"Do you think the Fatebreaker knows that we are here?" Isaac wondered with his eyes tracing the intricate tapestry suspended above their bed.

Lenna sighed. "I think there is a decent chance he does." She replied. "He can read fate, if there was anyone who could ignore our wedding rings protection, it would be him." She added from her place lounging in one of the large sofa chairs. Her helmet was in Isaac's Inventory for safekeeping and the lights were turned off entirely. It was still bright outside but the curtain at least dimmed the light to an acceptable level.

"So, what? Do we just wait here patiently?" Isaac asked and craned his neck to lock eyes with her.

Lenna frowned. "If we were in Safeharbor, I would tell you to go have fun." Lenna told him. "But here? I think it is far too dangerous for anyone to go wandering around this city."

Isaac sighed. "I am inclined to agree." He grumbled. "This place is perfect to the point of insanity and a place does not get to be like this without employing certain 'methods'. The temptation to steal something just to mess up the perfect order was very strong though."

Lenna just shook her head. "I feel like a prisoner in a diamond cell." She said more to herself than to Isaac.

As Isaac thought about it, the more he realized how dead on her comment was. "It is an opulent and ostentatious prison that is just as impervious to damage." He voiced what he thought that she meant aloud which elicited a nod. Isaac sighed again. "We'll wait patiently until nightfall. Once it gets dark, I will open the doors of opportunity myself."

—

An old man, far too old if you asked him, sat upright in his bed. He was surrounded by pillows, blankets, priests, and alchemists and he hated every minute of it. He had already told everyone in charge that there was only one woman with the knowledge and skill necessary to concoct what he needed, and everything else, everyone else, they were all useless. Worse than useless, they stressed him out because half of them were always inside his personal space. He took a deep deliberate breath, the very act garnering the full attention of half of those present. "Out!" He bellowed loud enough for almost everyone present to flinch. "Xlen, show them out." He added after a long moment of silence as he took another slow breath. "No one but Ji-…" He cut himself off and turned his head slightly to the west. "But Jina or the 'strays' may enter." He finished barely louder than a whisper.

The old man's guard, the trusted knight who had protected him for the last three centuries, nodded and slammed his boot down on the tile floor so hard that it cracked. "You heard him. All of you, get out before I throw you out the window." He ordered, far more calmly than his ward had, and opened the door next to him. Xlen waited patiently until almost everyone was out. When there was one left, Xlen walked over to him, grabbed the indignant 'master' alchemist, and hurled him out the open window. The small man had flown the entire fifteen feet to the window in nearly a straight arch and Xlen's throw was so perfect that the windowsill hadn't even gotten a scuff mark from the man's boots.

"Thank you, Xlen." The old man said without turning his gaze from the west. "It is almost time."

Xlen's face fell. "I knew it was coming, but I still wish it was far off." He told the old man who had been more of a mentor to him than a ward to be looked after and protected.

"I know." The old man replied. "But I am only here because of the deals of deities. Someone wants me to grant one last wish, to bend the rules and guide the outcomes, and I owe it to them to try. Only Fate and Luck know what the true outcome will be. I hope that those who want this wish to succeed have made the necessary preparations."

Xlen looked at his ward with some understandable confusion. "But Cainen, one of them has only existed for less than a year? How long have you been holding onto your last Wish?" He couldn't help but ask.

The old man, Cainen Su'Sol, the Fatebreaker, smiled a smile that spoke of knowledge more forbidden than the Tome of Binding. "Now that is a question for ages to come." He chuckled. "Do me a favor and get me more of Jina's tonic."

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Xlen almost mindlessly followed Cainen's instructions as he walked over to the cabinet and withdrew a vial of liquid with the 'Ashborne' label molded into the glass. Xlen was never one to put his nose where it didn't belong but sometimes the old man made it damned hard not to at least try to take a peek. A part of him just had to know all of what the old man was hiding, but he could really only hope that Cainen would reveal his secrets before he finally passed on to the afterlife.

—

Walter walked out of the local military command building and stretched with a yawn. He felt like he had been in there for days, even though it had only been three hours. He immediately noticed Copper chomping down on the feed that was supposed to be for the military horses and just shook his head. He then noticed something, or rather, he didn't notice something. "Where's my fox?" Walter wondered and looked around. "Gypsy?" One of the guards just rolled his eyes and turned away. "Do you know where my fox is?" Walter asked in a tone that reminded the guard exactly how high up the totem pole the 'Ashborne heir' actually was.

The guard looked at him with a mixture of annoyance and fear. "No, sir. I have not seen your fox, sir."

