Tulos dropped down on top of him, but Amaro was too quick. He gripped Tulos’s arm and tossed him flat with a solid THUD.

“Oof! I was only joking, brother!” He laughed as Amaro’s katana hovered a few inches from his neck, “See? If I really wanted to ambush you I would have done this first! Dinnertime is family time. Not war time.”

“You’re the one who ambushed me, idiot.” Amaro said, grabbing the hilt of his hovering sword and sheathing it.

“Ugh, only a few days living in camp and the four of you have regressed to acting like kobolds.” Sancta said from a folding table set up between them.

“Come along, I’ve taken the liberty of cooking our own food tonight. I even added some vegetables that I grew myself.”

“We’ve already grabbed our meals from the Tibur,” Anitus said, “And since when do you cook anyway?”

“Since I’ve been helping around the camp. We are guests here, so it’s only right we earn our keep. The Tibur are still nobility as savage and unruly as they are. Although, Xirxus like us deserve to eat better than anyone else, I think.”

Amaro looked over the spread of food Sancta had set up, “Seems Lorshiir taught you a few recipes.”

“I happen to like his style of cooking the most, so it’s only natural I would emulate it.”

“I just think Sancta’s trying to become someone’s house wife at this point,” Tulos snickered.

“Do you want to eat or not?” Sancta fumed, “I worked hard to make these, the least you all could do is be grateful!”

Amaro sat down, “You’re right Sancta, we are being too cruel. You put in all this effort for us, so thank you for trying to make us all feel at home.”

Sancta crossed her arms, a smug look on her face, “That’s more like it,” she said, snapping her fingers like she was calling dogs to attention, “I do this, and you boys clean up your mess, is that clear?”

“Yes, Lorshiir,” Tulos and Anitus said in unison.

“Why have you decided to take up cooking, Sancta?” Raktus asked, creaking the makeshift chair he was sitting on.

“Learning how to cook is a fantastic way to strengthen healing magic, and it’s even better for life magic users like myself. After all, what we eat was once alive at some point.”

“Perhaps if I’m eating meat, but a cake was never alive!” Raktus said.

“It’s made of plenty of ingredients which were either harvested from living things, or the living things themselves.”

“You’re not going to win this debate, Raktus.” Amaro laughed.

Raktus crossed his arms, picking up a bowl of soup, “Thank you for the meal, sister.”

“You’re welcome!”

Anitus reached for a bowl, only for a vine to whip his wrist, “What do you say, Anitus? Manners, please.”

“Thank you for the meal, mother.”

Sancta rolled her eyes, “Close enough, for you.”

Amaro drank from the rim of the bowl, nearly choking on what he tasted. Sancta had definitely added too much salt. It was bitter too, and there was a grainy consistency on his tongue that felt like sediment.

His brain accelerated at a million miles per second, eyes darting around to look at the reactions of his siblings. Raktus loved salty meals, and Tulos knew how to choose his battles. Which only left-

“This soup is terr-”

Amaro punched Anitus in the liver from under the table, “Terrific, but a little salty.” he corrected him, “Not on the level of Lorshiir yet, but clearly better than any of us can do.”

“You’ve made better in the past by helping Lorshiir,” Anitus said, clutching his side.

“That’s because Lorshiir’s cooking is far and above the slop served here. I think this dish has to at least be better than the basic stew they make for the peasants here.”

“How did you make this soup?” Seeing that Anitus was about to say something snarky.

“That was an ingenious idea of mine. I learned to make the basic soup from the Tibur, then I improved on the recipe. I added plenty of additional herbs and spices I grew myself.”

Anitus pushed the meal he had gotten from the Tibur over to her, “This is the basic version right here. Taste it for yourself and see if it’s an improvement or not.”

Sancta squinted, spooning both into her mouth. She shivered when she tasted her own.

“Well?”

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“I like mine better!”

“Is that why you looked like you were going to vomit?”

“No! I mean- I didn’t! I wasn’t!”

“Then eat all of it. Don’t waste food. There are peasants starving in the Altix, you know.”

“What were the two of you up to today?” Amaro asked in a desperate attempt to steer the conversation away, “Other than cooking and planning ambushes, I mean.”

“Sancta has a mystery alchemist she’s obsessed with.” Tulos said, picking up what Amaro was trying to do.

“Oh yes that’s right!” Sancta said, her insecurities about her cooking washing away like footprints on a beach, “They have the most wonderful medicinal ingredients in camp. The craftsmanship of the potions from their caravan was immaculate. Absolutely immaculate!”

“Really now? On par with something your tutors might have made?” Anitus said.

“Perhaps even exceeding them! I traded my services as a life magic user to get a few samples to study. The most interesting thing is just how simplistic the ingredients are, and how few there are. Yet, the end product is incredibly potent.”

“I might be able to translate what you’re saying, Sancta, but the rest of our siblings will need a summary.” Amaro said, only telling half of the truth.

