Instinct was such an interesting thing. At least, those who dabbled in the study of the body and of the mind would claim so. It was the part of the being that sought to protect them. However, it was not all right. Sometimes, in its attempt to protect you, it could also deviate from your initial plans.

  Anyone who knew half of anything would also know that at its simplest core, instinct was merely an involuntary need to perform habitual actions.

  Aiden found himself fighting against his instinct to ask Ted how he knew what a Time Mage was and just how much the demon inside the cave had told him. If it had told him about Time Mages to begin with.

  Calm down, he told himself, seeing the slight annoyance in Ted’s eyes.

  Ted’s grip on his shirt tightened, his eyes hardened. “I’m waiting, Aida.”

  It would do no good if the both of them were on edge at the same time. Right now, Aiden had to be the cold to his brother’s hot.

  Initially, he wanted to say that he didn’t know what a Time Mage was. But the stupidity of it when he thought about the fact that he wanted to tell Ted everything was not lost to him.

  “Teddy,” he said very slowly.

  “Don’t you ‘Teddy’ me,” his brother snapped.

  Brotherly irritation flared up within Aiden and he slapped Ted’s hand from his shirt. “And don’t you ‘Aida’ me,” he snapped back.

  According to their parents, his brother had only started calling him Aida as a reaction to Aiden calling him Teddy as an infant. Then their parents had all but picked both nicknames up. Then, as time had gone by, they’d each come to mutually dislike the nicknames because of how feminine they’d sounded.

  Most times, Aiden had a feeling that it was less about it being feminine and more about how they had somehow simply come to use the name in mocking situations over the years. There was a brotherly thing about hating a nickname that wasn’t really that bad when it was your brother that gave it to you.

  Ted stared at Aiden as both of them stood apart. Looking back once more, Aiden reconfirmed that no creature had followed them deeper into the forest. Sure of it, he confirmed that Valdan was not close by, next. Peering into the darkness, he saw nothing. For the sake of certainty, he weaved an enchantment unto himself.

  [You have used Class skill Enchanted Weave]

  …

  [You have used Weave of Lesser Perception]

  The world around him grew into focus. It was akin to switching resolutions from high definition to something higher, Quad high definition, perhaps. The leaves were not brighter in the darkness, but they were sharper, a bit clearer to point out. Seeing things moving between them would be easier.

  As his senses sharpened, he heard nothing. There was no sign of life close to them. The smell of the leaves and the trees filled his nostrils. Along with them came the acrid smell of dried blood. The suddenness of it was so strong that he almost reeled away from himself.

  “Aiden.”

  Ted’s voice arrested him, snapping him back to his less than appeased brother.

  “Are you,” Ted said again, biting out the words yet enunciating each one for emphasis, “the Time Mage?”

  “Not a Time Mage,” Aiden said, shaking his head.

  “That’s not what I asked.” Ted took a step closer, entering Aiden’s space. He was a few inches taller.

  Most brothers Aiden knew usually had the younger brother proving to be taller than the older. Sometimes when Ted unconsciously tried to intimidate him like this, he wondered why they were not like most brothers he knew.

  “What I asked,” Ted repeated, “was if you are the Time Mage.”

  So it wasn’t a fluke, Aiden noted.

  Ted was talking about a specific Time Mage. If that was the case, then he was probably looking for the [Sage]. The [Sage] was the Time Mage, which made him the Space Mage.

  “I’m not the Time Mage,” Aiden answered, keeping his ears open for any sudden guests. “I would need [Mana Mastery] to pull of any form of time magic, which I do not have, remember?”

  His answer seemed to appease Ted because the tension in the air seemed to snap like a cut wire as Ted let out a sigh of relief.

  “Well, who knows what you’ve been up to these past few weeks,” Ted said light heartedly. “Brandis said you’ve grown stronger and that was before me and the gang came here.”

  Aiden cocked a brow in surprise. “Brandis?”

  His brother wasn’t supposed to start referring to the king by his given name until a few months had gone by.

