Arthur and Cressida watched their dragons fly off toward the crafting cave.

Arthur sighed. "I have a feeling that those two are going to get in trouble. But…" He trailed off.

Cressida sighed in agreement. "Yes, they are going to get in trouble, but we can't watch over them every second. They're growing up and would be flying freely in Wolf Moon.”

“This isn’t Wolf Moon, and we aren’t here voluntarily,” Arthur muttered, though he wasn’t arguing.

He… wasn’t even certain he was all that upset about being forcefully taken away from his home hive. He knew he should be, but he’d felt nothing but varying degrees of overwhelm and irritation back at Wolf Moon for months now.

And the idea of a hive he had not known ever existed was fascinating.

Cressida visibly shook herself, then turned to look at Arthur. She tilted her head towards red Laird, who was waiting patiently for them to continue their discussion as if he had all the time in the world. Maybe he did. Arthur didn't know how long he had stalked Baron Kane’s security cart before he finally struck outside his village.

Meanwhile, Chablis had made her way over to the blue pair and was talking to them in a low undertone. Arthur didn’t like that – certainly didn’t trust his… What? Kidnapper? Suddenly nice jailer? But, after a moment’s consideration, he gestured for Cressida to walk with him to the red dragon.

He didn’t trust Chablis but he’d waited for literal years to ask the red questions.

"So, you know Laird?" Cressida asked.

"Well," Arthur blew out a breath, "he gave me my Master of Skills card."

Hearing them, Laird turned his head their way. "Yes, that was quite the day. I had no idea that the seed I planted in the border village would someday bear fruit. Though, I was told it would be profitable."

Cressida spoke before Arthur could ask what that was meant to mean.

"So… you truly lived in a border village?"

"I told you that," Arthur said.

She gave him a look. "You've told me many things since I've known you. I don't know what to believe anymore."

Arthur flushed and Laird chuckled. "Well, I, for one, can verify that I discovered this man, then a young child —”

“I wasn't that young," Arthur muttered.

"—in quite a dire border village under the Baron Kane estate. Despicable place. Ruled by a despicable man," he added.

Cressida looked at Arthur with a hard-to-read expression. "How bad was it?"

"Not the worst that I've seen," Laird answered before he could. "There are some border Barons who work their people to death in mines, or pluck out the pretty girls for their own uses. But Kane just lets them die of neglect and starvation, mostly."

Arthur shrugged. Those memories were like scar tissue in his mind – terrible, but hard to feel anything underneath. “He had his vindictive moments.”

"I'm sure," Larid rumbled. “However, I am pleased by the reports that came out of his barony after the loss of that card. You successfully kept it away from him, for which you have my thanks.”

"You told me that you would kill my family if the card ever fell into his hands." It seemed a little ludicrous now as an adult, but as a 12-year-old child, having a dragon threaten him had been very effective.

"That was an incentive. And look what you did with yourself," Laird said brightly.

Cressida looked between them before settling on Laird. "I don’t understand. Why would you give a card — a Legendary card — to a child you didn't know?"

Laird shrugged a massive shoulder. "What should I have done with it? Putting a Legendary card in my core would only poison me. Introducing a card of immense wealth into this community would poison it, as well. Humans would tear themselves apart for it. Or the Kingdom hives would get wind and come after us. No doubt they have their spies here, as we have in theirs," he added, with the cock of his head. "Plus," he continued, "I thought it would be funny to stymie Baron Kane. His own land would be the last place that he looked."

"He did look for the card in our village," Arthur said. "If he had thought to search the kids… He would've found me."

"But he didn't.” Laird sounded very self-satisfied. “And now he is leveraged under painful loans to pay the value of that card back. Unless he gets very lucky in his harvests, which I doubt—you've seen how hard he works—his family's wealth will be destroyed within a generation.”

Cressida asked, "Kane was using that card as payment, I take it?"

"Yes, to cover gambling debts," Laird said with a draconic smile. “That’s not his only problem: I still go by every once in a while to steal the best rams and ewes from his flock. Ask any shepherd. That is devastating.”

"It sounds like you know Baron Kane," Arthur said leadingly.

