As chipper as the King tried to sound for the kids and the ever-chaotic Kendrick, this was an awful situation. Takrok was pissed at himself for it happening while he was there at all, but regardless how strong he was, he couldn’t be omniscient.

“I’m fine,” he said for the dozenth time at least, waving off the healers, “Put your efforts onto others. You don’t have to keep checking on me. I’m allowed to be sore.”

“…You shouldn’t be sore at all,” Takrok grumbled. The dragon hadn’t moved from his side, arms folded, protectively looking around with his head on a swivel.

“It is fine, Takrok. It would’ve been worse if you weren’t there. Much worse,” he sighed, looking out at his wife the queen as she was helping manage the freaked-out nobles and their kids. They had moved everyone back inside by now - easier to defend. No other attacks had happened yet. He had to question that severed head… that wouldn’t be fun. “Reese. I want you to help.”

Margrave Reese stiffened at the mention of his name. His twins and his wife had been talking amongst themselves about so many different possibilities with him. He was right… but being right wasn’t nice when it meant people died.

“Yes my king,” he stepped up to him, shrinking back ever so slightly away from Takrok, “So far I believe the death toll will be in the thousands. I have heard the number two thousand get tossed around. Many buildings are destroyed. All locations targeted were noble or wealthy.”

“Targeted to hit the well-off, so, from the poor? Tell me what else you think about this. You were right on one part, so I feel you’ve more than earned being listened to.”

He shook his head, “Yes and no, my lord. I… I believe this is the work of Dusau. They likely used the unrest of the poor as a tool. We are not a kingdom that is struggling but that does not mean there aren’t unhappy people, of course.”

“I know,” the king sighed, “but for Dusau to do something like this… I don’t see any way for this to end other than war. We need to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they’re responsible. For now, the focus should be on… that,” he said, shooting a glare toward the room where they kept the disembodied head of the crystal assassin. “I want you to be involved with the interrogation. You will be in a separate room, scrying, along with my own records keeper. The interrogation will be conducted by my spymaster…and, I’m sure, Takrok.”

Alliana stood from where she was sitting nearby, “My liege, I-”

“Wish to take part in the interrogation as well, I know. But you know what they say about too many cooks. You may observe alongside Reese and Erebith, my recordkeeper. Relia, my spymaster, can do a perfectly good job on her own. I would try to convince Takrok to not involve himself… but I know a fruitless endeavor when I see one.”

This got a huff from the dragon. “You surmise correctly. I will be participating.”

“I will be away from the perpetrator so that Takrok doesn’t have to worry as much,” the king said, rubbing his brow, “But you all will be better at getting information than me in any case.”

In the meantime, Blas sat across from his son. Alister had a bag of ice held against his bruised face, looking like a scolded child on a playground more than someone who had just faced an enemy that overpowered him. His father breathed a deep sigh, one of many he had made since sitting down.

“…I don’t know what to say,” he started, running his fingers through his black hair, “I’ll start with what praise there is, Alister. When your mother was in peril, you didn’t hesitate to step in. You may well have saved her life, and I can’t possibly express how grateful I am for that… it was incredibly brave of you. It makes me believe that someday you will be a great mage, indeed. You’ve got the heart of a hero. That being said… I feel like you don’t entirely understand the stakes of what you’re doing.”

He rubbed his face, letting out yet another sigh. “I’ll level with you, Alister. I know you have the memories of an adult, so you might understand. Alliana and I… we had incredible trouble having a child. We had all but given up when it was finally confirmed that she was pregnant. So imagine our position when you’re born… frail. Not disabled per se, but you frequently fell ill, and there were a couple of times when you got dangerously close to death. But every time, you pulled through,” the duke said as he folded his hands in front of him, eyes moist just thinking about that period in time.

“So imagine our surprise when you not only pull through but stop getting so sick all the time! You become more active, and then you ask to start schooling with other kids. It scared us, I won’t lie… but we eventually permitted it. Then one day you just explode with energy in class…” he let out a soft laugh, shaking his head. “That was the last thing we expected to happen. Cases of full recall are so rare, and to have so much energy from it! We’ve had to beat away priests and the like ever since, all of them trying to convince us to allow them to educate you. Including some pretty prestigious educators. All of them seeking position and influence, or use of you as an asset. All of this on top of the fact our eight-year-old has the memories of an adult and acts like a teen already! Regardless… with all that context… do you understand what position you put us in by chasing after an assassin all on your own, using a dangerous technique in the first place?” he asked, voice changing from reminiscent to firm.

“Forget our positions in the dukedom, what are we supposed to do about this as parents? It would be one thing if the trouble you got into was normal childhood or teenage things, if you ran off and tried to sneak into taverns, or into women’s bathhouses or something… but no. You’ve faced an adolescent dragon, which got eaten by a Double-headed basilisk king, then trying to appease your desire to unlock your system I take you on a hunt… and we come across what else but an eldritch corrupted titania class fairy knight. Sometimes bad things happen I think… this could just be me paying my dues for whatever god blessed us with your birth. Then we go on a long trip, and nothing too bad has happened… some shenanigans occur, of course, but nothing too bad. I think it was nice, you made a friend! We did our best to treat her as one of our own despite her social status, though that’s a whole mess in itself… perhaps that will help calm you, I hope, but no. You still run off and fight an army of crabs, and then go to investigate the eldritch bones on your own… and then, of course, the bones produce an eldritch creature on their own, as if one such encounter before you even turn ten wasn’t enough! This of course brings us to present, to this…”

He searched for words for a moment before getting up and saying, “... shitshow, which to be fair wasn’t your fault… the first half at least. As I said, I’m not discounting the good in what you did… but it is beyond brash. Alister… I am expected to assist in the protection of my nation. This is part of my responsibilities as duke. One day, they’ll be your responsibility too. But you’re still a child, even if we proceed according to the age you act as instead of your age. You don’t care enough about your own safety. That’s a problem for the successor of my throne because to care about others in the long run, you must care for yourself. Without their duke, things in the duchy will quickly fall into disarray, and people will suffer because you chose to act rashly. I don’t have anyone else. Even if I did, I still wouldn’t want you to act this way… but I don’t.”

He turned his back to Alister as he thought, biting his lip. “You are going to be grounded for the foreseeable future. Even if we do anything on the way, you will be staying with your mother or I. Before I let things go because you weren’t alone, because you had Morgan, or Wisteria, or even Neth’Rhexys. But I can’t let it go at that anymore…”

He clenched his jaw before turning back to his son, who was now crying quietly. “Alister… and you MUST keep this to yourself… this could become a war with Dusau. I don’t know if your past life gives you context on what that means, but it is very likely that attempts will be made on your life regardless of how safely you act. You cannot give the inevitable assassins the opportunity. For our sakes, for our people’s sakes, you must live.”

The word war sent a cold chill down Alister’s spine, reminding him of some of the horrors he’d seen in the holy wars that marred his old life. He’d always stayed out of them, said they weren’t his business, or maybe vowed to kill a particular god in time… but this time he had no such benefit. Even if he wasn’t going to be participating in the war itself, it would dictate much of life… and given the opportunity, the enemy would have it dictate his death. It didn’t help that Dusau made up the primary western and northern land border of the very duchy that he himself would one day rule.