“We’re about to reach port.”

The words from Tocque pulled me out of sleep harder than any slap had done before in the past. I bolted out of the hammock, lost my balance, and face planted onto the floor of the ship.

Tocque and the rest of the crew around me burst out laughing. I slowly made my way up to my feet and frowned at her.

“I see you’re ready to get off the boat.”

“That’s one way to put it.” I said as I brushed off my clothes from the rough landing. My chest and face hurt, and there would probably be a bruise. My body would probably heal that in less than a day.

“Get your things ready. Captain doesn’t want to irritate the Missus, and neither do I.” Tocque called out to the rest of the people still in hammocks.

“Are you staying in Duskarna after we leave?”

“Depends on what she wants. Duskarna isn’t exactly a unified piece of land, so having a personal ship is always useful.”

“Huh?”

“You weren’t paying attention to the maps? Only half of Duskarna is tied to the mainland of Sol. Rest of it is just an archipelago of islands, where the only easy way to cross over the rivers are the bridges.”

“Sorry? I tend to leave the map work to my cartographer.” I sheepishly admitted.

“Damn right you do.” Ruby pumped her fist out of her hammock.

“You might want to change that. Duskarna is easy to get lost in, and someone like you definitely doesn’t want to get lost.” Tocque grimly warned me before leaving. I changed into the outfit I’d become comfortable with, the one with the cloak. The fog was the first thing I noticed when I made my way to the deck.

“Ah, the beautiful Duskarna weather.” A crewmember of the Radiance sighed. I could barely see the front of the boat in the dense fog.

“Remember when I said you should try to memorize the map? This is why.” Tocque said from behind me as she manned the wheel.

“Is it always like this?”

“We’re in spring, so it’s either going to be this, or rain.”

“Great.” I groaned. As we got deeper, I could see that we were in between two islands and making our way further into the city. Looking at the sheer size, it felt idiotic comparing this in any way to Aelwryn.

I felt Elm’s hand land on my shoulder.

“Never thought I would be back here in my life.”

“You were pretty adamant on dying in the camps when I first got to know you.” I joked.

“You were also very adamant on dying in the camps, dumb ass.”

We chuckled together and then got to work moving our supplies so we could get moving when we got to port. I nearly fell over when we came to an abrupt stop.

“Get moving! If there’s anything you don’t want to test, it’s the Mistress’s patience.”

I stared at the cobbled streets of Duskarna with a goofy smile. Land felt like an old friend I hadn’t seen in years, and my first step onto them was a warm embrace. We immediately began moving our items off of the ship and onto land, waiting for Elias to grab us a cart.

I hadn’t heard of anything similar to it before, but Duskarna had a system of carriages that went around the streets and were for public use, as long as you paid the amount for the trip. It took half an hour for Elias to come running back, yelling at us to get moving with our items.

“Thanks for the help.” I said to Elias as the wagon driver prepared his strig.

“It’s just part of business.” He said, tipping an invisible hat and walking back off to his boat. The cart trudged along the cobbled streets.

It’s definitely not Aelwryn.

Aelwryn was lively, with a lot of interaction and a generally open atmosphere. This was not, the streets silent and people huddled into masses with concerned stares at all around them. The buildings looked more like ones Arlinians would make, but far more complex, the age seeming to shift as the floors increased. Almost all of them I saw across the short journey were two or three stories tall, stuck together with only small back alleys in between them.

As I gawked at them, I could feel Sera tap my shoulder.

“North, your peasant is showing.”

I frowned at her and decided she was right. I had time to focus on that when the need presented itself. In comparison, Ruby was looking out the side of the wagon with awe, staring in between her sketchbook and the roads. I nodded in her direction to Sera.

“You think I’m going to try and stop that?” Sera asked rhetorically. I couldn’t argue with that. Tapping on her shoulder to get her attention was a good way to get your fingers broken.

I sighed and waited for our eventual arrival, dreading seeing a face I’d hoped to never see again in my life.

