The suffocating heartbreak was almost fresh in his mind. It had been more than ten years, but he remembered.

  He remembered.

  A trembling breath escaped his lips as his heart tore in his chest. Prince Arunsha, the promising second prince of the empire who wanted to become a general, tragically, and unexpectedly, lost his life in a riding accident. But how could a boy who was practically born to ride a horse suddenly fall off and break his neck?

  He’d thought it was a joke. A terrible, disgusting joke, but his aunt had rushed out, telling him to stay behind with his mother and Ash while she checked. Henry couldn’t sit still and ran after her.

  Dozens of men, soldiers, grooms, various retainers and attendants, were standing over one of the imperial doctors and the fallen figure of a ten-year-old boy in the riding uniform he was preparing to wear the next day, for a parade.

  Henry remembered the heart wrenching wails of his second brother’s mother as he and his aunt pushed through the bystanders to find Arunsha with his deep blue eyes wide open, glassy and empty, and his head tilted at an unnatural angle. His neat auburn hair had been matted with dirt and grass.

  “You killed him! You killed him!” Arunsha’s mother had screamed at the stable hands and attendants, her beautiful face red and covered with tears. Her dark eyes then fixed themselves on him and his aunt, and seemed to lose all strength. She lost the demeanor of an imperial wife and begged his aunt. “Sister! Sister, they killed him! They killed our Shasha!”

  Nera had gathered both the mother and the dead son in her arms, rocking and cradling them. Henry remembered how cold the air had been despite the sun blaring down on them.

  “Who brought him this horse?” Nera’s voice, which had usually been gentle and warm, had lowered. Henry hadn’t done anything wrong, but he had still shuddered. That was not the voice of the aunt who loved him.

  The next thing Henry remembered was blood.

  A lot of blood.

  No one had moved, and no one had seemed to realize or even noticed that his aunt had stood up, relieved a guard of his sword, and removed the hands of two horse grooms, cut the tendons of the stable master, and impaled an attendant who's back had been turned to them.

  There were birds chirping away that day. They circled overhead, and their noises were almost drowned out by his second brother’s mother’s sobbing, but Henry remembered. He’d figured out later that they must have been telling his aunt what happened and who was to blame.

  After all, Arunsha could get on a horse blindfolded, and he and his horse were of the same mind. Everyone praised him for his riding ability. Why was his horse suddenly ill? So ill that the stablemaster had to all but force Arunsha to ride a horse he wasn’t familiar with to practice for the parade. A horse that had recently been added and had yet to be properly trained.

  It was too suspicious and his aunt, in her anguish and fury, made a judgment.

  Several people had been punished before the Emperor had been notified.

  Somehow, his aunt was never punished for taking matters into her own hands, but she had been brought in to speak to the Emperor.

  When she returned, she went to mourn with Arunsha’s mother and the other wives, but when she came back to her villa, she put Ash to bed and took him aside.

  “We can’t get to him now,” his aunt had told him. Her eyes were red and her voice trembled. He wasn’t sure if it was sadness or rage. Perhaps it had been both.

  Henry knew then that the accident hadn’t been an accident. “Who caused it, Auntie? Tell me. Arunsha is my brother. I am his eldest brother. I must avenge him.”

  His aunt had looked at him in silence. She seemed to be thinking it over and trying to decide whether to tell him, a then twelve-year-old boy. Since she had arrived, she had done her best to teach him, to strengthen him, and give him wisdom.

  She did not want to mislead him and fill his heart with anger at an early age, possibly clouding his future judgment. At the time, he was still considered the eldest son and was first in line for the throne. Much was expected of him.

  But what had happened with Arunsha seemed to remind them all that they could not get too comfortable. Nothing was secure: not his position, not even his life. So, Nera told him.

  Then, Nera restrained him, as the enemy was too strong. He was still a child. He had the backing of members of the court and nobility, but the key figure was his father, and it was clear he could not be trusted.

