Lady Elcevier would be the one to resolve everything. Or so Misha had thought until now. The forest, Aliana and Moonlight, Veldin. All of these things that seemed so far out of her own power or knowledge, Misha thought Lady Elcevier would fix them all. But now, she sat atop the dining room table with the knowledge that everything had been a cruel lie.

Remerick was inspecting the bracelet on his right wrist. Grey sat next to him, periodically sniffing at the bracelet as well.

“So, that thing’s keeping him human? I wasn’t really expecting to find out you already woke him up while I was gone,” Aliana said, arms folded over the table. When Remerick looked up at her, she added, “Oh, uh… You know she cursed you, right? I mean, I assume that was her too, considering… everything.”

“Cursed… So that’s what she did…”

“You really don’t remember anything about it, Remerick?” Misha asked.

“Not much. I think all I remember are dreams…” Remerick trailed off for a moment, then shook his head as if clearing away an unpleasant memory. “That’s all, though.”

“Why wouldn’t she just kill you?” Aliana wondered. “You were asleep the entire time, none of us knew about you at first. Elcevier could have killed you well before Veldin ever found you and we never would have known.”

Misha thought back over the conversation. “Veldin was so insistent that she meant well. What if he isn’t entirely wrong? Both he and Lady Elcevier said she just wanted to ‘fix’ things.”

“I wouldn’t trust any answers from either of them.”

“Aliana, if what Remerick said about vampire blood is true, I doubt Veldin has been completely in control of himself all this time.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel safe around him? It hardly fixes the problem.”

“I’m not saying that, but… Am I right, Remerick? Was he anything like this before?”

“Not in the slightest,” Remerick said. “Well… Veldin can be haughty and prideful, yes. Sometimes he isn’t the most thoughtful of other people. But he’s never done anything like what you’ve described. He’s kind and sweet.”

“’Sweet’ is a word of choice, I suppose,” Aliana muttered with a sigh. “So, you’re Remerick, then? Why does that name sound… Oh.”

“What is it?” Misha asked.

“Back when we named Grey, Veldin suggested that.”

Misha had completely forgotten about that until now. “You’re right! You even commented on it.”

“I… I did, didn’t I?” Aliana said, her eyes flicking to Remerick.

“Wait. He mentioned my name?” Remerick asked.

Misha answered, “In a way. I don’t think he realized why he thought of it at the time, but it was the first suggestion he made.” She considered Grey sitting next to Remerick. “Now I’m glad we picked the name for you that we did…”

“So… Maybe he didn’t completely forget.”

“I’m sure we can do something to help him remember. Perhaps Lady Elcevier knows, so long as we can find her again.”

Aliana’s mouth went agape for a moment. “You’re… you’re going to look for her?!”

Misha nodded. “The forest and my village are still in danger, that hasn’t changed. And you need take to Seraphim back, don’t you?”

Aliana sighed, breaking eye contact to turn her attention to one of the illusory windows and the view of a nighttime field of flowers it currently displayed. “You’re right,” she said with some reluctance. “I’ll keep going with you.”

“Even if I bring Veldin along?” Misha asked.

“Do I have much choice?”

“He’ll know where to look, after all. As long as he’s willing to help.” Misha turned to Remerick. “Is it… alright if I ask what you’re planning to do?”

Remerick thought, eyes cast down to the table. “I’m not sure, to be honest.”

Misha nodded, choosing not to push that subject right now. This would be just as difficult for Remerick as for the others, certainly. “I’m sorry. About… About Veldin.”

Remerick gave a forced smile. “I spent the past year thinking he was dead. This isn’t ideal, but it’s better.”

“Still…” Misha stood and hopped down to the chair and then the floor. “I think I should speak to him about all of this. Do you want to come with me?”

“I… I should probably stay here for the moment.”

“Oh, alright. If you’re sure, then.”

“Good luck getting anything from him,” Aliana said.

“It’s fine,” Misha said, “Veldin talks to me. Well, a little, at least.”

The foyer and hallways were quiet as Misha checked the rooms. She eventually found Veldin sitting in an armchair of the uppermost floor’s study, watching the room’s enchanted window filled with starlight. He looked listless.

Misha knocked on the opened door and stepped inside. “May I come in?”

Veldin said nothing.

Misha approached another chair and climbed up onto it. “Are you alright?”

