“I thought that went well,” Anton said when they were in the carriage on the way back.

“Yes,” Suliel said shortly.

“But… you seem upset about something,” Anton pointed out. He put his arm around her and pulled her closer.

Suliel sighed. “It’s just… you remember I said that the King couldn’t use his Traits to bully nobles, because they would revolt.”

“Yeah, his Charisma did feel a little intense.”

“Is that all?” Suliel chuckled ruefully. “I’m sure that was King’s Command, or some facsimile thereof. That you could just brush it off, well… I suppose he should have known better than to use it on a hero.”

“So you’re mad that he used it on me?”

Suliel frowned. “Technically, you weren't a noble at the time.”

“I wasn’t? But wasn’t the only reason I could marry both of you was because I was a noble?”

Suliel waved her hand dismissively. “Grey areas like that are adjudicated by the nobles, typically the nobles involved. The King could have stepped in, declared your candidacy invalid and your marriages false.”

“He could?” Anton asked in alarm. He hadn’t realised his marriages were on the line. “But… since he didn’t, I am a noble, and it’s all right because I say it’s all right?”

“Exactly,” Suliel said with satisfaction. “The House of Nos is established now, as noble as any other.”

“Woot!” Kelsey said from the seat opposite. She was lying on her back, but there wasn’t room for her to stretch out. Instead, her legs were resting on the carriage wall, in a position that had to be uncomfortable. “Does this mean you get to paint a shield with something?”

“If you’re talking about a coat of arms, in cases like this, it’s common to simply adopt the female insignia,” Suliel said. “Or if you like, we could get a consultation from the Heraldic college while we’re in the city.”

“That’s the last thing on my mind right now,” Anton said. Truthfully, he had no idea what they were talking about. He would have asked, but it didn’t sound important, and he did have a lot of things at the forefront of his mind.

“Can you tell me now why I wasn’t supposed to use Delver’s Discernment?” he asked.

“Sorry, it was a last-minute thought, and I panicked,” Suliel apologised. “It was just… you know the Rose Circle told us that the King was a False King.”

“Because his older sister is secretly still alive and took the Class first,” Anton confirmed.

“Yes. False King must have a Trait that conceals your Class from Identification Traits,” Suilel said. “But… even if it’s the first Trait you get, you need two levels before you get it.”

Anton didn’t know much about concealment Traits. They were mentioned in the books he’d read, but they were Traits for criminal and deceptive Classes. The owners of such Classes were notorious for not divulging the nature of the Traits, and so the authors of those books had to rely on second-hand accounts and speculation.

“Not only that,” he said slowly, “But they can often be seen through if the investigator has a higher level. That varies with the rarity of the Trait, but still.”

“Do you know the Tier of False King?” Suliel asked.

“No,” Anton admitted. “King is Tier Three, wouldn’t it be the same as that?”

“Maybe,” Suliel said doubtfully. “If so, he would have been at least Level fifteen before he took it. But there would still be many people in the capital with higher levels.”

“So what?” Kelsey put in. “He got away with it, we don’t need to know how.”

“We do need to know,” Suliel insisted. “Because I think it means that in the early years, he was protected.”

“Who can protect a king?” Anton asked. “I mean guards, obviously, but they can’t stop an inspection. Not if the King shows himself.”

“I can think of two possibilities,” Suliel said. “One is a conspiracy of high-level nobles that kept him isolated from anyone that could expose him. The other is that a wizard cast a spell.”

“Wizards are always casting spells,” Kelsey commented. “That’s the simplest explanation.”

“But the King is at odds with the Wizard Guild!” Anton protested.

“And yet… he does not act against them,” Suliel pointed out.

“He explained that…” Anton said, trailing off uncertainly.

“He provided an explanation, not necessarily the correct one,” Suliel said. “And it need not be the entire Guild, just a single wizard.”

“Although,” Kelsey drawled. “If I were a wizard responsible for the King being in the position he was, I’d want to be made head of the Wizard Guild.”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Anyway,” Suliel said. “I didn’t want you to use Discernment because either the King or his wizard might have been able to tell you were using it, and that would have tipped them off to the idea that we are suspicious of them.”

“Might have been worth it, if it worked,” Kelsey said.

“They would have thrown us in a cell,” Suliel said sourly.

“Then Aris and I would have come to your rescue at the head of an army of undead, wielding rolling thunder,” Kelsey declared. “The castle wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

“Don’t even joke about such things,” Suliel ordered.

“I’m not joking,” Kelsey said seriously. “You’ve never had the chance to see Aris in action. Anyone standing between her and her man will fall like so much wheat in the harvest season. And her little sister has a mean streak a mile wide.”

“What about General Sehhur?” Suliel asked.

“Well… he might be a problem,” Kelsey admitted. “But I—”

“You’re right, Suliel,” Anton cut in before the conversation could get more treasonous. “Better to avoid that sort of situation.”

Suliel huffed in frustration. “All of that, though, was predicated on the King being an usurper.”

“We really need to figure out if he is not,” Anton agreed. “We can’t keep sitting on the fence.”

“Do we need to?” Kelsey asked. “Just pick a side and go with it. In the end, it’s the winner who decides who’s right.”

A sharp rejection rose in Anton’s throat, but Suliel spoke up before he could find the words.

“That was what my Father would have done—did, in fact. I doubt he knew the truth before he joined the Rose Circle.”

“Your father’s decision isn’t good enough for you?” The woman who had killed Suliel’s father asked. No, Anton reminded himself. The woman-like creature.

“It might be,” Suliel admitted. “But I know it isn’t good enough for Anton.”

