The journey back to Woadrok was uneventful. The first evening, after Jarnvaror left to hunt, Peter presented his new sword to Anna so she and Halcyon could help the one staying in the hilt. It took longer for it to become calm than most of the others had, but eventually it shone a bright blue green. Then it returned to the gem in the hilt of the sword. No one was able to coax it out again, and Halcyon joined it in the sword for a while. At first, Andrew and Anna were both concerned as the blue Wisp went back and forth between the two crystals. After the first evening, though, he settled back into the gem in Anna’s bracelet.
When they arrived back at the city, it was early in the afternoon. They landed in the training fields on a plateau outside the city and waited for the welcoming committee they were sure was coming. A party of guards and servants arrived a few minutes later to escort them for an audience in the palace.
“I bet the king will enjoy hearing about our fight with the Mottled,” Peter said.
“Probably,” Andrew agreed, thinking it was a good idea they had something exciting for the royals to focus on after so long between real reports.
“I think you two have that handled,” Anna said. “I should take the book to Sol right away.”
“All three of you have been requested, miss,” one of the servants said.
“Oh,” Anna said, looking a little disappointed.
“We’d probably need you to explain some of the Wisp details, anyway,” Peter said.
The doors to the throne room were opened as they arrived. At once, something felt off. The place was almost empty, except for them as they entered. There were no other nobles or servants waiting on the king and queen. The two royals themselves were not in the room either. Only as they reached the center of the room did a door in the back open. Lady Thalia glided into the room and stood on the dais between the thrones. Chancelor Daniel marched in after her. Bags drooped under his eyes, and he sighed as he saw them.
“Welcome back, I suppose,” he began.
“Welcome indeed,” Thalia huffed. “After disappearing off into the north, without leave of any kind. I wonder why we let them back into the palace at all.”
“Because you’re children would be very displeased to loose such assets,” Daniel replied. His tone suggested they’d talked about this at least once before.
“Not now!” Thalia snapped at him.
“We didn’t think it would be a problem,” Anna managed.
Thalia whirled back to the trio. “No? No thought at all to the proper courtesy due to your royal patrons? No thought to the proper order and chain of command? My children are overly fond of you three. They are blind to your constant insolence!” She said, holding up the letter they’d sent from Green Vale. “I will not have vassals that simply fly off on a whim without asking leave. It is unacceptable! Intolerable! No one born to nobility would consider neglecting their duties to their superiors in such a way.”
“We’re not noble, though,” Peter pointed out. Andrew shot him a dirty look, but Lady Thalia was already responding before he could say anything.
“Obviously not! I knew that three lowborn youths would not be suitable agents for the Scepters. I tried to persuade my children of this.” She turned an evil eye to Daniel. “But… several of my advisors pointed out your utility… So we decided to train you. But it seems your training was seriously neglected.”
“I assure you, we’ve all been improving,” Anna began, but Lady Thalia continued.
“Seriously neglected,” she repeated, “where it maters most, in the realms of courtesy and diplomacy! I will not tolerate any more interruptions! Such is likewise unacceptable.”
Lady Thalia spent the next ten minutes continuing to yell at the three. She repeated herself often, but the trio remained silent. Eventually, lady Thalia grew quiet, but she still glared at them. She took a breath. “I am going to go and fetch the king and queen, now. Then you may make your report.”
She spun, and exited through same door she’d entered. Daniel gave the trio a brief shrug. Then he followed her.
“She seemed about as cheerful as normal,” Peter muttered.
Anna shivered. “I don’t think I’ve gotten a lecture like that since I was ten. What do you think she plans to do about us?”
“I doubt she can do much if Henry and Emily take our side,” Peter said.
“She’s their mother, remember?” Andrew pointed out. “Even if they outrank her in court, I bet she can still tell them what to do.”
“I’m sorry, Andrew,” Anna said. “You warned us they might react this way.”
Andrew shrugged. “Well… now we know where we stand. At least with Lady Thalia. Hopefully, Sol and Daniel will talk her down to getting us lessons in courtesy.”
“Well that doesn’t sound too bad,” Peter said.
“If she’s able to be talked down,” Anna added.
A few moments later, the doors opened again. King Henry and Queen Emily came in first, followed by Daniel and their mother, and half a dozen other liveried servants. The two young monarchs held their heads high, and walked to their thrones deliberately. Andrew bowed, glancing back to make sure Peter followed suit.
