The Wicked House of Caroline

She sat on a small stool beneath an awning just outside the entrance of her tent and kept looking up at the sky. Beks was looking for the faint shape of a bird coming from the northwest.

Thunder, the father rokh to Wisp and Cloud, was supposed to arrive soon. As a full grown rokh, he had learned to carry a larger load than his two children. Six people could comfortably be carried on a larger, modified basket from the originals Laz and Lucian had created.

Laz was supposed to arrive with Elder Arash and Jonas, as well as the second book. Efran wanted to come, but they made him stay back at the royal grounds.

Beks took a sip of water from a wooden up her battalion guards offered before looking back at the sky.

“What is taking them so long?” she muttered.

Lucian wiped his face with a damp towel next to her to cool down after practicing with the soldiers. “They’ll be here soon, Beks. He told us sometime in the afternoon. Laz is very good with reading time.”

Beks nodded, distracted. She took another sip of her water before she heard the distrant shriek.

She snapped her head up, turning towards that direction and craned her head to listen. She drew in her lower lip and bit it, waiting for there to be more and validate her hopes. Beks narrowed her eyes. Just as she convinced herself that she was hearing things, she heard it again.

This time she jumped to her feet. She held out her hand. “Spyglass.”

“Spyglass!” Gerard, who was standing nearby, quickly handed her the object. Beks squinted, trying to find the rokh in the sea of sky blue.

In the distance, she managed to make out a small, thin speck. Or rather two, as something was carrying something below it. Beks pulled the spyglass up to her right eye and closed the left.

Another screech was heard over head, this time louder. Gerard nodded to himself with affirmation. “That sounds like Cloud.”

Lucian gave him a surprised look. “You can tell the difference between the rokhs by their voice alone?”

Gerard nodded and puffed out his chest. “Of course!”

Beks jumped up. “That’s them!” She shouted as she adjusted the spyglass to try to see their faces and who else they were with. “My husband’s back!”

She waved before handing Gerard the spyglass. “Make sure the landing area is clear! Gerard, you’re used to dealing with the baskets on the bird. Come with us to remove them so Cloud can rest and fly freely to eat later.”

“Yes, Your Highness!” He followed behind her dutifully, along with Lucian.

Expecting the rokhs, the battalion had prepared a wide-open area that could stand strong winds without damaging any of the tents or scaring the animals.

Gerard rushed out, letting out high pitched whistles to call to Cloud, appearing to guide the rokh towards the landing area. It was clear he was well practiced, as before the entire battalion could stop to stare, Gerard secured a rope from the wicker basket and began to pull them down and land the basket in an appropriate area.

Before the basket touched down, a figure grabbed the side of the basket and jumped over. The man’s tunic and long hair flew around him as he landed. Beks’ heart shot to her throat and she darted forward.

“Laz!”

A wide smile filled the blue-eyed man’s face as he held his arms open and happily accepted his wife running into his arms. Beks was affectionate, but such a somewhat grandiose show of affection in public was rare.

“Beks.” She felt his hot breath against her ear as his arms tightened around her and his head pressed against hers. “I missed you.”

She shut her eyes and buried her face in his shoulder. She took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of leather and his favorite fig-scented soap.

Beks tilted her head towards him and kissed the base of his neck. “I’ve grown too accustomed to have you both beside me.”

“Don’t worry,” Laz said as he stroked her hair back and kissed her head. “I will remedy that tonight.

She cracked a small smile against him before pulling her head back. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”

His hand rose and cupped the side of her face, caressing the corner of her eye with his thumb. “I would fight the entire Temple to get to you.”

She chuckled, her hand sliding over his chest. “It’s good you think so, because that’s just what it may come to.”

Laz smiled, his eyes twinkling with warmth as he looked at her. “I look forward to it.”

“Brother, I missed you, too!”

His smile immediately fell at the sound of Lucian’s teasing voice. He looked over Beks’ head and shot a glare at his younger twin. “Somehow, when you call me ‘brother’ like that, it makes my skin crawl.”

