I felt my face heat up even more as I walked passed the well-dressed servants and nobles in the castle. I had even felt a little nauseous from being walked through the city and castle while getting so much negative attention. I’d seen parents usher away their kids from me, a harmless sixteen-year-old, and every stuck-up high-status person I walked past gave me a dirty look. My escort didn’t help ease my nerves either. He was a knight with a cold demeanor, probably because he worked such a serious job. The knight from before had a similar demeanor, but he was at least a similar age, from what I could tell, so I would rather have had him walk me to jail.

However, I assumed the guy from before must’ve been dangerous. His Dualaratie had seen through my invisibility, which Cia said a few days ago would be almost impossible with some more training, though she never specified how much. She had only told me that the more time I spent with her, and the stronger our bond became, the stronger her powers became. That rule went for every Dualaratie and wielder. Yet I could definitely tell that the knight from before had recently gotten his Dualaratie.

So how in the world did he see through Cia’s invisibility? I wondered.

Then, I tried to take my mind off the whole situation by looking around the castle. I had seen it from the outside and I’d seen pictures of the halls and rooms, but I’d never been in the building. I noted how the speckled walls were grand, and the arches placed at every intersection were decorated with beautifully cut quartz, or some other stone. As I walked, numerous shades of colors covered my clothes, created from the stained glass that lined the walls. The castle was lacking some of the magnificence I had imagined when I’d first heard about the place, but it was still stunning, nonetheless.

Dominic suddenly jolted me out of my thoughts and I stiffened slightly. “So. You’re sure the Faery won’t do anything?”

I wanted to hit him. I’d explained it multiple times already, but I kept my thoughts to myself each time. “I’m sure. She’s not rogue. She’s normal.”

The man grunted and Cia glared at him, which seemed to scare him. He stayed silent after my response and continued to lead me through the curved halls. He led me down some stairs and into a slightly smelly, large corridor where blue iron bars lined one side of the room and stone walls with sturdy wooden doors lined the other side. It seemed fairly nice from here, minus the smell, but I also couldn’t see the insides of the cells yet.

Dominic saluted—as best he could while holding my cloak and swords—to a knight at the bottom of the steps. The other knight, dressed in the same red and white coat as Dominic, nodded and walked into a room toward the side. He had black hair and brown highlights that gave him a sort of ‘common’ look. Based on my horrible age-guessing skills, he was anywhere from eighteen to twenty-six. His confident but somehow immature expression gave me ‘sporty-boy’ vibes, as well as the fact that the rest of his body seemed to be in good shape.

When he came out of the room with a ring of keys, I felt even more worried than before now that I was finally moments away from being locked up.

“Not one of those, Spencer,” Dominic told him.

“Why not?”

“It’s the girl. The one with the rogue.”

He examined me again and looked at my red hair streaks and my Faery companion. It seemed those two things were all anybody knew about me, which led them to the conclusion that I was “the girl with the rogue Dualaratie.”

“Really?” he asked with obvious surprise, but no fear.

“Yeah. She’s harmless though. I think. But the Dualaratie does have a physical body, so...”

“Got it. And she was frisked?”

“The girl? I think so. Cassius said the Dualaratie was... safe, but I’m not exactly sure if he frisked it or not,” Dominic explained.

“Good. Don’t feel like frisking her myself... anyway, what’s your name?” the other knight asked as he walked back into the room and grabbed a different ring of keys before walking back out. “Should be—”

“Kiara Luminaire,” I cut him off.

“Luminaire...” he squinted at me suspiciously as he tested the name. “I’ve seen your name before, but... now that I’m actually seeing you, it sounds awfully... sophisticated for someone from Bristol.”

I grunted a response as Dominic led me down the stairs. As the room became easier to see, I realized that the left side wasn’t made of just plain iron. The bars were created with Moonsteel, which was sure to block Dualaraties from simply fazing through the cell’s bars, though it and Sunsteel couldn’t hurt summoned Dualaraties. While my Dualaratie couldn’t phase through walls, the bars of the regular cells were certainly too far apart to keep her secure. As we walked, I noted many of the special cells held Dualaratie-wielders; I tried not to scrunch my face at any of the unwell-looking people. It was a bad habit I had.

