After speaking with the guard and informing them of the inn where they were staying, Jen and Arturo left the palace. She couldn’t believe her brother, and she doubted he noticed how Talon reacted to his lack of respect.

  For a moment, Jen had worried that Talon was going to order the arrest of her brother. Maloi had been right. Talon was still reeling from his time as a captive, and the king hadn’t done a good job of hiding his reaction to Arturo not showing the proper respect a king would expect.

  Despite that, Talon had agreed to give men to Arturo. Was it his status as a legend? Jen had expected the king to deny Arturo’s request. Then again, Talon is the only king who is preparing for this war. He must see something in Arturo, much like many others. Like Modric does. Jen mused to herself. She knew her brother’s skills but wondered if there was something she was missing that Modric and the king saw in Arturo that she couldn’t.

  “Say it already,” Arturo said, breaking Jen out of her thoughts.

  Jen found herself more annoyed at the slight smile tugging at her brother’s lips. “Don’t you realize how close you were to getting denied?” she said.

  Arturo shrugged. “I got the men, didn’t I?”

  “That’s not the point, and you know it,” Jen sighed. Why did she bother? There was no changing her brother, much like he couldn’t change her. “Did you at least notice how mad Talon got?”

  “Oh yeah,” Arturo said. His hands were touching parts of his armor. “He tried to use the power on me.”

  “What?”

  “I felt it,” Arturo insisted. “When the power is used on me, my armor gets cold. I also saw the surprise on his face when nothing happened.”

  Jen recalled Arturo telling her about his Verian armor and how anyone wearing the armor wasn’t affected by the power. The fact that Talon had used the power on her brother was interesting. She wondered what he tried to do and found it even more shocking that the king acted as if nothing had happened. She didn’t recall him being surprised.

  “Now do you see why I don’t like nobles and kings? They’re all the same,” Arturo said.

  “You don’t have to like them to show respect. You never know when you might need a noble's help,” Jen said.

  “Relying on their help is why our family is dead,” Arturo said.

  Anger welled up within Jen, and she had to take a few deep breaths, allowing the emotions flow through her body. She wouldn’t respond in anger. “I’m not going to argue with you about this. You know my stance,” she said. Her experience with lords and ladies hadn’t been bad. There were a few bad ones she met in her time with the Whispering Mists, yet that was no different than anyone, whether they were poor or rich.

  “You coming?” Arturo asked.

  Jen realized she had stopped moving and was a dozen feet behind. “No, I want to be alone,” she said.

  “Suit yourself. I’ll be back at the inn,” Arturo said and walked off.

  It wasn’t necessarily a lie, but Jen needed to send a report to the Whispering Mists. She hadn’t sent a message in months, and it was time to give them a full update. There was a house nearby with someone who worked with the Whispering Mists.

  Jen hoped to hear something from Modric, the leader of the Whispering Mists. It had been too long since she was with her clan, and while she wanted to stay with Arturo, she wasn’t naive enough to think that would last forever. Modric had tasked her with helping Arturo form his army. Now that that task was coming to an end, he would want her back.

  What would Arturo do when she left? Jen imagined he would be angry. There was nothing to be done. She wouldn’t leave her clan; they had not only saved her life but had also trained her and treated her like family. It was the closest she would ever get to having another family. Though she would miss talking with Arturo and Tarmon.

  Why did he pop up all of a sudden? Jen thought with a shake of her head. Tarmon was nice to be around, but it was no different than with Arturo and the others.

  She wandered around Carhan for the next hour and found the building she was looking for. There was nothing fancy about the house; it looked normal. However, there was one thing that made it stand out: a flag with three wavy lines across. A normal person wouldn’t think much of it. Only someone from the Whispering Mists would know its importance.

  Clearing her throat, Jen knocked on the door. She heard footsteps, and the door opened, revealing a handsome man with a scar on his right cheek. “Yes?” he said in a slightly irritable tone.

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  “The mists hide all,” Jen said.

  “You’re a little young to be part of the Whispering Mists.”

  “Modric will vouch for me if you have a problem,” Jen said.

  Laughter escaped him. “You knew the phrase, so I know you are fine. Come in,” he said.

  Once Jen walked inside, he closed and locked the door. “The name’s Fenrick.”

  “I’m Jen.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Fenrick walked over to his fire where a pot was boiling something. He took the pot and poured a cup and handed it to Jen. “Good timing. I just finished making this tea.”

  “Thank you,” Jen said, taking the tea and watching Fenrick pour another and take a drink. She took a sip. Fenrick was a messenger, not quite a spy but someone who helped deliver messages for the Whispering Mists and keep the clan in the loop on any important information. An important, yet thankless job at times.

  “What can I help you with?”

  Jen took another sip and put her cup down. “I need to deliver a message to Modric, along with pen and parchment to write it.”

