This time there’s no red glow on the horizon as we approach Whalehost, neither from sun nor fire. We’ve made good time on the journey, though not quite as good as the way there – we couldn’t all fit in the balloon, after all.

  Layton saw us off well – he made sure that we had the supplies for a good few days of travel. He also offered to send some of his guards with me to ensure that I got back to my own territory safely, but I refused those – more people meant we’d travel even slower. And I figured we had enough firepower with us now to deal with most threats. It seems like my assumption was correct – if any bandits saw us, they evidently decided we weren’t good targets.

  Now, innkeepers, they’re a different story. Not having such a pressing need to cover the distance as fast as possible, we’ve been stopping for the night, most of the time at an inn to benefit from its amenities. And they’re a bunch of robbers if ever I’ve seen one, though my guards kept me from getting too badly ripped off. I did have to pay a premium for bringing my beasts into the room with me, but none of them refused entirely. I guess that they don’t get enough travellers to turn one away just for that.

  Interestingly, neither Rory nor Alyna tried to escape while we were in the villages. I was more than half-expecting Rory to attempt to run again, especially the closer we got to his old stomping grounds. Instead, he’s just become quieter by the day – and he didn't say much to begin with. These days, I almost forget he’s there until we make a stop for a toilet break or for the night and he emerges from his corner.

  Alyna is another question. She’s been watching and listening to everything, and she and Hunter seem to have hit it off over their shared appreciation for runes. I get the feeling she’s trying to ingratiate herself with those around – not a bad strategy. And beneficial to me as well, if she shares her knowledge with Hunter.

  We’re back, I send to Nicholas down the Bond we still have. It takes a moment for him to respond – I sense he’s busy right now.

  Welcome back. I take it you were successful?

  I got everyone back alive and dealt with those who were holding them, I tell him succinctly. But the ultimate perpetrators are still in the wind. Have you made progress in your own investigation?

  I feel a flicker of dissatisfaction from his side of the Bond.

  Not as much as I wanted. Come – join me at the manor. I will ensure our host is prepared for your arrival. Are you still in that balloon?

  Most of us, yes. But some are running.

  I see. There’s a moment of pause. Can you see a wide street that leads up the hill from your angle of approach?

  I lean out of the balloon basket and search the streets ahead. Thanks to following the road this time, we’re coming in the way people are expected to, so the wide street Nicholas just described is actually right ahead of us.

  Excellent. Just follow the street – I will ask for our host to send a few guards to ensure your unchallenged passage into the manor.

  OK, thanks, I acknowledge.

  With that I sense his attention turn away from me. I reach out to everyone who’s not currently in the balloon. A figure joins me in leaning on the basket. I turn my head to see Mathis. Relief plays on his face.

  “Happy to be back in Azaarde?”

  “I’ll be happier when we’re back at the manor, but being in an Azaardian city is definitely a relief,” he admits. “Hopefully there will be fewer threats here, though we should still stay alert.”

  “Definitely.” I debate briefly with myself, then decide that he should know. “Nicholas has hinted that the arsonists are still at large,” I admit. Mathis turns and gives me a hard look. It takes me a moment to realise the cause and when I do, I could hit myself – no one is supposed to know that Nicholas and I have a Bond. But trying to make up some half-baked excuse is no better. I just force my expression into tranquil neutrality and face Mathis without flinching.

  A moment later, he grunts and looks away.

  “We’ll keep a wary eye out, my lord,” he acknowledges with more formality in his voice than he’s had for a while. Does he fear that Nicholas might be seeing through my eyes or something?

  Feeling suddenly awkward, I gaze down at those running below. Unsurprisingly, those who were trapped in the basement have wanted to run as much as possible. It’s taken time for them to build up their fitness again: in the first couple of days, they had to run in short bursts – their muscles had been stiff and weak despite my healing. Now, they can run the whole day through.

  Personally, I’ve preferred to meditate and play with magic – I understand those magic-blocking manacles more and more and I feel that I’m on the edge of figuring out how to nullify them even while wearing them. I’ve also managed to level up to twenty-six. It shouldn’t be as satisfying as it is to see the changed numbers in my status, but I can’t deny my own emotions. No one has managed to Evolve, but, in between running, my companions have been doing their own meditation, making small but sure progress. The Tier one raptorcats are the ones who have made the most progress – if they keep on like this, they might Evolve in a few more months’ time.

  The seven days since the rescue has done everyone good, to be honest. Good food, exercise, and carefully-directed healing has done wonders. Even River, Happy, and Hunter, the ones I was most worried about, are almost at the level of health they were when they were captured – and their eggs are in perfect condition.

  By the time we enter the city, I decide to join my companions in walking through the cobblestone streets – since running isn’t a good idea with all the pedestrians around. Growing air-wings, I soar down to them and am soon being crowded by demands for petting. Even Blaze and Spot, who used to be more standoffish, are far more comfortable with me following recent events. It’s nice to get a view of the city too – this time not distracted by concerns about a city-wide fire or my missing companions.

