After Harlan was out of sight he rushed to the tea room and he could let the others in on his joke and ask them to play along.

As Ibery burst in blabbering along with Amber, Harlow was shaking Harlan’s hand and congratulating him on the marriage and asking about if he was going to be married before or after he was done with the academy.

Everyone else was sipping on their tea, they didn’t want to get involved.

Ibery was flustered twice over and actually let out an embarrassed cawing noise which only made her more embarrassed.

Finally Harlan broke his facade and told Amber that he was just joking.

“I am glad that dad was willing to help with the joke, it really sold it in the end.” Amber was upset with Harlan, she didn’t find it nearly as funny as he did.

“Don’t look at me like that. This was just payback since she was sent here as a spy.” Jaramis grabbed the hilt of his sword ready for anything, everyone else was just confused, wondering if it was a second joke. Balor was screaming inside that Harlan had just outright said it.

“Harlan, that is enough. I don’t know when you got such a mean sense of humor but that is nothing to joke about.”

“Of course, that is why I am not joking. But it is fine, we talked it out and I think she really is a friend who was just forced into being a spy.” Ibery tried to make herself small, but failed since she was the tallest person in the room and had a bright white face. Jarmis stood and drew his sword, Autumn forced him to sit and put it away.

“She is not welcome after tonight.”

“That is fine, I was going to ask if anyone wanted to stay at my place. I wouldn’t want you to have to host any foreign diplomats anyway.”

Harlan cleared the air, telling them about him possibly having to heal the matriarch of the Black Talons, and Dahlia being the one to slip him the information about Ibery. He made it clear that she was forced into the situation and was regretful.

Jaramis sighed and had a guard send this information to his father.

“Please… do not cause any issues between our nations with any more jokes. If you are involved in this and it fails, and for any reason they believe you to have wronged them, it could set back relations between us by years. You are a noble, you do represent the kingdom whether you want to or not. There is only so much leeway you have because you are still a child. And you, tytoan. I do hope that you understand that Harlan is… odd. And that you keep this in mind as you report to your superiors.”

Ibery stopped covering her face with her wings and spoke.

“I’m sorry… I just wanted to help… she is my great aunt on my mothers side.”

“So, I have these pieces of jewelry that I made. I think they are pretty neat, do any of you want them?” Harlan decided to change the subject, hoping in part to distract them with the flashy flames and sparking energy.

Amber decided to take a necklace, Autumn took one too, she could set her hair on fire already so the hair clips weren’t really that big of a deal for her, Ava took a bracelet for each hand, Zella took a dozen hair clips and a necklace. Ibery looked at them from a distance with her head cocked to the side, but didn’t get any closer.

“Do you want any Ibery? I am not going to charge you for them or anything. And I am sorry that I revealed that you are a spy.” Harlan could still hear Balor using colorful language to discribe how completely idiotic he was for telling everyone.

She came over and grabbed a single hair clip using telekinesis, clipping it to feathers on her forehead. Harlan felt that he had removed the tension from most of the room, minus Jaramis and Redmond.

“So, Redmond. How come you came with them? The academy is past the southern border, you would’ve had to take an odd route to avoid coming here first. And you are here early.”

“I was sent through a gate by command, they told me to ride home with Amber. I was hoping it was just a reward for having done my job so well. But I guess I was supposed to watch out for our feathered friend here. Also I have the month off, I go back once you guys leave for the academy.”

“Well, that was nice of them. What kind of dog do you have?”

“Wolfhound, like what the night watchers use. He has a little beard on him kinda like a goat. The girl who gave him to me said his name is Cu. They said it was a hero’s name, but they couldn’t tell me the story. Odd people, but nice.”

“Did you ever meet a boy named Ky?” Harlan was starting to realize that he needed to send a lot of letters to people, and he was glad that he was friendly with the couriers.

“The beast eater? Nah, he got sent to the far frontier, the unsettled stuff that we are just scouting out. I heard he was doing well though. Half the stories I hear make him sound like the things out there should be more scared of him then he of them. You are friends with him, right? Zella told me a bit about him.”

“Yeah, I know him. There are too many people I want to meet, and so little time. I need to make some trips after I done with the academy. I wonder if I can even send him any letters.”

“You can. I sent stuff to him and Reet. but it can take months to get replies back since he hardly spends any time in civilization. Or anything close to it. Reet is just hard to reach, and I don’t think he likes letters.”

“Really? Then both of them are doing well?”

“Yep. Reet is a blacksmiths apprentice now, he can make his fire go right onto his hands now and he can handle red hot blades without gloves, he likes the work.”

After some more talking, they split into groups.

Harlan wanted to spar with Redmond, Harlow went along to watch.

Jaramis wanted to talk with Ibery about what she had done.

The sisters and Aida went to talk about whatever girls talk about,

Zella asked if there was a place to take a nap, the day taken a lot out of her.

The fighting between Redmond and Harlan went as one might expect a fight between a child stronger than an adult and with a few tricks vs a man who had been a soldier longer than his opponent was alive.