  Ted shrugged. “It’s his name, is it not?”

  “Most people would add 'king' to the name,” Aiden pointed out.

  Ted scoffed. “Please, like you ever added principal when you were speaking about Dennis back home.”

  Principal Dennis had been their principal in high school.

  Aiden, however, took the moment to point out how very wrong the comparison was. “Dennis was a principal while Brandis is a king. One rules a kingdom with countless schools while the other rules a school with limited grades.”

  Ted nodded. “True.”

  Aiden looked behind them out of habit once more before turning and making his way deeper into the trees.

  “Come on,” he said as he walked. “We’ve got to move.”

  Ted looked from him to the path they’d come from in startled confusion. “We aren’t being chased by the demon, though.”

  “It could decide to take a renewed interest in us,” Aiden replied, stopping to look back at his brother. With his [Weave of Lesser Perception] still active, his brother stood out very clearly in the darkness.

  His brother was so clear that Aiden picked out the raised brow from over four steps away.

  “The demon isn’t following,” Ted said with childlike certainty. “And you know that. Which means that you’re not running from the demon. If anything, from what I’m getting from my familiar, you practically left the knight you came with behind. Did you do something wrong?”

  “Ted…”

  Ted shook his head. “I heard that you and the knight have developed quite the friendship. So, are we running from the knight or the kingdom? What? Don’t look at me like that. If I’m running, I at least have to know why and from who?”

  You wanted to take Valdan, Aiden told himself.

  I wanted to try. The correction came almost immediately.

  But he knew that leaving right now in this window of opportunity would not be trying. Trying meant giving Valdan the opportunity to choose whether he wanted to follow or not. That also meant giving the man the opportunity to try and stop him, not that Aiden believed that the knight would find much success in the endeavor.

  Ted smiled knowingly. “Remember that time that you pretended you didn’t like the archer action figure when you were nine?”

  “How could I forget?” Aiden muttered. “You were more than happy to take it off my hands.”

  “That’s because I wanted it.” Ted folded his arms as if planting himself to the spot like a tree. “You knew I wanted it but didn’t want to seem like you were being kind and handing it over to me, so you pretended to hate it.”

  Aiden knew that already. Growing up he didn’t like to offer direct acts of kindness to Ted or in the presence of his parents. It was his belief that if people believed that he was kind then they would hold him to the standard of kindness. Being held to a standard meant that the same standard would always be expected of you.

  He wasn’t going to be the brother that his parents expected to be good, even if it had inevitably still turned out that way. Ted was the wild card, and he had been the responsible child.

  Even after Tasha.

  “Why are we reminiscing, Ted?” he asked, impatient. In one corner of his mind, he wondered how he would get Ted to move before Valdan found them.

  “We are talking about it because you always like being cowardly about certain things,” Ted said. “You don’t want to leave the knight behind. I can tell that much. I don’t know the why of things, but I know that you want to disappear because you don’t want to have whatever conversation that you feel you should have with the knight.”

  “Valdan,” Aiden said simply. “His name is Valdan.”

  “Really?” Ted gave him a flat look. “You’re scolding me for not knowing your friend’s name? You never change.”

  Ted could not be farther from the truth. Aiden had changed a lot. Eleven years did a lot to a person. So did a secret organization of spies and warriors.

  “I’ve changed a lot,” Aiden said. “Believe me.”

  Ted’s lips split in a knowing grin as if he’d just won an argument. “Which means you know about the Time Mage. How far back were we sent?”

  Ted’s eyes glowed a gentle blue and he frowned as his head turned in the general direction of the cave.

  Knowing about his brother’s link to his summoned creatures, Aiden asked, “What’s happening?”

  “Demon’s gone,” Ted answered. “But your knight—Valdan—is almost here. The time, Aiden. How far back did we go? I was advised to make different decisions from the ones I find myself wanting to make to avoid the Mage. It’s tricky because I’ve been finding myself wanting to make decisions since we got to this world, and they’ve been turning out to be good so far. I’d say that I’m not inclined to trust a stranger, but the stranger felt very familiar.”

