Roddy finally felt he belonged.

Thirty-Nine.

Leo and Jewd squatted by Kilt as he retched into the undergrowth, both desperate to give him the news. Gavriel hung back, unsure of his place here.

"What's happening, Kilt?" Jewd asked.

Kilt groaned, wiped his mouth with a linen. "Search me. I feel light-headed. Perhaps I drank too much of Lily's brew."

Gavriel flinched at the mention of her name. "Where is Lily?"

Leo answered for them. "She's safe, we think...but she's gone missing."

This shocked Gavriel in two ways; that she was missing suggested alarm but Leo's admission meant Lily was still presumably living with the outlaws. "Missing? What's happened?"

"We all have long stories to share, Gav," Leo assured. "The short answer to this is that we think she's with Kirin Felt."

Gavriel stared at the king for a moment as the name filtered up from his memories. "Felt? Freath's aide?"

Leo nodded. "The very one." He raised a hand. "Don't ask why-I'll explain all later. She was meant to be here, meant to be marrying Kilt but instead she's having to pretend to be married to Kirin Felt, and she's traveling with him now, as his wife. We don't know the details, other than the fact that the ruse has kept her safe."

It was too much information to take in at once. Marrying Faris! But masquerading as Felt's wife!

"Be careful what you say," Leo warned, looking over his shoulder to where Loethar sat propped in the far distance. "He knows none of this, of course. And we must protect her."

Kilt groaned again and turned away, dry retching.

"You only took a single dose of Lily's brew," Jewd assured. "I checked with Tern. He used the correct amount."

"I know," Kilt said, wiping his mouth again, looking ashen. "I don't understand it but this retching is killing my shoulder and ribs. Anyway, enough of this! Who is this prisoner?"

"It's Loethar," Leo said.

Kilt looked at the king as though he had spoken in gibberish. "Pardon?"

Leo nodded at Gavriel. "It's true," Gavriel explained. "The man sitting against the tree is the emperor."

Kilt blanched, staggering again. Jewd, frowning, caught him.

"I have so much to tell you but let me just briefly summarize how we came upon him," Gavriel suggested. He recounted their passage into the forest of Penraven via Francham and how they stumbled upon Stracker attempting to murder his brother.

"You saved him?" Leo asked, aghast.

"Well," Gavriel began laconically, "I figured Loethar's rule was better than Stracker's. Until I knew that you were alive and we had the chance to put a Valisar on the throne, I thought it best to stick with Loethar's more peaceful leadership. Under Stracker I felt brutality would break out across all the realms."

"Compasses," Leo corrected with disgust.

Jewd glanced at Kilt, frowning at how pale and shocked his friend looked. It didn't make sense. Kilt had arrived into the camp barking orders and ignoring his injuries. Now he looked beaten, half the man he had been an hour ago. Worse, he looked frightened and he was saying nothing.

He'd have to do the talking for him. "What's happened to Stracker?"

"I don't know," Gavriel admitted. "Elka's effective when she decides to go into a fray swinging. It was like that when she rescued me from Stracker's thugs all those years ago. I didn't even know what was in the undergrowth but her arrows pierced their bodies pretty effectively."

"The arrow," Leo murmured.

Gavriel glanced at him but continued. "She didn't kill anyone this time, so Stracker will have a sore head and a lot of anger when he realizes Loethar got away."

"He's planning to seize power, you say?"

"That's my impression," Gavriel replied. "There was certainly no love lost between them. I'm gathering that the trigger of their official falling out was their mother's death. You can't imagine two more different people; from what I recall Loethar is subtle and cunning, full of secrets. As you can tell he has a quiet presence. And Stracker is all noise and brutality; he actually likes killing. I don't think Loethar enjoys it particularly, but he's not scared of taking a ruthless approach."

Kilt shook his head, finally speaking. He sounded so weak to Jewd. "But why did you bring Loethar here? Of all people, the emperor."

Now Gavriel looked stumped. He sighed. "I was so close to my goal, I wasn't going to turn back and re-think my plan. My priority was to find Leo. Loethar was a complication. As much as I would have happily watched him swing from that tree, Elka persuaded me that we should intervene. Personally, I couldn't care less if Loethar and Stracker kill each other but in those few moments we had to make a judgment." He shrugged. "As I said, Loethar alive is possibly more value to the Set than dead. Besides, I think I wanted to give Leo the decision...and the opportunity, if he chose, to have Loethar executed."

