.𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘴𝘩.

ALISTAIR

Alistair had always been better at hiding his emotions when compared to his brother, Fenrir. It was obvious just looking at the elder prince that he was upset and angry, with frustration evident in every line of his body. The white-haired young man watched his brother as Fenrir announced the details of this mission and laid out his plan of travel. Alistair remained silent, although his own mind was churning. He’d helped Fenrir with the maps and had helped Fen plan this trip; after all, he was a master cartographer, despite still being young. What Fenrir did not know was that Alistair had long ago memorized those maps. He’d asked to accompany Fenrir early on, but the Crown prince had given him a resounding ‘no.’ Had Alistair not been so stubborn, he’d have left it at that. Alas, as long as Fenrir was planning to bring Shayne along, then Alistair would follow, with or without permission.

As Fenrir spoke, Alistair let his silvery gaze flit between the different faces, scanning each of them silently. He’d always been good at reading emotion in other people, although it was a skill that was by no means infallible. His gaze settled on Kaiva for a few seconds longer than the others, watching something dance across her expression. He did not yet have the words to match to the mask Kaiva had worn briefly, but he filed it away for later use.
Once the debriefing was over, Fenrir stood and left the war room, weariness hounding his every step. Alistair waited until everyone else had trickled out of the room, and then set about reorganizing the various maps and scrolls. He handled the parchment with a gentle, careful touch; he had copies of everything, of course, but that did not excuse mistreating the ancient originals. Once he was satisfied that the scrolls and documents were properly secured, he headed for his own room. He wasn’t much for parties, but his presence would be expected. He imagined Fenrir would try to drown his sorrows and frustration in the finest vintage wine that would be served. He sighed, and, not for the first time, felt a pang of grief and pity in his chest. He missed the young Fenrir – the boy who’d get into glorious misadventures with his siblings; the boy whose laugh was contagious, and readily available; the child who didn’t take life so seriously. Those qualities had slowly started to fade, although it took Alistair a long time to realize that Fenrir had buried those parts of him deep, to uphold his duty.

He shook his head to himself, and made his way towards his own quarters.



Some time later, Alistair found himself in the heart of one of Traeterra’s grand balls. There were couples dancing to the live music, others lingering around the banquet tables that were decorated with countless trays of delicacies. Butlers moved through the crowd, carrying platters of champagne flutes and wine glasses. Alistair was soon surrounded by countless noblewomen, hoping to catch his eye. Although he was not the heir to the throne, he was still a prince, and would be a fine catch for marriage. Too bad for all of these women that Alistair’s heart already belonged to someone else.

Still, he acted every bit the easy-going, kind prince everyone knew him to be. He danced with several women, often times using his wings to lift himself and his dance partner briefly off the ground, much to the squealing delight of the women. Finally, he was able to excuse himself, and moved towards one of the butlers. He accepted a glass of cool water, before he simply claimed the pitcher for himself. The butler gave him a distressed look, but Alistair waved him off. He down the first glass of water, and returned to crowd watching. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as a familiar individual slipped away from the crowd. Shortly thereafter, his own father followed close behind. Normally, Alistair would ignore the pair; however, something about the situation had set him on edge. He’d been watching Rolnar for most of the night, and had seen how much alcohol the king had imbibed. Silently, he began to slowly follow the pair. For some reason, he kept his grip on the pitcher of water, though he’d abandoned the empty glass. Alistair watched as Kaiva entered one of the quiet sitting rooms; Rolnar joined her within a few seconds. Frowning, Alistair began to inch closer, straining to hear.

“Kaiva,” the king was saying. There was something about Rolnar’s tone that sent shivers running down Alistair’s spine. “I forbid you from going on this fool’s errand.”

What? Alistair was thoroughly confused. The king had given Fenrir express permission to recruit whomever he wanted. Had that all been a lie?

“What? Why?” Kaiva replied, shock evident in her tone.

“The dragons are not under the mountains. They are extinct. I found the last eggs and they were so calcified that scarcely anything could be extracted from them. In ripping you and the others from the battlefield, we are leaving the frontlines vulnerable to attack. Would you abandon you men so quickly? Or do you care nothing for the efforts of this kingdom?”

