Rowan and the rest of the Grove sat in silence, a heavy atmosphere draped over the room.

  There was tension simmering just beneath the surface, with both Silvia and Omi looking like they were on the cusp of drawing their weapons.

  Silvia was the first to move, her hand coming up in one fluid motion, slamming her cards against the table.

  “Three towers and two archers,” she said, her eyes narrowed. “I got you beat.”

  Omi sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Damn, that’s a good hand,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair.

  Silvia’s smile widened, but as she reached for the chips, Omi stopped her. “Whoa, hold on there,” he said with an insufferable smirk. “I said it was a good hand, not that you won.”

  He turned over his cards to reveal four casters. A hand he had no business having considering they already discarded two of them. “Has anyone ever told you you’re a shit gambler?” he said, adding to his ever growing pile of chips. “Maybe we can play marbles? You’d probably be decent at that.”

  Silvia abruptly stood up, her chair clattering to the ground as she pointed an accusatory finger at the rogue. “You’re cheating!”

  Omi arched an eyebrow, “I mean, duh,” he said with zero shame. “That’s like, half the fun.”

  Rowan tried to suppress a laugh, but judging by the scowl Silvia threw his way, he didn’t manage it.

  “I’m done,” she said, turning around and stomping over to the couch. “Scoundrels and thugs, the lot of you.”

  She plopped down next to Zoe, muttering, “I hate card games,” under her breath.

  “Oh, come on!” Omi laughed. “It’s barely been five hands!”

  Annie gathered the cards and shuffled them again. “Bottom deal on your last two casters,” she pointed out, adding a plus one to her tally sheet.

  Knight’s and Robbers was a game Rowan had played when he was little. You could gain points by actually winning a hand, or by calling out how a player cheated. Annie and Omi were the best at it by a mile, with Annie catching him most of the time, and Omi using [Quick Hands] to bully him and Nemir while she was dealing.

  The two of them were playing mostly for their benefit, but neither of them seemed to mind.

  This was exactly what they needed right now. Because tomorrow morning, the goblin raid started.

  The day after the meeting passed in a blur of activity and last minute plans. Rowan had gone over his spells a dozen times, cycling through them to have them fresh in his mind during the battle.

  Spells: Whisper - [Flash], [Heat], [Ignite], [Ember Spray], [Burning Hands]

  Murmur - [Firebolt], [Fire Shield], [Burning Whip]

  Chant - [Fireball]

  Hymn - [/]

  Aria - [/]

  Ode - [/]

  Epic - [/]

  Spells: Whisper - [Gust]

  Murmur - [Feather Fall], [Whisper Step], [Tailwind]

  Chant - [/]

  Hymn - [/]

  Aria - [/]

  Ode - [/]

  Epic - [/]

  He probably wouldn’t be using [Burning Hands] or [Ember Spray], but it was best to be prepared.

  It was a practice Rowan hadn’t had the time to do lately, his hours occupied by different goals.

  In the last month alone, he’d managed to master [Fireball], advance his body and gain a skill, advance his Core and gain an affinity, and finally, master four other spells for that affinity.

  Rowan fought a shaman, a pack of Wyrmlings, and a greedy Silver-rank. All battles that pushed him to grow stronger.

  Let’s just hope things calm down after this fight, he thought, looking at his hand. Rowan set down two spears and Annie handed him two more cards. I could really use a month or two of peace.

  He had so many things he wanted—and needed—to do.

  Mastering another Chant was high on his list of priorities, along with working on his Core. And not to mention advancing his body—because gaining another skill like [Iron Will] would be a massive boon—and figuring out what was going on with his trait.

  All in all, a packed schedule.

  The way he defeated the Wyrmlings was a question Rowan desperately wanted answered. He had a feeling that if he uncovered what that was, it would catapult him along his Path. The trait was given to him by the System, and one as powerful as [Immortal Soul] definitely did more than just let him advance quicker.

  But doing that would—weirdly—leave his soul injured. Something Rowan couldn’t really afford with all the things that have been going on.

  After cycling his spells, he’d decided to pay a visit to the Guildmistress.

  Something had been bothering him since the meeting. One of the younger adventurers had asked her about supplies, and she answered that the few alchemists they had were brewing potions and that their smiths were repairing equipment.

  Both of which were things Rowan could help with.

  So he donated ten crates of healing potions and a few dozen sets of uncommon rarity weapons and armor.

  If he wanted to, he could equip the entire city in gear on par with the Grove and not even notice the loss. But that was something Rowan wasn’t comfortable doing for a multitude of reasons.

  The weapons weren’t anything special, but they would be an improvement over what some of the Iron-rank adventurers wielded. They were made out of quality materials and decently forged. Not the enchanted pieces his friends wore, but good nonetheless.

  The potions were the real eyecatcher.

  They were Rare, and most likely better than anything the alchemists in Litwick could brew. Quinea hadn’t said anything about their grade, instead simply thanking him for the contribution and promising not to share where they came from.

