"You can't expect me to know every person in the True Twins Gospel. I was simply told what to say in the message. I didn't ask where the words came from." Wadaw put his hands up and then raised his shoulders in an almost pleading manner.

  "Do you really expect me to believe that a man as well-connected as you doesn't know who your organization's primary point of contact with the Red Wolves is?" Ursun's voice was oddly calm, which made everyone else even more uneasy.

  "Ah, so that's who Jiwadi is. I see now. Yes, it all makes sense to me." Wadaw nodded to himself.

  "Cut the crap!" Ursun slammed his hammer-like fist against a beam along the wall of the large room.

  Prism and Leanna flinched, but Wadaw stood firm. He didn't look bothered in the least.

  "Tell you what..." Wadaw walked over to the stairs and then pointed up at the cellar door, just out of view. "I'm going to go check on the food while you calm down and learn how to talk to your most gracious host and guide."

  Wadaw turned his back to everyone and proceeded up the stairs and out of the room. Ursun shook his head and placed his hands on his hips, making the massive man appear even more imposing. Prism could see the irritation clear on Ursun's face. He wondered why the situation bothered the commander so much. His curiosity, however, was not greater than his desire to deescalate things.

  "So, big boat ride tomorrow! Who's excited?" Prism clapped his hands together and smiled broadly, almost madly, at Leanna and Ursun.

  Ursun, stone-faced and quiet, turned away from them and walked to the back of the room. He picked up his coilgun and began servicing it on a sturdy table that was about hip-height for him.

  "I'm hoping that the ocean air gives us a break from the jungle's insufferable humidity." Leanna said while tousling her hair, which had become a bit frizzy. "I heard that the forest of Sguvi’s interior is a lot cooler than the jungle we've been traveling through as well, so that's a plus.”

  “Is it more temperate?” Prism asked perkily.

  “From what I’ve heard, yes. I’ve never been personally, but it’s the largest continuous temperate rainforest on ?ba. It stretches from the west coast of Sguvi to the east coast.”

  “And how big is that? I mean, how many kilometers?” Prism asked.

  “Abou-“

  “Jiwadi is a good friend of mine.” Ursun interrupted Leanna. She and Prism whipped their heads around to watch him cleaning muck from the internal components of his weapon. “At least, he was. I haven’t seen him in over ten years.”

  “Huh? Then how is he your True Twins liaison?” Prism tilted his head and asked.

  “He uses intermediaries. They always share a personal detail or memory from our youth, letting us know that the message is from Jiwadi. The apple, for instance.” Ursun rubbed a damp cloth down the rounded side of his gun.

  “The fake apple that stored Wadaw’s message?” Leanna crossed her arms and glanced at Prism, who shook his head. He looked just as confused as she did.

  “Finisome hates apples.” Ursun smirked. “Not many people know that. So when he was told by Wolf City Port Authority that there was a crate of them listed on a Sguvan merchant ship’s manifest, and that they’d been made out to him, it got his attention.”

  “So you can’t even be sure if Jiwadi is even alive, can you?” Prism asked. He saw Leanna grimace out of the corner of his eye.

  Ursun stared at Prism for several heartbeats before nodding to the alien. “I talked with him in a room a bit like this when I was last in this country, on that mission you caught a glimpse of.”

  “The one you went on with the Roses seven years ago?” Leanna asked.

  “Yes, that one.” Ursun nodded to her. “I didn’t see his face; there was a wall between us. It was him, though. Same voice, just a bit older.”

  “What if…” Prism paused, finally biting his tongue before blurting out something potentially hurtful.

  “Stop pussyfooting and just speak your mind.” Ursun shook his head and began reassembling his coilgun. The pieces made a satisfying click when they were pushed together.

  “What if that was just another one of the Queen’s machinations? Or just Gusa’s? Couldn’t they have tortured all of Jiwadi’s memories out of him and crafted a facsimile of the man to manipulate the Red Wolves and the True Twins Gospel?”

  Ursun smirked again and looked down at the ground between the table before him and Prism. The commander’s eyes took on a nostalgic hue. “I thought the same thing when my men were killed seven years ago. I blamed Theda and I blamed Jiwadi, but the blame was my own. That was made clear to me soon after; viciously so.”

  “What happened back then? There isn’t much information about that mission available.” Leanna felt emboldened to ask.

  “A lot happened. It’s far too much to go into now.” Ursun saw a frown form on Leanna’s lips as he spoke.

