Chapter 57: Full Circle

    “But I thought you were..." Calvan didn''t finish the sentence, dropping the knife and running forward to grab his son in a tight hug.

    Arthur hugged him back and was shocked at how thin he felt. While Arthur had grown, it seemed Calvan had shrunk.

    Calvan pulled back to look at him, eyes wide. "You shouldn''t be here. How are you here?!"

    In answer, Arthur shifted aside. The remains of a thin package lay under his butt. In it sat a tiny pebble. One on which he had keyed his Return To Start card.

    He held up the pebble.

    "A dragon rider dropped this off?"

    "Just last night," Calvan confirmed, sounding faint. "Talking nonsense about me placing it out somewhere out in the open. I had no idea what she meant, but when a dragon rider asks you to do something..." He trailed off, hand still on Arthur''s shoulder as if he wasn''t sure his son was real. "You''ve grown, boy." Then he embraced his son again. This time, Calvan''s shoulders shook in suppressed sobs. "I thought you were dead."

    Pain lanced through him. He could very well guess why, but he had to hear it. "Red?"

    "That sonofabitch." Calvan leaned back and swiped at his eyes. "I told him to take care of you, and he lost you in a scourge-eruption. There was no body, but... no word, either."

    Arthur shook his head, self-directed anger making his heart ache. "I was saved by a dragon and taken to a hive. I''ve been at Wolf moon for years—I should have sent word, but..." He trailed off, looking down.

    He could have sent a letter, but it was both risky and expensive. Instead, he had unintentionally let his father think he was dead.

    "I''m sorry," Arthur whispered.

    "No... no, you couldn''t have reached out. It wouldn’t have been safe. You shouldn''t be here!" Calvan insisted. "Why are you here son? You got to a hive. You made it. This village is the last place you should be."

    "I needed a place to lay low for a bit. And I wanted to help."

    "Help?" he repeated.

    In answer, Arthur pushed off the table and stood. He reached into his storage space and removed a box of slightly wilted lettuce. The vegetables were too far gone to make for proper eating in the hive''s city, which was why the entire box had been set out by the trash of a popular restaurant.

    Then Arthur plucked out a crate of tomatoes, again, slightly off with fruit flies buzzing over it. But still eatable. More importantly, the seeds were good for planting.

    Next came two full crates of plump potatoes. Nothing wrong with them. He’d purchased them himself.

    Then he pulled out more and more slightly off vegetables, until boxes and crates covered the floor.

    Then came the late-season chicks. Three baskets in total including one of ducklings. Finally, Arthur removed one squealing piglet.

    "The rest I have isn''t fit for eating," Arthur admitted with a grimace, knowing it likely would be eaten anyway. What was a little spoilage to someone who was starving? "I got it from the trash around the city, but the seeds should be good for storage and would make decent deer bait.”

    His father, who had been quiet all this time, only stared. Finally, he blinked as if coming back to himself.

    "Of course. You managed to get another card. You were at a hive. That... that makes sense.”

    He looked like he wanted to sit down.

    "I''ve got more than one card,” Arthur admitted. "Dad... we need to talk."

    First, Arthur took a ladle full of water from a nearby bucket. The bracing yet bitterly iron-tasting water was both nostalgic and helped soothe his throat.

    Then he returned to sit across from his still-stunned father and started talking.

    He gave a brief outline of his life: his stay with Red’s caravan, how he made it to the hive, and some of his minor exploits there.

    Then he told his father all about meeting his uncle.

    Calvan jerked in place as if he had just been stung by a bee. After that moment’s shock, he slowly nodded with acceptance. “I’m glad to hear Lional has taken the duchy.”

    Now it was Arthur’s turn to be shocked. “How can you say that? The duchy should be yours — it ought to be my mom and sister’s home. Mine too!” he added in indignation.

    He hadn’t let himself dwell much on it, but seeing those carefree noble kids, all well-kept and dressed like they had never known anything but the best... Well, it had stung.

    His father gave a defeated sort of smile. “The duchy hasn’t been my own in a long time, but it has been in our family for centuries. So yes, I’m glad that the bloodline still has some control — however long the King allows Lional’s leash to be.” Finally, a little bitterness entered his tone. “I wish Lional luck. It can’t be easy.”

    Arthur couldn’t let it go. “What if taking over the duchy was Lional’s plan? If he cared anything for the bloodline, couldn’t he have gotten us out of this village? Arranged something? You got Red to take me in.”

    “And you saw how that turned out. Red had the care of you for how many weeks before he almost lost you to the scourge?” Calvan shook his head. “Besides, Lional could never remove me or your mother from this place. We swore an oath to stay on one of the king’s own cards.”

    He stared at his father. “You swore an oath?”

    “Most of the convicted adults do,” Calvan said. “It’s why we stay.”

    “And... the kids?”

    “They’re allowed to leave when they turn eighteen, or before if it can be managed,” his father said with the ghost of a smile.

    Arthur exhaled in relief even as his mind chewed over this new complication. Well, there was only so much good he could do in one night.

    “Lional could have gotten my sister out, if he really cared,” Arthur muttered. “Or me.”

    His father shook his head in answer and then leaned over to place a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve done well for yourself, son. But... I’d be lying if I wasn’t worried about what all this cost you.” He looked around at the boxes of fruits, vegetables, and the young meat animals meaningfully.

    “Well... there’s something else you should see,” Arthur admitted.

