Why, Nela complained to herself, did the meeting have to be here?

  She knew the answer. Takhat had insisted that she be present for it, even if she was still weak. The captain had only just been able to get on her feet early this morning, a halting effort that had lasted just a few moments before the woman had been forced to sit back down on the bed. There was no chance for her to go anywhere just yet.

  That led to a hasty late decision to have the meeting here in the front of the tavern. Nela had pointed out to Edeline this meant that any of the other patients here could and likely would walk in on the meeting. Edeline had agreed, but pointed out they didn't have much say in the matter. Takhat had made her mind up.

  So here she was, at a meeting Nela hadn't really wanted to take part in. Senby and one of the guards - Nebtamos, that was the name - had helped support Takhat as she slowly walked out to the front room, where the woman now sat silently. Nela had no doubt from Takhat's posture that she was still in some pain. Herbs and spells could only do so much, and the supply of the former was getting low again.

  Edeline and Hamond were both here as well, while Ronny was back in the room looking after Sedat. They still hadn't reached a decision on what to do with the winged girl, although in truth it probably changed nothing. Sedat was going to travel with them, terrible hunger and all.

  Jylania was supposed to be in the back rooms keeping an eye on the people there, but Nela had already spotted her peering into the room. Her apprentice's curiosity just couldn't be stopped by anything, even though they had already talked about it. Maybe some more stern words were needed.

  Nebtamos and Senby, along with another guard for some reason, flanked the captain. Besides them, there were supposed to be a couple of townsmen from Lasfont here, as well as the sphinxes. None of them had shown yet, and Nela was wondering if they even would. They could proceed without them, but without the sphinxes there to explain their discoveries it would make things harder.

  In timing that really didn't surprise Nela at all, a pair of Remuati men walked in. One was heavier of build and graying hair that gave away his age. Besides that, both had the same thick curly beards and wore nearly identical clothing, brown tunics with long sleeves. Having seen several other men wearing similar here, Nela guessed this to be a local style. Maybe something common in Remuat.

  The older man took a look around the room, eyes going from one person to the next, before finally settling on Nela herself. A bit odd given word of Edeline's identity was out, but Nela was sure Edeline herself would rather the attention fall elsewhere. Fine by Nela, especially if it meant she got some recognition for her own work.

  "So you're the new healer here," the man spoke up, voice astonishingly light and airy given the man's build. "I'm Ayden. Alderman of the town...well, last of them. This is my partner, Sethos."

  "Assistant," Sethos said tiredly as he came up behind his fellow.

  "You say that every time. Don't go downplaying what you do for me." Ayden shook his head.

  "Probably already heard it, but I'm Nela." Whatever minor disagreement the two had between themselves, it was a matter best left to them alone. "And yes, I'm the healer."

  "This is where I was expecting you to say you were that healer's apprentice," Ayden said with a smile, clearly joking. "I'd been hoping to meet you. I came here a few evenings ago, but you weren't around. Probably occupied with work. I know how that is."

  "It does keep me busy at times," Nela said. While she had probably just been relaxing back in the room with the others, there wasn't any need to say that. Besides, with Takhat here over the past two days, Nela had been working later still.

  "Used to burn out a few candles working late myself." The man seemed pretty talkative, perhaps even more than Sedat. "Back before I was chosen as an alderman, I was a carpenter. Very good one too. Think I even made some the chairs in here. But as I was saying, when we got a big project to make a lot of furniture, it took so much extra time."

  He really was reminding Nela of her grandfather. Morgivel was just as likely to go on talking about any number of things, giving advice or just recalling old events. Nela herself disliked it. She'd rather just focus on whatever business was at hand. After all, the patients they worked with were often hurting or ill, and probably didn't want to waste time on listening to gossip or tales.

  "It's just doing what you have to do," the older man continued, not paying any heed to Nela. "Though I'm not sure what we'd have done without your group of travelers showing up when you did."

