Andrew glanced around the tent to see if Lady Thalia or any of the servants had heard what Henry said to Peter. The royal mother didn’t pause her conversation with Joshua, and none of the other servants showed any reaction. He stepped closer to Peter and the young king, and in a lower voice asked, “You have?”

  Henry nodded. “It’s a good plan. We’re-“ he stopped as the entrance flew open. Sol strode in, his red robe fluttering behind them as he grinned at the trio. “We’ll talk in a bit,” Henry said.

  Sol walked straight to the three Wisp Seekers. “I saw you fly in,” he said. “How was the trip to Vulcuo? Manage to sniff out any of the old secrets?”

  “We found something alright,” Anna said. “One of the nuns was able to start translating the tome we found by Frostlake.” She glanced over her shoulder at Lady Thalia. “Daniel’s requested we hold on to the information until the meeting itself though.”

  “Ah,” Sol said. “Then I shall be patient.”

  “How were things while we were gone?” Andrew asked. “As far as the Wisps go, I mean.”

  The Archmage shrugged. “No more reports of large gatherings like in the Crimson Wood or Selasem,” he said. “As for rebels and bandits using the Wisps… well nothing with any real details.”

  “I suppose that’s good,” Andrew replied. He flicked his eyes around the room, but decided there were too many people around to pursue any more information on the Wisp Stealers. Sol seemed to guess what he wanted, though.

  The mage turned to Lady Thalia and said, “I should probably show them where they can set their own tent up. I’ll explain the itinerary for them. Looks like the young Scepters still have a bit more getting ready to do.”

  “What?” Henry burst. His mother sniffed and nodded.

  “Suite yourselves,” she said. “But come back soon. We need to talk scheduling.”

  “Sir, you needn’t trouble yourself!” Joshua said. “This is my job, after all.”

  “It’s quite alright,” Sol said. “I’ve been meaning to check in and see how Anna’s practice with spellcraft is going. That, and I’ve a bit of a private question for our young beast tongue. So, if you don’t mind…”

  “So be it,” the older servant replied.

  Sol nodded his thanks, then lead the trio out of the tent. They followed him back toward the empty plot where Jarnvaror had landed. The Elf looked back at Andrew as they walked. “Did you have something you wanted to ask?”

  “Just about updates on the spy,” Andrew replied, keeping his voice low.

  Sol nodded. “I thought so. I’m afraid to say that I don’t have any.”

  “What?” Andrew burst.

  “With one of their group captured, it seems they’re being a lot more cautious,” Sol explained. “We don’t have any reports of new activity on that front, as I mentioned. There are no real details on the reports that have come in of bandits using the Wisps, which suggests they are old news.” The Elf shrugged. “Without new information, tracking them down will be more difficult.”

  Andrew groaned. “Nothing in over a month, though?” he asked.

  Again, Sol nodded. “Nothing at all.”

  “How have you been searching?” Andrew asked.

  “Subtly,” Sol said. “We wouldn’t want to scare off the spy and loose all his information.”

  “That clearly hasn’t been working,” Andrew said.

  “Not as well as we’d like,” Sol agreed. “Any suggestions?”

  Andrew shook his head. Peter stepped forward then, and said, “What if you stopped being subtle?”

  “Like I said, we’d lose the information from the spy,” Sol said.

  “Maybe not,” Peter said. “If you move quick.”

  “Whoever the spy is, I’m sure he’d see us coming,” Sol replied. “I know it’s aggravating, but that doesn’t mean we should be reckless.”

  “I think Peter has a point, actually,” Anna said. “It’s not like we’re loosing any information we have, and flushing the spy out at the very least will stop them from getting more information. It’ll probably also reveal who the spy was even if we don’t catch him. That could give us workable information all on its own, couldn’t it?”

  Andrew looked between the two of them. “You’re right,” he said. “Though, we’d need to find some way to keep the Wisp Steelers from retaliating, first. They may not take kindly to us forcing their hand.”

  “That, and there’s no guarantee we have a method of flushing them out that way,” Sol reminded them. “The closest we come is an open, rapid investigation of everyone who lives or works at the royal castle. Everyone. I don’t much fancy being treated like a criminal that way, and I imagine it would be rather a chore to convince Lady Thalia. Not to mention it would take a lot of man power to organize and carry out. And if the spy is, say, one of the guards… well, it gets us nothing.” The Elven mage shook his head. “No, our focus should be on looking for their mistakes. With any luck, the one you’ve already caught will be enough to do that.”

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Andrew frowned. As much as he feared making a misstep, waiting for the spy to mess up was worse. After all, the Wisp Stealers were just as likely to have a victory as to make mistakes if they were left to their own devices. But all he said was, “If you say so.”

  Sol nodded. “As soon as the Selasi get here, I hope to have a chat with young Sheil myself. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

  “What about the tournament?” Peter asked. “I know Lief will be joining it, and so will Jeremy.”

  “Ah, yes. I should have guessed you’d want to try your hand at that. I know we’re meeting in the mornings… but I haven’t paid much attention to the tourney’s themselves. You may need to find one of their schedules from someone in camp or around town.”

  “Why is there a camp, by the way?” Anna asked. “Can’t people stay in the castle?”

  “The nobles and diplomats can stay in the castle,” Sol said. “The large units of guards who escort them on the road? Well, maybe if there was enough space. But there is not for so many. As for you all, we thought you might like a space inside, but the King thought you may prefer to stay with Jarnvaror.”

  “Of course he did,” Andrew muttered.

