Isil jumped out of bed when the door to the room was thrown open and a trio of royal knights strode in.

“I’m awake, I’m awake!” Isil said, still half-asleep.

“Good, you’re coming with us.” The royal knight in front said.

“Can I at least change?” Isil asked, picking at her clothes.

“… Fine, change quickly.” The royal knight said, waving his group out of the room and shutting the door behind him.

Isil rubbed her itching scalp, unbuttoning her clothes and tossing them back into the pendant. She hesitated, then removed them and threw them into the Inventory instead. She removed her mage clothing and accessories and put them on. She loosened the collar a bit, then walked out the door. The royal knights outside the room looked her over, and the knight that had talked to her earlier waved for her to follow him.

They walked in silence for a time, before the leader spoke up.

“Hassar has determined you did nothing to his majesty, but we still have our eyes on you.” He said, not looking back.

“Well you – no, no, I won’t say that. I understand the warning. Rest assured that I won’t start anything with his majesty.” Isil said, stopping herself from saying anything funny.

“Good. Don’t step out of line.” The leader said, stopping and knocking on a door. “Your majesty, we’ve brought the mage.” He spoke.

“Bring her in.” Samil’s voice came through the door, sounding slightly weary.

The leader opened the door and ushered Isil in, who followed. The room they were in was a clean office, set up very similarly to her own room back in Dirak-Feûr. Unlike her office, the ceiling was much lower, and the long window behind her chair was wider and shorter. The room was also squared, rather than circular. The bookshelves were, however, exactly like Isil’s office: full of books and with just as many shelves. Sitting behind the desk was King Samil Darvos II, whose face was heavy with emotion.

“Your majesty,” Isil inclined her head. “It is good to see you again.”

“You as well, Isil.” The king responded, trying to put some joy into his voice.

“I apologize for our earlier meeting. I did not realize events would play out as they did.”

“No need to apologize, what happened was out of our control. Now, please, leave us.”

The royal knights that were in the room bowed and left, leaving just Isil and the king. As soon as the door shut, the king let out a heavy sigh and his expression turned pained. Isil frowned at this sudden change.

“Are you alright?” Isil asked, coming closer.

“I am fine,” the king held up a hand. “I’m still reeling a bit from… everything.”

“I understand. When I learned about it, it frightened me as well. In comparison, you’re taking it rather well.”

“I can’t imagine… Do you know who else was affected by… by that?” The king waved his hand at his head.

“I don’t know anyone who wasn’t.”

“Even your guild?”

“They didn’t get the same treatment you did, but they weren’t unaffected either. Nor was I.” Isil nearly whispered the last sentence.

“You too?”

“Yes. My best members were… deleted from existence. They disappeared before my eyes. I didn’t take it well.”

“When did it happen?”

Isil thought about it for a moment. “This is the ninth day. You didn’t miss much.”

“I sure hope so. Thank you for coming to my aid.” The king sighed in relief.

Isil felt a pang of guilt. “Well, actually...” She played with her fingers behind her back.

“What is it?”

“Helping you out wasn’t why I came. I came for your help, I didn’t even think I would be able to help you when I arrived.”

“You still did though. For which, I am thankful. What do you need my help with?”

“Well, I stumbled upon something that you’re not going to like hearing...” Isil began to explain her findings on the kidnapping of Ella, doing her best to not inject her theories about the perpetrator.

-_-_-

“This is… aggravating. A slavery organization operating right under my nose, how could I have missed it?” The king rubbed the bridge of his nose, his lips curling in disgust.

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Isil took a deep breath before she started to explain her theories. Samil was a man who valued his allies and stood for justice. He was a good man with a rather short fuse. He handled anger well, but it was easy to escalate it. She didn’t want to start throwing accusations around, especially towards his own son. She would hold back on her own theories until he asked. Just to be safe.

“We have a few guesses as to who the perpetrators may be, but no definitive proof. They won’t be pleasing to hear.” Isil said, and waited for the king to ask for her suspects.

