Octan has long been at odds with Undar; the region has been harassing their borders for decades. When the Undari began pushing further into Octan's borders and taking people, they responded with force. They almost won.
Cary Callaghan was a rising st...
Cary paused at the door to take a moment to collect himself, making sure he didn't have a hair out of place and tugging his vest and jacket smooth again before entering the ballroom once more. He took a moment to scan the room, and stalked straight toward King Sirius. The king glanced up at him in surprise.
"Colonel Callaghan. I wasn't expecting to see you here. Did you receive an invitation after all?"
"No," Cary grumbled in admittance. "We didn't. Lord Blue asked us to be his escort for the evening." Said lord looked like he had something he wanted to say in response to that little fib, but then decided against it, settling for glaring at him instead. "Sire, we need you to come with us. Now."
"Whatever for?" the king huffed at him. "In case it hadn't occurred to you, the treaty requires the king's signature. My signature. And I am going to be signing it any minute now. How in the world do you think it's going to look if I turn and leave now?"
"The peace treaty is nothing more than a cover, they're planning on slaughtering every Octan noble here! Including yourself!"
The king glared at him. "That's a very serious accusation you're making—" he started.
Cary yanked the letter out of his vest and shoved it into Sirius' hands. "Not a baseless one," he growled back. The king held his glare for a moment longer before finally glancing down to read the paper he had been handed. His face turned pale. He finally glanced back up at the disgraced colonel with a look of shock.
He didn't even have time to find his voice again. A spell fell over the ballroom, casting everything in a dim blue hue. Time slowed to a crawl. King and colonel glanced around in shock, realizing they and their mage companion were the only Octans unaffected by the enchantment—likely due to Benny's quick intervention. The guards positioned all around the ballroom drew their swords.
"Time to go!" Benny yelped, grabbing them both and taking a step—
—that brought them straight outside. Cary wobbled on his feet for a moment as he reoriented himself. "What in the world—" He caught Benny as the mage toppled forward, completely drained.
"Well that was absolutely uncalled for, just grabbing me like that—" the king complained, straightening himself out again. He shoved his crown back to the top of his head from where it had fallen over his eyes as a result of their sudden forward motion and abrupt stop.
"Be grateful you're still alive, Sire," Cary sighed, then turned his attention down to the limp form in his arms. "Ben, are you all right?"
Benny managed to move his head enough to give him a lopsided grin. "S'not s'posed to... work for such a long distance..." he slurred. "Might've... overdone it a bit..."
"Just a bit?" Alastar teased as he switched out and hefted Benny into his arms. "That was brilliant, though." Benny hummed happily at the compliment as he laid his head on Alastar's shoulder. A second later he was out cold. "Your Majesty, we really ought to get moving. They'll notice you're not among their victims' numbers before too much longer, and we can't take on the entirety of Undar's royal guard by ourselves."
"You have a point," the king conceded, and motioned for Alastar to follow him. They made their way to the stables, where the royal coach was waiting for its passenger. Benny's carriage and horses were nowhere to be seen, but the twins' pack was sitting on the stable floor where it had been parked.
It must have dispelled when Benny made that leap and brought us all outside, Cary surmised.
The king's driver stared in surprise when he realized his passenger now had company. "Take us home," Sirius commanded. "Now. And avoid the main roads as much as possible."
"But Sire, the coach won't handle the rough roads—"
"Just do it." He opened the door for Alastar and let him in before climbing in himself, watching as the soldier laid their rescuer down on one of the benches.
"Just a moment," Alastar murmured, hopping back out to retrieve their pack. He had a feeling they were going to need their spare change of clothes. He climbed back inside and sat down beside the king, who finally gave the signal to go. The driver doused his lantern and the coach took off, away from the castle.
They rode in awkward silence for a long while, watching as Benny slept on. It didn't seem he was likely to wake any time soon.
"...So what were you two doing there?" the king eventually asked.
Cary took a minute longer to answer, getting his thoughts into order. "Trying to find evidence of that demon to clear my name," he admitted. "To prove that I wasn't lying about the demon at Southlake Point. And to avenge my men."
Sirius glanced down at the paper he still held in his hand, crumpled now from his tight grip. "You really were telling the truth."
"Yes, Sire."
"And your... friend, here?"
Cary let out a long sigh. "We met him while we were recovering in the hospital. We asked him to get us in, not the other way around. He agreed so easily, I should have known better than to think I had convinced him." When Sirius gave him a questioning look, he continued. "There was something he was looking for, too."
The king frowned. "A thief?"
"No, I don't think so," Cary mused. "There were a lot of expensive items in that room that he could have taken, but he didn't. I think he was looking for something specific."
"A treasure hunter, then."
"Maybe," Cary conceded, though that didn't really seem Benny's style either. Whatever Benny had been looking for, it must have been something important. Possibly something of great personal value, to make him start to panic when he couldn't find it.
Alastar switched out again as Cary continued to contemplate their strange friend. He set his hand down on the cushion near Sirius', lightly brushing his pinky against the king's. Sirius' only reaction was to pull away and turn to stare out of the window. Alastar wilted, trying to ignore the dejection he felt. It seemed his fear wasn't so baseless after all—he wasn't just being ignored, he was getting rebuffed. His sullen thoughts caught his brother's attention, and aroused his suspicion.
That's not like him at all...
You don't think so?
I know so. Something's going on, and I don't think it's just being preoccupied by the war. Benny's completely dead to the world right now. The Sirius we know would have been all over that opportunity.
It's been almost a year. Maybe he just doesn't feel the same way anymore.
Cary gave a mental shake of his head. If he was going to have a change of heart, he would have done it within your first year together, not seven years down the road. When he gets bored of something, he gets bored of it fast.
Dread settled into the pit of Alastar's stomach. What's changed, then?
...I don't know yet. I'd brace myself if I were you, though. I don't think you're going to like it.
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Sorry for taking so long to update! I honestly keep forgetting about this site... Anyway, I've started an ask blog for The Umiran Amulet (https://the-umiran-amulet.tumblr.com/), so feel free to stop by and have a look around! There's also some other worldbuilding tidbits to browse. Still very much a WIP in that aspect, but you might find what I do have available to be interesting. C:
