Two figures with hoods, casting shadows on their faces, and cloaks obscuring their bodies, marched through a dimly lit corridor until they reached the spot prepared among the crates and barrels, with candles providing more light. There was a table with two chairs awaiting there and a burly man with a tangled mane of brown hair and a bushy beard.

"Welcome back," he threw a look at the smaller person who followed the taller one, to which his eyes shifted. "And thank you, Ik."

"Not a problem," the man replied, continuing his march. Viki stopped, throwing her hood off and revealing her face, surrounded by curly brown hair. "I brought you a message," she informed, pulling out a folded piece of paper from under the cloak. It had a simple seal made of wax. She approached Durian with this letter.

He took it from her hands with his eyebrows high up his forehead, showing clearly how surprised he was. He broke the seal, then unfolded the piece of paper, and moved closer to one of the candles to read. It took him a moment, which suggested he wasn’t very proficient at it, after which he turned around to the barely visible outline of Ik, further away in the darkness. The man was about to disappear into the depths of the basement complex.

"Ik, come back."

The rebel turned swiftly around and then jogged to the two of them.

"I will need you to bring me a backpack. Fill it with pieces of cloth and some hay," Durian instructed, making the man stop halfway.

He nodded before darting away. The eyes of the leader of the rebels returned to Viki. With an inviting gesture, he pointed at the table with chairs before sitting down by himself.

"I can get you what you want," he said, "but the rest of it… This might be a problem. The wine the king drinks is right here," he pointed at the crates. Among them, Viki saw the already familiar ones she spotted before. They were marked with a crescent moon, below which letters spelled Lunara.

"I… I don’t know what is in the message," the girl confessed, and her eyes dropped to the table. "I don’t know what you are talking about."

"I see… My mistake. Tell the one in charge that it might take a while to fulfill all of his demands, but we can meet the minimum of what he wants. The rest… It might take months. You can also tell him that we need more weapons. It’s time to return the favor," Durian pointed out before his eyes moved to the crates as well. "It’s funny… This wine is advertised as the drink for the wise, to indulge themselves during intelligent conversations. I don’t know if Katyan drinks it because he thinks of himself as smart, or because he thinks it will make him smarter," he snorted. "But to me, it does deserve a good laughter."

As he spoke those words, Viki’s eyes slowly shifted back to his face. She did it just in time to notice as the smile twisted in pure fury.

"This bastard!" The man growled. "He drinks this fancy wine while people starve during winter. They break their backs in the mines and die of sickness..." He shook his head. That was enough for him to cool down, so when his gaze slowly drifted back to the girl, he appeared as calm.

Viki just stared at him, as if she didn’t know what to say. On the one hand, she wished to assure him that the king was not going to stay in power for long, but on the other hand, she was not sure of Bruno’s plans anymore. In the end, she just glared at him, making the situation feel awkward to her.

Fortunately, Ik’s return saved her. The man appeared holding a large backpack. It seemed to be full, yet light, as he carried it with one arm. "What you requested," he said, putting it on the table.

"Thank you. Now you can go," Durian told him as he grabbed the backpack while getting up.

While the underlying left, soon vanishing in the surrounding darkness, the leader approached the crates. He dropped the bag to the floor before moving some of the containers around. He freed one of them, opened it, and began packing the bottles into the backpack. He was careful, wrapping each one of them in a layer of cloth, before putting them inside.

Upon finishing, he brought the package to her. "Be careful," he said, then left.

She took the bag carefully, but as she recognized the bottles inside were secure and fit tightly, which made them not move, she threw the bag over her shoulder. "Fuck," left her lips as it hit her quite hard.

The wagon slowly approached the wooden gate of Razun. There were a few people ahead, pulling some hand-carts, or walking. The guards didn’t seem interested in them, but as soon as Viki’s vehicle approached, two of them blocked its path. While one grabbed the horse by the harness, the other one came to the wagoner who sat beside the girl. She had a large bag on her lap.

"Evening," the man said. "Where are you going this late? The night will fall soon."

"To Zor. The lady here needs to go there urgently," replied the driver.

"Zor? What for?" asked the guard.

"I’m working for Bruno, the man sent by pirates. I’m delivering the ingredients for him," Viki explained.

"Are they in the bag?" the soldier continued his interrogation.

"Yes?" She asked as a grimace twisted her lips, showing how irritated she was by the questioning.

The man reached for it. She hesitated but gave it to him. He quickly rummaged through, noticing a few smaller pouches and a couple of bottles with different liquids, and then he returned it. "I’m going to check what’s on the wagon," he announced.

The wagoner nodded before receiving the bag from the guard, which he returned to Viki. The inspection lasted for quite a moment, as the soldier jumped on the back. He then started moving all the objects present on the back of the cart. Some small crates and bags with even more ingredients. After he checked everything, he jumped off, giving a signal to his comrade to let them go. The driver immediately made the horse start pulling. They slowly moved down the road, but as soon as they were far enough, the wagoner whispered, "I told you they would never find it."