The sun dipped low in the west as Joshua and Richard made their way to Nethas from the south. The great walls rose up from the water to greet them. The already burning torches lit on the parapets looked like a hundred mischievous eyes in the coming night.

  Joshua’s clothes were incredibly uncomfortable. The fancy red pantaloons were too tight, even for his small frame. The flamboyant green and red tunic, in contrast, was far too large for him. The shoulders tried to slide down with each of his horse’s steps. A black hat shaped like an upturned flower topped his head.

  A thin sheet of parchment covered the band as well, held together by a paste made from sap. There could be no visible runes on their bodies if they were to get into Nethas. There could be no mistakes.

  Richard had much the same look, though he was able to pick out the more subdued colors of black and brown. He had insisted that they needed to dress like merchants to gain easy entrance to the city. The masking cream that covered their skin would not be enough.

  Joshua cursed at Richard silently. They both looked ridiculous.

  Joshua patted his horse’s neck absently, still feeling the itch of the band that dug into his wrist. His skin was heavy with the cream. Some of it was already running beneath his clothes from the short ride since they had applied it, but the cream on his face and arms still held.

  The sun was just an orange glimmer in the sky. The sky had turned a deep purple above them. There were few people left on the bridge as they crossed it. Their horses’ hooves echoed in a steady cadence across empty stone.

  “You made it just in time.” A woman in shining armor called out to them as they approached gates. “We were about to close the gates for the night.”

  “Excellent,” Richard said. “I’m glad we weren’t too late.”

  “I’ll just need to know your purpose in Nethas, as well as your names,” the woman said, two other armored women stepping up behind her.

  “I am Richard,” Richard said as he bowed his head. “This is my assistant, Joshua. I have come to do some simple business in town.”

  “Well, that will do,” the woman said, looking over them both quickly.

  She paused as she looked on Joshua, her eyes focusing on his exposed band. He started to cover it with his hand, but a quick glance from Richard stopped him. Sweat rolled down his back.

  “That’s interesting,” she said, stepping forward.

  “It’s a family heirloom,” Joshua lied. “My father gave it to me to celebrate my apprenticeship.”

  “Lieutenant,” another of the women said. “We need to close the gates now.”

  Darkness rose up around their feet, even the fading rays of the sun were barely a touch upon the sky. The knight motioned for Richard and Joshua to enter, turning away from them and back to her duties. Joshua held back his sigh of relief. With a light nudge, he sent his horse forward.

  “At least she didn’t notice the parchment,” Richard said once they were through the gates.

  “Can we change out of these clothes now?” Joshua asked, pulling at his hat.

  “Two bald men wandering around Nethas in robes,” Richard said. “Can you think of a better route straight to the gallows?”

  “We could go and turn ourselves in,” Joshua said. “But I guess these are a better fate.”

  “Good,” Richard said. “Now, we need to check on a few things. There may be a few families that are still with the Tower.”

  “Are you that familiar with Nethas?” Joshua asked.

  “When I was younger I worked my first apprenticeship here,” Richard said, navigating the streets ahead of Joshua. “I learned to reinforce the wards that cover the walls. It was boring.”

  “They use Tower mages to work the walls?” Joshua asked. “Yet, the king also imprisons our own in camps.”

  “Hold your thoughts on that until we have a fuller picture,” Richard said. “It is hard not to think his decision mad, but we should not rush our investigation.”

  “Yes, master,” Joshua said.

  They traversed the dark streets with only occasional lamps lighting the way. There weren’t that many mages who lived in Nethas, but everywhere they went, the stories were the same.

  The king had gone mad. With the aid of the Order, he had imprisoned every mage who lived in Nethas. Not even their families were safe unless they cooperated and turned in others who harbored mages.

  There were only rumors to the cause. They were the same as they had heard before. A creature of darkness was working with the Tower ambassador to overthrow the king. The monster betrayed the ambassador, but the king believed there were more traitors in Nethas.

  There was one who told them something different.

  “This one might be promising,” Richard said, dismounting from his horse and stepping up to a door. “He is one of the palace guards.”

  They were in a dark alleyway, only the light at the end of the alley provided any illumination. Joshua wanted to call a flame to his hand, to peel back the darkness. It was not a good idea, even if the shadows hid them from sight.

  “And you think he can be trusted?” Joshua asked.

  “Not all men are under the sway of the king, Joshua,” Richard said.

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  He knocked three times, the sound echoing through the alley. Joshua did his best not to look around to make sure no one watched them. A faint shadow that moved in the corner of his eye appeared every time he turned his head.

  “I’m coming.” A hard voice responded to the knock along with the turn of locks.

  The door cracked open and a haggard man’s face greeted them through the small opening. He had the hard face of a man who had lived his life on a battlefield. For a moment, Joshua thought he could see the glare of a dagger in the dim light.

  “What do you want?” he asked.

  “I’ve come to speak with a friend of the Tower,” Richard said, holding up his hand and calling forth a small flame. “I was hoping you might be one.”

  “A mage.” the man stepped back, but then leaned forward. “A wizard. I don’t see any runes on you.”

  “A mage,” Richard said, dismissing his flame. “We’re merely concealing our runes.”

  “A good idea.” The man opened the door and stepped further out. “What do you want to know?”

  “You’ve seen things recently that many of our own people can’t,” Richard said. “I want to hear what you know about the king and this mage hunt.”

  “The Tower finally wants to know what’s going on then,” the man said. “Let me tell you about this madness that has infected Nethas then. There was a time when the king at least tolerated your kind around here, not long ago. The king didn’t like magic, but he at least accepted that you were necessary.”

  “I am familiar with what was,” Richard said. “The king might follow Briln, but he does not have the same fear as the common people.”