  As promised, a group of guards comes to meet us a while later and Nicholas reaches out again with a request that the balloon land back in the same place as before. I hop back into the air to help guide the balloon basket, and then fly down to the courtyard where my ground Bonded and the guards who came with me are gathering.

  Lord Pevril quickly hurries out of his main doors, a wide smile on his face as he practically bounces in happiness. Nicholas follows him at a far more sedate pace.

  “Lord Markus! You’ve returned!” he exclaims, stating the obvious, but with such joviality that I can’t hold it against him.

  “Lord Pevril, it’s good to see you again too,” I answer politely, dipping my head to him as he bows.

  “Come, come, you must be worn thin from your journey. Let us go inside and take a cup of tila to revive you!”

  “If you wouldn’t mind, can we have it outside in the garden? My companions are more comfortable there and I would prefer not to leave them at this moment. Their kidnapping is still very fresh in my memory,” I explain politely.

  “Oh, of course, of course. I’ll have that set up momentarily.”

  Within short order, we find ourselves in a much smaller garden than the massive one near Nicholas’ estate, but one that is neat and pretty nonetheless. Rather too neat for my non-human companions’ preferences – they definitely prefer wild areas – but infinitely better than a dark basement. Lord Pevril is a hospitable lord and ensures that the predators are well-supplied with meat. My three current human Bonded have been taken down to the kitchens along with the guards where I’m assured that they will be given food and drink as well.

  The three of us engage in polite conversation for a good half an hour before Pevril excuses himself – smart man. Although we can use the Bond to communicate silently, trying to keep two conversations going at the same time is a challenge. It’s a skill I should work on, though – it could be useful.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Once Pevril has left the area, Nicholas casts a Seal around us and looks at me expectantly.

  “So? How did it go?”

  I quickly summarise the events for him, starting with the bandits on our way, and ending with the alliance offered by Layton. Nicholas listens in silence, his eyes slightly hooded. Even after I’ve finished, he remains silent for a few moments longer, eyeing the blood-stained cloth and the encoded papers that I’ve pulled out and placed on the table for him.

  “This was from the assassin who was the connection between the gang leader and his sponsor?” he checks, indicating the cloth.

  I nod.

  “Though I don’t know if ‘sponsor’ is exactly right – more like temporary employer if what Loran and Alyna overheard is anything to go by. I was hoping that you might be able to get something out of the blood – you said that there’s a number of uses for it, willingly or unwillingly given.”

  “Possibly,” Nicholas muses. “Though it is a bit old – blood generally becomes less useful the longer since it was drawn. Still, I will see what I can do. And if you will give these papers into my keeping, I will give them to my spymaster. Perhaps they can decode them and see if there’s anything useful.”

  “Please,” I agree. Nicholas nods and takes the papers, making them vanish into his Inventory. The cloth he folds up and tucks into a pocket – it seems I was right in not putting it in my Inventory. Then the lord leans back in his chair and looks at me with a pleased light in his eyes.

  “Overall, it seems you managed the rescue as well as you might,” he judges, a note of approval in his voice. “Involving the city lord, ensuring that the citizens around suffer as little as possible, demonstrating your power yet also your regard for the law by giving the criminals up to the courts instead of enacting your own justice….” He nods. “Little wonder Lord Layton decided to offer you the alliance.” He fixes me with a stern, yet approving gaze. “You paid heed to my warning and I appreciate that.”

  “I understood the point of staying within the law as much as possible,” I agree, then fix him with my own hard look. “But now the question is if I can stay within the law to deal with Torrent – I will have payment for the suffering of my Bonded torn from his hide.”

  Nicholas hesitates for a moment.

  “That…may not be so easy.”

  Of course not. I growl to myself.

  “Why not? I had Dexil’s word that Torrent was involved!”

  “From the sounds of it, you had a common criminal’s word that a ‘nob from Rainpoint’ was involved. And a mysterious ‘Lady’. Besides, even if this Dexil had named Torrent, his death would render that evidence inadmissible.”

  “What? Why? I know he was telling the truth! Can’t your truth magic detect that?”

  “Precisely – a judicator could accurately judge whether you believe he was telling the truth or not, but without the man in question, there is no way of identifying whether he was actually telling the truth. And in a case against a Great Lord, such distinctions are eminently relevant.”

  “And what of the letters? What if your spymaster cracks the code and finds written evidence of their association?”

  “Unverified documents from a criminal’s safe hold no weight in a case like this. Unless they contain knowledge only Torrent could possess – or bear irrefutable proof of his hand – they’re worthless in court.”

  “And Valence’s testimony?” I demand, my temper and voice rising in my frustration. “What of Torrent’s own voice plotting this whole thing?”

  “Assuming you could convince Heir Fell to testify against Lord Torrent – which is by no means a given – his account would amount to ‘a voice that sounded like Torrent speaking to a woman who might have been Lady Goldmine.’ With voice-altering enchantments so common, such testimony would be laughed out of court.”

  My mind catches on something Nicholas said.

