"Ouch!"

Valor recoiled; hands shot up defensively before the folded cloth could even touch the cut on his forehead.

River pressed it firmly on the bleeding wound, applying gentle but steady pressure and played deaf towards his brother's protests. Valor winced, blinking back his tears.

"Quit squirming" River admonished; usual dry tone tinted with annoyance.

What was more irritating than a grown man sniveling over a minor injury?

Two.

"My head hurt, too." Raven whined, joining the fray. Despite his bleeding having already stopped, he held a dramatically large rag against the miniscule cut, whimpering like he had a hole through his skull.

River found solace in the fact that no matter how absurd their collusion was, neither of them could possibly become any dumber than they already were.

"Why did you headbutt him?" River demanded, rubbing on the gash. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

Valor turned to Raven, leering at him. "Why do we have to meet up in a place like..this". he vaguely gestured around the tavern, making a face.

"It's called hiding in plain sight, you pigeonwit" Raven rolled his eyes, and threw the rag aside. "No one's going to come looking for the crown prince in a shoddy ass bar by the road."

Valor's face seemed to be settled in a permanent frown since he set foot into Mara's. He shook his head disapprovingly. "Why did you bring Fuuko here, too? He is still a child."

"I'm not a child!" River protested, inspecting the wound to see if the bleeding had slowed. Where was Wolfram when he needed a doctor the most?

"It's not safe here!" Valor exclaimed, clearly uneasy in the crowd. "I nearly stepped on a man at the door who looked like he'd been mauled by a bear!"

River glanced toward Raven, catching his sidelong gaze. They exchanged a silent nod of agreement, both understanding that what Val did not know, could not hurt anyone. Specially Raven.

"I'm not fluent in idiot, so can one of you explain me what is going on?" River quipped, averting the topic. "Why are we having a clandestine meetup?"

Valor's face darkened at the question, his nails digging into his palms. River could see veins bulging in his neck from how hard he was biting down, and his jaw tightened.

"You must leave North," he hissed through clenched teeth, the tension evident in his voice. "At once."

Raven arched a brow at the prince, a sneer playing on his lips. "I don't take orders from anyone, Sir Goody Two Shoes."

"It's not an order," Valor blurted out, his voice betraying a hint of desperation. He lowered his gaze, unable to meet Raven's eyes with the same confidence as before. "It's a request. A plea, even. Please, leave for Sandgill tonight."

A heavy silence hung in the air before Valor's voice broke it once more, brittle and fragile. "And take my brother with you."

The Southern King's interest was piqued. He straightened on his stool, his forehead creasing with curiosity. "What do you mean?"

Valor buried his face in his hands, and River knew it was to hide his tears from Raven's scornful gaze. Valor was a prideful man, a prince. The boy who was raised to be the next king of North, the greatest ruler this generation will see. Someone who would die on his feet faster than begging on his knees.

Unease settled in River's heart like a stone sinking into a dark lake. 

What had happened? Why would his brother come running, all the way from Queensend, to ask Raven to take River away?

"I don't know where to start" Valor roughly squeezed his eyes, finally finding steadiness of his voice.

"I have a feeling you are going to fucking yap for a good while" Raven rolled his eyes at the siffling man, few years his senior.

"So out with the most important thing first," Raven pulled his stool closer to Valor, making their circle tighter. "Why should we leave?"

"My father had closed a deal with the King of West. Kaizer Schulz will hand over Salkow to North in exchange of River Verlice and the metal piece he possesses."

Valor scrutinized River's face with panic bridled eyes, holding his breath. He thoroughly scanned his younger brother's visage to find a trace of hurt, sadness or betrayal. At least a passing wave of shock. Even Raven's perpetual mocking gaze held a hint of sympathy as he too, watched River.

"Isn't Kaizer getting the shorter end of the deal?" River finally asked, after moment of thoughtful silence. "That is like one third of the kingdom"

"Why is that your first concern?" Valor gripped his forearm in desperation. "He basically agreed to sell you off."

River sighed, exasperated. "I noticed"

"If you have it, or even an inkling to where it is," Valor's fingers dug into River's arms. "Please, give it to Kaizer." he gulped thickly "or even Alistair. Just don't hold on to it. Kaizer Schulz only wish to have the metal piece. He has nothing against you."

River gently patted on his brother's hand, reassuringly "I won't, and I can't. Most importantly, I don't have it."

"Kaizer Schulz has completely lost his mind." Valor bit on the inside of his cheek, making his voice sound funny. "He had gone mad, like a rabid dog."

"He is not mad." River stated calmly. "He is desperate, Val."

"Why?" Raven asked, joining the conversation.

"I have a guess at why." River tapped on his chin, blue eyes glinting under the yellow torch light inside Mara's.

No. I know why.

"Let me guess." River reclined against countertop; his whole frame relaxed. He held no sign of emotional distress, whatsoever. 

"Lucian Verlice panicked a great deal once he found I've escaped, and his brain started smoking when he found Raven was behind it."

