"The world can be a dangerous place, but fortunately the Empire is well defended. The noble houses of the Empire maintain their own guards, who can come together to form the core of a military force as needed. Many of the commonborn also engage in military training, ready to join a militia at the command of their lords. These are more than adequate for minor threats, but above all of this sits the Imperial Army, a force of the most highly trained and dedicated professional soldiers, equipped with armour and weapons of the finest quality, under the direct command of the Undying Queen. Where the Empire is truly threatened, Her subjects know that the Imperial Army will not be far away, ready to defend them from whatever threats they may face."

Two Thousand Years of Empire by Jahangir Amini

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Velthur Savate had to hurry to stay ahead of Master Tabasi as they headed for the Marcni Vaults. The normally laconic man clearly had a bee in his bonnet about something, he was practically jogging. But then who wouldn't when there were reports of a necromancer down there?

He heard the sound of boots on the stone floor ahead and held up his hand to stop the others. The last thing he wanted was to run dick first into an angry squad of Marcni guards, especially after he'd ignored their orders not to enter the palace. His status as Commander of the Watch might save him, but then again it might not. Better to leave that kind of thing to Master Tabasi who'd probably made himself immune to anything short of an angry Archmage. They said the man was only a small step down from one after all.

As the guards came into sight, marching at the double, Velthur could feel the tension thrumming through him. Had they been sent to stop him and his men? He was about to order his Watchmen to form up, but hesitated. It was more than just guards coming.

He squinted, mentally cursed the way his eyesight seemed to be getting worse every year, and then squinted harder. There were Adepts there too, although with Master Tabasi with him those wouldn't be a problem. Also a huge figure at the back. Was that Sir Vitaly? What under the throne was he doing there?!

Velthur dismissed the thought as he realised there were still more. The guards were carrying someone and Lord Rasce was with them too. Plus a hooded figure stumbling along in the middle of them. Had they caught the necromancer. One more person caught his eye as they got closer and his heart sank. Was that Ester? What the fuck was she doing there?

Was he going to have to talk her out of yet another disaster that she'd blundered into? She didn't look like she was a prisoner. In fact, the others were giving her nervous glances. He needed to see if he could get Sir Vitaly thrown out of the city too. This was the third time he'd shown up with her after a disaster of some kind. The man was probably corrupting her somehow. She was bad enough without that madman booming into her ear.

"Ho there. Stop in the name of the Watch and state your business." Velthur needed to take control of the situation.

The Marcni guards stopped, relief on their faces, but Ester hurried forward to meet him. She was practically vibrating with nervous energy, which didn't do anything for Velthur's own sense of comfort.

"Ester." His voice was flat. She gave him a quick bow.

"Commander Savate," Ester sounded slightly out of breath and she looked filthy too. Was that blood on her arm? For fuck's sake! "I… The Duke… I've captured the Duke and his brothers." The blood drained from Velthur's face. What the fuck was she thinking? Did she want them all dead?!

"Why the f…" She cut him off.

"The Duke was a necromancer. The whole space under the palace, it's catacombs. It was crawling with undead. There was a woman performing some kind of ritual and walking corpses and the Duke tried to kill me! We fought, but I couldn't beat him and the undead at the same time. So I ran to try to escape and get help." As Velthur's jaw dropped and his heart sank, a part of him wondered if she was going to stop talking long enough to take a breath. "Then there was a Mehrzad, but he'd done something horrible to her. I had to kill her too. He caught up with me and we fought, but in the end I got him and now we're here."

She shuddered violently and for a brief moment Velthur was reminded that as well as being an absolute pain in the arse, she'd just fought and captured a necromancer, faced spirits knew what else and was barely a woman grown. Then his mind caught up with what she'd told him and any concern for her vanished.