“Ah. Right. And you got here that quickly by...?”

“A cart.”

“You have money we should confiscate?”

“No,” I responded, trying not to sound annoyed. “It was paid for by some guy.”

“His name?”

“Uh, Andrian. Sol, I think.”

The knight’s eyes widened, but then he frowned. “No jokes. Who was it?”

“I didn’t lie. That’d probably just get me into more trouble,” I explained honestly. More trouble would only mean more of this nausea and fear.

“Fine. Play the hard game. We’ll know the truth later, though I doubt it matters. Now, follow me.”

I followed him and glanced at the walls and walkways, at the torches that lined the walls and gave a creepy vibe to the place. After we walked for far too long past the unchanging halls, and past too many people, we finally stopped at a cell; it seemed an escape would not be easy, if I even wanted to consider that. The knight opened a door and Dominic shoved me into the room, along with Cia, whom he moved much more gingerly. It was still slightly amusing to me that they were so scared of a Dualaratie that wouldn’t hurt them unless ordered to.

“Ow,” I said harshly as I was pushed. He hadn’t hurt me, but the force was unnecessary.

“Hands off!” Cia scolded. The two knights jumped in surprise and I smiled, just for a moment, in amusement.

Dominic put his hand on his sword’s hilt. “You’re criminals. Now get in there before I test if swords can cut you.”

“Cia,” I said with a hard tone as I noticed her hesitation.

“Fine,” she said as she reluctantly turned away. She glanced over her shoulder at the two knights. “You’re lucky I listen to her. Otherwise, you’d be dead.”

She said it with a coldness I hadn’t heard from her in a while. Her voice was somehow rightfully arrogant and condescending. She knew she was better than the two, and she let them know. It seemed to work, as both knights stepped back, seeming frightened. The scariest part of that was something they didn’t even know: she had no skills to physically hurt them, or anyone else, yet the threat was still very much real. She would hurt them if she had to.

“Quiet. You’re lucky there’s a Full Blood tomorrow, or else the king would’ve already decided your fate,” Dominic said. Then, after he tossed me my cloak, the other knight shut and locked the door.

“We’ll send someone else later to get some information out of you. For now, don’t cause any trouble,” the other knight said.

I half ignored him and stared Dominic in the eyes until he and Spencer left. I heard Cia curse as her obsidian heels clicked onto the foot of my bed, which was just a small metal rectangle cut from the wall with lots of blankets on it. I stood still and listened as the pair of knights walked away, gossiping about me and Cia. Once they were finally out of earshot, I raised a fist to hit the door as hard as I could, but I hesitated and then let it drop instead, knowing my anger wouldn’t get me anywhere. I let out a shaky breath and sat on the blankets that were placed atop another stone rectangle. I shoved my cloak off to the side, propped myself against the wall, and looked at Cia, who paced across the foot of my metal bed.

I wanted to lash out and do something, but there was nothing I could do that would leave me satisfied. So, instead, I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths to try to calm myself down. I knew I wouldn’t be able to calm myself so much that I’d have a clear mind, but telling myself to “calm down” was better than letting my thoughts and nausea run wild. I began to tap my finger to the rhythm of Cia’s footsteps, but she suddenly stopped walking. I opened my eyes to look at her and found her looking around the room. She glanced at the clean floor, the reinforced door, and finally, at me. She stared expectantly, but not harshly, as she used to just over a week ago.

“Gimmie a few moments to chill,” I said quietly.

“At least we’re safe for the Full Blood. And watch your stomach. Your stress makes it feel like you’re gonna pass out or throw up,” she commented casually before cutting off my response. “Don’t gimmie another lecture on why I shouldn’t tell you to ‘not stress.’ I know it stresses you out when I bring up stress, but I’ve said it before. It’s a Dualaratie’s job to keep their other half healthy if they have the ability to sense health-related concerns. Sit with your legs over the side of the bed and your hands on your knees.”