  If the stranger was the demon, then it meant that the demon and Ted had most likely done more than just talk in his past life. That was worrying.

  “You were also affected by the time magic, weren’t you?” Ted pressed. “And don’t try to deny it. You’ve been aware of it far longer than I have. At first, I thought you were most definitely experiencing the same thing that I was. But you aren’t, right? I’m also sure of it.”

  Aiden frowned. “Ted, let’s talk and walk.”

  Ted’s eyes flashed a slight blue again. Another communication from his summoned familiar. This one seemed to please him, evident in the small smile that touched his lips.

  “Then I remembered what you said when we were still on Earth,” Ted continued. “Well, not exactly what you said, but a quick summary of what you said.”

  Aiden frowned. “Ted.”

  “You knew what was about to happen.” Ted raised three fingers and brought each one down, counting away the seconds. “And you and I are going to have a talk about it in a matter of time. For now, I’ll let it lie.”

  The moment his last finger came down, Valdan burst out of the corner a good distance away from them. Aiden heard the footsteps in the distance before the knight exploded out from behind a tree, head turning back and forth.

  Just like that, Aiden’s twenty-year-old brother had taken over the entire power dynamic between the both of them. Aiden hated it when he did it. Years in the Order and he still allowed Ted to lead the power dynamics between the both of them.

  Ted took his time walking up to Aiden.

  “AIDEN!” Valdan screamed into the night, his head on a swivel as he searched frantically.

  Standing next to Aiden, Ted leaned into him but didn’t allow their bodies to touch. Aiden heard the smile in his brother’s voice when he spoke.

  “I know you’re not really a people person, Aida,” he said. “But while you don’t go out of your way to make friends, you don’t go out of your way to avoid them.”

  Aiden wanted to throttle his brother. But he would be lying if he said he wasn’t grateful for what Ted had done.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “Since we got here,” Ted continued, “you’ve been actively avoiding friends.” He looked at him with a smile. “A lot of friends might not be a good thing, Aida. But friends aren’t a bad thing. Keep the ones you have. And look, he calls you Aiden. God knows none of the knights call me anything but Lord Lacheart. Stuck up dudes all of them.”

  Aiden sighed. There was as much exasperation as there was relief in it.

  “OVER HERE!” Ted bellowed in Valdan’s direction before jumping and waving his hands like someone stranded on an island. “OVER HERE!”

  “Teddy,” Aiden said in a quiet voice when Valdan turned and caught them in his sight.

  “Yes, brother.” Ted was smiling.

  Aiden let out a calming breath. “I hate you.”

  “Love you, too, brother,” Ted replied, laughing. “Love you, too.”

  Now that Valdan had them in his sight, he didn’t seem in much of a hurry anymore. In a more composed visage, he walked through the sea of trees, making his way to them.

  “How did you know?” Aiden couldn’t help but ask as they watched Valdan approach.

  Ted folded his arms over his chest, waiting patiently. “Know what?”

  “That I was making a run for it.”

  “Knight’s have strong hearing, right?”

  Aiden nodded. “Valdan won’t be able to hear us from where he is, though.”

  “Okay, good.” Ted still lowered his voice to almost a whisper.

  “So how did you know?” Aiden repeated.

  “It’s simple. You had that look on your face.”

  Aiden paused. “What look?”

  “The look.”

  It took a moment of thought before Aiden shook his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “You have a look on your face that you make when you want me to join you in doing something drastic, important, but ill-advised as far as I’m concerned, but without asking questions.”

  Aiden frowned. He didn’t remember having a look that implied anything like that.

  “In this case,” Ted continued. “Judging by how quickly you moved and in what direction, especially since you came with the knight, I figured you were about to abandon him. It wasn’t really a huge leap from there. Are we abandoning the kingdom, too, Mr. all powerful summon?”

