"Good Afternoon, Phil!" Noble entered the lobby of the government complex with a bright smile.
"Master Noble?" Phil stood, a forced smile on his face.
The floating woman could follow his train of thought. She had barged in there before and run past him. He was probably worried about a repeat performance.
"I come in peace," she assured him. "I have legitimate business, and I will go through the proper channels, I promise."
Phil's shoulders relaxed. "Of course, ma'am. Do you have an appointment?"
Noble shook her head. "I do not. I am not even sure who the right person is to ask. I come on behalf of Flame the Tinker...and Master Sarai, the baker." Noble added after a moment of thought. "They are concerned about shipments not arriving. I was wondering if they might have been redirected to the war effort."
Phil frowned.
"Normally we would have to contact the waking world to retrieve records on a commerce matter like that, but even those are spotty just now, for obvious reasons."
The man paused, and Noble could see that he had more to say.
"Phil?"
He coughed. "Give me a moment. I will be right back."
The receptionist stood and rushed down the hall. The waiting area went silent.
Noble held the cake box against herself lightly as she rocked back and forth.
The offices were full today. Some of Ravenheart's most notable citizens were within the building, trying to make order out of chaos. Noble was tempted to focus on her husband's whereabouts and use her second sight, but she decided against it. He was working, and she wasn't here to see him anyway.
Phil returned, his emotions a mix of relief and concern.
"If you will follow me, ma'am."
Noble hesitated. "Is this to fill out some forms? I can do that here."
While Noble had hoped for an easy, quick answer, the more likely route was to begin a paper trail for someone to track down the records and get back to her later.
Phil shook his head.
"No, ma'am, your testimony is requested."
'Testimony?' She hadn't witnessed anything! Was she in trouble?
"Please," Phil's gentle tone set Noble's mind at ease.
She nodded and followed him down the hall to the place where he had previously visited. Inside the office, a dark-haired man with hazel eyes was waiting patiently for her arrival. His expression was polite, but Noble could feel his exhaustion. She instinctively sent him a little care to lift his mood.
He smiled at her and reached over his desk to shake her hand. From beneath his sleeve, a tattoo looking like a map of some place Noble had never been peeked out unbidden.
"You must be Master Noble. Ambassador Fort has said so much about you. I am Awakened Naaz."
"It is good to meet you. Forgive me, I don't mean any offense. But I am confused why I am meeting you at all." Noble shook his hand warily.
Naaz glanced at the receptionist. "Thank you for sending her my way, Phil. I really do appreciate it."
With a nod of his head, Phil took the cue and shut the door as he left.
The enclosed space and lack of context only made Noble more uneasy.
"Please have a seat," Naaz offered, motioning to one of the chairs across from him.
"I would prefer to stand if it is all the same to you, at least until I know what I'm getting myself into. Phil mentioned a testimony, but I didn't witness anything. I have come here on behalf of others."
Naaz nodded. "Ah, I can see your confusion. I was told you had information on missing shipments, so I thought you had a firsthand account." The man hid his disappointment behind a sharp intake of breath. "I would still like to hear what you have to say. I am sure it will be helpful!"
"Are you the official who handles commerce?" Noble glanced briefly at the pages on his desk and found they were imports and exports sheets.
"I prefer to think of myself as a courier of information that tends to the health of the citadel, but I do keep a close eye on what goes in and comes out of Ravenheart." The brown-eyed man nodded. "Which brings me to the concerning news you bring. What is this about missing shipments?"
"I was shopping around town today, and Flame the Tinker mentioned that he had not gotten his metal from a merchant named Igor. It should have arrived last week. Then I spoke to Master Sarai from Abyssal Fire, and she said a cake pan that she needed for an order still had yet to arrive. The merchant attached to that purchase was named Rukee. I am afraid I have no information beyond that."
Noble felt the man's emotions spike, though which part of her tale had triggered him remained unclear.
"Igor and Rukee, too?" Naaz rubbed his forehead.
"Too?" Noble blinked.
"I know their names. They are frequent travelers between the citadels and even broker trades across Realms." The government agent shook his head. "I had hoped the shipments were with the other missing merchants, but it seems I will be adding two names to my list instead."
Noble leaned forward. "You have a list?"
Nodding, Naaz sifted through his papers and pulled out a page.
"Yes. It's a record of all the merchants that are unaccounted for in the Song Domain. Usually the list is short, as one goes off the map for a while and turns up elsewhere, but lately fewer are showing up again. Not even my ability that allows me glimpses of places I have been before is giving me any information on the missing merchants. It is quite the conundrum."
Noble remembered the communication she had taken to Lady Mara at the River of Tears. The roads were less protected than they had been in the past. That didn't bode well for travelers.
"What do you think is happening to them?"
"Hopefully nothing," Naaz answered unconvincingly. "Unless they turn up, we may never know."
Noble could see the list. There were close to a dozen names already on it without the two additions. That only included the merchant, who usually had a team of people traveling with them.
There could be up to a hundred people missing. And that was just the ones they knew about.
"That is very concerning. We might be fine without the inter-citadel trading, because the Dream Gate still opens a few times a week, but those outlying lands could seriously suffer. Is there nothing that can be done?" Noble tried not to worry too much, but her gut screamed that something was wrong.
"We don't exactly have the manpower to search the vast reaches of the Dream Realm with our limited staff." After the news of two more merchants being late, Naaz looked ready to go out and look for the missing people himself.
However, he was right. Sending one person out to look for another with no direction was ill-advised. It would not only be using precious resources unwisely, but it would also likely end up with more people being lost or injured.
She wouldn't wish that fate on the young Awakened who was doing his best to be a good steward of the great citadel.
If only there were someone who could fly and search large areas quickly…
'I've got another hour or two.' Noble nodded firmly.
"Alright, I'll do it."