“What answer do you expect?”

“Sorry. Do you want to talk?”

“No.” There was a beat of silence. “But I… feel I need to.”

“Of course.”

“What if he’s lying to me?”

“Does he have a reason to?”

“He could be. He admitted that he wanted to kill Lady Elcevier to begin with. However…”

“However?” Misha prompted.

“I… knew. About Lady Elcevier, and about her magic. I knew the curse was within her power.”

There was silence again, and Misha allowed it before Veldin spoke again.

“And now… she has left me.” Veldin met Misha’s gaze. “You understand what happens if I do not have access to her blood, yes?”

Misha nodded. There was no need to answer that question in detail. She hated the thought of her friend going through that again. “Are you going to be alright?”

“I’m uncertain. As I said, my body now has a dependency on her blood. I do not know what will happen. I should have pieced this all together to begin with. I did, I think. But I did not want to.”

“She may not have let you.”

Veldin looked away from Misha, back to the window. “If that is true, this past year is a lie. I won’t have her. If Remerick is lying, I will not have my past. What if they both deceive me? What will I have then?”

Misha hopped from her chair onto the arm of Veldin’s. “Do you trust me?”

“You’re the only one I do right now.”

“Then you’ll have me.”

“You have a village to return to.”

“And you’re welcome there, if you’d like. But I don’t think you’ve lost everything yet. I think it’s worth hearing Remerick out. And I still need to save my home. Maybe Elcevier can give you some answers, if you’d like to come with me.”

“I don’t know what I’d like to do… But I can’t simply stay here, can I?”

“It’s better than being alone out here.”

Veldin sighed. “Well… Where is Remerick, then? The dining room still? I should speak with him.”

Veldin checked over his belongings carefully, not that there was much for him to take. He had clothing and some travel supplies packed into a rucksack, and that would be all. This preparation served more as a distraction for him than anything. Remerick sat on a chair on the other side of Veldin’s bedroom where the two had chosen to talk. Then again, ‘talk’ may have been inaccurate since they had been silent for some time now.

It was Veldin who finally broke the silence. “How long were we together?”

“Oh, um… About three years. If you don’t count this whole year.” Remerick sounded thrown off by how sudden the question had been.

“I’d never considered myself to be the type for romance.”

Remerick chuckled, genuine for just that brief moment. “That’s what you said when you asked me to the Winter Solstice festival for the first time as well.”

“I asked?” Veldin repeated.

“Mm-hm. Why?”

“Well, I… Nothing.” Veldin turned back to his packing.

“Did you want me to be the one to ask?”

“Not that, exactly, but…” Veldin tried to find a way to order his thoughts.

“You’re not the sort to be so open about these things?” Remerick guessed.

Veldin had difficulty hiding his surprise. “I said that as well, I take it?”

“No, not directly, but I’ve lived with you long enough to know.”

Veldin had lost interest in his packing now and sat on the bed to face Remerick. “You said we studied magic together. Where did we learn?”

“Under Master Eregus. He was a private mentor, we lived with him and two other students,” Remerick explained, adding, “You don’t remember Sera or Marcus at all, then?”

“No, not in the slightest. Which of us was the best student?”

Remerick smiled and laughed. The smile looked good on him, Veldin thought. He at least felt like he understood why he’d taken this man as a partner, or part of the reason, anyway. Remerick said, “That was you, Veldin. Though Sera did well too. I was the one who’d always struggled, honestly. I was always better with a sword.”

“Did you often have need of one?”

“I don’t know if I would say often. But our town was far enough outside of Indervel that we had plenty of reason to worry about beasts and bandits. And, periodically, someone in the area was willing to hire someone who could use a weapon, so that didn’t hurt.”

Veldin nodded. “You mentioned that La–that, well, Elcevier took your weapon, didn’t you?”

“I imagine it was her,” Remerick said, glancing down at his belt. “I had it when I fought her, and then I didn’t when I woke up here.” He idly gripped the fingers of his left hand with his right, a habit Veldin had been noticing. When he watched closely, the first few fingers of Remerick’s left hand seemed stiff and unmoving under his glove.

Veldin hadn’t realized how obvious his staring had been until Remerick abruptly dropped his hands back down to his sides and asked, “Is… Is something wrong? Are you alright?” He sounded nervous.

“When were you planning to bring up your hand?”

