Ignis the drake wanted attention and Harudan wasn't in the mood for it. Even so, he couldn't resist the pleading look in his pet's eyes and with an annoyed sigh, scratched the drake under the chin. Ignis growled cheerfully at him and curled up on the desk to sleep, snoring occasionally.

He sat in his office, sifting through papers and notes that Fentir had given him upon his arrival in Ishmar. After only a little over a week away, there was so much he had to catch up on, but at least Fentir had looked after the city as promised. But there was so much to read through and give his stamp of approval.

Most of it was just allowing people to grow extra crops in spring. It would require more land and thus needed his permission, which he was happy to give. If everything went according to plan, Minisia would be his by the end of winter and he would need more farms to feed all of his new citizens.

And then there were the supply lines running into Minisia, money to be spent on armour and repairs and everything else the people of his country needed. Some things, he couldn't permit, like an overly expensive festival, frivolous renovations to the palace. Those things could wait until after the war, when everything was better.

Amid the sheets of paper was a small book, one he had taken from Nerin when they were still in Huton, packing to go home. It was old, written in High Visheran. The words had faded over time but there were some written in fresh ink on the margins. Nerin's translations had been scribbled in every free space, but he'd only made it through half the book.

At every free moment, he read as much as he could of Nerin's translations, but without context, it didn't make much sense. The first few pages of the tiny book only had a few notes, most of them about the Old Gods and the Sanctum of Ishin. After that, the notes spoke only of locations. One in the north and one on the border.

Harudan frowned as he read over the little scribbles, one hand unconsciously reaching out to pat Ignis. He'd asked the Princess back in Huton why they had gone west and north, but she hadn't answered. With the book in his hands, he might get that answer, but the translations only made sense in the context of the book, which he didn't have. There was only one way to get that.

But Nerin wouldn't talk to him. He'd barely said a word on the way back to Ishmar and had cried whenever he didn't think Harudan was watching. He had truly thought that the Princess had been his friend. It was childish, but he couldn't blame him, he was only young after all. Young and far too innocent for what was going on in the realm.

At least he didn't know that the Princess and the monk were still alive. If he did, it would only make things worse. Harudan had lied to him about it to stop any attempts of running away in Nerin. Because he would try it, the stupid boy, thinking that the people he had travelled with truly cared for him.

It was better to make him think they were dead. He would grieve and then he would move on. If he knew they were still alive, who knew what he would do. With him thinking they were dead, Harudan knew how to deal with him, if only he would talk to him. The instant they had arrived in Ishmar, he had hidden himself in his room and not said a word to anybody.

There was only one good thing about it. Harudan was able to talk to Jonin about finding the Princess and the monk. If he was being honest, he didn't see much point anymore. He had Nerin back, the Princess and the monk had been unwilling to give him the answers he wanted, despite Jonin's attempts to get them. The monk was far stronger than he looked, considering his pathetic snivelling the last time Harudan had seen him.

According to Jonin, all he had done was scream and beg for it to be over, but he never said a word about what he was doing. Then someone came along and helped him escape. It was one of the guards from Huton, if the bodies were anything to go by, but he had no idea who could have done it. Jonin was still there, trying to figure it out, but Harudan was tempted to tell him to give up.

With the book in his possession, he might not need the monk anymore. If he could just get someone to translate it for him, maybe he could have the answers he needed. All he needed to do first was get Nerin to tell him what it was about. Obviously, it was important. If the notes were anything to go by, the book was the reason they had gone where they had.

With a sigh, he dropped the book gently back on the desk and gave the rest of the papers his seal of approval. Fentir would come by in the afternoon to get them off of him. He had more important things to do while he waited, like mend his relationship with his baby brother.

He'd tried when they were in Huton and for a moment he'd been sure that Nerin was actually listening to him, believing what he was saying, but the instant they were in the carriage, he went back to being silent. It was irritating and Harudan had no idea what he was supposed to do. All he ever wanted from the moment the Princess escaped was for Nerin to be back with him, safe and sound.

He stood from the desk and ignored the glare his pet drake shot him, before grabbing the book and heading out into the hall. The door across from him was shut, but the warmth from the crystal within was constant. His goal when he had heard that the monk had been captured was to find out what he could about it, in the hopes that he could free whatever was inside. But then they escaped, because he couldn't have anything go well for him.

One day he would figure out how to get whatever was in the crystal back to the real world, as he had promised, but it was already taking far longer than it should have. He hadn't gone back to the crystal since his return to Ishmar, slightly ashamed that he still wasn't able to help the being inside. But they had been in there for years, they could wait a little longer.

Nerin's room was far down the hall and it was strange to think that he was actually in there. Some naive part of Harudan had hoped that he would find him sneaking around as he always did, but all he had done was hide in his room. A lot of the secret passages had been blocked off since he was taken, but that wouldn't have stopped him.

Things were different, too different. Harudan had always known that they would change, but he never expected anything that had happened. His brother was supposed to stay with him, be by his side, the last of their family, but the boy never said a word and he couldn't figure out why. Yes, grief was something he was experiencing, but surely Harudan would be the best person to talk to about it.

Nerin hadn't gone silent after the death of their father. He'd been quiet, sad, unsure of how to deal with it, but he'd talked to him. He'd never been completely silent. It was something different this time around and Harudan needed to figure out what it was. He finally had his brother back, but he didn't at the same time.

After a second of hesitation, he knocked on Nerin's door. There was no reply, but he had expected that much. Back before the treaty, if there was no reply, it meant Nerin was sneaking around somewhere he shouldn't. With a sigh, he pushed open the door and stepped through, silently wishing that he was sneaking around.

