The breakfast spread across several tables. It wasn’t just Sofi and Karolus. A plethora of folk were in attendance, it all seemed too formal for breakfast. 

The highlander entered the dining hall and was waved at by Sofi who gestured to the seat at her side. Connor was seated on another table with a youthful looking dwarf in a green tunic and well kept mud brown hair. Both were laughing at a shared joke. 

Karolus made his way past the tables receiving a point and a laugh from his brother and the dwarf at his side. The happiness in Connor's face, his comfort at the table. Still rocked Karolus.

“Good morning, I trust you slept well?” Sofi offered with a stunning smile. 

“Unfortunately not.” Karolus sat beside her and poured himself a drink from the many jugs on their table. 

Seeing the look on her face, he felt guilty. Maybe he spoke harshly. Then the anger countered, they had his brother, under a spell of some sort. Not for a second could he believe the guest of honour charade.

Fruits of many colours and varieties were laid out with cold meats and warm breads. Jugs of juice, wine and water were placed on each table. Karolus had not seen this many people at any meal before. 

His eyes scanned the massive room noticing many looking his way. Calvarian’s were the majority but there were foreigners as well, eating and sharing a morning conversation. Many were of lands far away, in fashions he had never seen before. 

The House of the Bastion was larger than he had anticipated. So many guards walked the halls and long paths of the huge estate. His thoughts of whisking Connor away in the night evaporated. 

“How were your travels? I am told the highlands of Toa are far.” as Sofi smiled, her ebony scales across her temples glimmered. 

An immediate warmth of anger settled into his stomach at the question. So casual a question, a genuine curiosity in its tone. Complete lack of acknowledgement of bloodshed for the sake of kidnapping a child. 

The small addition of the attack on Cademons ship on the way here is also a factor missing from the intent of the question. 

“Fine.” Karolus gripped the sides of his chair so hard he felt either his knuckles or the wood would crack first. 

Sofi sensed his discomfort and didn’t press. 

As the morning meal went on the hum of conversation filled the air. Karolus did everything he could to push all of it from his mind. It quickly became background noise to his own thoughts.

It was very much focused on the coming Vendari Awakening. There was much excitement for it, the leaps and bounds made by Connor were complimented. The love for dragons stretched further than Calvaria it seemed.  

He had slept better than he expected or even wanted to. Being hosted by the enemy was not comforting or at least shouldn’t be. He had lied earlier, not wanting to give them anything.

Connor was constantly in his line of sight. His younger brother was all he had left in the world and he was quickly coming to the realisation that whatever path the lad is on then he too would walk alongside. 

Better to stay with him, alive and well, than die trying to whisk him away. Tarik had been trying to say as much. Karolus' heart and mind were battling. The bloodshed, death of their mother, Glen's sacrifice. Connor looked so happy, but it wasn’t real.

Sofi however took his attention for different reasons. He found her intoxicating. Her presence was warm and welcoming, but filled with power. There was a confident aura of hers that flowed about her personal space and into those that were close by.

Any other place in the world he would have reached out to her, invited her to the village festivals, wandered the hills and forests with food and drink at the ready. Karolus had never been struck this way, by anyone. Glen would have no doubt gone and told Sofi all this to embarrass him.

“You are harder to kill than some would expect, highlander.”

That voice took him from his thoughts of Sofi. It was familiar, sent shivers up his spine. Looking up into those rose gold eyes, fear and anger raced through him. Karolus reacted with primal instinct, his druidic magic manifested canine fangs and claws at his fingertips. A rage induced roar bellowed from deep within.

He lunged forwards snarling at the throat of the amber scaled dragonkin from the bridge. His claws slashed against something solid but it wasn't scale or flesh, it was the arcane barrier that protected the Tharros. Sparks of energy flicked through the air. 

The next moments were executed with perfect precision. Two guards in half plate grabbed Karolus and had him pinned to the floor. The air rushed from his lungs at the impact. A thin bladed glaive rested on his throat before he had had further time to react.

