Chapter Text
Callum cracked his neck and sighed. It wasn't anything unusual, just another overly long meeting. Still, it left him drained to a point where all he wanted to do was return to his rooms, lie down, and sleep.
He finished packing up his notes and stood up. His knees gave out an audible crack, and he once again thought about the workout sessions Soren proposed to him, but he never found the time nor energy to participate in.
He really needed to do something with himself. He was in his prime and yet felt like a fifty-year-old.
Callum walked the castle's corridors slowly, relieved that the day was coming to a close. Maybe he'd check by Barius' bakery and get a treat for himself. This would lighten his mood. And he could also get a pastry for Sarai.
His little sweetheart.
His thoughts once again wandered to the meeting. That's why he was tired. Because once again the topic drifted to his family, or rather the lack thereof.
Ezran's and Aanya's things were going... well, and they would probably publically announce a union before the end of the year. But both of them wanted to keep their feelings under wraps for now, to get to enjoy love for some time before politics inexorably got involved.
And as a good brother, Callum kept his mouth shut. Even if as a second in line for a for now heirless kingdom, he was constantly pestered about getting married.
And whenever some nobles that disliked him specifically were invited to the meetings, they never let go by the opportunity to mention that 'it would benefit the kingdom greatly if Callum beget a suitable heir, since of course a half-elven bastard didn't count.'
Whenever he had to listen to these few morons, his fingers just tingled to fry them on the spot and dump their ashes amongst the trash that they belong to.
He also knew that goading him was the sole purpose of these comments, usually whispered just loud enough for him to hear, counting on him to outburst and cause a diplomatic scandal that would force Ez to expel him from the council.
So he had to grit his teeth whenever he heard those snarky comments. That's why he was so exhausted. That's why all he wanted to do for the rest of the day was to lie down and sleep.
Callum let out a few gasps after the long and grueling journey upstairs. He really needed to get back in shape.
He then approached his door and fumbled with the keys for a few seconds. After finding the right one, he pushed it into the keyhole and turned...
And there he met resistance. The key didn't turn - the lock was already open.
Weird. He could have sworn he locked them in the morning.
He pushed the door inward. His quarters were dark, candles blown by the wind rushing through the open windows.
Other than the wind, it was silent.
"Sarai?" He asked, now starting to worry. She could usually be heard from half a castle away.
"Sarai?!" He yelled and prepared Fulminis with his hand.
If someone broke in...
"SARAI!" He yelled for the third time, deathly scared now.
Then something hit him in the back of the head, and he was momentarily blind. Callum panicked, tossing left and right. He fell to the floor. He prepared to hurl the lightning at the attacker behind him...
From where the child's laughter was coming.
Callum managed to still his raging heart - "Sarai." He said in a stern, dangerous voice.
The laughter subsided, and little four-fingered hands lifted from his eyes.
Callum rolled on the ground and looked up into familiar green eyes - "Sarai, we talked about this. I could have hurt you."
His daughter was a mischievous and sneaky little being. In that, she'd grown into her mother. It didn't help that she also got very good at moon magic at a young age. She found illusions boring in themselves, but quickly learned to adapt her magic skills to get even stealthier and confuse her "enemies'" senses, allowing her to make even more daring pranks.
Her eyes lost that mischievous glint she carried so often and she looked away, ashamed - "Sorry dad."
Callum sighed - "I don't want you to be sorry. I want you to understand that you can jump on me as much as you want, but you seriously scared me this time. I could have attacked you."
"Okay, dad."
He sighed again. He could never remain angry at her for long, and he already hated seeing her mad at herself - "Oh, c'mere." He pushed himself up on his elbows.
She crawled up to his chest and curled into a ball in his lap, pressing her forehead against him, still brooding.
He knew that if he gave her any sweets, his plans of getting some rest wouldn't come to fruition, and damn him if he wasn't spoiling this child already. But sometimes his mouth worked independent of his thoughts when it came to her.
He reached to a small bag he had by the hip - "I brought you something."
He took out a semi-squashed jelly tart, and Sarai brightened momentarily. She snatched it in a hurry, but before she got to it, tore it up and offered him a piece.
"No, it's all yours. I've had my share." He said, already thinking about the jelly stains he'd have to get out of their clothes later.
Meanwhile, Sarai got to devouring the tart like the little beast she was. Ez often joked that she inherited his sweet tooth from back when they were kids, and there was no denying it in moments like these.
