Of all the nights to suffer terrible dreams, Edeline wished it had not been this past one.

She had suffered blurred visions of them all shackled in front of a group of faceless people. Or at least, Edeline could not remember who they were. The four of them were being made to dance for their amusement. And the worst part was that all four of them were smiling happily while dancing. She could not say if it was a lingering effect of Kalvarel's spell or not. At least he had not been in the dream.

She had woken up in the middle of the night, sweating and breathing hard. She did not know how exactly long it had taken her to fall back asleep. But it was clear her sleep had not been restful, and she felt quite thick-headed.

Yet sleeping in was not an option. So Edeline had gotten up, dressed herself, and then eaten.

Right now they were waiting on Joskin to return. Edeline had been sorely tempted to go ahead and leave without him. Her brother would probably object though, so she had just grabbed a book from the other room and settled in to read in the interim.

Her brother...to be honest, Edeline still didn't know why she'd said what she did yesterday. Well, no, that was partly a lie. She had wanted to lash out. Against her father. Against her mother. Against anyone responsible for hiding the truth from her. Sever all those ties.

And Myron, innocent in all of it, had been right there. If he and Hamond had not been able to get her to see sense...Edeline knew her next words would have cost far too much.

She had apologized, but that was not quite enough. What else she could say, Edeline did not know. Myron had likely already forgiven her, but she found herself not at all satisfied with that. But no reparations, possible or practical, came to mind. And so she sat there, the thick awkward silence a kingdom wide hanging between them.

"He's late." Nela, for her part, apparently did not take notice of the mood.

"It would seem so," Hamond said.

Edeline looked over at Myron. "You know I'd rather wait," he said with a sigh, rising to his feet. "But it is a little worrying. He should have known that time is short."

"Hopefully it was just a matter of other business distracting him. Being an alderman, any number of issues could have come up this morning." Hamond stood up as well. "It doesn't change that leaving Lord Hallowscroft in captivity any longer than necessary is not the best idea."

"Hamond is right." Even setting the matter of the spell aside, Edeline knew her father's age, and he had not been in the best health to start with. "We need to consider that-"

The door to the room swung open, revealing Filip. "Don't mean to interrupt, but the alderman is here."

The timing was almost too convenient. Edeline briefly wondered if Filip had just been waiting on the other side of the door for an opportune moment. No, he was not the type to come up with such a scheme. It was just the past few days had far too many coincidences line up, more than she was comfortable with.

"Quickly, bring him in," Myron said, taking his seat again. Filip nodded, and went back out. Out of the corner of her eye, Edeline saw Nela bend over and pick up the crossbow. Edeline's own hand drifted to her sword, leaning against her chair. Soon, she told herself.

A moment later, Filip returned with Joskin following behind. The alderman, looking slightly disheveled, was clearly out of breath. He had probably ran over here, a sign that Hamond's suggestion of him being busy was likely accurate.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Joskin said between ragged breaths, as Filip took a position by the door. "A dead body turned up, and I was looking into that. Should've left it to one of the other aldermen, I know, but I was the closest."

"Where was this dead body?" Myron asked.

"In a building off of Naulryder Street."

The bathhouse, with Hamond's friend. Right, the alderman did not know about that. The question now was if they ought to let him know something about that.

"That would be an associate of the one holding me captive, yes." Myron's decision was not surprising, but Edeline wished they had been able to discuss it. "He was not directly involved with what happened to me, but he had been working with him on other matters. When I confronted him, he refused to cooperate or surrender, leaving me no choice."

"I...see." The alderman wiped his face with his sleeve. "When was this?"

"Yesterday, before meeting you." Myron shifted slightly.

"I wish I had known. Wouldn't have wasted time searching the place," Joskin said, looking a bit irritated. "I suppose the one good thing is that it gave you extra time to muster some men."

"Muster...men?" Edeline felt as confused as her brother sounded. The alderman clearly had missed the part about the town watch being compromised. Exactly where were they supposed to find a group of fighting-ready men overnight?

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"Are you serious?" Joskin asked, mouth hanging open briefly. "You can't mean to confront that many men alone. That's beyond foolish."

"Why would you think I would be alone?" Myron answered with his own question, glancing at each of them in turn. Of course, the alderman would have no idea what they could do, Edeline realized. Not knowing about the battles against the gigant, the captains, or Kalvarel, he was assuming none of them were anything special. Even leaving out her thaumaturgy, he likely didn't even know about her training with the sword.

"You...you can't mean to take your sister with you!" The alderman was wide-eyed, looking back and forth between them frantically.

Edeline suspected where the problem was. "I understand how I appeared after the events of yesterday. But I am not made of glass. I am more than capable of defending myself, should it come to a fight, and I know to retreat if need be."

"No, you mustn't," Joskin insisted, "Lord Hallowscroft would have my head if I let you anywhere near an actual fight."

"A little late for that," Nela said quietly. Edeline had to hold back a laugh. The man would probably collapse from shock if he knew about the gigant.

"I can't disagree, but I can make sure it does not happen again." The alderman looked Edeline straight on. "My lady, you must remain here until this is settled."

