Rules of Biomancy: A LitRPG Healer Fantasy

It had taken a week to travel to the meeting point. It took two days to return. Elijah did not sleep for a single moment during those two days, spending every minute keeping the horses alive. The beasts had been made to sprint without end, after all, and their bodies were not made for a marathon of such length. The muscles had constantly been on the brink of falling off the joints, the bones were ready to shatter from the stress, and the lungs had just about collapsed seven times, yet Elijah had repaired every injury and forced them to keep moving.

The animals had gone mad, their displeasure loud and clear, but Elijah couldn't let them rest. Only when he spotted the massive wall on the horizon, and they entered through the gates, could he allow the half-broken legs of the beasts to stop moving.

"Grab your bags," Harper ordered, appearing beside the wagon. He and the others obeyed, though Elijah didn't fail to note the veil that fell over their bodies. They'd been made invisible to the crowd. "Time is of the essence."

Despite that fact, they travelled through back alleys only, avoiding any hint of human life. A security measure, according to Harper, one that had been needed in the past days.

"Have people gone mad while we were away?" Louis breathlessly questioned. The prince could barely keep up with the others while carrying his bag. "They look angry."

"They are angry," Aleksi corrected, the giant grabbing the prince's bag before the young man had the chance of falling. "They've been whispering rather rude things since the moment we were seen entering the city."

"Such as?"

"I'd rather not repeat the words without a few drinks in me."

Elijah didn't need Aleksi's help to hear the words. The air of the people had started to turn regicidal. The comments and criticisms that had started brewing months ago had turned into jests of a murderous nature. One death for the sake of the masses. Envy, frustration, and jealousy clouded the opinion of the masses.

You need to work your magic soon, Vera, or you won't wear a crown by the end of the year.

They reached the castle before long. The guards didn't notice them, Harper cloaking them as they traversed the halls. Elijah initially thought they would travel upwards to the royal garden, yet their path diverged after leaving Sasha at Mila's room, and the tower they climbed made him realize how secretive this operation was.

Vera's room, usually restricted to only the royal family and the closest allies, was already occupied by six people. The first two were Alin and Lord Greyhelm, who sat at the table and spoke together quietly, and the other four were Vera, Oscar, the elven diplomat, and a certain Eidomancer, with the last occupying the bed.

Elijah frowned as he approached. The young man on the bed looked sickly, with a straw sticking out of a bruised and swollen neck. From Vera's message, he already knew that Oscar had performed an emergency cric to allow breathing, yet that didn't make the sight any less grim.

Near-perfect positioning.

"I've been keeping the wound in the throat clean, and just rebandaged the hand, but I didn't have the confidence to try and treat the windpipe damage," Oscar rattled off, as Elijah studied the neck. "Mary has more experience with the invasive surgeries, but secrecy meant that—"

"You did good," Elijah cut in, before the student could excuse himself from praise. "Admirable even. With how my hands are these days, you likely did a better job than what I could've done."

A lie, but it made Oscar relax a little.

"Can you fix this?" Vera asked, as the younger healer left the room. "From what Lura has said, we need him to be able to talk."

"And just what has she been saying?" Elijah questioned, sitting down beside the bed and feeling around on the Eidomancer's body.

While the main injury had been the throat, the forced trauma had caused a serious disturbance in the mana veins as well. The person who had caused this had not intended for the man to live for long.

"Castilla always intended to capture Ethon, after Serenova had been forcibly reassimilated into their fold," Lura explained, before Vera could answer. "Sven revealed it to me when I visited, and he nearly died because of it."

Looking at Vera, Elijah could see no disagreement. The queen trusted the elven words, and the eyes of the Eidomancer seemed genuine. For a claim like that, however, Elijah could only agree with Vera's assessment. They needed to hear it from the man himself.

And there's always the chance this entire thing is a trick.

The others must've thought the same, seeing as two of the most powerful mages in the country were on standby, ready to act in an emergency.

