The wood creaked as Henry grabbed on to the wooden rails of the ladder and pulled himself up, dragging his wet body out of the water. Being in the water the entire day had tanned him a bit. As he noticed, he hoped the bag across his chest wouldn’t leave a severe tan line. If Effie saw him with one, she wouldn’t stop laughing.

Behind him, Ash remained on a rowboat with four other armed men, waiting for his turn to climb up. Their daggers had been confiscated, and all they had on them were their bags strapped around their chests and a pair of calf left pants. Their belts, which were attached to dagger sheaths, had been confiscated along with the daggers.

Henry wasn’t sure if this Ashtari ship was the same as the one they’d spoken to the day before. There wasn’t a name painted on the side of the ship as usual, at least on the sides that they could see.

It wasn’t until his head moved past the deck, and he looked over it did he recognize the same red-faced minister that had wanted to banish them from the Shallows. Henry kept his face neutral as he stepped onto the deck, appearing unfazed by their second meeting.

Along with the Minister was the Professor and what almost appeared to be all the soldiers that were on the ship with weapons at their sides.

“Oh, it’s you again.” Ash spoke up behind him, casually setting foot on the deck before wringing out the hems of his swim pants.

“What do you mean it’s us again!” The Professor stomped forward, seething. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re surveying. We told you that yesterday.” Ash sounded so blase about the entire thing despite the situation. Henry’s lips tightened to hold back a laugh. Laughing at the Professor and the Minister would only make the situation worse.

“Do you know where you are?” The Minister was shaking in place, the fat around his face jiggling just a bit.

Ash furrowed his brows and tilted his head to the side. “We’re in the Shallows-”

“You’re nowhere near the edges! You’re right in the center of the Shallows!” The Professor shouted, causing some crew members nearby to flinch.

Ash only blinked.

“Did we get that far in?” He looked confused and turned towards his brother, as if for verification.

Henry let out an exaggerated sigh, taking it as his cue to speak. “I told you we should’ve headed back to the ship when it was getting dark.”

“I thought we were,” Ash countered. He raised one hand and scratched the back of his head. “I was wondering why there was suddenly this ruin below.”

The Minister took a threatening step forward. “Do you really think we’ll buy that?”

Henry raised his hands in defense. “We’ll tell you what happened, but whether or not you believe us is on you.”

“Our ship is still anchored on the western edge of the Shallows,” Ash told them. “When we went into the water, we were at the western edge.”

“We were following what appeared to be a road. It got dark and the water breathing pills we had didn’t wear off yet, so we continued following the road,” Henry said. “You should know how expensive water breathing pills are.”

Ash nodded. Even a single pill that lasted for half an hour could cost more than what an average dock worker made in a day. In addition, most consumer water breathing pills had a maximum limit of three hours. One of Ash’s pills that lasted a full day had yet to be put on the market.

“Wait, a moment. How long have your water breathing pills lasted?” the Professor asked with a suspicious look.

Henry glanced at Ash, not wanting to answer for him in case it brought them more trouble.

“Six hours,” Ash replied. “We’ve taken two and are still on our second one.”

“Six hours!” Both the Professor and the Minister exclaimed.

“That’s impossible!” Another person shouted behind the group. Soldiers were pushed out of the way, opening a gap for a tall, skinny man in a familiar maroon robe with embroidered gold cuffs. As if the robe wasn’t enough, he wore a flopped over-pointed matching hat.

In the tropics.

Henry didn’t need to look over at his brother to know he was struggling not to make a disgusted expression.

Maroon robes with gold embroidered cuffs were the outerwear of choice for the Magic Tower. There were two; the west and east magic towers, one on each continent. While they had a friendly competition, ultimately, they were the same entity and went under the single moniker of Magic Tower.

And Ash detested them with a passion.

His brother cocked his head to the side and raised a brow. “Impossible? Why do you say that?”

The mage bristled. “The Magic Tower is the foremost leader in magical items, including pills. Our longest lasting water breathing pill is three hours! You’re telling me you have one that lasts six? Preposterous!”

Henry couldn’t help the pity in his eyes as he looked at the man who was so confidently wrong and didn’t even know it. Ash’s pill didn’t last a mere six hours, which was already making the mage protest out loud, but four times that. If the mage was told the truth, perhaps he’d pass out.

