Chapter 73: Another Brick Wall
Thin slivers of pale yellow light finally broke through the black clouds outside.
Caelan, who had been slouched behind his desk with his right arm thrown over his eyes, lifted his chin.
The warmth hitting his face actually helped a little.
He stared past the leaded glass as the dark stormfront slowly broke apart, revealing patches of washed-out blue sky.
At least the rain stopped.
The riot that had kept the courtyard in chaos all morning was finally over. The mob had dispersed, the gates were locked, and the plaza was quiet again.
For now.
Knock, knock.
"In," Caelan muttered, his eyes still fixed on the courtyard below.
The heavy door creaked open, and Scarvy slipped inside.
Her dark travel cloak was caked in wet street grime, leaving small, flaking trails of dried mud along the rug behind her.
"I found the trail, Captain," she said, stopping three paces from the desk.
She looked at him. Caelan hadn't moved an inch, but the subtle shift in his posture told her he was listening to every word.
"Report," Caelan said softly.
Scarvy took a quick breath, her voice dropping an octave.
"I ran a full cross-check on every merchant manifest that passed through the eastern toll gates over the past forty-eight hours. When the manifest ledgers came back clean, I checked the weight receipts instead."
Caelan turned his head, his pale purple eyes locking onto her face. "And?"
"Three supply wagons logged as grain were carrying an excessive bulk weight of unseasoned fruit," Scarvy said. "And none of those shipments had an importer name attached to the registry."
Caelan shifted in his leather chair, leaning his forearms flat on the desk. "Fruit?"
"Yes," Scarvy nodded. "The weird part is that not a single crate from those wagons reached the public market stalls. It didn't go to the Order's kitchens, either."
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She paused, her mouth tightening under her mask. "My team tracked the wheel ruts to the low warehouses, but the trail vanished into private property records."
Caelan let out a long, heavy sigh and ran a hand through his loose hair, tugging at the ends.
Another brick wall.
A mass-hypnosis hex array had been smuggled straight into the heart of the capital inside crates of fruit, and not a single guard post had flagged it.
Which meant someone inside the ministry was helping them, or someone had made sure the paperwork looked clean.
It explained why Minister Vane and the rest of those old fools kept shooting down his requests to deploy troops to Adul. They weren't just incompetent, they were actively covering the cult's tracks.
The Liberators knew every single guard rotation and registry loophole inside the Order. It was infuriating.
"Call Nuri and his squad," Caelan said, his voice dropping into a hard, serious tone.
He wasn't going to sit around waiting for the council to grant him permission.
A few minutes later, the four kids filed into the office.
Caelan had a very specific reason for handing this to them.
First, Lucien had taken a bizarre interest in Nuri and Alina. Wherever Lucien hovered, things became entirely unpredictable, even a cult like the Liberators wouldn't be able to calculate what that Heretic would do next if he decided to step in.
Second, Wan was with them.
Caelan glanced at the grey-skinned twin standing quietly by the door. Cursed or not, Wan's sheer physical mass and freakish strength were more than enough to handle ordinary cultists in a tight alley.
"Listen up. I've got a new assignment for you four," Caelan said, leaning back in his chair.
The second the words left his mouth, Nuri's jaw dropped, and Alina's face instantly twisted into a bitter, scowling grimace.
Caelan had to fight off a sudden urge to laugh out loud.
They did that every single time.
Turman looked back and forth between Nuri and Alina, completely lost as to why a new task was making them look like they'd just swallowed needles.
"You're going down to the lower market district," Caelan continued, ignoring their miserable expressions. "Scarvy will give you the exact warehouse coordinates."
He paused, resting his chin on his steepled fingers.
"Find whoever is running that distribution hub. Drag them out." His eyes narrowed sharp. "I want them in chains by nightfall."
Caelan offered them an easy, cheerful smile, his gaze settling on Nuri.
Nuri was glaring back at him with that exact same narrow-eyed, deeply annoyed look Lucien always gave people when he was being forced to do work.
Heh.
Caelan couldn't really judge. They’d spent enough time around Lucien back in the day; it was only natural some of his obnoxious habits rubbed off on the kid.
"That's all. Scarvy will brief you on the alley routes," Caelan said, waving his hand in a dismissive motion. "Good luck!"
He practically shooed them out of the room before Nuri could open his mouth to complain.
The door clicked shut, leaving Caelan alone in the quiet office again.
He slumped back into his tall leather chair, his eyes drifting over to the mountain of unread high-court dockets piling up on the left side of his desk.
The exhaustion settled right back into his shoulders, heavy and cold.
It's for the city, he reminded himself, staring up at the wooden ceiling beams. Keep the peace. Do the work.
He had picked this uniform years ago. He’d known what came with it.
Still... Caelan let out another long sigh that rattled through his chest.
Man... I really need a vacation.