Calevaro waited in comfortable silence for his father to process everything he’d heard, the otherwise empty throne room feeling strangely cold. Cal had traveled with the Brightsouls–if they could still be called that–on the way back to Corvale. Their exit from the Forgotten City had been uneventful, as they had managed to take a path that had only a few roaming demons.

  They’d even been able to collect the bodies of Team Arrowhead. Although regrettably, Cal and Valanor had agreed that the infested area where the prince had lost the remainder of his team was too dangerous. Given everything that had happened, it was a grim group that exited together, and the waiting crowd of knights, hunters, and rune specialists had recognized it wasn’t a time for celebration.

  The bodies were left with the knights to travel back with, then they made all haste back to the capital, forming their plans along the way. It had taken a great deal of discussion–arguing really–for Calevaro to convince the group that his father needed to be told the truth. Mostly it was Ethan who disagreed, and Cal couldn’t fault the man for his lack of trust.

  The compromise had been keeping the Church’s secrets from Ellevaro, and Cal was forced to agree it was for the best. His sister wouldn’t be able to resist capitalizing on such valuable information, whatever the consequences. His father had likewise been irritated when Calevaro said he couldn’t share the details of the Forgotten City with Ellie, but bringing up Kent’s name changed that.

  As Cal went over the increasingly dangerous truths they’d learned, his father had listened with uncharacteristic quiet, before finally turning away, lost in thought. The minutes had slowly ticked by since then, but Calevaro understood completely. Not only had his father’s world just been turned upside down, but his long life had included many choices and actions guided by the Church.

  King Rothavaro had taken lives for them, even allowed them to take the lives of his knights. He had more than a century of his own life to reconsider, filled with deeds that had just been painted with a much darker color.

  “Kent died for this secret?” the king asked quietly.

  Cal shifted uncomfortably. “That his death was connected to this conspiracy is certain, but the exact details are what I must seek. Kent had always tried to be a man of the Goddess; you remember how much he respected healing. I think he may have inadvertently taken sides in a war he knew nothing about.”

  The king seemed to consider those words, looking displeased. Before he could respond, however, the doors burst open and Ellevaro stormed in. Cal didn’t think he’d ever seen her wearing her emotions so openly. She was furious.

  “Father!” she called out, arms filled with loose papers. “The Arinaens move against us!”

  The king stood up immediately, reflecting her anger. “What? They dare? I’ve already had confirmation that they accepted the results of the duel. Chosen Lathander delivered the news personally, and guaranteed peace! If those sand-loving fools have moved their troops an inch–”

  “No, it’s not that!” Ellevaro interrupted. “By all accounts the king took the loss better than we expected. There’s already rumors of several previously unknown bastards being recognized as the next Prince of the Sands. The problem is Olivia!”

  “The princess? What has she done? You assured me she didn’t think much of her brother.”

  Ellevaro shook her head furiously, the long silver braid she was wearing flying around wildly. “I don’t care why she’s doing it, only the results! She’s been unmaking everything I’ve ever accomplished! I don’t understand how she could possibly have gotten access to all my…” Ellie began flipping through documents rapidly as Cal exchanged concerned glances with his father.

  One by one she began tossing pages at their father. “My operation in the southlands: gone! My agents in Nixus have been turned against me! My spy network in the hotlands has gone dark! She knows about everything!”

  Their father allowed the papers to strike him then fall to the ground, letting out a long sigh. He’d never cared for the subtleties of Ellie’s methods, though he’d enjoyed how much pleasure she seemed to derive from them. Cal knew that their grandfather had been something of a schemer, and the king liked to believe that something of his own father had lived on in Ellevaro.

  But it wasn’t his way. King Rothavaro was a warrior, who met problems head on. He had no patience for intrigue, however much he indulged Ellie when he could. “Daughter, this isn’t the right time for this. I’m sure whatever you’ve lost can be replaced–”

  “Replaced!?” she echoed in a near-shriek. “I’ve lost over a decade of work in less than a month! Every day I learn of new ways I’ve been sabotaged, and now I’ve received word that the Church itself has barred me from any further contact! How did she do this!?”

