The sound of his beating heart was terribly loud in Aiden’s ear, and he blamed it on his enhanced perception. Arms folded over his chest, he flexed his red fingers, closing and opening his fist.

  He met Rue Brandis’ gaze and didn’t flinch. Instead, he let his eyes narrow very slowly, suspiciously. Then his lips tightened, and his jaw clenched in false annoyance.

  “The Order?” he asked slowly.

  Rue Brandis nodded. “What do you know of it?”

  Aiden searched her eyes from across the distance. With his perception buff he could see them clearly. Brown eyes staring at him, watching him. Waiting.

  Rue Brandis was playing a game right now, trying to fish out what he knew. It took him a little longer than he would’ve liked but he learnt what he wanted to learn.

  She wanted to know if the Order had reached out to him somehow. It was an interesting thing. She didn’t want to know if he had somehow found out about the Order but if the Order had come to him.

  I guess that’s their explanation for how I know too much, he thought.

  Personally, he thought that line of thinking was reasonable. It made sense. He grew too fast, went to places he shouldn’t know. He did too much. Clearly, no one would think that he was some kind of time traveler who had come back in time. Why? Because it would be beyond ridiculous.

  Everyone knew that the ability to time travel was one of the rarest skills. And even then, it wasn’t actual time travel, it was more of projecting. There were rare people in history with the [Time Walker] class who had gained skills that allowed them to project themselves into the future. Only a handful, if Aiden’s memory served him correctly.

  In this era, Zen was one of them. Even then, these skills did not grant them specificity, only fragments of the future they saw, terribly unusable fragments. Such skills were how seers worked. They saw broken fragments and spun a tale of cryptic confusion that annoyed people.

  Aiden had known Zen long enough to know how such things worked.

  So, in summary, there was no one with any kind of sense in their head that would assume that he was a time traveler since even in a world capable of summoning people from another world time travel on the scale he had experienced was impossible.

  “Lord Lacheart,” Rue Brandis said in a soft voice. “The Order.”

  Aiden feigned slight annoyance. “I heard you, ma’am. I’m still sifting through what I know.”

  Rue cocked a brow. “What you know?”

  “I’m sure that his grace has informed you of the fact that I tend to use my time in the library to lie a little.”

  Rue smiled. “It has crossed my ears a time or two.”

  “While that is true,” Aiden continued. “I actually have been spending time in the library. So I need to be sure before I give an answer.”

  “Sure of what?”

  “Of everything I know about orders.”

  “Interesting.” Rue placed both hands on her knee, one atop the other. “I never thought the idea of an order would be so much to think about.”

  “The order,” Aiden corrected her. “You said The order. Emphasis on ‘the’. Only a child would not understand that you are talking of a specific order. Something generally known.”

  “And why would I be talking about that?”

  Aiden raised a slow brow, allowing all the other expressions slip from his face. “I doubt a queen would come to my room before the sun is up to ask me about some random order given by some random person on some random day. And considering the fact that your husband has given me no order recently, it certainly cannot be about that.”

  Rue’s expression brightened tremendously. She looked like a child who’d just seen a toy she’d been dreaming of for so many years. “You are a child, though. Nineteen, if I am not mistaken.”

  “Nineteen does not necessarily make me a child,” Aiden opposed.

  “Nope.” Rue shook her head, still smiling. “Nineteen is definitely still a child. People would argue that you’re a child until you’re twenty-five.”

  “People would argue that you become an adult the moment you get your interface,” Aiden returned.

  Rue waved the statement aside casually, hand returning back to her knee. “Everyone is always in a hurry to grow up, tossing around anything just to be an adult. Age, Lord Lacheart,” she leaned forward teasingly but not seductively, “is not just a number.”

  “That’s interesting,” Aiden said with a half-smile. “In my world, the popular saying is exactly the opposite.”

  Rue kept her eyes on him, still slightly leaning forward on her chair. Aiden’s gaze did not waver. It did not flinch. He met her brown eyes and held her gaze. A moment of silence settled between them. As annoying as it was to admit, Aiden felt like a child being tested by their mother. Mommy had bluffed and the son had just called her bluff for the first time in his life.

