There was no turning back now.

Keeping her thaumaturgy studies secret had not been easy. While the incident with the tree had been the most visible and the closest call, there had been a few other times Edeline had just managed to avoid being caught. Even Lendra had almost stumbled onto the forbidden book at one point, with Edeline just barely able to distract her maidservant long enough to hide it.

Now, it was clearly out in the open, and strangely enough, it made Edeline relieved. Well, as relieved as she could be, given what Kalvarel had done to her. Once again, her fingers found the tip of her ears, reminding her all too clearly of what had nearly come to pass. It had not, but that did little to stop visions coming to mind of what would have happened had Kalvarel succeeded.

But just as Kalvarel's spells had nearly laid Hallowscroft low, her spell had saved it. In just one moment, the threat of the town being raided by those men had been completely stopped. Part of her wanted to say that spell had done more than she had accomplished while she secretly ran the town over the past year.

That would not be entirely accurate though. While thaumaturgy could undoubtedly solve many problems, Edeline felt she had to be realistic. She only possessed a small fraction of the spells out there, and most of the ones she knew were specifically suited for battle. Hamond and Nela were both better thaumaturges than her, even if their spells were not as powerful.

All the better that they be done with this, so they could put some distance between them and Hallowscroft. Only then Edeline could attempt to learn and broaden her knowledge.

The summer house was just now coming into view. While the short journey had not really taken any longer than expected, even with dealing with those men, it felt longer. Then again, it could just be exhaustion from the past few days setting in. Deciding that she could rest later, Edeline quickened her pace.

Passing through the old iron gate arches, Edeline could see that the gardens surrounding the house had become more than a little overgrown since her last visit. While it had been just over a month since that previous visit, something had to have happened in that time, something that could not be blamed on Kalvarel. If some of the servants had quit, fine, but her not having learned of it left her suspicious.

"Shit!" A man who had been lurking behind a nearby bush dashed in the direction of the house. "He's here! He's here!" He ran up to the front door, yanked it open, and went inside. The door, let go by him, swung back open a little.

"I suppose that meant me," Myron commented. With a sigh, he drew his sword.

Edeline did the same. At this point, they would be fools to not assume it would come down to a fight. Letting her brother take the lead, she followed him up to the doors of the summer house.

She winced on seeing the inside. The place had clearly been ransacked, with bits of a broken chair or table laid out on the floor. The portrait that hung in the main hall over the stairs, showing Lord Hallowscroft, his wife, and a very young Myron, had been pulled down.

At the time, Edeline had been too young to pose for a painting session, a fact she had not found out until later. She had thought it unfortunate, but had accepted it. While that was still likely part of it, she now had reason to believe there was another reason she had been excluded.

One of the side doors opened, and another man emerged. Rough looking with dirty clothing, he had one hand on the hilt of a sheathed sword. "Well, shit, it is you," he said quietly on seeing Myron.

"Denys," Myron answered, sounding surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think?" the man shot back, letting go of the sword hilt. "I was promised coin, my family needs it, and you sure as shit weren't around to give what I'm owed. Not that it matters now, given those other fools are going to burn down Hallowscroft. No one's going to give any of us a single piker after that."

Myron took a breath. "Most of them are dead now. The rest ran."

"You stopped them?" Denys gave Myron a disbelieving look. Behind him, the other man who had first spotted them came back out, taking a spot behind Denys.

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"I still have more than enough capable people who remained loyal to me to handle something like that." A true statement, Edeline noted with bitter amusement. Although Denys did not suspect that a single young woman with a scarred ear was responsible.

"I should have known." Denys immediately reached for his belt. Unbuckling it, he pulled it free and tossed it to the floor in front him, the sword still attached.

"What are you doing?" Myron asked.

"Surrendering," Denys said, "I'm no fool to fight an unwinnable fight. Just...do what you will with me, as long as my family's taken care of."

Myron stood there silently. Edeline couldn't think of anything she could add, but then again, this was best left to her brother.

"I would rather you be the one to take care of them yourself," Myron finally said, "Too many have died as it is."

"He's lying. Don't believe him," the man behind Denys said in a low voice.

