Lest expected to be grabbed by the collar, tackled into the water, and held under until Arthur had drowned him.

But the prince reached for himself, wrapping his arms around tight as if he were trying to restrain himself. He said nothing, instead choking on quiet and terrible sounds that made Lest feel sick. He couldn't even read the prince's wide-eyed expression. What the hell was he—

—Trying not to cry.

But he—

—His wife is dead.

And Lest had her ring.

More than anything, Lest wanted for Arthur to stop staring at him with that horrible expression. Compared to this, the mask was a thousand times better. Awkward silence and a million fake smiles for the rest of his life would be better than this moment of absolute distress. Lest imagined that even being drowned would have been more pleasant.

Much to Lest's horror, Arthur slowly and quietly repeated his question. "Why… did you have this?"

"I...I told you—"

"—No."

"I—"

"—No." Arthur shook his head. "I don't want to hear it. I—"

Whatever the prince had planned to say was lost as he quickly closed his mouth. His arms went slack, releasing his hold on himself and falling back into place at his side. He stood up straight and, with a smile plastered back on his face, looked back at Lest.

"I apologize. I didn't mean to—I…"

"Arthur?"

"Please, excuse me."

Lest's hand latched onto Arthur's wrist before he could think to stop it. The prince seemed startled by the reaction and violently tore away, grazing Lest's skin and leaving behind stinging strips of red and tiny beads of blood. Lest winced, suddenly wondering what unconscious decision had possessed him to put his hands on someone so upset with him—and then made him feel that decision was to completely right even as his fingers burned. He grimaced inwardly. He must have really wanted Arthur to kill him.

Either the prince didn't notice he'd drawn Earthmate blood, or he'd run out of apologies. Blindly, Lest grabbed at him again—because it felt so right—but the repeat action had a repeat consequence.

"Arthur—"

The mask broke again. "—I don't want to speak with you right now."

"Listen to me."

"Stop touching me."

Lest completely disobeyed, opting for more bodily contact when his hands proved ill suited for restraint. He wrapped his arms around Arthur's and—

—good gods why in the hell was he doing that?

But he didn't let go. Holding on felt right too.

"Don't leave me."

Lest's mind and Arthur spoke at the same time. "What?"

Lest, stop talking you're ruining everything. Why did he even—do you even realize what you're saying? No. Stop. Stop. I want to stop talking.

"I don't—"

Before Lest could finish, his half-wish of being submerged underwater by Arthur was granted. Apparently, wrapping your arms around someone who wanted nothing to do with you distracted them enough to lose coordination. Having focused all his attention on trying to tear away from Lest seemed to erase Arthur's memory of the waterway behind him.

The sudden shock of the event loosened Lest's grip enough for the Arthur to kick him off, although the weight of water seeping into his already thick layers of clothing quickly pulled him back down. As Arthur fought to pull himself back onto land, Lest elected to stay underwater and argue with himself in private.

If Arthur was saying anything or making an expression, Lest didn't see it through his bleary eyes.

You damn idiot, what the hell was that? Do you want him to hate you or not?

Stop.

No. Why should I?

You really shouldn't think such—

—breathe.

Right. Water wasn't oxygen. Lest frantically pushed himself back to the surface and inhaled so quickly that he dropped his internal argument. He wasn't sure which half of him had won, but he prayed that it was the sane side. Please let it be his sane side. Anything but the foreign blossom of him that randomly decided to claw at the ground and hold on to Arthur like his life was dependent on it. He really hated that side.

As Lest slowly forced himself back on his feet, he wondered how it was possible to hate himself for doing something that felt so right.

No. That wasn't the problem. He was mad because it felt right. It shouldn't have, but it did. First, Rune Prana had tricked him into thinking Arthur and Luna were family, then it spat out Frey's wedding ring, and Lest was willing to bet his life that it was that stupid tower that had just made him feel the way he just had. He didn't care if that didn't make sense, because it did to him.

He imagined the structure laughing at him, and he very quietly swore revenge on it.

"Are you insane?"

