There were, quite frankly, too many things going through his head at once. But he kept going, because someone needed to. He’d convinced himself a while ago that this was something only he could do, despite the evidence against it.

  At least the chill in the air gave him something else to consider. He waited by the castle gates; one guest had already arrived, so there was only one (or, rather, two) more to wait for. They should be here soon. If nothing happened to them.

  He tried to bury the thought.

  It didn’t take long, thankfully, to hear word of their arrival in Lelishara. It wasn’t much longer after that he saw the carriage pass through the castle gates, and he walked up to it to hold open the door.

  Lustris came out first, then glanced back inside to say, “Come on, Muriel. It’s getting dark.”

  There was a nervous edge to the mumbled response before Muriel stepped out. She stayed close to Lustris, jumping slightly when the carriage went off towards the stables.

  Imre couldn’t muster a smile, but he hoped he still seemed friendly enough. He gestured for them to follow him inside. “I’m glad both of you were able to make it. Samone was supposed to be getting your rooms ready—she can show them to you, if you’d like to rest. Please, don’t hesitate to let me know if there’s anything we can do to make you both feel more comfortable.”

  “Is Tavin here?” Lustris asked. It held a double meaning known only to the two of them. “I assume you know where he is, at least.”

  “He’s in his room, but… I don’t think he’s feeling well. Dimas has been with him for most of the evening, so he might be feeling better, but I’m not sure.”

  Lustris glanced at Muriel. “Try not to bother him too much, then, alright? It’ll be better to let him rest.”

  Muriel nodded. “You said you wanted to talk together when we got here, and you wanted it to be private. Does that mean I’m going to be alone..?”

  “A servant can definitely stay with you,” Imre offered. “You don’t know them as well, but Dimas or Samone could probably sit with you, too, until Lustris is done. Your rooms are right next to ours and Tavin’s—you won’t have to go far if you need anything.”

  “Okay,” she mumbled.

  Imre was about to stop at the door leading to the dining room when he noticed Samone. “Is everything ready for them?” he prompted.

  “Mhm, along with a couple of servants ready to make sure they have what they need.” She continued to have much more fake nonchalance than he could ever muster… though he knew it could only be contributed to the masked smell of smoke. She turned her attention towards Muriel, smiled, and asked, “Would you like me to show you your room now? You’re going to have to make sure you stay close, you might end up getting lost otherwise.”

  Muriel gave a blank nod and the two, seemingly, walked away.

  Imre kept up casual conversation as he entered the dining room, though, gesturing for the other person there to stay quiet. “The two of you have been doing well, right? You have everything you need?”

  “We’ve got everything we could ever wish for, more like,” Lustris remarked. “You certainly make sure of that. In fact, I’m guessing you’ve helped more than you were technically supposed to.”

  “Well, Father once said that if a king could do anything, it was pulling strings,” Imre said. “I… know it doesn’t change what happened, and I know it won’t really fix anything. But I want to help however I can. In a way, we’re family—it’s the least I can do.”

  Lustris sat down at the chair he gestured to. “She’s not listening anymore. I’m sure the moment it seemed like we were only going to talk about our needs, she got bored and followed Samone.”

  Imre wandered over to his spot as well. “Alright. Thank you for being patient, Enuolare. We need to be a bit more careful with Muriel—Lustris can’t leave her alone, but we can’t have her hearing something that will upset her, either.” He was grateful when Lustris showed to have thought it through, honestly—at least more than he had when he’d sent the request. Everything she said had its basis in fact.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Is… eavesdropping normal for her?” Enuolare asked cautiously. “We can’t dance around these issues, but if there’s a chance she’ll overhear it…”

  Lustris shook her head. “It’s late enough that she probably isn’t going to leave her room. Even if she tries to sneak out, she knows she’ll get lost. She doesn’t like being alone—especially not somewhere this unfamiliar.”

