When I awoke, my anger hadn’t abated. Rather it seemed to have grown. I felt ashamed of my initial reaction, the raging tantrum I threw in the dungeon. Though, it didn’t take me long to lay the blame for that on the crown. My breakfast was brought to me in my bed. Chelsea had outdone herself, with an intricate pie of tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and condor meat. It smelled delicious. The downside was that the drink served was the Asrid Flower tea. It tasted of bitter betrayal, and yet still I drank. I didn’t bother with my normal cleaning spell this morning. Instead, I threw back the covers and marched to my study to formulate a plan. I was a researcher first, and I wanted to know the extent of what was taken from me. Loyalty was such a vague concept, after all. What was this loyalty tied to? The king? The country? I set out a blank parchment and a quill. My first test was to write something seditious on a blank sheet of parchment. I started with the royal family. ‘I will murder them one by’—my stomach twisted and the muscles in my back tied in knots. I didn’t even finish writing the sentence. My anger may have allowed me to go further than I otherwise would have, but it wasn’t enough. Next, I tested the kingdom. ‘I will summon a host of fire elementals and watch it’—revulsion again. As if I were sick of my own thoughts and writings. I gagged and hacked, patting my chest in an attempt to calm myself. Kingdom was protected as well. But what did that include? I felt nothing holding me back when I considered slaying Baron Llal yesterday for his annoyance. Was that because I didn’t see him as a pillar of the kingdom? Was the increase in loyalty based on the drinker’s thoughts? The next test was simple, I wanted verification of that. I wrote ‘I will smite Baron Llal with a thousand bolts of lightning.’ Nothing. The Baron was safe. But did that truly mean that it was based on my own thoughts? The king has many heirs. If I were to kill him, then the Kingdom would not suffer for it. ‘I will slay King’—revulsion again, this time I vomited on the floor. Pieces of condor meat and tomatoes. I cast a cleaning spell, and it was gone as if it had never been. I hoped some of the tea came up with it. I sat back in the chair and stared at the unadorned ceiling, considering the matter in more depth. Was this because I knew that, even if the king had a great number of heirs, it would harm the kingdom? How do I test around that? Consider the murder of one of the heirs? A duke or duchess? I was absently twirling the quill when Kine coughed politely. Startled from my reverie, I looked up at my assistant. His brown hair was growing longer, almost to his shoulders, and he hadn’t shaved in a week. He gave a short bow, appropriate for our positions. I nodded in return. My hand discreetly grasped the parchment I was testing seditious thoughts on. A small flame burnt it away. “How went the defense of Woodhoot and the trip to Lark?” I asked, beckoning him to sit across from me and distracting him from the missing paper. “Master, the defense of Woodhoot went well, though the village lost two men. We only lost one in battle; a man named Brom. He left behind a widow and seven children. We met one, the stableboy,” Kine smirked as he continued, “And a mistress with another nine children. Her husband was understandably upset about the matter and left the village in a rage.” “This Brom, he left behind fifteen children? Are they cared for?” I asked. I didn’t care for gossip usually, but anything that could take my mind from the tea was welcome at the moment. “The village cares for its own. Half of them are all related to the other half. There are enough uncles and aunts to make sure they won’t go hungry,” Kine said. “Good. And Lark? Have Walker and Mena returned as well?” I asked. Kine’s mouth twisted in a smile, struggling to keep in his amusement, “Master, I regret to inform you that Guard Mena has tricked Assistant Walker, and made off with his coin in the night. Walker departed after her the next morning, determined to return with his charge. I don’t know when they will return.” Well, that wasn’t quite what I expected from Mena, though it wasn’t outside the possibilities I considered either. I had hoped she would give Walker reason to mature some, a trick or trap that he wouldn’t expect. Her escape must have been due to an opportune moment. I gave a small smile and a nod to Kine, “That is well and good. He will learn from this, I hope.” “I’d be surprised if he hasn’t already. I wasn’t certain if you wanted me to notify the town guard that she was an escaped criminal or not, so I did not. Shall I return to do so now, master?” “No. I expect that Walker will return with her in a few days. If we have not heard in a week, then you may go. Were there any letters for me?” Kine shook his head, “No, but the quest for your lilies was completed. I have them in a bag on the first floor. The guildmaster, Adam, wanted me to pass along that there have been four quarries and a clay pit found based on your quests. He said that the clay pit is in your territory, and to expect a merchant in a few days to negotiate mining rights.” Well, that wasn’t the worst news. Depending on where the clay deposit was, I might not even see it. If I took a tenth of the clay as payment, I could build an army of tier-one clay men and keep them in a room beneath the tower. I