There was a gentle beeping that woke Grisha from her deep slumber, she rolled over and reached her arm out to grab Ida. Instead of finding her loving wife, she found her arm smacking into a cold metal panel. With a gasp she sat up and looked around, she was laying in an unfamiliar bed in a small metal cabin. It took a moment for her to remember where she was, as the memories of the morning came back to her she found herself partially wishing that it had all been a dream concocted by her sleep-addled mind.

  The gentle beeping returned once more. Grisha looked for the source as she leapt down from the bed, as she glanced around the cabin she noticed a green light flashing from the door controls in time with the beeping. Walking up to the door panel she gingerly reached out and pressed the flashing button.

  With a gentle whooshing the door slid open, revealing Losol standing on the other side waiting patiently. The Ono woman loomed over Grisha, still wearing the tribal furs and leathers from earlier. Losol cocked an eyebrow as she glanced down at Grisha. “I’m sorry if I woke you. We are nearing Navalia.” The woman said in her odd accent.

  Grisha blinked in surprise. “I thought we weren’t scheduled to arrive at the Black Coast till the evening? What time is it?” She asked aloud, her voice still hoarse.

  Losol held a hand to hide her fanged smile. “Lady Salt, it is almost twelve-”

  “I slept for six hours?!” She said, horrified.

  “-AM.” Losol finished saying.

  The world started spinning as Grisha whipped her head to look at the wall clock, sure enough it was a quarter to midnight. Her jaw dropped, she had slept for almost eighteen hours. “I don’t understand, did no one come to wake me for lunch or dinner?” She said with disbelief.

  The Ono woman cleared her throat politely. “I tried for some time, but there was no answer. We will be disembarking in half an hour, you may wish to pack an overnight bag, we will see to your luggage tomorrow. One last thing, you might want to put on something more… professional.” She said as she turned and walked away.

  Grisha looked down, she was still in her underwear. Shame washed over her as she turned bright red. With a stifled squeal she struck the button to close the door again. What a fine impression. First I sleep like the dead, now I answer the door nearly naked!

  Wallowing, Grisha started to get cleaned up. Brushing her unruly hair into some semblance of order, and when that failed, tying it back and hiding it with her cap. She changed into her dress uniform which consisted of a jacket and pants in the color of the Tideborn; dark and light blues with a white trim. Ida thought the uniform had been rather attractive on Grisha, but as she looked at herself in the mirror she couldn’t help but feel like it was a bit too tight around her waist. Though, lately everything felt like that. The downside of late night shifts and the stress of a newborn was that Grisha had very little time or energy to eat well and exercise; Ida had been quick to retort with that look in her eye that she ‘didn’t mind at all’.

  With a withering look, Grisha grabbed her makeup bag out of her luggage. Normally Ida handled applying her makeup, when Grisha tried it always ended up looking like she had smeared it on with a trowel. Tapping her finger on the bag's zipper, she looked up at the clock, it was almost time to leave. Letting out a frustrated grunt she threw the makeup bag back where she had found it. It was nearly midnight, chances were that the Twin’s would leave the official reception till the morning, opting to simply show the guests their rooms for the night for now. Grisha could worry about conforming to norms tomorrow. They would just have to deal with her actual face.

  It was time. Taking one last look in the mirror to be sure that she was actually wearing clothes, Grisha made her way out of her cabin. For a moment she thought she might have to ask for directions, but as she looked down the hall she saw others in dress uniforms making their way to the rear of the ship.

  Before long Grisha was standing in the main hangar of the ship, she and a dozen others in their best uniforms were standing at attention in a line while they waited to disembark. With a glance she could see the colors and sigils of the various branches of the Court. It was hard to tell at first, but there were subtle differences in the patches or colors of the uniforms. Her own uniform marked her as a member of the seventh circle in The Holy Order of Infrastructure and Taxation. She could see representatives from the Order of Finances, the Order of Supply, hells there was even someone from the Order of Forestry and Wildlife. Most of the representatives wore the colors of the Tideborn, which made sense. From an early age they were taught that serving in the Courts administration was one of the highest callings, it was practically unheard of not to try and climb the bureaucratic ladder.

  The door opened as Losol walked into the hangar flanked by two guards in full plate armor. Despite wearing no armor herself, the Ono made the pair of guards look like toy soldiers in comparison. They formed a line opposite of the administrators, the two groups looking towards one another at attention.

  A young man walked into the hangar with a brass horn, he bellowed it briefly before loudly declaring with his most authoritative voice he could muster. “Presenting the most brilliant Lord Nel’Dorn, radiant hand of the Celestial Court, and inquisitor supreme.”