Callum took her off him and stood up. While Sarai was eating the crumbs, he evaluated her little trap. Now that he thought about it, it was stupid to not assume it was all one of her tricks. Her eleventh birthday was just a week prior, and she was still giddy and energetic - even more than usual - after the party he, Ez, and Soren surprised her with.
Only a few kids showed up, and those that did were probably 'persuaded' by their parents who would want a favor from the High Mage rather sooner than later. Sometimes, he even got angry thinking what the other children saw in her that made everything so difficult. She didn't have horns or pointy ears, and the only thing separating her were her hands, white hair, and slightly purple skin tone.
But from what he'd seen, the party was still a lot of fun for Sarai. She was used to other kids avoiding her by now and just rolled with it. It was hard being the only half-elf in the whole capital. Which was part of the reason scaring the hell out of him was her main way of spending her free time.
Callum looked up, noticing the little fingerprints where someone pressed their unwashed fingers. It wasn't the first time she managed to scale up the wall and remain hidden above the doorway by virtue of pressing hard against the wall on both sides. But how did she open the door?
"Corvus gave me lockpicking lessons today!" She enthusiastically said, licking the remains of jelly from her fingers, that she - of course - wiped on her pants - "He also gave me my own lockpicking kit!"
He didn't even realize he was thinking aloud. Nevermind. He'd have to have a chat with Corvus about teaching her things like these without him knowing. He could already imagine all the trouble he'd have around the castle when people would find their doors unlocked and a little prankster waiting behind them... or rather above them.
But it was also moments like these when he thought about how proud Rayla would be of her.
Nope, nevermind. We ain't going that direction. This day was already rough enough.
But his mind also came up with a way to make it a little better.
"Sarai. Tell me, would you like a story?"
This day was looking promising.
Even with the extra dose of sugar, he managed to get Sarai to bed at a reasonable hour, and he felt well-rested today. His stories by the fireplace usually made her sleepy, and she loved the one he told about a magical dream dragon.
And today, his schedule was rather lax. There was only one meeting scheduled in the evening, concerning trade with Duren, so he could practically sleep through that one. Other than that he had the day free to work in his office, spend time with Sarai, and otherwise prepare for the rest of the week.
So that's why he was at the market. He was a prince and didn't need to think about getting food for himself or Sarai. Similarly, he didn't have to wash their clothes.
But he did anyway. It wasn't a surprise that Sarai didn't make a lot of friends in the castle, and she wasn't particularly liked by the staff either. That's why he took care of her food and clothes by himself. It just seemed impolite to ask maids who got covered in ink from head to toe to get said ink out of Sarai's clothes, too. Same with cooks - and although Sarai reminded Barius of little Ezran, and he insisted that she wasn't an issue, he didn't want to ask Barius to force other cooks to make food for her.
So today he'd buy some vegetables, Neolandian spices, and a little bit of meat for a soup. He may not have been the best cook, but learned plenty in the last years, and Sarai didn't complain. If he was lucky, a friendly trader of his may be through town today, too, and he'd get Sarai a new toy.
So he walked around the market with a bag of ingredients, smiling and chattering with other people. He was almost completely staffed when he noticed something.
Or rather... someone.
There was a weird figure, cloaked, standing around nearby wherever he went. He moved away from one stall to the next, and the figure followed - far, yet closely enough for Callum to notice. He stopped at one stall, and the figure similarly stopped at the one before, seemingly looking through the offered goods.
He moved away, the cloaked stranger did the same. He made a few random turns around the market, yet the person was always close behind him.
This couldn't have been a coincidence. The person didn't even buy anything, and they visited so many random stalls that a real person would have to have a very wacky shopping list.
He also caught the person staring, once. He was quick to turn away, but the motion was easy to see even for Callum. This told him that the stranger wasn't experienced at all.
This day was turning out to be interesting.
In over the decade that passed since Ezran took the throne, Callum witnessed many attempts to get close to one or more of the council members. All dangerous individuals were of course stopped by Soren and the rest of the crownguard.
But he didn't need help with that one. The stranger would learn not to mess with the High Mage.
Callum left the market - the stranger followed, obviously. Callum waited until the less-crowded streets, then turned a corner into an alley.
When the stranger entered after him, Callum was ready.
"Ventum Magneticus!" Callum unleashed the spell. A strong gust of wind from outside the alley seized the stranger and tossed him against the opposite wall.
The stranger cried in pain and surprise, meanwhile Callum was already tracing the Fulminis rune.
