A/N: Sequel to my stories Til the End of the Journey, Whispers in the Dark, and Beyond All You Know, as well as my other stories in my series A Prince and His Bodyguard.
Hector had thought that Varian and Horace were old enough to guard the Great Tree. They may be young, but they were both knights of the Brotherhood, and had been for many years. They knew where their responsibilities were. Hector hadn't seen any reason to not trust the boys to take care of themselves in the tree. He had given them a few necessary reminders and then left them alone in the Great Tree for the next few weeks.
He was now kicking himself. He'd returned after a week and a half. He thought he would return early, just to make sure they were doing okay, and maybe spend some one-on-one time with them for once. As soon as he got to the Great Tree he knew that something was wrong.
The Great Tree had once been a sentient living thing, long ago, and the magic and life of the tree lingered around it. Hector got so used to being around the Great Tree that he barely noticed the magic of it anymore, but when he returned and it was missing he was immediately aware of it.
"Varian!" Hector got out his blade, preparing for a fight. In his experience, if something was wrong it was dangerous. "Horace!" There was no answer. Logically he knew that the others probably wouldn't hear him, as the tree was absolutely massive, but he still got concerned. Hector turns to his bearcats. "Find them."
His animals ran off to sniff out the boys. Hector wanted to find them, and he would, but he had a bad feeling about the tree in general. The missing magical aura was concerning. The Great Tree was more than just a natural obstacle to keep people away from the Dark Kingdom, it also served as a prison for the ancient powers of Zhan Tiri.
Hector hadn't known for sure, but he'd always thought that the magic in the tree was remnants of Zhan Tiri's power leaking into the world. He didn't know for sure that Zhan Tiri's power was gone from the tree, but the worrying possibility was there. Hector would leave locating Varian and Horace to his bearcats. He needed to check the heart.
Hector ran down to the heart of the Great Tree, though he got lost a few times, which was more concerning than anything else. The Great Tree was constantly changing, but Hector had never had any issue getting to the heart. It was part of the reason why he believed that Zhan Tiri's power was responsible for the magic of the tree. Zhan Tiri wanted his power to be released, so of course he would want to lead others to where the imprisonment was.
Hector eventually got to the heart and he immediately saw the problem. There was no eerie glow or tempting voices whispering in his ears. If Hector didn't know any better he would think that there was nothing supernatural about this area. After a very quick search Hector confirmed that the Spear of Demanitus was gone from the heart. Zhan Tiri's power was free.
Hector swore loudly and ran away from the heart. Something had happened here, and he had a pretty good suspicion of who knew more.
"Horace!" Hector gave a shout that was just shy of being a scream. "Varian!" Where were those brats?
Hector began to join the search for the boys. He was looking for an hour and not only could he not find the two of them, he couldn't find any sign of them either. Varian had a tendency to leave his belongings all over the place, and yet there was no sign of books or experiments. It didn't look like they'd been here at all.
One of Hector's bearcats ran to him, looking frantic. It bit his leg and tried to pull him towards the entrance to the Great Tree. Hector followed, trying not to think about everything that could have gone wrong. He didn't know whether the boys were hurt, or if they were missing. He didn't know which option he dreaded more.
When Hector saw his second bearcat pacing anxiously around the entrance he knew that the boys weren't in the Great Tree. Hector scowled. He didn't need multiple guesses to know what had happened. It seemed his prince had decided to pull the old disappearing act again, and now he was dragging Varian into it.
"And here I thought he'd outgrown this." Hector scowled. He could sympathize with Horace, but that didn't make him any less furious. Did the prince not realize that the more he proved he could handle his limited freedoms and responsibilities, then he would be given more?
Hector knelt to his bearcat's level and petted them. "Alright, here's what we're gonna do." He looked at one of his bearcats. "See if you can track down the runaways." He knew the chances of his bearcat catching up to Horace and Varian were slim, as they could have been gone for as long as a week and a half, more than enough time for any trail or scent they left to fade, but it was worth a try.