  Grisha was confused, that name and title sounded like it belonged to one of the Minstella. Even as she tried to process what was happening, she froze as a living breathing God walked into the room. Lord Nel’Dorn could almost be confused for a human from a distance, if not for the brilliant shining aura that bathed his whole body, the light that he cast was as warm and comforting as the sun itself. The Demigod was the single most beautiful creature Grisha had ever seen, he looked like he had been chiseled from a block of marble. A living statue in peak physical form, he wore loose golden silk clothing that swayed from unseen wind as he walked. His long glowing hair was tied back to keep it from his face. With a warm smile the Demigod walked between the lines of those assembled.

  Looking at the God before her eyes left Grisha lightheaded and breathless, quickly she realized that was because she had stopped breathing all together from shock, she took in a long breath to try and calm herself. As the Lord walked past Grisha he stopped, turning towards her with a raised eyebrow. When he spoke it was as sweet as warm honey, and as intoxicating as a bottle of wine. “I’m glad you were finally able to rise from your bed and join us.” He said with a smile as he laughed lightly.

  Grisha’s face and ears began to boil as they turned red. Lowering her head she stuttered. “Oh Holy one, I am sorry for such a disgraceful display.”

  “Nonsense.” The God laughed warmly. “I am told you have a newborn at home, it only goes to show how hard you have worked to provide for your family. I look forward to seeing you bring that dedication to our mission.” He said.

  Grisha couldn’t help but notice some of the looks she was getting from the others. Some looked at her with awe, while others looked as though they wished to skin her alive and wear the remains.

  Nel’Dorn continued walking to the front of the hangar with his arms behind his back. The Demigod turned to face those assembled before him, even without raising his voice it seemed to carry across the whole hangar with ease as he spoke softly. “The Celestial body is grateful that each of you chose to join this inquiry, you were selected because you are among the most driven minds in the Empire. I have been given the honor of overseeing this investigation, you will all be reporting directly to myself or if I am unavailable, you can relay any findings to our most esteemed protector.” He gestured to Losol.” We have the honor of having a member of the Second Fang to oversee our security during our visit.” The God's face darkened. “We are far from the light of the Celestial Court, this is the dark edge of the Empire, I cannot stress how important it is to be careful of our hosts.” There was a bitterness to Nel’Dorn’s tone.

  One of the other administrative officers raised a hand sheepishly, an older woman from the 8th circle of the Order of Foreign Affairs. Nel’Dorn paused, nodding for the woman to speak, if he was upset by the interruption he didn’t show it. The woman cleared her throat, “I’m sorry to speak out of turn my Lord. I have read the briefing that was prepared for us, but I found no detailed mention of what actually occurred to cause our inquest. May I ask, what is it that happened to cause such a quick response from the Celestial Court?” Grisha fought the urge to curse out loud, she had no idea there was a briefing!

  The Demigod nodded slowly. “You are right that we have been careful not to give too much away about the exact nature of the ‘ritual’. For now I would keep it this way, I would prefer if you came into this investigation not clouded by hearsay. I will tell you the bare minimum. The Black Coast celebrates the end of their harvest with a pagan ritual to send their dead to whatever afterlife awaits them, during this year's ritual there was a complication.” Nel’Dorn cast his eyes to the side for a moment before continuing. There was an immense weight to his words, his tone soft and angry. “The Nightfather manifested physically.”

  Grisha could feel the air grow cold at the mention of the blasphemous Old God. There were gasps of shock around the room, several began to offer prayers of salvation to the Gods; that seemed a bit redundant, what with a God standing right in front of them. Panic was setting in as those in the room came to the realization that there was a chance of them coming face to face with an Old God.

  Nel’Dorn raised a hand, the room fell silent instantly. “This is why I have come personally, you have my word that I will protect you all from the insidious corruption of our most reviled foes.” The energy of the crowd quickly changed, the fear replaced with devotion. Everyone was now offering their prayers to the Demigod personally, even Grisha found herself whispering a thank you. Something about the glow around Nel’Dorn seemed to grow brighter for a moment.

  A naval officer ran up to Losol and whispered something in her ear. The Ono gave a nod and looked toward Nel’Dorn. “We are ready to disembark my Lord.” Grisha blinked in surprise, she hadn’t felt any indication that the ship had come to a stop, or that it had landed for that matter.

  “Excellent, let us see how welcoming our gracious hosts will be.” Nel’Dorn said with a wave of his hand as he turned to face the ramp of the hangar. In response the large angled ramp began to lower. Grisha and the others walked out into the night and were blown away by the spectacular sight.