"I can fix the throat and allow for normal breathing with ten minutes of work, but the vocal chords have been pressed on for two days," Elijah said, as he brought out Dawn. The duck had no semblance of bedside manners, as she stumbled around next to the Eidomancer's head. "I can stop them from being a hindrance, but I'll have to let the body adjust its form naturally. Expect your voice to be raspy for a month or two."

"If he lives, everything is fine," Lura said, locking eyes with Eidomancer. "You're going to be fine."

… Elijah briefly glanced at Aleksi, who'd settled down next to the Earth Mages. Both of the old men thought the same about the elf's words.

Right.

"Sven, was it?" Elijah asked, getting the smallest nod in response. "Listen, Sven. I am going to sedate the neck to help with the pain, but it will still hurt quite a bit. Despite this, I want you to focus on keeping still. No flexing the muscles, no thrashing, and no adjusting how your head is positioned. I might be able to heal many ailments and wounds, but that requires you to live long enough for me to make that happen. Do you understand? Good. Then let's begin."

Dual-Channeling of [Breathe Life] and [Flesh Bond] has been activated! Current cost: 40MP/sec

As Elijah delved into the broken flesh, he studied the damage that needed to be dealt with. The windpipe was the obvious problem, with the fact that it had been completely crushed in three separate locations, but several chunks of cartilage and blood vessels had been similarly damaged. Even the laryngeal nerve was in danger, one deep breath away from being cut. If that had happened, Elijah was confident Sven would've died before he had arrived.

Such a brutal execution method.

The lines of damage around the entire throat made it clear that this truly had been done with the intent to kill the man quickly and brutally. The runes on the outer layer and the circuit within had more than enough intricacy to practically decapitate the man. Near-instant death, with a brief second or two of torturous awareness. It'd only been through the Eidomancer's tampering that such a fate hadn't occurred.

Elijah briefly wondered why the man hadn't tried to take out the internal parts as well. Some of the more discrete mechanisms still looked somewhat alive, Mana running through the lines etched into the flesh.

And it noticed his awareness of that fact. As he poked and prodded, inspecting the damage, it lashed back at him.

A sting, a weak one, but also something that made Sven move. The young man tried to contain himself, but Elijah could tell it had hurt. With such proximity to the nerve and the path that the strike had taken, it must've felt like a blade going directly into the spine.

Security measures.

Smart. Allowing a person to tamper with the runes inside their body would be unwise to allow, seeing as it could cause accidental death or emancipation. It also made Elijah's job slightly harder, seeing as he had both no desire to allow those runes to persist and had no qualms about spending more time making sure that happened.

Because, honestly, a deterrent like this would work for most people. The only way that you could manipulate runes on the flesh was by direct touch to the lines. If a person wanted to adjust the magical effects, they'd need to interact with the rune that caused those effects, and, if they wanted to break the runes, they'd need to carefully cut each line. It wasn't as if the runes inside the throat of a man could be treated like the runes inside stone, where an effective way of destruction was to simply carve out the area and throw it away. That would instantly kill the man, after all.

'Dawn, get ready to keep him alive,' Elijah said, putting his hand on the side of Sven's throat. Teary eyes looked at him in confusion, the Eidomancer respecting the process but fearing it as well. "Expect a spike of pain in three, two, one…"

Sven inhaled sharply, as a dozen thin roots dug into the throat to keep everything in place. In the same second, Elijah guided a thin line around what amounted to an eighth of the throat's total mass. After temporarily redirecting blood flow, he fully separated the flesh from the rest of the body and forced it out of the skin.

"You're fine," Elijah assured Sven, as he increased the rate of Mana going into his work. Throwing away the tainted flesh, he focused on the repairs that became possible. The cartilage came first, along with the regathering of proper pathways for blood, before he settled the nerves into place and stopped the skin that wanted to swell to twice the normal size. "The pain will fade soon."

