“A strange sight to see the two of you idling about here.”

Nicolas Arbutus approached his son and Duxton, who were waiting within the courtyard of the Arbutus fort. Shaw was pacing back and forth while Duxton merely stood there with his arms folded. He would rather have a chair to sit in or a wall to lean against, but Shaw insisted that they wait in this exact spot.

“Zaniyah was supposed to return from Grand Temple two hours ago,” grumbled Shaw. He wished he had one of those strange metal tablets he had seen the others used, but alas, no one had offered to order him one.

A wide grin appeared on Nicolas’ lips. “The date must be going well. That’s my girl!” Shaw scowled at the idea. “You should trust your gut more. I thought you approved of him.”

“I didn’t believe she would actually pick a theater rat,” grumbled Shaw. “Udell would have sent notice if he expected for them to be delayed. Something ill must have occurred.”

Right as he said that, the gates of the fort opened. The family carriage began to slowly roll in. Duxton immediately perked up. He set his hands on his hips as he waited for the carriage to stop. “You’re late,” he barked as Udell stepped out of the carriage.

“They insisted on having a late lunch after their tea break,” replied Udell apathetically. He approached Duxton and bowed. “I am ready to serve, my lord.”

Duxton checked his pocket watch. “We need to hasten to my next appointment… What is taking your manservant so long?”

Odd was helping Zaniyah get out of the carriage. She was trying to do it herself, but her time at the Daughters of Iath had completely drained whatever magic was in her back. It was certainly taking its sweet time to return. Even if it was bad, she refused to use a chair now. No way would she let her parents find out exactly how bad her condition was.

Sweat was building upon her brow as her knees wobbled. “I’ll be fine,” she muttered to Odd.

“You clearly won’t be,” replied Odd in a matter-of-fact manner.

“Oh ho,” said Nicolas as he completely misread the situation. “My dear Zaniyah is coming home from a date and is barely able to walk? My daughter truly has my blood in her veins!”

Zaniyah’s face shifted to one of absolute horror. Shaw’s face was similarly matched, but his tanned face had shifted to a dark red. Mostly from rage over the embarrassment. Before he could say anything, Zaniyah cried out.

“It isn’t like that!” She brushed Odd aside and straightened herself up. “Kogin kept wanting to talk to me, but those damn girls kept trying to challenge me to fights. I’m worn out because of that, ya know? I’ll be fine after I eat something.”

Nicolas raised an eyebrow then laughed and shook his head. “Ask the cook to make you a sandwich, but leave room for tonight’s roast! It’s licorice flavored!”

“Right, yeah,” muttered Zaniyah. “I’ll go do that.” She usually loved food, but the thought of a licorice-flavored meat roast made her stomach churn.

Duxton was losing patience. “You heard her, she’s fine on her own,” he spat at Odd. He waited for Odd to let go of Zaniyah’s arm. “Tell someone to prepare my carriage. I must leave at once.”

“I would have been happy to serve if it was that much of an inconvenience,” said Shaw.

“Nonsense,” replied Duxton with a fake grin. “I need someone who would be mentally present. You would do nothing but grimace and mutter that poor little Zaniyah was up to no good.”

Despite all his faults, Duxton didn’t enjoy lying to Shaw. He wanted to be truthful and lay out everything, tell him all his plans and have him help with his dealings. But… Duxton couldn’t bring himself to either trust or distrust Nicolas Arbutus. That paladin saved his life and gave him to Rosethorn to raise.

Duxton owed him everything.

That trust was going to be Duxton’s downfall. Once he and Udell were in the carriage, he couldn’t think to do anything other than lament about his situation. “... He must know something.” The phrase was quietly uttered to himself.

“Paladin Nicolas has been relegated to a leadership position within the town guard,” replied Udell. Not even as a commander. He was made their advisor so that he could have the option of being sent out on missions if needed.

Duxton held out a hand and Udell gave him his notebook. “We’ll continue to avoid him until we are given reason to investigate.” He opened the book and absentmindedly flipped through the pages. “They still refuse to let me meet with the king.”

