“You’re right, I suppose. Even the men I overheard didn’t sound too keen to be dealing with magic so closely. If even the dregs of society are shaken by something, you know it’s really taboo.” Kire let out a deep breath. His theory about the half-Kartaian sentry made sense. After all, why would a city so prejudiced and exploitative towards a whole race be willing to deal with a half-elf, unless it was a one-sided situation? “You have a point. Besides, the way I see it, he doesn’t stand to gain much from feigning ignorance. If he had those abilities, it would’ve taken less effort or energy to subdue or kill you, then bring you to his master.” 

She looked past him, towards the direction of the rest of the city. [i]What kind of people would assent to this?[/i] A familiar feeling crept down her spine; she remembered the last time she had thought to condemn a whole town for something similar, for giving quarter to blood mages and forbidden arts. She had smelled burning flesh on the day she had marched her army into the town, too. The Gemini had not forgiven her for it. [i]She[/i] had not forgiven herself for it. She met Ruli’s gaze. “We really need Ysaryn for this, don’t we?” She sighed, straightening up. “If your hunch about the half-Kartaian man is right, do you think it’s something we could use, should we see him again? Chances are though they’d probably speed up their timetable for dismantling this old site.”