Ash didn’t shrink back, even as the mage leaned forward, appearing as if he were trying to tower over Ash. “You think that because the Magic Tower can only create pills that last for three hours, anything more is impossible?”

The mage scowled. “The Magic Tower is the leader in magic pills. Where did you buy your pill? Are you sure it’s safe?”

“First of all, there are plenty of mages who aren’t associated with the Magic Tower-”

“But all legitimate ones are!”

Ash squinted at him. Henry was familiar with that judging look. “There is no such thing as a legitimate or illegitimate mage. You can either use magic energy or you can’t.” He crossed his arms over his chest and adjusted his stance. “This is the first time I’ve heard of such a claim. Every year, the Magic Tower gets increasingly bold....”

“Forget about that!” The Minister cut him off. He seemed to want to shove their mage to the side, but hesitated. Mages were expensive to contract.

Mages from the Magic Tower more so, as there were set rates for services and the power of a mage. Irritating the mage wouldn’t be productive.

Henry moved closer to his brother, ready to stop anyone who would dare to touch Ash. The Minister seemed to notice his move and stopped. His look of fury hadn’t diminished and he continued to glare at them.

“Listen,” Henry said, softening his expression and holding out his hands in a helpless motion. “This was all an honest mistake. We were following a road and didn’t realize we’d come so far in. We can only afford so many water breathing pills, so we had to make use of them while we could. I know you don’t believe us, but if you go to the western edge of the Shallows, you really will find our ship anchored.”

The Minister continued to glower at them. He turned towards the men who’d come on board with them. Two were divers while the rest were soldiers also half-dressed for the water.

“When did you notice them?”

“About an hour ago,” one of the divers replied. “We saw a light moving through the ruins. At first, we thought we were seeing things, but it was continuous.”

Henry internally swore. The light slips were dim, but still glowing. In the near darkness, as long as one was close enough, they could see it. They also were so caught up in collecting items that they didn’t pay attention to any gaps in the walls that their light could leak through.

“What were you using for light?” the mage asked them.

Ash moved to reach into his pocket, but his movement caused the soldiers to raise their weapons at him. He paused and looked around. “Light crystal shard.” His movements became much slower as he put his hand into his pocket and retrieved thin slivers of clear crystal.

The Mage gave a soldier a look and the soldier stepped forward to snatch the slivers from Ash’s hand and give it to the Mage. The Mage studied the crystals and frowned.

“They’re out of energy.”

“We used it up. How else were we supposed to see in the dark?” Henry asked with an inquisitive look.

“It’s not as if we can just put something into our eyes to make us see in the dark,” Ash snorted with a roll of his eyes.

Henry resisted the urge to elbow him.

“Do you have any more?” the Minister asked.

Ash shook his head. “Those were for emergency purposes. We got lost in the ruins, so we had to use them.”

“I don’t believe you.” The Minister’s sharp eyes moved to the bags strapped across their chest. Henry almost lifted his arm to shield his greedy gaze. “Show us your bags.”

He knew it. There was no way they would skip over their bags. It was only a matter of time. While the preservation bag didn’t show how much was inside the magic space within, that didn’t mean that items wouldn’t be found if it was searched.

He struggled to keep his heart and breathing under control and his mind raced to find an excuse.

Beside him, to his surprise, Ash didn’t hesitate at all. Henry glanced over, but kept his mouth shut. As Ash lifted the strap over his head, Henry began to do the same.

He caught the intense gaze of the Minister falter a bit at their lack of resistance.

Two soldiers came forward and took their bags before stepping back and presenting them to the Minister.

“Open them,” the Professor said, leaning in closer.

The two soldiers unlatched the flaps. The entire process seemed slow, as if they were making a show of it. Everyone’s eyes were on the bags. Henry couldn’t hear anyone take a breath.

He held his own as the soldiers lifted the flaps up and reached into the bags.

One of the soldier’s head snapped up, immediately withdrawing his hand and shaking it out. The other sucked in a sharp breath and removed his hand, but lifted the bag to try to get a look inside.

“What is it?” the Minister’s eyes were wide, almost glistening with expectation.

“Did they take any artifacts?” The Professor looked on the verge of snatching one of the bags.

The soldier who had lifted the back to take a peek had furrowed his brows and shook his head. “No...no, I don’t think so.”

