“Master?” Damien stuck his head in the archmage’s office and found her at her desk reading from one of the score or so scrolls littering its surface. Damien had walked Karrie back to the royal apartment before turning toward the stairs and heading down to find the archmage. As he’d walked through the halls he couldn’t stop smiling. Lizzy fit perfectly in the harness Dad bought him for his name day. It almost felt like he’d known Damien would end up with her. He shivered at the thought.

Once he reached the first floor he’d detoured past the kitchen to collect whatever he could wheedle out of the cook for a late lunch, making sure to collect enough to share with his master on the assumption that she’d forgotten to eat again.

The archmage looked up. “Come in. Is that stew?”

Damien had a soul force basket full of leftovers to share with her. “Yeah, chicken and sausage. I brought enough for both of us.”

He conjured a second surface above the tabletop and spread out bowls of stew along with crusty bread, a half bottle of red wine and mugs. They ate in silence for a minute before the archmage said, “How’d it go with the generals?”

“Good. They agreed to let me keep Lizzy.” Damien reached back and patted her hilt. “Not that she gave them much choice. Also I learned a smoke demon killed Dad. I need to find my sister and make preparations to hunt it down, assuming it’s okay with you. We also wanted to check out the farmer that led him to the demon and make sure he’s not involved in anything he shouldn’t be.”

His master frowned around a mouthful of stew. “I had a mission for you, but hunting down a demon is certainly a priority as well. Considering it killed your father I suppose it’s only natural for you to want to deal with it yourself. All right, I’ll assign someone else to help Imogen with the other mission. Maybe Lon, they’ve worked together before.”

“Thank you, Master. What was your other mission?”

“Searching for missing sorcerers. Six inquisitors have stopped reporting in over the last month. It’s not unusual for one or two of them to lose track of time, but six is unheard of. If it’s nothing, fine, but I’m afraid it’s more than nothing.”

“More soul force eaters? Jen and I killed all the ones Eleck had, but who knows how many more there may be.”

She shrugged and ate the last of her stew. “Who knows. Anything I said would be total speculation at this point. Lon and Imogen will get to the bottom of it. Go find your sister and hunt down Fredric’s murderer. I need your mind clear and focused for when we find Connor. Good luck, Damien. And leave the wine.”

Damien bowed, gathered up the remnants of their lunch, and took his leave. Imogen wouldn’t be thrilled that he’d ducked out on a mission with her. He wasn’t certain how he felt. It might have been fun to introduce her to Lizzy.

I’d like to meet her as well. You’ve certainly thought about her often enough.

“For someone that doesn’t get jealous you do a good imitation.”

I’m not jealous. This is just the first woman you’ve ever shown any real interest in. I’m curious to see what makes her so special.

“For starters Imogen reminds me a little of you.”

Me?

“Sure. She’s beautiful, complicated, and about half the time I see her she doesn’t have any clothes on.”

Lizzy’s laughter filled in his weary mind like cool water on a burn. If anything would get him through this she would. He left the castle to find Jen. Maybe killing a demon would cool her anger.