“And you, Fabien Descartes, will you swear to forever uphold Mary Welsh as your wife in the eyes of the Seven and the world?”

“I do.” The firm answer resounded throughout the chapel as the infernal young man held the hand of his bride, slipping a golden ring on her finger.

“Then, as an anointed servant of the Seven, I proclaim you husband and wife.” The grey-haired priest said the fateful words in front of the crowd as Fabien leaned in to kiss Mary.

The crowd that filled the chapel burst into cheers and claps as they congratulated the newlyweds.

“Took you long enough.” Valerie remarked to her brother after hugging him and Mary.

“It’s always the good ones that fall first.” Khan said from the side, nearly immediately getting elbowed in the kidney by the dark elf woman beside him.

“Now we just have to get our thick-skulled lord to settle before he screws things up by doing something stupid.” Another voice resounded from the crowd, though no one could determine to whom it belonged.

As the crowd left the temple, Regis finally managed to get close enough to the newlywed couple to congratulate them. He pulled out a pair of apples from his satchel, the fruits reflecting the light as if their skin were made of crystal.

“Congratulations to both of you,” he said with a smile as he handed over the apples. “I hope these will bestow good fortune, health and a lot of noisy little kids on you!”

“Thanks, but… holy shit!” Fabien couldn’t stop himself from cussing as he cast charlatan’s wisdom on the apple he held in his hand.”

“What’s wrong?” Mary asked with a hint of worry before her expression changed into that of bafflement as Fabien whispered into her ear.

“I… Regis, are you sure?”

“I think it’s a decent wedding gift, given the circumstances.”

“Thank you… for everything!” Mary said with a smile as she hugged the loremaster before letting go, only to take a bite from the apple she was given while her husband did the same.

A few bites later the precious fruit was gone and the couple rejoined the celebrating crowd. Regis let out a content sigh as he watched them walk away before looking slightly upwards. His eyes stopped on the barely visible barrier that hung above Thornfell. Two months. Two months have passed since the coronation of King Mikkel the Second. One month since he finally managed to finish the domain heart and the barrier relays that allowed the powerful artefact to cover the entire town in a barrier.

Now they were safe. The town was protected from demons and any otherworldly creature that would try to get near it. The mountain pass was further secured in these past months with a smaller domain heart reinforcing it against any demonic attack, not to mention the rest of the upgrades and enchantments the dark elf managed to stuff into the outpost. He could finally breathe.

“Are you alright?” Letty’s voice pulled him back into reality as she weaved her arm into his.

“Yeah, just… lost in thought I guess.”

“You do that a lot these days.”

“Sorry,” he said before kissing her. “We should go, or your sister will drag us away herself.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” she sighed. “Alicia is already at the bar, trying out the different foods and drinks.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Regis chuckled as the two began walking, the cheerful crowd soon handing them goblets filled with wine.

“Probably because this is how it always ends up.”

“True. At least the weather is nice.”

“Perfect for a wedding.”

“Do you wish it was us instead?” The loremaster asked casually, making the wood elf almost spit out her wine.

“Hell no,” she shook her head. “I’m way too young for that. Ask me in another two or three years.”

“I’ll hold you on to that.” He said with a smirk, causing her to blush before chugging down the rest of the wine she had in her cup.

“What are you two lovebirds on about over there?” Valerie asked as she walked over with a drink in hand.

“Just setting the rough date of our own wedding.”

“No, we’re not!” Letty denied it immediately.

“Aw, she’s so sweet when trying to deny it. You better take responsibility, or Cruz will skin you alive.”

“Only if she manages to sober up first.”

“True.” Valerie laughed as she looked over to the already tipsy wood elf near the food stalls. “For someone with such a tough body, she sure is a lightweight when it comes to drinking.”

“At least she’s cost-effective.” Tristan remarked as he appeared from the crowd.

“Tristan,” the dark elf nodded. “Where did you leave Nina?”

“She’s spending some time with Amanda and Sophie. No doubt gossiping as usual.”

“Trouble in paradise?” Valerie jabbed the steward in the side with a smirk plastered across her face.

“Nothing of a sort.” Tristan shook his head.

“Val, stop teasing the poor guy. And besides. Shouldn’t you be pestering Quentin or something?”

“He went to check up on the guards, but he’ll be back in a few minutes.”

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“Always on duty, huh?”

“And who’s fault is that? I swear your paranoia is infectious.” She said with a deep sigh.

“Better be prepared than sorry… thanks.” The dark elf replied while accepting a refill of his goblet.

“Whatever. I’ll see if they need help with the party.”

“Sure thing.” Regis nodded as both Valerie and Tristan went on their separate ways.

The celebration was loud and cheerful with good food and good booze everywhere. It was a much-needed distraction that reminded everyone that the war was truly over and peace had returned, Regis looked at the people. His people. There were a lot of them now. Not long after the coronation of King Mikkel the Second and the visit of his messenger, things truly became hectic for a short time.

Near fifty soldiers and their families migrated over from the Avellanet territory, hoping to re-settle in Thornfell. That was a surprise for everyone. It took some thinking and a lot of work, but in the end, nearly a hundred new people joined the population of Thornfell. Cornelia left a few weeks later after receiving a letter from the king, informing her that one of the small, and thus inconsequential territories on the southwest side of the kingdom was left without a noble to govern it and she was offered the territory.

It was a surprising turn of events, but she decided to leave nonetheless. With trade finally continuing, the flow of coin once again began to favour the people of Thornfell. The town’s coffers filled back up as they sold off whatever products they hoarded during the war. Master Felix and his spellcasters’ guild also proved to be steadfast allies and trading partners in the past months.

