The day before the fete.

The truth was, Crest was born before James's mother passed. It was weird. It was almost like she'd known what was going to happen to her. Five year old James had heard the rumours of a rivalry, but he'd never seen any signs of animosity from his mother.

And he'd always thought of lady Viola as a second mother. So much so that when his mother died, he would have been much more broken if Viola hadn't been there to comfort him.

He'd gotten broken in the end. It probably had something to do with the fact that a young baby Crest found himself sick merely a few weeks later, and suddenly Viola had had no time to comfort James.

Maybe that's how it had started. He'd probably felt bitter towards Crest for a while.

He didn't feel that way now though. He kept imagining his brother in this situation, and his anger just wouldn't leave him alone.

James Halden was a lazy character. At least that was what he'd always thought. Now that he had his memories though, he was starting to wonder how thoroughly he'd misjudged the character. Was James Halden lazy, or simply human? He was going to find out, somehow he was going to try and find out.

"There is enough food for the next three days. You guys have to guard these guys okay. I will feel much better with you guys out of harm's way in case something unexpected happens."

"It's alright, young master. There is no need for you to explain, as long as you give us a mission, we'll do it," Nino assured him.

He didn't look towards the other children as he moved out. He was trying to set his brain to task. Save the capital first, in a way much more spectacular than the hero, and then he could start thinking about the children.

The elves had to return to the great forest, and the whale to the ocean, and the wolves needed a leader of some kind. It was alright. Hansworth would avenge them anyway, and now so too would Rayne.

He didn't have to exert himself. He didn't have to do anything, really.

"Excuse me," a voice spoke up behind him.

He frowned at the young wolf boy who'd been the one to growl at him not a few hours past.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Are you the one who... buried them?" The boy had had to look around before he'd felt comfortable enough to ask.

James shrugged. "Not I, kid. You should thank her, if you want to thank someone."

He pointed to Rayne who was now lying on a haystack, covered in his coat. She'd not been able to, nor was she like to gain her consciousness anytime this night.

"But you're her boss, or whatever?" the wolf had asked.

James smiled. "Perhaps for this assignment. Believe it not, she is like a queen and I just a random noble. There is no question who is in charge."

"Then, you'll thank her for me, when she wakes, won't you? And perhaps one day, I can pay you back for all your kindness."

James stared back at the few buildings still standing in the village. He gritted his teeth yet again.

"That won't be necessary, kid. I think the only thing you can do for me is protect the little ones. Kids are a special commodity to me, you know."

Only after they were halfway back to the city did he think through his words. He wondered if it was because his soul was breaking apart, but a specific memory kept creeping into his mind. That time he and Crest had clicked.

He thought he'd hated his brother. After all, hadn't he caused him to lose his refuge after his mother's death. And all the sevants kept whispering that since Crest was now a legitimate child, he presented concrete competition for the Count's seat. James had tried to prove them wrong. Even at seven or so, he'd be a great swordsman, and they'd see who the true heir was.

"Listen, Crest, that's a beautiful drawing. But baby Harry needs his bottle. Why don't you go and play at being a knight like your elder brother?"

Except James wasn't playing. Or he thought he wasn't. Over the next few days though, the three year old boy had watched him drill, and James had watched him sulk in turn. He reminded him of himself. He'd also craved the attention of a mother once, when his own had died.

James had Mary place Rayne in a room of her own, and after he'd eaten a feast, went straight to sleep without even asking about how her mission had gone. He was too far gone. This time when he'd vomited blood he hadn't let any of it get onto his clothes.

And he'd made sure it happened before he reacted the house. It wouldn't do to worry anyone just one day to action day.

The dragon spirit might have known though, but it was too tired so it had only complained for so long before the voice was quiet again. He woke up in the middle of the night, hungry beyond all reason. He was hungry when he woke up in the morning too, and he was eating for about five people every time the whim caught him. Rayne woke up some time in the afternoon.

James didn't know for sure because he'd been working out whenever he wasn't eating.

His muscles were protesting, but he needed to escape his thoughts. There was a full day and night of nothing planned until the day of the gathering. He had no way of escaping his thoughts. The parallels between his old life and James Halden were not pleasing. If anything, they made him angry. How the hell could some lazy guy who spent his time drinking and was born in a rich life and had never seen a dead body before be similar to him?

