"Well, that was unexpected," Blaise said. She stood with her hands on her hips as she glared at the open chest.

Duvessa snorted. "There's no drama like family drama." She held aloft the lantern they'd retrieved from the cave. It was the normal lantern brought by Helena and the mercenary, not the one Selendrith had cast Light on. Long shadows danced around the clearing outside the cave entrance every time Duvessa swung the lantern, which was often.

"I'm glad," Iva said. "After what those assholes did to me and my mum, and my goats, I'm glad someone got whatever that was before them."

Now that he took a good look at her, Seth figured the woman who had been in the watery hole was in her thirties. She was fit and strong, but soaking wet and a little bloody. Her clothes had rips and tears from the jagged rocks in the cave. She shivered in the cold mountain air.

"Their mum though?" Booth asked. He was still kneeling in front of the chest and held the card that had been left behind.

"That's not how family is supposed to be," Owen said. He was only mildly interested in the chest and what it contained. He was sitting on a large rock and pressing his palm into his injured thigh. It had been somewhat healed, so it wasn't actively bleeding, but the injury was still painful. Owen was keeping watch on the clearing and the woods beyond, as much as he could in the darkness.

"Good. I'm glad for that too," Iva said. "They deserve a mother that hates them."

"But she signed it 'Love'," Duvessa said. "She shows it weird, but she said she loved them."

"I think she's lying about loving them, Duvessa," Seth said. "Iva, do you have any idea what was supposed to be in here? Did they talk about what they were looking for?"

"They didn't say what they was looking for. They had a map they was following, and knew about that lizard thing in the hole they sent me in. The woman was in charge, and she seemed to be working for someone else. She had a debt to pay or some such," Iva said.

"Are people stealing powers to go treasure hunting?" Blaise asked. She sounded offended.

"Well, there's at least two competing people or groups," Booth said. "And they know each other."

"Related, even," Owen said.

Seth didn't think treasure hunting was the reason the powers were stolen. He wasn't doing any treasure hunting, and he had Saben's power. He glanced over at Mau. She was perched atop the cave entrance, her tail tip flicking rhythmically.

"We know whoever is involved has a mother, and she is not a good person," Duvessa declared.

"She could be fine, and her kid is the piece of shit, you know," Booth said. "These people were working for the kid."

"Or they are both trash," Blaise said.

"I think they were looking for the one of the things Helena was looking for at the party," Seth said.

Duvessa gasped. "The regalia of the Flower Empress! And she came here to find it! She is on a treasure hunt!"

Seth wanted to face palm. He glanced over at Iva. "Something like that."

“You shouldn't be talking about her," Iva said, meaning the Flower Empress. "It's bad luck." She shook her head and walked over to Duvessa. "It's dark, it's cold, I'm wet, and I'm going home. I'll take my lantern now."

"Oh! We should walk you home!" Duvessa glanced around at everyone else, nodding her head at each of them as if agreeing for them. "Who is going to carry the weasels?"

Iva sighed. "Look. I'll be a lot faster on my own—"

"Oh, no. We couldn't!" Duvessa interrupted, swinging the lantern around and holding it up to shine in Iva's face.

"Yeah, we could," Booth muttered.

Iva heard him and agreed. "You all are kids. He's gimped," she indicated Owen, "and you've got a long walk home. My house will just make your trip longer and harder. Go that way, straight down hill the whole way. You'll run into the road eventually. Impossible to miss it. That'll get you back to the city the fastest. My lantern now, please."

Duvessa slumped dramatically and handed over the lantern. "As you wish."

"Be careful and stay out of trouble," Iva said seriously. "Leave this mess alone."

Seth watched her leave with their only current form of light. Resigned, he cast Moonlight since his amulet was still empty.

"She didn't take the chest," Booth said.

"Then we keep it," Duvessa said. "Unless you think we should put it back?"

"We keep it. If they come back to look again and find it, they'll know who has whatever it was. I'd rather leave them wondering," Blaise said. "Any idea what was in there, Booth?"

"Too big a box for a piece of jewelry," Booth said, examining the chest. "Too small for something like boots."

"Bracers, maybe," suggested Seth, "or a circlet."

Booth glanced back at Seth. "You're still thinking regalia?"

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Yeah. Since the regalia set in the Palace are fakes, the real ones might be hidden around out here," Seth said quietly.

"Or in some other country's treasury. Rosia isn't the only kingdom descended from the Empire," Blaise said.

As far as Seth knew, it was common knowledge that Rosia had the regalia. The mana here could easily keep the regalia powered, and none of it would be at risk of decay. The only better place for long term storage would be in the Below. He hadn't heard any rumors that another country had any of the pieces.

Selendrith asked for the chest and gave it a thorough look over before handing it back to Booth. If she found anything, she didn't mention it.

Blaise and Booth tied both bagged weasels to her spear to carry between them. Selendrith cast another Light spell, making it clear that this was the last spell she would be casting tonight, and handed it to Duvessa. Then she helped Seth in supporting Owen for the trip down.

Seth was deep in thought as they headed out. There were a few things about this situation that niggled at him. Why was Helena running around flaunting the power? Why was Blaise released? It would have made more sense to keep her locked up. No one would have known her power was stolen, and the power would remain safe so long as they kept Blaise safe. Why let that information out?

Arnold hadn't been quiet about his power loss and subsequent return, either. People knew. Not a lot of people, sure, but this was a badly kept secret.

And then sabotaging the attempts to fix it. It was like someone wanted people talking about the problem, but not solving it. Why?

And how was he related to this? Helena had been instructed to leave one of the boys alone. Seth was pretty sure that was himself, as he also possessed a stolen power.