There was a part of him that wanted to help Sybil. He honestly did, but the conspiracy he had stumbled upon was far bigger than he could wrap his head around. The pieces to the puzzle existed, but he hated how many hoops he had to jump through just to get a taste of something useful.

“Amalfrieda is a traitor,” said Udell. He kept his eyes on Duxton as the prince continued to flip through the book.

“That has nothing to do with you.” Duxton glanced up. “Unless you’ve already used that one to brainwash me into thinking that everything was alright between us.”

Udell looked away. “No, my lord.” He hadn’t a reason to yet, nor was he thinking about it. His mind was still a mess after finding out that Amalfrieda had been working against Duxton this entire time.

Amalfrieda had unintentionally been the reason why Tish was sent to Braytons. Pennyrile had discovered that her self-proclaimed rival within The Order, Quinton Protea, was one of Amalfrieda’s references. She convinced herself that Protea was making a move to garner Duxton’s favor.

Tish’s original role was to become Duxton’s mistress and give the Daughters of Iath more power within the government. Her role shifted to monitoring Sybil after the heart had been drawn out of Volo Refuge. From there, the story was similar to the one Buttonweed’s corpse had told Veximarl.

The Order’s interest in Sybil dissipated once the would-bes began to march their tainted beast armies through the swamplands. Rather than withdraw Buttonweed, Pennyrile received an order from Elbellziara to bring both Sybil and Alton to Grand Temple. Pennyrile supplied Buttonweed with the blood iron used on Sybil, as well as arrows of true faith.

“Where did she get the blood iron?” Duxton glanced up from the book.

“The Daughters maintain the purity of paladin bloodlines by murdering priestesses born within their families. Their blood iron is processed into items used for processing slaves.” Udell leaned against the carriage side. He was feeling tired. “She sent a girl of hers to make a deal with a member of the military, and he gifted her with a small collection of arrows.”

A click resonated within Duxton’s mind. “Have they always done that?”

“I cannot say for sure. Madam Pennyrile’s sister had her blood iron harvested when she was murdered. The Madam seemed to believe that it was an ancient practice.”

Duxton closed the book and handed it back to Udell. “You will need to question her again.”

“Unless you can convince Blue to return there next week, that will not be possible.” Udell tucked the book into his jacket.

Their efficiency was limited. Udell allowed Maurice to enter locations and question people as he pleased, but even Udell wasn’t allowed everywhere. It wouldn’t do well to draw attention to themselves by forcing Udell’s access into areas. Stealth was necessary to protect their mission.

Duxton looked out the carriage window. “... We’re meeting with Lord Carnation. I will distract his daughter. Be certain to ask him who he sold the missing weapon shipment to.”

Udell silently studied Duxton. The prince’s left hand was uncontrollably fidgeting. His fingers were tapping against the pad of his thumb in an erratic pattern. “What troubles you, my lord?”

“Merely focusing on what comes ahead.”

An obvious lie, but Duxton didn’t wish to bring up Sena. He didn’t want to think about how much she looked up towards Pennyrile, nor about the trust she had with the Daughters. That was something he could handle later, so he needed to stop thinking about it, but-

“There is someone that I want you to meet,” said Sena as she grasped onto his hands.

There it was. That moment again haunted Duxton’s dreams. He was constantly searching this memory for some new clue that he had missed before. Something that will solve all of his current problems.

The Duxton of the past smiled widely. “I did not hide in that boring little mansion for two weeks just to have my precious time with you shared by someone else.” He leaned down and pecked her forehead.

Prince Wulfert, in his infinite wisdom, had declared that Duxton needed to widen his horizons and work on unifying a troubled nation. Specifically by easing tensions in the Clay Region. Duxton thought about it, remembered that the last Aconite that had been sent to the Clay Region had been horrifically assassinated, and chose to go against his father’s advice.

It was better to use his authority and send more experienced folk out there to handle the problem. After he had explained his point of view to Nicolas and Enzo, they agreed to leave Fogbloom over the course of winter. Meanwhile, Duxton stayed at the palace’s guest mansion. He planned to wait there until traveling conditions had worsened to the point where he could no longer be easily sent off.