  “Yes.”

  Ted paused, as if he had not been expecting it. “Did you do something… No, wrong question. Are we fleeing or abandoning?”

  “If fleeing implies running away for doing something wrong, then no. We are abandoning. I’ve seen enough of the kingdom and how it operates to know better than to remain.”

  “And you believe that you’re a better option?”

  “Yes,” Aiden answered without missing a beat.

  “For you or for us?” Ted asked.

  “For us.”

  Ted sighed but shrugged in the end. “Can’t complain. Wasn’t even comfortable in there anyway.”

  Aiden looked at his brother. He had been hoping it would be easy, but he hadn’t expected it to be this easy.

  “Just like that?” he asked.

  “Just like that,” Ted answered. “You look and sound confident. And I haven’t known you to be guided by hubris or arrogance. And you’re never confident, which means that you’re absolutely sure. Must’ve crosschecked it a million times.”

  A small silence settled between them as Aiden just stared at Ted.

  “I’ll miss cuddle times with Ariadne, though,” Ted sighed. “She’s really an amazing person.”

  Aiden hesitated as a new thought came to mind. It only took him a moment to cave. “We can bring her with, if you really like her.”

  “Dude, I’ve known her for like a month.” Ted shook his head. “I like her but I’m not in love with her. Besides, convincing her would take too much time and we might fail. She’ll be fine without me. Also, I think I like her more than she likes me.”

  Aiden doubted it. He couldn’t remember any girl that Ted had a romantic relationship that liked him less than he liked her.

  “Also, it’s best to be the only one joining you when you have the look.”

  Aiden groaned. “I don’t have a look.”

  “Keep telling yourself that, little brother.” Ted raised his hand to pat him on the shoulder but stopped himself. He turned his head to take Aiden in once more. “Please tell me you haven’t gone all murder hobo on me.”

  “I haven’t gone all murder hobo on you,” Aiden muttered.

  Ted opened his mouth to say more but closed it.

  “Tell me, Sir Valdan,” he said, instead, as Valdan came to a slow stop in front of them. “Has my brother been running around killing people indiscriminately?”

  For emphasis, he gestured at the bloody mess that was Aiden.

  Valdan looked from him to Aiden and back.

  In the end, he said, “He is not prone to random killings for no reason if that is what you’re asking, Lord Lacheart.”

  Ted held out his hand for a handshake and Valdan took it, looking almost puzzled.

  “We haven’t officially met yet,” Ted said. “I’m Theodore Lacheart. As long as you call Aida over here Aiden, you get to call me Ted.”

  “Valdan Dirtwater,” Valdan replied, shaking Ted’s hand once before retrieving his.

  Ted opened his mouth as if to say something, paused, then said it anyway. “Dirtwater?”

  Valdan nodded. “Yes. Your brother had the same reaction when he learned of it, Lord Lacheart.”

  Aiden was more confused by the fact that Valdan had not introduced himself with his title. He had left it behind intentionally.

  Valdan took a moment to look back in the general direction of the cave. “What happened in there?”

  “[Dirt Wyrm],” Ted answered easily, putting on his matter-of-fact expression. “Stumbled on the cave and noticed the presence of demonic mana when I ran into it.”

  “Did it speak?” Valdan asked, looking at Aiden.

  “One of them did,” Ted said conversationally, “but I don’t think that’s for us to worry about.”

  That held Valdan’s attention. “Why?”

  Ted took a step to the side, giving Aiden room. “I’ll let baby brother handle this one.”

  “One of these days your baby brother is going to throttle you in your sleep,” Aiden muttered before giving Valdan his answer. “The thing was over level one hundred. Fighting it would’ve gotten us killed.”

  He’d allowed his brother to do all the talking so far because he wasn’t sure how much he wanted to share with Valdan or how much Ted had wanted to share. Even though they hadn’t really gotten along back on Earth, one thing had not changed. They understood each other on some subjects.