  During the mourning prayers, a rumor went around that the bastard who’d appeared a year earlier had been bitten by a snake and was so feverish, he could not leave his bed. Many people had thought he was faking to avoid going to the prayers, but Henry knew his aunt had a hand in it.

  However, the bastard was still alive.

  And now, somehow, Arunsha’s blue jade basin had been removed from his tomb.

  Henry let out a bitter, resentful laugh as the memories of the past faded around him and he was bought back to the present. Could they not leave the dead alone? Could they not let his brother rest in peace?

  In the dim light, his eyes looked past the stone platform, over the cloaked figures, and to the young man still half hidden under an old, off-white bedsheet. Ash’s eyes were staring at him behind his glasses, expectant.

  Henry was the eldest of the brothers, but Ash was the youngest.

  He was loved by his brothers. When Ash was told that his second brother was dead, he couldn’t seem to fathom it.

  “But Second Brother was going to teach me to ride,” Ash had said. “He promised.”

  Henry met Ash’s eyes with his wet ones. He didn’t know what other expression he had on his face, only that Ash’s eyes went wide, and he lifted his hand to his chest, pressing hard over his heart as if to keep it from shattering again. Ash shook his head, not wanting to believe in Henry’s findings, but Henry lifted his hands and extended seven fingers.

  That was enough of a confirmation.

  The back of the wagon cage exploded, sending the wooden half into the air in broken planks and splinters. The metal was bent in all directions as Ash tore off the bedsheet and stepped down like a vengeful god descending from his throne.

  The magic energy around him was unfettered, making the air suffocating. Henry’s heart jumped to his throat. Ash’s unbridled magic energy was enough to suppress non-mages and those without any magic energy in place, but he could make it stronger.

  The explosion brought the attention of everyone around them, from the cloaked procession figures to the patrols, to the prisoners and that lady. Everyone turned in his direction, but several people only took a step forward before they were held back; their bodies were so heavy, they couldn’t move.

  Henry took a deep breath. The air was almost suffocating, even for him, and he was a summoner.

  Ash crossed the space between the prison wagon and the platform as if in a daze. No one stopped him, but everyone was watching with confusion and fear. Few had ever encountered such a force that almost forbade them from breathing.

  Ash walked onto the platform and knelt. He lifted a hand with a light slip to illuminate the side of the blue jade basin. His eyes became red and filled with tears. One shaking hand rose and hovered over the side before his fingertips brushed against the seven scraped lines.

  “What is it doing here?” he asked, his voice so painful, it stabbed Henry. “Brother, why is it here?”

  Henry shook his head, unable to answer him. “I don’t know,” he said. He clenched his hands at his side and took a deep breath. He raised his eyes and looked at the woman in the fine pale blue dress with impressive beadwork along the hems. Though she wore a cloak like the others, hers was made of finder materials and she had her hood down, exposing her face and elegantly styled hair, and the cloak dangled behind her like a cape, as if she wanted everyone to see her dress. He knew at once that she was the person in control. “But I can find out.”

  He stalked forward, his motions smooth and calculated, and his eyes fixed on the woman. As he approached, he could see her muscles tense as she tried to lean back and put distance between them. Her pupils shrank and sweat glistened on her forehead against the torch light.

  Ash turned his head and took a deep breath. He shut his eyes, his hands clenched as he tried to calm himself. Henry felt the air thin out, allowing for a few people to move, though not without difficulty.

  The woman in the dress took a heavy step back and opened and closed her mouth, as if gasping for breath. “Who-”

  “Where did you get that blue jade basin?” Henry asked. His steady voice was unnerving. He didn’t stop until he was looming just above the woman, their faces less than an arm’s length apart. The woman’s breath trembled, and she shook her head.

  “I...I didn’t-”

  “Where did you get it.” Crackling was heard and the woman’s terrified face looked down and she jumped back, but the frost collecting around her feet and the hem of her dress pulled her back.

  “What are you doing? Let me go!” She yelled and looked past Henry, towards the cloaked figures. “Do something! Stop him!”

  “Don’t bother,” Ash’s voice came from the platform. He was kneeling on the ground, unraveling a sheet. The air grew heavier once more. “They can suffocate.”