And the blizzard yesterday was his golden opportunity to return home. Sena had chosen to celebrate the occasion by stopping by to borrow some books from an old private study belonging to… Duxton didn’t actually know, but no one had really bothered to use this room in the past fifty years or so.

“Duxton,” said Sena with a pout. “I know that your plans to sit around and do nothing all day are keeping you quite busy, but-”

“Very busy,” assured Duxton with a nod.

“Yes, I know, love, but I want you to meet someone important to me. Her name is Rebecca and she’s told me the most troubling news of Grand Temple.” Sena’s hands tightened around his as she pleaded with him with her eyes.

Duxton frowned at her. Sena was rarely this serious. “... We’ll go tomorrow,” he replied.

A faint tinkling resonated throughout the whole of the palace. “What is that?” Sena pulled away from Duxton. She looked around with worry..

“That’s the bell bell,” replied Duxton as he leaned against the nearby desk. “Not sure why the palace guards call it that, but they said it malfunctions every once in a while.” Though the only other time he had heard it go off was last summer.

Sena relaxed and rested her cheek on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, I’ve felt like I’ve been balancing on an edge since… Ah, right. We can talk about it tomorrow, Duxton.”

The tinkling outside the room shifted into shouting. Duxton’s eyes flitted to the door. “Get behind the desk,” he whispered to Sena. She looked up at him. “Now, please.”

Sena grabbed a notebook off the desk before kneeling on the floor. She wedged herself underneath the desk and pulled the chair in place so that it looked like it was neatly tucked in. Duxton opened the window and closed the curtain. He then positioned himself against the wall behind the door, so that it wouldn’t be seen when it opened.

The voices down the hall grew louder, until a man outside the door spoke up. “No one comes here. It’ll be safe.”

Duxton’s view was blocked as the door opened. He pressed himself against the wall to prevent himself from getting squished. Two women entered the room. One he recognized. She was as beautiful as ever. Even after all these years, and the arguments they had, Wulfric still blessed her the most elegant of dresses.

Emogene’s red-violet eyes met with Duxton’s as she turned around. Her shoulder was supporting the second woman. Unlike the vision of wonderment that Emogene was, this pitiful creature was beyond repair. Her hands were crooked from being broken, her flesh was scarred from burns, and clothes were soiled with dark stains and old blood. A bandage over her face appeared to be blinding her and the scent of infection was seeping from her pores.

Prince Wulfric stayed outside the room, just outside of Duxton’s sight. “I must speak with Laurent. Ignore any sounds you hear. Don’t leave this room.”

Duxton couldn’t help but to admire Emogene’s natural skill of deception. She had only given Duxton a passing glance. Her face showed no reaction to his presence, as even the slightest twitch would clue Wulfric in that something was wrong. All she did was give Wulfric a smile filled with admiration as her eyes shined with trust.

“I’ll be here, my love,” she replied gently. “Please return swiftly.”

“I will,” Wulfric said as he reached forward. Duxton caught a glimpse of his fingertips.

Emogene quickly shifted forward, allowing Wulfric to gently touch her cheek. She then waited for him to close the door and listened carefully to make sure he was walking away. “Come on, here’s a seat,” she whispered to the woman. She then took her time to ease the woman onto the loveseat that was near the window.

Duxton didn’t say anything. He held a finger against his lips before he pointed inquisitively at the woman.

“She isn’t a danger to you,” replied Emogene. She then set a hand against the woman’s cheek and then spoke softly to her. “Lydia, my… My stepson is here.”

Lydia struggled to sit up, but Emogene placed a firm hand on her shoulder. “You promised that we wouldn’t involve anyone else,” she said in a hoarse whisper.

“That’s why he was supposed to have been sent away, so that he wouldn’t become involved in this mess,” replied Emogene in a scolding tone. She glared at Duxton out of the corner of her eye.

“What’s going on?” Duxton moved to sit on the edge of the desk. He firmly tapped against the wood, signaling for Sena to stay put.

Emogene hesitated. She positioned herself between Lydia and Duxton. “Lydia has been kept in the core with me since last summer.” She struggled to find a way to phrase it delicately. “... They’ve been experimenting on her.”

