Marrin had wanted to know. And now he did.

Marrin had wanted to help. And now...he had made a friend, completely independently of the Game. With the woman the Game itself was centered around.

How was this possible?

Esra was there, cards splayed out before him. He was building a house of cards, hands quick and precise.

How to get answers. How to get understanding. "Spikes...has a human girlfriend?"

"Well, not exactly...But..."

"There is no such romantic connection." Said the human, reentering. She had the bearing of a queen, her head held at an impeccable angle, with no trace that she had been crying just a minute before. "The advancing destruction has long been held off by my Kingdom of Shieldhaven. Humanity's last baston of strength on this continent. So we were suspicious of when many Fae Lords arrived and offered us help. We thought it unwise to accept such aid, fearing that it may perhaps give the Fae permission to enter our lands."

Humans didn't like Fae? Strange that the feeling was mutual.

"Then when disaster struck, we were saved by what I now know are Lordling Circles. There must have been 12 circles or more. At the time, all we knew was that a gathering of Fae Lords arrived and gave aid. They beat back the darkness. We would have lost an entire region."

"I was there." Interjected Esra. Unhelpfully again. "So was Parcel and Cheddar...I mean Fredar." *

The human nodded her head, glistening chestnut brown hair like a crown upon her brow. "My kingdom knew that owing a great debt was dangerous, therefore we sought to appease the strange magic by doing something to rebalance the scales. It came to be that after the danger had passed, Shieldhaven established a great holiday. Public recognition and honor for our heroes, ending with mine Father hosting a Kingly Feast for the Fae who had helped us. Only the Fae who had helped us, mind. We were careful with our words. We were worried about Fae sneaking in, you see. But one snuck out."

She softened her expression.

"It just so happens that I also grew tired of the feast, and went to a place no one important would descend upon. But one Lordling snuck away, and found himself in our great library, though I am certain it pales in comparison to the palaces of books here."

Marrin wouldn't know. He hadn't had much time for reading, and he could barely write. Perhaps Talia would aid him.

"I didn't know he was Fae, you see." The human came closer to Marrin, "I found a stranger, perusing through my books. He was doing it wrong, and I didn't understand how he didn't understand how our books are sorted. He had a strange notion that books were sorted by color. I assumed he had never been surrounded by so many books before. There is no shame in not being well educated, only shame in remaining as you are. So I helped him find a few volumes. And that is why Mage Esra, and some others, have the mistaken idea that we are in love. They found us, you see. And only then did I realize in the light of the fire, the strange glow of the Fae upon the Stranger."

"I was not a good wingman." Said Esra, standing on tiptoes as his house of cards grew very tall. "Me, Regis, Pockets, Cleo and...well, Kane, found them together. I should have distracted them or something."

"When you say it like that it implies something scandalous." The human snapped, losing something of her regal air. "We were reading a book together, arguing about the author's intent. I was right, he was wrong, and he nearly had to admit it when the door opened and more Fae appeared where they were not wanted nor welcomed." She said, her words very pointed to Esra.

That Esra had the skill to irritate even human royalty was some strange consolation prize that Marrin needed at that moment.

"Regardless, that was the beginning of the End. We established official trade routes with the Fae. That afterward, the Red Circle always returned near Dragon Skull and aided our Kingdom directly. Other Circles came and went. Lordling Parcel remained a loyal aid. I will not lie, I felt great relief when certain members of the Fae ceased their coming. But time found weakness that we did not know to defend against. So, friend of Esra, please, understand. I have great respect for Lordling Elswith. And the debt I owe him is very heavy on my soul. But please, do no disregard the suffering of a great man...well, a great Fae, and rewrite history."

Marrin wanted to speak. He wanted to ask many questions. He had heard rumors, no matter how remote a place like Dragon Skull was. The powerful Human Kingdom. The stories he had grown up hearing from his great grandfather, back when he was small and the world huge.

Marrin... rasped his great grandfather's voice in his mind, Humanity...never assume their weakness. They dream of dark dreams, and nightmares pool where they gather. Collectively, humans’ dreams together could overthrow monsters, but humans dreamt of dark things. And while their dreams are powerful, their bodies and magic were not. And they are often destroyed. They change the world while they sleep. Fear them.

He wanted to ask questions. He wanted to leave here, wound exposed and all, and leave the sticky power of the Human behind.

Elswith had traded away his freedom for this fight.

Elswith had saved Marrin's life, again and again, and wanted nothing for it.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Elswith would be powerless to help here.

But Marrin could.

"Are you called Witness?" Marrin asked.

The human looked at him with sad, soulful eyes.

"I bear that name, for this Game."

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Daniel stared at the Old Lordling of the Ash Court.

It had been strange, that she not marry. She may have been able to marry some dudily son from some powerful and rich Family. There were many Family that hungered for the Nobility of the Courts. Who would not have cared in the slightest that the Ash Court was nearly ruined and bankrupted. Elswith had never considered anything about the Ash Court before the Game. They had been one of dozens of Courts spiraling down the drain. He hadn't thought about them in months. And he hadn't cared.

Lordling Alden. He had been Elswith's senior brother, with many siblings between them.

The servants of the Red Estate had sometimes spoken softly of the previous Heirling, who had died unexpectedly at 15 upon using the Red Sword in battle the first time. A life snuffed out too soon. Talent and power and intelligence. But that had been Heirling Hawthorne.

