The morning came without ceremony.
General Iroh stood before X-Marshal in the office of the Six Heirs in the Royal Palace, with the daylight still faint and fresh, shining through the tall windows.
"We found one of the kidnappers, sir."
X-Marshall turned toward him with an expression that, for a man of his composure, came close to surprise.
"Is that confirmed?"
"Yes, sir." Iroh paused briefly. "We confirmed it last night. Myself, Sir Eylor, and Miss Lilia."
X-Marshall was quiet for a moment. "You said we."
"Yes, sir. Eylor and Miss Lilia were already at the garrison when I arrived. They had been conducting the interrogation."
Another pause followed. X-Marshall glanced through the window beside him, his eyes briefly settling on the vast green gardens spread across the royal palace grounds. Then he turned away and continued walking.
A moment later, Iroh quietly fell into step behind him.
He had delivered the report cleanly, the way he always did. What he had left out were the details that still lingered in his mind, the spotless white clothing, the table of instruments, the sound Rael had made when the salt touched the open wounds.
He had also left out the thought that had followed him since last night.
Mayo had been moved from the 73rd District cell to the garrison because of Rael, and Rael wasn't a man who acted without reason. He had needed something, and Mayo had simply been there.
Which meant someone, somewhere, was still pulling the thread behind all of this.
—
Back on the current night
Iroh kept his face forward and his thoughts to himself as he followed X-Marshall down the hall.
X-Marshall walked at his usual pace, unhurried and deliberate, while Iroh kept half a step behind him, close enough to be present, distant enough to stay out of the way.
The garrison hallway stretched long and brightly lit through the night, its stone floor recently swept, the light balls already glowing overhead.
They had been walking in silence for some time when X-Marshall spoke.
"General," he said, without slowing. "I think we should go see Minister Abed."
Iroh kept his eyes forward. "As you wish, sir."
"The situation has moved faster than expected. He should know where we stand."
"Agreed."
More silence followed. Their footsteps echoed together down the corridor, steady and even against the stone.
Iroh had known X-Marshall long enough to understand what those words really meant. When he said, I think we should, the decision had already been made.
The phrasing was courtesy, not a question. He was informing Iroh, not asking him, and the careful, measured tone behind it told Iroh that this visit to the minister would carry far more weight than a routine report.
Something was being considered, something that required authority beyond their own.
Iroh said nothing more. He kept those thoughts where he always did when they became inconvenient, behind his eyes, neatly arranged and left for later.
The night stretched on around them as they moved through the garrison's upper halls and eventually out into the city.
On the other side of the city, the market road leading to Kabul's southern gate was beginning to thin as the hour grew late.
The stalls lining the street had started packing away their goods and folding their cloth covers, while the crowds had dwindled to the sort of people who still had somewhere to be before nightfall and were quickly running out of time to get there.
Moving along the road, without any particular hurry, was a small and unusual procession.
Haqi walked at the front with his donkey beside him, the rope loose in his hand. Behind them rolled the low cart, where Yami sat cross-legged, quietly watching the city pass.
Mina, Toviro, and Aryan followed in easy silence, while a few steps behind them came Ozair and Elina, both wrapped in dark cloth from collar to hem, enough to hide what the guards at the morning gate might remember.
The southern gate came into view ahead.
To the right stood Kabul's entry gate, and to the left, the exit gate.
The guards on duty were different from the ones that morning. The gate was busy enough that they paid the group little attention, seeing only more strangers passing through the city.
Haqi reached the checkpoint first, pulling the donkey to an easy stop. One of the guards looked up, his expression turning familiar.
"Hey, Haqi. What's up?"
"Nothing much," Haqi said. "The usual."
"Every day, huh." The guard glanced past him at the cart and the group behind it, his brows lifting slightly. "Looks like you've got company tonight."
"You got it."
The guard stepped aside with easy familiarity. As Yami passed on the cart, the man lightly bumped a fist against his chest with a grin.
"You too, hero. Have a good night."
Something shifted in Yami's expression.
It was subtle, not a wide grin or anything forced, just a small warmth easing into his face before he could hide it. When he smiled back, it reached all the way to the corners of his eyes.
Hero.
The word settled somewhere deep inside him, in a place he hadn't known was empty.
The group passed through the gate.
Ozair and Elina came last, wrapped in dark cloth as they stayed close behind the others. The guards barely spared them more than a passing glance before turning their attention to the next travellers moving through.
A moment later, the gate was behind them.
Once they had put enough distance between themselves and the wall, Ozair let out a breath and relaxed his shoulders.
"Thank the sky they didn't look twice."
"Mm," Elina replied. Which, for her, meant she agreed completely and was far more relieved than she intended to admit out loud.
The road narrowed quickly outside the city, packed dirt giving way to uneven ground as the tree line closed around them.
Yami raised the light orb in his hand to shoulder height, its pale glow pushing the darkness back a few metres in every direction.
It wasn't much, but it was enough to see by.
Toviro walked beside Haqi in silence for a while before finally looking at him.
"We're sorry, Haqi," he said. "For the trouble we put you through today. We know what we asked of you. That wasn't a small thing."
Haqi kept his eyes forward. He stayed quiet for a moment, not like someone searching for words, but like someone deciding how much of the truth to say.
"Don't talk like that," he said.
Toviro waited.
"I know we only met yesterday," Haqi said after a moment, his voice quieter now. "But it doesn't feel like that. It feels like I've known you for years."
Aryan, walking just behind them, looked at the back of Haqi's head. "We'll always be grateful," he said. "For everything you're doing for us."
Haqi glanced back at him. "I told you not to mention it." He faced forward again. "Don't mention it again."
No one pushed further.
They continued on in silence. The light from Yami's orb swayed gently with the cart, its pale glow shifting the shadows along the path.