Walter sighed and felt a looming presence behind him. He held up a finger before anything else could happen. "Wait, I need to know where Gypsy is." He stated and felt the looming presence halt. Walter took a deep breath and let out a whistle so loud and sharp that every elf within two dozen feet of him either winced or grabbed their ears. A moment later, Gypsy poked her head out from one of the open stables. She had apparently gotten bored and decided to take a nap. Walter sighed. "Good, stay close, we are leaving soon." He told his fox before he turned around to meet with the scariest man in the entire world.

"Walter." The stern and measured voice of the much older man in front of him said without any inflection whatsoever.

Walter gulped under the calm pressure. "Hey, old man, Philia says hi. But I really must be going, if the guy I just brought into the city starts meditating, the entire place'll go into lockdown." That was right, Walter was more than willing to let Isaac shield him from his adopted dad and father-in-law.

—

"If I wasn't trying to keep as few eyes on us as possible, I would have already started meditating." Isaac grumbled. He had finished most of the books that he had received from Walter and Lenna had finished most of them as well. He was running out of things to keep him occupied and would have started snooping around, but he was waiting until after he had more of the unreasonably tasty food.

Lenna just listened as she leaned back in her chair. She was heavily contemplating the bath in the next room, but she wanted to at least have a date and time set for their meeting with the Fatebreaker first. The last thing she wanted was to be in the bath when they were called upon to meet with him. She absolutely did not want to make the man wait.

There was a knock on the door and the duo sat up straight. "Enter." Isaac stated calmly and the door opened. In trotted a fox, who pushed past Walter in order to find a soft cushion before he could, and then the artificer himself.

"Howdy." Walter greeted them and closed the door behind him. "The privacy in here isn't great, but it's better than the floors below it." He immediately started taking off his boots to avoid tracking any dirt inside. "So, whatchya think of the city?"

"Hey." Isaac greeted Walter in return. "Too perfect."

Walter chuckled. "For sure." He agreed. "Has anyone come to-"

"Nope." Isaac cut him off.

Walter nodded. "Just give it some time. The Fatebreaker already knows you are here, and even if he didn't, I sent a messenger to let him know." He explained and glared halfheartedly at the fox who had decided to claim an entire three person sofa as her new bed.

"Thank you." Lenna told him. "We were getting antsy."

Isaac nodded in agreement. "You are staying for dinner, I take it?" Isaac asked the artificer.

Walter nodded. "You don't get free food this good very often." He confirmed. "Speaking of this absurd hotel slash embassy, how was the elevator? Some people puke when they ride it."

Isaac winced and rubbed his head. "Ugh, Walter, how's it work?" He questioned and then sat through both explanations of how it worked in their old world and Primatia. By the end of it, Isaac had informed him that the ride had: "sucked and we are never doing it again."

Walter laughed. "Yeah. It ain't everyone's cup of tea." He agreed. "So, what's the plan until you hear back from the Fatebreaker?" He wondered and Isaac handed him the last of the books that Walter had lent him. "Thanks."

Isaac nodded in reply to Walter's thanks. "We have no idea." Isaac told him honestly. "What in the hells are we supposed to do in this kind of city?"

"Across the street are the concert halls. It's the building almost perfectly opposite us." Walter clarified. "Fine dining, concert hall, fine dining, concert hall, a total of four times. The top floor isn't open to anyone unless the royals are feeling generous but the bottom three halls are open."

"Just music?" Isaac wondered. "All day? Night? Both?"

"Mid morning, late morning, afternoon, late afternoon and sometimes the royals have one in the evening after dinner. Meal times are standard across the entire city so the music blocks are set to be after a meal and then before the next one." Walter explained. "As for the night, there ain't shit to do. The whole city sleeps at the same time, well, except for the kitchens in a few specific buildings."

"Library?" Isaac wondered.

Walter nodded. "Yeah. A damned shame you can't take any of the books home. They have to stay in the building at all times and it is only open after breakfast to just before dinner." He explained.

"Ugh." Isaac groaned. "I feel like this city exists just to spite me."

Walter laughed. "Yeah it really isn't nice for night owls." He agreed. He then explained where the hotel was that he was going to be staying at. "I'm sure you guys can slip past any guards if you want to swing by after everything is closed up. I do sleep though, sometimes, so just try not to stay all night, yeah?"

Isaac smirked. "Yeah." He agreed. "I guess all that's left for us is to wait."

Walter nodded. "Wait and eat the best, second best, thir- some of the best food in the kingdom." He explained with another nod. "But yeah, the majesty of the place wears off pretty quick once you understand it's a 'communist false-heaven'."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.