  “Then what about Tavin?” Enuolare prompted. “You always sent both the boys away whenever we met or meant to meet. Or have you talked with him, too..?”

  “He knows,” was Imre’s simple answer. “He already knew about the dreamers but now he knows his role in it, too. Originally, the only reason he wasn’t going to sit with us was to keep Muriel company, though he’s been in his room since this afternoon…”

  “Is it… related to everything else?”

  “We don’t think so. Dimas said it was probably something minor. At the very least, it’s not like the kinds of dizzy spells he’d gotten after Natheniel lost his feather necklace.”

  “Did those get better after… what happened, too?”

  Imre nodded. “They went back to normal a few weeks after Natheniel’s disappearance.”

  “If we’re going to continue talking about everything aside from the issue…” Lustris began. She glanced at Enuolare. “What made you cancel last time, again? I suppose, ultimately, it was a good thing—after all, Natheniel had to be brought back to Seothia right at the time we would’ve gotten there. But, to be frank, it was a little annoying.”

  “My apologies,” Enuolare said. “It was… more internal affairs, nothing worth discussing here. But it was sudden. I know it must’ve been inconvenient—if I’d known a little sooner, I could’ve saved you the trouble of getting that far…”

  “What’s done is done,” Imre muttered. “Nothing we can do now can change the fact that it happened.”

  “That you sent Natheniel away without the need to,” Lustris remarked. Seems she still didn’t dance around situations. “I know what you’re thinking. ‘If I’d known the meeting wouldn’t had happened, then Natheniel wouldn’t had needed to leave, and he wouldn’t had nearly killed the princess.’”

  “Are you going to tell me I’m right, too?”

  “Oh, you’re right. But then the kid would’ve done the same thing to someone else and you’d have two dead people on your hands.”

  “He’s not dead.”

  “But the bird’s dying, isn’t it?”

  Enuolare glanced between both of them. “Please, we didn’t come here for conflict. We can’t do anything about what’s already done. The most we can do now is to plan ahead.”

  “Yeah…” Imre mumbled. “You told Enebish, didn’t you? How did it go..?”

  “They were remarkably understanding, all things considered,” Enuolare answered. “They realized why, too… even if I hope it doesn’t have to come to it. They realized they’re our next best option if all else fails.”

  Imre’s frown deepened. “If this is something that can take a substitute. It was all hypothetical from the start. Since the dreamers could, theoretically, control the Skiá, we could use that in our favor—but not all of them have the same levels of control. Natheniel was the most likely out of the three to be able to do anything… and we couldn’t be sure of that. Neither of the two who remain can control Skiá like he could—they don’t even have that much of a connection…”

  “What was our plan?” Lustris asked casually. “Get Natheniel to talk with them? Somehow harness an ability he never honed to overwhelm them with their own darkness? Or… did we never have a plan?”

  Imre let out a stressed laugh. “Frankly, our plan was like everything else about this situation—throwing ideas around and hoping one of them solved something. We were hoping we’d be able to work out the specifics when it came closer to time. And now it’s too late.”

  “It’s only too late if you decide to do nothing,” Enuolare said. “I don’t mean to step out of place with the suggestion, but… have you considered any other options? Aside from the dreamers?”

  “Of course I did. First and foremost, dreamers aren’t tools—they’re just like we are. They have the power to decide not to help. Backup options always had to be considered. But there aren’t really any alternatives. The most viable one would be the reintroduction of dragons and manticores—which is just as likely as waking up tomorrow with the problem solved.”

  “I see. Well, Enebish told me they’re willing to help however they can. They might be traveling, but you spell birds here, don’t you? You could spell a bird to them if you ever need it.”

  “I hope we won’t. At this point… I don’t even think it’s going to make a difference. We’re right back to square one without Natheniel, and we can’t be sure if that’s something we can recover from.” He shook his head. “Everyone else should be able to be here tomorrow, we should be able to talk more then. You’ve both traveled a long way—I’ll show you to your rooms.”