The young prince could not sleep very well for the first time in a long time. Thoughts and memories kept him awake for a long time, until the next morning, when the sun fell through the cave entrance. Feeling that he had not slept a minute, William got up, stretched extensively, and let his gaze glide over the sleeping people.

Basil was huddled in one corner of the cave, nothing more than a large mountain of clothing and his hair could be seen of the man, only his loud breathing could be heard. Theorik, on the other hand, was lying fairly close to the extinguished fire source, wrapped in a thick pelt. Why he had spent the night here as well, he had not revealed, yet William had a guess. Inevitably, the swordsman had to think of Cale. If he hadn't mentioned yesterday that they should try to bring Theorik to Altona, he probably wouldn't have been aware that the man wanted to get away from here. While he had shown great interest in the other countries, he had not said that he wanted to travel there.

Tired, William rubbed his eyes as his gaze fell on Philippa and Ben. The two were lying on the floor next to him, a little ways away from the fire. While his friend fairly sprawled on the floor, the young woman lay snuggled under the covers, asleep.

Quietly, William distanced himself from the group and followed the mana source outside. As expected, Aaron knelt at the edge of the precipice and watched the sun rise before turning his attention to William.

"Morning", the two men chimed simultaneously. While Aaron returned his attention to the sky, William carefully sat down beside him and let his feet hang over the edge. The wind, which had been bothering them yesterday, was almost completely gone and the flat rays of sunlight on his skin gave William a feeling of warmth. There was definitely something about the view, he would love to share this moment with Edward and Marion.

Slowly, William ran his hand through his hair as he recognized some animals in the distance and watched them. They were dogs or rather wolves that seemed to be on the hunt. A whole group was running through the flat meadow, only the last wolf was slowly following the pack, letting his gaze slide attentively through the landscape.

"Yesterday's information wasn't exactly helpful, was it?", William admitted after a few minutes, as he sorted through his thoughts. Finding the Kormandent was their top priority, but equally he was preoccupied with the history of the primordial humans and the Apostles. He was so used to the peaceful life that he couldn't really realize the war. But although Aaron had tried to get as much information as he could from Basil, the information remained shockingly scant.

"Admitted, I had hoped for considerably more as well. I'll talk to the Magistrat later and ask them what they think of the entire thing", the High-Magician replied calmly, not moving an inch. As if he were meditating, he knelt beside William and closed his eyes.

"What do you think about it? About the creature."

William tried to keep the conversation going, but couldn't mention that he knew why they were really here.

"Difficult. It's definitely dangerous, I agree with Sir Kama that much. We should look for you and find out what it's up to. If it really has intelligence, then the world is facing a previously unknown enemy", Aaron shared his thoughts openly. Since his hopes were dashed by Basil, he pondered what he could do now. The only logical conclusion he drew was to go and find the creature on his own. But where? In the creature plains? If it lived there, wouldn't Anuxer have discovered it years ago? "Can I ask you a question, Liam?"

"You're concerned with the identity of the swordmaster, aren't you?", William threw back immediately. The High-Magician did not answer the counter-question, so William was sure he was correct in his statement. A soft sigh was let out by William before he pushed off with his hands and leaned back. "I can't tell you his name, but you can ask me some questions. In return, however, I would like to ask you something as well."

William watched as the mage stirred and turned to face him.

"All right", he finally gave, looking down at William with his iron eyes. "What is your relationship to each other?"

"He's not my father, Aaron. We're not related, as far as I know. He's a good friend I met in Sylve", William said truthfully, avoiding Aaron's serious look. Inwardly, he was wondering if he should just keep lying to Aaron, but he didn't want to. He liked Aaron and besides, he was pretty sure that Cale's identity would come out sooner or later. "I was a little surprised yesterday that you asked me that question. I assumed you knew who my father was. You should have gone to the banquet."

"The banquet?", Aaron repeated confused. "Are we talking about the banquet in Exarion that took place before the second wave attacked?"

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"That's right."

"You were invited to the banquet?"

"Cale invited me because my family was also in attendance."

"Your family... was your father also in attendance, by any chance?"

William had to smile at the statement. In the past, he almost wouldn't have told strangers who he was, but when had he started trusting Aaron? Probably he would have been even more cautious if he didn't know that Cale trusted the mage.

"My full name is Prince William of Sylve", he announced firmly, causing Aaron to look at him silently for a few moments. "I am the third son of King Leonhardt of Sylve."

"I beg your pardon?", Aaron retorted with a belated response.

