I was mentally exhausted by the time the banquet ended. Political maneuvering wasn't just complicated, it was tedious. How many times could you say the same ridiculous bullshit before someone actually commented on how inane it was. Telling people their clothes were nice, talking about bullshit tourist nonsense from their territories, listening to THEM regale you with pointless stories.

Despite the conversation, I had to watch every word so I didn't give anything away, and more than once Callie caught me before I said something genuinely personal instead of just fake bullshit personal, like talking about my likes or dislikes. It was tiring, annoying, and by the time we left I was ten seconds from slugging the next person who smiled at me.

We filed into the carriage, and Callie sighed as she slumped onto the seat. "That was...awful. Most of those people were terrible human beings. I almost stabbed Baron Langdon. His creepy stories about all the women he takes to his lake house were gross. If Shane hadn't been with me I think he might have tried inviting me back there."

"He looked like he was considering it anyway." I growled. "I was about ten seconds from taking my staff to his wrinkled old face. How is it possible that he's THAT old physically at that rank? He looked like, ninety. I thought Vitality kept people in their peak health for their age?" The unpleasant E-ranker had been a nauseating conversationalist, and I was still shaking with rage at how he'd been looking at Callie.

Camden grimaced. "I looked into him. He didn't manage to reach any notable rank until late in life. He was passed over by his family for his position, and fell into it by default when the previous Baron of his territory died. The Imperial Roles supplied enough renown to reach his current rank, but his advanced age had a profound effect on the stats he gained. He has almost no Vitality."

I hadn't known that could happen, but it couldn't have been done to a nicer guy. I hoped he was miserable. Forcing myself to calm down, I took a deep breath, counting to ten as I forced myself to regain my calm. "Well, don't expect us to talk to him ever again. If he ever looks at Callie again I'm going to kill him in his sleep."

My girlfriend arched an eyebrow, holding up one of her daggers and slashing out, the darkness of her Abyssal path severing the air in front of her with a hiss. "That's sweet honey, but I can take care of myself. If anyone is going to kill that creepy old fuck in his sleep it'll be me. Leave the nighttime executions to the experts." Despite her tone, I could feel the warmth through our bond. She loved how protective I was, even if we both knew she didn't need it.

"Yes, you're adorable." Drawled Benny. "But maybe we can focus on that whole...shadow...thief thing. What the fuck was that? Where did those guys get taken? And who was the guy with the staff?"

Sighing, Camden shook his head. "Weston. A D-ranked Magister who works with the Earl on occasion. I'm not sure why he was there. I'd been briefed on him along with the other power players on the planet during my research, but I wasn't informed he frequented the area."

"Because he doesn't." I said bluntly. Looking around, I studied the walls. "Can we talk safely in here? Without being overheard? We have...sensitive information."

He raised a hand. Reaching up to one of the rings he was wearing, he twisted it and there was a flash of blue light. The walls of the carriage flashed in response, and a series of runes began to glow. He nodded. "We should be safe to speak. We're in a pocket space, and the isolation enchantment will prevent any sound from being picked up by anyone outside the vehicle."

Once he confirmed that, we told them all everything. We left out Anna's name, only calling her a friend, but everything else we laid out directly. Once I'd told him all about what had happened, I shot him a searching look. "Do you know who might be pulling strings? Because we didn't exactly sign up to fight the Tolbert family. This was supposed to be a low level conflict we could use for training."

Pinching his nose, he sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't think anyone would bother following me here. I recused myself from family politics, and this place isn't worth the effort to come into conflict with me." He trailed off. "But if someone is here, I know who it is. My cousin Spencer. He and I have had conflicts over the years. If anyone in the family would pursue me it would be him."

"Well what will he do?" I demanded. "What's his M.O? We have a contract and I'm not buying it out, so we're with you, but we need to know more about this guy. He won't know about my powers right? That at least could be useful."

Camden nodded. "I doubt he does. I only dug into you after learning your names, and I doubt Spencer even bothered. He's an arrogant bastard, and it wouldn't occur to him to waste resources digging into his lessers. He'll consider you nuisances at best. Mercenaries from a backwater nowhere planet just like any of the others. Since you came with me to the banquet he might have his interest piqued, but I can make sure he doesn't find what I did."

I wasn't sure HOW he could do that, but it was a relief to hear. "So what do you think his plan is? Will he try to take the territory from you? Get involved in the regional battles? Because if he tries to gather mercs like you did I imagine it'll be tough with you having snapped them all up. Could be an advantage."

