If Lillia hadn’t been lying on top of Arwin, he would have jerked upright. He just barely managed to keep himself from launching her off him as he stiffened in disbelief, his mind reeling at the revelation that Lillia had just dropped on him. “You knew Blake?” Arwin asked, surprised to find his voice raspy. “He was saving demons? Through the whole war?” “I never met him myself,” Lillia said. There was a note of awe in her words. “But it’s too close to be a coincidence. A warrior in fancy white armor that saved people and got carried away by the Hero. Who else could it have been?” “I — how? How is that possible?” Arwin murmured. He couldn’t believe it — but he could. If there was anyone in the world that would have been saving people they’d been fighting just minutes before, it would have been Blake. Dozens of conversations long since shoved into the reaches of Arwin’s mind to keep them from haunting him rose up, unbidden. All the people Blake had joked about saving. They hadn’t been jokes at all. So many lives. Is it possible he knew that demons were more than just evil monsters? Arwin’s throat felt tight. If he did, why didn’t he ever tell me? He couldn’t have known what we were doing, right? Or did he not trust me enough to believe that I’d have understood? That thought gave him pause. The growing pit in his stomach clenched even tighter and stifled his breath. “Not today,” Lillia said, her words growing softer. “I’m ready to sleep now.” “Yeah,” Arwin said softly, his shoulders feeling lighter than they had in as long as he could remember, like a heavy chain had been unwrapped from his neck and thrown from his back. “Me too.” Arwin woke the following morning feeling more rested than he ever had in recent memory. The previous night’s conversation was still fresh on his mind as he hoisted Lillia out of bed and set her down beside him. The two of them wasted no time in preparing to head out for the day. With any luck, the night’s passing would have been enough time for the heart to finish whatever it was doing to his smithy. Arwin felt equal parts excitement and trepidation to discover what had changed. He only knew one thing for certain — and it was that he didn’t want to wait any longer to see the Infernal Armory. Well, I don’t want to wait too much longer. There was time for breakfast, of course. It was getting harder and harder to pass up on Lillia’s meals whenever he didn’t absolutely have to. Having actual magic that let him sate [The Hungering Maw] was just the cherry on top. It definitely beat out eating a bunch of scuffed bracelets. Everyone — other than Madiv and Esmerelda, who were nowhere to be seen — had gathered in the common room by the time Lillia finished cooking. She brought out several plates piled high with fried strips of Wyrmling meat and eggs, passing them out to all of the Menagerie before sitting down beside Arwin with her own portion, and everyone dug into it without hesitation. “It’s been a while since I’ve caught you around,” Arwin said to Rodrick once he’d mowed through about half of his plate and was willing to waste time speaking. “Everything going okay?” The warrior glanced up at him. His face was covered with grease. Anna wordlessly handed him a napkin, not even looking up from her meal. “Thanks,” Rodrick said, wiping himself off and clearing his throat. “Sorry. I was starving. Nothing builds up an appetite like being out all night. Nothing to worry about. I’ve just been keeping tabs on the Ardent Guild.” “Don’t tell me they’re planning to try something again. I was really hoping they’d gotten the message at this point.” “They were rooting around a bit, but I’ve got their head twisted around their tail right now,” Rodrick said with a chuckle. “Their information is all screwed up. It looks like they’ve got bigger issues to deal with anyway. They look pretty stupid to the general populace right now, which isn’t great for them.” “Why?” Reya asked, finishing off the last of her meal and speaking before she was done chewing. Olive shot her a look and she reddened, closing her mouth and swallowing before speaking again. “I mean, aren’t they just merchants? Nobody is going to care who they buy from when there’s no alternative.” “Not in Milten,” Rodrick agreed. “But Milten isn’t the Ardent Guild’s main goal. They’re here because they’re preparing to move into a larger city called Axeport. It’s still on the outskirts of the Kingdom of Lian, but it’s built on a major river. There are a number of merchants guilds already present there. The Ardent Guild needed a closer base of operations to try and worm their way in, and Milten was perfect after the Iron Hounds fell. They wanted to build a reputation here and then use it as leverage. But…” “They look like idiots,” Olive finished. “Hard to use that as leverage.” “Exactly.” Rodrick nodded. “They’ve been pretty caught up with that recently. The only way to walk it back is to somehow deal with us or do something else impressive. They could go for either, so I’ll have to keep tabs on them for now.” “Well, let us know if you need anything,” Arwin said. “I’m not sure what we can do, considering I have no clue exactly what it is that you do, but the offer is there.” Rodrick snickered and raised his fork in salute. “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind. Did you and Lillia wrap up that project you were working on?” Arwin polished off the last off the food on his plate and pushed his chair back, rubbing his hands together. “That’s hard to give a straight answer to. Anyone want to come look with me?” Five chairs scraped across the ground as everyone rose as one. Anna shoveled the last few pieces of egg into her mouth. Reya speared the last piece of food on Olive’s plate with a snicker, but Olive bit it off the fork before Reya could bring it to her mouth. Arwin bit back a laugh at the stunned look on the former thief’s face. Everyone filed out of the tavern and across the street. The smithy looked perfectly normal from the outside, which was a good thing. The Mesh didn’t activate when he looked at it either. They all headed inside, where Arwin led the veritable charge over to the back room. He put his hand on the doorknob. Then he hesitated.