THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 333. BROKEN PLANS

The two figures on the fortress roof paced on the slanting edge again and again. They had been doing that for a few hours now. Nvaru was one of them. N’varu hated waiting when it mattered. When it was his master’s life at risk.

He hated it an hour ago. He hated it now. He would probably hate it an hour from now, too. Yet he remained seated on the cold stone on the roof, his eyes fixed on the ground where Sagiri had disappeared. At first, he had expected him to reappear within minutes. Then an hour passed. Then another.

The silence became unbearable as the night deepened around them. Lira had fallen asleep at some point, curled against one of the pillars after exhaustion finally claimed her. N’varu remained awake. Now and then, he would rise and pace along the edge of the pool before returning to the same spot.

"You know," he muttered toward the sky, "if you die after making me wait all night, I’m bringing you back just so I can kill you myself." Before he collapsed beside Lira, who had sat at some point.

Then stood again.

Then paced some more. Hours passed. The night grew colder. Beside him, Lira remained unusually quiet, her eyes fixed on the darkness below as though she expected Sagiri to emerge at any moment.

He didn’t.

The city lights gradually dimmed as the deepest hours of the night settled over Thazir. Still no sign of him. N’varu tried convincing himself that this was normal. Sagiri vanished into dangerous places all the time. Sagiri did impossible things all the time. Yet as the hours stretched on, the confidence became harder to maintain.

More than once, he walked to the edge of the roof and stared down toward the fortress below, wondering if he should go after him despite knowing he had absolutely no idea where to start looking. Eventually, the eastern horizon began to lighten.

The stars faded one by one eventually, and with each fading one, Nvaru sighed. He had never dreaded dawn so much. Dawn crept across the canyon walls and painted the city beneath them in pale gold. N’varu rubbed his eyes and let out a long breath. An entire night had passed. Sagiri was still gone. Beside him, Lira remained seated exactly where she had been hours earlier, watching the growing daylight in silence.

Damn it!! Kiuga’s plan won’t work when the day comes.

The first sitting must have ended a few hours ago before dawn, to allow the council to rest so they could sit again. If Nvaru could guess right at the moment Zifara was back in the war fortress, the first phase of the plan was to make sure Zifara could not find out Sagiri had left the fortress. That also involved Lira being absent.

It was a wicked plan indeed. N’varu did not tell Sagiri about it because Sagiri could have denied it, but Lira did not seem to mind.

Sagiri would be sharing his room with Lira in the manner of a man and a woman, the whole night. A taboo, but not unheard of, for young people who plan to marry. Only Sagiri was not aware. The plan could not work once it was morning.

Now, then the second plan would be in motion. Plan B. They could say Sagiri left early in the morning. Lira had to be present for his part of the work. She had an account for him by acting weirdly. She always asks weirdly, but this time, she would have to take it up a notch to sell the story.

Then comes the third plan, where Kiuga would have to act like Sagiri. Sagiri is always covered. These three plans could not work if a person were observant. If they had to use plan C, then they had already failed. Right about now, half the squad could be at the gate behind the barricade, arguing that they belonged in the south and they would not leave. If nvaru could guess, the crowds would be growing at the moment.

As the first edge of the sun began to creep over the distant canyon walls, N’varu’s thoughts finally turned against him.

Until now, he had managed to stay busy. Pacing. Complaining. Checking the map for the hundredth time despite having memorized it days ago. Anything to avoid thinking too hard about the fact that Sagiri had vanished into the most heavily guarded fortress in the South and had not returned.

Now there was nothing left to distract him.

The sunlight grew stronger.

Sagiri was still gone.

N’varu folded his arms and stared at the city below, his jaw tightening. His mind immediately supplied an explanation. Maybe Sagiri had been discovered.

No.

Discovered wasn’t the right word.

Caught.

Surrounded by hundreds of guards. The entire fortress was turning against him. Then his imagination made it worse. The Supreme Chief himself appears.

The thoughts came faster.

What if Sagiri had found whatever had been calling him, and it had turned out to be a trap? What if the thing had been waiting specifically for him? What if it wasn’t a person at all? N’varu hated that one. His fingers drummed against his arm. The more he thought about it, the less he liked it.

Sagiri was never late. Well, not this way.

If Sagiri said he would return, he returned. Sometimes bleeding. But he returned. The fact that he hadn’t was what bothered N’varu most. His eyes shifted toward the war fortress, and a knot formed in his stomach.

For the first time since meeting Sagiri, he found himself wondering what would happen if the impossible occurred. What would happen if Sagiri didn’t come back? The thought hit harder than he expected. He immediately tried pushing it away. The South and inner city were already unstable. The chiefs were divided. Enemies were moving in the shadows.

N’varu exhaled slowly.

The sun finally broke above the horizon. Golden light spilled across the rooftops of Thazir. Beside him, Lira remained silent.