Lord Devan was now tied to a chair, his face etched with pain and blood still dripping where his ear had been. Anthos was casually cleaning the blade of his sword, whistling a sticky little tune. Kalen ’Fal and Begryn were speaking with the guards and their commander, Captain Julius. The tower’s second-in-command at the end of the Thousand Roses Bridge had given the go-ahead to hold Lord Devan until the doubts were cleared up, since in truth he was not under the lord’s command but had been assigned to the garrison with another twenty soldiers. Galfrido, for his part, was again sitting at the table, eating what was left of the chicken.

  "Is the beer poisoned too or just the wine?" the warrior asked, looking over the banquet at Lord Devan. "Because I just had a proper binge…"

  The noble looked at Anthos, and the guide shrugged, making a gesture with his hands for him to answer the question.

  "Only the wine."

  "You'd better hope so," said the burly warrior, taking a small cask from the center and filling a wooden cup.

  Kalen walked over to Anthos and gave him a nod. The guide understood immediately—it meant follow me. They crossed to the other side of the hall, passing the table where Galfrido was enjoying the feast of his life. Anthos grabbed an apple on the way. Three soldiers stood in one corner, watching the adventurers with suspicion. Only one wore anything resembling decent armor. All three carried spears and daggers at their belts. The fire in the stove was dying down, but the glowing embers still kept the room warm.

  “The guards didn’t know about the betrayal,” Kalen murmured, glancing between Anthos and the noble. “But I still have my doubts. Captain Julius seems like a reasonable man and agreed to clear things up with Lord Devan. What worries me is who gave that bastard the order. It wasn’t his own idea, and he clearly wasn’t planning to hand the baby over to the Brotherhood of the Black Flame. Which means we’ve got an enemy inside Trabarioth’s own court—almost certainly.”

  “Sir Kalen,” said Anthos, biting into the apple as he spoke, “get the guards out of here. Leave me alone with him, and he’ll tell me who gave the order.”

  “I thought I made my position on coercion clear enough. Remember?”

  The guide nodded with a grin. “And I felt bad about that. I shouldn’t have treated the good merchant that way. But this one isn’t a good merchant, my friend. This one tried to poison us—to kill Drako. That’s not the same thing. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder in Trabarioth because of some hidden enemy. I prefer enemies outside the walls.”

  “We’ll take him to the Frozen City,” said Kalen. “He’ll confess before a tribunal there.” He was starting to realize how gray the world could be—not everything was black or white.

  “Sir Kalen Fal of the Order of Reidos,” Anthos said quietly. “If the one who gave the order to kill us all is someone high up in Trabarioth, do you really think they’ll let their secret risk exposure by leaving this bastard alive?”

  The knight lowered his head.

  “Of course not—and you know it. The moment Lord Devan de-Oppengraf sets foot in the Frozen City, he’ll be food for the crows before he walks ten meters. If we want answers, we need to get them now.”

  “I can’t…” Kalen muttered. “He’s bound and defenseless… the Code of Honor…”

  "Get your feet on the ground, Kalen!" Anthos's shout made Begryn turn to look at their two traveling companions. The guards were still posted in the hallway leading to the dining room, along with Captain Julius. Only the three guards in the corner were inside, controlled by Galfrido, who had finished eating and was now drinking beer while stroking his two-handed sword. His thick beard was covered in food and drink residue.

  "You can't deal with the crap without getting a little dirty, buddy. Not everything is black or white. There are nuances in between. I'm not asking you to be the one to beat the information out of him. What I'm asking is that you focus your Code of Honor on a greater goal, knowing that, to achieve it, a travel companion will have to do something unpleasant."

  "And what differentiates us from him, then, if we don't set a limit? What separates us from a wretch like lord Devan?"

  "I'm not going to kill him. But I am willing to do what is necessary for Drako to arrive alive in Trabarioth. The question is: aren't you?"

  The knight looked into Anthos's eyes with evident sadness. The guide could see that those silver spheres were trembling from the internal battle being fought behind them. A battle that Kalen had to fight because, once again, the greater good was calling into question his values and what he fought for. Lord Devan de-Oppengraf was a wretch, yes. But he was also defenseless and at the mercy of a person who, without hesitation, was going to cut him into pieces. But what if they were betrayed in Trabarioth for not obtaining the information?

  Without saying anything, Kalen began to walk towards the main door where Begryn was. He looked at the elf and crossed the doorway as if he had been defeated.