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His expression became pinched, worry creasing his brow. "I pray that his plan is something so mundane, but I fear the opposite. Spencer is a vindictive and cold person. He'd burn the whole territory before he saw me get it. I worry that we may be in for far more than a simple battle."

Cursing, I glanced around at my friends. "Well, there are ways to work around him. We know he's here, and he doesn't know we know. My friend being at the banquet was a freak accident caused by a few wishes she made. No one would have expected it."

"That is quite the advantage." He admitted. "I'll reach out to my information contacts and feel them out. Don't worry, I won't tip our hand, but checking what Spencer is doing won't raise any suspicion given our antagonism."

Standing, he nodded to all of us. I'm going to consult Alister up front. You can talk amongst yourselves. Thank you for this warning. I'll do my best to make the most of it." With that, he turned and strode into front of the carriage where the driver was situated, closing the door behind him.

Turning to the others, I cocked my head inquisitively. "Alright, now we're alone." I gestured to the still glowing symbols on the walls. "So...what does everyone think?"

"We help." Said Benny firmly. "That much is obvious. Even without the contract we can't afford to lose out on a potential territory on such a massive planet. Plus I like Camden. He seems like a good guy. Though I have to say, it feels pretty good to have a choice. Not being the targets of the secretive assassins isn't a bad turn of events."

I snickered. "Yeah I had that thought. But this is a dangerous thing to get involved in. There are outs in the contract. And I do have a bunch of wishes stockpiled outside the arrangement for the territory. We could have Anna buy us out if we really need it."

To a D-ranker, the amount of money we'd set up for the buyout wouldn't be nearly as big of a problem. Realistically I could get a lot more bang for my buck if I worked with higher rankers all the time, but they had less need for lower rank wishes, and the circumstances were far less controllable. Still, in this case it was an option, and one I felt compelled to offer even if I didn't want to take it.

Callie took my hand, beaming at me. "I know you don't want to abandon him, or the possible home we might be able to make here. I love you for offering us an out, but no one here wants to take it. We came to this decision together, signing up with Camden after everyone agreed." She winked. "Plus we haven't gotten our new costumes yet. Nobody wants to miss that."

Sighing, I shook my head. "Alright. We'll need to find a way to tell the others without anyone noticing, just in case they want to abandon ship, but otherwise I'll proceed as normal." I grimaced. "So more training...yay." The others all laughed, though I could hear plenty of sympathy in their tones. Once everyone agreed, I pulled my sister aside to check in. "Hey." I said as we reached the wall, using Callie's stealth Skill to avoid anyone overhearing. "You sure you're ok with this?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes Shane. I'm fine. Just because I may have spent a bit more time working on cross referencing than crossing swords doesn't mean I'm a coward." Her tone was bitter and a little confrontational, and I was kind of blindsided.

"Whoa!" I said in surprise, hands going up defensively. "Pull it back, that's not what I meant. This isn't your problem, and it was my bad luck...or fate sense, that dragged us into it. You have no skin in this game, and I don't want you in danger for something I did." I didn't want any of them in danger, but my friends had earned the right to make that call themselves. Not that Chelsea didn't have that right but...she was my sister. I felt compelled to try to protect her.

The hard look on her face softened. "And that's sweet, but I knew when we did this things weren't going to be safe. I have Callen with me, and uncle Zeke will step in if someone too strong tries to hurt us. For threats closer to our own level...I trust you. And the others too. I'm with you, Shane. All the way."

"Well then," I said with a smile. "I suppose we should buckle down on our training. I can't tell you what's coming, but I can tell you it's probably going to be a nightmare. These things rarely blow up small. The curse of being an Ascendant." Or just of being me. It always made me wonder if the Wish ability was special somehow. Like maybe being the focal point of so many changes in reality had some impact on the world and invited disaster.

Then again Nat didn't seem to have the same nonsense luck I did. Maybe it was some factor of being descended from three different gods. Chelsea got a second ability and I got crazy luck. Whatever the case, I had enough pattern recognition to see it for what it was. Inevitable.

Chelsea laughed like I was making a joke, and it was all I could do not to sigh. She'd figure it out. Until then, I needed to talk to Anna again. If she had information we could use I'd be willing to trade wishes for it in a heartbeat. Anything to level the playing field a bit. Lucky for us, we were already on the way to visit Zeke and Cass at the inn. We could discuss things there, in her new secret room. In the meantime, I was going to get a snack. Food hadn't been served at the banquet aside from canapes on account of the emergency with the thieves, and I was starving.