"The Duke's a necromancer?!" He took an involuntary step back. "You're joking. No, you wouldn't joke about something like that." Suddenly the way the guards' spears were angled slightly towards Lord Rasce made more sense. "I…"

Velthur trailed off. This was so far beyond the worst he'd expected that he was struggling to even think about it. He glanced at Master Tabasi who, for once, looked as stunned as Velthur felt. He needed to pull himself together. This was a disaster, beyond anything he'd deal with before and far far above his paygrade. Was it a prelude to another invasion by the Republic? Were they about to be overrun by undead and become part of the Lands of the Dead? When this came out the city would be in chaos.

The Watchmen around him looked terrified. So did the Marcni guards, although their attention seemed to be on Ester. If he didn't take charge then who else would? He looked back at Ester, she was no leader and she looked dead on her feet anyway. No one else here even represented the city's leadership. There was only him.

"Right." Velthur's voice snapped out as he fled for the safe familiarity of command. "You," he pointed at a Marcni guard, "take us to the Duke's offices. We will use them as a headquarters. Bring his brothers too." He could only assume the moaning man being carried by two of them was Teitu. "Master Tabasi, if you could take control of the Duke? If he even looks like casting something, cripple him. Ester you come with us, if anyone tries to stop us you have my authorisation to kill them. Sergeant!" He picked out one of his Watchmen. "Take two squads and hold the gates, get messengers sent back to headquarters, we need every Watchman that can stand here. Go!"

As they marched back up towards the Duke's offices, Velthur's mind was racing as fast as it ever had. If Ester was wrong about this then she'd probably doomed them all, but there was no way she'd lie about something on this level, no way she could be mistaken. That meant there'd been an utter failure of well… everything in Vass Karan.

The city's ruling family secretly practicing necromancy. It was almost unbelievable. There was corruption, of course, but this… it was too much. It also left him wondering who he could trust. If only that Inquisitor hadn't died. Were the other Great Houses in on it? Other Mages? Should one of them have worked out what was going on? If he asked for help from the Rutanes or Velias would they do their duty or rescue the Duke? Would getting other Mages' help turn out to mean more necromancers?

He glanced around himself. Master Tabasi was talking to Ester in an urgent, low tone. He was the most powerful single Mage in the city, or so he'd heard. However, the man wasn't without limits and there were other Masters. He was probably trustworthy, but could Velthur even be sure of that? He mentally shrugged, he had to be. If Master Tabasi chose to help the Duke now, there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. Ester was loyal, that much he was sure of. She was too boringly strait-laced to be bribed if nothing else, but how capable was she really? He'd upped his estimates a couple of times already and might have to reconsider them again after this, but she was clearly exhausted and possibly injured. That left his own men plus some Marcni guards and Adepts who owed their livelihood to the Duke and had to be wondering whether their survival was more likely if the whole problem disappeared. Why was it him that had to deal with this?

Sometimes he thought having Ester in the Watch was like having a cat. Most of the time it would do its job, keep the mice down, look pretty and stay out of its owner's way. But then occasionally the cat would decide to bring a dead rat or bird to seek its owner's approval and he'd have to clean up after it. He could appreciate the sentiment, but not the inconvenience. The real problem now though was that Ester had just dumped a fucking tiger on his doorstep and it wasn't even completely dead.

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As they hurried to Sethre's offices, Aref Tabasi was still working to gather his thoughts after young Ester's revelations. When he had heard the news of problems at the Marcni palace, he had never even suspected that she would manage to get herself into quite this much trouble. No one could have thought that the Duke would be involved in something so disgusting as necromancy.

It was not ideal that he had sent her there, some people might say he had put her in that position. But no, that was ridiculous and illogical. It was hardly his fault that she had managed to involve herself in a completely unforeseeable situation. Still, this was a severe blow to his efforts at pointing her towards more appropriate behaviours. If nothing else, the damage she would have done to her reputation with this would be appalling.

