Within a small office room located in Castle Salizia sat three men: General Todo, General Zacheri, and Spymaster Elijah. The air between them felt heavy as they discussed important matters of the Kingdom, their exhausted eyes constantly glancing down at the countless reports scattered between them.

  With Hector's departure, they were responsible for maintaining order in the capital.

  Putting down a report he had just finished, Todo put his chin on his fist, his elbows on the table.

  “General, your thoughts?” Elijah asked, his expression hidden behind the deep hood he was wearing. The Spymaster’s voice was so generic that if you were not paying attention, it was almost impossible to remember it.

  “You were correct,” answered Todo, pinching the bridge of his nose. “There is a rise in kidnappings, not just in Vanura, but in the surrounding kingdoms as well. All of them are taking place in remote locations. And only a few are vanishing per location. I think this is the work of a well-organized organization.”

  “You think that a criminal organization is kidnapping children?” Zacheri asked, frowning as he scratched the side of his jaw. “An organization that kidnaps not just from our Kingdom but from all of them? For what reason and where are they taking them?”

  Leaning out of the shadow that was obstructing half his body, Elijah spoke, his voice soft. “My sources are accurate. From what I was able to find out, the children seem to be carefully shipped westward.”

  “Westward? And, you are sure?” Zacheri asked, tracing his fingers along the map that was laid out on the table in front of him.

  “This is only a hypothesis, but we are fairly sure,” Elijah replied, his emotionless voice trailing off. “On the very rare occasion that a child is sold by this organization, or a dead body is found, they are always west of where they were taken. Now, this could just be a coincidence, but from the years of gathering information, I would stake my reputation on it. They are moving them westward.”

  “If you believe it, then I’ll trust you,” Todo said, acknowledging Elijah’s skill and reputation. “Unfortunately, we have no jurisdiction in the other Kingdoms; we can’t follow the trail into them. Luckily for us, Master Maliri was able to locate some of the missing children in the mines. Elijah, what were you able to uncover? Did you learn anything about the Smiling Lady?”

  “Nothing concrete, but every time we hear her name, it’s usually connected to Lapal, the so-called King of the Black Market.” Elijah spat, emotion entering his voice. “If I ever get my hands on him, I’m going to enjoy torturing him.”

  Hearing Elijah, Todo almost felt sorry for Lapal, the Spymaster’s skill at torturing made even him uncomfortable. Clearing his throat, he mused. “So Lapal is involved. I thought our raid on his drug dens and illegal distilleries crippled him.”

  “I think our raid forced him into hiding. But he may have turned to kidnapping because of them,” Elijah replied.

  “What? Why?” Zacheri cut in, setting down the report he had just picked up.

  “Our raids destroyed his distilleries and drug dens, but his smuggling routes are still intact. Without money or a way to produce more product, he’s cornered. He’s more likely to resort to something more drastic. Something like human trafficking,” Elijah explained, his fingers restlessly tapping the table. “Our actions may have unintentionally caused more harm to the civilians.”

  Cursing, Todo rubbed his face with his hands. “We had to stop his operations,” he said, turning to face them. “Are you saying we were wrong?”

  “No, but in the short run, more people will be harmed. We have to figure out how he is smuggling the children out of the city,” Elijah said. His fingers stopped tapping the table. “So far, I can only think of a few ways he could pull this off.”

  “And they are?”

  “First, he could be using a ladder or rope to lower the kids off the outer wall.”

  “No,” Zacheri said, shaking his head. “Someone would have seen it happening. There are too many refugees living in the tent city outside the wall. We pay for information like this; someone would have reported it. Could they go under or through the wall?”

  “Possible but unlikely,” Elijah said, resuming his tapping. “If they had such a route, I believe there would have been more kidnappings. The rate of missing children suggests that it takes some planning to smuggle them out.”

  “So, though the main gate stuffed in a box or dressed as someone else?” Zacheri concluded.

  “Yes, but there’s a problem with that.”

  “The guards watching the gate should have caught them,” Todo said, tilting his head back and looking at the ceiling. A terrifying thought popped into his head. “But they didn’t… that would mean… Are you suggesting that some of our guards are working for Lapal?”

  “Yes. I didn’t want to say it, but I think some of our guards are working with him,” Elijah said, his hands clasped together. “General, we must conduct a thorough sweep of all our guards and mercenaries.”

  Alumas protect me. Grimacing, Todo felt his mood darken. He knew Elijah was right, but he didn’t want to admit it—he trusted his soldiers. After wrestling with himself for a while, he sighed and finally relented. The future of the kingdom was more important than his personal faith in his men.