  Cal and his father exchanged the briefest glance, before turning back to the manic Ellevaro. She just kept throwing down papers, as if the answer must be hiding in one of the documents. Their father tried again, speaking in as close to a gentle tone as he was capable.

  “I’m sorry, daughter, clearly this is very serious. You told me that you’d been building new relations with the Church lately. You seemed excited, what changed?”

  In answer, Ellevaro pulled out another piece of paper, then shook it before their father. The king glared, having little patience in the best of times. Still, he took the paper and read aloud. “‘You’ve chosen a difficult and dangerous road, princess. Consider all our business concluded. It would be best if you never set foot in our hallowed halls again. We will be watching.’”

  Calevaro had to struggle to keep his face from revealing anything. He had expected some kind of reprisal from Ethan Bishop against his sister, but initially he’d been more worried the man would try to attack her. After getting to know him better, he had deemed that unlikely…but this? His sister might have welcomed an assassination attempt if she knew this was the alternative.

  As she continued ranting, Cal let his vision slip into the Astral, curious what he’d see. He wasn’t surprised to find Sasha, the Dreadweaver hovering protectively over his sister, but he did a double take when he tried to focus on the webs she always had following her around. It had taken him years to see them, and Zephyr had needed to reach Dusk rank to achieve it, but finally he’d noticed that Ellie had a thread for every connection and scheme in her arsenal.

  Nearly all of them had been cleanly severed.

  Hundreds of the threads were hanging from her, and Sasha appeared to be trying desperately to remove them, or otherwise manage them somehow. Cal was forced to wonder if those lost connections had led to his sister’s uncharacteristically emotional display. Either way, he found it hard to find sympathy for her. She was his sister; he wished her well, and over the years she had accomplished much for their kingdom. But he was no fool, and he understood her love of power eclipsed her loyalty to Viridus.

  Finally she appeared to have given up trying to convince her father of the severity of her ruined empire, and stormed out of the room the same way she’d entered it. Cal and the king watched her go, before letting out twin sighs a moment later. His father turned back to him, and Cal could see that his mind had never truly left their discussion.

  “What will you do?” he asked, and Calevaro’s eyes widened with surprise. His father gave commands, he didn’t inquire.

  The king smiled. “We both knew you were leaving after the tournament, son, like I did so long ago. I have no interest in keeping strings on you when you do…your path is now your own.”

  Calevaro was quiet for only a moment, letting those words sink in. “I’m going to find out who took Kent from us, and why. What I do next…”

  “Is for another day,” the king said. “Will you take the thief–will you take Bishop?” Cal’s mouth quirked into a smile. He’d told his father everything that happened in the duel, making it clear that he couldn’t have won without Ethan Bishop’s assistance. It had taken some time, but his father had finally been convinced that saving Cal’s life was worth the man’s freedom.

  “We are on a similar path, and he’s earned my trust,” Calevaro answered.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  His father nodded, then pulled the Fable Cube–the legendary grand prize for the tournament–from his inventory, and tossed it to Cal. “Wherever you go, that will help. Take anything else you need, and be gone in the morning.” His father gripped him by the shoulders, then nodded. “You’ve done well. Now go, find your way. Find your power.”

  He turned and moved back to the throne. “We’ll announce that you and the Brightsouls made it to the Third Layer, and we’ll have an appropriate celebration. Then in a few months we’ll have another, as a way of saying goodbye.” He smiled. “I’ll find someone to wear your armor, and I’m sure it will be a touching farewell. In the meantime I’ll direct your sister to covering for you however possible. Clearly she needs a new project.”

  Calevaro didn’t know what to say. He looked from the Fable Cube to his father, and saw the trepidation, perhaps even fear behind those eyes. The powerful Twilight King had never truly recovered from losing a son.

  Cal saluted. “I’ll be careful, father, and I’ll find my path.” That brought a sad smile to the king’s face, and Cal knew it was the moment to leave.

  He was nearly at the door when his father’s voice surprised him. “Cal. The Church, you say they believe they’re saving the world?”

  Calevaro turned, and nodded with an eyebrow raised. The king nodded slowly back to him. “I’ll give you a single piece of advice, my son. Be certain you know ahead of time what you’ll do, if you discover they’re right.”