“We are glad of your safe return,” Queen Emily began. “And we eagerly await your report. But first, please tell us how our cousin’s fair in the Green Vale?”
“The Thornwoods are doing well,” Andrew began. “Jeremy was making an excellent recovery when we left.”
“And what about your time in Prohr?” Queen Emily asked. Andrew summarized their time in the port city. He left out their discovery of a spy, deciding it would be better to check in with Sol first. But he told them about their discovery of the Wisps and their battle with the pirates.
As he spoke, Andrew noticed King Henry looking sidelong at his mother every so often. He had a feeling that the young king had been given a similar talk about standing on ceremony. He kept going stiff. Then he’d relax and twiddle his fingers before stiffening again. When Andrew finished reporting on their time in Prohr, the queen asked him to describe the events that took place in Green Vale.
“We already know about that,” King Henry burst. “We have their letter, and Uncle Arden sent another one the other day. All is well, there.”
“We must hear the formal report,” Lady Thalia insisted, not looking at her son. The king crossed his arms and sat forward.
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“I understand that while helping our cousins you uncovered something related to the Wisps themselves,” Queen Emily said, ignoring the other two. “Could you explain what that was?”
“It would probably be best for Anna to describe it,” Andrew said, glancing over his shoulder. Anna stepped forward and recounted her vision for the royals. The children seemed absorbed by it. Anna continued to describe most of their journey to the north, and their discovery of the ancient tome.
Queen Emily frowned. “I’m sure that’s very significant,” she said, looking around to see Sol. The Archmage looked a little dazed. “It is, isn’t it, Sol?” she asked him.
Sol blinked. “What? Oh, yes, very momentous. The only other mage I’m aware of to have successfully gotten into one of those vaults was from Selasem, two hundred years ago. Found it empty, so no one bothered to try, since. Its… an impressive feat of magic.”
“And the book?” Queen Emily asked.
“Oh, yes,” Sol answered, though he was clearly still focused on Anna breaking into the vault in the first place. “I’m sure scholars will be very interested to examine it.”
“It may help us learn to translate the High Elf Script,” Daniel pointed out.
There was a chorus of interest from the nobility at that. Hating the sense that he was cutting it short, Andrew stepped forward. “That’s not all we discovered in the north,” he said. “The Mottled were gathering in force.”
The Chancelor sighed. “They always are,” Daniel muttered, and Andrew couldn’t tell if he was annoyed at the news, or simply at mention of the creatures themselves.
“Perhaps, but there seemed to be more to it than that. One of the Mottled had a sword—”
“This sword,” Peter interjected, presenting the curved blade.
“Which contained a Wisp. We’ve… I’d suppose you’d say we managed to tame that Wisp like the others, but it still prefers the blade, which suggests to me that Wisps are making their way into the hands of the monsters as they are to rebels and bandits here in the kingdom.
“What?” the cry of horror rose up from around the hall.
“In addition to that,” Andrew went on. “We encountered a Ryukyuujin raiding party. Raiding the mottled, that is. We spoke with them briefly. But it sounds as though they are suffering from the same problems with Wisps that we have been. Bandits and rebels and the like.” A murmur ran through the other nobles listening in. “The leader of the group proposed an alliance to deal with the problem, and promised to bring the proposal to his own superiors at the nearest opportunity.”
Excitement rippled through the room. “Well, that is something,” Daniel said. “What was this man’s name?”
“Shigeru Yamada,” Andrew said.
“That sounds like one of their noble houses, doesn’t it?” King Henry asked, looking at his sister. The Queen nodded.
“Is there anything else?” she asked.
“Yeah!” Henry said. “How’d you get the sword if Mottled had it?”
“We fought a few of them,” Peter replied.
“Really,” the king burst. He shot to his feet, unable to contain himself. “How many? Did you fight them all at once? What was it like?”
“Henry!” Lady Thalia hissed. She turned to the trio of Wisp Seekers. “I think we shall be satisfied with your report for now,” she told them. Henry shot her a furious look, but he sat down again, and didn’t say anything. “We have yet to decide on what disciplinary action we should take regarding your flagrant disregard for your position.”
“They sent us a letter,” Henry mumbled.
“Never the less, they are dismissed,” Lady Thalia said. Henry was about to object again, and Emily looked ready to join him, when Lady Thalia turned to Sol. “Archmage Sol. I imagine you’d like to examine this book they found?”
“I think I would,” said the red haired elf.
“Then you may go with them while we discuss other business,” Lady Thalia said.
