Silence exploded through the room as everyone watched Adam carefully, his expression severe. Matt felt the hair on his crossed arms rise.

"Nineteen years ago, my mother gave birth to a baby boy who was crying smoke. By age four, I understood that there was something else in my body, and George has been working with me since we were eight years old to remove it." The other noble tensed at his side, staring at his feet and holding the book to his chest as Adam spoke. "Two days ago, a voice told me it was time to meet my real father, the thing that's been in my head since birth, and that he was going to 'set the world to rights'. That's who is going to end the world."

"So, what's the plan?" Brady asked softly, and Matt turned at the sound of his voice. He could only see Brady's bad side from his spot in the corner, but even from there, Matt could read the care woven into his face. He'd called all of them 'commonfolk' earlier, but he knew Brady didn't fit in with kids like him. If he was destined for the same, unremarkable life that Matt was, the cadet was prepared to march up to the goddess of fates and demand better for him.

"Adam saw a vision of a town in a forest," George said, stepping beside the noble who stared at Brady in silence. Matt thought he looked relieved, or devastated, he couldn't quite tell. "And we know we need to go north. There's a dense forest past the Capitol, and I figure we'd discover more on the road. As for a plan, I tend to lean towards Nathan's interpretation."

The thief let out a snort in surprise, leaning against the chair Gee sat in. "A treasure hunt?"

"There's this list in the middle, and I think they're all objects. The knife, the soldier's tags, the flowers, and the crown. I'm not sure what the sun is, exactly, but–" He interrupted himself by fishing a necklace out from under the collar of his shirt. The gold pendant flashed in the light until Matt could make out that it was a symbol of the sun. "I'm sure I'll be able to find that out."

"So you're the sun, and Matt is the soldier," Brady reiterated, and Matt shifted uncomfortably as he was roped into this again. "Maybe Edgy over there is the knife–"

"Edgy?" Nathan asked bitterly, and Brady grinned at him. Gee told Nathan to relax.

"No one is a knife," Matt offered, "and there's no reason that I'm the soldier. I'm not even graduated from the program, and I can guarantee you that there are better people in the capitol, if you make it that far." Brady turned his attention back to the cadet and Matt pretended not to notice his annoyance.

"But Adam is the son born in smoke," George said, "and the risk is too high to ignore. What do we need to convince those of you in the room who are undecided?"

"I'm with you two completely," Brady said quickly, but George didn't look at him, instead flicking his gaze between the three strangers in front of him. Gee was the next one to respond.

"I want to help. It's not like I have any ties to this city, anyway, and it's not every day you get to try and stop the end of the world." All eyes flicked to Nathan, and he let out an exhausted sigh. Matt was very familiar with that sound.

"If Gee's going, I'm going. It would be nice to get out of the city for a while anyway." He shared a meaningful look with George before the attention shifted to the odd man out.

Matt looked between everyone's faces, feeling a little bit like a cornered animal. He didn't know anyone in this room, not more than he knew Brady as the charming orphan off the streets, and a loud voice in his head told him he did not belong here.

"I just can't leave camp," he said slowly, waiting for an outcry that never came. "It's all I've been working towards for four years now–"

"I could hire you," George said, but Matt shook his head.

"Estate guards don't get permission to shirk training, let alone leave the city. I'm sorry, but maybe there's another soldier you can find–"

"I don't want another soldier!" Brady cried, his shrill voice ringing around the small room. Matt looked down at him as he glared up at the cadet. "I didn't ask you to come with us because you're the first person I ran into. I asked you to come because I trust you, and you're different than the other knights-in-training. There's nothing special about any one of us that you don't have, we all ended up in this room with the Prince of Darkness one way or another."

"I'm just a farmer's kid–" Matt started, but Brady's unwavering blue eye made him trip up on his words.

"So am I. I'm pretty sure those two are more homeless than I am," Brady continued, pointing over his shoulder at Nathan and Gee who nodded aggressively, "and George is just a high-strung nerd. You're as important as the rest of us."

"I can get you leave from training," George repeated with a confidence Matt hadn't heard from him before. He pulled out a letter from his bag, stamped in the golden seal of the Nattien name. "If we succeed, you can return and finish training. If we fail–" he hesitated, so Brady finished for him.

"We'll be dead anyway." Matt looked between them, hoping to find a sound argument springing from his mouth. Instead, he eyed the folded note in George's hand and Brady's steadfast smile as something caught in his heart. He hung his head in defeat.

"Fine."

"That's a yes?" Brady asked, starting to celebrate.