'Breathing is getting harder,' Dawn reported, making Elijah quickly finish his current portion of the work. With the sudden snaps to the muscle tissue, he had to remove a few parts that had died off, along with some minor chunks that had seemed on the brink of being tainted by the runes as well. The fact that the security measures on the lines included a way for the runes to relocate themselves was a terrifying thing. 'Getting irregular.'

'I know,' Elijah said calmly, holding onto his staff tightly as he focused on the remaining issue. The windpipe itself, which now had the required space to be repaired. The worst portions were discarded immediately, in favor of regrowing them. Another painful experience, but Elijah had to prioritize speed over being gentle at the moment. 'Tube is mostly repaired.'

'Lung damage is gone,' Dawn said at the same time, making it clear there was only one part left for the operation. 'Can I?'

'Why not?'

'Yay!'

With a squeal of delight, Dawn stretched her legs to let her beak reach the straw that had allowed the Eidomancer to breathe for the past two days. With a yank, it was removed, and the cut it had resided in was healing in less than five seconds.

A gasp, followed by wet coughing that removed the remnants of Elijah's work, and Sven was healthy.

"That hurt, man," the Eidomancer commented, as Elijah allowed the man to gently sit up in the bed. His voice was raspy, as promised, with more crackling than a lifetime smoker. "Oh, I sound weird."

That wasn't an issue for Sven, who chuckled at himself. Maybe a few tears were present as well. It was hard to say, through the coughing fits that followed.

"As I said, it's going to take a while for your vocal chords to recover," Elijah reminded Sven. "I could try to make some adjustments, but that part of the body is extremely sensitive, and any mistake can—"

"Oh, nah, it's alright, dude," Sven assured him. The young man tried to give him a clap on the shoulder, but the hand missed by quite a bit. "Huh."

"The sedative is still in effect," Elijah explained. With a quick intervention from Dawn, who stabbed Sven with a root, the effects were dispelled. "Better?"

"Better."

"So, he can talk without being at risk of dying now?" Vera asked, stepping back into the picture while Lura inspected Sven as well. "Good enough to explain what's been happening?"

"He's sound of mind and body, with only a few parts missing," Elijah promised, noting that he would need to regrow the fingers on the right hand. The remains had been cleaned and bandaged rather well, but he was relatively confident that the young man wouldn't mind getting them back.

And, if Elijah had to be honest with himself, knowing he'd been the one to cut them off made him feel mildly apologetic.

"Good," Vera said, nodding to Harper, who instantly pulled out pen and paper. "Sven Bosk, former assistant of the Castillan diplomat Ester Sutton, please tell us everything."

In the minutes that followed, nothing was held back. Sven's involvement since before the war, the talks with both Ethon and Darim regarding their potential neutrality, Castilla's plans for Serenova afterwards, the future betrayal against Ethon, and, most importantly, the death of a certain dwarven diplomat.

"Ester had put in the order after seeing Hafrad here," Sven continued, only pausing when his voice got too raspy and he needed water to be understandable. "She'd made promises regarding the price increase of gold sold to Darim, and the possibility of Serenova temporarily taking over a supplier was a risk she wasn't willing to take, so she had to make Serenova look unsafe. We found old maps of previously used dwarven routes and outposts, and we had people waiting everywhere for him to appear."

The old table that had lasted since the castle had been built fractured and splintered, as Lord Greyhelm's fingers pushed through the wood. The dwarven eyes remained calm, the bearded face betraying little emotion, but the fists revealed the truth.

"Hafrad Silverstone, son of Hafred Silverstone, died because of human greed and illogical judgment intended as a warning?" Lord Greyhelm questioned. The dwarven mage left his chair, approaching the bed where Sven sat. "Look me in the eyes, lad, and answer this question. Am I right to understand that Castilla knowingly killed a diplomat from Darim, that they planned his death, and that they then tried to make the murder impossible to trace back to them?"

"Yes," Sven answered. Even while pale, looking mildly scared of the dwarven lord, the Eidomancer kept his back straight and his eyes forward. "Ester even ordered the assassins to wear Serenova's regalia under the armor as a precaution."

