The afternoon settled warmly over Darquebane Manor.
For once, nobody was in a hurry.
Jax stood outside beside the grill, turning thick cuts of boar steak over an open flame.
Technically, they were already cooked.
They had spent nearly eight hours sealed and submerged in carefully heated water while Jax occasionally checked the temperature and explained, again, that no, the bags were not going to melt.
Now all he wanted was fire.
A hard sear.
A little char.
And enough heat to melt the herb butter waiting nearby.
The smell had already attracted most of the household.
Bunny sat at the outdoor table staring at the grill.
"How much longer?"
"Two minutes."
"You said that two minutes ago."
"That was a different two minutes."
Bunny narrowed her eyes.
Jax flipped another steak.
"Don't rush perfection."
"I'm hungry."
"You're always hungry."
"Exactly. So you should plan better."
Jax laughed.
The rest of dinner was already waiting.
Sweet potatoes for some.
Baked potatoes for others, with sour cream, cheese, chives, bacon, butter, and enough additional toppings that Jax wasn't entirely sure the potato remained the primary ingredient.
His own was simple.
Butter.
Bacon.
Salt.
Pepper.
Nothing else.
Nyxian had once accused him of having the culinary imagination of a farmer when it came to his own plate.
Jax maintained that if something was done correctly, there was no reason to hide it.
A familiar voice came from behind him.
"That smells unfair."
Jax glanced over his shoulder.
Soren Nightclaw was walking toward them.
"You're just in time."
"I didn't come for dinner."
"Nobody ever does."
Jax looked toward the table.
"Bunny, another plate."
She was already getting one.
Soren sighed.
"I actually came here on official business."
"You can officially eat while you're doing it."
That earned the slightest smile.
A few minutes later, Soren sat with the others.
He cut into the boar.
Stopped.
The inside was perfectly cooked from edge to edge.
He took a bite.
Then another.
Jax noticed.
"Problem?"
Soren finished chewing.
"Your reputation does you no justice."
Jax grinned.
"That's either a compliment to me or an insult to everyone talking about me."
"Both."
"Fair."
Soren took another bite.
For several minutes, official business apparently became significantly less important.
Eventually, Soren set down his fork.
"There is something we need to discuss."
The change in his voice was subtle.
Jax caught it immediately.
So did Llandra.
Soren looked toward the others around the table.
Jax nodded.
"They can hear it."
Soren leaned back slightly.
"We finished processing the safehouse."
Jax's expression didn't change.
"The bomb?"
Llandra's eyes immediately moved toward him.
Soren paused.
"You know about it?"
"Warden told me."
Something in Soren's posture relaxed.
Of course Warden had.
"The device was more sophisticated than we initially thought," Soren said. "Magical explosive. Enough material to cause significant casualties if they had managed to place it near the Portal District."
Zee stopped eating.
Bunny's ears lowered.
"How significant?" Jax asked.
"Thousands were concentrated in that area throughout the evening."
That answered the question.
Nyxian's expression hardened.
"But they didn't get close."
"No."
Soren looked toward Jax.
"They never had the opportunity."
Jax nodded once.
"Anything else?"
Soren hesitated.
Llandra noticed.
"What?"
Soren looked at Jax.
Jax exhaled.
Then looked at her.
"There was an attempt on you."
Llandra became completely still.
"On me?"
"During the festival."
"What kind of attempt?"
"Archer."
Her eyes narrowed.
"How close?"
Jax considered lying.
Decided against it.
"I caught the arrow."
Silence.
Llandra stared at him.
"You caught the arrow."
"Yes."
"An arrow intended for me."
"Yes."
"When?"
"While we were walking through the festival."
Llandra searched his face.
Then realization came.
"You knew."
Jax nodded.
"And you didn't tell me."
"No."
"Why?"
His answer came immediately.
"I wanted you to have a night without worry."
Llandra stared at him.
Jax didn't look away.
"You were happy," he said. "You were laughing. Having fun. Nothing was going to happen to you. It was handled."
"You should have told me."
"Probably."
"I would have wanted to know."
"I know."
"And you still didn't."
Jax nodded.
"The night was perfect. And I didn't want one minor incident to ruin that."
The irritation remained.
But something else joined it.
Llandra looked down at the table.
She remembered the lanterns.
The crowds.
The drinks.
Laughing harder than she normally allowed herself to laugh.
For one night, she hadn't been a princess.
Hadn't been an archer.
Hadn't been watching rooftops or counting exits.
She had simply been happy.
Her hand moved across the table.
Jax took it.
"Catching an arrow aimed for Llandra is a minor incident."
"It was to me."
"Next time," she said, "tell me."
Jax hesitated.
"I'll try."
