The Wicked House of Caroline

“I don’t know; I’ve yet to hit a limit on my biha well,” Beks replied truthfully.

Gerard’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. “You mean to say that after all of that, you still have biha in your well?”

She nodded her head once. “I only stopped transferring biha because the wind died down.”

“I only stopped using biha because I thought you would run out soon, which could cause dizziness or weakness if you’ve never drained your well before!” Gerard seemed to almost choke on his words, rattled by the absurdity that Beks still had biha after uprooting and toppling trees as thick as she was.

“Whenever we tried to estimate the size of my biha well on the island, we never got that far.”

“How long have you continuously used your biha?”

“Lucian timed it at three hours,” Beks said. Lucian had put together a sundial for them.

Gerard squinted. “How much were you using during that time?”

Beks shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know...as much as I could? We were trying to reach the bottom of my biha well, so I was releasing as much as I did when I was transferring biha to you-”

“That much!” Gerard couldn’t contain his voice and it shot up. “The moment I tried to use my biha again, it was as if my well was full. Full!” It normally took days to refill a drained biha well.

She didn’t know how to measure based on that, as the capacity of a biha well varied. Lucian said a drained well could take a day to a full week depending on the size. “Is your biha well small?”

Gerard gaped at her. “My lady....” he said in a pained voice, as if he’d been betrayed. “I was able to regulate the air around us for hours and still had enough biha to deflect arrows a few times.”

“You said that regulating the air required minimal effort and biha!”

“Yes, but the wind deflection didn’t. My lady, I’ve never used so much concentrated biha at one time before!” He seemed at a loss for words as he placed his hands over his stomach. “And...and my biha well is still full!”

“Isn’t that good?”

“Yes, but...but....” Gerard looked overwhelmed. “My lady, we nearly flattened this section of the forest! Do you know how much biha it takes to topple a single tree?”

He waved his arms in front of him and Beks turned her head towards the circle of trees closest to them. Some were nearly as thick as her shoulders and they had been pushed down, their roots still surrounded by clumps of dirt exposed to the air. It wasn’t just one tree, either. It was every tree closest to them, all around them, meaning the air Gerard manipulated wasn’t concentrated on one spot.

It was spread around them and it still caused significant damage.

Beks swallowed hard. “This...was unexpected.” She looked back at Gerard, who was eyeing her as if she were a monster. Her eyes dulled. “They told you I had substantial biha.”

“This is not merely substantial, my lady,” Gerard told her in a serious voice. “How did you know you could transfer the biha to me?”

“I couldn’t use it myself, so I thought maybe I could give it to you to use-” She went quiet as she heard noises. The voices around them were getting louder as their attackers found each other and were confirming they were alive or needed assistance. Beks narrowed her eyes and pulled her arms up. “Never mind that, we’ll discuss what we’ve discovered at a later time. We’re not done here yet.”

Gerard straightened up and looked towards the forest where the arrows had come from moments earlier. He shifted into a defensive stand and held his arm out. “Stay behind me, my lady.”

Beks nodded and took a step behind him, but swept her eyes across the toppled tree line. “They know you have strong biha, so let’s take this opportunity to put some pressure on them and ask for my brother.”

Gerard nodded. He took a deep breath before letting his voice boom across the area. “I won’t hesitate to level this entire forest with all of you in it if you attack us once more! Now, bring out Amadeo of Caroline!”

Beks let out a tired breath as her shoulders sunk. “All right, when I said pressure, I didn’t mean threaten.”

“Isn’t that what putting pressure on an opponent is?” Gerard kept his eyes forward and alert, but still sounded confused.

Beks narrowed her eyes. “Is that what Laz taught you?”

“The Battalion Commander is an honorable man and would not resort to such petty threats.” Gerard didn’t seem to forget to compliment his leader in front of her. “He graciously gives enemies warnings.”

Beks pursed her lips and then let out a heavy sigh. She wanted to tell Gerard to try to lure Deo out by telling them that his sister was there, but she was hesitant to advertise herself in case word got back to Kadmium that she was alive.

Sooner or later, her being alive would reach them, but she wanted to push that as far back as possible.

“Tell them that we’re messengers from Sagittate!”

Gerard nodded. “We bring news from Sagittate for his lordship!” He glanced at Beks who gave him an approving nod.

“Who are you!”

Beks narrowed her eyes as she recognized the man with the Jasper accent’s voice. It still sounded unreasonable. It was unexpected to hear that accent all the way out here, but she could ask her brother when she found him.

Beks took a deep breath and shouted a reply before Gerard could. “The Snow Flower of Sagittate!”

Gerard glanced at her. “My lady, I know you miss Snowflake dearly, but you needn’t use ‘snow’ in all your aliases.”

Beks shot him a slight glare. “My father’s nickname for me is Snow Flower. My little sister is Starfish. Deo will know this.”

“I don’t know who that is!” the Jasper-accented man replied.

Beks snapped her head towards the direction of the voice and glared. “It isn’t for you to know! Tell Amadeo of Caroline that the Snow Flower of Sagittate is looking for him! If you don’t tell him and he misses me, you will regret it!”

