I didn’t wake up for a few days. The combination of my illusions and the song of strength put my body on the brink of death. If it wasn’t for Valna taking control of my rest and recovery, I might have died. Like Despoina. Her face haunted my dreams.

  “It’s not your fault,” said Beth, applying a cool towel to my forehead. She was sitting beside me as I rested in our bed. Valna and Beth took turns taking care of me, while Nia and Greenspring helped where they could.

  It had been a week since my tournament match. In that time, a few other people competed in the tournament, but there weren’t any more deaths. The others were hesitant to tell me that, only relenting after I insisted. Only I had taken a life. A life I could have saved. Weakly, I swiped Beth’s hands away from me.

  “Don’t lie to me,” I said, glaring at my feet.

  Although I wasn’t in any more danger of dying, I still couldn’t walk. Nothing was broken, but my heart needed time to rest. Valna told me that any activity could cause permanent damage to it. I didn’t like it, but I wasn’t going to argue with her. How could I? I killed a member of her church.

  “You tried to save her. No one blames you for her death.”

  “I could have aimed lower or not thrown my sword.”

  Beth pressed the towel against me. “What if she had killed you? Would that make you feel better?”

  “Maybe she wouldn’t have,” I replied, sinking deeper into my bed.

  “Are you going to sit there and mope all day?” asked Nia, stepping into the room.

  “Unlike you, I don’t enjoy killing,” I said angrily.

  With a calm fury, Nia walked toward me. She towered over me, completely blocking the light coming in from the window. Beth nervously scooted to the edge of the bed, trying to get as far away from the angry warrior as possible. I glared into Nia’s eyes, pent-up frustration from letting Despoina die boiling to the surface.

  “You think I enjoy killing?” she asked.

  “You never seemed to care about all those harska you killed.”

  She leaned dangerously close to me. “I never heard you complaining.”

  “Enough!” yelled Greenspring, storming into the room. “Both of you calm down this instant. I will not allow you to bicker.”

  I turned my head away from everyone. “Fine! I have nothing more to say to a murderer like her.”

  Greenspring’s staff banged against the floor as he stomped up to me. Before I could react, I felt the stinging pain of his hand slapping my cheek. All the anger, all the frustration I had been feeling, drained out of me. All that was left was shame and regret. I expected Greenspring to be furious, but when I looked at him all I saw was pity.

  “Did you try and save her?” he asked.

  “Yes, but—”

  “No, buts,” said Greenspring. “You tried. That is enough. You are never going to get better if you continue to dwell on her death. Remember what I told you? If you weren’t prepared to kill her, you were going to be killed yourself. What use was training you, if after one failure you cry like a petulant child?”

  He was right. I didn’t want to admit it, but I had tried to kill her. No matter how hard I tried to save her, the effort was wasted if Trafford wanted her dead. Which apparently he had. I felt small. As much as I wanted to lash out at the world, I didn’t want to hurt my friends. They selflessly helped me save my daughter. They didn’t deserve to be insulted.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, hanging my head. “Nia, I didn’t mean those things I said.”

  “None of us are happy about her death, Norman,” replied Nia. “But there isn’t anything we can do. We have to move on.”

  Sitting in bed and feeling sorry for myself wasn’t going to help Zadona or Valna. All my pain, all of our recent suffering was connected to Trafford. Bards were meant to bring smiles to the populace. To lift people up. What kind of bard would I be if I let a mad man like Trafford run free?

  But I didn’t know how to stop him. I didn’t know how far his power stretched. He had connections to the Lawmaker’s Assembly and the local monarchy. Thanks to Sunset Adelbern Freight & Entertainment, his coffers were overflowing. How much power did he truly hold? There was only one way to find out. Well, maybe there were more, but I assumed what I had in mind would be the easiest.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Has Trafford asked for me?” I asked.

  “No? Why would he?” asked Beth. “Did he say he would?”

  I shrugged. “No. I don’t know, maybe to gloat?”

  “He has been busy with the recent tournament matches,” said Greenspring.

  A plan began to form in my head. If I was able to convince Trafford I was an ally, taking him down would be possible. Thankfully, I had a deeper connection with Trafford that hadn’t existed with Gunner—both of us were trained by Piopus. All I needed to do was find a weakness and exploit it. Unlike with Gunner, taking Trafford down wouldn’t be so easy. We would have to completely dismantle his network of connections.