  “He has become more withdrawn of late,” the man said. “He doesn’t let anyone into his chambers, and all of his food is tested. The only confidant he has is the head of the Order, Nathaniel.”

  “Now that is odd,” Richard said. “The king dislikes the Order more than us.”

  “This all started a month ago,” the man said. “It was when Nathaniel brought forward one of your people and called him a spy, right after the ambassador’s death. Something changed in the king that day.”

  “That can’t be it.” Joshua said. “You have to know more.”

  “I can’t say much more than that,” the man said, craning his head back toward the street. “There are spies everywhere now.”

  “Well, thank you for the information.” Richard bowed, stepping back from the door.

  “It’s not a problem.” the man bowed his head in return. “I’ve fought side by side with your kind before, and they’ve saved my life many times. I have to do what I can to pay it back.”

  He closed the door without another word, leaving Richard and Joshua alone in the alley. Richard motioned Joshua to head back for the street and they led their horses until they reached the lantern’s light. He didn’t speak until they were back out into the street.

  “This is something I could never have imagined, the Order and the Crown working together.” Richard said. “I always thought the king’s devotion to the old ways would keep us from that.”

  “Don’t two bands of fools go well together?” Joshua asked.

  “That’s the second time.” Richard slapped Joshua across his head. “I told you not to speak ill of them. Your arrogance will be your undoing someday.”

  “I’ll do my best not to be there that day,” Joshua said. “I’m just not as sure that they are an unstoppable force. We have the knowledge and power to free our brothers. We should contact Olson and ask him to gather all he can to break them free.”

  “Again, I will remind you that it is not your decision, apprentice,” Richard said, crossing his arms. “That path would lead to outright war. The king does not see this from our perspective; he will not let such an intrusion go by without consequence.”

  “Then we can conquer Tyra to stop that from happening,” Joshua said, his cheeks burning bright. “We have the power; we should use it.”

  “No,” Richard said. “There are many things you don’t understand yet. Until you do, I suggest that you leave your suggestions to yourself.”

  “Yes, master.” Joshua bowed.

  His master was wrong. He was always wrong. The solution was so simple; they could raze all of the Five Kingdoms if they had to. Why couldn’t he see it? The Tower was the greatest power in all of Nelim.

  It came so suddenly. It sounded like the thought was his. It had the guile of his voice, but the poisonous tone made him shudder. There was something dark about it. Joshua touched his forehead absently as the world fell away from him.

  Joshua opened his eyes, and the world returned. His hands didn’t look right. Instead of skin, he could see white bone. He could see the sinew that ran beneath. He could see the veins that hid beneath his skin.

  He could even see through the rats that scurried in the dark corners.

  Dark red blood flowed through all of them. There was something else there. Tiny black dots ran through everything. Some had more and some had less.

  There was a power in them, hidden in their very life. He wanted to reach out and touch it, to bring it into his own. He could do it. There would be no resistance. It would flow out like wine into a cup.

  The heartbeats of hundreds of living souls, maybe thousands echoed in his ears. Each beat was part of a maddening cadence of drums. He wanted to turn it off, to silence those drums. It was his right.

  Then it was gone, the normal sight of the world returned with a blink. Joshua blinked again, shaking his head and adjusting back to the world. He looked to Richard, and could see the concern on his master’s face.

  “Are you alright Joshua?” Richard placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve gone dreadfully pale.”

  “I’m fine.” Joshua stuttered. “The darkness just tricked my eyes.”

  “Well, let’s continue on then,” Richard said as he turned and started down the streets. “We can probably still find a vacant inn if we try hard enough.”

  It started small, a quiet wailing scream that echoed through Joshua’s bones. He turned, searching the dark streets for the source. He shuddered as the remnants of the scream faded. Nothing moved in the night.

  “Did you hear that?” he asked, turning to Richard.

  “I’m not sure what it was,” Richard said.

  The streets shook as the scream came again. Its cry passed over their heads and back into the night. A faint flicker of the lantern light was the only thing that marked its presence before it passed on. In moments, Joshua could hear it again, further down the street.

  “After it!” Richard yelled, jumping on his horse and kicking it into a gallop.

  Joshua followed after, matching his horse’s speed with Richard. They galloped through the night, following the fading scream of a creature they hadn’t even seen. Joshua’s heart pumped hard in his chest as he leaned into his horse.

  He didn’t bother to hide the smile that came to his lips.

  Leopold walked the cold stone floors of his keep in silent thought. His decisions constantly weighed upon him. He had his nobles to think of, the people as a whole and even the wars to the north.

  Ensuring that he made the right choice pulled down on his soul.

  His alliance with Nathaniel was a gamble. It would anger many of the old believers, those who still had their patron god to follow. Nathaniel’s Order was still a newcomer to Leopold’s kingdom. Even after a hundred years, it was still just a remnant of the fallen kingdom of Abfall.

  Briln damn his soul from peace if he made the wrong choice.

  He found himself wandering back toward his throne room. The tapestries woven with the crests of his ancestor’s sat in judgment over him. He wished that he could contact them, to gain the wisdom that hid in the past.

  He had to do something about the mage’s plans. He knew that they were planning something, that they might take his kingdom for their own. With the power of his army, they could aspire to control all of the five kingdoms.

  Hes, Limn, Faye and Lyon could not stand up against that much power alone.

  He would have to call all of the kings together, and they in turn would have to call all of their nobles from the plains. There was no way that they would all be able to meet in time. He had to find another solution to the problem.

  Nathaniel had provided the solution in part at least. Merely detaining all the spies and those inflicted with the mage’s disease was not enough. He had to do something more. He had to protect Nethas.

  Briln preserve his soul, Leopold would be the one to do it.