“Oh my.” I said, squeezing Bastian’s arm tightly before releasing it. He would need to leave right away to deal with the emergency.

  Hopefully there was somewhere close by that Lish and I could wait.

  The drakin had other plans, and Bastian immediately reached out and caught my arm again, securing it close.

  “Rowen goes missing often,” He reminded me. To Sir Rebecca he asked, “Where is Commander Carsen? I put him in charge.”

  “You don’t understand,” Sir Rebecca gripped her sword tightly and looked genuinely upset. “They left us a note.”

  That changed something. Bastian stiffened and laid a hand on top of mine, trapping it on my arm while ordering the lizardkin to take them to the command center.

  Lish and I followed along, much to the blatant dismay of Sir Rebecca, but she held her tongue. Bastian in business mode was a force. People cleared the path for us, and members of the royal guard straightened and saluted as we passed.

  We were led to a long building with tall peaked windows showing off a dining area, but we entered through a door that took us up a flight of stairs into the administration area. Commander Carsen stood behind a desk, listened to an older lizardkin knight tell him the docks were searched and clear.

  “Bastian, thank the gods you’re back. Rebecca, go inform the prince that the Knight Commander has returned.” Commander Carsen looked like the sun had come out after a long, cold winter. Rebecca turned to do as she was instructed, and Carsen reached out to grab a sheet of paper from the desk, handing it to the drakin. “Here.”

  With my Perception it was easy enough to see the writing.

  I’m off to officiate a surprise wedding. I’ll be back in plenty of time for the festival, so don’t worry. And let my wayward knight commander know that Prince Malakai is in charge while I’m away. The boy needs something to distract him until he makes up with his lover.”

  I raised my eyebrow but didn’t say anything. Bastian must have read the letter three times by now. His brows creased. “Where is Prince Malakai?”

  Commander Carsen thrust a thumb out the window, towards the parliamentary building. “He’s been drowning himself in paperwork since yesterday.”

  “And his lover?”

  Carsen said, “We aren’t sure… but he travelled back with the delegation from the Empire of Sands. There’s Prince Lucial, Vazra Mira, Duchess Chloe–”

  “That’s fine, you don’t need to recite them all. We met in North Sumbria.” Bastian handed the letter back to Carsen. “I’m going to make a guess that Their Royal Highness isn't in Vitol anymore."

  “Honestly… I’m not sure they’re still in Peldeep.” Carsen admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “What should we do?”

  Bastian thought for a moment, the rest of us waiting. Finally, he announced, “Send Peter’s squad out to continue the search and have the rest return to the palace. We will find them when Rowen wants to be found, and we have other things to focus on right now. Duchess Callisto’s daughter is getting married soon, and I would bet my prize quilt that’s where they’ve gone off.”

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  “I wouldn’t take that bet.” Carsen finally relaxed, his attention shifting to Bastian’s guests. “Countess, it’s good to see you. I hope your trip here was pleasant?”

  “It was, thank you,” I smiled at the fox.

  “I would like to welcome you properly,” Carsen swept a hand at the desk, covered to the last inch with reports, “But I’m afraid there is much to do and half of my team are out searching - Are you back tomorrow?”

  The last was addressed at Bastian, who hesitated.

  “No.”

  Carsen took the news well, straightening his shoulders and hiding his disappointment. “Then there's no sense hanging around. We’ll be fine for a few days without you - you've banked so many days off, it's past time you used them. Go settle in and get ready for the festival. Countess, don’t let him back to work this week - now is the best time to enjoy a vacation, what with Their Highness away.”

  “Prince Malakai will still need a guard.” Bastian pointed out.

  “Prince Malakai isn’t being targeted by a persistent and unknown assassin who keeps attacking with Molten Ash Vane.” Carsen pointed out.

  “There’s been a lot of that going around,” I said, thinking back to the concert in Sumbria. “Wasn’t it supposed to be some legendary poison?”

  “I was meaning to ask you about that. You said Sumbria has had similar attacks?” Bastian asked, “Did they catch the poisoner? Who were they working for?”

  I wish I had more details, but I shared what I knew. “They were a member of the rebel forces, and had an old license from the Servalt Assassin’s Guild. Servalt, as you can imagine, pointed out that the assassin wasn’t a currently practicing member of their guild, and thus outside of their responsibility.”

  “And the poisoner?” Bastian asked.

  I said, “They were given the poison when they were given the mission.”

  “I can’t imagine the Continental Council let that stand.” Carsen mused. “It’s one thing to revolt, it’s another to go against the laws put down and upheld by every elite in Valaria.”

  That was outside of my knowledge on the matter. “I’m not sure, but the rebels are still free to rebel, so maybe the person sent to investigate decided the group was innocent. That puts it back to the poisoner themselves.”

  “So the Assembly or the Servalt guild?” I asked, bringing up the two largest assassin organizations on the continent.

  “The Assembly is clear.” Bastian told her, “They get a full audit every time someone uses a banned substance - honestly, I'd bet they are just as eager to find the poisoner as we are at this point.”

  “And Servalt?” I asked.

  Bastian was going to say something but Carsen cut in first, “Actually, that’s something I was going to tell you when you got back.”

  Bastian raised an eyebrow. “What happened?”

  “The Servalt Assassin Guild is under new management.”

  “And Gloria?”

  “Missing, presumed dead.” Carsen told us.

  Even I wasn’t expecting that. Gloria Welns had been the guild master almost as long as there had been an Assassin’s Guild. The first guild master was Mizu the Unseen, head of the assassin’s during the Servalt revolution twenty years ago. She’d built the guild up and then handed it to her apprentice. Gloria had held her seat for almost two decades.

  “Who is the new guild master?” Bastian asked.

  Carsen sighed, “We don’t know. The prince is readying an envoy now. In the meantime, we just have to wait and see. Either way, it’ll take them a few days to organize things after the take over, and a few days more to cross the continent and cause us trouble, so it’s still perfect timing for you to take a small break.”

  Bastian thought for a second before agreeing, “Alright. But call if anything comes up– and let me know when Their Highness turns up.”

  “You’ll be the first I tell.” Carsen assured him.

  “Knight Commander?” Sir Rebecca was back, peeking her head into the office. “Prince Malakai wants to see you and the countess in his office.”