“The barbarians of Greenbarrow are the ones who started this! If we want to stop war from breaking out, they need to head on out of the forest, and back to their hovels!” says Harriet, as he slaps the top of the table in emphasis. He leans back and crosses his arms over his doublet, jingling the gemstones and gold chains from all of the jewellery that’s currently decorating his well-fed person. His chair, carved into the relief of a great wooden oak, creaks and groans in protest as he leans back in it, barely containing his massive weight.

  “Shut your mouth, Wrendale dog, before I shut it for you.” threatens Sasha, as she narrows her almond eyes at Harriet. “We all know who lines your pockets these days.”

  “Jealousy is so unbecoming of you, Sasha my dear. So what if I came into some wealth recently? That doesn’t change the fact that Greenbarrow sent advanced scouts to the forest. We’ve all seen the propaganda posters, they need to answer for this act of hostility, before Wrendale answers in kind.”

  Sasha bursts into her signature flames, as she glares down Harriet from across the table. “Careful, dog. I don’t think your bite is as strong as your bark. Don’t you dare insinuate that I’d be jealous of some king’s lapdog. I still remember my oaths.”

  Harriet spreads his hands. “As do I. As do all of us here. Which is why I’m here, in the middle of nowhere, answering the call instead of being back at home enjoying some chilled wine and grapes.”

  “Wrendale has already answered, Harriet. Or did you conveniently forget about the army that’s making their way through the forest, as we speak?” Answers Gertrude, as she gazes towards nothing, her eyes having grown more cloudy since the last time Raymond saw her. She taps her bare foot against the floor, then turns her head towards Harriet, her gaze piercing and all-knowing even when she cannot see a thing. “I could feel them moving ever closer to Greenbarrow as I made my way here. And in great numbers, might I add.”

  Harriet shrugs, unconcerned. “The earth lies to you, then, Gertrude my dear. Because we’ve done nothing of the sort. Those are simple adventurers and hunters, here to take advantage of the forest’s bounty.”

  “The forest’s bounty that Greenbarrow lays claim to.” Esther replies, as she lounges on her water-motif carved chair. “But either way, what does any of this have to do with us? I thought we agreed not to involve ourselves in the matter of kings and tyrants.”

  She glances at Harriet, cocking an eyebrow at the man and looking down her nose at him. “At least, most of us did.”

  “Just because I serve the greater good doesn’t mean I’m cohorting with –”

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  “It concerns us because it seems that someone here has abandoned the oath.”

  The room goes silent as Raymond speaks, his baritone voice cutting through the argument and bringing it to a halt. He glances at each person around the table, one by one, meeting their eyes and observing their reactions.

  “It seems that someone has taken on a new apprentice.”

  Everyone at the table glances from one to the other, suspicion mixed with confusion on all of their faces.

  “But we made no oath to limit ourselves to just one?” Alduin replies, as he floats lazily above the floor, his chair circling him in a slow orbit. He was the first to learn how to achieve flight, his mastery of gravity giving him an early start that he’s never let the others forget since. “I myself have three. Maybe one of them will actually turn out to have some talent.”

  “I have two back home that I’m training as we speak.” Harriet replies, as he crosses his arms across his ample stomach once again. “I couldn’t only train one of my kids, after all. Marriott would never let me hear the end of it if I did that.”

  “What about you, Raymond?” Esther asks, as she rests her chin on her fist. “Have you not taken on any new apprentices since your darling niece?”

  Raymond shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter the number. It’s who has been taken on. Because it seems that one of us has trained up a prince. And that prince has now become a king.”

  The room goes quiet, as they all absorb what Raymond has just said, connections being drawn in each and every single person’s minds. Recent events suddenly make sense, as only one conclusion can be made:

  “The new King of Greenbarrow?” Sasha asks, disbelief on her face.

  Raymond gives her a small nod, the gravity of the situation clear on his face.

  “Someone’s handed over the power of an archmage to a tyrant…” Gertrude says softly to herself, as she shakes her head sadly.

  “That’s why he’s daring to attack Wrenfall? Does the fool think himself invincible, just because he can do some magic?” Harriet asks, disbelief on his face. “Even we can die like any ordinary man. He can’t seriously expect that one mage could make that much of a difference, can he?”

  “It seems that he thinks just that.” Raymond replies. “He’s young, foolish, and powerful. And it seems that he has inherited the same bad attitude as his father.”

  The members around the table all let out a sigh.

  “So, what? Should we just go over there and teach him a lesson? Get him to stop, before it blows over to a full-on war?” Esther asks.

  Raymond shakes his head. “No. He’s too well-guarded and we’re too conspicuous for the direct approach to work. The one thing he did inherit is his father’s paranoia.”

  Sasha lets out a chuckle. “Well, we did get him in the end. It’s not paranoia if people are actually out to get you.”

  “Either way, we can’t take the fight to him, like we did last time.”

  “So… What should we do?” Alduin asks, as he settles down on the ground, letting the chair settle next to him. He sits in it and leans his arms against the table, serious for the first time since arriving.

  “I don’t know,” Raymond replies, “But we’re going to figure it out. Together.”