Alistair bit out a silent curse. Fenrir had worried over the thought of pulling a few phoenixes from the front lines for weeks, considering and calculating each possible outcome.

“I-I… I don’t know where this is coming from.”

“You do not belong on a wild goose chase into the mines. You belong on the battlefield where your talents are put to use. Or you belong here, in the capital, where you can protect and serve your king.” There was a brief pause, before the king’s voice continued. “Or do you go on this mission because you have already ensnared my son?”

Alistair forgot to breath; air froze in his lungs at the sound of his father’s tone. He silently gasped, managing to pull oxygen into his lungs and blood again. Something was very, very wrong.

“Ensnared who? Fenrir? He thinks very little of me, I assure you. And I haven’t spoken a word to Alistair in my life."

Alistair strained to hear the next few words, but they were talking too softly. He only heard when their voices became raised again.

“Cease this now. Wouldn’t you prefer to be here? Where you can be safe and pampered save for when your skills are needed? Stop struggling before I have you bound and hauled back to the frontlines.”

“Do it then,” Kaiva hissed, “I don’t care.”

“You are not to follow Fenrir into the mountains. I forbid it.”

Rolnar and Kaiva were practically shouting now, but their voices never made it to the main ballroom.

“Then try to stop me!”

There was the sound of a soft scuffle and something heavy falling to the floor. Alistair flattened himself against the wall, and hid behind a large tapestry and Rolnar stalked past him, heading back to the main ballroom. Alistair waited a half-second, and then walked swiftly to where Kaiva still was. What he saw horrified him. He let out a wordless cry of shock. In an instant, he’d taken the water jug and flung it at Kaiva, soaking her to the bone. He also managed to put out the fire before serious damage was done, but the scent of burning fabric remained harsh in the air.

“What in the name of all the hells happened?”

ALISTAIR

Kaiva was clearly very upset; Alistsair couldn’t really blame her, considering she’d just been a few seconds away from spontaneous combustion. She would have lived, of course, since she was a phoenix, but he doubted sudden immolation was particularly enjoyable under even the best of circumstances. Relief flashed across her face when she realized it was Alistair who had just doused her.

“Sorry about the cold water,” he started to say, but she cut him off when she suddenly reached forward, wrapped one hand around his arm, and yanked him back into the empty hallway. Alistair flared his wings slightly to catch himself, since the jarring motion had caused him to stumble a bit.

“Alistair,” she breathed. It made him a bit uncomfortable, but he said nothing, simply tipped his head in greeting. “Your dad is a…” she trailed off, trying to find the right words. It seemed that both Alistair and Kaiva were reminded in the same instant that this was the greatest number of words they had spoken to the other. His brow furrowed a bit, silver-blue gaze dancing across Kaiva’s face. “Scary drunk. Holy ****.”

Alistair winced internally at that. It didn’t use to be the case that Rolnar was an angry drunk; once, he’d been quite jovial, and had been the life of the part – or so Alistair had been told. Something had changed, though; gradually, Rolnar’s mood had seemed to worsen, and he began to drink great amounts. With each drink, Rolnar’s anger and hate would come to the forefront in the worst way. Alistair had poor memories of Rolnar’s drunken rages when he was a child, despite Fenrir doing his best to shield his younger siblings.

“He just tried to kill me!”

Alistair stared at her, stunned into silence. Rolnar had tried to… kill her?

“That’s… that’s madness,” he gasped, stuttering over his words. The need to defend his father was almost like a reflex; he found it increasingly difficult to believe that Rolnar had fallen so low that he would try to kill someone. But the look on Kaiva’s face – and the scene he’d overheard – could not be denied.

“He was trying to stop me from going on the mission. Why would he do that?” Kaiva’s tone was wounded.

Alistair’s gaze drifted shut to hide the pain and horror that flashed through his eyes. There had been a time that he’d looked up to his father – that he’d wanted to be the kind of king Rolnar was, if the crown should come to him. He’d wanted to make his kingdom – and his father – proud. The image of Rolnar that he held on to desperately, trying to keep some aspect of his father alive, sharply contrasted with what Kaiva was now telling him.

