"Is that it then?" Heyvl asked.

"Not yet. All of us will meet her more intimately. She knows the stakes of discussing major matters in the throne room."

That didn't help Jet's paranoia. He wondered if it was common for Imperial soldiers or citizens to sneak into the Kingdom. Did the Emperor have spies?

Rujar took the three of them into another room of the castle. There they waited for a few hours. Jet didn't mind the waiting. He was glad to not be traveling more, but sitting. He also took the time to look out over Shnela. The city amazed him. It looked healthy and flourishing, unlike certain districts in Calbar. Calbar was oppressed, and only now could Jet realize that.

"You three did well in the throne room. Usually people from out of Shnela don't know how to act in front of the queen," Rujar explained to them.

Jet looked over to Irina expecting her to say something. She turned away to look out another window opening.

"I've never been in front of royalty before," Heyvl decided to say. He was sitting at the table in the center of the room. Heyvl could tell he stuck out. His clothes were not as ornate as Irina's or Rujar's. He was glad that Jet's clothes were simple too. The two of them could at least relate in some ways.

"It's not always great," Jet replied without even thinking. Heyvl shrunk in his chair as he remembered Jet's encounter with Wrathel. Heyvl continued to scribble on a piece of paper. It was a letter to his parents.

"The Queen is different," Rujar brought up. "You can trust her. But she is still our royalty here, so I would ask you three to respect her."

"Why should we?" Irina demanded.

The other three looked to the girl. "She's done nothing to help with the problems outside the walls of this city!"

"Ah, you're one of those kinds of people, huh?" Rujar asked. Jet and Heyvl looked at him in confusion. "I know raiders and bandits roam the lands, but you can't blame her. She is trying her hardest to do what she can to get rid of them."

"She apparently wasn't trying enough when the raiders killed my family!" Irina shouted. Jet watched as Rujar couldn't find words to respond. He sighed instead.

"Look, I can't change the past for you, but it wasn't the queen's fault they died. It was the raiders who did it. And the reason the Kingdom is full of them is because of the Empire."

"What?" Irina asked, still somewhat angry, but confused by what Rujar said.

"Who do you think drove them to the Kingdom? They didn't go to Lonava because there was too much open space to get around without being seen. The Kingdom had mountains and hills that gave a more likely surprise attack. The Emperor and his soldiers forced the rogues to move on into our land."

Irina didn't reply. She turned back to the window without a word. Jet wanted to say something but wasn't sure what would be right. It just seemed the Empire was everyone's enemy. He wasn't sure why everyone let them continue causing the havoc they did.

A few moments later, the Queen entered the room with three people. The other three with her were dressed in much darker clothing than Rujar's. Rujar had stood up at the Queen's entrance. Heyvl scrambled to do so as well.

"Thank all of you for meeting me here. I wanted to make sure we didn't have any unwanted ears listening to what I planned to do. But first, I need to hear your story."

The queen was staring directly at Jet. He felt his face grow red. The queen beckoned him over, but before Jet moved, Heyvl started. "Jet appeared in a massive explosion of green aura just outside of Lonav."

"Lonav, you say?"

"That's around the time I met him."

"What about before that?" the queen questioned.

Jet knew it was his turn to talk. The other three knew his story, but the queen needed to hear it from his own lips. "It started when my brother and I were going to do a cleaning job at the local bakery..."

Jet explained the whole story up until they ran into Rujar. He watched as the queen's expression didn't change much, even at the mention of Wrathel's Element. After he finished his story, he wondered back to the queen mentioning that unwanted ears could be listening.

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"So who would be listening exactly?" Jet asked the queen.

"For being tracked, you must not know much about Soul Elementalists," one of the people with the queen said. The three that were with her wore leather armor over their clothes. The leather was darkened, probably making it easier for them to hide in shadows. They looked like assassins of some kind.

"These are my scouts," the queen said to them. Two of the scouts were women and the other was a man. They looked to be around Rujar's age. "Please forgive them for not knowing all what you know. I must inform you about Soul Elementalists."

Jet, Heyvl, and Irina all sat at the table with Rujar. The queen looked grim as she prepared herself for what she was about to tell them. "The Soul Element is a strange one. Many believe that there used to only be one Elementalist. That could possibly be the Emperor himself, if you choose to believe that. There is a power unlike any Element we have witness that comes from the Soul Element. It is believed that the Emperor has eyes and ears everywhere because he can use Souls to 'possess' people. It initially turns them into a puppet Soul Elementalist, with the same powers. The Empire's army is a mass of people controlling more people, with the Emperor at the top, knowing what each one sees and does."

