#ewan Goldman

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios Adventures

"I'm so glad you could make it, Lauren. It feels like it's been forever since I've seen you."

The youngest Durant sibling smiled at her sister. "College has been intense. I mean, I'm still in my first year, but with exams coming up, everyone is going a little crazy."

"That's how I remember it. I thought Nathan was going to burn down the student union building one exam period. I mean, he didn't even end up writing the exam, but he still went crazy with the rest of us."

"I'm so glad you met Trent," Lauren replied, looking over her shoulder in case Nathan suddenly showed up. She wouldn't put it past him. "Nathan creeps me out. There's something not right about him."

Cindra laughed, despite her sister's worry.

"Nathan likes people to think he's dangerous and scary, but he's a sweetheart deep down. Very deep down. Don't worry about him. He's harmless."

Lauren gave her sister a skeptical look but didn't push the subject. Let Cindra have her creepy crush. Lauren wouldn't be caught dead anywhere near Nathan Helios.

Everard and Luci tossed a baseball back and forth to warm up. They were about to start the official Siew family games and baseball was the first event. Luci was naturally athletic and had no doubts of her ability to lead her team to victory. Her little brother on the other hand....

At least Everard was trying to practice. Etienne was about to go swimming in the pool, and Fiolett was working on a drawing she refused to abandon. Who knew what Rien was up to? Luci had learned long ago not to count on her twin sister to do anything with her. If she had to guess, Rien was probably off talking with Adam about weird ghost sightings or something crazy like that. Ever since Theo had been sent away to school, Rien had been speaking to Adam an awful lot. Luci would normally assume that this meant that her sister had a crush on Theo's boyfriend, but this was Rien they were talking about. She was probably just telling him that he was being haunted by spirits.

"Rien? Honey, I thought you were playing baseball with your brother and sister? Did they finish playing already?"

Adrian approached his daughter reluctantly. It was obvious that Rien had no intention of playing with her siblings or being social. At least this time, she wasn't alone. Adrian had nearly tripped over Travis Maricourt scribbling furiously in a book by the hot tub, completely disengaged with the barbecue.

"I'm sorry, Dad, but I'm needed elsewhere," Rien replied cryptically. "Baseball seemed like a waste of time, considering how little of it is left."

"Uh...huh. Well, where are you needed? I can help you and then you can go play with the other kids here. I saw Travis Maricourt writing over by the hot tub, maybe you two could play alone together."

"Thanks for the offer, but it's not me who needs to socialize. You need to talk to people at the party," Rien insisted. "Hang around Queen Maura to help her. You'll know what to do when the time comes. I have my own role to play. Have you seen Princess Georgiana?"

"Are you going to play with Her Highness, or continue your cryptic riddles with her?" Adrian asked wearily, already knowing the answer. "Please don't say anything that would scare the princess. She's younger than you and scares easily."

"I'll play nicely, Daddy. I promise."

Adrian tried not to wither at the glare his daughter was giving him. Of course, she'd inherited Roman's patented stare, the same as Theo. Whenever the kids were angry, it was like being surrounded by little Roman clones. Thank god that most of them seemed incapable of scowling like their father, aside from Theo.

"Rien, you know that I love you very much," Adrian tried. "Go play with the princess and have fun. Maybe you and I could play cards with your siblings later. That would be fun, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, Daddy. That sounds like fun."

The tone of her voice very clearly conveyed that playing cards would be the worst thing that could happen to her, despite her ominous words. Adrian bit his cheek to keep from groaning or reprimanding his daughter for lying. There wasn't a parenting book out there that could help him parent Adrienne.

"I'll see you soon," Rien declared suddenly, wrapping her arms around her baffled father. "Remember, hang around the queen. There's a collection of heirloom swords in the second bedroom upstairs. Do you remember how to use them?"

"Yes, I remember how to use many weapons. I studied all of that in military school. How the hell do you know about a collection of swords? Have you been playing with them? You're too young to-"

Rien let go of her father and gave him a sad look. Her eyes didn't look like she was twelve. They held secrets and sorrows well beyond her years in a way that Adrian would never understand. He'd never met Roman's grandparents, but Roman often mentioned how similar Rien sometimes looked to his grandmother. Whoever she looked like, there were times that Adrian stared at his daughter and didn't recognize who stared back.

"Remember, the queen needs you," Rien said again, skipping off to find Georgiana. As usual, Adrian made a mental note of this behaviour to address with Roman and despite his skeptical nature, went in search of Queen Maura.

"I heard there was a barbecue here, but I don't smell anything cooking. Don't tell me that I missed Dad's famous burgers."

"Oliver! You made it! I thought you had exams to study for." Claudia ran to embrace her little brother, excited that he'd actually kept his promise and came to the family gathering.

"Yeah, well, we're not all monarchs wealthy beyond imagining," Oliver laughed. "I'm a poor college student. An offer of free food doesn't come along very often."

"Oh, you're impossible!" Claudia teased, tickling her brother like they were still children. "A poor college student whose tuition is covered by his very rich sister, along with a generous fund for personal expenses."

"Well, I still eat a fair amount of ramen regardless. I won't let your money take away from the college experience."

"Well, maybe I'll withdraw my tuition support next semester if that's how you feel," Claudia laughed. "Then you won't have to fake the 'authentic' experience."

"Ah, who can say what's authentic?" Oliver replied, his eyes dancing with amusement. "Maybe I'll accept your charity for a few more years after all."

This was a dance Claudia and Oliver performed seamlessly over the years. She'd offer whatever Oliver could possibly need in life and he'd playfully decline, only to accept it moments later. He'd been too young to understand his sister's change in rank when she took the throne, but he'd never been jealous of her. She was the queen and he was free to live as he chose. Claudia had frequently offered her brother a royal title and estate of his own, but Oliver had turned her down every time. Apparently, the monarchy was a "Claudia and Dad" project, while the "Oliver, Travis, and Mom" project was perfectly content away from the throne.

"Speaking of charity, where are the hamburgers I was promised? I'm wasting away here."

Claudia rolled her eyes.

"Blame Dad. He was supposed to be here to barbecue after work, but I guess he got busy. You know how obsessive he is about grilling things. God forbid someone other than him gets to touch the grill so we can eat."

"Well, where's Uncle Travis? I've seen Dad let him grill before and I'm starving. Let's just start grilling and apologize later. He can't be mad when we've waited this long."

Ewan Traver watched as his uncle, Ewan Goldman, arrived in a shower of sparkling light just in front of the front entrance of the cottage. It was a relief to see him, especially since Ewan's own son, Oliver, was currently leading a rebellion among the family to replace his father with anyone else who knew how to use a grill. The family was currently split between honouring the original plan and replacing Ewan with his reluctant brother, Travis.

"Uncle Ewan! Finally! Everyone's been going feral waiting for food. You're late."

"Uncle Ewan?"

Ewan Goldman made no attempts to respond to his nephew. Instead, he stared at the ground, unable to meet the younger Ewan's eyes. A shiver ran down Ewan Traver's spine. Something was wrong here. Dangerously wrong. This intuition was confirmed when dark, glossy wings emerged from his uncle's back, wrapping around a body that had gone from looking normal and healthy to a sickly hue that radiated an unnatural cold that Ewan could feel from several feet away. When his uncle spoke, it wasn't his usual cheerful voice, but one that sounded hollow and deadly.

“I’m not here to join in the festivities. Unfortunately, I’m here for work. I’m so sorry.”

[arkhelios-gameplay]

After some more yelling, Edana slammed the phone back onto the Resurrect-o-Nomitron.

"Here you go, sir," Ewan said politely, putting one of his own bathrobes on Cain.

"I'm going to kill whoever runs that place," Edana said through gritted teeth.

"I wish you luck in killing death itself," Ewan replied nonchalantly.

"You see the condition he's in!" Edana said, waving toward Cain. "He's clearly still corrupted!"

"But he's alive," Ewan pointed out.

"And not able to haunt your daughter anymore," Anna added.

"I certainly hope not," Edana said. "Otherwise this entire affair has been a massive waste of time!"

Cain remained silent.

[thediaryofatheatrekid]

The Movie in My Mind: Ragtime

Anne Hathaway as MotherEwan McGregor as FatherZachary Levi as Mother’s Younger BrotherVictor Garber as GrandfatherJosh Groban as TatehCorbin Bleu as Coalhouse Walker, Jr.Brittney Johnson as SarahAlistair Brammer as Willie ConklinMichelle Williams as Evelyn NesbitRami Malek as Harry HoudiniKatrina Lenk as Emma Goldman

[tartarusfm]

there are so many fcs i can’t believe haven’t been taken yet ! i am banging for people to bring us deepika padukone, jon bernthal, zendaya coleman, henry goldman, hunter schafer, rege jean-page, katie mcgrath, kaylee bryant, nico tortorella, reese witherspoon, michiel huisman, jamie clayton, john boyega, carla gugino, chris evans, sandra oh, pedro pascal, ryan destiny, quintessa swindell, evan mock, zoe kravitz, lucien laviscount, cierra ramirez, janelle monae, aron piper, mina el hammani, kat graham, sidharth malhotra, nafessa williams, ariela barer, sean teale, chris hemsworth, moon gayoung, tom hiddleston, natasha liu bordizzo, jorge lopez, avan jogia, jonathan daviss, jodie comer, teyonah parris, robert sheehan, ursula corbero, logan lerman, margot robbie, dev patel, jurnee smollett, zoe kravitz, luke pasqualino, ewan mcgregor, santiago cabrera, daniel gillies, chella man, parisa fitz henley, taraji p. henson, tyler hoechlin, jamie chung, michael b. jordan, dichen lachman, zion moreno, aaron tveit, jessie mei li, sofia boutella, rj cyler, brie larson, evan roderick, aisha dee, chris pine, tessa thompson, idris elba, kat dennings, gong yoo, and moon bloodgood !

