Shoto opened his eyes and turned around. The rogue had escaped his father. A jagged, bloody blade was lifted high, ready to descend on him, but he was frozen. His eyes were rolled back, exposing cracked whites—blood trickled in thin rivulets—and an arrow stuck out of his chest.

Shoto raised his right eyebrow, though he kept a straight face and an even voice as he remarked, "Down with the traitor."

"Down with the traitor!" the girl in burgundy velvet repeated. Her shoulder-length brown hair bobbed as she gave a little leap and pumped her fist to cheer on the fighters. Her free arm supported Yaoyorozu, who did not remove the sword from her torso so as to avoid bleeding out.

Shoto's fiancée smiled at the smaller girl. "Thank you, Uraraka."

Uraraka beamed back, breaking the stereotype held by the High Court of borough girls' teeth being crooked and rotting.

Their tranquility was shattered when Ida roared, "MIDORIYA! You missed!" To accentuate each word, he slashed downward with his arm.

Midoriya slid down the pile of thrown furniture. "No, Ida," he said in an uncharacteristically firm voice. "You missed. Lady Yaoyorozu isn't one of the Four Cardinals. Whoever the Cardinals are, they aren't here. This fight is for nothing."

Shoto pointed Uraraka to the healing chamber, though Yaoyorozu protested. He grabbed a shield to go with his sword and added, "The Cardinals will be in the southern fortress."

"Where Nejire and Tamaki are headed?"

"It's the most secure location in Chusei, even more so than the palace." Shoto gestured at the rioting townsfolk with his sword, then ducked and pulled Midoriya down with him. A gold-plated table struck Ida in the back of his head, and the false knight crumpled with a look of bloody vengeance. "Evidently."

"Ida!" Midoriya exclaimed. He put two fingers over his friend's neck to check for a stable pulse, sighed in relief, and then looked up at Shoto with tears in his eyes. "Please don't execute him. He made a mistake. He's a good guy, really. He wants to be a knight and bring the Cardinals to justice."

"We all do," Shoto acknowledged, then paused. "The latter part, that is. Royals can't be knights." After all, the purpose of knights was to serve the royals.

One of the royals – the King himself – had grabbed the rogue's arrow-ridden body and waved it like a flag, his furious bellow silencing the crowd along with the gesture. "The Cardinals aren't here and your treacherous leader has been vanquished! Your fight is worthless!"

Knights arrived on the scene, aiming arrows and slingshots at the townsfolk, who were resigned to kneeling with their hands up in surrender.

The King's face was a livid red. "I should have you all executed!" A townsperson wailed until his wife elbowed him to shut him up. "But my soon-to-be daughter-in-law has pleaded mercy on your undeserving behalf, and I am a lenient monarch."

Shoto barely suppressed a scoff.

"So I will instead sentence you to a lifetime in the dungeons! Waste away with the bloodhounds, you petty traitors!"

Midoriya sighed in relief. "They'll be okay," he murmured. "Life in the dungeons is still life. And it looks like some of the townsfolk got away in the pandemonium rather than throwing their lot for naught—Miss Kayama isn't here, and neither are Mr. Aizawa or Mr. Shirakumo. Even Mr. Yamada knew better—"

"What are you talking about?" Shoto asked.

Midoriya smiled at him. "Nothing for you to concern yourself about, Your Highness. More importantly, did you mean what you said about wanting to bring the Cardinals to justice?"

"I always mean what I say." Shoto hesitated, looking around. Ida and the other townspeople involved in the fray were being dragged away while his father ordered them around, grumbling about the state of the west wing. "More than that, though, I want the sun to return. The chill doesn't bother me and my siblings, but I know it can't be good for everyone else."

Midoriya stared at him incredulously, his mouth quirking up like he was holding back laughter.

"Was I humorous?"

"It isn't that," Midoriya said. "But I also want to bring back the sun. My friends and I want to put an end to the Cardinals' villainous scheme."

"Then I am honoured to join your quest."

Midoriya beamed. One of his teeth was slightly chipped, but Shoto thought it was endearing. Then his face fell as he looked at Ida being dragged away. He steeled himself and put on a brave face. "Ida would want us to do this, even if he can't be with us."

Shoto walked over to the healing chamber, Midoriya at his heels. "Uraraka will need to stay and tend to Yaoyorozu. The Sage is our best healer. Hopefully we'll run into her on the way to the southern fortress. Then Uraraka may join us."

Midoriya grinned. "We'll have defeated the Cardinals by then!"

"They outnumber us. They're the Four Cardinals."

"We'll still win. Uraraka will be disappointed, but she'll understand. And maybe she can interrogate them and learn their secrets while they rot in the dungeons." He raised his knuckles to knock at the door before entering. "I'll let her know about our plan."

"And I shall prepare for the journey. We'll meet at the southern moat when the clock strikes ten."

Midoriya nodded as Uraraka opened the door. Shoto left them alone and made his way to his chambers, pausing to pass on a note for a messenger to deliver. He didn't enter the inner chamber, but stayed in the middle room of the suite to stare out the window. The moon stared back at him, huge and round, a spotless, undecorated saucer.

"Is it true?" Fuyumi's voice was gentle. Beside her, Natsuo towered over both of them, glowering silently at his little brother.

Shoto lifted an eyebrow, and Fuyumi clarified, "That you want to bring back the sun."

"Yes, Fuyumi. It's true."

She sighed, but Natsuo blurted out, "That makes no sense! We were born during the cold era. We'll burn up if the sun returns! We do just fine without it."

"Not everyone does, Natsuo," Shoto informed him. He thought of Yoarashi, controlling the winds with a bitter, ferocious scowl as he cranked the heavy machine and served a king despised even by his own family. What would it be like for natural winds to return?

Fuyumi cupped her youngest brother's face in her cold hands. "But what about the kingdom? Without you, there is no heir."

"Our father will take on a mistress and produce another brood. And the Cardinals will step forward if they need to." But Midoriya and I will make sure they never will.

Natsuo growled, "It should have been Touya. Our big brother should have been the heir."

Fuyumi reached out for her not-so-little brother. "Oh, Natsu."

"I'll never forgive our father."

Neither would Shoto, but at the same time, he understood that responsibility could force people to do things they wouldn't otherwise do. Even gentle Fuyumi and righteous Natsuo wouldn't have been immune to a monarch's corrupting power.

The grandfather clock began to chime. Shoto nodded at his older siblings, who should have inherited the kingdom in the first place, and then headed to his meeting place with Midoriya.

The freckled boy was brushing Silver Lancea; Ruby Cuperni's already-brushed golden pelt shone, glossy in the moonlight. He looked up at Shoto. "Are you ready?"

"I'm here."

They got on their steeds and rode at a brisk canter, heading southward, guided only by the stars and the light from Ruby Cuperni's and Silver Lancea's horns.