Wooden poles rose up from the water, creating a border that separated the rest of the lake from Ferman’s Bay. Glimmerwood’s shore, unlike that of Altheer, teemed with small fishing vessels sailing far into the lake’s waters; further in the distance tall towers jutted up like fat fingers, with brightly coloured covering of clothe forming their rooves.

“The lake on these parts is safer than they are on our side,” said Odysseus. We were on a balcony on the third floor of the Inn by the Lakeside, giving us a good view of the comings and goings of the fishing boats. Odysseus’ circlet gleamed as it caught the evening light – protection from another fall – but even so he stood away from the railing. “They have the boon of being Forsaken. The waters have their dangers but they are manageable. There used to be large ships that moved grain east towards the Green Pastures, or west towards Harrengrove before the proliferation of the spatial stones. It has been some time since I have been in Glimmerwood.”

“Yeah?” I said absently, my focus on the people below, minding their business and hard at work.

Odysseus nodded. “It was during my time in the temporal school,” he said, smiling lightly. “There are temporal farms a quick ride from here and I would have been taught to supervise the work of those under me had I stayed longer in the temporal school. It is a requisite step for all to take before they are taught the more complex forms of magic. ‘To test one’s resolve,’ as my teachers told me.”

“Temporal farms?” I said, turning to face him. A chuckle left me. “You know, that makes sense, but I didn’t think it would be a thing.”

“Perhaps we might ride there and see them,” he said. Odysseus’ expression changed, becoming darker. “If father ever lets us free of the castle at the conclusion of this adventure.”

I hummed, the feelings of conflicting in my stomach doubling. “When are we going to start the plan?” I asked, speaking past Odysseus to Allyceus and his ladies-in-waiting. All settled around the space, food and drink between them. “It feels like we’re wasting time.”

“Our watchers could already be here,” said Allyceus. “Watching us even now. Night is our ally and that is when we’ll move. For now, enjoy the sunset, eat and mentally prepare yourself. I will want you with me. All of this is in an effort to train you, after all. Jaslynn and Freda will be together, and I want Cybill and Ellora protecting Odysseus.”

“You were not there, Ally,” said Jaslynn, her chair tilted back and her legs crossed across the table. She had one of her discs hovering over her hand, spinning on its axis. “But the Champion and I had an agreement, that we would be together on this excursion. He had the brilliant idea that we go to Narlen’s Grace of all things.”

“Is this true, Champion?” Odysseus asked and I could see the same question reflected Allyceus’ eyes. I shrugged and he let out a sigh. “Certainly the last place anyone would look. Are you going to find many dire beasts there? I know that there are streams and rivers that feed Lake Gris, and the dire beasts might roam those parts, but not so that there has been an excess of hunter requests in the area.”

“Oh, we have other plans,” Jaslynn said with a smile, her eyes fixed on me. “All the Champion’s idea.”

Odysseus’ lips pressed together, then he let out another sigh. “All of this is your plan, Champion,” he said. “If Allyceus agrees, then I see no problems so long as we manage it well.” He stopped, taking everyone in. A bit of resignation settled on his shoulders. “I will admit that I am mildly worried that we might forget about the challenge before us in the form of Baron Owain. We have freedom before us, and that can be as dangerous as a hearty drink, making us lose perspective. We should be thinking forward, planning for the future, yes, but that does not mean we should think the Fates had already deemed the matter of the challenge concluded.”

Allyceus nodded. “It is why I want the Champion with me tonight,” he said. “You have proven you have the mind for stealth and I hope to build on that.”

“What are we going to be doing?” I asked.

“Bribing some lowly spatial technician,” said Allyceus. He stood. “I will need to further shorten and darken my hair. Then a change of clothes and we will be off, Champion.”

“What about me,” I said and to that I gestured at my face. “It’s kinda hard to hide.”

“We’ll be travelling through the night, with the unsavoury sort,” he said. “One more person burned by a fire mage will be overlooked.”

“Does that happen a lot?” I asked.

“More often than it should,” said Freda, her voice a near whisper and pain in her eyes.

Each of Allyceus’ ladies-in-waiting had their scars, I hadn’t seen Freda’s, but now I could guess at what it was.