His teeth and claws returned to normal, as if the magic had been knocked out of him. He panted and tried to take in air. 

“Karolus!” Sofi roared at him as others stepped to the amber scaled Tharros side. 

“Prince Octavus, my sincere apologies.” she said with a long bow. 

“No need Vendari Sofi. I would suggest not having insects at your breakfast table next time.” their eyes made contact with Karolus. The grin sparkled within.

Karolus burned inside, his breathing had returned, he felt himself pushing against the glaive, a trickle of blood as it cut the skin.

“Don’t.” the guard growled.

“Nonetheless. The highlander will be punished for this discourteous act.” Sofi stated, disappointment rooted in her tone. 

“What’s happening?” Connor made his way over pushing through the small crowd. 

“Your brother decided to attack Prince Octavus.” Sofi gestured at the obvious.

Connor looked heartbroken as he shared a moment with his older brother still laying on his back. 

Karolus felt the disappointment boring into him. 

“Why?” Connor asked softly.

All eyes were on Karolus, he gulped, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The anger wasn't fading. It just sat there bubbling waiting to be released. He was growling, deep in his belly. He wasn't sure if it was in his mind or if others could hear it too. 

Karolus remained silent.

“Take him away. I will deal with him shortly.” Sofi commanded and turned back to the Prince. 

“I will see to it he is questioned and a suitable punishment delivered.” Sofi said with ease and etiquette. 

Connors eyes filled with tears as he stormed from the dining hall. 

Prince Octavus however grinned. Carnivorous teeth gleaming the purest of white. They touched their temple and sent an arcane whisper to Karolus as the highlander was being escorted out of the hall. 

“Your mother survived the fire.” they let the wounds grip hold.

Karolus stopped walking and turned to look straight at the Prince. His eyes were also filled with tears of frustration.

“You lie!” the message was returned.

Octavus let their grin broaden and kept the magical conversation going.

“Dear boy, you think the flames killed her. It was with my blade in her belly that ended her life, foolishly protecting the boy." The amber Tharros was more than enjoying twisting the emotional dagger in the highlanders heart. 

This time Karolus didn’t answer nor did he try to hold the tears back. Letting them flow down his cheeks into his beard. His face stoic as they rolled. 

“Nothing will stop me from killing you.” Karolus concentrated and delivered the reply to the magical words in his mind. 

“I doubt that very much highlander. It would seem only those you care for die at your hand, which makes me perfectly safe.” With that last sentence Prince Octavus cut the arcane connection, adjusted their regal toga robe of deep reds and patterned oranges, and turned their back on Karolus.

Sat on a straw floor with his back to the stone wall Karolus let go of the anger and rage in his heart and filled it with sadness. Was it true? Had he left his mother to die at the hands of some pompous cruel Calvarian? His memories rolled around, muddled and as unclear as the smoke was that night. 

Connor had been his priority. Get him safe then go back in for his mother. But he was stopped, what if he had gone back in? She had to have died, surely, the fire was raging.

Octavus was playing with him, throwing him off, being vindictive and malice. It was working, Karolus was a ball of raging sadness at this moment.

The holding room he was in was a polar opposite to the rest of Calvaria. Straw on the floor, old grey stone walls and a broken bed cot. It had a nothingness about it. 

Hours had passed, well into the evening before he saw another soul. The guards from earlier had thrown him into the cell and left. The cell had been made within the room and on the other side of that door another guard stood.

Laying on the broken little bunk he stared at the equally untidy stone ceiling, hungry, thirsty and disappointed with his actions at breakfast. Connor was his priority, he had to stay calm if he was to bring Connor back to some sort of normality. He had screwed up.

“Here drink.” The stern tone of Sofi broke the silence as she pulled a wooden stool to sit just beyond the iron bars of the cell. The guard closed the door behind her.

She was dressed in half plate of dark iron and obsidian runes. The helm was sat on a desk nearby, many motifs of flying dragons etched into it. 

Karolus stood and stepped to the bars taking the offered skin and draining it of the water inside. It tasted as the crystal river waters of home did. Her eyes were ivy and deep, the long dark locks braided and thick about her shoulders and armour. 

