“Damn it,” muttered Constans Mu. “Have we been down this blasted street before?”
Arcadius Pi rolled his eyes. “You know, Constans, if you visited more of Joyeuse than the Silk Quarter, you’d probably actually know your way around.”
The burly Sacristan crossed his arms. “Well, you tell me where we are then, eh?”
Arcadius looked around. “Western Spice Market. Right where it meets the Teamster’s Quarter and St. Ambrogius.”
Constans blinked, impressed despite himself. “How can you tell…?”
Arcadius pointed to a steeple in the distance. “That’s St. Ambrogius’ Chapel in the distance. You can recognize it by the roof. Rounded, like an Eastern church.” He shrugged. “Joyeuse is a city of churches. Know your churches, and you know the city.”
“I’ll be damned,” said Constans.
“That’s pretty blasted likely,” noted Preceptor Maximilian, as he joined the pair. “At the rate you are piling on the sins, it’ll take a Pilgrimage to every Holy Site in the Lands of Light to get clear. Possibly two times each.”
Arcadius smiled at his fellow Sacristan. “Well, you have said you wanted to travel.”
The Preceptor frowned. “Enough witticisms. Anything to report?”
“It’s cold out,” answered Constans.
Maximilian stared at him. “That’s ignoring the first part of what I said,” he noted.
“It’s been quiet,” said Arcadius. “Frankly, sir, I believe the escapees have already made their way out of the city. If they aren’t, they’re in some safe location we don’t know about. Whichever it is, I doubt we’ll see them again.”
At that moment, a small group of people stumbled into view. Arcadius blinked and then realized that Justinian was among them. As the fugitives stared at them in shock, Arcadius glanced at the Preceptor for some sign of what to do.
The Preceptor did nothing. Arcadius looked at the fugitives again. They all looked tired, dirty and desperate. One, he noted was a small child. He looked back at the Preceptor. Still nothing. He looked back at the fugitives, who were busily moving away.
Once they were gone, the Preceptor looked at the two Squires. “Gentlemen, I think we can all agree that we saw nothing of interest.”
The pair nodded. Maximilian Rho was not a man you disagreed with on these matters.
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