“Is that a threat!?”

Beks grit her teeth and wanted to throttle the stubborn man. “It is a warning!”

Gerard nodded with satisfaction.

Beks put one hand on Gerard’s shoulder. “Stand our ground. We’ll wait. If they make any moves, don’t hesitate to use air biha. I will keep transferring biha.”

Gerard nodded. “I will stand at the ready, my lady.”

The man with the Jasper accent didn’t reply and Beks hoped he had gone to find her brother. Considering that they could feel the increasing heat well before they reached the entrance to the pass, her brother must’ve been close.

She also wondered how long he’d been controlling the heat. Deo’s biha well was massive, but to control the temperature in such a large space would still be draining. When she and Gerard went over the mountains, the amount of air regulation was essentially a bubble around them to conserve biha.

There was also the question of how Deo managed to get the Dranga out of the pass without being cooked in the heat.

“Perhaps we should’ve given them a time limit,” Gerard said. The sun had set with the last rays of light disappearing in the horizon. Their lantern was still on one of the horse saddles, so like their attackers, they were standing in the dark.

“It would be difficult for us to keep time at night and without a time piece of any sort,” Beks told him. She had pushed aside her veil so she could see better. “We can only stay alert and wait.”

“Do you think they really went to get Lord Amadeo, my lady?”

“I would hope so,” Beks replied. “We’ll give them a bit more time, then I want you to release biha that makes it difficult to breathe. Not so much that they suffocate, but enough so they feel it and aren’t able to move much. I’ll keep transferring biha to keep it steady. You tell them that you will give them until the count of a hundred to bring Deo forward or else.”

Gerard squinted, uncertain. “I’ve never done that before at such a distance. I don’t know if I can do that.”

“You can do a lot of things if you have enough biha to concentrate. It’s just like regulating air earlier, only the opposite,” Beks told him. “Give it a try.”

Gerard nodded. She couldn’t feel the biha itself, but she could feel the pressure in the air around them change. Her breathing became more labored and she patted his shoulder. “Can you direct it elsewhere? Not on us?”

He furrowed his brows and seemed to concentrate. The pressure in the air eased around her and she was much more comfortable. In the distance, she heard someone cough and then wheeze.

Gerard’s eyes widened and he quickly withdrew his biha. “It’s possible,” he said with confirmation.

“All right. Let’s count down-”

“Beks!” A man’s voice filled the air and in the distance, a flickering flame could be seen moving between the shadows of trees.

Her eyes widened as her heart leapt to her throat. She stepped around Gerard and looked towards the voice and the approaching frame. “Brother!”

“Beks, I’m here!”

“Brother Deo!” Beks screamed into the darkness.

“Beks, are you all right-ah!” Her brother’s voice was cut off and the rapidly approaching flame disappeared. A moment later, it reappeared with a disgusted voice. “Why is this tree on the ground?”

“My lord, be careful!”

“Beks!” A large flame seemed to fly up to illuminate the area as a man stumbled out from amongst the toppled trees with some leaves in his fiery hair and dirt on his clothes. His gray eyes were wide and reddening as they met hers.

Relief filled Beks as she saw her brother well, appearing unharmed. She choked back a cry. Seeing him in front of her, even knowing that he was a biha master and was experienced on the battlefield and with survival, she still couldn’t help but worry. She took a step forward, not realizing that her legs were trembling beneath her.

“Brother, you’re all right-”

As she stumbled, his arms wrapped around her and crushed her against him in a tight embrace. “You’re alive! You’re alive! I knew you’d survive!” Deo let out a bitter-sweet laugh. “The gods chose you! They would not take you from us so soon!”

He pressed his head against hers and she felt something hot and wet against her cheek.

Her eyes widened. She had been worried about her family, but her family had also been worried about her. For them, it must’ve been worse. She was the only one exiled alone without any real training to fight, survive, or use biha. She was the most vulnerable.

Beks’ heart ached as she raised her arms and wrapped them around her brother. She shut her eyes and buried her head against his shoulder.

“I’m alive, Deo. I’m all right.”

Her older brother squeezed her tight once more.

“Although, we were almost killed by your people.” Gerard spoke up and Beks’ eyes opened.

Well, the heartwarming reunion was good while it lasted. Beks loosened her hold on Deo, but her brother kept a firm grip on her as he looked over her shoulder and narrowed his eyes at the large man. The air grew warmer and she could sense a strong pulse energy from her brother. Her brows furrowed as she looked at Deo.

Was that biha?

“Who are you?” Deo asked, as if ready to fight at any moment.

Gerard stood up straight and saluted. “Lieutenant Commander First Class, Leon Gerard, my lord! Wild Dogs Battalion!”

“Wild Dogs....” Deo drew his head back. “The Second Prince’s battalion?” He looked at Beks with wide eyes. “Then he’s alive?”

Beks nodded and motioned a hand to Gerard. “Laz sent him to escort me.”

Deo nodded his head and froze. His gaze turned a little colder. “Laz?”

