The prospect of Elpis being the perpetrators in her family’s death boggled Shara’s mind. Shara’s home village of Aletheia had been located on the west edge of the northern plains, near two other towns called Nuxvar and Yidril. Supposedly, one of the towns had instigated an unprovoked attack on the other two, slaughtering countless people. The nation of Elpis, located on the southern edge of the continent, thus funded a retaliation effort, hiring huge numbers of local mercenaries to wipe out the offending village despite having no apparent stake in any of the three northern towns. The entire event was dubbed the “Nuxvar Massacre,” as Aletheia and Yidril were too small to have been known by anyone outside of the area. Furthermore, Aletheia and Yidril were both wiped out entirely, with the obvious exception of Shara herself. Since Nuxvar was well known to be one of the victims and Shara knew her village wouldn’t have attacked, that meant Yidril must have been the perpetrator that was afterwards obliterated by the nation of Elpis. Nuxvar likely avoided being destroyed entirely because Aletheia had decimated the attacker’s ranks in their last stand, which comforted Shara a little.

Elpis is a very young country, less than fifty years old, so it was generally assumed that they funded the retaliation effort as a publicity stunt to let the nations of the north know they weren’t a power to be comfortably ignored. Whatever their motives, Shara had thought she owed them a debt for avenging her family, which was among the many reasons she was excited to see the parade.

But this changed everything. Elpis was supposed to have attacked only the village that instigated the Nuxvar Massacre, and there’s no way her family did that! Not only would her parents not just randomly attack innocent people, but there was no incentive. Most of the essentials Aletheia didn’t make themselves were obtained by trading mercenary work for commissions by crafters or farmers in Nuxvar. If Nuxvar fell, Aletheia might not have been able to support itself independently.

Yes, sure, Shara was not very old at the time. There could have been a lot of political stuff going on that she didn’t know about. But still, her family wouldn’t solve their problems by going out and slaughtering a village! Aletheia being the culprit of the Nuxvar massacre was not a possibility.

“Hey, Shara, are you doing okay?” Darron asked, moving up next to his sister. “You just kind of froze for a second there.”

Very briefly, Shara considered flashing on her poker face and bluffing her way out of the awkwardness.

“I… no.” Shara said. “I’m not okay at all. Those people… the Elpis army people, are wearing the same uniforms as the people who killed my family.”

Darron’s eyebrows rose, which was about as surprised as his face was going to get. Inside, his mind was racing.

“You’re sure?” he asked.

“Completely.” Shara affirmed.

“What’s going on?” Adgito asked.

“Elpis must have slaughtered all three villages,” Shara accused, “and just pinned it on someone else to walk out looking like heroes. Why else would they have even gone out there?”

“That seems unlikely,” Darron said, shaking his head, “for exactly that reason. ‘Why would they have even gone out there?’ Why would Elpis care about Nuxvar, Aletheia, or Yidril enough to genocide them? Even assuming they had a motive, why would they slaughter a bunch of towns in uniform and then spare half of Nuxvar, leaving countless witnesses? Why would you have seen their uniforms at all? If I was in charge of a country, and I wanted to attack someone but not be held accountable for it, the first thing I’d do is not put my country’s standard emblazoned on their armor.”

That… made sense. That made a lot of sense. Shara did her best to calm down, pulling in more of the positive emotional influence from outside. It mostly made her more hyperactive, though.

“So, what do you think happened?” Shara asked, breathing through her teeth as calmly as she could manage.

“Off the top of my head? I’d guess it mostly went down as we thought earlier: Yidril wipes out your village, nearly wipes out Nuxvar, and is in turn wiped out by Elpis... just with one significant change. The people of Yidril wore Elpis uniforms when they attacked in order to try and frame Elpis. That explains why you saw Elpis uniforms, and it explains the bigger question of why Elpis cared enough about three random villages on the opposite side of the continent in order to march troops all the way out there: they had a reputation to protect.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Shara sighed, “but why would Yidril try to frame Elpis?”

