Evelyn alternated her stare between Jered and her grandfather, Ambrose. The man was sitting at the head of the table in his corner office, behind him a curtain walling that overlooked the town. He was well over a few centuries old, but his physical appearance bespoke of a healthy, moderately handsome man in his 40s. His black hair was neatly combed, his eyes lively yet sharp, like a sheathed sword ready to be drawn. Jered compared Ambrose to the Lord, and could readily pinpoint a few differences.

The Lord was powerful.

Ambrose was experienced. Hundreds of years worth of memories and insight, all rolled inside one human being. Even if Ambrose was stripped of his power right there and then, Jered knew that the aura around the man wouldn't wane. It was something he cultivated over the years, from talking to millions of people, weathering through turbulent situations, and being the head of a successful company and magical organization.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Jered," Ambrose started amicably, his tone smooth and clear, "You've joined Ashy Petals rather abruptly, perhaps because we had no idea a Magician we didn't know of was living right under our nose. You were forced to make a decision, and for that I'm sorry. You're young and we can't bend the rules. I've heard a passing praise about you, courtesy of Evelyn. Still, that wasn't nearly enough to bring you to my attention," he steepled his fingers beneath his chin, peering at Jered intensely, "But then you began to make waves..."

Jered held Ambrose's gaze, "The situation kinda forced my hand. We almost lost our lives back in Little Spirit Forest."

"Doubtful, considering what is left of Little Spirit Forest. That sort of destruction doesn't tell me that you were in any peril."

"As I said, the situation forced my hand. And Evelyn helped me cast that spell. After that, I blacked out."

Ambrose nodded thoughtfully, "I was reported that you both had quite the adventure in Archiland after that. It was your first time there, right? How was it?"

"Yes, it was my first time in many ways," Jered chuckled knowingly, and Evelyn whacked her shoe on top of his in warning, "We ended up in some unknown corner of Archiland, we saw... entire tribes of dark humans decimated," he left off the part where he found that queer book—he had tucked it in a shoebox under his bed. And it was probably not a good idea since Jane could potentially find it. But hey, if he couldn't read it, then neither could she.

"Did you find out who it was?"

"No, and it's better this way. No need to get involved in something that wouldn't bring us any benefit."

There was a glint of approval in Ambrose's eyes, "I concur. If you want to be nosy or a hero, you must have the power to back it up first. That's why we make organizations. A one-man army wouldn't need that, but someone who wants to grow in a stable and motivating environment? People want to be part of a community, a family, something strong. And we Magicians are just the same. It's scary to be lonely, even more so when you're weak."

Evelyn had her hands clasped on her lap, "I and Jered talked a lot during our... unwilling stay in Archiland. And our goals align. I promise you that he'll be a great addition."

"Of that, I have no doubt," Ambrose leaned back slightly, "An Elder Magician at 16. And then what, a Royal Magician at 26? I struggled to believe it. Well, that was before I saw that outstanding performance Del made an over-the-top article about. Jered, let me make you a proposal," he suddenly leaned forward again, "I can make a phone call right now, and within half an hour, you'll be a core member of Artemis. Surely, you must have heard about them."

Jered took a few seconds to mull over his words. And Evelyn translated that as a good reason to fidget and stare at him in nervousness, "I don't understand. You claimed I have talent, yet you'd be willing to send me away? Is this a test?"

A booming chuckle sounded out.

"No, no, this isn't a test. Let's face it, you're a diamond we can't afford to have. Artemis, on the contrary, would offer you a more reliable ground for growth. I want to be transparent with you, Jered. Ashy Petals doesn't have the funds or the necessary incentive to keep you... loyal. The executives of my organization are also Elder Magicians like you, but unlike you, they've squeezed whatever drop of talent they had left, and now they're getting old, with nowhere else to go. And in exchange for their aid and services, I gave them shares of my company. But I don't think that's what you want or need."

Evelyn tried to be discreet with her restlessness, but her bouncing leg and furtive looks gave her away. If Jered could descry that from the corner of his eyes, it was needless to say that Ambrose had already read her thoughts, and possibly, her heart too; the woman was wearing it on her sleeve, after all.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"That's not necessary, sir," Jered chanced a look at Evelyn, who risked it and looked back at him, her eyes bright and soulful, "I found something here. Don't know if it's fate or coincidence, but I can't leave now."

He had also promised it to her.

Naturally, Jered's ambiguous words were hard to decipher without having the inside story of the questionable relationship between them. Evelyn's knuckles whitened over the armrests of her chair as she squelched back the urge to sigh in relief and smile at him.

Ambrose nodded with a drawn-out, pensive grunt. He could see the signs of something long-lost in Evelyn's eyes, but he decided not to pursue the topic any further, "Is this really what you want?"

