Magna'est scoffed under his breath as he neared the cave. His dislike of Rolic's home had many roots, most driven by the man himself. It was rare that one would deny themselves the gifts of the Goddess. It was rarer still for someone to vacate comfort in their last days.

Traveling alone made Magna'est uncomfortable. He missed King's Own whose numbers guaranteed that issues wouldn't occur. Alas, they weren't allowed. Rolic was a weakness Magna'est was forced to endure, and he hated the man for it.

"I thought I was to be left alone," Rolic called when Magna'est entered. He was lounging in a cushioned chair, unsurprised by the visit. He lifted a mug to his lips and leisurely drank as if the interruption was an irritant easily ignored.

"Our agreement was to go both ways. I am concerned you do not honor your end." Rolic chuckled at Magna'est's words, causing liquid to spill from the sides of the mug, draining down the tails of his mustache. Magna'est grimaced. It wasn't Rolic's first drink. The man was even more insufferable when liquored.

"Agreement?" Rolic said. "Is that what you tell yourself?" He laughed and set the mug on the edge of a table. Magna'est tried not care about its precarious perch.

"I call it your capitulation." Rolic waved his arm in the air. "What choices were you given?"

"I allowed it!"

"You accepted it," Rolic corrected, waving away Magna'est's anger. "Not that you were given a choice." Rolic smiled. Magna'est detested the smugness. "Do you wish to gamble with it now?"

"I wish an understanding." Magna'est stilled his anger. The man held power that only time could diminish. Patience was the only useful weapon. "Two of the order were accosted by bow not far from here. There is only one Unseen that came to mind."

"Bah! They were unhurt," Rolic said. "I felt threatened by their presence. A violation of our agreement as you would say."

"You protected a boy," Magna'est said.

"Is that what they were doing? Has hunting young boys become a sport?"

"I tire of your games," Magna'est said. He lowered his voice in an attempt to slow his quickening heart. "I have never thought you stupid. I expect the same courtesy."

Rolic's lips tightened. It looked as if a comment was swallowed. Instead, he grunted and waved Magna'est to a chair situated near his. Uncushioned, but the symbol of equalization was welcome.

"I liked the boy," Rolic admitted. "If you wish him dead, do it away from me."

"What does he know?" Magna'est asked as he took his seat.

"Nothing of importance," Rolic said with a growing smile. "He did have visions of thrusting his sword in you. I think that's what endeared him to me."

"He named me?"

"Nay, only the Brethren as a whole." Rolic sighed. "He fell into it all by caring. It's why I like the boy. You've convinced everyone else that self-preservation is more important than any idea and here is a boy that doesn't understand. How he thwarted your influence for so many years, I'll never know."

"You spoke with him at length then."

"Aye, and told him to run." Rolic's face changed. It tightened with brooding dislike. "I wish him to live and taunt you with it. My shame lives with you and this world you have molded. If I thought he had a chance, I would be the first person at his side and help him dismantle the hell you've created."

"Drop your sanctimonious harping. You are complicit, as is your entire line." Magna'est waved away Rolic's argument. He would not allow Rolic to sit upon the moral high ground. "Would you now have Aragonia fall into chaos to suit your soul?"

"Is chaos worse?"

"The wars that would follow would kill many more than we ever would. Is that what you wish upon this land?"

"Honest death has value. Your murders have none."

"Our murders," Magna'est rephrased. He smiled knowing how much it hurt Rolic to be reminded of his participation. Words can bite as hard as a blade.

"Aye, our murders," Rolic agreed, surprising Magna'est. "And our slavery, and our lies. Shame upon my name. Nay, shame upon my soul."

"The boy's witness is dead," Magna'est said. It had the intended to shock value. He felt childish trying to unbalance Rolic. Superiority is ever the weakness of the superior.

"So now this one's story dies as well," Rolic said, looking toward the ground.

"We never feared the boy, just the story. You know that." Rolic nodded in a defeated manner. It pleased Magna'est to see it. The boy was in his heart. Rolic would feel it when the boy met his end. "It's only a matter of time before it is over. Whatever help he is receiving will dry up."

"And hope will be crushed again."

"We require compliance. These fables disrupt the agenda, undoing years of molding, as you call it. Necessity requires that we put things back in order. Death is an inevitable byproduct of the re-molding. You have caused more of it by helping the boy."

"You forget," Rolic said, a smile growing on his face. Magna'est hated to see it return. "I have seen the numbers. I have done the computations. Each death sets you backward, farther from the necessity the future demands. Your herd has to grow, and your own laws shrink it."

"You'll be long dead before we reach such a point," Magna'est argued. He regretted the spittal that followed the words. If only he could cut the man's throat and listen to him gurgle his last. If only.

"Aye, I'll be dead. And the wars you fear will be upon you. Do you think your sheep will stand before them? Or will see the conquerors as their savior and celebrate?"

"It is nothing but a problem, and I have solved many. In time, a solution will present itself, as it always has," Magna'est said with conviction. Rolic laughed. It was an irritating sound that reverberated off the cave walls.

"Time IS your problem," Rolic said. "Mayhap, you could talk more into taking my road. I am as much a blessing as a curse to you." Magna'est hated that Rolic was correct.

"You would be less of a curse if you stayed away from our interests. There are lines you can not cross. Lines even your family will not tolerate."

"I told the boy as much when I sent him away," Rolic said, his voice sinking into submission. "He does not know my past, and in turn, does not know of your designs. I told him to fear the Brethren and to survive, nothing more. If he were to return, he'd get no help beyond that."

"You will inform us if he returns?"

"Nay," Rolic said. "I don't hunt boys, nor help those who do."

"But you will not harbor him."

"I will send him away as you ask." Rolic smiled. "With a full belly and all the supplies he can carry."

"Then we have an understanding," Magna'est said as he stood. He didn't want to spend any more time in the cave than necessary. Rolic lifted up his mug and took a drink. He had no intention of according any formal goodbye. There were few Magna'est couldn't intimidate. He hated them all, Rolic most of all.

Magna'est took a deep breath when he exited the cave. He had a long walk to return to the comfort of the soldiers and his fellow Brethren. It gave him time to think. Rolic rarely lied, though he always played with the truth. It was obvious he liked the boy, even admitted as much. There was too much idealism in the man. Magna'est disdained idealism. Reality was the only basis from which to live one's life. What is, matters. What may be, was as useless as dreams.