Duxton studied Lydia. Though her clothes were dirty now, he could see traces of white leather armor. Her hair, though tangled and matted, was supposed to be blonde. “Lady Lydia Larkin?” The war hero?

A weak wave was given by Lydia. Her hands were so damaged that she couldn’t straighten out her fingers. “... Hello.”

“Why?” It was the only question that Duxton could think to ask.

Emogene continued to stand defensively between him and Lydia. “We don’t exactly know… At least, I don’t know. Whether Wulfric does is a different story, but that doesn’t matter.” She folded her hands together in a pleading manner. “I need you to move Lydia out of Fogbloom. Don’t hide in the mansion like you usually do. She must leave the city tonight.”

“... I don’t go hide in the mansion,” muttered Duxton.

“You do it all the time, and it annoys me that no one bothered to check to see if you were hiding there instead of being halfway across the country.” Emogene tensed up for a brief moment, relaxed, then stepped forward to hug Duxton. “Please, for just this once, please listen to me. I need you to hide here for a little while and ignore all the commotion outside.”

He pried the woman off her and held her away by her shoulders. “What is going on?” Emogene’s pointed ears twitched as singing began to erupt throughout the palace. “Why are there other sirens here?”

“They’re going to break into the core and steal a sword that’s being kept there,” replied Emogene quickly. “That has almost nothing to do with us.” She grasped onto Duxton’s wrists and eased his hands off of her. “All you need to do is wait for the madness to die down before sneaking yourself out of here.”

There was fear in her eyes. This woman had played Wulfric like a fiddle for years. It was nothing but lies and deceit as she played Wulfric and his allies against each other... And for what? He had never understood a single thought that had drifted through this siren’s mind.

Did her gaze show honest fear, or was she trying to play him too? She had even bothered to call him stepson, which was a new experience for the both of them. “Right.” Duxton slowly nodded his head. “Of course, stepmother.”

The corner of Emogene’s eye twitched. “I need to ensure that nothing ill happens to Wulfric. Please stay here.” She slipped past him and quickly exited the room.

He didn’t like this. Duxton went to the window and opened the drapes. “Sena,” he said as he opened up the window and looked outside. It was a sharp drop below the windowsill.

Sena shifted the chair out of the way and crawled out from under the desk. She immediately went to Lydia to see what the extent of her injuries were. “Hello. My name is Sena,” she whispered in a calm voice.

Duxton leaned slightly out the window. He could use his magic to curve around the side and land safely on the beach. They could reach the mansion within fifteen minutes if they left now. “Don’t waste your time, Sena. We’re leaving.”

“Nonsense,” replied Sena as she gestured to Lydia. “We can’t leave her here.” Another alarm began to ring through the palace. That was the assassin alarm. Protocol was to enter the closest room and barricade the door.

With a flick of his fingers, Duxton used a bit of magic to lock the door. “I’m not willing to risk our necks by getting involved in Wulfric’s business. We’re leaving.”

Sena folded her arms and held her ground. She gave him her sternest glare.

Duxton held up a hand as he heard footsteps run through the hall. They tried to force the door open, even banged against it a few times, then quickly gave up. It may have been a siren, which would explain why they didn’t call out for help. Their voices had an old melodic tone to them.

However, this was a private office that was rarely used. Any guard of the palace wouldn’t be surprised to find it locked. Yet there wasn’t a reason for a guard to call out to them. Unless they were looking for Lydia and didn’t want to alarm anyone who was helping her?

“What about your grandfather?” Sena whispered.

Duxton held a finger to his lips. There were still noises outside, but no voices… As for Sena’s question, the only response he gave was a shake of his head. He saw the old man once a week for church, where he was told to study hard and not dishonor the family. The king still viewed Duxton as a child, and he had no time for children. As for Wulfric, Duxton didn’t care if the man lived or died.

The sounds began to fade. “Now is not the time to make a grand sacrifice in order to keep an old man safe,” spat out Duxton.

Sena placed her hands on her hips. “I refuse to leave here unless you can find a way for all three of us to do it safely. Miss Lydia doesn’t deserve to be abandoned.”

Duxton gritted his teeth. Stubborn. Stupid stubborn Arbutus blood. “... We can take one of the emergency exits.” They had been built to sneak out members of the royal family, and Duxton knew of at least three of them.