  “Uhh…so how do you know Jiwadi isn’t a monarchist mole?” Prism circled back to the topic he’d asked about.

  “He’s been responsible for the deaths of far more monarchists than True Twins. That’s about as much evidence as I need that he’s on our side.” With a loud thud, Ursun placed his coilgun flat on the table in front of him. “Plus, my brother’s paranoid nature makes him very good at sniffing out spies.”

  Prism nodded slowly, unconvinced. Prism could sense the weight of what Ursun was hiding and how much strain it caused the man. Prism had been very good about not reading the minds of others without their consent. But at that moment, he felt the urge to peek into Ursun’s head.

  “If he hasn’t earned my trust by now, after everything we’ve gone through the last year, then he never will.” Prism thought to himself before resisting the urge entirely.

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  “That’ll have to be good enough for us, then.” Leanna looked to her side at Prism, who nodded his partial agreement.

  “I’ll be glad to be on that boat tomorrow, too. There’s just too much that can go wrong in this town, and in this cellar.” Ursun spoke in a soft tone.

  “We’re putting so much trust in Wadaw. It feels pretty surreal. We’re usually super suspicious and careful around non-Wolves.” Leanna said.

  She saw Prism frown, and knew the reason why. He’d been a recipient of the Red Wolves’ distrust and still was in some ways, despite being a Red Wolf himself. His alien nature made him a wild card that leaders like Liam and Finisome could never feel comfortable around.

  “He’s worked with our organization before. He’s proven himself. That’s the only reason we’re letting him take lead on this.” Ursun said.

  “We need him. We couldn’t just stroll into Zazi and lay waste to Gusa and his military, even with my powers. We know too little about the Singular’s capabilities to do something so foolhardy.” Prism shook his head. He didn’t like the ingratitude he sensed from Ursun. “Wadaw’s putting himself at great risk doing so much for us, just on the chance that we can turn the tide in his people’s favor. We shouldn’t act like he’s just some tool for our own ends.”

  Ursun tilted his head at Prism and remained silent for a long time. Leanna coughed as she grew anxious. She put her hands up and paced around the center of the room to calm herself down before breaking the tension. When she opened her mouth to speak, Ursun beat her to it.

  “You’ve made it clear that you don’t like being seen as a tool yourself, so I understand the empathy you have for Wadaw. Don’t let that empathy soften your resolve or dull your judgment. This civil war is just one battle in the large conflict against the Queen. The rest of us may be expendable, but you aren’t.”

  Prism’s eyebrows shot up and he felt warmth spread across his cheeks. He hadn’t been reminded of his importance nearly enough to not be surprised by the commander’s little speech. Prism was embarrassed by his involuntary response, especially since Ursun was telling him to remain objective. But a loving rub on his back by Leanna’s soft hand reassured Prism, in spite of his own insecurities.

  “I recognize the truth in your words, Ursun, but my feelings are important, too.” Prism’s words were firm and exact. “My morals keep me fighting by your side, not my emotions. I want to end all this suffering just as much as the rest of you. However, I believe that we can do that while also keeping our hearts open to one another. If we favor the cold, clinical calculation of automata to lead our behavior, then there isn’t much difference between us and our enemies, is there?”

  It was Ursun’s turn to raise his eyebrows. He too nodded back at Prism, slowly and smoothly. “Fair enough.” Ursun replied.

  Wadaw returned not long after carrying four cardboard boxes of food and a stack of dishes on top of them.

  “You look silly holding all that. I can’t even see your face.” Leanna giggled when he walked down the stairs.

  Prism rushed to help, curious about what was in the boxes. They were light brown and sturdy, fit to transported over long distances without damaging the boxes’ contents. When he and Wadaw put the boxes down on a table at the back of the room, Prism saw that their lids were decorated with the same palm tree logo he’d seen on the sign that hung above the tavern’s front doors when he’d leapt through the town.

  “This looks like pizza.” Prism said when he opened one of the square cardboard boxes. Steam wafted up from the cheesy circular flatbread. He’d soon discover that it was filled with an assortment of seafood that had been baked into it.

  “Pizza? What’s that?” Wadaw raised his right eyebrow.

  Prism watched Leanna and Ursun give him similar uncertain looks. “Nevermind…” He waved his hand in front of his face and shook his head.

  “This is called "seffi". It’s a meat pie covered in garlic sauce and cheese. It’s easy to make and very filling.” Wadaw explained while slicing a piece to hand to Prism.

