Shortly after the Deathcaster who’d torn up Wolfpine’s square—a man who still refused to give his name or reveal his Status Sheet—was cuffed and safely imprisoned, Becka filled everyone in on the events leading to the fight in the square.

Garret Bronzelight of Frostford attempted to imprison his sister and steal her inheritance. She stole it back and fled the zone, and then Garret framed her for stealing from Frostford’s coffers. Using that lie, he commissioned an official Blazer Quest to drag his sister back home.

Becka’s rapt audience was a small group gathered in the shadow of the Wolfpine barracks. It included Glenn, Joanne, Logain, Anna, Alan, and Zack. And, of course, Leo. Glenn could tell all of this bothered Leo greatly, but for Glenn’s part, he was simply relieved the worst seemed to be over.

With the Blazer imposter revealed and his only known minion, Jahid Rockhollow, also in jail, Becka assured them all they could be reasonably confident all the main conspirators involved in framing Anna for stealing from Frostford’s coffers were under arrest. No one else would come after Anna or Alan. No one remained free to pay anyone to do so.

Anna Bronzelight and Alan Starshine were fugitives no more.

“So, that’s about all I know about it,” Becka said. “The real Brennon wasn’t even aware his identity had been stolen until Jenny tracked him down in the Snapleg Mountains and presented her suspicions about Garret Bronzelight’s scheme to steal his sister’s inheritance and seal her in prison. They returned to Frostford and unearthed Garret’s whole scheme in short order.”

Anna looked surprisingly concerned. “So my brother’s been arrested?”

Becka nodded. “On the road when he tried to flee by carriage, two nights ago. The evidence of what he did to frame you and the testimonies of the people he hired will be more than enough to put him away from life. Setting aside the horrors he inflicted upon you personally, lying to the Blazers to implicate an innocent is a crime is life in prison. Most aren’t foolish enough to risk it.”

Anna sighed. “Life in prison is not the fate I wish for him. But ... it’s likely for the best. At least he can’t hurt anyone else in there.”

“You’ve always been too forgiving,” Alan grumbled. “So far as I’m concerned, Garret can rot.”

Zack slapped them both on the backs, grinning a bit too wide. “So this is all great, really. This also means that little dust up when you folks grabbed Anna is forgiven too, right? Can’t accuse me of interfering in Blazer business when the man wasn’t a Blazer to begin with.”

“That’s up to Leo,” Joanne said pointedly. “He’s the one you greeted by throwing a chair.”

“Forgiven,” Leo said. “I have no plan to hold you responsible for protecting your friends.”

Zack smirked. “That almost makes me like you. I think.”

“There’s no need for that,” Leo said calmly. “I made your life difficult, first when I falsely accused you to create my cover and again when I chased you down outside Wolfpine. I don’t know if you’ll accept this, after all I’ve done, but you have my genuine apologies. I was only—”

Zack raised one hand. “Forget about it. No real harm done.”

“Except to your head.” Becka gave Zack a gentle shove before turning to speak to Leo. “Also, you can’t blame yourself for doing your job. The only thing you did here was do your job too well.”

“I don’t understand,” Leo said calmly.

“Until Jenny had irrefutable proof Garret Bronzelight was lying to us, she had to do her job. That included hunting for the fugitives who stole from Frostford’s coffers. Hence why she sent you.”

“So she expected me to fail?”

Becka smiled warmly. “She expected you to do the right thing the moment we revealed the truth. She knew how long she’d need to complete her investigation, and she knew it was too long to refuse to act. She simply didn’t expect you to find Anna so quickly, which is why I rushed here. When your phantom correspondence reached Lakebrooke, Jenny was all the way in Aquarine.”

“So she sent you in her stead,” Leo said. “That still leaves me at fault.”

“I don’t blame you,” Anna told Leo. “Not one bit.”

“It’s no one’s fault,” Becka said patiently, “save for Garret Bronzelight and those who accepted his coin to hunt his sister. If you’d not come to Wolfpine to complete this Quest, the Blazers would have sent someone else, and we have no guarantee they’d have listened and assisted us as you did. From what I understand, you also saved Zack from a Rakshasha a few days ago.”

“He did do that,” Zack agreed. “Kind of put a lie to his whole lawbreaker cover, too.”

Leo simply shrugged. “No one gets skewered on my watch.”

Joanne stepped forward. “Okay, I’m real glad everyone’s innocent and we’re all friends now. But there’s still things I need resolved before I can let everyone walk away and get drunk.”

“Such as?” Becka asked.

“First, that Deathcaster. When he showed me his Status Sheet, it said Brennon Shadesinger, Level 35 Arctist. Yet he wasn’t that. How did he fool us?”

Before she spoke, Becka looked at each of them in turn. “While I can answer that, I would like each of you to understand that what I’m about to tell you needs to stay between us. Provided they collaborate with a Preceptor Enchanter, high Level Guilecasters can enchant Rare items to create illusions as effective as any we can produce ourselves. That includes false Status Sheets.”

