Hestor's dead.

Margo stood slumped over the body, her face puffy, eyes red. She turned toward Abby. "They know where we are," she whispered. All her radiant shimmer had fled her skin, and even her hair hung limply around her head. Abby reached out and wrapped the small woman in an embrace. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Hestor's hand, stiff and covered in drying blood. It looked as though it'd been grasping something the moment of his death.

Margo gently pushed away from Abby and dabbed at her watery eyes. "He was coming to give me news."

Fraga looked at the small mouse woman. "News on what?"

Margo frowned. "The Shadow King."

The Shadow King.

As soon as the words had been spoken, a hush fell over them, and both Fraga's and Margo's faces grew grim.

"And what of him?" Fraga said clasping the gem at the end of her pendant necklace. The stone held a brilliant shade of blue near its tip while the rest of it remained crystal clear. Abby grimaced. If this stone was any indication of Fraga's life, she didn't have much time left.

"He's slain Siliasseeis," she said. "And Nocturnis."

Abby's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. Had this Shadow King really slain King Nocturnis? She'd just seen him the other day. She shuddered as a flood of images, of Rowlo, of his weeping mother and unforgiving father, Rowland, his ace raised, barraged her mind.

"How could he be slain?" Lain roared, slamming a fist onto the table. Hestor's body shook, the cloth over him slipping low over his face. He stared at the ceiling with empty brown eyes, wide and panic-stricken.

For the first time since Abby had entered the great hall, she noticed Lain almost looked like a different person. He must have been offered the bath like Lucy and Sebbi and he stood before her, years of dungeon grim and dirt removed from his long, smooth grey fur. He looked younger and wore a deep crimson robe, a sword shoved through the braided cord and resting neatly in his hip. She could believe he had once been a Wanesguard, proudly serving the Royal family and denizens of Aelurus.

"Not recently," Margo said. "Probably years ago and replaced by one of Gravious's shadespore. The question now is why? Why show interest in a lesser king?"

Lucy, who'd remained silent until now, broke the silence. "What do you mean Nocturnis is dead? We just saw him."

Margo sighed. Fraga motioned to Menna and another kit whose fur was as red as its robe to remove Hestor's body from the table. Abby turned though she heard them unsticking his corpse from the table. She did not want to see them carrying a lifeless body somewhere. Abby wished, deep down, that Hestor would be returned to his family, be made a star where he could sit and feast and chat with his ancestors forever. Y'mestria, or whatever it was called.

Peace, she thought. Let Hestor find peace.

"He'll be buried properly," Fraga said assuredly.

Margo nodded, her eyes trained on the arched doorway where Hestor's body had been led through. "I know he will." She turned toward Fraga. "And I thank you for that."

The women shared a nod and then, Margo shifted her attention to Lain.

"I guess it's time I tell you why we rescued you," she said.

Lain leaned against a pillar, his slender arms folded across his chest. "I can't imagine why you would," he said flatly. "You risked the lives of the rightful heirs to save some emaciated, failed Wanesguard. I was always thought Cloudesmen were far more clever than they let on. I guess maybe not." He frowned.

Margo laughed, filling up the wide open space with her bell-like chuckles. "There's a fine line between clever and incredibly stupid. Sometimes, you have to straddle that line."

Lain harrumphed. "So why did you rescue me?"

"Your memories," Margo said.

Lain stopped leaning on the pillar and stood up full height. This was obviously not the answer he'd been expecting. Abby certainly hadn't expected the words to come from Margo's mouth but the mouse- woman did seem to have a habit of saying the strangest things.

Margo moved away from the blood-soaked table and pointed to her head. "You saw something you shouldn't have, five years ago."

Lain's whiskers twitched, his tail thumped against the floor. "During the rebellion?" he asked.

Margo nodded. "And I need that memory."

Lain's lips split into a smirk. "And to get to my memories, you need magick. So that's why we've come to the Order."

"The only place in Aelurus in open rebellion against the usurper. And," she nodded toward Fraga and the cat-woman took this as her invitation to join in the conversation. "Soroccah was my brother," the cat-woman said.

Lain's face wore an expression of shock. "Soroccah had a sister?"

Fraga nodded. "Mages give up everything to have the moon's blessing to wield its magick," she said, her eyes looking far into the distance. "We knowingly shorten our lifespans to cast magick, but we also have to give up our bloodline. That which is most important to us," she said.