I sighed and, as I knew would happen, felt my stress levels rise, which didn’t help my nausea at all. I opened my eyes and scooted forward to do as she told me, and I felt myself begin to feel a little better. I breathed in... and out. And in... and out. I did that for a few minutes to let my nausea pass, but I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt tears well up. I grabbed my cloak and wiped away the tears before they could fall, and then I laid down on the blankets. I stared up at the stone ceiling, but this time, I let my tears run down my cheeks.

I had only felt homesick sometimes during the past week, but being thrown into jail with nothing to distract me allowed me to be absorbed in my thoughts. I had never been completely fine with being on my own in a place that wasn’t school or my home; I was the youngest, after all. So, being confined in a small place, alone, scared me. Cia was here, and while she was already growing very close to me, she could never have matched the company of any one of my family members. She already felt closer to me than any of my friends because of the intuitive understanding we had for each other, but I hadn’t known her long enough to consider her family. However, she was all I had for now; I wasn’t going to push her aside out of immaturity, and I’d talk with her soon.

Along with that sense of homesickness, I felt like a complete failure that only proved the words of my friends right. Before I had entered Soleil, I felt in my gut that it was a bad idea, and clearly it was. I knew they probably wouldn’t, but it felt like if my friends were here, they’d laugh at me for making such a stupid mistake. They always laughed at me when I did something dumb, and I took it seriously each time, even if they were probably joking. I hated yet enjoyed their silly antics, but on days like these, I only hated them for hurting my mind.

Then I thought about how if my siblings were here, first they’d get me out, but then if I explained my gut feeling to them, they’d just tell me that if I had thought more positively, or ‘manifested’, I wouldn’t have been caught. The self-deprecating thoughts consumed me, and I just kept beating myself up over this mistake. It felt like forever before I gained the courage to speak up and pull myself out of my dark thoughts.

“Why do they want you so badly?” I asked in a tone of annoyance as I sniffed and wiped away my tears. Cia glanced my way but didn’t offer a response. “And that idiot lied to me. Didn’t he say you’d go insane during a Full or New Moon?”

Cia nodded. I found her unusual silence to be eerie.

“What?” I prodded her, trying to ignore my previous thoughts.

“Well... I’m not sure. I’m just kinda... thinking about stuff right now. And... that body language you’ve got is really disheartening.”

I grunted in understanding.

“What I mean about the first part is, I’m probably dangerously powerful and you just haven’t figured it out yet,” she said, now in her usual confident tone. “However, I’m piecing things together. That scorched soul... and, something that really worries me is the boy who caught you.”

I sat up and looked at her. “Huh?”

“Did you not understand? Maybe you ought to listen better.”

I forced myself to smile at the joke but found myself looking away in shame.

“Sorry,” she winced. “What’d I remind you of this time?”

I hesitated for a moment before telling her. “I guess friends, but mostly family. I dunno what it is, but I’m really bad at hearing people when they say stuff. Sometimes.”

“Hm. I see. Then ignore my comment please.”

“It’s fine. It made me a little happy at least,” I said with a very small smile. “Cuz you reminded me of my family.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Her lifeless black eyes widened as she stared at me, and she smiled a self-satisfied smile. “Oh. Tell me the story, then.”

“What about what you were saying earlier?”

“No skipping this. We’ve got time—lots of it. Besides, I’d rather not have to focus too much on this pitiful room—they should’ve put us somewhere much more lavish if we’re so important. Anyway, continue.”

I nodded at looked at my feet, thinking about how to tell the stories I had in mind. “Uh, it’s not really one story. Anyway... one time, we were getting food, and the waiter asked me what flavor sauce I wanted, but I misunderstood him when he asked and I just nodded instead.”

“Hard of hearing at sixteen?” Cia looked at me playfully. I responded with a fake laugh and smile, but she easily saw through it. “How many times have I told you that you don’t need to laugh at your insecurities? Everyone makes mistakes, and—”

“I know.” I cut her off with an annoyed tone. “I just... don’t know how to change that.”

