“What the hell is that doing here?” Aralik spluttered, staring at the box.

Ayax and Elizabeth, very lost, studied the box. It held three things: a strange crown made of a waxy-white coloured horn, a crystal that the pair suspected was a memory or recording crystal, and several pieces of a mage’s staff that was made of yew. It was in three pieces but from the added wood and metal rings binding it together, it had been originally shattered into far more.

“What do you mean?” Ayax asked.

It was Antigones’s turn to splutter. “Ayax, how do you not recognize this?” The general almost touched the crown, but stopped himself. “This is the Crown of Alavaria. The First Demon King’s Crown. The one carved for him when he led our people against the Goblin Empire! The one that only the rightful kings and queens of Alavaria can wear!”

The significance of what Antigones was saying didn’t quite reach Elizabeth. More telling was Ayax’s reaction. Her girlfriend took a step back from the table, her eyes wide and jaw dropped open.

“Wait, that can’t be it. It’s probably just a replica or a fake,” Ayax stammered. Aralik nodded, but Elizabeth only frowned.

“Your father wouldn’t keep a replica, though. It must be the real thing and it might know something about the royal line that we don’t,” said the human, reaching forward to touch the crown.

“Wow, of all the people in this room, the only being smart enough to figure out I’m real is the human. Fucking hell, the children of Galena have grown stupid.”

Antigones and Aralik backpedalled toward the door, which Elizabeth would find comical if it weren’t for the fact that her girlfriend was pushing her back.

“It’s real. That’s the real fucking White Crown!” Ayax stammered.

“Of course I’m real Ayax daughter of Allaniel! Where is your bloody father anyway? It’s been almost four fucking years since he let me out of this hidey-hole! I’m going to freaking make him deaf!”

“Wow, a cranky crown. I thought there was nothing in Durannon that could surprise me.” Elizabeth gently pushed Ayax’s arm out of the way and walked up to the crown, giving a quick bow. “Our apologies. Allaniel was murdered and my girlfriend had no idea her father had hidden you away.”

“You? A girlfriend of—” The crown suddenly fell silent. “Did… did you say Allaniel was murdered?”

Elizabeth glanced at Ayax, who took a deep breath. “Yes, human raiders killed my father, mother, and burnt down the village. I was the only survivor.”

“Humans in—wait, the Great War, it started. Shit, he must have been unable to contact you about what he found, Antigones son of Demetrios,” the crown groaned. “Damn, that explains a lot.”

Antigones bowed deeply. “What… what did my old friend find, Great Crown of Alavaria?”

“Well, your friend found me. After that bastard Thorgoth murdered King Tagus, he tried to claim me, but I rejected him. So he forged a replica and threw me away to rot. About a year before he must have died, Allaniel rediscovered me, but he realized he had to act extremely carefully.”

Elizabeth raised her hand, “Sir Crown—”

“For the love of Galena, just call me Whitey, and don’t call me Crownie!”

Elizabeth coughed. “Whitey, how has Thorgoth managed to replicate you when you can speak and the other crown can’t?”

The crown snorted. “Wow, a smart human with a good question? You must be an Otherworlder. You see, I don’t speak to the Children of Galena, only to the ruler of Alavaria. I judge them whether they are worthy or not and guide them accordingly as I have advised countless rulers since the beginning of the kingdom. I can tell whether you are speaking truth or false. I know my wearer, better than they know themselves. I can tell you how to govern and how to not fuck up. I am the Great White Crown of Alan, First King of Alavaria, and my reputation is legendary.”

Elizabeth nodded slowly, thinking the crown would be sneering if it could actually.

“You are being granted a unique privilege because things are going to shit and my normal gig of silently shocking unworthy rulers isn’t going to work. That’s why Thorgoth has gotten away with it. I don’t talk to much Alavari because it’s usually far more useful for them to think I’m some horrifyingly powerful artifact that can curse them for disrespect.”

Ayax blinked. “Wait, you can’t curse us?”

