The Wicked House of Caroline

“Welcome The Virtuous House of Durmott: Duke Durmott, Duchess Durmott, and their children: Lady Tatiana, Lady Bethany, and Lord Vance.”

Beks turned around from where she was giving seating orders to a steward and looked towards the first of the Five Houses to arrive. The Duchy of Durmott and the Duchy of Latana were located less than a day’s travel outside of Kadmium, on opposite sides of the city. They were the oldest duchies and descended from old branches of the royal family.

Beks gave the steward a small nod and began to walk towards the family of five. The Duke and Duchess were in their early fourties and both were well kept for their ages, still appearing five years younger. Their daughters were just a bit younger than Beks at 20 and 18, but their youngest child and heir, Vance, was six.

They were dressed in the family’s signature greens and blues, meant to symbolize Durmott’s rolling green hills and blue skies.

“Your Grace, my ladies, and young lord.” Beks reached them and gave the ducal couple a bow of her head. Her rank was the same as their children, so she did not need to bow at the waist to them.

“Good evening, Lady Rebecca.” Duchess Durmott gave her a warm smile as her husband made a curt nod.

“Lady Rebecca.” The three children also greeted her politely. Despite being the closest young ladies to her of similar rank, Beks didn’t have much interaction with the Durmott daughters outside of balls at the palace. It was mainly because due to Beks’ special status, she was prohibited from leaving for other social gatherings with people her age.

Thus, other noble children in the region were distant.

“Lady Rebecca, my daughter will have her engagement ball in a few months,” Duchess Durmott told her. “May we send you an invitation?”

“Yes, please do,” Beks said. This was her chance to socialize with peers; Laurence would let her go. She turned to Lady Tatiana, a pretty young lady with curly brown hair and warm green eyes. “Congratulations on your engagement, Lady Tatiana.”

The young woman’s face flushed and she lowered her eyes, shy. “Thank you, my lady.”

Just as Beks was about to ask if Lady Bethany was also getting engaged soon, another announcement was made.

“Welcome The Benevolent House of Latana.”

Beks saw the look of irritation on the Durmotts and held back a small laugh. The closer the neighbor, the bigger the rivalry. Those two houses had been competing against each other for as long as Beks could remember.

She looked towards the entrance and saw another family of five, except Duchess Latana had three sons: Adam, Brennan, and Crispin. Unlike the other three houses, the Virtuous and the Benevolent Houses prioritized boys for heirs. It was only when there were no legitimate sons, that daughters could inherit the estate and title. Duchess Latana was the eldest of four daughters with no brother, thus she inherited the title.

Rumor had it that the Durmotts were jealous of the Latanas because they had three sons.

“Lady Rebecca, it is good to see you again,” Duchess Latana glided over, poised and smirking as she cast a glance at Duchess Durmott. “And Duke and Duchess Durmott...I almost didn’t see you there.”

Duke Durmott sneered at the woman in bright yellow and blue. “Well, you were quite difficult to miss wearing that.”

Duchess Latana immediately scowled and Beks stepped in to try to ease the situation. “It’s also good to see you again. This time for a much more joyous occasion,” she said with a pleasant smile. “Good evening to you all, Your Grace and young lords.” She gave the Duchess’ husband and three sons a nod.

The sons were born in succession with the second son her age. The two eldest had seemed to have a rivalry with the two Durmott daughters and before they could start snapping at each other, Beks pointed out drinks and other cliques that had formed in order to distract them.

Young nobles often competed and clashed, and she’d seen a few arguments break out at royal events before. Beks didn’t need any of that.

As soon as the two duchies had been split up, Beks continued her rounds, greeting guests and acting the dutiful hostess.

“Third Consort Hesser!” Beks didn’t bother turning around.

“His Highness Fourth Prince Luther.” Beks almost froze. No one had told her he had arrived. If they had, she’d quietly leave the ballroom, get back to the hall, and enter with him. “Oracle Iris Elpidah.”

Beks wanted to groan, already knowing what she’d see before she turned around. As expected, Luther stepped into the ballroom with a bright smile, holding the arm of the new oracle.

You irresponsible idiot. Beks retained her passive, peaceful smile as she watched them walk in and greet those they passed. The new oracle was in ceremonial robes with more gold ropes draped across her than the day before and an elegant circlet resting atop of her orange hair. She had a gentle smile as she gave guests small nods of her head and occasionally raised her free hand to give a blessing over a young guest.