But, of course, he was wrong. Nerin sat on his bed, staring out the window with a listless expression on his face. His skin was a pale shade of orange, paler than normal, as if he were sick. "Nerin," Harudan said, as if he were speaking to a startled animal. "What are you doing in here?"

Nerin looked at him with tired eyes but said nothing. While he'd been gone, Harudan had the maids clean his room regularly to stop the dust from settling, but in the few hours since they had arrived, it already felt as though no one had lived in the room for a long time.

Harudan inched forward and stopped at the edge of the four-poster bed. "Have you been sitting there all night?" he asked and got nothing in response. "Did you at least get some sleep?"

"Some," Nerin said, his voice so quiet that he wasn't sure he'd actually said something. He was croaky, as if sick, which was entirely possible, it was winter after all.

"Have you eaten today? It's almost time for lunch," he said and finally moved to sit next to him. He tried to ignore the way Nerin shuffled away and clenched his hands into fists on his lap. "Come and eat with me, the servants have a lot prepared."

Nerin shook his head. "I'm not hungry," he whispered.

"But... Nerin, I wanted to speak with you. This book, what is it about?" he asked and gestured with the leather-bound book.

"Where did you get that? Did you take it from me?" Nerin asked, louder than anything he had said since Harudan found him in Huton. He jumped from his bed and ran to his bag, which sat upon his dusty desk. He dug through, throwing out clothes that looked far too big for him, a desperate look on his face.

"You left it on the table in Huton. I took it so you wouldn't forget it," he replied, his eyebrows furrowed.

Nerin let go of the bag and glared at him. "I wouldn't have forgotten it," he said and ran a hand through his hair.

"Why is it so important to you? I was reading some of your translations but they didn't make much sense to me-"

"You read it?" Nerin yelled and reached to snatch the book from his hands. Harudan didn't let him, frowning down at his brother in confusion.

"What is this, Nerin? Tell me," he said and reached for his brother. Nerin's panic was enough to tell him that what he held in his hands was far more important than he had first thought.

But Nerin didn't answer him and instead shuffled towards the door. "I'm not hungry. Eat by yourself," he said and pulled the door open. He stared down at the floor as Harudan walked past him. "I will have my food in my room from now on."

Part of him wanted to stay, wanted to question Nerin until he eventually broke down and told him everything, but this was his little brother and he was struggling. He had to be patient. If need be, he could ask one of Nerin's old teachers to help him translate, but he wanted it to be Nerin. It needed to be Nerin so they could build up the trust they had lost.

In the doorway, he stopped and smiled at him. "If you need me, you know where I am, alright?" he said, but Nerin didn't look at him and closed the door. Irritated at his useless venture, he sighed and wandered back the way he had come.

It would take a long time from the looks of things, but he would get his brother's trust back. However, he needed answers faster than Nerin was willing to give them. Whatever was in the book meant more to Nerin and his runaway friends that he had first expected and he had to know why. Anything written in High Visheran was so old that there was always a possibility that it could give him the answers it needed, considering the monk was no longer there to do so.

He froze when he turned the corner towards his office again. A familiar man stood there, tapping his knuckles against the wood of the door. Jonin stood there impatiently, crossing his arms over his chest, waiting for a person who would never open the door for him. Harudan sighed in relief and hurried over to him.

"When did you get back?" he asked when he reached him, startling the taller man.

Jonin wrapped an arm around his waist and tugged him closer. "Just now, I was coming to give you an update on Huton. Where were you?" he said.

"Talking to Nerin," he replied and shook his head. He pushed open the door to his office. "What of Huton?"

Ignis chirped loudly when they entered and flew to land on Jonin's shoulder. He closed the door behind them and with a sigh, kissed Jonin lightly on the lips. Ignis nipped at his hair as he pulled away and he swatted at the drake with a chuckle. Every time Ignis was around and they tried to kiss, the little drake tried to get some attention of his own.

Jonin sighed as he petted Ignis. "We couldn't find them. We have no idea who got them out but I would like to assume that they didn't do a very good job at killing your uncle's apprentice," he explained and collapsed in Harudan's office chair with a grunt. "I've got people out searching for them but without dogs to sniff them out, I don't think we're going to find them."

Harudan rubbed at his pounding head. "Leave it then, we have Nerin back. We have more important things to focus on now," he replied.

"But the monk-"

"It didn't look like he could use his powers, did it?" Harudan said and raised an eyebrow at his partner.

Jonin hummed in response. "That's true. What changed?"

"I don't think it matters much, to be honest. He's not a threat anymore, none of them are," he said with a shrug.

"So you want me to stop looking for them? What about those answers you wanted off the monk?" Jonin asked and sighed again. He looked exhausted. How long had he been travelling just for Harudan to tell him to stop?

"If things change, if we hear about the monk in Minisia, then I'll start the search again. For now, I want to focus on the war," he explained. He couldn't be wasting precious resources searching for the monk and the Princess, couldn't be constantly sending Jonin away from him.

"As you wish," Jonin replied. "What is your plan?"

Gently, he placed the book on the table. "I think this might be able to help. Nerin was translating it, but he didn't finish. There are notes in here about having to go north, which I'm guessing is why they went up there, but nothing on why," he said, pride blooming in his chest. "But, Nerin didn't seem willing to tell what it was all about."

"Another translator then?"

"No, another translator wouldn't have met that monk. I have the feeling Nerin would be able to explain it better, but he doesn't trust me at the moment," he said and paced the length of his desk. He smiled at the floor. "Doesn't matter, I have an idea. I think I know how to get the answers I want."