Kai wasn't terribly fond of Ailicans, he thought to himself. It wasn't as if he had met too many in his time, but of the few he did know, none were very pleasant. His clearest memory was of the old man who had called him a dog because of his magic, but stories of the Ailican king and his conjuror slave were of no short supply, not to mention everything surrounding Nefia Obcisor. Kai wondered if the man standing in the middle of the council's meeting room could feel Kai's magic, and he wondered if he hated him for it.

The man in question, apparently named Raven Blackthorn, had been brought to the council chambers after only one night, but it was long enough for the councillors and prince to compose themselves after the fiasco that had cost Nefia her life. They were trying to keep rumors within a small circle to prevent a panic worse than the one Janbu was already in, but Kai, as the royal sorcerer, had been privy to what had really happened. In Kai's opinion, the councillors should have been given a longer time to collect themselves; they weren't fighters, and a few of them had only been seconds from death. They probably weren't in the best headspace to be back in this room, even if all the blood was gone. But an Ailican visitor was not something to be taken lightly, either, and the council had unanimously decided to convene again, as soon as possible, to speak with the man. Kai had found himself with an invite as well.

Raven stood in the center of the room with his hands bound tightly behind his back. There was a bruise forming on his left cheekbone, and there were heavy bags under his eyes. This time, the sentries had made sure to pat down every inch of clothing he wore. They were not going to risk knives sewn into his clothes. When nothing was found, the councillors had been allowed to enter and sit in their seats surrounding Raven, along with a few guards and extra visitors. Arion's sister Poppy had managed to snag herself a place in the room where it happened, and she stood beside Arion, slightly to his left. Kai stood behind Arion as well, only slightly to his right, doing his best to look stoic, but knowing full well he was failing. Kai was nervous. This seemed frighteningly familiar to yesterday's situation, even if Raven claimed he was no assassin.

"Now, Raven," Dray Mendax said, folding his hands on the desk. "You've told your story to multiple sentries, but they reported that you were speaking all over the place, acting frantic. You had one night to recover a bit and collect your thoughts, so I'd wondered if you could try to recount your story to us."

"I think you mean I had one night in a prison cell," Raven said, spite edging his voice. "Is it customary to arrest every visitor this city gets when they've done nothing wrong?"

"You came to this city unannounced and uninvited with caged, malnourished tigers, only a few days after an Ailican assassin murdered our queen," Frigus pointed out. "I think we had due reason."

"And I have told you multiple times, I had nothing to do with that. I didn't even know it had happened. No one did," Raven insisted. "We hated our king as much as you did. Do you think that I, a mere servant in his palace, would have been privy to his plans for your queen?"

"Ailicans are known to be liars," Mendax reminded the rest of the councillors. "Anything he says should be taken with hefty amounts of salt. He claims to be a servant, yet the ring around his finger would suggest otherwise."

Kai hadn't noticed a ring, but when he looked again, wrapped around Raven's ring finger was a gold band inlaid with rubies and emeralds. It was certainly not something a servant would have been able to afford.

"It's not my ring," Raven said through gritted teeth.

"Whose is it? Is it stolen?" Euris asked.

"No, it's not stolen! It's my... it was a gift," Raven bit out.

"Well, I'm inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt," Zéphine piped up, "But that was definitely a lie."

"Listen, listen," Arion said, holding his hands up to silence the rest of his council mates. "Let's all just stop interrupting him and let him tell his story from beginning to end. I want to hear it in his own words."

Zéphine nodded. "He's right. Let's all just shut up and let the man speak."

Raven took a deep breath and said, "Back in Ailica, I worked for the king as one of his tiger keepers. When he was killed in the riot, his daughter Rosalind became queen, and I can promise you that she is nothing like her father. She is kind and understanding, and the best queen Ailica has ever had. I asked her for permission to bring the tigers back to the jungle, where they belonged. I care so much about those animals, and the desert is not their home. Rosalind allowed me to take them back, so I journeyed across the desert and was planning to come to Ánes and ask where I should release them. I had only just crossed the river when I was assaulted by your guards and forcefully detained. I only heard about your queen's death once I was locked up. I swear I am not here on any nefarious mission, and I am not an assassin."

"And yet, you can see how your timing would make anyone suspicious," Mendax said, but Frigus, who sat to his right, held up a hand to hush Mendax.

