The next few moments buzzed in Kaden’s ears. There was a whirlwind of activity. Ambassador Laramee was detained and he was pushed out of the room entirely. Several more people rushed in shortly after and the four of them were getting pushed down the hall.

Kaden was staring at his shaking hands at what had just happened. He could feel the hand clutching at his throat as if it was still there. The others were trying to talk to him, but all he heard was a muted gibberish. It had happened much like the vision, but things were different; they changed the situation.

He felt Sayori’s hands on him, shaking him in an attempt to get him to focus.

Had they not ran when they had, had Meinor and Laudy not been there when they were, he would have killed both Serpent prisoners and he would have been able to go free himself.

In his vision, he had been pulled toward him. That did happen. Laramee was able to manipulate his body and pull him through the air. So many things happened just the same. Did fate always mean for him to interrupt the murders?

Sayori shook him again and his eyes came back into focus. “Are you okay?”

He blinked a few times, coming out of his haze. “I… I don’t know.”

Reese was shaking his head while pacing back and forth in the hall. Kaden looked around to try to assess what was happening. There were several more guards in the hall, putting up a perimeter.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement over Reese. It was Ambassador Remni accompanied by the white-haired councilor he had only met at the council, Nortu. She was quick to wrap her arms around Sayori and poll her in a comforting hug.

“Are you kids okay?” she asked while looking at Kaden as he was still leaning his weight against the wall.

He shook his head no to her and Sayori couldn’t help the words falling out of her mouth. “It was Laramee, it was ambassador Laramee.”

“Hush girl,” Councilor Nortu chided. “There are more ears here than you would believe.”

Reese whirled around on his heel. “Where have you even been, Councilor? We have been fighting serpents and stopping traitors while you’ve been doing what? Having tea?”

Ambassador Kartok’s voice cut through behind them. “Silence. We have given you a lot of leeway here, Reese, because of your family’s standing, but you will not be disrespectful to the Councilor. Sit down.”

His voice was booming, vibrating the air, and Kaden saw Reese actually falter. Not too long ago, Reese was threatening his job and now he was lecturing him like he was a child. Kaden didn’t know the dynamic involved with them, but this was even more serious than any of them could have imagined.

Nortu turned to Remni and said, “Get them out of here. This is the last thing we need right now. They’ve caused enough talk already. People can’t know they were involved here, too.”

Kartok threw his hands up. “They already know! They were running through the entire building. Everyone saw them and the white mages!”

His eyes cut back to Kartok in a look that even Kaden was shaken at. “We don’t need any more fire on this. We need to corral this as best we can. Blame it on another Serpent, if you must, but we cannot have it come out about this nation. Not yet. It will cause issues. You all know this.”

The two of them sighed and nodded in agreement. Remni put her hand on Sayori’s lower back and pushed her toward the hall they had come from. She waved her hand toward the others to follow. Evonne came up to Kaden and put her hand out, offering it for him to hold.

The small act of kindness overwhelmed him and he had to swallow hard to compose himself. So much had happened in such a short time. He was not handling any of it well this time. If all the visions he had been seen were true, this wouldn’t be the last moment of insanity he’d be a witness to. Taking her hand, he wrapped his fingers around hers and let her lead him down the hall.

Ambassador Remni was walking at an incredibly fast pace. They were almost running to keep up with her. She was determined to get them away from the scene as quick as they could. Just as they rounded a corner, she collided with Malfor. He looked bewildered as he was marching in with two aides.

“What is happening, Remni?” He held her out at arm’s reach.

She shook her head. “We can’t speak of it here.”

His eyes cut to the group of them and he let out an annoyed sigh. “Why is it always you four?”

“We have a knack of annoyance,” Reese said with a smirk.

Kaden heard Remni snicker. Clearing her throat, she said, “Nortu advised me to get them away from the scene as quick as possible. The Lord Commander and his mages are already there. Kartok had just arrived as we were leaving.”

“And Laramee? Has anyone seen that fool?”

They all shared a look, and they watched as his shoulders dropped. “No.”

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She nodded, “I promise you, it isn’t what you’re thinking right now.”

His eyebrow raised and Kaden watched as the confusion turned into a shocked look that took over his face. “No! Really?”

They said more without saying anything than Kaden even knew was possible.

“I have to get them away. Find Nortu. He will brief you more on what we’re doing.”

He nodded and took Evonne’s hand quickly. “Don’t worry, my dear. You will not be tied to any of this negative nonsense. You have our support and our thanks.”

Kaden blushed and couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Malfor bowed and was quickly down the hall behind him, actually running to join the growing crowd. Remni didn’t say anymore as she motioned them to continue following her.

She led them to a locked door. Pulling out a complicated key from her robes, she unlocked it and beckoned them inside. It was a platform surrounded by stairs. Walking forward to the platform, they scrambled to follow her. It was a private stairwell and platform to higher floors.

As they pushed themselves together on the small platform, she reached around them and held onto them as best she could, pushing them into one another. Sayori, understanding the move, did the same on the opposite side and pushed everyone together, holding them. With a stomp of her foot, the platform rose.

