Luke kept his head low as he passed by the chest-high opening of one of the hospital’s reception desks. Like he thought, the visitor’s lobby was empty, its two rows of padded chairs lining the walls unoccupied. The man running the desk spoke to his coworker, gossiping about something Luke wasn’t listening too closely to. The important thing was the direction of the voice. He was facing away. Time to move.

He scurried past, concentrating on not letting his bare feet slap against the cold patterned tiles. It was harder than he thought it’d be. He had tried summoning the light— the green one felt appropriate— but it was ignoring him again. He wasn’t sure why.

He never had to do anything like this in Aetas Origo. Sneaking in, all the time, but sneaking out? And he wasn’t just dealing with an angry shopkeep. He was up against a whole building full of people whose job it was to keep him safe. If he was caught here, the hospital staff would know he was trying to leave, and there would definitely be some disagreements about that. Worse, they’d think he was crazy, which wasn’t necessarily wrong… but they certainly wouldn’t let him go.

The hospital’s distinct cleaning chemical smell faded behind him as he passed through a set of automatic sliding doors seemingly. He made his way forward— very conscious about that gown— out into a cleared space for the horse-driven carriages and automobiles of visitors. There were a few carriages remaining and a single automobile painted black with silver trim. On the hood was a silver wolf’s head inside a tower, symbol of the Guard.

Luke stepped gingerly onto the rough dirt. There was no one around, save for a small stable in the distance manned by two stablehands, both occupied with their work. He thought he was in the clear, right up until the moment that’s automobile driver-side door swung open.

He darted for a nearby carriage and crouched, taking a peek around the side. Of course it was Captain Daniels. Who else among the city’s two hundred thousand would Luke have a chance encounter with?

The captain shut the door with a thud and stretched, yawning. He hadn’t noticed. Good. But… why was he just standing there? Go inside already. Go!

“Seras?” Daniels finally asked. “Where did you go?”

“Over here, captain,” said a woman’s voice from entirely too close. “I found something odd.”

She poked Luke’s back with a cold finger and he yelped, spinning around to face her. The lieutenant flicked her eyes up to meet his, and he flushed.

“You know I’m a k—” He bit that sentence down hard. Stop panicking. Stop panicking!

“An adult, right?” she whispered. “Nice job outing yourself.”

His whole face must have been red. Her lips curved in a mischievous smile. Was every woman in the Guard like Aisha? Flocks Above!

“Luke?” Daniels asked, striding into view. He was still in uniform. They both were. “What in Asundria are you doing out here?”

He collected his thoughts for a few seconds. He had to get out of here. Hopefully the Guard wouldn’t waste too many resources trying to find him with war on the horizon.

“If you bolt,” Seras warned, “You’re going to get tackled. By me. I suggest you cut your losses and tell us what you’re about, boy.”

Daniels and Luke both blinked at that. Was it written on his face? Either way, he’d had enough embarrassments for the night. He may as well placate them until there was a good chance to flee.

“I was… going home,” Luke said.

“In that.”

He felt his face flush again. He turned away and shook it off. Be serious already. I don’t have time for this.

“Don’t stop me,” Luke said. “You have no right to keep me there.”

“You’re hurt,” Daniels offered. Seras nodded. “What’s got you running off so suddenly, Luke? That letter from your grandfather?”

He glanced to the side.

“I thought so,” Daniels said. “Still, this is pretty extreme. Why don’t we head back inside and see what the doctor says tomorrow? I’m sure your grandfather can wait. Is he in Ulciscor?”

“I don’t have that kind of time.”

“What do you mean?” Seras asked. “Let us take you there.”

“Seras!” Daniels said. She glared death at him. “Lieutenant Seras.”

“It’s your debt, not mine.” She shrugged and looked at Luke with a skeptical expression. “Were it up to me, I’d have tackled you already.”

The captain sighed. “What do you say, Luke? Will you hear us out?”

Would he? Did he trust these two?

He closed his eyes and saw a ragged-looking man with blood on his face and a spear in his hands confronting Duxille Sirius.

Anybody would trust someone after that. Luke shrugged a shoulder to slip out the letter through a sleeve of his gown. He caught it deftly and offered it to the captain.

