'Tell me where you got this again.' Niall brushed his fingers up and down the blue blade, tiny forks of electricity reaching out and caressing his hand.

Stacey was gleeful. 'Dolon and I saw a fighter in the duel tournament, he was using it. It didn't help him much, like I said, he got beat pretty badly. His throat was all-' Stacey made a gesture with his hand, like crushing a tin can. His tongue drooped from his mouth, the face of a dead man.

Niall was impatient. 'Get on with it.'

Candles sitting on side tables flickered all about the room of the inn, their flames fighting off the dark night. Bunks lined the walls with chests at their feet. The entirety of the Harlequins were here, scattered about.

'The sword passed to the winner, who gave it to some eastern ship Captain, who then, you know, let me have it.' Stacey giggled. 'And now I give it to you.'

'To me?' Niall locked eyes with his subordinate.

'Yeah, Niall. I figured that, you know, this wasn't some mission where it's got to go to the vault. I thought that you could have it, it's pretty powerful... I think.'

Dolon was sat on his bunk watching the sword sparkle. It was an impressive weapon, deadly in anyone's hands, though perhaps not Fisher's. But now it was in Niall's hands. Something about that made Dolon uneasy. A man like you doesn't deserve this kind of power.

'And what was your role in this, Dolon?' Niall asked.

'I had n-'

'He had nothing to do with it.' Stacey interjected. 'Besides tailing the Captain and letting me know when and where to retrieve the sword. Pretty much most of the work if you ask me.'

What's he up to? Dolon was concerned about Stacey's motive to lie, but whatever the reason, it pleased Niall.

'Well done, you two. I'm pleased, and thank you for this.' Niall played with the sword and then set it down on his bunk. 'This has been a good trip for us, I think we've done good things together. And tomorrow, when we leave for the mainland, I'm sure our reward for delivering the knife will be great. I'll put in a special word for you two, Stacey, Dolon.'

'Thank you, but, we're leaving tomorrow?' Dolon quizzed.

Niall gave him a sharp look, never liking being questioned. 'Yes, why?'

'I was hoping to see the rest of the duel tournament, it's the semi finals in the morning, then the final in the afternoon.'

'Who's fighting who?' Stacey leant forward, rubbing his hands together, interrupting he who should never be.

'Sir Daniels is fighting Jerry, Auryon is up against Cadaoir.' Dolon allowed his excitement to win, rather than read Niall's mood.

'The Monk made it this far?' Stacey clapped. 'Wow. I can't believe he beat that Fey girl, I thought she'd plant an arrow in him sure.'

'No. He pretty much laid waste to-'

'Enough!' Niall shouted. 'We leave tomorrow for Churash, Tanda will be waiting for us.'

Dolon and Stacey went silent, knowing better than to even apologise. Crap. Dolon took his eye away from Niall and sat still on his bunk. The other members spoke amongst themselves. Why am I even still here? The meeting is over. Dolon stood up and headed for the door. 'I'm out of here for a while, I'll catch you all later.' Before anyone could respond, the door was opened and Dolon made to step through.

'Hey sweetheart, how's it going?' She blocked the way with one long leg slipping from the slit in her dress.

'Kit?' What's this then? Dolon stood stern.

'Can we come in?'

'We?' Dolon looked out into the dark corridor. Along with Kit was Kartwright in her three pointed hat, and another in hooded robes whose face he could not see.

'Who is it?' Niall approached the door.

'Winged Men.' Kit replied.

Dolon stepped aside. Niall all but vomited at the sight of his most hated rivals. 'What do you want?' The Harlequin leader grimaced.

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A different voice answered him. It was like soft music, a tone both soothing and mesmerizing. 'Your Queen requires an audience.'

Niall backed away from the door as quickly as possible. Dropping to his knees and bowing his head he spoke. 'My Queen, I'm sorry, please enter. I wasn't expecting you.'

Queen? Dolon was confused. The Queen is here?

The hooded figure entered the room with Kit and Kartwright, who closed the door and pulled shut the curtains over the windows respectively. Only then did Queen Tanda, wife to the leader of Churash, remove her hood.

The others knelt and bowed, yet Dolon found it hard to look away after dropping to his knee. Tanda was a dark skinned beauty on par with Kit of the Winged Men, but with a short cut Mohawk and symbolic scars from one side of her head and down her neck to beneath her robes. It distinguished her from other beauties, as if she saw herself as being above physical attractiveness, unafraid to mark her own body. Incredible.