Darron shrugged.

“How should I know?” he asked, “They’re all dead now. Gut reaction says Sentonis paid them to; that kind of dirty trick is right up their alley. But this is all theory.”

It made sense. It made a lot of sense, but Shara still wasn’t convinced. Turning back to the parade, she scanned the mind of a random soldier. Kssssht. Oh, he was one of the unreadable ones. She picked another. Kssssht.

Getting increasingly frustrated and increasingly suspicious, Shara tried the minds of over twenty soldiers before finally finding one she could read. Inside it she found… nothing of interest. Flip, spin, throw, catch, turn, flip, throw, spin… he was just mentally rehearsing his routine for the parade. Emotionally, he was slightly worried about screwing up, but mostly just excited and proud to be a part of the show. A random, uninteresting, normal man. Certainly much less interesting than the apparent fact that over ninety-five percent of the Elpis National Army was immune to Shara’s mind-reading abilities. If that was a coincidence, Shara would stick her dagger back where she first found it.

A cheer erupted from the nearby crowd, crashing the excitement and joy from their minds back into Shara’s suspicion. Next in the parade, sitting atop a powerful and regal horse, sat a man adorned in gleaming ceremonial armor. He looked very old, face wrinkled and nose crooked, but he sat with the grace and power of a man in his prime. A kind, soft smile sat on his lips as he waved to the crowd, golden plate gauntlets scattering sprays light all around the street. His other hand rested on his knee, clutching the reins of his horse along with a small, tattered book that looked as old as he was. On his hip nestled a compartment for holding all manner of throwing daggers.

No way. Was that him? Clenching her fists and shaking with rage, Shara touched his mind. She recognised it at once. It was a mind she could never forget, as long as she lived.

“Your theory just got debunked,” Shara hissed, barely restraining herself from crashing through the crowd to assault the murderer that slaughtered her parents.

He was here. Who was he? She scanned the heads of the nearby people staring at him, looking for a recurring name. Gadiel. His name was Gadiel. Gadiel Halcomb, Commander-in-Chief of all Elpis military forces, personally oversaw the attack on Aletheia. He was there. He killed both of Shara’s parents, and nearly killed her too.

“What do you mean, ‘debunked?’” Darron asked. “Did you learn something?”

What… should she do? Elpis hadn’t avenged her family at all, they had killed them. She needed to do something. She needed to kill that man, but… that wasn’t possible. There was a huge crowd of people in the way, and they’d get seriously hurt if Shara just charged through them. Plus, an important man like that doubtless had magical enchantments and protections, not to mention the literal army he was marching with at his command. She didn’t stand a chance, but… she had to do something!

“Hey! Shara!” Darron said, raising his voice. “What did you find out?”

Find out! Right, she needed more information. She should find out what he was thinking. Swallowing her revulsion, she stared directly at her family’s murderer and took a deep dive into his mind. It gave. Unlike the soldiers he was commanding, she could read his mind easily.

Hmm, this is the area Marisol told me about, Gadiel thought. The name “Marisol” meant a lot to him; there were overtones of love and admiration mixed with undertones of worry at the thought of her. The red-eyed girl should be somewhere on this street. He was scanning the crowd as he daintily waved, looking for two circles of deep crimson red. Looking for her.

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I seriously doubt any Aletheians survived, but Marisol seemed very certain the girl could read minds. Hopefully, it’s a misunderstanding… mind readers popping up randomly isn’t much better of a situation than a stray clan member managing to fool us. Shara saw her own enraged face as his gaze passed over her, mind ringing with recognition. He didn’t pause his methodical wave for an instant.

That was certainly her. Blonde hair, red eyes, armed, standing next to a tall, dark-haired woman in a black shirt. She certainly looks like an Aletheian, no doubt there. But can she read minds...? Hmm. Perhaps you would be so kind as to make this easy on me? If you are currently reading my mind, it would save me a lot of trouble if you gave me some kind of sign.