  “Elijah, I give you full use of my authority. Work with Zacheri to investigate and interview all guards, mercenaries, and soldiers. But I want you to be discreet, I don't want the people to think that our soldiers cannot be trusted.”

  “And the soldiers with Lord Hector?” Elijah asked.

  “We will have to investigate them once they return. In the meantime, I will send word to Lord Hector.”

  “I understand.”

  “Do you really think one of our men would work with Lapal?” Zacheri asked. As a former soldier himself, he also trusted them.

  “Before Calahan’s rebellion, I would have said no, but he showed us just how far our Kingdom has fallen,” Elijah replied.

  “But there’s a difference,” Zacheri argued. “Calahan was a general. The soldiers who sided with him thought they were fighting for the betterment of the Kingdom. Working with Lapal is different. He’s a criminal.”

  “I would be surprised if they thought they were doing anything wrong in the beginning,” Elijah said. “If the children were stuffed in boxes, they may have thought they were smuggling alcohol into and out of the city. Remember, alcohol was banned under Queen Kina. They may have thought it was harmless.”

  “But it’s legal now. There’s no reason to keep smuggling them.”

  “But Lord Hector put a massive tax on all alcohol. It’s much cheaper to keep using the smuggling system already in place.”

  “When did everything become so complicated?” Zacheri murmured, sinking deeper in his chair. “I’m just a soldier.”

  “Politics, spies, the struggle of the people, these have always been part of our responsibilities. It's just that in the past, no one cared whether we did a good job. But now that we have a new Queen—one that does care—we must use this opportunity to guide our kingdom back onto the right path,” Todo said.

  “I hate that you are right!” Zacheri grumbled, standing up and stretching. “Elijah, let's go interview the guards!”

  “It would be my pleasure to work with you,” Elijah said, bowing his head in a slight nod. “General Todo, we will take our leave.”

  Over the next couple of days, a hush fell over the castle. Although Zacheri and Elijah tried to keep what they were doing strictly confidential, the soldiers still sensed the shift in the air. None of them were surprised when they were called into an unexpected meeting.

  Taking a deep breath of the night air, Zacheri glanced up, watching a messenger bird arc across the sky. I wonder where it’s going, he thought, frowning. It was unusual to see a bird flying this late. Only specially trained birds could fly at night, and they were typically used for emergencies. Normally, he wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but after catching three guards working for Lapal in the past couple of days, he was on edge.

  The three guards they had caught were still being interrogated by Elijah, their backgrounds and habits being carefully studied. If they were lucky, they would be able to track down Lapal’s operation from the information they revealed.

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  “Why is someone sending a message so late at night?” Zacheri whispered, his instinct telling him that something was wrong.

  Trusting his gut, he changed course, making his way to the Raven’s Tower. He could sleep later.

  Reaching the base of the tower, he glanced around before stepping onto the narrow spiral staircase that wound its way to the top. Moving quietly, he ascended with care, stealthily reaching the summit. Hiding his presence, he surveyed the area.

  At the top of the tower stood multiple wooden birdhouses, each one weathered and streaked with droppings. Inside, rows of small cubbies were stacked side by side, and on top of another, each one occupied by a bird. Once he was confident nothing was out of place, he stepped into the open and called out for someone.

  “Is there anyone here?”

  “Just a moment, my Lord!” an old raspy voice came from behind a birdhouse before a hunchbacked man came hobbling over, his eyes whitening with age.

  “Are you in charge of this place?” Zacheri asked, frowning.

  “Yes, my Lord, I am called Adam.”

  “I have a question for you, Adam. Who just sent that last messenger bird? Is it common for someone to send a bird so late at night?”

  “No, my Lord, it’s not common. However, once every couple of months, Reed from the kitchens sends a letter to his sick mother. He has permission from the castle to use Night Ravens. As for tonight, a guard I’ve never seen before came with a letter from the castle. It must have been urgent because he ran off as soon as I turned around!”

  An urgent letter from the castle that Zacheri didn’t know about. And permission from the castle to use Night Ravens to write letters to a sick mother?

  Zacheri felt his stomach sink, chills running down his spine.

  “Where is that letter headed?” demanded.

  “It should be headed for one of our messaging towers in the eastern part of Salizia, where someone will pass it to a runner,” Adam answered, stammering slightly at Zacheri’s raised voice.

  “Can we stop it?!”

  “I'm sorry, my Lord,” Adam said, backing away from the weight of Zacheri’s glare. “Unless we send a second bird that happens to reach the destination first, there’s nothing we can do.”

  “THEN DO IT! NOW!” Zacheri shouted before running down the stairs.