Joanne whistled softly. “I imagine that breaks an awful lot of laws.”

“Those with high Divinity or an affinity for illusion Skills can see through them,” Becka said. “Unfortunately, due to their focus on physical attributes, Town Guards may have more difficulty.”

“We’re not blessed with a great deal of Divinity,” Logain agreed quietly. “Interesting. I appreciate you letting us know about this hole in our security. I’ll see about getting it patched.”

“I wonder if old Richard’s willing to take a shift on the gates,” Joanne mused.

Becka snickered. “Doubtful, but you needn’t worry too much. Such enchantments are still extremely expensive, rare, and generally only used by high Level Deathcasters and others who wish to hide their identities. All live in high Level zones. I doubt any would have any reason to come here.”

“Unless they’re hunting someone,” Anna said quietly. “I’ve caused everyone so much trouble.”

“Not your fault either, and it’s all over now,” Alan reminded her, and then smiled like he was seeing the sun for the first time. “Gods, we can finally go home.”

“If you even want to go home,” Zack added. “I mean, I still have my spare room.”

“I’ll let you all sort that out among yourselves,” Becka said. “Anna, obviously you and Alan are now cleared of all charges. You’re now free to travel wherever you wish, but I’d wait a few days before you leave. Jenny’s already put the word out to the other Blazer offices via phantom correspondence, but it could take a few days to ensure the Quest to find you both is cancelled.”

Anna glanced Zack’s way. “Right. Still some things to figure out here.”

“Now, I’ve had a long journey,” Becka said. “I’d like some time to rest and refresh myself before we discuss this further. Captain Cliffbreeze, is there anything else I can do for you at the moment?”

“Not just yet,” Joanne said. “I said I had questions. Plural. There’s something else I need answered before you leave.” She looked to Glenn. “Redwood, before we all beat up a bunch of corpses, you stepped forward and said you believed Anna Bronzelight was innocent. Why’d you say that?”

Glenn grimaced inside his helmet. He’d been hoping Joanne would simply forget about that after being punted into a window, but Joanne was savvier than that. How could he explain himself?

“This was before Becka showed up,” Joanne added, “and before we knew that Deathcaster was an imposter. So what led you to believe Anna was innocent?”

Before Glenn could answer, Leo stepped forward. “I shared my suspicions with him last night.”

Glenn’s words caught in his throat. What was Leo saying? Why would he say anything at all?

“When we staked out Beth Silverstone’s house last night,” Leo continued calmly, “Glenn asked me about everything leading to the Blazers placing a bounty on Anna. After I shared what I knew about it, he told me he doubted Anna was capable of such a crime.”

Anna smiled Glenn’s way. “Did you really?”

“He said that in the time he’s known Anna, she’s been nothing but kind and generous,” Leo said, repeating Glenn’s words. “As Glenn pointed out to me last night, the facts didn’t fit the claim. He also asked what evidence we had Anna had actually committed this crime, and I admitted we had none ... other than the words of her brother.”

Joanne glanced Glenn’s way. “Is this true? Did you two talk about all this with Leo last night?”

Numbly, Glenn nodded. Leo was actually telling the truth.

“When he asked me if I wondered if Anna truly committed this crime, I admitted I wasn’t certain,” Leo said. “I suppose it was unprofessional to admit my doubts in front of someone outside the Blazers, but I’d been struggling with them for some time. So his doubts came from me.”

That was a lie. Joanne’s gaze, inside her helmet, remained fixed on Glenn. “Did they?”

Glenn saw no reason to leave Leo hanging. “After last night, I never believed Anna was guilty.” All true. “And after listening to Jahid’s accusation about the Blazer in the square, I simply couldn’t shake my suspicions he was telling the truth.”

“Hmm,” Joanne said. “So that’s all it was.”

“Doesn’t it make sense?” Becka asked. “Now, please. I traveled through the night to get here, and I haven’t slept or eaten. I fear I might keel over without some food.”

“We can take things from here, Miss Coldbreaker,” Logain said calmly. “You get some rest.”

Joanne looked to Logain, then at Glenn, then at Leo. “We’ve got it. Get out of here.” She turned her gaze back to Glenn. “You too, Redwood. It’s still your day off, isn’t it?”

Becka immediately perked up. “It’s Glenn’s day off?”

Glenn glanced at her, recognized a familiar eagerness in her eyes, and found himself suddenly very warm inside his armor. Oh Gods.

She was 16 now. He was 16 as well. They were both back in Wolfpine together, at the same time and the same age, which meant...

“I’ll leave Miss Coldbreaker in your care, Redwood,” Logain said. “I trust you can ensure she doesn’t pass out before she gets some rest and something to eat.”

The way Becka was now grinning at him threatened to rob Glenn of all ability for rational thought. “Yes sir!” He said it louder than he intended. “All too happy to do that, right now.”