***

Night came quickly, and it found Allyceus and I on the balcony again, the waters near silent though a few people walked along the bay. The lakeside area was much like Lowtown in Altheer, a majority of the people who lived here were either poor or unsavoury, which meant that it was lit by torches instead of luminous gems — something that worked in our favour because torchlight didn’t reach as far as gemlight.

Allyceus was dressed in leather armour over which was a dull green cloak, threadbare and dirty, a low stink rolling off it. I had on a similar cloak though mine was black and my face was hidden by a painted mask that blocked my peripheral vision; beneath the cloak was my armour, and holstered at my hip were my gun and the electric knife, sitting comfortably on my head was the Feather-Light Circlet; and at my side was my satchel filled to bursting with supplies.

“Up,” said Allyceus. “Can you handle the height?”

I nodded and let out a breath, steeling myself. As confident as I now was, there were still inklings of fear when I had to do something dangerous.

We were on the third floor but there were two more floors above us, light and shadows visible through slits of the wooden shutters. After another breath I ran forward and jumped, easing the slider in my head so gravity had less of a hold. I sailed forward and hit the wall, finding a hold on the windowsill; between the circlet and my armour it was easy to pull myself up, using the training from my scaling exercises.

After a moment I was on a slanted roof top, which let me see the hill in the distance atop of which were the high walls of the Glimmering Castle stretched up, high towers jutting up further. Even with the distance, the castle was bright with gemlight, most of it silver, which made the castle glow.

Allyceus had only to jump once before he landed on the roof with light steps, but as he looked at me he was smiling. He slapped me on the shoulder and then pointed, angling his body low before moving. I mirrored what he did, moving slower, but all the same covering a lot of ground.

The buildings near the lakeside were tall and clustered together, narrow streets between them leaning to the rest of the city. Remnants of the town’s previous age were visible, buildings that might have been used as storage once upon a time before they were turned into housing. Allyceus led the way, with the two of us trekking across rooftops, jumping across streets as we got further inland into the nicer neighbourhoods.

A bit in I felt someone on the same elevation as us and I tapped Allyceus’ arm. He looked at me with a brow quirked up and I pointed back in the direction we’d come. It was dark out, but there was a figure in the distance, visible as they moved.

“Good eyes, Champion,” he whispered. “We’ll go low.”

I nodded. He jumped down first and I followed, gliding down as I moved the slider of the circlet. My landing was a bit hard, but that was tempered by the armour.

“Run,” said Allyceus and we took off. I experimented with the circlet, decreasing gravity’s hold just enough that I wasn’t kicking off the ground, but I could run much faster. Light suffused Allyceus, low as it was hidden by his cloak – using the same technique. “I have something to admit, Champion. Training you was not the only reason I wanted us out tonight.”

“Yeah?” I said, a little worried.

He hummed. “When my brother first proposed training you, I was…I had my reservations,” he said. “I thought you cowardly and idiotic, and I treated you as such. Which meant I dismissed it when Odysseus said you had a measure of intellect.”

I shrugged. “I get it,” I said. “I’m not too smart, and you didn’t know who I was.”

“You are smarter than I gave you credit for,” he said. We slowed and turned into a narrow street, which led us into an area that had bigger properties, kept from the rest of the town by high walls. There were more people here, soldiers amongst them, and the area was lit by gemlight. We settled into a walk. “Not only in combat, though your ability in that regard grows by the day. But you have this ability to see what others cannot. I saw it when you used it against Baron Owain, and…”

He stopped. Ahead, a pair of men dressed in mail armour met our eyes. Unlike Odysseus who trusted authority to an insane degree, Allyceus turned us away, taking us into a road that would take us around the pair. The silence lingered so long that I thought he’d forgotten about our conversation.

“Odysseus did not say, but I have the strong impression that you were the reason he was able to see me,” he finally said.

I nodded slowly. The narrow street broke into a wide square with a fountain at the centre, better than the one I’d seen in Lowtown. It was of three men wearing similar expressions, adorned in robes that were painted yellow and orange; their hands were cupped and water flowed out, rushing into the well below. Even at night there were people — mostly kids — who were filling pails.

