The Wicked House of Caroline

She hadn’t been called that in years. Whenever he had teased her, and called her by that name, she’d bristle up, crinkle her eyes, and scrunch her face with indignation before retorting that she was not an egg tart monster - even if as she said it, she was holding an egg tart or two.

When she heard him call her that now, her heart swelled and tears rimmed her eyes as long missing warmth spread through her. The Second Prince teased her, but his voice was like always: filled with affection. Despite his welcoming posture, Beks drew her lips inward and refused to take a step towards the Second or the Third Prince.

Her heart ached seeing them again, but anger momentarily overwhelmed it.

How long were they going to keep it a secret? And why did the Third Prince say his name was Jargal?

“Why did you lie to me?” she said in a low voice as she remained rooted in her spot. She saw the two of them exchange glances and cut them off before they could speak. “And don’t claim that you didn’t lie, only omitted the truth! Both you and I know that it may as well be the same thing. You deceived me for weeks!”

The Second Prince looked at his younger brother with a mixture of pity and disappointment in his eyes, as if blaming him. The Third Prince, who had introduced himself as Jargal, returned his brother’s pity and disappointment with an irritated frown, as if telling him it wasn’t entirely his fault.

“Didn’t I say that Jargal is what my father named me?” the Third Prince asked as he closed his eyes and released a low breath. He turned to meet her eyes with a serious gaze. “Both Laz and I have our official legal names in Kadmus: Lazarus and Lucian, but Gan and Jargal are our names in Langshe, where we’re recorded in the lineage of the Langshe Imperial Family as the children of the Empress’ youngest brother.”

Beks furrowed her brows. Timur, Prince of Langshe, was indeed the youngest brother of the current Langshe Empress. She continued to frown and narrowed her eyes.

“Even so! Why didn’t you tell me who you are to me?” Not only had they been missing, but she’d been alone and didn’t know who she could trust. She could’ve used the comfort of familiar people.

The Third Prince hesitated for a moment, but seemed to concede. “When I first saw you, you were writhing in the pool, screaming as if you were being tortured to death. There was no time for a proper introduction. When you woke up, you didn’t recognize me and I was afraid that the sudden stimulation of my appearance would trigger another flare up.”

“You didn’t have any more medicine to control it, did you?” the Second Prince asked with a slight frown.

Beks’ suspicious eyes darted from one to the other. “How did you know?”

“You wouldn’t have gotten to where you were in the pool if you did,” he replied in an almost deadpan voice.

The Third Prince took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “In addition, it was Snowflake who found me. He held your pill canister in his mouth and it was empty. That’s how I knew you were on the island and that you didn’t have any more medicine.”

“You are right to be angry that we hid it from you, but we didn’t know if seeing us would cause a violent reaction. Seeing you in a flare up is the last thing we want to see,” the Second Prince told her.

His younger brother nodded. “None of us, not Eldest Brother, not even that idiot Luther, can stand watching you when you have a flare up. We can do nothing to help you, only stand there, useless, as you’re filled with pain.” For a moment, the Third Prince’s eyes glazed over, as if remembering something in his past that filled his face with a haunted expression “It is painful for you, Beks, but we are not left unaffected by it either.”

She drew her head back. She believed them when it came to their reactions to seeing her have a flare up and then go through the recovery, which used to take much longer when she was a child. It was traumatizing for everyone to have witnessed a little girl screaming and burning up, only to become comatose and then bedridden for weeks.

The first time she’d had one in front of the twins, the medicine she took was strong enough to knock out her small body. She’d woken up with one twin at each side of her bed, watching her diligently and refusing to leave. The Second Prince had tears in his eyes when he asked if she was going to live and that he was sorry. At the time, he hadn’t really done anything excessive, it was just that Beks’ body could not handle the stimulation of seeing him jump off a tree branch and into the pond.

Since then, they’d been very careful with her. The Third Prince in particular would often coax her so as not to follow the Second Prince’s recklessness. They’d only allow her to participate in things they were absolutely sure were safe and somewhat mild, though in retrospect, it was questionable whether they were.

But it was different now. She was an adult and had far better control of her emotions. In addition, since she woke up after her three-day coma, even when she began to get too excited or anxious, the familiar feeling of burning up from within hadn’t reappeared despite the usual triggers of a palpitating heart and uneven breathing.

Her gray eyes glanced at the two men across from her and felt some of her anger and irritation wane. She could understand why they’d be hesitant to tell her in the beginning.

“What about after I woke up? We were getting along and exploring the ruins. We ate together every day. Why didn’t you tell me then?” Beks asked, her voice rising with each word as her eyes bore into the Third Prince.

The Third Prince turned to his older brother.

The Second Prince sighed. “Because of this.” He lifted his right arm. Her eyes had kept drifting back to the stub wrapped in cloth and the more she looked at it, the more she felt suffocated. “I was worried you’d panic, nor did I know how I’d explain everything to you.”

“I’m not panicking!” She ignored the hot tears sliding down her face. Of the four princes, the Second Prince loved swordsmanship the most. He not only enjoyed it, but was the best at it. He’d become the leader of a battalion at such a young age because of his skill.