  The ship seemed to have come to rest at the bottom of the city at some sort of sea wall; a large main road could be seen stretching up towards a towering crystalline structure of deep purple. The sea wall and the sides of the main street were filled with tens of thousands of people, each holding a lantern in their arms. It was a dazzling display, and a huge contrast to what Grisha had imagined the welcome to be. Upon seeing an actual Demigod descending the ramp, the sea of people fell to their knees as they offered their respects. Grisha snuck a look over her shoulder to see Nel’Dorn’s face, a wisp of an unknowable emotion danced across his features, but she couldn’t make out what it was.

  Standing in a line were what looked to be the nobles of the Coast. Each wore a different color and sigil, no doubt showing what clan or house they were a part of. Grisha looked over their faces and froze, one of the nobles was a bulbous thing covered in fine silk that hung to the ground, its entire body was covered aside from a pair of glowing green eyes that pierced out through the folds of clothing. On one side of the nobles was an individual wrapped in strips of black leather, flanked by two hounds. Except, unlike dogs, these had the heads of eels. Stranger still was the person on the other side of the nobles, as far as Grisha could tell, it was just a silk cloth hanging in the air around the unseen shape of a person, the hood was pulled up but there was nothing but murky shadows inside.

  What had she gotten herself into?

  A young woman stepped forward from the nobles towards the Court's representatives. The girl had the usual sickly pale skin that Twin’s had, her dark hair was tied back in a tight braid, interwoven with a hairpiece that was styled to look like the rays of the sun. She was a slight thing, thin and gaunt. Though her green eyes were filled with determination. As she walked her cloak billowed, revealing a set of revolvers on her hip. When she neared the inquiry team she bowed. “Greetings Holy one, and greetings to our honored cousins. We welcome you to our home, please consider it your own during your stay. I am the acting ruler of the Coast, while my brother recovers from a medical emergency. I am Tayla Ebontide, at your humble service.”

  Nel’Dorn walked forward, his face beaming with a smile. “Raise! I admit I wasn’t expecting such a warm welcome with the lateness of our arrival.” He chuckled. “I am Nel’Dorn, I look forward to working alongside you lady Ebontide.”

  Tayla stood up, her face softening a bit. “I am sure you all must be tired from your long trip, we have prepared rooms in the Keel for you all.”

  “That is most kind of you, I’m afraid I must stay on our ship for personal reasons, but the rest of the team would be delighted to take you up on your offer.”

  “I am a bit relieved to hear that my Lord. The Keel is lacking in rooms that would be fitting for one such as yourself. A terrible oversight on our part to be sure. We welcome you to join us in the morning for breakfast, so that we may discuss how best to help facilitate your investigation.”

  The Demigod nodded. “A generous offer, I will take you up on that. For now I must retire, goodnight Lady Ebontide.” The holy being turned back towards the ramp, for a brief moment he shot a glance at Losol as he walked past.

  Losol walked towards Tayla. “I am Losol of the Second Fang, I am overseeing the safety of this inquisition. Please, lead the way.”

  The acting queen bowed in greeting as she led the team towards the frighteningly steep hill, Grisha dreaded having to climb it. Thankfully though, there seemed to be a lift to help ascend the hill without the need to walk up it. The lifts could only fit a few at a time. Grisha was near the front of the line so she quickly found herself on the lift alongside Losol and the Queen, as well as the leather wrapped figure and their dogs.

  She tried her best to seem small as the lift slowly began its ascent.

  The Ono woman was looking at the strange figure with a curious look. “I heard the reports from the pups that were assigned here, who are you exactly?”

  Tayla cleared her throat. “This is the Huntmaster, they are-”

  “I wasn’t asking you, your highness.” Losol said bitterly.

  One of the dogs, the white one spoke, nearly causing Grisha to leap from the lift. “Be at ease, this is not the time for such chats. If you want to settle this with tooth and blade we can do so later.”

  “Spoken like the child of a declawed oathbreaker. Only a thin blooded coward would run off and break the taboo, honorless runt-” Losol was interrupted by a black spear erupting from the torso of the stranger, coming to stop right in the small of her neck. For the first time there was concern on the warriors face.

  The other dog spoke softly. “Now now dearie, is this what has become of the mighty Second Fang? You spit on our ancestors with your disrespect to your hosts, and your elders.” The dogs pulled back their lips to reveal rows of hooked fangs.

  Tayla looked over the black spear that spanned the lift at Grisha, her face unfazed by the altercation. “We haven’t had the chance for introductions, I am Tayla Ebontide, and you are?” Her voice was calm and welcoming despite the threat of impending violence.