Luther was in dark gray formal robes accented with royal orange and white.

Beks could feel the eyes of guests turn towards her and settle. Tonight’s dress was meant to match Luther’s: orange with white and dark gray trims and accents. She would’ve been embarrassed with the situation if she weren’t frustrated that he did not listen to the instructions given.

“His Majesty King Laurence and Lady Eleanor von Glasser!”

Beks let out a low breath, silently thankful of Laurence and Lady Eleanor’s timely arrival as it took some attention off her. As the couple entered and began greeting their guests, she saw both of them look at Luther, where he remained standing and holding the arm of the oracle in ignorance. Glints of displeasure were quickly covered by untouched, regal expressions as they continued the greetings without pause.

Do it for royal solidarity. If there is any sign of friction between the two, nobles will begin to pick sides. Beks reaffirmed both her duty and her position before making her way towards Luther.

It was well known that she was on very good terms with Laurence; that he doted on her as his sister and valued her as a courtier. If she distanced herself from Luther, she would be seen as siding with Laurence over her own fiancé and that had its own set of negative implications.

It was unfortunate that her fiancé didn’t realize the full extent of the effects of his actions.

“Your Highness.” Beks reached Luther and gave him a small nod.

At once, he lowered his arm, pulling away from the oracle as he smiled at her. “Beks! You look beautiful tonight.”

Yes, I know. Her parents were both attractive and her father was a well-known pretty boy in his youth. Both her and her older brother inherited good looks, but she had more important things to focus on. As long as she was presentable to the audience she was meeting, she didn’t spend too much time on her appearance. “Thank you, Your Highness,” she replied instead.

Luther looked her up and down, his face brightening as he stood beside her. “The royal tailors did an excellent job this time.” He leaned towards her and whispered an apology. “I’m sorry, Beks; she was nervous and afraid to go in by herself.”

Beks gave him a small, understanding nod. She looked towards Oracle Elpidah, who was smiling, though the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Your Eminence, how has your stay at the Hall of Eloquence been so far? If you are lacking in any way, please let me know.”

“No, my lady. The Hall of Eloquence is beautiful and the staff present treat me very well.”

“Then I hope you are enjoying your stay here.”

“I have. Today, His Highness took me around the city. It’s very beautiful.” Oracle Elpidah’s eyes looked towards Luther with fondness. Plenty of people were in love with royal family members; power and wealth were a big factor in that, but the lack of restraint was frustrating.

“Beks, I took her to that pastry shop you like,” Luther said as he put his hand over Beks’ and placed it on top of his arm. He moved closer, their arms touching as he stroked her hand. “The berry cream cake was available and I got you one. I had it sent to the Old Tower for you.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.” Beks looked back at the new oracle. “I was told this is your first ball. Would you like us to go around with you and keep you company?”

There was an unreadable expression in the oracle’s eyes, but she nodded and seemed to force a smile. “Yes, thank you, my lady.”

“It’s not a problem.” Beks gave her a reassuring smile and turned, still holding on to Luther’s hand, and motioned for her to come along. “Come this way and I’ll introduce you to two of the Five Great Houses.”

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Highly intelligent, diligent, calm and collected, but a bit distant. Luther always described Lady Rebecca as such, and wore a faint look of respect and awe in his eyes when he spoke of her. But the important question was did he love her?

As the oracle, maybe she should’ve known, but it wasn’t as if she were really one.

Iris had managed to imply that Luther did love Lady Rebecca once, silently hoping that he’d correct her, but his answer was not definitive.

He’d smile fondly and say that he respected ‘Beks’, appreciated her, and cared for her, but never used the term ‘love’. Love was not a necessary requirement for marriage in the royal family.

Iris spent so long at the Great Temple meeting pilgrims from all levels of society; some at their peaks and some at their worst. She knew that behind the financial freedom of the wealthy nobles, they were often constrained; unable to do what they wanted or be with who they loved because in return for privilege, they had to pay a price.

She thought Luther was the same way.

He didn’t love Lady Rebecca, but was bound to marry her because it was a royal order from his late mother. Engagements from childhood weren’t uncommon for people like him. He said that the two had known about the engagement for years and they cooperated with each other.

Though Luther may not have loved Lady Rebecca, she was important to him, and that was disappointing.

It was disappointing then and disappointing now.

