Chapter 136: Questions & Answers.

“Okay, now it’s just us here,” Aamon says, gesturing for everyone inside the large tent to sit around the wooden table.

After a very awkward and tense arrival back at camp, mostly between Helios and Kaelis, Aamon found them quickly and cleared the main tent without wasting time.

He wanted answers, and he wanted them now.

The ones inside the tent were Aamon, Ezra, Aurien, Kaelis, Helios, and Lior.

As soon as everyone sat down, Aamon followed, his shoulders slightly slumped, a tired look settling on his face as he rubbed his temple before looking at Ezra.

“I want to start this off with you, Ezra. First of all, running after a potential threat was incredibly stupid of you. I didn’t teach you to be impulsive. You usually have yourself together, so I’m quite disappointed.”

Ezra could feel Kaelis glance at him.

’See, I told you you were too obvious.’

He ignored it, keeping his head slightly lowered, his expression neutral.

“I was in shock,” Ezra answers, calm and controlled. “The child is under my care, and I felt that I was responsible for him getting taken. Especially since I was sure Ricardo did what he did because he felt I failed him.”

’Keep it together. Just act…natural.’

Ezra kept his breathing steady, careful with how he spoke, how he held himself.

’Don’t give them anything to question.’ Or else another hundred people will find out all of his secrets.

It was dramatic, but that’s how it felt right now.

“What you felt does not matter,” Aamon says, his tone firm. “What a knight feels when danger is close isn’t what matters. You should know that.”

Aamon then turns to Kaelis.

“As for you, Prince Kaelis, I expected you to take Ezra Belloren back. I thought you followed him so he wouldn’t do anything reckless. Instead, you went there to help him.”

Kaelis lets out a small chuckle, leaning back slightly. “Is that so wrong? Do you prefer I leave him on his own?”

“I would have preferred you to take him back.”

“Do you really think Ezra Belloren wouldn’t put up a fight?” Kaelis asks, crossing his arms against his chest.

That makes Aamon pause, his expression tightening slightly.

“That’s not the point,” Helios chimes in, his voice steady, his face serious.

“I know what the point is,” Kaelis replies, his tone still casual. “We shouldn’t have gone on our own. That’s obvious. But that didn’t happen. We went, and we got the kid.”

He gestures toward Lior beside him. “Why can’t we focus on that instead of all the what-ifs?”

“I do agree with brother Kaelis,” Aurien says, raising his hand slightly, his expression still gentle but more serious now. “I think we should focus on finding out what happened rather than what could have happened. It won’t help to argue about possibilities.”

Helios’ expression tightens just a bit, and Aamon exhales, clearly tired.

“Alright, fine. Let’s move on from that,” Aamon says, shifting his attention.

His gaze lands on Lior.

“Lior, we’ve brought you here because we want to ask you a question. Is that okay?”

Lior looks at Ezra first.

Then at Kaelis.

As if asking for permission.

Ezra gives a small nod.

So Lior nods as well. “O-Okay…”

’If Aamon pushes too much, I’ll stop this.’

Ezra’s eyes stay on Aamon now, sharper than before.

“So, Lior… you were at your tent when you got taken, yes?” Aamon asks.

“Uh-huh,” Lior nods again.

“Fizzy said you were willing to go because Ricardo threatened to kill him. Is that accurate?”

Lior tilts his head. “What does acuret mean?”

“He’s asking if it’s true,” Aurien explains gently.

“Oh.” Lior nods. “He should have said that then.” He mumbles with a small huff.

Kaelis lets out a quiet laugh, and Aurien smiles faintly beside him.

Aamon sighs again, rubbing his temple like he’s already exhausted.

“It really is like dealing with a four-year-old version of Ezra,” Aamon mutters under his breath.

Ezra tenses slightly, but he doesn’t say anything. He clears his thoughts before they can show on his face.

’Don’t react.’

He knew it was just a joke.

“Yep.” Lior nods. “That’s what happened… is Fizzy okay?” he asks, his voice softening with worry.

Ezra pauses for a moment.

’Right… I didn’t even ask.’

A small part of him still blamed Fizzy, even if he knew it wasn’t fair.

“Yes, he is,” Aamon answers. “He’s with the healers. He’s resting.”

Lior nods again. “Okay.”

“After you got taken by Ricardo, where did he take you? Did he say anything?”

Ezra and Kaelis exchange a brief glance.

It was subtle.

They hadn’t had the chance to prepare Lior for this.

There were still things Kaelis wanted to keep hidden, which Ezra found ridiculous, because it meant Kaelis suspected everyone here.

Even Aamon. Even Helios. Even Aurien.

Still, if it came out that they were holding back information about the cultists, it would only make things worse.

“Uhm…” Lior swings his legs slightly as he thinks. “He took me to the dark forest. There were a lot of… uhm… big trees. I kept yelling and screaming, and uh, Rico kept telling me to be quiet.”

“Rico?” Aamon asks.

“It’s Ricardo.” Ezra and Kaelis say at the same time.

“That’s what I said!” Lior exclaims, crossing his arms.

Aamon exhales, but there’s a faint hint of amusement now. “Right, okay. So… Rico. Did he say anything else? Why did he take you there?”

“Oh! Uh, uhm…” Lior looks down, his face scrunching slightly as he tries to remember.

Ezra watches him.

’Did he already forget?’

He wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or concerned.

“Rico said… uhm… the bad people sent him a letter…? He wanted to get his daughters back and uhm… they wanted me…” Lior explains slowly, piecing it together as he speaks. “He took me to the uhm… what was that… what was that…?”

Lior looks at Ezra.

“Oh, it was a lake,” Ezra answers.

“That!” Lior points at him. “When Rico took me to the lake… he… he… uhm… There were people. A lot of people. Really, lots of people.”

“You were surrounded?” Aamon asks, his tone sharpening.

“Uh huh.” Lior nods. “Rico cried and cried because they didn’t bring his daughters, and they also scolded him.”

Ezra’s brows furrow slightly.

’They scolded him?’

“They scolded him for what?” Helios asks, leaning forward a bit.

“Mhm.” Lior hums. “Something about being mean even though he was nice to him.” He points at Ezra.

Ezra’s eyes widen.

The others react too.

“Let me confirm, Lior,” Ezra says carefully. “They scolded him for being… mean to me?”

“Uh huh.”

Ezra looks at Kaelis.

Kaelis looks back.

There’s confusion there.

“What… why?” Ezra murmurs.

“Do those kidnappers know you?” Aurien asks, frowning slightly. “Maybe someone from your past who turned to crime?”

“Uh—” Ezra starts.

But Lior speaks first.

“The shadows were wearing really big black flowy clothes! Capes like the vampires from the story! And… uhm… masks!”

Ezra feels it immediately.

’Shit.’

There it was.

The detail they didn’t say.

The detail Lior just gave away.

“Masks?” Helios asks, turning to Ezra. “You never mentioned anything about masks, Ezra.”

“Aamon looks at him as well. “Ezra?”

Ezra stiffens slightly.

’Why are they all looking at me?’

His jaw tightens.

’Kaelis was there too.’

“Why didn’t you tell us about the masks? That doesn’t seem like just normal kidnappers.” Aamon asks with a frown on his face. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

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