“Battalion Commander has agreed to mar-”

“Let’s not talk here!” Beks grabbed her brother’s arm and pulled him away from Gerard as she tried to muffle the man’s voice with her own. “It’s not safe and I have questions.”

“I have questions, too,” Deo said. He looked around and waved his free arm around at the destruction. “What happened here?”

Beks’ eyes crinkled up. “I’ll explain later. Is it all right for you to talk? What about the heat in the pass?”

Deo looked at her with surprise. “You know about....” His brows shot up before he grabbed Beks’ shoulders and made her face him. “Beks, how did you get into the valley?”

She sighed and shrugged off his hands. “Just answer my question. Can you leave your post?”

“The heat will dissipate on its own if I leave it for an hour. Then people can go through while I’m refilling my biha well. It’ll be fine. It will take some time for Salgul to realize it’s passible. By the time they get close enough, I can reheat the pass,” Deo told her.

Beks nodded. “All right. Where can we go to talk?”

Deo looked around. He furrowed his brows. “Lloyd!”

Shuffling was heard from the tree line, and a blond man in a ragged and stained royal guard uniform rushed out. He stood to attention. “Yes, my lord!”

“The man with the Jasper accent....” Bek trailed off, raising a brow. She looked him up and down. She could recognize that uniform in her sleep. “He’s really a royal guard....”

“My lord, this is the man who ordered them to kill us.” Gerard pointed him out immediately and Beks could hear the irritation in Gerard’s voice.

She was irritated, as well, but was trying accept the man’s rash actions as an act of desperation. Of course, acceptance didn’t mean forgiveness.

“What?” Deo whipped his head towards Lloyd and narrowed his eyes. “What did you do?”

Lloyd tensed. Even under the firelight, he looked a bit pale as he seemed to put together the near consequences of his actions. “I...I didn’t know who they were-”

“So, you attacked them?”

“They were getting close to the pass and weren’t Drangan, so we tried to keep them away,” Lloyd replied.

“They shot arrows at us,” Beks said in a deadpan voice. Deo’s glare hardened.

Lloyd winced. “But they’re our only means of defense.”

She kept her eyes fixed on him. “Speaking is also useful.” Lloyd shrank back. Deo put his arm around her and pulled her away.

He gave Lloyd a firm look. “Clear the area and begin the next group to go through the pass. It’ll be bearable within an hour’s time. Increase the sentries immediately to watch for any Salgul infiltration.”

Lloyd saluted him. “Yes, my lord!” He turned around to relay the orders.

Beks watched his fleeting back. “A real royal guard escorted you?”

“He was the only one who didn’t get food poisoning, so he needn’t be reassigned.” Deo looked at her with a frown. “What about you?”

“All six were paladins.”

She heard her brother swear in Sagittate and she gripped his arm. “It’s all right. They didn’t take me seriously.”

Deo took a deep breath to calm himself. His voice was low as his hand rested on top of hers and squeezed the. “How did you get away?”

She opened her mouth, but wasn’t sure how to tell him. She sat him down on one of the shorter boulders.

“They pushed the carriage off a cliff into the southern gulf with me in it.”

“Those bastards-” Deo shot up from his seat and Beks grasped his arm and pushed him back down.

“It wasn’t that high and I wrapped myself in the cushions inside the carriage and braced myself. The carriage tumbled down, so it was only bumpy and not a sheer drop that would cause fatality upon impact,” Beks told him.

Deo’s face was dark and the air around him had grown hot. He swallowed hard, trying to restrain himself. “They...they gave you cushions?” he asked, his voice unsteady. He seemed to try to focus on the positive.

“Chamberlain Wilton likely arranged it,” Beks replied. She offered her brother a smile. “Being well loved is not without its privileges.”

Her brother looked up at her with a pained expression. “When His Majesty is back on the throne, we will make sure they are punished.”

Beks’ smile was peaceful. “They won’t live to see Brother Laurence retake the throne.”

The corners of his lips cracked into a smile. He nodded. “Yes...yes, that’s right.”

Beks looked around. “Is it all right to talk here?”

“I can’t stray too far from the entrance of the pass,” Deo told her. “Salgul is watching. They must’ve figured out that the heat was caused by someone’s biha and that it cannot be continuous, so there would be breaks when it cools. During that time, we send groups of Dranga people through.”

Beks squinted. “How long do they have?”

“It takes half a day to get through the pass, so we need to hold off Salgul during that time, if the passable canyon is discovered,” Deo replied.

Beks frowned. “Half a day....then from start to exit, you can only send in so many people.”

“The heat doesn’t dissipate completely, either, so we’ve only been able to send older adults and children well enough to make it.”

“We’ve passed by groups of them heading away from the range,” Beks replied. “But that can’t be all of them. How many more people do you have?”

Deo looked tired. “Including those who remain to guard? A quarter of the people.”

Beks frowned. “How long have you been doing this?”

He gave her a wry smile. “Over a month.”

Beks lifted her hand and touched her hair. “I don’t have that long....” she said under her breath.

