Invocation.

If Aldeheid hadn't come to Kon, he wouldn't have known such magic existed. A mountain of tomes as high as he was tall had been delivered to his room from the archive, and he'd spent more time scouring through them than doing anything else.

And he hadn't made a dent in the pile. Several lay on the table before him, their pages lit by the morning sun streaming through his window. He wished there was an easier way to assimilate all the information within the texts. Perhaps he could take one or two on his trip, read them when he couldn't sleep.

Aldeheid picked up one of the thicker tomes and crossed to his bed, scratching the bandages that encircled his head. He'd spent the better part of the morning learning of the beyond – where the spirits lived.

It was created and ruled by death, which made him want to throw up. That woman was like his shadow at this point.

Aldeheid laid back and his head connected with something hard, sending a shock of pain through his skull. He swore under his breath before blindly fishing for the offending object. His hand closed around a small leather bag holding something hard and round.

He brought it in front of his face and dropped it like it was on fire. The bag Nylarah had given him the previous day. He'd left it outside the temple, hoping to put those bizarre events behind him. Yet here it was.

A knock sounded on his bedroom door, and he scrambled out of bed, jumping and tripping over the debris cluttering his floor in a mad dash to get to the door. He jerked it open and met Kitaya standing on the other side.

"Good morning, angel eyes," she said. "Eriani has called for a breakfast meeting. Are you done packing?" She leaned over, trying to peek into his room and he blocked her view with his body.

"Not... quite." He looked back at the clutter in the room. "I'm almost there. But we shouldn't keep the Queen waiting. I'll be right out." He all but slammed the door in her face and tiptoed over the mess to grab his shoes and a shirt. His travelling bag sat at the foot of the bed, empty and none of the things he planned to carry were folded or organized.

Aldeheid resolved to slip out after breakfast and pack. They wouldn't be leaving Kon until after noon. He slipped on his shirt and jumped into his shoes, meeting Kitaya in the hall.

She leaned against the wall opposite his door, eyes downcast and lips pouting as she toyed with the gold ring encircling her thumb. Patches of peeling skin marred her hands – the aftermath of her fight with the masked woman.

"Kitten?"

Her head popped up, eyes unfocused. "Apologies. I don't have all my wits about me this morning. How are you feeling?"

"Better." He scratched at the bandages again. The medics always gave him the itchiest of poultices.

"Good. Let's not dally then." Kitaya led him downstairs to the main dining hall where a breakfast spread fit for a king was laid out. It seemed they were the last to arrive, as all but two seats were occupied. The first people he spotted were Leandyr and Lady Hiroh, sitting with a few people he recognized from the ground unit. Eriani sat at the table's head, her eyes tracking them as they took their seats.

"Good morning, your Majesty," Aldeheid said.

She pinned him down with a piercing glare. "Why are you two not halfway to the Backlands yet?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Thankfully, Kitaya was there to speak for him.

"We're leaving this afternoon Eriani." She piled a plate up with bread, cheese and cured meat before passing it toAldeheid. "At least give us a moment to rest. Last night was a brutal rush."

The Queen's glare faded into a delicate scowl. "Listen. The scouts reported that the masked invaders came from the east. I need to know if they're in cahoots with those backland degenerates."

Aldeheid could see from the curl of Kitaya's lip that she was about to argue. "As you wish," he said, hoping to diffuse the would-be fight.

"Good." Eriani sat back in her throne-like chair and crossed one leg over the other. "Things are growing dire. Our research teams were working overnight to figure out what those people were up to. They've theorized that those masked freaks were trying to create a thin space."

"What?" He and Kitaya said in unison.

Lady Hiroh sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "It seems the more we learn, the more this is turning into a losing battle."

"I can't disagree with you there." Eriani drummed her fingers on the table. "I've doubled the patrols along the border in case they decide to return. And I have Kemah in active communication with our allies."

Aldeheid, looked down his plate of food, his appetite fleeing him. "Perhaps we should stay," he said to Kitaya. "We can always find Mellidius, but we're more needed here."

"No, you are not. You will go to the backlands, get me the information I need and find Mellidius. The rest of us will take care of things here." The Queen said it as though she were speaking the words into law, and Aldeheid dared not argue.

Instead, he focused on picking away at his food as the meeting wore on. Are we going to war? He wondered silently. If they were, he wasn't ready. Last night was a testament to his incompetence in battle.