“They aren’t safe,” replied Lydia.

Then their opponent was someone closely involved with the royal family. Any of them could be a dangerous opponent. Duxton realized that it was likely the reason why Emogene insisted that they leave the city. “Who was the one who locked you in the core?”

Lydia lightly touched the bandage covering her eyes. “I’m sorry to say that my eyes were the first thing taken. For the longest time, I was certain it was Prince Wulfric, but he was awfully insistent about helping me escape.”

Imprisonment and torture did seem like a Wulfric pastime and he was rarely one to change the way he treated someone. Emogene may have found a way to convince him. There had to be some reason to pull Lydia out of the palace. Her usefulness involved her changing locations, but why was that?

“Still not certain what they wanted with me,” muttered Lydia. She was easily able to read his thoughts, despite being blind. “Now that I think about it, they never bothered to ask me any questions.”

Most of her injuries had already scarred and partially healed over. The torture had been happening for some time. It was enough to pique Duxton’s curiosity. “The servant entrance.” Palace workers didn’t come through the main entrance and the alarm meant that the hallways in that area would be abandoned, save for a handful of guards.

Sena frowned. “Are you certain that we can make it that far?” They were currently on the upper levels, and the servant’s entrance opened up to a guard station on the beach. There wouldn’t be many chances to hide.

“Wait here,” replied Duxton. “I’ll look ahead and then come back for you.”

“That seems far too dangerous.” Sena wrinkled her nose. “What if I go? I’m small and unassuming. No one will target me at all.”

Lydia shook her head. “Your intentions are pure, but your plan lacks insight. It’s best that you wait with me.”

Took the words right out of Duxton’s mouth. “Keep the door locked and wait for me to come back. I’ll knock through times.” He unlocked the door and took a breath to steady himself before opening it. This palace had been his prison for several years. Every inch of it was engraved within his mind.

Left out the door, right down the hall. Second staircase down. Duxton could hear the commotion coming from downstairs. The sirens were forcing their way into the palace’s core. It was a cacophony of random notes and clashing metal. He needed to head straight from where he was standing and take the stairs on the left.

The hallways began to thin as he entered a servant area. Many of them ran perpendicular to the main hallways, so that servants remained mainly unseen. They used different stairwells, which was proving useful now. Whoever was in charge of security as of late hadn’t been hiring the brightest of guards. They rarely patrolled these routes.

Luckily, the sirens hadn’t found them either. Though someone else had. Duxton slid into a storage closet as he heard footsteps running towards him. He took care to summon bars across the closed door so that no one could force it open.

“He’s been injured.” Duxton recognized Father Laurent’s voice. “We need to find him before he causes more trouble.”

Was Emogene responsible for the siren attack? Had one gotten separated from the group and fled down here? Duxton needed to return to Sena. His instincts were telling him that he couldn’t risk running into Laurent now. He waited for a long moment of silence before leaving the storage room. Taking Sena away from this place was all that mattered.

He had hardly made it down the hall before he heard Emogene’s voice. “I need you to leave me here, Wulfric.” Duxton pressed himself tightly against the corner of the wall.

“Not without that woman,” spat back Wulfric.

Emogene shook her head and pressed her hand against his stomach. “Let me take that risk. You, above anyone else, must survive this.”

Duxton peeked around the corner. Both Wulfric and Emogene’s clothes were heavily stained with blood. It had only been a few minutes since he last saw them. How had everything gone so wrong so quickly?

Wulfric tensed his hand and conjured a violet blade. “Come out,” he growled out as he pointed the blade in Duxton’s direction.

Dammit. “It’s only me,” muttered Duxton as he stepped out. He could see now that all of the blood had come from a deep laceration on Wulfric’s stomach.

Despite his injury, Wulfric stood tall. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same of you,” replied Duxton as he gestured towards the injury. “Who attacked you?”

A sting of panic ran up Duxton’s spine as Wulfric lunged forward. He summoned a halberd to defend himself. Violet mingled with orange for a moment, sparking and cracking as Wulfric attempted to shove the halberd away from Duxton. He shifted back on one foot and brought it down a second time, keeping himself close so that Duxton couldn't utilize his weapon well.