“You have suspects? Already?” The king seemed surprised.

“Yes, a few, but not much. There was a squad of soldiers under the command of Baron Vernon Ulbos who were guarding the wagon that held Ambassador Telvin’s daughter. Most of them weren’t very lucky when I found out their intentions. Thus, we assumed it was someone within the Praxic Knight Order who masterminded the operation, or one of two other high nobles.”

“So an entire Order is in question,” The king sighed. “Who are these two nobles?”

“Duke Ausker, under suspicion due to his blatant racism towards elves, and Marquis Dubellé, mostly because he’s the biggest asshole I’ve ever met… And he isn’t very patriotic.” Isil added the last part as an afterthought.

“Hmm… Only those two stand out? Surely you can think of more, can’t you?”

“Well...” Isil bit her lip before continuing. “I do have one more suspect, but I don’t think you’re going to like who it is.”

“Is it one of my sons?” The king asked gravely.

“… Yes. Third Prince Jotunn.” Isil looked away and waited for the king to get angry at her.

It was quiet for a bit. Isil waited for the king to throw something or pound the desk, but no rage came. The clock seemed to tick slowly, making it seem as though minutes pass, rather than a few seconds before the king responded.

“So… We both suspect my son...” The king’s voice was filled with sadness.

“...” Isil wasn’t sure whether to explain her reasons or comfort him.

“I’ll have the Ministry of Information get on this immediately. With any luck, we should already have some leads.”

“Thank you for your support, Samil.”

“No, thank you for bringing this to my attention,” The king stood and faced the window. “Without you, I never would’ve known if someone in my court was trying to ruin the Confederacy’s relations with Eberheim. I don’t care greatly about the Confederacy, but I support the reason it was founded. For all our celebration of the military, we aren’t strong enough to stand on our own. We’ll need all the allies we can get.”

“… Your kingdom is lucky to have you.” Isil commented, respect for the man once again surging inside her.

“Was Ashiron lucky to have me, or was it the other way around?” The king asked, gazing out the window.

“I’ll take my leave.” Isil inclined her head and turned around to leave.

“Yes. You’re free to return to your investigation. I’ll have some ministry men inform you once we have something to add.”

“Thank you.” Isil nodded, and opened the door.

“She’s free to go!” The king called out to his knights before she could close the door.

Isil shut the door behind her and looked at the knight that had led her here. He wore a sour expression, but waved her off, repeating what the king said just seconds ago. Isil didn’t bother trying to poke fun at him, and simply bowed politely and left. She walked to the end of the hallway and took a left, upon which a knight called out to her, and told her the exit was in the other direction. She did her best not to appear embarrassed as she turned around and left for good.

-_-_-

“Hey,” A voice angrily whispered from the alley, the arm of its owner grasping Isil’s wrist at the same time. “Where wer- OW, OW, OW, OW! IT’S ME! IT’S ME!”

Isil quickly let go of the arm she was trying to break by twisting it 360 degrees. She recognized the voice. It was Erickson, the knight she had borrowed armor from. And the one who hated her the most.

“What the hell were you thinking?!” Isil angrily whispered back to him.

“That’s what I want to know! Get in here!” Erick waved her into the alley with his other hand.

Isil begrudgingly followed, the two following a maze of twists and turns before arriving at the back of the barracks the knights were staying in. Erickson shot her an angry glare as they came in through the back. They entered into a classic interpretation of a barracks, with three-bunk beds pressed against every wall. Although that sounded big, there was only ten bunk beds, as the room itself was rather small. The rest of the space was filled up by tables, at which most of the knights were playing cards. Isil did a quick head count and noticed that three were missing, not including Erickson.

“I found her; she’s alive!” Erickson announced to the knights.

Isil shot him a bewildered look while quiet cheers rose up around her. She drew her head back in surprise as the knights got up to surround her. They all asked her questions, not bothering to take turns. Isil tried to respond to them, but she was too confused by the situation to remain calm.

