Chapter 72: The Order
Cael told him everything he knew.
"The Patriarch believes the main production and trafficking origin isn’t here." Cael’s eyes stayed level. "He believes it’s in Creslan. Closest territory to the Emerald Kingdom in the empire. Whatever crosses that border finds its way into the rest of the kingdoms eventually. Ishkral is downstream. Not the source."
Arthur sat with that for a moment, then looked at Vexis.
Vexis hovered near the courtyard wall, an expression Arthur hadn’t seen on him before. Disgust layered over guilt, layered over something close to remorse.
Whoever made distribution possible in this kingdom had to be the figurehead Vak answered to.
The Blauenstein family had elven aetheric essence on at least two members. Roz had confirmed that months ago.
Two possibilities. Either they’d consumed the drug themselves and somehow stabilized against it. Or they were the ones making distribution possible, using their standing to keep the supply lines open.
Considering how much power that family carried. Considering they were already in some arrangement with the Lestilauts.
If this surfaced during an active Allright Council investigation, the fallout wouldn’t stay contained to the Vernons.
’Honestly,’Vexis said. ’I didn’t know it was this bad. I never knew children were being killed for this.’
Arthur’s jaw was tight. This is the most vile thing I’ve encountered since I woke up in this body, he thought. And I’ve encountered a lot.
Cael’s voice cut through it. "He wants us both to investigate in Creslan."
Arthur’s eyebrows lifted. "Why me?"
"I don’t have the answer to that." Cael’s expression didn’t change. "I’ve notified my father of my departure with you."
"There’s only two months left of break. After that I participate in the high magus promotion."
"We’re being sent to scout. Nothing more." A pause. "In my view, the Archmagus considers you competent enough to handle this." Another pause, longer. "Your development this month has been notable. Knowing you’re a swordbearer now as well."
Arthur didn’t respond. The Patriarch hadn’t reacted at all to that revelation. No surprise. Which meant either he’d known for a long time and said nothing, or he’d processed it privately and decided it changed nothing about how he used his children.
Cael turned to leave. "South Gate. We depart early tomorrow."
"Wait. I haven’t decided yet."
Cael was already gone.
---
Roz had been quiet through the exchange.
"What do you say, master?"
"I say you should go."
"I just got out of recovery from the culmination."
"I want to know who’s doing this to elves. The Emerald Kingdom is my home, brat."
"I know."
This was a ceiling for him. A chance to see something outside Ishkral, outside the academy walls. Now that he knew this world didn’t track the novel, he had no idea what waited outside this kingdom. His RP balance sat near zero. He couldn’t lean on the Eyes.
And those bastards were killing elves. And children.
’Let’s go, Arthur.’ Vexis settled beside him, quieter than usual.
A beat passed.
"Alright." Arthur exhaled. "Let’s go."
---
The next morning arrived early and grey.
Arthur moved through the estate before most of the staff had started their rounds. Maids carrying linens. A butler directing two younger staff toward the kitchen wing.
Near the fountain, Avara sat alone, tossing small credits into the water one at a time. She heard footsteps and turned.
"Mother." He stopped a few feet away. "I’m going to Creslan. The Patriarch ordered me to scout there."
"I know. He sent me a letter last night." She reached for a small box on the silver chair beside her, the surface inlaid with green jewelry trim. Inside, on dark cloth, sat a jade bracelet strung with rough blue stones.
"Wear this. It was blessed by the mystic spirit of our maiden line. It will guide and protect you."
Arthur took it carefully and slid it onto his wrist. Roz, on his shoulder, watched with both ears forward. Vexis drifted closer, silent.
"Thank you, mother."
Avara’s hand lingered on his wrist for a moment longer.
"Though.. A beat. "You’ve been leaving more often lately."
Arthur blinked.
"Have I?"
"A little." Her smile was small. "The academy. Culmination training. Council matters." She shook her head. "Every time I see you, you seem to have grown into someone slightly different."
Arthur wasn’t sure how to answer that.
For a second, he wondered what she would think if she knew how true that statement really was.
"That’s normal, isn’t it?" he said.
"Perhaps." Her eyes softened. "Just remember that no matter how capable you become, you don’t have to carry everything alone."
