1

“Now my child,” Vask Fillius said as he sat down in one of the old wooden chairs in his study. “Have you thought at all about your identity?”

Servia nodded. Indeed, she had thought quite a bit about it. Ever since she had read the news article that was being announced in the public square in Palantine. Well, Valance claimed it was being read aloud. Not that she had any reason to disbelieve Valance’s claim, it was just that she did not entirely trust him. She hated the way he looked down at her with contempt. It was so reminiscent of the way her fellow students had viewed her. Vask seemed to trust Valance and Vask did not strike her as someone who lent out his trust easily. Yet Valance mere presence made Servia feel uncomfortable. He had a dark aura about him. He said little and when he did speak his voice was strong and high. In the end she had to accept the fact that Valance was right. The whole world knew who Servia De Gallio was and what she had been accused of.

Vask smiled at her. His stringy grey hair fell to his shoulders and his voluminous pale green wizard robes made him appear larger than humanly possible. Servia sat opposite him on a similar chair next to the table. Beside sat a pile of ancient books that she had been skimming through looking for anything that might pique her interest. Several books were on the history of magic, a subject that Servia loved to indulge in. There were also slender tomes on various spells that were little used or even known in the modern era. One that had caught her attention was Inverus’ Guide to Conjuring Spirits, a book that was expressly forbidden at the wizard’s tower. It was considered dark magic by the school masters. Vask’s copy was hundreds of years old and hand-written.

“So, what ideas have you mulling over?” Vask questioned.

“Well, I think I’ve come up with a new name to start with,” Servia replied with some reluctance. Whether it was justified or not, Vask still scared her to her core. It was not anything that he had really done. He had shown her a bit of kindness in fact and that itself had been a stark contrast to the image that others had of him. He had saved her from the Pacilla. He brought her to his keep which was safely hidden away in a remote forest north of Palantine. His housekeeper cooked all the meals for them. She got her own room on the second floor. It was small, not much space for anything more than a single bed, a desk and a trunk to put her personal things. Yet the bed was comfortable. It had a large window where she had a beautiful view of the surrounding forest.

Servia was already starting to settle in at the Fillius clan keep more than she thought she might. Its biggest difference was how quiet it was out in the country. Verant City had been bustling with people, wagons and horses. There was constant din of noise whenever one went outside or even opened the window. The city was filthy. It smelled foul at times. All the stone and concrete made it hotter. The country was a welcome change of fresh air, quiet and cool breezes.

“Very good!” Vask said excitedly. “Names are very important. The cornerstone of identity. You found one you like? Let’s here it then!”

“I like the name Norrella Spinner,” Servia ventured.

“Hmm, Norrella Spinner,” Vask said thinking over the name. He did not reject it out right, so Servia thought that was a good sign. “It does have a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Tell me, how did you come up with it?”

“Well, when I was a little girl. Before I went off to the wizard tower, I had a friend, a playmate and her name, family name was Spinner,” Servia explained. She fiddled absently with a tassel on her new black gossamer wizard robe. Vask was thinking on it with little expression. Servia was not sure what to make of it.

Eventually Vask said. “Spinner is somewhat of a common name, which might be an advantage. I like it. It’s middle class and could blend into the scenery of any small town or village. I take it you friends’ family must have been weavers of some sort. Perhaps they owned a loom or a flock of sheep. We can make this part of your story, I think. What about Norrella? Where does that come from?”

“I have a distance cousin by that name,” Servia said.

“Hmm, I like the name Norrella, it very common in the east. Maybe we could say that you are from Devonport or some similar place out on the peninsula,” Vask mused. “What do you think? Could you fake Armiger’s accent?”

“Possibly,” she replied. “With some practice I could.”

“Excellent!” Vask said. “I like this new identity of yours, Norrella Spinner! We just need to work out a good background story. You must be ready to answer if people start asking all sorts of questions about your past. We could say you were educated in Karnak. No wait, a middle-class family could never afford that! The wizard tower in Heathlon maybe? Or a private tutor in Nashalon? It doesn’t really matter, as long we don’t tell anyone that you were educated in Verant City.”

