Once again, they had found themselves having to protect a group of desperate people.

  Myron was starting to wonder if this was going to be a recurring pattern.

  At least they didn't have to worry over finding them food. A few of the priestesses had hurried off to the temple's kitchens, to try and get meals prepared for everyone. Hamond had offered to help, but they had declined, telling him he'd done enough for them. Hamond had actually seemed a little relieved, showing a sign that he too was just as worn down as the rest of them.

  Another group of priests had taken the Episkopiate off, insisted that he needed rest. Myron would have questioned if they all needed such rest, but he'd rather not make a big argument over it. Being back home in their temple had to have them energized, being able to get things back to some form of their normal routine.

  That left the rest of the priests and priestesses assembled here in the inner chambers of the temple, along with the four of them, as well as Ugotlas and Anthyla. Standing next to Anthyla was Claris. The pair had not been more than a pace apart since their reunion.

  Claris looked to be around Myron's age, perhaps a year older. Short hair, dark and curly, surrounded a face that looked thin and worn, certainly not helped by her time in a cell. Despite it all, Claris was smiling, a smile mirrored on Anthyla's own face. The two really were happy to be together again. Myron idly considered what the Order's stance on romance involving priests and priestesses was.

  "So the Witch of Wrath told you all that you'd have to save the Episkopiate yourself?" Edeline was asking, sounding incredulous. "Why?"

  "We're not sure," one of the priests answered her, "The only reason she gave was something about needing to fight for anything we wanted in the future."

  "Along with telling us not to rely on her saving us again," another priest added.

  "We were in disagreement on if we ought to figure out a way to rescue His Primacy." Claris's voice was low and rough. "We ended up agreeing to return here, and possibly decide tomorrow based on what we found. I had no idea, uh, Lady Kelshir had already made arrangements for that."

  "Do not thank me," Anthyla said bitterly, "I simply fled to warn the elves of what might befall them. By pure luck, they had these four ready to protect them and then aid me. I did nothing."

  "You stayed alive and free," Nela spoke up, "We wouldn't have known where to go without you either. So don't go thinking that the only thing that matters are big swords or bigger spells."

  Myron nodded in agreement. He would not be here if that were the case. Edeline's powerful magic was not what had set him free of Kalvarel's spell, after all. Fighting was not the only thing that mattered, and it did nothing to clean up any messes left afterward.

  However, between their meeting in Faehaven and this, it seemed to Myron that the Witch of Wrath did think that way. While the actions of the Faehaven elders had been infuriating, not every person should be expected to risk their life for a cause. Nor did that stop people from fighting back in other ways, like the Aetheric Order and Anthyla had done.

  "If I have learned anything, it is to never discount your good fortune," Edeline said, "With hindsight, it's clear that the Witch of Wrath breaking you out drew the town watch away from paying us any heed, while our fight with the knights kept them from recapturing you."

  Myron hadn't thought of that, but he couldn't disagree either. It was true that their attack on the knights had been almost too easy. Three people taking down so many knights in a single day with almost no injuries...even with the spells Edeline and Hamond possessed, it seemed nearly impossible. Unless, that is, the knights were left off-guard by something else, like having to organize themselves to deal with another problem.

  Now their success made sense. Never discount your good fortune, indeed.

  "So that was what Captain Sophos was speaking of," Anthyla noted.

  "You spoke with one of the watch captains?" Claris asked, a hint of fear in her question.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "This was while we were on the way to face the knights," Anthyla quickly added, resting one hand on the priestess's shoulder. "He didn't know what we were planning."

  "They're going to come for us, aren't they?" said a slender balding priest, eyes wide. "Lord Kelshir won't rest until the Episkopiate is dead."

  "That was just that one guard trying to frighten us," another priest replied, "They wouldn't dare hang him."

  Aether's blood...of all the matters for them to have brought up. The Episkopiate had not mentioned the execution to the other priests of the Order, and out of deference they had done the same. Trying to not worry these people, when they had already had been through so much...it was pointless now.

  "It does not matter what Lord Kelshir has ordered," Edeline declared, "No one here will be hanged. We will make sure of it."

  "And how will you do that?" the priest asked, "Kill Lord Kelshir?"