  “Control your anger. Think about what Auntie told you.” Henry didn’t look at his brother as he spoke in Lunapsar. Ash was too emotional, and he didn’t want him to lose control and do something he didn’t want to. “We don’t know the extent of what they’ve done wrong, but it's not worth suffocating to death under your energy. Be rational. This is not our home; we can only interfere in matters regarding us.”

  There was a long pause before a resigned “Fine.”

  A moment later, a collective breath was released. The air returned to normal. A few people fell to their knees, panting and choking for air. Ash’s unrestrained energy was heavy enough to stun those without magic and keep them from making sudden moves, but it took conscious effort for Ash to flood the area with enough magic that it made breathing impossible.

  Ash would not admit it, but Henry knew it required a lot of magic energy. The larger the space, the more energy exerted. Ash had a lot, but overexerting himself in sudden bursts would momentarily drain him. He also wanted Ash to be rational about the ordeal.

  They’d played along to avoid injuring innocent bystanders and avoid causing a scene, as they didn’t want too much trouble. Trouble meant unwanted attention and wasting time. Injuring and ending the people around them now would cause an investigation that they didn’t have the time to deal with.

  It was best to deal with only the matters that concerned them.

  “I will ask you again and you will answer, or we will let you watch, one by one, as your people asphyxiate before you, so answer me,” Henry said once more. Sure, he didn’t want Ash to kill anyone, but he wasn’t above using it as a threat. “Where did you get that blue jade basin?”

  “The auction house at Xiu!”

  A shadow fell over Henry’s face once more. “Xiu?” Xiu was a Merchant City and as such, it had regulations on what could be traded. Stolen artifacts and other goods were prohibited. Antiquities that passed through had to be authenticated and certified. “You are telling me that the Xiu Auction Hall put up a stolen basin for auction?” A Federation auction house could lose its legal standing if there was a serious violation.

  His voice rose with each word, and with each word, the woman shrank further down. “It wasn’t the Xiu Auction Hall! It was a private home auction!”

  This wasn’t getting him anywhere. “Whose private home auction?”

  “I don’t know! I received an invitation, and several other lords and ladies of the area were going, so I went, too!” The woman stammered and seemed to want to fall, but her body was locked in place. “It was a mansion outside the city! There were a lot of items for sale!”

  “What kind of items?”

  “I don’t know! Some jewelry, housewares - items from Ashtar that aren’t traded out! That’s what the auction master told us, I swear, that’s all I know!” the woman cried out. “I didn’t know it was stolen! I didn’t!”

  Henry’s chest rose and fell with deep breaths as he tried to remain calm. “Where did the auction get those items?”

  “I don’t know! I swear, I don’t!” He saw the woman’s frantic eyes dart to the side, just past his shoulder. For a moment, he saw relief and a bit of smugness in her eyes.

  Henry took a step to the side just as a low whistle cut through the air. A dull sound was heard before dark liquid began to spread across the woman’s left shoulder.

  Her scream filled the air as she fell back with one arm waving in the air around the short arrow that had pierced the very corner of her shoulder. Behind him, Henry heard someone groan and then another thud.

  He saw a white slip glowing between him and a fallen man with a small crossbow still clutched in his hand. He narrowed his eyes.

  “You said you are a lady of this land,” he said, turning his attention back to the woman. “Princess Licue of the Principality of Ji’Kerra.” Unlike the larger kingdoms, the principalities of the region only controlled cities and the surrounding countryside. They were like noble landowners in Dareisol and Ashtar, but the rulers of the principalities had absolute authority.

  The identified woman was clutching the base of the arrow against her shoulder, grimacing, and looked up at Henry as if he’d said something nightmarish. “Who are you?”

  “It doesn’t matter who I am,” Henry said. “I didn’t plan to, or want to, get involved with whatever this is.” Henry made a vague motion to the area people around them. Though he’d just been shot at, he didn’t pay attention to everyone else.

  Ash was there and his spirits were now on alert and ordered to attack in defense.