How it must’ve killed him inside to have lost the hand that he used to proudly wield a sword.

Both men’s faces softened as they watched her cry, still refusing to step forward.

“Beks, I’m sorry,” the Third Prince said in a quiet voice. “We did plan to tell you; we just didn’t know when would be the right time.”

“I’m sorry, as well. We considered doing so multiple times, but kept pushing it back,” the Second Prince told her. “And that day you caught me cooking in the kitchen, I was caught off guard and didn’t know how to react. I was afraid you’d be angry.”

“I amangry!”

“Angrier,” the Second Prince said with a fond smile. “Because I lost my hand.”

“Why would I be angry that you lost your hand?” She yelled in denial. She was angry, but not at him. At the situation. At whoever took it from him. At whatever forces were in play that caused it. Her voice choked up. “Who did this to you?” She would kill them herself if she could.

The Second Prince gave her a soft smile. “If my aim was good enough, he’s already dead.”

Beks clenched her jaw. “Why are you telling me now?”

“You’re already suspicious. Why continue to hide it?” the Second Prince replied. “And, we’ve noticed that you’ve been much calmer with no signs of a flare up since you woke. This is promising, so I’ve decided to take the risk.”

“You could’ve told me you’ve decided....” The Third Prince muttered.

The Second Prince ignored his brother and took a step towards her, opening his arms once more and beckoning her forward. “I’ll tell you everything, Egg Tart Monster. I promise.”

Beks swallowed hard. Her eyes lingered on the stub at the end of his arm. She could still hear his voice as a child yelling for her to watch him as he showed off his latest strikes and cuts. She could remember his flushed, sweaty little face as she watched, clapped her hands, and encouraged him from the side while the Third Prince wiped the egg tart crumbs off her mouth.

She took a step forward, slow, and hesitant, before stopping in front of his arm. Neither twin made a move, for fear of alarming her. Beks’ hands trembled as they lowered to the bandaged stub. Her hands floated over the wound, wanting to touch him to comfort him, but afraid that the slightest graze would be painful.

“Your hand....”

“It’s gone,” the Second Prince replied, his voice a bit raspy at the thought. “Somewhere on the mainland. We had to flee and left it behind.”

Her eyes watered as bitterness filled her. “No...no, you’re a warrior...you need your hand.”

“The hand was just what I used to hold on to a sword,” the Second Prince told her, his voice gentle and reassuring. He let out a small chuckle. “I’m sure I can just tie a sword to my arm.” She snapped her head up and looked at him, unsure if he was being serious or not. He gave her a gentle, reassuring smile and her lower lip trembled. “It’s all right, Beks. It doesn’t hurt.”

He was trying to protect her even now. Her eyes watered. “Liar.”

A moment later, the Second Prince’s good arm had wrapped around her shoulder and brought her against him. Her face pressed against his shoulder as the side of his head touched hers, and she tensed up, unable to move.

“We’re here now,” the Second Prince’s hot breath whispered against her ear. “Everything will be all right, Beks,” he told her.

She swallowed hard. Such familiar words were often told to her by them when they were children. As long as they were there, she had playmates and little protectors. They’d coax Laurence and the late Queen into allowing her more play time, and when Luther took her snacks, they’d take them back for her and beat up their youngest brother in retaliation. When she was tired from her classes or punished for not doing well enough, they would comfort her.

The familiarity of being held against him soothed her. It was unexpected, but not unwelcome. Her arms wrapped around his body and she shut her eyes. She tilted her head down and pressed it against his shoulder as she let out a muffled cry.

She cried because they hid the truth from her. She cried because the Second Prince lost his hand. She cried because she was relieved they were alive.

The Second Prince held on to her tight, whispering reassuring words in her ear as she let out the frustration, stress, and fear that she’d buried inside of her for the last few months.

She’d kept herself disciplined at the palace, and tried her best to reassure her parents that she was fine as they were exiled. After all, they had a plan to get Laurence back on the throne. Even when she was alone on the island, she tried to keep her focus on survival, as crying wouldn’t feed or shelter her.

But now someone was willing to comfort her. She vaguely remembered the few times as a child when she could complain, sulk, and cry bitterly. Uncle Timur told her it was all right to be sad, frustrated, or angry; that she didn’t need to be the perfectly disciplined, studious child expected of her all the time.

He was gone, but it seemed his sons were willing to take his place. Beks didn’t hold back, sobbing into the Second Prince’s shoulder until her throat was hoarse. She was sad. She was disappointed, frustrated, and angry. She was tired.

It was cathartic to release it all.

When she finished her out of character sobbing, she found that she was seated across the Second Prince’s lap. Next to him was the Third Prince and her legs had been draped over his. It was a seemingly natural position, as the two of them were attentive in soothing her.

“Drink some water.” The Third Prince extended a small, chipped cup towards her and she leaned her head forward to drink from it.

“Do you feel better?” the Second Prince asked after she finished drinking.

Her eyes hurt and her throat was scratchy. “No.”

“That’s fair,” he said with a slight chuckle. He lifted his arm , but paused when he seemed to realize that he was trying to sweep her hair back with his stub. He gave her a weak smile and lowered his arm. She could see the disappointment and defeat in his blue eyes. “How did you end up on the island, Beks?”