  “Wait, ‘someone who might have been Lady Goldmine’? He hasn’t managed to confirm it yet?”

  “No,” Nicholas sighs heavily, “but the lack of confirmation is evidence enough – for me.”

  I frown.

  “What do you mean?”

  Nicholas hesitates for a moment.

  “There are…rumours about that family. Nothing confirmed, but…it’s likely that for all they have a merchant Class on the surface, the reality is darker than that.”

  “Darker, how?”

  Nicholas looks at me steadily.

  “Opponents are nullified under circumstances that are just a little too clean. Witnesses change their story and yet pass a truth-teller’s questioning. For all my efforts, I’ve never managed to uncover their methods; only their results. But the contents of the conversation and Fell’s difficulty in identifying the voice can only have been Clarissa half-heartedly concealing herself – or someone trying to frame her.”

  “And if it is someone framing her?”

  Nicholas gives a humourless smile.

  “Then we need not worry about them. Clarissa will deal with them herself for the insult.”

  I nod slowly.

  “You said ‘half-heartedly concealing herself’,” I note. Which makes sense – concealing her voice in some way, but saying enough to make it obvious who is involved. “Why would she do that?”

  “Clarissa ever plays the long game and she’s usually far more subtle. That there are obvious links between her and this affair indicate that either she’s not involved, or that she wants us to know why she is.”

  I blink, my brow furrowing. This is the kind of double bluff that gives me a headache.

  “Why would she want us to know that she’s involved in a kidnapping of my companions?” I ask slowly. “She has to know that I would seek revenge against her for that.”

  Nicholas gives me another smile, though this one contains more humour.

  “Clarissa’s biggest weakness is in mistaking other people to be as cold-blooded as she is. It’s not the first time she’s made that error. My informants confirm subtle troop and war-machine transfers from Rainpoint to Goldroute’s front line with Nethya – payment, I suspect, for her alliance. Yet House Goldmine never commits fully; she’s likely courting both sides. While she and I have…history, she no doubt sees in you an opportunity. She leaves emotional decisions to Torrent and makes her own based on cold pragmatism.”

  I tuck the information away to consider later, not wanting to be completely diverted away from the previous topic. Goldmine can wait until we’ve dealt with Torrent – he is definitely an enemy who wants to see us dead or under his control. Goldmine’s intentions are far more nebulous.

  “Then we have nothing to hold against Torrent? Wait, did you find any evidence that he’s linked to the arson attempt?”

  Nicholas shrugs elegantly.

  “The trails point that way, but they have been too expertly-disguised to be sure. The professional nature of the arson matched that of the kidnapping of your Bonded, but that is no sort of evidence. Everything is circumstantial and could be easily argued away as an effort of his enemies to discredit him. Indeed, it could be a ploy to sow discord between three Great Houses.”

  “Do you think that?” I ask, a hint of doubt creeping into me.

  “No, I don’t,” Nicholas answers firmly. “I know Roland of old, and this is exactly the sort of plot he’d try to pull off. His hatred for my family is very real. But the existence of that doubt will cause any case we try to bring against him to fail. Until we have solid proof that he’s interfering in the governance of another Great House’s territory, there is no point in pursuing a case against him.”

  I bite back a growl.

  “Then we should, what, just give up? Is there no justice in this country?” I feel self-conscious about the immature words the moment they leave my mouth.

  Nicholas gives me a hard look.

  “Don’t be naive. He’s a Great Lord. It would be just as difficult to build a case against me. And we hardly have irrefutable evidence that we could use to pin him down.”

  “But he kidnapped my Bonded,” I grit out, my knuckles turning white as I clench my fists.

  “Beasts and a slave,” Nicholas reminds me, though he sends me sympathy and understanding through the Bond. “At best, the King might declare that we should settle our discord with an equal-fault honour duel – but you would not win that, and depending on the terms, neither might I.”

  I grit my teeth, my gorge rising at the thought that he might get away with this.

  “Well, what about outside the courts?”

  Nicholas looks at me steadily.

  “If you are entertaining notions of paying Roland back in kind, I would suggest you first consider if you can ensure that there is as little evidence linking you to the deed as he has managed. Do not think that Torrent would waste a single moment in dragging us to the courts if he can.”

  I glare at the flagstones beneath my feet. Truthfully, I don’t know whether I could. Using only my Bonded, I would definitely leave traces given how impressive a Tracker’s Skills can be. And I don’t know where to start in finding and hiring a professional outfit.

  Nicholas allows me a moment before he continues speaking. “If you want revenge without doing Roland’s work for him, crush his heir in the competition.” His smile is sharp, deliberate – a wolf’s grin. “The Lost Continent is far from scrutiny; misfortune is expected. Humiliate him, break him – kill him, if you wish and chance allows. However, bear in mind that Torrent will demand truth-seekers afterward, so be careful what can be proven – even in the competition, premeditated murder of another noble is a crime. Make his House bleed and feed our own in the process – while keeping your own honour. Roland will feel that deeper than any assassin’s blade.”

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