  Grisha stuttered as she looked at the two warriors staring each other down, they had even started to growl. “Uh… I, I am Grisha Salt, seventh circle member of the Holy Order of Infrastructure and Taxation, shouldn’t we try and stop this?!” She said as panic crept into her voice.

  “Oh this? My brother told me this was a common thing for Ono, they have to try and assert dominance or some such. So what part of the Empire did you come from?” She continued with a friendly smile.

  Losol moved faster than the eye could see, quickly pushing the black spear from her throat while unsheathing a curved blade from her back, as he brought it down the stranger erupted in a dozen more spears, both of them coming within a hair's breadth of impaling one another. With a huff Losol gritted her teeth. “A draw, unfortunate.” She hissed. The spears retreated back into the stranger's body as Losol sheathed her blade once more.

  Looking back and forth, Grisha felt like she was about to faint. As she looked back to Tayla the girl simply tilted her head, waiting for her response to her inane question. “I was stationed in Cainport, a small neutral town on the western coast. I lived there with my wife and our daughter.” The words came out as a vomit, her nerves were so far gone she was practically rambling.

  Tayla looked surprised. “Forgive me for asking such a personal question, but you say you have a daughter with your wife, is she from a previous relationship?” She said as her eyes widened. She spoke like she was probing for something.

  “Ah, no. We paid a terrible sum to have one of the Genesmiths bless us with a child that was both of ours.”

  The young Queen surged forward, grabbing Grisha by the hand. “Remarkable! I had heard the legends but I never had the chance to talk to someone that had enlisted the services of a Genesmith.” Growing embarrassed, Tayla stepped to the side. “I apologize. I would love to hear about the process at some point, if you don’t mind sharing the details.”

  Grisha couldn’t help but chuckle at the woman’s enthusiasm. “I would be happy to share the story, though it isn’t exactly an interesting tale. What about you, do you have any family?”

  Tayla leaned against the railing of the lift next to Grisha with a sigh. “Personally, love hasn’t really been something of interest to me yet, though lately its been a bit more on my mind. When it comes to family, the only blood relatives I have are my brother Alnur and my sibling Fel. Though I am spoiled with my share of aunts and uncles that I consider family despite not sharing blood ties.” As she said that she reached a hand down and ran it along the spined backs of the eel dogs.

  “What do you do for fun?” Grisha said, forgetting for a moment where she was and who it was she was talking to. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

  “No no, it’s alright. I don’t mind. My idea of fun is rather odd even by Twin’s standards. I like to try and look through our records and correlate data.” She said bashfully. “I know, real heart pounding stuff.” Tayla buried her face in her hands as she let out a muffled groan.

  Grisha put a hand on the Queen’s shoulder. “Nonsense! There’s nothing like applying mathematical principles in the pursuit of greater understanding of correlation and causation! Ah the thrill you get when you prove your thesis has basis, only to have the heartbreak of when it fails given a larger data pool.”

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “But then! You reassess your method and find a connection where you never would have dreamed!” The pair were grinning from ear to ear at their shared wonder in the obscure arts of data correlation.

  The lift reached the top of the hill, signaling it was time to disembark. As they stepped off of the lift onto the upper plaza Tayla turned to Grisha. “I hope we can continue this conversation another time, Lady Salt.”

  “I would like that, your highness.” Grisha said with a smile. A moment later the next lift arrived, it didn’t take long until the whole survey team had arrived. Grisha looked up at the sublime sight of the structure the Twin’s called the Keel. The surfaces of the building reflected the stars in the night sky, giving the impression that it was otherworldly. It was odd that the Twin’s chose such an alien thing as the cornerstone of their kingdom, and yet, strangely fitting for the most eccentric children of the Gods. The Keel was raised into the air at roughly a twenty two and a half degree angle, the tip of it pointing towards the ocean; Grisha couldn’t help but wonder how hard it must be to walk around in such a slanted building. Looking down at the paving stones, Grisha estimated that the stones were nearly twenty three and three quarters in size, with a quarter inch of paving sand between each stone, that meant that she could use each stone as a way to measure two feet. Quickly counting the stones from the base of the Keel to its tip she came up with a distance, she used the rough angle to estimate the total length of the Keel. The number she came up with was five hundred and seventy two feet, give or take.

  A hand fell on Grisha’s shoulder, shaking her from her mental math exercise. It was Losol, she gestured to the rest of the survey team that were walking up the ramp of the Keel already, having left Grisha to her little game. Embarrassed, she said as she walked towards the Keel. “Sorry, I was collecting data.”