Her eyes lowered. “My family and I were exiled.”

At once, both brothers drew their heads back in surprise. The Third Prince’s brows knit together while the Second Prince frowned. “Impossible. Eldest Brother wouldn’t do that to you or your family.”

“The Carolines have been highly honored for centuries,” the Third Prince added.

As one of the Five Great Houses, it was well known how much the family had given back to, and supported, the kingdom. It was also said that every ruler supported by the Carolines had a successful rule, including the late Queen, whose predecessor was the source of disappointment to not only the Carolines, but the rest of the Houses.

“It wasn’t Brother Laurence.” She raised her puffy eyes and met theirs. “My family came down for Brother Laurence’s coronation, but before it could happen, there was an accident.” Her lips drew into a bitter smile. “At least, we think it is.”

She backtracked a bit to cover their initial suspicion that the Third Consort had been gone too long and delayed in returning after the late Queen’s death. She told them about the new oracle and Luther’s affair, and then how she had Lady Eleanor and Brother Laurence smuggled out of Kadmium.

Every so often, one of the twins interjected, asking for more information. Beks either explained what she could, or shook her head, uncertain herself. The Third Prince had her take a drink to moisten her throat once in a while, but for the most part, the twins were quiet with pensive looks.

She couldn’t tell what they were thinking.

“I drifted for what seemed like hours before the carriage washed up on the north shore. It was foggy and I didn’t see the island at all,” Beks said, squinting at the memory. Even now, she thought it was strange that the fog and the island it surrounded appeared suddenly. “I wandered around, looking for food. Found some ruins. Then I found Snowflake....”

“When you were in the water, your medicine canister got wet,” the Third Prince said with a frown. “That’s why there were no more pills?”

“The pills had turned into a paste with the salt water. I took a little every day to pre-emptively prepare for an emergency situation here. I scraped the remaining paste to try to dry it back into a pill ball, but they didn’t do well.” They held their shape, but the moment she touched them, they turned back into powder under the slightest pressure.

She’d returned the powder into her medicine canister, but hadn’t used any since.

“Perhaps the pool and the biha explosion has helped with possible flare ups,” the Third Prince said, looking at his brother, as if asking for his opinion. The Second Prince nodded; his brows creased with thought.

“There have been cases where injured biha-users required time to heal before they could properly use their biha again. In some cases, they couldn’t use their biha at all for some time,” the Second Prince told them. “However, Beks didn’t have a biha well or a spirit core.”

“That we know of,” the Third Prince replied with a raised brow. “There is no historical record of anyone having both. Perhaps the immersion pool Beks was dipped into as a child could not properly identify both at once, and as a result....”

“A false negative.”

“Exactly.”

Beks furrowed her brows. “But shouldn’t I have at least sensed it or been able to use them if I did have them?”

“It is possible that your body reacted in the same way as the immersion pool and would not let you use either when you had both,” the Third Prince told her. “But this is all speculation. We have nothing to base it on.”

Beks frowned even further. If she had what he insisted she did, and still couldn’t utilize it, what was the point of having it? She grit her teeth and shook her head. That could wait.

“It’s your turn. Tell me why you’re here.” Her hand rose to tug his shoulder.

“Eat first. We can tell you while you’re eating,” the Second Prince slid her off his lap and placed her in the space between him and his brother as the Third Prince scooted to the side and slid her legs off his. The Second Prince held his remaining hand over her bowl of food and nodded, satisfied. “It’s still warm.”

“Eat while it’s hot,” the Third Prince said. “Laz, I’ll bring out your bowl.” The Second Prince gave him a small grunt of acknowledgement before he got up and headed back into the kitchen.

“No wonder the food got better so quickly,” Beks said as she brought a spoonful to her lips. “You’re the one who can cook.”

The Second Prince chuckled as he watched her eat. “When we’re able to get the ingredients, I’ll make you egg tarts.”

She let out a small hum. “Are you and the Third Prince here alone?”

“No, two of my guards had come with us,” he replied with a heavy breath. “I had lost a lot of blood and needed to be carried.”

Beks frowned and lowered her spoon as she heard this. “From the loss of your hand?”

He hesitated and his blue eyes darted to the side. Beks put her spoon down and reached forward, grabbing his shirt, and lifting it up. Her eyes went wide and she took a sharp breath as she saw the strips of cloth still wrapped around his stomach. They’d been washed for reuse, but were still stained with blood.

The Second Prince sat without protest, as if resigned to his fate. “We were chased, Beks. There were a few close calls and it was difficult to get it properly taken care of.”

Her eyes crinkled up as she stared at the stained makeshift bandages.

She didn’t notice the Third Prince returning to them and placing another bowl in front of his brother. He knelt down and wiped the tears in Beks’ eyes. “It’s all right now, Beks. The wound has scabbed over. As long as he doesn’t do anything strenuous, it won’t crack and bleed again.”

She lowered her head, biting her lower lip as she nodded. “Tell me what happened,” she said in a tight voice. “Why are you here? Brother Laurence and I sent so many people to look for you.” Even if she didn’t want to blame them, there was still some resentment in her voice.