  "We have a few seffi places in Wolf City, but nothing as authentic as this, I'm sure." Leanna said before taking a bite out of a piece she'd quickly cut for herself. "So good!" With her mouth full, Leanna's words sounded more like moans of pleasure.

  Prism looked at the plate Wadaw handed to him. Yellow cheese oozed down the cut edges of the thin pie, obscuring the layer of seafood within it. Prism was hungry, but he felt a strange hesitancy to eat the delicious-looking slice.

  "Don't just look at it; eat it." Ursun pressured. The big man devoured an entire seffi slice as easily as breathing in air.

  "This is the best seffi on the Fon Coast. It might not be "pizza", but it’s still a treat." Wadaw raised the plate up to Prism's face and fanned the steam coming off of the slice at Prism's nose.

  "Alright, alright."

  Prism grabbed the plate from Wadaw, who smiled and held his hands up while stepping back from Prism. Prism picked up the greasy wedge of cheese-covered bread and took a bite out of its triangular tip, just as if he was eating a slice of pizza. He found its mixture of salty and savory flavors to be quite enjoyable, if not a bit too oily.

  The cheese was far more flavorful than Prism would have thought, and he began to wonder what it was made of. After all, cows don't exist on ?ba, he remembered.

  "Well?" Wadaw asked. He began eating a slice as well.

  "I like it." Prism burped immediately after he finished speaking. He covered his mouth with his free hand and bowed his head when Wadaw and Leanna started to giggle.

  "Bless you." Wadaw rubbed Prism's back. Prism narrowed his eyes at him.

  "Bless me? I didn't sneeze." Prism wiped the grease from his mouth and took another bite of seffi.

  Wadaw chuckled. "Just a bit of Sguvan superstition, in case your burp offended a nearby fairy."

  "You don't even believe in that stuff..." Prism shook his head.

  "Certain habits we learn as children never quite leave us, even when we've abandoned the beliefs associated with those habits." Wadaw shrugged.

  "Old habits die hard." Prism said more concisely.

  "Yes, exactly!" Wadaw smiled and pointed at Prism.

  A half smile formed on Prism's lips. He'd learned many turns of phrase during his travels. It tickled him when proverbs that had existed for centuries on other worlds tantalized the ears of people who'd never heard them before.

  “That shapeshifting mask of yours is pretty useful. I haven’t seen anything else like it on ?ba.” Prism pointed at Wadaw’s face, which looked nothing like it had when they’d first met a few days earlier.

  Wadaw ran his right forefinger along the side of his face, tracing the shape of the sharp cheekbones of his temporary visage. He looked dreamily at the stairs on the opposite side of the room, watching the flickering of candlelight dance across the angled opening. “It was a most special gift from a most special friend.” He said cryptically.

  “It’s worryingly advanced. I’m not even sure Etrysian biotech can alter one’s appearance so seamlessly. And the fact that it dissolves into your skin…” Leanna lowered the slice of seffi from her face and leaned in closer to get a better look at Wadaw’s face. She searched it for seams or any other indication of the mask he’d worn, but she found none.

  “It’s nanotech. Must be.” Ursun said between bites. The way he stared at Wadaw made Prism think that the commander hated the man.

  “Unlikely. The Queen wouldn’t let that level of technology be used without her consent, especially if it’s at all intelligent.” Leanna shook her head. “It must be experimental biotech; living cells that interface with the nervous system somehow.”

  “Who gave the mask to you?” Prism asked Wadaw while staring into the man’s eyes. They were brown instead of their usual gray.

  “Someone very special.” Wadaw half-smiled. Leanna and Prism groaned. Ursun looked away from Wadaw and stayed silent, choosing instead to begin eating some more. “I’m sorry, but I have to protect their identity. Be patient; you’ll meet them once we’re in Zashi.”

  “You mean…Zazi?” Leanna asked a bit more slowly than she meant to. Her tongue seemed to thicken in her mouth as she began to feel both dizzy and lethargic.

  “Yesh…” Wadaw nodded. His head lolled as it began to move uncontrollably back and forth and side to side. “Shtrange…I’m shlurring my wordsh…” He added before gripping the nearby table before his legs buckled beneath him.

  Everything in Prism’s field-of-view seemed to move in slow motion, and his sense of color became distorted. He heard a loud thud that began to echo as if he was in a long corridor. He turned to see Ursun fall to the ground. The plate Ursun had been holding shattered when it fell, sending a half-eaten slice of seffi sliding towards Prism.

  It was the last thing Prism saw before he too lost consciousness.