“If I could I would have called a thousand fucking bugs to bite Thorgoth’s delicate parts off! That son of a bitch murdered his father! Moronic as Tagus was, it was not proper for the succession to be forced in such a way!”

Elizabeth glanced at her Alavari compatriots, but they looked completely poleaxed. Even a gentle nudge of Ayax’s arm didn’t bring the troll out of her shocked stupor.

Sighing, the human asked, “Okay, so you don’t know that Thorgoth also killed Prince Teutobal, too?”

The crown physically vibrated. “Oh of course he did that fucking bastard! Don’t tell me… Ohh no, don’t tell me only that assassination-hungry princess Titania is the heir to the throne!”

Antigones growled and pushing past Elizabeth, he seized the crown. “That’s my wife you’re insulting. And she is the rightful ruler of Alavaria—”

“Fuck rightful general! We need a good ruler next to pull our ass out of this war!” the crown bellowed.

“Um, Whitey, have you met, Titania yet?” Elizabeth asked.

The crown was quiet, before, in a considering tone, it said, “No. You are right, I should review the next in the Line of Greyhammer before I make my final judgement.” Whitey coughed, for some reason, even though it had no lungs. Elizabeth wondered if it was simply trying to pace its words. “You, Otherworlder, who are you? I know the identity of every Alavari, but I can’t know you.”

“Elizabeth Hae-won Kim, sir Whitey,” said Elizabeth as politely as she could.

“Right, Elizabeth, got any questions for me about what Allaniel was looking into before he died? And what is the plan to overthrow Thorgoth? I hope you have more people than this.”

Elizabeth took a deep breath and glanced at Antigones, who simply nodded. “We do, but not enough. We’re looking for evidence to dethrone him and sway Alavari to our side. We have a team finding evidence that Thorgoth killed Teutobal and…well, we found you,” she said.

“That’s a start, especially if Titania truly wants to rebel against her father, you’re thinking I’ll act as a rallying symbol eh? Well, I can do that, but you’ll also find the other two items here useful.”

Ayax, still eyeing the crown with apprehension, picked up the three pieces of the broken staff. Now that it was in her hand, she found it had a rather fine grain and felt rather good in her fingers. “And what are these items?”

Hello.

Ayax flinched as a weak, tired voice came through her head. She couldn’t figure out the gender, and as the troll whirled around, she realized nobody had seemed to hear it.

“Hello. You… you must be a Named Staff. I’m Ayax, Allaniel’s daughter,” she whispered.

The voice, weak, struggling with effort, echoed in the room.

Silver Star is my name. I… I apologize for my state. Thorgoth used me for the longest time. I was forced to kill his brother Thomas. I managed to turn against him during his first attempt on his father’s life, which led him to snap me. Your father… was trying to repair me, without much success.

“Yeah, that’s Silver Star, the lesser-known and long-lost sibling staff to that horrible Spellbinder that amplifies the user’s power to an incredible extent. Siblings, because they were forged by the same wandmaker. Another unfortunate witness and victim of Thorgoth’s tyranny.” Whitney grumbled, “Problem is, Thorgoth left no live witnesses.”

“My sister Spellbinder had no choice in her reputation, oh crown of kings and queens,” stammered Silver Star.

“How did my father come across you?” Ayax asked.

The staff hesitated.“Your father found me when he was rummaging through Ixtar the Agoniser’s personal belongings after he and the Coalition of Mages killed him. King Thorgoth didn’t know, but the mad mage was trying to reassemble me as insurance against him.” Silver Star paused. “There is something urgent you must know. My sister, Spellbinder, the most dangerous wand on the continent, is once again in the wild. Ixtar was unknowingly using her. She’d disguised herself as an unknown Named Wand and was resisting him, but I now know not where she is after his death. You must secure her and hide her away before someone claims her.”

“Oh, shit,” Aralik stammered. “If I recall, the agreement between the Coalition of Mages was that the loot was divided through the right of conquest, no questions asked. That was done to prevent arguments amidst the coalition. The Alavari mages took most of Ixtar’s workshop materials, whilst the human mages took everything on his person.”

