Morwin and Galvin stopped in their treks. The horses exhausted, their bossoms tired, and the day moving along at a standstill. Regardless, they’d made good progress. Now was a good time to stop and recuperate.

  Galvin did the work of leading their horses to water. Morwin had been in the stables before, but he’d never done manual labor of taking care of any animals. All of that was left to his servants, of course. As with anything.

  Morwin didn’t complain. He no longer cared about wanting to be involved. All that mattered to him now was getting to Jovin City, boarding one of the ships, and sailing to the Aylin Islands. If Galvin wanted to do all the work of taking care of their steeds, then so be it.

  Instead of just sitting there and doing nothing, Morwin gathered bits of dead shrubs around and piled them up. His shirt had become a sweaty mess and he could still feel phantom vibrations in his hands from whipping the reigns.

  Morwin put all the dead shrubs he could find in a spot, a particular hilly area where their fire wouldn’t be seen in the troughs, and waited.

  Water wasn’t particularly far from where they rode along. Galvin elected to travel along Jovin River, as it was the main source of water in Agnius, and all the waterways led to the same city, so they also wouldn’t have to constantly check their maps. A good strategy, Morwin decided, except it took them time to get to the river to begin their travel, a half day’s worth of movement. Hopefully the efficiency of this path would make up for it.

  Morwin sat on the dried and cracked dirt, with the dead brushes in front of him. He took two sticks and began rubbing them together, hoping something would happen.

  Galvin returned after several minutes and noticed what he was attempting. At times like these, Morwin wished he had a ruby on him, but he understood why they had to be smart in what gemstones they brought along. If they had too much, the essences might scream out to aware Dragikiri.

  “Let me help you,” Galvin spoke, taking the sticks from Morwin. His brother tossed one of the sticks aside and held the other in its spot.

  He then grabbed some of the twigs in the pile and tied them together, creating a makeshift string. Then tied the makeshift string with a stick that had a weird curve, then weaved the original stick into the knot. And the back and forth movement began.

  Before long, smoke started to rise from the twigs, and after another couple of minutes, a spark ignited and a tiny flame came into existence.

  “Amazing,” Morwin said, sitting back.

  Galvin sat next to him. “We waited too long to stop,” he said. “I thought we could make it a little further, find a town along a river that didn’t know about us, but everywhere we stopped, we were criminals.”

  Morwin nodded. “Their network of information is impressive,” he stated. “Wish I could sleep on a nice and comfy bed right about now.”

  “You know those days are over, Morwin,” Galvin spoke softly.

  Morwin sighed. “Yeah, I know,” he said. He moved to speak again but hesitated.

  Galvin noticed immediately. “What’s up?” he said.

  The soft fire in front of them grew in intensity as a cool breeze blew past. A shiver went down Morwin’s spine, and he couldn’t help but shiver in the coolness of the night. Why were Agnius’s days so bipolar? Days a burning heat, nights a freezing cold…

  “Back when we were fighting against lord De’Shai’s army,” Morwin began, searching for the right words, “I made my escape into an alley.”

  Galvin nodded along.

  “There, I met some people I never knew existed. People who called themselves the Hundred. They’re all Dragikiri, and skillful ones at that.”

  Galvin spun to look at Morwin. “Are you sure that’s what they call themselves?”

  Morwin nodded. “They didn’t talk much. And when they moved, they seemed to move in sync, almost like they’ve been in tune with one another since birth.”

  “The Hundred,” Galvin repeated, his voice barely above a whisper. “So that legend is real.”

  “Galvin do you know who they are? I couldn’t take down even one of them.”

  “Yeah,” he said. “A myth told throughout all the land. Most people aren’t sure they exist, yet some people swear they’ve seen them. People dressed in all black, from head to toe, who got their identities stripped away from them and exist only to fight for the king. They are king’s direct subjects, not one of his Ministers. No one knows where they came from, they fight in the shadows to remain an anonymous faction, and they’re supposedly the best hundred Dragikiri the king has come across.”

  Morwin nodded along. “Yeah they seemed pretty strong.”

  “You shouldn’t have lived,” Galvin spoke. “If you were caught in a darker spot and your escape blocked off, you most likely would have died.”

  “So my old man wants to kill me,” Morwin said.

  “No, the Hundred answers to the king. Most likely De’Shai wants to try and convince you to go back to his side, as your betrayal is a blow to his reputation with the public and potentially with the king.”

  “Then so be it,” Morwin said. “He can go to hell.”

  “If faced with the opportunity to strike down the man who raised you, could you do it?” Galvin asked.

  Yes, Morwin was about to answer, but he gave it some thought. After all, he was the one that stopped Galvin from striking down Lord De’Shai in that dungeon. De’Shai is only alive right now because Morwin convinced Galvin not to deal the fatal blow. Was it because he was tired of seeing pain, or because he still had that familial attachment to that vile man?