  He had to catch the man who had sent that message!

  Adrenalin mixed with Aether, he jumped down the last section of stairs, slipping past the spiral steps. Landing gracefully, he yelled out.

  “GUARDS! LOCK THE OUTER GATE NOW!”

  As his voice echoed toward the outer gate, guards poured out of nearby buildings like an army of ants. Though confused, the disciplined soldiers sprang into action, quickly following Zacheri’s command, as alarm bells rang out across the compound.

  Zacheri sprinted towards the nearest gate, his muscles pulsing with power as Aether surged through him in waves. Picking up speed, he blurred past startled guards, their wide eyes following him in shock. Within seconds, he reached the outer gate, just in time to see a struggle breaking out. A man was grappling against two guards, while a third lay on the ground clutching his stomach, blood pooling rapidly around him.

  “STOP HIM!” Zacheri shouted. Drawing as much Aether as he could safely manage, he rotated it to his legs, his muscles bulging with power. Heat burned through his legs as he grunted before leaping forward with all his might.

  Soaring through the air like an arrow, Arcane Light began to radiate from him, forming the glowing image of a wild dog. Covering the distance in a blink of an eye, he rushed at the man fighting the guards.

  “Move out of the way! Leave him to me!”

  Hearing his shout, the two guards quickly backed off, allowing Zacheri to confront the man alone.

  Zacheri ignored the sword hanging at his hip—he wanted to capture the man alive. Aether surging thought him, he grabbed the man’s arm and yanked with brutal force. A loud crack echoed through the compound, followed by a bloodcurdling scream as the man’s shoulder was forcefully dislocated. He collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain.

  “Bring me rope! Make sure he can’t kill himself!” Zacheri barked.

  Not waiting, he ripped the man's shirt into rough strips and stuffed them into his mouth, the screams dampening. I can’t risk him biting his tongue or swallowing poison, he thought.

  “How’s the injured guard?” he asked, flipping the moaning prisoner onto his stomach and planting his boot on the man’s lower back.

  The nearby guard met Zacheri’s eyes and silently shook his head, before passing him a rope.

  “Damn it”, Zacheri muttered under his breath. He began tying the man’s wrists tightly together, pulling at his dislocated shoulder. He deserves worse, he told himself.

  “General! What’s happening? I heard the bells.”

  Elijah appeared as if from the shadows, his face hidden beneath his dark hood.

  “I think he was sending messages out of the castle,” Zacheri said, kicking at the dislocated shoulder. Ignoring the scream from the man, he continued. “I need you to interrogate him. Get everything you can, let him suffer.”

  “You can trust me, General,” Elijah calmly replied, his voice a whisper so cold that it seemed to cool the air around him. “This is something I am profoundly skilled at.”

  Nodding, Zacheri lifted his foot off the prisoner.

  “I’m heading to the Raven’s Tower. I need to ask the old man when we can confirm if the message was intercepted or not.”

  “Don't worry, General. I’ll handle things here.”

  Still tense, Zacheri made his way back to the Raven’s Tower, followed by a few guards. His nerves were frazzled, his chest tight. No matter how many times he fought, when the adrenaline faded, his body started to shake. Hands quivering, he subconsciously sped up.

  He took the steps two at a time, reaching the top of the tower swiftly. “Adam! Are you there?” he called out.

  “Yes, my Lord!” the old man shouted, rising from where he had been sitting, his old legs moving as quickly as he could.

  “How long will it take to find out if we were able to intercept the message?” Zacheri asked, helping the old man steady himself.

  “By tomorrow noon, my Lord,” Adam stammered.

  Nodding at Adam, Zacheri signaled to his men. “I want a full report from this tower tomorrow at noon. Bring me everything Adam learns.”

  “Yes, General,” the guards replied in unison, saluting crisply.

  Signing unhappily, Zacheri made his way to his office. He needed to write his report while the details were still fresh in his mind.

  Though not a devout man, Zacheri found himself praying as he wrote. He always claimed that duty mattered more than faith, but in moments like these, faith was the only thing that steadied his hands.

  With each line he recorded, the anxiety from his body slowly left, his heart rate returning to normal.

  A sudden knock at the door shattered the silence, pulling him from his thoughts.

  “General! We have urgent news!”

  Zacheri leaped to his feet and flung open the door, causing the guard to flinch in surprise.

  “Get a hold of yourself, man! What happened?” he demanded.

  “It’s the old man, General. He’s dead!”

  “Old Man? Which one?” Zacheri demanded, knowing deep in his stomach that the guard was talking about Adam.