Aref glanced over at Ester and grimaced to himself. She was covered in dirt, her dress was almost certainly ruined, her arm was stained with blood he was fairly sure those were tear streaks down her grimy cheeks. Such were the consequences of putting oneself in situations that one was simply not built to handle. If only she could understand that!

After a moment he angled his path so that he could walk next to her. The prisoners would not cause any trouble and he needed to speak to her or he would be unable to focus on anything else.

"Little sister," he kept his voice low. "What in the name of the Throne have you done? I just sent you to make a delivery! How did you even get down into the Vaults?"

"It was not my idea! Sir Numna was not available and then for some reason they sent Lord Rasce to take the delivery. I could hardly say no to the Duke's brother and then he wanted to show me the Vaults." Of course she did not understand, he should not have expected anything else.

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"And you accepted? You went down there alone with one of the most powerful lords in the city. Did you not think about what that might mean or how it might be perceived?" She gave him an irritatingly defiant look.

"I did not want to be rude and I am a Mage, I do not need a chaperone. Also, I wanted to see what they had in their Vaults." She at least had the decency to look slightly embarrassed at that addition.

"You underestimate the power the Marcnis have." How could she be so naive? Did she think her reputation did not matter at all? Who had taught her how to behave? Nobody by the look of it! This was the problem with the commonborn, they just did not understand! "You need to be more careful of yourself."

The mulish look on her face returned. "How was I supposed to know that the Duke was practicing necromancy down there? Lord Rasce certainly did not or there is no way he would have let me within a hundred feet of the Vaults."

"And of course you had to go charging straight in the moment something exciting caught your attention and almost got yourself killed!" Aref realised he was raising his voice and snapped his mouth closed. Why could she not have shown a modicum of common sense and gone for help instead of risking her life down there?

"Well what should I have done? Just let a necromancer run loose in the middle of whatever Schemas and weapons the Marcnis had hidden away? I am not a child!"

Aref resisted the urge to growl with frustration. Did she not realise he was just trying to help her? This was why he had not had children, far too much time and effort was spent worrying about them and trying to deal with their irrationality while coddling their feelings. It would have been better if he could simply have waited until Ester was 30 or so before speaking with her, assuming the girl ever did grow up. He ran through a calming exercise in his head

"You have had a trying day." It would be better to try to mollify her for now. That was what his friends said worked with their children sometimes. "We can speak more of this later."

Aref's reward was a disrespectful grunt from Ester and a pointed turning of her head away from him. Well he had tried, she was lucky he felt some minor responsibility towards her. With a quiet growl he set his eyes ahead of him.

The rest of the walk to the Duke's offices passed in an awkward silence, although he could not quite shake the ridiculous notion that Sir Vitaly was silently laughing at him.

Aref was still feeling somewhat out of sorts when he took a seat in the office and allowed the Commander to start organising his watchmen around the place without interference.

The outcome of all of this was still in question. Ester had gone off and risked herself in a typical bullheaded fashion, but perhaps he was being overly harsh to her. She was only young after all. He could still remember the insanity of some of his teenage escapades and she did not even have the benefit of his logical mind.

It was something Aref would need to think on more. He could not be having someone he had taken under his wing getting themselves killed in some idiotic fashion. That would simply be intolerable. Anyway, he could not have foreseen that his efforts at turning Ester to proper pursuits would run into the Marcnis' madness. Who could have? The sheer consequences of all of this did not bear thinking about. He shivered slightly. He needed to focus on the now and consider his wayward Mage later. The question was, what were they going to do with the Duke and his brothers?

Commander Savate had no idea what to do. That much was clear. The man had some justification for that too. How could he know who to trust in Vass Karan? Even Aref found himself unsure of that. He had thought he had friends in the city. Great Spirits, after over 100 years there he had thought he knew most of the important figures in it rather well. Yet he had never even suspected the Marcnis. Most of the Houses dabbled in unsanctioned magic, it was just the way things were, but there were lines nobody crossed!

