Red's quarters were full of distant memories he'd rather forget. So he left soon after Merin left. She was muttering about knocking sense into people as she all but sprinted off. While she did that, he needed to meet with his foster father.

Red's place was at the back of the grounds. Ever since he was a boy, he'd taken advantage of that to sneak out. On one of these excursions, he met his foster father and formed bonds with the man who would save him from himself.

Red changed his clothing to dark brown leather. He covered his red eye with a patch, and just like that, he looked like any other random broken citizen of Habrin.

Red kept one eye on his surroundings while he paid attention to the bond between Merin and himself. He was confident in her ability to care for herself but didn't want her biting off more than she could chew. If she were in immediate danger, he would need to know.

Through it, he could feel anger and then satisfaction coming from her end. Red cocked a half smile when the satisfaction came through even stronger after some time. She must have done something about the mess, not that he doubted she wouldn't.

He would have been fine sleeping in the courtyard where he could see the stars. Merin was the opposite of him and had different needs.

Red shelved that to enter his foster father's smithery.

"Reu!" Red called out as he looked around for his father. It wasn't a big smithery.

The place was well-shaded, with open doors to air out the fires. There were forges and everything Reu needed to serve his high-end customers. Only a few products were in bins and barrels, but all were the less perfect products. Reu took on specific orders and could afford to sell the ones he considered imperfect to any passerby. There was a backroom for privacy and storage of things.

Reu ended up in the backroom when Red found him. Reu looked up from the knife he was sharpening. "How did it go?"

Red sat down opposite his father and rubbed a hand over his face. "He's gone."

Reu raised a brow, but his steady hands didn't waver as he scrapped the blade. "Are you going to step up?"

Red snorted and said, "How can I burn the place down if I help them keep things stable?"

"You can aid in the destruction of the Habrin Empire and walk away. That is the easy way out. It's always easier to destroy than it is to fix. There will be a sinkhole of power that will lead to future wars as freed countries strive for independence or domination. People are suffering. Habrin's influence hasn't grown, but it has not weakened. Without Habrin at the helm, there will be trouble."

Red grew still as he chewed over the words. "These countries you speak of are already plotting while Habrin collapses internally."

Reu nodded to indicate he agreed but said nothing. Soon, only the scrapping noise of the whetstone was heard.

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"What should I do?" Red said when he couldn't bear the other man's silence any longer.

"You need to surround yourself with allies within the palace. You have partnerships across countries, but you need more close at hand. You've played the long game well on your own. You need to surround yourself with soldiers, servants, and more spies. Relying on your own abilities won't save you."

Red never wanted his own guards or servants. He never needed them or thought much of men who relied on others outside of their own abilities. The only tangible thing you could depend on was yourself. He had never been given guards or sought them like his brothers. If he was going to stay within the palace grounds, that might need to change.

However, if Red did this, it would signal to his brothers that he was tossing his hat into the succession war and was ready to create his own Emperor guard militia.

Red also had Merin to consider now. Merin was a factor he tied to him through blood. Her abilities would be able to take on the task at hand. She was worth keeping around, but he didn't want to expand his energy to find more.

"My Russus will need ladies to wait on her. I will bring in men to form guards. I'll contact our allies, and we'll meet. I can sneak their people into the palace as my staff."

"Don't forget the stupid pin," Reu said with a chuckle.

Red chuckled as well. It was silly, but the customs of Habrin were strict about clothing and accessories. Red had gone years without all the trappings his birthright afforded him, but to take them down, he needed to assimilate to some degree.

"To take down the Habrin Empire, we've played the slow game, looking for the chance to strike. You will need more patience to succeed. You can't kill your brothers due to the spellwork woven into all royal sons before succession starts. You can't kill your father and start the succession battle until he's found." Reu said as he set down his tools and stood up. He walked over to a table and picked up a cloth-covered object.

"We'll make the emperor show his face," Reu said. He handed over the object to Red.

Red uncovered it and snorted with disbelief when he found the red and black pin in the shape of his mother's flower.

Merin was not surprised that the place was nearly spotless when she made the long trek back to Red's quarters. Dozens of people were running around scrubbing everything clean.

Upon the sight of her, they increased their fervor in cleaning. Merin smiled, satisfied that she had provided enough motivation. She turned on her heels and decided to explore. The inside was being cleaned of dust and grime, but she could explore the outside.

It was bare of what she'd seen in other courtyards as she passed them. There was a fountain, but it needed maintenance. The trees, brush, and plant life were out of control.

She turned her attention away from that to look up at the sky. The sun was on its journey to turn off the lights, and the shadows hid some of the damage.

Merin took her pangolin from its sling and set it down so it could roam and nibble on bugs.

She watched him go from a perch in the most robust-looking tree. She needed to wait for the moon to come out, and it didn't make her wait long.

The beams of silver blue shone down on her, and she shivered in delight. A good portion of her power had yet to return. The Ela Desert had damaged her body, and Red couldn't undo it entirely.

Something else was wrong, and Merin knew who to blame. The image of the boy she met all those years ago flashed in her mind. He told her there was a time limit if she didn't accept herself.

At the time, she had laughed it off, but now she wasn't so sure that he had been bluffing. The boy wasn't human and knew far too many things about her past to be a complete bluff.

She ignored him and spent hundreds of years drifting in the skies, unwilling to touch down. Now look at her, she thought with annoyance.

Merin jumped down from the tree, and instead of landing on the ground, she hovered. The moon would restore her balance. She closed her eyes and held her arms out to the moon. It was as comfortable as breathing to connect to the energy the lunar light gave her.

Soon, her body was glowing as it absorbed and Merin shuddered with the rush.