  Cal looked at the king for a long moment before speaking. “Thank you, father.” Then he was gone.

  ***

  Ethan had only gone home long enough to check on Valanor before heading back into the city. This time he was moving fully in stealth, and even had Selina take a second look at him and his gear for any kind of tracking earlier that day. He was on his way to see Gloria, the head of the underground healers, and more than ever he couldn’t risk being discovered.

  He moved silently, often taking to the rooftops, and remaining a Trick of the Light the entire way. Tomo and his stealth rune were both working on hiding his presence from any watchful eyes, and Ethan still took his time to ensure he was minimizing every risk possible.

  When he finally used a rift and an origami butterfly to get inside the nondescript bar, he considered his efforts a success by virtue of not being immediately confronted by Samuel, Gloria’s husband. Ethan didn’t know all the details, but the man’s senses were extraordinary, and he wasn’t easy to surprise.

  Unfortunately his success meant that he had no other option than to awkwardly knock on the couple’s bedroom door.

  Ethan wasn’t at all surprised when the door didn’t open, but instead exploded outward as a thickly built man charged through. He was wielding a shortsword, and the blade passed cleanly through Ethan’s chest, pinning him to the wall. Samuel was still blinking away sleep when he recognized who he’d attacked, and his eyes widened at the realization of who he’d just killed.

  Ethan reached up a hand, gently pushing back the man’s dark red hair to caress his cheek lightly. He spoke in a weak voice. “Alas, I die, but our love never will.” He then let out a long series of choking and gurgling noises, before collapsing dramatically against the larger man.

  In fairness, Ethan may have waited slightly too long before dismissing his Dimensional duplicate, but the impressive mix of rage, confusion, and disgust on the burly Hunter’s face was mesmerizing.

  “Hey Sammy,” the real Ethan said from down the hall, watching calmly as his copy disappeared. “Is the wife home?”

  Samuel threw the sword at him, which was understandable. “I truly thought I’d killed you, you twisted bastard!” Ethan let the sword pass harmlessly through his [Dimensional Mantle], smiling widely.

  “I can’t die; I brought presents!” He put on a stern voice. “Now stop fooling around Sam, this is serious.” Inwardly he chided himself. I physically cannot stop messing with this guy. He makes Valanor seem laid back.

  The red haired Hunter clearly had much more to say, but a hand on his arm silenced him as Gloria pushed her way into the hall. She was wearing a robe, and paused for a moment to examine the sword stuck in the wall, but her eyes truly widened when she saw Ethan.

  “I didn’t expect to see you again,” she said with genuine surprise. “I thought you told our daughter it was too dangerous.”

  “It is,” Ethan agreed. “I took every precaution, but quite honestly, you may need to flee the city tomorrow to be safe.”

  “Then why the hell did you come here?” Samuel demanded.

  “Because it was worth it, I promise you. But we should talk downstairs.” They both looked from one another to Ethan, then finally nodded in agreement. Samuel led the way back into the dark bar, then finally down into the hidden room where they kept their patients. He muttered angrily the entire way.

  “It’s empty?” Ethan asked, not hiding his surprise when he saw the deserted sickroom.

  “The training you were able to give put us in a bit of a strange position,” Gloria said as she went to activate the dim glowglobes. “We’re so much more capable of handling smaller injuries, but we also have a distressing understanding of our limits. We still help patients, but anyone with a lengthy recovery ahead of them tends to be too far gone for us to help.”

  Ethan nodded. “I’m here to change that,” he said.

  Gloria looked confused. “I’d heard that your rune was destroyed,” she said sadly. “Are you hoping to help us as a ‘doctor’ again? We’d welcome your expertise...except what you said upstairs suggests we won’t have time for that.”

  Ethan didn’t look down at his right arm, the elaborate runes now hidden by Tomo’s illusions. Truthfully he didn’t know what it was capable of now, as the system only provided an error. Regardless, that wasn’t what he was here for.

  “I actually have something else in mind, something world changing,” he said. The couple looked at one another with shared incredulity, but Ethan powered through. “First, am I right that your network extends well beyond the borders of Viridus?”