She looked up at him. “I know he wants to make sure he’s on the right side and make sure the right side wins.”

“Well, sure,” Kelsey griped. “He always wants to do things the hard way.”

“Yes,” Anton said. “So how do we find out?”

Kelsey blew air through her lips rudely. “Hell if I know. Kidnap the King and get him inside me? I’d be able to tell pretty quickly.”

Suliel choked back laughter. “That will never happen,” she said. “Not without a war.”

“Hey, we’re brainstorming!” Kelsey protested. “There are no bad ideas at this stage.”

“If you say so,” Suliel said with an almost expressionless face. Then, she dismissed her amusement and started thinking about the problem. “There are people in the city who know the truth, but we don’t know who they are or if any of them can be trusted.”

“We know some of them,” Kelsey pointed out. “The King and whoever the Rose Circle has set up to be Queen. They have to know, one way or the other.”

“Unless they themselves are being manipulated,” Suliel mused. “Which isn’t out of the question if a wizard with mind magic is involved.”

Kelsey shuddered. “Let’s not go down that rabbit hole,” she said. “Especially since we can’t trust either of them.”

“The King is obviously out of the question, and they won’t risk us meeting Syrelle—or Queen Syrelle—until we’ve committed to their faction,” Suliel agreed. “There are others… people in the palace, at least someone in the Rose Circle, at least one wizard…”

“Truth potions are illegal, right? Or wait, you said that Judges can tell when people are lying!” Kelsey drummed her feet against the side of the carriage.

“They can, but they all swear loyalty to the King,” Suliel replied. “As for the potions… It’s tricky for nobles, but for what you’re thinking, we’d have to kidnap someone to administer it. That’s illegal.”

“Hmm,” Kelsey hummed. “Truth spells are a little too powerful for Tyla right now, but when she gets a few levels…”

“What about the palace staff?” Anton suggested. “Someone might have seen something, or someone might have an identification trait that the King didn’t know about.”

“If there’s a commoner that knows something, he’s been keeping very quiet for a long time,” Kelsey said. “Or he didn’t, and now he’s been permanently silenced.”

“I wonder if necromancy could solve our problem,” Suliel said.

Kelsey laughed. “I’m not a real necromancer, remember?” she said. “You’re already closer to being one than I am. No, I—”

She paused. Suliel started to speak, but Kelsey held up her hand.

“Wait,” she said. “Witnesses. Someone who saw something. Suliel, did the King ever delve?”

“Of course,” Suliel said. “It's a common way for nobility to gain levels, especially if they’re going into a Knightly Order. There’s a dungeon near the city, so almost certainly.”

“Did he delve… after he became King?” Kelsey asked with urgency.

“I don’t know,” Suliel said. “I mean, he was seen—still is seen—as a warrior king, so I suppose he might have.”

“There will be records, right? At the Guild, those guys keep records of everything.”

“Maybe not every delve,” Anton said, “But any nobility or royalty would be recorded, yes.”

“So we can find out,” Kelsey said. “And you’re a noble, you can get a slot delving the local dungeon, right?”

Anton looked at Suliel, who nodded.

“I suppose,” he said. “Why is that important?”

Kelsey levered herself upright on the carriage seat and cackled. “If you don’t see it yet, there’s no way that they will. We’ll ask the dungeon!”

“What?” Suliel asked.

“He wouldn’t have been trying to hide from the dungeon, and even if he did, I’ll bet that it would have been able to see through it!”

“But dungeons can’t talk,” Suliel said. “You’re the only one who—”

“The Fairy!” Anton blurted. Kelsey pointed at him with one finger and tapped her nose with the other hand.

“Ding ding ding!” she shouted.

“Kelsey could talk to the Dungeon Fairy of a dungeon we visited,” Anton explained.

“I can see Kelsey’s Fairy. She didn’t seem very talkative,” Suliel said wryly.

“She’s just shy,” Kelsey said with a grin. “Next time, try letting her sniff your fingers.”

“That’s cats,” Suliel replied. Kelsey only shrugged.

“Anyway, it’s perfect,” she said. “Our adversaries won’t find anything suspicious in Anton visiting a dungeon. It’s what heroes do, after all. They’ll never suspect he’s going to interview a witness.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Anton said. “They know I talk to you, after all.”

“Pish and tosh,” Kelsey said dismissively. “I’m a known exception.”

“To sense and good taste, perhaps,” Suliel said. “But even if they do realise, they won’t be able to do anything about it.”

“Maybe,” Kelsey said. “I’d say not to lower our guard, but we’ll be in a dungeon.”

“Guards should be fully up,” Anton agreed. “I guess I should be the one to put the request in. We should have our team settled first, though.”

“Oooh, we’re putting together a delving party!” Kelsey said enthusiastically. “Let’s see, we’ve got the fighter,” she pointed at Anton. “Aris can pass for an archer; we’ve got a wizard and a thief.”

She looked at Suliel speculatively.

“Count me out,” Suliel said hastily. “I’d just be a hindrance, and I have more than enough business to handle up here.”

“Aww, come on, Suliel!” Kelsey pouted. “The family that slays together, stays together! Or something. You can be the healer.”

“I appreciate the non-combat role, but I can’t heal people either.”

“You can carry the healing potions!”

“No.”

“What’s your role going to be?” Anton asked, trying to change the subject.

“Me? Isn’t it obvious?” Kelsey struck a stylish pose. “I’ll be the bard, of course!”

Anton and Suliel both stared at Kelsey, but it was Anton who spoke first.

“Why would we take a bard into a dungeon?”