Free Trial and Glory by Joshua P. Simon

beautiful, he thought while staring at her.
    Tobin closed his eyes briefly, recalling every curve of her body. It had been several months since they last spoke. Yet her scent filled his nostrils as if she still lay next to him on the roof of the palace. He opened his eyes as she shifted her stance, giving Tobin a better view of her face. She wore a somber expression. For the briefest of moments, hope filled Tobin’s heart.
    Does she miss me? He shook his head. No. It’s Kaz. It’s always him.
    He smiled bitterly at the humorless joke. He had gone along with Nachun when the shaman caused his brother to disappear. Nachun assumed that Lucia would eventually accept her husband’s death.
    And I was dumb enough to believe him.
    He spared one last look at Lucia then left the market.
    * * *
    Despite the barrage of noise, Jober heard the small gasp to his left. His hand went to the sword at his waist. “Is everything alright?”
    Lucia stared toward an alley, near a stand selling various dyes.
    Jober touched her arm, repeating the question. “Are you alright?”
    She blinked. “Yes. I-I just thought I saw someone.”
    “Who?”
    “No one. It was nothing.” She took one last look down the alley before renewing her stride.
    Jober eyed the area around the dye stand but saw nothing. He fell in quickly behind Lucia, and the two continued walking. He knew that now wasn’t the place to pry, but his concern for Lucia forbade him to wait any longer.
    “When are you going to talk to someone?” he asked.
    “What do you mean?”
    Jober ignored the advice of his wife, Hielle, urging him to give Lucia time to herself. “It’s been months since your anniversary. You haven’t been yourself since. And today, you seem even worse. Not even the market cheers you.”
    Lucia looked away, opening her mouth as if to answer his question. She stopped, forcing a smile. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to bring you down. I’ve just felt ill.” Her hand rested briefly on her midsection. “I was actually hoping to find something in the market that might settle my stomach today.”
    “Are you sure that’s it?”
    She touched his arm. “I’m sure.”
    He nodded. “Alright. Let’s go find something for your stomach.”
    * * *
    Tobin stood in his war room, admiring a map that detailed the lands under his rule. His empire covered all the inhabited lands of Hesh except the White Tundra Clan to the far south. No one knew the size of the White Clan’s populace or their land as they refused to interact with the other clans of Hesh. Even Tobin’s father had not included them in his original plans of conquest. However, Tobin was not his father.
    A knock sounded.
    “Come in.”
    The door cracked open, and a servant peeked inside. “Captain Teznak is here to see you.”
    “Send him in.”
    The servant bowed and backed out as the captain entered. He had cleaned up considerably since the morning.
    “Captain, I didn’t expect to see you so soon. I hope there haven’t been any problems with your assignment.”
    “No, Warleader. No problems at all.”
    “Are you sure? You look worn.”
    The captain tried to smile. “Just a bit sore. I’ve been busy since we last spoke. My men are ahead of schedule at seeing the towers brought back up to standard.”
    “Good. But progress reports are unnecessary so long as the work is done when I return.”
    “Yes, of course. That’s actually not why I’m here.” The captain pulled loose the sheet of paper Tobin gave him earlier. “I’ve been working on the list.”
    “You’ve already located the men?”
    “Not all of them. Since it seemed that the names were of great importance to you I thought you might want the information I was able to discover so far.”
    “Go ahead.”
    Teznak cleared his throat. “Of the six names, three are dead.”
    Tobin swore. “Who does that leave?”
    “Saruk, Belin, and Adosh. I managed to locate Saruk’s current address.” He handed a piece of paper to Tobin. “I’m