“Here.”

Daniels unfolded the letter. He turned to let the fading orange sunlight hit the paper as he read it. He furrowed his brow.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

The captain sighed and handed the letter to Seras.

———

Deen Daniels was considering doing something very stupid as he drove his automobile down the streets of Ulciscor.

Lieutenant Seras had volunteered to stay behind at the hospital, Flocks bless her, to clean up the idiot boy’s mess. She had agreed to keep the matter quiet for now, at least until he figured out what to do.

The idiot boy, of course, was lounging in the back seat. Luke laid easily on his side, resting with an elbow on the seat and palm to cheek.

“You’re going to get hurt like that if I get into an accident,” Deen said.

“At this speed?” Luke said. He looked only bored in the rearview mirror, not a trace of anxiety or nervousness. Arrogant little brat.

“Fair point,” Deen said, turning the wheel as a street intersection came upon him. From the beginning, Wolf had dictated a very low speed limit inside the city limits after reports of a high number of crashes and other accidents in Daevan cities. The numbers were rising each year as more automobiles were produced, so the general’s opinion was unchanged and unchallenged— better to be safe than dead.

Luke Nixus had discarded the gown for a woolen white shirt and loose light-gray trousers. Deen had even bought the brat a sky blue jacket of similar design to the one he had arrived in Ulciscor wearing. It wasn’t quite the same— the designer had sewn white thread onto the outside in swirls like that of gourds around the sleeves and shoulders. It fit him well. He had purchased the clothes earlier in the afternoon and intended to leave them for Luke’s assigned guard to hand them off to the boy in the morning as a gift, but life had a way of being… well, life.

“This James,” Seras had said. “He is your brother?”

Luke nodded.

“Any idea why he’d take Cyrus?” Deen asked. “Is your brother really such a cruel man?”

“No. Well… sometimes he could be cold. I’m not sure,” Luke said. “He must have figured out we know each other, though.”

“So he’s baiting you,” Seras said, folding her arms. “Perhaps he did not write this, but the Daevan soldiers he belongs with.”

“He doesn’t belong with any Daevans,” Luke said through gritted teeth. “Don’t talk like you know him.”

“The last time you saw him was in the Purge,” she said harshly. “You know him as well as us. For all you know, he could know of your role in Filose, and wants to use his former relation to you to—”

“Lieutenant Seras,” Deen interrupted. “Please.”

“My apologies.”

“It’s fine,” Luke said. “Anyone would think that if they didn’t know James. He isn’t like that. He just isn’t.”

Seras frowned, but said nothing.

Deen scratched his chin. There was something to Luke’s argument. Pulling some sort of stunt inside the triangle wasn’t exactly the best way to go about keeping Pruina uninvolved. But with those thunderflutes, maybe Munitio wouldn’t care much anymore.

“What is it you think James needs to say to you face to face? Inviting you over to their side? Considering the state of the world, where it’s headed, I don’t think that’s much of a stretch.”

Luke glanced at Deen. He considered, thoughtful.

“I think I know,” he said. “But that’s between us.”

Deen watched Luke from the corner of his eye as he made the final turn on their drive. He had that same thoughtful expression as before. Maybe whatever the boy was keeping private were some of his last happy memories from youth. Perhaps he and his brother shared something together, like a secret or a disagreement, shortly before the day of the Purge.

There was no way Luke was getting to Cherima on his own. Before even the Pruinan patrols, the Mirastelle army had their own checkpoints prohibiting all passage into the triangle. Even if the boy somehow mastered the automobile in a day like he planned, he’d be stopped by either organization. It wouldn’t be like Filose. Instead of sneaking a book out of the library because you forgot your card, it’d be like bursting through the library’s door and shouting at the top of your lungs that you were going to burn the place down.

To Deen, it seemed a question of responsibility. Was he responsible for Luke Nixus? Letting him go would be the safest route for himself, maybe for Luke as well. But it was a risk. Flocks Above, he watched the boy run headfirst into danger with his own eyes. He’d get himself killed trying to pass the Pruinan patrols if nothing else. No, he couldn’t just leave this alone.