Lest blinked and then registered that Arthur was still present. Present, sopping wet, and staring at him again. Before Lest could give an answer, he was distracted by the pattering of footsteps quickly growing louder behind him.

Great. They'd attracted an audience.

"What's going on?"

Great. It was the same audience he'd claimed the attention of back at the observatory. Surely they would ask him questions about his earlier running away if given the chance. And now they had this—whatever it actually was—to wonder about.

Whatever face he was making must have been alarming, because, when he turned around to look at the three people he expected to see, the four of them reacted differently to him. Leon narrowed his eyes, Forte eyed him suspiciously, Kiel widened his eyes like he'd just seen something horrifying, and, trailing behind the three of them with the concern practically dripping off her face, was Luna.

Lest suddenly felt sick. Not now.

Arthur sighed and shook his head, back to attempting normalcy. "Lest and I…"

He stopped speaking and awkwardly fumbled with his glasses, turning his face away from the audience. "Em…"

Crap. If Arthur couldn't think a decent lie to convince everyone everything was peachy and that Lest hadn't just tackled the prince, then Lest was completely sure he wasn't going to be able to think of one either.

He couldn't even think of a fake reason they would have been fighting in the first place, but he sure as hell didn't want to say it was because of Frey's wedding ring. Especially not in front of Luna. Lest was fairly certain that traumatizing Arthur's daughter wouldn't score him any prince points.

On top of that, mentioning he'd found the ring would probably only convince the town to send Lest headfirst back into Rune Prana, since Arthur was apparently one of the only people tragically clever enough to assume the obvious. Frey probably wasn't coming back.

Lest bit his lip. "Probably wasn't" just might have been the understatement of the year.

Much to the horror of her father and her designated hero, Luna spoke first. "Dad?"

The split-second silence between them seemed to last a painful amount of time. "Yes?"

"Why are you and Lest wet?"

It wasn't exactly the question Lest had been expecting, or Arthur, it seemed, but it was definitely a valid one. Then again, Forte and friends had already bothered to ask the other obvious question: "What's going on?"

Lest honestly wished he could have answered.

Arthur's answer was so terrible, and yet equally as valid as the question, that it made Lest feel embarrassed. "We were in the water."

The on-looking group of four answered in impressive unison. "…Why?"

More of that impossibly hard question…

Neither Lest or Arthur said anything, instead opting to stand completely still and stare like silence and awkward staring were perfectly acceptable answers. Lest regret bothering to look at Leon, who further narrowed his eyes at the Earthmate as if to say "I know exactly what you did." Lest wouldn't put knowing everything past Leon.

Luna took a step closer. "…Dad?"

Lest would have given her anything if she would just stop saying that with that horrible look on her face.

"I…"

When Arthur's words caught on his throat, Luna quickly turned towards Lest.

"Lest?"

"Um… yeah?"

Luna sucked in a breath and curled her hands into fists at her sides. Now she looked like she was trying not to cry. "What happened?"

Evidentially noticing the princess' distress, Leon quickly took over. "You two have a lover's quarrel? Look, I'm sorry, but the fireflies have better things to do than watch you guys fight all evening."

Lest doubted he would have appreciated that comment even under completely different circumstances. When the rest of the group looked at Leon and conveyed their confusion, Lest wondered if the comment even made sense. At the very best, it at least seemed to have distracted Luna enough for her to forget just how upset she was getting.

Lest took advantage of the situation and quickly came up with a half-lie he felt stupid for not thinking of quicker. "I, eh, I tripped and fell into the water."

Forte pointed an observatory finger. "But you're both soaked."

"I fell on top of Arthur."

It was apparently such a stupid response that all eyes fell on Arthur in search of confirmation. Figuring he'd caught the prince off-guard, he wasn't surprised when all Arthur had to offer was a silent nod of his head.

The way everyone changed expression made it seem that, apparently, Lest's spur of the moment lie wasn't quite good enough—even with royal backing. Granted, the chances of Lest tripping over what appeared to be nothing and just so happening to take the prince down with him all the way down were probably more than slim. It probably made their very-special hero look too dumb to live, and it didn't do much for Arthur either.

