The time since Harudan had received the letter in Girandor and arriving in Huton had been slower than he had ever thought possible, but the moment he saw Nerin, time flew by once again. Seeing his baby brother again had been a blur of shock and relief. He'd known he was there, Fentir's letter had said as much, but a part of him had doubted it. But there he'd been, in too big clothing and a look of surprise on his small face.

They'd eaten together but any attempt at getting information off Nerin proved fruitless. He barely spoke more than a word and when he did, his voice was croaky with disuse and tears. He cried a few times, for reasons Harudan didn't know and jolted away whenever he tried to comfort him. It was obvious why Nerin was so jittery around him. He'd seen the failure that the treaty had been.

For all he knew, Princess Sharina and the others had been whispering in his ears during the weeks they'd been together, telling him all sorts of lies. Nerin didn't know the true reasons for why Harudan had started a war and he wouldn't until they were back in Ishmar. Before that, he needed to deal with the Princess and the monk, now that he finally had them in his grasp.

The Lord of Huton had tried to fill him in on everything as soon as he had arrived with Jonin and a few members of his Guard, but he had been too focused on Nerin to pay much attention. He'd heard the basics though, and that was enough.

The Princess and her little group had arrived in town and had been recognised from the wanted posters Harudan had done up in his desperation. A group of people had ambushed them in the forest and taken Nerin, the Princess and the Monk back to the town. When he'd asked, the Lord told him that Emrick had been beaten to death and left in the snow for his past crimes. Harudan had smirked in amusement when he'd heard that, it was what criminals like him deserved.

The irritating part was that a bunch of untrained men had been able to do what Jonin and his many groups of trained trackers could not. But ambush was always a better, albeit cowardly tactic. He tried to comfort the Captain with a hand on his shoulder and a kiss but it did nothing to wipe the irritated look from his eyes. But at least Nerin was safe and they had their enemies locked up, waiting to be executed.

That wouldn't happen until he got the information he needed from the monk. He knew something about the crystal and had the ability to wield flames. Harudan needed the secrets to those powers if he wanted to win the war as fast as possible. But first, he wanted to see the Princess, not for anything important, just because he could.

And so, the Lord of Huton, whose name he didn't bother to remember, led them down into the basement of the small stronghold. It was dark and dingy, lit by a few sparse wall sconces. The Lord was nattering away at him, explaining how maze-like the place was and how the tunnels had been used centuries back to cross the border. From the looks of things, most had been filled in to stop any incursions.

Two guards stood outside one of the many wooden doors in the maze of grey brick halls, helmets covering their faces and their bodies straight. They weren't his, but citizens of Huton most likely. They nodded their heads at him and one reached to open the door. "This is the Princess," the Lord said. "The other one is further down."

The room beyond was almost pitch black, the light from outside allowing him to see the faint outline of the body chained to the wall. The Princess was awake and staring at him with her dark eyes. Her hair was shorter than the last time he had seen her and so much dirtier.

Jonin strode ahead of him to light the candle on the small table in the corner and the Princess shifted away from him, her chains clanging loudly. There was anger in her soft face, but terror in her eyes. Harudan smirked and took the candle from Jonin's waiting hand, crouching down in front of the Princess.

"It's been a while," he said and tilted his head. The Princess seethed at him and tried to kick him. He chuckled when her foot met air and she growled, looking more like a wild animal than a Princess. "I can't say it's good to see you."

"What do you want?" Princess Sharina hissed, her lips curled up in a sneer. It was all a farse, he could see the true emotion in her eyes and the slight tremble of her hands. She was terrified of him and rightly so.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Just some answers," he replied. "You've done some strange things. What was your plan with my brother? You wanted to use him against me, didn't you?"

"No," Sharina said with a shake of her head. "He came with us willingly. He helped us."

It was a lie. Harudan wanted it to be a lie but his mind flashed back to the conversation he'd had with Jonin back in Reed, the one they never continued. Nerin hadn't wanted to go back to Ishmar with him. "Helped you do what?" he asked.

But the Princess didn't say a word. From the look on her face, she had already said too much. Harudan glanced over his shoulder at Jonin, who gave him a slight shrug. There was something else, something he was missing. And the only way to figure it out was to ask. If that didn't work, then there were other methods.

"I had thought when you took my brother and ran from Ishmar that you would head for the border, but you didn't, you went west. What was there?" he asked and when the Princess looked away from him, he grabbed her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes. "Jonin said there were ruins there, a hole in the cliff and a boy who could wield flames. You still didn't go back to Minisia, you went north. And now you're here. Why?"

