“Look what Rez gifted me,” Tam said excitedly as he held the sword in front of him. The lieutenant took the weapon and examined it in much the same way Rezkin had, except he did not fully draw it in the inn.

He grunted and nodded. “This is a good weapon. Better than mine.” He looked at Rez and asked, “Perhaps you would be willing to assist me in procuring a new one once we reach Kaibain. I would rather not use this one at the tournament, and I will need to practice for a while to get completely comfortable with a new one before the competition.”

“Of course,” Rezkin replied. “It will be no problem.” The lieutenant was one of his friends, and he would do whatever he could to help him. He was just glad the soldier already had adequate sword training. It would be daunting if he did continue to find new friends and had to train all of them to protect themselves.

“So,” said the lieutenant, “we can leave for Kaibain the day after tomorrow. That should give us a bit of time to rest. We are going to have to go by land, though. There is trouble on the Lorelis River. Colonel Simmons sent engineers to remove some kind of blockage over a week ago, and no one has heard from them. There have also been a few skirmishes with bandits. With the report I submitted of our troubles, Colonel Simmons thinks something bigger is happening. He’s sending out a larger force to patrol the river and will be charging me with delivering a missive to the general in Kaibain.”

“What do you mean by ‘something bigger’?” asked Frisha.

“There have been rumors of some sort of rebel faction. Not everyone is satisfied with the way King Caydean is running things. Ever since King Bordran’s untimely death two years ago, there has been talk. Bordran was not an old man by any means, and he had always been a strong, imposing figure. He could have ruled for another twenty years, at least.” The others nodded knowingly, and the lieutenant sighed. “There is more. It is no secret, but it is not yet widely known, that the king’s brother, Prince Thresson, went missing two months ago.” Lieutenant Jimson lowered his voice, “Some—not me, mind you, but some—are calling foul against the king.”

“Why would the king want to harm his brother?” asked Frisha in hushed alarm.

The lieutenant shrugged. “The people who say this think that the king feels threatened by him. They seem to think the king might have had a hand in his father’s death. They claim the king is paranoid that the same will happen to him, so he took steps to remove the threat. I am just saying what some people say, but I would prefer it if you do not spread it around that I said so.”