From the church, Martin quickly found the Park of the Daughter. It was said that the Daughter loved the Eldamris Empire the most out of all the nations, and spent much of her time here long ago, chaperoning the growing Empire as it competed with the various nations on the continent. As a result, many places were still named in her honor. The park itself was nothing spectacular, just a simple, well-kept lawn and neatly arranged trees. The story went that the original designer of the park had arranged for female ginkgo trees in keeping with the theme of the Daughter. However, he didn’t realize the awful smell that came when they fruited in the Fall. Numerous complaints were made to city officials. Eventually the trees were uprooted and replaced with the male variety.

  It was under one of these trees that Martin found Will. Will seemed a bit forlorn, but perked up immediately when he caught sight of Martin, as if he wasn’t sure he was really going to show up.

  “Sorry to keep you,” Martin said, “long sermon today.”

  “It was Corvus, eh?” Will said, “The man does like to talk.”

  “You’ve sat through his sermons?” Martin asked, sitting on the grass beside Will.

  “I’ve ducked into the church once or twice to avoid… well, to avoid others I’d rather not be associated with. Mostly it’s just hearsay. You’d be surprised what you can pick up just by listening to conversations in the market. Like, did you know they say the butcher, Timothy McLeary, has a willy so small his wife sent him to get looked at by some of the university eggheads. I’ve heard they’ve got drawings of it in medical textbooks.”

  “Well, maybe you’ll get to read one of those someday, but that’s quite enough about the butcher’s equipment. What did you bring to read today?”

  “A couple of newspapers. I was hoping we could do the article you saw me reading the other night, and there’s one about the Grey Man.”

  “You certainly chose some light reading,” Martin said, rolling up his sleeves. “Alright, let’s get to it.”

  Unless there was some teaching experience in his past life he wasn’t aware of, Martin had never tried to teach someone to read before. Since his own memories of learning to read were lost to him, he got Will to start with the first article and just interjected when he went astray. This worked a bit, but the article soon started introducing faraway places with unusual pronunciation. Martin changed tactics to reading it once himself and then having Will repeat.

  The story outlined the differences in opinion between two admirals of the Imperial Navy. Admiral Halstow was an infamous hawk in the Navy. He was all for expanding the Empire’s efforts overseas, not just in the colonies but on the continent itself. Halstow was famous not only for his long and decorated naval career, but also for his efforts in promoting the use of the latest science in the navy. They say these days he spends half his time at Eldridge University looking for new tools for his sailors and the other half out at sea looking for blood, stopping by the capital only long enough to cast a vote on major issues.

  In contrast, Admiral Rooke was encouraging making peace with the continent and developing the resources the Empire had already acquired in the colonies. Rooke was famous as a reformer, improving the discipline of the sailors and spearheading a number of court martials and discharges in an effort to clean up the Navy. Rooke saw the Imperial Navy as more of a police force for trade, bringing riches from all over the world to the Eldamris empire and improving the quality of life for everyone. For him, the Navy couldn’t serve that role unless it lived up to the high standards he had envisioned for it.

  After a lot of repetition and explanation of the various consonant clusters and pronunciation rules of the written language, Will was eventually able to read the whole article out loud to Martin’s approval. The boy grinned from ear to ear, having completed the whole thing in one go.

  “What do you think of the article, Will? Who do you agree with?”

  “Oh, it doesn’t make a difference to me. Whether we’re in wartime or peacetime, none of the benefits they’re talking about make their way to me.”

  The boy had a good head on his shoulders, and despite his elation at learning how to read, he still knew his place in the world.

  “It will someday,” Martin said, gently pushing Will on the arm, “when you find your treasure and you find out how taxation works, you’ll have some much stronger opinions, I imagine.”

  “Taxation? No, thank you. Let’s look at another topic. Do you still have time?”

  Martin took a look at one of the steam clocks on the far side of the park. Boudica still wouldn’t expect him home for another few hours.

  “Yeah, I’ve got time for one more.” He said.

  Will flipped through the paper and found the article he was looking for, a sensationalist piece on the newest serial killer to stalk the streets of the Capital—the Grey Man. The killer had claimed a third confirmed victim, but many believed there were other victims not yet found. The police had brought in a number of alienists, and after an anonymous tip, had been interviewing resurrectionists as suspects in the case. However, they had no leads at this time. Authorities recommend that all individuals return home early and walk in pairs to keep themselves safe. Anyone with any information regarding the culprit is urged to report to their local constable immediately. A very generous reward was offered for information leading to an arrest.

  “He’s been the talk of the town that Grey Man,” Will offered after they finished the article. “A few of my mates claim they’ve seen him.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yeah, well, not seen, they said they heard a whistling.” Martin froze while folding up the paper.

  “A whistle?”

  “Yeah, but it’s not in the paper, so I bet they were just telling stories to make themselves look cool.”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “What was he whistling?”

  “Oh, you don’t believe them, do you?”

  “I might, actually. What did they hear?”

  “Some old nursery rhyme.”

  “Hmm. Will, I passed a man like that a few nights ago. He was carrying a case and whistling "The Baker and the Plowman.””

  “No way. You’re not fibbing, are you?”

  “Not at all. I had a feeling something was off about him, but I had no idea just how off he was.”

  “Wow. You’re lucky to be alive, mister.”

  “Yeah… let’s call it here for today, Will. We can meet back here next Saturday if you’d like.”

  “Boy, would I. Thanks, Martin. I’ll bring some new papers next week.”

  “And Will, take care of yourself. If you hear whistling, run the opposite direction as fast as you can.”

  “I’m pretty fast, sir. If I start running, there’s no way he’ll catch me.”

  “I believe you,” Martin said with a laugh.