  “I don’t know,” Morwin finally answered. “A part of me wants to answer yes, but another part knows I won’t be able to.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Galvin pursed his lips and nodded. “That’s only natural,” Galvin said. “You are human, and it goes against humanity’s nature to do something like that. I… don’t blame you. But our decision then might come back to bite us in the ass.”

  “We’ll worry about that when the time comes,” Morwin said. He paused for a moment and smiled. “Brother,” he added.

  Nothing changed about the palace. Despite two of the people who’d lived here many years knowing its secrets. Well, three including Guenevir. However, all remained as is. As if Lord De’Shai was saying confidently that his power was unmatched, that anyone who dared try to go against the king will fail.

  Not them, not this time. Guenevir had a good feeling about this. She didn’t know why that was, especially given the defeat they suffered ten years ago. Ten years on that bloody battlefield, when she was only fifteen years old. Remembering that day of blood and ashes sent shivers down her spine. No, she needed her head fully focused on the mission ahead.

  She searched the palace up and down for any sign of Kaden wandering around, but couldn’t find the young boy. Why did Galvin have to send a fourteen year old boy to a mission as dangerous as this? It didn’t make sense. And now Galvin wanted her to try and rescue him.

  Guenevir stopped at Lord De’Shai’s room. Hushed voices came from the other side. He pressed her ear against the door to listen.

  “Preparations have been fully completed,” a voice spoke.

  “Excellent, Ashwin,” came Lord De’Shai’s familiar voice. “We’ll Screen them one at a time, not telling the others of this process we’re going through. We will shut the walls tomorrow to prevent information from escaping and reaching ears of Justicar.”

  “Yes, my Lord,” the other voice, Ashwin, spoke. “But what if there are non-servant members of Justicar among the ranks of the army? Or a passing civilian?”

  A heavy sighed follow. “We can’t Screen everyone in Rathalin. I’ll only Screen my servants, the king’s servants, and my most trusted soldiers. Members of that group does not need to be Screened, as they have already proven their undying loyalty to the kingdom.”

  That group? What group did he mean?

  “Very well,” came Ashwin’s voice. “We should prepare-,” his voice cut off. “Someone’s here.”

  Guenevir immediately pushed herself off the door and walked briskly down the hallway. A door opened behind her as she moved, but she was already out of sight. Her heart thundered insider her chest. A close call.

  Guenevir continued wandering the palace. She knew where Kaden’s room was in the palace, and that was the first place she checked. But he wasn’t there.

  She found Vince, one of the servants who traveled with them to Jovin City, cleaning up the dining table.

  “Vince!” Guenevir called.

  Vince looked up and noticed her approaching. “Guenevir! Shouldn’t you be tidying Morwin’s room? De’Shai wanted us to search it in case we find something that gave them clues to Justicar’s plans, no?”

  Guenevir shook her head. “No, he didn’t tell me anything of the sort. Listen, I need your help with something real quick.”

  Vince stared at her and his gaze flicked to the plates he had in his hands. “I’m a little busy right now, perhaps a later time?”

  Guenevir shook her head. “Can’t wait. I just need some quick information. Have you seen the new servant? A young boy that seems a little too eager to be working here, about fourteen years old? His name is Kaden if that helps.”

  “Oh yes! He was one of the servants chosen to go to the king’s palace. Apparently they’re having a big dinner tomorrow with the king and they need plenty of servants. Important Lords from all over Agnius will be there.”

  Guenevir nodded. The king’s palace? A place like that is impossible to get in unless you work directly for the king or invited. Every inch of the place has guards stationed, so her sneaking in would be impossible. She’d need to be one of the servants attending the dinner. If Kaden was there, then getting him out would be more difficult than she thought.

  “Who is in charge of selecting who serves the king at that dinner?” Guenevir asked too quickly.

  Vince raised an eyebrow. “What did you want with this boy again?”

  “I was supposed to be training him,” Guenevir lied. “But the rebels showed up and I was attacked by one of them and had to go hide for a little. Please, just give me this little bit of information and I’ll let you continue with your work.”

  “The new head servant,” Vince replied without thinking twice.

  “Who is?”

  “You don’t know? I thought all of us would know as soon as he was hired.”

  Guenevir shook her head.

  “He goes by Ashwin.”

  Guenevir froze. Vince stared at her blankly before retreating to continue his work cleaning the table.

  She felt every inch of her tremble. The Screener. She would have to convince someone, who could literally read minds, to let her into the palace of the king.

  But Kaden had gotten in. Did he not select carefully who were to serve the king? Unless the dinner was fake, and this was a front to get all the servants to the king’s palace to reveal to him who was a spy.

  She’d come too late.

  No, there was something else she could do. The impossible. Sneak into the king’s palace, where hundreds of guards stood around the perimeter, enter in, and rescue Kaden before sunrise tomorrow, where the Screening would take place.

  All without the magical ability of Gemming.

  Galvin you bastard, Guenevir thought. It was a mistake to put me up to this.

  But there just wasn’t enough time to report back to Galvin and have someone else, someone like Darius go in with his Gemming abilities and rescue Kaden. She had to be the one to do it.