29 Home Coming

The parade had long since passed, and the crowd had dispersed. Children scooped through the refuge for copper a piece and worked diligently to clean up the mess left by the parade. A few found extra coppers lying on the ground. There was a quiet, joyous hum of conversation from various groups mingling among the merchants and haggling for pills. Some girls embarrassed each other over their displays before the Prince. Some of the children pretended to be Ser Kay, while others played royal knights or evil undead roles. All around him, happiness spread out.

He couldn't take it; their happiness made him feel sick; Lex shook with no sign of stopping. His teeth ground together, and he clenched his fists together.

After some time passed, Lex got ahold of himself and opened his hands, his nails ripped off in his palms. He spat out cracked pieces of his teeth. Unfortunately, there was a good chance those wouldn't grow back.

Lex turned to see a guard wearing no livery. He looked Lex over and grinned. If ever there was an assassin, this man, was it. That didn't make any sense to him. Lex was a nobody in the eyes of the nobility.

"If you want to find some like-minded individuals follow me." The guard said. Lex knew this was probably a trap. But that didn't make sense either. Unless the Hidden Dragon Institute were short on bodies, they wouldn't target a random cultivator. Lex was sure the man could sense his cultivation stage, if not Lex's qi potency. Was this a genuine request for aide?

Killing Artus was as far from him as it ever was. He imagined himself climbing onto that palanquin only to be stabbed in the back by Ser Kay or spelled into oblivion by that wizard. No, he was far from ready to kill Artus even with him so close.

Finding allies was his best choice. Even if Lex couldn't bring Artus down himself, he could engineer the fall.

Lex stumbled following his escort down the street while picking his nails from his palm. As he walked, he thought about how he would get below the Institute. Without the inquisitor armor, he'd be hard to miss. Lex's qi quality had improved over time. His inexperience made hiding his power naturally an impossibility, and wearing inquisitorial armor made him stand out when Lex needed to be silent and sneaky.

"I hate this; why did this have to happen?" Lex recognized the voice before he heard the pounding of fists and the quaking of a wall.

"Apprentice, it isn't as bad as you think. Sure, your sister will wed a powerful man, the Prince no less. But, you will still be Duke, and your greatest rival will be far away. So think of this not as an insult but as a blessing." A familiar nasally voice said.

Lex turned the corner, and both man and boy turned to him. Their Qi flared, and Lex flexed his might against the Master and student. After a moment, all parties withdrew themselves. The Master was much stronger than him defiantly in the foundation realm. Neither party made a move to attack, nor did Lex present himself as an easy target. He ripped another nail out of his palm and tossed it on the ground.

The guard quickly bowed to the pair. "I've brought a dissident to the royal wedding as requested, my lord."

The young man acknowledged the guard with a shallow nod. "Return to your post and await further instruction."

Far in the back alleys where no noble should go, the heir to the Duchy and his teacher had chosen to air their feelings on the matter of the Prince of Britannia. If this was fate, he wanted no part of it. Using them would open the door to being used by them. For now, their goals did align somewhat to a certain point of view. Still he needed to keep himself from being murdered.

"What did you hear, peasant? Out with it, or I'll have your tongue cut out and fed it to wild dogs. Even in death, you will have no voice but the bark of a beast." Jonah said. The Master sighed in defeat and exposed his hands. The guards on the roof and those hiding in the shadow revealed themselves.

"Apprentice, remember to save threats to guard against failure. Let the commoner speak and make his own mistakes; it's more fun that way. But, for now, merely showing the force of your guards is enough." The Master said.

"I'm here because I hate Artus; it's a sentiment we share. What if I told you I plan to keep your sister and the Prince from ever marrying? Not only that, but I could help you get rid of your sister for good." Lex said.

A step in his plan began to form still abstract but clearing by the second. With a proper prison break, the inquisitorial forces would divide." Jonah needed his sister dead to solidify his claim to the throne. Second sons might be able to usurp his position with the assistance of the royal house. At the same time, most of our troops will be focused on killing Haley Weston. Lex might be able to get Morgan out of there.

The boy's face burned a furious red. "You expect me to lose face in exchange for a victory like that. I wouldn't even get my hands dirty. Killing my sister should be personal." The boy said.

"Apprentice, you forget that the only one who will lose face will be your father; the people will welcome you onto your seat. Remember, a victory won by doing nothing is still a victory. So let this dirty commoner work himself to the bone, fulfilling your desire, and we can plan a meeting with your sister to ensure she is well and truly dead. Perhaps the next time you see dear Haley will be before her trial by pyre." Kars said. Lex could see the wheels turning in the homicidal smile spreading across the boy's face.

"To make this happen, I'll need a few things like access to the underground and a place in the Institute." The Master pulled out a jade slip and an Institute medallion and tossed it to Lex.

