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  Taeru frowned. He did not intend to ease up on anything to do with the nobles. Another Tsrali just meant that he might need to do more. Alyx had expressed her disapproval of his interference with the guards, as the tomfoolery had gotten him more than a little roughed up. He enjoyed it, though. Therefore, instead of agreeing with her, he just offered a wry grin. “I haven’t the foggiest idea of what you speak, Alyx.”

  Alyx and her mother exchanged a long glance. Then, the older woman spoke a little more sternly. “Kilik, you must learn to be a little more cautious. Choose your battles a little more wisely.”

  His battles. He liked the sound of that. Back in Cathalar, he had been confined to his room. He had been forced to study subjects that did not interest him, learn languages that didn’t cooperate with his tongue. He had never been allowed to roam or to do what he pleased. Here, he was able to do precisely that. “I do choose my battles wisely,” he said. “I’ll be careful.”

  However, their words confirmed his suspicions. If they were afraid that this older Tsrali would make Taeru’s life more difficult, then he was certainly no better than his younger brother was. He decided to resign himself to the fact that he would have to contend with two Neanderthals now—rather than just one. “I wonder if Calis found a wife over there in Dokak,” Alyx mused.

  “I wouldn’t doubt it,” her mother answered. “Calis was always very charming. He was just reaching the age where he could begin looking when he left. I’m sure that left quite a few young Telandan noblewomen with long faces.”

  “They had Tareth,” Taeru offered cruelly. Tareth was certainly nothing at which to gawk. He was stocky, with long brown hair, and a square jaw that didn’t seem to fit his face.

  Alyx let out a quick laugh and then stifled it. “Yes, well, I’m sure that wasn’t much consolation. Just wait until you see Calis, Kilik. You will understand.”

  “I am waiting with baited breath.”

  “It mattered naught whether his deeds were for the good of the land or the good of a single man, it mattered that he had believed it was enough.”

  –A Hero’s Peace, v.i

  Chapter ii

  Calis Tsrali

  “The fact that these are still here is a testament to just how lazy my family is. Surely, we can afford to trim the outside walls. Cathalar probably thinks we all live in trees with this to greet them when they pass.”

  “Perhaps that is the idea.”

  Five years. He had been gone five years, and his entry point to the city remained unscathed. In fact, the vines were sturdier than ever. Calis Tsrali wasn’t due to arrive back in Telandus until next sun up, but as he had arrived early—he decided to check in on things before everyone was fussing over his arrival.

  His gloved hands found the vines easily, and his feet seemed to remember the steps. He was glad the five years away hadn’t made him soft. “Almost there,” he called down to his friend, well, more formally—his advisor.

  “I still don’t see why we couldn’t have just walked through the front gates. No one would have seen us. Not anyone relevant anyway,” Lee said. Lee was Calis’s best friend—and really, if he was being honest, his only friend. The only one who kept Calis’s company for more than advancement in status, anyway.

  “Where is your sense of adventure, my friend?” Calis asked. Lee just frowned and after a few more pulls, Calis was standing on the top of Telandus’s wall. A few moments later, Lee joined him and let out a huff of a breath.

  Lee wasn’t really the advisor sort, and that was precisely why Calis had chosen him. He had been born into a noble family, but he wasn’t the haughty, plump folk that typically got advisor positions. No, Lee was relatively thin, and his face was far nearer to gaunt than it was to plump. He had forest green eyes and short, plain, brown hair that stopped at the base of his neck. “Have you missed it, Lee?”

  “Have you?” Lee asked.

  Lee already knew that answer, though. No, Calis had not missed Telandus, or the responsibilities associated with it. Nor had he missed his obnoxious younger brother, or overly loud father and fussing mother. Nevertheless, he was back now—and he was going to make the best of it.

  They used another set of vines to shimmy down, in what took much less effort than their climb up the wall. The sun was nearly to the top of the sky, which meant that Dark District would be at its peak, and Calis found that Dark District was filled with much more interesting folk than the Shining District. After all, with all that sparkling—he struggled to see the people.

