table and peered once more into the box lying on it. ‘If they’re as pure as I think, there could be as much as forty thousand Crowns in here.’ He looked up, and Darius gazed once more into the black eye sockets of the mask. ‘Am I to believe that someone paid such a fortune for the chance to enter the enclave at night and be shown how to bypass the watch waiting inside?’
‘I just repeated the version shared with us by the only sentry left in his right mind,’ Bleist said conciliatorily. He had no intention of rubbing the follower of Arnas up the wrong way, as there was already enough tension between them and the Atlanteans. Given that the god of the deserts was the most important deity for the Sheheds, it was no surprise that his followers harboured no love for the inhabitants of Atlantis, the Black Citadel and Dagos, which, following the fall of the Shehed kingdom, had occupied part of the territories that once belonged to Arayse.
‘What did the others stationed at the outpost say?’ the investigator asked.
‘They haven’t been questioned yet. If that is your wish, you may go and see them straight away.’ The colonel settled back further in his chair, showing that he paid little heed to Keit’s somewhat condescending manner. ‘I believe I have already told you everything we’ve managed to ascertain about this matter. I must admit it wasn’t our priority, so the findings themselves aren’t the most thorough either.’
‘Aphalis is one of the greatest threats, so how...’
‘Fortunately, being a member of the Guard means my duties always take precedence over all other regulations.’ Darius interrupted the priest. He didn’t like the fact that it was starting to look as though the investigator wanted to interrogate him. Perhaps he’d chosen a rather harsh tone, but he was pleased that he’d made it abundantly clear what their standing was here.
The knock on the door made Lieutenant Al-Satar jump as if someone had fired a rifle right next to his ear. Apart from the colonel and