The first soldier reached inside once more, his face twisting with disgust before pulling out a round, spiky creature that was still moving.

One of the sailors in an officer’s uniform stepped forward and looked at the soldier’s hand. His eyes crinkled up and his voice almost sounded embarrassed.

“...These are sea urchins.”

“Yes,” Ash replied, nodding at the obvious. “Specifically, the long red spine species.”

The Minister looked at the moving creature in one of the soldier’s hands and then at Ash. From his dumbfounded expression, it was clear that sea urchins were the last thing he thought they’d find in the bags. “Why do you have them?”

This time, both Ash and Henry gave him strange looks. Henry glanced at his brother before looking at him. “You’ve never lived by the ocean, have you?”

“Answer my question!” The Minister roared, likely filled to the brim with frustration.

Henry sighed. “Red spiny sea urchins are a delicacy. Their insides have a rich, creaminess mixed with the lingering hints of the ocean. Sea urchins themselves are in demand, but the red spiny ones are the most difficult to find.”

“Who knew we’d find so many here,” Ash said. “My only regret was that I didn’t have a larger bag.”

The Professor couldn’t seem to stand it anymore and snatched the bag from the soldier closest to him. He pulled it open and looked inside, shoving his hand in and wincing. He looked at the bag with disbelief. “It can’t be....”

“Wait!” The Minister turned towards the Mage. “Is this a space bag that people from the Federation of Merchant Cities talk about?”

The Mage gave him a look as if asking if he were crazy. “The Magic Tower doesn’t sell our space bags to the Federation.”

“But the boy just said that there are mages who aren’t part-”

“Who else but the Magic Tower would sell such a magic item!” The Mage’s face reddened as he seemed to grow flustered.

From the corner of his eye, Henry could see his brother itching to make a comment. He didn’t know what it would be, but he knew Ash wanted to irritate the Mage further. Few things made Ash happier than destroying the ego and wiping out the joy on the face of a Magic Tower mage.

Just as Ash was about to open his mouth, Henry shot him a glare and spoke in a low voice. “Don’t.”

Though reluctance filled his face, Ash closed his mouth and seemed to sulk.

In front of them, the Mage had conceded to the request of his employers and took one of the bags. He held it up, as if it were a piece of trash and not a leather bag with custom findings. He turned it around, looking over the outside and then pulling apart the top to look inside.

His nose turned up. “There is nothing magical about this bag.”

Everyone, aside from Ash, was surprised, including Henry. It took almost all his strength not to turn towards his brother and ask what was going on. There were entire rooms worth of religious relics stashed away in their bags. Magic was definitely involved.

Instead, Henry stared at the mage. Was this person a legitimate mage?

“There can’t just be urchins in here,” the Professor said, shaking his head as he moved his hand around the bag, growing more desperate with each movement. “What about light shards or breathing pills?”

“Yes, where are your breathing pills!” The Minister pointed at them.

“Pills dissolve in water, so we only took a few with us,” Henry said.

Ash nodded. “The rest are on our ship.”

“Give them to us.” The Minister glowered and Ash and Henry both stiffened in place. Henry blinked and leaned forward.

“Excuse me, what did you say?”

“Give us your six-hour water breathing pills!”

Henry frowned. “Those water breathing pills aren’t cheap-”

“I won’t say it again. Give us your pills!” The Minister took a step forward, motioning for the soldiers to close distance around the brothers.

Ash let out a choked sound. “Are you robbing us?”

“Consider it your fine for trespassing.” The Professor, still carrying disgust on his face, tossed the bag to one of the soldiers. “Give us all your water breathing pills and we’ll let you go.”

Henry wanted to argue and was almost tempted to fight his way through, but doing so would only escalate things. His jaw clenched as his eyes swept over the sailors, soldiers, and the three annoying old men drunk off power.

He took a deep breath. “If we give them to you, will you let us, our crew, and our ship leave, unharmed?”

“Yes, we’ll let you go,” the Minister replied, smug. “As soon as you hand over your water breathing pills, we’ll let you leave immediately.”

Ash frowned. “We still have one day-”

“You wasted that day when you came where you weren’t supposed to be!” The Professor snapped.

Henry held out his arm to calm his brother. “All right. As long as we, our crew, and our ship leave unharmed and you will not pursue this matter, we will give you our remaining pills.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“We only have four left,” Ash said, appearing irritated. “I just want to make that clear. Don’t get your expectations too high.”

