When they finally arrived at the guard post, one of the guards stepped forward and opened the door, gesturing for Msaka to enter. Msaka glanced around as he stepped through, taking note of everything in the room. He wasn't expecting trouble, but he felt it best to be prepared - that was a simple rule he had followed all his life. It was an important one for surviving in the jungle, and seemed equally applicable here.

The room was sparsely furnished, with a long, low table dominating one side of the room and two smaller ones on the other side. The larger table was surrounded by cushions, while the smaller ones had only a couple each. The smaller tables were also covered with assorted papers, though Msaka was nowhere near close enough to read whatever was written on them.

The smaller tables were occupied by guardsmen whose uniform decorations suggested they were of higher rank than the two Msaka was with, while several more guardsmen were seated at the larger one, holding a quiet discussion that Msaka couldn't quite overhear from where he was.

Two doors were visible on the opposite wall, both presently closed, as well as the door he had entered through, which the other guard he was with was now closing behind him. Small windows flanked that door, though with the sky growing darker outside, not much light was coming in.

The remaining wall space was covered by ornamental curtains of good quality, though they were plain save for a seal depicted upon them. The floor's tiles were a mosaic of the same seal, and Msaka guessed that the seal was that of the city, or perhaps of the city guards themselves. Candles were positioned in strategic locations about the room, keeping it fairly well lit.

Most of the occupants glanced briefly at Msaka and his escorts, but none seemed particularly interested him, swiftly returning to what they had been doing. For his part, Msaka tried to keep his expression calm, forcing himself not to let his annoyance show at being the subject of their attention, brief though it was.

Msaka was led to one of the rear doors and ushered through into a smaller chamber that was obviously meant for private meetings. Another table surrounded with cushions was set in the center of the room, and candles provided the lighting within, as they had in the main area.

Five people were seated at the table, one of whom Msaka recognized immediately - the merchant he had travelled with. The other four were new to him, and he scritinized them as quickly as he could without being obvious about it. The man seated at the head of the table wore the uniform of the guards, though the decorations and medals he wore suggested that he was of very high rank among them. Seated on the left hand side of the table, next to the guard officer, was a man in robes, who was tending a large sheaf of papers, pens, and ink. "A scribe of some sort to record this." Msaka guessed, but moved his gaze on to the next person, a rather plainly dressed man who looked a little out of place. Msaka had no idea what his purpose here was.

Finally, seated on the right hand side of the table was a woman, wearing finely made but functional clothing - who Msaka immediately sensed had a great deal of magical power. With a great deal of effort, he supressed the momentary alarm he felt at seeing her. She might be the one who had launched the attacks, but even if she were, he decided that he should be fairly safe with all these others around.

"Ah, effendi, you have arrived!" the merchant piped up upon seeing him. "I hope you were not inconvenienced by this meeting, but these esteemed people have need of you."

The man at the head of the table cleared his throat, glancing at the merchant before turning his attention to Msaka. "Hakhim has been telling us of the magical trap you detected in the desert, and the effect it had when you set it off. Still, I think it would be best if we were to hear it from you. You may be able to tell us more. Please, be seated."

Msaka did as requested, settling onto one of the unoccupied cushions. All eyes were on him, and he gritted his teeth as he fought down his annoyance at being the center of attention once again. "I will just have to put up with it for however long this takes," he thought grumpily. "It is only to be expected."

Msaka spent the next hour recounting the discovery of the sand trap and answering what questions were put to him by the guard leader and the woman. The other three at the table remained silent throughout the exchange, though the scribe was not still, dutifully writing down every word that was said.

When the questioning ended, the leader of the guards fell silent for a moment, drumming his fingers on the table. "Well, at least we know what to watch for now, although catching whoever is responsible is still going to take some doing." He turned his gaze to the woman next to him. "I am not questioning your skill by suggesting this, but perhaps it would be wise to make some inquiries with your associates, and see whether they can be of any assistance in discovering the perpetrator?"

The woman nodded. "I shall. Whoever it may be, they are quite skilled in deceptive magic to have both hidden these traps and themselves from my scrying. With your permission, I will take my leave, as acting quickly may help prevent another disappearance."

The guardsman nodded. "Of course. I think we are done here in any case." He looked to each of the others, Msaka included. "Thank you all for your presence, I shall be in touch if anything further comes up."

Msaka supressed a sigh of relief as he stood. He didn't want to remain any longer than he had to, and was quite glad that he wasn't going to have to sit through any more questioning. He forced himself to wait until the others had begun moving towards the door before doing so himself, and exited in the middle of the group, noting as he did that the woman was not among them. He glanced back into the meeting room, but it was empty. "She has teleported," he realized. "At least she doesn't seem likely to be the one behind all this..."

He followed the merchant out of the guard post, into the lamp-lit street. The night air was cool, a welcome relief from the day's heat. Unfortunately, Msaka felt distinctly uncomfortable for another reason - he now had to traverse the distance back to the inn, and the merchant appeared to be heading the other way. He swore softly, then began hurrying along the street, trusting his memory of the route to keep him from getting lost.

After what seemed like an eternity, he emerged back into the plaza by the city gates, and breathed a small sigh of relief. He quickly covered the rest of the distance to the inn, and entered as swiftly as he could without drawing attention to himself. The inn's common room was only sparsely occupied, holding the few guests who had remained up late.

Msaka paced to the hallway, and padded quickly down it to his room. He entered, and closed the door behind him, carefully latching it to keep intruders out. "At least, intruders who don't have magic," he thought, frowning. "I don't think it would stop most spellcasters who wanted to get in."

Turning to face the room, he cast his spell of Revealing, hoping that it wouldn't show anything. He was relieved when it did not; he really was alone. Satisfied that he was safe for the moment, he summoned his staff to his hand, and began to perform a ritual spell, the same one which he had used to shield himself from scrying. This time, he focused the magical energy over the entire room as it built, intending to make his sleeping quarters safe from magical prying.

He completed the ritual without incident, and sat down on the bed. There was no guarantee he'd be safe, but he'd done everything he could to guarantee it. Pulling his sandals off, he lay down, keeping his staff in one hand. It would vanish when he finally fell asleep, but until then, he wanted it ready in case anything happened.

He lay awake for sometime before sleep came, bringing with it dreams of his home and people.