Heirling Alden was from over 200 hundred years ago. If not more. For Daniel, Alden was nothing more than an oil painting and plaque which bore the identity of one long since passed. He had also left behind some toys, that young Elswith and Orville had played with together, that Matheus had found in an attic.

Heirling Alden was gone, and no one even knew what he accomplished. While 200 years for some fae was not a lot of time, for the very young fae like Elswith, it seemed like enormous oceans between himself and the past.

"Alden..." Daniel said again, careful with his tone. Talia was observing him a little too carefully.

"Yes, he left me with something. He promised he'd come back for it." she grinned widely. "I peaked. Not at first, but when he was late coming to see me, I had to know. It is something very powerful. Something only the Heirling of the Red Sword would know what to do with!"

If it was that...that would make Daniel's life much much easier. It would allow him to bypass so much drama.

"And I promised him, I'd hold on to it forever. I'd wait as long as it took..."

All Daniel needed to do was burst the delusional Fae's delusion. Surely she must have known some unfortunate fate had befallen Heirling Alden. Alden had been dead for a long time. Surely she must know...

And then Daniel spotted her engagement brooch. She wore it discretely around her wrist, but the sleeves of the pink dress had rolled upward and revealed it. The frayed and peeling cord must have been added later, after the original ribbon was destroyed perhaps. The brooch was certainly designed from the Red Faction. But their old work, not the new, soulless frills and baubles. Something old and almost priceless. If she sold it, she would have been able to bring back the Ash Court significantly.

Daniel remembered Kenton's little desk, where he would work on the saddles and bridles. Daniel remembered the countless times he had come into that little office and caught Kenton gazing longingly at the drawing of Sarah Beth with her white shawl and blue dress and an engagement brooch pined to her dress for all the world to see. What would have happened to her if Kenton perished rescuing Daniel? How long would she labor on without knowing what befell her fiancé?

He also thought about Witness. What would happen to Witness if he failed? Would there be anyone to be kind to her and her people? She had been betrayed by both her kingdom and her 'allies' amongst the Fae. Would there ever be someone willing to help her? Would someone tell her about what happened to the Lordling Elswith, foolish Fae that he was.

Talia and Daniel had to pause more, as more and more important Fae were now on the street, streaming for the same location. They were nearly there. Someone would need to tell Talia. That Alden wasn't being forgetful. He was dead. He had been murdered.

But not right now.

She was about to enter the next round with him. His final assassination attempt.

The Game would no doubt find it good sport. Normally the Game wanted him free from allies, but a found ally? His brother's secret fiancé? Tears pooling down her face as she swore herself to the Servant Branch's new cause? The Game would explode.

But she had been holding on to smoke for years, believing that her flame would one day return. He would tell her. But she didn't need to know now.

If she had hidden that for Former Heirling Alden, then she could keep it for a while longer. While the urge to shortcut the Game was significant, the Game was winnable. Besides, shortcutting it may only increase its difficulty.

"The last official record we have of Heirling Alden was his victory over a chimera. Then he left Fae society."

"Ha." She said, hands on her hips. "I knew it. He finally ditched his old man and went out to make his own fortune. Good for him! I'll wait. He'll be back one day."

The last unofficial record was that the Red Lord himself had slain Heirling Alden. Cut him down with the very Red Sword.

Hopefully for both Witness and Daniel's fate, that history would not repeat itself.

Not for the first time, Daniel prayed that Witness was well. That she was being taken care of. That fate would not repeat itself again.

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

In the storage room, Marrin was still juggling his strange task before him. The heart of the Game herself was tending to his wound, her queenly demeanor carefully put aside. Not disregarded, but not at the forefront at least.

It made it easier on Marrin's nerves. She at least didn't seem human at the moment, so he was able to relax. He could tell himself he was being cared for by a nixie, or an elf, or even a Glasbin.

Esra's house of cards was magnificent. Taller than he was by a good measure. Perhaps if he ever tired of being a Mage, he could do performance art of constructing palace from paper rectangles. It could work, but only if the Mage remain silent.

"Witness is at least kind of cool nickname. But your name is really pretty..." Said Esra, stupidly. "Your name is...." and he moved his mouth but no sound came out. "That was weird....." he tried again, to similar results.

"It's a Game, Mage." Said the Human, now behind Marrin again. She had applied extra salve, and Marrin barely felt the sting of the needle. "It had been stolen, and we are going to get it back. While the Game is ongoing, I am the Witness of what happened."

Marrin thought she might become harsh in his treatment, especially with Esra pestering her. But her hands remained kind and gentle. "I think...I got the walls of the vein patched up. That's good. I think. Not only is Fae anatomy different, your physiology is bizarre. You have no iron in your blood at all, yet it is still being oxygenated somehow, but the unloading process would be very different..."

Marrin needed to read more, because he was very certain that he didn't understand very much of what she said. "So humans have iron in their blood? Doesn't it kill them?"

"It carries oxygen to the cells, which can then use that to create energy in the body. The book called it the kerb cycle."

"What magic did you use to discover that?"

"You can observe the world with no magic, Fae." She said, not unkindly.

"What will you do?" Marrin asked, softly so only she could hear him. "If Lordling Elswith fails?"

Esra's tall card castle came down, hundreds or thousands of cards scattering across the room.

"Ashes, ashes, we all fall down." She said.