“After the last message I sent to you and Brother Laurence, I was trying to track Lucian,” the Second Prince told her. His face hardened and his lips tightened into a line. “I inspected the site of his caravan attack and it had been attacked twice.”

Beks already knew that, but nodded. “Do you know who?”

“The first set of attackers were bandits. Although, considering their state, I wouldn’t call them professionals,” the Third Prince said as he sat beside her and knit his brows together. He stared off into the distance and squinted, as if trying to remember. “They were a haphazard group of people and at least two dozen of them. Their clothes were worn and they were thin. They had rocks and broken farm tools, and appeared desperate. It was late and the caravan had stopped for the night, so I suspected they waited until we were settled to rush in. They caused trouble, but ultimately, they just took whatever money pouches and loose coins we had. We had a dozen paladins with us to guard, but these ‘bandits’ were likely refugees from some troubles along the Meskra border, and just wanted some money, so the High Priests told the paladins to stand down.”

Beks nodded. Perhaps the High Priests saw the would-be bandits and rather than be angry, took pity on them and treated it as alms, instead.

“Then they fled,” the Second Prince surmised. “They didn’t want any more trouble. It’s quite common to just attack, take what they can, and then flee before authorities came.”

“Not that they did,” the Third Prince frowned.

Beks frowned as well. “The site was on a religious pilgrimage route, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s why we were traveling lightly in terms of escort.” The Third Prince took a deep breath and leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. “We were caught by surprise that we’d be accosted on the pilgrimage route. Putting aside the abnormality of it, it isn’t impossible that it would happen. With Meskra starting to encroach on other territories and displacing people, it’s driven those displaced to dire circumstances. They were desperate, but at most they caused light injury and wrecked part of our camp for the night. Overall, nothing too terrible.”

“And the second attack?” She kept her eyes on the Third Prince, wanting to read his reaction to the fact that Temple Paladins attacked his caravan, or if he’d admit it at all as a priest.

The Third Prince’s face darkened. “They tried to dress like commoners, but I know riding equipment and weapons of the Temple Paladins when I saw them.” His voice had dropped and his words were laced with disgust and anger. She looked down at his hands gripping his arms until they turned pale.

“Tell them what those supposed holy knights did,” the Second Prince said as he began to eat.

The Third Prince let out a heavy breath. “We had several injured attendants and a few guards who had been injured moments earlier. It wasn’t anything serious. We were barely able to bandage them up when the paladins arrived. I and two of my attendants had walked back down the route to fetch water from the last communal well along the pilgrimage trail.” His breath hitched and he narrowed his eyes. “We returned to screaming and bodies on the ground. Arrows must’ve come down first, as they protruded from the bodies of the paladins guarding us. They’d been attacked first and we were taken by surprise. The fires were still going and there were many paladins attacking, so I held back my attendants to hide. None of us were armed. We’d be slaughtered if we revealed ourselves.”

“But why would Temple Paladins attack a religious caravan?” That was one of her biggest questions. She only had two theories: the first that the paladins were targeting the Third Prince. While he didn’t hold an important position in the Temple, the Temple kept track of who went where, and as the Third Prince was with other priests, including two High Priests, it was an easy matter to find out where he was and when.

The second theory was that there was something on the caravan itself that was targeted and the Third Prince just happened to be collateral damage.

“At first, I thought they were after the relic we were transporting.” The Third Prince glanced at them, appearing tired. “Officially, we were doing a pilgrimage for prayer, but we had been sent to retrieve St. Cormac’s hand.”

Beks’ brows shot up. “St. Cormac’s hand? You were taking the relic of the monastery of St. Cormac? Why? Where?” She didn’t know if he knew that it was now missing; that when the chest returned to the Temple, the relic was gone. Why had it been secured so weakly to begin with knowing how important it was?

The Third Prince looked helpless. “I am not privy to the reasons behind the orders. We had two High Priests with us, which was unexpected in itself.”

“It still doesn’t explain why Temple Paladins attacked a religious caravan, especially one with two High Priests,” the Second Prince said.

“Temple Paladins aren’t a single entity. They are assigned to different orders and prominent figures and then are ordered by their masters.”

Beks narrowed her eyes. “Such as High Priests?”

The Third Prince paused for a moment and frowned more so. “We had a dozen of our own paladins. The personal guards for each of the High Priests. They were killed by the attacking paladins during the surprise raid.”

“Then the paladins must’ve been from another order?” Beks said.

“Or another powerful figure. Despite being on the same council, not all the High Priests and Priestesses are...cooperative with each other,” the Third Prince replied. “There is a power struggle within the upper reaches of the Temple.”

Beks pursed her lips. “What about the new oracle?”

“Iris Elpidah, the recently recognized one who our idiot brother seems to be close with.” The Third Prince almost sneered.

Beks drew her head back. “You know about that?”

“They were on friendly terms at the Great Temple,” the Third Prince replied in a cold voice. He looked at Beks and squinted. “I should’ve known that if you were here, it had something to do with her.”

Beks turned her head away and took a deep breath. “But does she have her own paladin order?”