  “Is this a cult?” Ash began folding up the space sheet into a tiny square. The blue jade basin was gone.

  The Princess noticed, but didn’t seem to care about a missing basin when she was wounded and cornered by Henry.

  “Why did you take us from our room? Did that old lady sell us to you?” Henry asked. He was also angry at the old lady for setting them up, but he’d deal with her later. Since she would sell out two strangers for her precious son, her son could pay the price.

  “Her son was a drunkard who molested several young women in town. He was arrested and was sent to the mines, but his parents only have one child, so they said they would find two other men to replace him! I agreed, but I wasn’t going to send you two to the mines!”

  Henry cast her a doubtful look. Simir had swept through and noticed that they were just outside the entrance of said mine. It was hardly a coincidence that they were brought there.

  “Then why did you bring us to the mine?” Henry pointed in the direction Simir said, and the woman shrank back further, her eyes wide and stunned. She was confused at how he knew. She’d never seen them before, so they weren’t locals.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  “We were bringing the prisoners to the mine; it just so happens that you were taken with them!”

  Henry raised an angry brow. “In what way are my brother and I criminals you can imprison? Have we broken any of your laws? Have we harassed your citizens!”

  “No! Of course, not! It was all a mistake! A...a miscommunication! I never said you were criminals!”

  He grit his teeth and his voice lowered. “How many people have been kidnapped by your citizens in order to get one of their family members back from the mines?”

  The woman hesitated. Henry’s frown deepened. It seemed he needed to write a strongly worded letter.

  “Another question.” Ash approached them, his eyes were still red but anger all over his face. He raised his arm and pointed to the stone platform and the slanted table. “What is that for?”

  “Sirs! Sirs! This is the custom of our land!” The tall, burly woman who had aided them in the forest held up her arms to show she was unarmed and took a step forward. “Once a month, the worst offender will be executed for their crimes in front of the prisoners before they are sent to the mines.”

  It was an example to keep the prisoners in line. This wasn’t anything shocking. Plenty of places did that. However, that didn’t explain the cloaks and the night procession through the city.

  “Does the city have a curfew because prisoners are transported at night?” Henry asked.

  The burly woman shook her head. “No, sir. It is for the safety of our people. Before her ladyship came into power, during the reign of her brother, he paid no attention to drunkards and vandals in the city at night. Innocent people, including women, who were caught outdoors at night were often harassed.

  “Once our lady took control, pubs and gambling halls were closed. There were many protests and many people became violent, so we, her private guard, stepped in as peace officers and arrested those who resisted. We’ve expanded our patrols outside the city, into the countryside of the principality.”

  “The procession is to instill fear.” The Princess didn’t hesitate to admit it. For a moment, there was a serious, knowing look on her face that showed she understood her position in the scheme of things. “No one took me seriously, and my warnings were falling on deaf ears. Most of my patrols are women, but they were laughed at. Those who were unruly refused to listen to them and acted out as usual, as if we are not an authority, so we devised the procession to instill fear and control the city.”

  Ash narrowed his eyes. “It looks like a cult.”

  “It’s not a cult!” The woman lifted her head to look at him.

  “I’d call it martial law of it wasn’t this unnecessarily convoluted!” Ash spat out with disgust. “Who isn’t disturbed by seeing rows of black cloaked figures marching up the street at night carrying torches? You don’t think this isn’t the least bit unnerving? People are going to think there is some man-eat, criminal sect!”

  “It is a temporary measure! We have already extended the curfew to the moment the sun has set. When we started, the curfew was an hour before sunset. We’ve notified our citizens of this for peace of mind.”

  “The plan has always been to gradually remove the curfew, sirs. As for the mines, they have been used as punishment since the city’s founding,” the burly woman added. “Our region is famous for its rock salt that is sold abroad.”

  “Sirs.” The Princess managed to sit up on her knees and face them, still grasping her injured shoulder. “I swear to you, the executions are for the most capital of crimes. They are only performed when there is a criminal who has met the requirements. Otherwise, criminals will be whipped as a warning or are sent to the mines for varying periods, depending on the crime committed.”