Kilt groaned, ran a hand through his hair. "A complication indeed." He looked at Jewd. "Lily comes first for me, although she's even more vulnerable with Stracker in charge."

"No, she's not," Leo said, pacing. "If my memory serves me right, Stracker wouldn't even bother with someone like Lily. He'll have far bigger things on his mind."

"I agree," Gavriel said. "In my opinion he's going to tear this forest apart looking for Loethar. He'll take him dead or alive but he'll want his half-brother in custody. Lily won't even register in his mind. If she's with Felt, I presume they'll head back to the palace, will they?"

Kilt shrugged. "Felt won't know that Freath is dead yet. I know Lily won't let him near here. So I imagine he'll want to go back to Brighthelm."

"Then she's relatively safe for now, Kilt," Jewd said, picking up on Gavriel's thoughts. "She's probably safer there than here, to be honest."

Kilt considered this and nodded slowly, seemingly painfully.

"Let's go and talk to Loethar," Jewd offered. "If he and Stracker are now enemies, he's probably prepared to tell us how his kin is going to react."

Kilt shook his head. "I can't."

Jewd stared at his friend. "What do you mean, you can't? Come on, Kilt, get yourself together."

"I'm not well, old friend. You'll have to do it."

Jewd shook his head. He needed Kilt to show the leadership he was famed for, especially in present company. What's more, he needed Kilt's sharp mind. There would be no greater opponent to Loethar than his friend. And all the new magic he'd just learned his friend possessed was all the more reason to have him alongside.

"J-Jewd-" Kilt began but Jewd was already hauling him to his feet.

"Come on. I'll carry you if I have to, although I rather think you would prefer if the emperor saw you strong and in command." He simply couldn't understand his friend. He could feel Kilt trembling. And was that a stutter he'd heard? Kilt had possessed a stammer when he was a very young boy, he recalled. But it had been a very long time since he'd heard it. Perhaps he'd imagined it just now?

Gavriel stopped them as they all moved forward. "Well, let's agree on what our attitude toward him is. Leo?"

Leo looked at Gavriel with surprise. "You have to ask?"

"I do." He stared long and hard at his old friend. "Consider your answer carefully, your majesty. This is not a decision you make as an aggrieved son, or even as a royal in exile. You make this decision with a coldness in your heart, as your father would...as a Valisar king."

Everyone fell silent, staring between the two companions.

Leo's eyes narrowed. "I want him dead..." He stopped, sighing silently.

"But...?" Gavriel prompted.

Leo grimaced. "But I can't pay attention to what my heart burns for. I will have my revenge another day."

Gavriel looked relieved. "Good, your majesty. So?" He glanced at Kilt, who gave an almost imperceptible nod of approval.

"We make use of him," Leo continued.

"How?" Jewd asked.

"Bait!" Leo finished, looking at Gavriel, who smiled. "We keep him alive for now. He's injured, so he's not going anywhere on his own. He needs us to stay alive. But now he has two enemies-me and his half-brother. I'm sure he'll be happy to comply with whomever's plans hurts either of us-and he probably doesn't care in which order."

"You're right in that," Gavriel admitted. "The oddest part of this is that he trusts me. I don't really know why because I will happily queue behind Leo to plunge a blade into his heart. But there's something there and, if you'll permit it, I think I'm the best person to handle any negotiation with him. Or, better than me, Elka. He genuinely trusts Elka."

"Do you?" Leo sniped.

"You have to ask?" Gavriel said, genuinely surprised. "She has been my constant companion for ten anni. She not only ensured I healed properly physically but it was her idea to help me regain my memories by first visiting the Quirin at the convent, and then bringing me into Penraven. And even when she wanted to return to the mountains, she put my needs first and came with me to Francham. Even there, when we thought that might be our parting point, she agreed to accompany me into the forest." Jewd could see that Gavriel was working to keep anger out of his voice. "This is loyalty."

"No, de Vis," Kilt said softly. "It's more. It's love."