Lady Rebecca hadn’t changed from what Iris remembered of her. The tall, stately woman with the storm gray eyes that seemed to both pierce through one’s soul to find their secrets and at the same time, hide her own reactions, was civil, but almost cold even when smiling. She still wore modest clothing despite her status, which hid her cunning.

Even at Iris’ welcome ball, there were plenty of other young noble women dressed more elaborate than the fiancée of the Fourth Prince. If Lady Rebecca was not his fiancée or the purported child with dawn in her hair, no one would’ve noticed her.

When Iris walked into the room with Luther, she expected some reaction from Lady Rebecca. Surprise, distrust, or even a little anger. Who wanted to see their fiancé so close to another woman? Iris knew that Luther was supposed to escort Lady Rebecca and had to plead with him to go with her instead, insisting she was nervous.

Luther, kind and trusting as always, agreed.

Joy had filled her when she noticed the questioning and sympathizing gazes turn to Lady Rebecca when Iris entered on Luther’s arm. Most people would’ve been humiliated or at the very least, unnerved.

Lady Rebecca hadn’t flinched. She had glided across the room, her head up and her shoulders back, as if she were better than everyone, to reach them. Iris’ subtle action was ignored and Lady Rebecca had asked if they could accompany her.

Iris had almost wanted to laugh. Who would want to be accompanied by the man she loved and the woman that man was engaged to? Was Lady Rebecca showing off? Declaring sovereignty over Luther?

She wouldn’t have him for long.

When Luther was with Lady Rebecca, he always seemed to be trying to placate her by apologizing, making excuses, or giving her gifts. He was afraid of disappointing her, of upsetting her and his brother. He smiled, but he didn’t laugh the way he did when he was with Iris. The Luther she knew talked for hours about growing up in Kadmus and what he hoped to accomplish.

Did Lady Rebecca know about his dreams?

To the very end, Lady Rebecca had looked at them as if they were fools unfit to be in the same room as her.

Iris didn’t want to see those demeaning eyes ever again.

Her hands lowered to her stomach, feeling an emptiness that lingered from another time. Right now, she and Luther hadn’t yet crossed that line because he was still foolishly showing his respect to Lady Rebecca and pulling away from Iris.

The carriage taking her and her two attendants from the Gilded Palace back to the Hall of Eloquence slowed to a stop in front of the hall’s entrance. The footman climbed down and opened the door, offering his hand to let the attendants and then Iris down. She thanked them and headed inside the beautiful building with its embellished stone doorways and patterned tile floor.

The Hall of Eloquence was the most recently renovated of the guest manors, according to Luther. He’d failed in convincing his brother to allow her to stay in the Gilded Palace, so he’d spent some time reassuring her that the Hall of Eloquence was just as good. She didn’t care if it was just as good.

She wanted to be near him.

She crossed the foyer and up a grand set of curved, wooden stairs to the upper floor. Her room was the first to the right and had a balcony that overlooked the drive, the moat, and the palace on the other side.

Her night before, she’d gazed across lost in memories. She never stayed in the Hall of Eloquence. When Luther first brought her, she’d stayed with him in the Gilded Palace. She thought that this time, since she’d acted sooner, she’d return there.

She reached her door and she gave her two attendants a small, dismissing nod. “I do not require assistance tonight.”

“Yes, Your Eminence.” The two bowed their heads and stepped back, allowing Iris to enter her chambers alone.

She stepped into the antechamber. The oil lamps had been lit and the servants assigned to the hall had prepared a warm bath and turned down her bed for the night. Orange light cast across the wood paneled rooms and the elegant landscape paintings on the walls. She removed her sandals and walked into the main chamber barefoot.

“I expected you to have his attention by now considering how much time I allowed him to be with you.”

Iris suppressed the shudder that swept through her at the man’s demanding voice. Her eyes swept across the room, to the chair beside the small hearth. The hearth hadn’t been lit, as it was too warm for that, but there were several oil lamps allowing for the man in burnt orange and black clothes to flip through a book.

Whether he was actually reading or not was unknown.

He didn’t look up from the book on his lap, but she had stopped a few paces away. “He accompanied me all day today in the city,” she replied in defense.

“Yes, he even missed court this morning.” The book snapped closed and the middle-aged man with the sharp eyes looked at her, unimpressed. “I assumed that if he’d be willing to miss such an integral part of his education as the de facto heir for you, you’d have a better hold on his heart, but here you are. Returning alone.”