But… the alternative was to help him. Six days on the road, maybe more, away from Ulciscor. And they really did have to leave tonight if there was any hope of reaching Cherima in time. Doing so would make him a captain abandoning his post on the eve of war. Forget the promotion to major. Forget demotion. He would be court-martialed.

Did he dare delegate the task to someone under him? Order them to violate the Agreement and barge right into the triangle? Absolutely not. All of his soldiers were good people. Not one of them could be lost in such a careless, foolish manner. If anybody was going to take the risk, it was going to be him.

The automobile rolled to a stop in front of Deen’s own home. He turned off the engine and stepped outside. Luke protested going inside with him, but after waving the vehicle’s key at him and explaining that he couldn’t steal the thing and drive off without it, the troublesome teenager seemed to reconsider.

Together, they made for the front door. Deen kept the key tightly wrapped in a fist. He had a feeling Luke would try to rob him if he wasn’t careful.

In the end, he couldn’t reach a decision. So he had come here first, either to gather supplies for the trip or knock Luke out and tie him up in the basement for a few days. Either would do for his conscience, but he figured he should probably consult Lyla before becoming a criminal.

———

Luke sat cross-legged atop a pillow made for the purpose at the low table in the front room of the Daniels residence. His body itched to get out of there and start running for Cherima, but his mind told him that was a clipped idea. Told him reluctantly.

It had dawned on him, finally, why the captain had come here first. Revealing the letter had left him confide his absurd situation in someone else, but he was really putting the man at risk. He hadn’t asked Daniels for help, not really, but Luke hadn’t exactly made an attempt to refuse it either. Admittedly, the automobile thing was beyond him. He needed someone’s help to get to James, whether or not the letter permitted it. His brother could lay an egg for all he cared.

It was a short while later when Lyla Daniels entered the front room through the hallway, her husband close behind. They both appeared calm, and it reminded him of a distant memory of his own parents. The details had slipped away, but he had done something bad and they had approached him together in that same way to explain the wrongs to him.

Mrs. Daniels wore a simple dress and studied him with her hands on her hips. The captain stood to her right, stone-faced.

“Ah. Well,” she said and sighed. “At least he’s cute.”

Daniels grimaced.

Luke couldn’t bring himself to react. He was too tense. The prospect of missing his brother’s invitation was beginning to seem an all-too real possibility as every minute passed.

The captain’s wife smoothed her dress and sat primly at the other end of the low table. Daniels stayed where he was, expression neutral, arms folded and propped against the wall. Mrs. Daniels reached across the table and handed back the letter. She was still studying Luke as he accepted it back, much like a bored cat would study a mouse.

“I read it,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

He shook his head.

“Okay.” She nodded. “Okay. Would you tell me about your brother, please? I would like to know a little more about why my husband is endangering his livelihood on a stranger.”

The way she phrased it cut him like a knife, and he winced. Flocks, why did he have to get himself hospitalized for so long?

“If he can’t—”

“Your brother,” she interrupted. “What kind of person is he?”

“James,” he began. What were the right words to say? “The last time I saw him, I was only six. He was eight. We were kids. We did a lot of things together. Played together. Got into fights with each other. All that stuff. If you have a sibling, you know how it is.”

“I do.” Mrs. Daniels nodded and smiled. “I have a sister living in Lumina. Go on.”

“Well… there was something about James that didn’t feel like a kid. He always acted mature. It was the martial classes he took, maybe, thinking back. James— how I remember him— was always a person with a strong sense of responsibility.”

“I know that one,” she said and rolled her eyes.”Was your brother very protective?”

“Like a bodyguard,” Luke said, and smiled without realizing. “I remember once, at our school, an older kid from his class who didn’t like him tried to bully me because I was related to him. James showed up and threw him to the ground. He got in trouble for that. I was there with our parents in the principal’s office. He told the principal that he didn’t feel sorry at all for what he had done and that he would do it again.”

Mrs. Daniels laughed and clapped once. “Dear, fetch the kettle. I would like to enjoy some tea listening to these stories.” She noticed the question in his eyes. “Not for long, mind you. You boys have a long trip ahead of you.”