Much to Lest's horror, that wasn't the reason the story didn't work.

Kiel cleared up the misunderstanding. "But…we heard yelling?"

Despite the fact they were standing in the middle of town, Lest hadn't even thought that anyone would have heard anything. He answered without considering if they had heard what they had been yelling about. "Well, yeah. We were falling."

Still not good enough.

"Ah, and my glasses fell off in the water. I couldn't see Lest after I got back up. It was… alarming."

And suddenly it was. Almost. Luna and Leon still looked remarkably unimpressed.

For the second time, Luna surprised Lest with her reply. "Dad, let's go home, okay?"

"Didn't you want to go to the lake for the festival…?"

She nodded but had already taken her father's arm. "Yes, but you can't go with me if you're all wet."

Arthur laughed. "Right, of course."

As the royal pair left, both of their looks spoke to Lest loud and clear, We're not done yet.

Leon tapped Lest on the shoulder with the tip of his fan to get the Earthmate's attention, but Lest didn't so much as turn around.

"Lest—"

"—Er, I can't stay. I have something to do."

"But—"

Sucking in a quick breath and taking a page from Arthur's book, Lest spun around and flashed the best fake smile he could muster. "Don't you guys have to be somewhere too?"

Forte and Leon exchanged glances. "Well…"

Lest waved it off as if it were nothing. "Go have fun. We can always talk later."

As the sun finally crept behind the hills, Lest made his way around town to meet with Luna. His head was screaming at him for it—knowing it would only be painfully awkward. His heart, on the other hand, was too busy violently pounding "go" in his ears that he couldn't stop himself.

Still, he made sure to go as far out of his way as he could.

During his walk, the observatory in the distance caught his attention. He frowned, the sour feelings from earlier quickly resurfacing. He did his best to cram them back down, and he promised himself that he'd have to talk to Leon again when he went back to the inn, especially after ditching him for a second time that day.

With a hesitant hand, Lest reached to knock on royalty's door.

The princess was on top of him before he even touched knuckle to wood. Lest quickly registered what was going on as Luna narrowed her eyes and slipped out the door, quickly cracking it behind her.

"Dad, I'm going outside for a second. I'll be right back!"

If Arthur replied, Luna shut the door so quickly that Lest missed it completely.

Luna's hushed words came without hesitation. "What's going on?"

He didn't have to, but Lest asked anyway. "With what?"

"My dad."

Lest shifted uncomfortably underneath Luna's gaze.

"He's been acting weird since he went to talk to you. And you have too!"

"Have we…?"

Luna nodded firmly. "What did he say to you?"

Lest almost choked on his answer. "Nothing special."

Luna was relentless. Her cheeks puffed up, and she knit her eyebrows together. "What did you talk about?"

"Me." The answer felt safe enough. It was the truth—but not quite enough of it for Lest to feel uncomfortable.

It also wasn't satisfying. Luna's cheeks deflated with a sigh. "That's what Dad said, but I don't get it! If your conversation was so normal, why is he acting so weird? And why'd he leave work without telling anyone? You must have said something important!"

Lest stared blankly at the young princess as she caught her breath. "Is that really all you talked about?"

"Well…" Lest regret his hesitation immediately.

"Well what?"

Son of a—

"We also talked about Rune Prana." Unlike his previous answer, that was only a half truth. Or maybe it was more like a fourth of a truth. Lest prayed silently that Luna wouldn't push the issue much further. The last thing he wanted to do was gossip about the prince with the prince's daughter.

Actually, the last thing he wanted was for Luna to relay this information to Arthur.

Oh gods, what if she asks him about this. What if—

"Oh." Luna blinked. She crossed her arms and twisted her face with thought. "I think I get it now…"

It was hardly the response Lest had been expecting, but he appreciated it all the same. "Yeah?"

She nodded. "Dad doesn't really like talking about Rune Prana with me. I've been training really hard with Forte so I could go someday, but Mom and Dad never let me."

"I see."

"Still though." Luna continued, making Lest's stomach turn as she did so. "It is weird that he'd leave work without telling anyone. He says he just forgot, but… He just doesn't forget!"