Deo tilted his head to the side. He squinted at where her hand was touching her hair and raised his own hand with a flame. His eyes widened. “What happened to your hair?”

“Lucian used light biha to disguise-”

“Lucian the Third Prince?” Deo narrowed his eyes once more.

Beks sighed. “The Second Prince went to find his brother and succeeded, but were chased all the way to the Forbidden Valley.”

“Is that where you met them?” Deo asked. Originally, she was supposed to be exiled there, but was instead pushed off a cliff. He furrowed his brows.

“No, we met on the island.”

“There is an island?” Deo looked at her as if she’d spouted something crazy. Now that he said it like that, her experiences did seem a bit farfetched, even for their situation. “Beks, what happened to you?”

“When the carriage hit the water, I climbed out before I could drown in it and managed to climb on some rocks. The water was turbulent in the area and a whirlpool formed, taking the carriage with it. I hid behind the rocks and when the carriage went down, the paladins watching must’ve thought I went down with it. After some time, the water pushed the carriage back up.

“I couldn’t get back to shore from the rocks I was on, so I jumped on the overturned carriage and got caught in a tide that took me to an island off the southern coast. Laz and Lu- the Second and Third Prince also managed to find their way there - oh! That reminds me!” Beks grabbed her brother’s arm as her face lit up. “Brother, I found Snowflake! He didn’t run away!”

She heard a small slap behind her and looked over her shoulder to see Gerard running his hand down his tired face.

Deo’s brows shot up once more. “Snowflake, your pet white python with the big red eyes whose favorite foods are rodents?”

“You two really are siblings....” Gerard muttered.

Beks and Deo shot him a silent look. “Yes, somehow he made it on the island, but he’s not a python, Brother. He’s a horned serpent! My baby has gotten so big.”

“My lord, my lady, what can we do about the exodus?” Gerard piped up.

Deo frowned. “The Second Prince sent him as your guard?”

Beks nodded. “Two of his men were on the island with him. The other is his secretary.”

Deo stood up. “Then it’s him with the air biha?”

Beks took a sharp breath. “Brother, I have more news.” She tugged at his arm and he looked at her.

“More news?”

“I have a biha well!” She watched his face, hoping he’d be just as excited as she was. His face bloomed with a smile.

“A biha well! Really?”

“Yes! It seemed to have been sealed.”

“Well, what’s the affinity?” Deo asked, matching her excitement. “Fire, like Dad and me? Water? Mommy would love that.” The excited look on her face slowly faded. When he noticed this, his expression also grew serious. “Beks?”

“I...my biha....” She grit her teeth. “Lucian said that my biha resonates with all elements. Fire, water, air, earth, light, dark, and life. However, the problem is that I can’t control any of them.”

“What do you mean you can’t control any of them?”

Beks frowned and pulled away from him. She held out her hands and began to release biha. “Do you feel that?”

Deo nodded. “Yes....” His eyes slowly dilated as he lifted his gaze from her hands to her eyes. “Beks, you don’t need to use so much biha-”

“I can do this for hours and not empty my biha well,” Beks told him. Deo furrowed his brows and frowned.

“Do you have any idea how much biha you are releasing at once?”

“Less than the amount I transferred to Gerard to do that.” She tilted her head back, towards the forest and toppled trees behind her. Deo's eyes widened.

She watched her brother's eyes dart from her to the forest and back. He blinked. “Did you say you transferred biha to him?”

Beks nodded her head. “I can’t control anything, Deo,” she told him in a defeated voice. “I tried. I tried everything I’ve learned about biha since I was two years old in the Sacred Valley and nothing works. Lucian tried to teach me, I tried to control it in a life-or-death situation,” she said, throwing her arms in the air. “And nothing. It comes out, but I can’t control anything.”

Her brother’s look softened, as if remembering her frustration as a child. “Beks....”

She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. “When Brother Laurence was in a coma, clerics were brought in to feed him life biha. I thought that if they could transfer biha, so could I, and to someone who could control their affinity.” She pointed to Gerard. “And it worked.”

Deo looked at Gerard for a moment. “Beks.” He held out his hand and looked at her. “Transfer biha to me.”

Without a word, she grabbed his hand. Almost immediately, he inhaled a gasp and stared at her with stunned eyes. She held his gaze, silently asking if he believed her now. He pulled his hand away.

“Is your biha well full?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“How did this happen?” Deo looked at her with confusion. “You’ve been trying your entire life-”

“I also have a spirit core.”

Silence slipped between them and she watched her brother’s face contort with disbelief. “That’s not possible.”

“Lucian says that the reason my biha was undetected was because I also had a spirit core and they canceled each other.”

“Well, then, what does your spirit core do?”

“We haven’t figured that out yet.”

Deo slowly shook his head. “All these years...Beks, your biha well must be larger than mine. All I did was hold your hand for less than a breath and the biha you transferred...it was like pouring a bucket of water into a cup to fill it.”

“My lord, I could not have done this with my biha without the amount of biha my lady transferred to me,” Gerard said.

Deo squinted. He opened his mouth, but a voice shouted.