“Are they all six-hour long pills?” the Mage asked. Ash nodded. The Mage smirked and glanced at the Professor and Minister with reassurance that it would be worth it. “Then, that’s fine.”

“Set course for the western edge!” The Minister turned around and shouted at the crew. The crew didn’t scatter to their places at once. They looked towards the old officer.

The old officer was the one who identified the sea urchins earlier. He gave the Minister a complicated look. “My lord, what about our men who are in the water right now?”

“We’ll come back before evening,” the Minister said. He narrowed his eyes at the officer. “Your ship can do that, can’t you, Captain?”

The other man remained rigid. He took a deep breath and nodded, some resentment in his eyes. “We can.” He turned to look at the two divers who’d boarded the ship with Ash and Henry. “Go down and inform the others to continue their work and wait here. We will return before sunset.”

The divers saluted him. “Yes, Captain!” A moment later, they were climbing down the ladder on the side of the ship to get back to the rowboat below.

Once they were down, the Captain began to give orders.

Ash and Henry remained where they stood. The Minister looked them up and down once more before sneering and turning his head away. “Don’t let them move. Make sure they don’t try anything,” he said to no soldier in particular as he passed. He didn’t stay to see if anyone accepted his order.

The Mage walked away without looking back at them, as if they weren’t worth another second of his time.

The Professor remained where he was and looked at the two brothers. “What did you see down there?”

“Tunnels, but we think they were once open halls that were buried and encased by lava after the eruption,” Henry replied with the truth. He shook his head, disappointed. “I expected a lot of debris, both from merely sitting at the bottom of the sea and as remnants of the Fall, but the debris reached all the way to the ceiling. We could barely see anything below us with all that sand and hardened stone.”

The Professor frowned at this. “We also considered parts of the ruins being buried, but I didn’t expect this much.”

“There was less in the remnants of the villages on the edges,” Henry said, keeping his voice amiable. “However, I believe those areas fell into the ocean first and didn’t bear the full devastation and aftermath caused by the eruption.”

The Professor remained displeased. Obviously, the villages were not their target. “You’re right about that. The Temple of the Moon was the most significant structure closest to the peak. Even if it wasn’t blown away during the initial explosion, it would be the first destroyed.”

“From the exterior, as we passed, it looked mostly buried,” Henry told him. “There is a chance that once the debris is cleared, the damage might not be as bad as it seems.”

His positive response seemed to relax the Professor. The man looked over at him with a glint of satisfaction. He straightened up and looked at Henry once more. “You said you were from West Iveria?” Henry nodded. The Professor glanced at Ash. “Both of you?”

“Yes,” Henry said.

The Professor lifted his hand and stroked the few hairs on his chin. “You speak Formal Court Ashtari well. Both of you do. I’ve never met a foreigner who could speak it, let alone two.”

“Knowing multiple languages is very useful,” Henry said. “We always start off learning the formal, but I didn’t realize this version we’re speaking is rare.”

“Formal Court Ashtari is only used by the aristocracy and even then, it’s mainly used in the imperial court.” The Professor looked the two over once more. “Where did you say you learned again?”

“A book from the Great Library of Xiu.” Henry answered. “It was the only one that seemed to instruct the language.”

“You’re still very fluent.”

“Thank you.” Henry smiled, but didn’t bother to explain further. The Professor stared at them a bit longer before finally stepping back to leave.

Henry turned to Ash and spoke in Iverian Common, both to show they were from West Iveria and because it was what the two had long been used to speaking.

“How long do you think it will take us to get to the ship?”

Ash looked out towards the water. “A few hours. It’s still early. We may get there by lunch.”

“We haven’t had breakfast yet,” Henry said.

Ash sighed and put his hand over his stomach. “Think they’ll let us eat the sea urchins?”

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

They didn’t allow the brothers to touch their bags before they caught sight of Sea Serpent Five. As a result, the sea urchins were out of the question as well.

Henry could hear Ash’s stomach grumbling even over the sound of the ship moving over the waves. His irritation rose, though not because of the noise Ash’s stomach was making, but because he had nothing to give his brother to satiate his hunger.

Ash and Effie never went hungry when they were with him, and the Minister’s refusal to hand back their bags was an affront Henry wouldn’t forget.

