Morwin couldn’t move. After witnessing the fight between Lord Demarian and Galvin, how could he think he stood a chance of fighting him. Galvin was… incredible, despite getting beaten by Lord Demarian.

  The Minister of Labor climbed up one of the buildings and let out a primal roar when he found it empty, his scream echoing throughout all of Jovin City. Up ahead a few minutes ago, Darius had snuck by and untied the remaining two members of Justicar who were awaiting execution. Together, they fled the scene before Lord Demarian even noticed. The area in front of him was littered with bodies of both people in demon masks and soldiers from Agnius.

  Lord Demarian descended from the building and he made eye contact with Morwin. Galvin was just talking with him not a couple minutes prior. He could be the one to blame for the sudden burst of ability that Galvin displayed. A hand instinctively reached to his keepsake.

  The minister moved upon him in an instant. “You,” he breathed. “You gave him that igian didn’t you?”

  Morwin raised both hands. “He forced me to. I didn’t know what I was doing until it was too late!”

  “Liar!” Lord Demarian shouted, slamming a fist against one of the buildings. It cracked from the force of his strike. “I know you’re a conspirator in this! Where is your cloak and mask?”

  Anger rushed through him, despite his hand firmly wrapped around the sapphire. How could this man speak to the son of one of the ministers in such a way. But when he spoke, all of the anger and brevity vanished from his body. All he managed was a bare whisper, “Don’t you know who I am?”

  “No, and quite frankly, I don’t give a damn. Especially not when the people who’s freed my slaves just got away. Now, you will tell me everything you know, or you will be imprisoned or executed.”

  Demarian reached with muscular arms and restrained Morwin, grabbing him in a choke hold. Morwin struggled and squirmed, but Lord Demarian was much bigger and stronger than he.

  “Soldiers!” he called, and people rushed to him right away. “You will tie him and return him to our inn.”

  Oh boy, here we go again.

  For the second time that day, Morwin found himself tied to a chair, his legs and arms bound. Demarian stood before him, arms folded. “You will identify yourself now. First name and last name.”

  Morwin glared the man in the eye. “Morwin De’Shai,” he spat. “My father won’t like the treatment you’ve given me.”

  Lord Demarian’s eyes grew wide in shock, then he let out a chuckle. “So his boy finally made it to Jovin City huh.” He leaned in extremely close. His breath did not smell all that pleasant.

  Here was a man Morwin knew and respected for so long, and yet was treating him horribly despite knowing his status. Even the people in Justicar had given him better treatment!

  “I saw you talking with that one rebel. You gave him the igian. You will tell me everything you know, starting with his name.”

  His name is Galvin, he’s been working undercover as my father’s servant alongside a girl named Guenevir. He is the leader of Justicar, and is the one responsible for the attack in the gem mines, and he kidnapped me to try and recruit me, Morwin wanted to say. But he didn’t. A part of him didn’t know why he was holding back, but there was something there. He just… couldn’t bring himself to sell out his friend. He didn’t have the strength to strike him personally nor did he have the courage to align himself properly.

  “I’ve never met that man before. He appeared in front of me, and he demanded I give him an igian. I told him no, but a voice in my head then spoke up and gave me the same command. I don’t know what he did, some kind of hypnosis?”

  “Are you lying to me, boy?” Lord Demarian spat.

  Morwin began sweating. He shook his head. “No,” he said. “I’m telling you the truth. I was there because I just had my talk with Lord Seldam, and I was on my way out when I heard all of this commotion. I wanted to check out what was happening in the square. I swear it!”

  Lord Demarian smiled and leaned back. What was that smile for? He seemed vehemently angry just a second ago.

  “Well, funny you should mention Lord Seldam,” he said. He then walked to the door on the far end of the room and pushed it open, revealing a hallway and an identical room on the other side of the hallway. Sitting in that chair was Lord Seldam. However, he was not bound like Morwin was.

  “I spoke to him before I spoke to you, and the story he gave me is very different from what you told me. He said that Justicar attacked in the middle of your meeting, and you were kidnapped right from under his nose.”

  Lord Seldam locked eyes with Morwin and he visibly relaxed. “I’m glad you’re okay,” Seldam said. He stood up from his chair and scampered up to the room. “Man, if De’Shai found out I let-,”

  Lord Demarian slammed the door in his face and locked it. “Sorry, this is a private conversation,” he muttered, turning back to Morwin. “So can you explain that? Why did you leave out a glaring spot in your story?”

  Sweat began forming on Morwin’s forehead. His face grew hot. He couldn’t tell if his investigator could see his nervousness.

  The sapphire necklace still dangled around his neck. He listened to the heartbeat inside, and it calmed him like it always had. Even knowing it didn’t actually belong to his deceased mother.

  There was something else beside the heartbeat… some kind of force circling in front of him. He could see it. A line of blue air floating and twirling, prancing about. And Morwin could reach out to his mind. It brushed against him in a playful way, almost inviting him. The blue lines came from the sapphire, that much he could tell. He tapped into the source in front of him.