'Stand or sit, or stay knelt. Either way, relax.' Tanda's voice was like a breeze that soothed the Harlequins of a day's overbearing heat. The sigh of relief from them all was certainly audible. They took to sitting on their bunks, though Dolon stood and Niall remained knelt and bowed. Something Dolon would never have expected to see.

'I was not expecting you, what brings you to the Floating City?' Asked Niall.

'That's our own business.' Kartwright answered. 'You have the dagger?'

Niall's eyes were daggers, taking Kartwright's life with a glance. He looked to his Queen. 'My Queen?'

'Answer. Do you have the dagger?' Tanda held out her hand, awaiting the item to be placed in her possession.

'Stacey, the knife.' Niall commanded.

Stacey obliged and retrieved the knife from his tunic, a white deer antler handle snugly pushed into a brown leather sheath. He placed it gently yet proudly into Tanda's hand. She nodded her thanks and drew the blade. It was barely four inches long, hardly a weapon for the battlefield, or so Dolon thought, until remembering what he had seen from the electric sword stolen by Stacey. Magical items were powerful.

Tanda closed her eyes, seemingly concentrating. The knife began to glow, the metal turning red and then orange and then white, as if placed in the fires of a forge. The weapon sparked with golden droplets and then it was changed. Rather than a small knife in Tanda's hand, there was a long dagger made of orange-yellow flames. Her dark skin was gold in its light. Tanda released the magic and returned the knife to its regular form. It was sheathed and then handed to Kartwright.

'Are you pleased, my Queen?' Niall asked.

'Very.' She smiled, then her eyes quickly glanced at Kit who Dolon noticed gesture to Niall's bed. 'That sword.'

'It's-' Niall began.

If you say that it's yours, you'll be in trouble. She wants it for Churash. 'It's a prize that we won for the country.' Dolon may not have liked Niall, but he required the Harlequins to remain in good standing with Churash, it was a part of his job. 'Niall knew of an enemy with the weapon and he deployed us to retrieve it.'

'Is that so?' Tanda was well aware of its existence, Dolon knew it, but she played the game all the same.

'We did it for you, for Churash.' Niall replied, his eyes showing a subtle anger, yet his smile as pleasant as Tanda's tones.

Kit took up the sword and paced across the wooden floor to Tanda. She handed it over and the Queen gripped it by the hilt. 'I can feel the power already. Electric.'

'Yes...' Niall was not pleased, yet he held back his anger.

'You have done your country proud, you have done me proud, and you will be rewarded.' Tanda handed the sword to Kit. 'A ship is waiting for you in the west docks, it will take you to Churash where you will then travel to the capital. Your next mission will be given there, when I return after.'

'My Queen, I thought we were going to deliver the knife to the vault?' Niall was visibly confused.

'You thought wrong, Niall. That was never in your briefing.' Tanda turned to leave, the Winged Men following. 'Return to the capital for your reward and your next quest, the Winged Men will handle the vault, as always.' With that, Kit and Tanda were gone. Kartwright gave one last glance into the room, then closed the door behind her.

The room was quiet, but the atmosphere was tense. Niall was on his knees, shaking with anger. His eyes were closed but the fire behind them was surely raging. Dolon, Stacey, Gerome and even Archer, watched their leader with nervous eyes. They all flinched when his eyelids opened and he stood, expecting some terrible outburst.

'They disrespect us.' Said Niall. 'Kit, Kartwright, Broadway, Lucas, their Winged Men. We should be trusted with the vault, we should be trusted with the quests for the weapons, we should be standing at Tanda's side, not those god damned Winged Men!'

'Yeah!' Stacey agreed, as did the others. Dolon pretended to.

'But why aren't we? Why, with the effort and the work, are we disregarded like this?' Niall's hands balled up.

If you could only see yourself from everyone else’s eyes, Niall. You're too angry, too unpredictable. Despite your power, despite the Harlequin's ability, you're just not trustworthy enough to stand with Royalty. Dolon wished he could say it, wished he could take Niall by the ears and shake reason into him. Instead he remained silent and watched.

'For months we've put up with this. My Harlequins, down in the mud, crawling where Shiro and Tanda would not even walk. How many enemy commanders have we killed? How many castles have we sabotaged? How many plans have we stolen and delivered to our great leaders?' Niall licked his lips. 'The power we deserve will never be rewarded to us. Not while we work for these ungrateful fools!'

'What do we do? Join some other nation?' Gerome interrupted.

'No...' Niall seemed to fall into deep thought, but whatever thought he had, he did not share it. Dolon sensed that it was something nefarious. A shiver crept up his spine.