"Blackthorn," Frigus said calmly, "Would you mind telling us more about Queen Rosalind?"

"Wh- I mean, sure," Raven said. "She's incredible. She manages to be kind yet commanding at the same time, and no issue is too trivial for her to give her full attention to. She's trying to repair all the damage her father had done, and unlike monarchs before her, she's not afraid to get her hands dirty. She knows what has to be done, but she doesn't sacrifice lives for it. She is brave and selfless. And she would never want to sow chaos in another country."

Frigus leaned back in his chair, a smile tugging at his lips, and Kai wondered what he was thinking. "So that's where you got that ring," Frigus mused.

"Wh- What?" Raven stuttered.

"Son, I've made it my business to read people," Frigus said. "And I've heard your tone before. You're in love with her, aren't you? You're married."

"I-" Raven started.

"Married?" Mendax echoed.

"Sarek, are you telling us that we have the royal consort of Ailica in front of us right now?' Euris demanded.

"Wait, I-" Raven tried again.

"Everyone shut up!" Poppy shouted. The room fell silent, shocked. Poppy wasn't a council member, meaning that, like Kai, she wasn't supposed to speak unless asked to.

However, Arion didn't even look at his sister, seemingly unbothered by her outburst. Instead, he just asked, "Raven. Are you Queen Rosalind's husband?"

Raven swallowed thickly before saying slowly, "I might be."

"I told you he was a liar!" Mendax exploded. "He's only proving me right! He lied to us straight away about who he was, who's to say he's not been lying this whole time?"

Raven opened his mouth to defend himself, but Zéphine spoke before he had the chance. "In Raven's defense, I would have lied about the same thing. We were being outwardly hostile and to admit that would put him in even more danger than he was already in. Mendax, I can literally see the ransom plan forming in your head as we speak."

"Zéphine's right," Arion agreed. "We are not holding Raven hostage to get to Rosalind."

"I agree with him," Raven said.

"Something still doesn't add up," Euris said. "If he is the royal consort, then why was he allowed to journey across the desert, one of the most hostile environments in the world, with two dangerous and untrained animals, into a foreign country, all alone?"

"Rosalind trusts me," Raven said simply.

"So you are here alone?"

"... Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyes," Raven said after a long pause.

"Well, I don't trust anything he says," Mendax said. He turned to face Kai, who at that moment, was beginning to wonder why he had been summoned to this meeting. "Sorcerer, is there a spell you can cast to force him to tell the truth?"

Raven blanched at those words, and Kai wondered what was going through his head. He knew that magic in Ailica was a taboo subject, but he wondered if Raven was one of the people who hated magic, or one of the ones who feared it. Or perhaps he was simply not a fan of getting his conscious invaded. Even if Kai could share that particular sentiment, he pondered if Raven was wondering where Kai's leash was.

"I'm sorry, sir," Kai said, "But magic has rules. There's no spell in the world that can alter another living being's consciousness, so there's no way to force him to tell the truth. I can, if you would like, try to use my medical knowledge to gauge his honesty, but measuring his pulse is unlikely to be accurate since he's obviously frightened."

"I'm not frightened," Raven muttered shakily.

"I have an idea," Poppy spoke once again. "His story revolves heavily around the tigers, doesn't it? He claims he's been taking care of them his whole life, or at least, that's what he told the sentries. If he really is a tiger keeper and not an assassin, the tigers will know and they will speak up for him. If we can get a guide to talk to them, we can hear their input."

"Do you have a trustworthy guide in mind?" Zéphine asked.

"I do," Poppy asserted.

❁

Val had never been more grateful for a healer. Maybe that wasn't such a good thing, in hindsight. He probably should have been most grateful for healers all those times he'd been bitten or bruised or fallen out of a tree, but no. He found himself most grateful when he saw those tigers.

It was, quite possibly the worst thing he'd ever seen. Their fur was matted and patchy, and torn off in some places. He was almost sure he had seen burn marks on them, and their ankles and necks were scuffed where chains and collars had once rested permanently. He was surprised another guide hadn't been called in sooner, because while the healers were doing their best to soothe the tigers' wounds and get them back to full health, the tigers were less than cooperative. They snapped at the healers, baring their teeth menacingly.

Poppy had told him that no one except the healers was supposed to see the tigers, especially guides who could talk to them. Apparently, something had gone down in the council chambers, because there was an air of top secrecy about.