  Rue broke their locked gaze and sat back with a very wide smile. She looked happy, ecstatic. She was like a teenager on some high end drug.

  “You, dear boy,” she said, “are beautiful. If only one of my children had the level of calculated sass that you have, I’d be the happiest mother alive.” She paused, turned thoughtful, smiled wider. “Have you ever wanted to be a prince before, Lord Lacheart?”

  Aiden shrugged, hoping his nonchalance would calm her excitement. “Wanted to be a strong grappler as a child once.”

  “A grappler,” Rue mused. “I believe every male child goes through a violent dream every now and again. It’s usually dreams like slaying dragons and winning wars, though. But a good grappler can work. I know a few knights that are good at grappling techniques. I could speak with one of them.”

  Aiden shook his head. “I had the dream when I was a child. Dream’s gone.”

  “Then what do you dream of now?”

  “Mostly random things like most people. Sometimes I dream of…” Aiden’s voice trailed off as he thought about it, really thought about it. A frown creased his brows as he realized something. He continued his statement, nonetheless. “Girls… sometimes.” He cocked his head to the side in thought without meaning to. “Food. The fight I had with the goblins when I first snuck out of the castle. Three nights ago, I dreamt about home.”

  What the hell? He thought in his mind as he listed out dreams to the queen of Bandiv. What’s going on? When was the last time I had a dream?

  Aiden had just realized that since returning to the past he had not had a single dream. Not one. If he’d woken up to a feeling from a dream he couldn’t remember, that would’ve been good. But not even that.

  “My husband will send you home,” Rue said, a touch of solemnity corrupting her excitement. “But until then, how do you feel about becoming a prince?”

  Aiden’s confusion about dreams disappeared in the blink of an eye. “Wait, what?”

  “Being a prince,” Rue repeated. “What would you say to being a prince?”

  Aiden blinked once, then twice. “I’m confused.”

  “Still a child.” Rue let out a slow and gentle breath. “Lord Aiden Lacheart, I would like to adopt you as my son.”

  “By the gods, no,” Aiden sputtered before he could stop himself. “Drown me and send me to Lale of the wind.”

  Rue reeled back in surprise. “You know one of our gods? I’m visibly surprised.”

  Lale of the wind was the god of the wind. On Nastild, they said that whenever he blinked in surprise, he raised tempests and hurricanes that threatened to rip mountains from their place. He was a major god, not a lesser god. One of the twelve.

  “I’ve been reading,” Aiden answered, trying to compose himself. “I like to read.”

  Rue’s smile returned. “Has anyone ever told you that you are good at deflecting?”

  “My brother is better at it,” Aiden replied without missing a beat. “I learnt it from him.”

  “Is he as smart as you are?”

  Aiden thought back to a time before Nastild and nodded. “He’s one of those people who are so smart that they are annoying.”

  Rue took a moment to think about it before finally shaking her head. “No. The king will not allow it. I think I can do one adoption but not two.”

  “I think I’m good with the parents I already have, ma’am,” Aiden told her. “But I appreciate the offer.”

  Rue sighed. “Well, then, that ended quickly. A shame, you would’ve made a great king.” Her expression returned to seriousness. “So, are you done thinking?”

  Aiden nodded. “I couldn’t figure out what you were talking about.”

  “And would you like to know about the Order, then?”

  Aiden’s brows furrowed. Is she recruiting me?

  He fought against the smile that threatened to touch his lips. It was funny to be recruited again, especially after what he had gone through with the Order. He had risen through the ranks. From recruit to student. From student to spy. When it turned out that he made a terrible spy, he had moved to executioner. He had been good at being an executioner, too good for a simple [Enchanter], but he had learned the tricks and learnt them from the best.

  It was as an executioner that he had developed the skills and requirements to become an instructor.

  You did not recruit an instructor.

  “Is something funny, Lord Lacheart?” Rue asked. “Does my question amuse you?”

  Her words helped Aiden realize that he hadn’t completely succeeded in concealing his smile. And this is why you failed as a spy. You can’t act for shit or keep your mouth closed long enough.

