Shawn

The doors to the Guild building burst open as I am busy reading through the quests on the quest board.

I glance towards the entrance out of curiosity and find a man running inside before looking around in a rush.

What's up with that guy?

The man rushes over to Luke the moment he sees him and whispers something in his ear.

Luke suddenly turns serious the moment he hears what the guy says and nods at the man.

He then turns towards me and the others and says, "Please follow me to my office. You're going to want to hear this."

It must be pretty important if he is getting this serious.

The man who whispered to Luke sends me a curious glance before nodding at Luke and running off again.

What's that about?

I glance towards the quest board once more before turning to Luke as he begins floating towards the stairs to the second floor.

Aldred and Amber share a glance before following after him.

I guess we are going to follow him then.

The rest of us wordlessly follow Luke to his office.

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Varthurg closes Luke's office door behind us as Luke floats to his desk and sits down without a word.

No one says anything as we wait for Luke to tell us why he called us here.

This lasts for a few minutes until Luke finally begins speaking, "Word is spreading that a new adventurer has signed up at the Guild. One with white hair and a mask."

Oh.

That isn't good.

"Let me guess," Aldred says, "It's attracting the attention of the Island Lord's men?"

Luke nods his head with his eyes closed in silent agreement.

That could be a problem.

Hank looks confused as he asks, "But how did they know that he has white hair? He has been wearing a hood this entire time!"

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Everyone pauses at this before Amber suddenly says, "If I remember correctly, he wasn't wearing the hood when he first entered the guild."

"Are you sure?" Josh asks.

"She is right. I only put the hood on after meeting with Luke," I comment from the side.

"Exactly, and that is a problem. Now there are people who suspect that you might be the prince," Luke says, sending a stern look my way.

I grunt in annoyance before taking off my cloak and grabbing a different one from my storage ring.

Luke sends a strange look my way as he mutters, "How many cloaks do you have in that ring...?"

"What?" I ask him.

"Oh, it's nothing," he says, "That should help with the problem, but it won't solve it."

A familiar voice suddenly enters the conversation, "I might have a solution for that little problem of yours."

All of us aside from Luke look around the room to find the source.

Was that...

"I want to get this straight. You do know how to use a door, right Rosa?" Luke asks in exasperation.

Rosa?

Is he talking to the voice?

A laugh rings out in the room as the voice answers, "Yes, I do."

Luke's eyebrow twitches as he says, "Then why don't you use it?"

"Now where would the fun in that be?" The voice continues as the same dryad from the last time I was here appears out of nowhere in the middle of the room, in-between us all.

Everyone else within the room, aside from Luke and I, ready their weapons at her sudden appearance.

"Who are you?" Aldred says with his hands raised, ready to cast a spell.

The dryad turns towards him and says, "Oh, just think of me as a friend or ally for now."

An ally?

Amber sends a suspicious look her way as she says, "A friend?"

Luke sighs before saying, "Rosa was sent by the draugr to find Shawn."

Rosa glares at Luke and says, "What the hell, Luke! Why would you say that?!"

My hands begin drifting towards my swords after hearing Luke's words.

"Sent by my family?" I cautiously ask.

Rosa looks down and sighs.

"I guess there is no use hiding it now," she mutters in what sounds like defeat.

Rosa turns towards me and says, "It's as Luke says, I was hired by Shawn's family, the draugr, to find Shawn and notify them of his location so that they can send someone to bring him back home."

I draw both of my swords and ready myself for battle.

"So, they know where I am?" I quietly ask Rosa.

Rosa shakes her head.

I lower my swords for a second in confusion.

"I haven't told them of your location yet," she says, ignoring my swords.

"Why not?" Aldred asks with his hands still ready to cast a spell at any moment.

Rosa smirks before saying, "Because I find Shawn's situation amusing."

Excuse me?

"Amusing?" I ask, unsure of how to take her answer.

"Yep!" She exclaims, "I don't really care about your family issues. I just want to be entertained!"

"Seriously?" Josh says in exasperation.

Rosa nods her head with a bright smile on her face.

I put my face in my hands and sigh.

At least she isn't going to tell them where I am.

It was hard enough to escape from Niflheim once but doing it twice might not be possible.

"This question has been eating at me ever since I was hired for the job, if you don't mind me asking. Why did you run away from Niflheim?" Rosa asks me with a curious look on her face.

Everyone in the room turns to me upon hearing this question.

"I actually kind of want to know as well," Hank says, to which Luke nods his head in agreement.

Seriously?