----------------------------------------

I rapped my fist on the door to Nicole’s mansion and suffered through the painful wait. I wasn’t the only one who was uncomfortable.

The door swung open, and a young Urilan girl in a maid outfit greeted us with a bow.

“Friends! Come in.” Nicole shouted farther back in the mansion.

I stepped past the threshold, taking one final glance at the maid before entering and following Nicole’s voice. The opulence of the mansion was astounding, with gold and silver baubles decorating the walls alongside beautiful portraits of landscapes and the Allena family.

Nicole was sitting in a large room with a variety of couches and chairs all surrounding a central table. Her dress was elaborate, red silks flowing in layered floral patterns that emphasized her chest. Her dark blue hair glistened in the light like a polished gemstone. The servants of the household were bringing in snacks and drinks as I gawked.

“Please, seat yourselves. We have much to discuss.” She happily invited, extending out her arms

I glared at the food suspiciously.

“Oh please. I’m not as pedantic as to poison guests. That would be antithetical to my entire purpose of bringing you here.”

“Are you going to tell us what that is?” I said angrily.

“No need to be impatient, North. All will come in due time. I know you’ve been on a ship for quite a while, surely you would desire some better food.”

I grumbled and moved to pick up a plate. Ruby and Mell had already taken initiative and were eating a mix of cheese, crackers and a familiar smelling jam. After we all gathered plates and slowly started to eat them, Nicole finally started speaking.

“I’m glad to see you’ve brought your favorites with you. Although I’m not familiar with this one.” She commented, pointing at Jay.

“Skip the small talk, Plumite.”

“Oh my! That’s a Hornel accent if I’ve ever heard one." Nicole exclaimed. She took a deep breath and regained her composure.

“Since your comrades seem so adamant, I'll acquiesce. I called for your help because I believe my family and my own life are currently under threat.” Nicole swiftly stated.

The room went silent as everyone stopped eating.

“You brought us all the way here to be fucking bodyguards?” Elm snarled.

Nicole shook her head. “No, of course not. I have enough of those. I need you to find and kill someone.”

I almost choked on my drink.

She’s hiring us to be assassins?

“You could hire assassins as well. It’s not the fact that you need us to kill them.” Elm responded.

“No. That is not the reason.”

“Then what is the fucking reason?”

Nicole sighed and leaned back against her couch. She snapped her fingers, and a servant quickly ran into the room and handed her a letter before running off.

“I was handed this by my fellow member of the Tisch, the venerable Scott Elbaum. He gave it to me soon after the Tisch pardoned me for my crimes against Arlin.” She said before handing the letter over to me.

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“Lady Nicole, I give you a warning,” I read aloud, “There are whispers among the Tisch of a new power rising up in the shadows of Duskarna. I have been walled out from any further detail due to my connections to you, but it is my belief that they intend to replace your seat on the Tisch with a new family.”

I handed the letter over to Elm next to me who began to study it.

“I’ve done every test possible for some form of hidden message, but it appears Scott wanted to be brief. I fear my seat is in danger, and therefore my life.”

“Why aren’t you already dead then?”

Nicole placed a hand on her chest and gasped in fake shock. “That’s a rude question to ask a lady.”

“Fuck off. North has a point. If they wanted to replace you, why not kill you?”

“Because the Tisch follows a code. If replacing a family was as easy as murdering the head of the family, I’d have killed Adam Duvale years ago. The seat is filled by the next in line, and so on and so forth until you eventually reach the bloodless heirs of the family. That has never happened, but it’s always nice to have procedures”

“Then how does one replace a family?” Sera asked for me.

“Now that is where the problem lies. Having a seat on the Tisch requires several prerequisites to ensure the members successfully enforce their area of governance. They must have a claim to a Plumite noble family, through marriage or blood. They must have a certain amount of land or industry under their control, and the seat they are hoping to replace must have a living individual currently on the seat. Once all those prerequisites are met, all that is required to replace a family is to get the recommendation of seven families currently on the Tisch.” She explained thoroughly.

