“Hi, friend!” Zinny waved cheerfully to another confounded passerby, who gawked openly at the little pixie and her butterfly-winged mount.

  “Stop saying hi to everyone,” Tolliver hissed. “It’s embarrassing.”

  Zinny pouted.

  “But I want all of your friends to know that we’ve come back from saving the world.”

  He looked at the tightness in the faces of the passing citizenry. Such a contrast to the celebratory atmosphere following the festival when he was last home. The weight of the Templar's betrayal hung heavy on the people of Beckhaven.

  “No one knows that we saved the world. And these people are not my friends. I don’t have any friends here.”

  Tolliver sniffed, then cursed the bog smell that wouldn’t leave his nose. Zinny’s path had taken them out through a hollow tree trunk on the other side of the river into a stinky bog. He’d used sonic cleanse on himself before turning into a bat and flying to the gates, but the smell wouldn’t leave his nose.

  I should have left her stinking and covered in muck.

  Zinny interrupted his thoughts. “It’s so strange, isn’t it? When the people here wave, they smile and show you their hands, and what they’re really saying is: See, I’m no threat to you. But in Old Valen, when you said hi to people, they stared and didn’t show their hands at all, indicating that you’d better be careful, I may be a threat to you.”

  “It’s called subtext,” Tolliver said.

  Zinny kicked at him from her mount and almost tumbled off.

  “Stop repeating everything I say, just fancier! I don’t understand why we have to go to the gates anyway. Why are we sitting here instead of just flying straight to your house?”

  “Because I am a noble, and my father is Spymaster to the Archduke. It would not befit my station to simply show up after such a long absence.” Tolliver added quietly to himself, “Besides that, I’m procrastinating.”

  He didn’t want to see his father. Regardless of what he had accomplished or where he had been, the welcome would not be warm. He already knew he was going to be criticized for failing to report Raith’s status as godlaced. Even playing a role in wiping out the Grins wouldn’t be enough to make up for that failure in his father’s eyes.

  The carriage rolled up, and Tolliver got in with a sigh. Bergen stepped down from the coach’s seat and opened the door, gesturing politely.

  “Master Tolliver, so good to see your return. We are preparing a fine meal to celebrate, even as we speak. Will the rest of your team be joining us?”

  Tolliver shook his head. “No, thank you, Bergen. They’re not too far behind me, but unlikely to arrive today.”

  “Very good, sir.”

  Tolliver climbed into the carriage and looked around to find that Zinny had disappeared again. He breathed a sigh of relief. As grateful as he was that she’d helped him when the others were forced to leave, the little fae could really try his patience.

  Emotions washed through the mage as the familiar streets of Beckhaven passed outside the carriage window. Mostly bad ones, but it didn’t change the nostalgic feeling of home he felt upon returning to the city. In spite of all its sins, he had missed it dearly.

  The carriage pulled up to his estate, and a bustle of servants saw him out, fussing over his return. He smiled at Mrs. Darmfrey, the aged woman who had done more of his upbringing than either of his parents.

  “Now that’s a fine cloak you have there, young sir. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you looking so healthy and well. How were your adventures?”

  He smiled and accepted her fussing as they walked toward his quarters. “It was quite a tale, Mrs. Darmfrey. And it’s so good to see you. Thank you for greeting me upon my return.”

  “Oh tosh,” she said. “As if I’d let these young’uns take care of you after your first grand adventure. Curing the Grins no less! The entire kingdom is grateful, I dare say. Now let’s get you to your room so you can change into proper attire for your audience with your father.”

  All the warmth and humor fled Tolliver at hearing those words. Mrs. Darmfrey saw it and gave him a reassuring pat on the arm.

  “You’re a fine young man, one that would make any parent proud.”

  He appreciated the sentiment but knew better. He changed his clothes in a daze of dread, rehearsing the words he would speak when he was finally summoned to his father’s side. He knew that Galathorn was home, as his right-hand man, Bertin, had been lurking around the halls, peering at him upon his return. Surely to report to his father on the state of his dismal son.

  After a much longer wait than he was sure was warranted, he finally received a knock on his door. The servant was a new one, a young, pretty woman, like many others that his father liked to hire following his mother’s death. Most didn’t stay long. She gave him a shy smile and a bow.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Your father will see you now in his study,” she said, then walked away.

  Tolliver went to his father’s study and rapped soundly on the door. There would be no weak or timid knocks in this house. After a moment, the voice he dreaded to hear rang out.

  “Enter.”

  Tolliver let himself in. His father was furiously scribbling a note, speaking without looking up.

  “You have picked a most inopportune time to distract me from my work with your return. The Templars’ betrayal has left the city in a fright, and there aren’t enough stamina potions in the city for me to get all the work done that is required of my responsibilities.”

  Tolliver waited patiently while Galathorn finished writing and then examined the note one extra time in what Tolliver was almost certain was just an excuse to keep him waiting longer. Finally satisfied, the man set it aside and folded his hands neatly across the desk, at last looking up at his son.

  “I see Bertin was correct. You have leveled quite far in a very short time. While an impressive accomplishment, your primary task was to report to me whether this boy was godlaced. A task at which you failed miserably.”

  Tolliver sat with lips pressed thin, biting back the urge to shout. His father stared at him. “Well? Have you nothing to say for yourself?”