“You’re spacing out again.” Letty’s voice pulled him back to reality once again.

“Sorry.” The dark elf apologised absent-mindedly.

“Are you sure you’re all right? You’ve been far too distracted lately.”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I guess, I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“How about you just try to enjoy the party instead? Just for a little while.”

“Alright,” the loremaster nodded before kissing the wood elf. “Just this once.”

Letty chuckled at the comment as she dragged him away. The rest of the day slowly trickled by between dancing and eating, drinks being passed around in large amounts. Regis woke up with a slight nausea, the watered-down side effect of drinking far more than people like him should. He crawled out of his bed, ever so careful not to wake up Letty. He washed up and got dressed, then he sneaked out of the room and headed over to his study. There was much to do. The loremaster started his day by reading the different reports compiled by Tristan.

Most of the reports were written according to his expectations, some regarding trade requests while others detailing small issues that got solved without him needing to interfere. Regis had to admit that having enough soldiers to patrol Thornfell and the surrounding areas made things a lot easier. So did the fact that the people were genuinely happy. Sometime later his work got disturbed when his far-caller began to hum with power for a moment before a familiar voice resounded in it.”

“Sorry to bother you this early,” Grego spoke through the arcane item. “But you have visitors.”

“Visitors? Who?”

“I don’t know,” the guard captain sighed. “I’ve never seen them before. There are only two of them, both human, one man and a woman. They claim that they bring urgent news, but they are only willing to speak with you. I already informed Quentin just in case. He said he’ll be here in a moment.”

“I’m on my way.” Regis said as he stood up, grabbing his blade staff.

He returned to his room to get his armour before heading downstairs to a hidden room where his new personal gateway was. The runes lit up, swallowing him in a flash of light as he disappeared from the room, only to reappear in the secret room of the mountain pass. As he got outside, he found the guards standing beside the ballista, Quentin and Valerie standing right beside them.

“Good morning everyone,” the loremaster said to them before looking down at the strangers in front of the gates. “Any idea who they are?”

“Morning,” Val replied. “And no, we don’t. They seem awfully suspicious though.”

“They always do,” Quentin remarked as he headed down the stairs. “How about to get this over with so we could have breakfast?”

“Sounds good to me.” The dark elf agreed as they walked over to the gate that was opened by the guards.

They made their way toward the strangers, stopping about a good five meters away.

“My name is Regis Thorne...” He started, but the woman cut into his words while getting off her mount.

“I know, handsome,” she said with a sigh. “First of all, sorry for the deception. And second of all, please don’t freak out and try to kill me!”

As she said those words, the woman reached up towards her neck, touching a seemingly ordinary necklace. A moment later her features began to change as if a mirage was being lifted and a familiar face revealed itself.

“Natalie.” The loremaster recognised the dark elf woman, the telltale sound of ballista being precision-aimed resounding in the air behind him.

“I mean you no harm,” she said, keeping her hands raised in the air. “Please. I know we have a... chequered history but please, just listen!”

Regis gave her a better look, trying to discern anything that could tell him if she was a threat or not. Natalie was a beautiful woman, but now she had a certain... haggardness to her features. There were tiny dark circles beneath her eyes, her hair was matted and stuck together and her clothes had the dirt of the road on them. The mighty Argent woman would have never presented herself in such a state to anyone. Her pride wouldn’t let her. Unless this was part of her plans.

“Quentin,” the dark elf called out to his friend before turning back to the woman. “I hope you don’t mind a little precaution on my side, given our... chequered history.”

“No,” she sighed. “This is for the better. I have a lot to say and most of it would sound like outright lies otherwise.”

The paladin walked closer, watching warily as the other horseman dismounted, his looks changing that of Etienne, Natalie’s brother. Once everyone was at arm’s reach, Quentin summoned his ‘truth seeker’ domain, the gentle light enveloping all four of them.

“Speak!” Quentin said, his voice cold and distant.

“Why are you here?” Regis asked and Natalie let out a tired sigh.

“That’s difficult to answer,” the dark elf woman started. “I’m leaving Ecragurne, but before that, I wanted to warn you.”

“Warn me? Why? We are not friends. Even calling you an acquaintance would be stretching it, so why?”

“Because despite everything that happened, you might be the only one to believe me and take me seriously.”

There was an obvious sadness in her voice as she said that, her face showing nothing but defeat.

“I want you to know that none of what I did to you and your people in the past was my idea. Yes, I used my ability to try and charm you. We did imprison your friend and replaced him with one of our spies. We manipulated, tricked and outright forced people to do what we needed them to do. But none of that was because I wanted to do it. I had to do it.”

Those words made both Regis and Quentin clench their fists. Both because the words struck at sore spots and because there was not a single lie among them.

“We came to the Shardlands hoping for a better life. Life back on Earth was... restricted. We were nothing but the pawns and servants of the older generation, my grandfather being the worst. I lost my other brother to the family’s schemes and even when we got here, we found that we weren’t free. When we arrived, the Exiled Court was already waiting for us.”

Her words became more and more distraught, more and more heated by a strange anger.

“Somehow Grandfather had sent word before our arrival, letting them know that they would receive a bunch of henchmen to order around. Despite what you have seen, our position in the court was anything but lofty. I was nothing more than a glorified puppet. A pretty doll to show around publicly, only to be used behind the scenes as a spy and a tool.”

“Are you going to tell us something actually useful,” Quentin cut into her words. “Or are you going to keep whining about your ‘unfair’ treatment a bit more?”

“Charming as always.” Etienne remarked with a venomous voice, earning a stone-faced look from the paladin.