Suddenly there was shouting from downstairs. It was Armiger. “Valance is back my lord!” He yelled up from the floor below them where he had been deep in his own studies.

“This day gets better and better!” Vask exclaimed. “Come along Norrella, we have business to attend to and I want you to see this!”

2

Servia followed Vask down the stairs. He stopped to speak with Armiger. “Did you see him?” Vask asked.

“I saw through the window,” Armiger replied. He pointed to the window on the fourth floor which looked out onto the eastern field of the estate where the circle of white stones was located. “He just teleported in.”

“Very good,” Vask replied. “Let’s go out and meet them.”

Armiger noticed Servia and gave her a wide grin. “My lady Servia, nice to see you on such a lovely afternoon!”

Servia winced a bit thinking his sweet words to be forced and spurious at best. Before she could reply Vask said to him. “There is no Servia De Gallio anymore. It’s Norrella Spinner!”

Vask disappeared down the stairs in an instant and the two young apprentices were hard pressed to follow their elder master.

“Norrella Spinner,” Armiger said pondering the name as they scurried down the stairs to the ground floor. “Sounds kind of common, doesn’t it?”

“And Servia isn’t?” She questioned dryly.

“Fair enough,” Armiger replied with a laugh. He was giddy like a young child with a new toy.

Servia eyed him suspiciously. “What are you so excited about?” She asked.

“Oh, this is going to be a bit of fun!” He replied.

“What do you mean?” She questioned.

“Oh, you’ll see!” Was all that Armiger replied.

The sky was cloudy, but there was not much threat of rain. The summer heat had subsided a bit leaving the air refreshingly cool. They could see Vask ahead of them walking out to meet Valance who was already halfway between the teleport point and the keep.

Armiger walked swiftly to catch up to Vask. Servia had to hike her robes up a bit so she could run to keep up with him. When they caught up with them, they were all gather in the middle of the vast field. Valance dressed a breezy black robe. He threw the middle-aged man to the ground.

“Is this the man?” Vask demanded. Already his personality was changing. Servia noted that his features were hardened. His voice held a high darker edge to it.

“Yes, my lord,” Valance replied.

“What man!?” Servia questioned Armiger in a low whisper.

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“The printer,” Armiger replied.

“Oh!” Servia said taken aback. This was the printer of the article, the one who published the details of her release into Vask’s custody in the Palantine broadside . The ability to teleport had made it hard for her to reconcile the fact that Palantine was over a hundred miles away. Somehow, she didn’t think they would find the man so fast.

“Where am I?” The man demanded. “Who are you people?”

“What’s the matter worm?” Vask questioned. He pointed his finger at her, but kept his eyes on the printer. “You don’t recognize Servia De Gallio when she stands before you!?”

“Who!?” The man replied obviously confused by the situation. Servia thought that teleporting was also a bit unnerving and probably added to his bewilderment.

Vask pulled the crumpled parchment from a hidden pocket in his robe and smooth it out a little before shoving it in the printer’s face. “Do you recognize your own handy work at least!?”

The man stared at it for a moment. Then his face went white as the paper. He let out a gasp. “Oh!” He whimpered.

“Indeed!” Valance said coldly. His arms folded across his chest he peered down at the man in disgust.

“My lord, I’m just a humble printer,” The man began begging. “I don’t write the articles. I just print them!”

“Who told you to publish this!?’ Vask demanded.

“I don’t know,” the man said trembling.

Vask swung his staff so fast it was a blur. It struck the man across the side of the face. Blood and what appeared to be a tooth went flying from his mouth. He sprawled out across the ground. Getting to his hands and knees he shook with fear.

“Bullshit!” Vask shouted. “You’re a bad liar!”

Servia shriek at the sudden violence. Armiger grabbed her by the arm. “We better stand back!” He said to her.

Servia trembled with her own sudden fear and adrenaline.

“My lord, forgive me!” The man pleaded. “I’ve been sworn to secrecy!”