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"To murder and point a finger at the innocent," Greyhelm muttered, his stone skin seeming to shine through the cracks as mana channeled through the dwarven body with increased intensity. It was only when Alin's hand touched the lord's shoulder that it returned to normal. "Queen Vera Newell, I have a declaration to make, if you all would do me the honor of witnessing it."

"Please, go ahead, Lord Greyhelm," Vera replied instantly.

Here we go.

"For the death of Hafrad Silverstone, a dear friend of mine and the son of a man I fought beside for many years, I invoke my right as the dwarven lord of Stroham to call for revenge. The human called Ester Sutton and Castilla, the country that allowed for this putrid act, will regret their choice in time. The armies of Darim, Stroham, and Lodar will be called upon for the oath of neutrality that has been broken. We will no longer allow the heartless to persist."

Lord Greyhelm reached inside his black armor before taking out a white gem the size of his fist. It shone, reflecting the sun's rays.

And it only intensified when the lord's mana was inserted, and three faces appeared. The first was Darim's king, and the second and third, with their progressively more rocky appearances, could only be the royals of the other two countries.

"Darim has been betrayed by Castilla, and I have been witness to the admission of guilt," Lord Greyhelm announced. "The time has come, my brothers."

It took nothing more than that, the gem shattering as the shouts of millions rang out through the crystal.

Some time would have to pass, but the truth had been spread, and the results were undeniable. The dwarves had joined the war on Serenova's side.

"Now, I ask you, Lura Fadan, if your people will follow suit," Lord Greyhelm loudly questioned. "I know what kind of person you are, for Hafrad told me of your first meetings, but I will allow time the chance to prove my thoughts wrong. What move does Ethon make now?"

Lura Fadan did not answer instantly, her remaining hand clutching Sven's. Elijah could see the shaking of her body, the inability to make a choice, but the comfort of touch from a specific human seemed to finally make her mind settle.

"It is not my choice to make, but I can inform my king of the truth," Lura replied. Letting go of Sven, her left hand pulled out the orb used in the past. "With Sven in good health, he can repeat what he told us to Malon. Then a choice can be made."

"Let's use your artifact then," Vera decided. Lura didn't reject the queen, though it came with some considerations. With the limited number of people who could join, only Vera, Lura, Sven, Elijah, and Lord Greyhelm could join. The rest were made to wait while the message got delivered.

Like last time, all they had to do was put their hands on the glass-like artifact, close their eyes, and relax their bodies. Unlike before, however, Elijah could feel the intrusion into his Core. It was small, nearly impossible to notice, but the way that it covered the magical side of his being was curious.

Even more so when the strand of Mana seemed to briefly grow eyes and look up at his inquisitive gaze.

Elijah blinked and suddenly found himself in the ancient forest, with blue grass under his feet, the sound of distant birds in the air, the afternoon sun piercing through the dense trees, and the surprised look of an elven king reading letters that vanished a moment later.

"Lura Fadan," Malon said, sounding tense when the elven eyes fell onto Lord Greyhelm. "You arrive without warning, and you bring a dwarf?"

"A dwarf of Stroham," Lord Greyhelm pointedly corrected. "We prefer elves to be specific, in this regard."

"You bring a dwarf of Stroham, alongside Serenova's queen and her entourage," Malon repeated with narrowed eyes. "Why?"

Elijah could feel the animosity between them. Only their ranks and the pressure to be diplomatic in their interactions kept the true opinions from leaking out.

"Castilla is using our neutrality in the war against us," Lura answered. "When they have won, they plan to rebuild their armies and attack us. Any promise made with them was intended to be temporary on their part."

The distant chattering of animals ceased, and Elijah could feel the eyes of the forest pointing their way. Long-forgotten souls, minds that still resided in the ancient barks, did not appreciate such words, for they threatened the sanctity of the elven life.

