Andrew froze as he looked up at the Archmage. The Elf looked down at the three impassively, his arms crossed. One of the gems he wore around his neck glowed, which Andrew supposed was fueling the spell holding Sol on the wall. After a moment, he moved. Gravity seemed to slowly take affect on him again as he returned to ground between them and the exit of tunnel. When he landed, Sol looked at each of them in turn, his gaze falling last on Anna.

  Andrew looked between the two of them, trying to gauge Sol’s emotions and Anna’s reaction. But the Elf showed nothing on his face, and Anna only showed surprise. They all stood in silence for a moment, until Peter decided to speak up.

  “Hey, Sol. It’s been a little bit.”

  Sol’s eyes flickered to Peter, and a light smile touched his lips. “Not all that long,” he said. “Though quite a lot has happened since you disappeared on us.”

  “We weren’t planning on disappearing,” Anna said.

  “No. It didn’t seem like something planned ahead of time.” Silence filled the air again. Sol examined all three of them. Anna looked away, but Andrew held his gaze.

  “We did tell you before we left,” Andrew said.

  Sol’s eyebrows shot up. “Did you? If you want to call it that, I suppose.”

  “What did you tell him?” Peter asked, leaning closer to Andrew.

  “That Daniel was the Wisp Steelers’ spy,” Andrew said.

  “A statement which is entirely unbelievable,” Sol replied. Andrew felt his stomach clench and all of his muscles tighten up. Then Sol sighed. “At least, it was at the time.”

  “You believe us?” Anna asked in a pleading tone.

  “It’s hard to say without His Majesty and Her Highness with us, isn’t it,” Sol said.

  “We could have brought them to you!” Anna said, placing her hands over her mouth in horror. “You could have told the others they weren’t being controlled.”

  Sol smiled at her, but Andrew was shaking his head as he stepped forward. “Daniel was about to have us killed, and he’d already tried to get the twins killed in the attack on the arena. He was panicking, remember? We couldn’t risk staying anywhere nearby. Especially not after they ran us out of the capital, too. He had complete control over Lady Thalia.”

  Sol frowned as Andrew started, but he was nodding by the end. “I can see how that would make things difficult.” The frown came back to his face. “Control over Lady Thalia, you say?”

  “It’s an ability the Wisps have started using to try and communicate,” Anna said. She explained how they could share emotions, how they’d used this to discover Daniel’s treachery and the fact that he was aggravating Thalia’s emotions. She even had the Wisps start sharing Peter and Andrew’s emotions to demonstrate for Sol.

  “Fascinating,” Sol muttered, looking at the brothers while holding Anna’s bracelet. “You’re a lot less nervous than I thought you’d be,” he told Andrew. “And you seem distracted,” he added to Peter.

  Peter blinked. “What makes you say that?”

  Sol smiled. “Because that’s the feeling I have when the beginning of an idea starts growing in my mind, but I can’t make sense of it yet.”

  “That’s a good description,” Peter said, crossing his arms.

  Andrew looked at him, curious as to what his brother was thinking up. But it didn’t seem the time to ask. He turned back to Sol as the Archmage gave Anna her bracelet back. “Do you believe us now?” he asked.

  Sol pursed his lips. “I shall have to examine Lady Thalia to be certain,” he said. Then he sighed and crossed his arms. “It just doesn’t seem possible of Daniel.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “But it is,” Andrew said. “It seems like a lot becomes possible if you think you’ve been cheated.” Sol blinked, and the trio told him of their visit to the Merigold’s and their suspicions about Daniel’s motives. “We sent you the letter so we could tell you about this,” Andrew concluded.

  “We wanted to get your advice,” Anna added.

  Sol didn’t speak for several seconds. He rested his chin on one hand and staired down, as if he was looking at something far off through the canyon walls. Finally, he nodded. “That does make more sense of your actions and his. Though I’ll need to confirm this all for myself.”

  Andrew relaxed. For the first time since leaving the Dwarves, it felt like they had an ally again. At least, something like it. “Do you have any advice for us?” he asked.

  Sol shook his head. “Even with that information, I’m not sure what you can do to stop Daniel. If he really wants to use this war to remake the country, he’ll make sure it continues, even if the Selasi and Ryukyuujin decide to back down. He’s gotten enough support from the public by claiming you worked with them to kidnap the king and queen that it will be hard to change minds.”