“Mother!” King Henry said. “You can’t just-“ Lady Thalia turned burning eyes on the boy king and he fell silent.
“It’s not going to be pretty if she keeps cowing them that way as they grow up,” Sol muttered once they were out of the room. “It would have been better if she’d waited till they were of age for their coronation.”
“Why didn’t she?” Andrew asked.
Sol shrugged. “Apparently, she thought they’d both be safer as rulers instead of as heirs after their father and aunt died.” He shook his head. “Either way. I wouldn’t worry too much about ‘disciplinary action.’ Lady Thalia has always been a stickler for protocol, and I think it’s finally getting on Queen Emily and Chancelor Daniels’ nerves.”
“Not the King’s?” Peter asked, grinning.
Sol returned the smile. “It’s always gotten on his. Now, where is this book you found?”
Anna produced it for him. He took it. “I’ve been thinking the pages are crystal, which would be why it survived so long. But I haven’t tried anything to test. I don’t want to break it.”
“It could also be enchanted, as the doors were,” he began. Andrew saw one of the gems the Archmage was wearing begin to glow white. He frowned. “That’s odd.”
“What?” Anna asked.
“I can’t sense much about it by magic,” Sol said. “Either it’s enchanted in a very different way than anything I’ve ever seen – even the doors to those High Elf vaults – or it’s made of some material that naturally repels magic.”
“Don’t crystals absorb magic, though?” Peter asked. “Isn’t that why Wisps like them?”
Sol grinned at the young man. “Just so! I doubt this is made of crystal, but… who knows. I’ll see what I can find out about it. Our best bet might be to send it to the Monastery on Vulcuo. I know of a monk there who specializes in antiquity.”
“That’s so far away!” Anna said.
“Where’s Vulcuo?” Peter asked
“It’s a large island, far to the west,” Sol said. “As far as any has been able to find. It is the western edge of the world.
“How far is it?” Peter asked.
“Jarnvaror would have to fly several days over empty waters to reach it,” Anna said.
“Well, there are a few smaller islands on the way he might be able to rest on, But he wouldn’t be able to hunt until they arrived at the island, that’s for certain.”
“Good to know there’s someone who can tell us something about it,” Andrew said. “But there’s something else we needed to talk to you about.” He glanced around to make sure there was no one around.
“You mean the spy you mentioned?” Sol asked.
“Yes. We think their group gave the… Wisp sword, I suppose. We think they gave that to the Mottled.”
Sol frowned. “The mottled are not likely to sit and talk over plans. They would attempt to kill anyone who approached them.” “Does that mean these others couldn’t get Wisps to them?” Andrew asked.
“No… It means that if you’re right, this group is a much more serious problem them I’ve been thinking. A few bandits who are stronger than normal is nothing, at least not to the kingdom as a whole. Neither is a rebel with a bit of magic. Being the power broker for them is worse, but if they’re not only willing to deal with the monsters, they’ve found a way to do it… Their goal is certainly something other than money.”
“Like what?” Peter asked.
“I don’t know.”
“What about the spy? Anything.”
Sol shook his head. “I’ve been keeping an eye on every mage I know. I’ve even had Daniel mobilize our political informants and spies to keep an eye out.”
“You told Daniel?” Andrew asked.
“And Lady Thalia. They both agreed with me that the King and Queen, ah, don’t need to be bothered with this kind of secret.”
“But you haven’t found anything,” Andrew said.
Sol shook his head. “No. I’m afraid that our elusive friends are much more skilled at hiding than we are at seeking.”
“Maybe they just haven’t had anything to report,” Peter said.
“I suppose that’s possible,” Sol said.
“Why wouldn’t they?” Andrew asked. Even as he asked the question, he felt the idea falling into place in his mind. He stopped where he was
“I don’t know,” Peter said. He glanced over his shoulder. “What’s up?”
“You’re right,” Andrew said. “This group is concerned about Wisps. Why would they care about reporting on the day to day dealings of the court?”
“They wouldn’t,” Anna said, catching on. “Not while the Wisp Seekers are away!”
“And we’ve been away,” Andrew said. “Even if they learned about our brief return from Prohr, it wouldn’t have been worth reporting on because they already knew we’d be heading to Green Vale.”
“And your letter was not made public. All they would know is you were gone for an extra few weeks or so,” Sol said, nodding. “Yes, that’s very possible.”
“So what do we do about it?” Peter asked.
Andrew focused on his brother for a moment. “We set a trap.”