“Lord Deo! Salgul is marching!”

He was on his feet in an instant and took a swift step to shield his sister. Two people, the royal guard and a Dranga woman from her dress, rushed forward. “Salgul is marching towards the pass!” The royal guard looked flustered.

“I don’t know how they know, but they must’ve figured out that the temperature of the pass was dropping and so, you must be resting to refill your biha well,” the woman with Lloyd told him.

Deo frowned. “Take my sister and her guard to the camp. Hold the villagers back from starting the evacuation. If we let them go now, they could be chased if Salgul gets through the defensive line!”

“Yes, my lord!”

Both the man and the woman turned around to give his orders, and Deo sighed. “Lloyd! Take my sister and her guard back!”

“Right, my lord!” Lloyd turned on his heel and rushed back.

Deo put his hands on Beks’ shoulder. “Wait for me to return to the camp while I deal with this.”

“Brother, I can help-”

“You refilled my biha well, Beks. I can take it from here. You can’t control any of the affinities. It’s safest for you to go to the camp,” Deo told her.

Beks wanted to argue, but without any actual battle training or usable biha for battle, she’d just be a burden. She clenched her jaw and nodded. “Fine.”

A brief look of relief flashed across her brother’s eyes. He patted her head and looked at Lloyd. “If anything happens to my sister-”

Lloyd nodded, standing up straight. “I will guard her with my life, my lord!”

“No need, I am here for that,” Gerard told him, unimpressed. He leaned towards Beks. “My lady, the quality of the royal guard isn’t as high as I thought.”

Beks leaned towards him and whispered back. “Gerard, he is standing right there.”

Lloyd’s shoulder slumped, but he led them away as Deo turned around.

“Beks!” Deo called out to her and she looked over her shoulder. He threw her a bright smile. “What do you say?”

She blinked at him for a moment. “Athar’an stry; stry’an vena; vena’an ul.” She brought two fingers to her lips and then made a motion of touching the air in front of her, above her head, her forehead, and then her chest.

Deo beamed and mirrored her movements. Her brother then turned and rushed into the forest.

“What does that mean?” Lloyd asked.

“Is the extended version of our family’s motto: peace with strength, strength with thought, and thought with heart,” Beks said as her brother disappeared from view and she turned around. “It is also a blessing for those who go off to battle in Sagittate. May they fight with strength and mind for what is good, so that they may return to find peace.”

╔═════════════════ ∘◦ ♔ ◦∘ ═════════════════╗

As far as travel companions went, Beks was positive that she fared better than her brother. Even putting aside highly capable Gerard, Sandra was much smoother at facilitating things than the royal guard who’d joined her brother. At the very least, Sandra was nowhere near as chatty as Lloyd.

Her brother was usually a very calm and collected person. He didn’t mind the occasional boisterousness, or even casual conversations with strangers, but he must’ve been at his wit’s end with Lloyd’s mouth speaking non-stop.

The corner of Gerard’s eye twitched and Beks took a deep breath. In the short, but somehow painfully long, journey to the camp where the remaining Dranga state people, both villagers and warriors, had gathered, Lloyd had told them his life story, including how he became a royal guard - a dream of his since childhood, apparently, and how he met her brother.

He’d only paused his story when they reached the guarded gate around an impressive wall that would’ve disappeared into the darkness if it weren’t for the torches. Lloyd cheerfully greeted the guards and introduced Beks and Gerard as if he were a host at a party and introduced his guests. At the very least, no one questioned him and allowed them in.

Once inside, it was clear that these people were ready to leave.

Unlike the groups they’d seen outside, there were many more elderly individuals. Beks furrowed her brows. She was sure she’d see more people their age.

“My lady, this is only a portion of the remaining villagers,” Lloyd told her dutifully. “Much of the Dranga’s able bodied young people are on guard or on the front lines with Salgul.”

That answered her question. Beks nodded her head. Within the walls, there were torches along major pathways, so Lloyd handed a torch he’d borrowed from someone to of the guards by the gate before leading them forward.

“Where should we wait for my brother?” Beks asked.

“I will take you to the lodge,” Lloyd told her. “Lord Deo will return there first. Also, if you’re hungry, I can get you something to eat.”

Beks gave him a nod. “Thank you.”

Lloyd wore a happy-go-lucky smile on his face as he led them along. He greeted many people in passing, old and young. They walked deeper into the heart of the camp, and found a large row of tents connected to each other. There were guards on either side of a wooden door and Lloyd went to explain who they were.

The two guards glanced at them and nodded before opening the door. Lloyd waved his hand energetically at them to beckon them inside.

Since there were no windows, and it was night, the tent was illuminated by numerous hanging lanterns. There were cushions and stools for seating all around a small pit fire and a few adults her parents’ ages were seated around. They stopped talking when Lloyd ended with them.

Someone gasped and threw something over a round object at the foot of the woman seated in the center of the room. Their eyes grew wide with panic.

“Lloyd! What are you doing? Who are you bringing inside?” The woman at the center of the room frowned and stood up, clearly unhappy to see them.