  I shared my thoughts with the others. They weren’t keen on letting me work with Trafford, but did agree it would help us get more information. Beth stayed silent as we talked, only asking clarifying questions here and there. Though I loved and trusted my wife dearly, I had no intentions of letting her get involved with our plans. If something went wrong, I wanted to make sure she was safe. I couldn’t leave our children orphans.

  “What about Gunner?” asked Nia. “There’s no way Trafford isn’t using him as a bodyguard. As soon as he sees you two getting closer, he’s going to call you out.”

  I stroked my chin as I tried to think of a way to deal with the former harska king. Of course, he wasn’t the only threat to my plan. Zadona and Valna were hard to plan around. It was likely that they would betray us if it benefited their own survival. Even if Valna was one of my fans, and Zadona was one of my earliest friends.

  Even though we’d spent years apart, I wanted to trust her. But I had to be rational. More lives than mine were in danger. Trusting Zadona based on childhood memories was too great of a risk to take. Until I was sure that she was on our side, I would have to act like she wasn’t.

  We discussed our options for a few more hours. Soon, it was time for dinner. The others left to eat, leaving me stuck in my bed. Now that I had a clearer vision of the future, I wasn’t too upset about being left alone. It would still be a couple days until I could move freely. Still, the emptiness of my room did little to ease my spirit.

  I thought about Arienne and Charlie again. The other day, we got a letter from Henry informing us about the situation back home. Things were good, but the kids were worried about us. Arienne most of all. She was growing up so fast. Charlie was too, but he hadn’t been with us under the Sapphire Mountains. He hadn’t seen what we saw, done what we’d done. Any lingering dream I had of becoming a famous bard was gone. All I wanted to do was watch my children grow.

  Groaning, I lumbered out of bed to go open the window. A short walk like that wasn’t too bad for my heart, as long as I didn’t tell the others. Besides, it was too hot. As I leaned against the window, watching the people make their way home, I wondered what they thought of me. Many of them had seen me fight in the arena. Did they blame me for Despoina’s death? Did they care?

  Inhaling the cool night air helped calm my emotions. Beth wouldn’t be happy to see me out of bed. She was going to be back soon with my dinner. Turning away from the window, I hobbled back over to my bed. Ah well, at least it was easier to breathe. Back in Xalir, I always slept with the window open. No matter the weather, or the time of day.

  My heart pounded in my chest as I layed back under the covers. Too much effort, not enough healing. A few days of rest was exactly what I needed to think through my thoughts.

  “Congratulations on winning.”

  I shot up in bed. Hidden just out of the light, a figure stood by the windowsill. Their long white hair blew gently in the incoming breeze. It crossed over into the light, looking more like thin strands of silver. They stepped forward, a somber look on their face. Zadona, my childhood friend, stood before me.

  I layed back down. What a time for her to show up. “Where have you been?”

  “I was working a few jobs for Trafford. You're lucky he gave me a short break so I could watch your fight.”

  “I’m really not in the mood to talk about that,” I replied, staring up at the ceiling.

  “Norman, killing isn’t easy, but—”

  “Does Trafford want something from me?” I asked, cutting her off.

  Zadona didn’t answer for a few seconds. “I’m not his messenger.”

  “I didn’t say you were. But if you’ve been so busy doing jobs for him, I assumed you wouldn’t be here unless it was for a job.”

  “No, I just finished my last job,” said Zadona, facing the window. “I thought you would enjoy the company.” She peered out onto the street as we sat in an uncomfortable silence.

  “Beth should be up in a couple minutes if you want to talk to her.”

  Zadona shook her head. “I can’t face her yet.”

  “Why not?”

  She turned to look at me, her face hidden by shadows. “Can you do me a favor, Norman?”

  “That depends on the favor.”

  “Don’t tell Beth I was here. I’ll see her, I promise, I just…”

  “Okay, but she misses you.”

  Grabbing the edge of the window, she chuckled to herself. “Me too.”

  “Wait!” I yelled, stopping her before she left. “Do you think Trafford would be willing to work with me?”

  She bit her lip. “Trafford doesn’t work with anyone.”

  “But—”

  “—He makes others work for him. If you want my advice, stay as far away from him as you can.”

  She jumped through the window, disappearing into the night. I wanted to speak with her more, but I wasn’t in the right mood for it. All this business with Trafford had tainted my relationship with Zadona. How was she able to work for him for so long? What happened to her plans to join the army? Sighing, I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the sounds of her footsteps across the distant rooftops.

  If I couldn’t work with Trafford, and working for him was bad, what could I do?

  Beth entered with my dinner. “Anything happen while I was gone?”

  “No.”