Lord Reian Liyung frowned.

  He turned to his Tauska. "Does any man... unknown, come to mind, Tauska?"

  The blue robed man frowned, closing his eyes as he laced his fingers together, the ornaments of his robes jingling as he thought for a moment.

  "Many strangers have come through, Jiak. Most left quickly. There are three who have stayed. An official from Langshen, sent last month to replace our deceased foreman."

  "Well, it's clearly not him," Emilia muttered to herself, "He came here after the attacks started."

  The Tauska nodded in her direction, clearly having heard the mumbled comment.

  "Two other strangers have taken up residence here in the town, my lord. A fair skinned man, perhaps from Ryulong, or Goka, and a man from across the leviathan sea, of dark skin and pale hair. He has been treated, thus far, with great suspicion, but none in town have seen him act in any expressly illegal fashion."

  Emilia frowned.

  "Pale hair?"

  The Tauska nodded.

  "Like, White?"

  "No, Lady Spirit-Guide. More like... the color of wheat."

  "Aveshtani?" Nai asked.

  "Avalonian, If i had to guess." Reian answered with a sigh, sipping more of his tea. "His attire was not abnormal in any way, he's been in Yosae for some time it would seem, but his speech still... carries some tones of his original language. It doesn't sound like the rhythms of the Aveshtani, and he possesses none of their mercantile acuity. He is a blunt man, I believe my foreman hired him on as a tree-cutter."

  Nai tapped Emilia's shoulder, and the girl took that as a sign that she wanted to discuss what they had learned.

  "Thank you, Lord Liyung." Emilia said, bowing her head respectfully. "This should allow us plenty to investigate, your responses to our questions have been very helpful."

  He hesitated.

  "Can you do it?"

  "Do what?"

  "Appease the guardian?"

  "I will certainly try, Lord Liyung, as if my life depends on it."

  Nai did her best to hold back the inappropriate laugh at her charge's apt comment.

  "Very well. I will leave you to it."

  "Thank you."

  They stood, and left the room, making their way back to the main square, underneath the statue of the guardian spirit of the town. Emilia pulled her skirts up as she sat, pulling her Liuqin onto her lap as she took her bone pick and began to strum absentmindedly, lips pursed as she thought. Nai stood next to her, gaze locked past the town onto the amber leaves of the forest just at the edge of the spirit stones.

  "Well, that was enlightening." Nai commented.

  Emilia sighed, snapping a quick rhythm of notes.

  "It was, at least to give us a direction to begin."

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  Nai glanced around them, then lifted a hand roughly to chest height, her fingers dancing in the air for a moment. Emilia stared, jaw dropping as blue flecks of light trailed behind her servant's gestures, the woman snapping her fingers, causing the sigil she had traced in the air to flash briefly, before fading away.

  Nai turned and four her charge staring at her slack jawed.

  The maidservant blushed. "Oh, no need for such gawking, Emilia-Yun. It is a simple spell."

  "You- you're a willshaper?"

  Nai huffed.

  "No. At least, not entirely. I know some things, a few tricks, but I am far from being skilled enough to be called a wizard, or any other title you might wish to assign me."

  "Then what was that just now?"

  "A privacy spell. Do you know what a Tauska is?"

  "No?"

  Nai sighed, sitting next to Emilia on the stone ledge below the carved statue.

  "A Tauska is a willshaper who specializes on seeing the threads of fate - although each one describes it differently. Magicians who specialize in seeing the unseen, in seeking out hidden things, looking at potential futures."

  Emilia's eyes widened.

  "Why isn't there one at Lord Langshen's side?"

  Nai waved a hand dismissively. "The enlightened are all but impossible to spy on. And anything he wants to know he can find out with minimal effort." Nai paused for a moment, biting her lip. "Pride is undoubtedly a factor as well. Lord Langshen has already decimated the noble house of an entire kingdom, none of their Tauska's or far-seers had any power to stop him. I doubt he sees much purpose in keeping a Tauska around, given that I don't think he sees anyone on this side of the world possessing the power to challenge him.

  Enlightened? Emilia would ask what that meant later. She'd expose her lack of knowledge slowly - she got the feeling her servant might have a heart attack if she revealed too much ignorance at once.

  "So... that spell was to make sure the Tauska wouldn't be able to eavesdrop?"

  "Basically. It will distort anything we say to any trying to observe us thought magical means."

  Emilia nodded. That was immensely useful, and brought even more questions about her assigned servant to the front of her mind.

  "Well then, you had something you wanted to talk about without the Jiak - Now would be the time."

  Nai brushed off the dust from her skirt with two quick snaps of her hands, turning sharply to regard the girl at her side.

  "I beleive that our prime suspect would be the foreigner."

  "Which one?"

  Nai rolled her eyes.

  "The Avalonian."

  Emilia stared at her companion.

  "I mean, he is my key suspect at the moment, so I agree, but... why? I was going to propose we investigate both men. The Tauska said will shapers across Tian'Xia have been attempting this... enslaving of the spirits, wouldn't the man from Ryulong be a better suspect as far as the cause?"

  Nai pursed her lips.

  "He didn't mention Tian'Xia, Emilia. He just said 'Willshapers.'. The word is one we use here, but... I've met Avalonian wizards before."

  Emilia stayed silent; eyes locked on her companion.

  "They don't.... venerate, the spirits, the way we do here. They see them as facts of life, yes, but... we call all spirits gods - even the smallest ones. The god of a flower should still be respected, thanked, apologized to."

  Emilia nodded slowly. She remembered her father telling her something about this before she'd moved into the shrine following... the night. It made sense.

  "Across the Leviathan Sea... They don't hold such beliefs. They have their special gods - beings of great power, like dwell in the Godhome mountains. I think they've been enslaving spirits for a long time, Emilia."

  "Have you ever seen them do it?" Emilia asked in a whisper.

  Nai stared at the ground, a shadow passing over her expression.

  "Once. I have no desire to see it again."

  "Why? What did they do?"

  "They enslaved a naiad."

  "A Naiad? Why enslave a water-spirit?"

  "Simple." Nai whispered. "They wanted their boats to go faster."

  They said nothing for a long time, as Emilia processed the shock of the situation. What kind of gods would allow such... abuse? Spirits weren't all wise, some couldn't even really think, but a Naiad was a lesser deity. God or goddess of a river, lake, a patch of water. Bargaining with them was fairly easy, they loved jewelry, the shinier, the better, and passage - or help - was easy to purchase. This... this was... wrong.

  "I understand." Emilia said softly. "I feel like an enslaved spirit is our best bet, and if what you say is true, and the Avalonians have been enslaving them for years now... I understand how the Avalonian man is our best suspect."

  Nai stood, extending a hand to the young woman. "Shall we find him then? Or should we try to consult the spirits, see if any of the gods of this wood have recognized him?"

  Emilia took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tried to listen to that small part of her soul that stretched off into the afterlife. Silently, she begged for advice, for a clue, for some sign as to the best path.

  She opened her eyes, fidgeting with the strap to her Liuqin.

  "We need to talk to him, I think."

  Nai paused.

  "Have you ever killed a man?"

  "Not one that knew what he was doing."

  Nai nodded.

  "If anything happens then, leave it to me."

  Emilia smiled weakly -- and nodded back.