I had sat in the interrogation room for what was probably fifteen minutes, though it had felt like much longer before the door had opened for the first time.

I had, of course been thinking of all the worst things that could happen to me now, knowing that they certainly would come true.

I would be officially arrested, then taken to the cells.

Holt would send for my uncle and his men could come for me.

I would try to escape using this magic and end up killing myself by accident.

All these thoughts and more had been playing around in my mind and when the door had finally opened, I had been slightly started.

I had looked up to see an older woman poking her head around the partially opened door.

I don't know what my expression had looked like but evidently she had found it mildly amusing and opened the door the rest of the way with a small smirk.

She hadn't worn any armour and didn't appear to be armed with anything besides a small belt knife sheathed on her belt.

She had been smartly dressed in the same blue I had noticed that the guards all wore under their armour and had simply introduced herself as Gretta.

I had reasoned that she must have worked here with the guards, doing something other than guarding I guessed, but she hadn't told me anything else about herself other than her name.

She had brought me some water and a small bowl of stew, before telling me that Captain Holt wouldn't be much longer, then closed the door on her way out.

After days of nothing but wild meat I had hunted, the vegetables in the simple stew were like something sent from the heavens.

I had almost finished the bowl when the door opened once more and Holt himself came into the room.

I had set down my bowl and become tense as the captain had taken a seat opposite me.

“So, Al.” Captain Holt said slowly, with a slight emphasis on the name 'Al'.

“Do you think you might be able to tell me a few things now?” Holt asked with a slight raising of a thick eyebrow.

Swallowing slightly, knowing this would happen I gave a small resigned nod.

“Good.” Holt said leaning forwards onto the table slightly. “We'll start with this.”

I watched as Holt reached into a pocket and set down a silver ingot onto the table between us.

I stared dumbly at the ingot for a second then found myself patting down my pockets.

I felt two lumps.

Two ingots in my pockets, not three.

By the look on Holt's face I could tell what he thought and I didn't blame him.

A ragged boy covered in blood in the forest, knife in hand and an ingot of silver?

“I'm not a thief.” I told him and was surprised by the firmness of my own voice. “That is mine and no, it's not stolen.”

Saying nothing, Holt just raised an eyebrow as he continued to look at me.

“What?” I asked after several silent moments passed of me waiting for him to speak.

“It is mine and I'm not lying. I don't know what you want from me but that is the honest truth.” I said.

Though the thought crossed my mind, was this silver ingot truly mine?

Sure, I had taken it from Althalan's treasury but he was long gone, I had found and claimed the place for myself. If it could be said to belong to anyone then I guessed that that person would be me.

“And where did you get it?” Holt asked me.

“My... Teacher left it for me.” I answered lamely.

“He did, did he?” Holt said clearly not believing me.

“Before he died.” I told him with a sigh. “He left it and I needed to get supplies. That's why I was looking for a town.”

“Who was your teacher?” Holt asked me.

“His name was Althalan.” I told him, closing my eyes as the name brought up swirls of thoughts within my mind.

Holt made a neutral sound, not agreeing or disagreeing with my words.

“So what is your real name?” Holt asked, clearly having known that my attempt earlier in the day at coming up with a false name was just that, an attempt.

Especially now that I had revealed the inspiration behind that feeble attempt.

I didn't want to answer.

I didn't want to have my name known, if my uncle's men were asking around it would be like leaving a clear sign that I had been here.

Even now they could be wandering through Moreland's Rest asking about me.

Something must have shown on my face because Holt's face became intent as he spoke.

“Are you on the run, lad?” He asked looking at with an expression I couldn't read.

I just looked at him desperately without answering.

Sitting back slightly Holt seemed to be thinking over something.

“Did you do something?” He finally asked me. “Steal this ingot or something else?”

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“No.” I told him earnestly then sighed in defeat.

Holt just waited patiently.

“I haven't done anything.” I said. “I'm not on the run for a crime, I'm not wanted or anything like that. I just...” I hesitated and looked at Capitan Holt.

I looked into his blue eyes and judged him as best as I could and he seemed to know I was weighing him.

He simply looked back to me, accepting my judgement.

A man without anything to hide.

My gut said that if he knew about my uncle, why I had run away that he wouldn't turn me over to someone who would do me harm, but at the same time I thought that he would still want to know more than I was willing to tell.

I felt as though he was a good sort of man, a fair on, not the kind to give away a child for the promise of reward.

It was still too great of a risk to expose everything...

I took a lesser risk and reached into my pocket, I pulled out another silver ingot and set it down on the table next to the other one.

“I'm not a thief.” I said firmly. “The ingots are mine, I didn't steal or take them from anyone. I am here to buy supplies.”

Sitting back and taking a small drink from the cup of water I continued. “I have people looking for me, bad people.”

Holt just watched me but his eyes seemed to soften slightly.

“Who are these people, lad? And why are they after you?” Holt asked but I was already shaking my head before he finished.

“I won't tell you who, I can't.” I told him seriously and saw him frowning at my answer.

“Captain Holt, sir.” I said seriously looking him straight in the eye as I spoke on.

“I can't tell you who they are, if I did then there would be more danger and problems not just for me or you but everyone. Everyone you know or anyone they even suspect you might know.” I told him. “I can't tell you my real name, if I did, then even that would be enough for them to come looking.”

“I am not a thief, I didn't steal these ingots and I promise you, they have absolutely nothing to do with why they are after me.” I said truthfully. “I get out it looks, I do, but the honest truth is I just came here with them to get supplies.” I said hoping he could hear the truth in my words.

Holt was silent for a long time and he thought over my words, I just waited patiently, keeping my eyes on his and hoping that he would believe me.

By showing him that second ingot of silver I hoped he would take it for what it was. I show of faith that I was not trying to hide them, that they weren't stolen.

The remaining golden ingot in my pocket seemed to burn me.

If he found it, it would undo the small truths I had told him, not because it was anything sinister but simply hiding it would be enough to shatter any kind of trust I might have gained from him.

He watched me for what seemed like too long of a time, keeping his eyes on my own. It was now my turn to sit and wait patiently while I was judged.

Captain Holt inhaled a long breath then finally he spoke.

“What about the tree?” He asked and I had no idea what he was talking about.

He must have seen my confused expression because he clarified.

“In the forest, with the direwolf.” Holt explained. “Sal saw the broken tree.”

My eyes widened as I remembered, the tree I had blasted the direwolf into, the one that had shattered from the impact like it had been made out of glass.

“It's from the direwolf.” I explained. “It went through it when I...”

The shear amount of devastation done to the tree was enough to show that clearly, something out of the ordinary had happened there.

The looks Sal had been giving me on our journey to Moreland's Rest suddenly made sense now.

A blood soaked boy, one who had apparently dropped an entire silver ingot during a fight with a monster that four trained men had come out to hunt.

A fight that boy had won.

One that left the boy mostly unharmed, the monster very dead and a huge tree shattered like glass from the encounter.

No wonder he had occasionally stared, it was a testament to the dark southerner's self control that he hadn't even asked me a question.

“When you?” Holt asked and I could sense that the answer to this question was important, it would decide my fate.

This was a point of no return.

If he thought I lied to him now then I knew I would be locked away in a cell within minutes.

I knew what I had to do.

Sighing I held out my hand, palm up and a small flickering orb of pale light manifested.

Holt sat back slowly, breathing out.

“Well now.” He said crossing his arms, looking thoughtful.

We spoke the next word at the same time in two different tones.

Mine in a tone of slight regret.

Captain Holt in a tone of a man finding an answer.

“Magic.”