  “I’ve been thinking of the order as some kind of actual order or mandate,” Aiden replied. “I just realized that it’s probably not.”

  “Not at all.” The queen gestured at the only other chair in the room. “Would you like to have a sit? You might need it.”

  Sheathed sword still in hand, Aiden walked over to his bed and sat down.

  This is going to be interesting.

  He’d always enjoyed hearing what people thought about the Order. Most people got it wrong, though. The only thing everyone got right was that the Order was a shadow organization. Then again, could the Order really be called a shadow organization when a lot of people knew about it?

  “I’m all ears,” he said when he was ready.

  “Then I’ll start small and simple.” Rue retained her regal position, hands gently placed upon the raised knee of the leg crossed over the other. “The Order is a ragtag organization of weak people who want to feel important.”

  Aiden paused.

  That was not what he had been expecting.

  “A ragtag organization of weak people who want to feel important?" he repeated. "I don’t get it.”

  “Well, it’s about one weak man who recruited a bunch of weak men and women to work for him and called them strong.” Rue uncrossed her legs and crossed them back. “In their defense, like rats, they’ve become a strong information network, recruiting people with a false lure of power.”

  This is interesting.

  It seemed he had been wrong. Rue Brandis was not recruiting him.

  “If I may ask, why am I being told about a group of weak people?”

  “Because they have their rats everywhere,” she answered. “They find those who don’t know enough. The weak. Then they prey on them. Take advantage of them. My husband and I worry that they’ve made contact with you in some way.”

  “In some way?”

  “Yes.” Rue’s expression grew more serious but with a slight touch of worry. “Have you been approached by anyone?”

  “Anyone?” Aiden folded his arms, leaving his sword on the bed. “I don’t understand.”

  “You understand. I am very much aware of the fact that you and that soldier of yours went to a very questionable area to purchase some nice vambraces. You have that information, so there has to be someone that told you.”

  Aiden sucked in a deep breath. He had a tell when he lied. It was a tell that not many people knew, so it had rarely mattered. In front of someone like Rue Brandis, it mattered.

  “The king is aware of a few things regarding that piece of information, and I have been… convinced to keep it to myself.”

  “Your little enchantment of confusion?” Rue Brandis bent to pick the metal brick from the ground. She placed it on her knee, the enchantment engraved on it facing down and carved a new enchantment on the untouched surface facing her. She held it up to him. “This one?”

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Aiden nodded slowly, eyes flickering down to the iron shavings on the floor.

  “The maids will deal with those,” Rue said, noticing his gaze. “If this enchantment is the one you’re talking about, believe me, that’s not a problem.”

  “Well, that’s the only time some random person has ever approached me.”

  Rue discarded the brick back to the ground, gracelessly shoving it off her knee as if cleaning a stain. “And this person approached you after you went from store to store asking for an enchantment with properties of something from your world.”

  Aiden nodded.

  “Then how did you find this other store?” she asked. “Because I know for a fact that they do not sell enchantments.”

  “They do,” Aiden said, correcting her. “But only in the back.”

  Rue cocked a brow. “And how did you know of the back?”

  “Because I was told by an adventurer when I first got to the adventure society hall.”

  “After your return?”

  “Before my departure.”

  “And what was the adventurer’s name?”

  “No idea. I think he was helping out a rookie.”

  “Did you speak to them in the morning or evening?”

  “Evening, after waking up from a terrible injury and gaining my class.”

  Rue was playing a game. It was a common game between schemers and liars. A basic thing he’d picked up at some point in his life. Keep the questions fast and precise, offer options and let the other person pick from those options. If they were lying and unaware of the game, they were going to end up picking from the options you gave them.

  But it only worked if the liar was an amateur and didn't know the game. Aiden wasn’t the best liar, but he never considered himself an amateur despite the occasional slip ups.

  “You’ve got a sharp memory,” Rue said with a smile. “Maybe too sharp. Was this practiced?”

  Aiden shook his head. “Enchantment of Lesser Perception.” He tapped a finger to his temple then folded his arms back. “I can make multiple calculations while having this conversation with you. My mind’s quicker than I remember. Useful enchantment if you ask me.”

