Standing on the Stainglass, The Servant Branch looked more like the Heirling of the Red Sword than any Fae watching had imaged. He was tall, confident. Where before he had cowered and struggled moving the blows away, now he met each challenge. His shoulders, though a tinge too broad to be completely fashionable in Fae societies, spoke of strength in that moment.

And standing there, red lightning starting licking at his blade, at long last resembling his signature style. The style that had earned him the moniker of the Lightning Lordling.

Those Fae watching tittered excitedly.

Even the Fae wise enough to realize that this strength was an act cheered.

Happiest of all was Kane herself. She felt relief.

She had not been wrong. He had been hiding his strength all along. She hadn't betrayed a friend. No, they were still on equal footing. He had been playing her all along.

One day, even if it took hundreds of years, she and he would laugh about this little Game. All those stupid humans that Elswith had protected would be long dead, and forgotten. Humans lives with short, painful, and distasteful. That they could be used for the good of the Seelie Realm at all was perhaps the only honor those foul creatures could claim.

And after Kane won this game and her people could grow their power base again.

Kane looked at Elswith, and knew at last, he was open and honest with her. All his little cries about 'the unwarranted deaths and suffering' had been an act all along.

Elswith pointed his blade at her, as they stood facing each other over the red stain glass sun.

The Heirling of the Red Sword was back. There was nothing to notice left about the Servant Branch.

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

Below, Marrin looked away from Frank to the wall. He couldn't see with his eyes now. Just the power of the room. He kept blinking, but his vision was overridden. The Squire Branch seemed different. Something about the way he moved his power...Marrin had never been able to see power move like that before.

It scared him.

Marrin was not this strong. He effortless dodged the debris as the wind howled. He had never been this strong before.

He liked it a lot.

In that moment, Marrin wanted to leave the traitor Frank and the Shadow Warbler and the spinning spinning wind and fight with Elswith. Heirling. Heirling. That thing, that imagined things for him spoke. It came from his left hand. Was it even his left hand anymore? Or was it just the receptacle to hold the sword?

Test the other Heirling. Defeat. Fight again, never ending.

The need was surprising, as Marrin had always hated sparring matches before. Joy filled him at the notion of it.

"I'll make you pay for this." Spat Frank, as he at last dropped his sword, showing complete surrender.

And suddenly Marrin moved. How dare someone so little as this pea nugget waste his time and expect to get away with it?

He managed, at the very last second, not to use the sword. But his boot found the traitor's ribs in a powerful kick.

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

Daniel let the lightning crackle along his blade, wasting it.

He could tell the Game was watching him now, focusing on him.

Good. Let the Game watch him. Watch him, and not the rapidly devolving Marrin below. Whatever Sword the green hatted held was clearly powerful. Properly not the lost Great Sword of Peace, then.

Kane took out her second sword, serious at last.

"Finally! Let us see who is right!" She said, her eyes glowing the same amber as her hair. How long had she looked like Kane again? When had the mantle of Vye been dropped? When had her purple hair given way to Kane's almost glowing amber? Daniel honestly couldn't remember. Or perhaps, knowing who she was allowed him to see through the assumed identify? He didn't know. He still hoped the real Middling Vye was well.

Kane. Where did it all go wrong? Why did she only believe Daniel when he was deceiving her? When he told her the truth, doubt and suspicion clouded her judgment. Could she not imagine a person moving for no personal gain?

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

Perhaps not.

Perhaps Daniel had always expected too much from her.

"Let me show you my secret technique!" Daniel said, assuming the Lren Style for pre-victory dance. The Lren style was quite extensive and had many useful applications. The Game approved of his theatrics. The Law of Fae, however, seemingly huffed an annoyed sigh.

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

All the Fae watching did appreciate the Lren Style for pre-victory dance. Some were old enough to remember when the Lren style had first been introduced into the Seelie Courts, and they were very happy to tell all their neighbors about it. Their neighbors did not appreciate the unwanted facts.

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

Daniel began his attack. He could feel the power in the lightning bottle start to dwindle.

An inexperienced person would panic and rush.

But Daniel took small, controlled breaths, as he used his power in small, controlled ways.

His secret technique. It looked complicated to those who had forgotten their basics.

But Elswith had been trained on his basics so long and so completely that the often overlooked was polished and perfected.