  The makeshift entry left him just inside of the Shining District, so he made his way to the wall that separated the Dark and Shining, and with a quick thrust of his body found himself on the other side. Normally, he would have spent more time disguising himself, but he trusted the dirt that had accumulated on his face from the journey to disguise him well enough. His clothes were a little brighter than most, but not terribly so.

  Calis smirked when he thought of the stablemen’s confusion when they saw his steed in its stall. However, they would be too frightened to mention it to his father. No—that would mean they’d have to admit having let him move through the stables without being seen. Lavus was liable to execute them for that treasonous act.

  Calis walked through the streets of Dark District. They were more familiar to him than they might have been to some nobles. However, this was certainly not his home. The dust wisped off the ground and clung to his clothes, making him wince so that his eyes didn’t burn too much. “I don’t get your fascination with this place,” Lee said. “If you think these people haven’t got any vices like the nobles—you would be mistaken.”

  The young prince laughed briefly and shrugged his shoulders. “Yes, but the vices here are much more interesting, and less discouraging.” Lee didn’t argue as they continued through the crowded streets.

  The stalls were familiar, all as worn and broken down as usual. A few of the sellers looked familiar, though others had been replaced with fresher faces. Or—as fresh as vendors could look. Calis found that all the ugliest people seemed to be tending to Dark District shops. Moreover, it wasn’t that all Dark District was ugly. Just the vendors.

  Calis was about to comment on the lack of crowds in the streets when he glanced ahead to the cluster of people. A few of them were shouting, though he couldn’t make out what they were saying. He gave Lee a look, and with a quick sigh, his friend followed him up onto one of the ledges. There was never an easy way of maneuvering through crowds like that, and Calis had found that the experience was never pleasant.

  So instead, he shimmied along the edges of Dark District, moving along the low roofs so that he could see what was causing such brouhaha. The center of the chaos appeared to be in front of the gallows. He probably shouldn’t have been surprised to see his brother in the middle of it, but he was. Tareth, looking as stocky and entitled as ever, was standing over a small brunette girl, who he had apparently found the time to bound. The whole affair was embarrassing, really—as the girl clearly lacked the means to defend herself. Tears stained her face as she stared up at Tareth. “Pl-please, your highness,” she whimpered. “I did not realize that apple belonged to you. I simply saw it on the ground.”

  “And you didn’t think to return it to a vendor nearby? No, you simply stuffed it in your pocket like the thief you are, heinous wench,” Tareth said. As always, he spoke too loudly and the noise made Calis cringe.

  Lee let out a sigh. “It appears your brother has not done any maturing in our absence.”

  “It would appear not,” Calis said.

  “I…I…” The girl was so frightened that she seemed unable to speak. Tears continued to pour down her face, and her lips quivered with desperation. “I didn’t…” She didn’t know how to continue. It didn’t matter—Tareth wasn’t listening. He was too busy trying to make a show for all these commoners.

  Pathetic.

  “Do you know what we do to thieves in the Shining District?” Tareth asked. He brandished his sword
with a flourish and moved it under her chin so that she had to look at him through her tear-filled eyes.

  “From what I’ve heard, you give them fancy horses and let them prance around calling themselves nobles.” The voice startled Calis out of his consideration over how to handle this situation.

  His eyes searched a few moments for the confident, easy voice and found the speaker across the way on one of the higher buildings. The sight itself was shocking. The figure was wearing a black cloak that covered the top half of his body. The lower half of him was covered in black leggings and boots. The strangest part about him, though, was the black mask that he wore over his eyes and short bandana that covered his hair.

  With a flick of his wrist, in a much less dramatic fashion than Tareth had, the cloaked figure tossed a shining knife from somewhere underneath his cloak and caught Tareth’s hand so that his sword went flying across the gallows. The younger Tsrali was indignant. “Well, if it isn’t the Phantom Blade…”

  The boy seemed unimpressed. “I wasn’t aware you’d taken to that name too, Tareth,” he said woefully. “It’s very unoriginal. But if you’d like, I can start calling you The Bumbling Imbecile.”