Valance suddenly moved back about half a dozen paces.

From Vask fingertips lightning bolts leap out a seized the printer’s body. He shook and contorted from the pain and involuntary moments cause by the voltage. He screamed in terror.

“Who gave you that article to print!?” Vask demanded. “Tell me now!”

“I beg you for mercy!” The printer huffed trying to catch his breath. He gripped his chest tightly wincing from the pain. “I can’t tell! He’ll kill me! He swore he would!”

Vask hit him again with the lightning. This time it was more powerful. All his muscles tightened around his head until it looked more like a skull than a human head of flesh and blood. When Vask broke off the spell, the man was left shaking in the fetal position. He choked unable to get enough air into his lungs.

“We’ll kill you if you don’t give us a name,” Valance said in that same cold flat voice that made Servia shiver with terror.

Were they really going to kill him!? She wondered. Right here in front of her!? Her legs felt weak. She was afraid that she might collapse at any moment.

Once more Vask put the lightning to him, this time increasing the power of it even more.

Finally, the man relented. “Alright,” he gasped. “I’ll tell you!”

Vask waited for the man to get enough breath to speak properly.

“It was Decimus Artia wasn’t it?” Vask questioned in a softer kind voice.

The man nodded in defeat.

“Yes, That’s the man,” the printer replied with a hung head. His body still convulsed slightly from the after effects of the lightning.

“That makes it official,” Valance commented.

“I suspected as much,” Vask said. “But I wanted proof, now we have it.”

“What do you want to do now?” Valance asked.

“It is obvious to me, that we are at war with the house of Artia,” Vask replied. “We must begin our preparation as soon as possible.”

“And this pathetic excuse for human here?” Valance questioned. As he spoke Valance shoved the man over onto his back with the sole of his black leather boot. The man flailed about like a beetle. He appeared to be singed in places and Servia even thought that she might have seen some smoke drifting off him.

“He knows too much now,” Vask said in a calm cool voice. “Kill him and dump the body back in the wood.”

“What!?” Servia exclaimed. It was all too much for her. The scene was disgusting and made her sick to her stomach just watching it. The man was a simple printer, she thought. They can’t just kill him like that! What would they accomplish!? “No! You can’t do this!?” She shouted.

“Sure, we can,” Armiger replied with a bewildered expression. To Vask he begged. “Let me do, my lord! I’ll burn him to a crisp with a fireball!”

“No!” Servia bellowed. She threw herself between the man and the others. “I beg of you, my lord, not to do this! What has this man done but to print an article which is his job. He doesn’t deserve to die like this! Over what!? This isn’t the man you want. It’s Decimus that’s who to blame for it all! This man is just a humble printer. Please I beseech you do not kill him!”

“Get up Servia. You’re embarrassing yourself,” Valance said coldly.

Vask had an odd twinkle in his eyes. Slowly a smirk crept onto his face. “Alright, Servia,” Vask said. “You win this one.”

“My lord you can’t be serious!?” Valance said in shock.

Armiger looked like a child that had his favourite toy taken away suddenly and without reason. He scowled at Servia for her interference.

“Silence!” Vask demanded. “My word is final! Servia here makes a good argument. Decimus Artia is the one that I indeed want. If this man can be sworn to secrecy about what has happened here, then I’m willing to let him go free.”

“I swear it, my lord!” The man croaked without hesitation. “I swear it a thousand times over!”

“However, Servia, there is one condition I must insist upon,” Vask said to her.

“Anything my lord, anything!” She replied.

“When we finally catch Decimus Artia,” Vask said his smile widening with every word. “I want you to be the one to kill him!”

Valance laughed.

Servia swallowed hard and stared up at Vask in disbelief. “My lord!?”

“It must be this way Servia,” Vask said with a huge grin. “I question your loyalty despite all I’ve done for you. You must prove yourself my loyal servant. If you fail to do as I ask, then it will be your body that we dump out in the woods!”

