The Orphans' Promise by Pierre Grimbert

practically the end of his lucrative smuggling operation.
    Raji shook his head helplessly when Bellec looked his way. It wasn’t his choice to be there. He wouldn’t have even come to Lorelia today if he didn’t need to keep an eye on his uninvited houseguests.
    Grigán squashed the smuggler’s complaints and signaled to the small group to leave the inn. He was already in a sour-enough mood about their plans for the day, and wasn’t about to subject himself to another litany of unjustified complaints from the Lorelien.
    Only he and Corenn were going to meet with the Züu at the Small Palace. Rey had proven to be pretty amenable to the idea of staying outside; the danger that he would be recognized by a Lorelien citizen was too large. He had insisted that he would accompany them to the front door, though, and the warrior had gracefully conceded. Some reinforcements for the exit strategy would prove useful.
    After letting Rey join them, Léti had immediately invited herself to join what now had become a real expedition. Corenn had exhausted her arguments to convince her to give up the idea, and Grigán had finally abandoned any hope of getting a word in. He threw his hands up in the air, saying that if there were any other suicidal candidates, they just had to say so.
    Yan looked at Léti longingly, but he couldn’t leave Bowbaq alone. The giant was feeling much better and could certainly do without someone watching over him, but Kaulien courtesy wouldn’t allow it. Anyhow, Yan had something to keep himself busy. Corenn understood without mentioning it that he would spend the whole day working with his Will.
    On this trip, it was Grigán who led the group to the Small Palace—and he did so at a brisk pace. It was out of the question to take a leisurely walk through the city. The warrior was anxious,and as always in these situations, his taciturn side took over, and he fell into a persistent dark mood.
    They soon found themselves near the building. Riders’ Square, so spacious two days before, seemed small now that it was occupied by market stands of all sorts and sizes. Rey adjusted his novice’s robe to better cover his Zü tunic as they waded through the crowd.
    They parted ways when they were a few blocks from the building. If the members of the group were all seen together, Rey’s reinforcement would no longer be a surprise for any eventual attackers. Corenn and Grigán went inside the imposing building alone, leaving Léti and the actor in the middle of the market.
    The young woman couldn’t help but think that she might be seeing her aunt for the last time. The heirs had been through so much together these last few days, and each separation was more excruciating than the last. Especially this time, when the danger was so real…
    “It’s so massive!” she said randomly, trying to hide her worries.
    “You’ve never been to Lorelia?”
    “Only to the harbor. We always took the boat from Bénélia to here, and then we went straight to Berce. It’s the first time I’ve been inside the city’s walls.”
    “And inversely, it’s the first time the Loreliens have seen you. They’re the luckier ones.”
    Léti smiled at this and scrutinized her surroundings while Rey watched the entrance to the Small Palace. Many of the goods for sale at the market were completely unfamiliar to her. But the merchants and the shoppers were even stranger…
    In Riders’ Square there was at least one person from all of the world’s great peoples. Loreliens, of course, but also, Goranese, Ithare, citizens of all five provinces of Romine, Arque, Kaulien,Jez, Guori, Yérim, Junine, not to mention members of the eleven main tribes of the Lower Kingdoms. Eastians were afoot, as well as people from the other side of the Curtain, of whom little was known other than that they often warred with the Goranese.
    Not counting the Züu either.
    Léti suddenly became aware of how vast and rich the world was, and thought that a single life