"I'll take him lying if it means we're not dying," Denys retorted. Edeline wondered if he'd gotten that from a poem somewhere. She had certainly never heard that rhyme before.

"If you give me a moment, I'll write a note." Myron hesitated a bit, and Edeline was pretty certain she knew why. "I have other matters I need to go attend to, so you can hand the note to one of the aldermen and they will give you the coin you want."

"They didn't help us before," the other man protested, "I'm telling you, you can't trust any of them. We should-"

"Enough." Denys shot the man a sharp glance, then turned back to Myron. "He's right though. We already sent a few men to ask the aldermen to appeal our case, but they wouldn't do a thing. And the lord's useless too."

So it was likely that the information they had been given by Joskin was lies too. At this point, Edeline was more disappointed than anything.

"Inform them that I will come for their heads if you are not paid," Myron said. An empty threat, although Edeline had to admit there was a part of her that wanted to remain long enough to ensure it. Because if her brother did not carry it out, she certainly would. "Now, where is my father?"

"Oh, the lord? We locked him upstairs in his room. Kept him fed too. We'd thought we'd get him to see sense, but...his mind's not there. A couple of the men wanted to get at him, but with the way he is, he's not leading Hallowscroft. I guess I just pity him."

"He was saying something about his daughter and a princess," the other man added, "Addled by age, without a doubt."

"Well, him talking about your sister makes sense," Denys said with a shake of his head. "Kind of wish she had stepped up and done something about this."

Edeline wanted so very much to reveal herself right now, and make it clear what she had tried to do. It would accomplish nothing, of course, but it was quite infuriating having her efforts downplayed and being unable to offer a response. Resigned, she supposed this was part of what she had wanted. Being known foremost as a thaumaturge meant not being known at all as a noble lady.

Or a princess.

"I assure you she has also been working hard," Myron said, "The matter that kept me away has drawn most of her attention too."

"Not that it helped us any. Now, about that note..."

"Assuming you didn't damage the study too much, I think there's paper and quills in here." Myron turned and headed to a door on the other side of the room. The two men followed. Knowing she would not be needed, Edeline stayed where she was.

"We need to get going soon." Hamond spoke up once they were in the other room.

"I am aware," Edeline answered quietly, "First though, we need to see to...the Lord Hallowscroft." She barely caught herself from revealing her identity. It was no longer a matter of her refusing to see him as her father. She had made her peace with his affair with Princess Splendora. But she could not rule out someone listening in on their conversation. There were likely more men around, after all.

"I'd rather not stay the night here," Hamond simply stated.

Nela stepped between the two of them. "No, we should stay here until that alderman tracks us down. I'm sure that would be fun for everyone. Seriously though, someone I know is going to want to see his father, so we can't leave right away."

"I'm not saying he can't. Remember, I suggested the meeting originally. It's just...I'm worried."

"And you think we're not?" Nela gave Hamond a scathing look.

"I know." Hamond looked down at the floor, avoiding their gazes.

"Perhaps we should talk on this matter later," Edeline said quickly. Again, they could hardly discuss their situation at length here without risking being overheard.

"But-" Hamond started to protest, only to be interrupted by Myron emerging from the study. The two men were close behind.

"We'll go spread the word to the other men," Denys was saying, "Not that there's that many. Most of the rest sided with Weland. And you know what happened to them."

"Indeed." Myron walked over, patting Nela on the shoulder. He then turned back to the pair. "And good luck, I suppose."

"We'll need it." With that, the two walked out the door.

"That was almost too easy," Nela commented.

"I wish it were." A pained look appeared on Myron's face. "If only...we could do more for them." Seeing her brother's expression, Edeline found herself wanting the same. An impractical dream, given what they now faced.

"Don't kick yourself." Nela quickly moved to his side. "We did what we had to do. So, what's next?"

"The remaining servants - the ones that didn't try to fight back - are locked in the bedrooms upstairs. I got the keys from Denys, so we can go set them free."

"I say we ought to do that first, before we deal with our father," Edeline suggested.

"I agree. Let's get to it." Without hesitating, Myron began to climb the stairs. Edeline followed. Above them, in his room, Lord Hallowscroft was waiting for them.