92

You make your way onward to Elith over the next several days. Evander continues his streak of eager demonic questions, and Min and Alvis restrain themselves from overt displays of animosity.

Five days after leaving Archa, and well over a day before the next omen is scheduled to recur, you arrive in Elith. A pair of guards are stationed on either side of the road as you approach, and you catch sight of others around the border of the town in the distance, but you're waved forward quickly enough.

You remember thinking Elith unusually prosperous for a provincial town when you first arrived for your work with Mayor Stephan. The houses were well-maintained, even on the far edges of town, and the streets bustled with activity—nothing to rival Archa, but travelers passed through on their way to the coast, and merchants made the town their first stop on their way back from Mitsun, displaying silk and fine glass on market corners.

Your first impression on stepping out of the carriage now is that the city has grown since then. You can't figure out what makes you think that at first—Elith is bigger than Pasema, but not by much, and you don't note any particular changes in the architecture. If anything, the buildings look more run-down than before. Then it hits you—the streets seem wider than you remember, because they're almost empty. It's midday, but nearly the whole of Elith's population is shut away inside their homes.

Curtains flutter in the windows of the homes you pass, so the town isn't empty, but no one steps outside to greet you. It's been quite some time since you've received such an underwhelming welcome. Your footsteps sound loud on the cobblestone paths.

"It's too early for them to take this sort of precaution," Alvis mutters eventually.

"Well, it isn't as though it's the most friendly place," Min says, tone lighter than you would have expected, even for them.

Alvis frowns. "What does that mean? It's an ordinary place."

"When I was here for research—" Min cuts themself off and stops walking as well, abruptly enough that Evander nearly walks into them.

You follow their gaze to see a broad-shouldered woman in a bulky cloak emerging from a building you recognize as the mayor's mansion. It's not the place you spent most of your time in Elith before, since Stephan conducted most of his experiments from his private home, but you do recognize the woman. It's Isidora Raptis, the captain of the guard, whom you last met when she was arresting you as an accomplice to murder.

She's come armed, carrying a long pike of the kind the militia wielded against the demon in Pasema. For a moment, you almost wonder if she's somehow chosen this moment to discuss Stephan's murder with you, but the first thing she says is, "Who are you?"