The question lingered between them long after the conversation ended. If you have the strength and responsibility to stand against it… do you?
Lyrica carried those words with her through the following morning as Stonecross slowly awakened beneath another sky of drifting mountain fog and cold gray clouds. Rainwater still clung to the bridges and elevated roads throughout the city while distant forge smoke rose from Stoneroot far below the cliffs beneath them. The kingdom remained beautiful from above. Lanterns still glowed warmly beneath overhangs and market banners still swayed between the crowded roads of the middle district.
But now she could see the strain beneath it all.
People spoke quieter. Guards watched longer. And every conversation involving the council or King Soren seemed to end the moment armored patrols walked nearby.
The city no longer felt stable.
It felt like a kingdom pretending everything was still under control.
Cade led them deeper through Stonecross shortly after sunrise, away from the larger public plazas and merchant roads crowded with travelers from the lower districts. This time he moved with purpose rather than curiosity, guiding Lyrica through narrower stairways and older sections of the city built directly into the mountain itself. The architecture changed subtly the farther inward they traveled. The polished elegance of upper Stonecross slowly gave way to older dwarven foundations hidden beneath later expansions. Thick stone corridors connected sections of the city through tunnels reinforced by enormous support pillars disappearing deep into the mountain below.
"These parts are older," Lyrica observed quietly while running her fingers along one of the worn stone walls beside them.
Cade nodded. "Some of the first sections built after Stoneroot expanded."
"You've been down here before?"
"A long time ago."
The answer came easier now than it once did.
Not open. Not comfortable.
But less guarded than before.
The deeper they traveled into the lower foundations beneath Stonecross, the more the atmosphere around them changed. The sounds of the upper city slowly faded behind stone corridors and narrow passageways lit only by scattered lanterns fixed into the walls. Fewer merchants traveled these roads. Fewer guards as well.
Yet strangely enough, Cade looked more alert here than anywhere else in the city.
"Why are we down here?" Lyrica finally asked.
"Because people hide ugly things beneath beautiful places."
The words unsettled her more than she expected.
Eventually the tunnels opened into a quieter district built along the inner foundations of the mountain itself. Smaller workshops and storage halls lined the roads while laborers hauled cargo between heavily reinforced lifts disappearing farther beneath the city. Unlike the vibrant life of the upper districts, this place felt colder somehow. Functional. Forgotten.
And frightened.
Lyrica noticed it immediately.
People avoided eye contact here. Conversations stopped when strangers passed. Several workers bore visible bruises beneath worn clothing while armed escorts watched sections of the roads with far greater aggression than ordinary guards elsewhere in the kingdom.
None of it felt right.
Cade slowed near one of the lower taverns built beneath a massive support arch disappearing upward into darkness. Unlike the lively public halls above Stonecross, this place looked worn down by years of smoke and silence. The kind of establishment where people spoke quietly because speaking too loudly brought trouble.
"You know somebody here," Lyrica realized.
Cade pushed the door open carefully. "Maybe."
Warm air and low conversation greeted them immediately. The tavern was crowded mostly with workers, laborers, caravan escorts, and older mercenaries gathered beneath dim lanternlight and the scent of ale and smoke. Several heads turned briefly toward Cade when he entered.
Then one man near the far corner froze entirely.
Gray hair. Heavy scars across one side of his face. One arm missing below the elbow.
The older dwarf stared at Cade for several long seconds before slowly leaning back in his chair.
"Well," he muttered quietly. "Thought you were dead."
Cade approached the table calmly. "Good to see you too, Brom."
Lyrica blinked slightly.
"You know him?"
The dwarf snorted. "Unfortunately."
Despite the words, genuine surprise lingered behind his expression.
Brom eventually motioned for them to sit while glancing carefully around the tavern first. Whatever history existed between the two men clearly stretched back years.
Dangerous years.
"I heard rumors," Brom said quietly after a while. "Black armor. A swordsman traveling north." His eyes narrowed slightly toward Cade. "Didn't think you'd actually come here again."
"Neither did I."
The dwarf studied him carefully for several moments before noticing Lyrica beside him.
"Who's the girl?"
"My daughter."
Brom nearly choked on his drink.
"You have a daughter?"
"Apparently."
That earned the faintest laugh from the older dwarf before the humor quickly faded again.
"You picked a bad time to visit Stonereach," Brom muttered.
"So I've noticed."
The conversation shifted after that.