“He noticed how I speak,” I said as we cut through, not even earning a second look. “When I was using they-them pronouns and he was curious about it. I think it got him to reflect on how you, him and Prince Matthaeus grew up — putting things into perspective.”

Another silence followed as we got into another street, walking in a winding road that took us into a nice area with some houses, squished together and stretching tall. The street led into another courtyard, but a central fixture in this one was the large church which glowed in low, silver light.

“My brother and I were too different growing up,” he said, slowly. “He was a scholar and I a warrior. Matthaeus served as the bridge between us in a way. When we spoke today, for the first time I felt like we understood each other.”

“People like us are like that,” I said. “The world…it can be a hostile place for people that are different from what’s considered normal. It’s why we have to look out for each other. It’s how my friends were back home.”

“You must miss it,” said Allyceus.

I stumbled both physically and emotionally. Fuck, why did they have to be like this now? Why did they have to be nicer to me, to be pleasant to be around when I’d gathered up the courage to run. My main argument so far had been that these people weren’t my friends — and they weren’t — but it was starting to feel like we were taking the steps to getting there.

“Yeah,” I said, swallowing as my voice caught.

“Friends are not something that can be replaced,” he said. “So I will not attempt to do so. But…you saved my brother and you gave me a gift even Matthaeus failed to. I name you friend and give you all my protection. I know you fear death, but so long as I have the power, you shall be protected.”

Fuck.

“Thank you, Your Highness,” I said. The words were to ensure I remembered, that as much as it felt like it was getting easier to like some of the individuals in the system, things as a whole still weren’t good.

And there’s still no mention of getting home, I thought. It was a starting point and through that I could make Allyceus’ words hollow, making sure their impact didn’t hit as hard. His ultimate goal was still to be king and I was still a tool towards those ends, our friendship could only go so far.

I took a deep breath, my resolution firm. I would make my escape, consequences be damned.

We finally arrived into a wide street that was a mixture of shops and apartment buildings. There were a lot of people in the area and it was so bright it could have been mistaken for day. The teleportation hub was a building that sat at the centre of the space, a large rectangle that stretched up twenty storeys tall at minimum; a few entrances were scattered throughout, and each of them had guards.

Before reaching the central area we cut into a narrow alley and changed our cloaks into finer, though still shabbier wears.

“You will have to hide your pistol,” he said. “It is too distinct a weapon.”

I nodded and shoved it into my rucksack, then fastened it because with so many people I didn’t want anything to get stolen. We went out again, going to the hub.

The guards’ eyes lingered on me as I entered, but they didn’t stop us. There were boards every so often, directing people towards certain elevators that took them to higher floors, but there were also bored looking spatial mages standing in places. People would talk to them and they would point them towards the appropriate elevators.

Allyceus went to one and I saw the man’s eyes widen. He smiled when we were close. The man dressed in robes but they were nearer to grey than they were to black, bad stitches visible near the elbows. The man himself had smudges of black under long nails and he was older than the others doing guide duty.

“How can I help you gentlemen, tonight?” he asked.

“We want to transport livestock tomorrow night,” said Allyceus.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said the man. “But livestock transports are scheduled during the day.”

“We require a certain degree of…discretion,” Allyceus said, leaning closer. “Hopefully you know someone who’ll help us with our problem. We’re willing to pay for the trouble.”

“I…might know where to point you,” he said. “If you would follow me.”

The mage led us to the back where the other mages took their break. We had to wait outside but when he came back it was with an older mage, thin and starting to bald, some of his teeth missing though he smiled unabashedly.

“The young technician says you have transporting needs,” the man drawled, his voice low and gravelly, like there was something caught in his throat.

Allyceus nodded. “As discreet as possible,” he said.

“Oh. Well, that can be arranged,” said the technician. “But you have to understand, sir—”

“I’m not a knight,” Allyceus interrupted. He paused then, “Just…a procurer of things hard to find.”

“Well,” he said, his smile too wide. “We do appreciate our entrepreneurs in Glimmerwood. However, it would be best to tell you outright that there are channels to how these things often work, and toes can be stepped on.”

