Acarad slipped through the beaded curtain, putting a finger to his lips to keep the young page quiet. His brother paced the sitting room, making his manservant chase after him, trying to put a cloak on his shoulders. His sister, Nairah, sat sprawled out on the couch under the sunroof. Her hair was pulled back into a dozen braids, each woven together like a net. She had abdicated the throne years ago, so that she could take over their father’s estate and not need to worry about playing the games that nobles did. Crown Prince Joshua Allison bit at his fingernails, keeping an eye on the sundial’s shadow just outside the window.

“If you’re so worried about me,” Acarad teased,” You really should come by the capital more often.”

“Acarad,” Joshua cried. He hopped up the steps and threw his arms around his brother. “Where in the name of Moon and Soul have you been?”

“I have new duties brother mine,” Acarad laughed and held his brother tightly. “I have missed you.”

“Do you have the potions for tonight,” Nairah asked.She stood and walked over to her brothers, one hand on her hip and the other raised for a one-arm hug. “If not, you are staying in the stands with me.”

“I do,” Acarad patted his shoulder bag. “But I would like to join you in the stands.”

“I heard that your Lord Elija Kiler left you,” Nairah smoothed her brother’s hair down. “Do I need to hang him by his feet and make him bald?”

“No,” Acarad said. “I wasn’t the best partner that I could be for him. I am fine sis.”

“If you change your mind,” Nairah smiled. “I have more than enough rope to string him from the highest cliff.”

“Let’s get to the stands,” Joshua said. “Let everyone see us together.”

“It’s been a long time since we were together last,” Nairah shrugged.

“Let’s not disappoint our sister,” Acarad chuckled. “I know that if we don’t listen, that she is going to hang us by our toes.”

The trio made their way out of the sitting room and out into the courtyard, leaving the poor manservant alone with the prince’s cloak in hand. They laughed and talked about both frivolous nothings and important moments. Acarad only hesitated a bit before telling his sibs about how he felt about Endrah.

“And you left him standing there,” Nairah asked.

“He is engaged to someone else,” Acarad ran a hand through his thick, curly hair. “He said it’s an arranged marriage and that his fiance is a waste of space. But an engagement is just that.”

“Acarad, how little do you know about their culture,” Joshua asked.

“Apparently less than I had thought,” Acarad put his face in his hands.

“A sprite being engaged is nearly nothing to them,” Joshua said. “Unless they choose to become lifemates with the one they wed, for them marriage is just a way to link multiple families together. Many sprites have multiple partners while married, but the marriage becomes null and void when they choose a lifemate.”

“Why didn’t he tell me that,” Acarad asked.

“Do you just talk about our people’s marriage customs,” Joshua asked.

“No,” Acarad rubbed the back of his neck.

“You need to talk to him about this Acarad,” Nairah gently elbowed her younger brother in the ribs. “Otherwise he is going to fly off and see someone else.”

“I think he already has,” Acarad rubbed his face with both hands. “He went on a Calling earlier today. We haven’t really talked since last night.”

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“Sometimes I think that I need to smack you on a daily basis,” Nairah sighed and rolled her shoulders. “Maybe it would keep you from doing stupid things like pushing someone away.”

“What about the other times,” Joshua ruffled his brother’s hair.

“Leave it to your imagination,” Nairah laughed.

The sibs came up to the series of stalls in the massive courtyard. The courtyard was busy, filled with people rushing around with their wares. Acarad saw other Wizards trying to sell potions, powders, and spells. Most of them were wearing formal robes over their formal wear, piling glitter on top of already shiny jewelry and elaborate embroidery stitched into silk. Acarad rolled his eyes and shook his head. Their robes were nearly enough to hurt his eyes, after so long being on the road or working with magic. He followed his siblings up to a stall with his personal seal burned into the wood. Acarad’s personal seal was the letter A with vines growing all around it, so both boldly open and easy to draw. Acarad pulled the curtains back and set to work, setting his potions and spell powders on the labeled shelves. The dark greens and browns in his stall nearly hid Acarad, thanks to his black skin and hair, the typical appearance of a citizen of Glade.

The courtyard was noisy, like a marketplace. Men, women, and children were already beginning to meander through the stalls. Joshua and Nairah would nod to the passers-by before turning back to their brother. The people around them laughed and talked, but something felt off. Acarad couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was a feeling of unrest in the air. The few children in the crowd were kept to their mothers, as if the power of motherhood made them know that there was some form of danger. Acarad scanned the rooftops with his eyes, reaching out with his Elikre magic. He couldn’t sense anything, not even the magic from the other Wizards.

“Acarad,” Joshua asked. “You have that look you and mother get when something is off.”