  Rowan was fine with that. She already thought he was a noble. Or if not that, the disciple of a fairly powerful mage—like he’d told Tremil. But those two were almost always connected, so it wasn’t a surprising assumption.

  Not that keeping that particular secret mattered all that much.

  The thing he couldn’t do was reveal exactly who he was. Noble scions sent out to gain life experience weren’t common, but they weren’t really scarce either.

  Rowan was sure Nemir was one, and he had a feeling Annie was going through something similar.

  He wasn’t positive if she was Quinea’s actual niece, or her goddaughter, but the fact stood that she had a connection with one of the strongest people in the city.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  A connection she used mostly for gossip.

  “So,” she said, placing down six cards on the table. “I heard you felt charitable today.”

  “Yeah, well, I'd very much prefer it if we won tomorrow,” Rowan said, throwing in some chips, not really following the game.

  Annie nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face. “I’m sure it’ll help.”

  The hand finished and Omi dealt the next one.

  “I could have given more,” Rowan said after a moment, voicing his thoughts.

  It wasn’t like him giving a few more crates would have been enough to narrow down his lineage. But even still, he’d hesitated.

  Most likely, there was nobody looking for him.

  He’d been a forgotten piece long before his family fell. And with the way he left Eiselyth, his apparent death probably hadn’t even registered to the people in power.

  But Rowan had grown up around those kinds of people, and he knew exactly what they were capable of.

  Without even mentioning those responsible for the demon summoning, his [Title] alone made him a target for almost every other Great House.

  The lands they ‘claimed’ were rightfully his. As proclaimed by the System.

  If a Blue-Core mage made it their mission to locate him, there was a definite chance they could accomplish that task—which most definitely wouldn’t end well for him. His greatest protection against that happening was the sheer remoteness of Litwick. In a region as weak as the Verdant Plains, it took months for news to spread.

  Rowan wasn’t sure why he’d mentioned it in the first place. Drawing attention to it went completely opposite of what he should be doing. But with the battle looming, he felt a need to open up.

  The people in this room were the closest thing he had to a home, yet they barely knew anything about him. And in turn, he barely knew anything about them.

  There was a chance one of them—or gods forbid more than one—didn’t make it through tomorrow.

  Omi stopped shuffling, and Annie snatched the deck out of his hand. “Well if you didn’t do it, you obviously had a reason,” she said casually. “Besides, you gave plenty. Those potions are going to save lives. And the gear too.”

  Shuffling the deck, she placed it on the center of the table. “All of you suck at knights and robbers, we’re playing something else.”

  Before anyone could protest, Annie dealt each of them a single card, including Zoe and Silvia. “Sit down,” she called out to the duo. “All of us need to play this.”

  Zoe scooped Kai off her lap and sat down, the little menace practically unconscious in her arms after she fed him another one of her pellets.

  Silvia followed suit, a suspicious expression on her face. “Are you going to cheat in this one too?” she asked, glancing at her card. “Because if so, I don’t want to play.”

  Annie rolled her eyes. “No cheating, promise.”

  Rowan wasn’t sure where she was going with this, but he was curious to find out.

  “What exactly are we playing?” he asked, picking up his card.

  “Simple,” Annie said, an eager glint in her eyes. “The person with the lowest value card has to answer a question.”

  Rowan’s breath hitched, and his first instinct was to throw the card away and go for a long walk. Preferably one long enough that by the time he came back, they’d all be asleep.

  But he stopped himself.

  [Iron Will] flared and the slight tremor in his hand subsided.

  Wasn’t this exactly what he wanted? A chance to get to know these people he’d come to consider his friends, and a chance for them to get to know him in turn?

  I trust them, Rowan told himself. And I want them to trust me.

  Taking a deep breath, he flipped open his card.

  “Warrior,” Rowan said quietly, feeling a weight being lifted off his shoulder.

  “Caster,” Omi smirked, following suit.

  Annie turned hers over. “Swords.”

  Silvia peaked at her card, a grin spreading across her face. “Archer!” she said, slapping it onto the table.

  Zoe turned hers over with a calm, deliberate motion, her expression unchanged. “Wands.”

  Nemir looked at his and sighed. “Daggers,” he muttered, glancing around the table. “I guess that means I lose?”

  “Yup,” Annie said, gathering the cards back up. “Omi had the high card, so he gets to ask the question.”

  Rowan found himself leaning forward, eager to hear what the rogue wanted answered. He tried not to think about what the question would have been if he’d lost the hand, instead focusing on the curiosity swelling up within him.

  Omi rubbed his chin, really thinking about it. “Where are you from?” he finally asked.

  Annie arched an eyebrow and Silvia leaned forward, eagerly rubbing her hands. “Uuu, good question.”

  Omi smirked, tapping his temple. “So, let’s hear it,” he said, his eyes moving to Nemir. “Place of birth, big fella.”

  He ran a hand through his short brown hair, leaning back against his chair.