Princess Sharina was silent for a moment, watching him. "To throw you off," she said and smirked at him. Harudan sneered and stood back, raising an eyebrow at her.

"You've been away for some time, Princess, you've missed some things-"

"I've seen the bodies."

The field he had fought on wasn't far, so of course, she'd seen it. "But you don't know the true extent of it. The border is mine now and my army is marching towards Ziya as we speak. It won't be long, a matter of weeks or months and your country will be mine," he said and sneered at her. Jonin moved to his side and placed a hand on his back as discreetly as possible. "And you've been running around my country to throw me off? I doubt it."

It was the complete truth. Down south, in Girandor, General Juna would be getting ready to move again. The siege weaponry would be slowly coming down the supply line but within a few days, they would be moving again, marching towards Ziya and taking over the vantage points Juna had laid out.

The Princess's lip trembled and she glared at him with rage-filled eyes. "You will never win," she snapped and shook her chains.

"I already have," he replied and turned away. The Lord still stood in the doorway, the two guards next to him. "Take me to the monk. I'm sure he'll tell me what I want to know. You said you had someone who could help me, my Lord?"

"Aye, Your Majesty," the Lord said. "Someone from the Sanctum of Ishin."

Harudan almost stopped. The last time he'd heard anything about the Sanctum of Ishin was when he had been there and that hadn't ended well for anyone except him. And even then, he still didn't have answers, but that wouldn't last much longer. The monk was waiting for him.

In the doorway, he finally stopped and looked over his shoulder at the Princess. "Another couple of days, Princess, and you won't have to worry about your country anymore. The gallows are waiting for you." He didn't give her a chance to respond before he slammed the door shut, the sound of her chains rattling following him down the hall.

Jonin gave him a strange look, one he couldn't decipher, but said nothing as the Lord led them further down the winding halls. Talking to the Princess had been rather pointless in the grand scheme of things, but he wanted to anyway. He'd wanted to see the look on her face, the terror in her eyes. He'd gotten exactly that.

It had been worth a shot, asking her the questions, even though he knew she wouldn't give him a real answer. Throwing him off. That was the biggest lie he'd heard in a while. They'd obviously been doing something, heading west and north, but he had no idea what. If he was able to spare the men, he would send groups out there to find out, but with the war on, he couldn't. All he could do was ask questions.

If that didn't work, Jonin had been trained in how to get answers from people. Harudan was just being nice enough to give them a better option first. The Princess, he probably wouldn't bother to get more answers out of, but the monk, he was the important one. Jonin could do whatever he wanted to him, as long as he got what he needed.

As with the Princess's cell, two guards stood outside, joined by an unfamiliar woman in familiar clothes. He'd seen plenty of those robes over the years, when people on their pilgrimage came to Ishmar, when the monk had arrived with the Princess and when he had visited the Sanctum of Ishin.

From the bow the apprentice monk gave, she had no idea what he had done to the Sanctum. She must be in the middle of her pilgrimage and had yet to return. It was good for him, which meant she could do what he needed her to. He gestured for her to straighten. "Thank you for helping us," he said to her, not bothering to ask for her name. It didn't matter.

She smiled at him. "It is no bother, Your Majesty, I've been in the area helping out. It's the least I can do," she replied.

He didn't reply and gestured for the guards to open the door. It was the same as Princess Sharina's cell, except the candle was already lit and had nearly melted down to a stub. The monk sat against the wall with his eyes closed and didn't bother to open them when Harudan strode in.

He looked like the same person Harudan had seen briefly at the palace, but that was what the other monk was there to confirm. He gestured for her to follow him in and she gave a wary glance at Jonin's hulking form before she did. "Is this him?" Harudan asked her and she frowned down at the dirty body of the man.

"Isiah?" she said and finally, he opened his eyes. He gasped when he saw her and his gaze flicked to Harudan, eyes wide with fear. The other monk turned away from him, a worried frown pulling at her lips. "He's an apprentice monk, like me, from the Sanctum of Ishin. What is he here for?"

That was all he needed to know. The boy was a monk, was the person who had been sent from the Sanctum by the Mother. If only he had been able to find that out sooner. "Kidnap and murder," he told the girl and ignored the gasp she let out. "You can go now. That was all we needed. Thank you."

She was almost out the door when Isiah spoke. "It's gone!" he cried and pulled against the chains. "The Sanctum! The Mother! They're all dead. He killed them!" The girl stared at the three of them with wide eyes, as if she didn't know what to think.

Harudan scoffed and shook his head, ignoring the look Jonin shot him. "My Lord, how long has it been since he's had water?" he asked. The Lord shrugged, a good enough answer. "Get him some. He's delirious. I'm sorry, young lady."