"It's a maybe. If Mister Nattien can really get me a pass, then I don't want to send you all to your deaths without me."

"We could certainly use the muscle," Nathan mused, and a wave of agreement passed around the room until Gee and Brady busted out laughing.

"I'm not small either!" Adam countered, and Brady cast him a dubious look.

"Sure, Mister Fainted-into-my-arms-36-hours-ago." Matt almost smiled.

For the next half an hour, they ironed out a loose plan to leave the city, including a shopping list and estimated time of departure for tomorrow evening. Adam and George were the only ones with any real possessions, so they were in charge of gathering resources to ensure no one starved to death before they reached the next city. Matt mentioned having a map and George promised he'd try to find one to borrow from his father.

They were inventorying journey supplies when Matt started to feel anxiety claw at his mind, conscious of the ticking clock. He couldn't be gone from camp for much longer or else he'd get his privileges revoked and they could kiss their plan goodbye. Even with a note from a Nattien, he wouldn't be allowed off-site.

Figuring that it was his camp anyway, Matt tapped on George's shoulder to let him know he needed to leave.

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"I'll come with you. If I can deliver this note to your general tonight, we can have you with us by noon tomorrow."

"You'll be walking back alone," Adam interjected, the chatter of planning dying out. "It's a dangerous area, are you sure that's a good idea?"

"He's not defenseless," Nathan murmured, and George nodded.

"Well, you can find us again at the Honey Mead," Gee said, leaning back in her chair and patting her stomach. "I'm sure there's enough room in our budget for some dinner tonight. What do you say, Prince of Darkness?"

"Don't call him that," George chastised, and Gee's jaw dropped in mock hurt.

"So Brady gets to call him Prince of Darkness, but I don't? Just because I'm not dating him–"

"We are not dating!" Adam cried, but Brady exploded into laughter. George rolled his eyes and started pushing Matt towards the door.

"Fine, Honey Mead it is," and then they were alone in the quiet library.

The night was chilly as they walked the length of town back towards the cadet camp, relishing the silence after being in such tight quarters with Brady. Stars twinkled overhead and Matt found himself looking up at them as he walked, the buzz of commotion from distant taverns almost comforting him. He'd grown up in a farming town west of the city, across the river Erilea was built along. He'd been completely overwhelmed by the crowds and the noises for the first few weeks he'd spent in camp, but it almost felt like home now. The sounds of the city were pleasant when compared to his experience living with rowdy cadets for the past four years; there seemed to be no upper bound on their volume.

"What's your last name?" George asked at his side.

"Bergle. Cadet Bergle." George nodded, filing away that information for his meeting with the general. "I wanted to ask you something. . ."

"I'm at your disposal, Mister Nattien."

"It's okay to call me George, I'm not my father. Brady recognized my last name, and he said you could tell me why?" Matt felt his face get hot in embarrassment, even though it wasn't for himself.

"Oh, uh–" He looked down at the small noble by his side, but he looked just as uncomfortable as Matt felt. "There are rumors about the sorts of cadets that get brought around to your estate." George's eyebrows knit in confusion, so he tried to continue. "They usually get promotions when they return, so there's sort of this rumor that . . . You know, they're big, strong guys, we all train a lot . . ." He kept stalling and hoping that George would understand his meaning without having to say it. Instead, George looked more confused than when he'd started, so he took a deep breath and put the dots together for him. "There's a rumor that your family hires eye candy, and the cadets get familiar with you guys so they can get an easy promotion."

"Familiar? You don't mean–" George's cheeks reddened and he looked up at Matt in horror. "Wait, they think I get familiar with them?!" Matt started trying to back out of the implication, but George talked over him. "Brady knew my name, not my family's. People think I familiarize myself with the guards?" He looked sick, and Matt wished he'd lied instead. "But the cadets who return to camp know that's not true."

"Well, we don't really get to talk to them much, since they get promoted. But they're always mediocre guys at best, so I guess that's the best explanation anyone could come up with." They walked in silence for a little bit before Matt thought to add, "I never believed that rumor, for the record." George held up a hand to tell him to stop.

"Let's pretend I never asked. I have to tell your general I'm hiring another cadet for my personal assistance; I can't have that on my mind and survive the meeting." Matt almost laughed. The camp came into view at the top of the hill, and he let them go in silence, glad to forget the rumor. Matt hated some of the things he heard in the "confidence" of the cadet bunks, and knowing the boy they were about made it feel worse. He'd been watching a shy, pragmatic kid faithfully assisting his friend for the past hour or so, not some promiscuous noble having his way with the more toned cadets. Maybe he'd have enough time before leaving tomorrow to spread his own information.