Harlan never landed a good hit, but fighting someone who didn’t instantly end a real fight was worth all the time he spent landing on the ground.

“You aren’t as strong as I expected. I fought some fomorians out there, and they are really, really, strong. You are maybe half as strong as one of them your size.”

“I will have to ask the mother in the darkness about that. Maybe she knows why.” Redmond froze for a second, he had heard the name, but until now he just thought it was tribal mysticism.

“You shouldn’t tell people about that.”

“Yeah, I know. I don’t tell anyone who doesn’t already know about that stuff in some way. But I can trust you and dad so it’s fine.”

Redmond laid down on the floor next to Harlan, Harlow joining them.

“So, talking with a god. That just something you do now?” Redmond asked.

“Yeah, for about a year now. But I stopped speaking with her a while ago, she did something that I didn’t like. But there is questions I need to ask her, so I am going to start again.”

“Can you tell her that I would like a better harvest?” Harlow joked.

“Nah, you would need to ask Anu about that kinda thing. But I can’t talk with her. Ibexian priests can though. At least that is what Kass said. I might be able to ask her if she can steer wargs away from the farm, but she probably wouldn’t. She says that pain is a trial, growth comes from challenges. Stuff like that.”

Harlow was a little taken aback by how Harlan spoke of the gods, the only heard about the gods of the theocracy, and they were not the type that you could speak about so lightly.

“Harlan. I want to know, what do you think about the fomorians? I mean really. They are your people, even though you never knew them, out there in some tribe might be your parents.” Redmond was still a little put off by fomorians, he had been fighting undead, and even the children needed to be put down after the fighting was done. He wondered if he had even killed Harlan’s family and never known it, all the killing was weighing on him.

“Maybe… But I don’t think so. I am sure my mother is dead, I don’t sleep much, but the dreams, I think they are more like memories. I see a woman chased by shades sometimes. She places me on the ground and then leads them away. But I can never see her face.” Harlow and Redmond shared a look. Then Redmond spoke

“Did your mom ever tell you about our parents?”

“Nope. I never really thought about it.”

“Our mother died in childbirth. Our father was a farmer, but he was mean and bitter. Always blamed me for her death. I left to be a soldier because of that. I only heard of his death when Aida sent me a letter, same letter that said she was marrying some farmer’s son. I don’t think you should worry about who gave birth to you, you have a mother now, and she is a good woman. The past is already set in stone, try not to linger too much on it. That just leads to more pain for the future.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” They laid there in silence until a guard came to get him. Redwall wanted to talk.

He walked to his office, a guard knocked on the door for him.

Redwall called him in.

Jaramis was sitting on a chair across from Ibery, Redwall was at his desk, Harlan sat next to Jaramis.

“I would like you to explain exactly what the letter you received from this Dahlia person said. You know who she is, yes? Because I have no idea, and the idea that someone is around my property without my knowing is troubling.”

“She is a royal spy, sent here by 7th Princess Rosewell to keep me safe. The letter said exactly this. The bird is a spy, burn this letter. Then it had a bunch of information about Ibery, mostly it was a guide on how to kill her if I needed too. Though it did say that she wasn’t much of a threat and had no known connections with any other spying.”

Ibery was on edge, clearly Jaramis had questioned her harshly. She started to shake when she heard what the letter had in it. When she was recruited to spy on Harlan her people had assured her that she would be in no danger and that there was no way the kingdom could know about it.

Redwall thought for a time about how to respond to this information, and the fact that the royals sent a spy who had probably been living either on or near his home for months, yet didn’t feel the need to tell him anything about letting a foreign spy into his home with his grandchildren. He was having many thoughts that would have him put on trial as a traitor if he said them outloud.

“Are you absolutely certain that you want her under your roof? I could have her thrown into a dungeon instead.”

“Yes, I do not believe she is a trained spy, I think she is just in over her head and was asked to do some work that she didn’t want to by people who she couldn’t refuse.” Redwall and Harlan shared a knowing look, both of them had grevenices about the kingdom that were best left in their minds.

“I have custody of her, since she is a suspected spy. So here is a letter that officially lets me wash my hands of this and hand her over to you. If any other noble wants to take her they would need to petition the crown, who would then hold a trial for the rights to the prisoner. I will also be sending a letter to the crown with your judgment of her. I do not expect anything to really come from this, they would rather sweep an incident where no one is hurt under the rug for the sake of peace. And should you forgive her and her people as well as heal their leader, it would be a politically advantageous place for you and the crown to be in. As for transport I can offer you some guards to safely move her, and a prison carriage can be called in from Yor.”

“No need, I’ll just have her ride with me in my carriage. She is only technically a prisoner. I am not going to lock her in chains or anything.”

“That is your choice. I want her out of here after dinner, I have too much to do to babysit a political powder keg. You may all be excused now.”

Harlan took Ibery out to the garden to talk about what he was planning. She thanked him for not locking her up. But he was barely listening, the talk with Redmond was still on his mind; he didn't know why it was sticking in his mind for so long.

Another question to add to the pile for the mother in the darkness.