Iris narrowed her eyes as she frowned. “How can he come to me so soon? And in such a setting? I already had him escort me to the ball. If he left with me, that would’ve been a sign of disrespect to Lady Rebecca. As long as she is present, he is not willing to wrong her.”

The Third Consort shot up from the plush, velvet seat. His eyes were burning, reflecting the harsh light from the oil lamps as he stormed towards her. “Then make him willing. And soon,” the man said in a low voice as he loomed over her. Iris forced herself not to take a step back and show weakness, but couldn’t stop herself from leaning away from his imposing figure. “In a few weeks, the First Prince will become the King of Kadmus, and the Second and Third Prince haven’t been located.” He paused and his look darkened. “Are you sure they’re dead?”

“The second ambush decimated the caravan and went after those who fled the scene. It was confirmed that he was mortally wounded. It’s likely that he bled to death somewhere, but his body hasn’t been found,” Iris replied. “My attendants let it spread to the Second Prince that the Third Prince was missing and they were last seen entering the Forbidden Valley. No one has ever escaped the valley alive. This is already very different from what happened originally.”

The Third Consort sneered and pulled back. “Make sure your people find their bodies. Their deaths must be confirmed. If they come back, they are a threat to Luther’s position, and yours.”

Iris grit her teeth. Her small hands clenched at her sides as she lowered her eyes. “I’m aware that they are a threat.”

“It’s difficult enough to remove Laurence from the throne.” The Third Consort stepped back and prepared to walk around her. “Hurry up and coax my son. Once Laurence is crowned, he will settle on a date to marry Luther to the Lady of Caroline, then we’ll be late.” He paused as he stood by the threshold to the antechamber. He looked over his shoulder, impatience across his face. “You said this was our only chance to rewrite the future in our favor. I trust you won’t squander it.”

She resisted the urge to yell at him. She tried to keep on the mask of a dignified oracle. “They are already suspicious of the reason I’m here. You shouldn’t come here again. What if someone sees you?”

“As long as I pay enough, I won’t be seen,” the Third Consort replied with a dismissive wave. “Remember: you need only to bed Luther once. I will take care of the rest.”

He turned his back to her and Iris couldn’t hold back her disgusted shudder. She wrapped her arms around herself as the door slammed closed.

No one knew how important this chance was than her.

She’d paid a life for another chance.

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“There are some charities that help educate children with basic reading and counting that I took an interest to,” Beks had told Laurence in preparation for asking to leave the palace. It wasn’t a lie and philanthropic projects were common for nobles to take an interest in. Even Luther supported a local orphanage with clothes every year.

“Is that so?” Laurence had signed a document with flourish. “Do you plan to apply for money from the royal treasury’s charitable funds to donate or do you plan to donate your own?”

Beks wasn’t in need of money. Since she arrived, she had a monthly allowance that increased with age. Typically, young noble girls and ladies would spend their allowances on upkeep for social gatherings, such as clothes, jewelry, and hosting said gatherings, but as Beks wasn’t allowed out for such gatherings and was provided the very best of everything, her allowance was saved or invested.

Part of it went into businesses and the profits were then funneled into Nexus to be spread amongst the projects it oversaw.

“I will donate with my own money.” That wasn’t a lie.

Laurence had looked up from his desk and gave her an amused smile. “Then, you don’t need to tell me about this. It is your money to do as you please.” He had paused for a moment and seemed to come to another thought. “Did you want me to donate, as well?”

“No, Brother.” It had been kind of him to ask. “I would like permission to leave the palace and visit the charity to look over their projects in person.”

At this, Laurence had straightened in his seat. His lips had tightened, but his eyes held a look of sympathy.

“Beks, I trust you,” he had said in a gentle voice. “You need not ask my permission every time you leave the grounds. If it is only within Kadmium and for only a few errands for things like shopping or perhaps going to that pastry shop you like, you need only tell the chamberlain so we know where you are and can assign guards to protect you.”

For a moment, Beks had stood in place, unsure how to reply.

Her entire life, she had been kept in the palace, only able to go as far as the moat unless someone, usually the late Queen, was with her. Even then, she could count the amount of times they sneaked out of the palace in a single year on one hand.

To be told she wasn’t restricted as before left her almost confused; unsure what to do with the sudden freedom.

And it wasn’t as if she didn’t know what actual activities she would do. She had an array of things she wanted to see and do, but it was overwhelming.