At the gate to the camp, two familiar boys nodded at Matt as he approached. George simply pulled out the stamped letter, adorned in his family's colors, and they let him through. George asked Matt to accompany him, so he followed along faithfully like his job had already begun.

They wandered through camp, weaving through tents and wooden buildings until they reached the center of camp where General Elena's office was. Matt had never been inside, and he worried that the nervous shift in George's posture meant he hadn't either.

George pushed into the building to be greeted by a page at the General's door.

"How can I help you, sir?"

"Mister Nattien," George corrected, and the page stiffened. "I need to have an audience with the general. Is she available?"

"Yes sir, let me check, sir." The page cast a glance towards Matt as he entered Elena's office, and Matt tried not to let the rumor back into his head. A few seconds later, they were ushered inside.

General Elena sat at her desk, a lamp burning softly beside her and illuminating the stacks of papers on her table. Her uniform was crisp and brown, gray streaked hair tied neatly into a bun as she sat with her hands steepled on her desk. She smiled at them as they entered.

"Mister Nattien, I believe I had a meeting with your parents earlier this evening. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." She rose and offered a hand to George, who shook it.

"Yes, I believe you did. I'm sorry for the late appointment, but I've had an eventful day, and this is urgent: My estate suffered a security breach this evening while my family was out, and I'm feeling unsafe. As soon as my father returned, I asked him to hire someone for me personally, someone big. We'd like Cadet Bergle." He passed the folded letter to her promptly, and she inspected the seal before breaking it. Matt thought an hour could have passed in the time it took her to read the whole note, seconds dragging into minutes in his mind as he tried to look nonchalant. It struck him suddenly that he didn't know how legitimate his hiring would be.

Finally, General Elena lowered the letter and smiled up at George, the corners of her eyes wrinkling.

"Of course, Mister Nattien. Cadet Bergle is one of our stars in the fourth-year class, so I'll have to clear his employment with Commander Kain. Seeing as you have hired him, there will be no issue. Matt can be at your estate by tomorrow morning." George smiled easily back at her and bowed his head.

"Thank you, General. I'll be glad to have his protection in the coming weeks." Matt followed him crisply out the door and back into the open courtyard in the middle of camp. Matt finally let his shoulders droop.

"For having no practice, I'd say I handled that very well," George mused next to him, and Matt could've scoffed.

"That might've been nice to know going in."

"I heard you were 'dedicated to your cause', as Brady put it. I didn't want you to worry. What did she mean about the other commander?" Somehow, mention of Kain made Matt more anxious than the falsified papers.

"He's in charge of my class, and he, uh, has taken a special interest in me. But I don't think he can stop a contract like that, he just has to be notified. Especially if I won't be continuing training with him."

"It would be hard to do that on the road to the capital," George kidded, and Matt walked him back to the gates.

"Be safe. I'll look bad if my new boss gets roughed up on the way home from hiring me." George gave him a small laugh and promised to be cautious. They waved goodbye awkwardly until George turned around and hurried down the hill.

Matt wove his way through the camp towards his bunks, uninterrupted and alone with his thoughts for the first time since the library. Although he knew his life was going to be turned on its head tomorrow, surrounded by strangers and on some cryptic quest, he was almost excited. He'd heard that he was strong many times before, but Brady had put something else to words in his heart. He could be exceptional, and then the general had echoed it. Maybe, he thought, maybe he could start to feel that way too.

His quarters were loud with screaming boys, but a few noticed him enter and welcomed him back. They asked about his night but he dodged the questions, instead asking their thoughts about the Nattiens. He heard the same rumors, some about George and some about his mother, before offering the gossip that he'd been hired. The boys around him distracted themselves by screaming in surprise, mentoring him on what he should do to be charming, or how to not die of boredom while he roamed hallways 24/7. He tried to play along, correcting small judgements when he could get a word in edgewise, and no one asked him about his night again. He was almost proud of himself as he laid in his cot and found much needed rest. Although he believed he would return to training once this whole ordeal was finished, he couldn't help but think this was his last night among the faces he thought of as brothers, and their snores lulled him to sleep.

It felt like only a second had passed before Matt woke up in a start, a big fist grabbing the front of his shirt and yanking him out of his cot. A hand clamped down over his mouth and nose, and in the darkness, he couldn't see who was on him until a gruff voice revealed his identity.

"We need a word, cadet," Kain hissed into his ear, dragging him out of bed.