  “And the kidnappings?” Henry asked.

  “Citizens were told they could bail a low-offending criminal if they reported two in their place. We…we didn’t foresee them reporting visitors.”

  Henry took another deep breath and released it. “Once they are reported, are they investigated?”

  “First they are detained and then investigated,” the Princess told them. The brothers stared at her, dumbfounded that such a ‘deal’ would even be allowed. It honestly hurt to think about.

  “Fine. But why the basin?” Ash asked in a low voice. “I checked that table; there are grooves for drainage. How do you execute a criminal?”

  “Beheading. The head and blood fall into the basin-”

  “You tainted the basin with blood!” Ash shouted in fury and several people, including the woman, shook their heads. Henry felt the surge of magic energy around them and clamped his hand on Ash’s shoulder to calm him.

  “No, no, sirs! The basin is new! I only received it last week from the auction house. Tonight was going to be the first night it was used. I swear to you! I only thought of using it to make the execution appear more sacrificial and scare the prisoners!”

  Henry’s jaw remained clenched. He glanced towards his brother. “Check it.”

  Ash shot the women a glare and went back to the platform. He laid out the storage sheet, reached in to carry out the basin, and then moved a slip over it. He touched the interior of the basin and lowered his head to smell.

  When he sat up, he looked back at Henry. “It’s clean.”

  Henry let out a low breath of relief, as did the women cowering in front of him. “This is your land, and we are only visitors. Naturally, we do not have a say in how it is governed, but we will be reporting Ji’Kerra for unlawful detention of foreigners. If anyone else has been captured and traded by your citizens, the other principalities and the Federation of Merchant Cities will not let you go for doing this to their people.”

  The woman’s colorless face was dripping with sweat as she nodded and bowed her head. “Yes, sir!”

  “We will leave in the morning. No one is to disturb us.”

  The woman, still clutching her arm, bowed her head in silence. Henry walked around her, and Ash followed. They walked through the numerous cloaked people without a word. As they reached the road, leaving everyone else behind, Henry ordered Simir to give one more show of force.

  The flames of the torches roared as they seemed to explode into a burst of flames, flying into the sky and raising the temperature of the area. There were gasps and yells behind them, but the brothers kept walking.

  “Do you believe them?” Ash asked.

  “Do you?”

  “I think she might have gotten carried away, but I believe the initial explanation of how they got to this point,” Ash replied. “If her brother was a frivolous ruler who ignored all the problems in his lands, such a thing would be expected by the people when his sister took over. Resistance to her changes is expected, the more drastic the change, the stronger the resistance. It’s still unnerving, but I can see why she created some pageantry to assert her authority.” He frowned. “But that doesn’t excuse being kidnapped.”

  “Spreading the news of what happened will steer people away from the city, make trade organizations hesitant to trade with and within Ji’Kerra, and put some damage towards her reputation as a ruler in the area,” Henry replied. “Good intentions, questionable execution.”

  “We’re not going to let that old lady go, are we?” Ash frowned and glared ahead of them. “I was wondering why she seemed so excited to have us, but didn’t even leave us any food.”

  “She and her husband are old,” Henry sighed. “It would be barbaric to hurt the elderly.”

  Ash nodded. “So, what limb will their son be losing?”

  “He can keep them, he just won’t be able to use them well the rest of his life,” Henry replied calmly. “Does that sound fair?”

  “That’s fair.”

  No one bothered them when they returned to the city, but the gate they had come out through was closed. In order not to wake part of the city by making a commotion at the gate, the brothers simply waited in the forest until dawn.

  Once the gates opened, they walked through and first picked up their horses.

  As if nothing strange had happened the night before, the two also stopped by bakeries and markets to pick up more food for their journey. As they shopped, they chatted with the locals and were relieved to find that despite how dire the situation appeared the night before, everyone was aware of it and supported the extreme measures.