Lain nodded. "It's nothing I didn't already know."

"Years before I came to the Order, Sorroccah and I lived traditional lives with our parents and our other siblings. But a fire erupted in our village, and outlaws slaughtered most of us in the chaos. Sorrocah and I were the only ones to survive. Stripped of everything, we gave up our lives, our abilities to continue our bloodline, to use magick. And later, we found out those outlaws hadn't been outlaws at all. King Octurine had disguised his soldiers to raid villages, setting them aflame, killing families, leaving behind orphans in hopes that those orphans would opt to sacrifice their lives in the pursuit of the magicks. When Soroccah and I found that out, Soroccah was already under the employ of the queen as her Archmage. He assured me she had nothing to do with the attacks on the villages on the outskirts of the kingdom and that she opposed such dirty tactics to create that abomination of an army."

She turned and looked at Lucy and Sebbi. "Your mother was a fine ben' nessra, and I would like to see her bloodline sit on the throne again." She turned downcast. "My brother would have wanted that as well."

"What did you see the night the queen died?" Margo asked abruptly.

Lain's silver eyes clouded over. "A hundred bows, a hundred arrows hurtled through the sky, my queen's gold eyes never wavering from the treeline where Feign stood, His red eyes."

Margo shook her head. "There's more," she said. "And we need that memory if we're to prove that the King who sits on the throne now is nothing more than a Shade. Aelurians won't like that they're being used by the Shadow King. They'll crave a new king. Go to war, destroy one another until someone is sat on that throne, but..." she looked at the brothers. "With the last of the Crescent Moon bloodline here, we can avoid all that senseless violence. Nocturnis can be disposed of and the blood moon can fall from the sky. Redeem yourself," she said, saying these last two words to Lain and Lain only.

The cat-man nodded.

That evening, Fraga accompanied by Menna and three others dressed in large, green robes, led them down a path and to a small, open patch of grass. It was odd, nestled on either side by large, orangish mountains. The grass was clipped and laid along the ground like polished stone. A single large, white-barked tree grew in the center of the clearing, thousands of what looked like yellow lights sparkling among its white leaves. As Abby walked toward it she realized the lights were the pulsing abdomens of hundreds of golden flies.

"What is this place?" Abby asked in a whisper.

Margo leaned up. "A shrine to the moon goddess. She reflects our true selves."

Fraga motioned for Lain to lay beneath the tree.

Four other Aelurians gathered around Lain, their emerald green robes matching the surrounding grass. With a few whispers, each of the cat creatures created an orb of gold light that floated above their heads. They went higher and higher until the tops of the leaves were gilded in their warmth. And then, the chanting began.

Abby couldn't make out a single word. It sounded more like murmurs, low and soft, and slowly the sound filled the hollow between the mountains. The wind gathered, the ground shook. The hairs on Abby's arms stood on edge. The mages had summoned magick. Lain lay there eyes open, trained on the patch of night sky that peeked through the canopy of silvery leaves. He began glowing, the same golden light emanating from him that came from the glowing leaves. A sigh of disbelief escaped Abby's lips but Margo was quick to hush her.

The slivers of light slithered away from Lain's body and toward Fraga's outstretched hand. A break in the chanting came and among the silence, Fraga spoke. "The night of Nocturnis' rebellion, what did you see?"

Abby took a deep breath. She didn't know why she felt so anxious but she braced herself for Lain's words and squeezed Margo's wrist.

"Smoke," Lain said, his voice far away, as if he weren't there with them as if he were living in that moment, and relaying it back to them. "Smoke coming from the towers, the barracks, after all the fires had been snuffed. Commander Gale - he came to me soot-covered, red-eyed, commanding me to go to my queen. She was in the birthing chamber; it was forbidden. I was forbidden. A flash of iron, the hit of it on my breastplate, the first scratch of many. Cowering, fearful, afraid not of death, but of not dying. I cut the enemy down, blood - more blood. The Queen and I running through catacombs, dank, musty catacombs. Cobwebs catching in our fur, the princes mewing, struggling. Blue light, white light, red eyes. The moon, not the blood moon, the silver moon, the hemma moon. Arrows and those eyes, her eyes. Her eyes growing dull, fading, gone."

"Delhen Lain, was anyone with the Blood Moon Commander?"

Lain shook, his head rocking back and forth as if he didn't want to remember. "Brown fur, green markings - a mage. She... She stood behind Feign cloaked in shadow."

