Felix laughed long and hard at the look on Alistair’s face. “He’s the one I was telling you about, Senka, the one that shows promise. Believe it or not. And look, he shares an eye with you. What’s the term again? Heterochromia? That’s it. Although yours is the result of something else.”

Senka remained silent as she kept her gaze fixed on Alistair, one of her eyes milky white, the other black.

“How did that happen, Alistair?” Felix asked as he twiddled his steak knife.

“Stress-related.”

“Stress-related. Ha! I was unaware that you could be so stressed that your eyes changed colors. But we will leave that for now. What about my other question?” Felix asked Alistair and Kanda. “Have you heard of anyone named Ghost?”

Kanda sat down, not at all phased by the menacing look on his face. She tapped her fork against an empty wine glass and a pair of masked waiters stepped out. “Two plates,” she told them. She then gestured for Alistair to sit next to her. As casually as ever, Kanda filled her wine glass with water and did the same for Alistair. Once she was good and ready, she looked up at her uncle. “First off, why would anyone go by the name Ghost?”

Ghost: I named myself Ghost. And before you ask, clearly, I hadn’t met Kanda before meeting you. I didn’t know Felix had a protege, someone he was grooming to one day run his organization. We were never that close because I despise the man. Still do, in fact.

Alistair: Why would I think you’d met Kanda before?

Ghost: It just crossed my mind that I should have met her, considering everyone else seems to know her. But the others didn’t hang out much with me, aside from Senka. And she doesn’t talk.

Alistair: Like ever?

Ghost: Not that I know of, no.

Felix leaned back in his chair, the leader of the Baronblades not as annoyed as Alistair thought he would have been at her disobedience. “You never met that one. But you know Kang, Goran, and you’ve seen Senka once or twice. You also knew Hilda.”

“What happened to Hilda?”

Alistair saw the shadows twitch beyond Felix, signaling Noctarii was in position. He tried not to stare, Alistair well aware that his eyes were especially visible in their current state.

Rather than answer Kanda about Hilda’s fate, Felix sawed into an especially bloody bit of steak. He ran it through a swab of butter, tossed it in his mouth, and nodded at Goran.

“Hilda was killed. Kang thinks it was Ghost,” the big man said in his deep, guttural voice.

Kanda gasped. “Someone killed her?”

Ghost: Act surprised.

Alistair tried his best gasp as well, but it was poorly timed. It would have likely been noticed had Goran not continued his explanation: “Ghost is dead. That is why it is odd that Kang believes he killed Hilda.”

“And who killed Ghost?” Kanda shook her head. “Why do I not want to know the answer to that question?”

Goran looked at Felix, who answered as he continued chewing his piece of steak:“Ghost got himself killed by not going along with the new goals of the Unknown Souls. Kang thinks he was reborn somewhere around here.”

“Did you say reborn? As in, he’s a child?” Kanda asked.

The food came, and everyone was quiet until the waiters left. Alistair looked down at the slab of meat on his plate. The steak was barely cooked, the meat garnished with a spiraled spread of mashed potatoes, a thick slab of butter, and a single piece of grilled asparagus.

Felix motioned for Goran to continue so he could continued chewing.

The big man folded his hands together in front of him. “We killed Ghost, and Ghost had a card that allowed him to be reborn in the body of another person, not a child. Or maybe a child. We don’t know that part.”

“And Ghost was a good assassin?” Kanda asked.

Ghost: I was a damn good assassin.

Goran grunted. “Very good. He was an asshole, but he had a code, and he lived by it.”

Felix scoffed at this remark. “Ghost was a piece of shit, Goran, and you know it.”

“I didn’t dislike him,” was all the big man said.

Kanda squinted across the table. “So… to better understand this, Uncle, and I suppose since we are talking about it in front of Alistair, you are fine with him knowing this information—”

“Who, Blackstar? I am fine with it,” Felix said as he finished another bite of meat. “If he says anything, if he ever says anything to anyone that could alert authorities in any way, I will know. And I will make sure he never wields a wand again.”

Kanda laughed, surprising Alistair.

Felix stopped chewing. “Do you find what I said funny?”

“I do, Uncle, but I suppose my laughter is premature. Another question: did you know Ghost had a card that would allow him to be reborn before you killed him?”

“I didn’t. Goran?”

The big man shook his head. Senka remained motionless.

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“And you only discovered it after, right? After the card was hovering above his chest.” There was a sudden flash of humor in her eyes.

“Yes,” Felix said, his eyes narrowing on Kanda. “What’s your point?”

“You killed a top assassin and found out after the fact that he would be reborn.” She laughed again. “You all are so fucked.”

Felix, who still held his steak knife, swiftly tossed it at Kanda. She flinched and tilted her head to the right, the knife flying inches away from her face and stuck into the wall.

“Is that how you would like to run this meeting, Uncle?” she asked, cool and collected as ever as she straightened up again.

Ghost: Be ready to fire your wand under the table. Place your hand on it, slowly draw it, and point your wand at Felix.

Alistair shifted in his seat. By the time he had his hand on his wand, Senka stood in front of him, her sword drawn.

“Were you planning some sort of coup, Kanda?” Felix asked as he took Goran’s steak knife. “Because this would be a poor place to do it. Besides, we’re having a friendly meal here, and I have more to tell you.” He ate another piece of meat, chewing it slowly as Senka kept her blade pointed at Alistair.

Ghost: Senka is across the table. She’d have to leap onto the table to reach you. Can you draw your wand that fast?

Alistair: I have no idea.

Ghost: Probably not. Senka is the fastest assassin I know. The way her face is scarred, do you know why that is?