  Valdan rubbed his jaw in thoughts. “We’ll have to speak with the king about this.” His eyes moved back to Aiden. “Is this one of the things the Queen was aware of?”

  Ted cocked his head to the side slowly and dramatically to give Aiden a very theatrically wide-eyed look. “The Queen, you say?” he said very slowly.

  Valdan gave Aiden a questioning look. He was asking for permission or perhaps confirming if the direction of the questions was acceptable.

  Aiden shrugged.

  “Yes, Lord Lacheart,” Valdan answered. “Your bro—”

  “Ted,” Ted corrected him.

  Valdan nodded. “Your brother has found his way into the good graces of the Queen in recent times. It is my belief that the royal family may have plans for your brother.”

  Aiden and Ted shared a look, then they burst into laughter.

  “Valdan,” Ted said, still laughing, “the Lachearts aren’t very good with authority figures.”

  Aiden snorted. “Speak for yourself.”

  “I rebelled, you cowered,” Ted pointed out. “Different reactions, but the same reason.”

  Valdan frowned. “Your brother cowered in the face of authority?”

  “He can be a bit confusing,” Ted replied. “But bottom line is that the Lachearts don’t do well with authority.”

  “Except you’re mom or dad,” Aiden added.

  Ted shivered visibly. “You don’t mess with mom or dad.”

  “Wait, what is…” Valdan let his words trail off then shook his head as if dispelling his initial confusion. “Where is Sir Thompfer?” he asked. “The princess was sent to visit him at his inn.”

  Ted shook his head. “She won’t see him there. Sir Thompfer is somewhere among these trees.”

  Valdan frowned at the phrasing of the words. Aiden did, too.

  “Is Sir Thompfer alive?” Valdan asked very carefully.

  Ted looked at him as if he had asked an incredulous question. “Why wouldn’t he be?”

  “Phrasing,” Aiden said, swinging his hand to smack Ted’s arm.

  Ted hopped out of the way in time to avoid it. “Don’t get blood on me. And yes, Sir Thompfer is alive. At least, he was the last time I saw him.”

  “And in this forest.” Valdan looked around. “Are you sure we are safe just standing here? There is a level one hundred demon on the loose.”

  “It’s fine,” Ted said casually. “I had my familiar confirm that he fled. Well, fled isn’t the right word. More like, he lost interest and just went away.”

  “Then we will need to have words with the town chief.”

  “That guy’s too much of an A-hole to help anyone.” Ted shook his head. “No, if you need help, you’ll need to talk with some guy names Exadil. Massive guy.” He looked at Aiden. “He’s like what you would expect of a body builder trying to grow a mane. An A-hole, too, don’t get me wrong. And always smells like blood. But he’s easier to confuse and get answers out of.”

  It was odd that Ted was describing the first man Aiden had killed during his massacre.

  “If we can get…” Ted allowed his words trail off at the sight of Aiden shaking his head. “Oh. Is he one of the owners of the blood on you?”

  Aiden nodded.

  “And how many people did it take to get that level of blood bath?” Ted asked, undisturbed. He sounded like nothing more than an older brother grilling his younger brother about a mishap in school.

  “A lot,” Aiden said, noting how Valdan’s expression didn’t worsen.

  Ted nodded sagely. “The town chief?”

  Aiden nodded and Ted let out a very quiet whistle in amusement.

  “That’s impressive,” he said. “Dude was over level fifty. I would’ve needed most of my summons to take him out.”

  Aiden found that interesting. That Ted did not miss a beat in giving that response meant that he had considered getting into a fight with the town chief.

  Valdan sighed loudly. “Is there anyone alive that can give us answers about what is happening?”

  Aiden shook his head. “I don’t think so. There was…” he frowned when the words didn’t immediately come out and tried again. “There was a whole building of them.”

  “An entire building of [Cannibals]?” Valdan asked, surprised.

  “Hold up!” Ted interjected. “What do you mean [Cannibals]? Like actual cannibals eating other people?”