  "Wait, Kalen..." the woman said. The knight looked at her with narrowed eyes.

  "Where's the honor in all this?" he asked, closing the door again to prevent the guards behind him from hearing the conversation.

  "There are times when, to achieve a greater good, one must skirt the line of lesser evils."

  "Is that what you believe?"

  "I wouldn't be in the Order of the Sharpshooters if I didn't believe it with all my heart."

  Kalen looked at Drako, who gave him a sincere, tender, and innocent smile, looking at him with yellow, reptilian eyes. In the firelight, he could notice the strange shine that the texture of his skin gave him and which, at times, seemed scaly.

  "We'll bring lord Devan alive and whole, understood?" he said with great authority.

  The elf nodded. "I'll take care of that."

  The paladin opened the door and went out, talking to Julius and withdrawing the three guards who were in the dining room.

  Anthos watched Kalen talk to Begryn and then saw him leave, along with the three soldiers. He smiled and finished eating his apple, throwing the remnants into the fire. Begryn approached and leaned against the wall, Drako still in her arms. He saw her purple eyes fixed on him, piercing him through and through. He perfectly understood the meaning of that deep gaze now settled on his soul. Anthos nodded, giving her a half-smile and blowing the fringe out of his eyes.

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  "Well, my friend," the guide approached the nobleman, who began to tremble with fear. He took a green napkin from the table and cleaned the wound on his ear. "Is that better? Are you comfortable?"

  "What are you going to do?" his voice trembled.

  "I'm going to ask you something very simple. Who hired you to kill us and kill Drako?"

  "The child is a danger to humanity. By getting rid of him... Goodbye prophecy! And wait another hundred years. It's good business, isn't it?"

  "That's not what I asked you. I don't want to seem repetitive, lord Devan de-Oppengraf, but if you don't talk and you don't tell me who gave the order, I'm going to have to take another souvenir." Anthos picked up the mutilated ear from the floor and shook it an inch from his face.

  "Why in the hell do you think I received the order from someone? Don't you think someone like me can have made his own decision to make the world a better place?"

  "Killing a baby doesn't make the world a better place, you idiot. It deforms it. If achieving peace requires killing a child, then welcome war."

  "What the hell do you know about war?"

  "I know that people get mutilated," he said, shaking the ear playfully and, grabbing a dagger, amputated the pinky finger of the nobleman's left hand, who let out a scream of pain through clenched teeth. "But anyway... I don't think the decision was yours. Someone told you about the prophecy. Someone who knew we were coming gave you the order."

  "You bastard! My finger!"

  "We are going to Trabarioth, and we don't want to have to keep watching our backs. Speak up," Anthos spoke with complete serenity.

  "If I tell you..." he started to cry and tremble. "If I tell you he'll kill me and kill my family... Please..."

  The guide twisted his face into an unpleasant expression and rested the dagger on another of the nobleman's fingers. He was about to sever it when the shrill, fear-laden voice made him stop.

  "Fine, fine! For all the gods, stop... I can't take any more."

  "Well?" Anthos crossed his arms, looking at him as a father would look at his son. Outside, it was clear that the weather had worsened, and now they could hear some thunder and see the intermittent light of some lightning flashes in the night sky, through the rectangular and vertical windows.

  "It was Count Dromak Valderan... the general."

  "Don't mess with me..." he said, opening his eyes wide.

  "It's true... right here, in my coat, I have the note." The guide searched him and found a parchment with the seal of the Valderan house. He began to read aloud:

  "Lord Devan de-Oppengraf:

  I believe you have received the letter from our mage and friend, lord Volrath, requesting asylum and protection for a knight of Doknar who is bringing a baby. That is why I wish to use your discretion and expertise by entrusting you with the task of ensuring the child does not see a new dawn. I have already spoken to you about the prophecy, and you know it is the only way to avoid the evil that is approaching. There is no other way out. I hope you will not let me down.

  D.V."

  "That son of a bitch..." Galfrido exclaimed upon hearing Anthos read the letter.

  "There had been talks of the prophecy for some time, but in secret..." Devan continued. "Since a strange letter arrived for the mage, a few months ago. He told the queen that we should do everything possible to protect the baby and that the Frozen City was the safest place. Count Dromak, knowing about the prophecy, had other plans. He met with me in secret, knowing that I was going to be sent to personally guard The Watchtower, and he told me about the prophecy. He convinced me that it was madness to bring the child here, but he said nothing more about it... He told me to wait for orders... until that letter arrived."