“Those are some of the elders,” Lloyd whispered to Beks before rushing forward and bowing. “Elder Drahn, I have come at Lord Amadeo’s orders to bring his sister and her guard here.”

“Sister?” Aside from the young man who was trying to wrap the round object with cloth, the others in the room stood up to get a better look at her. “The prophesied daughter with dawn in her hair.”

I thought that prophecy was only popular in Kadmus. Beks furrowed her brows, but gave them a respectful bow of her head. “Good evening, I am Rebecca of Caroline.” Since her brother was helping the Dranga, she doubted they would go around spouting that they saw her when they escaped from the valley.

The elders looked at her with scrutinizing eyes. Elder Drahn looked at Lloyd and frowned. “They could not have waited outside? Why did you not announce them first?”

“I brought them to where Lord Amadeo would come as soon as he came back,” Lloyd replied.

“It is about time for him to rest and refill his biha,” one of the men said, looking at Elder Drahn.

“Wait, didn’t a messenger just come to tell the next batch to wait before going to the passage?” a middle-aged woman asked with a frown.

“Salgul has discovered the pattern of Lord Amadeo’s rest. They have begun to march forward,” Lloyd said. “However, they don’t know that Lord Amadeo doesn’t consume all his biha at once and will be able to defend.”

“They’re marching?” Someone else looked alarmed.

“We must trust Lord Amadeo,” Elder Drahn said as she held out her hand to calm the room. “If it weren’t for him, we’d already be at the mercy of Salgul or Brekram.” She let out a tired sigh.

Beks looked at the round object as she listened to them. She narrowed her eyes. Lucian said there were a few that had remained on the mainland. Langshe had one or two apparently, but she didn’t think she’d see one in a remote area such as the Giant’s Ridge Mountain Range.

As if noticing her gaze, Elder Drahn took a step forward and stood in front of the object. Beks looked up and the woman coughed.

“My lady, forgive us for any inhospitality. Please have a seat and we will bring you something to eat,” she said.

Beks nodded her head and motioned for Gerard to take a seat, as well. He shook his head, wanting to stand guard behind her. She let him be and took a seat. “Thank you,” she told the elders. She made a motion towards Elder Drahn’s legs, or rather, the object she’d tried to cover. “And there isn’t any need to hide it. I’ve seen plenty of light pearls.” There were twelve in the rotunda alone.

Elder Drahn and the others around her froze. The woman narrowed her eyes and bore them into Beks. “What did you call it?”

“It’s a light pearl,” Beks said, making a vague motion towards it. “A pearl that is sensitive to light biha. A light biha user needs only activate it with some of their own and it will illuminate. The ones I’ve seen automatically dim during daylight and illuminate when it gets dark.” She still couldn’t dim them on her own and needed Lucian to do it for her.

Now that she thought about it, she should see if she could find anything about it in the books she’d memorized.

The mood in the room seemed to become serious at once. Elder Drahn took several steps towards Beks. “Where did you see it?” she asked in a low voice.

Beks narrowed her own eyes with suspicion. “Why do you ask?”

“This pearl is from our ancestral homeland,” Elder Drahn told her. “The Dranga migrated north after a natural disaster and it was brought with us.”

Beks tilted her head to the side. “What kind of natural disaster?”

Elder Drahn carefully recited the oral history of their people, and with each word, Beks found her conclusion more likely. Just as she ended the story, Elder Drahn looked fondly at the light pearl that was wrapped in layers of cloth.

“When it illuminates again, we will be summoned home.” She swallowed hard. “There were several groups of us who left and it is unknown what happened to our brothers and sisters.” She took a deep breath and looked back at Beks. “We are prepared to return to the island you speak of.”

Beks stared at the light pearl. “Did...do you know if the island, the peninsula, was completely abandoned?”

Elder Drahn shook her head. “A few elders remained to supposedly seal the island in order to protect it until we could return. They were old....” It was unlikely that they had any more children.

Beks lowered her eyes. The stele surrounding the island to move the currents and fog that shielded the island must’ve been something those elders had created to protect the island when they no longer could.

“There weren’t any signs of recent human life on the island when we arrived,” Beks told her. “But...it is habitable. There are ruins that only need to be repaired and plenty of resources.” She crinkled her eyes. “And very large animals.”

Elder Drahn nodded. She lifted a hand to her chest, appearing a bit hopeful “Then, my lady, since you know the way to the island, will you return with us?”

Beks shook her head, immediately rejecting it. “No, Deo and I have to find our father first.” She turned towards Gerard. “But he can go with you.”

Gerard tensed and turned towards her at once. “My lady, I cannot leave your side-”

“You were to escort me as a bodyguard, but I no longer need you to come with me,” Beks told him. Gerard frowned. “I have my brother.” She gave him a serious look. “Do you think you can win against him?”

Gerard swallowed his words. Deo could roast him alive before he could so much as wave his arms.

“You can’t,” Lloyd said, speaking up from where he was sitting, munching on some jerky. “Lord Deo can fight ten of you.”

