Rage surged through Darius at the sight of the Valiant in white. For a fleeting moment, he considered summoning the Spirit of Death to strike the man down for what he had done to Ron. Consequences be damned. The image burned in his mind; blood paid for with blood.

  But then, Favian’s voice echoed in his thoughts. Stay low.

  And now Favian lay injured and bedridden, more vulnerable than ever. To act now would be to doom them both.

  Darius tore his gaze away and slipped back into the flow of the street, careful to keep out of sight. He wrapped a cloth tightly around his wrist, hiding the band, and moved as quickly as his legs would carry him. The exhaustion that had plagued him earlier vanished, driven out by fear and urgency.

  He did not return to Nathan’s shop.

  Instead, he made his way on foot to Nathan’s house, keeping to the quieter paths. When he arrived, he lingered at a distance, watching carefully to ensure Catherine was nowhere in sight. Only then did he move inside.

  He went straight to the room where Favian was being kept.

  Relief flooded him when he saw his fellow Truther awake. Favian managed a weak smile at the sight of him, and Darius silently thanked whatever unseen force had spared his life.

  “Catherine said you stayed with me all night,” Favian murmured.

  Darius nodded lightly. “Truthers look after one another.”

  Favian studied Darius for a moment, then frowned.

  “Why did you come back so soon?” he asked. “You left Nathan at the market. Was there trouble?”

  Darius hesitated, then nodded. “There were… several problems.”

  Before he could explain further, he reached for the cloth around his wrist and slowly unwound it. The gold band gleamed as it was revealed, its gemstones caught the light of the room. Favian’s breath hitched.

  Without a word, Favian drew his own hand out from beneath the blanket.

  He wore the same band.

  Darius stared, stunned. “So you have it too.”

  Favian gave a faint, humourless smile. “Aye. It appeared when I woke earlier. I don’t know what it is, but I’m certain it comes from the Unknown.”

  Darius shook his head, with frustration edging his voice. “That makes no sense. Why would the Unknown send us to this world with no understanding of it? No guidance or no rules, nothing?”

  Favian’s gaze drifted towards the ceiling. “Aside my guide, Serge told me some things. Fragments of knowledge about this world— how it works, what to avoid. Not enough, but more than nothing.”

  Darius exhaled sharply, then pulled his thoughts back to the present. “That’s not the worst of it. Meredith saw the band.”

  Favian’s eyes snapped back to him. “Saw it how?”

  “It had already formed,” Darius replied quickly. “She didn’t see it appear. I told her it was an inheritance, something passed down from my parents.”

  Favian nodded once. “A good lie.” Then his brow furrowed. “But what about the gems? Some of them are glowing.”

  “I told her they were magical.”

  Favian considered that, then gestured faintly. “Let me see.”

  Darius extended his arm. Favian leaned closer, studying the band with careful eyes. Three gemstones glimmered faintly: red, green, and violet. The rest remained dull and lifeless.

  “Interesting,” Favian murmured.

  Then he lifted his own wrist for Darius to see.

  The same band— but different. On Favian’s, the yellow, green, and violet gems glowed instead.

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  Darius sucked in a breath. “They’re different,” he said at once. “That has to mean something. Maybe it’s a message or guidance. Telling us what to do next.”

  Favian lowered his arm slowly. “It’s possible,” he admitted. “But if it is a message, it’s one written in a language we don’t know. Even my guide has no understanding of the band’s purpose.”

  Darius drew a slow breath. “We’ll figure it out eventually,” he said, though it sounded more like hope than certainty. “Whatever the band is meant to do… it wouldn’t mark us for nothing.”

  Then his expression darkened. “There’s something else.”

  Favian waited.

  “I saw him,” Darius said quietly. “The Valiant in white. The one who addressed the crowd the night Ron was arrested.”

  Favian’s face tightened. “Thaddeus,” he murmured.

  “You know him?”

  “Unfortunately,” Favian replied. “Thaddeus is high-ranked. Very high. He has the ear of the Emperor himself.”

  Favian shook his head and went on. “If Thaddeus is in Sadnon, then he didn’t come alone. Valiants his rank, don’t travel that far without escort. Others would have come with him from Orlan.”