  Aiden nodded. “Three floors of them. Two, actually,” he corrected. “The last floor was left to the town chief.”

  “Who you killed.”

  “Please, can we not focus on the fact that I killed them, Ted?”

  Ted shrugged. “Did they have it coming?”

  Aiden nodded.

  “Then I can’t say I’m complaining. If you see a wild animal that has been killing people, you put it down. Doesn’t matter if it’s asleep or not. It’s wild, it’s harmful, and it’s intentionally killing innocents.”

  Valdan looked at Ted in surprise. “Is that a thing from your world or did both of you just grow up like that?”

  “It’s just common sense,” Ted said. “Like I told the princess when she was asking questions about Aida and me, common sense would explain the both of us quite easily.”

  Aiden couldn’t bring himself to agree with that, but he didn’t object either. Most of the things he would be doing in the months to come would not easily be explained by common sense.

  “What of the others?” he asked, moving the conversation from Elaswit who he was more than certain would not have found the others yet. “Where are they?”

  “Ariadne’s probably in her room somewhere,” Ted answered easily. “Sir Thompfer, Drax, and Letto came to drag me out of mine. But I snuck away from them at some point.”

  “Why?” Valdan asked, confused.

  “Because my brother isn’t the only one who doesn’t like people, Valdan. I’m better with people than he is—vastly so—but I don’t like them, too.” Ted paused, thoughtful. “Come to think of it, mom and dad didn’t like people, too. Notice how we never had guests and always went straight home after church on Sundays?”

  Aiden nodded. “Didn’t have the decency to give us family friends so we could claim the childhood friend route.”

  “But why only you four?” Valdan asked. “What of the others. The update I got said that there were six of you. You’ve accounted for only four of you.”

  “Oh, that’s the reason we’re out right now,” Ted answered. “Sam and Anita are missing. We came looking for Anita, though.”

  “Not Sam?”

  “Not Sam.” Ted shook his head. “Nobody likes Sam. He’s been giving mad scientist vibes lately. Or maybe I should say mad [Alchemist] vibes. Then there’s all the debacle with the thing at the palace… wait, did you guys hear of that?”

  “The dying servants?” Aiden asked. “We did.”

  “The team suspects Sam because of all the alchemical inclinations.”

  It was Sam, but Aiden was in no hurry to point that out. Sam was the least of his problems right now. In fact, Sam wasn’t really a problem as far as he was concerned. The boy was Brandis’ problem.

  “Suspects,” Valdan pointed out. “But are you certain it’s him?”

  “Don’t know. Don’t care.” Ted’s eyes glowed a soft blue. “Oh, speak of the devil. I guess my familiar just found…”

  His voice trailed off and his expression soured.

  “Found what, Lord Lacheart?” Valdan asked.

  “Found Anita,” Ted finished, voice void of its usual exuberance.

  “Good. Which way?” Valdan was already turning, but Ted was shaking his head.

  “She’s not in a good state,” he said sadly. “She’s a mess right now.”

  They hadn’t lost Anita in Aiden’s past life, so he wasn’t sure how bad things were for the girl.

  “Want to check it out?” he asked Ted.

  “Personally,” Ted shook his head. “I don’t think we’ll be able to do anything for her. What my familiar is sensing isn’t very…” he sighed. “My familiar senses living people as food. It’s sensing Anita right now, but it’s not sensing food.”

  Valdan frowned. “The king will not be happy.”

  “I don’t think anyone will be,” Ted said.

  “If we cannot help Anita, then the gods keep her soul. May she find peace with them that our world had taken from her.”

  “And may the thirteenth stay clear of her path,” Aiden responded as the religion dictated.

  That got him a look of surprise from Ted and Valdan.

  “You know our religion?” Valdan asked.

  “Yes, Aiden,” Ted said. “You know their religion?”

  “It’s common sense to know the dominant religion of any new place you go to,” Aiden answered, looking east. “It helps you understand the mindset of the people. Now, we should start going.”