Beks sighed and Gerard shot him an irritated look. “My Commander assigned me to my lady. I cannot return.”

“Did he give you that order as a prince or as a Battalion Commander?” A voice asked from the back of the tent. Beks looked over her shoulder and saw her brother stride in. Lloyd stood to attention at once, but she remained seated.

“Brother.”

He put his hand on top of her head and looked at Gerard. “Answer me, Lt. Commander Gerard.”

Gerard frowned, as if knowing where this was going “As Battalion Commander, my lord.”

“Good. Do you know what my rank is?” Deo asked, almost casually. Beks drew her lips inward. Deo was an active officer in Kadmus’ military, in a level of officer that outranked not only Battalion Commanders, but the Legion Generals. Specific nobles who were required to utilize military forces fell within this category and Deo had authorization to command battalions. “Commander General. My order trumps your Battalion Commander.”

“My lord-”

“Once we complete evacuation, you will be relieved of your duty guarding Lady Rebecca of Caroline, and escort the Dranga people to their ancestral island.” Deo was smug, but at the same time serious. “This will actually help them a great deal, Lt. Commander. Their pearl has signaled them and they know to go south, but the exact details have been lost to time. They can’t remain displaced. They are not nomadic people and are unused to that life. They need guidance to return to the island.”

“My brother is right, Gerard,” Beks told him. “Think about the difficulties to get to the island. You’ll need to contact the twins and Jonas, and then facilitate a way for the Dranga to return.”

Gerard still hesitated. He glanced at the elders and looked back at Beks and lowered his voice. “My lady, the island was going to be the launching point.” Of the campaign to retake Kadmus.

Beks nodded. “I know, but the island is large enough. Laz and Lucian will be able to facilitate the relocation of arrivals, and in secret so as not to alert the mainland. In addition...Elder Drahn said that the light pearl only started glowing a few months ago.” She met Gerard’s eyes. “Do you know what happened a few months ago on the island?”

Gerard drew his head back. “We arrived...His Highness the Third Prince and us, and you, arrived on the island.”

“Yes, when Lucian activated the dormant light pearls, it may have resonated with the light pearls abroad, signaling that the island was ready to welcome its people back,” Beks said. “The island isn’t ours.”

“The light pearls in Gurani require a vast amount of biha to reactivate after a period of dormancy, my lady,” an old woman said. “If they are to resonate with the light pearls abroad. Only inheritors of the island’s bihar can do so. Inheritors of the island’s bihar are the true owners.”

“Inheritors are unlikely. Perhaps the Third Prince you speak of is simply very strong?” Elder Drahn asked.

Beks stared at them with a blank expression for a moment. She thought that just by activating the dormant light pearls, it was enough. However, if it weren’t, there was something else that triggered them and she could guess what it was with ease.

“No, His Highness the Third Prince’s biha well is not particularly strong,” Gerard said. He looked at Beks. “My lady...you had that biha explosion when he found you.”

“Biha explosion?” Deo looked at his sister with a frown. “What is he talking about?”

Beks furrowed her brows. “When I fell into the sea, my medicine became saturated and turned into mush. I’d taken what I could of it, as I was worried something would trigger a flare up during the ordeal. However, when I got to the island, my body began to feel more and more feverish and heavy. I thought I was eating something that disagreed with me, but cooling off in one of the bihar-rich pools made me feel better.

“One day, I was scared by the rokhs and it triggered a flare up. I didn’t have any more medicine, so I thought to cool down in the pool...I passed out. When I woke up, Lucian had found me. He pulled me from the pool. I passed out because the island is too bihar-rich and I absorbed too much. My well and spirit core essentially burst, causing my biha to explode out. I was asleep for three days.” She looked at her brother with reassurance. “I’m fine now. Really.”

“I’d count that as strong....” Lloyd said, a bit dumbfounded.

“An excess of biha of such a large magnitude is enough,” Elder Drahn suggested with a thoughtful look. “Still, it would be good to look for inheritors, as the island may need them.”

Deo let out a heavy breath and ran his hand through his hair. “All right, we’ll need to deal with this at a later time. We have a more pressing matter.” He knelt down beside Beks. “Salgul is waiting. Their number of warriors outnumbers the total number of people we have left. We can’t defend the pass for long and I can’t keep using my biha. I need time to recover and when I do, they may attack.”

Beks met her brother’s eyes. “Isn’t it possible to create a heat barrier to keep them away while clearing the pass for the rest of the Dranga to evacuate?”

“I don’t have enough biha to extend my reach that far,” Deo said.

“Now you do.”

She watched as a warm smile reached his lips. “I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”

Beks gave him a nod. “I told you I’d find you, didn’t I? And I did.” His eyes reddened as he reached forward, cupping the side of her head and pressing it against his.

“I didn’t doubt you.”

Beks nodded. She pulled away. “Tell me the situation outside first. We can act accordingly then.”

“I don’t have too much time. I raised the temperature of the pass to keep Salgul at bay and need to return.”

Beks frowned. “How have you been sleeping?”