"I do. He is my late rider's grandson, kicked out of Blood Moon hive for deviant behavior—and that says a lot, considering the state of Blood Moon hive," Laird sighed. "But he had good blood on his father's side and managed to weasel his way into a barony. He is a dangerous, corrupt man. After he was shamed in the hive… my rider was never quite the same, and we dragons, unless we're killed in a scourge eruption, we live for a very long time." Laird's smile was all threat. “We remember grudges.”

So, this had all started as simple revenge.

Arthur felt like there was much more to the story–especially that line about profit— but there were immediate, pressing questions as well. “What are your plans for us here? For me and my people?"

Some of the maliciousness in Laird's demeanor drained away. He looked towards Chablis, who was talking to Tamya and Len, gesturing towards the hive.

"The Free Hive Counsel has been thrown into a tizzy," Laird said, drawing Arthur’s attention back. "They’re unsure whether to use you, kill you, or befriend you. Their hands have been tied by inaction."

“Or you could just let us go,” Cressida said.

“That was also discussed.” Laird made a gesture with spread wings as if to indicate the vast desert beyond. “After all, neither of you would be able to find your way back.”

Arthur and Brixaby could find their way back after they’d copied one of the shimmer green’s portal abilities. Of course, he didn’t say so.

Laird looked at Arthur as if to judge his reaction, snorted at whatever he saw, and then gestured back toward the mesa. "What do you think of our little hive?"

"I haven't seen very much of it," Arthur admitted, but then, as the red dragon looked on, he blurted the first thing that came to mind. "Mostly, I want to know if the people I left behind in the border village—the people suffering under Baron Kane-- would have a place here."

"Criminals?" Cressida asked, scandalized.

He turned to her. "Most are the families of criminals. They didn’t do the original crime. They were just unlucky enough to be related to the person who did."

Laird hummed under his breath. Though through a dragon voice, it sounded like a very threatening growl. "Our resources are stretched thin, but not that thin. We do have some extra resources, and it has occurred to me to snatch up the peasants under Baron Kane’s rule. The problem is, many have taken an oath to the king to remain there."

An oath that Brixaby could easily rip out of their heart decks, as he had done with his father. Arthur kept the lid on that, too. He sensed Laird was happy to find some leverage over Arthur – and that was what he’d been fishing for.

"I have taken my own oath to the king," Arthur admitted, "though I'm certain it's lighter than what condemned men and women were forced to give. More important to me, as a Legendary Rider, I have to fight the scourgelings, but..." he looked back over his shoulder towards where Brixaby and Joy had gone, "I also want to learn about this place."

"To be frank, Arthur, you and your dragon represent both a great risk and a hope. We don't have a Legendary card in our ranks. We could use somebody with extraordinary skills. But… as I said, having a free Legendary card in circulation is… a problem. Other Free Hives have ripped themselves apart fighting over one.”

“Only if you can take it,” Arthur said, resisting the urge to raise his hand to cover his heart.

“That is why the faction calling for your death hasn’t won the whole council over. Most see the value of a young Legendary pair allied to us.”

Arthur understood, then. At least partly. There had been power plays among the Kingdom Hives when Brixaby had still been in the egg.

The little byplay a few minutes ago atop the Mesa had been a test. When Arthur had proven to be reasonable, able to control Brixaby, and willing to wear the card locks, they’d decided to use a carrot instead of a stick. After all, killing a Legendary for his card was no simple matter.

I don’t want to join a random hive outside the Kingdom, he thought. Though a smaller voice added, I don’t know anything about them. Yet.

Laird looked to Cressida. "What about you? Your Rare pink is a meta—not with a knowledge card, I take it?"

She nodded blandly. "She has random insights."

Which was a very guarded explanation of quests.

Laird shrugged. “I’ll have to report that to the council, but I’m sure they’ll be glad to have you. We are a Free Hive--a community of outcasts. Many of the dragons are like me, who lost their first rider and did not want a second. There are just as many dragon pairs who just became disenchanted with their home hive for one reason or another."

Speaking of riderless dragons… Arthur looked around for Shadow and realized that the dragon was gone. He felt bad for not realizing it earlier.

Laird continued, "We only wish to live freely and scrape out a little piece of safety in an unsafe world. We don't want anything to do with the kingdom's drama.”

