They all stood in tense silence, Ember pacing back and forth.

“I still don't understand why you didn't tell us,” Ember said angrily.

“I have many reasons, none of them are good ones however,” Indis replied, still trying to maintain calm after her earlier outburst.

“We don't even need to meet this other general, we’ve wasted so much time on confirming information you already knew was true!” Ember exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

“I…” Indis started.

“Did you tell Hidey any of this?” Zalia asked.

Indis shook her head,

“They know who I am but I have been readying myself to tell both Hidey and you three ever since the Morning’s shade finally became involved in this war. Then, this opportunity came up and I hoped I would not have to explain my involvement in all of this at all, that you would be convinced by others,” Indis replied, looking a tiny bit ashamed.

“Waste of time,” Ember repeated.

“How do we stop it?” Zalia asked.

“I don't know,” Indis said quietly.

“How can you not know?” Zalia pushed.

“I don't know! We have to stop the king, we have to.. we have to kill him. I don't think he will ever stop otherwise,” Indis almost yelled, her neutral tone and expression breaking once more.

“Do you know how to heal these corrupted people?” Ember asked.

“No, I’ve told you everything I know,” Indis said, looking just a tiny bit panicked.

“Have you? How can we trust that?” Ember asked, still furiously pacing.

“You just… you just have to. Please,” Indis whispered, looking small under Ember’s glare.

“Guys, stop. This isn't helping” Zen said.

Ember looked at Zen for a moment before she let out a deep breath and sat down, holding her head in her hands.

“What are we going to do now?” Ember said quietly.

“Lets leave,” Zen said.

“What!?” Indis asked incredulously.

“Let's leave. Leave the problem to the rebel army and the Morning’s shade. Let the people with all the power handle everything. We can use our link to the Morning’s shade to help the rebellion set up some sort of trap and then we leave. I’ll go back to my farm, Zalia can go back to the wilderness and you two can go build yourselves lives that don't revolve around your past,” Zen explained, gesturing to both Ember and Indis at the end.

They all sat in silence for a while, even Indis considering Zen’s words. Usually Zen was the last person to make a good point but right then… he made sense. They weren’t some sort of group of powerful heroes or even powerful people. All they really had was their connections and knowledge. Why not give all that to someone who could use it better?

“I wouldn't be opposed to that. Leaving all this behind and going into the wilds once more does sound… tempting,” Zalia said tentatively.

“I always thought… I always thought I’d be there at the end. I thought I would be the one to finally put an end to his madness but I guess I don't need to be, do I?” Indis asked, the question almost directed at herself more than them.

Ember remained silent, looking lost in thought like she had never considered doing anything other than helping others to live a better life than she had up to this point.

“So, what do we do then? How do we set a trap?” Zalia asked, looking to Indis.

Despite the woman's lies, she was still the best political thinker out of them all and she personally knew the king.

“I’ve thought to some length about how we could accomplish that. I think we simply tell Hidey that the rebellion is aiming to make a large assault on the city, the King should send his army to stop their advance and then we send our strongest to the capital to kill him. Most of the army must be outside of the capital as it is already, hopefully such a threat of attack should cause him to amass his armies he has to counter it. The King has some high ranked royal guard as well, of course, but I know of at least one that has left since his madness. Our job would be to inform the higher ranked amongst the Morning’s shade without letting Hidey catch wind of the plan. That’s all I’ve got,” Indis explained.

“That sounds like a terrible plan,” Ember said.

Indis frowned.

“How is that a terrible plan,” she asked indignantly.

“What if the king goes with the army, what if he has stronger guards than you think, what if-” Ember said.

“Ok, ok, I get it,” Indis interrupted.

“We’ll work with Faian on something, the help of some good military minds should help,” Zalia put in.

Stolen novel; please report.

They all fell silent once more.

“I need some fresh air, I’ll see you all later today,” Zalia finally said, breaking the silence.

None of the others spoke but Zalia didn't mind, leaving with Boreal close behind. She walked off into the camp, letting out a deep breath.

Today had really not gone how she had been expecting. She’d thought that after their success in stopping the theft and the soon arrival of the general, they would relax for a day before things started to really go crazy. As it turned out, crazy didn't wait for anybody.

She thought about leaving right then and there, walking off into the forest and never coming back to the Kingdom of Endaria. She could go back and see Glemp again, then go so far north that not even a kingdom scale disaster would affect her whatsoever. Thoughts of the north brought her mind back to that first day she had met another human in these lands, Knight Alara of the army of Endaria. The woman hadn’t seemed crazed like the soldiers she had seen most recently, nor had her few men. She wondered if Alara was now walking around somewhere in the kingdom, mind lost to whatever madness the ritual would have affected upon her.