The braids were decorated with teal coloured stones that he knew were from Sovii, as the orc merchants had sold them to highlanders during the Spring.

The dragon scales at her temples were shaped differently, similar to that of a crescent moon on each side. She was radiant and Karolus forced his stare away.

“I don’t understand.” she started.

“Understand what?”

“Why would you attack the Prince?”

“Are you insane?” Karolus spat back and the mention of the Prince. 

Sofi did not take well to the question. 

“I am well within my rights to have you executed Karolus of the Highlands. Speak with a respectful tone towards me or face the afterlife.” she was up off the stool in a shot, her eyes piercing and jaw clenched. 

Karolus held his hands up in apology. 

“Your Prince is the one who led the force into Toa, burnt down my village, killed my mother and took away my brother to be part of some dragon cult.” saying the words out loud reminded him of why his anger was justified.

“That is simply preposterous. Octavus is one of the eight Princes of Calvaria and has more honour than any other I have met.” Sofi stood her ground.

“That lizard is as honourable as sheep dung and even then it would be close.” he was pacing the cell now, his arms gesturing with every word. 

Mouth opened a little, Sofi did take a single step back as if struck. A heartbeat a second more before her long sword was in her hand and the point facing the highlander through the bars.

Karolus found himself calm. No fear of his imminent death. There was nowhere else to go. Nothing else he could do. Miles from home. Yina and Stella somewhere on the island. Tarik had abandoned him for who knows what and his little brother, who he had come to save, didn't appear to want to be saved. 

Sofi stared, placed the tip on Karolus chest and pressed ever so gently. He didn’t move. He was willing to die at this very moment. 

As a Vendari, controlling her emotions was part of the training, despite it being at the bottom of her skill list. Sofi exhaled and lowered the sword.

“Explain.” Sofi commanded with genuine curiosity.

Karolus was sick of recounting the details of all those months ago, a constant reminder of why he was carrying such pain. 

He took a deep breath and  told of the night of the fire, running from the village with Connor in his arms. The Calvarians in the village. The curse upon his brother. 

It was hard to speak of Glencora. It was always hard. Their strength was similar to that of Sofi aura. Maybe that was the hook. Ignoring it he found the courage to speak of Glen's sacrifice and what it meant for him and Connor. 

“Glencora was close to your heart?” Sofi asked softly. 

Karolus looked at the stale old straw on the floor then to the grey orc in the half plate. Her emerald eyes were saddened by Karolus' tale so far.

“Closer than any other.” he said more confidently than at any other time.

“Continue?” she urged for more.

Karolus kept things vague, covering the obvious points. Running for their lives. Meeting Stella and Yina who helped them get as far away as they could. Anger rose in him again when he spoke of the bridge meeting with Octavus. 

He noted Sofi’s physical reaction to the description of the scene. 

“None of it was enough though. Running didn’t help’ I was so badly wounded that months of my life were spent in another world, one of visions and nightmares whilst my body healed.” his voice was calmer now, the closer he got to the present time of his story.

“Connor was still taken and brought here. How is it he thinks his mother and I gave blessing to this. He acts as though nothing happened.” Karolus turned his tale into an attempt at getting answers of his own.

Sofi didn’t answer straight away, instead lost to the tale and its details. Trying to piece it together. To find hidden truths, or even lies. Karolus could see she was going through an internal conflict. 

“Sofi.”

Their gaze met. Something was shared but neither knew what it was. A single tear rolled down her cheek. 

“I..I need to go.” She stood and collected her helm.

“Wait! Sofi! What is it? Do you know?” Karolus pushed his face into the gap of the bars.

“Karolus.” Sofi didn’t turn. 

“Yes.” He stared at her armoured back. 

“Know that I will keep Connor safe.” and with that she left.

Karolus slumped against the bars. He was alone again. The only sound, his own breath. 

No windows allowed one to see no further than the three stone walls and accompanying iron bars. No guards or others to hold conversation with and the only light was a dying candle.