In one swift stride he was by the stranger. He seized him by the collar, pinned against the wall and lifted his other hand - that cradled a ball of pure lightning - in front of the stranger's face.
"Wait! Please!" The stranger cried. The voice was squeaky, full of fear. In a matter of a second Callum estimated his owner to be around sixteen. Still, he didn't let go.
"You have ten seconds to tell me why you're after me. Ten." Callum began.
"Please, I didn't want to-"
"Nine." Callum said calmly.
"I was just searching for High Mage Callum of-"
"Eight!" Callum seeped through teeth, pushing harder against the stone.
"Sometimes, we make sacrifices..." The stranger struggled - "so that the ones we love don't have to!"
Callum's heart felt as if it stopped for a minuscule moment, then started beating ten times faster. He knew these words by heart. He still read them on his every birthday, even though the paper had long turned yellow and fragile.
Callum let the man go. The stranger fell to the floor, shielding his face with his hands in fear.
He knelt by the stranger, but didn't let the lightning in his hand dissipate - "Who told you that?"
"I don't know, I don't know..." The man kept on babbling.
"WHO TOLD YOU?!" Callum yelled, and the man recoiled.
"I'm just a messenger, please don't hurt me." He said, and only after a moment Callum realized the man started crying.
Callum sighed, and let the lightning harmlessly strike the stone beside him - "Tell me everything. Everything. Is that clear?"
It took a good minute for the man to regain control of himself, but finally he started talking - "I was just mindin' my own business when I got accosted by a guy... He told me the deal..."
"The deal?" Callum asked, on edge. He wanted the man to go faster, but also didn't want to scare him anymore. He would be of no use then.
"Yeah. Find Callum, the High Mage, he said. Deliver the message when no one is nearby, in secret, he said. He offered good money, too."
"And who was, 'he'?"
"I don't know, I swear, but he said that I was just the last link in the chain and that he got the message from the person before who got it from the one before and so on."
If that was true, and the man's frightened features added authenticity to his version, tracking the origin of the message was nearly impossible. Clever.
"And what was the message? Just the words you said?"
The stranger shook his head and reached into his pocket. Callum was ready to summon the lightning back if he tried anything tricky, but the man slowly withdrew a piece of paper and gave it to Callum.
The piece of paper was crumpled, and its contents were poorly drawn, but it was obvious that it was a map of the continent, with a location marked with an X south of the Midnight desert, roughly between the Uncharted Forest and Silvergrove.
Callum flipped the paper. On the other side, a single word was scribbled.
ALIVE
Callum tried to remind himself to breathe, but the air just wouldn't come, not regularly at least. Callum recognized that he was on the brink of a panic attack. He clenched his fists and focused on what was important. Getting the answers.
"Anything else?" His voice was no longer stern, but pathetic. He didn't care but hoped that the stranger wouldn't get a stupid idea because of that.
Fortunately, he didn't have to worry. The man was still scared as hell - "Only to not try anything. That..." He seemed to try and remember - "That they'll see you long before you see them. And if you bring an army, or try something tricky, you'll never find her."
Her
"That's all! I swear!" The man cried, and Callum realized he crumpled the paper in his fist. He put it in his pocket - he'd need to study it and memorize every detail later.
For now, he had to get back to the castle and think of a plan. It seemed that he would abandon a meeting or two.
And besides that, there was the stranger. He could drag him to the castle to be imprisoned and interrogated, but would that give any more benefits?
No, he realized. The man was too scared to hide anything, and if he was just a very good actor, then interrogation wouldn't bring anything anyway. Not unless he'd get radical, and the man didn't deserve torture just because he delivered bad news to Callum.
Bad? Were they bad? No, they definitely weren't. But they were far from good.
"Go." He said, and after a moment repeated - "Go!"
The man needed a moment to understand, but stood up on shaky legs, and ran out of the alley.
Callum already forgot about him. He also forgot about the bag of food from the market that he left to rot in the alley.
This time, the cooks will have to forgive him. He'll be too busy packing to cook anyway.
Ezran was reading a letter on the balcony, using this one in a-million not-so-occupied day to get some rest.
The letter was from Aanya - it wasn't signed by her, of course, but they both knew each other's made-up aliases for secret correspondence.
He'd add it to the pile of many such letters later - that ranged from innocent friendly ones that reminisced on how boring it was without him, to the ones that he had to read in secret to hide the blush on his cheeks.