He said that, but earlier he had admitted to raiding Kingdom lands. Arthur didn’t point this out, but he exchanged a look with Cressida that told him she noted the same thing.

"I will allow you to settle in,” Laird said. “Meanwhile, do not remove those card locks or cause undue trouble. Look around the hive, explore, and ask questions. And get comfortable with the idea that this may very well be your new home.”

The dragon bunched up as if ready to leap into the sky.

“Wait,” Arthur said, “You said someone told you giving me my card would be profitable? What did you mean?”

If the dragon were human, he would have had a roguish smile on his face. “We don’t have a Legendary card here, but it doesn’t mean we do not have access to them.”

“What does that–”

Arthur was cut off as Laird took to the sky, the first down sweep of his wings throwing dust and grit in all directions. Raising their hands to cover their eyes, he and Cressida backed away. When Arthur looked again, he and Cressida were alone.

“He did that on purpose,” Cressida said. “So you’d seek him out again. He’s trying to dangle information in front of you like a worm on a hook, hoping you’d bite.”

“It’s working,” Arthur said. “Who gives a Legendary card to a random twelve-year-old kid from the borderlands?”

Cressida shrugged, looked like she was about to say something, then paused and bit her lip. Suddenly, she turned to him. "I'm still upset with you, you know," she said, suddenly. "You told me so many versions of your life, half the time I don’t even know which name to call you. But…” Her lips pressed into a line, “But I do realize you haven’t had it easy.”

"My father was Duke Rowantree,” Arthur said. They’d had a version of this conversation once, a few weeks ago just after he came back from that near-disaster with the King. He suspected she had been too shocked and angry to properly listen. “That’s my true last name. But my father was caught with Legendary cards from the same set. Now my uncle holds his title as Duke."

"Legendary cards from the same set,” she repeated. “That's treason."

"I have a pair of Legendries," Arthur countered.

"And rumor had it that the King almost killed you," she snapped.

He almost smiled. Was that worry he heard in her voice? "But I got special dispensation.”

Exasperated, she threw her hands in the air. "From what I heard, the king’s moods are… changeable.”

They hadn't spoken much about the king. Arthur had been a little shell-shocked when he came back. And every time he wanted to tell her the full story about what he went through that day, he felt the tug at his heart. It strained the loyalty he promised in the oath. Not a lot, but he didn't want to test it in case the king could feel it on his end.

Did the King think he was dead now? Or did the oath tell him that he was alive? Thankfully, it wasn’t strong enough to punish Arthur for leaving the Kingdom entirely.

"He is… uh, changeable. I'm certainly not out of danger. I have to get stronger for many reasons, but the king is certainly one of them," Arthur agreed.

Cressida looked briefly away. "Well, the bloodline of the Duke is certainly more powerful than the bloodline of a Baron."

Arthur's eyebrows rose.

"What?" She looked back at him. "That matters with the other nobles. And the Rowentree name is more powerful than the baron who lords over prisoners. It’s important to high-ranked people. Were you truly twelve when you received your card?"

Arthur almost asked why it mattered, but it didn’t hurt to answer. "Yeah. I left my village soon afterward and took the name of Ernest. He was my best friend at the time. He died.” He swallowed hard. "So many people die out there, Cressida. Laird spoke of neglect, but those are pretty words. You wouldn’t believe what it’s like unless you see it. The scourge-dust blows in from the deadened lands and sickens people. Any little cut risks your whole limb rotting out from under you. My best friend, Ernie, died because his mother was stupid enough to plant vegetables on lands that had not fully been healed by dragon soil yet. You have to sneak that sort of thing because growing your food isn’t allowed. Anyway, they didn't know until it was too late. The scourge rot ate them from the inside out."

"Oh, Arthur," she sighed.

He hadn’t spoken like this before. It was as if a crack in a dam he hadn’t been aware of had formed and everything came spilling out. “No one from a hive can understand. The people there don’t have cards. No one has cards, so they're completely susceptible to every sickness. Families starve and die for the sins of one family member. And yeah, technically the kids can leave, but only after they turn eighteen. They know nothing of the world, have no cards, and can't even read most of the time. Most stay just because there is nowhere else to go—" he stopped, hearing his own words turn into a rant.

