A few weeks ter, Simon was sitting in an armchair near the window, his face pale and thin, with a hollow gaze. He had been like that ever since Thomas was gone, looking at the entrance of the manor as if he was going to come back anytime. His belly wasn’t big yet, but it started to show. Falling down the stairs didn’t do anything apart from breaking his arm. The twins had rushed to his side to heal him, and inform him that only a Shaman could kill another Shaman, so this kind of endeavors would only result in him getting hurt, and giving birth to a weak baby. In other words, he had no choice.

  Everyday he was looking out the window, praying for Thomas to come back and kill the child growing in his womb. He didn’t want to birth it, he didn’t want to hold a baby that the father didn’t want, and had no idea even existed. The only time Simon seemed to be regaining his energy, was when he was pleading for the twins to search the kingdom and find Thomas, because there was no way he was gone. They always nodded and promised to try, but he wasn't sure if they really did anything.

  A sudden knock on the door broke the silence, but Simon didn’t tear his eyes off the window. Eventually, a thin man with dark blue hair entered with a shy expression.

  “Hum… Simon ? I bring news from the castle…”

  The knight slowly turned to him, but there was no interest in his eyes. Thanks to Léon being a familiar, and with his great intellect, he had gained a position in the castle as a royal schor, and was silently investigating the capital for any trace of Thomas. Maybe it was by loyalty, because he was a familiar, or out of pity for Simon who grew thinner by day, but nevertheless he seemed to be the only one to really care about the knight’s pleas.

  “For now, the king believes what I said about you being hurt during your trip to repair the artifacts, he isn’t suspicious because there are no records about the Shaman’s ability to have children. It seemed it was kept a secret as a trump card…”

  The thin man adjusted his gsses on his nose nervously, gncing at Simon who didn’t seem to care much.

  “There is something else. It might be a lead but I’m not sure…”

  The knight’s eyes immediately lit up.

  “What is it ?”

  The schor bit his lip and answered in a low voice.

  “I overheard the nobles talking about a new fun pastime, a kind of attraction hosted by the king, but there are no records of it anywhere. So, judging by that and the fact that only nobles were talking between themselves…”

  “It’s probably illegal. But what does it have to do with Thomas ?”

  “Well…”

  Léon was fidgeting with his sleeves, he seemed really hesitant.

  “This new thing seems to have appeared not long after you were found at the door of the manor, so it coincides with the Shaman’s disappearance. More than that, they seem to be actively avoiding me and stop talking if they notice me around. It could be because I’m new, but…”

  “If it’s because you are a familiar, it could have something to do with Thomas.”

  “Exactly.”

  Simon started to shake. Finally they had a clue. He was right, he was sure of it, Thomas didn’t leave this dimension, something happened to him. And, judging from the fact that he had an altercation with the king before, it wasn’t far fetched to think that the monarch was the one to detain him, it was a logical developpement for a game.

  He tried to stand up, but Léon immediately ran to stop him.

  “Stay here, it might be dangerous for you. And what can you even do in your state, they might capture and torture you if they know that you have a Shaman in your womb ! I will take care of it, okay ? Now that we have a lead, the others will have no choice but to listen to me. You might not like Alexei, but he has a talent to seduce his way into the upper circles of high society, he will be helpful.”

  The knight was reluctant, but eventually nodded. Léon was right, what could he even do in his state ? He was useless. He might now be able to control his magic as well as the twins, but he had no way of using it.

  He leaned back in his seat, sighing in frustration. The schor was looking at him with eyes full of pity, but he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he made sure to repeat :

  “Stay here. I will tell you if we find something, okay ? Don’t move.”

  And he left, leaving Simon to his contemption of the window once more. The commander’s hands were holding tight onto the armrests, his heart beating faster.

  ‘I’m sure he is over here. We’ll soon bring him home. He needs to kill this child and go back to Bael.’

  Each time he repeated those words in his head, it was as if his stomach was churning. Eventually, he couldn’t ignore the pain and used his flow to ring the bell near his bed. It didn’t take a minute for the twins to appear at the door, disheveled from running.

  “Yes ? What is it ? Does it hurt ?”

  Tari hurried to Simon’s side, kneeling in front of him to touch his belly.

  “Is he causing you trouble ? He is a needy child…”

  But Simon wasn’t pleased by the spectacle, to the contrary it made him sick. He turned his head away and muttered between his teeth :

  “That thing is painful…”

  Tira seemed hurt by the commander’s words, but hid it behind a smile.

  “It’s normal, a Shaman is born thanks to the flow, so…”

  “He needs his father’s flow to grow healthy, I know. Can’t we just let it be like this ? Won’t it die if we don’t give him anything ?”

  Tari gritted his teeth.

  “Only a Shaman can kill another Shaman, if he doesn’t have enough flow he will go berserk in your womb and feed on you. If that happens, you will grow weaker and eventually die giving birth, you wouldn’t want that, right ?”

  Simon shrugged.

  “I don’t care.”

  Tira got on his knees too, pleading while gently stroking the knight’s hand.

  “Don’t say that ! You are a living being, you need to take care of yourself !”

  “Thomas is also a living being, but I don’t see you caring that much.”

  The twins stayed silent. They were getting used to Simon’s outbursts, and they had thought that he would calm down with time, but it didn’t seem to be the case. Eventually, they started to pour flow into the knight’s belly. It wasn’t as good as a circution with the actual father, but they were artificial familiars created by the Shaman, so it was a temporary method that could soothe the baby. After a few minutes, Simon’s irritated face rexed, he seemed to be feeling better. With his head clear, he turned to the twins.

  “Léon found something.”

  He told the boys what he had heard, and their eyes widened.

  “So, our master is really…”

  “There is no confirmation yet, but it seems…”

  Simon scoffed.

  “Finally believing me, now ? How many times did I tell you that he wasn’t gone ?”

  Tari nodded and stood up.

  “That changes everything. If the king is detaining the Shaman, the backsh could be huge…”

  Tira got up too, fiddling with his sleeves.

  “But if he succeeds in making the Shaman obey him, he would have the greatest weapon…”

  The purple haired boy shook his head.

  “There is no way that Thomas would let himself be controlled like that. I think that the king tried, didn’t succeed, and decided to kill him. However, he didn’t know that the Shaman can’t be killed unless he runs completely out of flow. And even that wouldn’t apply to Thomas, since he has this strange power that makes circles appear. So, in the end, he would probably render him powerless and use him as a pything…”

  Simon became pale.

  “What… What do you mean ?”

  “Well, you know the hobby of nobles, you were living in the capital. If you can’t kill it, torture it until it has no power, and humiliate it. That’s how it goes, right ?”

  Thinking about what he had seen while working as a knight, all those terrible memories of what people did to other people, the commander started to shake. The st remaining idea that his liege was a good person was gone, now he was certain that the king was a monster. He leaned forward, hiding his face in his hands.

  “This world is sick…”

  Tira gently patted his back.

  “Don’t worry, if our master is still in this dimension, we will find him. We can’t allow anyone to touch him.”

  Simon scoffed.

  “Yeah, the only ones that can make him miserable are you, right ? I trust Alexei and Léon more than you two, because at least they are truthful. You twins are snakes.”

  The boys didn’t retort, they only nodded. They were aware that their actions had done nothing but hurt Thomas, but they thought that they were doing the right thing for their master until now. However, knowing that he was possibly kidnapped while in mental distress, they finally understood that things were wrong from the beginning.

  “We know we aren’t perfect, but we will do our best. We will free Thomas and prove to you that we are only trying to help.”

  Simon turned his head, looking out the window again.

  “I’ll believe what I see.”