My head was swimming with all of the words and bizarre politics. Cedric’s metaphor was failing me here.

War was easier to understand.

“It’s fine if you don’t understand. I merely need you here to find the individual hoping to usurp my seat on the Tisch and kill them.”

“Outside of North’s functioning morals, what reason do we have to do this? How do we know that this isn’t another trap to gain full control of us and the entire rebellion?” Elm narrowed my gaze.

“I’m currently staking my life on you and your… competency. I’m incentivized to appease you during your time under me to give you all of the necessary tools to achieve your goal of eradicating a threat to my position. I also believe that I can offer you something you all might be interested in.”

“And what is that?”

Nicole grinned devilishly. “A voice on the Tisch. Becoming part of True Arlin may have insured our survival, but we have gained little from the relationship. I believe it would not take much of a push to have them join your rebellion against Arlin. I believe I can, once I have solved this interruption, acquire information on Arlin’s current political situation and possibly even get you and your comrades into Vyris.”

“The capital?”

“Very impressive. Indeed, Vyris is the name of Arlin’s capital.” Nicole taunted me. I could hear Elm’s fist tighten.

“You’re making it very hard to care about your wellbeing.” Elm said.

“Then let me show you my hospitality. I’d be a bad host if I didn’t take care of my guests.”

Nicole snapped her fingers twice, and a servant ran in with a platter which he placed onto the table. On it were five keys, each with a numbered tag.

“The keys to your rooms. Anything you require during your time in Duskarna will be provided for by the Allena family.”

“And we will have freedom of movement?”

“Naturally. You may explore Duskarna as much as you wish. I will also assign all of you individual servants to take care of your needs.”

I picked up the key and studied it in my hand.

“And what if I refuse to work with you?”

“It’s rather simple, North. I will leave you to the streets. You won’t have access to Captain Porter either.”

I glanced at my comrades and saw a similar frustration. I should have expected this, but I also didn’t plan on committing halfway unless the proposal was a pure suicide mission.

“We’ll do it. But if you betray us, I will kill you.” I said. I let out a large burst of concentrated mana throughout the room, and saw one of the nearby attendants struggle to not throw up.

“I will take that into account. I’m also glad to see your growth has not stagnated since we departed.” She chimed, before her gaze began to trail off behind my head.

“You’re free to enter, dear sister.”

I turned around and saw a smaller version of Nicole watching from the doorway. She had most of the same traits, although it appeared that height had been relocated to other features. As soon as we locked eyes, I felt a deep sense of dread in my soul.

“Are you North?” She said, her wide eyes filled with juvenile wonder as she studied my face.

“Yes?” I said, standing up from my seat. She nearly broke out into a sprint to run from across the room to right in front of me.

“Nicky told me all about you, although she didn’t inform me how adorable you were!” She squealed before wrapping around her arms and forcing me into a hug. My face was smushed directly against her chest, and I realized exactly where my dread was coming from.

I could hear Elm heartily laughing next to me and wanted to die.

“Ashley, you can’t have this one.”

“But he’s so cute!” The mini-Nicole, apparently named Ashley, protested.

“You cannot own the leader of the slave rebels. Not being owned is one of the main reasons he is attempting a revolution in the first place.”

She wants to own me?

Ashley made a harumph noise and let go of me. I stumbled backwards, the intense hug depriving me of air.

“Forgive my sister. She has certain fascinations which can overtake her sense of modesty.”

“Rude. North, don’t listen to her. She just wants to keep you all to herself. Let’s talk later, okay? I’d love to get to know you better.”

I couldn’t get a word out before she grabbed my hand, shook it, and ran off mumbling ideas to herself. I could make out the word ‘clothing’, which was enough to make me fear my immediate future.

War was a lot easier to understand.