  Tareth had turned a fantastic shade of tomato red. “Come down here and face me, you wretch!” he said.

  The boy seemed incredibly amused at this, and with a quick movement, he moved his cape so that it exposed the full suit he wore. He had a brown and black tunic, leather, with a brown color moving up around his neck. His gloves were brown, and with them, he pulled two short swords from his black belt.

  A few moments later, he was standing only a little distance away from Tareth. He used one of his swords to free the crying girl. “Thank you!” she said, before she scurried back to what appeared to be a worried mother.

  The boy’s features were obscured by the mask, but his skin was darker than most, olive, not that uncommon in Dark District. The form was small, though, and very lithe. It fit the outfit he wore.

  “…you are staring rather intensely at this Phantom Blade,” Lee said.

  Calis jerked backwards. “Well, obviously. This isn’t exactly something common. I’m curious as to who this boy is.”

  “Yes, this is an interesting turn of events, but you are staring rather penetratingly,” Lee agreed, partially.

  Tareth, fool that he was, charged the boy with an untendered motion. The boy easily sidestepped and caught Tareth by the arm, bringing the larger man around and flinging him to the dirt. After another few angry lunges, and another disarming, Tareth found himself back on the ground.

  This time, he was finished being made a fool. “Guards! Catch this varlot so I can make an example of him!” he cried.

  The boy wasn’t as stupid as Tareth, and he appeared to know that he was going to be outmatched by a dozen or so armed guards. His eyebrows rose and, using a nearby stall, he hoisted himself up onto another rooftop.

  In a matter of moments, he, the rest of the guards, and even Tareth were out of sight. Calis dropped to the ground, as the crowd seemed too shocked to start moving just yet, and began racing through the gathering. “Hurry, Lee!”

  “What do you intend to do?” Lee asked, though his feet moved in step with Calis’s. Calis loved that, though Lee continuously questioned Calis, he never really refused to do anything. Well, unless the idea was just entirely foolish. And sometimes it was.

  Calis tried to use the roofs as much as he could, but he never got back within range until what appeared to be the end of the chase. The boy had obviously gotten down from his perch to get an older woman out of the way of the guards’ horses. He succeeded, but the horse subsequently slammed into him with brutal force. His back slammed hard against the stone wall, and he let out a weak groan.

  Tareth was at the front of the guards on his black horse in an instant. “I should have you hanged!” he said. He hopped off his horse and moved to stand over the still recovering boy on the ground.

  Before the young man had managed to get his bearings, Tareth had him by the collar. “But first,” he snarled, “I’m going to find out who you are!”

  Curious as he was, Calis wasn’t going to let this happen. He pulled himself over the edge of the building as he watched his brother’s hand move towards the young vigilante’s mask. He landed and placed a hard hand on his younger brother’s shoulder. “Brother! It has been too long!”

  This whole ordeal frightened Tareth into dropping the boy he held. Calis knew the vigilante was moving, but he didn’t bother looking, content to feign unawareness. “C-Calis,” Tareth said. “You-you weren’t scheduled back until next sun, brother.”

  “Well, I got back early! What are you doing down here in Dark District? I was looking all over for you.”

  When Tareth realized that he had been distracted from his hunt, he jerked his head to where the boy had been, but the masked figure was long since gone from the area. “Tch! Calis! That was—I can’t believe this! I had him this time!”

  “Ah, had who?” Calis asked. He looked around, which only reaffirmed his thought that the black clad figure had fled the scene.

  Tareth frowned. “The little wretch who has been terrorizing every noble who graces Dark District with their presence.”

  The thud beside Calis alerted him to the fact that Lee had decided to grace this scene with his presence. In fact, Calis’s advisor spoke before Calis could. “And you can’t handle a little peasant boy?” Lee asked, putting just the right amount of condescension into his voice.