Beks had been in such disbelief that she’d tested Laurence multiple times, asking if he was sure and even gave examples of where she planned to go to see if he protested. He had just smiled and reiterated that as long as she reported where she was going so she could be protected and reached in case of emergency, then she was free to come and go from the royal grounds into the city.

This is what Luther and the Third Consort did all the time, after all. Why couldn’t she do it?

Of course, leaving Kadmium would require more planning and approval, but just to get out of the royal grounds with little preparation and no permission required was surreal.

This must be how sheep feel when the fence is left open, but they are so used to their field. Beks climbed on to the prepared carriage. She had asked for the most modest carriage available, as she wanted to go around the city as unnoticed as possible. Laurence had agreed, as he felt the less attention she attracted, the safer she would be.

Her hair was covered by a headscarf and she wore some older, drab clothing. She looked, at best, as if she were from a decent middle-class home according to her maids.

The carriage, escorted by four plainclothes royal guards, began down the gravel path to the main gate. Beks sat on the edge of the seat bench and leaned towards the door to look out the window. When she sneaked out before, they’d gone through another, smaller and older gate, in an ignored part of the grounds.

Past the royal grounds, when they exited the new gate house that led to Kadmium’s High Street, Beks looked out the window to take in the sights. She didn’t have to hide in the back of a dilapidated wagon so no one would notice her this time.

The carriage cut through the city’s main streets before turning onto one of the narrower roads. The path became progressively narrower and less maintained as the buildings on either side became smaller and more rundown. Walled manors became narrow hovels. The people on the street gradually went from well-dressed nobles and merchants to commoners with worn clothing.

The carriage reached the familiar slums on the northwest edges of the city. After years of the late Queen’s efforts, it no longer looked like a desolate series of charred ruins with skeleton men, women, and children either dying on the streets or begging. The buildings had been restored to a live-able state through programs that paid one person per household to assist in communal restoration.

That person was also taught some sort of construction skill as a way to learn a trade. A small school had been set up to combat illiteracy. Children were required to study for at least six years to learn to read and do basic math, then could be assisted into learning a trade or finding a job.

Nexus backed these programs and seeing how the area transformed since she first visited made Beks’ heart swell. When she was a child, she didn’t understand why the place was in such shambles.

In Sagittate, children went to school for ten years, which included classes on using biha wells and tutorage on one’s spirit core, as most of the population had them. Even if Kadmium was the capital, with its nobles and fancy buildings and wealth, Beks thought that overall, Sagittate’s average citizen had a better standard of living.

The carriage stopped in front of a narrow alley. It wouldn’t be able to fit, so Beks stepped out, asking the maid accompanying her to remain. She raised her hand to stop the guards from following her.

“Don’t attract attention. Two of you remain at the entrance and two of you remain with the carriage where it waits,” Beks told them.

The royal guards followed her instructions and as the carriage trotted away, Beks walked into the dark, dingy alley.

Nexus’ headquarters was an assuming building with a rundown facade of old stores and workshops on the ground floor and small apartments in the upper floors. It looked like several of those narrow buildings were pushed together, as there was no space between them.

In fact, Nexus was one large, interconnected plaza on the inside and took up an entire block. Its different programs and corresponding offices and work areas were contained inside and even the chairman, Mr. Kesse, lived inside.

The door was a regular wooden door with iron fixtures facing the alley. Beks knocked on a simple iron knocker and waited. The sound of stone grinding came from her side and one of the stone bricks was pulled back, revealing a narrow, rectangular slot. Without hesitation, Beks stuck her right hand into the slot.

Her ring finger had a simple metal band inlaid with crushed urapearl. Inside, it would react to another urapearl, confirming her approval to enter.

“Welcome, Miss.” A young man smiled as he opened the door to let her in.

“Thank you, Mr. Jameson.” Desmond Jameson, an orphan from the rebellion, was the doorman. His biha well had an affinity for water, though it was weaker than others who had water biha. Those with strong water biha were assigned tasks related to plumbing and sewage. Those who had weak water biha did other work instead.

He closed the door behind her and Beks walked the familiar path down a narrow hall to a set of stairs. The building had three stories, an attic which she had to bend down to walk through, and a spacious basement used for storage. The Chairman’s office was on the third floor and overlooked an interior courtyard.

No one was guarding his door and Beks knocked and waited to be given permission to enter without pomp.

“Come in.”

She opened the door and smiled at the old man behind the desk. He stood up to greet her, returning her smile with one of his own. “Welcome back, Miss.”