“Okay, so who did his wand go to, son? Or at least, probably went to?” Antigones asked. “We need to know. If Ixtar’s wand is with a human mage, then Alavari is in deep trouble.”

Ayax wasn’t sure why, but Elizabeth’s eyes widened and the colour seemed to drain from her face.

“Young Elizabeth, speak up! You look like you’ve seen Thorgoth himself!” White demanded.

Elizabeth stared at the crown, recalled it could tell if she was lying, and swallowed. “I know where Spellbinder is.”

Ayax frowned, how did her girlfriend know where the most dangerous wand on the continent was? Did someone they know have Spellbinder? But the only person with a Named Wand—

Ayax gasped. “Elizabeth, are you serious? But… Oh. OH!”

“I think s—they know, though,” Elizabeth stammered.

“Yeah, makes sense. Also makes sense why c—they didn’t tell us,” Ayax gasped.

Antigones glanced between the two girls, brow furrowed, furiously stroking his beard. Suddenly, he froze. “Wait, are you seriously telling me that King Thorgoth once had Spellbinder, before he gave it to Ixtar the Agoniser, after which Frances Fucking Windwhistler earned its allegiance?”

Ayax and Elizabeth glanced at each other, meeting Antigones and his son’s incredulous gazes.

“We don’t know for sure,” said Elizabeth.

“Cuz did say she had come to an understanding with Ivy’s Sting, though,” stammered Ayax.

“She was going by Ivy’s Sting. In my broken state… she didn’t realize I was there, but I recognized her. This… Frances, is she trustworthy? You said she’s earned her allegiance, but that hasn’t happened since Yvonne the Shaman Slayer, her first wielder,” Silver Star gasped.

“Yes. She is. She loves Ivy—I mean, Spellbinder, dearly,” said Ayax.

“Ah, that’s… that’s good. I’m sorry, I… I must rest. I do not have much strength since my shattering. Thank you for recovering me, Ayax, Allaniel’s daughter.” And with that, the staff fell silent, as if its last breath had given out.

Antigones groaned and picked up the memory crystal. “Galena, I hope this is the last of the surprises we have today. Aralik, can you activate this?”

Aralik nodded, said a Word of Power and waved his wand.

The crystal flared to life. A handsome troll with somewhat cat-like features and grace sat in front of the desk. He looked tired, and worried, not like how Ayax remembered her father.

Her eyes widening, she took in Allaniel as he brushed a hand through his greying hair.

“Ayax my daughter, General Antigones, my old friend, if you find this… I am probably dead. If you are but a stranger, but one loyal to Alavaria, you must know that King Thorgoth of Alavaria is a true monster. A king who abuses his power murders his family and wants power above else. I’ve long suspected Thorgoth of this ever since he started paying the bards to espouse the dangers of humans, and especially given how the Civil Strife that plagued our country ended so abruptly. As if all the obstacles were suddenly removed. The witnesses to these atrocities that I found are Whitey, the Great Crown of the First King, which I found after painstakingly searching the site where King Tagus was slain for several years, and Silver Star, the Named Staff that Thorgoth once wielded and later rejected. It’s why I was on those “business trips” Ayax, and why I made so many trips on the pretense of visiting you, Antigones.”

Allaniel heaved in a deep sigh. “You may wonder why I didn’t tell both of you earlier. To be honest, I was terrified. I didn’t know if I could trust anybody with what I knew. It took me ages to tell my wife, and even now, I wonder if Thorgoth suspects I know. I’m doing my best to vet the people around you, Antigones, especially your new wife, Princess Titania. I can’t tell what Titania stands for, and whether she’s Thorgoth’s pawn or your devoted wife. I have planned to tell you when that became clear. If I haven’t… I was silenced before I managed to figure that out.”