"Yes, sir."

Another nod, this time less contemplative, "I see that Evelyn has already given you the ring."

Jered held his hand up and turned it around, giving emphasis to the obsidian ring at the base of his ring finger.

"That's solid proof that you're part of us now. The paperwork for your entrance has already been filled and signed. I would have loved to introduce you to the executives and the other core members of the organization, unfortunately, most of them are running some errands for me. Still, welcome to Ashy Petals, Jered," Ambrose extended a hand across the table, and Jered reached out to shake it, "Whatever you decide to do, the offer to join Artemis will always stand."

----------------------------------------

Evelyn was uncharacteristically silent. The meeting with Ambrose was short, and rather tense. Something was off, and Jered knew it had to do with the attempted assassination at Evelyn. She probably wanted to scream out the injustice that almost took her life, but was painfully aware of how futile it was without clear-cut evidence. Especially if she pointed her finger at the executives. It would have been a major crime, or disaster, depending on who was right and wrong.

Ambrose most likely knew something was afoot with his executives. Jered doubted the man was oblivious to the coup d'etat brewing within Ashy Petals.

"You're sulking," Jered said quietly as they walked out of the building, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know..." she muttered, "Before we came here, I relayed to him of what went terribly wrong with our task to clear out Little Spirit Forest of the Wolfkins. I told him how the Manaport conveniently malfunctioned. I was hoping he'd at least bring the topic up for us to discuss, but nothing. He seemed more intent on convincing you to join Artemis. Ridiculous."

"I'm sure he knows you're telling the truth, but for some reason, he decided to ignore it."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Evelyn sighed.

Jered thought of something, "Does he know you're pregnant, I mean, can he feel it?"

She shook her head, "No, I cast a concealing charm on my belly. I had to use half of my mana pool too. And unless he gets very close to me, there's no way he would notice."

"I think you should lay low for a while, until we find out what's really going on with your grandfather."

The fighter that was inside her didn't want to give up in light of that, but a modicum of cautiousness was required. Jered might have been an Elder Magician, but she was still far from reaching that threshold. She had to tone down her stubbornness and think, "I'll keep an eye open for any suspicious development here," then she halted her stride, and smiled weakly, "Not gonna lie, Jered, I'm kinda scared they'll try to kill me again."

He couldn't simply ignore that, "I would eagerly invite you to crash at my place for as long as you wanted, but..."

"But it would arise too many questions. If I was two decades younger, we could have passed it off as a fling."

To be honest he was relieved she refused. With the way Jasmine currently was, Jered didn't know if a bloody catfight would ensue.

"Where do you live?" he asked, his lips curled into an expectant smile, "I could sleep with you."

Evelyn chuckled, "Ohhh, what are you implying?"

"I'm not implying anything you don't want me to imply."

"So, what are you going to do? Watch over me as I sleep?"

He gave her a faux startled gasp, "God no, that would be boring. We don't need sleep anyway, right? We might as well do something more productive. It's not like you can get pregnant if you already are pregnant."

She burst into giggles, "Oh, shut up."

----------------------------------------

Jane was stuck in a rather ridiculous thought. She had caught a few unpleasant hints here and there, but she had never suspected anything more than a very special dynamic between her kids. She was rarely at home, and she had no grounds to insinuate anything about Jered and Jasmine. However, Jane had seen some concerning signs, at least when it came to Jasmine. She would, from time to time—and with growing frequency—see her daughter sneak out of Jered's bedroom.

And she would do that only when Jered was not there.

Jasmine would lock herself there for the better part of an hour and then come out dragging bedsheets.

In Jane's naive, innocent mind, she reasoned the girl was cleaning up her brother's room.

It would have been awfully nice of her, if only that was the case.

And, unfortunately, it was not.

The stained bedsheets in Jane's hands could testimony to that.

Now, if said bedsheets belonged to Jasmine, there would have been nothing wrong with it. But they belonged to Jered, her brother, and the pungent wetness on the fabric certainly wasn't water.

Hell, Jane would have been more willing to believe Jered was having copious amounts of sex with some wench he probably snuck in to avoid her tongue-lashing. It was a much more palatable thought compared to the alternative. The problem was that Jered had gone out in the morning and had yet to come back. And she remembered changing his bed, she remembered him telling her that 'there was no need', that 'he could change it himself'.

Did he know what was going on?

Was she actually misunderstanding something?

If 'that' was the truth, it would explain the looks Jasmine would smolder Jered with. And all of a sudden, the pleasant dinners they had been having for the past few days didn't seem so pleasant anymore.

Jane pinched her forehead, feeling a nasty migraine coming.