The midday heat bore down as Krau and Liria spotted Uraside's walls. A day's journey from the crossroads, dust covered their boots and silence accompanied them.
Liria studied the city with unease. From afar, towers and domes rose, but as they drew closer, open brothels, half-naked women calling clients, and drunken men swaying under the sun's light revealed the city's true face.
—Don't look away, don't speak to anyone —Krau said without looking at her—. Uraside is not a place for innocents, or at least this part of the kingdom.
Liria swallowed and nodded, pulling her cloak tight against her body.
—Then why did we come to this part of the city? —she asked.
—Well, the correct answer is that we were close to this side of the kingdom, if not by nightfall we would be entering the other section of the kingdom. Let's find a quiet inn far from this area.
Their first stop was a clean inn in the western district. The owner, a fat man with a friendly face, agreed to rent them a room for four days while Krau found transportation.
—We'll stay here until he gets a cart. We'll avoid walking eight months to Eliy —Krau explained.
Liria smiled slightly. Krau had thought of her comfort. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but it seemed like a considerate gesture.
After settling their things, they went to the market to find a cart seller. There, amid shouts and chaos, Krau haggled with a merchant while Liria was distracted browsing a trinket stand.
—Eighty-five gold coins, stranger. Good cart, good horse —insisted the seller.
—Eighty-five coins, perhaps the cart and the horse belonged to Kise —Krau countered.
—Fine, Liria, let's go to another place.
Later, in the red district:
—Eighteen gold coins, boy. Good cart, good horse —insisted the seller.
—Eighteen coins, the cart needs many repairs and the horse is not well-fed and needs new shoes —Krau countered—. I'll give you eight coins, as I'll have to spend almost twelve coins on repairs and four on new shoes.
Krau and the seller began a heated argument over the cart's exorbitant price. Meanwhile, Liria grew bored.
—Krau, I'm going to that store over there just to see what they sell —she said.
—Alright, but don't wander too far —Krau replied without taking his eyes off the seller.
Liria headed to the store a few steps, drawn by a copper jewelry box. She didn't notice the two men approaching unnoticed.
—What a pretty flower out of your garden —murmured the handsomest, with golden hair and enchanting smile.
Liria took a step back, surprised. The man raised his hands with a warm smile.
—Relax, pretty one. We don't bite. Are you traveling alone? —he asked softly.
—No… I'm with someone —she replied, but her voice wavered.
The companion of the handsome man —a shorter man with a fox-like face— let out a low laugh.
—A fine lady like you shouldn't be traveling with rough mercenaries. Why don't you join us for a drink? We promise fun.
Liria hesitated. The handsome man's politeness confused her; he was educated, charming. Nothing like the thugs Corvus had warned her about.
The handsome man took a step closer.
—Allow me to introduce myself, my beautiful lady, my name is Sikan and this is my loyal friend Tolu.
—It would be an honor to share a drink with someone like you. We don't see fresh beauty every day in Uraside…
Liria hesitated. She rejected him with courtesy:
—I'm sorry, I don't drink, but I appreciate your kind offer —she said, accompanying her words with a warm smile.
—As a chaste novice doesn't drink, we insist you will enjoy it —Sikan took her arm.
Sikan became more insistent, moving closer still while his tone grew suggestive.
—Come, my chaste novice. It's just a drink... and if you behave well, there will be pleasure, I promise —Liria understood the suggestive comment from Sikan.
—I've already said no —she replied, pulling herself free from Sikan a little annoyed and with a touch of fear.
—Even with those legs, pretty one, you could earn a living easily here… —And without warning, with a quick, vulgar gesture, he lifted Liria's skirt barely an inch, laughing as if it were a game.
Sikan's tone changed suddenly, now revealing his true personality, his eyes descending to Liria's legs.
—Let's see if you're as innocent as you seem…
—Let go of me, don't touch me —Liria shouted.
—Do you think you have a choice, little whore? You'll come with us whether you want to or not.
—Lower your hand —a harsh voice sounded behind him.
Sikan turned, finding himself face to face with Krau. Cold eyes, empty expression. Without changing his tone,
—Who are you, idiot, are you perhaps her husband? —Sikan began to laugh.
—I'm not her husband, but I am responsible for her safety —Krau replied without taking his eyes off Sikan.
—Or are you her nursemaid, how pathetic —Sikan drew a dagger and held it to Krau's chest.
—Do you think that just by putting on a serious face we'll be afraid of you, stranger. You don't know who you're messing with —Sikan moved, his dagger now at Krau's throat. With a swift movement, Krau grabbed Sikan's wrist and twisted it so that the subject knelt and dropped the dagger.