[evoldir]

Fwd: Postdoc: EBI_Sanger.EvolutionaryBiol

Begin forwarded message: > From: evoldir@evol.biology.mcmaster.ca > Subject: Postdoc: EBI_Sanger.EvolutionaryBiol > Date: 23 July 2020 at 07:31:10 BST > To: rdmpage@gmail.com > Reply-To: brian@helix.biology.mcmaster.ca > > > The EBI–Sanger Postdoctoral (ESPOD) Programme builds on the > collaborative relationship between EMBL-EBI and the Wellcome Sanger > Institute, offering projects that combine experimental (wet-lab) and > computational (dry-lab) approaches.These are competitive postdoctoral > fellowships lasting three years and two fellowships are awarded each year. > > This link describes a set of 7 pre-defined projects, including > two highlighted below of likely interest to this audience > https://ift.tt/1PRWmB6 > > Additionally, there is an opportunity to identify a PI at EBI and > Sanger and develop your own proposal to work between two groups at these > institutes south of Cambridge in England. > > > Project 2: Mara Lawniczak > and Ewan > Birney groups Long reads > to investigate within species variation across the Tree of Life > https://ift.tt/3jwdW2O > > Project 3: Mark Blaxter , > Rob Finn and Nick Goldman > groups Photosymbiosis genomics > https://ift.tt/3hF5GMj > > Other projects include > > Project 1: David Adams > and Alex Bateman groups Deep > mutational scanning of the dark proteome > > > Project 4: John Marioni and > Sarah Teichmann groups > Strategies for integrating spatial data across individuals > > > Project 5: Ellen McDonagh > , Gosia Trynka > and Emma Davenport > groups Investigation > of genetic signatures associated with pharmacological outcomes for > immune diseases > > > Project 6: Evangelia Petsalaki > and Matthew Garnett > groups A data-driven framework for uncovering the role of understudied > kinases in signalling network adaptation > > > Project 7: Daniel Zerbino > and Leopold Parts > groups A unified view of human coding mutation effect > > > The Wellcome Sanger Institute is operated by Genome Research Limited, > a charity registered in England with number 1021457 and a company > registered in England with number 2742969, whose registered office is > 215 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BE. > > Mara Lawniczak > via IFTTT

[mellowyknox]

“August: Osage County" Trailer

Production: The Weinstein Company New York Director: John Wells Cinematographer: Adriano Goldman 

More: https://vimeo.com/74363601

Year: 2013

[myserendipities]

Humanity may soon generate more data than hard drives or magnetic tape can handle, a problem that has scientists turning to nature's age-old solution for information-storage—DNA. In a new study in Science, a pair of researchers at Columbia University and the New York Genome Center (NYGC) show that an algorithm designed for streaming video on a cellphone can unlock DNA's nearly full storage potential by squeezing more information into its four base nucleotides. They demonstrate that this technology is also extremely reliable. DNA is an ideal storage medium because it's ultra-compact and can last hundreds of thousands of years if kept in a cool, dry place, as demonstrated by the recent recovery of DNA from the bones of a 430,000-year-old human ancestor found in a cave in Spain. Erlich and his colleague Dina Zielinski, an associate scientist at NYGC, chose six files to encode, or write, into DNA: a full computer operating system, an 1895 French film, "Arrival of a train at La Ciotat," a $50 Amazon gift card, a computer virus, a Pioneer plaque and a 1948 study by information theorist Claude Shannon. They compressed the files into a master file, and then split the data into short strings of binary code made up of ones and zeros. Using an erasure-correcting algorithm called fountain codes, they randomly packaged the strings into so-called droplets, and mapped the ones and zeros in each droplet to the four nucleotide bases in DNA: A, G, C and T. The algorithm deleted letter combinations known to create errors, and added a barcode to each droplet to help reassemble the files later. In all, they generated a digital list of 72,000 DNA strands, each 200 bases long, and sent it in a text file to a San Francisco DNA-synthesis startup, Twist Bioscience, that specializes in turning digital data into biological data. Two weeks later, they received a vial holding a speck of DNA molecules. To retrieve their files, they used modern sequencing technology to read the DNA strands, followed by software to translate the genetic code back into binary. They recovered their files with zero errors, the study reports. They also demonstrated that a virtually unlimited number of copies of the files could be created with their coding technique by multiplying their DNA sample through polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and that those copies, and even copies of their copies, and so on, could be recovered error-free. Finally, the researchers show that their coding strategy packs 215 petabytes of data on a single gram of DNA—100 times more than methods published by pioneering researchers George Church at Harvard, and Nick Goldman and Ewan Birney at the European Bioinformatics Institute. "We believe this is the highest-density data-storage device ever created," said Erlich. The capacity of DNA data-storage is theoretically limited to two binary digits for each nucleotide, but the biological constraints of DNA itself and the need to include redundant information to reassemble and read the fragments later reduces its capacity to 1.8 binary digits per nucleotide base. The team's insight was to apply fountain codes, a technique Erlich remembered from graduate school, to make the reading and writing process more efficient. With their DNA Fountain technique, Erlich and Zielinski pack an average of 1.6 bits into each base nucleotide. That's at least 60 percent more data than previously published methods, and close to the 1.8-bit limit.

https://phys.org/news/2017-03-short-movie-dna.html

[jamesmsolari]

Telegram will launch its Gram cryptocurrency by October 31 or bust

TechMyBiz for all things “IT”

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge Telegram’s cryptocurrency— the Gram — may be going public after all. The encrypted messaging app company plans to deliver “the first batches” of the coin in the next two months, according to a report at The New York Times. The last time we reported on the Gram, it was to note that Telegram was canceling its initial coin offering (ICO), so the news may come as a bit of a surprise unless you’ve been following Telegram and cryptocurrency closely. But if you have, you’ve probably heard a rumor that Telegram has a hard deadline to make it happen: if it doesn’t deliver by October 31st, it legally forfeits the $1.7 billion it raised to make those coins a reality. That October 31st deadline is real, according to legal documents reviewed by the Times, so the company’s trying to make those coins real, too, and as quickly as possible. Users will apparently store them in a Gram digital wallet, one that Telegram plans to offer to all its 200 million users around the world, according to three anonymous investors who spoke to the publication. It’s not quite clear how regulators might deal with a new Telegram cryptocurrency, seeing how Telegram itself is a decentralized messaging operation that’s happily tangled with governments in the past. Facebook’s Libra is the closest parallel, but one based in the United States, and it’s already encountered quite a bit of early scrutiny.

Source: http://tz2d.me/?c=t26

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The post Telegram will launch its Gram cryptocurrency by October 31 or bust appeared first on TekMyBiz.

Source: https://tekmybiz.com/tech/telegram-will-launch-its-gram-cryptocurrency-by-october-31-or-bust/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=telegram-will-launch-its-gram-cryptocurrency-by-october-31-or-bust

from TekMyBiz https://tekmybiz.wordpress.com/2019/08/28/telegram-will-launch-its-gram-cryptocurrency-by-october-31-or-bust/

[londontheatre]

It’s such a good thing that the British Theatre Academy is giving so many young performers the chance to shine on a West End stage. They’ve done it before and I’m quietly confident they’ll do so again. For this production of Jason Robert Brown’s 13 The Musical, 19 characters are played by a total of 47 performers throughout the run. Beyond that, as the cast photos are not accompanied by their names in the show’s programme, it is quite impossible to say for definite who was played by whom. No matter: though Evan Goldman is both lead character and narrator, this is a truly ensemble piece of musical theatre.

Occasionally, for this opening night performance at least, the American accents were oh-so-slightly questionable – mind you, I’ve heard worse from adult performers. Though none of the characters in the story are, according to the programme, “older than the show’s title”, let’s just say I would be surprised if this extended to the ages of all of the performers themselves. But this isn’t Lord of the Flies. It’s just that the older characters, apart from a few minor cameo roles filled by members of the company, are off-stage.

As ever with Jason Robert Brown musicals, the musical numbers are wordy, and taken together, there are few truly memorable verses. Perhaps only the final two songs, ‘Homework’ and ‘Brand New You’, have melodies that stick in the mind. The sound balance between the performers and the band, the latter directed by Chris Ma, is excellent, allowing the rapid dialogue and the narrative-driven songs to be understood as they were meant to be.

The style of humour has, to be blunt, zero subtlety. One school pupil, Archie, tells Evan that, “No one makes fun of me on the special needs bus. That would be ironic.” Elsewhere, the suggestive ‘Hey Kendra’ is so flirtatious that I wonder, if it were to be hypothetically broadcast, which side of the ‘watershed’ it would deemed suitable for.

Whenever the laughs came, the punchlines were responded to heartily, a wholly justified acknowledgement of the flawless comic timing. None of this, quite extraordinarily really, results in hammy performances, for which director and choreographer Ewan Jones must take at least some credit for. Not being subjected to the hair-dryer treatment in a West End musical production was refreshing.

The storyline is not the most profound of plots. 13 The Musical could hardly be renamed Dear Evan Goldman. Everything is going so swimmingly for Evan in the first half that it is no surprise that things change for the worse in the second. Nonetheless, the portrayal of youngsters’ feelings and emotions are captured so plausibly, and as performed here, it’s highly convincing.

[See image gallery at http://ift.tt/1FpwFUw]

  In all of the playground politics that goes on, much can be applied to adult life, where powers of perception are required in similar measure to understand not only what was said but what wasn’t said, and more particularly, what was meant by what was and wasn’t said. The plotting and scheming is no different to the world of politics or working in an industry where competition is strong and keeping everyone on their toes.

It boils down to this: I was engrossed by every minute of this coming of age story – even the cheerleading in ‘Opportunity’. And it is always good to see a cast clearly enjoying themselves on stage. An exuberant and joyous production, this is another triumph for the British Theatre Academy. Long may their splendid work continue.

Review by Chris Omaweng

An original musical with music and lyrics by Tony Award-winning composer, Jason Robert Brown, (Parade, The Last Five Years, Bridges of Madison County) and book by Dan Elish and Robert Horn, it premiered on Broadway in 2008 and is the only Broadway musical ever with a cast and band entirely made of teenagers.