  “That was thoughtful,” Anna said. “Though, I’m not sure Jarnvaror will want to stay inside the walls.”

  Sol shrugged. “That would be up to him, I suppose. In the meantime, you just focus on getting ready for the meeting. I’m looking forward to hearing about what you learned on Vulcuo!” With that, the Elf waved his hand in farewell and began walking back toward the main pavilion. Andrew watched him go.

  “Is everything alright?” Anna asked.

  Andrew opened his mouth to tell her it was nothing. Then he paused and shook his head. “I don’t understand how they’re illuding Sol. He’s the Archmage.”

  “That doesn’t mean he can do anything,” Anna said.

  Andrew spun to face Anna. “I know,” he snapped, far harsher than he’d intended. Anna flinched and a bit of blue sparkled in her bracelet. “I know,” he repeated in a calmer tone. “But shouldn’t he still be better than anything they might attempt? And now, he just wants to wait and see what happens. He can’t know if they’ll make a mistake before we catch them.”

  “Well, we already caught one of them,” Peter said. “But it is weird that he never found anything. You think he was distracted with his research?”

  “Don’t you start,” Anna said. “He’s our strongest supporter in the capitol.”

  “I think that’s King Henry, actually,” Peter pointed out.

  “Our second strongest, then,” Anna huffed. “The point is he’s doing all he can to help. He’s the one who found our references for the other ruins to look for Wisps, remember?”

  Andrew nodded and turned to look back the way Sol had gone. “I know. I just can’t stand this feeling that he’s letting them slip by. Surely, he could find them if he tried?” He expected Anna to keep pushing back and defending Sol. Instead, he felt her hand on his arm. He looked down at her.

  “I’m worried about them, too,” Anna said. “Whether they’re able to avoid Sol, or if he’s not taking it seriously, that’s really bad. But I think we’re already doing the best we can right now. He has gotten us help to find the Wisps before they do, and free as many as we can. If we have to wait to find out more about the Wisp Stealers until questioning Sheil again, then so be it, right?”

  Andrew didn’t say anything for a moment. Then he nodded. “Maybe you’re right,” he said. He looked up again, and saw the king and queen coming down the road toward them, followed by several servants and nearly a dozen guards. “Then again, there may be more we can do,” he said.

  “What?” Anna asked.

  “The king and queen’s plan,” Peter said.

  Anna frowned. “Do you really think the two of them will have something worthwhile?”

  Andrew doubted it. But all he said was, “We’ll have to hear them out either way.” The king grinned at them and waved. Andrew returned the gesture.

  A moment later, the royal entourage was standing before the trio. The king and queen looked as if they had been fused over a bit more, with combed hair and their scepters in hand. “It looks like Sol didn’t stick around to help you set up,” the king said, beaming.

  “I didn’t think he would,” his sister added. “Joshua, please see this taken care of while we speak with our vassals.”

  The older servant bowed and had the small group of younger ones follow him to begin unpacking for Wisp Seekers. Henry gestured for the trio to follow them. At another wave of his hand, the guards spread out, giving the Seekers and the royals plenty of space to talk without being overheard, so long as it was in softer voices.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with the actual scepters before,” Peter said.

  Henry grinned, lifting his griffin scepter up. “Daniel still thinks we’re too young to really use them,” he said.

  “Mother insists we ought to have them on hand for a formal meeting with foreigners, though,” Emily said. “Henry mentioned our plan, yes?” she asked.

  “Are you sure it’s okay to be so open about communicating?” Andrew asked in a low voice.

  “We’re just having a private conversation with our vassals,” Queen Emily replied, winking. “You’re work is integral to this summit. It would be strange if we ignored you.”

  “Yep,” Henry agreed. “Long as the guards can still see us, no one will suspect a thing.”

  Andrew was not quite so confident, but he decided against voicing his concern. “Very well then. I’m assuming you wanted to tell us about your plan?”

  Both nodded, the king eagerly and the queen with grave earnestness. “We’re going to help you interrogate Lady Sheil,” the king said.

  Andrew blinked. “Isn’t that… isn’t that just the intention during the summit?” he asked.

  The two young royals shook their heads vigorously. “No, no, no,” Henry said. “They’re planning to question her before the whole gathering.”

  “The spy may be able to cast spells on her to make it harder for her to talk,” Queen Emily explained. “There will be mages around to sense it during the questioning and while she’s under guard, but it will be harder for them to detect on the move.”

  “So, their most likely time to cast protection on her is when they take her from confinement to the meeting!” Henry exclaimed with a tone that seemed far too unconcerned with possible listeners. “Before they try either making her immune to other magics, or silencing her or anything.”

  “We’ll try talking to her,” Emily said. “We’ll see if we can figure out what her motivations were. Maybe offer her a reward for changing sides.”

  “Why wouldn’t they just cast the protection on her while she’s traveling from Selasem, though?” Andrew asked. “They’d have more time, more opportunities.”

  The pair of royals grinned. “We thought of that!” King Henry said. “It’s mostly outside our control. But!” the king paused for dramatic affect. “We can have a group of mages check her for spells as she arrives. It’s a long process, but totally precedented.”

  Andrew nodded. He doubted Sheil would take the offer, but it was worth a shot, and it was better than doing nothing. “Have you told Sol or the others your planning to do this?” he asked.

  The king and queen shook their heads. “Of course not,” Henry said. “We want to do this ourselves.”

  “Well, I’m with you on that,” Peter said.

  Andrew and Anna exchanged a look, then nodded. “Alright. At the very least, I don’t think it’ll do any harm.”