So, here was the man who had killed her parents, smiling pleasantly in front of her, politely asking her a question with his brain. Shara wanted nothing more than to pull out the dagger Aelius had given her and toss it through his head, but he’d probably just block it somehow. Gadiel was feeling a lot of things: satisfaction, appreciation, worry, doubt… but concern over his well-being was not one of them. He was supremely confident that he wasn’t in any danger, and he had the kind of mind wise enough to know that confidence was well-founded.

She’s not moving, Gadiel thought. If you are trying to give me a sign, you’re not doing a very good job of it. I suppose I’ll keep talking to you, though, just in case. It would be foolish to let my mind wander, and I find directing my thoughts at someone helps me focus. Besides, the way you’re glaring at me… I find it hard to believe you’re just here to enjoy the parade.

Getting called out on staring instinctively made Shara flinch, which Gadiel immediately picked up on.

Hmm, it looks like you reacted to that. I’m definitely starting to see why Marisol was so convinced… and yet. There’s no doubt that all the Alethieans are dead. We confirmed every body.

As he thought that, a memory flashed through his mind of a young, blonde-haired girl, lying limp against a tree, dagger impaled through her head. The girl was her, obviously, so Shara was thankful his memory of the girl's face was fuzzy enough to be blank. A cold wave of regret tore out from his mind as she took in the blurry, faceless representation of her own corpse. Regret, huh? Well, even if he didn’t want to murder children, the bastard still tried.

Yet here you are, a red-eyed mind reader. You look like you could have been there. Hmm, how old are you? Seventeen, maybe eighteen? You would have been so young at the time. The Aletheians… were a truly astounding people. Such incredible strength, drive, and conviction. I wish I had gotten the opportunity to speak with them on more cordial terms. Coming from him, the genuine admiration felt insulting to Shara. You should be proud to share their appearance, and their abilities. Possibly even their heritage, though if you were somehow present at that battle, I simply must hear the story of how you managed to fool us into thinking you were dead!

Well, actually being kind of dead for a while helps with that. As far as Shara was aware, Aelius was about the only thing in the universe that could have caused her to survive those injuries.

I’m quite certain there were no illusions involved, and we confirmed that none of the Alethieans had access to teleportation magic in advance. Every corpse was accounted for, and unless they had been hiding a child underground for three years, we’d have known about it. His thoughts continued almost automatically. Every so once in awhile, Shara would feel the blip of a secondary line of thought crop up, but Gadiel would return his focus immediately. Normally, a person’s thoughts would branch and Shara could pick up subconscious information easily, but Gadiel kept a tight hold on his focus.

So… who are you, and if you really can read minds, how did you get that ability? A mind-reading spell has been the pipe dream of every intelligence organization since the dawn of civilization, and we still don’t have anything close. I highly doubt that you’re a fletchling wizard who just stumbled upon the right command words. No, you’ve got natural magic… but was it random, is there another mind-reading clan we don’t know about, or did you somehow survive when the rest of your people fell?

At this point, the Gadiel’s section of the parade was close to leaving Shara’s field of vision. He turned his head back, finally meeting her gaze directly.

The answers to those questions are very important to me. I do hope you plan to stay in the city for a while, so that we can–

Shara felt Gadial pull out of her maximum range, like popping a bubble from the inside as she strained to keep a hold on his thoughts. In a rush, her senses returned their focus to herself as the crashing excitement of the parade crowd hit her once again. Darron’s hand was on her shoulder. She hadn’t even felt him put it there. How could she let her guard down like that? Paying too much attention to someone else’s head like that was suicidal.

“...You back with us?” Darron quietly asked. Shara looked up and nodded in affirmation.

“S...sorry,” she managed to stammer. “I managed to confirm… I mean, it definitely wasn’t just Yidril in disguise. I remember that commander guy personally. He killed… them. My old family.” Darron raised an eyebrow.

“The commander-in-chief of the Elpis armed forces personally participated in the killing of your people?” he asked for confirmation. Shara nodded.