  That only meant that it must’ve been much worse before. They could only hope that the original plan to push back and eventually get rid of the curfew, as well as the unnerving option to turn in people in exchange for others, would happen. Sooner or later, if the experience the night before hadn’t done so already, such a policy would backfire.

  Then, they went back to the rental cottage.

  Better people would just let it go, but they were not better people.

  They tied their horses to the side and walked to the front door. Henry raised his hand to knock twice.

  There were muffled footsteps and low whispers coming behind the door. The two brothers exchanged knowing looks. For good reason, the owners didn’t open the door.

  Unfortunately for them, Henry and Ash did not have patience.

  Ash picked open the lock and the door swung open.

  An old lady’s voice rang out. “Run!”

  Across the house, down the ground floor hallway, they saw a tall, thin man fumbling with the back door. Good luck to him, Naali’s frozen it shut.

  “Stay away from us!” A raspy old voice came from their left and Henry raised an arm. The wooden broom landed on his fleshy palm, and he grabbed on to it. Without looking at the old man who had been waiting behind the door to attack them, Henry pulled the broom forward and threw it to the side.

  The old man’s grip was tight, and he went with the broom. He let out a gurgled cry before tumbling to the ground in front of them. Henry stepped over his wrinkled body, his eyes on the man trying to leave, but frozen in place.

  Naali had iced his legs, from the calves down, to the floor.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Ash asked with a cold smile. “Didn’t they say not to cause any more problems, or it’ll be back to the mines?”

  The old lady standing in the back was pale and trembling all over. She seemed to gather all her strength and rush in front of the brothers. She threw out her arms. “Stop! I was the one who offered you to the patrol! Leave my son alone! He’s innocent!”

  “Lady, if he were innocent, he wouldn’t have been sent to the mines in the first place,” Ash replied with a sneer.

  “Mother! Mother, help me!” Her son cried out as he tried pounding at the ice around his legs with his fists. “I can’t get out!”

  She turned around to look at her desperate son, but before she could decide whether to go to him or continue shielding him, Henry walked past her.

  “Don’t worry,” he said as he approached the other man. “We’re not going to hurt your parents.”

  “Get away from me! Stop right there!” The man shouted as he raised his arms to cover his head.

  Henry reached into his bag and pulled out a sword. The old woman screamed from behind him and the old man’s pleading voice filled the air. Ash held out his arm to stop the old woman from rushing forward.

  “Young Masters! Forgive us! Forgive us! We didn’t mean to harm you! We only wanted to free our son! He is the only son we have!”

  “So, because he is your only son, it’s fine to sacrifice another parent’s son? Two of them?” Ash scowled. “Do you know how hard our mother worked to keep us alive?”

  “I’m sure she can understand your worry,” Henry said as he weighed the sword in his hand. “She would do almost anything for her children, too.” He stood beside the other man and adjusted his grip on the sword. “But she wouldn’t sacrifice innocent people so wantonly.”

  He swung the sword, and the old woman shrieked. Behind them, the old man collapsed and seemed to pass out on the floor.

  Ash gave them both a frown. “Your son still has legs. They’re just broken. He used the flat of the blade. Calm down.”

  “Ah!” Another scream filled the air after Henry stepped around the man and broke his other leg. The ice around his calves and feet melted away, sending the man crumbling to the ground.

  “My son!”

  “One leg for each of us that was wronged,” Ash said, sounding perky and satisfied. “We’re fair people.”

  “I think we’re done here,” Henry said, returning the sword to his bag. He turned around, ignoring the wailing man curled up on the ground. He sent the old woman a sharp look. “I don’t recommend trying to report us to the head of the principality. She already knows what we’re capable of.”

  The old woman sank to the ground, shivering.

  The two brothers walked over the unconscious old man, and Ash politely closed the door on their way out.

  ﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

  Ash’s energetic attitude towards the journey waned after they found the blue jade basin. Henry didn’t blame him or point it out, which Ash was thankful for. He only tried to keep Ash distracted to avoid wallowing in his grief. Regardless of his efforts, Ash knew he was unnaturally quiet as of late.