The elderly troll drummed his fingers on the desk, tail flicking side to side. “Even with these pieces of evidence, I’m not sure they’ll be enough. Thorgoth has plans within plans and a wicked eye for the offence. I am sure that if his culpability is revealed, he has a method to level the playing field. I can’t figure out what his plan is, or plans are, he might have many and come up with new ones based on the situation at hand, but I can’t risk going public until my family are safe, and my dear Ayax can defend herself. Thankfully, Ayax, you have a talent for war magery, but I will not commit you to danger whilst you are so young.”

Allaniel shut his eyes briefly before opening them. “Tread carefully, Ayax, Antigones, or whomever you may be. And if you are Thorgoth or one of his loyalists who have discovered this…” The troll sneered. “Go fuck yourself and cry over those that I must have killed for you to get this far.” Allaniel signed off, and his image vanished.

Ayax and Antigones snorted at that, before exchanging a look of understanding.

“Well, let’s get these to where they need to be,” said Antigones.

“Mm-hmm,” said Ayax. She looked over the dusty desk. After a moment’s thought, she closed up the secret compartment and patted it. “Thanks for everything, dad.”

There was one last thing they had to do before leaving Everglenia. The group had to dig up the corpses of the raiders that Ayax had buried.

To assist in this, they had the townsfolk pitch in and Aralik and Ayax used their magic to expedite the process. Even Antigones however, pitched in hauling dirt, leading to a lot of townsfolk viewing the general with respect, and one or two appreciative looks.

Not much was left of the corpses, though, and much of the clothing had rotted away, leaving a confused mess of bones and scraps of clothing and rusted weaponry. Yet Aralik studied the skeletons with a close eye, ordering the group to lay them out as best they could.

Antigones, wiping his brow with a spare shirt, sat down on the ground. “Son, what do you think?”

The younger orc straightened from leaning over a skeleton and stretched his arms. “It’s been too long. I can’t say much about these bodies apart from the fact that there were twenty raiders of fairly athletic build.” The orc pointed at some of the buckles and accessories to the bodies. “The odd thing is that they’re dressed pretty well. That’s gold and silver decoration to their buckles and gear, and their weapons are, well, were of high-quality steel.”

“That’s a bit odd, though, we did suspect that they were probably not just normal raiders,” said Antigones.

Ayax sighed, and looking away from the bodies, walked to Elizabeth, who hugged her girlfriend.

“I need to go away for a bit. If you don’t mind,” Ayax stammered.

“That’s fine. I’ll find you,” said Elizabeth. Her troll nodded and left the gravesite, whilst Elizabeth took a closer look at the pit and the items there.

She narrowed her eyes at a particularly large skeleton, with something tied around where his pelvis once had been. It looked to be a leather scroll holder that somehow had survived. As carefully as she could, she took it, opened it and gently extracted the scroll from it.

The scroll was badly yellowed and curled, but Elizabeth could just make out with the handwriting. As she read on, though, she felt her heart slow, and stop.

Captain Tarrin, the contract with your mercenary company, The Black Knives, is as follows. Assassinate the mage Allaniel the Valorous, make sure that nobody in his village survives, and make it look like Lapanterian raiders did the deed. My spy in King Thorgoth’s court has revealed that Allaniel is a powerful mage about to return to service for Alavaria. As the War Council refuses to approve the assassination, you must take on this responsibility. That, and you’ll be paid the other half of your contractual payment, five hundred gold rings, upon completion.

Good fortune.

Earl Darius of Erisdale

Elizabeth, her hands shaking, turned to Antigones and Aralik. “Guys, we have a problem. We have a huge problem fucking problem.”

“Liz? What’s wrong?” Ayax asked.

The Otherworlder tried to say something, anything. Yet, she knew nothing she could say could soften the blow. So instead, she handed the scroll and holder to Ayax. Antigones and Aralik looked over her shoulder, reading the scroll with her.

Elizabeth could see emotions flicker through the three. She could see Antigones’s face colouring, and his son’s mouth dropping open, aghast. Most of all, however, she could see her girlfriend’s hands shaking as she read.