Sancta rolled her eyes, “In other words it suggests there is a methodology to bring out the full potential of the ingredients. A technique, an order, or a timing to the process which boosts the effectiveness of the ingredients in the end product.”

“Whoever made the potions was like a skilled swordsman with a wooden sword, basically.” Amaro translated.

“Potion brewing is a delicate art,” Sancta continued, “A few grams off of a certain ingredient here, suboptimal temperatures there, and it can change the quality of the end product. Even a few seconds can be the difference between grades of quality!”

“You would make a wonderful professor at the academy.” Amaro said.

“Yes, your lectures are so informative I’ve stopped paying attention.” Anitus chimed in.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Sancta said, a small smile playing on her lips.

“So who is this mystery alchemist?” Amaro asked.

“That’s what is so mysterious. When I asked Tibur, they said they were not at liberty to tell me. Clearly, this sage wants to keep their identity a secret, but I have an alternate theory.”

Anitus leaned in on his cheek, toying with his soup, “And what might that be?”

“It’s common for legendary sages to leave calling cards in their work. Breadcrumbs which can lead only the most astute and worthy to them.”

“So the secret ingredient was breadcrumbs!” Raktus said, “Genius.”

“Very funny,” Sancta sighed, “The Tibur were told to keep it a secret by the ones who sold the goods to them. But that’s the first clue! Whoever dropped those potions off is still in the camp, and I intend to get to the bottom of it.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?”

“I’ve compiled a list of the newest travelers to the camp based on what Tulos knows.”

“You could say I’m the center for local gossip in the camp these days,” Tulos said, “Word almost always passes through the smithy’s tent, and I’ve come to know nearly everyone here to some extent.”

“You always were rather chatty when we had guests,” Anitus said.

Tulos flashed a fox-like grin, “It means I know all about the newcomers to the camp. I also know these potions were not crafted by Tibur.”

“How would you know something like that?”

“Two reasons. One is because of the tent they stored the items in. They keep anything made by their tribe separate from good transported here by outsiders. The second is that a potion bottle crafted by a Tibur is distinctly shaped to distinguish it from the typical bottle.”

“Why would they do that?” Amaro said.

“Apparently they’ve had problems with people ‘poisoning the well’ so to speak. Malaki, bad actors, even noble families have tried to bring plagues to their camp.”

“I can understand Malaki and a traitorous peasant, but why nobles?” Anitus asked.

Tulos shrugged, “It seems the Tibur benefit from the perception that they are not true nobility. If they’re viewed too much as a noble house, then they become the target of politics. Especially if they happen to help a rival bloodline with their Malaki problem.”

“That makes sense to me, at least.” Amaro said.

“In any case, these potions were made by someone who just arrived, and not by a Tibur visiting for the winter. There are also no brands or markings on the cart which immediately eliminates the majority of merchants who have come here to sell to the nobility this year.”

“All this sleuthing over a silly potion.” Anitus said, leaning on the back legs of his chair, “Good luck finding this elusive alchemist.”

“Well with Tulos’s help, I’ve narrowed down the candidates substantially. The only issue is that the majority are peasants, or worse, Noxa.“

“Ugh, and the Tibur wonder why they’ve been poisoned in the past.” Anitus said.

“Indeed, so Amaro I will need your help tomorrow morning.”

“Hm? Mine?”

“Are you busy tomorrow?”

“He might be busy assisting us in the war games,” Anitus said.

“I think it would be a good change of pace to go with Sancta. After all, a member of the Tibur clan could ambush her thinking she was on our side.”

“You’re more likely to get trouble from a noble or noxa. I’ve already told the Tibur Sancta’s not playing.” Tulos said.

“All the more reason to accompany her.”

“Fine then, I suppose we won’t need your help to complete our goals tomorrow.” Anitus said, “I wouldn’t mind taking tomorrow off either, after what we’ve all been through tonight.”

“Oh?” Tulos said, wearing his fox grin again, “And what have you all been through tonight?”

“Not much of your business, given how chatty you are with the enemy,” Anitus said.

“So it’s related to Deka and his ownership of you.”

“As if any xio could own me!”

“But you would not serve anyone unless the deal was good, right?”

“I see what you’re doing Tulos and it’s not going to work! These lips are sealed!”

“I’m not doing anything, I merely want to know how my older brother has been doing around camp. There are no secrets between family, after all.”

“There’s no secrets between you and the Tibur either, I know that much. I’ll tell you all about it after we’ve won this war.”

“And you’re certain you’re going to win? There’s quite a few things you’re overlooking if you think it’s going to be that easy.”

“Considering we took nine horns from your side today, I would say it’s going to be even easier than we thought!”

“So you’ve taken down nine of us? Good to know.”

Anitus stiffened up, clicking his tongue, “You think you’re so clever, don’t you?”

Amaro smiled at the two of them. In a way, he was still at home.