  Losol walked alongside Grisha as they entered the Keel proper; the hall they entered was much more cramped than that of the white dwarf ship, the walls were covered in tubes and woven cables, there was a constant clicking of unseen machinery. The corridors were pitch black, the only one that was illuminated was the one they were being ushered towards, something was nagging at the back of Grisha’s mind as she walked the corridors. Out of habit she began to count her steps, something she liked to do in buildings she was unfamiliar with. After walking they took a lift to another floor, again there was a feeling that something was off.

  The survey team was led down winding corridors, the identical junctions and doorways were disorientating, Grisha would have to take care not to get turned around. In her mind she was building a mental map of the Keel, the different paths and distances between rooms of note. Before long she was shown her own room. The room itself was small, it wasn’t cramped per se but the designer obviously made it a point to try to utilize the room to its fullest. Lights embedded into the ceiling panels provided ample illumination, though the far right corner seemed to have a dark spot where a small patch of the light must have burnt out. The bed could slide back into the wall where a desk could be pulled out to take its place. Even the toilet and sink were retractable. It took Grisha a moment to realize that the ‘window’ was just a view screen with a live feed from the exterior of the building.

  Grisha sat on the bed with a thump, this trip was already proving to be much more than she had imagined. She reached into her bag to grab her night wear, her hand brushed against something round and smooth. Grabbing the object she pulled her hand out and looked down, it was one of Izzy’s toys, a wooden ball that was meant to be placed in a cut out to help teach shapes. Izzy preferred to hurl the thing with the arm of an athlete instead.

  A sad smile crossed Grisha’s face as she leaned her elbows on her knees. She heaved as she fought back tears, placing the toy on her side table as she balled her hands into fists, lifting them to her eyes. It took a moment to collect herself, looking back over at the toy. The thing gnawing at the back of her mind turned into a scream as it dawned on her.

  Frantically she grabbed the ball and looked out the fake window to make sure she had the orientation right, she reached down and rolled the toy to the far side of the room watching it intensely. The ball of wood rolled unimpeded as it crashed into the far side of the room, rolling to the left slightly before coming to a stop. Leaping from the bed Grisha tried the same thing from every side of the room, each time she had similar results.

  Grabbing the ball, Grisha opened her door into the dark corridor, the only source of light was the one from her room. Hesitantly she stepped out into the darkness, looking from side to side. No one had explicitly told her she couldn’t leave her room and explore, though, perhaps that was simply because of the rushed nature of their arrival. As she reached into the darkness the lights above flickered to life, one by one a series of unseen light sources in the ceiling slowly turned on as they guided her way down the hall. Following the light Grisha couldn’t help but look over her shoulder and feel a bit of unease as the lights died behind her. It felt like the very Keel itself only wanted to show her the bare minimum.

  Taking a breath, Grisha continued walking to the very far edge of the floor she was on. When she finally reached a wall she turned around and started walking back the way she came, counting her steps as she went. It took several minutes to reach the far end, as she reached it she stopped and used her stride and number of steps to make a rough estimate of the length she had walked. She blinked, the number she came to was obviously wrong, perhaps she had miscounted.

  Grisha turned back, recounting her steps once more. When she arrived at the other side she noted that her count had increased, she felt sick. She needed to return to her room, she could double check her math there and maybe clear her mind. Hurrying down the hall she was nearing her room when she stopped, the corridor looked off, the placement and number of doors was wrong. There were junction boxes and tubes in places that they hadn’t been before. Most troubling, the light that had guided her was showing a turn up ahead.

  Her heart was racing, there was something menacing about the stale light, like she was being led by the nose towards something sinister. Quickly, she turned and started running in the other direction, the light that had been trailing her flickered, refusing to illuminate her path. Soon she was cast into darkness, she nearly tripped, feeling off balance for some reason. In the pitch black the only sound was the padding of her feet on the metal panels below, she held a hand along the wall to stop her from crashing into something.

  Suddenly the next junction was illuminated, the light slowly turning on panel after panel as it neared Grisha.

  With a yelp she turned down one of the dark side paths, narrowly avoiding the stark light. She ran down the hall, the light quickly approaching from behind. Another beam of light flickered on before her causing Grisha to slide to a stop at a junction, nearly falling over. She felt sick, her head was spinning, her ears felt like they were going to burst. Looking around, she saw that each of the corridors had an approaching light, except one. Maybe it was crazy, but something about this place felt like it was out to get her. Stumbling, she ran down the darkened corridor, the light behind her was gaining on her. A light appeared just a few feet in front of her, with a curse Grisha fell to the ground as she tried to stop. There was nowhere to run, backing against the wall the harsh light closed in on either side.