Last night had proven that he was out of his element. When they'd crossed the plains to the eastern borders, he'd been apprehensive. But when the fighting began, he became a boy lost at sea crippled by fear as the storm of battle descended on him.

The booms of spells had mixed with the cracks of clashing weapons and the howling of a thousand orders being barked at him at once. The tides of conflict tossed and turned him, swallowed him whole.

Kitaya had once again been his lifeline – there to pull him up and out of danger.

"Angel eyes."

As he snapped out of his reverie, he looked up at Kitaya, who was gathering up a platter with a little of everything.

"We have another short meeting. Then we can make preparations to depart." They excused themselves from the table and she led him out of the dining hall. Into the eastern wing of the castle they ventured, up plain hallways with bare walls and floors and down corridors decorated with tapestries and indoor plants.

They finally reached their destination, and Kitaya rapped on the door with her knuckles before opening it. "I brought breakfast."

Aldeheid followed her in but stopped as soon as he saw who they were visiting. Jayer was laid out in the room's lone bed, dwarfed by the pillows and bedding surrounding him. His skin was nigh the same colour as the white sheets he lied on. Jetei lay asleep beside his magician, half in a chair, half on the bed.

Aldeheid stayed by the door while Kitaya laid the food out on the bedside table, and opened the curtains to let some morning sunshine in.

"You shouldn't have," Jayer said with a smile as weak as his thin, raspy voice.

"It's the least I can do after you looked out for us last night. How are you feeling? Any pain?" she asked.

"Nothing I cannot bear, and it's no trouble at all. I'm sure you wouldn't done the same had our roles been reversed." His eyes moved to Aldeheid. "Aldeheid."

He nodded to Jayer in acknowledgement, but said nothing. He didn't know what to say. Thank you, would be a start but his pride snuffed out the words.

"Aldeheid and I are heading east. It seems those freaks were trying to create another thin space. So we'll be asking around for any shred of information on them."

"Best of luck to you, then. Bring Mellidius back."

Aldeheid took that as their cue to leave and turned to head down the hall. He didn't get far before Kitaya's hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed hard enough to make him yelp.

"Stay and talk to him," she said in a voice low enough for only him to hear.

"And say what?" he asked through gritted teeth.

She looked just about ready to strangle him. "Thank you? I'm glad you didn't die? It could've easily have been you in that bed. Or worse. What if he'd died? Would you have been able to live with yourself?"

Aldeheid took in her scolding, unable to refute her words.

"I'm not saying you should be the best of friends, but talk to him. Obviously he's harbouring some guilt. Otherwise he wouldn't be trying to reach out to you. I'll wait for you out here." She turned him and gave him a shove towards the door.

Aldeheid walked back into Jayer's room, his body feeling stiff, as though it was refusing to stay. He took the chair previously occupied by Kitaya, the wood creaking under his weight as he sat.

Jayer focused on his breakfast, picking at some fruit, and Aldeheid was grateful for the moment to collect his thoughts. Memories raced through his brain. The sharp pain of a dagger sinking into his back. The white-hot branding iron on his cheek. Wenry's frozen body.

But the most vivid and fresh of them all was Jayer leaping in front of him. The sickle ripping through him. His blood leaking out into the grass, pooling. There was so much of it, it was a wonder he survived.

"You didn't have to do that," Aldeheid finally said.

Jayer made a sound that was a mix of a cough and a laugh. "You're right. There are a lot of things I didn't have to do. But I suppose we're all the victims of our choices."

"Then why?" The question burst from his lips before he could think better of it.

"When we're out there, we look out for each other, despite past turmoil and present feuds. You're one of us. Even more so now that you're Kitaya's magician. When we're out there, doing work for the cause, our interests align. And in the end, that's all the reason I need."

Aldeheid stayed quiet for a long moment as realization struck him. He's changed. This wasn't the same Jayer he'd left in Wylerra. No... the Jayer he left behind had been bitter, resentful and full of anger. The Jayer he left behind would've stood aside while the sickle pierced Aldeheid. Heck, he would've dropped whatever he was doing so he wouldn't miss Aldeheid getting hurt or possibly killed. He would've reveled in it, smiled whenever he thought of it. Used the moment to cheer him up in his darkest hours.