“My hand?” Remerick shifted in his seat as if suddenly uncomfortable. “It’s, uh, it’s nothing to worry about. This happens sometimes. I didn’t… I didn’t want to bother anyone. This didn’t seem like a good time.”

“May I see?”

Remerick said nothing and froze up before, once he’d regained his composure, he carefully slipped the glove off his left hand. Much of his hand was missing, replaced by a prosthetic made of metal digits and joints. Only the last two fingers and outer half of the hand remained as actual living flesh.

“There was… an, um, an accident when we were younger,” Remerick said quietly, his eyes drawn to anywhere in the room but Veldin’s face. “I’m sorry. I know it’s not pleasant to look at.”

Veldin leaned closer to take a better look at the prosthetic. “A word of advice, in the event you haven’t heard it from me before. Pay no mind to what judgments you think people make of you. Either you are incorrect, or they are not worth your time.” Engraved along back of the metal hand were a series of Feyish sigils. Veldin recognized them as a means to enhance a spell’s duration and effectiveness, by binding it to the spell’s intended target or to a physical part of the world. “At any rate, you were previously capable of moving these fingers, yes?”

Remerick nodded, flexing the last two fingers of his hand while the metal ones did not follow suit. “It hasn’t been working since I woke up. I thought Elcevier might have done it, but I’m not even sure if she’d have noticed my hand like this under my gloves.”

“No, I do not think it was her, actually. Recently, we...” Veldin stopped as it occurred to him it may not be best to tell Remerick of the damage he’d caused under the effects of his curse. “My companions had a recent incident involving cold iron. At any rate, I should be able to resolve that easily enough with the proper materials.”

“Right, thank you…” For the moment, Remerick returned his glove over his hand.

Veldin leaned back away from Remerick, thinking. He had known. He had known what to expect underneath the glove. Which could only mean that dream—that memory—had been true. What Remerick had said had been true. Consciously, Veldin knew it was foolish to doubt these things in light of the evidence and the facts. Yet for every comment made against Lady Elcevier, he struggled with an urge to come to her defense. Maybe what Misha had said was true. Veldin had not been allowed to think any differently for so long.

“Veldin?” Remerick asked suddenly, and Veldin realized he’d been lost in his own thoughts.

“Yes? What is it?”

“I…” Remerick took a deep breath. “What do you want me to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve… told you that I love you, and yet… I’m hardly more than a stranger to you right now, aren’t I? So, do you… what do you want?”

“You’re asking if I’d like you to leave.”

Again, Remerick’s attention had fallen to the floor and he said nothing.

It was odd, Veldin could not deny that. “You told me that you would answer questions about my past. Until recently, I’ve had little interest in knowing my life from before, but… Well, many things have happened tonight that I wish had not, as I’m sure you can tell. So, any information you can offer would be appreciated.”

Remerick looked up. There was a distinct glimmer of hope in his eyes. “Are you sure? Earlier, you seemed…”

“Overwhelmed?” Veldin said flatly.

“Something like that, yes.”

“Yes, well… That does not change my answer.”

“If you’re sure, then...” Remerick smiled slightly. “I’d like to stay with you, yes.”

“Very well, then. In that case… Now that I’ve something of a clearer mind, I think it’s time we spoke about our next steps from here.”

Veldin gathered his companions to the dining hall for what he hoped to be the last time. Both in the sense that he would like for this discussion to clarify a great many things as well as in that he felt a growing discomfort being in this mansion. Aliana eyed Veldin warily as she had been all this time.

“As it sounds,” Veldin began, “there has been… deception by… by Elcevier. Remerick has given his side of the story, so I feel that I should explain everything I know as well.”

Misha nodded and the others waited. Grey lay on the floor by the table, watching.

“As established, my first memory is of waking in Lady Elcevier’s home, and she explained she had treated my injuries to the best of her ability. As I mentioned, I was given her blood for the sake of my recovery. I was allowed to live with her as I could not remember my past, and, over time, she… I suppose she trusted me enough to explain her origins as to what she is.”

“Her being a vampire?” Misha asked.

“Correct. She was a mortal once. She had a family. A husband and a son. At that time, they lived here on far more vibrant land than what we know today, near some of the villages in these mountains. Tragically, however, a plague spread over this land and killed many of the villagers, as well as Lady Elcevier’s family. Naturally, she was grief-stricken by her loss, and so sought… a means to bring them back.”