  “I agree. And you chose to use that when you found out I was the one you would be speaking to?”

  “Not really. I was testing something out and it seemed like the most harmless enchantment to use.”

  The look in her eyes said that she clearly did not believe him.

  “Let’s return to the topic at hand, shall we?”

  Aiden nodded.

  “Should anyone hover around you, giving you unsolicited pieces of advice, say no.”

  “Got it.”

  Rue nodded in appreciation. “Also,” she continued. “If you find different people helping you out at different points in time with different pieces of information you did not ask for, that is a sign that you have their attention.”

  “The attention of The Order?” Aiden asked.

  “Yes,” Rue confirmed. “They have enough information to hand out free ones so that you know what they are capable of.”

  “And why exactly should I be worried about them?” Aiden leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees. “You said they are weak, and I get to get good information.”

  “They are weak but also like a cult. Bad things come hand in hand with joining a cult.”

  Aiden had the urge to argue the matter. The Order was not like a cult. Its secretive nature gave that impression, but the truth was that the Order was more like a military organization with a nonchalant boss who delegated most of the work to his overworked and underpaid second in command who wasn’t really his second in command.

  Now that Aiden thought about it, he found himself wondering how Torat was doing right now.

  Definitely don’t want to be running into him anytime soon.

  Torat was a little bit too thorough for Aiden’s taste. He was overworked and underpaid because he did everything to the letter. It was why the master of the Order always delegated to him.

  If you needed a job done thoroughly and properly with no room for error, you sent Torat. Or, as master likes to call him, Tarot.

  Aiden chuckled lightly.

  “And what amuses you?” Rue asked.

  “Just something I heard in my world,” Aiden said, waving a dismissive hand. “Nothing truly interesting. If at all, it might be slightly heretical.”

  “Ooh, I’m intrigued. Please tell.” Rue did sound intrigued. “I’ve always found heretical quotes quite fascinating.”

  Aiden gave her an odd look. He definitely didn’t know that. “Alright. Do you know the difference between a cult and a religion?”

  “Ooh.” Rue winced, sucking in a sharp breath. “That already starts like something the church will have your head for." She brightened up suddenly. "I like it.”

  Aiden laughed.

  “So what’s the difference?” she asked.

  “Well, the difference is this: in a cult, there is someone at the top that knows what is really going on.”

  “And in a religion?” Rue looked visibly interested.

  “In a religion, that person is dead.”

  “Oh, I like that one.”

  Aiden nodded. “Thank you.” Then he got up and stretched. “If that is all, I believe I best be getting ready to leave.”

  “There’s still time,” she said.

  “Maybe, but I like to get ready earlier.” Aiden walked back up to the closet, not that there was really anything he was looking for there.

  “I understand.” Rue Brandis got up. “So, I hope you understand that my husband is not a bad man.”

  Aiden remembered Valdan’s body lying motionless on the black sand and frowned. He couldn’t help himself. “Yea… he just has bad people around him.”

  “Yes,” Rue said, unbothered. “When a good man becomes a good leader, he needs bad counsel as well as good around him. Being good makes him good counsel, so he needs bad. You strike me as the kind of person who might end up being a leader. Perhaps this piece of advice will be of use to you.”

  Aiden stopped pretending to be rummaging through his closet to look at her. “What gives you that impression?”

  “You had a knight training you and he developed a loyalty for you.”

  “Valdan’s just Valdan.”

  “You borrowed one of our soldiers and he obeys you as if you’re his commanding officer.”

  “A little bit of appreciative gold goes a long way.”

  Rue smiled, shaking her head. “One schemer to another, Lord Lacheart. Don’t always try to have the last word. You seem to have a habit of it.”

  Aiden returned his attention to his closet. “I know. I’ve been working on it for years but by the life of me I haven’t been able to get anywhere. The only time the last word doesn’t matter is when I plan on having the last action.”

  Still shaking her head and smiling, Rue Brandis held her hand up with an open palm. The space above it cracked like a broken glass and light reflected from it.