  He couldn’t rid himself of the fear that since Second Brother’s tomb had been raided, then so had Third Brother’s. The two were right next to each other.

  The more he thought about it, the more dubious he became.

  Both were buried in the Imperial Necropolis, which was a well manured hillside that was heavily guarded because of what was buried there along with dead members of the imperial family. Maintenance and care of the Imperial Necropolis was also covered by a branch of the Imperial Household, ensuring that each would be routinely checked to avoid falling into disrepair.

  Surely, if the tomb had been raided, there would be evidence, right? Broken walls, damaged tiles, or loosened brick.

  And how did the guards allow tomb raiders into the Imperial Necropolis to begin with?

  Everything was too strange.

  They sent one of the ravens home to inform his mother. While they didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news, they needed to tell his mother about the blue jade basin and what finding it outside, on another continent, could mean.

  If an imperial child died, their mothers were allowed to come to the Imperial Necropolis to say prayers and give offerings to the dead. They were allowed to clean the tombs themselves, but only the tombs of their child for fear that another grave could be desecrated by those with hate in their hearts. Even siblings were restricted from doing more than offerings and prayers.

  Third Brother’s mother was still alive, but Second Brother’s mother was not. Second Brother’s mother died shortly after Second Brother. There was no one in the imperial family who could care for his tomb.

  There was a large chance that no one noticed Second Brother’s tomb had been raided.

  “Eat.” Henry put another piece of meat onto his plate and Ash snapped out of his distracted trance for a moment. “They would be upset if you don’t eat.”

  Ash’s eyes became moist. ‘They’ being their dead brothers. Since Ash tended to get lost in his work since he was a child, and then missed a meal, his siblings took it upon themselves to make sure he was fed.

  For a household with multiple wives, the Court of Imperial Wives was peaceful.

  What should’ve been a volatile, intensely competitive court was a unified power within the Imperial Household. While there was no empress, authority went with seniority and those who had children. They treated their positions as a job.

  Emotional attachments to the Emperor were discouraged, as it would cause problems with an unnecessary fight for affection. If a wife and a child wanted to live a comfortable life, then that was how they treated their situation: a job they were expected to do.

  All children were given the best food, education, and clothing. When a wife was pregnant, it was a communal effort to care for the pregnant wife. It wasn’t as if the Emperor, who was obsessed with a long gone wife, was of any help. All the Court of Imperial Wives had was themselves to depend on behind palace walls.

  As a result, all seven imperial children born there; his three older brothers, his older sister, him, and their twin baby sisters, were very close. Wives always cared for each other’s children with the firm belief that for Ashtar to function well and peacefully, the children needed to trust each other and work as a cohesive unit leveraging their individual strengths.

  It was easy to enforce with women like his and Henry’s mothers.

  Ash’s mother taught Henry martial arts, but also personally trained Second Brother in horseback and horseback archery, so Second Brother was close to his mother. It was his mother who nicknamed him Shasha. Ash wasn’t surprised that his mother had punished those involved with his accident immediately, without waiting for judgment from the Emperor.

  He could only imagine how his mother would feel when she received the news that Second Brother’s tomb was likely raided.

  “There is only one person who’d have the audacity to rob a prince’s tomb,” Henry said across from him, still eating his dinner. They were a day’s travel from Uqi’ichu and the two had traveled much more cautiously since Ji’Kerra. They opted to avoid as many people as possible to avoid being drawn into another local problem or mystery, as if they were protagonists in one of Hana’s novels.

  It was back to camping outside for the night. They weren’t strangers to hiding outdoors, after all. Their comfortable lives now hadn’t softened them. Ash’s use of magic to create a protective barrier to hide and protect them from the elements had improved from the leaves he’d used when he was a child to create a barrier to hide behind.

  They ate the food packed with them most days and only stopped in cities and towns while there was still daylight to stock up and eat something different. That was why they were having their dinner in the afternoon.

  “Momma will send some birds to look over the tombs,” Ash replied. Part of him was annoyed that he was no longer as lively when it had been his idea to accept the Guild request and go on the journey. At the very least, they’d discovered the basin. Ash ate the piece of meat Henry put on his plate. “Both his and Third Brother’s.”