She broke out of her thoughts and found herself in front of the building she had first met Faian in. The two guards were no longer there and she assumed that meant Faian was housed in another of the camp's many buildings today.

“Eztari?” Zalia asked into the air around her.

She spun around as a footstep cracked a stick behind her.

“Yes?” Eztari asked.

“I wish to speak to General Faian,” Zalia said.

He raised an eyebrow.

“Alone,” Zalia added.

He seemed a little perplexed, which Zalia found reassuring because it might mean that the man wasn't listening in to their every little conversation after all.

“Very well,” he said.

He led her through the camp to a replica building that had guards in front of it. He had led her past a few buildings that were also similarly guarded so she knew you couldn't just find the general by finding the guards.

The guards let her pass as Eztari gestured to them and Zalia entered the building. It was set up much the same as it was the first time she had met Faian, though neither the Advisor nor the Commanders were there.

“General,” Zalia said by way of greeting.

“Zalia,” the General said.

Zalia didn't speak, inspecting the general. Indis had spoken to this woman before she had spoken to her own team about what she knew and had seen. It made sense when she thought about it but she just did not know how to feel about the whole situation.

“Indis told us about her… relevant past with current situations,” Zalia said.

“I see,” Faian said, gesturing for Zalia to take a seat.

She stayed standing, keeping an eye on Boreal out of the corner of her eye, making sure the feline made no trouble.

“And?” Faian asked.

“What do you think? Is she telling the truth?” Zalia asked.

Faian raised an eyebrow at her.

“You do not trust the word of your own friend and ally?” Faian asked in return.

“Not so much anymore, trusting easily is something I’m learning might be a little dangerous,” Zalia said.

“And yet you trust my opinion on her story?” Faian asked.

“No, I’m just hoping I can learn something from your answer,” Zalia said.

“Very well. I believe she tells the truth and her story does match some oddities in behaviour I now recognise in the late king's last days,” Faian replied.

“And?” Zalia asked.

“What makes you think there is an and to that?” Faian questioned.

Zalia didn't respond, waiting for her answer.

“And, while the story rings true I do not think it is the whole truth. I believe our Lady Indis is still in love with the Prince she once knew. That man no longer lives, of course, but I suspect it is true nonetheless,” Faian finally answered.

Zalia nodded.

“I believe you may be right. It does explain in part why she waited so long to tell us of this. She must be torn between the man she once knew, the man he is today, love and fear,” Zalia said.

“Is that all you wanted?” Faian asked.

“I don't think we can necessarily trust her judgement anymore,” Zalia said.

“Quite astute,” Faian said.

“We plan to help you, we no longer need the story from the other General with this new information having come to light. We would like to help you set up a trap for the King and remove him from the throne. We have thought of a way to accomplish this but it definitely needs a General's touch, though accustomed to combat none of us are great military minds so to speak,” Zalia explained.

“Go on then,” Faian urged.

And so Zalia explained the situation revolving around Hidey and his possible weakness, Indis’ initial idea for a trap and the position her and her team were stuck in, in the middle of everything. She didn't know if she was making a mistake but had decided she wanted this over with as soon as possible. She was getting sick of all the confusion, mystery and politics surrounding the whole situation. Zen was right, she wanted to go back into the wilds once more and forget about all of this. She wasn't about to walk away and so she felt the need to bring it to some kind of resolution.

“I see,” Faian said.

“What are your thoughts?” Zalia asked.

The General hadn’t so much as reacted as Zalia had talked but now leaned forwards, looking thoughtful.

“We have been making plans for a short time to embark on a final attack soon, this may yet give us a chance at success. I have a feeling that very soon everything shall come to it's final stage in this war and feel the need to move soon. Indis’ plan is a solid groundwork but it will need a lot of specifics, backups and altering if we are to make it work. I thought you said you were not being so trusting anymore, why trust me with this information?” Faian asked.

“I'm learning and I do so because you might be one of the only people with enough actual power to stop the King. Keeping it to ourselves will help no one, you at least have the supposed intention and means of ending this war for the betterment of the people around. It's as simple as that,” Zalia said.

“Your reasoning is solid but a little flawed. Nevertheless I will take what I can get. You and your team may yet have provided us a means of actually winning this war, Zalia. I need to make adjustments to our plans now, if I may have some time to myself?” Faian asked.

“Of course General, I have only one more thing to say,” Zalia said.

“Yes?” Faian asked.

“Me and my team will not take part in the assassination. Our part is to provide the deception and that is all. I am happy to wait nearby to hear of the failure or success of the mission but this is a foe beyond any of us, there is no point throwing away our lives,” Zalia told the General.

“Very well, so it shall be,” Faian said.