  A storage space, Aiden noted.

  When the light show ended, Rue Brandis held a card in her hand.

  “Have they given you your bank card?” she asked.

  Aiden’s mind first went to the forgeries he’d gotten from the back office of the shop she had carefully pointed out that she was aware of.

  “Yes, they have,” he answered.

  “That’s good. This,” she held up the card, “is not that.”

  The card in her hand was as large as her hand. The light from the room reflected off the card’s golden surface. On it was a word inscribed in an old tongue.

  Honored guest, Aiden read.

  It was the only word on the card, then beneath it was a royal inscription. Aiden knew what it was but didn’t say anything.

  Rue turned the card around to look at the inscription. “Can you read this?”

  “No,” Aiden answered, because he wasn’t supposed to. It wasn’t written in a language that they had been taught to read and write in the palace.

  “This,” Rue said, “is a card pass. With this, you can go through every city without having to present a means of identification or pay anything like an entry fee. With this, you have the king’s royal decree to go anywhere.”

  Aiden knew what it was. In his past life, one card was given to each group of summoned. It was designed to account for the entire group. When Drax had gained the title of [Hero] he had automatically become the carrier of their group's.

  “I have an adventurer identification,” Aiden said.

  “And that will not suffice to get you into everywhere, Lord Lacheart. In fact, there are places that make it their business to turn away adventurers. This, however, will get you through those doors.”

  Aiden walked up to her and took the card from her hand gently. She let him.

  He held it up, turned it one way then the other. He’d never thought about having one to his own personal use.

  “I’m going to join my brother’s group tomorrow. Is it safe to assume that this card is for all of us?”

  “Nope.” Rue looked up at him. “Just you. That’s your personal royal pass.”

  Aiden slipped the card into his pocket. “I am grateful.”

  “You’re a strong and resourceful kid, Aiden Lacheart. Powerful, too.”

  “Thank you.”

  “But there are assumptions that come with a powerful and resourceful child,” Rue said. “You’ve been outside the castle walls and still managed to grow, somehow. With that, you might believe that you can grow without the help of the royal family.”

  I can.

  “And you probably can,” Rue was saying. “But the truth is this. Alone, you probably can, with the royal family, you definitely will grow.” She got up from her seat, standing right in front of Aiden. She was perhaps an inch or two shorter. “Forgive my husband for the crime of listening to me. I felt like it would be the only way to ensure that Valdan remained capable of teaching you something new. A way of making sure that he remained useful to you.”

  Aiden didn’t even have to think about his answer to that. “Valdan is useful to me.”

  “Perhaps as a friend, but not as a teacher, and someone like you needs a friend and a teacher. So don’t blame my husband for listening to his wife.”

  Aiden nodded. “I’ll try not to.”

  “That is all I ask.” Rue bent to pick up her metal brick. “As for Valdan, I have confirmed that he should be fine before the day breaks. Along with that, you will not be going on your journey alone. My husband and I have deemed it fit to send Elaswit with you.” She raised a silencing finger even though Aiden hadn’t intended on saying anything. “She is not your responsibility, Lord Lacheart. And you are not hers. Her following you is simply to give her a destination, a goal. She lives and dies by her hands.”

  “That’s not a very motherly thing to say, if you don’t mind me saying.”

  Rue shrugged. “I’m not a very motherly person.” She raised a hand and patted his cheek affectionately. “You would’ve made an amazing son, Aiden Lacheart. A shame.”

  Aiden gave her a smile but took a step away from her hand. “I’m already someone’s son.”

  Rue’s smile softened. “A lucky woman.”

  Aiden felt he was more of a lucky son than his mother was a lucky mother. But that was a different conversation entirely.

  “Alright, then.” Rue clapped her hand once. “The card was from my husband, but he wasn’t sure if you’d be willing to see him with what happened yesterday. My daughter’s presence is from my daughter. So, I should give you a gift of my own. Something to help you look forward to when you’re coming back. Would you be willing to have it?”

  “I will.”