Kaden forgot that they needed an earth mage to raise it. The stairwell swirled around them as they flew up several stories. He knew why she was holding them close. There was nothing to keep them from falling right off the platform itself. It was designed for this many people at once. The stairs must be there for those who didn’t have their ability to raise the stone.

The scratching of stone slowed, and he felt a jolt as they stopped. Releasing her arms, Remni let them go and said, “Just head that way.”

They stepped onto a platform and pushed open the door. There was a large room that held several couches and various desks littered around. It was lit up by glowstones so bright he had to squint at first from the dark stairwell lighting.

“There is food and water in here, a bathroom over there. You’ll need to stay in here for now until we figure out what the hell is going on.”

“What is this place?” Asked Sayori.

She smiled and said, “This is where we bicker. It is our conference room. We come here to argue well into the night. We don’t do all our fighting in front of the public. There are a lot of sensitive things that happen here so we needed a place that only we can get to. That’s this place. No one will bother you all here.”

Evonne bowed deeply and said, “Thank you for allowing us to stay in this hallowed space.”

A laugh bubbled out. “I wouldn’t say it’s hallowed. Just private.”

“What will happen to Ambassador Laramee?” Kaden was still focused on what they had just seen.

She shook her head. “I don’t know. You all probably know more about what is happening than I do.”

Reese tossed himself onto one of the couches. “Nah, we just pieced things together quicker than you guys.”

“Well, thank you.” She turned around to leave, but turned back. “You do know that I hate that I was right about this, right?”

Kaden sighed and said, “I don’t think anyone would have wanted this to be the outcome.”

She took a deep breath and he could see the exhaustion on her face. He didn’t know how much she worried about everything. He didn’t know what relationship she had had with Laramee. The disappointed look she was giving them in that moment spoke more than she could vocalize.

Nodding to them, she turned back around and Kaden soon heard the scraping of stone descending back down the stairwell. Sayori let out a loud sigh and shook her head as she went to join Reese on the couches. Evonne shrugged her shoulders to him and left to join them as well.

Reese’s hand waved in the air above him and he said, “Kaden, please come sit with us. We need to talk.”

Gulping, he suddenly felt extremely nervous. Slowly, he stepped around the couch and found himself a seat facing them. Reese gave him what almost seemed like a glare. He let out his own sigh and shook his head.

“What the hell happened tonight?”

“I—”

“Is this going to become a reoccuring issue for us?”

Sayori scoffed and nodded a yes before leaning back into the cushion while crossing her arms.

“Because we can’t have you being charmed away like that.”

Kaden sat up a bit in surprise. He was assuming they were discussing the ambassador situation, not the matriarchs.

“How does a dragon even charm a person?”

Sayori shook her head and said, “well the White mages charmed our dragons, so obviously there is something involved there.”

Evonne nodded along. “I wonder if this is something we can learn.”

They all gave her a surprised look and she stuttered while looking down at her hands. “I was just curious.”

Sayori let out a laugh and her head fell back onto the cushion again. “Did you see the Ambassador doing… that?”

Taking a deep breath, he simply said, “yes.”

“Did it come from the matriarchs today?”

“Yes.”

Reese groaned and pulled his head down. “Why, why, why, why? You’re a nobody!”

“Maybe that’s why?” Evonne squeaked out. “He isn’t anyone special, which is why he’s perfect for them.”

“You said he was a rural farm boy,” Reese asked Sayori.

“Yeah, he said he hadn’t even seen a dragon before he was blessed. Just out there raising goats or something.”

“They were sheep,” Kaden corrected.

“He’s a blank slate. No influence of politics or poverty.” Evonne was offering her interpretation. “It made him a perfect person to influence.”

Kaden whispered out, “influence?”

Evonne turned to him and said, “Yes, it is clear they are making sure their will is known with you.”

“I wouldn’t say that’s clear,” Reese scoffed.

She motioned behind her and said, “It showed him a vision of the ambassador, and then he acted on it. It came true! They don’t do this. They don’t show people visions of the future like that.”

Sayori finally lifted her head back up. “And yet…”

And yet they had done it with Kaden. He didn’t know why they wanted him to be the person to express their will, but Evonne wasn’t wrong. They had chosen him to show these things to and he was going to have to act on them if he wanted the world to not explode around him.

“It… um… didn’t happen exactly as they showed me,” he admitted to them.

They all cut their looks back at him. Reese let out a huff and said, “Explain.”

“I had seen Laramee with both men dead on the floor. When I arrived, I had been alone in the vision. No one else was there.”

Sayori looked to Reese. “When we arrived, he had only just killed the one and of course, we were all there with him.”

“Did you see the ending of the incident? Did you stop him in the vision?”

Kaden shook his head. “No, no. I was pulled close to him, as what happened, but then only saw his face. That was it. That was the end of the vision.”

Evonne let out a hum. “So we acted so quickly with the white mages that we were able to get there earlier than what they had shown.”

“So you’re not seeing the future at all then??” Asked Reese.

Sayori let out another deep breath and her head fell back once more. “No, he’s seeing a possibility. We changed the future.”

“Nice,” he said with a smirk.

“Why do they want me to change the future?” Kaden asked quietly.

They all looked at each other and then to him.

Evonne shrugged and said, “Maybe because someone has to.”