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Luzo had a strange charm to it, Hector felt. When he’d first arrived, the place had seemed kind of ominous and horrible to him, perhaps because the thunder had been so loud before, but now that it had mellowed out into a series of faint rumblings, he was beginning to enjoy himself. Combined with the constant drumming of rain and the moderate temperature, Hector found this place actually quite relaxing. Though, the ceasefire had surely contributed to that feeling as well.

Still, he was beginning to understand why people might choose to live here, despite the threat of floods and lightning. At least a third of the buildings on this street had been crowned with huge metal spires, and the road didn’t seem to have any trouble draining all the water. Hector could only imagine how insanely efficient a Rainlord sewage system needed to be.

‘So why were you in Kuros?’ Chergoa asked. ‘And how in the world did you end up crossing paths with Axiolis?’

‘We were escorting Atreyan royalty,’ said Garovel.

Chergoa paused. ‘Are you joking?’

‘Nope. Prince Meriwether of House Lumenbel. We’re on pretty good terms with his sister, the Queen, so she asked us for a favor.’

‘Huh.’ Chergoa allowed a beat to pass. ‘There must not be very many servants in Atreya.’

‘Rude. You don’t know how strong Hector is.’ Garovel also allowed a beat to pass. ‘You’re right, though. I only know of like three others.’

‘Ha. So this prince didn’t mind you just abandoning your duty to come help us?’

‘He had another bodyguard to rely on, and we were only doing it as a favor, anyway. Also, I don’t think he was particularly worried for his safety once he made it inside the Golden Fort. He’s married to one of the Saqqaf women, after all.’

‘Ah,’ said Chergoa. ‘Woulda been nice to have those folks on our side. Are the Saqqafs as impressive as their reputation suggests?’

‘We didn’t meet any of them personally. The Lord Abbas Saqqaf, though--we saw him speak during a meeting, and his soul was strong enough that Hector could actually feel his presence a little bit, which suggests to me that he’s even older than Melchor and Xuan. So just from that, I would have to say, yes, Hahl Saqqaf was quite impressive.’