The answer was surprising, so James kept pumping, paying not a shred of attention to his smutting muscles nor to everyone who'd come into the gym. Hansworth had given up a couple of hours ago, but he'd come back once or twice in intervals.

He'd noticed Jason watching him from a distance. He had gone off the rail before, but truth was he didn't know how to help Crescida. He wanted to though. How long had he been the kind of person who just made excuses instead of admitting his weaknesses. He'd rather go to a tavern than admit he was scared of—

A knock sounded. He paused in his pumping, Hansworth taking the chance to help him put the weighted bar down. Someone opened the door to the butler even as James cleaned his sweat off with a towel.

"There is a letter for you, young master," the man said with a bow.

James's hands shook even as he made to put the towel down. He'd been lax to rest because he knew if he did, he might not be able to go again. It seemed he was done for the day though. He might not be able to escape his thoughts much longer.

"There is no name, sir," the butler continued.

He had James's sudden and undivided attention.

"An anonymous letter, huh?" James mused. Perhaps he'd be able to find a distraction after all. "Mary," he ordered.

"Yes, young master," she bowed just before she matched over and held out her hand for the letter.

James noticed her younger brother Ben watching her with raised brows from the still open door. When she'd finished reading the letter, she met his eyes and said not a word. Suddenly he was wary.

"Thank you," he said to the butler. "You may excuse us now."

The man left. This time not even the mercenaries made to move from the room though.

And Rayne had come here at some point too. Today she'd tinted her hair an annoying red, close to her natural red, but way too bright. She hadn't spoken to anyone yet, that he'd seen. She'd just stood there and stared off into space. As soon tomorrow was behind him, so too would most of these people. Hansworth would likely want to go hunting the kidnappers. He'd sort of miss that one.

Rayne and Jason would go back to acting like strangers at the academy. At least he'd still have Talia and the guys. If he could save them from their own comrades, that is.

"What is it?" he asked Mary.

"Wait!" Hansworth interrupted, "is this information that should be shared with everyone here?"

James hesitated, staring at everyone he didn't consider part of his inner circle yet. That was weird. Since when had he gained an inner circle.

"It depends on if anyone here works for another noble," Mary answered mechanically.

"Perhaps someone does," Hans said, and those in the know didn't need to ask whom he meant.

Jason growled from where he'd already started turning red.

"Say that again, you sword swinging prick, I dare you."

Hansworth suddenly wore this vicious looking smile, and James was scared of the glint he saw in those eyes. His hand was already on the pommel of his sword, which still rested in its sheath where he'd leaned it against a wall.

"Oh, my gods, enough you two!"James snapped. "You're probably making oceans of ponds. Who is it from, Mary?"

"A one Stan Raven, my lord."

James's face twisted into something ugly. What the hell was she talking about? That guy who was fighting his little brother for a seat. He tried to, he really did. He tried to stifle that groan, but it over powered him in the end.

He thought to get back to his training, but his hands refused to cooperate. He looked at them miserably. His muscles were bloated.

He should have known helping those fools would back fire like this. They didn't want to leave him alone. Hadn't he made them promise that they would? Everyone else had lost interest too, except maybe for Mary and Jason and Rayne, who was showing the first real signs of emotion that day.

"Hansworth," Jason asked, "where did I leave that bow they gave me yesterday, do you know? Perhaps I'll go make a few shots outside to clear my head."

"But...young master, the letter's contents seem a bit urgent for you to treat it thus," Mary complained.

"Tch. That guy has nothing to say to me that I'd ever find interesting. We are like pollar opposites. Besides, I did tell him not to contact me, didn't I? Its like he ignored my good natured warning, and for what?"

"It does say something about the royal family though. Perhaps you'll find the information interesting. In our line of work, any and all information may be of use, as I taught young miss Ariane the other day."

James stopped short. He winced. That had always been a weakness, letting his emotions get the better of him. Perhaps that's why he'd never been promoted to a leadership role despite many years of experience. Even rookies had been known to lecture him from time to time.

He sighed. "Fine, read it."

"I'll just summarize it. Its rather verbose. In simple terms, lord Stan came to the capital with the intention of aligning with prince Mikhail since the third prince is known to have no faction. You helped him into the city before he got desperate enough to try that, and he was a bit rude so he apologises. Now he wants your help in entering the palace if at all possible. Or perhaps you can tell him what you think of the third prince. Since you've met the royals, your recommendation will go a long way."