“I’m going to kill him,” said Ayax quietly. Her hand shaking she put the scroll back in its holder. “I’m going to kill that fucking bastard!” she screamed.

Elizabeth trembling, reached out for her girlfriend. “Ayax, dearie, you can’t—”

“He had my parents killed! He has to pay!” Ayax screamed.

“And we’ll bring it to the War Council—”

“They won’t make him suffer justice! He’s one of their own!” Ayax glared at Elizabeth. “Tell me I’m wrong, Liz. You’ve worked with Earl Darius and you know the Human War Council. Tell me!”

Elizabeth couldn’t say anything because as much as she hated it, she suspected Ayax was correct. Even if Earl Darius had acted independently of the War Council, against a resolution they had made, he was still one of them. They would let him get away with a slap on his wrist.

And Ayax deserved justice for what happened to her family, and her village. However…

“Ayax, if you try to take revenge on him, you’ll be executed,” Elizabeth stammered. “Even if you succeed, you’ll be on the run from Erisdale forever. You’d have to hide in Erlenberg forever.”

“I don’t care. He had my mother raped, my father murdered! Don’t you think he deserves to die?” Ayax hissed.

“Yes!” Elizabeth exclaimed.

“Then why are you trying to stop me, Liz?” Ayax demanded.

“Because I don’t want to see you kill yourself over this! I don’t want you to get hurt!” Elizabeth screamed, grabbing onto Ayax’s arms. “I want to bring him to justice, I really do, but you and I… even if we succeed against him, we’ll never be able to live freely, together.”

Ayax tried to back away, but Elizabeth’s grip was too strong. “Why do you even care? You’ll be going back to the human world!”

“Because I’m thinking of staying with you!”

Ayax blinked, her anger suddenly banked, shock widening her eyes as she took in Elizabeth’s tears.

“What?” the troll whispered.

“I want to stay with you. To stay in Durannon. I… I’m not sure, I mean, if I leave, I’d never see my family again, but I don’t know how I can live without you or Frances, or without being in this world—” Elizabeth sniffled, wiping her tears. “And… and so what if I’m leaving? How can I leave contentedly when I know you’ll be hunted by Erisdale?”

“I…” Ayax’s shoulder sagged and she found herself unable to hold back her tears. “I’m sorry, Liz. I…” She grabbed onto the human, burying her face in her shoulder, sobbing. “I’m sorry.”

And the pair cried, sobbing as they wrestled with the rage and grief wracking their bodies.

It took time for the group to process their emotions, and plan their next moves.

However, as they departed Everglenia, there was a plan in place.

Ayax and Elizabeth rode behind Antigones and Aralik, who forged a fast pace as their group thundered down the road. They were heading to Delbarria, which would take a three-day ride.

It would be where a livid Antigones and Aralik could give Whitey the crown to Titania. It would be where they could reunite Silver Star with Spellbinder, and hopefully find a spell to fix the staff. It would be where they could meet up with the other team that would probably bring their evidence to Delbarria.

However, it was also where Antigones and Ayax planned to confront Edana Firehand and Prince Sebastian.

“I don’t know if they can help you, though, general,” said Elizabeth as they rode down the road.

The general grimaced. “Allaniel deserves justice and so does Ayax. If they do not even try to deliver it then this alliance between our sides is in question, and so I would have to consult with my wife.”

Elizabeth swallowed and sighed. “I understand sir. Can… can I at least try to contact Frances and notify her of what we discovered, including what happened to Allaniel?”

The general thought for a moment and nodded. “Yes, and if the Firehand agrees, so much the better.”

Nodding, Elizabeth took out her communication device and focused on Frances. “Frances?” There was no answer. “Ayax, can you call Frances?”

Ayax nodded and tried her device, but despite infusing it with magic, when she called her cousin’s name, there was no response.

The reason why there was no response was Frances and Timur were at that very moment, occupied with infiltrating Princess Clawdia’s tent.