Valor stared at his brother like a doe, eyes widened in bewilderment. He nodded slowly, saying yes.

"Darling Alistair here is as discreet as a tornado, so he tracked me down in no time." River's voice droned on, devoid of any emotions. "When he found I was helping him to find the metal piece, he asked the queen to send her brother to drag me back dead or alive. But he failed."

"Fuuko.." Valor stammered, squirming in his seat. 

You have nothing to apologize for, Val.

Raven was listening more attentively than usual, with no sudden questions, to River's surprise.

"Solina killed her entire family to stop the piece from being extracted. By what I've heard, Kaizer had been after it like a hellbent hound since its disappearance at Saltsand."

River explained, folding one slender finger at time, for each scenario.

"God threatened to strike Raven with lightening, though honestly, he is only mildly spooked by it. Aithan was promised something too, which he rejected. I have a hunch that Wolfram, too, at one point was ordered by the gods to find it. I could be wrong there, though."

River picked out few roasted peanuts from a nearby bowl and laid them carefully, one by one at the bar top, his slender fingers moving lazily over the wooden slab.

"I don't know how gods think, for I'm a measly mortal but let's assume these metal pieces paused a threat to the nation. A curse of some sort or a deadly weapon that can cause mass destruction."

River looked up to see both men engrossed in his explanation. They both wore similar frowns and had their hands supporting their chins, as if they were two students listening to a mentor solving a math problem.

"We can dispose that possibility, though it seems most plausible. Firstly, it was already safely sealed away in an island before Southern god struck it with lightening and sent his descendant to retrieve it."

River arranged the peanuts in neat lines, as if he was doing it to keep his hands busy while talking.

"When confronted with adversity, humanity unites; yet when enticed by opportunity, we often find ourselves divided." He quoted, faint mocking smile playing on his pale lips. "Legend of Vorine, page 512."

He caught Raven furiously rolling his eyes in his peripheral vision but decided against addressing it.

Keep rolling them, Sir. Today could be the lucky day you finally find a brain back there.

 "That only leaves two possibilities. Either the kingdom that collects all the fragments of it will gain a great advantage or.." River hesitated a second and shook his head giggling "The second one is way too absurd so let's not even consider it."

"Go ahead" Valor encouraged, and Raven nodded in agreement.

"Or it pauses a threat, not for us mortals, but for gods." River sighed, catching his breath after rambling for too long. "That's only a theory though. Gods are invincible, after all."

"Then what made you say that?" Raven's nose was wrinkled-a telltale signs of his brain reaching its limits of functionality for the day.

"Let's call it a hunch, but if you follow that line of thought, it could be something mortals can use against heavens. So gods are trying to get rid of it as soon as they can by getting their descendants to find it for them. Perhaps something a god can use against another god – "

"Abort! Fucking abort!" River interrupted, loudly slamming his palm on the bar top, messing up River's peanut design. "Let's go with first one because this one makes no sense."

"Right," River nodded. "Either way, almost every child of God was promised a reward or a retribution in exchange of a piece of metal."

He grabbed another handful of nuts and went back to his little entertainment of making patterns out of them. "Originally there were two metal pieces, both gone missing without a trace at this point. According to Xola Wendigo there should be at least one more piece and we don't know its whereabouts either."

"Now to the fun part" River grinned at his brother and the Southern king "Guess -who -has- it game."

He narrowed his eyes at the southern king. "Let's start with Alistair."

Raven glared at River, his frown deepening.

"Alistair almost got his hands on one at the Werth Citadel, then got injured and had to retreat. Let's assume he did acquire it before doing so. He also has enough gold to contain it, about 5700 rods of it. That would also explain why he was not struck by lightning yet- "

"River Verlice" Raven growled, his deep voice laced with barely restrained, explosive anger. "Chose your next words very fucking carefully."

Valor side-glanced at the king, that look alone holding the threat to kill, if he continued to use that tone on River.

"I'm just the observer here, Raven Alistair ." River chuckled grimly and singled out a roasted peanut from his array. "I never heard a whisper about it the entire time I was in the West. So, there's about a 70% chance that you have it."

Raven wore the face of someone who had been gutted with a sword. He kept silent, which he usually never does, even though River expected him to lash out at him like he always did with everyone else.

"We can leave Kaizer Schulz out of this" River isolated another peanut and pushed it to a separate corner. 

 "There is only one more person as desperate as he is and that is Solina."

A second peanut joined the first one in the same corner.

"With her whereabouts now unknown we can eliminate the idea that she is keeping it in her pocket as she goes. If she did, she will be leaving a conspicuous trail of diabodies, considering how cursed that thing is"

"Next, Wolfram" he picked out a smaller nut and rolled it between his thumb and index finger, littering the counter with its skin. 

 "He could be following us with the intent of finding a clue about it, but the same theory applies to him, too. If he is carrying it, death would follow him. If he hid it, the entire area would be plagued. Considering how neither happened.."