Lucian grinned and Beks pulled away from Laz. She straightened her clothes and walked around him, giving a small, respectful bow to Elder Arash as the older woman bowed.

“Good afternoon, Inheritor.”

“Good afternoon, Elder Arash. Please be at ease.”

Elder Arash stood up and gave Beks a gentle smile. “Your eldest husband has been regaling us of your feats on the flight here. I should remind the Inheritor to be more cautious and take less risks. Many of us await your return to the island.”

“You have my word that as soon as this entire debacle is concluded, or at the very least contained, I will return,” Beks told her with a helpless sigh. “No one wants to return to the island more than me.” She paused and scrunched her face a bit. “Perhaps Governor Mahin.”

“Speaking of Governor Mahin, with your permission, I would like to discuss this with him, as well,” Elder Arash said. “Though our titles are different and half a world has separated us, we are both elders of Gah-ruhn.” The two had spoken through urapearl many times, to the point that as she was a bit older, Governor Mahin addressed her in a respectful honorific of Elder Sister. Beks had heard other elders address Elder Arash as such before and it seemed that it was used in Aceria as well.

Beks nodded in agreement. “Of course.” She looked over her shoulder to one of the soldiers Battalion Commander Gatlin assigned to escort her. “Have someone prepare drinks and a meal for our newest arrivals.”

The soldier hit his first to his chest. “Yes, Your Majesty.” He gave a nod to his partner to confirm that he was going to leave and that he was to stay and escort her before rushing off to the kitchen tent.

“Gerard!” Beks shouted. Gerard looked up from where he was removing the latches of the large wicker carrier basket from Cloud. “Take Jonas to rest in your tent-”

“No need, Your Highness! Someone has come for me!” Jonas gave her a quick bow before ignoring his brother-in-law and carrying his bundle towards the woman with a veil covering half her flushed face. Sister Levina’s eyes were like crescents as she stood to the side, fiddling with her tunic as she waited for Jonas to come to her.

Laz and Lucian both rolled their eyes. “With all the work you’ve been giving him, I’m surprised he has so much energy,” Lucian said.

Laz kept one arm around Beks’ shoulder and rubbed her arm up and down, keeping her close. “It should be obvious. Despite all the work Brother gives us, do we ever tire of Beks.”

She gritted her teeth and tried to prevent the blush from appearing on her face. “Stop talking.”

Both men chuckled and leaned in to kiss her, ignored by those around them.

Beks slipped out of their reaches and motioned for Elder Arash to follow her. Looking at her husbands over her shoulder as she led the older woman away, she gave them a small nod. “Have them bring Elder Arash’s food and drink to my tent.”

They gave her a nod, not following in order to give them privacy to discuss. Once inside the tent, Beks motioned for Elder Arash to take a seat first, as a sign of respect for an elder. Elder Arash gave her a small nod in return.

“Will we be calling Governor Mahin?” Elder Arash asked.

Beks took a deep breath and nodded. “First, what is so urgent that you flew all the way here for in order to tell me in person?”

Elder Arash sat up straight and met her eyes. “Inheritor, during our surveys of the island, we followed the tunnel that Their Highnesses the princes, and the two Lieutenant Commanders, had come to the island through. We were hoping to fortify it to be used as a tunnel to bring supplies and people to and from the mainland.”

Beks nodded. She’d seen those reports and everyone had agreed that having a land route in addition to a sea route would be beneficial, so a team, including one earth and one wind biha user from the Caroline Duchy, was assigned to excavate and see if the tunnel could be used.

“Is there a problem with the tunnel?” She recalled that Gerard and Jonas had to make efforts to make it passable when they first came through.

Elder Arash pursed her lips and seemed to try to think of how to explain. “It isn’t that the tunnel itself cannot be used, but that it is not as deep underground as we initially thought.” Beks raised a brow and Elder Arash moved her hands in front of her, holding them up so they were flat. One was eye level and the other was chin level. “We thought that the tunnel sloped downward, so that it ran beneath the sea floor, but the master biha users determined that the tunnel was not underground.”