The Roranoak princess’s pavilion was guarded, but by a token group of four soldiers, clad in their country’s yellow livery. Through watching the tent, Timur and Frances had realized that there was nobody inside.

Frances, hiding behind another tent, turned to Timur. “You ready?”

He rolled up his sleeves. “Yes. Let’s go.”

Nodding, Frances raised Ivy’s Sting and sang out a short note. A gust of wind blasted into the faces of the guards, ripping their gaze away from the direction that Timur and Frances were hiding.

At the same time, Timur and Frances legged it for the pavilion, with the trogre muttering a series of Words of Power.

The guards turned back, Timur and Frances froze and didn’t move, as the guards blinked, and didn’t notice them.

Frances couldn’t believe her eyes. She wanted to praise Timur for what he had done, but a breath of air and she might give the game away. All she could do was stand still and marvel at the prince’s ability.

Timur had explained to her that he’d recently figured out how to cast invisibility spells, but they would only work to their full effect on still targets. If the target moved, there would be a slight haze, something a human or Alavari would register as “weird” in their gaze. Still, it was an incredibly impressive spell.

She almost snorted to herself. To think Thorgoth branded his own son as incapable. Gingerly, she and Timur exchanged a smile, before picking their way to the tent. The wind had given them a bit of a head start and allowed them to cut down on the distance they needed to travel. Yet it took an agonizing minute for them to sneak past the guards and get to the pavilion’s flap.

Although the two guards by the entrance had their backs facing them, the flap was closed. So Frances slowly withdrew something from her pocket, a gold coin and rolled it along the ground until it came to a stop in front of the two guards.

The shiny object immediately caught the pair’s eyes and one of them even walked forward to investigate. In that moment, trogre and mage slipped into the tent.

Once inside, Frances whistled up a proximity alert spell for if someone touched the flap and a deafening spell to cut down any noise inside the pavilion. Only then did she let out a sigh of relief.

“Timur, that was amazing,” she gasped.

“Thanks. Good idea on the coin by the way. Where did you learn that from?” Timur asked as they strode up to Clawdia’s desk. Similar to Edana and Frances’s pavilion, the princess had a sleeping area and a work area with a table and chairs.

“Um, I saw a video game back in my world… nevermind on that.” Frances immediately examined the notes and papers on Clawdia’s desk, making sure not to touch them. What was already on her desk was intriguing enough. “Timur, when did you see the Alavari meeting with Clawdia in private?”

“Frances, I didn’t see them in Clawdia’s tent. I just saw humans from the Roranoak and Lapanterian areas of the camp heading to my father’s tent,” said Timur.

Frances pulled out a memory crystal and pushed her magic into it to activate it. “But was it yesterday?” she asked.

“Yes—You found something?” the trogre asked, as the human slowly let the crystal’s light play over the documents.

Frances’s smile was grim. “Yes. It looks like she’s been considering an offer from Thorgoth. It looks like he offered to return Roranoak’s border fortresses in return for neutrality and a guarantee of protection from the Kingdom of Alavaria if the human kingdoms counterattack. We got everything we need.” Her expression softening, Frances looked up at Timur. “Thanks. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Timur blushed and looked away. “Well, I mean, you made the plan and all but yes. You couldn’t have done it without me,” he stammered.

Frances giggled at how inordinately pleased the trogre was and stowed the memory crystal away. “Alright, now we can use these to confront Clawdia.”

“Uh, what?” Timur blinked, his smile gone. “Frances, confronting Clawdia would be a terrible idea.”

Frances spun around, eyes wide. “Timur, she betrayed the human cause and wants to work with your father.”

“Yes, but what can Erisdale and Lapanteria do about it?” Timur asked.

“Well, we can stop sending troops to them and—Oh.” Frances blinked. That would have worked, but now Alavaria was offering to protect them against the humans. And if they tried to threaten Clawdia…

“You could declare war on them, but then you’d be fighting Alavaria and Roranoak,” said Timur. He sighed. “Your best option I think would be to try to offer Roranoak better terms than what Thorgoth is offering them.”