Llandra's eyes narrowed.
"That was not reassuring."
"It was honest."
A reluctant smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
Soren cleared his throat.
"For what it's worth, the people responsible are no longer a threat."
"Dead?" Llandra asked.
"Most of them."
"Most?"
"We deliberately allowed some movement long enough to identify additional locations and contacts."
Jax nodded approvingly.
"And now?"
"Now we have more eyes than we had a week ago."
Soren glanced around the table.
"You're a target, Jax."
Jax stabbed a piece of steak.
"Shocking."
"Your wives are targets."
Nyxian lifted her drink.
"Also shocking."
"The difference is that people are beginning to understand what targeting any of you actually looks like."
Soren's expression became faintly amused.
"One professional team entered Solmere."
He paused.
"They fired one arrow."
Another pause.
"And then we took their safehouse, their records, their communication network, their bomb, and most of their people."
Jax raised his glass.
"Sounds expensive."
"For them."
They drank to that.
Dinner eventually returned to easier things.
Which was how Soren learned that Jax was leaving.
"For how long?"
Jax looked toward Zee.
"Probably a few days."
Zee nodded.
"We're going to find my family."
Soren's attention settled on her.
There was enough in her expression that he didn't ask unnecessary questions.
"When?"
"Tomorrow," Jax said.
Soren frowned.
"You're leaving immediately after someone tried to assassinate one of your wives."
"Yep."
"Of course you are."
Jax smiled.
"Warden is staying here."
Soren stopped.
"And the Shadows?"
"Most of them stay with him."
Soren's shoulders relaxed.
"Good."
Jax raised an eyebrow.
"That sounded relieved."
"It was."
Nyxian laughed.
Soren ignored her.
"I'll adjust patrols while you're gone."
"Warden knows you're in charge."
That made Soren pause.
Then nod.
"Good."
Jax gestured toward the platter.
"More steak?"
Soren looked at it.
Then at Jax.
"Yes."
Official business was concluded.
They left the following morning.
The first leg required no caravan.
A portal carried them from Solmere to Kensington.
The Fairy Kingdom was alive with movement when they arrived, and Pixelle immediately disappeared into a storm of conversations that seemed to occur at a speed no normal person could follow.
Lexi was considerably easier to understand.
"The clan won't remain where we last encountered them," she explained. "But movement leaves patterns."
Jax looked at her.
"Patterns."
"Mana flow."
Pixelle dropped out of the air beside them.
"Fairy stuff."
Lexi sighed.
"Essentially."
"Can you find them?"
"Yes."
Pixelle crossed her tiny arms.
"Obviously."
It took several hours to establish the most likely route.
By afternoon, they were moving again.
This time by road.
The Shadow Bulls pulled the elaborate caravan with tireless strength, carrying them farther from the cities and deeper into territory where permanent settlements became increasingly rare.
Three days.
That was how long it took.
On the first day, Zee talked.
She told Bunny about food she remembered from childhood.
She explained some of the clan's customs to Lexi.
She told Jax which stories about her people were true and which ones were complete nonsense.
She smiled often.
On the second day, she talked less.
On the third—
She held a book.
It had been open to the same page for nearly an hour.
Zee wasn't reading it.
She wasn't even looking at it.
Jax noticed.
So did Llandra.
Nyxian noticed everything.
None of them pushed her.
By late afternoon, Pixelle suddenly flew higher.
Then stopped.
Her wings hovered almost motionless.
"There."
Zee stood.
Far ahead, partially obscured by the rolling terrain, smoke rose into the sky.
Not one fire.
Many.
Her breath caught.
"They're here."
The camp was larger than Jax expected.
Dozens of tents and wagons surrounded a natural spring. Animals grazed beyond the perimeter. Cooking fires burned throughout the settlement.
The Shadow Bulls attracted attention immediately.
So did the caravan.
People emerged as they approached.
Men first.
They stepped into the pathways and open spaces, watching the strangers.
Women appeared behind them.
Some remained near tents.
Others stood behind husbands, fathers, brothers.
One woman started to step into the road for a better look.
A man beside her extended an arm.
She stopped.
No argument.
No question.
She simply moved behind him.
Nyxian's expression changed.
She leaned closer to Jax.
"This is the opposite of my homeland."
Jax glanced at her.
Nyxian continued studying the camp.
"This appears to be a patriarchy."
Zee stared straight ahead.
Her voice was quiet.
"It is."
Bunny's ears shifted.
She looked around again.
This time she saw it too.
The caravan stopped.
Zee climbed down first.
Jax followed.
Then the others.
Several men watched them carefully.
Their attention lingered on Jax.
Then the Shadow Bulls.
Then the women surrounding him.
Zee approached one of them.