Alistair: How would I know!?

Ghost: She is from the Dracolich Empire.

Alistair blinked in a failed effort to understand what Ghost was trying to tell him.

Calmly as ever, Felix finished his bite of steak. “Now, as you can imagine, Kang is highly superstitious right now on account of the things he’s been doing.”

Alistair received a message from Kanda.

Kanda: He’s referring to their dealings with the Dracolich Empire. As for Senka, don’t worry about her. If she moves any closer to you, I’ll blow her through that wall. Relax.

Alistair: You act like this is a normal meal with Felix.

Kanda: That’s because it is.

Kanda’s voice sweetened as she spoke again. “Uncle, call her off. She’s making Alistair nervous. We aren’t here for a coup.”

“I suppose you aren’t. It would be the last play you ever made. Senka.”

The woman rapidly sheathed her blade and sat.

“Now, where were we?” Felix asked. “Yes, Kang. Kang thinks that Ghost was reborn here, around Lumina. Specifically, he believes he may have been born into the body of a student at the Academy. At first, I didn’t agree. But then someone destroyed a shipment of weapons I had in a warehouse here, weapons meant to fund the inevitable in Solaria. So now, my interest is piqued. Maybe Ghost is here. Destroying my weapons would certainly be the sort of thing a weak assassin like Ghost would do.”

Ghost: It will be a very good day when I kill Felix. If we had known this was what we were walking into, we may have been able to coordinate something with Kanda that allowed us to take advantage of Noctarii’s position in the shadows. But for now, we get more information, and we make sure they don’t think you are in any way related to me. Act normal. And if he asks you anything, lie to the best of your abilities. You’ve got this.

“So I’ll ask again.” Felix placed his knife and fork down. “Have either of you met anyone at the Lumina Battledeck Academy that seems a bit out of the ordinary?”

“I have.” Alistair felt a bit of darkness come over him as he prepared to say the first thing that came to his mind. “Two students, actually. Chane Brashlung and Laertes Undergast.”

“Chane Brashlung, and Laertes Undergast,” Felix said as if he were savoring the words.

Ghost: Brilliant. You are learning.

Kanda continued from there: “Undergast has an older brother, Kurgan. They’re both pieces of shit, and were long before you murdered Ghost. So it’s not them. I don’t know this Brashlung boy. Is he in your coterie, Alistair?”

“Yes, he is.”

Felix drummed his fingers on the table and finally spoke: “The Brashlungs are a powerful family that have been both an arrow in our quiver and a thorn in our side. It’s worth taking a look. Please, eat. Both of you. Let’s enjoy ourselves. We may have a lead here.”

Alistair felt sick to his stomach. He felt even more sick when he looked down at the bloody steak. Still, he picked up his knife and cut into it.

Soon, the feeling subsided.

****

The thing that bothered Alistair most was that he didn’t feel shame for what he had done. He knew that Chane Brashlung didn’t deserve it, but Alistair had spent most of his life trying to survive, and this was the way for him to make it until he could get to the point that he was able to deal with Felix, the Baronblades, and the Unknown Souls.

This was how he would see whatever this was to its inevitable finish line.

And just as he was steeling himself, just as Alistair was coming to grips with what he had just done, another thought came to him. Would they kill Chane?

Surely the Baronblades or the Unknown Souls wouldn’t immediately resort to that. But then again, the group he had just had dinner with were a deadly bunch, Goran with his brooding nature; Felix with the terror that Alistair knew the man was capable of unleashing; and Senka with her sheer skill and silent execution.

Ghost: Focus. You nearly tripped.

Alistair’s instincts had come to his aid, the young mage able to catch himself before tripping.

He was now walking away from the restaurant with Kanda, who remained in the lead, the older girl much tense and moving quickly. There hadn't been any more confrontations between her and Felix, but the tension made it nearly impossible to eat, Alistair glad that Felix dismissed them just as they were finishing up.

Kanda turned to Alistair once they were closer to the Academy. Around them, shadows from the trees lining the lane that led up to the front entrance swayed in a slight breeze. “Chane Brashlung.”

“What about him?” Alistair asked her.

“You told them that to throw them off, didn’t you?”

He gulped. “Why would you say that?”

“You don’t really think the boy is possessed by the spirit of a dead assassin, do you?”

“Is it not possible?”

“With certain cards, anything is possible. But those are generally forbidden. Do you know about Forbidden Cards?”

“I don’t,” Alistair lied.

“They exist, and that kind of card, one that would allow you to be reborn in someone else’s body, would certainly be forbidden. They used to do strange things with cards, pushing them to their very limits. But they don’t any longer. Like those cards, the practices are forbidden. I feel sorry for whoever’s body Ghost has been reborn into. It must be a struggle.”

“Yeah, it must.”

“Imagine not being in control of your own actions, and being forced onto what is certainly a path of revenge. What else would Ghost do with a second chance? He wouldn’t simply give up, move to the countryside, and start farming. No, he’d go after the people that killed him, which was why I laughed back there. My uncle is fucked.”

“You think?”

“If Ghost doesn’t do it, I will.” She shrugged and extended her hand toward Alistair’s shoulder. She placed it there and held his gaze for a moment, marking the second time she’d touched him in this way over the course of their troubling night. “Maybe you will help me.”

“Me?”

Kanda released her hold over Alastair and turned away. “Come on.”

The two entered the gates of the Academy, and as they did Alistair noticed movement in the shadows.

He gravitated toward them.

As Kanda said something about liking the way that the Academy looked at night, Noctarii whispered in his ear: “One of the assassins has followed you all back here. The woman with a scarred face. She has her sword. Be ready.”