Beks squinted, somewhat unwilling to believe the statement. “It is a tunnel.”

“Yes, Inheritor, but the tunnel doesn’t go beneath the sea floor.” That made more sense.

“But it is still underground?”

Elder Arash nodded. “The tunnel runs through a seamount. That is, a sort of hill that juts up from an otherwise flat sea floor.”

Beks nodded. She still didn’t see how this would be ‘in-person’ news. “Will that make it all difficult to use?”

Elder Arash shook her head. “Perhaps not so much difficult as possibly unnecessary.” She tugged her worn woven satchel onto her lap and opened the flap to stick her hand inside. She took out a piece of paper that was folded multiple times in order to fit. She handed it to Beks and Beks laid it out on the table.

She furrowed her brows. She recognized Gurani Island at once and the map was drawn in a standard topographical style to show elevations. Beks narrowed her eyes and leaned forward. She slid her hand across a series of markings depicting elevation from the northeastern tip of the island all the way to the mainland.

There were no other markings round them. If she didn’t know that the map depicted the island and its surrounding waters, she would think that the series of markings outlined a small mountain range.

She looked up at Elder Arash, her hand still over the series of markings. “What is this?”

Elder Arash looked down at the map. “Those are seamounts, Inheritor,” the woman told her. “A seamount range that would connect this area of the island to the mainland.”

Beks drew her head back, trying to find a problem. “Does the seamount pose a threat to any ships that pass over.”

“No, Inheritor, but our oral history says that Gah-ruhn wasn’t an island. It had islands in its territory, but the city was on the tip of a peninsula that created a large clam-shaped bay.” Elder Arash traced the empty area between the island and the mainland. “It is said that Gah-ruhn sank into the ocean due to a natural disaster.”

Beks nodded. “Yes...volcanoes.” She looked at Elder Arash. “Did you suspect that these seamounts were the peninsula?”

“Yes, Inheritor,” Elder Arash replied “We spent extensive energy studying it since they were discovered. We are grateful to the Caroline Duchy for providing such experts.”

Beks nodded. “My family understands what needs to be done.”

“The earth biha users have studied both the tunnel and the seamounts, with the aid of other biha users and our ships,” Elder Arash told her. “However, we did come across an issue that made us doubt our theory.”

“What is it?”

“Our oral histories speak of a natural disaster, so we assume it was an earthquake or volcanic eruption,” Elder Arash told her. “However, the seamounts are not on any faults, nor are there any signs of volcanic activity. Geysers, yes. Two more have been rediscovered on the island, but there is no volcanic activity.”

Beks squinted. “It was so long ago, perhaps we misinterpreted the natural disaster.”

Elder Arash raised a brow. “Or the peninsula sinking into the ocean was man made.”

Beks slowly lifted her head to look at the older woman. Her eyes narrowed. “Manmade?” Elder Arash closed her eyes and slowly nodded. “The island was populated. Rather densely in certain places. Why would they purposely sink a land bridge?”

“Sailors suggested that it would make transport faster, rather than having to go around the island. Others said that perhaps it was a defensive measure.”

“To isolate the island from an enemy?” Beks furrowed her brows.

“There are missing pieces in your history, Inheritor, so I am unable to be certain of anything. This is one of the reasons I requested to include Governor Mahin in our meeting, as his ancestors were scholars and they have a substantial amount of history, as well.”

Beks nodded her head dumbly. She looked towards the urapearl on the table. “Call Cosimo Mahin.”

The old man’s face appeared after a few moments and Beks and Elder Arash told him of the findings. The more he learned, the more intrigued and excited he appeared to be. He was almost pressing his head against the urapearl towards the end.

“I am not discrediting your ancestors, Governor, but we need to confirm,” Beks told him. “Do you have any oral or written history of the appearance and environment of Gah-ruhn when your family fled?”

The Acerian ancestors didn’t migrate; they fled the region for their own safety. No one would permanently abandon their peaceful, technologically superior homeland so easily.