13 The Musical is an hilarious, coming-of-age musical about discovering that “cool” is sometimes where we least expect it. Geek. Poser. Jock. Beauty Queen. Wannabe. These are the labels that can last a lifetime. With an unforgettable rock score, 13 The Musical is a musical about fitting in – and standing out! Evan Goldman is plucked from his fast-paced, preteen New York City life and plopped into a sleepy Indiana town following his parents’ divorce. Surrounded by an array of simpleminded middle school students, he needs to establish his place in the popularity pecking order. Can he situate himself on a comfortable link of the food chain… or will he dangle at the end with the outcasts?!

Composed of a precocious cast, no character in 13 is older than the show’s title. The cast is comprised entirely of teenagers, but the stories that come to life here are ageless, the emotions they explore timeless, the laughter and the memories they provide priceless.

Ambassadors Theatre West Street, London, WC2H 9ND Booking to 23rd August 2017

http://ift.tt/2w4QZ0O LondonTheatre1.com

[vivikawidow]

President Philip Owen addressed the entire room. “Ladies and gentlemen make no mistake, we must all work together to stop this. You may not have wanted to be involved with the problems in Russia with the Yugasov but we have been left with no choice.”

Alex Grimsby leaned forward clasping his hands tightly together. “What do you propose we do?”

President Owen replied “I am sending a covert team to Minsk. They will need all the help they can get. I need to know that you would be willing to support me in uncovering what is happening there and stop it. They will have orders to retrieve known war criminal, Andrei Borkov, at the same time.”

Selena, who sat quietly throughout, finally spoke up. “Mr President, I’m not sure what help I can be,” she said. “I’m haven’t been sworn into office yet. I don’t have any real authority.”

“I know I can rely on you to gain Lord Isle’s support until your official election.”

“So who is this team you are sending?” asked Ada.

Philip Owen lifted himself onto his feet and made his way to the long side of the table. “You have all heard of Rogue Battalion?”

Prime Minister Grimsby seemed dismayed. “Sending Rogue Battalion? Is that necessary for a fact finding mission?”

“I am only sending a small number led by General Raphael Diorra. He is the only man I would trust to get the job done,” the U.S. President explained.

Chancellor Gultrich leaned back in her chair. “If you want me to get involved then I should know who this team will consist of.”

Philip Owen lifted a controller from the table and with a push of the red button; an image of a young soldier flashed onto the screen. “First we have Lewis Bakersmith AKA Baker. He normally spends his leave with his family in Ohio. A team has been dispatched with his orders. They will be waiting on him. He is the finest navigator the United States has to offer. If anyone can find their way through Minsk, it is this man.” Baker wasn’t quite what many would assume as a soldier. He was very tall and slim. Thick rimmed spectacles hung on the end of his long nose. President Owen pushed the button again. This time the screen showed a handsome young Hispanic man with a wealth of experience. “Carlos Pablo Guerra AKA Carlos. He was sent to a military academy at thirteen to keep him out of trouble. That was great for us because now he is the best sharpshooter we have, and he will watch over the rest of the team loyally. A team is preparing to head out to his home in New York to bring him in.” Another flick of the button changed the screen to show a large man with a body builder physique. “Martin Murdoch AKA Bait. He is currently serving time in a secure facility.”

Selena stopped him. “This man is a convict? What did he do?”

“He was arrested five years ago for assaulting someone who was being a little rough and over eager with his wife. The police came in heavy handed, knowing that he was Rogue Battalion. Three of them ended up in the hospital trying to restrain him, one in a coma. Because of his background they had to punish him harshly but he is released from prison when special assignments call.”

“You trust this man with this mission? Is that wise?” Louis put to the president.

“There is no knowing what they are going to find there,” said Philip. “We need men of strength. Besides if anyone can keep him in line, Raphael Diorra can.” The screen flicked again. This time, the screen showed a broad Jewish man with pale skin and neat black hair. “Howard Noah Goldman AKA Noah. He is fluent in five languages including Russian. He will be invaluable to the team in communications. He normally lives with his mother in Florida. Word has been left with her for him to be in contact.” The screen slid once again, now to show a fair haired, sallow skinned man. “The team will be supported by an explosive expert. Henry Lafayette AKA Gator. Our boys had some trouble trying to get to his home through his Alligator farm in Louisiana but the word will be waiting for him,” President Owen paused for a moment to look at his notes. He pushed the button again, and the image was of a young black man. He was the only one so far to be smiling. He appeared intelligent and strong. “Medical support will be provided by a very promising young man. John Wayans AKA Wayne. He wasn’t with the team in San Mojo, but he knows General Diorra well. In fact he is a student of the General’s sister at Columbia medical school.” A smile came to Philip Owen’s lips as he read on. “We are all familiar with Captain William Davis. He will be joining them. He has been close friends with General Diorra for many years. There is no better man to assist him. However, it seems our boys were a little over eager to find him. He was on a fishing trip and wouldn’t turn back. It seems I owe him a salmon or two… and a boat.” President Owen had met Davis personally. It didn’t matter whose company he was in; Davis was always the same way. He was strong minded and loyal to Raphael. Philip couldn’t help but laugh when he received an invoice from Davis for the two salmon and a boat, which he paid immediately from his own pocket. The image on the screen was of a down to earth man with dark hair and a round face. He was highly decorated, and he was unafraid of any challenge. When the President pushed the button again, the image dissolved to that of a large, muscular black man. His thick arms and broad shoulders would have made him at home in a boxing ring. “Ewan Freeman AKA Bones. He is the finest tank commander. He has said he would only agree to any mission if he could take Nancy with him.”

Alex stopped Philip. “Is that his wife?”

President Owen shook his head. “It’s his tank. It has been with him on every mission, and it has never steered him wrong yet. It isn’t possible, but he will cooperate.” Philip Owen looked at the final name. He pushed the red button one final time. Bones was replaced by a dark eyed Native American warrior. “Linciu Habaru. He is of the Fosgon tribe.”

“What is his speciality?” Selena was fascinated.

“Well, it is impressive. However, I can’t tell you. I would have to show you,” President Owen said before playing a video that showed security footage of Linciu fighting several soldiers. It was from when he first joined the army. He was outnumbered eight to one by men much larger than himself. He restrained them all with ease and subtle breaks to the bones of their limbs. The footage then dissolved to Linciu commanding a raven.

Prime Minister Grimsby agreed. “That is impressive. I have never seen that done with a raven before.”

“Commander Habaru has been a huge asset to the military. He can use that raven for signalling, messaging and in some cases even defence. There isn’t a terrain that he can’t harvest to his advantage.” Philip Owen shut the screen off. “Ladies and Gentlemen we all trust Raphael Diorra and we know the prerequisites for entry into my ‘Rogue Battalion’. They are the elite; they are the best. They will find out what is going on in Minsk. Do I have your support?”

The mission to Minsk will prove more than even the elite Rogue Battalion could have anticipated.

Enjoy this? The full story will be with you soon as part of the Conflict: Global Crisis graphic novel series!

Subscribe to the page for more info, news and stories from the Conflict. Rogue Battalion are about to face their toughest mission yet. Are you ready to enlist?

Meet Rogue Battalion; Their toughest mission yet! President Philip Owen addressed the entire room. “Ladies and gentlemen make no mistake, we must all work together to stop this.

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios Adventures

"You're quieter than usual. Still moping over Theo?"

Remy Maricourt placed another stick cautiously on the back of a plastic llama, watching her brother's face for the usual tells. As expected, the mention of his ex-boyfriend resulted in a twitch of his left eye and his hands nearly dropped the stick he was trying to place. Predictable.

"I'm not thinking about Theo," Adam declared, finally placing his stick on the game board. "Theo's an asshole who only cares about himself. I don't think about him at all."

"Uh huh. I've heard that one before."

The Darktide twins were having a strange day. Despina had been invited to Travis Goldman's house to get to see a reaper up close for herself. Now that Elowen was dating Travis, she was eager to introduce her family to his, despite Travis' warnings about how embarrassing they were. Most of Elowen's siblings had either met the Goldmans before or simply didn't care about them, but her cousin Despina had been thrilled at the thought of meeting Travis' family. Most people would probably find Claudia to be the most interesting member of the family, as she was the reigning monarch of Pleasantview, but Despina didn't care about that. She wanted, no needed to see a reaper up close for personal reasons that she was sure that Travis knew well.

She and her brother only existed because their parents wanted to sacrifice their life energy to summon the Grim Reaper in a bizarre dark ritual. It was something that Despina had always known about, thanks to her bitter aunt, but she'd never been able to wrap her head around it. How did two people agree to exchange their children for power? Was the fact that she had a twin part of the plan or was it a surprise? When Despina closed her eyes at night, she sometimes dreamt of either her or Eero being spirited away by her parents and hidden from the coven so that at least one of their children could survive. It was a dark dream, but it was the best she could do with the family she'd been given.

Such a dark scheme had to mean that the reward was worth it to her parents. The Grim Reaper and his reaper employees had to be something spectacular. If she also saw a glimpse of what her parents had chased after, would she understand them any better? Would she too lose herself at the sight of the power reapers wielded?

To Remy's frustration, Adam had volunteered to come support his cousin. Despina wasn't currently thrilled with Adam since she was much closer to his ex-boyfriend Theo, but family was family and she appreciated the gesture. Of course then, Remy also felt forced to volunteer, just to reassure Elowen that Adam wouldn't be an idiot and ruin something with his usual stupidity and that Despina wouldn't somehow cause Travis to run as far away from the Darktide family as he could. As a future duchess, Elowen had responsibilities outside of school that took her away from this family play date, so it was all up to Remy to make sure things didn't end in catastrophe.

So far, their time at the Goldmans was extremely boring. Despina and Travis had been locked in conversation since they'd arrived, leaving Remy alone to watch her twin brother. The reapers Despina had been so desperate to meet were absent, prolonging this visit each hour they were gone. Apparently, there was a reaper meeting later and an important guest arriving at the house, but Travis didn't have any information when that might be. So until the reapers came home, Remy was stuck babysitting her brother and cousin.