She was quiet; simply put her hand on his shoulder.

… And he just couldn’t stop speaking.

"I'm sorry I lied to you," he said. "My name really is Arthur Rowantree, but until recently, that name wasn't safe. And it still might not be safe now. The King can change his mind about me anytime." More things – long-held fears and anxieties bubbled up from deep inside him, and he couldn’t stop them. "Valentina and Whitaker didn't prepare me to face the King. They didn't think I would survive, and they were right. I only got out thanks to luck. Now, the trust is gone between all of us. Whitaker is supposed to train me, but he barely does anything. He cancels more classes than he attends, and when he does bother to show up, I'm doing paperwork I barely understand—his paperwork he should have done months ago."

"Valentina allows this?” Cressida asked. “She doesn’t strike me as the type of woman who would."

"I think if she were even ten years younger, she wouldn't. But she's getting old," he said bitterly, "and when she dies, Whitaker is going to be in charge, and..." He couldn’t finish because inside he desperately worried that without Valentina’s influence, the entire hive would be up a creek without a paddle. Or worse, everything would fall on Arthur’s shoulders.

Emotionally flailing, he sidestepped topics. "Meanwhile, have you seen how Athena treats our class? She won't teach me anything because she's terrified of my rank. I know I made mistakes back at the eruption – I shouldn’t have let our class overly that mass of scourge – but I don't know what to do. I don't want to make the wrong move with people's lives in the balance.”

“Arthur, we saved a lot of lives back there… all those people who were trapped and couldn’t flee--"

"I know, but I got our dragons hurt by a Common scourgeling. If I had been thinking, I could have told another veteran group to go and save them. Then we could have searched for Woodmours’ card library. If we had gotten there earlier, maybe we could have done… done something." Though he didn’t know what. Then he stopped because he realized he was just kind of verbally vomiting all of his worries on Cressida.

In fact, she looked a little overwhelmed by everything.

"I didn't know this was going through your mind," she said. "You always look so confident."

"That’s my Acting skill," he admitted.

She half-smiled, her hand still moving up and down his forearm, almost like she was gentling a horse.

"Well, I think you did a good job. And, if it wasn't you in charge, it would have been me, and... I don't know if we could have done any better."

"Cressida, you and Joy anchor the class. I'm so glad I have somebody to trust. If I didn’t, I would've gone crazy a long time ago."

"Well, there's not much of a class now," she said. “Just me, you, and Tamya.”

They both went quiet at that.

After a moment, Arthur said, "If I understand things right, Wolf Moon thinks that we're dead."

Cressida winced. “If we don’t make it back, then eventually it’ll just be Whitaker in charge.”

“I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.” He’d tried to make it a joke but it came out as more bitter than he expected.

She heaved a sigh and her hand dropped from his arm. “You’re not the only one with… reservations, Arthur. I was expected to either marry well or link with the Rare egg. And now that I have Joy, I’m expected to send extra card shards back to my father.”

“What?” He was shocked. “I didn’t know that.”

“I’m to send back any children I birth, too.” She shrugged as if it didn’t bother her, but Arthur could tell that it did. “My stipend as one of your Retinue would have more than covered what my father expected, even before harvesting from scourge eruptions.”

His fists clenched and he forced himself to relax. Even if the thought of walking up to Noble Icehouse and ripping the cards from his heart deck was tempting. He did share Brixaby’s power, after all. He just had never used it.

“You could just… not send him shards,” he suggested in what he hoped was an even voice.

“No, I can’t.” She crossed her arms, looking away. “I don’t want to talk about it. The point is, I have my responsibilities back at Wolf Moon, too.” She glanced at the mesa hive and there was unexpected longing in her gaze. “I know they’re playing nice, that this freedom to ask questions is either an illusion or a trap but…”

She trailed off and silence descended between them.

“We don’t have to decide now,” Arthur said. “We can take our time and learn about this place. That’s assuming they’ll let us leave without a fight.”

“Oh please.” Cressida rolled her eyes, but her next words were said fondly. “Sooner or later, Joy will get a quest to leave. Then nothing will stop her.”

He smiled and tilted his head toward the mesa. “Think it’s time we check on them?”

“We may as well.”