The ducal heir stared up at his Master with a question on his face. "Why are you trusting him so easily, Master? He knows too much, and isn't this too convenient." Kars smiled down his apprentice. There was an unreadable look in the man's eyes.

"This is perfect. When an opportunity arises like this, after much preparation, you should take it. We have all the deniability we need; a peasant's word is useless against ours. We have made no moves against the Prince and have shown no disloyalty. If one of your father's agents catches him, we'll claim that he stole the medallion and jade slip. Even if someone believes him, they'll still let it go instead of rocking the boat and disrupting the engagement." The older man shook his head. "Apprentice, you have a long way to go. We came here so that fate could bring a tool to us, and it has. Now we need to give that tool direction. He has his agenda and reasons that doesn't mean we can't use him for a pawn, a scapegoat, or throw them away when he becomes inconvenient. That's what it means to be in charge." The Master looked up and smiled at Lex. "He has no choice but to let us use him."

The boy covered his mouth to hide his growing smile. "That's amazing, Master; you planned all of this so soon. I didn't even know I hated the Prince until I heard he was courting my sister. What is this technique called?" Jonah asked.

Kars doted on the boy. "You'll learn it someday; it has no name, no exercises, or cultivation requirement. All that you need to do is watch me and learn." The Master said.

Lex slipped on the medallion on his way to the underground. The guards ignored him, and the corpse cart driver gave him a ride. "Sir, are you here for an inspection. Those sinful witches might not be the best necromancers, but they try." The driver said. Lex turned to the man and thought about kicking him off the seat or throwing him against a wall. However, the slight glow from the nine-pointed star distracted him from petty revenge.

After some thought, the man's words proved he cared for the witches at least a little. Killing him wouldn't help Lex's cause. I'm not here to condemn anyone who does their job.

"Sir, the last time a royal entered the Doral, an entire class disappeared. I'm not a fool; they may be unclean, but they're still human. Can't you show them some mercy?" The driver begged.

"If you value your life, you shouldn't say such things aloud," Lex said.

Mentally Lex's timetable for the escape went up. If he could get her out before the third arena bout, he would.

"I'm sorry, but my daughter is one of them. She's my only child, and I haven't held her in years. This is the closest I'm able to get to her." The driver said.

"All the more reason not to break down and expose your feelings. If you die, she'll truly be alone. What's your daughter's name?" Lex asked.

"Cassidy, sir," his mind stalled. Milly and Marie's mistress was this man's daughter. Cassidy, the talented introvert witch and ally of the Silver Smith Coven was the corpse cart driver's daughter. He'd try to make sure she got out of this alive as well.

"Well, Mr. Smith, I'll look out for her if I can. Don't ever talk favorably about witches again. I'm sure Cassidy would rather you lived." Lex said and leaped from the cart. He landed with barely a bend of his knee and continued walking at the cart's horse-drawn gait.

"Incredible; you must be a truly gifted cultivator, sir," Smith said.

"Lex and I'm only average. If you want to see a talented cultivator, then watch the inquisitor's train. They are something else. Even the least of them are foundation realm experts. I met a captain at the core realm once. That's around the same realm as the Prince." Lex said.

"There's a man among the inquisition capable of matching our prince," Smith said.

Lex shrugged and took a shortcut while some of the more aspiring witches snuck up behind the corpse cart and perused the stock early. On the way down alone, Lex had spotted over a hundred guards. Some were at the peak of qi condensation, and others were well beyond.

He found Morgan's raising room and opened the door. Morgan spun around, and Black Fly's wings began to beat. Sickly green spell orbs appeared above her hand and circulated each other. Finally, their eyes met, and she shot across the room. Lex barely managed to get the door shut when she tackled him.

Morgan's hands wrapped around his throat while tears streamed down from her cheeks. "I thought you ran away, you jerk. Do you have any idea how it feels to be told by Jean that you ran away? All week she's been whispering poison into my ear. He's already forgotten about you. So give up and hope to the gods you're made a teacher. Every single day, she wouldn't shut up, and to make matters worse, you waited until the deadline to return. If your familiar is a fucking horse spirit, I might not be able to forgive you." Morgan said.

"Hey, what's wrong with a horse spirit." Lex croaked through the choking. She knew he didn't need to breathe, and this was only mildly uncomfortable.

She punched him before her eyes turned bright green. "Let's see what kind of worthless horse spirit you got stuck with," Morgan growled.

He felt the familiar anxiety from being scanned. After a moment, Morgan stopped choking him and relaxed. Morgan's face broke out into a smirk, and her eyes narrowed. "So an azure dragon wasn't enough; you had to get a mythical nightmare in the same week to flex," Morgan said. It was then she noticed the medallion around his neck. "Why do you have an institute Elder's command medallion?" Her voice shot up an octave, and he knew he was in trouble.