Servia was frozen in horror. Dumbly she nodded in understanding, but she did not want to do such a horrible thing! The thought was beyond repugnant to her, but what else could she do!? Vask had her backed into a corner using her own actions against her in such a manipulative way. It sickened her. She had to admit that he had her beat in every way.

“Valance, return this worm to where you found him,” Vask ordered. “Alive! Understand!?”

Valance nodded, but not without a grimace of anger and regret. “As you wish, my Lord!”

“I’m going to send Sinister to Decimus Artia’s estate home,” Vask explained. “Once he has reported on their defences, then we can begin to formulate our plan for attack.”

Valance hoisted the man to his wobbly feet and began dragging him back to the teleportation circle.

Servia was left sitting on the ground completely mazy and lost in her own thoughts. She sat there for a few long moments. Armiger and Vask began to walk back to the keep. After a few paces, Vask turned back to her and said in his kindly grandfather-type voice. “Norrella Spinner, my dear. Valance is right, you’re embarrassing yourself. Are you coming back to the keep or not?”

3

It was dark, damp and very unpleasant. It was the part of the Imperial Palace’s underground labyrinth that Sir Jax Frey detested. Someplace deeper beneath the servants quarters. He had been back from his trip north for a while now. He was waiting, but his patience was running out.

He could have gone to the Imperial Council meets, but frankly he found them boring. Debating the allocation of funds for this project or that. Political this, roads that, blah, blah, blah. Jax needed action. That’s what he was known for. It was why he had joined the military, fought in the war, and such. His family was already rich, he did not need to do any of that, He did it because he loved it.

He never wanted to be Emperor, even when his father had fought to gain the throne. The idea that he would succeed him as Emperor did not sit well. After his father was killed he felt a bit of relief when they chose Xander’s brother to lead the rebellion. He did not even want to sit on the Imperial Council and only did so because his cousin asked him to. It was out of duty and respect that he joined, not any lust for more power.

He stood outside of the heavy oak door bound in steel. From inside he could still hear the screaming. He was tempered to go in, but he felt it was best to just let the inquisitor do his job. Honestly, did he really want to see the techniques being used? No, he could live without the images. What he was hearing from within was bad enough.

From inside he listened to a young man crying after long screams of agony. Then there was a lot of talking. Important information being extracted, he surmised. Sounds like Damus finally broke the poor man. This went on for countless minutes.

Finally, Damus emerged from the chamber. He was thin man of average height with a thin moustache and small piercing eyes that glinted in the torchlight. In his hand he held a pair of pliers, like the kind a blacksmith might use. Held in the pliers was a fingernail.

When Damus saw Jax waiting for him, he smiled and spoke. “It appears we have another location.”

“Really? Where?” Jax asked anxiously. This was good news. They had been hunting down the locations of all the hidden treasures. If they had another location, then only a final one remained. The Emperor would be very pleased if Jax could recover it for him. It was his mission to find all of the treasure and he was being handsomely rewarded for his effort. Jax did not care about the money. He wanted the hunt.

They began walking down the hallway together leaving the darkness of the dungeon. “It in Dragoon Province in the north,” Damus explained. “I will write down the details for you. My assistant is getting them now.”

“Good. My griffin is standing by,” Jax told him. “We have men in the Order of the Red Dragon that will find it, if the information can be trusted.”

“If you can’t then we need another source,” Damus explained holding up the pliers. “I don’t believe he can tell me anymore.”

“Understood,” Jax said. “We will leave no stone unturned.”

“It will be stored in iron banded chests, like the last time,” Damus explained. “Maybe half a dozen in all.”

Jax was surprised. “That could be hundreds of thousands in coin.”

“Maybe more,” the inquisitor told him. “The young man is confessing everything right now. It’s quite pitiful.”

“The Thaine loyalist are pathetic, they fold like a house of cards under enough pressure,” Jax shook his head. “No wonder they lost the war.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Damus chuckled. “I could have done a lot worse if I needed to.”

“I’m sure you could have,” Jax replied. That was as much as he wanted to know about the process. He went to his griffin to prepare for the flight.