“I do not have Mother’s mother sense,” Acarad knitted his eyebrows together. “But I can’t sense anyone’s magic here but my own. I should be able to feel magic from all the other Wizards here.”

“So keep an eye out,” Nairah said.

“Put your sword and daggers on,” Acarad said. “I know they wouldn’t help much against magic but it makes me feel better.”

“You aren’t wrong very often when it comes to magic plots,” Joshua nodded as his poor manservant trotted up behind him, cloak in hand. “I’ll call some extra guards in, just in case.”

“I have your cloak here, your highness,” the man sighed. “Shall I fetch your sword for you after you put this on?”

“That would be greatly appreciated,” Joshua lifted his light cloak from the man’s arms. “Thank you.”

“I will fetch my own daggers,” Nairah turned to leave.

“Please don’t go without anyone else,” Acarad took his sister’s hand in his. “I don’t know what this is, but I don’t trust it.”

“I will go with her then,” Joshua put a hand on each sibling’s shoulder. “Her quarters here are on the other side of the courtyard.”

Acarad watched his sibs walk away, raising his hand to his mouth and nibbling on his short nails. He summoned a sword to his hip, and a staff to his hand. He twirrled the staff in his hand as he finished setting his stall to rights. The sun was high in the sky before the princes and princess saw each other again. The feeling grew as they came closer. People gathered around a raised platform to see Joshua and Nairah. In their formal garb, they looked at the picture of a fairytale prince and princess, even though Nairah kept kicking her skirt away from her legs. Acarad watched with the crowd as a vendor brought his sibs a glass of cider each.

Acarad scanned the roofline again, stretching out a magic net to search for the cause of the lack of magic. Then, he found it. Masked and cloaked figures seemed to dance on the roof, and Acarad wouldn’t have batted an eye if they weren’t raising bows and arrows out from under their cloaks. Acarad left his stall, staff in hand and magic ready to be used. He pushed his way through the crowd, trying to call out to his brother and sister. The glint of sunlight on a metal arrow shaft being drawn from the roof behind Joshua was all the warning Acarad had. All he could do was shout a warning and reach for a shield seal. Joshua looked up in surprise and time slowed. The arrow however, still did not slow. Acarad watched in horror, still breaking the shield seal as the arrow buried itself in his brother’s back. It broke through bone and muscle, coming out through the center of his chest. Joshua was dead before Acarad’s shield went up. Time returned to normal speed.

“The prince,” a woman screamed.

The crowd erupted into panic, men, women and children began pushing their way out of the gardens. Acarad fought against the crowd, reaching for his brother. He threw a deadly net of magic, dragging the archers down from the roof. They were dead before they hit the ground, but that did not stop the people from running, screaming, and overall panicking. Acarad found himself beside his sister, trying to stop his brother’s bleeding.

Sound seemed to vanish from the world. The world narrowed down to his siblings as Acarad pulled the arrow from his brother’s chest. He summoned magic to his hands, trying to heal his brother. But, Joshua’s body grew cold under his brother’s hands.

Both princes had blood all over their shirts. Joshuah’s eyes were beginning to glaze over, staring up at the faces of his sobbing sibs. Acarad’s eyes flooded with tears as Nairah dragged him away from Joshua. Sound came back like a wall dropping down on their heads. A scream dragged its way from Acarad’s throat.

“Where are the princes and princess,” a familiar female voice asked from somewhere in the crowd.

“The diaz,” a male voice answered. “Prince Joshua was hit with an arrow.”

“Where were the guards,” the woman demanded. The voice came closer. “Where in the name of Moon and Soul are they!”

“We’re over here,” Nairah called.

“Let me go,” Acarad tore himself from his sister’s arms. “I have to do something.”

“You can’t bring the dead back as they were Acarad,” Nairah pulled her brother back and held his head to her shoulder. “He is in the Moon’s embrace little brother.”

“Nairah, Acarad,” the woman’s voice screamed.

Queen Allah Allison ran through the now empty, trampled, formerly beautiful courtyard. Her dress and robes flew behind her as she made her way to her children. Her bright green robes were covered in dust and the remains of festival foods and drink by the time she wrapped her arms around them. The queen shielded her children from seeing their brother’s body. She fussed over them, gasping when she saw the blood on Acarad’s shirt. She tried to wipe their tears away in that way mothers do, even as her own fell. She smoothed her children’s hair and kissed their foreheads in turn without a word.

.Not a word was spoken in the courtyard as the royals were ushered inside and the bodies were collected. The cloaked and masked people were unmasked and unclothed, revealing the pale hair and skin from Tolocian lineage. The shirts they wore were identical clothing and seals to the ones who had attacked Brooke and Wanda. The yellow of the Tolocian warrior’s garb made of wool had that dreaded symbol, a Tolocian crown in a circle, surrounded by burning wings and fish skeletons.