"How's Claudia doing?" Despina asked politely. "Remy told me that the wedding planning is coming along. She and Adam have to be in the wedding party as Miruna's siblings, so I trust what she says over what the gossip magazines are saying."

"That the queen is planning on dumping Miruna? I've read those rumours too. If Claudia was planning on breaking up with Miruna, I'm sure she would have told me and my parents already."

Despina smiled kindly.

"It must be nice to have such a large, accepting family," she mused. "You have two parents who want the best for you and two siblings that think the world of you. It's always been just me and Eero for so much of my life, and now I'm in another country without him. The closest thing we've had to a parent is our Aunt Edana, and I'm sure Elowen has told you how she treats complications in her life."

Travis paused to choose his next words carefully. The subject they were stumbling towards could be offensive if not treated with care.

"I understand what you're going through better than anyone else in this world could, aside from Eero that is," Travis began. "We were only born like a week apart and in the same house for the same purpose. My bio moms tried to sacrifice me too, but I don't get reminded as often as you do because my aunt and uncle adopted me and their family legacy tends to overshadow mine. No one thinks too much about the sacrificial baby his parents didn't want when you have a queen in your family and a direct blood connection to one of the bloodiest kings in Pleasantview history."

"My aunt technically has custody of us," Despina sighed. "I wish she was more like yours. I had to plead neglect just to get into the same school that she sent her biological kids to and to this day, she still gives me a dirty look every time I have to present a project to the coven. She hates me so much that the coven won't allow her to evaluate my coursework. Someone else has to just because she hates my parents enough to hold a grudge against me."

"I think it's a bit more complicated than that," Travis replied. "Trust me, I've seen a lot of parental issues in my life. My dad is still dealing with being the son of a monster, just like my Uncle Travis is trying to put the pieces of his life together after finding out how much my bio mom lied to him about their family. I guarantee that however much you think your aunt hates you, it's really her own trauma and guilt that she's projecting on you. Every book I've read about the history of the Darktides always emphasizes how close Edana and Adam were and how inseparable they became after the death of their father. Suddenly losing that support system and having three children in such a short period of time had to mess with her head."

Despina cocked her head to the side, staring at Travis like he'd grown two heads in the past minute.

"Are you really saying that what she's done for us is okay? I never asked to be born. I'm sorry that Eero and I were such an inconvenience for her."

"A-ah, sorry. Dad says that I put my foot in my mouth too often, so I try not to say things to people," Travis quickly stammered. "I wasn't trying to make you feel bad, that's just how I try to see my bio parents. Like maybe they were good people who just fell down a dark path. My mom says that Celeste had a lot of trauma in her life and didn't have a support system outside of her borderline abusive grandfather, so I try to imagine that maybe there was a reason she was the way she was. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Despina smiled.

"No, I'm glad that approach works for you and that your parents are so supportive. I sometimes wonder what my parents would be like if they had survived. Maybe we could have been a family." When Travis gave her a pitying look in reply, Despina decided to be less emotionally open. "Maybe to apologize, you could lend me a copy of that book you were reading about the Darktide family? I've only ever seen books about the medieval past."

Travis brightened at the mention of books.

"Sure! There's a bunch of them that cover the collapse of the Strangetown coven. The problem is that you're living in Pleasantview, where your aunt will threaten to sue publishers or in Arkhelios, where their library is only three very sparse rooms. What you need to do is order from Strangetown. The king is supposed to be impartial to honest reporting, so he won't threaten publishers, and it's not like an entire branch of the extended Strangetown government could just disappear overnight without someone reporting on it. When my mom did some research and decided that it was best that I answer my questions about my bio parents, she let me buy any book I wanted on the subject."

Despina tried not to seem too excited at this news, but she felt like her jaw was hanging on the ground anyway. Actual information about her family that wasn't tainted by her aunt's hatred? It seemed to be too good to be true.

"I want to read all of them."

Zeuleika Izadi stared at the unassuming house on the outskirts of Pleasantview with interest. Back in Ravenwood, things looked so different. Pleasantview was a thriving, busy city with loud noises and ancient ruins that towered over citizens, always reminding them of their past.

This was also one of the best places to be assigned as a reaper, or so she'd heard. The Grim Reaper himself had asked her to transfer to Pleasantview to work with his best reapers on a secret project. She hadn't even known that the Grim Reaper was aware of her existence, so her transfer was an extreme honour. Something she'd done must have gotten his attention.

"Hi! Over here! Zeuleika, right? I'm Ewan, and this is my wife, Anna."

Zeuleika tried not to cringe as two people appeared out of thin air in a shower of golden sparkles, waving like she was a mile away from them.

"We've been expecting you," Anna said graciously. "Welcome to Pleasantview. We have much to discuss. Please, come inside."

Despina saw the golden sparkles from the backyard and moved to get a closer look. All three reapers just looked like regular people to her. If they passed her on the street, there was no way that she would have guessed their secret. There was no mystic pull to them or anything like that. Whatever her parents had seen in Death’s servants, Despina didn't know.

"I promise you, their meeting is going to be boring," Travis whispered, noting her interest. "They're never interesting. That's why they're allowed to have them at home instead of the office. If you want to see cool reaper pictures of them using their powers, I have a book about that too. The Grim Reaper gave it to me for Winterfest one year. Come on, I'll show you."

Zuleika sat on a comfortable, but inexpensive couch, taking note of her surroundings. There were family photos everywhere and children's artwork on their fridge. She could have sworn that a large white dog had just lumbered by her, but it vanished from sight before she could tell for sure. This was nothing like the gothic haze of Ravenwood and absolutely nothing like the reapers at home lived.

"So the Grim Reaper wanted me to report to you? What can I help you with?"

Anna folded her hands into her lap and adopted the regal look her grandmother had once taught her.

"It's about a place called Jubilant Accosts."

"This is my sister's old room. It's become the room where we store stuff we don't want to throw out, but don't want to look at anymore," Travis explained, gesturing at the mess of photos, painting and documents before them.

"It looks like the attic in the academy," Despina noted. "I had to get something from storage once so they gave me the key. It looks just like this mess."

"Yeah, I'd bet," Travis laughed. "Well, Claudia used to keep the documentation for her challenge to be queen here. She and Dad worked on it together, trying to make sense of the mess our family has apparently always been. She moved most of that stuff to the royal archives, so I store my projects here now, along with my books about my bio moms. I don't like seeing them on my main bookcase, but they're still important, so I keep them here."

"Are all of these pictures of your bio moms then?" Despina picked up a frame from the floor and examined it. a woman with deep red eyes stared back at her, raising the Maricourt wand triumphantly. "She's pretty. I don't really have a picture of my mom. My aunt says they're 'lost' but who knows if that's true."

"Well, we could research it if you want," Travis offered. His face brightened at the possibility of spending more time in the library archives. "I'll help you. I already know where most of the records are."

"That would be great!" Despina replied. "Maybe we'll find out something about my mom. I don't even know her maiden name. I assume my parents were married, but I guess I don't know that either."

"Do you know about the feud between the Darktides and the Maricourts in the Strangetown coven?" Travis asked. When Despina shook her head, he grinned. "We're going to have so much fun researching this. We may even need to book the private study room."

Despina tried to smile, but her nerves got the better of her. What if she didn't like what she found about her family? There was no going back once she'd learned the secrets her aunt was keeping from her.

"Yeah, it's going to be great."

"Should we go follow Despina?" Adam asked as he tried to gently place a stick on the plastic llama. It was a tough move; Remy was a tough opponent. "Aren't you here to babysit her and me? You're doing a terrible job."

Remy scoffed and accidentally sent the llama's sticks crashing down as she waved dismissively.

"I don't see what she and Travis can get up to in a pile of books," she replied, ignoring Adam's victorious grin. "She's not bothering the reapers and if he has someone else to geek out about books with, then Elowen won't have to read as much. Win win."

"Don't you care about Despina's parents and how messed up they were? They're the reason why Mom is the way she is after all."

"No, why would I?" Remy laughed. "They're dead and gone, and as I keep telling you, Mom has always been insane. You can't fix what's never been right in the first place."

"You're wrong," Adam insisted. "Uncle Adam's death was what made her crazy. You've seen the way she treats Eero and Despina. She hates her brother and takes it out on them."

"So why did she name you after him then?" Remy challenged, resetting their game. "Even after everything you've done, she's never mad at you like she is with Despina. Hell, she treats me worse than you and she's only caught about half the things I do."

"I don't know, read Travis' books for yourself and find out," Adam suggested. "I don't know anything about our uncle, except to never bring him up near Mom."

"This may come as a surprise to you, but there has been an error in the Grim Reaper's files," Anna continued. "There is a place called Jubilant Accosts that should have a reaper team of six reapers and one outside member to assist when needed. Six reapers were assigned centuries ago, and to this day, those six reapers haven't submitted a report in over three centuries. Their assistant hasn't been seen for about that long either."

Zuleika stared at the two reapers like she was still expecting a punchline. Reaper teams didn't go missing like that. There were records.

"That's impossible," she said when it was clear that the pair wasn't joking. "Teams don't go missing or not report in for that long. We have the records for every reaper and every team in the database. You know as well as I do that records are kept up to date and duplicated in another database just in case someone attacks the main database."

"We all know that there have been changes in leadership over the years," Ewan said cautiously. "Death had a long lapse in his duties millennia ago because of whatever fight he'd had with Lukas that broke them up, but then he left his position to Quinlan, the teenage son of one of his reapers. Quinlan was enthusiastic about the job until long years of war and personal suffering dulled his enthusiasm too. His daughter, Anku, held the reigns over a period of time when reapers were disappearing and the living suffered under demonic attacks. All of these Grim Reapers began with enthusiasm, but were only human. There were many times that the records could have been exposed to outsiders or stolen when Grim's back was turned. Our current Grim Reaper, Gee, inherited a mess. These records could have been stolen or lost many times over the centuries, and we have no idea where to start looking for this loss."