  "I would not be so certain of that." Edeline stepped closer to them, looking tense. "We have not resolved the matter yet, and then there were the knights..." She glanced over at Takhat.

  "That so," Ayden answered, regarding Edeline with an oddly knowing look. "I'll be honest. I don't know a thing about spells and heka and such. What I know is that the king and his men sure aren't going to come save us now. It's you lot or it's nobody."

  Edeline just looked away. Nela knew just what her companion was thinking. The man was about to be sorely disappointed, once the matter of the town's water supply came up. If the sphinxes didn't mention it first, they would have to, and there was no predicting what the reaction would be.

  "It's them," Hamond said, staring out towards the front entrance.

  Edeline immediately moved to sit down again next to Hamond. As Ugotlas entered the room, the alderman and his partner did the same, just to Nela's right. A second sphinx followed Ugotlas in, this one slightly smaller and with a darker furred mane.

  "I had expected more sphinxes than two." The alderman gave them a brief nod. "But I suppose it's not a problem. The others have their own things to do, I'd guess?"

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  "Indeed," the other sphinx said, "I believe you have already met Ugotlas. I am Taeseger of the Sekhmati."

  "Haven't actually, but seen him about. Good to have a name to go with the face. On that subject, my name is Ayden. This is my partner-"

  The other man sighed, loud and heavy. Nela knew there had to be a story there. It wasn't their business though, and they had a much more important matter to focus on. The Sluice couldn't be left to wait much longer.

  "-Sethos," Ayden finished.

  "I'm Hamond, and this is Edeline," Hamond said. Nela assumed they didn't want to bring up Edeline's nobility.

  "And I'm Takhat, captain of the guard." Takhat, who had been slumped back a bit in her chair, straightened up for a moment, "Thank you for agreeing to the change in the meeting place."

  "Our understanding is that you are weak and injured, so I will make this swift. To summarize what has happened, the transformation of many of the people of this town was done through a powerful wide-ranging spell which used heka absorbed into the bodies of the residents here. This heka was introduced through the underground water supply of the town."

  "Wait, wait...just wait." Ayden looked alarmed. "You saying the town's water is poisoned?"

  "Not in the sense that that it will cause any direct harm to your bodies, I assure you. You have likely drinking this water your entire life with no ill effects. But it does leave you vulnerable to certain spells that can activate this latent heka, such as the one that was cast on this town."

  So far the sphinx apparently was being honest, but Nela was fairly sure there was some reason Ugotlas wanted them to know this in advance. What the other sphinxes were plotting was the question they needed to answer. Likely some plan to allow them to get that magical knowledge Ugotlas said they originally wanted.

  "We have identified the source of this heka, an enchanted statue in the tunnels underneath Lasfont. The problem is that this statue is also the source of most of the water you drink. We assume you do not want to let matters stand."

  "Of course not," Takhat said.

  "That brings it to us," Hamond spoke up, "We have a means to remove the statue, setting this town free. All we need is the location, which I am certain the sphinxes have."

  Taeseger looked a little annoyed for a second, but quickly hid it. "Alternately, we could find a way to seal it so it continues to produce water without the possibility of the secondary spell activating again and transforming more of the people here."

  There it was, just as Nela had predicted. It certainly seemed like a nice result on the surface, but it left the Sluice there to suffer. It was guaranteed Edeline wouldn't agree to that, but the captain and the alderman both might.

  The hard part started now.

  "You could do that?" Takhat asked, hope pushing through on her strained face.

  "It will take some time to precisely tune any seal we place, but it should be accomplished within a month."

  Now that wasn't going to happen. Takhat had desperately wanted the matter settled at quickly as possible. There was no way they'd come to an agreement that took them longer than a few days to solve everything.

  "Do it," Takhat said without hesitation.

  Nela was caught off guard, and she wasn't the only one. "I thought you wanted this handled as rapidly as possible!" Edeline burst out, rising to her feet. "Do you really think the people here are willing to wait that much longer?"