He casually dropped his fourth peanut in the corner, next to first two. The two men now had a vague idea on River's peanut demonstration. One corner for suspects. One for innocents.

What happened to guilty ones?

"Next take me" River pushed another peanut with a long finger out of the array and settled it next to the three 'innocent' ones. 

"I have no connection with gods. To me it's barely anything more than an ordinary piece of metal. I have nothing to gain, nothing to lose. Also, I would be always bleeding out my nose if I had it. I already proved Raven that I don't have it."

"But West god had said you have it." 

Raven butted in, sounding salty about River's previous remark. He took the peanut and changed its position so that it would be next to the lonely 'suspected' peanut. "You remain a prime suspect, Missy."

River shrugged, paying it no mind. He pointed at the four remaining nuts in the lot. Ones who were still not judged.

"That leaves Lord Aithan, Val, My father and Elva Verlice" he gave each one a teasing push, sending them rolling.

"Aithan Alistair is an enigma. My heart knows he is not involved in this but as a principle I don't listen to anything but my brain."

 Another peanut joined the shameful corner of suspects and it even tried to roll out of there, as if it was hurt by the allegations.

"I personally don't harbor pleasant feelings towards Kaizer Schulz, but man is thorough with his intelligence gathering. He has more than one pair of eyes and ears. I dare say he has few hundred."

River playfully rolled around the remaining three peanuts, like a cat that got a ball of wool. "He even figured out East had one piece, solely by meticulously spying on others."

"So, I trust him as a source of reliable information, if nothing else." River giggled, feeling a slight admiration for the West king.

 He looked pointedly at Valor, who flinched a little under the sharp scrutiny. "So how could a piece go completely missing without a trace, right from under his nose? How did East got their hands on one as soon as Raven very stupidly pawned them off?"

Valor's eyes widened further. Raven watched between two brothers, wondering what this weird, sudden tension was about.

"When I asked Wolfram where he was going to travel next, over tea at the Werth Citadel," River slowly picked up a peanut and brought it close to his face, as if he was trying to intimidate it into confessing its sins.

"He answered Queensend"

Valor swallowed thickly, dropping his gaze to his hands. He tapped his boot heel on the filthy wooden floor in a rapid tap tap tap, his whole frame quivering with the motion.

"Which was odd, but I dismissed it back then." River continued, pinching the roasted nut between two fingers. "It always bothered me though, like an itch you couldn't quite scratch. Why make two back-to-back trips to Malia and Queensend?"

"My devine essence was lost so I couldn't enchant things to spy on Kaizer like I did with Wolfy, but few tricks in the old book worked. Like eavesdropping and gossiping."River felt very exhausted. He had done nothing but talk nonsense today. 

How did Raven manage this every single day was beyond him.

"Einar is a very resourceful man, much like his lifelong companion, with a much looser tongue." River chuckled a little at the memory of him and realized he missed his master a lot. He wished Einar was alright and safe. 

"Plus, he was very unfairly being kept in the dark. A stupid thing to do, in my humble opinion. If he knew, he wouldn't tell me that Kaizer sent Wolfram to Queensend to meet Prince Valor to discuss frontier negotiations."

River crushed the peanut between his fingers and watched the crumbles scatter on the table, his azure eyes as cold as two glittering blocks of ice. "That was Kaizer's to -go lie when he wanted to hide war business from Einar."

"Fuuko.." Valor started, but River interrupted him as if he was invincible.

"I would be what Einar calls a sitting duck if I didn't look into that" River scoffed, eyes focused on the mess of peanut dust and skin. "I turned Calamis library upside down and found something incredibly interesting."

"Apparently," he picked up a second peanut from the remaining two, and started rolling it, the movement now sending chills down spines of his audience like the silence between lightning and thunder. "The current shrine of Vorine in North is a very new establishment, not older than 30 years."

Valor looked like he had aged quite a bit during the short conversation. His expression was a hard one to read, a blend of dread, surprise, and a tinge of guilt.

"The older one is still in Queensend and is an archeological area that no one is allowed to enter. Elva Verlice personally supervises it, as of today."

River felt that his mouth had gone dry from continuous blabbering. A cool glass of water would be nice right now. He would even settle for another cup of watered down milk.

"I read about it merely out of curiosity. So, imagine my surprise when I found the praying chambers of it were made entirely out of gold, true to the ancient ways of constructing Vorine shrines?"

"fuuko..let me explain" Valor started but got brutally ignored again.

"That told me everything I needed to know." 

He crushed the peanut in his hands and slammed his fist on the last one with a bang, obliterating it as well. 

"North has the other piece, and it's in Queensend."

Author has something to say

The next chapter will be out right after this one.

Author kept authoring and the chapter went over 5000 words so i had to break it down to two.

The plot is plotting folks.

sorry about any misses and stuff. Let me know your thoughts. Did you see the twist coming? 

Is it a twist?

ok  go next chap.

and vote