"A whole team is missing and we don't even know for how long?" Zuleika repeated with horror. "How many more teams could be missing? This is unthinkable. Who was the assistant to this team? Maybe there are records elsewhere about them that could help us narrow the search."

"Well, that's going to be hard to look for," Ewan said with a heavy sigh. "This was a special team for a special realm. This world was sealed off from outsiders unless they knew the correct method of opening the seal. We couldn't allow them access to the Guardians of Time, or to the various witch covens who might help them in this realm. The realm was sealed in the medieval era, and a neighbouring nation to Yacothia volunteered their services. The Timelords and Timeladies of Ticktop were sworn to help guard the reaper team if needed, and one timelady took the oath to serve. The entire protection for this realm somehow unraveled a number of centuries ago and none of us had a clue that anything was even wrong."

"Why was this realm even frozen?" Zuleika asked as her mind raced to process this information. "I don't think I've even heard of that happening before."

"To protect us from the creature that inhabits the realm," Ewan replied somberly. "There's something so dangerous there that we cannot allow it to escape and spread to other realms. It can travel through the realm of dreams unless a barrier is raised against it, sealing it away. If it escapes, there is no telling what it's capable of. Disturbingly, there have been new arrivals from Jubilant Accosts, talking about a dream plague that has swept the realm and not a single person tasked with protecting the realm has been seen in centuries. We need your help, Zuleika, to find out what's gone wrong here. We need to find records that might be hidden away and you're the best at searching, or so we've been told. Lukas is evaluating the state of Jubilant Accosts for us and once they're done, we need to move quickly and reestablish the securities needed to protect the realm once again."

"What creature could possibly be so dangerous that it needed to be sealed away along with innocent people?"

Ewan looked at his wife for confirmation that they were allowed to disclose this information to Zuleika and when she nodded, Ewan continued.

"It's a dream demon, the very first of its kind. We're fighting Xexys, the Demon of Nightmares."

[arkhelios-gameplay]

"Edana," Ewan said, almost gently. "Perhaps you ought to explain the situation to Mr. Helios."

Edana's eyes flickered between Ewan Jr and Cain. "Surely you and Anna, two witches with such great knowledge of death and undeath, can explain?"

"Well, your daughter was the one who caused this," Anna murmured.

Edana stared at them in disbelief. The betrayal. She glanced at Cain, seeing his broken face and one of his eyes glowing in corruption pink. Guilt overcame her, despite the fact that it was Remy's fault. Edana cleared her throat. This would be a long conversation.

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios Adventures

A month passed and summer quickly turned into fall. With the cooling temperatures and midterms approaching, the annual fall dance was held at Princess Zarah's to relieve some of the academic stress. It wasn't held in a grand ballroom or even within the ancient walls of the academy itself, but on the grounds outside. Even though it was primarily a dance for the students of the academy, the students were allowed to bring a date from outside of the school, so the guest list usually ended up with students from a mix of schools.

Princess Victoriana was making the most of the diverse guest list. There were some faces that she'd never seen before and some that she knew pretty well. The rest of her peers all seemed to be pairing up, and the princess didn't want to fall behind and be left out. She was an appealing potential partner, and she was determined to find someone to date seriously.

Josh Matson was cute, but he was also popular. A crowd of jealous eyes followed them every time Victoriana danced with him, and she was certain that those eyes weren't trained on her. He was cute, but probably too much effort to date seriously. He might be tempted away from her, and Victoriana wouldn't be cheated on. Not by a commoner from Crystal Cove anyway. His looks were his selling point and those would fade over the years.

Victoriana liked Remy a lot. The girl was smarter than she let on, and just as good looking as Josh. She came from a good family and was way better at magic than most of the people at Princess Zarah's. Remy was rebellious, though, and impulsive. She led with her heart like her mother and occasionally ended up in troubling situations much like Edana. Victoriana wasn't sure if her mother would approve of Remy as a girlfriend. She clearly had a soft spot for Remy's twin brother and his boyfriend, but Adam seemed programmed to please adults, while Remy seemed indifferent to the expectations of others.

Speaking of Adam, Theo's boyfriend seemed to be dancing uncomfortably close to Josh. He started grinding on Josh's leg and breathing against Josh's neck in a way that made Victoriana blush. She'd never seen him do that when dancing with Theo. Should she tell her half-brother about this? Maybe. She'd keep a wary eye on the situation.

But soon, Adam was discarded to make way for Medora. Josh really did seem to have a wandering eye. Adam didn't slink back to Theo from what Victoriana could see.

"Malika! It's so great to see you!"

Victoriana looked over to see Remy joylessly embrace her girlfriend, Malika. From the look on her face, Malika didn't seem to be happy to see Remy.

"You're my date, Remy. Why are you dancing with other people? You've barely said a word to me all night."

"Me? You've been dancing with like twenty people while I'm here, standing alone like always."

"Alone? How is groping the Crown Princess of Pleasantview being alone?"

"We were dancing! It's not like you grope me any more, so why are you bothered by it?"

"I think that we should see other people. Only other people, I mean. I don't want to date you anymore."

"What? You're breaking up with me at your school dance in front of everyone??"

Despina walked through the crowds looking for Theo. Remy and Malika were making a scene, and Despina was bored. She didn't really care about dancing with anyone at the dance, as her heart was already fixated on a boy at school who wasn't attending the dance tonight. It was just nice to be included for once. All the time that she'd spent lonely in Arkhelios was worth it, if it meant she got to be here with a bunch of teens who thought she was worth spending time with.

Theo was her friend, and he'd been struggling lately. Adam had been distant ever since school had started and Theo had complained to Despina many times about hopeless it all felt. Adam was spending a lot of time with Josh, working on crystal jewelry and ignoring Theo's texts. Everyone knew about what had happened last semester where Adam had nearly died, even the new kids. A lot of people gave Adam sympathetic looks the few times that he did walk on campus with his boyfriend, and it was tearing Theo into depressed little pieces trying to avoid the whispers.

Adam also wasn't a fan of Theo's new roommate, Sebastian. Remy was convinced that he was a spy out to kill them all, but he was nice to Theo. He never accused Theo of anything or ignored his texts and Theo was growing rather fond of him, making Adam even more miserable to be around. Despina wasn't an expert on love, but even she could see the way Theo was starting to look at Sebastian and the way Adam's eyes followed Josh when he moved around the dance tonight. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion, and Despina didn't see a way to help her friends, aside from convincing Adam that Josh seemed to be flirting with anything that moved that night. If he thought that Josh was serious about him, Despina really needed to have a talk with him.

She skidded to a halt when she saw that Malika had moved on from her argument, giving Despina a perfect view of Adam with his tongue in Josh's mouth, dipping him romantically during their dance.

Despina desperately wished that she hadn't seen what she'd seen, because that meant telling Theo about it. How did she find the words to convey this information? Should she just blurt it out or be subtle and see if he could guess what she'd seen?

It turned out that Despina's worries didn't matter-Theo had seen it all for himself.

Theo turned silently and headed back towards the academy building without acknowledging what he'd seen. She could see the hurt and confusion all over his face, but he wasn't like Malika. He would internalize this and blame himself and probably still try to cling to his relationship with Adam despite this breach of trust. Theo needed a friend.

"Theo! I saw everything! Let me know what you want to do about this."

Theo turned to face Despina in the school kitchen. His eyes were filled with tears, but Theo seemed to be on autopilot.

"Oh, hi Despina. Are you looking for the refreshments too? I was looking for a drink, but I can't seem to find any."

Despina gripped her friend by the shoulders and leaned in, forcing him to look at her.

"Theo, I know. I saw it too. Adam is cheating on you. I know it hurts, but it's the truth. You need to decide what to do about this. Do you want to confront him here? Do you want to go home and collect yourself before you talk to him? I could probably nail him in the balls with an ice spell from here, my aim is pretty decent."

"No, none of this makes sense," Theo insisted. "It was probably an accident, or Josh kissed him and he was just slow pulling away from him. We're getting married when we're in college, Des. He can't cheat on me if we're getting married, which he hasn't told me that we aren't, so everything is fine. Josh is just his friend. Adam is my boyfriend."

"And a world-class hoe!" Despina snapped. "He kissed Josh in front of everyone! Josh has danced with just about everyone here tonight, but only Adam has kissed him! Josh doesn't care at all about him, and Adam threw away everything just because things have been weird for a bit between you guys! Theo, you need to dump him now. Dump him before he kisses even more people and lies about you being in an open relationship like Remy."

"I...I don't know. I don't want to break up with him. That was never our plan. That all doesn't have to change, just because Adam made a stupid mistake. My parents are still together even though they've both cheated on each other."

Despina rolled her eyes and groaned. The boy had no idea of who he was without Adam and was being stubborn. If he couldn't summon the anger to leave his cheating boyfriend, then at least Despina might be able to convince him to grow a spine.

"Okay, fine. We'll come back to the break-up speech. For now, the least you can do is get even."

Adam searched the crowds, looking for either Josh or Theo. Josh had politely excused himself from Adam's arms as soon as Adam kissed him, and Adam had a sinking feeling that Theo had seen his huge mistake firsthand.

What had he even been thinking? He was kissing Josh where Theo was nearby? He was kissing someone who apparently saw him just as a friend he could mentor? His life was spiralling out of control and he didn't know how to stop it. It wasn't just things with Theo, he was sure of that much. It was also school and watching Theo go into his dorm room with a guy who was probably evil and definitely interested in Theo. It was his parents who were investigating things for the queen and suddenly becoming tight-lipped when Adam asked questions. It was memories of every nerve in his body bursting into flame at once in an inferno of pain that had permanently scarred him. No wonder Josh wasn't interested in him. Adam's scar made him hideous to look at. No one would find him attractive ever again.

At least Remy was making the most of her rebound. She and Victoriana were openly making out under the guise of dancing, while Malika ignored her.

"Theo?"

