Elyon listened to Sebastian's story in silence, his only reaction a slight tightening around his eyebrows as the true extent of what happened became clear.

"My mother died because I couldn't kill a little bird," finished Sebastian. He could feel himself choking on the words he never thought he'd say out loud, so he took a moment to clear his throat. "If I... if I ever kill anything else, even if it's just a rabbit for food, then I won't ever be able to stop thinking, 'If I can kill this rabbit now, then why couldn't I have just killed that bird back then?' But if I never kill anything, then I know I was never capable of killing anything, which means there was nothing I could have done to save my mother. It's the only way her death has any meaning. It's the only way it's not.. entirely my own fault."

These were thoughts Sebastian had had, over and over again, throughout many sleepless nights throughout the years. He'd had enough lessons in rhetoric and logic to know that his reasoning was jumbled and circular, but no matter how often he told himself he was being irrational, he just couldn't let go. It was a pathetic justification of a weak-willed pacifism, but it was the only thing he had to hold onto.

But despite years of obsessive thinking, this was the first time he'd spoken about any of this to another person. Even with Corvina, although they sometimes spoke around the events of that day, in vague terms, they'd never spoken about it, not directly. Now he felt oddly raw and empty, and vulnerable in a way he'd never felt before.

Perhaps it was because of that vulnerable feeling that he was watching Elyon's face so closely, but Elyon gave very little away. His ageless face was impassive as a statue, but his blue eyes shimmered in the candlelight with a deep sort of unfathomable life and Sebastian was reminded of the long-life of elves.

In his eyes, is the life of a human even all that different from the life of a little bird?

"You know, I met your father once," said Elyon, looking off into the distance. Most of the time Elyon spoke with a light, matter-of-fact tone, but now his speech sounded tense, wound-tight. "When he was much younger. Perhaps around the age you are now. It was a diplomatic event, a banquet, before there were any hints of war between us. He was still the Crown Prince at the time, attending the banquet with the former Emperor, your grandfather. I didn't speak to him much, but I watched him closely, and I remember... I remember him as a rather sad and angry young man. He was proud, too, in a quiet way, but the thing I remember most of all was how scared he was of his own father. All of their interactions were colored by that fear."

Elyon's brows knit closer together, and when he spoke again his words were dripping in venom, "To think that a man like that could have gone on to become so pointlessly cruel to his own children... To fail so entirely to learn from the mistakes of the past generation... It's maddening."

"How old are you?" asked Sebastian, his sudden curiosity cutting through the intensity of the moment.

Elyon finally looked back at Sebastian again. "I'm 378 years-old," he said. "But that's not important right now. Prince Sebastian, there's something important you need to hear. Your mother's—"

"Elyon!"

"Wait, you can't—!"

A cool breeze ran through the tent as the entrance was thrown open. Sebastian was upset by the interruption (he wanted to hear what Elyon had to say) until he saw that it was Agis striding in through the opening, followed closely by a rather frantic looking Lieutenant Landi, and...

Sebastian squinted his eyes. Was that Corvina's maid? With a big bandage tied around her head?

"Did Anne and Corvina come through here?" demanded Agis, without any sort of preamble. "Have you seen them? They're missing."

Within a moment, all other thoughts, feelings, vulnerabilities, and expectations flew from Sebastian's mind in light of this new, far more urgent, problem.

"Sorry, sir," said Lieutenant Landi, with a crisp salute. "I tried to tell him you were busy, or that he should at least let me announce him first, but he pushed past me and I didn't think it would be right to use force against your brother."

Elyon sighed and pinched his nose. This was far too much to process all at once. "It's alright," he said, waving Landi away. "Go stand guard outside. Make sure no one else interrupts us, if you can."

Prince Sebastian was already on his feet, grabbing Agis by the shoulders. His eyes were full of a panicked focus, no longer turned towards Elyon at all. The moment of near emotional intimacy between them had passed entirely, replaced by another urgent crisis to solve.

How vexing.

"Anne and Corvina are missing?" said Sebastian, shaking Agis's shoulders. "What happened!?"

"Well, after we rescued Anne from Eva, Anne and Corvina took Iramus and—"

"After you did what from who!?"

The young human woman Agis had brought with him watched this interaction with an expression of concern, but she didn't interrupt or add additional explanation. Elyon could see she was swaying, just slightly, on her feet, her stance somewhat unsteady.

"Eva!" shouted Agis. "She—!"

"Everyone calm down for a moment, please," said Elyon. He didn't shout, but he spoke in a loud, clear voice that everyone in the room instinctively obeyed. "Thank you. Now, first things first, would the young woman like to take a seat? The hour grows late, and you don't appear as though you're in a fit state to be traveling. I'm surprised my brother brought you here with him."

That last second came out as slightly accusatory, although Elyon hadn't fully intended it.

"Her name is Helen," said Agis, shuffling his feet and looking embarrassed in a rather meaningful way. "I told her she shouldn't come with me, but—"

"I insisted," said Helen. Her expression was defiant now, but she heeded Elyon's advice and took a seat anyway. "I can't lay in bed doing nothing while my Lady might be in danger."