  “The old messenger—Adam. He said he was going to grab a bite to eat in the kitchens. He was joking around with the cook when all of a sudden, the cook stabbed him.”

  Zacheri’s eyes blazed. “WHAT?! How did this happen? Where’s the cook?”

  “Dead! He killed himself with poison! A fast-working one. He started foaming at the mouth and died before we could reach him.”

  “Sun’s wrath!” Zacheri cursed, reaching for his sword and belting it on. “Go get General Todo! Tell him that it’s urgent, I'm going to the kitchen!”

  Ignoring the guard who was trying to say something else, Zacheri sprinted towards the kitchens, cursing himself for forgetting that Adam had mentioned a cook who also sent messages at night.

  Several men were gathered around the Kitchen entrance, each one of them armed and ready to draw blood, their faces pale with anticipation.

  “General Zacheri is here!” one of the guards yelled before all the guards straightened up, hands by their sides.

  “At ease!” Zacheri barked, pushing past them and into the kitchen.

  The room was splattered with blood, food, and broken dishes, a painting depicting the signs of an intense struggle. Crouching beside the motionless cook was Elijah. Careful not to disturb any evidence, Zacheri made his way towards the Spymaster.

  “You got here before me,” he said.

  “Mm-hhmm. The guards sent for both of us at the same time,” Elijah nodded, taking some of the foam from the cook's mouth and putting it in a bottle. Adding a crystal-clear liquid to it, he covered the top of the bottle and shook it vigorously.

  Zacheri watched as the clear liquid darkened, a silvery sheen swirling within the blackness. “What poison is it?” he asked, trying to piece together the fight in his head by studying how the blood and food were scattered across the room.

  “Night Dream. It's very rare but always lethal. I'm surprised that someone was able to get their hands on it. Only the most dangerous assassin guilds have access to it,” Elijah said, putting the bottle away and rifling through the cook’s clothing. “What do you know about this situation? The Guard who came to get me said something about you telling them to keep an eye on the old man.”

  “I forgot about the cook,” Zacheri sighed, a wave of regret washing over him. “Adam—the old man—said the cook would send a letter to his sick mother every few months, always at night. I should have remembered, but in the chaos of chasing the traitor, it slipped my mind. If I had to guess, Adam must have told the cook we caught someone using the messenger birds. He must have killed Adam and himself to cover his tracks.”

  Elijah nodded and stood up. “I'll report to General Todo that we found another of Lapal’s spies… but we lost him.”

  “I’ll investigate Adam’s background and arrange his funeral,” Zacheri said, feeling responsible for the old man. “Did you get anything useful from the men we caught the other day?”

  “All of them broke easily,” Elijah replied, his voice soft. “I spent extra time making sure their stories matched each other. The one you just caught confessed to sending a message to Lapal. He wrote that we were conducting a full sweep of the guards and had already caught some of his men.”

  Zacheri closed his eyes briefly and offered a silent prayer. God of Light, give me the strength to bear my failures. Opening his eyes, he asked. “Did we just lose our best chance to get Lapal?”

  “I don't know, General,” Elijah answered, signaling to a guard to help him with the body of the cook. “But it doesn’t look good. You should get some rest. Let me handle this.”

  Nodding reluctantly, Zacheri left for his room, his mind swarming with pointless thoughts. Once there, he got ready for bed, pausing to whisper a few words for Adam before slipping beneath the covers. Lying in the dark, he stared at the ceiling, sleep remaining just out of reach.

  The next morning, Zacheri’s mood worsened. Crumpling the message that informed him that the second bird had arrived too late, he tossed it into the fire. As the paper blackened and curled, he cursed under his breath and reached for the report he had requested earlier.

  The report was a full review of everything his soldiers had uncovered pertaining to the traitors and cook. Skimming through the reports, he frowned; each report read the same. The traitors were all former orphans, recruited young into the guard, and had an anonymous benefactor. Beyond that, nothing.

  Pulling the last report closer, the report of the cook, Zacheri, started to read, his frown deepening. The report was mostly empty: just a name, and even that was likely an alias.

  “No information on his mother or father, no close friends, no background… We don't even know how he became a cook?”

  Hearing his own words caused a seed of unease to be planted deep in his chest. How did this happen? The position of cook was among the most vetted positions in the Kingdom. Every dish they prepared was eaten by the Royal Family and Generals. How could someone with no history gain access to that kitchen? How could someone like that possess Night Dream, one of the rarest poisons?

  The unease grew heavier. Rising to his feet, he looked out the window and drew power into himself, finding comfort in the power. Someone, or an organization, was working to undermine the Kingdom, and he had already run out of leads.