“Time. That’s all. And a bit of trying on your part as well. Respect yourself by knowing who you are, and not being offended that others like to joke about you. Most of the time, they aren’t laughing at you to be cruel.”

“I know,” I sighed. “I’m trying to work on it. But it’s hard to do that when almost every single day you talk with your friends, they laugh at you for something. I don’t care if they’re joking, cuz I don’t understand that they’re joking. It just doesn’t click.”

“Oh.” she looked toward me with a sympathizing gaze.

“You know I take words at face value. I try to get that they’re joking, but over time I’m just becoming... desensitized to the jokes instead of going along with them.”

Cia seemed puzzled, as if she wasn’t sure what to say.

“I just wish I wasn’t so sensitive, I guess. I’m not sure I had a point in saying any of that,” I said with an underlying tone of annoyance.

“But that’s where your kindness comes from. Would you rather have been bullied into being someone horrible?”

“...no. But I wanna find the peace and balance I had before high school, I guess.”

She thought about my words for a few minutes. “That’s a good goal to have, Kiara. To find the balance.”

I shrugged and then nodded. “Thanks?”

“Well,” she looked at me, uncertain of where to lead the conversation next. “I think you had another story, but you’ve told me enough today. I learned a lot more today than I did in the past week, and I realized something.”

I gave her a questioning look.

She smiled up at me with a toothy, happy smile. “You just need to work on some self-improvement. Positive self-talk, et cetera. I’d rather not poison you with my arrogance—which is well-earned, by the way—but I’ll help you to be proud of yourself. Deal?”

I was unsure of the idea, and it felt a little corny. But it sounded like the exact thing I needed right now. I wanted to change for the better, so I nodded.

“Good. Now, since you told me another story, I’ll tell you what I know. Ready?”

I grunted. “I guess so.”

“You’re sure? Cuz you don’t seem that way.”

“Yeah,” I said as I took a deep breath to calm down. My mind now felt much clearer than before, and my negative thoughts were less overwhelming.

She gave me a look of uncertainty. “First you gotta promise you’ll try to change.”

“I promise,” I shrugged.

“No. You have to mean it.”

I sighed and looked away. I had way too much uncertainty in me to truly mean many things I said. But, then again, this seemed like a great idea. I would have time to heal, now that I was away from the things that had hurt me, and I was already gaining a ton of new life experiences in such a short amount of time. With any sort of luck, everything would be fine in the end. I could feel, not so deep down, that this was right, and that it would help a ton if I just tried. There wasn’t much to lose by trying, and there certainly weren’t many other choices than this. I knew that, if I wanted to flourish and become someone I’d be proud of, this was the best way to do it.

“If we get out of jail, then I promise. I’ll try to get better if you’re there to help.”

“It’s not ‘getting better,’ Kiara. It’s just changing. Kinda like... wearing clothes. Nothing’s really bad or good, and some stuff fits others better, or makes others like you more, but what’s important is being comfy. Not wearing what others find nice. Also, I feel like your comfy... has gotta be the coolest. Fit. Ever.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “That sounds about right.”

“See? Not that hard,” she smiled. Then, she cleared her throat and continued. “All right. Good. Now I know you’re ready to talk about other stuff.”

I nodded more confidently than before. There was barely any difference, but I felt excited knowing there might be a way out of this mindset.

She smiled at me and then turned toward the door. “Well, I realized on the way here that there’s something wrong. In the world. Me, that angel Dualaratie, and now the knight, whose name I think was Cassius, if I heard right.”

“Uh... okay. What about them?” I asked with a slightly stunned tone. While I enjoyed Cia being able to easily change the tone of a conversation so fluidly, it was certainly jarring to see after she had just given me a pep talk.

“Not entirely sure yet,” she said with an annoyed sigh. “First: me. I shouldn’t exist, right?”

“I think so?”