  The wall opened causing Grisha to fall backwards in surprise. Landing hard she looked up to see a looming shadow of dark smoke standing over her. With a scream she tried to crawl back into the corridor. The shadow spoke softly. “Are you alright? Did you get lost?” It was quite the lovely voice, considering it came from a humanoid puff of smoke.

  “There was this light! And then the hallway changed! And then I was chased! And, And!” Grisha was gasping for air as she spoke.

  “Calm down, take a deep breath. Here, have a seat.” The chair in the room slid on its own towards Grisha.

  With shaking hands Grisha took the offered seat. Trying not to stare as the shadow flowed towards the far side of the room, a silk cloak danced as it wrapped around the shadow, the figure below turning to regard her. “You aren’t the first to get lost in these halls, it happens quite often for outsiders. As for the lights following you, the Keel is ancient, the sensors sometimes malfunction.” The shadow moved towards a decanter of water, mixing a few herbs into a cup before filling it with water. “Here, some tea to help your nerves, plus something to help you sleep. The first night can be hard to settle.” It said as it offered the cup to Grisha.

  Grisha took the cup, noting it was cold. The shadow reached a tendril of smoke to the cup, running the wisp around the rim as a series of small sparks appeared. The water began to boil without warning, causing Grisha to almost drop it in astonishment. “Was that… magic?” She said with wonder.

  The shadow laughed. “As far as magic goes, it is more akin to a parlor trick.”

  Bringing the cup up to her face Grisha sniffed, the tea smelled wonderful, with a hint of citrus. The thought that it was poisoned crossed her mind, but considering she was dealing with a mage, they probably had simpler ways if they wanted her dead. She took a sip, the hot tea was heavenly. “I’m sorry I barged in, in hindsight I was acting like a lunatic.” Her face was red with shame.

  “That’s alright, the benefit of my condition is that even when someone walks in on me there isn’t much to see. My name is Abigail Harrowood, I am a sorceress in service to the crown of the Black Coast.” She said as she moved around to her desk and began to thumb through a book.

  “My name is Grisha Salt, I am a member of the Order of-”

  “-Infrastructure and Taxation.” Abigail interrupted. “Married to Ida Salt, mother to Izzy Salt. Born in the Spire, and currently stationed in Cainport.” Her tone was calm and friendly.

  Grisha lowered her cup, her mouth agape. “How did you-”

  Abigail snapped the book closed. “I make it my business to know about the guests of our kingdom.”

  Something boiled inside of Grisha’s chest. “I can’t say I appreciate having someone look into my private life.” The tea in her cup began to bubble wildly as she spoke, her voice was shaking with anger.

  “Please, don’t misunderstand my intentions Mrs Salt, I didn’t mean to make some veiled threat towards your family. I simply wanted to understand our guests, to get a feel for their motivations in coming here. Do you know what I am?” Abigail said changing the subject with a sigh.

  The sudden shift in conversation caused Grisha to blink with surprise. “I imagine you are a hybrid, though I don’t know what sort of union would birth someone with your… unique properties.”

  The cloak around Abigail moved towards a dresser in the back of the room, from it she retrieved a wooden box. She walked over. “Please, take a look.” There was a deep sorrow in her voice as she handed the box to Grisha.

  Curious, Grisha opened the box, inside was a green cloth with the sigil of the Shattered Coast, the edges were frayed and burnt. Under the cloth were a pair of vials, each had a black sooty substance inside. “What is this?” She asked offhandedly.

  “The Celestial Court's idea of justice. That is all I have left of my parents. A burnt sigil from my mothers dress, and their ashes.” Grisha looked up, then back at the vials, nearly dropping the one she had in her hand. Carefully she placed it back in the box. Abigail continued, speaking with a bitter sadness. “My parents' only crime was falling in love, they hoped that by coming forward voluntarily that they might be shown mercy. The local Minstella that oversaw their territory was less than understanding. For the crime of committing the taboo of birthing me, she marched my parents without sleep throughout her territory, she wanted to make them an example. They chained and whipped them until they fell over from exhaustion, and when they could no longer walk, they were dragged back to her estate and burned. Thankfully, I was being watched over by a family friend, though I managed to slip away and watched as my parents were executed. This is all I could retrieve of them.” The pain and misery in her voice was plain.

  Swallowing the lump in her throat, Grisha spoke up quietly. “Why are you telling me any of this?”

  Abigail reached down and retrieved the box, the shadows of her hand running along the sigil before closing the lid. “As I said, I’m worried. The last time the Court took such a vested interest in my life, I lost everything I held dear. If it had not been for the kindness of another Minstella, I would be long dead. I’m telling you all this Mrs. Salt so you can understand. If someone came to your house, and you thought for even a second that they might hurt the ones you love. Wouldn’t you do everything in your power to prevent that?”