The Governor pulled his head back and seemed to lapse into a thoughtful expression.

He squinted his eyes and licked his lips before finally replying. “There is a ballad passed down in my family called ‘The Evacuation’. It gives very vivid detail into the night our ancestors fled Gah-ruhn. I can recite it for you, but it will be in the old language.”

“That’s fine, Governor. Proceed.”

He took a deep breath and tapped his finger on the table to keep the beat.

The summary was a story of surprise, confusion, panic, fear, and heartbreak. It started with scholars gathering to review new laws. Gah-ruhn was having a peaceful day. However, just before sunset, the earth began to shake.

In the distance, fire spewed into the air along with hot gas, ash, and debris. This meant that there should’ve been a volcanic chamber in the area.

The ballad continued to describe chunks of the land shaken before sinking in the ocean. By the time the sunset and it was dark, the ballad spoke of watching the city on the hill burn as they sailed away to the sound of people crying, lamenting the loss of their home.

Beks sat back on another chair, her eyes downcast. She hadn’t even noticed Lucian and Laz come in with something to eat and drink for Elder Arash.

The old woman’s eyes closed. “We have a similar story in our histories, but for us, we fled north on foot.”

“How did you get past the crumbling isthmus?” Governor Mahin asked. Beks wanted to know, too. From the sound of the ballad and what she knew so far, the land bridge to what was now the island had sunk rather quickly, within a matter of a few hours.

“My ancestors were from part of the territory on what is now the mainland,” Elder Arash told them. “But there were earthquakes and rising waters that pushed us back until we migrated north.”

“It seems that our ancestors fled in different directions, whichever took them away from the volatile area,” Governor Mahin said with a frown. “Earthquakes do cause the tides to rush in much higher and stronger than usual. We have had a few on record in Aceria.”

“What do you think of this, Inheritor?” Elder Arash asked.

Beks squinted her eyes. When Gah-ruhn was struck with the ‘natural disasters’, there was no Inheritor. If she compared what she read, the Inheritor would’ve died, or rather been assassinated, before the disaster. Since they were born at random, sometimes multiple in the same lifetime, or none for one or two generations, Beks didn’t know exactly how far apart the last Inheritor’s death and the disaster were.

Her eyes narrowed. Perhaps she could make a better deduction if she knew how far back in time the great oracles went.

“Inheritor” Governor Mahin spoke again, drawing her out of her thoughts. She blinked and looked up. Governor Mahin was looking at her from the urapearl while Elder Arash and the Twins looked from around the table. Beks drew her lips inward for a moment.

“Would you believe me if I said that the destruction of Gah-ruhn was not a natural disaster, but a manmade act?” she asked. It seemed far-fetched, she had to admit, but it was a thought that popped up and the more she thought about it, the likelier it felt.

She looked around the eyes gazing at her with uncertainty. “Beks, how would such a large piece of land fall into the ocean?” Lucian asked.

“It would take thousands of people over a prolonged period of time to make such a change to the landscape,” Laz added, his brows knitted. “The ballad and the history from the Dranga people say that it all happened quickly and people were fleeing.”

Beks lifted her chin and took a deep breath. “The survey of the seamount showed that there was little evidence of what would cause earthquakes or volcanic activity. It’s very possible, of course, just unlikely. If the disaster was caused by activity further away from the island, why was it only that specific area that was so heavily affected?” She narrowed her eyes and looked at the twins. “Both of you have flown the rokhs along the coast. The coastline differs around the area we’re talking about compared to further down and up the coast.”

Both men seemed to think for a moment. “That’s a good point,” Laz said. “Once we near the mouth of the river east, the jagged cliffs disappear and the coast becomes gentler. There are beaches, estuaries....”

“But what about the manpower needed to accomplish such a feat?” Governor Mahin asked. “Even the vaults here in Aceria were not created in a year, let alone a day.”

“The vaults are detailed work,” Beks told him. “Carving them out of the mountain would’ve been meticulous work that required a lot of focus and precision to ensure that the mountain did not collapse when being hollowed out.”