This Jayer that lied before him was someone else entirely. He was calmer. The scowl that had seemed to be a permanent feature of his face was gone. But there was still something off about him. Something gloomy. Like a dark cloud was hanging over him. The guilt Kitaya had spoke of, perhaps?

Something had happened to him between the time Aldeheid left Wylerra and now. Something changed him. And Aldeheid wanting to know what that something was. 'Twas a shame he didn't know how to ask.

"You don't have to stay and talk. I know Kitaya wants us to make amends, but if you're not ready, then I understand." Jayer waved dismissively with a shaking hand. "Just shut the door on your way out."

If he'd said that five minutes prior, Aldeheid would've ran out the door like there was fire on his heels. But now he found himself reconsidering. Now he wanted to know more. "No, I want to talk."

Jayer's eyebrows shot up. "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "I want answers. I've wanted answers for a long time." He sucked in a breath and finally asked the question that had been plaguing him for over four hundred years. "Why did you pay those servants to try to kill me?"

Jayer shook his head. "I didn't want you dead, Aldeheid. I hated you, yes, but after Amalie died and Baldavin turned on you, I realized you weren't any better off than the rest of us. It was Baldavin I wanted dead, and I wanted you to kill him."

Aldeheid could only blink at him.

"I thought that if you were pushed far enough, you could've done it. So, I paid the servants to stab you, and frame the High Priestess. I knew that Baldavin would test you. Because he was losing his hold on you after Amalie died. And you almost did it. You almost killed him. You just swung the sword a little too low."

"And what exactly would killing him have accomplished?"

"One less evil maniac in the world is always an accomplishment. I can't find words to explain to you how badly I wanted him dead. But there was no way he would've let me get that close. So, I used you. I used everyone." His lips twisted in a scowl of disgust, but the sentiment seemed to be directed to himself. "Jetei tried to talk me out of it. He told me to wait. We'd planned to leave during the thaw, when the nomadic tribes came back. But even if we left, I wanted Baldavin's head first."

"I..." Aldeheid let the word sit in the air for a moment, needing time to collect his thoughts. "If I'd killed Baldavin, the guards would've struck me dead right then and there."

"No, they couldn't. You know the Wylerran law Aldeheid. A Sahn Cera becomes ruler the moment the reigning monarch dies or relinquishes the throne. The moment you killed Baldavin, you would've been King, and the guards couldn't touch you."

Aldeheid knew of people who went to great lengths for revenge, but hearing it like this, knowing he was a pawn in the whole scheme was equal parts terrifying and bewildering. Most of the people he'd met through Kitaya were intimidating due to their brute strength or magical prowess.

Jayer was average at best in both those departments, but still managed to be as intimidating as everyone else. Because of his mind. He was cunning, a master of manipulation. He could make people hurt without getting a speck of dirt on his hands. That was his power, and it was a strong as any magic Aldeheid had ever seen.

"You thought everything through," Aldeheid finally said.

Jayer scoffed. "And for what? I should've listened to Jetei. I allowed my bitterness to control me, and everyone else suffered because of it. And in the end, Baldavin still won. I didn't think either you or Wenry would survive. I carried the guilt of your deaths even long after I left Wylerra, and I joined this cause because of that. I knew it wouldn't undo all the wrongs I've committed, but I saw it as a way to atone. Since then I've learned that my actions don't just bear consequences for me, but for those around me as well."

Aldeheid nodded. Kitaya had expressed the same sentiment to him. "When did you leave Wylerra?"

"The thaw after you were exiled. Jetei and I left with his family's caravan. We tried to get Iyari to come with us but..." Jayer shook his head. "He's probably killed her by now."

"She stayed to protect you Jayer. Who knows what Baldavin would've done if she'd left with you. He could've seen it as an act of defiance and sent the guard after you all. She stayed so you could find a better life. To you it may have looked like she was complicit with the way Baldavin treated us but she cared. She cared about all of us."

"You're right. It's just another thing my anger blinded me to."

They lapsed into silence, and Aldeheid thought back to all the times Jayer had tried to reach out to him. "Did you want to talk... to ask my forgiveness?"

Jayer gave a weak laugh and looked thoughtfully at the ceiling. "I'm not sure what I wanted. Perhaps I thought talking to you about it would make me less disgusted with myself. Forgiveness is not something I'm sure I've earned. And it's entirely up to you. I will not ask for it."

"Well... taking that hit for me was a start." Aldeheid offered him a smile. "Thank you."