“We won’t be staying in the city long enough for it to matter,” said Allyceus. “We’ll need to transport three groups to three cities in the Black Pastures, along with a few riding animals.”

“Our order has been understaffed of late, there have been a few technicians that have seen fit to strike off on their own with their meagre skills. We have something of a backlog to get through, if you want to jump to the front of the queue, it will be a heavy cost.”

Allyceus reached at his side, pulling out a lumpy purse. He opened it just enough to reveal thick gold pieces and light revealed itself in the man’s eyes. “I think I have more than enough,” he said.

The technician chuckled, his eyes leering at the purse and disappointment sprouting when the gold disappeared. He looked up and chuckled. “Three locations,” he said. “It will take some doing, coordinating with my fellows, but it can be achieved.”

“Good,” said Allyceus. “We’ll meet again tomorrow night with my group.”

With that done we left, taking a roundabout route back to the lakeside, all of it mostly in silence. Allyceus had some experience doing stuff like this, visible from the way he’d switched to using contractions like a commoner.

“Maybe you already know and this isn’t needed,” I said, “but I don’t trust that guy. He was too…lecherous, if I’m using that word right.”

He only chuckled. “No doubt he’ll be planning some trick,” he said. “Are we being followed, do you know?”

“Fuck,” I muttered. “I didn’t think to keep track.”

“It matters not,” said Allyceus. “We’ll take a circuitous route and then return to the hub. By morning the mage we talked to will return home and we will put pressure on him.”

It took a bit of doing and a change of clothes again, but we returned to the hub where we stayed until the early hours of the morning, waiting for a shift change.

“I think I can keep track of him from a distance,” I said as an idea came to me.

I still hadn’t learned to filter things so it left a single person yet, at least not directly, but there were workarounds. When I was filling a person in — using the stone to draw their outline — everything else dulled and I became hyper-aware of them. So I used that now, drawing out a rough stick figure in my mind that meant even through the morning crowds we kept track of the mage.

It was a long walk, but it finally took us to a comfortable home, where the man was greeted at the door by a girl that was maybe ten or eleven.

“I suddenly feel bad about doing this,” I said.

“He will not be hurt,” said Allyceus.

Sneaking in was easy, using gravity magic to get to a window on the second floor and then using narrowed spatial magic to keep track of everyone in the house. We found the master bedroom and waited there, and as the mage opened the door he stopped, his eyes wide.

“How—”

“I am Allycea Mandaron,” Allyceus said and as I looked at him in surprise I saw that he had changed his false eye, making it glow in fierce colour; the air around his hands rippled and his rapier and dagger appeared. The man’s eyes widened all the more and as if a weight had settled on his shoulder he fell to the ground on his knees, looking down. “Get up, mage, and be quiet.”

“Apologies, Your Highness,” he said, standing. “I did not know it was you. We heard that there was royalty in Glimmerwood, but I could have never guessed—”

“Silence.” The man quieted. “You were no doubt planning an ambush when transporting us. You will deny it, I am sure, but I do not need such platitudes. The teleportation shall go ahead tomorrow without trouble, no ambush or anything of the kind. You will ensure that it is discreet or you will find an end to your operations as I push for an audit in this sector. Something that will lose you most of your riches. Or we can come to an understanding.”

The man swallowed. “Yes, Your Highness,” he said. “As in the times when Prince Matthaeus lived, I will ensure that no one knows of your travels.”

“Good,” said Allyceus. “So long as you are in my good graces, your continued anonymity will be your reward.”

“You honour me, Your Highness,” said the technician.

Allyceus gave a short nod. “Ensure that our path is set, telling no one beyond that the ambush cannot be accomplished.”

That done, we left.

“That was its own sort of danger,” I said. “Telling him who you are.”

“Anything else would have been a hassle to accomplish,” he said. “Let us be back to our lodgings, Champion. It has been a long night.”

***

I slept most of the following day and it was late afternoon when I woke up, feeling a little groggy. My nerves felt close to spilling over as I shared a meal with the others, smiling when I needed to, eyes lingering on Jaslynn who noticed and seemed to take joy in it, and again finding myself questioning if all this risk was a good idea.