  “The Duchy of Reyes,” he said with a small, satisfied smile. “Place of birth, not where I’m from,” he pointed out. “I get to choose which question I answer if he asks two, right?” he asked, glancing at Annie.

  She shrugged, “Makes sense.”

  Rowan chuckled, feeling the tension drain away. Treating this like a game made everything so much easier, and slowly, he let [Iron Will] drop.

  Silvia smacked Omi’s shoulder. “Idiot. You messed it up. We got nothing from that.”

  “You literally just said it was a good question,” he muttered. “Make up your mind.”

  Rowan’s brows furrowed, recalling the hours he’d spent studying the different regions of the Kingdom and who ruled them.

  That’s the Hollowspire Glade. But I don’t think he’s a Duke’s son. Probably an Earl, or maybe a Count.

  There were only seven Great Houses in the Kingdom of Vandral, and Rowan doubted Nemir belonged to one of them.

  “Alright, next hand,” Annie said before he could think too deeply about it, forcing him to focus on the moment.

  Rowan had a feeling he’d find out soon enough either way, and there were other questions he was curious to hear answered.

  He peeked at his card, feeling both relieved and slightly disappointed at what he saw.

  A rogue wasn’t the strongest, but it beat most of the deck.

  Rowan probably wouldn’t be getting asked this turn, and when they flipped their cards, Zoe won with a knight while Omi only had a bow, leaving him last.

  Her brows furrowed in thought, “I can ask anything?”

  Annie opened her mouth to answer, but Omi beat her to it. “Yes!”

  “Hells no!” Silvia pointed a finger at him. “No. Cheating.”

  He spread his arms. “What? She asked a question, and I answered it. Those are the rules.”

  “Boo!” Rowan said loudly.

  Annie picked up a stray nut and threw it at him. “She asked me, not you. And now you got a penalty for being an asshole. Zoe gets to ask you two questions.”

  “Whoa,” Omi raised his hands placatingly. “No need to be hasty.”

  “Too late,” she shrugged, glancing at Zoe. “Make it something embarrassing, please.”

  Her expression hadn’t changed, her brows still furrowed.

  She took another ten seconds before she nodded, seemingly satisfied with her choice.

  Zoe looked at Omi. “Why do you chew with your mouth open? And could you please stop?”

  For a moment, nobody said anything. Then Rowan burst out laughing, quickly followed by Silvia, with Nemir and Annie not far behind.

  Omi seemed taken aback, and he quickly looked away, coughing into his hand. The rogue was actually embarrassed, which only made them laugh louder.

  “I didn’t know I did that,” he muttered. “And… I guess?”

  Zoe nodded, returning her focus back to petting Kai.

  Rowan shook his head, unable to wipe the smile off his face.

  The night progressed smoothly after that.

  After a few more hands, they pulled out a cask of ale. Playing and talking.

  As it turned out, Annie was Quinea’s goddaughter, with her mother being the Guildmistress's teammate while they were younger.

  Silvia came from the Evershade Glade, the region north of Litwick.

  Omi was born in Tumbleton.

  Zoe in the Moonveil Basin.

  On and on it went, with some questions unveiling more of the people Rowan had grown so close to, while others just made him laugh.

  When Nemir’s turn came up again, he revealed that he was a member of House Al’Kalat. The fourth son of the current Count. He even showed off his [Title], all the while having a completely relaxed expression on his face.

  And why wouldn’t he be relaxed?

  None of them were going to go spreading it around.

  A few hands later, the inevitable finally happened.

  Rowan’s streak of face cards came to an end when he drew a dagger. The rest of them turned over their cards one after another, and Annie ended up winning the hand with another knight.

  He took a deep breath, steadying himself for whatever words came out of her mouth.

  Annie crossed her arms, looking at him with a thoughtful frown.

  “What’s your name?” she finally asked.

  Rowan’s eyes widened, the question catching him off guard.

  He’d expected something… heavier. Whether it be his House, his trait, or what the ring on his finger really was.

  There were so many things he was keeping hidden that being asked something so simple momentarily stunned him.

  “I…” he shook his head, glancing around the table.

  There was a curiosity in their eyes, and he found himself answering before he could overthink it.

  “Rowan,” he said, the lead blanket perpetually draped over his shoulders finally falling away. “My name is Rowan.”

  Silvia tilted her head, looking at him appraisingly. “I like it,” she said after a few seconds of thought. “It suits you way better than Jamis, that’s for damn sure.”

  “Well, I’m glad.” he chuckled, a small smile gracing his face. “It’d be kind of awkward if you like my fake name more than my real one.”

  Annie dealt another hand, and that was that.

  No fanfare. No lingering looks.

  As the game continued, Rowan allowed himself to savor the calmness of the moment.

  He pushed away his concerns for tomorrow, and his concerns for after that as well. Right now, Rowan was simply enjoying himself. Playing a card game with his friends while having a few drinks. Nothing more. Nothing less.