"A bold claim," Malon commented slowly, the king seeming careful. "Do you have proof?"

"Uh, hi, I'm the proof," Sven greeted. The young man tried to step forward before Lura grabbed his hand. "I worked as the assistant of Ester Sutton, the one who helped plan the current war and future invasion of Ethon."

The displeased expression of the king, upon seeing a dwarf in the holy place, seemed like mere immaturity now, as he looked sickened by the physical touch. For a moment, Elijah wondered if the king planned to voice that opinion and derail the entire meeting.

"... Speak," the king finally ordered, personal judgments pulled back in favor of hearing the news. "I need the truth."

Like he had done before, Sven revealed what had occurred, with a focus on the lies pointed Ethon's ways. Elijah hadn't heard about the promises to let Ethon have a significant amount of profits from Serenova's dungeon, but he knew now how deceitful it was. With the percentages promised to Darim and Serenova's crown, if they surrendered, the numbers didn't add up. Castilla had planned to cheat everybody in the end, to fool them into stepping into their own graves.

"I have to say that I expected more of you," Vera commented, her arms crossed as she sat on the chairs that had manifested halfway through Sven's explanation. "You promised Serenova security, your army to protect us, and, just a few weeks ago, you said that it would only require one word for the elven warriors and mages to join the front lines, and yet… All this time, Ethon planned to remain neutral? You were offered a bribe and you accepted it?"

"The safety of my elven people comes first, Queen Newell," Malon replied, sounding unbothered by the truth. "I hope you can understand that."

"Given what I've heard, I can't," Vera fired back. She leaned forward in her seat, her eyes like daggers. "You lied to our faces, your underling tricked us into believing you had the slightest hint of a heart in your chest, but nothing beats in there, does it? You're a cold, awful excuse for a king, and your choices have put your people at more risk than ever before. Already, an attempt was made on your diplomat's life, and yet you keep looking forward with that face of humming and hawing."

From that point on, Elijah would never doubt that Vera and Louis were siblings. While it required a little more goading, that tenacity had always sat inside the queen.

"Fierce words, Vera Newell," King Malon commented. "I would offer you a formal apology for my previous choices, but I believe it would do little to change your opinion of me."

"I don't want you saying sorry," the queen confirmed. "I want your men and women to join mine and to fight Castilla back. We need more people and we need them now, if Serenova is to survive."

"Well, I would be willing to offer, but it would require—"

"No. No slice of profits from the Dungeon, no authority over Serenova's lands, and no assimilation into the elven kingdom. Nothing. You are going to redeem yourself in the eyes of all by not being a terrible showcase of the elven race," Vera cut in, before the king could give another reason to hate him. "I repeat the fact that they tried to kill Lura Fadan, your representative, during negotiations. That is more than enough to be considered a casus belli."

Anger could be seen growing on Malon's face, the right hand of the elven king moving towards a satchel on his side, but it slowed and returned to its original position soon after.

"To Lord Greyhelm, the first dwarf of any origin to have put their feet into this forest since the first sapling broke through the earth, I have a question," the elven king said. "With the killing of Darim's diplomat, and the perpetrators of the murder being known, what has the reaction been?"

"An immediate declaration of war," Lord Greyhelm replied, his voice loud and clear. "All our armies are moving to avenge this wrongdoing, for nothing less can be expected for this heinous act."

"Then, for the first time in my reign as king of Ethon, I must repeat the choice of the dwarves," Malon declared. "The army of Ethon, including the veteran rangers and the most powerful of our mages, is at the disposal of Serenova. We will help you win this war and make sure nothing like this can happen again."

The forest sang loudly, the ancient spirits agreeing with the king's choice. Elijah wondered if the old souls truly understood what was being said, as he could barely understand the fractured whispers and imagery. If anything, they only understood the broad strokes of what had occurred, but that had been more than enough.

He could feel the rumbling as the old protectors rose once again. The Awakened, as Lura had called them so many months ago.