  “I would. Is that what you’re doing? Learn everything you can about us so you can make sure we aren’t the next ones with torches?” Grisha looked up at Abigail, she couldn’t begin to understand the pain and trauma this woman went through.

  “Something like that, yes. The people of the Coast have been treated with prejudice for hundreds of years, they are weary of outsiders and prefer their privacy, just like you. You have the unfortunate task of-”

  “Coming into their house, and threatening their loved ones. Just by doing my job.” Grisha said, the other shoe finally dropping. “I think I see your point.”

  Turning around, Abigail began to mix herbs and different ingredients, talking as she did so. “I’m glad you are starting to understand. This isn’t to scare you, I simply wanted to prepare you for the hostility that you might encounter. While you run around the corridors jumping at flickering lights, the people outside are praying for salvation from you.” Abigail walked up with a few pills. “If you still have trouble sleeping, take the white pills. If you don’t manage to sleep tonight and want to stay awake tomorrow, take the black ones.”

  Grisha sheepishly grabbed the pills, giving her thanks as she did. “I still don’t see what you get in return, you said you wanted to understand my motivation. All I want is to do my job quickly and go home to my family.”

  Abigail stood there for a long moment. “I wanted to know if you had come here with your mind already made up that we are heretical zealots, the fact that you were willing to listen to me ramble makes me hope that isn’t the case. I don’t want to stop you from doing your survey, I just hope that you don’t let the Court’s expectations skew your findings.” She said, fiddling with something from her table.

  “That goes against everything I believe in.” Grisha said, her voice stern.

  “I’m glad, it helps put some of my worries to ease knowing that there is at least one impartial member of your team. Now, let's get you back to your room, you look like you need some rest.” Abigail said, walking towards the door and motioning Grisha to follow.

  With a sigh of relief Grisha followed. The whole conversation with Abigail had felt surreal, like some fever dream. It would be nice to get back to her room and wind down after her outburst earlier. The two walked down the corridor, the lights functioning normally again.

  As they walked Abigail asked. “So why were you walking the halls alone? Was there something you were looking for in particular?”

  Grisha shook her head. It didn’t seem wise to mention her reasoning until she could get back to her room and double check her hypothesis. “No reason really, I slept on my way here and wanted to get a feel for the place until I was tired again.” If Abigail had any suspicion of Grisha’s excuse, she kept it to herself. She simply offered a thoughtful grunt in response.

  The pair turned a corner, finding themselves at a lift. Abigail entered the small tube. Grisha blinked. “I never took a lift, I only stayed on the same floor as my room.”

  “What? Grisha, my room is three decks below your room. It was partially why I was so suspicious of you at first.” Abigail chuckled softly.

  Walking into the lift Grisha felt her stomach churn, she turned around to face the closing lift door, in the distance a single light flickered to life.

  Before long Grisha was back in her room, having said good night to Abigail and thanking her for taking her back to her room. As soon as the door slid shut Grisha ripped her bag off of the bed, pushing it into the wall with a foot as she grabbed the desk with a hand and pulled it out. She got to work writing out the equations she needed, applying the variables she had found.

  Slumping back into her chair, Grisha stared at the page, her face white. Triple Checking her work she came up to the same conclusion. The Keel wasn’t what it seemed.

  The rest of the night was an anxious blur, Grisha bounced between crackpot theories, and vehement denial. Before she knew it there was a knocking at the door. She opened it, her hair was a disheveled mess and her eye kept twitching uncontrollably. It must have been quite the sight as when Losol looked down her face became blank with shock. Grisha leaned out into the hallway. For some reason the entire floor was brightly lit, perhaps the following light was merely something the Keel did to conserve power at night. When she saw the coast was clear she motioned for Losol to enter quickly. The Woman did so with a perplexed look on her face. “Are you alright? Did you not sleep last night?” She said with a hint of concern.

  “Sleep? How could I sleep? I’ve been too busy trying to solve the mystery of this place that I stumbled on.” Grisha was pacing back and forth, running her hand over the dozens of papers she had scribbled her thoughts on. “This is huge!”

  Losol grew quiet and serious. “What did you find?” There was an immense weight to her words.

  Grisha grabbed the wooden toy. “Let me show you!” She rolled the ball to the otherside of the room, watching it without blinking as it came to a stop. She turned to Losol as she gestured at her findings.

  “Is this a joke Mrs. Salt?” Losol said, growling under her breath. “Did you lose your mi-”

  “Shut up! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. But don’t you see the problem?” Grisha was flailing as she spoke a mile a minute.

  With a sneer Losol stepped closer. “All I see is someone acting unhinged.”