“He thinks I’m trying to seduce Fenrir!” she continued. Alistair cracked open one eye, peering at her. There was something in her tone that made it seem like she was trying too hard to prove the words she spoke were true. Did this correlate with the expression he’d seen her make at the debriefing?

“You have to help me. I must be a member of the party which is set to leave tomorrow morning. Not for my safety but because--- Because I do want to find the dragons. It would kill me to watch Fenrir go if I’m not with him.”

Alistair studied her for a long moment. In his mind, he knew that Fenrir would not have left without her; had she perished to ash tonight, he would have utilized the resources necessary to resurrect her before departing for the mountains. Fenrir never did anything by halves; he would not have recruited Kaiva to the mission if he did not see a use for her. He did not voice these words, though, because something occurred to him. If he helped get Kaiva to the mountains, then she’d be indebted to him.

“Very well,” he told her. “But you must do something for me in return. Fenrir plans to use the old escape tunnel to reach the mountains. You will be the last to enter, and you will ensure the door does not seal completely. Those are my terms.” He waited until she replied and nodded.

“Be outside the war room an hour before dawn,” he told her. “I will ensure you are not left behind.”

ALISTAIR

Alistair kept his expression carefully neutral as Kaiva questioned his intentions. He simply stared back at her, silver-blue gaze revealing nothing.

“And I will leave the door unlatched. If you’re really coming, we’ll reconvene once we’re free of this place.” She reached forward and squeezed his forearms in thanks. “Thank you. Now let’s go before anyone notices our absence.” With that, Kaiva turned and headed back to the ballroom. Alistair waited a few moments, asking what he’d gotten himself into. He stared into the sitting room where his father had been a few moments before. Sickening thoughts churned through his mind. Had his father gone truly mad? Trying to kill someone? Rolnar had always been ambitious, but there had always been a line he was not willing to cross. But tonight… tonight he’d crossed it.

Alistair shoved the thoughts from his mind and turned to leave. These were things to consider at a later date – one where he wasn’t so pressed for time. Once Kaiva was out of Rolnar’s range, she would be safe.

Once the party began to wind down, Alistair retired to his rooms. There, he sat at his desk and penned a letter to his father. Rolnar would be furious to discover that all three of his children had gone on this mission, but Alistair refused to stay behind. There was some part of him that told him his presence was necessary, beyond his desire to protect Shayne. Once his letter was done, he packaged it carefully in an envelope with Rolnar’s name on it, and left it on his pillow. The guards would find it soon enough.

He set to packing his things in the travel backpack he’d purchased recently. Several sets of clothing, a bedroll, blankets – those sorts of things. Along with it, Alistair carefully packed away his cartography tools and compass. He wasn’t sure how good they would be underground, but it didn’t hurt to have them. He stored several rolls of parchment as well. He planned to chart their progress, if possible. Once that was done, Alistair went to the far side of his room, where there was what appeared to be lab equipment set up. He’d tinkered in alchemy when he was a young teen, bored out of his mind. He was by no means a master, nor was he has good as those who created phoenixes, but he’d learned a few potions and spells in his time. One would come particularly in handy in the morning – an invisibility potion. It wouldn’t last long – a few hours, at most – but it would let him follow behind the company unseen.

He picked up a few different potions from his table, including a few healing potions. They weren’t potent, but would held increase the speed of healing of any wounds. When he was finished packing entirely, Alistair peered out of his window. It was early morn, and dawn was several hours away. He’d be able to catch a bit of sleep.


Two hours before dawn, Alistair woke. Exhaustion still gnawed at his mind, but he pushed it away. He gathered his things and made for the war room. He was there an hour before dawn, as promised. A short time later, Kaiva arrived. He inclined his head in greeting. “It is likely that Rolnar spoke to Fenrir last night, trying to sway him towards leaving you behind. Whatever happens – whatever is said, Kaiva, you must do as I say. Let me do the talking. And remember your side of the deal.”