halted the bess near the door and dismounted. The heavily armoured men followed his example, landing with a dull thud on the stone slabs. Harven Gut'tan immediately offered to help and took the saddlebags containing the evidence. Bleist thanked him with a nod and headed inside. Unlike the building opposite, here, just beyond the door, there was an elongated lobby stretching across the entire width of the ground floor. In each of the side walls, there were four passageways leading deeper into the Palace, each guarded by two Golden Guards. Opposite the entrance stood tall pedestals, from behind which clerks peered out.
Bleist headed straight towards them. He didn't want to waste his time pointlessly running around the offices when there was someone he could ask his questions of.
'Good evening, Colonel.' One of the Guardsmen sitting behind the counter came down to Darius's level so as not to look down on him. 'How can I help you?'
'Good evening.' Earl merely nodded. 'Is the Marshal still in office today?'
'Unfortunately, Marshal Zilven has travelled to Mortis to witness the official signing of the ceasefire,' the clerk informed him.
'And General Leigher?' Bleist had to sort everything out as quickly as possible. He didn't want to suddenly find out that, because of his delay, something bad had happened.
The Golden Guard looked back at his colleague, who gave a quick nod.
'General Leigher should be in his office.'
'Thank you.' Darius nodded again and set off deeper into the Palace along paths he knew very well. Fortunately, the Azure Guard's offices were on the ground floor, so they weren't far away. The commander's office was also on the west wall, offering a magnificent view. Although Bleist couldn't imagine his superior enjoying the panorama.
The heavy footsteps of the armoured Guards echoed unnaturally everywhere, reverberating far into the deserted corridors. The colonel and his heavily armed men reached Leiger's door very quickly.
'Wait for me,' said Darius, taking the pouch containing the evidence from Gut'tan.
He then stepped forward and knocked.
'Come in!' The general's voice was strong, but one could sense the fatigue in it.
Darius tried to put on an impassive expression, but he wasn't sure if he'd succeeded. He flung the door open and marched inside.
'Bleist!'. Leighter's face lit up, although it was hard to say why the Earl's presence pleased him so much.
'General,' Darius began, with feigned calm. 'I hope I'm not intruding.' He added, noticing the desk top piled high with documents.
'If you have any good news, you're certainly welcome.' His superior replied with a slight smile. 'Since you're back, I can assume that all matters have been resolved.'
'Unfortunately, I must disappoint you, General. Matters have become somewhat… complicated.'
'Which ones exactly, Bleist?' It seemed that his earlier satisfaction had been nothing more than a fleeting illusion, which vanished with a drawn-out sigh.
Darius remained silent for a moment, until Leigher fixed his gaze upon him.
'I'm afraid all of them.' There was no point beating about the bush. It was better to present the situation as worse than it actually was from the outset. 'I think it would be best to start chronologically.'
'By the gods, Bleist, you were supposed to sort out two minor matters and one slightly larger one.' The general threw up his hands. It was hard to tell, however, whether this was genuinely an emotional reaction or whether the marquis was hiding his feelings behind a studied mask.
'In the guardhouse at the northern entrance to the enclave, we found three vials of pure Aphalis,' Darius continued, undeterred. 'Though I'm sure you're already aware of that.'
'Yes, you caused quite a stir in Alexandria with that,' a faint smile flitted across the commander of the Azure Guard's lips for a fraction of a second. 'Although there was some unrest here too. Whichever way you look at it, such a monstrous drug in its pure form and in such quantities… This is no trivial matter.'
'Especially as it was a bribe to let four people into the enclave unnoticed.' Earl spoke a little too hastily and moved on from the subject. An unpleasant mix of emotions, mainly displeasure, flashed across the general's face. 'The whole affair stinks to high heaven and doesn't add up.'
'In that case, it's just as well that someone else is dealing with it.'
'I have a feeling this will come back to haunt us.' It wasn't a particularly positive statement, but Darius felt he had to say it. He had a hunch, and lately his hunches hadn't been letting him down.
'Don't be a pessimist, Bleist.' Leigher gave him a sidelong glance, his eyes having lost some of their earlier sparkle. 'What else has happened apart from that?'
'Caim Rocha was murdered on the night of 20th to 21st August.' A look of surprise and slight resignation crossed the general's face. 'No witnesses, hardly any evidence at the scene. Nobody saw anything or knows anything. Except that the report which reached the capital was falsified. Apart from that, I've managed to ascertain that the man who was murdered wasn't who he claimed to be at all.' Leigher narrowed his eyes, as if trying to keep his nerves in check. 'A person by that name did indeed once live in the northern village, but they died of the plague twenty-five years ago.'
'And the testimonies of the three friends of this… Rocha?'
'Two,' corrected Darius. So much had been going on that he hadn't actually noticed it before, but the original report had mentioned three City Watchmen accompanying the victim. This time, the earl wasn't even surprised. At this point, he would have been more surprised if everything had been normal. 'According to all the statements taken at the scene, there were three of them travelling together. This needs to be verified with the Watch, but I don't think it's any different.'
'Has anything gone well in your investigations?' Leigher sat up straight in his armchair and scrutinised his subordinate more closely.
'I returned without any problems,' the colonel stated after a moment's thought.
'Sit down.' The general pointed to the chair opposite him, then stood up and walked over to a tall cupboard. He took out two glasses and a slightly dusty, dark bottle. 'Now, from the very beginning and in detail…' Leigher said grimly, uncorking the wine.
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Darius had finished speaking by the time it was already dark outside, and the bottle standing on the desk was almost empty. It seemed to him that the general had questioned him about every detail he had carelessly omitted from his report. Now all that remained was to wait for Leighter's final reaction.
'I'm trying to build a house of cards, and you're shaking the table,' the general finally said, emptying his glass in one gulp. 'Whatever is happening in Bushtabhar must be resolved as soon as possible, Bleist. We cannot allow this to escalate into an international issue.'
'Has anything happened whilst I was away from the capital?' His superior's reaction suggested that it wasn't just the earl who'd been facing a fair few problems of late. It seemed a turbulent period had dawned for many places.
'Asati has stirred,' muttered the general. 'Veletoun promised to grant the lands conquered in South America to the houses that render the greatest service in defending the new territories. That was three days ago, and yesterday the elven armies began moving eastwards.'
'The Marshal went to Mortis as an observer for the signing of the ceasefire,' Darius recalled.
'Exactly… and at the same time, Wolczar started stirring up trouble along the Vistula,' Leigher poured the remaining contents of the bottle into his goblet and stared into the dark wine.
'War is unlikely to break out quite so soon,' the colonel said, quickly sifting through his memory, trying to piece together various threads and rumours. 'Neither side is ready for it.'
'That's what intelligence suggests too.' The general shook his head. 'I reckon both the elves and the vampires are ready for anything.'
'In that case, we've got our work cut out for us.' Darius could already picture the piles of paperwork he'd have to deal with on his return.
'We do, but you still have your own task.' His superior corrected him. 'There's no one else here today apart from me, so you'll have to wait with the report for the Grand Master. The translation of the log will be ready as soon as they can manage it. You have full access to the archives anyway, so you don't need my authorisation.' He looked at the colonel. 'Actually, you do have it. As for your unit, you've been given accommodation at the medical fort. Someone will show you the way.' Leigher glanced at the dark panorama behind him. 'You get some rest too. You'll have a bit of time for your apprentice. In the meantime, good night, Bleist.' Leigher concluded; at least Darius could fully agree with that last sentence.