“Stop it, Wulfric!” Emogene exclaimed. She then covered her mouth with her hands as her eyes flitted to the hallway.

“We’ll claim that he died in a struggle against the invaders!” Wulfric lunged forward again, this time succeeding in clipping the edge of Duxton’s jacket. “We need him to die! Don’t you wish to see Alton again?!”

This was maybe… The third or fourth time that Wulfric had come after Duxton’s life. Never this directly before. Usually it was weak attempts to have others do the dirty work. “Surely, you’re overreacting,” he growled back.

Duxton managed to move backward far enough to push Wulfric back with the back of his weapon. Wulfric’s weapon was already shifting into a claymore. It was fortunate that Duxton had lived as though there were always a dagger aimed at his back. If he had been lax in his combat lessons, he would already be dead.

Wulfric was injured. There was an opportunity to subdue the prince and run to where Sena was. After this though,Duxton was going to leave Fogbloom forever and go to… He didn’t know where. Maybe he could use some connections to find Alton and ask him if he had a spare room.

He waited for Wulfric to swing the claymore before shifting to the side and using his halberd to shove the prince back again. Duxton only needed to stop Wulfric from fighting. Killing him was far more trouble than it was worth. Wulfric staggered backward, sword evaporating in the process. There was a moment of panting before he shot the most deathly glare Duxton’s way.

To Duxton’s horror, Wulfric doubled down on his murderous intent. He slashed his arms forward and flexed his fingers. Spikes appeared all around Duxton. The spikes twisted towards Duxton as Wulfric stretched out his arms.

Time seemed to slow at that moment. Duxton’s brief life flashed before his eyes. Oddly, he thought about his mother, and how he could no longer remember the subtle details of her face. Instinctively, his eyes flitted to Emogene. She was staring at him, with her hand still over her mouth. Her gaze showed not horror or fear, but an odd sort of determination and resolve.

She moved her hand away from her mouth and placed them over her ears. With a frightened yet reassuring smile, she gave Duxton a nod.

The oddest moment of clarity washed over Duxton. He fell to the ground and covered his ears. His halberd was unsummoned so he could spend the whole of energy creating something that would deafen him completely. Just as he did so, a horrifying screech pierced their air, sending Wulfric crumpling to the ground.

Duxton glanced up. The spikes had dissipated around him. He then looked over to Emogene. Her attention was elsewhere. A window nearby had shattered. Wulfric, who had been so aggressive before, was lying in an unconscious heap. Blood was streaming for his ears.

Emogene mouthed something at him. She then gestured to her own ears and to him. Duxton unsummoned the magic about his head. “Get Lydia and run towards the main gate.”

“The royal guard will be posted there.” Adrenaline rushing through Duxton’s veins. He needed to get Sena out of here. Whatever happened to Lydia now, he didn’t care.

“I promise that they won’t be there for long.” Emogene selected a long shard of glass. She tore off a bit of her skirt and wrapped it around the shard.

All Duxton could do was stand there, to stunned to move, as Emogene then forced the shard into Wulfric’s chest. “What… What are you doing?!”

“I was a fool to think I could end this,” replied Emogene with a whimper. “Please, Duxton. Take Lydia and go… I swear, she’s not only an innocent woman but she’s the evidence you need to carry on. You can take down the church and have the crown if you want it, but you must have her by your side to do so!”

The guard will be here soon. They would’ve heard her song. Forget Lydia. Duxton needed to get Sena out of here. She was far more innocent than anyone else in the palace. His hand tensed up in a fist. What was Emogene babbling about? What had she dragged the palace into?

“... Tria guide your soul,” he replied softly.

Duxton did what he could to avoid the guards and made his way back to the office. He used his magic to unlock the door and slipped inside. Sena was kneeling next to Lydia and was scribbling furiously into her notebook. Had Duxton not snapped his fingers, she wouldn’t have noticed him enter.

“Duxton.” She stood up and tucked the notebook into her jacket. “... What happened? You’ve gone pale.”