“It’s good to see you again, Mr. Kesse.”

Rather than return to his seat, the old man motioned for her to take it. “I’ve prepared all the information you asked for. All the money that was donated will help with the water reservoir renovations this year and once it is fixed, flooding by the offshoot of the Tage River will no longer be a yearly problem. Our calculations show that we have enough to prepare for rarer extreme floods, as well.”

“Wonderful,” Beks said with a gentle smile. “Flood often carries disease with it if we’re not careful. If it can be mitigated, it is money well spent.”

Mr. Kesse pushed a leather folder tied closed in front of her. “And this is regarding your other request.” He took a step back from the desk and bowed his head. “It is about time for my lunch meal, Miss. If you don’t mind, I will step out for a moment.”

He was giving her time alone to look over the information provided. Beks gave him a nod and waited until the door closed for her to reach down and untie the portfolio.

There were copies of maps, sketches of terrain, and different sized sheets of different material all gathered from different intelligence points. The information had not been arranged in any particular order, but that was likely to prevent anyone else from taking a look at all the intelligence gathered.

Beks familiarized herself with the map and then reviewed all the parties involved.

The Third Prince was over a week into a return from pilgrimage and accompanying him were other priests of similar rank, two high priests, and their various attendants and staff. In addition, they had Temple paladins escorting them. Twelve didn’t seem like a lot for such a large caravan, but St. Cormac’s trail was considered safe.

In addition, Temple paladins were highly skilled. Even having a half dozen escorting two dozen people wouldn’t have been considered out of the ordinary.

Beks narrowed her eyes.

The Great Temple had a ten-seat council of nine high priests and priestesses. The tenth seat was reserved for the Great Oracle, once they had reached that status. At least three council members were required to be at the Great Temple at any given time, thus in order to visit the various shrines and holy grounds around the continent, as well as go to places where the Temple was needed to intervene and bring support to locals, each high priest or priestess would travel in the company of lower ranked priests, priestesses, and attendants. Separate travel was both practical and for safety.

She couldn’t think of an example where two high priests had traveled together to the same place, at the same time, and in the same caravan. It was dangerous. If that caravan had an accident, the Great Temple would lose two high priests at once.

Beks shifted through documents in front of her steady hands. The bodies of both high priests were found. The Great Temple had already identified them, and at the moment, they had secretly called back all other high priests and priestesses traveling outside out of fear that this was a targeted event. That wasn’t a reaction that was out of the ordinary.

What was strange was that the large, locked chest in the caravan. Old monasteries and abbeys kept particular relics under lock and key. Often they were old relics and were kept out of the public eye for conservation, so as not to deteriorate faster.

The chest in the caravan had been locked when it was found. The locks of these chests were often highly difficult to pick or cut open by force. She’d also seen a relic transported before and the first chest was kept in a larger chest built into the wagon itself. The wagon was plated with iron and heavily guarded.

The wagon the chest had been inside of in the Third Prince’s caravan was just a regular wagon. It was kept with foodstuffs. That was strange in itself. It hadn’t been moved, but that could be explained by how heavy it was and how difficult it was to open. If bandits had come, they wouldn’t have wasted too much time fumbling with a locked chest secured to a broken wagon on a busy route.

The usual gold and silver, as well as some precious stones and fabrics that were recorded as part of the caravan weren’t found at the ambush site and presumed stolen.

The Temple had kept it quiet and took the chest back to the Great Temple. When it got there, the council found that the chest was empty with no signs of tampering. Whatever was inside, likely a relic that was being secretly transported if Beks’ intuition was right, was gone.

And the Temple kept the loss a secret.

“That’s suspicious....” Beks pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. At the same time, she was impressed that Nexus had found out such a closely guarded secret. She couldn't help but feel a little excited at her new-found information network.

Next, she looked at the reports on the remains of the caravan. As expected, the Third Prince’s body wasn’t found. His two close attendants were found in freshly dug graves not far away with fatal wounds to their upper bodies. Deep cuts along with several arrow wounds on their backs and legs according to the report. They likely bled to death.

Another report caught her eye and she leaned forward.

The arrowheads removed from the attendants were different from the arrowheads that attacked the caravan. It wasn’t all that strange. Different people bought different arrows that they preferred.

But the arrowheads from the attendants were the same as those typically used by paladins. The paladins escorting them were not archers, just regular swordsmen, so they weren’t carrying arrows purchased by the Temple with them. She tilted her head to the side and squinted.