Frances felt her shoulders sag and she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Damn. I wonder if this was what your father wanted all along with this conference? To meet with Roranoak and convince them to join our side?”

“Now that, I’m not sure. It could be but I sense he has a far larger plan in motion,” said Timur. He turned to the pavilion entrance. “Not the time to discuss this, though, let’s get going—”

There was a low-pitched whine that emanated into the air and Timur and Frances froze.

“Can you teleport?” Timur asked.

“Hold onto me, tightly as you can!” Frances gasped, raising Ivy’s Sting. She burst into song, using to her full advantage, the deafening spell on the tent. As she sung out, she grabbed onto Timur and he hugged her tight.

They zapped out with a flash, just as the tent flap started to open. Frances saw the inside of the princess’s tent vanished, to be replaced by the inside of her and Edana’s tent. Only, in her haste, she’d teleported them a few feet off the ground. With nothing underneath her feet, she fell with Timur and they thudded onto the ground.

Somehow Timur managed to roll her on top of him so that he wasn’t crushing her and they lay like that, breathless, panting from the exertion of magic.

“That was close,” Timur stammered.

“Too close, but… we made it,” Frances looked up from where she was lying on Timur’s chest and slowly realized just who she was on top of. It was… actually rather comfortable and she felt her cheeks warm.

Timur, who was also beginning to blush, coughed officiously. “Um, you can get off in your time. Not that I’m complaining.”

Frances giggled, “Do I weigh anything to you?”

“A bit, but honestly you’re pretty light,” said Timur. Laughing quietly to themselves, the pair extricated themselves from one another and stood back up.

And that was when they heard a third person in the tent sigh.

“When I said I was fine with you and Timur, Frances, I didn’t quite mean for you to start getting serious so quickly.”

Frances and Timur’s eyes widened and as they slowly turned to see one of the last people they wanted to see. Edana Firehand, one hand pinching the bridge of her nose, the other holding her staff, Poker.

Timur swallowed. “Um, Lady Firehand, it’s not like that. We were just infiltrating Princess Clawdia’s tent.”

Frances groaned as it was like a switch was flicked. Her mother’s exasperation flared into shock, and then blossomed into anger.

“You two did what?” Edana hissed.

“Mom, Timur tipped me off to the fact that Clawdia’s been negotiating directly with King Thorgoth without our say-so. We recorded documents that prove it,” said Frances, showing her mom the recording crystal.

Edana blinked and took the crystal, pocketing it as her face seemed to flicker between several disparate emotions all at once.

“You should not have spied on our allies, especially with an Alavari prince in tow,” Edana said.

“Mom, she insulted you, me and not to mention, has betrayed us. I think it’s justified.”

“I don’t care whether it’s justified or not, you shouldn’t have put yourself in danger like that,” Edana growled. “What if Clawdia discovered you? What if you left something behind? What if you were caught?”

Frances frowned, “That wouldn’t be possible—”

“You don’t know for sure!” Edana shrieked. As Frances stepped back, her ears ringing, her mother heaved in a deep breath and held her staff with both hands. “Frances, you’re talented and powerful, but you’ve also been incredibly lucky. You should have taken more precautions instead of just setting off by yourself.”

“Mom… I’m seventeen, a full mage, and we didn’t have much time. For all I knew, Clawdia could have been finalizing a deal with Thorgoth.” Frances pointed at the crystal in her mother’s pouch. “We need to offer her and Roranoak better deal, now, or else she’s going to side against us in the war and accept an Alavari guarantee of protection.”

“Wait what—” Edana took a deep breath. “Okay! It paid off this time, but you need to tell me about these things, Frances.”

Frances sighed. She could see her mother’s point, she honestly could, but the situation in the war was so dire, she didn’t have time or even the opportunity to always just call her mother.

Speaking off… her hand mirror was vibrating.

“Alright mom, I’ll do my best.” She pulled out her mirror. “Sorry, I just have a call to take.”

