Ghost Rage, Episode 11a- Vote Now!

“To the roof,” you tell Moresti, “quickly.”

Moresti blinks at you.

“To the roof,” you say, “before the mavrokh comes back.”

That spurs him to action. You race into the townhouse’s interior and then up the steps, Moresti following, Lady Chrysana slung over one shoulder. It’s up five stories, and then you scramble onto the townhouse’s roof, red clay tiles grown hot from the afternoon sunlight.

Moresti is puffing like a bellows, but he keeps pace as make your way from rooftop to rooftop, jumping over the narrow alleys between the townhouses. Six houses away, you pause to look back at the Karbonos townhouse. A crowd of militiamen have gathered around the doorway, and you see Korthion’s black robe among them, but they have not noticed you.

Nobody ever looks up.

“We have escaped, Frostmaiden,” says Moresti, still wheezing a bit. Chrysana isn’t that heavy, but he did just run up five flights of stairs.

You nod, and gesture for him to stay down.

“What now?” says Moresti.

Good question.

You need help from someone who might know more about the mavrokh.

Three options come to mind.

The first is Septimus Rhazion, preceptor of the capital’s Magisterium chapterhouse. Technically, the magi are supposed to fight any outbreaks out uncontrolled sorcery or dark power, and the mavrokh definitely qualifies. Except that the magi themselves are often behind outbreaks of dark power. And you are reasonably sure that Rhazion has direct orders from the First Magus to kill you at the earliest opportunity; he may have even sent Korthion after you.

The second are two Ghost agents, Ark and his wife Tanya. Ark is an armorer, a veteran of the Eighteenth Legion…and Tanya is Szaldic, and she knows all manner of old Szaldic legends and lore. And both Ark and Tanya would follow you into hell, if you asked it of them; you rescued Tanya from slave traders, years ago. But Ark and Tanya have children now, and you’re not sure if you could live with yourself if you wound up leaving their children orphaned.

The final choice is Lord Lucan Maraeus, the youngest son of the powerful Lord Corbould Maraeus. Lucan likes to project the image of a foppish idler, but that’s only a disguise, a masquerade. Years ago, the magi murdered his wife, and ever since, he’s waged a private war against the magi and outlaw sorcerers. He probably knows more about practical sorcery than anyone else outside the Magisterium, and he’s also the best swordsman you’ve ever seen. He’s also from the western Empire, which means he’s familiar with the Szalds. You’ve saved his life a few times, and he’s returned the favor.

The trouble is, Lucan is rather…taken with you. In fact, he flat-out told you that he wants to seduce you, much to your amusement. You’ve gone to balls and feasts together, a few times, and he seems indifferent to the dark reputation and rumors surrounding the “Ghost Countess.” He can handle himself in a fight, but a lot of people want the Ghost Countess dead. Sooner or later you’re probably going to die a violent death, and if your foes decide that Lucan is a threat as well…

You rebuke yourself. Orphans and seduction and the Magisterium’s vendetta against you do not matter at all; you are the Ghost circlemaster, and you must take whatever actions will help you find Lord Julian Trimogena’s murderer.

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