End of workday (Merchant Quarter, EE, Closed)

[Aydi al-Qais]

"Hardly. I don't know as many people as Sayyeda suggests." He smiled. "But people can be found unless they make an effort not to be." Aydi pressed his hand on his chest in a greeting. "A blessing to meet you, al-Haddar." This had to be carefully paced. "I worked with some of those good people in the past, now I am doing other things."

[Al-Haddar]

"Oh? Did you visit the Senpet lands yourself by any chance? Lately I've been meeting so many people from so many different places it makes the world feel smaller that it is. But it's quite a long trip between the pyramids and the Jewel.

Also, if you happen to find the thief that stole my purse this morning, I'd be thankful."

[Aydi al-Qais]

"Hardly, Sidi. The furthest I've ever left the city for was the Ra'shari camp." Aydi rubbed his chin in embarrassment. "As for the thieves in the morning, I've been robbed too. Pickpockets are notoriously difficult to catch. But I may have something to discuss with you. Tell me, are you the primary pistachio trader during the archery events?"

[Al-Haddar]

Al-Haddar tilted his head, visibly confused people tracked him down for his pistachios, no matter how delicious they were:

"Well, I definitely sell the best pistachios at the moment, acquired from the best suppliers and prepared by the best cooks, at these events and in the streets. But I don't own any kind of monopoly on that market.

As I was saying to my sister, I'm out of stock for the day, but I can put some aside for tomorrow if you're interested in buying some."

[Aydi al-Qais]

"It's not that, Sidi, even though I do like pistachios. You know, I often patrol the Thoroughfare in the morning. Today, I was approached there by a strange individual who asked me to pass a message that might be for your ears. I can't vouch for his intentions and I am not entirely certain why he needed me to do so in the first place, but I imagine the matter of the request may make it clearer for you."

[Al-Haddar]

This definitely didn't sound like the preamble to good news. Zumurrud gave his brother a mid-concerned mid-angry "WTF Had', WTF?" look. Al-Haddar feigned nonchalance:

"Sure, say your piece."

[Aydi al-Qais]

Aydi had no reason to hide any details from Al-Haddar, so he simply relayed the strange conversation as verbatim as he could. At the end, he lowered his head. "Shukran if this is an inconvenience. I have no wish to meddle in your private matters, Sidi. Whatever the true nature of the disagreement here, I just hope it can be peacefully resolved."

[Al-Haddar]

"What the fuck," said Al-Haddar.

"What the fuck," said Zumurrud.

What the fuck, said Al-Kuz, though his spectral voice was lost to anyone but Al-Haddar, so the repetition joke felt flat.

Then Al-Haddar sighed and grumbled:

"Pretty sure we're dealing with one of Kuz's unresolved affairs Zumi."

"That pisses me off, but it doesn't surprise me."

"Yeah... You see, sir al-Qais my brother Al-Kuz – and yeah, Zuk is blatantly just Kuz in reverse – was a very daring guy... And, well he tried to get money out of the wrong guy.

My role in the story was very much incidental. Some errands, a bit of lookout duty. He didn't put me in the know of the who and the how, in an ill attempt to protect me, and I accepted to help him in an ill attempt to save his own ass.

Failures on both fronts. My brother got killed as part of a confusing night of which I only remember his lifeless body and running through the city like never before or after. We might have been drugged. Or bewitched."

"Kuz could be dumb, but I hope he wasn't that dumb," commented Zumurrud.

"I do hope so.

Though...

Your Zuk guy, he wouldn't happen to look a bit like me, except a few years older, slightly more athletic and with a weird-ass dentition?"

[Aydi al-Qais]

"I don't know about the teeth, Sidi, but the rest checks out." Aydi nodded after his attention had been drawn to it. Still, it was all going slightly above his head but he was unsure if he was entitled to puzzling it out together with the concerned family. So he waited.

[Al-Haddar]

Zumurrud looked at her brother suspiciously:

"Had', you need to give me some explanations about your last question. Is another member of our family involved in this mess? Bakbuk maybe?"
"It would almost prefer that. But no. The thing is, I've sighted our dear Al-Kuz at the archery contest."

Saucer eyes:
"What the..."
"More exactly, I've seen someone looking like our brother... Except... How can I explain that... Imagine a wolf disguised as a sheep. Now imagine that instead of a wolf, it's some sort of monster, and instead of a wool coat, it's our dead brother's skin."

After a short but deadly silence:

"Fucking fuck in fuck city."
"My thought, exactly."
Same.
"And what did you steal from this guy?"
"I'm not 100% sure, but I think his prey or his toy has been piggybacking on my soul since the day of the incident."
"You're not making any sense."
"I know. My understanding of this magical mumbo jumbo is as good as yours Zumi. And about that..."

Turning back to Aydi al-Qais:
"Do you have any idea why, out of the many, many guards and likewise in the city, it decided to send you as the messenger?"