"Excuse me."
The man looked at her.
"Where can I find Agamon?"
The man's expression hardened.
"We don't answer to women here."
Bunny blinked.
"But she's one of you."
The man's eyes moved toward Bunny.
"That changes nothing."
Bunny frowned.
"Agamon's her father."
"That changes even less."
Jax stepped forward.
His expression didn't change.
His voice did.
"Tell me where I can find Agamon."
The man looked at him.
Whatever response he'd intended disappeared.
Jax hadn't threatened him.
Hadn't raised his voice.
Hadn't reached for a weapon.
He simply looked at him.
The man's back straightened.
He swallowed.
"The central tent."
His hand rose immediately, pointing deeper into the camp.
"There, sir."
Jax held his gaze.
The man's head dipped.
Then he hurried away.
Nyxian watched him go.
"I hate this place already."
"Nyxian," Zee whispered.
"I didn't say it loudly."
"You said it loudly enough."
Nyxian looked toward the retreating man.
"Good."
The central structure was larger than the others.
Not luxurious.
Important.
There was a difference.
People watched as they crossed the camp.
Whispers followed them.
A few people stared at Zee longer than the others.
Recognition slowly spreading.
Then two people emerged.
A man.
Older than Jax had expected.
Tall.
Rigid.
Weathered by years beneath an unforgiving sun.
Beside him stood a woman.
Quiet.
Her eyes immediately found Zee.
And stayed there.
Zee stopped walking.
For everything she had become—
For all her power—
Her voice still trembled.
"Father."
Agamon looked at her.
No smile.
No surprise.
No movement toward her.
"Why have you returned?"
Zee's hand tightened around Jax's.
"I wanted to see you."
Agamon's expression remained unchanged.
"And I wanted you to meet Jax."
His eyes shifted toward Jax.
That finally produced something.
Recognition.
Perhaps even respect.
Zee continued.
"We're going to be married."
Agamon looked back at his daughter.
"What you do is no concern of mine."
Zee's fingers went still.
"You are no longer of this clan."
Her mother lowered her eyes.
Agamon didn't.
"You are no longer my daughter."
Nobody spoke.
Jax felt Zee's hand trembling inside his.
He didn't step in front of her.
Didn't pull her behind him.
He stood beside her.
Exactly where he belonged.
Then he addressed Agamon.
"I came here because I love your daughter."
Agamon said nothing.
"I intend to marry her. I thought it right to come here and ask for your blessing."
"You waste your time."
Jax studied him.
"Why?"
Agamon's eyes narrowed.
"Our ways are not yours to question."
"I'm not questioning them."
Jax's voice remained calm.
"I'm asking you to explain them to me."
That earned an answer.
"She was chosen."
"For what?"
"Her gift belonged to the clan. Her power was meant to be shared among us."
Nyxian's expression darkened.
"You mean she was supposed to die."
Agamon looked at Nyxian.
Then deliberately turned back toward Jax.
"Yes."
Nyxian's jaw tightened.
Zee looked down.
Agamon continued.
"She was given an honor few ever receive. She rejected it."
"She chose to live," Jax said.
"She chose herself."
"Yes."
Agamon's eyes hardened.
"And we have paid for her selfishness ever since."
Zee looked up.
"What?"
"The drought came the following year."
Zee stared at him.
"The eastern spring failed."
"Father—"
"Children became ill. Livestock died. Women lost children before they could be born."
Zee's face drained.
Agamon pointed toward her.
"And still the suffering continued."
Nyxian stepped forward.
"You blame her for the weather?"
Agamon's attention flicked toward her.
"She cursed our clan."
Nyxian stared at him.
"She cursed your clan."
"Yes."
"By not dying."
"By rejecting what was required of her."
Nyxian laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
"So the drought was Zee."
Agamon said nothing.
"The sick children were Zee."
Silence.
"The dead animals?"
"All consequences have causes."
Nyxian's eyes narrowed.
"The miscarriages?"
Agamon didn't hesitate.
"All of it."
That silenced even Nyxian.
Agamon looked back toward Jax.
"Even now, women abandon their obligations. Daughters reject the authority of their fathers. Wives abandon husbands."
Zee stared at him.
"Women have left?"
"Because of you."
Something changed in Zee's expression.
Agamon saw guilt.
Jax saw something else.
"You showed them selfishness," Agamon continued. "You showed them that duty could be abandoned."
Zee looked around the camp.
At the women standing behind men.
At the girls watching from beside tents.
At the faces that disappeared whenever someone noticed them staring.
Maybe some had left.
Maybe they had seen what Zee had done.
Maybe they'd realized leaving was possible.
Agamon called it a curse.
Jax wasn't so sure.