“Let’s get you all settled into your rooms so you can rest from your journey. Tomorrow will be an eventful day. Although…” She trailed off and tapped her neck. Specifically, the place where all of our slave marks were. I could see from a glance that the area was scarred, but that her mark was no longer there. “It might be best if you get those removed. Have you gained the ability to heal?”

I nodded. My slave mark had disappeared, much like any other blemish I had due to my body’s innate healing. However, everyone else still had their mark.

“That will be very useful for tomorrow. I will procure some knives so you can get to work.” She said, refusing to elaborate on the first part. I could hear Ruby grimace from beside me, realizing what was going to be done.

“You don’t have to listen to her, kid.” Elm said in an attempt to calm both me and myself down.

“I know. But she’s right. We’ve waited too long.”

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After an excruciating session of cutting off chunks of skin and having me heal them, the slave marks were gone. Nicole was looming over me the entire time, watching intensely as I used my attunement.

When we were sent to our rooms, the sun was beginning to set. I could hear rain pattering out my window, the sounds of it splashing off stone helping to cool me down.

A knock came at my door, and all of that tension returned.

“May I have a moment to talk in private?” Nicole asked. I opened up the door with a frown, and was greeted by Nicole in an elaborate nightgown.

Nicole walked past me and sat down at a desk in my room, flipping around the chair. I leaned my hips against the large bed frame waiting for her to speak.

“I require your presence at a Tisch meeting tomorrow.” She said nonchalantly.

I raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

“Oh please. If I did anything of the sort, your lovely friends would come for my throat. The Tisch meeting precedes a festival celebrating the incorporation of Hornel as another territory, but that is not the important part. I will likely be questioned about why I had Porter bring you here.”

“And why does that require you bringing me?”

“They will want something tangible. I’ll be doing all the talking, so I won’t worry you with the semantics. The Tisch is a confusing system of governance, so I don’t blame your earlier confusion.” She said, savoring every chance she got to demean me, “The other members worry I may have carried over some of your revolutionary ideals, which I find hilarious. I believe slavery is an extremely useful economic tool.”

“How the fuck can you say that? You were a slave!” I snapped.

“For a time. But what is your solution then? Most of the slaves in Arlin are criminals of some sort. Should they also receive the same freedom? Or should they simply continue to be slaves, or simply go and rot in prison away from society?”

“I…” I stammered, trying to think of the words after an entire day of tiring conversation.

“There it is. When you started your little war, you came in with the goal of freeing the slaves connected to Arlin’s magore production. But in my opinion, that feels like a half-step. You can’t focus on tearing down a system without knowing what to replace it with. The freedom of liberation only lasts as long as the time it takes for the next fool to claim the very same bloody throne. The system, inevitably, remains the same.”

Nicole got up from her chair and hovered over me.

“Let me simplify it, because I know you’ve been struggling. There will always be nobles like me, and there will always be peasants like you. Unless you are able to come to terms with this fact of reality, you are doomed to fail.”

Nicole pivoted and made her way to the door, taking her time to savor in her verbal victory.

No. I won’t let her.

“I’ll prove you wrong.”

She stopped, holding herself in place with the door frame.

“Prove me wrong how?”

“That there can be a better system than what currently exists. You imagine the world works in only a single way, with slaves and masters and backstabbing nobles like yourself. I’ll make a better system than that.”

“That’s rather Urilan of you.”

“And they were the first to make Arlin bleed. I was the second, and I lived.” I confidently declared.

“If you remember your history, Uril eventually lost.” She chirped.

“I won’t.”

She turned to show her sheer bafflement.

“And what makes you so sure of that?”

I smiled, lifting up my hand and allowing for a soft ball of light to dance around my fingertips.

“I’ve done the impossible before. I don’t see any reason I can’t do it again.” I said. A shout of thunder outside the window seemed to emphasize my statement.

She smiled coyly and walked past the room’s threshold, slowly closing it behind her.

“You certainly have the ego befitting of a leader. I wish you good luck in your plight to prove me wrong, because I am very confident knowing when I am right.”

The door shut, leaving me in the silence of a dark and rainy night.