“Yeah. Apparently, I go against that guy’s religion. However, that Dualaratie he has isn’t right. It’s backward, or something.” She looked at me as if asking if she could continue. “I’m not sure how to explain it, but it’s just not natural.”

I nodded slowly, not entirely understanding what she meant. All I knew was that she was beginning to worry me with the disturbed tone she spoke with. I realized I should mention something else as well. “Well, I have the same religion as him...”

“You’re a part of it or you actively pray?”

I felt embarrassed and shrugged. “Pray. Sometimes.”

“Oh. Cool. Uh, did you have a point in bringing it up?”

“Mhm... just that I’ve never... heard of someone wielding a physical Dualaratie in my religion.”

“So he’d have no orthodox way of actually knowing that...” She thought for a moment but didn’t seem to come up with anything. “Interesting nonetheless. That might help if we ever find out more stuff.”

“Mm,” I grunted.

“Hey. No more sulking for a bit. I was surprised you hadn’t brought this up yet, cuz I’m sure you think everything is over, but there’s just no way. There are so many reasons they’d keep us alive for now. We’ll get out at some point.”

“Okay,” I said uncertainly; I was trying to work on thinking positive thoughts again. I then watched her shake herself out of her line of thought and continue.

“Okay, then, once we met that black-haired boy, obviously something was wrong with his Dualaratie as well. Or its sword, at least.”

“Yeah. I know. Its sword is like you.”

“You knew that? That it was just the sword?” she asked, incredulously.

“Yeah...?”

“Oh. It wasn’t obvious to me... but yeah, which concerns me. I have no idea why we’re like this.”

“Oh. No ideas? At all?”

“Yeah, currently none. But if we find that out, then we find out stuff about me. Either way, that guy’s Dualaratie is really dangerous. The only weakness it has is light. You’re dead otherwise, cuz who in the world can defend against something that can appear wherever and whenever?”

“Mmm. And what does it mean for us?”

“Good question. I guess I was just warning you to watch out for the two if we ever come across them again, and I wanted to bring up the fact that we’ve found another Dualaratie like me. But, I guess overall, these changing properties—the physical sword and the backward Dualaratie—are a warning about the world as a whole. Something is wrong.”

“Great,” I responded sarcastically. “Not like that matters when I’m stuck in jail.”

“Hey. I said we’ll find a way to get out of here. Positive thoughts.”

I ignored her for a moment as I thought about what she had told me about the Dualaratie. “Do you think that that guy is special like me?”

“Who knows. But we certainly won’t be getting help from him anyway. That was all...”

I grunted in agreement and rolled over to stare at the empty room, now that the conversation was over. Though I had been wishing for a day to rest, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. The packed week had drained me more than any school week because Cia had started forcing me to take better care of myself physically. Instead of sitting around in school and at home like I used to, Cia had me jog in front of the cart every day, twice a day, for the last week. I wasn’t able to tell if it had changed me, but Cia said my body had been growing more accustomed to physical activity without overdoing it; as part of her healing ability, she was able to keep track of my health and vitals at all times, but not my mental state and such.

As I sat there, feeling bored to tears and tracing circles on the wall, I heard a light tapping from down the hall. It slowly grew louder, and I realized the tapping came from boots on the ground. I sat up and saw that Cia was already looking at the door. She glanced backward when she heard me sit up, but she didn’t say anything as I put my feet on the ground to stand. I began to hear the soft drone of two voices, but only one pair of steps. I knew the last thing I needed right now was someone I had to talk to, especially in this state.

“Great. It’s probably a Dualaratie-wielder,” I told Cia. “And they’re probably here for the new inmate: me.”

“I swear. They can’t get enough of us, can they?” she responded sarcastically.

“Mmhmm.”

I stood up as the voices approached, and I could begin to make some of their words out. I put my ear against the metal bars to listen.

“I’m honestly sort of excited to see why they’re so worked up about this Dualaratie. I’m no researcher, but I know enough to know that every Dualaratie is unique, yet hers is extra unique! Maybe one of her abilities is just the ability to have a physical body!”