'A new age approaches,' a voice announced inside Elijah's mind, just before they left the forest behind. It was old, firm, and contained more power than any being that he had interacted with in the past. 'An age that few will witness, for it will be revealed beneath a sea of blood.'

'What do you mean?' Elijah asked, hoping that whoever had spoken could reply, but the tether to the ancient forest was cut, and any chance of clarification was lost as they returned to their physical bodies. And, after explaining the situation to the others, Elijah had one question left. "What now?"

"Now… we are going to make sure that Serenova can stay standing until aid arrives," Vera answered, looking up at the ceiling. "People are a priority. We can afford to lose ground, but we can't make it obvious that we're playing defence. Lord Greyhelm, how long was it until the next batch of armor was to arrive?"

"Three days, but we can meet them halfway and make it two," the dwarven lord replied instantly. "Whatever you need, and whatever I have the power to grant, I will give."

"Good to hear," Vera said. "We'll recall our soldiers in batches, under the pretense of having their armor exchanged for something with superior quality, and then place them in areas closer to Kulvik."

What followed was tense planning, as it became clear that Serenova needed to hold for a full month before reinforcements could arrive from either side. Darim's army needed time to be mobilized, and transporting so many through the old tunnels would take four weeks at a minimum. If Ethon's army had truly been ready, Serenova might've gotten help faster, but the promises from the elven king about having his army ready at the ports were apparently a lie.

A month.

It was doable.

"Okay… this seems like it might just work," Vera acknowledged, scribbling out various orders on paper and handing them off. "Lord Greyhelm, Alin, I'll need you down at the dungeon. Please inform the commanders of the changes in strategy, and try to work some magic with the schedule so we can cram in as much training for the mages as possible. All merchant slots are gone from this point on.

"Louis, I'll need your help moving Lura discreetly down to the healer's office. Tell Oscar to prepare her for having her hand regrown. It'll take time, so we'd better get started now."

A lie.

Elijah frowned but didn't object to the orders. Louis did, briefly, but Vera convinced him. Lura, on the other hand, did not accept the queen's words alone. It required the comfort of another before her remaining hand loosened its grip.

"I'm going to be fine here," Sven promised Lura. He reached up to hug her, which she accepted after brief hesitation. "And, please, see if you can convince that Oscar guy to let me have a peek at those royal gardens. I've had to listen to him talking about them for two days without being able to ask any questions, and it is pure torture."

That got a chuckle out of the elf. A little piece of humanity, and enough to make her follow Louis and the others out of the room.

"So… not to ruin the mood, but I'm pretty sure something really depressing is going to happen to me now," Sven commented, as Harper handed a piece of paper to Vera. "If I was just supposed to live long enough to make Ethon and Darim get their armies moving, I'm totally fine with that. I'm just hoping that you could let Lura leave peacefully. Please? I really don't—"

"We're not killing you," Vera cut in, stopping the spiralling ramble of the Eidomancer. "Some could argue it's worse."

"What?"

With a flash of Mana to activate the written words, making them radiate a blood-red light, the queen handed the paper to the Eidomancer. It did not take long for the realization to arrive.

"You're a Leximancer," Sven muttered. "How—"

"We've worked very hard on keeping that secret," Vera replied, a smile on her lips. "Which should make the situation a little clearer to you. In this little contract of mine, you will find the terms for your survival. You will work for me, you will be unable to betray me, you can't reveal any secrets of mine, you can't reveal my Affinity, write down the details of my Affinity, or make any attempt at expressing the details of this agreement.

"I understand if you're a little sad about this, but there's no other way to do it. I can't trust you, and I'm not letting you have the ability to betray me. The last seventy-three attempts on my life have made that very clear."

"... I can't blame you," Sven supposed, before immediately signing the contract.

Huh.

"Did you even read it in full?" Vera questioned, one eyebrow raised as she got handed back the paper and pen. "You just signed up for servitude until the day you die. I can order you to do anything, and you wouldn't be able to stop yourself."

