The shield appears in the air before me, immediately shing itself to my arm like a handsy kid afraid of being dropped.

  Oh! We’re in a tent now. How did we get inside? Is it time to fight something?

  “Gods’ grace,” stance murmurs. He stands, drawing his sword as well, and red magic swirls around his hand: holding it in pce, I realize, much how the Aegis gs to me.

  The shield and sword immediately zero in on each other. Their eagerness is almost a hunger. Nervously, I shift the shield away.

  “You se, too,” stance says. “That these ons are twins.”

  “No way.” Quell stands as well, lookiween our ons in bewilderment. “That’s impossible!”

  “What is it?” Darian asks. She seems mildly ied, but clearly the least clued in of all of us.

  The Aegis my mind, urgioward stance’s sword. What it wants from the sword, I ’t say. Does it want to be used in tandem? Does it want to fight? I’m not sure even the shield knows.

  “It is the Crimson Aegis,” Quell breathes.

  “Does that mean something?” I go stance, but he’s looking at his on thoughtfully. I wonder what sort of words the sword is whispering into his mind.

  “Does it mean something?” Quell cries. “It’s the Blood Shield! Thorn’s Bahe Crimson Aegis. One half of Viktor’s Arms.” His gaze shifts over to stance. “But what did you mean they’re twins?”

  “Just look at them,” Darrian remarks. Both sword and shield seem to be made form the same bck metal, embedded with glowing red jewels. Both also share a vaguely demonic aesthetic.

  “They yearn for each other,” stance says, watg the Aegis. His gaze shifts up to me, crooking an expet eyebrow.

  “He’s right,” I say. “They feel drawn to each other. I don’t know why.”

  Quell rakes a hand through his hair in astonishment. “But… stahat would mean yours is the Crimson Scimitar!”

  His brother frowns. “It sounds vaguely familiar.”

  This sends Quell spluttering. “Vaguely familiar? Brother, you’re wielding a sword of legend! And he shield! e, now, don’t you remember the story of Monarch Viktor?”

  “I was more ied in battle tactics than fairytales,” stance says shortly. Maybe he’s too proud to admit embarrassment over Quell knowing more about his sword than he does. stance sheaths the Scimitar, and the mental pull vanishes. I breathe a sigh of relief. The prince waves a dismissive hand toward me, indig I should do the same.

  Wait, the Crimson Aegis thinks. That’s it? Already? But we didn’t eveo—

  I add the Aegis bay iory as well, then all of us sit back down once more.

  “It’s far more than myth,” Quell says. “As is evident from the two ons before us!”

  “Then please enlighten us, Prince Quell,” Darian says, still the most uurbed of anyone in attendance. “What are we dealing with?”

  “Of course,” Quell says fidently. Then he quickly adds, with slightly less vi, “I read about it in a book. The Aegis and Scimitar are powerful, legendary artifacts. They were wielded by Duneshade rulers feions, but lost when our aor, Queen Providence, fell to a sand wyrm nearly four hundred years ago. Until today, no one knew of their whereabouts.”

  Quell leans forward, his eyes dang with excitement. “It’s said they were inally created in respoo a great moerrorizing the nds. It couldn’t be sin—only tained—so Monarch Viktor had powerful artifacts fed to act as the beast’s prison. Managing to cleave the beast in two, they sacrificed a hundred souls to seal each half of the creature into the Aegis and Scimitar. Viktor then bound the ons’ wills to their blood—f the creature to serve them and all within their lineage. Apparently, the wielder had to feed it a steady stream of blood to keep the demon sated and bound within its vessels.”

  I lean back, eyebrows raised. Is all that true? It’s certainly blood thirsty; that much I’ve seen firsthand. “I’d really love to not have to do that.”

  “Especially as a dhampyr,” Darian adds. “Losing blood be dangerous for us.”

  “Well, I suspect at least the blood part might be dramatic embellishment,” Quell says, nodding to stance. “After all, stance has been unknowingly wielding the Scimitar for years, and he hasn’t been making any blood sacrifices.”

  For the first time, I witness stance squirm. “Well…”

  “What!” Quell cries. “What do you mean? Have you been hiding this from me and Liz?”

  “It’s not a sacrifice, per se,” stance says. “But its magical abilities be amplified if it’s exposed to blood. It doesn’t have to be miher.”

  “Like the Aegis’s Blood Ward,” I think aloud.

  stance raises an eyebrow. “You have a name for the teique?”

  “Well, the shield has a name for it.” I frown. “That’s how I khe shield’s oo. Does the Scimitar not speak to you?”

  “Not with words,” stance says. “Nothing crete. But I ses violent urges clear enough.”

  That’s odd. The Aegis’s voice is pretty distine. How e it’s not the same for stance? Is it due to this System thing I have access to?

  Quell must be w something simir. “We o back up. There’s got to be something here I’m missing. stance, you’ve had that sword ever since I was a child. You found it ireasury, correct? You said the sword chose you.”

  “Yes. I was browsing the royal artifacts when I came upon it.” He pauses, drumming his fingers on the hilt of the Scimitar. The hesitation draws out for several seds before he finally lets out a sigh. “Though that is not the eory,” he admits. “irely truthful. I’ve old anyone else this before.

  “The sword was unbeled, as are many in those chambers. But its design caught my eye. It almost seemed alive. I took it from its stand to… test it out.”

  Quell abruptly ughs, and stance scowls. “You were pying with royal treasures! Isn’t it prohibited to remove any artifacts without the curator’s permission?”

  “I was fourteen,” stance grumbles, gng away from his little brother. Quell still seems to find this absolutely delightful, and if I know anything about little brothers, that just became bckmail material. “At any rate, I was still training in sword fighting myself, and wasn’t as careful as I should have been. I cut myself on its bde. That was when I felt its presence.” His gaze shifts to me.

  I nod. “I spilled blood on the Aegis, too. I think that’s what woke it up.”

  “Not only did it awaken, but we seemed to form a sort of bond,” stance expins. That also happeo me; Echo called it a Pact. “Sihen, I haven’t been able to get rid of it. Not that I’ve wao. ons with i magic are exceptionally rare, and wielding oh accelerated my fighting skills and brought me much resped reition. But if I ever try to leave it behind somewhere, the sword seems to know this, and uses its magic to stay at my side.”

  Yet another familiar story. “I ’t get rid of the Aegis, either,” I say. “When it’s not in my Iory, it’s tched onto my arm. Like it’s scared of bei behind, or something.”

  Darian gives a disapproving grunt. “That all sounds fairly uling.”

  Yeah, that’s one word for it.

  “I did not want to tell anyone else about the nature of how I came to wield it, or that it appeared to have a mind of its own,” stance says. “I feared they would bel it cursed and attempt to take it from me.”

  “Holy, cursed might be an accurate descriptiven how it was fed,” Quell says. “Perhaps there is some truth to the stories. At the very least, the oo tain ay.”

  “Which would also expin why they feel drawn toward each other,” stance muses. “But if all this is true, if my sword is truly this Crimson Scimitar, and Nye wields the Aegis—you said these ons were desigo serve our lineage.” He gestures to me. “So why are they able to wield it?”

  Quell scratches at his cheek. “Yes, that is rather odd. But I think I might know the cause. ell them what you told me about your curse. I mean, uh, your other curse. The one about me.”

  Yes, Quell, I got the picture. Again, not something I really wao advertise. I’m not totally sure how he thinks these things are ected, but I guess I’ll o spill my secret to at least Darian and stance if I want to make any headway on figuring out how to get rid of my Role.

  “I don’t really uand how the magic works,” I expin to them. “But I am… pelled to stay close to and protect the Prince. Er, Quell, specifically. If I don’t, the magic drives me mad.”

  “What?” Darian excims.

  stance just snorts. “That expins why you came running back.”

  I wince. I’d sort of hoped they’d fotten about my escape attempt.

  “But why Quell?” stance asks. “If that shield really is supposed to guard our family, the same pulsion should apply to me, or Liz, or our parents.”

  Quell shrugs. “That much I don’t know. Perhaps it was simply that I was the closest when Nye here iently woke it up. Our knowledge of the Aegis and Scimitar is inplete. Whatever the cause, it’s bound to Nye now, and ag through them, it’s bound to protect me.”

  Is that what’s happening? I’m not sure if Quell is eg dots that aren’t there, or if he’s iionally lying to cover for me. I could talk to Echo and had the Role of Knight before I stumbled upon the Crimson Aegis, so I’m skeptical these two things are ected. But Darian and stance have bought the expnation, at least.