  "And what did you get in return if you carried out those orders?"

  "A world of peace and love?" he said, smiling ironically. The guide punched him. "Fine, fine, alright! He planned to give me the lands of the North Forest, which for some years had been occupied by refugees from Rimdail. He assured me that they were already free of those 'northern rats'."

  Anthos remembered the Blood Claws ravaging those villages and felt immense disgust. So he planned to give the lands to lord Devan as payment for his betrayal.

  "While I was here, a letter arrived from Volrath, telling me that I should receive and protect a knight of Doknar with the baby 'of vital importance,' without giving further details. Two days later, that letter arrived with the count's orders."

  "Is there any other noble involved in the schemes to murder the baby?" the guide asked, controlling the anger that was invading him.

  "I don't know..."

  Anthos menacingly grabbed his dagger and placed it in one of the nobleman's nostrils.

  "Tell me the truth, lord Devan de-Oppengraf, you damned son of a bitch."

  "I don't know, I don't know! I swear!" He swallowed, feeling the tip of the dagger go deeper. "When we met, it was just the two of us, no one else. He never mentioned anyone... Please, I swear."

  "Fine, lord Devan..." he said, thinking for a moment. "I believe you." Galfrido and Begryn noticed the nobleman let out a deep sigh of relief. "Now... what are we supposed to do with you? You invited us to your tower, you tried to cowardly poison us, and then you planned to kill the baby. What punishment do you think you deserve?"

  "If it were up to me, I'd split him in two right now," Galfrido offered. "But as always, no one asked my opinion..."

  "Please, I've told you everything," he said, starting to cry. "Please, don't kill me."

  "Enough!" Kalen Fal entered through the door with immense authority and approached lord Devan. He had stayed on the other side, listening to part of the interrogation. He took his dagger and cut his bonds. For a second, the host thought he was going to kill him and wet his pants. "Let the guards enter," Galfrido let Julius and a dozen soldiers through. "Lord Devan de-Oppengraf will be formally charged in the city of Trabarioth, of the Trabarioth region, for attempted murder, failure to comply with an official order, and conspiracy."

  "What is this?" Julius asked, stunned, removing his helmet, seeing that lord Devan was bleeding from his nose and from the spot where his pinky finger had been. And that's not counting the mutilated ear.

  "Oh, and you innocents knew nothing..." Galfrido smiled with contained rage.

  "Lord Devan warned us about you... He told us to be ready because you weren't trustworthy, you damned spies from Faradax."

  Anthos began to laugh.

  "Spies from Paradax?" he said, unable to wipe the smile from his face. "Really? Tell me that wasn't the best you could come up with."

  The nobleman said nothing and hung his head, ashamed.

  "I myself attest that the guards have nothing to do with this," Kalen said, stepping between Anthos and Galfrido and the rest of the guards. "As you can see, Captain Julius," Kalen continued. "Your lord tried to poison us and then kill the child. The proof is in those wine glasses..."

  "And also in this letter," Anthos handed the orders from Count Dromak Valderan to Kalen, who read as fast as his eyes would allow and clenched his jaw in fury.

  "We will go to Trabarioth and we will take this... criminal with us," the knight continued. "If you have any doubt of my word, you can accompany us with as many guards as you deem appropriate and erase all your doubts once we are in the Frozen City, with the official accusation. Be aware that, if it is proven that you and your men were also involved in this intrigue, you will face the same fate, and the full weight of the law."

  Begryn remained silent. She hated that human bureaucracy for punishing those who were, without a doubt, guilty, as lord Devan was. Justice should be swift and relentless, not served drop by drop. However, in that moment, she decided to maintain silence despite the fire burning inside her.

  Julius lowered his head and looked at the nobleman, not hiding his indignation. Then he looked at the adventurers, one by one, and withdrew from the dining room, taking his men with him. They returned to the room and began to gather their belongings. Lord Devan was in one of the dungeons, being guarded by his men. Apparently, Julius, the captain of his guard, had felt betrayed. He apologized to Kalen Fal and offered him horses so they could reach the Frozen City as soon as possible. He said he wanted justice to be served properly. He confessed that he himself had become a father not long ago and that the mere thought of killing that baby made him vomit. Sir Kalen believed his word and, for once, he was not wrong.