As the first bearcat ran off Hector turned his attention to the one remaining. "I need you to stay here and guard the Great Tree." Just because the power of Zhan Tiri was gone didn't mean that they could afford to leave the tree alone. They still needed to keep the moonstone safe, and this was one of the ways they could do just that."
Hector stood up. "I'll return to the Dark Kingdom and explain what little I know to the others." It didn't feel right to leave the tree, but between the missing boys and the Spear of Demanitus, the Brotherhood needed to know what was going on as soon as possible. They needed to figure out what to do about Zhan Tiri's power, and Hector knew that Quirin deserved to know that his teenage son was missing.
Hector left his bearcats to their given duties and started to make his way to the other side of the Great Tree. His rhino was there waiting for him, resting. It instantly became alert when it heard him coming.
"You know I'd love to let you rest, old friend." Hector pet his rhino. "But it's an emergency. We have to go home. Do you think you can handle it?" The rhino huffed and made a high pitched whine. It nodded and allowed Hector to climb onto its back. It began the run back home, and Hector tried to push back the feeling that he was doing the wrong thing by not going after his nephews or the spear. This was more than Hector could handle on his own. He needed the help of his brothers and sister.
The journey from the Great Tree to the Dark Kingdom took a few days, but Hector pushed himself and his rhino further than was probably healthy for either of them, but they couldn't afford to take their time.
They made it back home in two days. Hector's rhino was exhausted, and Hector was feeling a little ill himself. He'd only slept when his rhino needed a break, which was the bare minimum for both of them. Worse than that though, Hector had barely eaten anything during those two days.
He didn't travel with food. Both he and his animals liked to hunt for their food. His rhino ate while they travelled, or when they stopped to rest, but Hector couldn't afford to find food for himself. If he hunted, it would take away from what little sleeping time he had.
This wasn't the first time that Hector had done this kind of thing. Quirin and Adira always got on his case about it, but he imagined they would scold him less than usual this time. Desperate times called for desperate measures
When they finally reached the Dark Kingdom Hector's rhino practically collapsed, exhausted. Hector gave it a small pet.
"Rest," Hector said in a rare, quiet tone that he reserved for his animals. "I'll take care of it from here. You just worry about resting up now. You've earned it." Leaving his rhino in the stable Hector staggered to the castle.
He was tired. His stomach was aching. His mind felt completely numb. A part of him just wanted to curl up on the ground and sleep here and now. Things couldn't hurt if he wasn't conscious. The only thing keeping him going was sheer determination. He had devoted his life and everything he was to the Brotherhood and the Dark Kingdom. He felt like he had already failed his duty by being absent when the trouble had gone down at the Great Tree. He wasn't going to fail even more just because he was tired.
Hector was going through the motions. He was practically at the castle, just a few minutes walk away from the throne room, but it felt like an impossible distance. Hector felt like he would never make it there, but then suddenly he found himself standing just outside the door without knowing just how he had gotten there.
Hector groaned and leaned against the door. He found himself closing his eyes. Just this small amount of rest was enough to make his body begin to shut down. Hector was so close. He couldn't stop now.
Hector took a deep breath and, with a ridiculous amount of motivation that really shouldn't be necessary right now, he pushed the door open and staggered into the throne room.
"King Edmund." Hector said breathlessly. His king was sitting on the throne, talking to Adira. When they saw Hector their full attention turned to him. Adira's eyes widened in alarm and she hurried to Hector's side, which was probably a good thing. He was still leaning against the door for support, and the temptation to just slide down to the ground was getting stronger.
"Brother, what's wrong?" Adira grabbed Hector's arms and pulled him towards her, encouraging him to lean against her instead of the door.
"The boys." Hector grimaced as his stomach twisted up painfully. He was feeling the type of hunger that made him feel nauseous at just the thought of eating something. "They're gone. So's the spear. The power of Zhan Tiri has been released."
"What?" King Edmund paled. "Are you sure?"
"Couldn't feel the magic of the tree." Hector blinked rapidly. He had felt on the edge of dozing off for the past two days, and what little sleep he got didn't do much to fight off his fatigue. "And the bearcats couldn't find the kids."