If no one in Vass Karan could be trusted then they would need to bring in outsiders. It was the only logical conclusion. Of course that begged the question of how they would get them there.

Aref grimaced to himself, not even bothering to hide his expression and ignoring the questioning look young Ester shot him, she really should work on making her thoughts less obvious.

He would have to do it. No one else could, more was the pity. It was going to be thoroughly unpleasant, but he had no choice. He took great pride in rarely putting himself into positions of excessive discomfort or danger, but duty was duty.

Aref made a small sound of disgust. There was no other way. Not if they could trust nobody. Fine.

In a single decisive movement, he stood.

"Commander Savate, I am going to go for help. No one in this city can be trusted, not now. I shall return as soon as I can."

"You're going?" Commander Savate blinked dumbly. Aref thought his words had been clear. "You can't, we need you here. We don't have the forces to hold off a determined attack!"

"I do not answer to you my lord." Aref kept his voice mild, the Commander was under a great deal of stress. "Lady Ester is perfectly capable of keeping your prisoners under control." He looked at her. "If anyone tries to cause you any trouble I would suggest making an object example of them."

Ester looked confused, but she nodded, her eyes hard. It was necessary right now, but he really should not be encouraging the girl.

"But how? Who are you going to go to?" Aref resisted the urge to sigh at the Commander. He was normally so much sharper than this.

"He is going to Walk." Commander Savate blinked at Ester, but even he could not miss the emphasis she placed on the word. "Are you sure you can do that, Master?" Her earlier petulance was replaced by worry. "Not that I doubt your abilities, but everything I have been taught says it is too difficult and dangerous…"

Aref was not sure whether to be pleased at her concern or irritated at her lack of confidence in his abilities. Still, she was progressing. She had not said it was too difficult and dangerous, just that she had been taught that it was. He gave her his most reassuring smile.

"Do not worry Little Sister. I have done this many times before, its dangers are somewhat exaggerated for someone of my skill." That was more than bending the truth, but there was no point in worrying the two of them.

Aref gave each of them a firm confident nod, he certainly was not going to admit to his concerns, and strode out of the commandeered office.

It only took him a short time to find an empty room of sufficient size. His plans would likely cause some damage to the decor, but he doubted the Marcnis would be in a position to object if he survived this.

Aref took a deep breath and steeled himself. This was going to be deeply unpleasant.

"Aprainc dil'erach'fa, dachaid dil'erach'ai'gewaaj'fa." As the words spilled out of his mouth, runes flashed into being around him, spinning on waves of magic faster and faster until they came together in a single focal point.

Around him a breeze began to blow, gently at first and then harder. Where his magic had focused, the very air sparked, fingers of slow, green lightning probing out from a pinprick hole in the air. Aref narrowed his eyes and poured more power into the spell, feeling the strain deep inside him. For a moment there was resistance and then with a shriek that echoed through his body, reality tore open. What had been a breeze was now a howling gale, ripping paneling off the walls around him, tearing apart everything it touched except for him.

Aref stood, untouched amidst the raging winds and glanced around himself one last time before stepping through the hole in reality. He felt rather than saw it snap shut behind him, but the strain on his magic did not reduce. Now it was a furious storm, pouring out of him to bring order to the world around him.

Ahead of him was a rough, narrow stone path. He stood in a little bubble of normality, surrounded by eerie green fog that seemed to crackle with hidden energy, held back only by the roaring discharge of his power. It moved in odd patterns, sometimes smooth and sinuous, other times suddenly jerking into a new position. Within it he would swear he could see things moving, things he did not want to focus on. The Weiryd was no place for a man, but he would do what he had to.

At this depth his journey would likely take an hour and he did not dare go deeper. If he was lucky he would only be attacked once or twice in that time. Aref gritted his teeth and started to walk down the path in front of him.

=====

Ester resisted the urge to fidget as she sat watching the bound and hooded Duke. Really, she just wanted to get away from everyone and work her way through everything she'd seen down in the catacombs. That and have a wash and a long, deep sleep. If she could even get to sleep after everything that had happened.