I glanced at Cia, but she shook her head. It seemed that wasn’t correct.

“Sounds dangerous enough,” a scratchy, low-pitched voice responded. The male Banshee’s boredom contrasted with the excited tone of the knight. “Let’s just get this over with and head back. We’ll probably need to do something for the Full Blood.”

“I hope so. They didn’t give us any work for the last one, so we should get something to do this time.”

The Banshee sighed. “You’re always looking to do work. Just enjoy what little time we get off...”

“You never enjoy anything,” the knight laughed. After the laugh, an awkward silence ensued between the two, until they reached my cell. “Brown base, red highlights... a girl and a Dualaratie... your name is Kiara?”

“Yeah,” I responded to the knight, who I could now see had blonde hair and electric-blue highlights. He had a face like a kid, but he seemed to be older than me. His smile was reassuring, but the sight of his very, very tired Dualaratie was not. Covered in ripped sheets, it looked just about ready to die. It was a large contrast to the perfectly clean, red coat the knight wore.

“Perfect! I’m Fritz. This is Stan. We’re just here to basically give you a check-up. A check-up for the super-cool-girl-with-a-rogue-Dualaratie!”

I nodded slowly in response, feeling slightly intimidated by his extroverted personality. However, his demeanor was somehow also calming, like a doctor, even though he seemed slightly hyper. “Got it.”

“Right, well you just get to stay in there for now. Busy day—we’d usually take new inmates down to a different room, but the Full Blood’s got everyone rushing about. You worried about it? Maybe your Dualaratie’ll go rogue...”

I made a slightly confused face. “Um.”

“Ah, sorry about that! I get carried away with talking. It’s especially hard when we’ve got possibly ground-breaking research right here. Anyway, Stan is just gonna... frisk you, basically, so we’ll know your fighting prowess.”

Stan sighed. “There’s nothing to frisk.”

“Huh? No Dualaratie?” Fritz asked as he stepped closer to inspect my cell.

Cia popped up in front of the bars on the door. “Hm? I’m here.”

“Her skill rank is too high,” Stan mumbled before yawning.

“Hm... even more interesting...” Fritz thought aloud. Then, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “Wait, what?!”

“Everything’s hidden. Skills and passives.”

“How?! An authority of that rank shouldn’t even be possible! This girl should be working in the Department of Information!”

I stared with wide eyes at the two. I knew what they were talking about, but the information surprised me. Cia had never mentioned that was one of her passive skills or normal skills.

“Are you sure?” Fritz asked Stan.

“Yes. But I can still get the sense that I can use Electro-net.”

“So she has skills we can seal... but not skills we can see. All right! Hold on—well, I guess you have to,” Fritz said, clearly trying to stay calm. “We’ll be back in a few minutes.”

I walked up to the door, as if in a trance, and watched as Fritz dashed away while Stan faded into nothingness. I turned toward Cia and gave her a questioning look, while she shrugged.

“Is it the passive you won’t tell me about?”

“No. I’ve got no sense of the kinda power he talked about,” she said.

“So, you... have an inspection-resistant passive?”

“Apparently so. Can’t believe I even surprise myself these days,” she said smugly.

I thought for a moment. “How?”

“Guess I’m just that spectacular.”

“But... you should know all your stuff. Your skills and passives.”

“Well I know all my skills—”

“Except the bud.”

“Still not counting it cuz it would’ve bloomed a little by now. Anyway, skills are all known, passives... are apparently not all known. How about a quiz?”

I rolled my eyes. “I already know them...”

“C'mon,” she said as the area around her black iris’ faintly glowed orange.

“Fine... the speed increase, your herbal knowledge, your Fae Eyes, and the one you refuse to tell me about.”

“Yup. And now we know about a new one.”

“That seems really good.”

“Yup, apparently,” she beamed.