  Tareth was indignant, and his face was well on its way to turning that same tomato red it had been before. “I… well—I’ve better things to do than worry myself too ferociously with the actions of one insignificant child!”

  Calling the boy a child seemed out of place from Tareth, as he had just been gotten the best of—mostly, anyway. Lee smiled agreeably. “You seemed to be worrying yourself with him plenty just now.”

  Calis blinked, determined to keep up his feigned innocence in the matter. “Oh? I don’t recall any sort of terrorist before I left for Dokak. Is this boy a new resident?” he asked. He figured he could get in a few answers before he let the issue drop.

  One of the guards took the liberty of speaking for Tareth. “We aren’t sure who he is, my lord. Only that he is a young male. The people in the district have taken to calling him the Phantom Blade, but that is the only identity we have for him.”

  “The Phantom Blade?” Calis said with just a hint of amusement in his voice. He had heard Tareth use the name a few moments ago, but now it seemed particularly comical. However, with the clothing the boy had worn, the name wasn’t entirely unfitting. “And how long has this phantom been wreaking havoc, brother?”

  “Oh, he’s been around for about two years. It’s really been quite the ordeal,” his brother sulked. “And you just kept me from hanging him like I have so desperately desired to do.”

  “Hanging him?” Calis asked. “Surely he has not caused so much trouble as to merit that sort of punishment.” He would have to make an effort to discover this boy’s identity. Surely, he must have been an interesting fellow to go so far as to play hero for all of Dark District.

  Tareth shook his head fiercely. “You have no idea, my brother. He is a menace. The sooner we can rid the streets of him—the better,” he said this with such confidence that Calis may have believed it from anyone but Tareth.

  “And he simply attacks you without warning?” Lee asked.

  Tareth was stunned into silence for a brief moment. That was no doubt due to the fact that Tareth knew very well that the boy only interfered when he was making the other citizens miserable. “I… well, yes.”

  Lee and Calis exchanged a glance, and Lee let the issue go without another word. So Dark District had gotten itself a regular vigilante. Well, then perhaps this return wasn’t going to be as dull as Calis had predicted.

  “Ah, Calis—does our father know of your return?” Tareth asked, obviously itching to change the subject so that light
didn’t shine on his own crimes. Not that Lavus would have done a bloody thing about it.

  Calis smiled. “No, brother. I wanted to find you first. I never expected to locate you in Dark District.” The lie was obvious, and Tareth knew it as well as Calis did, but Calis’s younger brother had never had the guts to call him on his lies.

  However, Tareth did display a certain amount of irritation at his brother’s obvious mockery. Tareth was probably none too happy about Calis’s return, regardless. He would not have been pleased with it even if Calis hadn’t thwarted his attempt to apprehend the so-called criminal. “Then, ah… perhaps we should go present you to father?” Tareth asked.

  Calis shrugged briefly. He was in no hurry to return to their overbearing father, or mother, for that matter. But if he’d said as much to Tareth—he would never have heard the end of it. “I suppose it would be a good time to tell father of my premature return. He’ll be disappointed at the lack of festivities, I’m sure.”

  “I’ve no doubt we’ll still be having the festivities,” Lee said dolefully.

  “And upon that sun, the hero put his faith in the lands and their people, promising his own and his descendants’ lives should that faith be destroyed or proven false.”

  -A Hero’s Peace, v.i

  Chapter iii

  Taeru Lassau

  Taeru’s back screamed in protest as he moved through one of the alleyways. Granted, he wouldn’t have needed to move so quickly had he not stayed for a moment to witness the correspondence between his savior and Tareth Tsrali. Brother.

  Well, there was certainly no denying that Alyx and her mother had been correct in their assessment of the two brothers’ differences. However, perhaps they shared the trait of obliviousness, as the elder Tsrali had seemed unaware that he’d just ruined Tareth’s plans. In fact, the older brother had probably unknowingly saved Taeru’s life.