  “That’s what I feared,” Darius said. “What if one of them recognises us? You… or me.”

  Favian’s jaw clenched. “Then we make ourselves harder to see. We keep to the shadows. We avoid patterns, crowds, and anything that draws attention.”

  Darius nodded. He didn’t like it, but he agreed.

  A question pressed hard at the back of Darius’s mind. Eldrin. The name Karev had used. He wanted to ask Favian about it, to understand why Karev had spoken it so casually, and why Favian had bristled the last time it was mentioned. But the memory of Favian’s reaction stopped him. Some doors were better left unopened, at least for now.

  Instead, Darius shifted the conversation.

  “There’s something else I don’t understand,” he said. “The sword. The Spirit of Death.”

  Favian’s eyes sharpened immediately.

  “I don’t remember killing the Rageler,” Darius continued. “The moment I touched the blade… it’s as if everything after that vanished. I only came back to myself when you called my name.”

  Favian said nothing, letting him speak.

  “And I think the sword healed me,” Darius added quietly. “My wounds closed far too quickly. It couldn’t have been natural.”

  Favian exhaled slowly. “I suspected as much.” His gaze hardened. “Be careful with that blade, Darius. Weapons that take life so easily rarely give without cost. They always demand more in the end.”

  Darius nodded. He had felt it too— the pull and hunger beneath the steel. “I will.”

  A moment passed with silence.

  “I should return to the market,” Darius added at last. “Before anyone notices I’ve been gone too long.”

  Favian gave a faint nod. “Stay alive.”

  Darius returned Favian’s nod and slipped quietly from the room, setting his course back towards the market.

  When he arrived, he eased himself into the shop without drawing Nathan’s attention and lowered himself onto the makeshift bed of sacks Meredith had laid out for him. His body welcomed the rest, but his mind refused to follow.

  Sleep came in fractured moments, with each creak of wood and raised voice from the street outside, jolting him awake. His hand instinctively reached for the cloth around his wrist and his heart leapt at imagined Valiant footsteps.

  By nightfall, the shop was closing. Meredith returned just as Darius finished loading the last of the goods onto the cart they would take home. She joined Nathan and Darius without a word, and together they set off through the dimly lit streets.

  The ride home was quiet at first, the wheels creaking softly against the stone. Then Nathan spoke.

  “I saw Jeremy’s wife at the market today,” he said. “She told me Oliver’s opened his eyes. He isn’t speaking yet, but… it’s something. I’ll go and see them later.”

  Darius nodded, relieved for the boy, though his thoughts were elsewhere.

  Nathan’s gaze drifted, settling on the cloth wrapped around Darius’s wrist. “You injured yourself?”

  Darius opened his mouth to answer… but Meredith spoke first.

  “He’s hiding his special jewellery,” she said lightly. “Didn’t want it on show.”

  Darius’s heart lurched painfully.

  Nathan raised a brow. “Jewellery?” He leaned closer. “Let’s have a look, then.”

  With a reluctant breath, Darius unwound the cloth and extended his wrist. The band gleamed faintly in the moonlight.

  Before Nathan could ask further, Meredith quickly added, “They’re magical. He’s trying to keep them hidden so no one mistakes him for a Truther.”

  Nathan studied the band for a long moment. “And what does it do?”

  “I don’t know,” Darius said honestly.

  Nathan clicked his tongue thoughtfully. “Might be better to take it off, then. Wrapping your hand like that only draws more attention.”

  Darius nodded in agreement, though unease twisted in his gut. He had already tried. There was no clasp or seam. The band sat tight against his wrist, as though it had grown there.

  As he began to wrap the cloth back around his arm, something caught his eye.

  The green and violet gems had gone dull.

  Only the red remained alight, glowing faintly beneath the fabric.

  Darius stilled and his pulse quickened. He finished tying the cloth with racing thoughts. Were the gems broken? Or had the band shifted again, offering another message or another warning, written in light only he should understand?

  The cart rolled on through the darkened streets, and Darius stared ahead, knowing that whatever this was, was far from finished.