“Yes, and the disaster was anything but meticulous,” Elder Arash said with a serious look on her face. Her expression darkened. “It didn’t matter who was hurt or what was damaged. Everything needed to come down.”

“You suspect it was manmade, as well, Elder?” Lucian asked.

“Reckless demolition can happen in the blink of an eye,” Governor Mahin replied before she could answer. “I agree with my Elder Sister and the Inheritor. While Gah-ruhn was populated by biha-users, with many who have reached what we consider mastery, there were other locations with biha-users.”

“Proximity to a bihar-rich source is one of the factors in the chance of having a large biha well,” Beks reminded the twins. “And if this was man made, it was a surprise attack disguised as a natural disaster. Man cannot fight such a thing; only minimize damages through preparedness.”

The tent was quiet as everyone mulled about the question that this led to. If it was a surprise, manmade attack, who would have attacked Gah-ruhn?

“The Temple did it.” Governor Mahin had uncharacteristic vitriol in his voice as he spoke. His eyes narrowed as he frowned. “They killed our last Inheritor; they would not be above the destruction of our ancestral homeland.”

Elder Arash nodded her head in silence.

Beks lowered her eyes. “I’m inclined to believe the same,” she said. “They saw Gah-ruhn as a threat to the survival and advancement of the Temple. That was why they murdered the last Inheritor. I wouldn’t be surprised if they struck with the disaster not far after, while gah-ruhn was still reeling from her death.”

“But if they used biha-users to sink the peninsula, why doesn’t the Temple have an army of biha-users,” Laz asked. “They must know how useful biha-users are. If we didn’t have any, we wouldn’t have gotten so far so quickly.”

“In addition, even Dranga in the north, which had been separated for ages still had some biha-users,” Laz said.

“In the north, our people settled near any source of bihar,” Elder Arash told them. “One of the reasons why we never advanced past where we had settled was because there was a modest bihar source there.”

“I concur. There are no bihar-rich sources in Aceria,” Governor Mahin said with some disappointment. “While many of us still have a faint ability, it is as good as nothing.”

“Younger Brother, this may change on the island,” Elder Arash told him with a hopeful look. “Our biha-users have enlarged and strengthened their wells while there. Our brothers and sisters in Aceria may be able to use their biha again one day.”

Governor Mahin’s eyes reddened. “I hope for that, Elder Sister.”

“There is one more thing,” Elder Arash said. “While diving on the outer side of the island, we found an area filled with oysters and giant clams on the sea bed. We thought nothing of it at first, but....it looked too orderly.”

“Orderly? As in, artificially placed?” Governor Mahins’ eyes lit up as Elder Arash nodded. “Elder Sister, it must be the pearl farms!”

Beks and Elder Arash both looked surprised at this. “The pearl farms?” they chorused.

Governor Mahin almost looked like he wanted to jump up. “All those light pearls must be sourced from somewhere, right? Inheritor, you have seen our streets and our vaults lined with light pearls. Aceria is a city state and we do not have enough, but this is technology from our ancestors! Technology we have not been able to replicate.”

“Growing pearls in oysters and clams?” Elder Arash mulled it over and nodded her head. “There have been many places on the island where light pearls have been found. In addition, many things are decorated with mother of pearl. They needed a source....”

Governor Mahin nodded, enthusiastic. “And so, they farmed them.” He clapped his hands together. “Elder Sister, we must prepare pearl divers!”

“Yes, if there are pearls there, they’ll be of great use on the island,” Elder Arash said with an agreeing nod. “Those are oyster farms descended from those of our ancestors. We must be careful and not damage them.”

“I am certain they are top tier pearls. My family has specialists on pearls,” the old man said, slapping his hand on his table with a look of pride.

“I didn’t know you dabbled in the pearl trade,” Beks told him with a little grin.

“It isn’t just for trading, Inheritor, but to care for any of our damaged pearls. No matter how careful we are, they will still get damaged from time to time,” Governor Mahin replied. “My family has been carefully caring for pearls for longer than some countries have existed!”