* * * * * * * * * *

Fritz ran down the halls of the dungeon in a flurry. He knew that couldn’t have been possible. There was only one other person who was able to resist Stan’s frisking across the entire continent of Keirithu, but he didn’t want to jump to any conclusions just yet. He’d ask around first, starting with Spencer, the prison warden, who would be followed by Dominic. Fritz would’ve loved to have asked Cassius, as he was the one to capture the girl, but he’d heard that Cassius had already left on another mission, so getting a letter to him would be tough. The thought of just asking Cia or Kiara to tell him the information didn’t even cross his mind once.

He slowed down as he neared the entrance of the cells, and looked for Spencer, who was usually sitting on a chair outside the warden’s room, playing tic-tac-toe with his Dualaratie. However, he wasn’t here right now, so Fritz assumed he would be in the warden’s room. While trying to catch his breath, he walked into the warden’s room and spotted an older man with a navy blue beard and brown hair. He didn’t know the man, but he would probably know where Spencer had gone.

“Excuse me,” Fritz began to ask between breaths. “Do you know where Spencer went?”

“Hm?” he looked up with a spoon in his mouth. He was sitting behind a small desk, with a cup of yogurt or something similar in front of him. “He went to the bathroom a few minutes ago. Should be back—”

“Hey, I’m back,” Spencer interrupted. “Oh. Hey Fritz. Problem?”

“Yeah,” he responded as he looked warily at the man sitting in the room.

He raised his hands as if surrendering, and he stood up. “It’s that important? Well, I got it. Higher-up stuff means I gotta leave. See y’all later.”

As soon as the older man left the room with his food and closed the door, Fritz began explaining the situation. “That new girl, the one with the rogue Dualaratie?”

“What about her?” Spencer asked as he sat down and looked at Fritz.

“Did you not frisk her?”

“Course not. She didn’t give off any dangerous vibes.”

“What?! Well, she... completely resisted Stan’s Bolt of Intuition!”

Spencer cocked his head in confusion, unfazed. “Really? You sure he’s not just tired?”

Stan suddenly reappeared beside Fritz. “No. I’m not joking this time... I really couldn’t get anything.”

“Got it,” Spencer replied calmly as he pulled a very small notebook from his breast pocket. He wrote something down and looked up. “Anything else of note?”

“Not that we don’t already know,” Fritz told him nervously. “C’mon... this doesn’t remind you of anyone? Like—”

“Shh. Need to think. But yes, I know who you’re talking about.”

Fritz watched as Spencer wrote notes in his notebook. He couldn’t read them, and hadn’t ever, but he had an idea of what they were about. A profile of each inmate, with a different notebook for Dualaratie-wielding inmates and those who didn’t have one. However, on rare occasions such as this, he saw a third notebook, which Fritz assumed was dedicated to “abnormal” inmates. He waited patiently and watched as the man ripped out the small page, folded it, and slid his finger across the open side, rather than the crease.

One of his Dualaratie’s powers was to seal, or essentially glue, things together. He had named it “Ever-binding Shackles” because he was the warden of the dungeons, and he most often used it for two things. Gluing together important notes so that curious knights wouldn’t open them—the king’s Dualaratie had the skill to open them—and he also used it to glue the hands of inmates together.

Spencer sighed. “This needs to be delivered to the king... Cassius needs to be contacted if possible... damn. Lots to do before the Full Blood.”

“Why Cassius?”

“Apparently his Dualaratie frisked her, or at least was able to tell us the Dualaratie was “safe.” This means it’s not just some mess-up of a human being bonded with a rogue Dualaratie. But the frisking part is hearsay from Dominic, which is then coming from a guy who’s been using his Dualaratie for less than a day.”

“So... we’ve got more of an anomaly on our hands than we first thought?”

“Yup. And a damn Bloodmoon tomorrow night,” Spencer said as he sighed. “Go back to that girl, get a run-down on her powers—we can use some Manipulation if we need to—and then come find me. I’ll go find Dominic, then the king, maybe an executor... never mind. Just—I’ll be all over the place so just get Stan to find me.”

“Got it. Good luck!” Fritz said as Spencer rushed past him and then up the stairs.