He glanced down at Owen's injury. It wasn't bleeding, but his clothes were torn and bloody, and he was in obvious pain. If Helena had known Seth was the protected one, Owen would be dead. Booth too, probably.

She'd known who they were. He wondered if she knew in the Palace too, and that's why she wouldn't talk to him. No, the only one she knew was Blaise. She knew of the boys, but didn't know who was who.

And she thought they wouldn't be here tonight, she thought…

"Hey," Seth said suddenly. "Helena thought we would be north of the city hunting wolves. Anyone have any idea why she would think that?"

Everyone stopped to look at him.

"I forgot she said that," Blaise said. "But she did. She said we were supposed to be wolf hunting."

"We didn't take that contract," Owen said.

"But she knew we looked at it," Seth said. "How did she know?"

"Well, that's really creepy," Blaise said.

Duvessa spun around and peered into the darkness. "Do you think they're spying on us?"

"Probably not this minute, or they'd have known we went this way," Booth said. "But yeah. Someone is keeping tabs on us. Or, at least some of us."

"Me, probably," Blaise said. "And one of you." She gestured to the three boys.

"They could be using summons," Selendrith said. "Just like Duvessa does."

"They could be using Duvessa's summons. Someone was stealing them before," Owen said.

"My summons! I'll send Reginald to get them tomorrow night. Then we'll know all their secrets!"

Seth hoped they'd finally get a lead they could actually follow somewhere. He didn't know where Helena lived. He didn't know what Lord Thurstan was up to. And Jay just hung around the Circle Tower all the time.

"Hey, I forgot to ask you, Duvessa," Seth said. "Is your grandmother still having tea tomorrow with Lord Thurstan?"

"Yes she is. I'm going straight there after class."

"So we're not doing more hunting tomorrow?" Booth asked, disappointed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. But I cannot miss this opportunity," Duvessa said.

"I have another engagement," Selendrith said.

"So do I," Seth said. He was supposed to be meeting with Selendrith's grandfather tomorrow to discuss the bracelet.

"I don't reckon I'll be up for it," Owen said. "Healing can knock the bells out of you."

They made their way down the mountain, stopping more often than Seth would like, and less often than Owen really needed. It was nearly midnight when they got back to the school and dropped Owen off at the Circle Tower. They had to insist for Blaise get checked out too, because she felt it was healed enough.

Everyone else headed to bed, leaving Booth and Seth to take the weasels to Professor Isolde.

She wasn't assigned to a tower, so she had a small apartment suite on the school grounds in a similar building to Duvessa's room. Seth was surprised when she answered their knock within a few seconds.

"This isn't office hours," Professor Isolde said flatly. "If you are having trouble with your familiar, that's not my problem. No refunds."

Seth handed her the notice. "We're here to collect the bounty on magical creatures."

Isolde's eyebrows shot up. "You've got some loose familiars?"

"No, we went and captured two magic beasts," Seth said.

She blinked slowly. "Right. New beasts. That's unexpected. Come on in and let's see what you've got."

Seth looked around as she led them through a comfortable looking living room to a bedroom that had been converted into storage.

The bed was still in the room, and on top of it were a variety of chests and boxes—some he recognized from her basement, where she'd performed the familiar ritual. There was also the rack of cages, but these were currently empty.

"Right. Show me what you've got," Professor Isolde said after shutting the door.

Mau jumped atop a stack of crates. That would be above the weasels' typical blade height, and Seth was glad she would be out of harm's way.

Booth pulled his out first.

Professor Isolde took one look and nearly snatched the creature from Booth. "You wild caught a whirling sickle weasel?" she said, incredulous. "Are you crazy? You're both first year students! You've been here, what, a month?"

"Yes, yes, and yes," Booth said. "I need money."

Isolde eyed him. "Money's worthless to the dead. You should pick your targets better. Right. Let me check these guys out." She quickly removed the bindings on the weasel and thoroughly examined it in less than a minute. She popped it into one of the cages and locked it before taking the second weasel and giving it the same treatment.

The weasels were unexpectedly docile while she handled them. Seth glanced up at Mau, who was watching Isolde with her head cocked curiously.

Seth figured that was fair. Isolde had managed Mau just as easily when Seth had first gotten her.

A moment later, Isolde handed a small bag of coins to Booth. "A crown and a half. I gave you a bonus for delivering wild caught and uninjured."

"Why is wild caught so surprising?" Seth asked.

"Because there's someone in the school stealing familiars. That and familiars can get annoyed with adolescent caregivers, so they sever their bonds and wander off. This bounty usually gets filled that way."

"Let me get this straight," Booth said. "You sell familiars. Someone steals familiars and sells them to you. Then the person who had their familiar stolen has to buy another one from you?"

"Pretty close, some details–"

"That is so awesome. That's like free money all day," Booth said.

Professor Isolde snorted. "If I catch you stealing, or have proof you did, I will dump your ass in lockup myself."

A couple of things suddenly clicked for Seth. "This is a ruse. The bounty is bait. You're out to catch the thieves."

"Smart boy," Isolde said, and smiled at him. "Now keep your mouth shut and get out. And bring me any other wild caughts you get. I'll pay top coin for those. But if you blab this all over, I'll cut your bounty instead."

Isolde hustled them outside and then Seth and Booth split up.

As soon as it was just him and Mau, Seth said to his cat, "I get the feeling that me and Blaise and probably Arnold are being used as bait. I hope tomorrow we find out who's doing the fishing and what they're trying to catch."

Mau snorted. 'Benjamin,' she signed.

"I don't think so. His mom died years ago."