would need to check the location first, though, as I didn’t want the bog drained. “There was one more thing, master,” Kine said. He didn’t sound or look nervous, but one of his fingers tapped against the side of his chair. “Oh?” “The Baroness sent one of her people to find me when I arrived to pass along an inquiry. She wanted to know what it would take to continue the road from Woodhoot to Owl’s Fall and then to Fort Lark. Or if other directions were possible. Though the scribe made certain I was aware that the Baroness did not want to disturb you.” I gave him a half-smile and shook my head, “I’m not interested in such work, but I’ll grant you a month from your duties, if you would like. Provided you return any gems you find along the way to me.” I stood to depart, having made the decision that I wanted to test the flowers more. Kine’s finger stopped moving, and he looked at me, “Truly, master? I have no more to learn from you?” I snorted, “You are my assistant, not my disciple. If you want to spend a month doing something as mundane as building a road, I imagine you will learn a great deal about your possible futures from the experience. And when you return, you’ll be even more eager to assist me. Consider that job, if you desire to. For today? Eat, rest. Tomorrow your normal duties will resume.” I felt the pangs of hunger as I descended the tower, and stopped in the kitchens to grab a few goat sausages from the pantry. I didn’t see Chelsea there, so she must be cleaning somewhere in the tower. I returned to the first floor and heated the sausages in the fireplace while I looked through the bag of lily bulbs. I felt a strong desire to experiment further with the effects of the tea and the flowers themselves, but it wouldn’t do for the lilies to die while I did so. Inside a fine leather satchel were twenty or so bulbs, some with the roots and flowers still attached. Each was carefully wrapped in a wet cloth, keeping them moist. Whoever had gathered the things had gone through a lot of effort to keep them alive and present them in a respectable manner. Which made sense, as I’d offered a gold apiece for the flowers to ensure timely delivery. When I stepped outside the tower, I had the satchel in one hand, sausage in the other. The second was already eaten with only drips of oil in my beard a reminder that it had been there. I walked towards the center of my bridge and considered where I wanted the lilies placed in the moat. On either side of the bridge? Around the base of the pillars holding flames? How far apart did I want them to be? After watching the movement of the water elementals, I resigned myself that they would likely grow however they grew best. I tossed a bulb out into the moat. Only for an arc of water to catch it from the sky and start to deliver it to the waste pit. I wasn’t even fazed by my lack of foresight. Instead, I commanded the elemental to return with it. I projected to them that the lilies would be additions to the moat, and shouldn’t be removed. Then I tried it again. Soon enough, the bulbs sank into the waters and the second sausage was gone. I headed back towards the tower when my nature elemental’s face appeared among the ivy. Mortal. “What?” Some of the children grow. Will you release them or bind them here? I turned back to look at the tiny lights hovering in the mists. I didn’t have any more amber, not that I would admit that to the elemental. It did make me curious, though. “Why?” My siblings which you so callously throw into the water. You seek to grow them, yes? “I do,” I answered, looking at the elemental with suspicion. I didn’t trust her. Trusting a nature elemental was foolish. I can guide these children to your flowers when they grow. “I’ll consider it. I have more important duties to attend to at the moment,” I answered, and turned to leave. Yes. Those horrid yellow things. The dungeon flowers. I froze. This elemental knew? How would she know I placed them in the dungeon? Why would she dislike them? I thought nature elementals like all plantlife. I turned back to her, this time giving her my undivided attention. This time, I gave a command, “Tell me.” The face in the ivy shuddered as it attempted to mentally fight back, but my will was too strong. For the first time, sound came from its lips. A musical voice, though the music was painful to hear, “Those flowers are born in a dungeon. They are not… not natural. They should not be! Kill them! Kill them! Burn them away, wizard!” I released my mental hold on it and rubbed a hand through my beard. The flowers were ‘born’ in a dungeon? What did that mean? Are they dungeon monsters? I started considering the implications. Please! I gave you what you wanted! Allow me to guide the children. Your flowers will bloom, oh they will bloom! The mental words from the elemental, the desperation in her tone, caressed my mind. It didn’t dare to communicate as directly as it did before. Like a scared animal, the words only touched in the briefest and softest way. I turned my attention back to the face in the ivy. I would have forgotten she was there, so lost in my thoughts, if she did not speak. I only gave her request a small consideration before answering, “You may. But do not forget, I am the master here.” With that, I turned away from her again. This time, the flowers and the dungeon were the only things on my mind, and I wouldn’t allow for further distraction.