  Andrew clenched his teeth. He wanted to hit something. “I know it won’t be that easy, but surely there’s something we can do?”

  “His power comes from Thalia, and from the fact that he’s using Wisps,” Anna said. “Maybe if we keep working to help the Wisps, we’ll find a way to undermine him.”

  “A good idea,” Sol said. “Though you will need to get rather close to Thalia, and I think you would need an army for that.”

  “Well, it sounds like there are a few aiming for that,” Peter pointed out. “We could just join in with the king and queen.”

  “I’m pretty sure that would convince everyone in Grealand that Daniel is right about us,” Andrew said.

  “Most likely,” Sol agreed. “Then again, perhaps not. It depends on how obviously aggressive Daniel is, and on how the people view you. If you continue to help solve the peasants’ problems with Wisps and bandits and the like, and convince the other nations to force Daniel to be the aggressor, much of the population may chose to side with you against Daniel. Your own homelands for one, and probably the Green Vale.”

  “The Green Vale?” Peter asked. “Did something happen there because of Borac?”

  “There, no,” Sol said. “But Hannah and Jeremy, along with your other companions have been placed in a sort of house arrest here in the capitol on…” he turned to Anna. “On suspicion of actually being controlled by you.”

  “They aren’t!” Anna said. “Did you examine them?”

  “I wasn’t able to,” Sol said. “I was kept rather suspiciously busy, and haven’t had the chance. It’s one of the reasons I find it so easy to believe you.”

  “We need to go save them,” Peter said.

  “No,” Sol said firmly. “Right now they are safe. They are barely suspected. Whatever Daniel’s influence, it isn’t enough yet to turn Thalia on her niece and nephew, and the two of them have enough weight to vouchsafe for the guards and that mage. But if you break in to save them, they will be declared enemies, and Daniel may use them as true hostages.”

  Peter crossed his arms and grumbled, “I don’t like leaving our friends locked up.”

  “I’ll see what I can do for them,” Sol promised. “In the meantime, you need to follow that plan of yours.” He turned to Anna. “Have you any idea how to help the Wisps?” he asked.

  Anna grinned. She took the next several minutes explaining the visions the Wisps had shown her, including the one she’d just had in the ruins. Sol looked as stunned as Andrew felt as she described with new clarity the vision of the High Elves’ underground settlement, their fantastical appearances, and what Anna seemed convinced was the initiation of the Second Catastrophe.

  When she finished the group stood in silence until Sol broke it with a slight cough. “That is something. More than I’d have ever expected. But you couldn’t understand what they said in the vision?”

  Anna nodded. “It was all in their own language. If we could get the Wisps to repeat the visions for the monks on Vulcuo, we might glean more. In the meantime, I’m hoping to get better at communicating with the Wisps.”

  Sol nodded. “I see. Do you know where you will go next to seek these memories?”

  Anna shook her head. “We could go to lots of places. The Crimson Woods might still not be safe, but maybe Frostlake? Or the Tiger Pass?”

  “If we’re going to try and stop Daniel,” Andrew began, “I think we need to chose places less out of the way where we can help townspeople and keep Daniel from lying about us. Or going to ones that would give us a chance to explain the situation to the other nations.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Sol said. “In fact, it reminds me, I read a report the other day. A Ryukyuujin supply chain was interfered with by Wisps not that long ago. They may still be in the area, the mountain passes north of the desert.”

  “The Wisp Stealers?” Andrew asked.

  “I presume so,” Sol said. “It was not clear enough to be certain.”

  “Why would the Wisp Stealers still be active if Daniel’s in charge now?” Anna asked. “They don’t need to operate in secrecy.”

  “Maybe they’re just used to it?” Peter suggested.

  “But why do they need the Wisps?” Anna asked.

  “Oh,” Peter said, frowning. “No idea.”

  “I think I have some,” Andrew said. “The secrecy is easy,” he added. “He probably wants any Wisp activity to be associated with us until we’re dealt with. Having them operate like bandits and saboteurs makes us look bad to everyone.”

  “I didn’t think he hated us that much,” Peter said.

  “It’s not just about us, though,” Andrew continued. “He might need the Wisps for something.”

  “Perhaps more of those high powered soldiers from Borac?” Sol suggested.

  “Or he wants to control more people, like Lady Thalia,” Anna gasped.

  Andrew nodded. “Or both,” he said. And to himself he thought, it could be something altogether different. And that scared him even more.