Gavriel glared at him. "Don't mock me, Faris, so help me, I'll-"

Kilt struggled to his feet. "I am not mocking you. I have discovered love; you've obviously spent so long away from your own kind that you don't know how to recognize it. Elka is not helping you out of a sense of loyalty. I'd wager everything on the fact that this woman, giant though she is, has fallen for a Penravian noble." He grinned through obvious pain; it was a kind gesture. "But then I suspect you've known this, de Vis, and don't need me to point it out. Come, let us talk to the usurper. I suggest you lead us, Leo. Let him see the true king, in control and not at all cowed by his presence."

Leo nodded. "Let's go."

Only Jewd noticed that Kilt hung back.

Kilt had been in enough scrapes to discern the difference between the sensations of wounds, and the sensation of magic. What he was feeling now frightened him. It was deep, primeval...it was instinctive.

He needed to get away, but Jewd was leading him closer. Could he do this? Was he strong enough? He was sure his magic was. He took a deep breath and opened himself up to his own; it flooded him with warmth and a sizzling power. He had only felt like this once before-in childhood-and he had never allowed it to roam free again.

But now he felt strong and suddenly better. If he could just last the few minutes this would take, he could get away. And worse, if he didn't find the courage to face this, everything would collapse and the truth would emerge. Just a few moments, he reassured himself. A look of loathing, or perhaps a smug grin, and then he could dismiss the prisoner, leaving him to his minions. Let the king have all the fun.

He took another long, slow breath.

"All right, Kilt?" Jewd asked, supporting him. "I wish I knew what this was all about."

"Jewd, I can't stay. I'll show my face but that's all. Don't let me look weak in front of him. I can sneer from a distance if necessary."

He sensed Jewd's anxiety and confusion. "What ever you want," the big man said.

Kilt looked up and saw the Davarigon woman first. He was about to ask Gavriel whether he knew whether Elka was Vested in any way when the wave of sickness arrived again. And this time he doubled over with a giddy sense of doom, dry retching, for there was nothing else for his belly to lose. A pain bloomed through his head and he collapsed to his knees.

Jewd yelled and suddenly Gavriel and Leo flocked to his aid. Though Kilt knew they were yelling at him it was as though he was suddenly trapped in a cocoon with one other person. And the other's voice came through clearly, spoken calmly, in a soft, sinister way.

You belong to me, it said directly into his scrambled mind.

Kilt looked up from the anguished activity around him, and across the clearing to where they were headed.

And he knew the voice belonged to Loethar.

The emperor smiled in recognition.

Forty.

Ravan finally stretched. "It is time," he said.

Roddy watched the last pink blaze of the sun dip below the horizon as twilight claimed the skies. "Yes," he said and sighed.

Ravan offered a hand and Roddy took it, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet.

"You are strong, Ravan," he admitted.

"We will both have to be...not just physically or in our friendship, but most of all in our minds. I suspect this ordeal is the first of many. But let us not shirk from our task now. Sergius demands this of us."

Roddy nodded. "What do you want me to do?"

"Go and light the torch and bring it to me. We must release Sergius's magic and hope that it will reach out to whom it must."

Roddy ran up the beach. The torch wasn't far and he lit it from one of the pair that lit the stairway up to Sergius's humble abode. He looked up at it, wondering if they would ever return here. He liked this place. He could live here.

"Hurry, Roddy," Ravan urged and Roddy scuttled back down the beach, careful to keep the flame steady.

"Here we are," he said unnecessarily, feeling the weight of the moment upon him like a burden. "Are we meant to pray?"

Ravan gave him a gentle smile. "If you wish," he said softly. Without hesitation he touched the flame to the kindling. "Farewell, Sergius," he murmured. "You are missed."

"Reach out, Sergius," Roddy added, unsure whether his words could make a difference but needing to be part of the moment.

The kindling took and the flame erupted; small at first, it burned well nevertheless and within a few heartbeats, it began to spread. Roddy watched as the flames licked higher and wider, reaching out to incinerate the dry wood they had spent so many hours collecting. Hungrily the fire took hold and its voice was heard as the flames began to roar, hardly troubled by the gentle sea breeze, smoke rising into the darkening sky.