—Do they teach you manners in this city… or do you want me to teach you? Besides —said Krau, slowly straightening Sikan's wrist until he heard the bones crack.
Sikan tried to free himself, but Krau tightened his grip. Pain showed on Sikan's perfect face.
—I threatened you with a small knife. If you're going to draw a weapon, you have to be willing to use it, not just to scare. Said that, Liria…
For the first time since Liria had known him, Krau smiled with a sneer.
Sikan let out a cry of pain when Krau twisted his wrist more and, with a simple open-handed slap, made him stumble and fall to the ground in the dust.
The market crowd watched in silence. Two local guards approached.
A guard who was patrolling nearby managed to see the small altercation.
—Problems here? —he asked suspiciously.
—No —Krau replied calmly—. I was just teaching manners to a new friend.
The guard looked at the humiliated man on the ground. They didn't intervene. They knew who usually started the problems in that district.
—Let's go, Liria —Krau said without more, turning away.
She followed him, still pale.
—Why didn't you kill him? —she whispered.
—Killing cockroaches is a waste of time, it only dirties the sword —he replied dryly.
—I understand, but you took it calmly, not as something personal. And thank you for defending me —she said with a warm smile as she walked beside Krau.
—It's not personal. It's a reflex I've had since I was younger… it's a declaration of problems —murmured Krau—. Old habit of the bastion. I suppose I didn't lose it with the passage of time —Krau smiled.
That night, in the inn, Krau checked his pouch of coins.
—We have little gold left —he murmured—. Tomorrow I'll go to the red district. I need to repair the cart… and find a blacksmith for the horse.
Liria nodded, worried.
—Are you going alone?
—Yes. Why do you ask?
—Because if those two men come back and want to hurt you…
—If they come back, I'll beat them again —he replied to Liria—. Besides, they're not a threat, they're just two clowns playing at being gang leaders. I've faced horrors in war that would make those two wet their pants —he replied with a smile of tranquility.
The next day, Krau went to the market in search of parts for his cart and a blacksmith to work on the horse's shoes also. The stalls were full of things he had never seen, the hardest gazes. Krau found several parts and boards for the battered cart for only six gold coins.
—Well, all that's left is the blacksmith to work on the horse's shoes —Krau said, carrying as much as he could.
Later that same day:
—Seven silver coins to clean the helmet and put new shoes on your horse. And I appreciate that I don't have to charge you more, because I wouldn't have to do that work myself —said the blacksmith while continuing to work in his forge.
—It's fine, I'll leave it with you and come back later —Krau left the horse with the blacksmith.
—Two days in the shop —informed the innkeeper.
Krau paid reluctantly.
—This is a scam, you know, right? —he complained.
—You think I won't charge for using my shop to repair your cart? —the innkeeper replied.
Later that night, Krau went alone to the alley behind the innkeeper's shop.
Sikan and his friend Tolu appeared in front of Krau.
—Finally we meet, it's time to return the favor, fool —Sikan said with a twisted smile.
Krau didn't respond. Sikan attacked first.
A movement. Quick. Precise.
Krau plunged his sword into Sikan's chest.
Tolu shouted in shock at seeing his friend die and tried to attack Krau, and with a simple clean cut, he severed Tolu's arm.
Tolu, shouting while losing a lot of blood, ran as fast as he could through the alleys. He reached a side alley and disappeared into the darkness, but Krau didn't follow, he simply let him go…
Later in the night, Tolu stumbled through the back door of a warehouse. He collapsed with a muffled groan.
A female voice, calm and icy, echoed from the shadows.
—What happened to you?
The man lifted his sweat-drenched face. He recognized the voice immediately.
—Valka…
Valka approached, accompanied by one of her subordinates. She looked at him without surprise.
—What happened? Where is Sikan? —she asked directly.
Tolu could barely speak.
—Dead… that man killed him…
—Who was the man? —asked Valka.
—I don't know who he is, he just attacked us. He didn't say anything —Tolu replied with difficulty.
Valka turned to her subordinate.
—Sici, let's go —she ordered.
—We'll go find him —Sici replied.
Later, they followed the trail of blood to a dark alley where Sikan's body lay on a cold puddle. Valka stopped in front of the corpse. She remained silent for several seconds.
—A clean hit. It wasn't an improvisation. Not one of our thugs. He didn't use this as a warning. It was an execution —she murmured.
Sici nodded silently.
—That means it's not just any killer. It could be a mercenary —Sici replied.
—Perhaps. If it's a mercenary, it seems Naxan wants my territory. I want to know who that man is, if Naxan is behind all this… and why he walks through my city as if nothing. No one kills in my territory without me knowing.
The moon peeked over the rooftops, silvering the scene.
And so ended the second night of Krau in Uraside.