    Then he reached into his storage space and withdrew the card box he’d taken from the carriage.

    About the size of a breadbox, it seemed to glitter with ornamentation in the dim candlelight. Now Arthur had a chance to look at it while not being half-strangled, he realized that the raised gilded edges and fanciful arrangements of glittering stones had a purpose.

    The box was covered in rune. These went well beyond his current Lockpicking skill as they used mana. Also, he had no key.

    His father stared at the box as well. “This is a card box. Arthur... what have you done?”

    “You told me to steal a card if I had to,” Arthur said. “I might have gone a little overboard.”

    “Don’t tell me...”

    “Lional and his son were selling off parts of their private card library.”

    Calvan stood so abruptly that the bench seat behind him tipped over. He stared at the box with a flood of emotions crossing his face. Foremost was horror.

    Finally, something clicked.

    New skill gained: Rune Lockpicking (Thief Class)

    Due to your card’s bonus traits, you automatically start this skill at level 3.

    And just like that, Arthur saw more patterns in the ornamentation.

    Still, he only had an inkling of how it worked — enough to help him open a very simple rune lock. This box was well beyond him.

    It took Lena the better part of an hour, all the while copying all six sides of the box before she finally identified the one she needed.

    She pointed to a pattern at the corner. “This is what we’re looking for.”

    Arthur squinted but couldn’t quite identify the change in the pattern. He had to trust that Lena knew what she was doing. “So, we can unlock it now?”

    “Sure, if we had a key. That’s what fits at the top of the box. The best I can do is break it without blowing us up along with the entire cabin.”

    Both Arthur and Calvan took a step back from the box.

    Lena chuckled.

    “You’re joking,” Calvan said.

    “I’m not.” Lena slapped a hand on the top of the box, making father and son jump. “There’s a lot of magical energy contained in these beauties.”

    “Will you harm the contents inside by breaking the box?” Arthur asked.

    “It depends on how delicate those contents are. Fine dishware may not survive.”

    She didn’t know this was a card box?

    The fact she was so confident about breaking it open but wasn’t aware of what it actually was made Arthur nervous.

    Magic cards were supposedly durable, but he’d never heard of one being caught in the middle of an explosion before.

    Calvin looked at his son. “It’s up to you.”

    He shrugged. “Well, they aren’t doing any good sitting in that box.”

    “That’s what I like to hear.” Lena’s grin was skeletal. She picked up the box. “Best we do this outside. Just in case.”

    Lena’s solution to the problem was to write down what she said was the missing part of the pattern, impale that slip of paper on the end of a pointy stick, and poke at the correct spot on the box.

    Also, she used a long stick.

    Arthur braced himself. The moment the missing part of the pattern touched the runes, the wooden box shattered like struck glass. Which was odd because it was made of wood.

    “Told you!” Lena crowed, walking to it. She kicked the splinters aside. Within the mess sat a smaller, metal box.

    Arthur wasn’t sure why he was surprised. His Master of Skills card had been doubly protected as well.

    Lena spent a moment inspecting the smaller box for traps. After declaring all clear, she brought it back into the cabin.

    “This is a real pickle,” she said.

    “How so?” Calvan asked. Arthur was relieved to see a little interest in his eyes. He might disapprove of stealing from the duchy, but this was a fascinating problem to solve.

    In answer, Lena pointed to the top of the box. It was completely smooth and without any seams or decorations except for a single wide circle on the top. Inside the circle was a flat depiction of a single red droplet.

    “This is a blood lock,” Lena said. “Whoever set this one did it with a blood inheritance card. That requires a member of the family to open it.”

    Arthur and Calvin looked at each other. Chances were the Duke had set this up before transferring custody to the guards.

    “I’ll do it,” the two said at the same time.

    Calvan turned to his son. “I won’t allow you to risk yourself. There might be a backlash if it wasn’t Lional.”

    “There may be backlash for you even if it was him,” Arthur shot back. “Didn’t you just tell me you were under a King’s oath? Would that interfere with unlocking something made by a king’s servant?” He directed this last question to Lena.

    She hesitated. “It might.”

    “See? Besides, I’m the one who brought the box here. It’s my risk.” Plus, he had the health and vitality of a card wielder. His father didn’t, anymore.

    Calvan looked like he wanted to argue, but Arthur had already withdrawn his belt knife and pricked his finger.

    Holding his hand over the lock, he allowed a single drop to fall into the circle.

    The blood hit and started to sizzle. Then the metal began to melt away as if it were hot wax.

    In its place, bundled up in parchment paper, was a stack of magical cards.

    Lena inhaled a sharp breath. Her hand went out as if to touch them. She retracted it just as quickly. Likely, she was under an oath as well.

    Arthur carefully lifted the stack and unwrapped the parchment.

    The top card was, of course, the Legendary.

    Master of Body Enhancement

    Legendary

    Utility

    This card grants the wielder the ability to gain proficiency in any body enhancement technique or muscle-memory based skill.

    In addition, the wielder will be able to view their base attributes translated into a numerical value with twenty being the base-point human average.

    Newly learned skills and techniques start at a base level three, and are learned at a base 25% accelerated rate. Previous experience and/or the learning of a skill or technique taught by a master may increase the starting level and further accelerate proficiency.

    This is a body enhancement only card. Seek additional cards in this set to include combative, skill-based, magical, and other special abilities.

    This was it. A card which was a brother to his own. Part of the same set.