“She’s rather infamous for having made her prophecies sequentially and in such a short period of time. She was assigned paladins to guard her because of this.”

“Do you suspect she has something to do with the attacking paladins?” the Second Prince asked Beks.

“Paladins pretended to be royal guards to escort me to the border and then tried to kill me,” Beks told them. “The Temple doesn’t get involved with internal politics of a country unless it has something to do with them, and in Kadmus, Luther has relations with the new oracle.”

The trio went quiet, each bringing a few spoonsful of food to their mouths, their thoughts wrapping around the connection between Luther, the new oracle, and the attacking paladins.

“Putting aside the attacking paladins and their reasons, the fact is that they killed everyone at the caravan’s campsite,” the Second Prince said in a low voice. “Then, they went after Lucian. If they were only there to deal with the High Priests by order of a rival or take something important, once the High Priests were dead or they got their loot, they should’ve left. Why would they go out of their way to search the surrounding area for Lucian?”

Beks looked over at him and then turned to the Third Prince. “They followed you?” The Third Prince’s grip on his spoon tightened. “We tried to hide and wait for them to leave, but they began to comb the surrounding area. I thought perhaps they knew how many people were present and didn’t want any survivors, so they came to look for us in order to silence us. We tried to sneak away.” His eyes crinkled up, reddening at the corners as his voice tightened. “My attendants...they tried to distract the paladins so I could escape.”

Her stomach twisted. The Second Prince had told her there were two others with them on the island, but they were his guards from the battalion. Beks put her bowl down and put a hand on the Third Prince’s arm as he stared ahead of him, pale and in a daze.

“I found Lucian hiding in a cave about a half day’s travel from the site of the attack,” the Second Prince said behind her. “He was guarding the body of one attendant who had lost too much blood. There were arrows in his body.”

“What about the other one?” she asked, almost hesitant to find out the answer.

The Second Prince lowered his eyes. “He was found in the opposite direction, shot from behind and then stabbed through the back.”

Beks swallowed hard and looked at the Third Prince. “Third...I’m sorry.”

He shut his eyes and shook his head. “My attendants were assigned to me when they were sixteen. They were sons of poor farmers who couldn’t feed all their children, so they joined the Temple as servants. They were very diligent...even protective of me.” He clenched his jaw. “I should’ve forced them to continue hiding. I shouldn’t have let them go.”

This time, Beks was the one wrapping her arms around him and bringing him against her. She shut her eyes and pressed her head against his as his shoulders shook.

“We buried his attendants, but by the time I reached them, authorities and the Temple had already come to clean up the mess left behind,” the Second Prince said as he put his empty bowl down. “The plan was to reunite with the rest of the battalion. The battalion is too big, so I put the majority on leave and sent them home while I and a few remaining trusted men dealt with personal matters. I’d split my group to cover a larger area searching for Lucian and to avoid attracting attention. One of my squads sent a messenger hawk that they were being followed. Another reported an attack at night. I dispersed them and took my group south.”

Beks glanced over at him and frowned. “Why south?”

“Because the squads that were attacked were northwest,” he told her, meeting her eyes. “On the road back to Kadmium.”

Her heart clenched. “Then they were looking for you?”

She felt the Third Prince move against her and lift his head from the crook of her shoulder. “They may have been looking for us.”

“If we could get to the coast, we could take a boat around the kingdom to the Port of Black Sands and rush back to Kadmium, but the paladins found us. We were outnumbered and during a skirmish, I was wounded,” the Second Prince said. “We needed to hide so I could rest and treat my wounds, so we went where we doubted we’d be followed; the Forbidden Valley.”

Beks almost wanted to throw her bowl at him. “The Forbidden Valley-”

“It’s not as terrible as it’s made out,” the Second Prince assured her at once. “With proper training and knowledge, it is both navigable and survivable. Adah had taken us there before.”

“When was this?” Bek almost choked out. She didn’t remember Uncle Timur taking the twins there.

“When we beat up Luther and the Third Consort complained, so as punishment, Adah took us to the Forbidden Valley for training,” the Second Prince said.

“How did Uncle Timur know to survive in it?”

The Second Prince looked at her and raised a brow. “Where do you think he, Father Alexios, and Mother hid before she took Kadmus from her father?”

“The point is they didn’t follow us into the Forbidden Valley,” the Third Prince said. “One of Laz’s guards found a cave while searching for an underground water source. The surface water in the Forbidden Valley often has poisonous tree frogs in them, which contaminate the water, so we can only drink underground water.”

“Even running water can be contaminated due to the runoff from the jungle floor,” the Second Prince added. “Jonas decided to explore the cave as far as he could go to see if there was a way out of the valley. There was.”

“A cave on the easternmost tip of the island leads back to the Forbidden Valley,” the Third Prince told her. “That is how we got to the island.”

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“My lady, it is not recommended. The journey through the cave is a few days, at best, and it is easy to get lost in the tunnel system. We took a risk to follow it.” Jonas was a tall, lean soldier with long brown hair in a braid down his back who functioned as both a secretary and bodyguard to the Second Prince. He furrowed his brows and looked concerned as he piled various stone tablets together by similar characters. “It took the combined effort of the three of us in order to make it to the island. I could use my earth biha to secure the tunnels and Gerard used air biha to ensure we had enough air to breathe in some of the narrower passages. In addition, we only made it through because His Highness the Third Prince is a light biha user and we were able to see where we were going. I do not believe a torch or even a lantern would be sufficient.”