"Remember, I'm trusting that you can keep this a secret," Poppy had reminded him as she showed him the door to where the tigers were. "We can't let anything get out to the public. Janbu is panicked enough as it is."

Val had wondered why Poppy had called for him. There were plenty of other guides, many of them much smarter than he was, and probably more trustworthy. Reece was responsible and Nithri was a thousand times better at keeping secrets when she had to. However, he wasn't complaining. He was glad she had thought of him first. Surprised, but glad.

Val left her side, though, as soon as they were through the door, to kneel by a tiger's side.

"Are you okay?" he asked immediately. "Stay calm. We're trying to help you." He motioned for the healer next to him to be quiet, and pointed to her bowl of salve. "See? This is medicine. It will heal you."

"He speak," the tiger realized, turning to his friend.

"He speak?" the other tiger asked.

"I speak," Val affirmed. "What's wrong?"

"Hurts," the tiger replied.

"PAIN," the other tiger agreed. "PAIN."

"Look, watch me," Val said. He dipped his own finger in the salve, to the healer's shock, and rubbed it a little bit on his palm. He fake-hissed, scrunching up his face in an imitation of pain. After a few seconds, though, he relaxed and smiled. "See? Pain is temporary. Medicine will make it better."

The tiger he was closest to decided to listen, evidently, as he laid his head down on the wood planks and allowed the healer to rub the medicine on his neck. The other tiger was still growling, and he did nothing to make the healer's job easier, but he wasn't actively struggling anymore. Val took it as a win.

"Are they okay?" Poppy asked, worrying her bottom lip. She was still standing at the door, occasionally checking the pathway as if waiting for someone.

"They're scared," Val said, massaging the tiger's ear. "And hungry. Look at them, they're practically skeletons. Have they eaten anything since they got here?"

"We gave them everything we could get our hands on discreetly, but they only ate a small portion of it," one healer replied. "I think too much food made them sick."

"Stars," Val cursed. "They've been mistreated for so long."

"Caspian," the tiger said suddenly.

"Huh?" Val asked. It took him a minute to realize the tiger was introducing himself. "Oh. I'm Val."

"Tero," the other tiger followed up.

"Their names are Caspian and Tero," Val related to Poppy.

"Nice to meet you," Poppy said to the tigers. Although only a small population of Jabu were guides, talking to animals was nothing new for any citizen. "I'm Poppy."

A scuffling and screaming sound from outside the healer's hut made everyone, even the tigers, look up and towards the door. Poppy moved out of the way as a sentry with curly blond hair escorted some kind of prisoner into the hut. The prisoner's face was covered by a black hood to obscure his vision, and both he and the sentry were breathing heavily.

"Would you watch your step?" the sentry asked, shoving the prisoner into the hut. "If you had fallen off the platform right before we got to the hut, I would definitely have gotten fired."

"It's not my fault I've never walked around on a tree bridge before!" The man's accent was heavily Ailican, shocking Val. Was that why his hands were tied? "And I'm blindfolded. If anything, you're the one who nearly walked me off a ledge."

"Pax, you can take the hood off him," Poppy said.

The sentry, Pax, apparently, reached up to yank the hood off the man, revealing dark brown hair and frazzled eyes. "Alright, buddy, time to figure out who you really are."

As soon as the tigers saw the man's face, they both leapt up and started chanting, "Raven! Raven Raven Raven Raven Raven Raven Raven Raven Raven-"

"Okay, they definitely know him," Val said, wrapping his arms around Caspian's shoulders to try to keep him from walking over to the Ailican man and messing up his medicine. As soon as the tigers were calmed, Val turned to the man apparently named Raven. "What did you do to them?"

"What do you mean?" Raven asked.

Val pointed to the scars coating the tigers. "They've been practically torn apart and reassembled. Badly reassembled. What have you been doing to them this whole time?"

"Look, I didn't do that to them," Raven said. "Well, I mean, I did, but I didn't want to. They're my friends, and I care about them more than you know, so whatever you're doing to them better be helpful-"

"We're healing them," Val said defensively. "Because obviously Ailicans don't know how to take care of animals. All they know is abuse."

"I tried my best!" Raven cried. "You have no idea what it was like to live under our king. You don't know the sacrifices we had to make. Don't tell me I abused those tigers. I did everything I could for them. I'm only here right now because they deserved to be brought home. Look what happened to me because of it."

