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[Skatha]

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I walked the path of the parapet for hours, watching for the arrival of word about Tai. My bow, always at the ready, aimlessly dropped the occasional Mongbat or snake, hoping to spend some of my worry and anxiety.

Tai had not contacted me for days. My first reaction was one of anger, thinking he had wandered off to cure some ill or injustice, and neglected to let me know. Soon though, the anger turned to frustration and bewilderment, this was so unlike him. Instead of letting my anger rule (which was my usual way of handling such situations), I began searching. The Garden he shared with Silent Poet when in Malas had been checked time and again, and none there, or nearby, had received word from him. The palace in NuJel’m was quiet, only the soft footsteps of the chef and housekeeper breaking the silence.

The next couple of days were spent on the move, checking the places we had been when together, anywhere and everywhere I could imagine he might be. The nights were long, strange dreams tormented me until I would awaken with a start, thinking he was him calling to me. Each time this happened I would rise and continue my search.

Three days and nights passed on the road, I returned home. Exhausted and with hope wavering, I arrived at twilight, tired and road weary. As I reached for the door, I almost missed Corporel Carrot, Captain Bley’s sidekick. He lay beneath a bench by the basement entrance bruised and somewhat bloody, patches of fur missing. His domino mask was torn, hanging by a string around his front paw. As I bent closer, I spotted the pouch he carried, inside was a scroll.

"I believe we live two lives, the one we learn with and the one we live afterwards."

“Bloody damned Hell,” I screamed into the silence. The fear that he would not return had finally become all too real.

I carried Carrot inside, managed to tend his wounds and provide food and water, settling him comfortable in a nest of blankets near the fireplace.

I read the scroll several times, trying to make sense of the words. Calling the raven to me, I sent a dispatch to Captain Bleys, asking him to meet me at the garden as soon as possible, and informing him that Corporal Carrot was with me. Why had I not contacted Lord Bleys sooner........... surely he would know what this cryptic message meant, and who had sent it. Had Bleys sent the Corporal to me? So many question, hope of an answer dwindling. Tai’s sister, Miss Tatiana, must be informed of what has transpired.

One could not live the life that Tai had without making enemies and although there had not been direct threats recently, there were those that would take delight in his demise.

With Tai away, I assume the duties of Empress, to which I am entitled as his betrothed. The time for fruitless wandering alone had ended. I loved Tai from the moment I met him, and I would seek him with all the energy and help I could muster.

And then, in the solace of my bedchamber.... I wept.
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"I'll get you, Dorothy, and your little dog too!" L. Frank Baum