  Samuel looked ready to argue, but Gloria answered without hesitation. “Calling it a network would be generous, but there are those like us all over the world. Some of us keep in contact, and everyone has at least one connection for when things go wrong–which apparently is today.”

  Ethan smiled. “Not quite. Today things go very right, although I can’t overstate the danger of what I have to share. That said, the Church is already hunting and executing your people, so the stakes can’t get much higher.” Without further delay, he moved to a nearby bed, and withdrew an egg from his inventory–one of many.

  Gloria and Samuel looked at it curiously, the latter even reaching out to touch it–presumably hoping for an informative system message. He looked disappointed. “I don’t know what this is, but if your plan is to give us Bonds to protect ourselves, it’s a lost cause. There’s no amount of protection that can hold back the Church’s forces.”

  Ethan grinned. “I agree, and what I’ve brought is much better. I won’t tell you all the details, as that will only put more lives in danger, but I’ve come across some exceptionally rare monster eggs. I have many more like this one, and I’d like you to take them, and get them the hell out of here. Find somewhere remote, raise them, and Bond them to good people.”

  They were both full of questions, and Ethan knew he was delaying what needed to be said. Still, he wanted the plan on the table before the inevitable eruption. Before they could ask, he spoke again. “These eggs, these monsters, are of the Healing Affinity. I’ve already seen it at work.”

  He waited, but neither spoke, though both tried several times. Finally Samuel managed to scoff. “That doesn’t exist,” he said, with no room for debate.

  “First Shield Valanor’s two working arms say different,” Ethan responded. The knight was relatively famous in Corvale, certainly enough that his condition was common knowledge. “I wish I had a Bond rune to prove it to you, but you’ll have to wait and see for yourselves.” As much as he trusted these people, he certainly wasn’t willing to give Selina’s name to anyone.

  “Ethan,” Gloria began, “let’s say this is all true–I can’t bring myself to believe it but I also can’t think of why you’d lie–what do you expect us to do?”

  In answer, Ethan dropped a sack of coins from his inventory onto the same bed. “Three Master rank coins, a handful of Twilights, and some Dusks for spending money. Take them, take the eggs, and get somewhere safe. Somewhere no one will connect you to Viridus. Start a ranch, raise these healers and form True Bonds with people you can trust. Really trust.”

  Samuel looked inside the bag, his eyes widening. “This is…where did you possibly get this? Did you rob the king?”

  “Slayed a dragon,” Ethan said dismissively. The group was still disturbingly rich even after this donation. “Like I said: I can’t prove what I’m saying right this moment, and the full story is not something you want to be a part of. So hopefully the coins demonstrate how serious I am.”

  Gloria looked into his eyes, obviously stunned and confused. “Ethan this is…this is a lot to take in. We need time–”

  “You don’t have it. This really is too dangerous, and I know it’s not fair, but I can’t be the one to carry this burden. I have my own path, and it’s one that might get me killed for a thousand other reasons. You’re the only ones I can trust with this. I can trust you, right?”

  “We’re doing it,” Samuel said, surprising them both. He looked over at Gloria. “Worst case scenario is that these aren’t some mythical healing monsters. In that case we just have enough money to fund our own healers for a century. Best case scenario…well the best case is too good to be true. But as much as I hate this prick–”

  “Hey…I just gave you so much money,” Ethan said in a dejected tone.

  “As much I truly, truly hate him,” Samuel repeated, “he’s still the best thing that’s happened to the movement as long as I’ve been alive.”

  Gloria wavered for only another moment before shaking her head in disbelief. “I’ll get Mary. We’ll start packing, and leave instructions for the others. They already know what to do in case of an emergency.” She began to move away, clearly overwhelmed, but Ethan caught her hand. He released it just as quickly at Samuel’s growl.

  “Just one last thing,” he said, then pulled out a small stone. “This is a Knowledge Rune, the good stuff too. It can be used repeatedly, so you can make considerable use of it. It has all my medical knowledge imprinted on it. Took me a while to learn how to make them, but it’ll give you options beyond the eggs.”

  She took the stone reverently. Clearly she put more stock in the knowledge she’d had a taste of than the miracle monsters. “This will change things, Ethan. Thank you.”

  Ethan grinned. “My pleasure, Gloria. Now go make some doctors.”