Val turned back to Caspian and asked, "Does he care for you?"

"Care care care," Caspian said.

"You're one of them," Raven realized. "One of the ones who can talk to animals. I've heard stories about people like you."

"I take it you don't have guides in Ailica," Val said dryly.

"Val, can I talk to you for a moment?" Poppy asked. "Let Raven talk to his tigers while I tell you what needs to happen."

Val got up and shot Raven a dirty look before following Poppy outside of the hut. "Poppy, I'll level with you, I'm really confused right now. Is he an animal smuggler? He's Ailican, is he another assassin? He's obviously a criminal of some kind-"

"Actually, he's a royal consort," Poppy corrected him.

"He's a what-"

"Well, that's what we're trying to confirm," Poppy said. "I just need you to ask the tigers what they know about Raven. Ask them to tell you everything. We need to know who he is and why he's here."

Val nodded and they headed back inside. Raven's hands were still tied behind him, but he was allowed to kneel and press his forehead against Tero's. To Val's surprise, Raven was actually chuffing under his breath. He sounded scarily similar to a tiger, enough so to scare Val a little bit. Guides communicated with animals by using magic to translate thoughts into universally understood concepts. Raven was actually imitating tiger sounds to the point where he could be understood by the animals themselves.

"Okay, um," Val said, interrupting them. Raven glared at him for a moment before straightening up and leaning back. Tero huffed and tried to follow him, but Val snapped his fingers and caught the tiger's attention. "Alright. Caspian, Tero, who is Raven?"

"Friend friend friend traitor friend," Caspian chorused.

"Traitor?" Val repeated. "Elaborate?"

"He chose girl. Girl sword," Tero followed up.

"Girl sword bad," Caspian agreed.

"Who is this girl they're talking about?" Val asked Raven. "How does she make you a traitor?"

"They... they think I'm a traitor?" Raven asked weakly, his voice shaking a little.

"Well, the word was thrown around with a chorus of 'friend'," Val admitted, "So you're only a little bit of a traitor. Who is the girl with a sword?"

"They must mean Rosalind," Raven muttered. "But you can't blame me for protecting her, they were going to kill her and her brother, and I had to step in-"

"Is he good?" Val asked the tigers.

"Good good good good good," the tigers answered.

"Well, the tigers think he's good," Val told Poppy. Pax was still stood right behind Raven, and he whispered something in Poppy's ear, but Val didn't hear. Instead, he just asked the tigers, "Why is he here?"

"Raven bring home home," Tero said. "He walk many sand girl knife trees home."

"From what I understand, he's here to bring the tigers back to the jungle," Val translated. "They say he walked over a lot of sand to bring them home."

"Yes! I did that," Raven said. He nodded to the tigers, who bobbed their heads in imitation. "I'm proud of you guys. Thank you for defending me."

"So his story holds up with the tigers," Poppy noted. "Alright. Do you think that's enough to convince Mendax?"

"Probably not," Pax guessed.

"Val, Pax and I have to take Raven back to sentry headquarters and check in with the rest of the council," Poppy said to Val. "Can I trust you not to tell anyone - and I mean anyone - about this? We cannot let Raven's presence in Ánes get out."

"My lips are sealed, I guess?" Val said hesitantly, still a little confused. He was willing to refrain from asking his questions if he was allowed to keep tending to the maltreated tigers.

"Thank you," Poppy said, smiling at him, and he swore he'd never speak another word if it meant that smile stayed on her face. "I swear I won't leave you in the dark for long. I will be back with answers!"

❁

Leo, with nothing better to do, strolled the streets at the very edge of the city, waiting for someone to come along who he could play a song for. Maybe he'd find someone in the middle of a job, and he could play something for them while they worked. A captive audience always made for interesting reactions to his music.

He plucked a few strings on his ukulele and hummed to himself, trying to decide what song he'd choose first to bother someone with, when a small prick on his back made him freeze. He'd had knives held to his back before, and he was familiar with the feeling.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Turn around," a female voice behind him ordered. Ailican accent? "Slowly."

Leo hrrmed and pivoted on his heels, flashing the woman a smile. "Can I help you with something, young lady?" He dramatically strummed his ukulele for emphasis.