Edeline wondered just how he was going to stop her if she chose to accompany Myron. Even setting aside her thaumaturgy, as an alderman he would not dare lay hands on her, or order someone to do so. Not that there was anyone here to order save Filip. His insistence was honestly strange. It was as if...

...as if he knew.

"Filip," she spoke, trying to keep her voice cool.

He snapped to attention. "Uh...yes?"

"Please step outside. We have private matters to discuss."

"Right." Slightly clumsily, he opened the door and darted through, before pulling it closed with a thud.

Edeline waited a moment, one that seemed too long. "You can speak freely now," she finally said.

"My lady, I am sorry. As you just said, it is a very private matter." Joskin's gaze went over to Hamond. "You must trust me."

"Indeed. Except for one problem. Neither I nor my brother were aware of it until very recently."

She stared at him coldly, realizing she should have known. Her whole ruse of hiding her father's condition had depended on several other people, including the aldermen, being willing and able to keep the secret. This would have been no different. Morgivel had known, and so others had to have been privy to the truth as well.

"Wait, the princess thing?" Nela blurted out.

"That...you..." The alderman stammered, his face reddening very rapidly. "You told her?"

"She learned at the same time we all did." Myron rose, stepping forward until he was face-to-face with Joskin. "You, however, seem to have known about her real mother for far longer. Am I right?"

"He...he never told you? I thought-"

"You didn't think. The one responsible for the troubles we were dealing with knew full well about her mother's identity. So now we don't know exactly how many people have been made aware of it. And then you decided you needed to send that message to bring knights from Kelshir here?"

Edeline was genuinely impressed how level Myron kept his voice. His anger was quite apparent, mirroring Edeline's own.

"Argue the necessity of keeping it secret all you like, but it's no longer a secret. One of you had to realize we'd have to deal with it eventually. Well, that eventually is now today."

"I hope you are not accusing me," Joskin said slowly, "I know you're both angry, but you need to think about this logically. You shouldn't be putting her at risk."

"Logically, you wouldn't want to put either of them at risk," Hamond pointed out, "Yet you don't seem to be objecting to Myron going to deal with these men."

Joskin froze, glaring at Hamond. So much for his logic, Edeline noted.

Myron let out a long sigh. "Nela, I believe the alderman clearly is not thinking clearly. Do you think some sleep would do him good?"

"I slept fine this last night, so-"

"Doroneiroi." The alderman's legs gave way to Nela's spell, only for Myron to catch the man. He slowly lowered Joskin to the floor.

"Well, now he's definitely going to be your enemy," Hamond said.

"I didn't think we had time to keep arguing over this shit," Myron explained, staring down at the slumbering alderman. "And whether he meant well or not, he wasn't grasping how bad this really was."

Clearly he thought it was worse than ever, going by that language. And Edeline could not deny that the situation they were facing was terrible. It would be fairly easy for any inquisitive person, knight or otherwise, to learn about what had became of Princess Splendora. And once they knew she was Splendora's daughter, they would come for her head.

For all of their heads.

"So what do we do?" Nela asked.

"The only way to stop it now would be to intercept whatever messenger the alderman sent." Myron let out a shaky breath. "But they'll have a few days start on us. If they're on horseback, we'll have no chance."

"Couldn't we just convince the knights there's no need?" Nela crossed her arms. "They probably know who you are. If we can rescue Lord Hallowscroft first and make sure he's safe, they ought to listen to you."

"I don't know..." Myron gave Nela a sad look.

"If we were to simply wait here, we are doomed." For her part, Edeline was not about to lay down and die. "Regardless of if you want to stop the message or not, I am going to have to leave Hallowscroft." Even if she had never set foot far from the town, the past few days had shown her that she had no future here.

"I doubt it would be safe for me to stay either, with what happened with Kalvarel," Hamond said, "So if you don't object, I'll go with you."

Edeline struggled for words. Deep down, she had hoped, but she knew all too well she could not ask him - or any of them - to abandon what they had here. For the sake of a bastard who half the kingdom would rather see dead, no one ought to put themselves in that situation. And yet...Hamond would. For her.

"Thank...thank you," she managed to say. At least she would not be alone.

Myron looked over at Nela, who nodded. "We'll need supplies." Turning to face Edeline, Myron's words were heavy.

"Are you sure?" Edeline asked softly.

"No," her brother answered, "But nothing about any of this is sure any more."

"No worse a bet than remaining here," Hamond said, "I can get to my house quickly, get what coin and clothes I have stored there. I can use it to go buy some traveler's rations while you three get ready."

"Actually, I have a better idea," Edeline said, recalling one more detail they had not addressed. "Let's meet up at Morgivel's house. We will need someone to see to our father's health after we rescue him, and we still have not asked about the Stormsage. Additionally..." She trailed off, not sure how to phrase the matter.

"Say my farewells, you mean," Nela said with a smile. "Don't worry, I get it."

Well, that was not quite what Edeline had in mind, but it would do. Whether or not Nela or Myron chose to reveal their romance was not for her to decide. But saving Lord Hallowscroft very much was.

"Then it's time to shut up and push through." Nela trotted towards the door. "We need to get our arses long gone before the alderman wakes up."