“Just hold on a bit longer,” Henry said as he stood beside Ash, holding on to his arm. With soldiers on either side of them, they were forced to remain standing. They weren’t allowed to sit or lean on the railing. One soldier said they might try to jump off to escape.

Henry was tense and Ash must’ve noticed. Rather than complaining, as he normally would have, he gave his brother a bright smile. “I’m fine, Brother. Don’t worry, we’ll eat when we get back to the ship.”

As much as Ash annoyed Henry when he complained, not complaining was ten times worse. Henry’s hands twitched at his sides, wanting to charge at the nearest soldier. Ash’s whispers reminding him it wasn’t worth it held him back.

Their arrival to Sea Serpent Five couldn’t have taken any longer.

The familiar ship was where they left it, still anchored on the edge of the Shallows. Though the shape was familiar, the paint almost threw Henry off. Even the name of the ship had disappeared.

Someone from the Ashtari ship’s crew stood on the bow and waved a flag signifying neutrality. Henry wouldn’t call them neutral, but at least they weren’t trying to attack the ship.

A familiar cawing sound came from above them. One of the ravens was circling the Ashtari ship from above while another was coming from Sea Serpent Five. Henry hadn’t noticed Midnight following them.

Both ravens turned and flew back to the ship. It was the warning the Captain of Sea Serpent Five needed to know that the brothers were on board.

At just about noon, the Ashtari ship had slowed to a near stop beside Sea Serpent Five. The Captain of the trade ship was standing with his arms behind his back, on the port side of his ship.

“Captain, we’re back!” Ash greeted him before he could respond. “I will board the ship to retrieve something from my cabin.” His calm voice and reassuring expression seemed to calm the Captain. He nodded and ordered for a gangway to be prepared.

He didn’t ask questions under the calm expressions of the brothers. When the two ships were close enough, a rope was thrown from the Ashtari ship to their ship. Their ship prepared two thick, wooden boards to cross.

Ash was allowed to go first and when he was halfway across, Henry noticed that the soldier between them didn’t show any signs of moving to the side to allow Henry to follow. He frowned and opened his mouth to ask what was going on when the Minister spoke.

“Until we have those pills, you stay on our ship,” he said. He gave Henry a cold smile. “Think of it as reassurance for us. You understand.”

Henry returned his own cold smile. “Of course. As long as we are allowed to leave safely, what is a few minutes of waiting.”

In truth, Henry didn’t know if Ash had water breathing pills that lasted six hours. Did Ash have to make them? His preservation bag was still on board.

However, Ash didn’t take long at all. It was as if he already had the bottle of pills ready in his room. Henry kept his face emotionless, hiding his surprise.

Ash jumped back onto the planks that connected both ships. He held up the bottle. “Like I said, we only have four pills remaining.”

“Where did you get six-hour long pills?” the Mage, who had been standing by the side watching, finally spoke up.

“Not the Magic Tower,” Ash replied, still smiling. He reached the ship and held it out for a soldier to take. Trying to hand it over to the Minister would only result in soldiers drawing their weapons again.

The soldier accepted the small ceramic jar and brought it to the Minister.

“You can open it and check,” Henry said.

The Minister narrowed his eyes. He looked at the Mage. “You check.”

He didn’t have to ask twice; the Mage was already interested in the pills. He was at the Minister’s side in two steps and took the jar from the soldier. He twisted off the cork cap and opened his palm. Four round pills rolled into his bony hands.

Without a word, he lifted them to his nose and took a sniff.

His eyes widened and he immediately turned to the brothers. “I’ve never seen water breathing pills this potent. Tell me where you got it.”

“If you must know, I posted a request across the Adventurer’s Guilds in West Iveria requesting water breathing pills, as long as possible. We received a response and they were purchased with the contact. Anonymous,” Ash told them. “They saw our ad and contacted us.”

“Why didn’t you go through the Magic Tower?” the Mage asked. “Everyone knows the Magic Tower is the foremost supplier-”

“I don’t do mass produced pills,” Ash said, waving his hand dismissively, unwilling to listen to the Mage’s selling point. “Mass produced means profit is prioritized over quality. Small batch pills are better. There is better quality control and ingredients tend to be processed more selectively.”

Henry glanced at his brother. I know you want to irritate the mage, but is now really the time to do so? Despite his look, Ash continued on without hesitation.