“Well…” Darron muttered, “That’s just bad tactics.”

“Sorry,” Adgito interrupted, “I’m more than a little lost here. You just kinda started talking about the Nuxvar massacre and then glared at some guy for a solid minute and now there are a bunch of soldiers heading our way. Can someone explain to me what’s going on?”

Soldiers? Shara looked around in a panic, and sure enough spotted quite a few more Elpis uniforms nonchalantly wedging themselves into the packed plaza. She couldn’t read any of their minds. A group of three soldiers in particular were walking right towards Shara’s group, politely pushing aside the mosh of parade-viewers as they made their way closer. Instinctively, Shara stepped between them and Darron, placing a hand on the hilt of her sword. After a moment’s consideration, however, she removed it. Even though she couldn’t be sure… no, because she couldn’t be sure if these soldiers were in any way responsible for the death of her family, she shouldn’t be resorting to murdering them. She would get her revenge, but only on the people that deserved it.

The three soldiers finally parted the gaggle of girls Shara’s crew had been watching the parade by, and approached to address her directly.

“Excuse me, miss,” the one in the middle said, “but I have to ask you to come with us.”

Shara glared at them. They were far better armed than the nightstick-wielding city guard that was here to keep the peace. The Elpisian soldiers each had a one-handed sword, a backup knife, and an impressive metal heater shield, although all of these weapons were currently stowed for the sake of polite conversation. They also had face-revealing helmets, apparently preferring a greater field of vision over superior protection. All three of them were men, and they looked at Shara with worried and reluctant expressions.

“What happens if I say no?” Shara asked, “Because odds are high that I will do that.”

“...Then we will be forced to place you under arrest,” the soldier responded.

“On what charge?”

“Under orders from Intelligence Chief Marisol, you are charged with two-hundred and sixteen counts of conspiracy to commit murder.”

Shara blinked.

“Pardon...?” She had been expecting some kind of silly trumped-up charge as an excuse to get arrested, but not quite that trumped up.

“I’m sorry miss, I don’t know all the details,” the soldier explained, “but I’ve been instructed to take you in. I’m sure it’s all a misunderstanding and you’ll be released after a quick questioning.”

That was quite possibly the dumbest and most obvious lie Shara had ever heard in her life. Two hundred charges of “conspiracy to commit murder?” Even if these people actually believed in those absurdly overblown charges, they’re not just going to go “whoops, sorry!” to something like that after a quick game of twenty questions! Not to mention the fact that the accusation was so brazenly fabricated they may as well have charged her with ten thousand counts of illegal llama wrangling.

Nonetheless, the surrounding crowd started to take notice and give Shara’s group a wide berth.

“Hey!” butted in a confused-sounding Adgito, “Seriously! Would someone tell me what’s going on? Shara, what are these guys talking about?”

Shara had, admittedly, somewhat forgotten about Adgito. The poor woman was a little overwhelmed with this whole situation, having just met a new friend and then suddenly being told she’s some kind of mass-murderer. Or mass-conspirator? Adgito hadn’t really paid attention to the whole exchange, she had just heard a really big number followed by “murder” and then had that concept applied to someone she liked a lot but honestly didn’t know very well.

To Adgito’s credit, she was absolutely taking this revelation with a grain of salt. She seemed half-ready to support Shara in whatever she was about to do, but Shara wasn’t interested in getting Adgito involved. Adgito was a kind person, and didn’t need to be dragged into Shara’s personal messes.

“Th-They’re talking out of their asses, Adgito,” Shara managed, “I haven’t done any of those things. So… don’t worry about it. I’m sure it’ll be cleared up if we go with them, just like they said.”

Adgito seemed unconvinced.

“Please,” Shara pleaded, “I’ll be fine.” The soldier cleared his throat.

“I am also obligated to point out that those who stand with the accused may be brought under suspicion of accessory to her crimes,” he explained.

“Eh, that doesn’t sound so bad,” Adgito said, and kicked the soldier in the face.