Slowly at first. Carefully.
Brom clearly understood more than he wanted to say openly, but Cade's presence eventually wore down whatever hesitation remained. The deeper the discussion went, the darker the truth beneath Stonecross slowly became.
The missing shipments. The mercenary movements. The increased guard presence.
It all connected.
Erigut had been moving influence into Stonereach for nearly a year.
Not openly. Quietly.
Bribing lower officials. Buying merchant loyalties. Funding criminal operations beneath the city. Positioning loyal nobles around key trade systems and supply routes throughout the kingdom.
And worst of all?
The lower foundations beneath Stonecross had become the center of it.
"He's using the tunnels," Brom explained quietly while keeping his voice low beneath the tavern noise surrounding them. "Old transport routes beneath the mountain. Some haven't been officially used in decades."
"For what?" Lyrica asked.
The dwarf hesitated.
Then finally answered.
"People."
Silence settled heavily across the table.
Lyrica stared at him. "What do you mean people?"
Brom's expression darkened.
"Trafficking. Forced labor. Slaves." The words came out like poison. "Mostly races nobody important thinks twice about. Refugees. Travelers. Smaller clans passing through northern routes." His jaw tightened visibly. "Anyone desperate enough to disappear quietly."
Lyrica felt sick.
"No one stopped it?"
Brom barked out a bitter laugh beneath his breath.
"Some tried."
The way he said it told her enough.
Cade remained completely still beside her throughout the explanation, though something colder had entered his expression now. Not shock.
Recognition.
Like he had seen this before.
Because he had.
"Erigut's funding all of it?" Cade asked quietly.
Brom nodded once. "Through proxies mostly. Criminal groups. Mercenaries. Corrupt merchants." His eyes drifted toward the tavern entrance uneasily. "But everybody down here knows whose coin keeps the operation alive."
"And the guards?"
"Some are bought." Brom's voice lowered further. "Others are scared."
Lyrica tightened her grip slightly beneath the table.
"This is insane."
"No," Cade said quietly.
His voice carried a strange calmness now. The kind that frightened her more than anger would have.
"It's organized."
Brom nodded grimly.
"That's the problem."
The dwarf eventually leaned forward slightly across the table.
"And that's not even the worst part."
Cade's eyes narrowed.
Brom glanced around the tavern one final time before speaking again.
"Erigut doesn't care about Stonereach itself." His voice barely rose above a whisper now. "He cares about the seat."
Lyrica frowned slightly. "The council seat?"
"Yes."
For the first time, the weight of those words truly landed.
Not as politics. Not as ambition.
As danger.
Brom continued quietly.
"King Soren's getting weaker. Everybody knows it now." His eyes drifted toward the ceiling above them as though looking toward distant Stonecrown itself. "When Soren finally dies, the council vote for succession begins."
"And Erigut wants control before that happens," Cade realized.
"He wants more than control." Brom's expression hardened. "Stonereach holds one of the most respected seats within the Council of Kings and Queens. Whoever rules here gains influence across nearly every major trade route and alliance in the continent."
Lyrica finally understood why Cade had looked so disturbed ever since arriving in the kingdom.
If someone like Erigut gained that kind of authority…
Entire regions could fall apart.
Races already struggling to coexist would turn against one another again. Trade alliances would fracture. Wars could start over resources, borders, and influence.
The council was not simply political leadership.
It was one of the only things still holding the post-war world together.
And Erigut intended to infect it from within.
"He's preparing the city before the vote," Cade said quietly.
Brom nodded grimly. "Fear creates strong leaders. Or at least the illusion of them."
Silence settled across the table once more.
Around them, the tavern still moved with ordinary life. Workers drank quietly after long shifts while tired laborers exchanged conversations beneath the dim lanternlight. Somewhere near the far wall, somebody laughed softly at a joke half-lost beneath the noise.
Normal people.
Living above rot they could barely see.
Finally, Lyrica looked toward Cade.
"What do we do?"
For several seconds he said nothing.
Then slowly, his eyes lifted toward the stone ceiling above them.
Toward Stonecross. Toward Stonecrown. Toward the kingdom balanced unknowingly above the darkness spreading beneath it.
And when he finally answered, his voice carried the same cold certainty she had heard the night before.
"We find proof," he said quietly.
"And then?"
Something dangerous flickered behind Cade's eyes for the first time since entering Stonereach.
"Then," he answered softly, "we stop him."