  “Good.” Rue walked all the way to the door that led out of the room but didn’t open it. “You are a [Weaver], but from what I’ve been told, you’re more like a weaver of enchantments, which means that enchantments are important to you.”

  “That is correct,” Aiden said.

  “My class is [Enchanter], which means it is my business to know enchantments. And living as long as I have, I have learnt a lot of enchantments, so I will show you something from my time before level one hundred. It’s a beautiful enchantment, and a powerful one.” Rue placed her hand on his wall and carved an enchantment into it with her finger.

  Aiden was beginning to think that she really liked carving into things with her finger.

  When she was done, she turned back to face him. “Now I know you won’t know what it does, but can you recall it in your mind?”

  Aiden simply stared at the enchantment, dumbfounded. It was a customized form with flourishes that came with the person that designed it. But he knew the enchantment. In response to her question, he nodded slowly.

  “Good,” Rue Brandis said. “If you aren’t at level fifty when you return, then I promise to push you beyond the threshold. Once that is done, I’ll teach you how to use the enchantment, when to use it, and how to master it. Believe me, you won’t see this enchantment in any book anywhere, so don’t bother going to the library.”

  “What does it do?” Aiden asked absently, eyes still fixed on the runes and sigils that made up the enchantment.

  “It helps in taming really really wild animals.” Rue gave him an innocent smile. “Very powerful wild animals. Wouldn’t that be useful?”

  “It works on monsters, too, right?”

  “Correct.”

  Aiden took a step towards the enchantment but stopped himself. The very existence of the enchantment on the wall told him everything he needed to know. It answered the question of why Rue Brandis' information was not easily accessible in the Order. It also explained why she hated the Order.

  “Alright then, Lord Lacheart.” She opened the door. “I’ll see you when you get back.”

  Then she was gone.

  And her enchantment that had masked them in solitude left with her.

  Aiden walked up to the one she’d left on the wall. To his surprise, as the seconds ticked on by, the enchantment seemed to fade away. As it faded away, he watched the wall heal itself until it was a clean smooth wall once more.

  He looked at his door and touched a hand to it, reactivating his enchanted lock.

  She definitely knows how to drive a hard bargain.

  In a world filled with monsters, an enchantment that could tame any monster would be a win. A huge win.

  In my past life, I would’ve jumped on this offer.

  Sadly, this was not his past life. He was not a new [Enchanter]. He was an [Enchanter] that knew exactly what the enchantment Rue Brandis had carved into his wall was.

  It was an enchantment that was supposed to be a lost enchantment, but it really wasn’t. What made it specifically interesting was the fact that it was race specific.

  He watched the last presence of the enchantment burn away and knew what exactly Rue Brandis was.

  After all, she had just engraved unto his wall an enchantment used for taming baby dragons. Rue Brandis was most likely from an ancient line of human dragon riders from the other side of Nastild that were supposed to be extinct. And the reason they were supposed to be extinct was because many years ago the Order had wiped them off the face of Nastild.

  I guess that explains her hate for the Order.

  Aiden turned around and headed back to his closet. He’d never thought he’d come across a human dragon rider or someone related to them. He understood why Rue Brandis couldn’t rule now, the Order would not let her.

  She probably thought she was hiding from them but they were very much aware of her. Aiden couldn’t help the smile that touched his lips as he pulled out a Bandiv styled coat from his closet.

  It would be good against the cold.

  I wonder if she’s a real life dragon rider, he thought.

  He’d never seen one. He’d seen someone ride a dragon before but that didn’t make them a dragon rider. A dragon rider had a bond with their dragon, an actual one.

  Aiden let out a sigh, staring at the now empty wall. Rue Brandis had driven a hard bargain.

  Too bad I know more than enough dragon styled enchantments.

  He had the urge to look at the reward he got from the sight-bound quest for killing Derendoff. What he’d seen had been interesting, after all.

  So he did.

  …

  “He’s an interesting kid. Can we adopt him?”

  Brandis chuckled. “No.”

  “But it would be fun,” Rue groaned like a petulant child. “He’s so smart.” She turned on the bed so that her head hung over the side of the bed and looked at him upside down. “Do you know I used the lying game on him?”