Adam stared in shock at the scene before him. Theo had his lips locked with Ewan MacLeod, Adam's half-brother, right in the middle of the dance floor. From what Adam could see, Ewan seemed to be a lot more receptive to the kiss than Josh had with him. Ewan seemed to be kissing Theo back passionately, without any shame for kissing his half-brother's boyfriend.

"Theo, what's going on? Why are you kissing my brother? Ewan, what the hell?"

Theo finally detached from Ewan, turning to face him. His eyes were wild with anger in a way Adam hadn't seen before. He'd known Theo since they were children, and he'd never once looked this incensed or betrayed.

"I'm kissing guys I'm attracted to, just like you," Theo shouted. "Apparently, that's what we do at dances, right? Like you did with Josh? Lucky for me though, Ewan actually likes me back."

So he had seen. Adam's heart sank, seeing the pain Theo was in and the satisfied smirk on Ewan's face.

"Theo, I...I didn't mean to. It was a dumb mistake and I-"

"Yeah, I get it. You're afraid of me and that's never going to change. You'll always hang around me, resenting me and afraid to touch me, so it only makes sense that you want to touch Josh. Go for it. Try again, be my guest. Ewan and I weren't planning on staying long anyway. I didn't bring any condoms with me, but I know the birth control spell by heart now. I'm just looking for someone who's not afraid to touch me and you're looking for someone who's not me, so I think it works out great!"

"You're not sleeping with Ewan!" Adam yelled, glaring at his half-brother. "Theo, be reasonable. You don't want to do this."

"I'll sleep with who I want, since you seem to think you can kiss who you want," Theo replied darkly. "You promised that you'd be true to me and you said you wanted to marry me in college, but it's a long time until college. Clearly, I'm going to have to take things into my own hands until you're willing to see what you're doing to our relationship."

This argument was becoming a flaming wreck, and Adam could feel his relationship slipping through his fingers. His mind raced, trying to come up with ways to separate Theo and Ewan.

"You-you want sex? Fine, we'll have sex again, just don't rush off with my brother. We can teleport home right now, just let me get all my things. Things will be just like they used to be, I promise!"

Bored of causing familial drama, Ewan found a new dance partner and stood back to watch the fight unfold. If he ever did hook up with Theo, it wasn't going to be with a growing crowd watching them. Ewan didn't need that kind of reputation no matter how fun it was to make his half-brother squirm.

While being distracted by Ewan's exit, Adam missed Theo's exit. He turned around, only to find Theo gone.

"Theo?"

This was not good. It was never a good sign when Theo took off. He was difficult to find when he wanted to be alone. Not even their matching crystal rings would be of any use to track him if Theo didn't want to be found. Adam had made a very big mistake and he didn't have the slightest idea of how to fix it.

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios Adventures

"Master Maricourt. You're late."

Ewan Maricourt straightened his spine and attempted to remain professional. He had been busy preparing for the Pleasantview Academy of Magic's fall term when a surprise visit from the queen had been announced, and all hell had broken loose. Student records and teacher paysheets were crumpled on the floor of his office as Ewan scrambled to find formalware appropriate for the queen.

"I apologize, Your Majesty," he said with a graceful bow. "Preparations are underway for the new school year and there is much to do. Any visit from you, though, is a gift to your humble servants."

"Wow, Dad's really off his game to be kissing the ring this much, even before school starts," Remy worried. "What does the queen want? To borrow Theo for even longer?"

"I hope not," Adam muttered. "I haven't seen him all summer. Between Mom and Her Majesty, there hasn't been a second of time to even see him in person."

"So just break into his dreams like you did last time," Remy suggested, causing Adam's scowl to deepen.

"No, I think that was a one-time kind of thing. Besides, he's not in some magically protected place this time. He's practically down the street at the palace! It's so stupid."

Remy scoffed, unwilling to listen to Adam drone on about his inconvenient, star-crossed love. Soon enough, he'd be jamming his tongue in Theo's mouth and the whole school would have to watch the two of them talk about their many annoying plans for the future.

"Well, absence makes the heart grow fonder," she sighed. "God help us if that's true."

"Master Maricourt. It's good to see you."

Miruna met her fiancée and smiled at her father. It had been too long since she had been to see him. Despite working with little magic users at the Princess Zarah Academy, she didn't have a lot of time to spend with the rest of the Pleasantview coven.

"Your Highness."

Ewan bowed to his daughter, trying to remain professional for the sake of the queen. There was a seriousness about her that he couldn't read. Between her worrying attitude and setting up class schedules, Ewan was about to collapse from stress.

"Let's talk inside," Claudia suggested, as if Ewan had a choice in the matter. "There's coven matters that must be discussed before the start of school."

Princess Victoriana rushed to the door to greet her mother, followed closely by her Uncle Travis. Victoriana was supposed to be on the school grounds helping prepare the school for the new term, but Travis was a surprise.

"Travis! What a pleasant surprise! Mom and Dad let you stay at the school early? That doesn't sound like them."

Claudia hugged her little brother, genuinely surprised but glad to see him. Maybe their parents were off at work. There had to be some reason her overprotective parents let their youngest child out of their sight when school was right around the corner and they would only see him on weekends.

"They're busy with work," Travis confirmed. "There's some portal open somewhere, and some reapers are missing or something. They didn't really explain, but it means that I get to help sort the books in the school library today instead of enduring an afternoon of family board games."

Claudia groaned with sympathy, knowing exactly how tedious family board games were with their parents. They didn't even have any of the good games, just cooperative games where everyone either won or lost together. Every time someone insinuated that her father might be as evil as his biological father, Claudia just imagined family board game night, and the idea seemed impossible.

"Lucky you," she laughed. "Well, I won't keep you. I'm sure you have a stack of books calling your name. Don't forget to call Ollie and me from time to time this term. We may not all live in the same house anymore, but I do miss spending time with my little brothers."

Remy lurked outside the hall where the queen and Remy's father had disappeared into the coven meeting chamber. There was something ominous in the air that she couldn't quite place, and it was driving her crazy.

She had been at the Siew cottage when the queen of Twikkii Island was attacked and had seen violence first hand. Within the past year, she'd witnessed dead bodies strewn in a royal cottage and had watched her father frantically try to keep her twin brother from dying in his arms in the room down the hall. It had been a dangerous year so far, and Remy couldn't seem to shake the sense that more danger followed the queen today. A meeting this unexpected had to be something big.

"How can I help, Your Majesty?" Ewan asked cautiously, taking a seat next to the queen. "Is everything well? I can call the rest of the coven if you wish."

Claudia shook her head, and some tension left Ewan's shoulders. A private meeting without the coven meant that any threat she was here to discuss would be minor.

"No, this involves your role as head of this academy," Claudia explained. "There has been a request to accept a new student this term. That place we agreed to send Theo to study? Well, it seems like they would like us to return the favour."

"An exchange student? I thought that realm was sealed outside of emergencies like Theo's meltdown. The amount of documents I needed to sign just to get his foot in the door was astronomical. What's the catch here?"

"No obvious catch, though I'm sure there is one. There always is. On paper, it's just a request to send a sixteen year old boy for the school year, living in the dorm with a meal plan. Unofficially? I have no idea. I know very little about Jubilant Accosts outside of what the onboarding team told us regarding Theo. They're strict and...religious, that's all I know."

"They descend from a medieval society just as Pleasantview evolved from Old Tredony," Ewan supplied. "The forms I had to sign for Theo were written in the Old Tredony language. I guess they thought we still spoke it for some reason. I had to get a coven elder to even understand what language I was looking at. But as long as they send me a list of whatever is needed, I can add this boy to the register today."

Claudia nodded. Her hands folded in her lap, signaling that she had more to say but was waiting for his full attention.

"I want to have eyes on this boy day and night," she said at last. "I will have one of my royal guards posted at the school to supervise him. Ewan, I need you to protect this school and its students and never let this boy out of your sight. It...it makes me uneasy to accept this student, but it's the best way to know what this strange land may want from us. Why are they reaching out now and why this boy? We sent them Theo when he was a danger to himself and others. Perhaps this boy is in the same situation."

Ewan frowned.

"But it was our demons and our council that even nominated Jubilant Accosts for Theo in the first place. The demonic sovereign enthusiastically supported the idea. It's a place as ancient as Pleasantview and-"

"And just as dangerous," Claudia interrupted irritably. "There are sections of Pleasantview darker than one could ever imagine, and I trust that this place is no different. Maybe they want to develop a relationship between our nations or maybe they're interested in something darker. After the attacks on Maura, I can't take that chance. Every sense in my body is screaming that this is dangerous, but I can't risk a bad relationship with an unknown power. I need you to protect this school and watch this boy."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Ewan replied. He understood the dilemma the queen was in and how dangerous the road may be before them, but this was just another important thing to cram into his already packed schedule. It looked like he'd be sleeping in his office again. "What is the boy's name? Does he have parents or siblings to call ahead of time with the supply list for the semester?"

"His name is Sebastian Wall," Claudia replied. "No parents, no siblings, no home address. All I've received is a name and an age and that he can perform defensive and battle magic with ease. He'd like to study our history and learn healing magic from what I've been told, and I'm more than happy to authorize that. If he wanted access to our battle magic, that would be out of the question."

"Of course. I'll hide some of our more dangerous tomes in the restricted area, just to be safe."

Remy wasn't sure if she felt better having eavesdropped or not. True, the queen wasn't worried about an offensive strike any time soon, but the possibility still lingered. What did this strange nation want, and why only send one teenager? Was it just because Pleasantview had sent one teenager to them? Was he a spy? Was he going to attack Pleasantview like Twikkii Island had been?

Still, a teenage boy was no challenge to Remy. She had every boy in Pleasantview eating out of her hand (aside from her twin, of course), winning this Sebastian over would be easy. She would do her patriotic duty and keep an eye on this newcomer for Her Majesty. There was no way Remy could handle being at ground zero of another attack. This Sebastian was going to fail at whatever he had come here to do.

"Do you ever think that we'll have our portraits hung up at school someday?" Travis asked a very bored looking Victoriana. He'd run into her on his way to the library and he usually didn't mind talking to his niece. She was well educated and reasonable, unlike most of the teenagers who attended his school.