It was such a glaring mistake to make if the Temple had turned on its own people to leave evidence, but no one thought that the bodies of the attendants would be dug up and a few arrowheads pulled from their rotting corpses by Nexus.

That’s dedication....

Footprints and horseshoe prints had also been collected and drawn out on several pieces of paper. When Beks held them side by side and compared them, it looked like two sets of people had ambushed the caravan. If there were two separate groups, then perhaps it took two separate groups to completely destroy the caravan.

She moved through the papers and a sketch of the caravan ambush site layout.

“That explains why there were signs of campfire and waste....” The first ambush came when the caravan stopped for the night. While the caravan was reeling after the first ambush, the second ambush finished them off shortly afterwards, but they were in a rush to do the job and vanish before another caravan showed up.

As for the Second Prince and his Wild Dogs, they’d heard about the caravan ambush while enroute and the Second Prince decisively re-routed his battalion to search for his brother. How the information got to him was odd to begin with. Laurence and Marquis von Glasser’s people had been very cautious and didn’t let it be known that it was the Third Prince who was lost in the ambush.

Beks’ eyes drifted back to the sketch of the arrowheads found in the attendants’ bodies. If the Temple, with its widespread network and influence, was involved, it was easy to see where the information could’ve been leaked.

She took a deep breath and leaned back against the chair. Of course, if this theory was true, then it meant that the Temple was targeting the Second and Third Prince.

The Second Prince wasn’t a fool. She remembered him to be very observant even as a child. When they were young, he once made Luther cry when he traced her missing egg tarts back to him. Luther was more daring at the time and said that ‘Father says that anything that belongs to Beks is mine!’

That had infuriated both twins, and despite being the less temperamental of the two, the Third Prince had joined his brother in beating up Luther. They were punished, but the Second Prince claimed it was in the name of justice.

Laurence had also bragged that the Second Prince was rather infamous for forensic work in the legion and he’d personally been requested multiple times to assist with difficult cases plaguing other battalions.

Identifying two different ambushes and then tracking his younger twin brother were likely child’s play to the Second Prince.

The two were close, sharing everything. No matter how much one twin liked something, he would share it with the other. Beks had learned this quickly and would share with them equally.

If his younger brother was missing, the Second Prince wouldn’t hesitate to go after him.

And since he and his battalion seemed to have disappeared into thin air, it meant that he had tracked the Third Prince somewhere.

The terrain maps Beks poured through had small notes on the side, including information on the frequency of traffic and who moved through the area. She followed the noted sighting of the Wild Dogs until they began to split apart.

She narrowed her eyes and she snatched a pencil from a small tray on the desk to make her own markings. Using circle size to note the battalion, she drew smaller circles each time a sighting was noted with a smaller group. She continued until the map was covered in circles going from large to small, as if she’d made a sort of fan across the map.

Did the Second Prince scatter his battalion on purpose?

Her eyes dilated a bit. A group of that many men was sure to attract attention, but a few men here and there would blend into the area easily.

“Second, where are you going?” she said softly as she stared at the map, her eyes following each set of circles as they grew smaller and smaller. They seemed to go all over, even turning around and going back where they came from. It was disorienting.

Beks’ lips pursed. If she were having trouble following their movements, then anyone watching them would as well. Was the Second Prince trying to lose a pursuer?

She combed through the map again. Each trail seemed to fade, disappearing into some random forest, town, or valley.

Beks fixed her eyes on a few heavy strokes of ink across the paper. To the south was a mountain range that acted as the physical boundary between an arid, hot, hilly climate and a tropical area that led out into a gulf. The mountains were high and there were other ways to get to the gulf, but there was a well-known ‘ancient’ path.

It was well-known not because it was still in use or popular, but because of its name and the fact that every group that had tried to use it to cut through the mountains either came out terrified of some beasts or never came out at all.

Her fingertips ran across the text. Forbidden Valley.

One of the circles led right to the purported entrance and her chest tightened. If it was the Second Prince who entered, then was it because he was following the Third Prince?

How would she tell Laurence about this?

And even if she did, what could they do about it?

Her heart began to quicken and her breath trembled. Beks pushed herself back from her desk and hunched forward, pressing her chest against her knees as she shut her eyes tight and took deep breaths to calm herself.

There was now a possibility that two of her foster brothers were lost, perhaps dead, in the Forbidden Valley.