He felt paralyzed. Duxton desperately wished to wrap her up and squeeze her as tightly as he could. “... W-Wulfric is dead.”

The news both confused and bewildered Sena. “... But that’s impossible.” He was one of the powerful men in the country. Not only in title, but in combat strength.

Duxton struggled to speak. All he could see was the calm expression on Emogene’s face as she assassinated the crown prince. They needed to flee from the palace so that he could collect his thoughts. “We’re leaving. Now. Through the window.”

“Don’t do anything crazy.” Sena put both her hands on Duxton’s cheeks in order to steady him. “You’ll struggle to get just the two of us down, not to me0” She began coughing as mist began to flood the room.

Lydia dragged herself to a standing position. The mist was trailing off her fingertips. “I will be fine on my own.”

“You most certainly will not, Lady Larkin!” Sena exclaimed. She rushed to stand between Lydia and the door. “If you will just give us a moment to think, we will figure something out.”

The mist continued to build in the room as Lydia lifted her hand. “I know there isn’t a way for me to make you understand now, but the two of you are children. You’re both far too young to get involved in this.”

They were already involved. Despite Duxton’s willingness to abandon Lydia before, Emogene claimed that he needed her. He couldn’t afford to let her slip through his fingers now. She was the only way he would find out what happened here today. The church, the crown, it didn’t matter. All he wanted was a way to sort out this madness.

“I only need a moment to adjust my calculations,” he muttered.

“Lady Larkin?” Sena moved her hands through the mist. There wasn’t enough of it to obscure their sight. It was almost as though she had evaporated into it. “She’s gone, Duxton!”

Duxton looked around. The mist was dying out. Somehow, Lydia had slipped out the room without using the door. “... We need to leave, Sena.”

“We can’t leave her,” replied Sena.

“We will die if they catch us here,” spat back Duxton. “Come here!” He gestured to the window.

Sena stared at him for a moment. Her eyes then fell to the ground. “... Yes, Duxton.” She leaned against him and wrapped her arms around him as he put an arm around her waist. Together, they stumbled out the window.

He managed to create a glider long enough to carry them to the beach. They then ran to the mansion. Sena never brought up Rebecca again. She would never mention the church or Lydia Larkin, or any of her own concerns. Over the coming weeks, she assured Duxton that he needed to concentrate on how he wished to move forward with his life.

… Then she was dead.

Her body was discovered in an alleyway within Grand Temple, between a bakery and a pawn shop. The method used to murder her was considered brutal. Duxton began to search tirelessly for clues to her death. He murdered at least half a dozen, rescued three times the amount of that.

In the process, his title was threatened. His sanity was questioned. Duxton didn’t care anymore. He found himself questioning every day if he would have some epiphany that would magically solve anything. Somehow, he had convinced himself that the answer would be at Bratyons, with Sybil.

Sybil was the key to ending Sena’s quest. The one that had started with Lydia’s death. But just went Duxton thought he was making progress, he felt his quest spiraling back to the day of his father’s death. The mysteries that he had left unanswered when he allowed for Lydia to slip away from him. These were pieces that he had only managed to pick up again thanks to Udell and Maurice’s interviews with the military generals.

Emogene’s motives for assassination were becoming clearer. The crown prince was truly a villain. This was something that Duxton had always known, but he had only recently come to terms with how insane the man truly was.

Wulfric was the one who had orchestrated the Southern War. He had spent years setting up allies within the Clay Region. The only goal of the war was to cause a paladin genocide. Since such a genocide did not occur outside of the Clay Region, Duxton assumed that they were focused on hunting down and murdering Iath’s hosts.

Now those same allies that Wulfric had made during the war had grown in strength. The ones that laid within the church were currently stifling the war with the would-bes. For some unknown reason, they were purposely prolonging it. This was something that Duxton couldn’t allow to go on for much longer. The Order of Alcea needed to be stopped in order for this war to come to an end.

“We’re here, my lord.” Udell gestured for Maurice to open the door.

“Good.” Duxton stood up. “Let us bring an end to this.”

Apologies, Sena. There wasn’t time to solve the mess you had gotten caught up in all those years ago. Please wait a little longer… It’ll all be over soon...