"Well, I definitely will when I inherit the throne one day," Victoriana replied, as if this should be obvious. Clearly, Travis thought of her as a princess and not as a future queen. "I'm sure you will someday too. With your genes, you'll probably be running this place when you're done school."

Travis laughed at the thought.

"No thanks, I'd rather continue my studies over teaching. Have you seen how much stress Master Maricourt is under just getting ready for the year? I'll pass."

"Elowen! Elowen, I need to talk to you! Dad and the queen had a secret meeting that I need to tell you about!"

Remy flagged down her sister frantically, casting a spell for privacy between the two of them as she ran. Elowen curiously stepped into the resulting magic circle, baffled at her sister's urgency.

"Why were you listening to Dad's meeting with the queen?" she asked even though she knew the answer. Remy had to know everything, even if it was a private matter between her father and the monarch of her country. "Wait, is this a curse or something? Am I going to get in trouble for knowing this information?"

Remy waved away her sister's concerns and leaned closer to whisper her message. Elowen almost pulled away out of self-preservation, but then decided that if Remy was going to recklessly put herself in potential danger, Elowen should know what to tell Remy's father when it inevitably blew up in her face.

"There's going to be a student from wherever they sent Theo," Remy whispered, despite the privacy spell she'd cast. "The queen is worried that he's somehow broken like Theo was or some kind of spy. You have to help me watch him when he comes. It's our duty to the queen."

"Wouldn't our duty to the queen be to stay out of her conversations?" Elowen asked warily. "She knows better than we do when it comes to this situation. I'm sure she has a plan."

"But we could stop another attack!" Remy hissed.

"You don't know if this student is going to be dangerous!" Elowen insisted. "How would he have anything to do with what happened in Twikkii Island? He's coming to study here."

"Fine. If you're not going to help me, just keep an eye on him. I'll do the rest."

"Adam! I'm surprised you're not hounding me about Theo. He's lived down the hall from me all summer, and he says that you've barely been talking to him. He does have a cell phone, you know. His dads call him every day since my mom basically kidnapped him."

Victoriana smiled at Adam, only earning a weak smile in return.

"He's sworn an oath to Pleasantview by studying here. Your mother has the right to keep him for extended personal studies. I...I just don't want to interrupt him. He's got to be pretty busy. Plus, I'll see him at school in a while anyway. I've been busy in Crystal Cove learning how to double the size of the crystals I grow. I'll have a new one to give him by the time school starts."

"I guess. Well, text him that," Victoriana replied, looking at Adam strangely. "Not everything has to be a surprise, you know. Don't tell him I told you this, but he's been worried about you. You don't seem...excited to see him again, which has to be impossible. You two are crazy about each other. You broke into his dreams to talk to him again."

Adam smiled another weary smile that didn't seem genuine, raising the princess' suspicions.

"A lot has happened since we've seen each other really," he said cautiously. "He's been gone for so long and I've changed so much since then. I'm sure he has too, especially with all that he's learned. It's okay when we talk on the phone or text, but seeing him again in person? Holding hands again and kissing and...what if we've changed? He says that he's fixed, but what if something happens again? And my parents won't let us be roommates again, obviously, but what if he's on a different floor entirely and we never see each other outside of class? It's all just too much to think about."

Victoriana hugged her friend fiercely, hoping to dislodge his many fears about his relationship. Theo had been right, Adam was spiralling with anxiety about the future when he didn't have to face the future alone.

"Hey. Just talk to Theo, and you'll be fine," Victoriana promised, releasing him from her grip. "You can't be in a relationship by yourself. It's weird for Theo too, you know. Talk to him."

Adam nodded, but his expression was still conflicted.

"Yeah, thanks, Your Highness. I'll do that."

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios Adventures

"Maura? Can you hear me?"

Queen regent Ulyssa watched her wife's still body as her chest rose and fell with her breath. Maura was breathing, which meant she was alive. After the disastrous past few days, just watching Maura breathe seemed like a miracle.

The past few days had been a blur for Ulyssa. Maura was sent home from the hospital to see if she would recover in a quieter, familiar setting. Ulyssa's father had assured her that this was good news, and it meant that they had faith that Maura would pull through. Maura’s child had to be removed from her for both of them to have a fighting chance to survive. The infant seemed to be doing well, or so Ulyssa was told. She didn't have the energy to deal with her wife's affair child. Not when her own family was failling apart.

"I hope you can hear me, Maur. You can't die on me, not when I need you the most. Our people are scared, our children are traumatized, and it hurts so bad to even think of you dying. I've loved you since I was a teenager. You were my high school sweetheart. I can't lead this family without you."

Ulyssa closed her eyes, and the only things she could see were two of her children's empty rooms and two little coffins she had picked out three hours earlier. The royal physician had given her something to help her relax, but it was barely touching her pain.

Maura couldn't die. Ulyssa didn't give her permission to die while they were still at each other's throats. She needed Maura to wake up so that she could hold her as tight as she could and tell Maura that she loved her with everything she had. The past didn't matter. The affairs didn't matter. Becoming both queen and a mother too soon didn't matter. Ulyssa had loved only one person after Zane and she wouldn't let Maura die too.

"The funerals are next week. I delayed them as long as I could just in case you woke up. I know how pissed you'd be if you missed our children's...if you...." Ulyssa trailed off, unable to finish her sentence. "Lauren's funeral is this Friday. Cindra is going, but Trent and I have to stay here in case something else happens. I can't believe that I have to miss my little sister's funeral. I can't believe she's dead in the first place. You would know what to do if you were here. You've always known just what to do. I love you, Maura. Please, please wake up."

"Mommy?"

Ulyssa turned over to find her oldest son staring fearfully at her.

"I had a bad dream," Adrion whimpered. "I-I saw Alysiara and-and she...her face was-"

"Hey, it's okay," Ulyssa said soothingly, running to her son's side. "You're safe now. I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise."

"It's not okay. Mommy's going to die, isn't she? I don't want her to die! I want my brother and sister back!"

"Come with me. I want to show you something," Ulyssa replied, guiding her reluctant son towards his unconscious mother. "Mommy's right there. She's not going to die. She's a fighter just like you. I miss Alysiara and Spencer too. I miss them so much, it feels like my chest is going explode from all my sadness. I bet you probably feel the same way."

Adrion nodded, his eyes glued to Maura on the bed.

She didn't look scary or connected to the scary machines she'd been hooked into at the hospital. People weren't yelling orders or preparing her for surgery. She was just there. Sleeping. At least he hoped she was sleeping.

"I just want everything to be normal again!" Adrion cried, clinging to his mother tightly. Ulyssa wrapped her arms around her son as he began to cry.

"I know. I know you do. I want things to be normal too. But we have to be strong. One day, you're going to be the king, and you'll need to lead this country like Mommy does. When bad people try to hurt us, you will tell your children the same thing I'm telling you now." Ulyssa paused, trying to remember the words her father had once told her after losing her mother. "We are strong and brave, and no one is ever going to love you more than me and Mommy. I'll protect you and your siblings with my life if I have to. If anyone tries to hurt you, they'll have to go through me and Mommy and Uncle Trent and Uncle Adrian and the queen of Pleasantview and all her witches. This attack won't happen again, I promise you. You're descended from warrior kings and queens on Mommy's side and the biggest, toughest survivors on mine. We're going to get through this."

"She looks sad. She needs someone to keep her company. Can I stay with her?"

Ulyssa looked at her son kindly, smiling softly at his kindness, even if she couldn't allow the request.

"Honey, she needs to rest. There will be lots of doctors coming to check up on her, don't worry. You need to be a big older brother and help your siblings. I'm keeping the country safe until your mom can again, and we need someone to protect your siblings, to be a leader. I want you to watch what I do and what Mommy will do when she's better very closely. One day, this will be your job. Can I count on you to practice being king and protecting your siblings?"

Adrion nodded tearfully. Some of the clouds of grief disappeared from his face now that he had a mission and something to focus on.

"I'll be right back!"

Ulyssa watched as her son bolted down the hall towards the children's bedrooms. At first, she worried that Adrion was running into Alysiara or Spencer’s rooms, but minutes later, her son returned, carrying a familiar large stuffed fox toy in his arms.

"Mr. Fox can take care of Mommy while we're gone," Adrion declared. Mr. Fox was easily his favourite toy in the world. He had been a gift from Claudia, who had inherited the descendants of King Mordred's fox breeding program to her displeasure. She had handed care of the domesticated foxes over to a highly qualified candidate, but the farm they lived on was a popular place for young royals to visit. Adrion vowed that one day he'd have one of Aunt Claudia's foxes as a pet to his parents' frustration. Trusting Mr. Fox to care for his mother was an important gift from her young son and it made Ulyssa want to cry just looking at the toy nestled in her wife's arms.

"That's a very nice thing you did," Ulyssa said, trying not to cry. "Mr. Fox will take great care of your mother. I'm sure that when Mommy wakes up, she'll be very thankful to have had his company."

Please wake up. Please, please wake up.

"With Mr. Fox on duty, it's time for us to do our part, too. I'm going to be meeting a bunch of important grown-ups downstairs, and you're going to stay with your siblings upstairs where the guards will protect you. If you need anything, ask them for help. I'll be back upstairs with you guys in a few hours. I love you. Remember that."

"I love you, too."

Ulyssa took a deep breath and then released it. She wasn't used to sitting in this chair. Hers was the seat next to it. The throne for the consort. Sitting in Maura’s place didn't sit well with her. Ulyssa had never wanted Maura’s thone, and it felt wrong just sitting in it without a guard yelling at her for trespassing.

Still. Maura needed her to do this. Ulyssa would do this for the woman she loved and the country she loved and then sob about how awful it felt to sit in the throne room alone.

"Welcome Lord Goldman and...Prince Goldman was it?"

Ulyssa paused, unsure of what titles she was supposed to be using. She knew both men but, Ewan, Duke Goldman, was closer to her own age. His father barely came to royal events if he could get out of them, so Ulyssa tried not to beat herself up about confusing his title. Maybe even Maura forgot about him sometimes.