Lain winced and twisted his body in pain. "No," he said through gritted teeth. "Not a shadow. By the traitor. She stood next to the traitor."

Frag furrowed her brow and ran two long fingers along her cheek. "But was it really Nocturnis?"

Lain squirmed on the ground, blades of grass intertwining with his fur. He let about a brief yelp as he threw his body against the trunk of the tree. "It...was...Nocturnis..." he said through raspy breaths.

Fraga's face fell, her green eyes dimming. Margo's shoulders slumped and she looked inches smaller than she was.

"No..." Lain muttered, and everyone gathered snapped their attention to back to him. "Nocturnis was there but a...a shadow surrounded him and then..."

His body began to convulse.

"Someone, grab him!" Fraga commanded frantically. Menna and a small grey-furred Aelurian hurried forward and grabbed Lain's ankles and hands, restraining the flailing man.

"...the shadow took his form, Nocturnis' form." With one last breath he managed to force this sentence out and then his rigid body collapsed to the ground. His eyes closed. His breathing returned to normal.

Fraga's thin, black lips parted into a smile. Yellowed fangs glimmering in the light, she said. "We have it."

Have what? Abby thought.

"Have what?" Sebbi growled next to her. "He just told us his memory. It proves nothing."

Fraga turned sharply toward him, the smile falling from her lips. "Your Highness," she said addressing him properly though reluctantly so, "the orbs." A thin finger pointed upward at the glowing balls of light only know they weren't as bright, and black smoke swirled around their insides.

"They capture the memories," Fraga said and swiped her hand left.

The orb closest to her grew brighter and the smoke slowly started to pour out, forming shapes out of the blackness. A pair of familiar gold eyes formed before Abby swathed in black fur. She nuzzled two tiny bundles in her arms. Beside her was a strange man, dressed in robes of green like Fraga's, a wooden staff clutched in his hand. Blue light shot from the staff, forming a half circle in front of him. Then, the figures faded, the smoke returned to the orb and Fraga's hand fell back to her side.

"So what happens next?" Lucy said watching as Menna helped Lain to his feet. He struggled to stand upright, his chest heaving, his breath still rapid. He leaned on the tree for balance, his fur dark with sweat.

"I'll take the memories back to the Cloude and we'll present them to the High Queen. She'll have her proof that the Shadow King moves against all the realms and she'll stop him in Aelurus. Then," she turned toward Lucy and Sebbi, "one of you may be king."

The brothers shared a quizzical look between themselves. That pang in Abby's chest returned. One of them would be king. One of them would leave her. She would be losing another piece of her family. Abby's face fell. She hoped the others were too preoccupied with Margo's explanation to take note of just how miserable she looked.

Fraga along with the other mages gathered around Lain and collected the orbs full of his memories. They handled them carefully, holding them close to their chests as they walked back toward the temple.

Margo stood on the ground, her eyes boring into Lucy and Sebbi. "By the way," she said, hands on her hips as she leaned closer to them, "Which of you is oldest?"

Lucy looked toward Sebbi who wore annoyance on his face. His eyes grew smaller, the nails along his fingers extending. "How would we know that?" Sebbi growled.

Margo shrugged. "I don't know. It's just, usually, the eldest gets to be king or queen," she hastily added.

"Lucy," Lain said to everyone' surprise. "He's the eldest though not by much. A minute maybe." A thin smile eased its way across the cat-man's worn face. "Your mother told me so."

He pushed himself off the tree and stood tall even though his legs still trembled. "I even," he started taking a step forward, "know the names she gave you."

Lucy raised the fur above his eyebrows, his brother doing the same. "Wh--"

Before the word could spill out of Lucy's mouth, an explosion sounded. The temple erupted into flames. Stone and wood rained down on them and Abby placed her hands over her head to shield herself. She felt a blanket of warmth over top of her and looking up, she saw nothing but black. One of the cats had knelt over her.

Another explosion sounded. Abby heard muffled screams and splintering boards.

"--have to," someone said, but their voice was lost to among all the chaos.

"--get the memories."

"--run. It's... f'hang."

F'hang.

Commander Feign was here.

Abbernathy Fun Fact 15: Abby originally didn't live in Laos. She lived in a small town just outside the city called Moffat, who's known for their cheese. Margo would have loved to be able to visit Moffat and Abby, but alas, her home was changed to Laos.