“Enough! All of you!” Lief's voice boomed into the room, causing everyone to stop and turn to face him.

“My meeting took longer than I thought, things were out of my hands.” Isil quickly explained, having gotten the gist of the situation from the other knights.

“You were supposed to be here by the end of the day yesterday, or at least send a message. We thought you went and got yourself killed.” Lief began to scold her.

Isil did understand Lief’s anger. The plan was to initiate the meeting with the slavers tomorrow, and if she had gone off on her own and blown their cover, it would’ve ruined all the planning they had made. She hadn’t done this, but if she didn’t have connections in the city, she easily saw herself doing that.

“I understand that you’re angry, but I wouldn’t ruined the plan I made. I said that I would have a meeting with one of my friends, and that’s all I did. I apologize for the delay, but I ensured my actions would not compromise the plan.” Isil quickly explained, hoping to cool Lief’s anger.

“That doesn’t make me feel any better.” Lief sighed, briefly raising his arms before letting them drop.

“Trust me, nothing should go wrong.”

“I hope so,” Lief said, then lightened his tone. “Did you get anything out of your meeting? Anything at all?”

“Yeah, let’s hear it.” Damien Grall chimed in.

“Alright, alright, lay off me,” Isil huffed. “The Ministry of Information is working with us on this case. They’re bringing us-”

“Wait, what?!” Sandal Runtil exclaimed, whose sentiment was echoed less verbally by the other knights.

“Hold your questions to the end please!” Isil quickly shouted, then continued. “Now, like I was saying: the Ministry of Information is working with us on this. They’re looking into everything they have to find us a lead, and are investigating as we speak. Their dossier on criminal groups should be here by noon. Now, ask your questions.”

“What’s a dossier?” Sandal asked.

“It’s a...” Isil struggled to put it into words. “I don’t know. It’s a… folder of… important documents or something.”

“Who the hell did you talk to? The Information Minister?” Chris Gaven asked.

“I won’t tell you his name, but he is important. I told you I have friends in high places.”

“What kind of support should we be expecting?” Another knight, Isil recalled his name was Ollin, asked.

“There are big names behind the slaver’s operation, so it’s small. Anything too big and the nobles will take notice.”

“How much does the ministry know?” Lude Hamm wondered.

“However much my friend tells them, and I told him everything I knew about this. And before you go off on me, don’t worry, I’ve trusted this man with my life before, and he hasn’t let me down.”

“… I think it would be better if you didn’t leave the barracks until tomorrow.” Lief suddenly said.

“What? Why?” It was Isil’s turn to be shocked.

“You gave out our plan to an outsider who may be involved, and you failed to check in like you should’ve.” Isil felt like he had something else to say about it, but couldn’t tell what.

“...” Isil wanted to protest, but she also didn’t want to fight them. She knew the trust between them was thin, and she didn’t want to stretch it any thinner. “Fine, I’ll stay here for today. I’ll just sit here, and play,” Isil looked at the table, trying to see what was on it. “cards. Seems you already have a deck.”

She sighed and moved through the circle to sit at an empty seat.

“Deal me in or whatever.” She grumbled.

“Alright everyone, back to your games. I’ll be heading back out to find Cinda and the others.” Lief said, waving his hand and exiting the room, shutting the door behind him.

Isil sighed. She hated card games, especially since Kalixkto’s most popular pastime was some sort of elaborate fantasy card game that she had no real idea how it worked. She only hoped they weren’t playing for money.

“Alright then Isil, I’ll deal you in,” Damien stated confidently, sitting down in the chair and grabbing the deck. “Betting’s at 2 silver. Got the coin?”

Isil slammed her head into the table and groaned.

“Shall I take that as a no?” Isil swore she could hear his ego inflating.

“You’ve fucking lost it. Gimme my cards.” Isil angry tossed two silver coins onto the table, next to the other, previously unnoticed stack of copper coins.

“You got it...” Damien smugly dealt his cards, a shit-eating grin on his face.

Isil grumbled to herself, ready to both lose and win at the same time.