“I’ve finally decided,” said Allyceus. “We will need to split into three groups, enough that our pursuers have to either decrease their collective number, or follow one group in hopes of us leading them to the next. If I had my way, I would go alone, however that would be foolhardy.”

“It would,” said Odysseus, and Cybill agreed.

“Therefore my group will be composed of myself and Freda.”

Freda looked a little hurt by that. There was the same expression on Cybill, though it was better restrained.

“What’s your logic?” Cybill asked.

“That these people, whoever they are, will be from the castle and know us well,” he said. “When the Champion and I left last night, we were followed. I could not see who they were, but that they were able to get there meant they knew enough to expect us to leave and had a good sensory ability.”

“Do you suspect Sir Norbert?” Ellora asked. “He is a decent tracker.”

“I do not know who I suspect, only that they will know our relationships and the people we would favour.”

“Doesn't that mean that me and Jaslynn don’t work too, then?” I asked. Jaslynn’s expression flickered to betrayal. I shrugged.

“No,” said Ellora. “You do not like Jaslynn’s company. Most of who have seen you together know this”

It was worth a try, I thought with a frown.

“The Champion will be with Jaslynn, and Odysseus will be in the company of Ellora and Cybill.” He turned to Odysseus. “You are the least inclined towards traditional combat, brother. Even with the Champion’s inexperience he has a mind for it and thus requires less protection. All of this will turn things towards deceit and misdirection.”

“Forcing them to focus on royalty,” said Ellora.

Allyceus nodded. “Unfortunately, our birds are an eyesore, Jaslynn, and they will be something of a giveaway.”

“I’ll have to leave him behind, won’t I?” Jaslynn asked with a sigh.

“Unfortunately,” said Allyceus.

Jaslynn sighed. “A horse will have to do,” she muttered.

“We’ll split apart, some of us taking the obvious route, while Jaslynn and the Champion take the most circuitous path.”

We enacted the plan in the early hours of midnight, with less people around and a chill coming in from the lake. There were many people in the streets, and those who were around kept themselves out of the way. Even so the hub had dredges of people arriving and leaving, most of them shabbier than the usual patrons of the hub. Teleportation was expensive from everything I gathered, but the rich would use them when it was convenient — the day — which meant those times would be at a premium; or at least that was my guess.

Jaslynn and I rode on the same horse, leaving at a stable not too far from the hub because animals would be too noteworthy. We went in and found the mage technician, he seemed disappointed that Allyceus wasn’t with us.

“The other groups will come through after we tell them of our safe arrival,” said Jaslynn, her voice a purr. “So if you think of doing anything untoward. Well…it will not work out so well for you, dear mage.”

“Nothing untoward will happen, I swear to you, my lady,” he said.

“Good, good,” she said.

After getting the horse we went to a building that was away from the hub, and through that we got into a series of tunnels under the city. By keeping track of the density of people I knew that we were heading towards the hub again.

The tunnels, dark and light only be a single gem in the mage’s hand, finally broke into a narrow stairway, and after a climb it opened into a chamber on which the spatial obelisk rested against a network of earth and gravitational gems — the ground so littered by diagrams it made me afraid to take a single step on the contraption.

Above the floor hover a platform large enough to fit the horse, though we would have to stay on them; the platform had two levers and a steering wheel rising from it.

The mage climbed on and beckoned us to follow. We did. One lever was for lift, another to move forward and backward, and the wheel to turn. He moved towards the obelisk and then hesitated. He reached into his robes and pulled out a vial the size of a finger, a glowing red liquid within.

“For the strain,” he said when he saw our expressions. He gulped it down.

He placed his hand in a circular space that looked like the centre of a network, with shapes spiralling out and connecting to more sets of diagrams that connected to more until a full picture formed. A shiver visibly ran through his body and he winced like he was having a migraine.

“Wishing you good travel,” he said, his voice raw. Like a prayer, he started to whisper under his breath, words that flowed together and made them hard to tell apart; the air around us started to ripple and everything grew foggy as our surroundings changed.

Three days before the others arrive, I thought. Three days to escape Jaslynn and then trek north. Then it’s keeping out of the way until you find a way to get in contact with High Chief Ran.