“Very good,” Beks said. “Unless they need to know, let us keep the existence of the pearl farm quiet for now. I don’t believe they’re hidden by any trick or biha-fueled illusion, but we will need it as a resource. Perhaps even continue to actively farm it.”

“Yes, Inheritor.” Both Elder Arash and Governor Mahin replied.

Beks took a deep breath. “We’ve learned a lot. I can see why Elder Arash wanted to discuss all of this in person.” It was easier to understand with her drawings and explanations. She told Elder Arash she should go and rest, and then ended the call with Governor Mahin. Gerard was waiting outside the tent entrance and carried the food and drink for the elder to her guest tent.

When she left, Beks closed her eyes and slumped back against her seat.

“Why did you tell them about the great oracles?” Lucian’s quiet voice asked from behind her as two hands pressed against her shoulders to try to loosen her tension.

“I have questions about that which I’d like answered before I tell them. Although, they do deserve to know about what happened to Gah-ruhn.”

“Speaking of Gah-ruhn, Efran has submitted the petition prepared by the Red Iron Cavalry in the Forbidden Valley to have the territory be included in Gurani,” Laz told her. “Brother and several advisors asked him many questions and he answered them flawlessly. Did you prepare for him?”

“Just a bit, but Efran generally only came to be for reference,” Beks replied. “Gah-ruhn was led by the Inheritor, but they were supported by a vast network of family heads and advisors that were trained and skilled. I plan to have Efran as the first of my advisors.”

Her husbands smiled. “It seems that he already is. Our wife picks well.”

She smirked and touched Lucian’s arm. “Yes, your wife does pick well.”

Laz walked to the entrance of the tent and stuck his head out. “Don’t let anyone bother us,” he told them. “We’ll come out for dinner.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Beks raised a brow. “Oh, are you planning something that will take up the rest of the afternoon?”

Her husband raised his brows and smirked. “Yes.” He picked her up off of the seat and swung her around. She laughed as he carried her to the bed mat and lay her down. After removing his boots and his outerwear, he wrapped his arms around her, and as she expected, promptly went to sleep.

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

“Jonas, let me tell you right now, that if you cling to Sister Levina and hinder her from her research, I will personally fly to Paraxes and deport you to Langshe,” Beks said in a low voice as she almost glowered over the nervous brown-haired man who was desperately trying to avoid eye contact.

It didn’t help that though Jonas was reasonably tall, he was a hair shorter than Beks, and carried a quarter of her aura.

Laz and Gerard stood to the side, munching on jerky as they watched Beks send a scathing glare at Jonas. The other Lieutenant Commander had rested for two days, not once leaving the shared tent with Sister Levina.

Sister Levina also didn’t leave the tent and food was brought to them. In the last two days, Beks had requested Sister Levina to discuss some things to research into in lieu of the newly found information from Elder Arash. Each time, she was informed that they were unable to come.

At first, Beks was lenient. After all, Jonas had spent a lot of time traveling and she understood the value of rest.

But when she found out that he had exhausted Sister Levina to the point that she was too tired to get up and was sleeping in, Beks grew annoyed. They had things to discuss that were urgent and Jonas was holding them back.

For a planner, this was a source of ire.

At the same time, Beks didn’t want to drag them out of the tent or threaten them.

Instead, she opted to give Jonas a ‘warning’.

As soon as Jonas set foot outside, Beks had him arrested and brought to her and her husbands for a chat.

Gerard had quietly whispered afterwards that he had known Jonas for years and had never seen the man so terrified.

“It is the aura of the Inheritor,” Elder Arash had told him. “Some people are simply born with an air of authority and power around them.”

Sister Levina tried to defend her beloved Jonas, only to take a step back when it was clear that Beks’ irritation was reaching a peak. After apologizing, Beks had her sit in a tub of water and released life biha into the pool. Sister Levina’s eyes had been wide, stunned, when she walked out of the tent not a few minutes later.