  Brandis paused, adjusting his shirt in front of the mirror. It was actually his wife’s vanity mirror where she played with her knives and enchantments.

  He turned to look at her. “You did?”

  “Mhmm.” The sound came out more like a moan, a teasing kind. “He played it quite well. He lies better than most nineteen-year-olds I know. Not very good at it when compared to me, but quite skilled.”

  Brandis’ room wasn’t as wide as many people would expect the room of a king to be. It certainly wasn’t as large as the room his father had used during his reign. He liked it small, simple, with all the protective enchantments it could handle.

  There was a bed at the center of the room, large enough to hold five people. As for the space, it was homely. At least that was how his wife described it. According to her, it reminded her of the room of a simple man. They had a simple brown cupboard at one end that was filled with their clothes. There was a walk-in closet that had more of her clothes.

  The room also had a desk and chair where he did some reading, but being king, he rarely had the time to use it. Brandis missed being able to read for as long as he wanted. The yellow walls of the room were often a bit too bright for him, but his wife loved it, and he was fine with that.

  “So, what do you think?” he asked finally. “Is he going to come back?”

  His wife turned again, rested her jaw on her hands. “Yes.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “As sure as you can be about human beings,” she answered. “I know he doesn’t hate you, though. I think there’s a part of him that understands the weight of being a ruler or at least a leader. He is definitely wary of me. But that’s how schemers tend to be with each other.”

  “Did he accept the card?”

  Rue nodded. “He wanted to know if it was for just him or the team. I told him it was just for him.”

  Brandis sighed, running a hand down his face. “Now, I have to get another one ready in the next thirty minutes. The card was meant to be for his entire team.”

  “You worry too much, love,” Rue said, unbothered. “His team can use Witty’s card.”

  Brandis walked over to the bed and sat down. Rue placed a hand on his thigh. For as long as he’d known her, she’d always been so obsessed with physical contact with him whenever they were alone.

  “I really don’t want him to leave,” he said, giving his worry life. “He’s too talented. If he wasn’t so… jaded, I would’ve expected him to earn the title of [Hero]. The gods know that that would be the best thing that can happen for us.”

  “Don’t worry,” Rue assured him. “He’s more or less an enchanter that likes to study, so I offered to teach him an enchantment he can’t refuse.”

  Brandis’ brows furrowed in worry. “What enchantment, Rue?”

  “One of mine.”

  Brandis wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He didn’t know everything about her history, but he knew enough. What she was. What she was not supposed to do. He also knew that using her enchantments could get her in trouble. She’d said so herself.

  “Is that safe?” he asked her.

  “It’s safe enough. What matters is that he knows it will be a useful enchantment. I saw the desire in his eyes when I used it. It held his attention far more than when I carved enchantments with my finger, or when I showed him other normal enchantments.”

  “Did you tell him what it does?”

  She shook her head. “I just told him that it tames monsters. Since his brother got the class [Summoner], I’m sure he would also be thinking of how he can use it for his brother as well.”

  “And you’re sure it’s fine?”

  She got up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “It is. Now go do what you have to do. Lord Lacheart leaves with your daughter in only a few minutes.”

  Brandis grumbled as he got up. He really didn’t like the idea of Elaswit following Aiden, but he understood the reason for it.

  “Couldn’t we have sent Derenet with him,” he complained as he made his way to the door. “The gods know that boy needs some growing up to do.”

  “Nope, Lord Lacheart would probably push Derenet off a cliff at some point rather than train him.”

  Brandis held the door open and looked back at his wife one more time. She gave him a bright smile, a happy smile. She always had one for him even when things were going badly.

  “You’re taking a risk teaching him that enchantment. You know that, right?”

  Rue nodded. “I do, love. But you’ve got to look on the bright side.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “He’ll come back.”

  Brandis couldn’t argue that it was a bright side. The summoned would be much stronger if Aiden worked with them.

  Stepping out of the room, he closed the door behind him. However, he still heard his wife’s last words, and they followed him as he walked down the hallway.

  “Maybe we can make a dragon rider out of him,” she had said.