"Everyone forgets things." Lest offered.

Luna frowned, as if hearing such a thing from someone who'd forgotten everything made the information less valid. "But—"

Lest cut her off before she could ask any more questions. "—Things have been pretty hectic. With me showing up so suddenly and all."

The princess considered this for a moment. "I guess that makes sense…"

Relieved, Lest nodded.

"But…"

Damn it.

"That still doesn't explain you."

"Er, what do you mean?"

Luna's arms were folded so tightly against her chest Lest was amazed that she didn't suffocate herself. "You 'fell on top' of Dad? Seriously? I'm not stupid."

The door behind Luna creaked open, and both the princess and the Earthmate jumped.

"No, but Lest is telling the truth."

Lest blinked, his body refusing to move but his eyes darted away from the prince—now clad in something dry.

Was he? Lest remembered having to think pretty quickly to come up with that excuse.

Luna stared back up at her father and then down at her feet. She said nothing.

"Lest tripped, and I tried to catch him."

"But…" Luna's quiet voice trailed off, and Arthur placed his hand on top of her head.

"What I spoke to Lest about wasn't anything I want you to worry about, alright?"

Looking defeated, Luna sighed and nodded. She glanced at her father, and then quickly at her hero, and apparently decided that the situation had become too frustrating to deal with—even for her. She'd been given her answers, and she would be given nothing more.

Of course, it never hurt to try. "Why don't you ever want to talk to me about Rune Prana?"

"Because I don't want you to get any ideas."

"I've been training hard! And Mom can do it!"

Can. The single word made Lest and Arthur blanche.

Can. Because Frey was going to come back, and only two people seemed to think otherwise. And whatever attempts Arthur had been making to avoid the subject of Frey and Rune Prana, Lest and unwittingly thwarted in a matter a seconds.

Lest did his best not to think too much on the subject.

The concern on Arthur's face was as clear as day. "Luna, please."

She grumbled, but didn't press the matter further. "Can we go now?"

Arthur nodded, and Luna quickly jumped five steps ahead of them—halfway across the plaza before Arthur had even moved.

The prince seized the opportunity whisper to Lest. "You told her we talked about Rune Prana?"

"I—sorry. I didn't—"

The prince held up a hand to stop Lest's babbling. "No, don't be."

Lest shut up immediately as Arthur pulled something from his pocket and brought his closed fist to his hand, quickly looking back towards Luna. Lest's guess as to what it could possibly be was confirmed as Arthur continued. "You said you found this at Rune Prana."

Lest nodded.

With a hard look of resolve in his eyes, the prince locked eyes with Lest. "I want to go."

Lest nearly vomited his reply. "What?"

"To Rune Prana. With you. I want to believe…" Arthur stopped midsentence, laughed weakly, and then continued. "I'm not quite sure what I want to believe, but… I feel I'd rather you be telling the truth about this. I need to know."

Lest froze. Just what was Arthur getting—

—Ah. If he hadn't found it, why else would he have Frey's ring? Part of Lest wanted to slap the glasses off Arthur's face. How dare he just assume that—

—Well…

…

Lest nodded slowly. "Alright."

The prince mirrored the action and turned to make his leave. "I'll meet you just outside of town tonight. After Luna falls asleep."

Lest look up towards the sky and caught Leon Karnak towering in the distance. Laughing at him.

Liar. You horrible, filthy, disgusting liar. You have her ring. I found it. At Rune Prana. You god damn liar. I didn't know her. But you have her wedding ring. Liar.

I don't know Frey.

You're wrong.

He snorted and narrowed his eyes. Soon, he would go back and storm the thing with such a fury that even the gods would be fearful of him. Soon, he would fish out the answers from the sea of questions flooding his head. And, soon, he hoped, the strange part of him howling about familiar things he'd never seen would be silenced.

He knew nothing about Rune Prana, but he felt he knew everything. He knew somewhere within the monster ridden confines were his answers, and Lest was determined to find them—even if it killed him in the process.

Whether or not it was Lest himself, the tower, or Arthur that did the killing, was just another mystery to be solved.