A crowd of people met Voran at the base of the tower. They were hushed, nearly silent except for an unusual amount of whispering and rustling of fabric and shuffling of sandaled feet on the dusty paving stones of Karila City. Expectation hung on the sunny air like a fog you couldn’t quite see. Voran stopped, struck dumb by the looks on their faces. None of them were at all negatively disposed toward him. No one seemed to want him to come to harm. But why? He had been the reason for Rogned’s death! They would still have their favorite son, if not for him.
What a pair those two would have made, thought Voran. Rogned and the Shuudan. Truly, a Karila ruled by them would be like a renewed Vasyllia of the elder days.
Without any visible sign, the crowd parted in front of Voran and the Shuudan.