Once he was done, he'd write his own response and send it via a crow. Then he'd probably spend the free afternoon in the courtyard. Maybe he could even convince Soren to go horseriding-
There was a sudden bang as his doors swung wide open, and Ezran turned on his heel in a second, hiding the letter behind his back.
But it was just Callum, trying to get the guard's hands off him.
"I'm telling you, I need to talk to the king imm-"
"Please, High Mage Callum, the king wanted some private time." One of the two guards said. If it was anyone else, swords would have already been sticking out their chest. Callum barged into the king's chambers in front of their eyes after all.
"Peace." Ezran walked from the balcony inside his bedchamber - "Callum, you know you could've just knocked?"
Callum sighed - "Fine. Now, Ez, I need to talk with you urgently." He looked left and right at the guards apprehending him - "In private."
Ezran watched him and simply nodded to the guards, who let Callum go and left the chamber.
They waited a moment for their footsteps to silence as the guards left the corridor. Ezran then walked to the doors of his chamber and closed them by himself, giving them maximum privacy.
Ez sighed - "Callum, you look like if you saw death. What is it this time? Had Sarai-"
"No, it's not about Sarai... but it is in a way. I don't know, it..." Callum suddenly found it hard to make a coherent sentence.
"Hey." Ezran came up to him, placed a hand on his shoulder, and guided him to his bed - "Slow down. I see that you're worried." They sat next to Bait, who was having his afternoon nap they somehow hadn't interrupted.
Callum took a deep breath. Ezran noticed his brother's hands were shaking.
"Rayla." Callum said.
"What?" Was Ezran's reaction. A long time passed since Callum had an episode about Rayla this big - "I don't-"
"It's Rayla, Ez." Callum repeated - "She's alive."
"WHAT?" And now Ezran felt a weird rush of... emotions he couldn't even name - "Wha- How do you know?!"
Callum sighed again - "I was given this information today, and - if I understand correctly - a demand, or a threat. Anyway, I have to leave Katolis at night. You can say that I'm sick or whatever at the meeting. I hope you'll forgive me if I borrow one of the horses."
"B-But it's impossible! The letter, her Lotus..." He placed a hand on his brother's shoulder - "I don't understand."
"Neither do I!" Callum shouted - "I don't understand half of what I learned today. It just doesn't make sense! But it doesn't matter, I'm going."
Ezran gripped his shoulder harder - "Callum..." He sighed - "what if someone is... just playing with you? This wouldn't be the dirtiest trick I've seen used in politics. Maybe they're just getting desperate to remove you from the council."
"The message I received... It contained a part of the letter, the letter she left at the Nexus, I... How would they know about it?"
Ezran sighed again - "Callum, it's been twelve years-"
"Exactly! And what if she was held captive the entire time?! Listen Ez, think, how did they, whoever they are, learn even a bit of the letter that only the two of us have ever read? What if they tortured her to get it out, or worse..."
Ezran didn't have a response to that. If the words were exactly as in the letter, it would exclude any political rival.
And the thought of what someone would have to do to break Rayla made his guts lurch.
"Nevermind." Callum stood up, still shaking, and started pacing - "It isn't even a question of whether or not I'm going. I came here to ask you..." Callum made a pause, finding it hard to form words - "I need you to take care of Sarai while I'm gone."
"Don't make me a nanny! I'm going with you. Together, we can-"
"No!" Callum protested, maybe a little too harshly - "You have a whole kingdom to run, your life is too expensive. Besides, the message specified that I must come alone."
Ezran's brow furrowed - "Callum, that's so obviously a trap-"
"Exactly." Callum turned to him - "That's what my whole request is about. I need you to take care of Sarai. I hope it will only take a week, two tops, but... If I don't come back, someone still has to raise her."
"Callum, listen to yourself!" Ezran shouted for the first time - "I know how much you loved her, and how much it hurts, but maybe..."
It's time to cut the losses - he thought.
Ezran sighed - "Listen, we both went through it. Hell, I don't even remember mom's face aside from paintings, just like Sarai! You can't make her go through losing both parents, you know how much it hurts!"
Callum stiffened for what felt like an eternity, then turned around to leave - "My decision is final. Can I count on you?"
Ezran sighed. He put his face in his hands - "Yes." He recognized that he couldn't add anything else.
"Thank you." Callum said and pushed the door open to go to his quarters and pack.
In his rush, he didn't notice a little halfling that stood pressed against the wall just outside the doors, listening.