  Before Tolliver could speak, his father’s sharp eyes lit on the ring on his finger…the one Zinny had given him. For the first time since his arrival, the man’s eyes went wide. He stood up behind his desk, the chair skidding out behind him.

  “Where did you get that ring?”

  Tolliver raised his chin.

  “The Myth Seekers have been working with the Forgotten Ones on a quest which will be of great interest to the Archduke.”

  Tolliver had a million things he wanted to say to this dreadful man, and opened his mouth to speak something assuredly unwise but satisfying but was interrupted by Bertin bursting through the door.

  “My Lord, there is a great sailing ship coming up the river to port!”

  Tolliver’s father, rarely taken by surprise, gave a slow blink.

  “A what?”

  “Yes, my Lord. I’m told it’s a massive one, an ocean-going vessel. We don’t know how it made it so close to the city without being reported.”

  “Is it those traitor Templars?”

  “We do not know, my Lord. The king has raised the castle defenses, and the knights are going to meet it. It seems as though it intends to port here. The city guard are converging on the docks as we speak.”

  His father looked to him and gave a brusque dismissal.

  “We will speak again when this latest crisis is untangled. As you can, see my responsibilities await.”

  He brushed from the room, pushing past Tolliver unceremoniously. Tolliver was mostly just relieved the encounter was over. He did not want to regale that man with the trials he and his friends had endured, only to have them dismissed as irrelevant, unimportant, or not good enough.

  Crossing to the nearest window, Tolliver opened it wide, transformed into a bat, and darted off toward the ports to see what this was all about.

  A crowd had already gathered to watch the oncoming vessel, held back by a line of city guards. Outside the line of guards, the Duke’s [Knights] and several [War Mages] prepared for whatever the ship might bring. Tolliver knew that massive magical artillery was being brought to bear on the port from high towers guarding the castle.

  He alighted on a rooftop that afforded a good view of the spectacle unfolding below. The moment he touched down, Zinny’s voice appeared behind him.

  “Oh, that’s just Moira.”

  Tolliver jumped, whirling around.

  “Where in the world did you come from?”

  She pointed vaguely behind her. “Oh, just over there.”

  Tolliver shook his head. “And who exactly is Moira?”

  “She’s a feared pirate queen of the fae. It’s very odd to see her here. I wonder if it’s to thank us for saving the world.”

  Tolliver frowned. “I very much doubt she’s here to thank us.”

  They watched intently as the ship pulled up alongside the dock, its massive hull sloshing water up and causing the closest knights to take a few steps back. The crowd held their breath as the gangplank extended and dropped.

  Zinny clapped her hands and pointed.

  “That’s our captain,” she said happily.

  Tolliver looked, and sure enough, she was right. Coming down the plank with Nyhm and Thea close behind, Raith made a striking figure with his long, graceful strides confidently down to the waiting [Knight] captain below.

  The moment the three Myth Seekers cleared the plank onto the docks, it was raised again. The ship seemed to shimmer and then vanish altogether, a loud slosh of water as the river rushed in to fill the vacuum left by the enormous vessel. The crowd let out a collective gasp.

  Well, they certainly know how to make an entrance, don’t they?

  ***

  When Raith saw the crowd that had gathered to witness their arrival, he wanted to turn right back around and go onto the ship. When he’d asked Moira for a ride to Beckhaven, it hadn’t really occurred to him that she’d drive this entire ship right up to the city docks and make such a spectacle.

  It was embarrassing. From the looks on Thea and Nyhm’s faces, they felt the same way, but at this point there was nothing to be done for it but head on down. So he gathered his wits and walked toward the waiting knights.

  He recognized Captain Darren Thall standing at their forefront waiting to meet them. The man did not look happy.

  “Good morning, Captain.”

  The knight gave a fist to chest salute and small bow.

  “Lord Raith, you have chosen an alarming manner of conveyance. I would be grateful if you would send word in advance next time. The Archduke will wish to see you now.”

  Thea spoke up from behind him. “I’ll see him just as soon as I’ve checked on my family.”

  The captain shook his head curtly.

  “The Archduke will not be made to wait. You will have an opportunity to see your families as soon as the audience has been completed.”

  Raith looked at Thea anxiously to see if she was going argue, but she swallowed her irritation and went along. As they moved, and the formation of knights gathered around them. A familiar bat transformed beside them, and not far behind, a faerie dragon carried Zinny down toward the group. Raith embraced Tolliver, and then Thea and Nyhm did as well.

  “It’s good to see you, friend.”

  As they finished their greetings, Zinny arrived, much to the gawking of the gathered crowd. The chatter rose to a new height at her sudden appearance.

  “And Zinny,” Raith said, addressing the pixie, “I’m very grateful for the job you did, taking care of Tolliver and helping him to find us. We would not have survived the dungeon without your help.”

  She gave him a solemn nod. “That’s what Myth Seekers do, isn’t it, Captain?”

  He gave her a broad grin. “It is indeed, Zinny.”

  Thall was looking back and forth between them during this exchange.

  “Am I to understand this faerie creature is a member of your adventuring team?”

  “That’s correct,” said Raith.

  “It’s official and everything,” Zinny said, holding up her silver badge.

  The knight’s brow furrowed, but he gave the matter no further argument while he escorted the group to the castle through a throng of gawkers.

  Raith took in a long breath of the river air and familiar scents.

  It was good to be home.