  “This could ge everything,” stance says. “We could end the war with Moonfall before it even begins. The Scimitar is already powerful on its own. If it’s reunited with the Aegis, I feel the two would be more than the sum of their parts.”

  Ulingly, I’d gotten that same impression. “Look, if you want the shield, I’d be more than happy to return it to your family,” I say. “Remaining tied to Quell is the st thing I want; the sooner I get rid of this curse, the better. But I don’t think the Aegis will let me just hand it over.”

  “Yes,” stance agrees with a frown. “It would not be possible to do that with the Scimitar, either.”

  “Which is why I suggested the Lifespring as a solution,” Quell says. “If anything remove a curse, it’s likely to be the Oasis.”

  starokes his thoughtfully. “It would certainly be worth it to try.”

  “Hold on.” Darian shakes her head. “I’m not sure I follow all of this—or believe that these ons are something out of legend—but we ’t risk heading to the Lifespring now. We just survived an attack, and Princess Felicity is still missing. It’s too dangerous for Prince Quell to remain out here. He and the rest of the pany should depart for the capital while I take a squad of soldiers to search for the Princess. If we return to the Oasis, it should be with reinforts.”

  “No!” both Quell and I cry at once. Even stance looked like he was about to object.

  “That will take too long,” I say. Aing cooped up in a castle will signifitly reduce my ces of finding álvaro.

  “And I’ll be fine,” Quell adds. “I take care of myself. Not to mention, I’ll have here to protect me, too!” He adds a weak ugh, which he quickly lets die when no one else seems amused.

  Darian stares across at stance. “You’ve already made up your mind.”

  “We ’t let this opportunity go to waste,” stance says. “If the Crimson Aegis be returo Duneshade hands aed with the Crimson Scimitar, we’ll obtain a on like Moonfall has never seen. It will t our power. They’ll never dare attack us again like they did tonight.”

  The captaiates for a moment, then reverently bows her head. “As you say, Prince stance.”

  I slump in relief. It’s a good thing stance wants the Aegis as much as he does. Not that I’m actively trying to get rid of it, but if it buy my passage to the Oasis a rid of the curse that’s io Quell, I’ll sider that more than a fair price.

  “I will begin reying dires to the troops,” stance says. “You may lead the efforts to recover Felicity, as you requested. Do you have a pn?”

  “My scouts are still searg for her trail, but I would like to move quickly,” Darian says. “The longer we wait, the more likely the Princess will slip beyond rasp. The Moonfall agents were able to go unnoticed a as close as they did by utilizing small but specialized teams. I will likewise gather a few seledividuals, so we maintain our mobility, and begin pursuing them as soon as we have located a lead.”

  “Perfect,” Quell says. “In that case, Nye and I will be ing—”

  “You’re not ing with me,” Darian cuts him off. “It will be safer to stay with Prince stand the rest of the ptoon. My team will o be skilled fighters.”

  “But—”

  “Enough,” stance says. “The decision has been made. Captain Darrian is right that you would be unfit for such a task—you would only slow her down. Besides, once we secure the Lifespring, we’ll be able to divert more of our resources to finding Liz.” He cps his hands to his knees and stands. “For now, up a some rest. It’s already dawn, and we’ll he day to recover from our most ret battle. We’ll break camp at su.”

  Darian rises as well; by the time Quell and I have stood, stance is already dug out of the tent. I guess we’re doalking, then.

  “This is insane,” Quell says. “How the Lifespring be more important than Liz? She’s royalty fods’ sakes!”

  “I uand how you feel,” Darian says. “But stance is right that defending a critical location and obtaining a powerful on is crucial to our try’s security. Besides, you have nothing to worry about,” she adds, her voice turning fierce. “I will bring the princess home. I swear it.”

  Quell looks glum when Darian leaves the tent, but I let out a breath, gd the interrogation is over. I feel a twinge of sympathy for Quell that he won’t be able to go searg for his sister like he wanted, but I’m holy not bothered by the turn of events. Getting to the Lifespring faster meaing rid of this curse faster. And with an army behind us, there’s more resources to look for my brother along the way.

  “Sorry, man,” I say to Quell. “I know that’s not the oute you wanted.”

  But to my surprise, Quell turns to me with a grin. “Oh, on the trary, I think it went exceptionally well.” He cps me on the shoulder with all the strength of a kitten. “As my brgested, let’s get some rest. We’ll be needing it.”

  Somehow, that smile fills me with a resigned sense of foreboding.