“No offense-”

You mean every offense.... Henry rolled his eyes.

“But Magic Tower goods just aren’t as good as what I call ‘bespoke items’. Every magic item we’ve procured through an ad has been quality goods, and when it comes to items my life would depend on, bespoke is simply better.”

With each word Ash spoke, the shadow on the Mage’s face grew darker. The corner of his eye twitched. Henry stepped in to offer his brother some support.

“Hasn’t there been a recall on some Magic Tower items recently?” Henry asked, raising a brow. He looked over at the Minister and Professor. “It’s not our business who you hire, but Ashtar doesn’t seem to do a lot of business outside of itself, right? You should remain up to date on-”

“That’s enough! Those recalls were for minor issues!” The Mage bristled and shoved the cap back into the jar.

Henry raised his hands defensively once more. “All right, fine. Now that you have your pills, can we go? We paid our ‘penalty’, as you put it.”

The mage snorted and looked at the Minister, giving him a nod.

The Minister snatched the pills and then looked at the two brothers. “What were your names?”

“Von Sails,” Ash answered. Henry closed his eyes and almost shook his head. “My name is Guillermo von Sails.”

Where are you getting that name? Henry opened his eyes. “Rutherford von Sails.”

“Together, we are the von Sails Brothers!” Ash beamed, excited at their new alias.

The Minister rolled his eyes. “I’ll remember your names,” he said, his tone threatening. He turned around. “Let them go.” He made it two steps before Ash spoke up once more.

“Can we at least have our urchins back?” Ash asked.

Dissatisfaction, whether at their innocence or annoyance, was fixed on the Minister’s face. He snatched one of the bags from a soldier’s hands and turned it upside down before shaking it, sending a dozen sea urchins to the ground.

“My sea urchins!” Ash let out a shocked cry as his large eyes watched the delicacy tumble out. He stepped forward to try to catch them, but soldiers quickly pointed their weapons, prompting Henry to grab his shoulder and pull him back. Ash looked at the Minister with horror. “Why would you do that? That’s food!”

Rich as they were, they did not waste food if they could help it, especially when they foraged for it themselves.

The irritation on the Minister’s face seemed to lighten with pleasure at Ash’s discomfort. He threw the ‘empty’ bag back at Ash and turned to the other soldier. He gave him a silent nod and the soldier repeated his motions. Ash let out a pained groan, which Henry suspected was genuine.

The second bag, now emptied of sea urchins, was tossed back to Henry. He caught it and sighed. At the very least, they had their bags back. He put it over his head and then turned to help the distraught Ash put his bag on.

“Let’s go,” Henry told him in a low voice.

Ash looked back at the sea urchins one last time before turning around, shoulders slumped forward, and getting back on to the planks.

Henry patted his shoulder, urging him forward. They were almost to their ship when he felt the plank begin to move. He turned around and saw that the Ashtari ship had closed its gate and was moving away.

“Wait a moment! We’re not across yet-”

The side of the plank that was resting on the Ashtari ship had nothing to rest on as the ship moved away, and fell into the water. Henry heard the cries of their crew as he and Ash didn’t have time to reach their ship, and also fell into the water.

While not too dangerous, the attempt to humiliate them one last time got to him. He was no longer surrounded by soldiers on their ship.

“What is wrong with them! Their audacity is-”

“Naali, make it rain hail over that ship,” Henry said as he resurfaced beside his brother.

“Large pieces of hail, Naali!” Ash slapped the water in front of him before reaching for one of the planks that had fallen in with them. “At least as big a fist!”

“A fist-sized piece of hail can kill a man.” Henry glanced at his brother. Ash merely met his gaze, unmoved. “All right, fine. Wait until they’re out of range, Naali.”

“Yes! No problem! Leave it to Naali!”

“Young Masters!” The captain of Sea Serpent Five was almost hanging over the edge.

“The water’s fine, Captain,” Henry called up. “Drop some rope, we’ll secure the planks before we climb up.”

He swam a few strokes to get to the second piece of wood. Both he and Ash were calm, and he didn’t know if it was because they knew the Ashtari ship would suffer or if it was because neither of them wanted to give the Minister and his people the satisfaction of upsetting them.

The planks were pulled up and the two brothers swam towards the side of the ship to climb up some rungs that made a ladder on the side. Crew members helped them on board and gave them towels as soon as they set foot on the deck.