Beks’ shoulders slumped a bit with disappointment.

To not only pass through, but to survive the tunnel, it was only possible with multiple people who were specific biha users. Beks had no intention to bring the twins back on the mainland with her. She was likely reported as dead by those treacherous paladins. No one would really suspect her if she sneaked back on to the mainland. Even if they suspected she was alive, she was supposed to have an exile marking prohibiting her from getting close.

At the moment, the twins were missing, and it was unknown if they were dead or alive, therefore, it was likely that their enemies were keeping an eye out for them.

It was too much of a risk. For one thing, the Second Prince was still healing his injuries and was missing his dominant hand. In addition, the Third Prince was not as capable a swordsman as his brother. He was likely targeted for that reason, which was also why the Second Prince was so badly injured.

The twins had switched clothes. The war hardened battalion leader became a priest and the priest became a battalion leader. The Third Prince believed he wouldn’t be alive if his older brother did not pretend to be him and drew attacks.

This was likely why in Nexus’ reports, there were suspicions of the Third Prince being badly injured.

Perhaps she could take the twins or Jonas part way as a guide, but then they’d have to take her through the Forbidden Valley. She wasn’t stupid enough to think that she’d be able to transverse a poison and wild beast infested valley by herself without a problem.

“The Forbidden Valley lives up to its name, my lady,” Jonas said, as if reading her mind. “It is too dangerous. The safest and quickest way to leave the island is likely by boat.”

She pursed her lips. She agreed, but they’d also come to a concession that none of them knew how to build a boat. The Second Prince was proficient in tactics and coordination on land, including modes of transport, but not on water. The Third Prince rarely left the Great Temple. Jonas was a battalion leader’s secretary and Gerard, the Second Prince’s other bodyguard, didn’t even know how to swim, let alone anything that dealt with a boat.

While Beks knew about different kinds of vessels and how they worked, she didn’t know how to build one. At best, they could make a raft out of wood and vines. However, even if it were sturdy, and the distance wasn’t far, could it make it across the sea to the mainland?

“We can see the mainland from here and the mountain tops, but not when we’re at sea level,” Beks said with a slight frown. “We don’t have any navigation tools and I worry we’ll veer off course.” Knowing her current luck, which was a possibility.

“Did you lose track of the shoreline when you drifted from the mainland, my lady?”

“I did,” Beks said. She frowned and held a stone tablet in her hand. “I’d lost sight of it for some time, but I also didn’t see the shore of the island. Suddenly, there was a thick layer of fog and I couldn’t see my hands in front of me. The fog seemed to come from nowhere. I didn’t see it approaching at all.” She looked at the man. “When you emerged from the cave, was there fog?”

“No, my lady, but there was dense cloud cover,” Jonas replied. “It almost appeared as if it would rain. There was certainly humidity in the air, but the heavy rains we expected seeing the clouds never came.”

Beks furrowed her brows and carried the tablet to another pile. “When did the dense clouds disperse?”

“A few weeks ago. Battalion Commander estimates that it was likely soon after you arrived on the island. He and Father Cian aren’t sure if it is a coincidence that the skies cleared after you had a biha explosion,” Jonas told her. “Gerard and I have found that the entire island is very heavy with biha, my lady. We have noticed that our biha wells have been filling faster than normal.”

“Have you noticed an increase in biha capacity or the strength of your ability?” Beks asked. Jonas was an earth biha user and Gerard, the hulking, bald-headed bodyguard with a healthy tan and inexpressive face, was an air biha user.

Jonas’ eyes lit up. “Yes, my lady! I found that my biha well has increased. Gerard also reports that his precision and ability to condense air has increased.”

She nodded, appearing satisfied, though she couldn’t help but remain somewhat envious. Despite the twins assuring her that she had both a biha well and a spirit core, there was no actual physical evidence that she could use them. As a child, she was almost obsessed with biha wells, as everyone in her family had one except for her.

Sagittate was heavy with biha and as a result, the people had a higher frequency of being born with biha wells or spirit cores. It was rarer not to have one. Not only that, but their abilities were also better than those born in other places. Education to use biha started early and was well known. Beks had secretly tried to harness biha to make fire, water, move air and earth using the exercises her older brother used.

However, despite all her attempts, no matter what she read and how well she followed instructions, there had been no sign of biha ability. Now, she had a chance to try it once more, but the result, or lack thereof, was even more frustrating.

“That’s wonderful,” Beks said before turning her attention back to sorting tablets. Each tablet had an engraving and she began to match up the characters to put the tablets together. It gave some semblance of organization in an otherwise chaotic room.

Broken tablets were put to the side, though they’d tried to keep the broken pieces together if they could.

As for decoding the characters, Beks had yet to find a piece she could use as a basis for translation. Everywhere around her, there was information, but she couldn’t access it. For someone like her, who could absorb text to be reviewed at a later time upon a glance, it was incredibly frustrating.