  "The alternative is to leave the town with a minimal amount of water," Taeseger stated, "It is unlikely Lasfont can exist more than a few years while lacking that."

  Of course, that was it. For all that Takhat had said about getting this done soon, that was never her main desire. Takhat wanted, more than anything else, to restore Lasfont.

  "I don't like it," Takhat answered slowly, "But...if that's what it takes, then...it has to be done." The captain stared at Edeline, with expectations clear. "You know what has to be done."

  "I am not arguing about this again." Edeline held her ground. "If you want there to be a Lady Lasfont, you may as well take that mantle up yourself."

  "I'm no noble," Takhat said, "You are."

  "This isn't getting us anywhere," Hamond said, standing up himself.

  "I agree, but everyone getting in each other's faces looking like you're about to fight isn't helping either," the alderman said, "Sit yourselves down, calm yourselves down, and let's move onto more practical worries."

  Figuring out who ought to be in command was very much a practical worry. Still, Nela thought as Edeline and Hamond returned to their chairs, it was probably better that this didn't turn into a shouting match. Or worse, Edeline could get so furious she ran off again.

  "Now, you all agreeing to help us is good. People should band together when things are rough." Ayden's voice took on a sudden edge. "But I'm doubting you're doing this just out of kindness. What do you all get out of this?"

  "Events like this disrupt our research here," Taeseger said, "Does it not make sense that we wish to prevent future ones?"

  That was an obvious excuse, since Ugotlas had long since told them just what the sphinxes hoped to obtain. Wait...Ugotlas had not said a single word this entire time. He could easily correct the other sphinx if he wanted. Or say something, anything, other than this silence.

  "You could convince us of that," Ayden continued, "The problem is, we're not the only ones that need convincing."

  "What are you referring to?" The sphinx didn't seem to know the man's reasoning any more than Nela did.

  "It's going to take more than hope and a few spells to rebuild the town." Ayden was giving Nela the impression this was aimed just as much at Takhat as it was the sphinxes. "Over half the people of Lasfont are gone. We need men and women to replace them, and coin to pay them. So with all that's happened, how are we going to get all that again? Who's going to supply it?"

  A pair of very good questions, and Nela could see why he was one of the aldermen. Expecting people to come live here when a lot of people had died and there was no guarantee of it not happening again...right, that was all but impossible.

  "You bastard. I had thought you said..." Takhat trailed off, glancing back and forth between everyone else here. Searching for support, Nela supposed, even though it wasn't coming.

  "I said if it were my choice, I'd help restore the town. But I think we both know it's not my choice. It's not yours either. For whatever lord or king or whoever has to make that decision...that statue being there, with what it's done, points to only one answer."

  "But without the water...heavens, why can't we just go back to the way things were?" Takhat slid down in her seat. Nela readied herself to get over there and help if the woman needed it.

  "There are days I find myself wondering the same," Edeline said softly.

  Grunting, Takhat lifted herself back up. "Very well. Do what you want." She immediately slumped down again in what appeared to be equal parts defeat and exhaustion.

  "Captain?" one of the guards asked.

  Nela supposed that was as clear a sign as any. "Alright, I think I better get Captain Takhat back to her bed so she can rest. You can handle the details from here."

  "Understood," the alderman answered, giving Takhat a look of concern.

  Takhat coldly ignored him, pushing herself to her feet with another groan. It was a good thing she still didn't know about Sedat. They still weren't sure what to do themselves, so having Takhat involved was a storm they weren't prepared to face. Ronny better be ready to deal with it, because Nela couldn't be sure she'd be in a position to help.

  "I've got you." Senby offered a shoulder to Takhat. Definitely nothing like how he'd been when they'd first met. Takhat leaned over on Senby, and the pair began making their way to the back of the tavern.

  Nela glanced over at Edeline, giving her a nod of reassurance, and then followed.

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