“What are your orders, Young Master?” the Captain asked.

“Ash?” Henry looked at his brother.

Ash wrung out his hair. “We’ve done the important part.”

Henry looked back at the Captain. “Hoist anchor and set sail for Carthage Harbor.”

Relief filled the Captain’s face. He nodded and saluted them. “Yes, Young Master.”

The crew was fast and within moments, they were moving.

Their ship sailed away and Henry narrowed his eyes, watching the distance between the two ships grow larger. He tossed his now soaking towel to the side and began wringing out his pants.

In the back of his mind, he heard Naali’s childish voice announce that she was about to do ‘it’.

“Ash. She’s going to start.” Henry continued wringing his pants, but Ash perked up and looked towards the other ship with the anticipation of a child about to receive a long-awaited present.

There were no dark clouds in the sky. No wind. Nothing that would indicate rain, let alone hail. However large, fist-sized balls of ice materialized well above the Ashtari ship and began to rain down on it. Several crew members on Sea Serpent Five noticed that the movement on deck of the Ashtari ship grew erratic.

Faint screaming could be heard, and the sails began to show signs of damage from hail puncturing the fabric.

“Keep it up for another minute,” Henry said. “Ash, when will your slips take effect?”

“By tonight,” Ash replied, joy filling his face. “I’m almost sad I won’t see it.”

“Young Master.” One of the crew members approached holding out another towel. Henry gave him a nod of gratitude and took the towel, looking back to give it to Ash. Ash was already running another towel through his wet hair.

“How long do you reckon they’ll stay here looking for something that doesn’t exist?” Ash asked his brother with a smug look.

The knowledge that the Ashtari party wouldn’t find what they wanted most seemed to triumph over the attempted humiliation of falling into the water. Since Ash wasn’t bothered, he wasn’t either.

Henry wiped the towel over his hair and glanced back to the distance “With how stubborn they are, I wouldn’t be surprised if they stayed until they found something. Anything.”

“Heh....” Ash chuckled to himself as his eyes pinched into crescents. “This may be my best con ever.”

“Don’t ever say that in front of an authority figure.”

A laugh filled the air as Ash’s eyes crinkled up. He patted Henry’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Brother. With how complex my magic tools are, it’ll take them years to figure it out. Who’s stubborn enough to spend years searching for the unsearchable?”

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“His Royal Highness Prince Eskander wishes to see you.” The Minister and the Professor looked at each other, neither getting up from where they sat just outside the chambers of the Prince. Before they could argue about who it was the Prince was summoning, the attendant continued. “Both of you.”

It was inevitable that they would be called in to discuss what had happened that led them to being on the Prince’s ship now.

They had accompanied the vanguard ships to secure the Shallows in preparation for the Prince’s arrival, and while they did so, their ship was now on its side, with only the bow protruding from the waters.

First, it was the sudden hail storm that seemed to come from nowhere that injured numerous crew members, sailors, and soldiers, a few of which were still unconscious. Then, while they had anchored to deal with the injured for a few hours, the wood in the hull somehow broke, sending water rushing in.

The ship sank until it hit the seafloor.

The Minister, Professor, and others had remained on one of the four rowboats, circling the useless ship until another Ashtari ship arrived. Their excitement at seeing another ship coming to their aid vanished the moment they realized it was the guard ship carrying the Crown Prince.

They entered the chamber and found the twenty-some year-old man standing by a wooden table, looking at an old map of what used to be Samelu. He didn’t look up, but the two men still fell to their knees, prostrating before him.

“Greetings to His Royal Highness,” they chorused.

“What happened to the ship?” The two men winced as they heard the question. Ashtar wasn’t a naval power and their ships, while as technologically advanced as the ships of other nations, weren’t as numerous. Each one was a valuable resource for the empire.

“The crew says that there was damage to the hull. Rotting wood.”

The Prince frowned, his eyes rising to look at them. “Rotting wood? How could there be rotting wood? The ships were just built in the last few years.”

“Perhaps the wood procured to build the ships were already rotting and weren’t noticed, Your Highness,” the Professor said.

Prince Eskander narrowed his eyes. “What about the tears in the sails?”

“There was a hail storm.”

“Why were none of the other ships affected?”