"No, no, it's-" She cut off and gave Isiah a withering glare. "The Gods will never forgive you." She stormed from the room without giving any of them a chance to say anything and Harudan hissed in a sharp breath that made his teeth sting. She would learn soon enough that Isiah had been telling the truth, but by then it wouldn't matter. He wasn't in the mood for the issues the truth would cause.

With a sigh, he leaned against the small table. Isiah stared up at him, the only clean part of his face the tear tracks on his cheeks. "You're a monster," he whispered.

Harudan raised an eyebrow at him. "No, I'm a King," he replied and gestured for Jonin to shut the door. He wanted privacy for what he was about to ask. No one else could know the secrets of the monk or the crystal, just him or Jonin. "I have some questions for you, little monk."

"I'm not telling you anything," Isiah snapped.

"Trust me, you'd rather answer my questions than go through whatever Sir Jonin has in store for you," he replied and crossed his arms over his chest. "Now, I know you have the ability to use flames, but here you are. If you used your powers, you could kill everyone and escape. Why haven't you?"

Isiah looked away from him. "I don't kill," he whispered. He was a pathetic creature, sitting there in filth, tears in his eyes and a tremble to his hands. To think that this was someone he thought a threat to Jonin and Nerin was insane.

"Tell that to the people in Ishmar, in the west," he replied and smiled at the pain on the monk's face. The followers of the Old Gods were meant to be peaceful, but he was a murderer.

"What do you want?"

"How can you use your powers?" he asked, wanting to get straight to the point. "And why haven't you used them to escape yet? You could get out of here easily, even if you don't want to kill, so why haven't you?"

The monk stayed silent, his gaze switching between him and Jonin. The Captain had seen him use his powers so he couldn't exactly deny that he had them, but from the looks of things, he couldn't find a good lie to hide his secrets. The look on his face told Harudan more than enough.

"Unless you can't use them for some reason. That's it, isn't it? You don't have your powers right now. What changed?" Isiah shifted on the ground and he grinned. He'd hit the nail on the head. That must have been how the people of Huton were able to capture him, he didn't have his powers.

Still, Isiah was silent. He was just as bad as the Princess. Even in the face of torture, he would stay silent. The monk wouldn't die until he found out what he needed, no matter how long it took for that to happen. There was something in the crystal back in Ishmar, something that wanted to escape and he would get it out.

Something irritated him, whispered in the back of his mind, but he already knew the answer without needing to ask Isiah the question. Turian had somehow gotten word to them, most likely through Emrick, that he had killed those at the Sanctum of Ishin. Of course, he had, why wouldn't he? And Emrick would have told Isiah since they were working together.

At least he could use that to his advantage. "So, Emrick and Turian told you about what I did at the Sanctum?" he said and Jonin made a noise behind him. He waved him away, he knew what he was doing. "Did he also tell you I took the crystal that was there? No? Well, I did. I've been trying to figure out what it does, but it's been difficult. I was hoping you could tell me. What does it do?"

He gave Isiah a moment to look offended, his eyes wide and his mouth agape. "It- It just keeps us warm," he said.

"Don't lie to me!"

"I'm not!"

"Is that where you got your powers from? How?" he asked, trying to keep his voice calm, but anger flowed through his veins. The lack of answers was irritating, considering how nice he was being. He could have let Jonin do what he wanted to instant they'd arrived, but he hadn't. Isiah wouldn't appreciate that until it was too late.

The monk shook his head. "It's not," he said and hissed in a breath.

"Then how?" Harudan asked, his eyebrows high on his forehead. Was there something else? Something other than the crystal in the palace? Or had Isiah been born with it? No, that wasn't it. The Mother had said his powers had been weak. There was something else.

"Speak, boy," Jonin growled.

Harudan held up a hand to stop him. "He won't, not yet, but that's alright," he said and turned towards the door. Getting his answers would have to wait a little while longer. "I'm sure you've been waiting to get your hands on him, Jonin. I am going to have lunch with Nerin, you do what needs to be done."

There were no slight touches as he opened the door to leave, just shared looks of annoyance. The Lord was leaning against the wall when he came out and jumped to stand straight as soon as the door creaked open. The guards didn't spare him a glance and rightly so. With a sigh, he gestured for the Lord to lead him back down the twisting halls.

As they passed by the Princess's cells, one of the guards eyed him warily, but he paid it no mind, smiling when the first screams echoed down the hallway. In a matter of hours, he would have his answers. And in a matter of days, both the Princess and the monk would be dead.