As he raced to try another, he saw StarWind produce a star and shook his head at her. The second door was also locked and HawkShadow sped back to the intersection of corridors, as the footsteps grew louder. He silently signaled his intentions to StarWind and waited until she acknowledged him before crouching down next to the wall. The Sakovans waited in silence as the footsteps approached. A shadow of the approaching figure, cast by the light of the torches, preceded the man and HawkShadow timed his lunge carefully. Just as the man reached the intersection, HawkShadow flung his body forward from his crouched position.
The man never saw HawkShadow and stumbled over the assassin’s body, crashing loudly to the floor. StarWind leaped to the fallen man and hit him over the head with the butt of her knife. HawkShadow jumped to his feet and ran to the nearest door in the new corridor and tried the doorknob. It was locked and he was about to try the next door when StarWind appeared at his side with a thin piece of metal and proceeded to pick the lock. HawkShadow left StarWind to her task and returned to pick up the unconscious man and carry him back to the door. StarWind had the door unlocked and was easing the door open when HawkShadow returned.
“It’s some kind of storage room,” she whispered as she looked at the stacks of furniture. “Just put him on the floor.”
HawkShadow deposited the still form on the floor and the Sakovans returned to the hallway and their search for stairs. The new corridor appeared much like the last and StarWind stopped to ponder which way would be more likely to contain stairs.
“At the end of this corridor will be the front of the building,” HawkShadow whispered. “We must have missed the back stairs somehow. Either that or there aren’t any.”
“There must be,” frowned StarWind. “Let’s head back the way we came. I do not want to risk the front of the building. There will surely be guards there even at night.”
HawkShadow nodded in agreement and they started retracing their steps back the way they had come. He moved swiftly but silently with StarWind right behind him. They passed the door of the room they had used to gain entrance into the hallway and continued along the torch-lit corridor. HawkShadow halted abruptly in front of a door and StarWind had to brace herself on the wall to avoid colliding with him. He reached out and turned the doorknob and eased the door open. With a grin he nodded to StarWind and proceeded through the door.
“All of the other doors were evenly spaced apart,” explained HawkShadow as he started up the stairs. “This would have had to have been a pretty small room if it wasn’t stairs.”
They reached the third floor and emerged into another hallway, but this one had fewer doors than the downstairs corridor. “Now what?” HawkShadow quizzed.
StarWind glanced in each direction. There were only a few doors along the hall facing the outside of the building and the inside of the building was void of openings except for the door they had exited.
“My guess is that his suite takes up most of the floor,” mused StarWind. “We need to find a door towards the center of the building. Do you want to split up?”
“No,” HawkShadow replied softly. “Pick a direction.”
StarWind nodded and headed in the same direction they had gone downstairs. Again they came to an intersection of corridors, but this new corridor halted abruptly at a door.
“This must be it,” she whispered as she tried the doorknob.
The knob turned and she eased the door open to reveal darkness. The corridor continued for a short distance, but no torches lit the way. The Sakovans crept forward in the dark and came to another corridor. StarWind led the way as they proceeded through the suite and came to a stop before a set of ornate doors. She looked to HawkShadow and he just shrugged. Silently her hand went to the doorknob and turned it. She felt a whisper of wind as she entered the large bedroom, which was illuminated with a pale light. She looked up and saw a skylight, its panes open to the night air.
“It might have been easier that way,” grinned HawkShadow softly.
StarWind shook her head and surveyed the room. A huge bed occupied the far wall and she could only detect one person in it. Two other doors led off from the room and they were both closed. She motioned to HawkShadow and he moved towards one of the doors while StarWind approached the bed. She studied the sleeping form briefly as she heard HawkShadow tapping wedges under the doors to make sure they remained closed. Finally, she looked around for a dark place to stand in. Next to a tall hanging closet was a patch of blackness and StarWind merged into it and nodded to HawkShadow.
HawkShadow circled the bed so that the Mayor was between StarWind and himself. With a sudden move, HawkShadow rolled the Mayor’s body to face StarWind and placed a knife to the man’s throat.
“Now that we have your attention,” HawkShadow whispered, “we want to talk with you. We do not intend any harm to you, but if you try to call the guards, I fear that we will do what we must to escape.”
“And will you do what you must when you are done talking?” the Mayor blustered.
“Actually,” HawkShadow smiled, “I was kind of hoping that you would help us leave after the talk. We have not come to do harm, rather we have come to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. We believe you would desire the same.”
“Who are you?” questioned the Mayor. “And what do you want?”
“If you agree to talk with us and to remain so that you cannot see me,” offered HawkShadow, “I will let you sit up without the presence of my knife at your throat. Are you agreeable?”
“I have little choice in the matter it would appear,” conceded Mayor Ferde. “Besides I am curious why someone would sneak into my house to speak with me. You have my attention and I will not call the guards unless I feel threatened again.”
“Fair enough,” StarWind stated from her position of concealment. “We really mean no harm to you. We tried to see you officially, but I am afraid we were denied.”
“The Imperial Guards have suggested that I see nobody who is unknown to me,” returned the Mayor as he tried to see into the darkness where StarWind was hiding. “There is a fear of assassination roiling through the country since the Katana’s death. It appears that the Sakovans will finally show their true colors.”
“You are quite correct,” chuckled StarWind, “but the colors you see will surprise you. The troubles in Omunga are not due to the Sakovans, Mayor Ferde. In fact, the reason for our visit is to explain just that to you. We are Sakovans.”
An audible gasp escaped from the Mayor’s lips and StarWind could see him quiver. “You and the rest of Omunga have been fed a load of clova chips,” StarWind continued. “The attack on the watula fields was the work of an Omungan, a man named Harac. He was merely a hired hand, but we know who hired him. His job was to make you believe that the Sakovans had burned your fields.”
“How do you know this?” asked Mayor Ferde. “Who is behind it and why should I believe you?”
“The proof resides in your own Records Bureau at the Imperial Headquarters here,” answered StarWind. “As for who is behind it, I am afraid that you will find the answer displeasing, for it is the same person responsible for the Katana’s death.”
“Malafar?” asked Ferde as he tried to peer into the darkness to see StarWind. “Why would he want our fields burned?”
“Malafar was a dupe,” explained StarWind. “He was forcibly abducted from his Academy and drugged until he could be controlled by the true aggressor.”
“You speak craziness,” Ferde said, shaking his head. “You expect me to believe that all of these things are somebody else’s fault? What do you hope to gain by this charade?”
StarWind tossed a folder onto the bed. “Read that,” she instructed. “The details of the raid on Campanil were copied from your own official reports. The proprietor of the Hog’s Tail can tell you about Harac. If you have enough clout in the Capital, you can inquire of the guards at the mage cell block about Malafar’s confinement and release.”