“Short bursts of sleep. It’s fine, Beks.”

She wanted to lecture him, but now was not the time. “Someone bring me a map.”

Rather than stay in the tent with her brother, she followed him back to an area between the mouth of the east pass and where she and Gerard toppled trees. There were several people guarding the spot, but the most skilled of their warriors were further away, near where Salgul’s army encroached after they lost the pass.

Deo had returned after setting a portion of the forest on fire to push them back, but it wouldn’t last in the climate. It only delayed.

Beks reviewed the map of the area after Deo marked the location of Salgul’s army. A large swath of land around the mouth of the pass would need to be isolated for heating. With Beks, it wouldn’t be a problem of lack of biha.

The human body had limits. Neither she nor Deo could stay awake for days to keep Salgul at bay while the villagers fled. There was no one else with them that had the ability to raise the temperature of a location like Deo could.

Either they build some sort of obstacle to keep Salgul out, which would only buy them time, or they make the evacuation process faster.

“Are there any earth biha users?” Beks asked. “Can you get me earth biha users?”

Deo nodded. “There are a few, but they’re not very strong.”

“They don’t need to be strong. Strong just means a large biha well. I need them to have control,” Beks told them. Deo looked towards the woman who’d come to tell him Salgul was marching forward.

She stepped forward and replied. “We have several who have good control over their biha, my lady.”

“Bring them to me,” Beks said.

“What are you going to do?” Deo asked.

Beks tapped the map. “The reason why only so many people go through the pass at once isn’t just because of the window of opportunity, but because parts of the pass are narrow, which slows the procession. The merchants we spoke to told us about it when we were in town.”

“They said that in some places, only one beast with cargo can fit. Wagons and carriages can’t be brought in through the east pass because they’re too wide,” Gerard added.

“Therefore, I propose to widen the pass with earth biha users to allow more people to go through at once and in a shorter amount of time,” Beks said. “I’ll take all the earth biha users you have, and Gerard.”

“My lady, I can only use air biha.”

“Yes, and someone will need to blow away the dust and debris from the air in the pass so we can breathe,” Beks said. “We’ll push everything out.”

“How long do you think it will take?” Deo asked.

“How long do you think you can keep Salgul away from the pass?”

Deo frowned. “A few days, but we’d wear ourselves thin. We don’t have enough people.”

“I can refill your well once a day,” Beks told him. “Is that enough to keep up a barrier?”

“Yes, but I can’t do it alone. Even if I have enough biha, I’ll need to rest every now and then.” The way her brother was resting wasn’t sustainable and he’d been doing so for some time now. Even with his ability, it could wear him down.

Beks furrowed her brows. “Gerard, how long did it take us to get here?”

“Four days, my lady.”

“Four days...and then another four days to return....” Beks muttered to herself. “Five, if we want to go back to town...let’s keep our journey here at a fortnight.” She held up one hand and spread all five fingers. “Give me five days.”

Deo drew his head back. “Five days?”

“Can you keep Salgul and Brekram back for five days? Even if they encroach a little, as long as they don’t get too close to attack the pass, can you keep them back?”

Deo furrowed his brows, but nodded. “We can do that.”

“Good. Three to clear the pass and two to get everyone evacuated. On the last day, all remaining Dranga who are guarding must also leave.”

“What if they chase after us?” Lloyd asked.

Beks raised a brow and looked at him as if it were obvious. “Then we seal the pass behind us.”

Her brother thought for a moment. “This is a lot of work for you, Beks. What if you run out of biha? You can release a lot, but-”

“But we don’t know where my biha well ends,” Beks cut him off. She leaned forward. “Brother, I have a selfish reason for doing this as well. We can’t stay here for too long. We need to find Daddy and then go back to the island. Lucian’s disguise on my hair and eyes will only last two, three months at most. I was able to cut through Kadmus to shorten my time, but you can’t.”

Deo furrowed his brows and nodded his head, conceding. “All right. We’ll do what you say. If it doesn’t work-”

“Then we’ll stay a few more days longer. It can’t be helped,” Beks said. She clapped her hands together. “We have a plan.”

Deo looked at two of the guards. “Bring us your most capable earth biha users regardless of well size.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Deo looked at her. “Are you sure you can do this?”

She paused for a moment and drew in her lips. “Fairly certain.”

“You may have the biha to support people, but you still wouldn’t be the one controlling the biha itself. You’d have to do significant guidance and instruction to get the biha users to do what you want them to do. It’s not easy to organize others to work on something like this,” Deo said with some hesitation.

Beks raised a brow and sat up straight. “Organize others?” she asked in a droll voice. “Brother, what do you think I’ve been doing in that palace the last several years of my life?”

He cracked a smile and nodded. “I’m sorry if I underestimated you.”

Beside him, Lloyd nodded, his eyes wide and filled with awe. “Yes…to think that even with an exile marking, you can enter and exit Kadmus,” he said. Beside him, Deo perked up as if he’d suddenly realized he’d overlooked something. Lloyd looked at Deo with some apology. “My lord, I think my lady is stronger than you.”