Jet stared in disbelief. He couldn't imagine that the soldiers they ran into were merely being controlled by another Elementalist. After seeing how easily it was for a Soul Elementalist to defeat someone, this just made them even more terrifying. They could do anything and not be stopped.

"Is there any way to avoid being controlled?" Irina asked.

"Usually Elementalists can't be controlled by the Soul Element, but I'm sure it isn't unheard of. Elementless are the ones who need to worry."

Jet shot a look at Heyvl. Heyvl had worry in his eyes. He was just as scared as Jet was.

"So now you all know the truth. The Soul Empire is to not be trifled with," the queen explained. "But with the news you gave us, we are going to send these three scouts to find out what is going on."

"Where will they go?" Rujar asked.

"One will go down to Lonav to see if the soldiers are still there. I want you to go with her, Rujar. If there is indeed soldiers there, we will need Lonava to build up its defenses and pledge an alliance with us to rid our lands of those dreaded soldiers."

Rujar nodded. He immediately understood that was the best course of action.

"The other two scouts are going to head east. One will go to Calbar and the other to the northeast. If Wrathel is trying to distract us, then no doubt he is up to something on multiple fronts. And if he is so eager to retrieve this Spirit Elementalist boy, it must be something with the desert."

Jet had chills run up and down his arms. The mention of his homeland seemed to cause his heart to soar. He had to go with the scout. "And what about us?" Jet asked.

"You three are liabilities. You know too much and must remain here under the Kingdom's protection."

"We can't just wait here," Heyvl exclaimed. "We have to stop the Empire."

"I'm sorry but you are under my law now and I must protect you three from the Empire at all costs."

Heyvl wanted to say more but Rujar was staring at him. He sighed and slid back down into his chair. He looked to Jet. Jet was also wanting to stop Wrathel somehow.

"Now, I will leave you to it. Rujar, I hope you can show these three their new quarters in the castle. Please leave by tomorrow at dawn to get the most time. We can't waste what little we might have left." With that, the queen left the room with the scouts. The three looked to Rujar with eager eyes.

"I'm sorry, I can't let you guys go out there without the queen knowing. There are probably several dozen scouting parties along the borders looking for you, Jet."

Jet frowned. He hated being hunted. He knew he had to help the Kingdom some way, but he didn't know how yet. "Now let's go. I'll show you three to your new quarters. It isn't far from here."

Rujar stood up and beckoned for the others to follow. The three of them slowly stood up from their chairs and followed Rujar out of the meeting room. The living quarters was only down the hall. Rujar brought them to a room with only three beds in it.

"This will be where you three stay. There isn't anyone else living over here, so you won't have to worry about others."

It wasn't a whole lot of comfort. Jet wanted to do something, say something, but he knew Rujar wouldn't change his mind. "Make yourselves at home. I'll be back in the morning to say my goodbyes," Rujar told them.

The three of them watched Rujar leave. Irina sat on one of the beds and turned to the other two. "We aren't just going to stay here are we?" Her voice sounding as if her fight was now targeting the Empire.

"What can we do? At most we could possibly go back to Lonav," Heyvl replied.

Jet laid on another bed and stared at the stone ceiling. Thoughts raced through his mind on what the three of them could do. He almost couldn't believe what came to mind but he was sure they had to go back to the Empire and to the desert.

"I think we need to follow the scout to the desert," he finally said.

The other two simply looked over to Jet, waiting for more to be said. "The scout there will know what Wrathel is up to."

Irina stood up from her bed. "How will that tell us?"

Jet sat up and watched her move to the window. "Well, if we make our way through the Empire, there is no doubt we'll get some hint of what's going on. And maybe the desert is the Kingdom's best chance. If the Kingdom needs support, what better way than from a native like myself to ask for it?"

"He's got a point," Heyvl said to Irina. "But now how are we going to travel with no money or supplies?"

Jet frowned as he hadn't thought about supplies. He has had everything supplied to him so far in his journey. He felt rather spoiled by it.

Irina turned away from the window and looked at the two boys seriously. "Are you both absolutely sure about wanting to go to the Empire and possibly even the desert?"

"Yes," they both replied in unison. "Why?" Jet added.

"Because I think I found our way," she stated as she pointed her thumb towards the window. Jet and Heyvl both scurried over to it. Jet could see the scouts loading up three caravans, along with Rujar and a few others. He could already tell what Irina had in mind. They were going to become stowaways.