  Shaking her head to clear her mind, Grisha took a breath. “I’m sorry. Let me try again. When we saw the Keel did you notice anything odd?”

  With a surprised look Losol grunted. “It’s covered in crystal, and…” She slowly turned to look at the ball again, something dawning on her.

  “Now you see it! This whole building is at a steep angle, so how in the hells can a ball come to stop without issue? For that matter why can’t we feel it?” Grisha was giddy with excitement, perhaps she shouldn’t have taken the black pills that Abigail had given her.

  Losol shook her head. “Obviously they built the floors with that in mind, they must be made level to the ground.”

  Grisha snapped her finger and grabbed a handful of her notes. “That would be the obvious answer. But what if I told you that was impossible? I measured the distance from one end of the floor to the other, tell me, how long would you say the Keel was from tip to tip?” It felt wonderful to finally speak about her crazy findings out loud.

  Taking a moment to think Losol responded. “Well, if I had to guess around five hundred feet. What do you mean impossible?”

  “My measurement from one end of the floor to the other puts the distance at six hundred and ninety eight feet, roughly.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Exactly!” Grisha shouted. She was tempted to mention the part where the floor seemed to move on its own, or that she ended up three floors down without using a lift or stairs, but it was probably best to leave that part out. It would be problematic if the survey team saw her as crazy. “I have crunched the numbers all night, nothing about the layout of this place makes any sense, did you notice that the lifts have fifteen decks listed? Yet there is no way they could fit that many floors in this place vertically. The more you look the more insane this building is!”

  Losol looked over the notes for a long moment before responding calmly. “Odd. We should hurry, breakfast is starting soon and we don’t want to be late.” She turned to leave.

  Grisha let her jaw drop. “That’s it? Odd? We are talking about a building that’s interior is vastly larger than its exterior and all you can say is odd?” Her voice took on a shrill tone as she grew frustrated.

  With a sigh Losol turned back, looming over Grisha. Her face was dark and angry. “Mrs. Salt, you are on this assignment to investigate and weed out any possible corruption or heresy. You were not brought here to waste my time with eccentric architecture. While your findings are bizarre, they are not within the scope of your duties. I suggest you focus on your actual job.” With a grunt she turned and left.

  Grisha fell back with a thud, sitting on the edge of her desk. She let the papers in her hands fall to the ground as she lowered her head in shame. Something inside her raged, how could Losol not see the importance of this? Reaching down she undid the top of her flask, tapping into her gift she pulled a thin stream of water out. With a flick of her wrist she shot the water with as much force as she could muster at the wooden ball, taking out her frustration. The stream of water hit the ball on the side, spinning it towards the darkened corner of the room. As the ball left the bright light it gained an alarming amount of momentum, crashing into the corner and stopping dead in its tracks.

  For a moment Grisha simply sat there watching in silence. Without looking away from the ball she walked over and grabbed a cup from a small alcove in the wall, filling it with water from her flask as she made her way towards the darkened corner. Staring at the liquid in the cup she saw it settle until it was perfectly level to the floor. Slowly she reached her hand into the corner; the liquid sloshed as it shifted, coming to a rest at an angle.

  An angle of roughly twenty three and a half degrees.

  After getting cleaned up and changed, Grisha made her way to breakfast silently. The absurdity of her findings had shaken her deeply, yet there was no one for her to confide in. She felt isolated and alone, the one person she wanted to talk to the most was on the other side of the continent. The breakfast itself was a blur, she sat there stunned, barely eating anything despite having not eaten since the day before yesterday.

  A crash of cutlery pulled Grisha from her stupor, looking down the table at the wide eyed face of Tayla. The queen had tears running down her face as her eyes twitched back and forth in her head. The guests and nobles looked equally confused. Her face turned into a smile from ear to ear, choking back sobs she turned to the gentleman to her left, a middle aged mountain of a man. “He’s awake, Alnur is awake!”

  The Twin servants dropped what they were carrying, the nobles stood up, knocking their chairs to the ground as the room exploded in thunderous cheers of jubilation. The large man picked up Tayla with a mighty roar of laughter and relief as he twirled her around.

  Nel’Dorn looked surprised at the reaction, as he looked out the large viewscreen of the city he lowered his fork with a dark look on his face. Grisha turned around to see what had caused his sour mood. The entire city was coming to life. People were flooding the streets in celebration, great braziers around the city ignited in green flames. A double ring of a bell could be heard from somewhere, the sound echoing inside Grisha’s mind. The cups and plates started to shake and rattle as the ground itself heaved from the combined might of a hundred thousand Twins.

  The King of The Black Coast had awoken.