  Edeline fell silent, not having an answer. Myron didn't have one either.

  "I hope it does not come to that," Anthyla said quietly.

  "Forgive me." The priest flushed with embarrassment. "I forgot your presence, my lady."

  "Do not worry. You are at least right in one regard, something I realized earlier today." She paused, pain written on her face. "This will not end so long as my father is still lord."

  "You mean to depose him?" Hamond sounded surprised. However, it had already been proven that the young woman's seemingly meek nature hid an ironbound strength.

  "If it is necessary," Anthyla explained, "While I would hope one of my older brothers could be persuaded to see reason, I doubt they will side against my father in this regard."

  "You don't have to do this," Edeline insisted, voice rising.

  ""I will not pretend that walking this path does not frighten me, but if I must, I must," Anthyla replied evenly, meeting Edeline's gaze for a moment with a calm expression. Myron understood immediately. While Edeline and Anthyla had certain things in common, this was one matter they completely disagreed about.

  "I...I don't think I'm ready for this either," Claris added, "After everything we talked about, you having to take this on...it leaves me uneasy. But if it needs doing..."

  "Ready for what?" one of the priestesses in the back asked. It seemed that not all of the the Order was aware of what was going on between Claris and Lady Kelshir. Myron could see more than a few knowing looks among the assembled group, so it wasn't as if none of the priests had figured it out.

  "Is that a joke, Milda? I told you about the two of them a month ago!"

  The priestess didn't respond, her face reddening. She wasn't the only one, as both Claris and Anthyla were flushing as well. It seemed neither of them had expected to be the subject of gossip.

  "Wait. I thought that was just you making up stories!" The priests began to banter back and forth, making claims about just how much they knew regarding Claris's and Anthyla's affair.

  Nela just shook her head. "I don't know what I was expecting from a bunch of Aetheric priests, but this wasn't it."

  "People of faith are still people," Edeline remarked. That drew a few chuckles from the members of the Order.

  "Right now, we're very grateful people." It was the same priest who had challenged Edeline about dealing with Lord Kelshir. It was a shame they didn't have the time to exchange introductions for everyone, but even if they did, Myron doubted they could remember all of their names.

  "I wish there was something we could do for you four," another priest said.

  "We came here seeking access to your library to research something," Edeline said, "We already discussed it with the Episkopiate, who had no objections."

  "I came here with a similar goal, although it is certain I seek different information from them." Ugotlas sounded...bored? There were times when it was hard to tell what the sphinx was thinking.

  "That sounds like something for a junior scribe to do," a priest suggested, grinning at Claris. Claris flushed again. Recalling how Anthyla had said she spent time in the Order's library, Myron could now guess one obvious reason why that was.

  "We can wait until tomorrow if necessary," Myron said, not wanting to be a bother about this.

  "It will be a while before the food's ready," the priest said, "Cooking food for all of us takes a while, and this is later than the cooks among us usually get to work. You could least get started looking for whatever it is."

  "That sounds agreeable to me." Ugotlas paced forward, getting uncomfortably close to Claris. "You may guide us to this library now."

  Claris drew back. "I...suppose I can. It's in a building just off to the side of the temple. We can be there in no time."

  "Lead on, then," Myron said, a bit irritated with Ugotlas's attitude. He didn't want to judge all sphinxes by the standards of just one, but it would explain why no one so far particularly wanted to work out a deal with Ugotlas before they had met.

  Maybe their alliance was a worse mistake than they had thought.

  Following Claris and Anthyla out of the room, the small group went down the hallway wrapping around the temple's inner chambers. The building was definitely not like any Myron could remember. Perhaps a similar, if smaller, temple had once stood in Hallowscroft, before the Spellking's coming had caused so much suffering and chaos.

  What he could do about it...compared to Anthyla, Lady Kelshir, he had done so little. Or rather, Myron knew what he needed to do next. It was just... with everything happening so quickly, finding a moment to get it done was challenging. But maybe now, with things starting to resolve themselves, there would be an opportunity soon.

  He'd need to speak to Nela about taking that step.

  But for now, searching the library, with its potential to have answers about the Stormsage - and any other thaumaturges who might have met a similar fate - was what they needed to focus on.