He and Kane clashed, her twin blades expertly slicing through the air. She was testing him. She also knew that if he was using lightning, casual hits were ineffective.

The moonlight started to shine through the large stain glass windows, casting the Torn A Doe in terrible red light. Another aspect of Elswith power was channeling into the glass. To keep their dueling ground stable.

Daniel. He was Daniel. Elswith was dead.

No one believed in Elswith anymore.

The color was unnerving. Daniel hated that color now.

But it was in his favor. Because right now, for this moment only, he was again Elswith, Heirling of the Red Sword. All the powerlessness was a lie, and he was secretly planning a master plan.

Because that is what the Audience needed to believe. So he had to make it true, even if it was costing him everything. Even the victory over the Golem. Even the awards for surviving in the Dungeon. Even the power he had acquired for agreeing to do bookkeeping work secretly for the Stablemaster's wife.

CLASH-CLASH-STRIKE went Daniel's blade against Kane's two. For the first time, he was on the offensive. CLASH-CLASH-STRIKE. Each strike, he accompanied it with lightning, filling the room with light. For the first time that day, the opponent was on the back foot.

It was wonderful.

And Daniel knew he couldn't do it for long.

He was waning fast.

But hopefully, not as fast as Marrin's self was.

Daniel sent a silent prayer, to whom he did not know, that Marrin would hold out.

CLASH-CLASH-STRIKE went Daniel's attack, and he centered it finally so it was correct. Esra had read the situation correctly, for once, and Daniel felt the twisted gravity pulling toward the wall. In fact, Esra had increased the gravity.

The Mage may be crazy and dangerous for political games, but he had fought with Elswith long enough to seemingly read his mind.

"Now, show me your technique!" Said Kane, almost friendly.

"I had thought..." Daniel said, in a booming, speech making voice. "That you had grown up. Found true power!"

Kane held her swords in guard, panting. Her hair was like a clock, and her eyes glowed.

"But you have stayed the same. Disappointing."

Kane looked around at all the moving swirling power. She didn't realize it was Marrin. She had thought that that power, the mastery of the destructive elements of Wind had come from Elswith. This moment seemingly proved Kane correct. That he had planned this entire scenario. That he had chosen to help the Human Witness in the reclamation of all the abducted Human Children, just to leave Kane vulnerable, just to expose the overreach of the Senate.

This looked...like he had planned all this against her.

"I could have helped! Why did you chose her over me?" Kane said. "I hate you."

And the Law of Fae agreed. She was telling the truth.

"You want the truth? You cannot handle the truth." She had heard the truth time and time again. And she did not handle it.

Kane may have moved against him before, but now Daniel knew he would have her full fury.

Anger clouded her face, and she charged at him, ignoring her surroundings.

And just as she did, taking powerful, authority enhanced strides to cross the ground more swiftly...

Daniel raised his hands and summoned the largest, flashiest lightning strike he could.

It was weak, it was all lights and show. There was no force, lightning eels had little magical properties to them at the best of times. It was all a trick.

Because the real thing wasn't what he added.

No, the real trick was what Daniel took away.

Daniel withdrew his support of the beautiful stain glass. He removed his reinforcement of the metal frame that held everything in place. He extracted his authority over the glass that spread each step's impact over the glass as a whole, so that no single attack was penetrating.

Kane clearly had forgotten that they had been dueling on a massive, ancient stain glass window, and took completely for granted that the ground was stable

Kane herself broke the window. The red glass shattered as her foot struck it with her enhanced steps. Red glass shattered the same instant that Elswith called down lightning.

That is what everyone saw.

That is what most believed.

And for a single, terrible moment, Kane was staring at Elswith, as gravity pulled her mercilessly sideways, out the window as though she had jumped from a cliff.

He was weak, but for Marrin's sake, he would show himself as strong. Strong enough to overpower his enemies. Wise enough to plot wicked schemes. Cunning enough to see through mysteries.

Daniel had tried so hard to be honest with Kane. That he had really traded all his power and his name for a chance at freedom. For the reclamation of all the stolen human children. For no gain, other than his own personal peace.

She had never believed him.

And now, she would never believe him again. Because if he was strong all along, then he had been lying. The human children were merely a prop for his intricate scheme. Kane herself would see her own role as part of the Great Elswith's scheme.