“My lady, we are almost done here,” Jonas said as he carried a pile of tablets in his arms. He proved to be a quick study and excellent with words, even if he couldn’t understand them, and had likely tripled her speed in organizing the main library.

“In that case, I’ll go and get started in the lower office,” Beks said. In one of the buildings on a lower tier, there was a smaller room also lined with stone tablets. Most were still intact, in built in stone shelves on the wall. There were only a few tablets strewn about, so it would be quick work.

She walked outside of the building and found Snowflake where she left him; coiled up by the entrance, facing the sun. She stopped in place to admire the way the sun glistened off the horned serpent’s scales. Not all horned serpents were the same; there were different subspecies with different temperaments.

Snowflake was a horned serpent with light biha affinity. Years ago, he had followed the Third Prince when the Third Prince had just arrived at the Great Temple to begin studies on priesthood, but children living at the Great Temple were not allowed to have pets. Since Beks had been depressed over Melon Cake’s abandonment, the Third Prince sent Snowflake to her with clear instructions to ‘be her friend and keep her company’.

Beks wasn’t sure if it were because of the Third Prince’s instructions that Snowflake was so close to her, but now, if both she and the Third Prince gave Snowflake orders at the same time, her orders would take priority.

She let out a small chuckle and walked towards Snowflake, running her hand against his smooth scales. “Snowflake, I’m going down. Want to come?” A lazy forked tongue flickered out and she took it as an agreement. She began to walk and heard the movement of gravel behind her as Snowflake uncoiled and followed. He reached her side and gave her a slight nudge.

Without question, Beks climbed on and proceeded to go towards the lower tiers on the back of a massive white serpent. On the way down, she passed Gerard in his underwear, doing laundry. When he saw Snowflake and her, he let out a yell and did his best to hide behind one of the stone benches.

Beks lifted her hand and covered her eyes, unperturbed.

“I’m sorry, my lady! I did not expect to see you!” He answered as respectfully as a large, burly man cowering in his underwear behind a stone slab could.

“It’s all right, Gerard! I’m covering my eyes! And I won’t tell the Second Prince!” The Second Prince was strict with his men and he’d likely punish Gerard with physical labor for even accidentally soiling her eyes.

He’d already forbidden his two bodyguards from walking around without their shirts despite the heat and humidity when she was present. Of course, this rule did not apply to him or the Third Prince. She’d woken up from naps to find them naked in her pool. Sometimes it was just one prince, sometimes it was both.

Beks would be the one to roll over and pretend she didn’t see them even if they roped her into their conversation, as if they had been discussing something over a meal and not naked and wet five paces from her.

However, it did give her insight on the amount of injuries the Second Prince had accumulated over his years in the military. Aside from his missing hand and the scabbed gash across his abdomen, there were numerous cuts and marks that had healed over into discolored skin across his arms, back, and chest.

The first time she’d seen them, Beks had rolled over not to give the Second Prince privacy, but to hide the painful expression on her face. She expected him to have some injuries due to the nature of his position, but so many? And how old were they? What had the Second Prince gone through?

The Second and Third Princes didn’t want to leave after their father died. They had wanted to stay and continue studying and training at the palace, but they could not defy their mother. As her primary playmates, Beks had tried to spend as much time with them as possible before they left, as even Laurence didn’t know why they were going to leave.

One morning, Beks woke up and found Laurence sitting at her bedside. His face had been pale and gaunt and his eyes red. He had told her that the twins were sent away well before dawn broke and they couldn’t come to tell her. The entire operation had been quick, as if the two princes were snatched away in the middle of the night.

Beks almost had another flare up that morning because of the stimulation.

Luckily, it didn’t take long for letters from the twins to arrive to reassure her. It was as if they were worried she’d be upset about their sudden disappearance. While those letters continued, sometimes frequent, sometimes far between, they’d only mentioned mundane activities, accomplishments, and inquired about her wellbeing.

Not a single letter told her they’d gotten injured or faced any sort of harm, physical or otherwise.

The late queen and Laurence had kept her sheltered. If they knew the troubles the twins faced, they didn’t tell her.

Sighing, Beks and Snowflake arrived at one of the lower tiers. The large, main pathways had been cleared largely due to Jonas and Gerard’s biha. However, large pieces of fallen stones from the buildings did still litter the area.

This particular tier had numerous plazas, wells, pools, and buildings, though they were all smaller than the ones at the topmost tier. The room with the tablets was in the largest building of the largest and central plaza. Beks climbed off Snowflake and headed inside.

The Third Prince had gone around to reactivate all the long dormant light pearls he could find, so the inside of the building was well lit even with limited windows. The room had light pearls on sconces all along the walls and several light pearls hanging from pendant lights in the center of the room.

The light pearls resting on metal pendant lights didn’t seem to work, just like the same lights in the library above. It could’ve been that they were damaged hanging there, but at least the sconces worked.

Beks looked around to take in the room and decide where to start. Along the back wall there was a small stack of tablets on the ground and one was protruding from a narrow hole in the wall. It was a similar niche with rusted metal framing it. Beks assumed it was decorative.