  Fenrick arched a brow, “Writing directly to the commander, huh? I would be curious about your story,” he walked toward a cabinet and took out parchment, along with a pen, and handed it to her.

  “My situation is unique,” Jen said. She wasn’t going to tell him her mission, and he wouldn’t expect her to. Modric had told her to help Arturo and to update when she could. Her mission was coming close to an end; she could feel it in her bones.

  She sat down at a table and started to write down her message. Jen described how the recruiting process was going and how there was only one nation left, Vandalor. She didn’t leave out the part about Arturo not showing respect to nobles or kings and how that almost backfired in Azzellia. She even mentioned how Arturo was focused on getting revenge and how she wasn’t sure that was going to change until Kyrad was killed.

  Once she was done with the message, Jen handed the pen back and sealed the letter with the Whispering Mists' insignia of a faded person with wavy lines. With that done, she handed the letter to Fenrick. “Make sure only Modric gets this,” she said.

  “Must be an important mission,” Fenrick said as he took the letter.

  “I’m not sure how important it is,” Jen admitted. “But the commander knows better than I.”

  “Don’t underestimate him,” Fenrick said, draining the last of his tea and putting the cup down. “I swear he can see the future, and you’ll think the same thing someday.”

  “Do you know where the Whispering Mists are?” Jen said and wanted to slap herself the moment the words left her mouth. She was forgetting her training! There was no need to ask such a question unless she needed to find them. “Never mind, I best be going.”

  Without another word, she unlocked the door and walked out. Jen didn’t like how careless she was getting, and she knew it was from being around her brother too much. Spending time with Arturo was a blessing, yet she found her composure weakening at times. She hadn’t been so loose with her emotions since Arindall when she was a different person.

  It’ll be good for me when I go back, even if I don’t want to. Jen thought. She was curious what Modric would say when she returned. Thus far, he hadn’t responded to any of her messages. If he was going to, a messenger would find her and give the message. How the messenger would find her she didn’t know. The Whispering Mists had spies everywhere, and she wouldn’t be surprised if there was one in Arturo’s army, though she would never know for sure.

  Jen ended up wandering around for some time before arriving back at the inn. She walked inside and was surprised to see Arturo, Achillion, Eurisha, and Tarmon sitting at a table in the corner. She figured Achillion would be off chasing a woman. She walked to the table and took a seat.

  “Where did you go?” Tarmon asked.

  “I needed time to think,” Jen said. It was partly true. She didn’t want Arturo to know about her messages to Modric. If he got the wrong idea, he might do something he’d regret. There was so much anger in him.

  “We were just talking about you,” Achillion said.

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah, I want you and Tarmon to ride to Vandalor,” Arturo said. “I want to gather the last recruits as soon as possible.”

  “I’m not one of your soldiers,” Jen said. She couldn’t help feeling annoyed. Arturo should know better than to command her! She wasn’t a messenger nor someone to do his dirty work, even if his logic made sense.

  “I know,” Arturo leaned back in his chair. “If I could, I would send someone else, but you are the only one who can get a meeting with the king in a timely manner.”

  “It’s queen,” Jen said. How did Arturo not know who the current ruler of Vandalor was? “Queen Misha, to be precise. She’s been ruling since her husband died from an assassination, at least until her son comes of age.”

  “Another reason I am sending you,” Arturo said.

  “Why not go yourself?”

  Arturo didn’t say anything for a moment, instead taking a drink of whatever was in his cup. “It’s going to sound dumb,” he said.

  Achillion leaned forward as if this were the most interesting part of the conversation. Jen found herself interested, though she looked as if she didn’t care. “My gut is telling me to stay, and I learned long ago to never ignore my feelings.”

  A feeling? Jen bit her lip and sighed. There was no talking him out of sending her to Vandalor, and she couldn’t argue with his logic. She could be back in a few weeks, whereas it might take months for someone else. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

  “Thank you,” Arturo said.

  “You better not leave us while we’re gone,” Tarmon said with a hearty laugh.

  “Never,” Arturo said. “Besides, I have to wait for our new recruits and talk to Maloi.”

  “Make sure to give him my regards,” Jen said.

  “I will.”

  “When are we leaving?” Tarmon asked.

  “Tomorrow, assuming you are fine with that,” Arturo said.

  “Sounds good to me,” Tarmon said.

  “Agreed,” Jen said.

  Did you have this in mind, Modric? Jen thought. Did Modric send her with the thought that she would be used to help Arturo get his army after speaking to all the kings? What was his plan? Despite not knowing much about Fenrick, he did make her think about Modric’s true reasoning behind sending her to help Arturo. Her brother was a skilled warrior, a legend many people say, but what else did he see? One day, she would have to ask him. For now, she would go to Vandalor and see what the commander had in store for her after that.