  “Yes,” Valdan agreed. “The princess will be waiting for us. We’ll also have to get back to the king with the information regarding the demon. Personally, Lord Lacheart, I’m surprised that your brother did not try to fight it.”

  He turned and started heading in a different direction, but Aiden didn’t move. Neither did Ted.

  “There’s someone else at the body,” Ted said.

  “What does the person look like?” Aiden asked.

  “Young, about our age.”

  A thoughtful frown settled on Aiden’s lips. He’d half hoped that Fjord, the boy from the poaching crew that he’d killed, wouldn’t up and run away with the gold he’d given him. So, there was a possibility that this was in fact Fjord. But he’d also told the boy to investigate the forest for only an hour after the sun came down. This was well into the morning.

  Personally, the task hadn’t been for any real reason. The investigation had just been to keep the boy busy and make him feel like he earned every gold coin he spent. What Aiden had really needed was for the boy to be in the forest during the time specified so that he could spot him when the time came.

  But this was good, even if worrying.

  “Alright then,” Ted declared suddenly. “We’re going to the boy.”

  “Why?” Valdan asked cautiously. “We should be going to the princess, unless there is a possibility that the boy is responsible for Anita. Is he?”

  Ted shook his head. “No idea. But Aiden wants to see the boy so we’re seeing the boy.” Turning, he started heading in another direction. “I’ll lead the way. Once Aiden’s done with the kid, we’ll see the others—if we can find them—and then we’ll go see the princess.”

  Valdan walked up to Aiden and stopped beside him. Together they watched Ted walk deeper into the forest.

  “He’s the older brother, correct?” Valdan asked.

  Aiden nodded. “You know he is.”

  “So how are we doing what you want? I’m not complaining or trying to argue. I’m just genuinely curious.”

  Aiden looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

  “It’s just not how the dynamic of brothers tends to work over here,” Valdan was quick to add. “Older brothers, from what I’ve learned, are usually more authoritative, and the younger ones are left with no other choice than to do what they want.”

  Aiden nodded in understanding. But when he replied, it was not only to answer Valdan’s question.

  “Ted is a nice older brother… in his own way,” he said. “But more importantly, I can’t help but notice that you did not introduce yourself to my brother as ‘Sir’ Valdan.”

  Valdan’s face grew immediately sour like someone who’d just tasted something they really didn’t like.

  “Why is that?” Aiden pressed, ignoring the expression.

  “Recent updates,” Valdan said through gritted teeth, as if forcing the words out, “have not been favorable.”

  He stalked off, following after Ted before Aiden could say anything else.

  Had Brandis stripped Valdan of his knighthood?

  If the answer was yes, then Aiden really could not reconcile the man with the king he’d known in his past life up until he had become public enemy number two.

  Still, if the king had actually stripped him of his knighthood, then all Aiden could say was good riddance. Valdan had no business being under the command of a man that would do such a thing to a loyal subject.

  Aiden took a single step forward when he froze. The hair on the back of his neck stood and the sensation of far too many eyes settled on him as if with bad intent.

  Fear gripped his heart and told him not to turn around, but he was often stubborn. His head snapped to the side immediately. In the sea of trees, he didn’t hope to see anything, but it did not mean that he would not try.

  He had a new problem now.

  Someone had just used the [Detect] skill on him.

  But more worrying than what the skill would have told the person, was the question of how long the person had been following him.

  Just how much had the person seen? How much did the person know?

  Aiden’s mind went to his fight with the [Cannibals] and he swallowed as he turned away and followed Valdan.

  If it was Torat, then there was nothing they would be able to do about it until the man approached them by himself. If it was the demon that Ted had met, Aiden had no idea what they could do about it. None of them was ready to face an opponent over level one hundred, not without accepting the loss of at least one life if they teamed up on the opponent.

  Aiden wasn’t sure which of the two options was worse. Torat was a relatively known unknown, but the demon was an unknown unknown.

  He just could not catch a break.