She walked across the room and reached for the tablet in the niche. Her brows knitted together as she grasped it with one hand and tried to pull it out, only to find it was stuck. She grabbed the two protruding corners with both hands, adjusting her fingers into two grooves along the top and bottom of the tablet before pulling back once more.

She heard a slight scrape as the tablet loosened and jiggled in place.

A flash of light from the corner of her eye made her stop and turn around. The sconces weren’t flickering. There were no windows in that room, either. She narrowed her eyes and pulled against the tablet again.

There was another flash and she snapped her head up. The three light pearls hanging from the ceiling had flashed and faded. Her eyes darted back to the three pearls and, with her two hands still holding the tablet, jiggled the tablet in the niche. The light pearls flickered once more and her eyes widened.

“Is this how to turn those on?” She pulled the tablet out with all her strength, stumbling back as dust and dirt came out of the niche with it. Beks looked back at the ceiling. As expected, the pearls didn’t light up.

Beks peered into the niche and squinted. She looked back at the tablet and ran her hand along the sides. Like the other tablets, there was a strip of unknown material along the back edge. Biting her lip, Beks flattened her hand and stuck it into the niche, silently hoping there was nothing in there that would bite her.

She felt around, her hand becoming coated with dust and dirt as her fingers ran along the bottom and sides. The niche was relatively shallow and didn’t seem as deep as the tablet was long. Her fingertips touched rough stone and something smooth and flat against the back panel of the niche.

“Same thing?” She whispered to herself as she drew her hand out and touched the strip of material along the tablet’s back edge. Her eyes widened.

She stuck her hand back into the niche, trying to shovel out any dust and debris, before pulling her sleeve as far down as it could go and trying to use it to wipe the back panel of the niche. When she pulled her hand out, she bent down a bit to blow into it.

Beks then wiped the edge of the tablet against her skirt and blew over it to try to get out any dust in the crevices. She ran her thumb over, blew it again, and placed it into the niche. She pushed it as far back as she could go and the ceiling lights illuminated.

“That’s an interesting way of turning on the lights,” she said with a slight, triumphant smile.

She spoke too soon, as the sconces around the room suddenly dimmed. She drew her head back and reached for the tablet once more. As she turned her head, she caught the light on the open floor in the center of the room. While there was still a coating of debris over the stone floor, it was free of much clutter and the pendant light crystals seemed to create a spotlight on it.

Beks furrowed her brows as she stepped away from the wall.

There were shadows in the spotlight, but they were crisp. As she got closer she recognized characters from engravings on the tablets.

“High Berup...?” There was another set of characters beneath it that Beks didn’t recognize. There were five lines, four of which she couldn’t read or identify, but on the fifth line, though a bit archaic, she recognized the characters. Her eyes dilated as her heart shot to her throat. “Classic Esuser!” The text itself read the primitive word for Esuser, but she knew what it was.

She rushed towards the spotlight and rounded it, unsure what to do. Her eyes crinkled up and she froze. Now what?

Beks stood just outside the spotlight, staring at the five lines of text that she assumed were different written languages. Was she supposed to pick one? If so, how? She looked back at the niche on the wall and walked back. There were no buttons or switches or niches around it. Her lips pulled down.

She wanted to see if she could activate Classic Esuser, but she didn’t know now?

She marched back to the spotlight and looked at the five lines of text. “What do I do now?” She raised her hand and waved it over the fifth line, as if trying to grasp the characters, not expecting anything to happen.

The five lines of text disappeared and an entire paragraph of Classic Esuser appeared on the floor. Beks held her breath as her wide eyes stared at the ancient languages written in crisp characters, as if freshly written on a piece of parchment.

Her head shot up to look at the light pearls, which seemed to have small shadows against their illuminated surface to create the text. Beks’ eyes scanned the paragraph.

“Complaint,” she read out loud. “Date...subject...wrong...no, that’s bad, or poor quality....” She knelt down on the ground. “Are these customer complaints?” She reached out once more and touched the illuminated area on the floor. The characters disappeared, but before Beks could cry out, another paragraph replaced it.

The more she read, she realized it was a continuation of the previous complaint. She moved her hand over the floor again in one direction and it went to a new complaint, though it seemed to reference the same person. When she moved her hand in the opposite direction, she returned to the previous page.

“I’m turning pages....” she whispered. She moved her hand back in succession, each time changing the text on the floor. She couldn’t help but let out a giddy, stunned laugh. After five different complaints on someone selling poor quality goods, she reached what read like an internal report to fine the merchant mentioned .

“Beks! Are you here? Lunch is ready.” A voice called from the doorway directly ahead of her. She lifted her head and saw the Second Prince ducking his head a bit to get under the doorframe. Behind him was the Third Prince, who immediately turned his attention to the spotlight and the Classic Esuser.

“Beks, what is that?” he asked as he almost rushed forward to take a look.

Beks meet their eyes. “The tablets...they’re books.”

The twins looked uncertain. They exchanged looks with each other and then back at Beks. “Books on what?” they said at the same time.

Beks motioned her hands to the Classic Esuser on the floor. “From what I can read, someone selling bad quality copper.”