Elyon gave her a nod of acknowledgment. Loyalty was an admirable trait, although taken too far it could become dangerous. As was true of most good things.

"Now, will someone please explain clearly what's going on?" asked Elyon. "Eva is that human priest who's close with Anne, correct? I believe she helps you run the joint rebel forces."

Agis and Helen both nodded.

"Only she's secretly been a user of True Magic all this time," said Agis. "And she wasn't just close with Anne, she was obsessed with her, and so when she found out..."

In the heavy pause that followed, Elyon could see all sorts of emotions wrestling with each other across his younger brother's face—fear, pain, betrayal, anger, deep sadness, confusion, and probably a lot more that Elyon couldn't as easily identify.

"When she found out a secret Anne was keeping," he said, finally. "She kidnapped Anne to use her in a sort of magic ritual. I didn't get a lot of the details, but she was going to kill Anne. So me and Corvina and that assassin, for some reason, went to go rescue her, but her magic is so strong we barely got away, and I sent Anne and Corvina off on Iramus to reach the safety of the Forest, cause the Forest messes up Eva's magic, but it's been a while and we still haven't heard from them, and when we came to the Forest to try to find them, Iramus was just waiting for us in the Atrium, which means he must have gotten separated from them at some point, so now we really have no idea where they are, and I thought maybe they might've come to find you, so did they?"

Elyon took a moment to sort that incredible flood of information into actionable meaning.

So, Eva Coris was a magician. Elyon didn't personally see anything inherently immoral about using True Magic. It was a tool which could be used for good or ill, like any other. But it was undeniably dangerous, both to the magician themselves and to those around them—even more so if the magician was desperate enough to discard normal caution. Whatever events led up to this battle, and setting aside the question of just how the assassin sent to kill Anne ended up on a mission to rescue her instead, it was no wonder that Eva was nearly able to defeat three capable fighters on her own, although she must have done significant damage to herself in the process. It likely would be some time before she became an active threat again.

Even so, if Eva was able to hide her magic and go largely unnoticed by those around her for so long, she must have been incredibly skilled at subtlety and self-restraint. What great secret of Anne's could have caused her to discard all that? And what sort of 'ritual' would have required Anne's death?

Whatever the secret was, it clearly had affected Agis in a deep way, so much so that the normally straightforward kid couldn't bring himself to speak of it in plain words.

At this point, it might be wiser not to press for further details, thought Elyon. When we've found Anne, I can ask her about it directly.

Elyon briefly glanced at Sebastian, to see how he was taking all of this. He was back in his seat again, a rather stunned and confused expression on his face. An understandable reaction. Elyon felt the sudden urge to reach out to the prince, to put a hand on his shoulder and offer a quiet reassurance, but the distance between them would make such a gesture awkward, so he dismissed the thought.

Elyon looked back at Agis and tried his best to project calm through his voice. "No, they haven't come to find us. The last time she was here, I instructed the Saintess on how to find her way to the city, should she ever need to. Have you checked there?"

"We went to Gronderwen first," said Agis. "But Dad said he hadn't seen them."

"Of course he said that." Elyon tried not to let his disdain show on his face, but that was always difficult when speaking of his father. "Even if he had seen them, or even detained them, I wouldn't put it past the King to lie about it."

"Really? But—"

The young woman, Helen, cleared her throat politely and Agis actually backed down.

"Excuse me," she said. "I can understand why the King of the Elves might consider my Lady Corvina an enemy, but what reason would he have to treat his own daughter as a captive? And why would he lie about it?"

"He may not have a reason, as such," replied Elyon. "It may have just been a momentary whim. A desire to have new and interesting guests at his little parties. Or he may have seen them and decided to turn them away and think no more of them. But at this point in his life, nothing that man says should ever be treated as reliable information."

"So what do you suggest we do?" asked Helen. She was acting much calmer than Agis, but Elyon could see from her eyes that she was just as desperate for a solution.

"I suggest you rest and recover as best you can," said Elyon. "Lieutenant!"

Lieutenant Landi reentered the tent and saluted. "Sir."

"Find Agis and his friend somewhere to sleep for the night, and have one of our healers take a look at the young woman's injury."

"I don't need it!" said Helen. "I'm feeling okay now, really."

"If you're going to stay in my camp, you will be seen by one of my healers. Head injuries can be deceptive, and it's better to be safe than sorry," said Elyon.

"Well, maybe we won't stay then!" Helen glared at Elyon defiantly.

"Yeah!" said Agis. "If we leave now, we can make it back to Gronderwen before dawn, and then we can find out if Dad was lying or not."

"No," said Elyon. His tone made it clear that there would be no further arguments. "You both will stay here. Your top priority must be to recover from your recent ordeals. In the morning, when it is light enough to travel safely, I will personally travel to Gronderwen, and if Lady Corvina and the Saintess are there, I will find out. You may rest assured."