After Willos' bombshells, the meeting picks up in earnest, with the King outlining things that needed to be ready before spring, and our declaration of war. Once that was done, the various Sadabi in the room began to get their assignments. While most Sadabi here had abilities mostly related to combat, there were still a few that had more varied abilities, like Abbel, who could use his ability to stimulate and manipulate plants however he wishes. He could make a plant complete its life cycle in months, or even days, while still maximizing its yield and preventing them from getting sick. Quite a useful ability, especially at a time like this when the Kingdom will need to begin stockpiling food.

Next, the combat Sadabis were grouped and then assigned to various strategic settlements and cities in the kingdom, while a few were tasked with reclaiming land that the Bosinwa had stolen in the past few years. As for the noble houses, the King mentioned little about them. They probably had more confidential tasks to attend to. If I were to guess, then the King should be having another meeting with them later, to discuss what they would do.

Finally, the King addressed the rest of the invitees, the merchants. There were currently only three of them in this room, Vanessa and two others, both men. All were known for their extreme loyalty to the Kingdom, which is probably why they were trusted enough to be invited. Else, there were far richer and more influential merchants that the King could have invited.

For them, the King used a different tactic. War needs money, and apart from the noble houses, merchants were the best way to get hands-on large amounts of it. But, no merchant ever wants to do something without first considering what they could gain, so the King started with that. Giving a lot of tax reductions, some level of access to the Kingdom's trade networks, and other things in exchange for their help. By the time he was done with listing the benefits, their eyes were shining with desire, that is until he stated what he wanted from them. With great risk, comes great reward. By accepting the King's offer, they would be putting their business empires at great risk should we lose the war. But if we win, they would become the leading merchants in this part of the world. They were to inform the King of their decision after five days.

During all of this, the King made no mention of me.

The meeting ends, causing a wave of anxiety to surge within me. Was he angered by my reveal of Thayer? No. There is no way he could be that petty. But if that wasn't it, then what was? To date, I have failed no mission given to me - a record that none could match - so why would he ignore me at a time like this? There must be something going on that I must not know about yet.

With the meeting over, people begin to leave. From the corner of my eyes, I spot Amelia coming toward me. Unable to quell the unease within me, I get up to leave when the King's voice rings out. "Kien, Teayi, and Arell, stay behind."

The entire room pauses, turning to look at the three of us, and for the first time in years, I see the twins. They look almost the same as when I left them all those years ago, the only difference being the small beard Teayi now sports.

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Kien eyes coldly look over at me, and I am hit by a particularly strong pang of guilt. My eyes tear up and I am forced to look away, blinking rapidly so as not to begin crying. My breathing becomes rougher and for a moment I worry that I cannot hold back the floods that threaten to come. Then I feel Vanessa's comforting hand on mine. Immediately I gain control of my emotions. Letting out a deep breath, I sit back down, just as Amelia reaches me.

She leans over and whispers into my ear. "Be careful of Kien, he wants to kill you."

And then she walks away, acting as though she just said nothing of importance. I stare at her retreating back, before looking back at the stone-faced Kien. To be honest, I can't say I'm surprised by what she just said. The fact that Kien had left me alone all those years ago at the height of his anger was even more surprising.

I feel Vanessa glance distrustingly at Amelia before she stands up to leave. "It'll be alright," she says to me, giving my hand a gentle squeeze before walking away.

"You alright?" Willos asks. He looks like he doesn't intend to leave.

"I'm fine," I reassure him. He nods, before turning to look at the twins, his expression indecipherable.

The room finally empties out and the twins find seats much closer to us. After his initial cold look, Kien had not deigned to look back at me. Even after expecting something like this would happen, it still hurts. However, now is not the time to focus on things like that.

The King begins. "You three weren't given tasks because I have something different in mind for you. You-"

"With all due respect, my King, but I have no intention of working with Arell," Kien suddenly interrupts, shocking both me and Willos - judging by his expression. "Could you perhaps assign others to this task and give us something else."

The King goes silent, staring at Kien with a suspiciously blank face. "Kien, were you given permission to interrupt me? Y-"

Kien gives a small bow, apologizing in a bland voice. "I am sorry, my King."

"No. You are not. And once again you interrupted me." This time, Kien wisely keeps silent. Even though it doesn't sound like it, the King is most likely annoyed. "Now listen, I didn't call you here to ask your opinions, you were called because I have orders to give and you all are going to follow them. I know about your little disagreement with Arell, but frankly, I do not care. Your last two missions have been failures, with your only saving grace being that you didn't fail badly enough to get punished. Right now I am giving you a chance to remedy that and make your record flawless once more and you dare tell me that you refuse? Kien, do not vex me."

Kien bows once again, this time having the decency to look a bit apologetic, still the King frowns. It is not hard to understand why. Around Kien, the lines between reality and illusion become blurred. What you see, hear, or even smell has to be put under scrutiny because there is always a chance that it isn't real. For all we know, this apologetic Kien might just be an illusion while the real one remains sitting upright, sneering at the King.

"Regardless," the King continues, seemingly having vented his anger, "If my memory serves me correctly, you three never failed a single mission when you still worked together, even those that were deemed impossible to complete. Your powers complement each other too well and I hope to use that during this mission. It isn't a particularly difficult one. All you have to do is defend Willos."

The King motions for Willos to explain as he goes silent. Clearing his throat, Willos begins. "In a week, I will be leaving Tinael to head to the Endless Peaks. My recent discoveries have led me to begin asking some hard questions about our origins, and I think I might know where to find some answers. A few weeks ago, an ancient Yiantur temple was discovered, far more ancient than any of the ruins that have been discovered so far. I believe some answers may be found there."

It is quite obvious that Willos is withholding a lot of information, for example, the thing that made him sure he would find answers there, so I focus on other things. "You said temple, not temple ruin?"

Willos shakes his head. "It is not a ruin, it is a perfectly preserved temple."