"I guess there are some things Cale hadn't told you after all. You should know my father and he certainly wasn't yesterday's swordmaster", William clarified, almost laughing when he saw Aaron. He seemed clearly overwhelmed with the information, because he didn't react at all, so William used the pause to continue speaking. "He also had told me that the Magistrat had handed over Karekama to him. I don't know the exact background, but apparently something happened at your place, which is why it was passed on to him."

"Hold on. Hold on a second. I'm still stuck on the first part. You're... the shadow prince of Sylve?", Aaron brought out skeptically. "Seriously?"

"Seriously, yes."

"Then what on the Elder's beard are you doing here? Why are you dressing up as an Anuxer?"

"I'm not dressing up. Father knows what I'm doing, but I'm not running around telling complete strangers who I am. Actually, I thought you knew all along."

"Isn't that pretty dangerous? You're noble, of royal blood at that", the mage replied, and William realized that his counterpart cared. Whether it was because of him as a person or had some other reason, however, he could not gauge.

"Dangerous it is everywhere and besides, I am not alone. Benjamin is accompanying me."

"Is he also..."

"Noble? Yes. His father, Duke Loys of Freigoud, is the king's right-hand man", William explained carefully. To William's amazement, the High-Magician held his hand against his head as if he had become dizzy.

"Now, at least, I understand why Caleb spent a day as Crown Prince Edward's escort. I should have noticed by then at the latest", Aaron replied matter-of-factly, lowering his hand and returning William's gaze. "Please forgive me if I have been disrespectful to you, prince William. I'm not particularly familiar with the etiquette of nobility and on..."

"That's all right, that's all right. Don't worry about such things", William interrupted with amusement as he signaled with his hand that Aaron didn't need to continue speaking. "And stop adressing me like that. It's really awkward."

"Sorry."

"I told you it was fine, Aaron", William returned, straightening up. Aaron lingered in silence for a moment before turning his body to face William. He was now kneeling beside him, almost forced, and glared at the young man. "I'm not angry with you over such a small thing."

"Still, I... I really didn't expect something like this now", the High-Magician replied, and seemed to be lost in thought the next moment. "Is that why Caleb..."

"Why what?"

"I... I just thought... are you the reason Caleb's been acting so weird? Did he know you are a prince?"

"Yes, he knew that. He said to me that he recognized me immediately back in Bellator and Ben had also told me that he was worried about our safety and that's why he had joined our group", William clarified with a smile as the situation with the storm came to his mind and he abruptly became serious. He didn't even want to imagine how scared Cale was at that moment, after all, Cale knew from the beginning that he was noble. Was that... was that perhaps one of the reasons why Cale had decided against keeping his identity to himself? Because he wanted to prevent something like this from happening again?

"I thought I was starting to understand the kid, but somehow it's just getting more complicated", Aaron muttered quietly to himself, so William turned his attention back to the High-Magician.

"Do you have any other questions for me, or may I ask my own now?"

"No. What are you interested in?", Aaron gave visibly more cautious words. As if on cue, the sun let its fingers shine on Aaron, causing his face to light up slightly. Surprised, the two turned to the east and watched as the bright disk appeared behind the mountains.

"How old are you?", William finally brought up the question that hadn't left him alone for half the night. The whole story about the people of Tsuke and Winstest, the Three Gods Faith, the Kormandent - his head was one jumbled mess. Something was going on in the background, but no one could tell what was going on. The only conclusion William drew was that the Dragon Queen must be involved.

"Why do you care about my age?", Aaron replied politely, but one could detect astonishment in his voice.

"To be honest, because of the Three Gods Faith. Ben, Philippa and I had talked a bit about it and came to the conclusion that the Apostles or the Halflings must be third-stage mages. Yesterday, when Basil had told me that he was 150 years old and that Halflings lived to be even older, I became plainly curious."

A pause stretched after William's explanation, and for a moment he was uncomfortable with the situation. Was it rude to ask Aaron his age? Or was he completely wrong in his guess and apostles were not magicians.

"I am 247 years old", the High-Magician finally admitted, which caused William to look at the latter in shock.

"It's true?", William instandly threw back. He stared in disbelief at the stern-looking man, who outwardly had to be between 30 and 40 years old. So his cold appearance had a reason, he was simply over 200 years older than William. The knowledge and events he had experienced, William could not imagine the magnitude at all.

"The stories are true. We Halflings are indeed the oldest beings to walk trough the world. From the day we receive the Igrikum, we do no longer age", Aaron clarified, without turning away from the sun even once. "The only person to whom this rule does not seem to apply is Caleb Leuen. Now do you understand why I meant that the kid seems strange to me? He's hiding something from us and has been doing so since the day he enrolled in the Magistrat as a student. Since 1145."