  As if to prove his point, Will collected his newspaper and rolled them up under his arm. With an elaborate bow, he turned and ran through the park, quickly vanishing behind the trees. Martin relaxed in the shade a moment longer, intending to make his way back home; however, he suddenly realized he was no longer alone beneath the tree.

  He leapt to his feet and wheeled to face a short man, no older than a teenager, dressed in a simple tunic with no identifying markings. His face was equally nondescript, and Martin had the feeling that, if he tried to recall its particulars later, he would struggle to do so.

  “Good afternoon, brother,” the young man said with a bow.

  “Good afternoon,” Martin replied cautiously, slowly relaxing from his combat stance.

  “Our master has a task for you. Come to the chapel as soon as you can.” Without waiting for Martin’s answer, the man bowed again and turned to walk away.

  “I… understand,” Martin said.

  A task, he thought. This was the first time he had been summoned like this. He wondered if it was a trap from someone, but he couldn’t think of any enemies that had the knowledge to put something like this together. Who would know of the existence of the chapel? Regardless, Martin decided to err on the side of caution and didn’t go directly to the chapel. He took a roundabout way and doubled back a few times to make sure he wasn’t followed. When he arrived at the chapel, he was quickly ushered into a room. The nondescript man was sitting at a table alongside several equally nondescript men. Their attention was focused completely on Jacques, who was standing at the head of the table.

  “You’re finally here,” Jacques said when he spotted Martin arrive, “sit down. We don’t have much time.”

  Martin quickly took his seat.

  “This afternoon, a woman arrived in the capital. This woman is a servant of the Beautiful Goddess. As most of you know, the Beautiful Goddess has long had an obsession with the Faceless God and has hunted him and his servants throughout history. We have reason to believe this woman has arrived in the capital in order to find our Chapel of the Faceless God.”

  Jacques had previously mentioned the Beautiful Goddess to Martin as part of his training, but only in passing. The Beautiful Goddess was one of several cosmics that had found a more permanent foothold in this world. While not as powerful as the Devourer or the Faceless God, she still was not an entity to be trifled with. Jacques hadn’t mentioned her obsession with the Faceless God. Jacques soon continued with his explanation.

  “If left to her own devices, this servant will eventually locate this chapel. We cannot allow that to happen. When night falls, I will engage her in combat and either kill her or drive her from the city.”

  “But if she battles a Faceless Man, won’t the Goddess know that the Faceless God truly does have a presence here?” One of the nondescript men cut in to ask.

  “Yes, she would, which is why I alone will be the one to engage her. I have an identity of a servant of the Devourer that I acquired some years ago. If I disguise myself as him, it should be enough to frighten off the Beautiful Goddess.”

  “What do you need us to do?” Martin asked.

  “I need most of you to stay here out of the way, where the barriers of the Chapel should keep the servant from picking up any traces of you. I need one of you to serve as my assistant. We’ll lure her into a vacant area where I can deal with her without drawing undue attention. You’ll need to handle some of the levers to control the area to make sure she can’t escape.”

  There was a moment of silence as the men looked at each other.

  “I’ll do it,” Martin said.

  Jacques smiled at him.

  “I was sure you would. Fear not, you won’t come to any harm. Come. Time is short. Follow me. The rest of you stay here and think about what it would be like to act brave for once.”

  Martin followed Jacques into the same room he had joined him in on his first night as a Faceless Man.

  “Take this,” Jacques said, offering Martin a dagger.

  “I’ve already got one.”

  “Not tonight, you don’t. Remember, you’re not a Faceless tonight. We can’t give any impression that the God has servants still here.”

  “Ah, right.” Martin took the dagger and tied it quickly to his belt. Jacques, meanwhile, pulled out a detailed map of the city. He stuck a couple of pins into the map.

  “This,” he said, pointing to the first pin, “is the true location of the Chapel, and this is the hotel the servant of the Beautiful Goddess has checked into.” The two were surprisingly close. If not for the power of the wards protecting the chapel, she likely would have located it already.

  “This,” Jacques said, pointing to a third pin on the outskirts of town, “is an abandoned warehouse owned by a certain servant of the Faceless God. Now, we’re going to lure the servant here. The warehouse has but one main entrance. Once the servant enters, I’ll enter just behind her. That’s when you’ll pull the lever to bring the gate crashing down, trapping us inside.”

  “So I’ll have front row seats for your deathmatch. How do you intend to lure her to this abandoned warehouse?”

  “That’s where your dagger is going to come in. One of our servants is currently at the city morgue acquiring a body. You’ll put your dagger in that corpse’s hand, and the dagger will draw the servant.”

  “And when the servant gets there and you attack her in the guise of a servant of the Devourer, she’ll think the Devourer has beat her to the punch.”

  “Exactly. The Devourer is one of the few Cosmics the Beautiful Goddess is afraid of. Even if I’m unable to finish off the servant, it should frighten her off from attempting to return to the capital, at least for a while.”

  “I see. Do you think you can finish her off?”

  “I don’t know. We Faceless aren’t exactly known for our combat prowess. The servant of the Devourer whose identity I claimed wasn’t exactly weak, but he wasn’t what I would call a powerhouse. Are you scared?”

  “For you. I’ll be safely tucked away on the second floor.”

  “Fear not, this is not my first run-in with the servants of the Beautiful Goddess, and I’m sure it won’t be my last.”

  “Alright. But I think you glossed over much of the relationships between the Cosmics in my initial training, including how to combat them. After we get through this, I want you to teach me more.”

  “All things come in time, Martin. Once you know something, there’s no unknowing it. You’ll get those answers when you’re ready for them.”

  “That’s not a yes answer, but I’ll suppose I’ll take it for now.”

  “Good man. Let’s get some food and work out the final details, and then get on our way.”