All the soreness on her body was gone. The moment Jonas heard and his face lit up, Beks sent him the most scathing glare of warning Lucian and Laz had ever seen her give.

Now, just as they were about to leave with Elder Arash to Paraxes, Beks gave him one last warning.

Jonas swallowed hard. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“I am giving the extra urapearl to Elder Arash. If you need to contact me, you will go to her,” Beks said.

Gerard leaned towards Laz. “Your Highness, it sounds as if Elder Arash is going to babysit them.”

Laz leaned towards him, also keeping his voice low. “She is. That’s one of the reasons she’s going.”

“I will listen to Elder Arash and not hinder their research, Your Highness. I will focus on it, as well,” Jonas told her before bowing his head.

“Is he shaking?” Lucian asked as he squinted.

“You’d be shaking, too, if a Caroline was giving you such a warning and order,” Rid Callan replied. “His Grace and Her Grace are even more terrifying when upset. When Her Highness was taken away as a child to be brought to Kadmium, in order to quell his anger, His Grace retreated to the Northern Pass. Her Grace could not help the tidal influx that crashed on our shores for nearly a month. Compared to them, Her Highness is quite calm.”

“Look me in the eye when you swear something to me, Jonas!”

“Yes, Your Highness! I swear I will not be a burden!”

“Inheritor, too much fear will not be counterproductive to our research,” Elder Arash said in a calm, soothing voice.

Beks took a deep breath and stepped back. Sister Levina squeezed between her and Jonas, bowing her head and holding up her slate saying, “He will not be a burden!”

“It’s good that you know,” Beks said. She looked at Sister Levina, her eyes going up and down the woman. “You must take care of your body. If you should meet with any aggressors while in Paraxes and cannot get to Cloud, do not engage. Go to the Acerian Embassy.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Sister Levina, Jonas, and Elder Arash nodded and bowed before climbing into the awaiting basket and taking off.

Beks watched them go higher and higher before crossing her arms over her chest. Her eyes remained narrowed. “Was I too much?”

“No.”

“Of course not.”

“It is Jonas’ honor to be taught by you, Your Highness.” Several voices chorused behind her and she nodded, satisfied.

“Laz, go and check with Battalion Commander Gatlin to see if there have been any messages sent to me,” Beks said. Anticipating the news of the expedition, she told Nexus to open ‘all channels’, meaning aside from urapearl, all other viable forms of communication, including through letters, messengers, and even through the military were open lines.

Laz nodded and stepped away. Lucian and the others went off to continue training, as Rid Callan had also stepped in to teach any biha users in the battalion techniques to focus their biha. Beks was certain the man had a calling as an instructor. When he officially retired as her guard from the Thirnir, she planned to ask if he’d be willing to teach young and novice biha-users on the island.

Beks turned around and with her escorts, returned to her tent. The soldiers rooted themselves outside the entrance as she entered to review some maps with the last sightings of the Temple’s expedition searching for the jaw of St. Cyric.

They had narrowed down groups that were related to the Temple to fifteen possible expeditions. Beks shook her head. It seemed as if the Temple was really putting in effort to confuse them and lead them away.

Still, with those fifteen groups, Nexus had eyes following them. Every night, Mr. Kesse would call to give her the latest updates on where each group was. She’d then note the locations of each group on a map in hopes of finding any pattern.

She found that a few seemed to overlap, and that while their routes didn’t necessarily follow pre-existing ones, as it was right to assume that they would need to stray from traditional routes if they were excavating a relic, there were those that didn’t appear to be moving towards a particular location.

In other cases, travelers would need to go over mountains or rivers, perhaps cut through a dense forest. It didn’t make sense that at least half of those groups were going out of their way to avoid them, or at least out crossing or pass in areas there most suitable, as noted on the topography map.

They could’ve crossed here and here...yet they keep following the river, which will go back to the route they were taking originally. Beks frowned. There was always a chance that her people were purposely being led on for the purpose of losing them, but from the sound of Iris Elpidah’s voice at Strahnroc, she was impatient to do whatever ceremony it was that was so important to her.