  Henry lowered his eyes. “They were buried next to each other at the Imperial Necropolis. If Arunsha’s tomb was raided, it’s possible that Laheran’s was, too.”

  Ash’s breath caught in his throat as his voice tightened. “Is this some sort of divine punishment because we found someone else’s tomb and disrupted its peace?”

  Henry wore a wry smile and shook his head.

  “For all our good intentions to preserve what they left behind, we are not completely different from regular tomb raiders. However, I will stand by the notion that intent matters. Most items are preserved, the bodies remain in their resting places, and the names of the dead are remembered again, which is the most important part.”

  In both Iverian continents, remembrance of the dead was extremely important. When the dead were forgotten by the living, the dead would be weak in the afterlife. The more people who remembered them, the better. That was why so many powerful individuals went out of their way to do deeds to be remembered.

  Ash nodded, resigned. “That’s true.”

  “If the dead are still angry when I die, I will face them and show them what retribution really is.” He looked back at his brother and gave him a sad smile. “Ours was not an act of malice, but Arunsha’s stolen basin is. Once Auntie gets our message, she will move all the creatures on earth to find out who did this.”

  That was the only thing comforting Ash. His mother would not let the guilty party go.

  He narrowed his eyes. “What if it’s them?” he asked his brother.

  He didn’t say who ‘them’ was, but Henry knew. His brother’s eyes darkened. “They weren’t going to live too long, anyway.” It sounded as if Henry already blamed them.

  Ash nodded. They were still preparing their revenge. It was why Henry hadn’t gone any further with his relationship with Young Miss Arelias despite clear feelings on both sides. Henry didn’t want to drag her into danger. He had things to settle.

  Ash narrowed his eyes. “I need to work harder.”

  His brother raised a brow, somewhat amused at his unprompted determination. Henry took the last piece of meat from his plate and put it in Ash’s. “We can reminisce about the past and worry about the future later. For now, let’s focus on completing the present.”

  Ash let out a small grunt and ate the last of his food. They got to pay and then left the restaurant. The sun was still up, but within the hour, they would need to be out of the town and find a place to camp for the night.

  Ash began untying the reins of his horse that was tied to a post just outside the door while Henry tipped an attendant.

  The doors to the store next door flew open with a bang. The two brothers and the attendant helping them jumped and looked towards the door.

  A man had been thrown out by the store owner, who remained looming over the doorway with a scowl.

  “If you think my products are inferior, you are welcome to shop somewhere else! No need to insult my work!”

  Not to accept the store owner’s words, the man who had tumbled to the ground hastily pushed himself up. He didn’t’ bother to dust off his clothes or fix is tousled hair. He glared at the store owner and pointed a finger at him.

  “You claim your magic products are second to none in the area, but you have nothing but the most basic items you’re reselling from the Magic Tower!” the man shouted back. He lifted his chin defiantly. “They’re not even your products!”

  “I am a licensed distributor!” The store owner shouted back.

  Henry and Ash exchanged looks and lowered their eyes, continuing to untie their horses, as if they didn’t see or hear anything.

  “You don’t even sell the high rated items! What heat dissipating crystal? What flame resistant shield? Those items wouldn’t last a minute in the volcanic valley, let alone against fire dragons!”

  Just as the two brothers turned their backs on the ranting man, they heard his ranting and stopped.

  Ash’s eyes crinkled up. “You think that’s him?”

  Henry took a deep breath. “It can’t be. He should be waiting for us in Uqi’ichu. He was notified by the Guild that you would be arriving soon.”

  Ash nodded. That was a reasonable assumption. They took another step forward as the yelling continued.

  “How am I supposed to get a fire dragon scale with your inferior products!”

  “Get out of my store!”

  “I am out of your store!”

  Ash pursed his lips and as his brother. Henry’s dull eyes looked forward, appearing somewhat defeated.

  “All right, that’s probably him.”

  Profit Friendship