"You... seem surprisingly okay with this interaction," the woman said. Yep, that accent was definitely an Ailican one. She was still holding the knife (wickedly long, Leo noticed, and well maintained) up to keep Leo still, and she had several more just like it in a line on her belt. She was wearing airy black clothing with a mask over her mouth and nose and a hood doing its best to shield her eyes. However, in the bright sunlight filtering through the trees, Leo could see light brown hair and hazel-green eyes. Oh yeah, she was from the desert all right. "I am literally holding you at knifepoint."

"Aren't we all holding each other at knifepoint in some way?" Leo raised her. He held up his ukulele and mimicked her pose, pointing the instrument at her as if he was also holding a knife.

"No, that's not- Look, I'm going to ask you questions, and you're going to give me answers," the woman said, quickly becoming exasperated. "Who are you?"

"Who are you?" Leo asked.

"I asked you first."

"I asked you second."

"That's not- I'm asking the questions," the woman said. "What is your name?"

"Leomar Zula," Leo introduced himself, bowing deeply. "It's a pleasure."

"I could literally be robbing you right now," she said.

"Well, you'd be making a mistake, considering I have nothing of value."

"What do you do? What is your job?"

"I am a man of many talents, but my best is annoying people and getting paid for it."

"You're a musician, then? You must travel. You must see a lot of things." She nudged her knife a little closer to him. "Have you seen the man I came here with? He's tall, brown hair, likes tigers? Do you know where Raven Blackthorn is?"

"For all I know, you could be Raven Blackthorn," Leo said.

"I'm not- Look, fine, alright? I'm Shadowseeker. You can call me that," Shadowseeker said.

"That is a very over the top name," Leo mused. "You might as well have called yourself Dramatic."

"You are not being very cooperative," Shadowseeker noted.

"So, I take it you're looking for someone called Raven Blackthorn, eh, Dramatic?" Leo asked. "If you need some assistance, I would be happy to offer my services."

Shadowseeker tilted her head. "You're willing to help me?"

"Well you see, Dramatic, now I'm curious," Leo explained. "Where is this mysterious and elusive Raven Blackthorn? Who is he? Why is he?"

"If you're going to help me," Shadowseeker said, "The first thing I need is a place to hide. It is painfully obvious that I am not welcome in this country, nor are any Ailicans. I need somewhere to lay low until I can find my friend."

"Ah, yes, a house," Leo said. "I definitely have one of those."

It occurred to Leo then that maybe he shouldn't be so calm around this woman. Janbu was supposedly in murky waters with Ailica, wasn't it? Leo wasn't sure if one Ailican assassin was enough to merit the mistrust of an entire country,  but he supposed if the order had come from the king of said country, there might have been some reason behind it, even if it wasn't justified. Was this woman another assassin? Was she to be trusted? It seemed that she just wanted to find her friend. 

Oh well, Leo thought finally. If she kills me, it's her loss. 

"Then take me there," Shadowseeker said. She lowered her knife a little bit, never sheathing it but making it clear that Leo was allowed to start walking again. After a pause, she added, "Thank you, by the way. For not immediately assuming the worst of me. I'm aware I didn't make the best of impressions."

"Impressions aren't real," Leo said.

"If you say so," Shadowseeker said. "Lead the way to this house that you definitely have."

Word Count: 4190

Character Appearances:

Kaiden Esterius by TheShortBosmer

Penelope Vorago by inej-ghafas

Zéphine Tenebris by me

Ignacius Valentine by TheExplosiveCyborg

Paxton Hæthwar by Avengers14

Leomar Zula

Also Featuring Appearances From:

Reece Meraki by Avengers14 (mentioned)

Nithri Fells by dobblewolf (mentioned)

A/N: It is a little-known fact, but my inner monologue sounds exactly like those of the animals in this book, exactly the way it's written. You wanted me to string together a group of words into a cohesive thought? Lmao, you're lucky to get a vaguely understandable sequence of random letters.

Anyways, beyond that, thank you for reading chapter 5! Characters from the last book are slowly inching their way into this one, but fear not, our main cast will still have the spotlight, and our side cast each have their own roles to play. I still refuse to proofread anything though, so mistakes are here to stay

I invoke the name of Spam Gang to come and completely obliterate my notifications, as if they weren't jank enough already. Be sure to vote and comment so I know you were here and so that I have motivation to actually write the next chapter, and my question for you all is: What is your pet peeve? Mine is when people mix up anything that has to do with Gandalf and Dumbledore. No this question definitely isn't an excuse for me to rant to you all about it what are you talking about