Arthur didn’t knew what to answer. He smiled and opened his mouth. "I gotta go mother."
He walked toward the gate. At the threshold he turned and raised a hand. "I’m going now, mother!"
Avara raised hers back, watching until he passed out of sight.
Ellena, the senior maid, stepped up beside her. "You know, madam. Vexis has changed recently. It’s like—"
"It’s like he isn’t the Vexis I know."
Ellena closed her mouth.
"I know, Ellena." A pause. "Vexis now is strange." Softer. "But he’s still my son."
---
Arthur walked the streets toward the South Gate.
The city was nearly empty at this hour, the kind of quiet that only existed in the narrow window between night staff finishing and morning staff beginning. A handful of shopkeepers were rolling up shutters. A cart rattled somewhere two streets over.
Ahead, a middle-aged woman carried a basket of rabbits on one hip and a second basket of strawberries balanced against it, moving toward the early market with the practiced ease of someone who did this every day. Beside her walked a pale, white-haired young man with a bag slung over one shoulder and a bellus tucked against his collar.
The white-haired man looked up and raised a hand.
"Oh! Hey, Vex! Good morning!"
Arthur raised his hand back, already smiling. "Theodore! Good morning!"
Theodore jogged the last few steps to close the distance between them, his bellus chirping a small greeting of its own. "Where are you headed this early? You’re never up before noon during break."
"That’s not true—"
"It’s mostly true." Theodore grinned, then gestured back toward the woman with the baskets, who had stopped and was watching them both with mild curiosity. "Oh, this is my mother."
Arthur looked over. The woman smiled at him, warm and a little tired in the way people who got up before dawn for market days tended to be.
"Good morning, ma’am." Arthur gave a small nod. "Pleasure to meet you."
"So you’re the famous Vex." She adjusted the rabbit basket on her hip. "Theodore talks about you more than he thinks he does."
Theodore’s ears went faintly pink. "Mom."
Arthur grinned at that, filing it away for later use.
"I’m traveling to Creslan today," he said, answering Theodore’s earlier question.
Theodore’s eyes lit up immediately. "Really? Oh, hey, did you know Kreasial’s from Creslan? She went back there right after she recovered from the culmination."
Arthur blinked. "I didn’t know that. She never mentioned it to either of us."
"Her dorm roommates were surprised too. She just packed up one day and said she had somewhere to be." Theodore shrugged. "Typical Kreasial. Tells you nothing until it’s already happened."
An idea formed in Arthur’s head, fast and immediate and slightly reckless.
"Come with me," he said.
Theodore blinked. "What?"
"Come to Creslan. It’s only a month." Arthur kept his tone light, like he was suggesting a weekend trip rather than a reconnaissance mission into hostile territory. "I’ll pay you. Bodyguard work, or something close enough. It’ll stop you from having to apply to—"
He cut himself off, glancing sideways at Theodore’s mother, who was watching both of them now with the specific attention mothers reserved for conversations that sounded like they were about to involve money.
"—so we can travel together," Arthur finished instead, smoother. "And you’d have some pocket money out of it."
Theodore looked at his mother.
His mother looked at him.
Neither of them said anything for a second, the kind of silent exchange that happened between people who’d had a version of this conversation before, about money, about work, about what Theodore did on weekends that he didn’t always explain in detail.
Arthur kept his expression easy while his head ran ahead of the conversation. Two kids traveling together looked like a school break trip. A lone Lestilaut crossing into Creslan with an escort looked like exactly what it was. And Theodore’s bellus had an instinct for finding things that Arthur’s network couldn’t always replicate — plus there was the small matter of whatever Theodore had picked up during his mercenary shifts under the Vernon family contract, information Arthur hadn’t had a clean way to ask about yet.
This solved two problems at once.
Theodore’s mother spoke first, careful. "How long?"
"A month. We’d be back before the high magus promotion ceremony."
She studied Arthur a moment. Her shoulders eased slightly.
Theodore looked between them, something hopeful crossing his face before it folded back down.
"Sorry, Vex." His expression dropped, genuinely disappointed. "I don’t think I can accompany you."
