The brief trip back to Hamond's house had been a blur. One moment, she had been standing victorious in front of Captain Linos's body. The next, Edeline was being rushed in through Hamond's front door, with him half-pushing her inside.

She still had not intended to slay one of her father's own appointed captains, but his decision to kill Hamond left her no other options. Combined with what happened last time, it was clear that whoever was behind this wanted no witnesses.

She was not about to allow a repeat of Lendra's death.

More immediately pressing, though, was dealing with Hamond's reaction to revealing she was a thaumaturge. He had seemed withdrawn on the way back, obviously grappling with both that knowledge and that she had kept it from him. It hurt, especially since yesterday proved he had trusted her. At least, there were no more secrets between them. She may have damaged Hamond's trust in her, but that could be repaired given time.

And there was no better time than to start than now. "Again, I'm sorry. I just did not want anyone to know, since, well..."

Hamond had taken a seat in one of his chairs, slumped over and staring down at the floor. At her words, he looked up. "Oh, you mean about your spells?" Despite a light tone, his face showed this was still eating at him.

Edeline just nodded. "I...I wasn't sure if I could trust you yet. If I had thought...perhaps..."

"I knew."

"Excuse me?" she said, trying to figure out if he was serious. By Aether, she realized, he was.

"I knew. Your resonance with the energies of the healing spell I cast on you told me you were practiced at spellcraft."

"Resonance?" Edeline asked. She did not entirely understand, but it sounded as if practicing spells made those spells more effective on you? She would have thought the opposite.

"You...you do know of Arkadios's Law, right?" Hamond's expression was one of utter confusion. "How you can build up a natural affinity for channeling magic over time?"

"I confess, I have never heard of it," she admitted. If there were formal laws or rules to how magic works, they had not been mentioned once in the small book of spells she had found, the one that had set her on this path.

"Wait," Hamond said, "Who was it that taught you thaumaturgy?"

"No one," Edeline answered, "I taught myself."

"You...what?" Hamond opened and closed his mouth several times in disbelief. "That's...that can't be." He closed his eyes, slumping back over. "Someone wake me up. This has to be a bad dream."

"Should I pinch you?" Edeline asked, frustration starting to build. What was so unusual about that spell? She'd practiced it several times, and it worked well for what she needed. While she had not expected it to stun the captain when he grabbed her, she was not about to complain.

"You really don't understand, do you?" Hamond's voice shook. "That enchantment you cast was somehow among the most powerful of the spells I've ever seen, and you say you're self-taught? What's next, you going to tell me you learned how to do that in under a year?"

Edeline thought back, doing some quick mental calculations. "Actually, yes," she admitted, having counted from when she first picked up the book to her first reciting of the spell.

"Aether help me," Hamond said quietly, burying his face in his hands.

Edeline took a seat herself. Was her thaumaturgy really that strong? She'd never met anyone she could compare herself to, so she had automatically assumed what she had accomplished had been relatively average as far as spellcraft went. If that was not the case...what did that make her, then?

"I never asked for this, if that is what you're saying." She wanted to know what she could say to reassure Hamond, but she was at a complete loss.

"Lady Hallowscroft," Hamond started to say, looking up.

"Let's leave the formality aside," she cut him off. More than ever, she knew she could never keep that title. Not if she genuinely was that gifted. "Please," she added, after Hamond didn't say anything.

Hamond let out a faint sigh. "Fine," he said, "Edeline. I'm sorry, it's just...I wasn't prepared for this, any of it."

"Well, I was always told I was far too unpredictable," Edeline said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

"Unfortunately, you're...you're not even half of it," Hamond said.

"Does it have something to do with Captain Linos?"

"Yes." Hamond leaned forward, starting her dead in the eyes. "Tell me, do you at least understand the three fundamental spheres of magic?"

"No," Edeline admitted once again. She could see now that what she had thought she knew was but a raindrop in a downpour. A downpour, she noted with bitter amusement, that was now falling on her head.

"Very well," Hamond said, "The simple version is that there are three basic types of spells, and all spells fall into one of these types. Conjuration spells, transmutation spells, and enchantment spells." He counted them off on his fingers as he spoke. "What's important here is the third of these, the enchantment spells."

"That would be like my spell, wouldn't it?"

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

"Yes, that is an enchantment spell. I was also using one, a spell that allows me to see the flow and usage of magical energies." Hamond paused, lines on his face deepening. "The problem is that there was a third enchantment spell at work there, one placed on the captain."

"What kind of spell was that?" A cold knot formed in Edeline's belly.

"An enchantment of loyalty," Hamond explained, "Anyone placed under this spell will become increasingly unquestionably loyal to the one who cast the spell. Eventually, they will only obey orders coming from the thaumaturge who cast the spell, no one else."

"Good men follow orders," Edeline echoed, horrified at the implications. If the men at her home had been under this spell, and the captain as well...

"Whoever is behind this likely has control over the entire town watch," Hamond said, confirming her worst fears.

"I can't go home, can I," Edeline said. It wasn't a question.

"Not alone, at least. I'm not even sure how much longer we have before they send men here." Hamond turned and spat on the floor in frustration. "At least they're trying not to raise too big a fuss, so we may have a few more days."

Edeline frowned, thinking hard. "You know this spell. Is there a way it can be removed?"

"Yes, but there is a catch." Hamond tapped his fingers on the table. "Like most spells, it's also bound by Arkadios's Law as well. The longer the enchantment is active on a person, the more powerful it becomes. If this spell is on a person for too long, their mind itself becomes warped by it. Wait too long, and the loyalty the spell creates becomes permanent."