James scoffed. His face twisted again. He was so being buttered up right now, wasn't he? Was Stan trying to use a trick James had learnt before he was even born to try and trick him into helping.

Mikhail was a liar, but what would telling Stan this help anything. Would Stan even believe him? Everyone did like the fair prince Mikhail, after all, which is why those accusations against Crescida did, and will have weight.

Then something clicked into place. Crescida and her house were having this struggle with the Raven house, and the Raven house was having its own internal disputes. The Raven house was no more than just a puppet in the scheme, but they were a very important puppet nonetheless.

Hadn't he just been looking for a way to help Crescida Bladhaven. Perhaps he didn't have to get as directly involved as he'd feared. If Crescida was half as brilliant as her pale eyes suggested -or maybe he was biased for some reason - she no doubt knew what was going on in the background. He'd just need to throw her a little bone, and she'd handle the rest. Hopefully.

His grin might have looked creepy to the others, but he didn't care, not even as some of them cringed in horror.

"Get me some writing implements. Mary, did Stan say where he was staying?"

"Uh, yes he did. What are you thinking of doing, young master?" she asked.

"Lightening my load. Its always good to have less work to do. I need these letters hand delivered. I wish it done quietly, and surely. They should reach their recepients no matter what."

"Then I'll deliver them myself," she said.

James snorted. "No you won't. You still have that information to extract, don't you?"

"Actually, young master. I wanted to report on that all morning, but..." she looked at the weighted bar.

James's grin broadened. "Is that so? Well that's good, isn't it? I thought I was going to have a completely uneventful day. Have the other two deliver the letters. You can make them obey you, can't you?"

"Yes, but what do you mean something to do? This is my job, isn't it?"

"And I want to have a little fun. Don't worry, it will be just the two of us. I don't trust anyone else with these kinds of delicate missions, mind?"

"Yes, but... You do know what this will entail, don't you young master?"

James frowned. "Of course I do, Mary. But I don't think that would be necessary if we were half as good as we needed to be."

She stiffened, her expressionless face taking on a sharper kind of look.

"You can't possibly mean—"

James shrugged. "You'll have to show me if you're better than me. Let's have fun with this, shall we?" He winked at her.

She blinked. "Fun?" she asked, then a hint of understanding entered her eyes, replaced by challenge. "Yes, young master, let's have fun."

Perhaps some of the others could see the sparks flying.

**************

"What did our informants say the Halden boy is doing?" a masked man asked another in a pub.

All around them were men who, if one looked close enough would realise where warriors despite their hunched backs. In fact, it was strange how in sync they all seemed to be in terms of body position.

There were some normal people here too, but the warriors boasted the biggest number.

"Nothing of interest, except his having gone to the hunt. Do you think it's weird Talia found out about the Bladhaven plan?"

"It would be, if she wasn't obviously sleeping with him," the first man spat. "What's weird is how the boy knows these things. Why is Rebel Kaiser wasting resources on him? Its but only a day to our plan. Focus is necessary if we are to milk this chance for what its worth."

The second one shrugged. "Yeah, and with a potential sage running around, perhaps we need to reconsider our plans."

The first man's body shook, the black veins on his clenched fist standing out. Even with all the revolution's resources, he'd been unable to fully recover his former beauty. Now he had to hide his face like these monsters. His blonde hair had been shone clean off.

"I will kill him, I swear. He will come, I know it."

"Those guys weren't after us. They were after those other sick guys. If they were informed enough to attack all their bases in this city, perhaps they've moved on to other cities as well."

"No, they have not," the first man growled.

"You still think the Halden boy is connected somehow?"

"Yes. And its a good thing we know where he'll be that night. If those fools don't show, I'll just go after Halden himself."

"Okay, buddy. You do whatever you gotta do. In the meantime, I'm gonna rearrange all the mana bombs, make sure there aren't any surprises waiting for us in the wings. If your assumptions are right, then perhaps they know about our plan even."

"No, don't waste time with that. I've already moved around a few of the bombs."

"Really? Where to though?"

The masked man looked at his companion, and the second man blanched at the madness he saw in his comrade's eyes.

"They are with me. I'm going to take that bloody all elements prick to the grave with me if I have to."