“It’s quite simple, actually.” Keegan then proceeded to explain how he made sheets of special glass that were used to build a structure. “Mind you, it wasn’t very big, but with enough support, it could have been bigger.”
“Was it part of a house?” I asked.
“No. It was the size of a large shed, but I can make yours to attach to an existing structure.”
Excited, I turned to Fisk. “With all that sunlight, I could grow all my own herbs!”
“You could,” the glassmaker assured me. “In fact, the guy who ordered it mentioned something about vines.”
Fisk pressed his lips together. “I’d like to see it first. Is it in the Citadel?”
“No. We delivered it to a farm south of the Citadel.”
Fisk glanced at me. “Doesn’t your cousin own a farm? She’s also a plant nut. Maybe...”
But Keegan didn’t fall for it. “Not likely. My client prefers that I don’t discuss the specifics of his order.”
Backing off, Fisk inquired about prices. Keegan wrote down the estimated measurements of the wall and returned to his back room. Fisk waited a few minutes before signaling the kids, who immediately started to bicker and then mock-fight. He gestured for me to intervene. I played the aggrieved mother trying to get her kids to stop. When they knocked over a couple vases, Keegan flew from the back room to admonish us.
I apologized and tried to clean up the mess while the kids continued their argument. As if on cue, the kids settled down, and we paid Keegan for the broken pieces. He was probably so glad to see us go that it would take him a while to realize that in addition to losing a sale, he’d lost an invoice as well. During the chaos, Fisk had slipped into Keegan’s back room. Keegan would have used the invoice for the other job to estimate the price of our project. At least, that was the hope.
“Did you get it?” I asked Fisk when we turned the corner.
“Yep.”
“And?”
He pulled a folded piece of parchment from his pocket and studied it. “No client name.”
I cursed.
“Language, Mother,” Lyle scolded.
“Be quiet, or I’ll pinch those adorable cheeks of yours.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he muttered sourly.
“There is an address for delivery and a date,” Fisk said.
Better. “Where was it sent?”
“A farm right along the border of the Avibian Plains.”
Of course. The plains would be the perfect place to hide a glass hothouse. Only the Sandseed Clan and Zaltana Clan could travel across the plains without getting lost, and there were only a couple dozen Sandseeds left. But that meant if Bavol had been working with Owen’s Master Gardener, then the mystery person had to be a member of the Zaltana Clan. My clan. My elation died.
“When was it delivered?” I asked Fisk.
“A little over three years ago. Do you think it’s still there?”
I told him about my theory.
“Makes sense. No one would accidently discover it in the plains,” Fisk said. “Too bad the plains are so huge. It’d be impossible to find.”
“No, it wouldn’t. Bavol would build it only far enough in to hide it from the roads. No reason to go any deeper.”
“There’s still a lot of ground to cover.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem for a Sandseed horse like Kiki.”
“You can’t go unless you have permission from Valek.”
I laughed. “I’d like to see you stop me.”
His face creased as if he was about to get sick to his stomach. “Yelena—”
“Relax, Fisk. I’m kidding, and I’m sure Valek will approve of the trip, since I’d be leaving the Citadel and going where only a few can follow.”
“You’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days. Do you know that?”
“You love all this intrigue and drama. You’re the Sitian Valek.”
Fisk laughed and started to shake his head, but his expression sobered. He glanced at me. “Do you think if we manage to save Sitia from the Commander, the Sitian Council would hire me as their Chief of Security?”
“They’d be idiots not to. But would you really want the job? You’d have bosses.”
“Ugh. I didn’t think of that. Hmm... I guess it would depend on the salary.”
We walked toward HQ in companionable silence. The lamplighters began their nightly routine, moving from one lamppost to the next like synchronized fireflies. The sun had disappeared behind the Citadel’s walls, which meant we’d been gone a few hours. Ideally we would return a few minutes before Valek, so I wouldn’t have to worry about him. However, I’d be thrilled if he was already there, waiting for us, even if it meant I’d be in trouble for this extended trip. Although promising to remain in HQ had its...perks.