In the back of his mind, Nerin knew that helping his brother was a bad idea. Even if he wanted to make Minisia a better place, which was desperately needed, he was going about it in a way that would result in the death of thousands. There had to be other ways of getting what he wanted, but instead, they were at war.

He didn't exactly know any other way to do it aside from working with the Askari royalty, which was impossible after what Harudan had done. Except, he'd worked with Rina, hadn't he? He'd trusted her. But there was still a part of him that didn't know if it was real or something she faked to get him to trust her. Either way, it worked.

Jonin was gone and he knew what it meant. The knight hadn't been spotted in the palace since the morning before, meaning Harudan had sent him out for something. There was only one thing he could be doing and that was killing Isiah. He never should have said a word about him, not to that girl, not to anyone, and especially not to Harudan.

If Isiah died, Nerin only had himself to blame. He was the one who had opened his mouth and spilt their secrets. The four of them had spent all that time trying to get Isiah the stones and keep him safe, only for Nerin to tell Harudan exactly what was happening. He truly was stupid, but there was nothing he could do about it. He wouldn't say another word about Isiah, not if he could help it.

There were other things he had to focus on. Harudan had given him a job to do and that was to translate the book and save whatever was trapped in the crystal. It had taken him a bit to get started, hesitating and trying to figure out if it really was the right thing to do. After hours of sitting in the little room, he still hadn't come to a proper decision.

He had read a bit of it the day before, but it was the things he had already translated. He wasn't trying to jog his memory, just trying to look like he was doing something when Harudan came in. The day after Jonin left, Harudan didn't take him to the room across from his office, but out into the courtyard in front of the palace, where an ornate carriage waited.

And so, that was where he sat, across from a guard he didn't know the name, lost in his thoughts. He was supposed to be focusing on what Harudan had asked him to do before he got in the carriage, but all he could think about was the book and the crystal and Isiah. The guard across from him didn't say anything about his distraction but part of Nerin wished he would so that he had a reason to pay attention.

Harudan had asked him to go down to the orphanages and churches on the outskirts of Ishmar and donate some of the food from the palace to them. It was supposed to make them look better in the eyes of the struggling citizens, a political move, not one of sympathy. Hence why he was there and not Harudan. A child was better looking than a stressed adult, especially if he looked kind and innocent. All of it was about politics, not about Harudan actually caring.

But if he didn't care, he wouldn't have organised it. If he didn't care, he wouldn't have told him that he wanted to make Minisia better. But if he cared at all about his people, he wouldn't have made them struggle in the first place. Nothing made sense to Nerin and he couldn't wrap his mind around it. Maybe Harudan had been right all those weeks ago when he told him that he was too young to understand what was going on, even if that had been an excuse to stop him from seeing the treaty.

He ran a hand through his hair as the carriage bumped over the uneven stone roads. The guard watched him, but still said nothing. It wasn't his place to question the monarchy, even if Nerin looked as though he would pass out at any second. So both of them sat in silence as they slowly moved down the main roads of Ishmar.

Some recognised the royal carriage and waved to him as he passed, but he kept his eyes ahead of him and didn't wave back. He probably should have, but he couldn't find it in him. Everything was so confusing and he couldn't focus on anything that wasn't his main job for Harudan.

He didn't even realise that they had stopped until the door was being pulled open. With a shake of his head, Nerin climbed down from the carriage and looked around. The outskirts of Ishmar were nowhere near as nice as the buildings near the palace, but still better looking than all of the small towns he had been to during his travels with Rina and Isiah.

A line of children stood outside a small building, some shivering and others looking bored. The biting wind made him long for Isiah's stone, but even with his powers, he barely felt the cold. A man and a woman strode towards him, kind smiles on their faces and curiosity in their eyes.

They both bowed and after a second, he gestured for them to straighten. "Welcome, Your Highness, when we heard you were coming, we weren't sure what to prepare," the woman said in a high-pitched voice.

"That's alright," Nerin said with a wave of his hand. As an afterthought, he smiled, remembering what Harudan wanted from his venture out into the city. He was there to be seen, that was all.

He smiled at the line of young faces, all of whom watched him with a mix of wariness and curiosity. The guard that had been in the carriage with him went around to the back to pull out the gift he was supposed to give him, but Nerin stopped him with a hand in the air. It looked better if he was the one who took it out, after all.

The back of the carriage held baskets, one for each of the places he was supposed to visit. With a grunt, he pulled one from the trunk and walked back over to the man and the woman who ran the orphanage. He could barely see over the top of the basket but still smiled at the wide-eyed look on their faces. Even if it was just for politics, he was still doing something good.