If it was the ceremony for rebirth, and all the Muil Stones were needed, then finding the last of the Muil Stones was a priority. The Temple and Iris Elpidah didn’t have the luxury of time to waste.

Beks mentally crossed out the irrelevant groups, leaving her with only five.

Five is still too much.

“Beks, have something to eat.” Lucian entered with Laz beside him.

“No messages have come in today,” Laz told her as he held the flap up to let his brother come through with a small bowl of food.

“Thank you,” she replied. She released a low breath and shook her head, still looking down at the maps. “I may need a few more days of tracking to single out the expedition from these remaining choices.”

Laz glanced over. “Five is better than fifteen.”

“But one is better than five,” Beks replied. He chuckled.

“Beks, your urapearl is glowing.” Lucian placed the food on the table and Beks looked up, across the table at her urapearl. She furrowed her brow and rounded the table.

“I’m not expecting a call....” she muttered as she approached. She touched the urapearl and the image inside flickered to show Mr. Kesse.

“Your Highness!” Beks held her hand up to silence him.

Beks glanced at her husbands, who nodded and stepped outside. She waited until they stepped outside before activating her leviathan scale.

“Mr. Kesse,” she said with a small nod. “You’re calling earlier than usual.”

“I’ve been calling for the last few minutes, but no one was answering,” Mr. Kesse replied, somewhat flustered. “I apologize if I’m bothering you, Your Highness. I know this is not a scheduled call.”

She shook her head. “It only means that it’s of importance.”

“It is, Your Highness,” Mr. Kesse replied. “Do you have the map you were using to track the caravans?”

Beks nodded and motioned for him to wait as she walked to the other side of the table to gather the map. She held it up.

“Do you have an update?”

Mr. Kesse nodded. “Group eight.”

Beks nodded, following the small dots that led to a group that was going north. There were three other groups moving in the same direction, but those other three had been crossed out by Beks just moments earlier.

She narrowed her eyes. “Did they change course?”

Mr. Kesse shook his head. “No. Quite the opposite, Your Highness,” he told her. “They’ve split.”

Beks paused and lifted her head. “Split?”

“One group continued north, nearing the Giant’s Ridge. The other half, which numbered about a dozen, remained where they were. Our people have been watching both groups.”

“The group that settled is Group Eight-One. The group that continued on is Group Eight-Two,” Beks said, instructing him to in order to keep things clear. “What is Eight-One doing?”

“They have settled around the foot of the mountains, like a camp,” Mr. Kesse said.

“And Eight-Two?”

“They have continued towards the Giant’s Ridge following a caravan route,” Mr. Kesse replied. “If they are trying to enter the Giant’s Ridge, they will be unable to. Last year, the main canyon pass into the valley within the ridge was suddenly sealed.”

Beks drew her lips inward and bit them. She knew which pass he was speaking of, as it had been her people who barricaded the pass in order to keep enemies from following the Drangan people when they fled.

“Do they know about it?”

“We are unsure, Your Highness.”

She nodded. “Keep an eye on both groups right now. Watch to see what Eight-One is really doing setting up where they are and follow where Eight-Two is going. Either one can be acting as a diversion, and we should be prepared.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Beks narrowed her eyes. “Mr. Kesse, has there been any movement at the Great Temple Complex?”

“No, Your Highness. Iris Elpidah has returned with the High Priests and Priestesses. She has not left the complex since.”

Beks nodded her head once more. “That’s fine. Keep watching her.” She paused and tapped her fingers on the table. Her eyes fixed on the map once more. “I will be in touch. Thank you, Mr. Kesse.”

He bowed his head and Beks leaned back against the chair. She narrowed her eyes and deactivated her leviathan scale. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, allowing her mind to relax and gather bihar from around her.

When her head was clear and in an almost a blank state, her eyes flashed opened.

“Laz! Lucian!” she shouted. The tent flap rose and the two men rushed in.

“Beks?”

“What’s wrong-”

“Get Thunder ready,” she told them. “We’re flying to the Giant’s Ridge.”