Edana nodded, satisfied, as Frances opened her mirror.

“Frances?” Elizabeth’s voice echoed in the tent.

“Elizabeth! Oh, Amura and Rathon, how is your trip going?”

“We’re on our way to Delbarria. We found some… we found a lot of things. To start with, we found out Thorgoth killed his father King Tagus and his brother Prince Thomas and we have witnesses to that.”

“Wait, you found witnesses to my father’s murders?” Timur asked, looking very confused.

“That you Timur?” Antigones bellowed. “If so, then yes. We found the Great White Crown of Alan, First King of Alavaria. The one your father has been wearing has been a forgery. This crown is sentient and it turns out has been advising all the previous kings of Alavaria.”

Timur buried his face in his hands. “Oh, Galena.”

“It gets worse, much worse,” said Elizabeth. She hesitated and Frances could hear her pulling her horse to a stop. “Frances, we also found a damaged, if still sentient, Named Staff called Silver Star that witnessed the death of Prince Thomas, King Thorgoth’s brother, whom Thorgoth also killed.”

Silver Star? It’s still alive? Oh goodness! Frances, Silver Star was carved by the same Wandmaker who made me. We were close but I lost track of it when I started to disguise myself. Ivy’s Sting cried out in joy. Frances blinked and smiled at her wand’s joy. She wasn’t sure why her best friend was addressing this discovery to her, however.

“Silver Star is the sibling-staff to the Named Wand, Spellbinder, which we’ve realized is your wand, Ivy’s Sting. It turns out that Ixtar the Agoniser had both of them in his possession but kept them mostly apart,” said Elizabeth.

Frances felt like her she wanted to throw up. Timur stared at Ivy’s Sting and had a rather understandable look of surprise. However, her mother, who had been smiling and looking increasingly intrigued, had a far more troubling change. Now, her green eyes were wide and focused on Ivy’s Sting.

“Frances, tell me you didn’t know that Ivy’s Sting was Spellbinder?” Edana stammered.

Frances took a deep breath. “I didn’t at first, but I did find out. Mom, she’s a good friend and helpful—”

“She’s the most dangerous wand on the planet, Frances! If anybody finds out you had her allegiance, every mage in Durannon would be tempted to take her from you by force!” Edana’s face went pale and her hands began to shake. “And I gifted her to you. Oh Gods, what have I done?”

“Edana’s here?” Ayax demanded.

Frances ripped her gaze away from her horrified mother, who she could not bear to look at. “Yes, what is it Ayax?” Belatedly, Frances realized her cousin had a furious note to her voice, but the troll had already started to speak.

“Did the Human War Council vote on assassinating my father, Edana?” Ayax demanded.

Frances whipped her head to her mother, who, now looked completely poleaxed.

“Excuse me—what, how?”

“Did the War Council vote on assassinating my father?” Ayax demanded.

Edana spluttered, “Yes, but I and others voted against it as we knew that Allaniel wasn’t a threat! He helped us against Ixtar! Of course, I didn’t want your father to die!”

“Well then explain why Earl Darius hired a mercenary company to kill my father!” Ayax demanded.

“He did what?” Edana screamed.

General Antigones cut in, his voice quivering with fury. “Lady Firehand, we found the contract signed by his name saying the company was to pretend to be Lapanterian raiders and that Darius had a source in Thorgoth’s court telling him that Allaniel was planning on returning to service. Needless to say, we will be discussing this in person when we meet with you. Unless you can guarantee that you can seek justice for this crime?”

Frances stared at her mom, but she could already tell from the stricken look on her mother’s face that the answer wasn’t going to be the one that she hoped for.

“He will be punished, but the situation in Erisdale is precarious. I cannot guarantee the severity of the punishment,” said Edana, forcing the words from her lips.

They could hear Antigones snort and shake his head. “As I expected. How disappointing. I will see you in a few days, Firehand.”

The connection cut off, leaving the trio in the tent in silence.