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Hildegard stood on the hill, looking down at the distant city of Stonehaven, the first lights in the city just becoming visible as the sun began to set.

She heard a fluttering of wings from behind her.

"You know I want to kill you? What's so important that you'd be willing to meet face to face." She said before turning to look at her mother, dressed in her ever-shifting dress, who stood in a regal pose about twenty feet away.

"Really, Hilda, is that any way to greet your mother?" Griselda said with a pout.

"Your guilt trips stopped working a long time ago. Now why did you want to meet with me?" Hildegard said, her tone a bit sharper than she meant.

Griselda looked at her for a long moment, "Whatever went wrong between us, Hilda? It's not too late for you to apologise and come back. You have a little brother Elagabalus. I know he'd love to meet his big sister."

Hilda covered her feelings with a bitter laugh. "Even after all this time, I still can't tell if you're so warped you believe your own delusions or if you're just a good liar. Last chance, or I'm leaving."

"Refenial was attacked and framed for an attempted massacre down there," Griselda said, pointing at Stonehaven. "If I hadn't pulled a lot of strings and burned a lot of political capital, he'd be sitting in Systemic Order custody right now. And you know they don't ask their questions nicely."

Hildegard looked down at the city with a frown. She hadn't expected that. Obviously, she knew there was a risk of another monster attack, but leaving Refenial while she consolidated her power had been a calculated risk, One if Griselda was to be believed that had nearly backfired.

"Hilda, please, your quest for revenge nearly got the boy killed. I know you care about what happens to him. If your little brother, Elagabalus, hadn't been there, Refenial might have died. I know you have some compassion in there somewhere, even despite your mistakes."

Hildegard felt a wave of guilt, then narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Griselda had always been good at guessing her doubts, weaponising them against her.

"You want something, don't you. You didn't ask me here to tell me that."

Griselda sighed, "You adopted Refenial. He's family. We need to work together to stop this threat against him. I know you always struggled with the concept of family but don't worry, I'll help you do what's right."

Hildegard took a step back as if slapped by those words.

Griselda took a step forwards, "There is a rather nasty individual, a Traveller of the spiral path. He's the one who targeted Refenial. I know deep down there's still some good in you. You need to do the right thing and protect your family."

Hildegard, balled her fists up. "I'm not your assassin any more, Mother. You may have used me as a child, but I can see through your shit now."

Griselda shook her head in disapproval. "Hilda, why would you use such course language? Like I always told you, you'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Also, I came here to help Refenial, and you're making this all about you."

"I'm not hunting flies. I'm hunting crows." Hildegard said, letting all her spite and hatred leak into her voice.

Griselda gave her a shocked look, "Really! And after everything I did for you, everything I sacrificed." She shook her head. "Be like that if you must, but you need to stop the Traveller. He's a threat to Refenial."

"And why is that, Mother? Why is he targeting the boy? Is he another one of your enemies? You're just trying to use me as a weapon again, a weapon to take out your enemies."

Griselda gave her a piteous look. "Even if that was true, do you care more about Refenial or not getting used by me?"

Hildegard stewed in silence at those words. "Fine." She said through gritted teeth. She'd find this Traveller. Maybe he'd be willing to work with her against Griselda, and if she couldn't get him to leave Refenial alone, she'd kill him.

Griselda smiled brightly, "I knew you could be reasonable if you tried, Hilda."

"Fuck you."

Griselda tutted with disapproval.

"Just tell me what I need to know. Who'se the Traveller, and where can I find them?"

"I'm afraid that's the problem, Elagabalus did a lot of work for the Systemic Order, and along the way, I think he must have stepped on a few toes. There was a Baron, and his family had some deal with a fae that would make the heirs titled. The Baron was secretly a Traveller of the Spiral Path, which is probably how his family managed to make the deal in the first place." Mother said.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"So, Elagabalus exposed the Baron and killed him, pissing off the Fae?" Hildegard finished.

"Yes, a few weeks after that, the Traveller started targeting Elagabalus, it was only a minor annoyance at first, but then they worked out that Elagabalus was mine. They have been targeting us ever since."

"Is that all you have to go off of, a dead Baron?" Hildegard said, wrinkling her brow.

Griselda shrugged. "Elagabalus, can't go around asking too aggressively. He has a reputation to keep, and I have better things to do than hunt down religious fanatics. This is a perfect job for you."

"Why not send the Systemic Order after him since it sounds like you've thrown your lot in with those cretins?"

Griselda sighed. "The Order's resources are somewhat limited in Frull at the moment. If I didn't lend them, Elagabalus, they'd have no major pieces in the whole kingdom. With the signs of war, they're being rather passive."