"It's Dr. Travers," the older man replied stiffly. "Prince Goldman was my father, and Duke Goldman is my son. I don't need a fancy title in my life, trouble usually finds me easily enough without one."

Ewan scowled beside his father, hoping that Ulyssa didn't pick up on Travis' rude words. She was a grieving mother, for God's sake! All those years listening to his older sister had made Travis wary of titles, roles, and ceremonies. It was an attitude adopted by his maternal family as well. They had welcomed Prince Ewan Goldman into their family as Ewan, master of the grill and the man in possession of their daughter's heart. Duke Ewan didn't see things quite that way, which often caused friction between father and son. Grumbling about the monarchy to family was one thing, openly being hostile to the queen's appointed successor was another entirely.

"We've come here to renew the pledge of our family's loyalty to Her Majesty," Ewan said politely. "There has been talk of a war since the attack. This is the second attack on the throne in a decade, and we want to make sure that our families will be safe going forward. That the country will be safe going forward."

"A war?" Ulyssa repeated. She hadn't been briefed on declaring war on anyone yet, and it was probably a burning question in many of her subject's minds. "I appreciate your concern and loyalty. I'm not ready to declare war quite yet, but unlike the last attack on our beloved Queen Cherry, I vow to find the person responsible for the deaths of my children and soon. When the time comes, I'll be sure to inform you."

"Are we done?" Travis whispered to his son, at a volume that Ulyssa could clearly hear him. "Medora wanted me to take her shopping for a dress for the Goldman Memorial Ball. I promised not to be late."

Ulyssa could see Ewan grind his teeth, trying to ignore his father.

"You're dismissed," Ulyssa declared before father and son could start an argument consisting entirely of glares. "Thank you for your kind thoughts for my family."

Ewan smiled at Ulyssa as his father sped through the building like he was allergic to it.

"He doesn't mean to be disrespectful," he replied. "It's a fight to get him to the island at all these days. Too many 'bad memories'. But he's working on it. So he says."

Ulyssa watched as Ewan chased after his father with envy. Holding court in Maura’s place was confusing and unnatural to her. She wished that she could escape it as easily as Ewan had.

"Your Majesty, you're holding court. I wasn't sure if I'd find you here. Shouldn't you be at Maura’s bedside like a proper wife?"

Ulyssa could recognize that voice anywhere. It was the voice of the nightmare that Maura could never see her as, as Claudia was always nice to her cousin. Maybe it had been Ulyssa's trying to dig up dirt on Claudia by visiting her parents that had started the permanent glower Claudia gave her, but honestly, Ulyssa had always felt it in some way. Even when they were engaged, Claudia made no secret of her dislike for Ulyssa to anyone who would listen.

Of course, Claudia would show up here at the moment Ulyssa felt weakest.

"Hello, Claudia."

"Hello, Your Majesty," Claudia corrected. "I'm a queen, and you're a stand-in. Maura is my equal and cousin. You can address me as Your Majesty while holding court."

Ulyssa gritted her teeth, but vowed not to show weakness to Claudia. Maura always said that Claudia was just trying to test people for weakness with her words. She never truly threatened people, she just listened to what they revealed about themselves.

"Hello, Your Majesty," Ulyssa replied, trying not to fall for Claudia's tricks. "What do I have to thank for your presence here?"

"Well, I came to check on Maura’s condition personally," the queen replied, sitting casually in a nearby seat that didn't belong to people outside of the immediate royal family. "Of course, I've already been informed about her, but I wanted to visit with her personally. I've also come to pass along my sorrow for the loss of your children. No parent should have to go through what you're going through."

Ulyssa couldn't judge if that comment was sincere or another trap to avoid. She decided to believe the best of the queen, like Maura would.

"I appreciate you saying that. It hasn't been easy. Truthfully, a part of me wished that I'd died with them. I don't what I'll do if Maura doesn't make it. I...I can't lose her too."

Claudia's intense gold eyes searched Ulyssa's face, looking carefully for lies. Eventually, she appeared satisfied with her results and seemed to relax slightly.

"You do seem earnest. After your fling with Roman, I've always wondered what you would do if something were to happen to Maura."

A million angry words sprung to Ulyssa's mind, but she tried as best as she could to silence them. This was clearly another test.

"Roman Bellamy is a man we are both fond of, even though he can't possibly measure up to our spouses," Ulyssa said as charitably as she could manage. "Truthfully, I haven't thought of him in years. I'm sure he sends his condolences for the tragedy that has consumed my family, but I have no interest in hearing it from him personally."

"Hmmm. You're getting better at lying, but like so many other aspects of your life, it's still a bit lacking. An admirable attempt though." Claudia paused, watching as Ulyssa struggled not to react to her words. Maura had had a poker face mastered by the time they were teens. Clearly, she hadn't instructed her wife on how to do the same. "Look, Queen Regent, I'll be blunt to save you the trouble of trying to discern my intentions yourself. I've come to talk about how our countries will need to operate going forward from this tragedy."

"How they need to operate? I wasn't aware that you had any influence on how the monarch of this sovereign country chooses to 'operate'. Maura can make her own choices and I will make them in her place."

"My children died, Claudia," Ulyssa hissed, finally reaching her breaking point. "Everything you fear actually happened to me. I don't give a fuck about your fears or threats. My children are gone. I hope that never happens to you, but I couldn't care less about your opinions about my family. I'm sure Princess Victoriana is perfectly safe with your 'forces' to watch over her."

"Your family was attacked, Regent. Only your family. The Durant family was targeted, and my daughter could have been killed just for sharing a cottage with them. I don't intend to let that happen again. I can easily defend myself, but I will not tolerate anyone who puts my daughter in danger. If the heir to the Pleasantview throne is harmed in any way, there will be consequences. Not just from me, either. Forces with power beyond your imagining will make their displeasure known, and you don't want that, trust me."

"Oh, she is well protected," Claudia replied, ignoring Ulyssa's outburst. "But there is always the danger of being caught unaware. My security didn't recognize the danger here until it was too late. I trusted Maura’s team when I should have relied on my own. Twikkii Island seems to be unsettled when Pleasantview security personnel are seen in the streets. Making the public feel secure isn't my responsibility, and in the future, I will have my security team here with me. They're here right now and so far, no one has noticed."

Ulyssa nodded curtly. She had never seen Maura disagree about Claudia's security team. If anything, having them around might benefit Twikkii Island security. Claudia had a much larger budget to work with and a loyal coven of powerful magic users.

"As long as they are discreet and willing to inform our security of their findings. I see no issue with that."

"I'm going to need ownership of a piece of the cottage," Claudia continued. "Not the entire lot, just a fraction of it. Legally. Let's say the room that is already reserved for my use. This is nonnegotiable."

Ulyssa's blood ran cold despite Claudia's pleasant smile. What would Maura say? She was always worried that Claudia might come for her throne someday. Claudia did have the stronger claim legally as the daughter of Queen Spencer’s oldest daughter. If she was going to pursue that claim, she would probably also be targeting the Strangetown throne as well, seeing as her mother had been the oldest heir of their oldest heir. Was this what was happening? Was Claudia finally making a move to conquer while Maura was fighting for her life?

Ulyssa didn't think so. She had watched Claudia and Maura together over the years and Claudia seemed to earnestly care about Maura. Besides, if this really was a coup on Claudia's part, it was far too clumsy and ineffective. If Claudia really was planning to take over the throne, Ulyssa had always imagined such an attack to be more aggressive, striking fear into the hearts of everyone in her path.

"What do you need with a small ownership on land belonging to the crown?" Ulyssa asked, trying not to show weakness. She had no idea how successful she was.

"For your protection. For my protection. I'll explain it to Maura when she's back in charge. For now, you can get the paperwork started. I'll have one of my lawyers meet with your representative tomorrow. After everything I've done for Twikkii Island over the years, I'd expect it as a gift, but unfortunately, money needs to be exchanged. A single simoleon will do to make the transfer legal."

"You want to buy part of the land owned by the crown for a simoleon?" Ulyssa repeated, blown away by the sheer audacity of the Pleasantview queen. "Maura would never agree to that! No one would!"

Claudia smiled.

"Maura will. It's such a small ask after all I've done for her. For all I'm going to do in the future."

"Think on it," Claudia said, rising from her seat. "I'll have my lawyer visit tomorrow around noon. Give Maura my best. I think she's going to like my special project. Oh, and congratulations on your new daughter. Be sure to let me know what her name is, and I'll send a gift."

Ulyssa struggled to keep her composure. It would be so rewarding to flip Claudia off, but Ulyssa was half convinced that the woman had eyes in the back of her head. Claudia was the last person Ulyssa needed to piss off at the moment, so her hands remained firmly in her lap.

When she was confident that Claudia had left, Ulyssa rose from her throne and signaled to a royal guard that she was ending court early. This merited some deeper thoughts on the matter. Snuggling with her children while reading what little the Twikkii Island monarchy had on Claudia was probably much closer to what Maura would want than thanking wellwishers for their sympathy. Twikkii Island wasn't going to fall for Claudia's scheme on Ulyssa's watch.

[arkhelios-gameplay]

She was given little time to absorb the fact that she felt present again, however.

"Right now there are 16 callers ahead of you. Your current expected wait time is 45 minutes. For a shortened wait time, you can purchase a VIP membership subscription to get a higher priority-"

"Did they send him to hell?" Edana asked Ewan Jr.

"We don't know whether there is a hell, a heaven, or anything similar," Ewan Jr said. "Well, I know some outside the coven who seem to know more, but-"

"And you're sure Death is going to want 10,000?" Edana interrupted.

Ewan Jr nodded. "That appears to be the amount with the highest success rate."

"In addition to the VIP membership subscription he wants me to purcahse to get ahead in line?" Edana questioned.

Ewan Jr shrugged. "I guess even Death needs money."

Anna looked as if she was going to make a remark at Ewan Jr, but stopped herself. "Don't we all," she mumbled instead.