There was no doubt, Nela thought, that Hamond had mastered the art of making a delicious pottage from various scraps.

  All the same, it was never going to be the same a meal like this. Fresh bread and cheese to go with salted pork...they'd all enjoyed it. Edeline ate another serving as usual, but so had Ronny and Hamond. If she'd been capable of eating that much, Nela would have too.

  One thing she had noticed though was who hadn't come out to eat. Anthyla, Claris, and Episkopiate had all been absent from the dining hall where they and most of the Order had eaten. Well, if they missed out on the food, it was their loss.

  Between that food and the bed she now was sitting on, Nela was feeling better than she had in a long time. Honestly, this as just about as comfortable as the beds back in Lord Hallowscroft's house, and that was a noble's home. It might not be as fancy with the rugs and paintings and such, but that hardly mattered. There was no way anyone could honestly say the Aetheric Order didn't try to be welcoming to their guests.

  Edeline herself was laying down, although not asleep yet. Hamond and Ronny were both sitting on their beds as well. Alright, maybe the small separate beds were one complaint Nela could raise, although it would be stupid and rude to do so. How in Aether's name were they supposed to know that she would have preferred to sleep with Ronny?

  The matter of the beds aside, Nela had noticed that none of the others seemed to want to talk about what they'd found in that book. Probably all having their own thoughts about what it meant or where it would lead them. But if they said nothing, then nothing got decided. Someone had to try and break this silence.

  She might as well be the one. "So, what are we doing about that Elemental Hex?" Nela asked.

  Ronny sighed. "The Snowsinger had to come from the south of Hyarch, but that's about all I could figure out from all of that. And that's no guarantee of that one even being there now."

  "But we know tales of the Stormsage are still known today," Edeline pointed out as she sat back up. "If this Elemental Hex was held in high regard back in their time, stories of the others should still exist too. We'd just have to find them."

  "A risky proposition," Hamond noted, "Especially given that we won't be the only ones looking. And I'm not just talking about Ugotlas."

  "Who else?" Edeline asked.

  "Remember, Kalvarel learned of this from the work of Perrinot. And Perrinot had been researching the history of the kingdom even as the Spellking's agent. Whatever Perrinot found out about the Elemental Hex, we can only assume he handed that knowledge over to the Spellking as well. If true, they'd know more than us."

  "So you never met this man?" Nela asked Hamond. From what she could figure, this Perrinot had to have gone over to the Spellking's side well before Hamond left for eastern Hyarch.

  "I don't think I have, so there's nothing I can tell you about him," Hamond admitted, "But what I can tell you is that the passage about Flegeth reminded me of something. Apparently, in northwest Hyarch, there are creatures called pyrebirds. They may have some connection to his spells."

  "Imbued beast and man alike with the gift of flame," Edeline recited, then nodded. "That would fit, if these birds have any sort of fire-based abilities."

  "Yes, but searching that area would put us in the reach of the Spellking's forces. If they start searching, that will be among the first areas they check." Hamond slumped down.

  "Not any different from anywhere else we go in Hyarch," Edeline said, "The choice we face has not truly changed despite what we've learned. We can seek to fulfill Brontyla's wish, or we abandon the task and seek safety for ourselves in Remuat."

  "You know what we should've done in that library?" The idea had just occurred to Nela, a detail they'd overlooked. "We should've been looking for books about Remuat. None of us know a thing about what living there is like."

  "That's unfortunately true." Hamond rubbed his chin in thought, face pained. "I know so little of the land and its people, despite it being where my mother and father came from."

  "If Lasfont is near the border, it should have a number of Remuat who live there that we can speak to," Edeline said, looking a little reluctant. "It isn't my favorite idea, but it does seem better to delay the decision again. We have learned something of what one of the paths forward involves. It makes sense we should attempt to learn about the other."

  "I have no disagreements about going to Lasfont," Ronny replied, "But if we are, we'll need to decide if we're going alongside Ugotlas, or separately. And that a decision we need to make now."

  "He's an arse." Blunt, maybe, but there was just no other way Nela could think to say it.

  "Not arguing with that." Ronny chuckled quietly.

  "I agree he has been arrogant and rude." Unlike her brother, Edeline was nothing but serious. "But there is one other thing I believe he has been. Honest."

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Thinking back, Nela couldn't remember any clear lies on Ugotlas's part. It didn't mean there weren't things he'd avoided telling them, but they'd done the same. Made it hard to hold it against him that much.

  "Trusting him is one matter," Hamond pointed out, "I would be more worried about if we could trust any other of these Sekhmati."

  "Other what?" Nela asked. Was this some fancy name for the sphinxes that she'd missed or something?

  "That's what he called his fellows, remember?" Hamond gave Nela a disapproving look. Nela just shrugged. With everything that had happened, no one should expect her to remember every little detail.

  "Their name aside, the truth is that I do not see what advantage Ugotlas would gain from freely telling us about Dimaera if he had been scheming to deceive us. His remark on continuing to work with us had to be sincere, at least to some degree, for him to reveal that." Edeline leaned back, using one arm to brace herself.

  Nela couldn't think of a good objection to that. Stifling a yawn, she looked over at Ronny. They all needed sleep, and soon. Spending too much longer talking about this wasn't going to help.

  "I don't either," Ronny said, "But the Episkopiate being wary makes me wary as well. We'll need to be very careful with what we say around Ugotlas or any of his kin."