The two men still on the floor were trembling. “We don’t know, Your Highness. Perhaps it was a localized storm.”

“The Mage from the Magic Tower has confirmed that the hail storm was not created by another mage.” The Minister managed to keep his voice steady. “It was natural, Your Highness.”

The Prince took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Natural? How could he believe it was natural? Where did hail the size of hands come from without a cloud in the sky? He stood up straight and rounded his table. “I was told that two people made it through.”

“We allowed them access to the edge of the Shallows-

“Why?” The Prince slammed his hand on the tabletop, causing the two men to jump in place. “Didn’t I say I wanted the entire area secure? Why was he allowed into the Shallows?”

“Your Highness, he was sent by academics,” the Professor said, daring to look up for just a moment. “If we rejected him and forced him out, he could tell his employers. Academics who can afford to hire surveyors like them must have some backing.”

The Minister nodded, but didn’t speak.

Prince Eskander remained frowning, displeasure all over his face. “Did those surveyors find anything?”

“No, Your Highness. It seems they were swimming along a road under water using water breathing pills.”

“Yes, I heard.” Prince Eskander narrowed his eyes. “He had six-hour long water breathing pills in his possession. How did he get such pills, but we could not?”

“He didn’t go through the Magic Tower.” The Minister tried to explain the entire reason, almost repeating it word for word, but it didn’t satisfy the prince.

“They’re surveyors for hire. They’re young?” He’d gotten a report from the captain of the ship that was scuttled already. He wasn’t the only one who was suspicious that right after the two men appeared, something happened to the ship. It was just that no one could make a definitive link between the two.

Even the Mage had reported that neither had magic strong enough to do anything to the ship. One had faint magic that wouldn’t even register for any self-respecting Mage while the other had no magic signature at all. Mages had immense pride.

The moment they met another mage worth mentioning, they’d become competitive.

“Yes, brothers it seemed.” The Professor began to tell him everything he knew about the two, right down to their physical features. “At least one brother seemed to have Lunapsar blood.”

That brother wasn’t the one that caught the Prince’s attention. It was expected that the Lunapsar diaspora would become interested and perhaps even send people to survey the area with the rumors that had reached all the way to Ashtar. He had rallied his people and come as soon as he could to beat them there.

The other brother with red hair caught his attention.

“Red hair and blue eyes?” The man’s eyes darkened as the description set off a small alarm in his head. “What did you say their names were?”

“They said their surname is von Sails, Your Highness,” the Minister replied with his head still bowed. “Rutherford and Guillermo von Sails.”

“Von Sails is not an Ashtari surname,” the Professor stated the obvious.

The Prince stood in place without speaking. His family was famous for red hair and blue eyes with gold flecks. It made him hyper aware of anyone with such features as they were so significant. In fact, in all of Ashtar, only those born into the Imperial Family had those features, regardless of what the other parent looked like.

With the exception of children born to one Lunapsar parent.

That was why unlike his pure auburn-haired sisters, his hair was mostly silver. It was cut short, but if it drew longer, the silver would start to take on a reddish tint. His eyes, however, were now light blue.

The Heidar Family’s imperial eyes were a deep, dark blue with gold flecks, but his were light because his mother was Lunapsar and had the mercurial eyes.

“How blue were his eyes?” Eskander asked, raising his own eyes to look out towards the water.

He didn’t see the Minister and the Professor glance at each other. “A dull blue, Your Highness. And he wore glasses.”

No one in his family wore glasses. Eskander’s heart unclenched for just a moment. He was overthinking it. There were others in both West and East Iveria who had red hair, and the man did come from West Iveria, so there was nothing strange about his hair or eyes. He spoke Iverian Common with his brother, and both sounded like native speakers according to reports.

He lifted a hand and ran it through his hair. He wasn’t sure why he was so paranoid. He frowned. It’s because the damn court has brought up another prince lately.

Not the dead ones, but new ones that would join the family soon. After all, he was twenty-four years old. As the Crown Prince, he was encouraged to have an heir early to secure his lineage. If he were back in Ashtar, he’d still be listening to them drone on and on.

“Should we pursue them, Your Highness?” The Professor broke the silence with a nervous voice.

Eskander let out a low breath and turned around to look at them. They kept their heads bowed before him. “No,” he said. “Two brothers who can’t even hold on to rare water breathing pills aren’t anything to worry about.”