ARIDEN SARETHOL IS A LIAR. Upon witnessing a hostile organization try to take control of a family heirloom, he must enact a dangerous plan that may get him and his friends thrown to prison, or worse, killed. As the veils of false peace slowly fall a...
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"The what?" Cohnal asked, scratching his crimson hair.
Faw looked up from that handheld puzzle game she had been absorbed in for the past week. "It's a big diamond," she said through chewing sounds. Was her jaw not hurting from all the gums she chewed? In all of Ariden's memories of her, she was always chewing. "I heard about it from other circles, but never thought it existed."
Ariden pushed the ocher strands off his forehead. "Well, it does, and if we don't set our eyes on it, it may be gone forever."
Lufi narrowed her eyes, planting her hands on the table. Since their first caper, her blond locks had grown longer, and Ariden had lost count of how many times he heard her whine about cutting it off. Well, whatever she wore and however she styled her hair, she's still beautiful. And Ariden would pretend that thought did not just cross his head.
"Where is it?" she asked.
"The Temple of Earth," Ariden answered, knowing full well Lufi was the only one who could get a leg up there without alerting security and outing their plan before they even reach the heist part. A sigh flitted out of his lips. "I know going back there was the last thing you want, but—"
"What's the danger?" Lufi interjected.
He blinked, aware how the rest of the Cutlasses flicked their heads back and forth in intrigue, following the direction of their conversation. Even Tria, the oldest and most mature of the bunch, joined in on the subtle mockery. "It's...well," he cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck. "I mean, it's..."
Lufi put a hand in the air. "Please don't tell me it's a secret," she leveled her gaze at him. Her glare was something he didn't want to see trained at him ever again. "We agreed—no more secrets. You promised to tell us everything before a mission starts."
That was, indeed, what they agreed on. Since being discovered as the Crown Prince of Avalora in their first caper, Lufi and the children had been sensitive to details being kept from them. While they could forgive a small omission or two, Ariden wasn't kidding anyone if he claimed his reason behind targeting the territory's most prized artifact was nothing serious. It wasn't, and even his whims could never attempt such a suicide mission if not in the face of a larger and more dangerous threat.
"This is a state secret, but an organization going by the name Cardovia has been in contact with the Potentate regarding the access to the Earthshaker," Tria jumped in, shooting Ariden a concerned glare. He's out of his element, she seemed to send his way, and she's not entirely wrong. Ariden had a bad feeling about this, and shoving the Cutlasses into his personal matters, it's...unthinkable. "They have been pressuring the Potentate to give up control, first on a large fraction of the army, then later, the diamond."
"It should be treason, but the Potentate has no power to implicate someone from outside the territory," Ralei added. "Since then, we have been looking into Cardovia's activities and discovered they're not a normal organization."