Zee looked back at her father.
"Do you know what I've done?"
Agamon said nothing.
"I've saved people."
Her voice was quieter now.
Not weak.
Emotional.
"Thousands of them."
Agamon's face remained stone.
"I've fought beside kings. I've healed people who should have died. I've stood against armies."
Her eyes began to shine.
"There are people throughout the United Kingdoms who know my name."
Her voice cracked.
"Children know my name."
Agamon watched her.
And Zee finally said what she had never intended to admit.
"I hoped you'd heard about me."
Her mother looked up.
Zee swallowed.
"I hoped my exploits had made it here."
A tear escaped.
She didn't wipe it away.
"I thought maybe you were quietly proud of me."
Agamon's expression didn't change.
"That maybe you'd realized I had made something of myself."
Her voice broke again.
"And maybe you'd started hoping I would come home someday."
Silence.
Her mother was crying now.
Quietly.
Agamon looked at Zee for several long seconds.
Then—
"We've heard your propaganda."
Zee went completely still.
Nyxian's eyes widened.
Even Jax hadn't expected that.
Agamon looked toward him.
"We know who Jax Darquebane is."
There was respect in his voice now.
Respect he had never once shown his daughter.
"We've heard of his victories. His wealth. His armies. The kingdoms that seek his favor."
His eyes moved across Llandra.
Bunny.
Nyxian.
Zee.
"We've also heard the stories told about the women who follow him."
"The Vixens," Nyxian said coldly.
"A name."
Agamon dismissed it with two words.
"Stories created to make women believe they share the accomplishments of the man they serve."
Jax's expression went cold.
"Careful."
Agamon looked at him.
"You command these women."
"No."
"They follow you."
"I stand beside them."
Agamon scoffed.
"Because of your power."
"No."
Jax looked at Zee.
Then Llandra.
Bunny.
Nyxian.
Lexi.
Pixelle hovering beside them.
"Because of theirs."
Agamon stared at him.
He genuinely didn't understand.
"You expect me to believe my daughter has become some great healer?"
"I don't expect you to believe anything."
Jax's voice was quiet.
"I know what she is."
Agamon shook his head.
"You accomplished these things. They stood beside you and took part of your glory."
Jax stepped closer.
"Zee has saved my life."
Agamon stopped.
"She's saved Bunny's. Llandra's. Nyxian's. She's saved people whose names neither of us will ever know."
Jax pointed toward Zee.
"You've heard stories about me?"
Agamon nodded.
"Then understand something about those stories."
Jax held his gaze.
"I'm still alive to be in some of them because of her."
Agamon said nothing.
For the first time, Jax saw uncertainty.
Tiny.
Almost invisible.
But there.
Then it disappeared.
"Propaganda."
Jax stared at him.
There was nothing left to explain.
Zee wiped her cheek.
She looked at her father.
Then her mother.
"I was afraid when I left."
Agamon's expression didn't change.
"I'm not anymore."
Her voice strengthened.
"I found people who don't see me as something to be used."
She squeezed Jax's hand.
"I found purpose."
She looked toward the women beside her.
"I found a family."
Then back to Agamon.
"I found love."
Her mother's tears fell freely now.
Zee's didn't.
Not anymore.
"I am valued."
A breath.
"I am protected."
Another.
"I am happy."
She looked around the camp once more.
"If that makes me selfish..."
Her eyes returned to her father.
"Then I'm selfish."
Agamon's jaw tightened.
"My name will soon be Darquebane."
Zee took a breath.
"I came here because some part of me still hoped you would want to know who I became."
Her voice softened.
"I wanted you to meet the man I love."
She looked briefly at her mother.
"I wanted you both to be happy for me."
Then back to Agamon.
"I suppose part of me was still your daughter after all."
Nothing.
Not a word.
Zee nodded slowly.
"I won't make that mistake again."
Jax turned toward Agamon.
"I came here out of respect."
He paused.
"I was taught that asking for a father's blessing was the right thing to do."
His eyes hardened.
"But I won't ask again."
Agamon stared at him.
"You don't deserve that place in her life."
Jax turned away.
Zee went with him.
So did the others.
Nobody asked permission to leave.
They crossed the camp beneath dozens of watching eyes.
Zee kept her head high.
Her mother remained behind.
Crying.
Agamon remained beside her.
Silent.
Rigid.
Certain.
They reached the caravan.
Zee put one foot onto the step.
Then stopped.
Her father's voice carried across the distance.
"Selfish girl."
Zee closed her eyes.
Only for a moment.
Jax stood beside her.
He didn't tell her not to listen.
Didn't tell her it didn't matter.
Because it did.
Zee opened her eyes.
Stepped into the caravan.
And didn't look back.