It had been two hours since Master Tabasi had left. Apparently people were gathering outside the Marcni palace, but Commander Savate had left strict orders about who could come in or out. It was getting ever more difficult not to let the worry overwhelm her. Did he even have a plan? Was he being too paranoid? Were they about to be attacked? Was this the end, after she'd thought she was safe?

Her mind drifted back to Master Tabasi and she resisted the urge to growl. The man could be so infuriating! Couldn't he just have shown her some sympathy instead of trying to lecture her? She wasn't a child to be told off for doing something silly, she'd just been trying to do her duty, like any Mage should!

Hopefully he was alright though. There was a lot she didn't know about Walking, but she knew enough to be worried for him…

Magic flared somewhere outside. More of it than Ester had felt since she'd left Trevayn. Huge amounts more. She barely realised she'd leapt to her feet. It would take a big ritual for something like that.

"Commander! Something is happening, I just felt magic, so much magic!" He looked confused. She needed to be clearer. "More than any one person in Vass Karan should be able to produce. I do not know what it was, but it was nearby."

He'd been looking worried since she'd given him the Duke, this didn't seem to be helping. "If it's that powerful, then there's nothing we can do about it. If it's help coming, then great. If it's not," he shrugged, "then we'll die in service of the Undying Queen."

"That… that is not helping!" How could he be so casual about it? Why didn't he have a plan?

"Well do you have any better ideas?"

"No." Ester didn't fully succeed in keeping the petulance out of her voice. It wasn't the point! They should at least be trying to find out what was going on.

"Exactly. Now prepare yourself. If they are against us then I don't want you to try to fight them. I want you to execute the Duke the moment they attack. If there's one thing I want to be sure of, it's that he won't be getting out of this alive."

At that the Duke started struggling against his bonds again, making furious, muffled noises through his gag and hood right until Commander Savate strode over to him and punched him hard in the stomach.

Ester grimaced at that. The Duke deserved it, no doubt, but it still felt wrong to kill a helpless prisoner. She'd have to worry about that another time though. She didn't want to kill a prisoner, but the Duke's life was forfeit many times over, there was absolutely no doubt about that. He was a necromancer and anything was better than letting one of them go free. She clutched the skirts of her dress and focused on him, a spell ready on her lips.

She wasn't sure how long she stood like that, practically vibrating with tension, waiting for something, anything, to happen.

Then, voices came from outside the room. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but they sounded calm and there were no screams or clashes of weapons. A moment later someone knocked on the door.

Commander Savate gave her a confused look, hesitated and then called out, "Enter." His hand didn't leave the hilt of his sword though.

The door swung open and Ester's breath caught in her throat as a man stepped in. He wore robes of exquisitely fine quality in a deep blue with golden runes embroidered into it. He had sharp and handsome, yet deceptively youthful, features and the olive skin of Trevayn. Lightly curled black hair hung to his shoulders, framing his hard-eyed gaze.

Before she'd even thought about it, Ester went to one knee. The Duke almost forgotten behind her. "My Lord Archmage." She was aware of two more, older looking men following him in, both looking somewhat unwell, but all of her attention was focused on the Archmage.

Commander Savate clearly didn't recognise the man. He stayed standing, his eyes fixed on him and his companions.

"Welcome my lord." Despite his tense posture, his tone was at least polite. "May I ask who you are and why you are here?"

The Archmage's eyes flicked over Ester, lingered for a second, and then took in the rest of the room before settling on Commander Savate.

"I am Salar Raeisi," Commander Savate yanked his hand off the hilt of his sword at the name as if it had burnt him. "My companions are Inquisitors Qobad Adib and Sinon Manis, from Trevayn" The Archmage smiled, although it did not reach his eyes. "You can stop worrying, now that I am here, this situation will be dealt with.

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