  "Perhaps in the morning we can ask a few more questions of him," Hamond added, "To learn just why they seek the Sluice's spells."

  "A good idea." Edeline took a moment to stretch. "If he evades answering, then we can back away and make other plans. Otherwise, I propose we travel north with him."

  "I suppose we'll have to take that chance," Hamond said with a nod. "Besides, having his spells on our side would be helpful for when the king starts sending men our way."

  "He certainly was willing to fight the knights," Ronny conceded, "I'm not going to argue, although it could make arranging supplies a challenge."

  "We probably were already going to have to bring more anyway," Nela said, "Guess I can live with this."

  "More?" Hamond asked.

  "Jelinia," Ronny and Edeline both said, nearly at the same time.

  "Oh, right." Hamond looked a little sheepish. "I should've remembered."

  "It's fine, it's fine." Nela waved dismissively in Hamond's direction. "So, sleep now, question the cat in the morning. Sounds about right?

  "Actually..." Ronny trailed off, hesitant. "There...there was one other thing I wanted to take care of tomorrow."

  He looked directly at Nela. She knew that look. He'd had the same expression, emotions fighting each other, the evening he'd declared his love of her. And that meant...shit, no. He couldn't mean for her to do that now, to go ahead with the-

  "Nela," Ronny said softly, "Tomorrow, can...can you perform the First Ascension for me?"

  Everything told her she wasn't ready, screaming inside that she couldn't possibly do this for him.

  But there was only one answer that she could give her Ronny.

  "Of course I will," Nela said, forcing a smile.

  "Why now of all times?" Hamond asked, "I'd have thought you'd at least wait until we returned to Faehaven."

  "I'd been thinking it over," Ronny explained, "What I told Lady Kelshir about fighting for you and the Elefae...those words don't have any meaning if I keep avoiding the rite. I have to mean it. I have to become an Elefae."

  Fatigue forgotten, Nela all but leapt across the room, grabbing and holding Ronny in a tight embrace. It was all she could think to do, as joy, doubt, and a hexty other feelings brawled for control. Just hold on to him, and not let go.

  "Are you crying?" Ronny asked.

  "No," Nela said, voice muffled. It was as blatant a lie as she'd ever told.

  Ronny snorted with amusement, squeezing her slightly. "There was one other reason I wanted to do it now too. Even setting aside everything else that has happened, keeping the people of Faehaven safe will require confronting Lord Kelshir. It may be a little petty, but I want him to understand just what led to his downfall."

  "Sending a message that you disregard the Elefae at your own peril," Edeline said, "Certainly a better strategy than the one Kalvarel pursued."

  Nela finally pulled away from Ronny at that, turning to look at his sister. Edeline's face was neutral, but Nela had a good guess what Edeline was thinking. What they all had to be thinking.

  "Anyway," Hamond said, clearly looking like he wanted to change the subject. "Does this mean you'll be adopting an Elefae name?"

  "I...hadn't thought about that." Myron looked away in embarrassment. Or at least he tried to, but with Nela kneeling next to him, she easily found his gaze.

  It hadn't been something Nela had thought about much either. Elves liked having fancy names. Some of them were long, and some difficult to pronounce - she had struggled as a child learning how to say a few of them. Her own chosen name of Nela ran counter to that. As she had come into a better understanding of who she was, she had realized that Neredyla just wasn't right.

  And she didn't think that sort of thing fit him either.

  "No matter what you choose, you're still going to be Ronny to me," Nela stated.

  "Always," Ronny answered with a smile.

  "You could just add an -el to the end of your name," Hamond suggested, "I'm no expert though. I'm not sure how the Elefae decide on names to start with."

  "Myronel," Ronny said, sounding it out.

  "Ronnyel?" Nela just had to tease him.

  "I'd rather not." Ronny shook his head in amusement.

  "It will take some time for me to get used to it," Edeline said, "Don't be surprised if I make a mistake."

  "Understandable, since that's how you've known me all your life." Myron paused, a mischievous look on his face. "You'll probably figure it out faster than you figured out spears."

  "Are you seriously bringing that up now?" Edeline was visibly indignant.

  "Spears? Now I have to know." Nela looked back and forth between the brother and sister, curiosity growing. Ronny had told her a few stories of growing up, and she'd since heard some more from Edeline herself. This, however, was a new one.

  "Very well," Edeline said with a heavy sigh, "I suppose you were going to tell this story eventually."

  "This happened when she was really young and still learning how to talk. One day, our father had a town watch member with a spear stationed at our front door. She walked up and asked what he was holding."

  "As children do," Hamond noted.

  "Father told her it was a spear. However, she then decided that every weapon that one of the town watch had was a spear. If they had a sword on their belt, it was a spear to her. If they were holding a crossbow at the ready, it was a spear to her. It went like that for a few months."

  "I'd only seen three harvests at that point," Edeline protested.

  "I mean, you didn't hurt anyone by it. Just learning." It was amusing, but Nela had been expecting something worse. "You won't believe how many little troublemakers ended up at my grandfather because of the shit they got into."

  "Sounds like that's some stories in and of themselves," Hamond said, "Want to share a few of them while we start getting ready to sleep?"

  "Sure," Nela said, thinking back to what had happened years ago. "Let's see...think I'll start with the one about that boy who was throwing stones at some birds..."