"So it was probably too late for the captain then." Edeline let her eyes drift close. Of the captains, Linos was the one she knew the least well, but even so, to be forced to give his life for...hold on. "Who exactly would be using this spell? And why?"

Edeline had never seen someone look so defeated. "This enchantment is a favorite...it's used by the Spellking, and members of his court."

Edeline immediately recalled her brother's off-handed warning about the agents of the Spellking. He had given her the warning for all the wrong reasons, but it had proven to be correct. But it was probably too late a warning regardless.

So much for the war against the Spellking being a distant affair far from home.

She did not even know where to begin. With no clue of the ultimate goal of her enemies, what methods they were using, or even how many people who were working against her, trying to counter them would be useless. She needed more information about them, and she had no one to get it from.

Well, no, there was one person.

"How do you know all this?" she asked Hamond, who was once again looking down at the floor.

For a long moment, the healer did not answer. "It'd be better if you didn't know."

Edeline came to stop, only now realizing she had been pacing again. "Look, I understand," she said, sounding out her thoughts as she regarded Hamond. "You obviously have some connection to the Spellking, one you would prefer to stay hidden. Am I correct?"

Hamond said nothing, but looked up at her resignedly, his face confirming she was on the right path.

"Even if that is the case, what exactly would I do with this?" Edeline shook her head, letting a dry chuckle out. "We both know the city watch is after me, and even if I could send a message to alert someone about you, I wouldn't have the time to wait for a response. You could make up some story right now about how you...you're the first Spellking's secret bastard son. It would change nothing."

Hamond stared at her in disbelief. "Really?" he said, voice just above a whisper.

"Really," Edeline answered, "Trust me."

"You can't be serious." Hamond's mouth gaped open for a second, then he closed it, blinking.

"I am absolutely serious. I gain nothing by revealing your secret." Edeline was starting to wonder why he was being so stubborn.

"Oh, no, not that. You...you're right. I shouldn't be hiding things from you, not now." Hamond rubbed his eyes, composing himself.

"Take your time," she said. She could afford to wait a little, if it meant they were finally on the same page.

"No, it's not that. Just...you were joking with the whole story about being the Spellking's son, right?"

"I suppose so, in a sense." Edeline was not sure what Hamond was trying to say. She had just spoken the most fanciful thing that came to mind. It wasn't supposed to be anywhere close to the truth.

"I see," Hamond said, "My apologies. I was just shaken by...how accurate you were. My father, in fact, served under the Spellking."

Edeline nodded silently, understanding instantly the predicament Hamond was in. "Not something you would want word to get out."

"Right." Hamond wiped one hand across his brow. "Normally, I would not tell just anyone. You figured it out partly on your own, though, so-"

"I appreciate your trust," Edeline said quickly. How in the...by Aether, this was definitely not something she had expected to find herself in the middle of. Trying to set the shock aside, she focused back on Hamond. "Still, I didn't realize there were people from Remuat who had sworn themselves to the Spellking."

"There's certainly those who swore to your king," Hamond rebuked her, "But yes, most people see me as just another Remuati, and no one suspects where I'm originally from. Of course, that doesn't account for lucky blind guesses like yours."

"I certainly did not foresee any of this myself." Not that she was going to question her fortune, be it good or ill. "But why Hallowscroft?"

"As you might have also guessed, I walked away from my remaining family. I couldn't keep blindly serving the Spellking's cause." He paused for a moment. "That was nearly two years ago. After spending some time studying the healing arts, I planned to make my way in secret across the border, and set up shop to try to make amends."

"So you chose this town then," Edeline noted.

"It wasn't my first choice, but the roads to the southeast were cut off due to the ongoing war. I originally intended to just circle around from the north and merely pass through Hallowscroft, but I was running low on coin." Hamond shrugged, leaning back slightly in his chair. "So I found a cheap enough house for sale here with what I had left."

Simple serendipity, Edeline thought as she glanced around the house again, but she could accept that. She would not be here today if it had gone otherwise.

"I suppose we will keep each other's secrets, then," she said.

"I suppose so," Hamond answered. Despite the weight of what she had just learned, getting all this out into the open left her feeling oddly relieved. She took a seat.

"So now what?" she asked after a moment.

"Well, we still have that matter regarding the Elefae a little later this evening. Have you ever attended any of their ceremonies before?"

"I have not." Until recently, it would have been none of her affairs, and since her father's retreat, she had been far too busy to consider such. Perhaps she should have, at least once.

"It will be risky, given that the watch is still looking for you," Hamond pointed out, crossing his arms. "And meeting the elders will not accomplish much, given, well..."

"You said the watch refused to look into the matter, right?"

"That's what I was told," Hamond said, "What you are thinking of?"

"Is it not possible that why they aren't involving themselves is also a result of that spell?" Edeline smiled grimly.

"It's possible, although it's more likely they were just ordered to focus on other things." Hamond let out a breath. "But since we don't have any other information, it might be worth looking into."

"Then yes, I am going," Edeline stated. She was not about to sit around this house and do nothing again.

"Alright," Hamond said, "For now, though, let's eat. We can get ready to go afterwards."

"That sounds perfect to me." For some reason, she was eager to try more of Hamond's cooking. "Oh, I should apologize. I'm afraid I'm going to be imposing on you for at least another night."

"It's fine. I'll just have to charge you for it later."

"Really going to make me pay for this, aren't you?" Edeline playfully grumbled, as Hamond stood up to begin cooking.