Hildegard carefully kept her face neutral. She'd not had a chance to catch up with mortal politics in Frull since her return, and news had travelled slowly and sparingly to the village. This was the first mention she'd heard of war, but she wasn't going to admit that.

She was going to start taking an interest, and soon. The fact the Systemic Order had been let back in, now news of possible war, She would be having words with a lot of people in the near future, she decided.

"Who was the baron?"

"Baron Rein, I believe his son took over after his execution. Their fiefdom was centred around Oldspire."

"I'll go have words with him. What are you doing to make sure Refenial is safe? I know you. You'll protect what you see as yours."

Griselda frowned, "Really, when did you develop such a bad attitude? Can I not simply want to look after my grandson? Elagabalus is with him for now."

Hildegard grunted. "Look after your new weapon, you mean. Anything else you can tell me about the Traveller?"

"He seems to be using long-range teleportation to escape every time Elagabalus confronts him."

That got Hildegard's attention. Long-range teleportation was often considered one of the most difficult types of magic, massively complicated and most mistakes you could make would kill you.

"I'd say it's been a pleasure, but that'd be a lie," Hildegard said sourly.

"That's never stopped you before, isn't lying why poor little Obit hates you?" Griselda said with a hint of a smile.

She considered attacking Griselda right there and then, conventions and traditions be damned. But she knew Griselda would have already prepared for that eventuality. All it would do was make her look hot-headed and foolish.

Hildegard turned and took flight towards Oldspire.

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It took her two days, including breaks, to reach Oldspire and find the Baron's house.

It wasn't hard to find. It was not far from the White rose gardens, the establishment she'd left Refenial at, and by far the biggest house in town.

It was protected by high walls, but that did nothing to stop Hildegard as she gently drifted through the night's air. She looked through the windows until she saw what she was looking for, a bedroom half-lit by a dying fire. Its luxury clearly marked it out as that of the barons.

She could see a portly figure asleep on the bed.

The window was open a crack, and she gently reached in, released its catch and floated into the room.

She floated, her feet almost touching the ground beside the bed, and looked down at the man. He had a chubby and ruddy face, young, maybe early twenties at most.

She gave the situation a long moment of consideration. She'd left the reference letter with Refenial. It would do him no favours if word got around she was sneaking into noble's bedrooms at night.

She half closed her eyes and began to cast a simple paralysis spell. He would be unable to move, even open his eyes. The only exception was he'd be able to move his mouth and talk, though screaming would be difficult.

She found a chair and picked it up, placing it next to the bed, careful to do so quietly enough to not wake the young Baron.

She then magically enhanced her voice, this time going for something inhumanly deep and growling, the sort of voice a young child might imagine the monster under the bed possesses.

She leaned forwards and poked the man sharply in the cheek. He snorted, suddenly woken and grunted as he tried to move but couldn't.

"Baron Rein, I hope you're ready to die tonight?" She bluffed, her voice coming out as a deep rumble. She had no intention of killing him, but he didn't know that.

The young Baron whimpered like a scared animal. "Please, please." He began to beg.

"There's only two things that could satisfy me tonight, and one of them will be your death." She rumbled.

"Please, please, please!" The man begged.

She looked down at him, the tears coming out of his closed eyes, the rapidly spreading damp patch on the covers. She felt a hint of guilt. Perhaps she'd overdone it. She was used to dealing with immortals and exceptional people. While the young man was titled, everything she could find out about him painted a picture of a rather mundane person. It was easy to forget how easy it was to scare normal people.

"Your father made a deal, didn't he?" Hildegard said, trying to move the conversation forwards.

"What? I don't... Please, I don't want to die!" The man blubbered.

"He was a Traveller of the Spiral Way, and he made a deal with a fae. That's how your family got their titles."

The man sobbed for several seconds before he calmed enough to speak, "Yes, yes, but I don't know much. I was just a child when he was caught."

"Well, I suggest you tell me everything you do know then."

"He was a Traveller. He said our family had been for generations. He would teach me and my sister about the Way of the Spiral. Occasionally someone would visit him at night. They always wore a cloak and a mask, though."

"Another Traveller?"

"Yes. That's all I know. Please, I don't want to die."

"What else do you know about the Traveller who visited him?"

"Nothi- wait, there's the ruins of a fort, our family owned. He'd go there a few times a year. I remember him mentioning meeting them there once."

Hildegard sat back in the chair, it was a tenuous lead at best, but it would have to do.

"Very well, you may live." She said, standing and then flying out of the window. She released the paralysis spell as she did, it'd take him a few seconds to be able to move again, and by then, she'd be long gone.

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