"For you and the children," he said and passed it to the man's outstretched hands. "I believe there's food in there from the palace. His Majesty is planning to send clothing in the coming weeks. You sent a letter stating that food was getting expensive for all the children, so we decided to help out."

There were tears in the woman's eyes and she looked as though she wanted to hug him. Against his better judgement, he held out his arms and let her. It felt good to be hugged and he hadn't realised that he needed one until she was pulling him against her chest. It was far better than all the hugs Harudan had given him since they reunited, warmer, and it didn't make his skin crawl afterwards.

The man beamed down at him and behind him, the children whispered to each other, their wide eyes filled with excitement. "Thank you, Your Highness, you don't know how much this means to us," the man said.

"Of course, it's the least we can do," Nerin replied. A crowd had formed in the side streets around the orphanage and at any moment, they would start demanding for their own food and supplies, but he couldn't give it to them. It was better to leave before it started, which is exactly what he did, getting in the carriage with a short wave to those who lived in the orphanage.

The rest of his day was filled with the same conversations over and over again. He visited churches of the New Gods and orphanages and infirmaries, donating food to those who struggled. In a week or so, he would do again, with baskets full of clothes instead of food, all to give him and Harudan a good image while the majority of supplies went to the war front.

By the time the sun set, he was back in the room across from Harudan's office. His brother was praying, despite everything he had told him, but Nerin didn't anymore. He'd spoken to Askarune, had proof that the Old Gods were real, even if he didn't pray to them either. He hadn't told Harudan about the God though, in fear of what he might do if he knew.

Askarune didn't like people, hence why his Sanctum was so far from civilisation. If Nerin told Harudan, he would try to find him and likely get himself killed. Despite everything, that was the last thing he wanted. He'd even told Isiah that, begged him not to kill his brother, even if he was a warmonger.

With the crystal in front of him, he didn't know what to do. There was something trapped inside it, according to Harudan, something that could help them win the war. That alone didn't give Nerin much incentive to figure it out, but if the Askari won the war and took over Brenmar, nothing would go well. King Ouron could barely keep his own people fed. Brenmar would suffer if Harudan lost the war.

It had been King Ouron's inability to look after his people that started the war in the first place, even if it was ten years ago. If it hadn't been for him not knowing how to feed his people, he never would have had to ask King Iunis for help that they couldn't give. Ouron was the one who reacted badly, who started everything. The current war was just a result of that.

And the being in the crystal needed to be freed, whether it would be used or not. It had been stuck there for centuries at least, for a reason he didn't know. For all he knew, it had been trapped there for a good reason. Whatever it was could be dangerous, but it also could have been trapped for an entirely different reason. The only way he could find out would be to translate. And he was far too curious for his own good.

With a sigh, he opened the book and turned to the last page he had translated, not all that long before the four of them had been captured and taken to Huton. All he had gotten down was the location of Nyat's Sanctum, the word 'centre' written in his loopy handwriting in the margins.

He read slowly, his eyes and heart heavy. Harudan would be eating dinner and the girl from the Sanctum - Ashera - would be delivering his food to an empty room. He would have to go and get it later when he wasn't so busy. He wasn't that hungry, the rumble in his stomach from anxiety, not a lack of food.

It felt wrong to be reading the book for someone who wasn't Isiah. He had promised himself that he would help the man as best he could and yet there he was, working with their enemy, but his family. His family who lied to him but told him the truth at the same time, made him see what was real and what was wishful thinking. Either way, if Nerin didn't translate it, someone else would. If he did, then there had to be some way he could convince his brother to do something different to what he had planned. But if he had already sent Jonin off to go and kill Isiah, maybe that was impossible.

With a choked sigh and the prick of tears in his eyes, Nerin skimmed the words, looking for anything that might relate to the crystal. The writer had spoken to Nyat, who was dying and the conversation didn't seem to be all that important, until the author asked about the other Gods.

When I asked Nyat about her siblings, I'd never seen a God become so angry. The only other one I had spoken to, Askarune, regarded me with impatience, but not anger. Nyat, in her fragile old age, still towered over me, stronger than any being I had ever met. There was a sadness in her eyes, mourning for those she had lost and that she would never meet the Beast, she told me. I believe she wanted me to be them. If only I could have been.

She had a secret to pass to me before she died, one she hadn't told anyone, except her siblings. Long ago, centuries and centuries, she had lived with her brother, Ishin. They had been as close as any siblings could be, looking after the people they had created.

Nyat told me that over the years, Ishin changed-

The click of the door opening pulled Nerin away from the book. Harudan stood in the doorway with a tray of food and a smile on his face. "I thought you might be in here," he said as he placed the tray on the desk in front of him. "How's it going?"