There was silence as the weight of those words fell over the room. Aliana asked, with slow and cautious words, “Bring them back from the dead?”

Veldin nodded.

“Is that possible?” Misha wondered, head tilted in thought.

Brow furrowed, Aliana crossed her arms. “I’ve heard stories that Opal once resurrected people who were killed by Obsidian. But that was before the two of them left our world. There’s no way someone could just have a miracle like that performed by Opal, so…”

Veldin continued his explanation from there. “And it is that exact problem that drove Lady Elcevier to what she did. As the Dragons are not a reliable means of such a blessing, she turned to feyish magic instead. However, even with the more flexible nature of such magic, that is an advanced goal if it can even be accomplished in the first place. Only the most prodigious of arcanists would ever come close to such a thing, and Lady Elcevier feared she had neither the skill nor the years to do so. Thus, she turned to a source that would enhance both qualities. Power from entities that… one should not commune with.

“In so doing, she allowed herself to be transformed into the vampire that we now know her to be. Yes, a being of darkness and rotted magic that feeds on blood and cannot join mortals in sunlight. In exchange, she is immensely powerful, and she has eternity to find a means to be reunited with her family.”

Misha shook her head and asked softly, “She became a monster for that? Is there any guarantee she’ll be able to do it even then?”

“I’m afraid even I am uncertain of that. She has been looking into every method that may be of help, including mixtures of different spell techniques. When she found one of Opal’s scales, she hoped to use its power.”

Aliana scoffed. “And like I said, Opal wouldn’t let her power be used by something like that.”

Veldin’s attention snapped to Aliana at that phrasing, but he held back any comment. “Likely, you are correct. I suspect she attempted to use her power to force the scale to obey her. The shattering would have likely been from its attempts to resist. Thus, its corruption—and… And Remerick’s curse, on that note—would come from her rotted magics, if that is the case.”

“You’re not sure?” Misha asked.

“I was not with her when the scale was destroyed, as I mentioned. I simply offered to seek out the pieces, as travel is difficult for her. I had taken to aiding her in her research at that point.”

“By ‘aiding,’” Aliana said, “you mean you were her servant.”

Veldin glared at Aliana, failing for a moment to maintain his composure as he had intended to. Still, Aliana continued, “Don’t be stupid, Veldin. She’s been using you this entire time.”

“I think Aliana’s right, Veldin,” Misha added. “And I think you know it too. Even if Elcevier didn’t mean to do something terrible to you, she still did it. If you really believed she’s trying to help everyone, why be so secretive about so much? Why not tell me all of these details from the time you spent in my village?”

Veldin gripped the edge of his chair tightly, and he stared down at the table’s surface. Hearing these words against Lady Elcevier angered him, filling him with a fury that he forced himself to hold back. He knew that what Misha and Aliana had said was right. The fact that he felt this anger to begin with was proof enough, when everything Lady Elcevier had done for him had been thrown into question.

Veldin let go of the chair with one hand and dug his nails into the palm of his hand, the pain bringing some focus to his mind. He looked at Remerick who had sat in silence this entire time, watching Veldin quietly.

“I let her lie to me for so long.”

“I’m sorry, Veldin,” Remerick said softly.

Veldin looked back to the rest of the group. “Then it seems we’re all decided. We intend to find Elcevier and retrieve the shards for the sake of Misha’s home and Seraphim for Aliana’s sake. And… for myself as well, I suppose.” He took a deep breath now that the anger he’d felt before was fading. “And… I apologize for my previous behavior. I understand if you all are wary of me after everything I’ve done.”

"Alright, alright, fine," Aliana said impatiently. "But what are we supposed to do next? Where are we even going to find her? She can fly well enough to be out of our sight before we can do anything, and the only place I'd expect her to be is... well, here."

"That should be simple enough. Even though she has Seraphim," Veldin said, "she is still attempting to locate the scale shards. I highly doubt that objective has changed for her, and we just so happen to know that one shard is nearby."

"Would she have gone after the fey already?" Misha asked. "She knows about them, after all. If she could have gotten far enough..."

"Perhaps, but it's likely that she will prioritize sanctuary. Sunlight is her only readily available weakness, so we can assume she will secure a means to safely hide first. That does not afford us very much time, but it will be better than nothing. We should set out from here at dawn.”