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  Three words whispered into his mind. The same words Galvin had told him. Mind. Senses. Serenity. It bounced around in his brain, and suddenly, his hands and legs felt free. Like he could reach out and touch the words which floated in front of him. Mind. That was the one he focused on.

  He returned to reality and found him still sitting in that chair, tied up. Lord Demarian raised an eyebrow. “Well? Are you going to answer me? Are you a traitor to the crown, a pathological liar, or just plain stupid?”

  “I did get kidnapped,” Morwin admitted. “But I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want my father to find out. He would think me a weakling and not trust me with missions such as these.”

  Believe. Believe. Believe.

  Believe him. The words danced in the air in front of him, word that seemed to emanate heat, prancing about on nothingness, before being projected towards Lord Demarian. His expressions softened.

  He breathed a sigh of relief. “Good to know we don’t have a rebel in the ranks of our government. But don’t you dare lie to me again in cases where you might come across Justicar. I want constant rpeort of them, no matter how small, understood?”

  Morwin couldn’t give a formal salute. He nodded instead.

  Demarian made his way over and sliced the rope open. Morwin sprang up and stretched his body. Why did these people, no matter who, slice the rope instead of just untying the knot?

  “You know my father is going to hear about this, right?” Morwin said. “Expect a very angry man at your doorstep soon.”

  “Then I will tell him the truth of what happened, of how you foolishly allowed yourself to get kidnapped.” Morwin had no response. Lord Demarian paused, giving more thought to the situation. Morwin wanted nothing more than to just escape from there. “How did you escape anyways? I imagine they want to eliminate anyone from the government indiscriminately.”

  Morwin laughed nervously. “They were going to. They were trying to extract information from me such as any secret passageways in Rathalin. Passageways only someone in my position would know. I didn’t tell them anything, I swear. Someone was about to stab me when another one of their members came into the room and announced your arrival. So in a way, you kind of saved my life.”

  Believe, believe, believe. He felt some of the power leave his body as he thought those words.

  “Then don’t be an idiot and send your servants and protectors our next time you have a private chat. They are there to protect you, and you nearly allowed our enemies to exploit you in such a way. I will be sure to find every last member of Justicar and eradicate them. Now you go and finish up whatever business you have here.”

  “Thank you,” Morwin said. Hopefully Lord Demarian didn’t have a clue to what was being done to him. Morwin walked towards the door, to his freedom. Lord Demarian did not stop him. He stepped out into the hallway, to Lord Seldam.

  “Morwin,” he said. “I’m sorry for allowing you to get kidnapped,” he said.

  “No,” Morwin replied. “The blame is no one but my own. My actions of removing our protection were foolish,” he said. “I would continue the talks we were having earlier, but given the events of the day, I think it’s best if we both just retired and meet up perhaps tomorrow to discuss.”

  Lord Seldam nodded. “Yes, I wouldn’t mind that. After today, I could do with some rest.” Morwin nodded at the lord. That whole ordeal provided them with a mutual understanding of one another. Perhaps that would come into play with when they would discuss tomorrow. Hopefully it would push the lord of this city to do the right thing.

  As Morwin was walking towards the stairway that led to the main entrance, he couldn’t help but think about all the things that happened. Him finding out about Galvin and Guenevir.

  He marched down the stairs and found someone talking with a soldier stationed inside. Wait a minute, he recognized that man…

  “My Lord, someone is here to see you! He says he has information on Justicar!” his soldier said.

  As Morwin walked past, he couldn’t help but think who that man was. Yes, he could remember. He worked at the inn. Morwin saw him on the ground floor when the lot of them were heading out. No, he didn’t just work for the inn. He owned it. He’d loaned them some rooms so they could do whatever it is they had to do. But he’d come to give them away.

  Oh no.

  Morwin Absorbed in some more sapphire and focused on Mind. Leave he thought, the thought directed to the man.

  Morwin knew in his heart why Galvin didn’t use the sapphire to convince Morwin to fight for Justicar. It could only give short-term commands, simple suggestions. Telling the man to lie to Lord Demarian was out of the question since he didn’t know how long the talk with the Minister would last. So this was the best thing he could do.

  The man heeded the words and turned around, headed towards the door. But Lord Demarian came down faster. “Who is it?” he said from atop the stairs.

  The inn owner stopped in his tracks, the command seemingly gone from his memory. Morwin continued walking at a steady pace, forcing his racing heart to slow and for him to stay calm as Demarian approached the inn owner. He could feel sweat rolling down his face and his legs shaking with every step. But once he was outside the door, he took off, sprinting at full speed. Why did he want to trust Galvin so much? Why was he going to such lengths to protect him?

  Morwin knew two things as fact: One, the inn owner was there to tell Lord Demarian about the members of Justicar residing in his establishment. Morwin had to warn Galvin about that before it was too late. And two, if he did so, he’d be a traitor to the country.