"I gave away my life two days ago, when I betrayed Castilla to save Lura," Sven replied, mirroring the queen's previous smile. "I'm fine with this. You don't seem like the type to force others to do anything terrible."

"Guess my acting skills have improved then," Vera murmured. "Tell the truth for these next questions. Why did you betray Castilla?"

"To save Lura."

"Are you attempting to destroy Serenova from the inside?"

"No."

"Are you under orders from Castilla to hurt Serenova in any way?"

"Not that I'm aware."

"Is there anything you're hiding that you think would be good for me to know?"

"Ten seconds ago, I got very sad when I realized Lura is probably signing a similar contract soon. I don't want that for her."

"The fact that I got her out of the room before all of this should be enough of a sign I don't plan on revealing anything to that particular elf. Gods know what kind of deep shit we'd be in if it was revealed I used Leximancy on her," Vera assured the Eidomancer. "You're the only one getting this treatment, but… I have to make sure of something. Do you love Lura Fadan?"

"Without a doubt, yes," Sven swore. "I've loved her for years."

"Not the most shocking thing in the world to hear," Vera commented, getting up from her seat and walking over to the other side of the room. "What keeps confusing me is the fact that Lura is returning those feelings in full. No question in her mind. She's been afraid of getting ousted from Ethon for her love for the past two days, and yet she has not once considered abandoning you."

"She hasn't?" the Ediomancer asked, looking a little too happy. "Wait, how do you know that?"

"We have a Dreamweaver on our team who goes by Fade," Elijah answered on Vera's behalf, as the queen searched a hidden cabinet filled with various magical artifacts. "She specializes in nightmares and fears, which allows her to catch a surprising amount of thoughts in people's heads."

"A perfect spy catcher as well," Vera added, while putting a bracelet on Sven's left arm. It shone a bright green for a moment before becoming invisible. "I had her inspect the elf for a few hours. She's just about as clean as a diplomat can be. Now… I've got a war to win. Elijah, please get Sven here back to full health before doing the same to the love of his life. I'll be leaving to set up a few contingencies."

Elijah didn't get the chance to accept or reject the orders, as the queen hurried out the door with Harper in tow, leaving him, Aleksi, and the new recruit alone in the royal chambers.

"Are you guys… also under contract?" Sven asked when neither of the old men offered to say the first word.

"Nope," Aleksi replied with a grin. "Vera did make an attempt. Threatened to kill Elijah if he didn't sign."

"And what did he do?"

"Ripped the paper into pieces in front of her and told her off for even trying."

"Oh damn, dude, I would not have done that myself. That sounds way too scary," Sven readily admitted, while Elijah grabbed his right hand and began his work. "Kinda weird, though. Since you're also from Castilla, I kinda just assumed that you'd get the same— Oh, shit, man, that hurt!"

Elijah's grip around Sven's mutilated hand tightened. His mind turned blank, as every other worry for the day vanished. Even Dawn, who had been daydreaming about raiding the royal kitchen, focused on the new recruit's face, ready to finish what they'd started two days ago

"How do you know that?" Elijah questioned. Sven's hand was bleeding inside his grip, but he did not let go.

"Ester, okay? She spotted the green veins back when we watched Hafrad's assassination," Sven explained, his healthy hand trying to free the other. It didn't work. Only when Aleksi stepped in did Elijah let go. "She recognized the signs of elixir, and we looked through the old archives to be sure. Since you were a Biomancer, we guessed you were one of the alchemists back then, and the reason the big guy survived this long. Right?"

"Did you figure out anything more than that in your investigations?" Aleksi asked, much calmer than Elijah was at that moment. "Any names?"

"I think Ester managed a shortlist, but we had to save for it another time after you brought out the tarrasque."

So they don't know everything yet.

That fact quieted down Elijah's heart just a little. He wouldn't be forced to hear his old name just yet, or consider that others knew in full what he had done to get here.