"It's slow," Nerin said and picked at the vegetables in front of him. He still wasn't hungry but it was probably a good idea to eat anyway. As with everything he ate at the palace, it was cooked perfectly.

Harudan sighed and sat on the edge of the table. "Found anything?"

"Not yet. What I had translated when I was with Isiah didn't say anything about the crystal," he explained and stared up at his brother. "Did it ever occur to you that I might not find anything?"

"It did, but I still think it's worth a shot, considering none of the books in our language know what I'm trying to find. According to you, that book knows more than any other I could look at," Harudan answered, raising an eyebrow at him.

Nerin frowned, a sick feeling in his stomach. "Where did you send Jonin?" he asked before he could stop himself.

He sighed again. "There were rumours of a band of assassins not far from here, Jonin has gone to chase them up," he answered with a shrug. "It's his job, after all."

It sounded believable and from the serious look on Harudan's face, it seemed like the truth. Of course, there would be assassins after him, he was a King who was waging war on another country. And Jonin being the Captain of the King's Guard would have been sent to find and kill them. But Harudan had lied about Isiah being alive before, he could very well be lying about Jonin. It was getting harder and harder to tell when he was hearing the truth.

"Nerin, you don't need to worry. This is Jonin we're talking about, he'll deal with it," Harudan said. If Nerin was right, then Jonin's abilities were exactly what he needed to worry about. Rina and Emrick would lay down their lives to keep Isiah safe, but if that happened, then Isiah would surely die.

Even so, he had to go along with what Harudan told him. "Alright. Let me get back to this then," he said and picked at his dinner again. The book sat before him as he ate and he skimmed over the pages again, trying to find where he was up to.

Nyat told me that over the years, Ishin and the realm changed. Wars broke out and which every battle, Ishin became angrier, believing that it wasn't what he had created the Ishini for. He began to punish them for their crimes, killing them if he felt it necessary, all to stop more violence.

I discovered then that Belganine's people hadn't moved on from Vishera, but had been wiped out in the biggest war Vishera had ever seen, all races against each other. Nyat grew more and more distraught as she spoke and I urged her to stop, but she told me she could not.

After the massacre of Belganine's people, Ishin became convinced that they needed to wipe out the realm and start fresh, to which Nyat said it was impossible. They must live with their mistakes as creators and wait for the Beast that was Promised. Ishin was not convinced and attempted to wipe out those in his way. Nyat told me that she expected the Beast to awaken then, but when they did not, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

Being the God of Strength, she came up with a way to lock Ishin away for as long as possible, for she could not kill him, he was her favourite sibling and despite his actions, she loved him dearly. To create her prison, she had to sacrifice most of her power, her life force and while Ishin was distracted, she laid her trap.

When it was over, she gave the prison, in the form of a glowing orange crystal, to Ishin's people to look after, warning them that it would deteriorate over time as everything did. She told me then that when Ishin finally escaped, it would be the Beast's problem to deal with.

The book continued on, rambling about how the Gods picked the Beast and how the author had never expected the Gods to be one they must fight against, but Nerin wasn't focusing. He ripped his eyes away from the pages to stare at the crystal on the desk before him, his heart in his throat.

"Nerin!" Harudan called, standing from the table and waving a hand in front of his face. "What is it? What did you read?"

He couldn't breathe, panic flooding his veins and making his hands shake. "I- I-" he gasped and let out a yelp when a hand grabbed his shoulder and wrenched him to the side.

Harudan stared down at him, worry in his eyes and his lip between his teeth. Nerin couldn't tell if it was genuine or fake. "Nerin, what's wrong?"

"It's Ishin," he whispered and with a shaking hand, pointed at the crystal. It seemed to glow brighter in response as if it knew they had figured it out.

"Ishin?"

Nerin gulped. "The Old God of Heat and Flame. He's the one who gave Isiah his power," he replied and stood from his seat. "His sister, Nyat, Goddess of Strength, trapped him in here because he was trying to kill us all."

"Why?" Harudan asked, walking forward and pressing his palm on the crystal. To think that there was a God trapped in the tiny space, it was almost unbelievable, but so many things had happened since Rina arrived in Ishmar that Nerin was no longer shocked.

"To make the world a better place," he replied distractedly. A second later, he knew he should have said it, for Harudan smiled. It was small and discreet, but it was there. "Harudan, you can't possibly be thinking of-"

"I told you we were breaking it out, whatever it was. If it's an Old God then... I don't know, Nerin, I really don't, but I promised it, and I know it could hear me," Harudan said, his words making Nerin's heart plummet into his stomach. There was a look in his eyes, something hungry, something terrifying. "We're breaking it out. That's that. Now look for a way to do it."