Hector leaned against Adira. "I shouldn't have left them alone. Varian's too young to guard the tree, and is it really surprising that Horace has run off again?"
"You shouldn't blame yourself, Hector." Adira said sternly. Hector just shook his head. He'd lost their nephews and the Spear of Demanitus. The only way he could have messed up more was if the moonstone had gone missing from right under his nose.
"Where's Quirin?" Hector asked.
"He's guarding the moonstone." King Edmund said. "I'll talk to him. You've done enough. Now you must rest."
"I'm fine." Hector tried to push himself away from Adira, but she just wrapped her arms around him and kept him close. It was one of the few times that she had tried to encourage prolonged contact like this.
"You're a lot of things, brother." Adira said. "And fine isn't one of them."
"My son is the one who ran off, dragging Varian along with him." King Edmund said. "I should be the one to inform Quirin. There was the possibility that somebody had come to the tree, stolen the spear, and kidnapped the boys, but none of them really thought it was the case. Horace and Varian may be young, but they were still warriors. They would have put up a fight, and they would have left the sign of a struggle.
Considering Horace's habit of running off, and Varian's loyalty to him, it made the most sense that leaving had been their own decision. It still didn't explain where the spear was.
"We'll figure it out." Adira said. "We always do, but for now you should sleep. You'll be no good to anybody if you collapse from exhaustion."
Hector didn't think he was anywhere near that bad yet, but he saw Adira's point, and he hated it. Adira was proud and arrogant enough as it was. She became nearly unbearable whenever Hector acknowledged that she was right.
He felt the need to do something useful, but Hector's eyes were getting heavy, and being held in Adira's arms made him feel safe and at home. He hadn't even realized that deep in his soul he'd been looking for this very feeling since he'd left the Great Tree, which now felt strange and familiar to him.
Adira made a smug sound as Hector leaned against her. He growled at her. "I'm not sleeping. I'm just resting my eyes until we start making a plan."
"Of course." Adira said. "I'll wake you as soon as we figure out what we're doing." Hector scowled. He knew what Adira was just trying to placate him, but he was tired, and he'd done what he had come here to do. He'd told the king about what had gone wrong. Maybe he could afford just a small rest.
Hector's heavy eyes closed as he leaned closer to Adira. He didn't have the energy to keep them open anymore, and he didn't really have the motivation either. Hector was vaguely aware of Adira picking him up as he finally drifted off.
Hector heard shouting, pulling him out of his sleep. He still felt exhausted, and was tempted to roll over, cover his head, and go back to sleep, but he was too alert to do that. Yelling meant anger, which meant a potential threat. He couldn't sleep when there was danger.
Hector groaned and sat up, even though his body really didn't want to move. He was in the Brotherhood's shared quarters. Adira was meditating on her own bed, but when she saw Hector get up she focused completely on him.
"Brother, you need to rest." Adira came over and tried to push him back down on the bed, but he brushed her off. "You're going to make yourself sick if you don't take care of yourself." Adira knew Hector well enough to know that he was feeling weak because of a cross between hunger, a lack of sleep and stress.
"I'll take care of myself when everything else is taken care of." Hector said. He couldn't afford to rest right now. He started to push himself out of bed when the door slammed open. Quirin stormed in with Edmund close at his heels. Now Hector knew the source of the yelling
Quirin looked angrier than Hector had ever seen him. When Quirin saw Hector his anger focused on him. Hector grimaced and cringed back as his brother stormed to him.
"Where is he?" Quirin asked. Hector didn't answer immediately, because what was he supposed to say? Quirin's son was missing. There wasn't anything that could be said to fix that. Quirin seethed as he grabbed Hector's cloak and yanked him off the bed. Hector yelped in surprise as he tried to find his feet beneath him. That yelp turned to a grunt of pain when Quirin shoved him harshly against the wall.
"Where is my son?!" Quirin shouted.
"I don't know." Hector said. He grunted when Quirin increased the pressure.
"Quirin, stop it." Adira tried to pull him away from Hector, but he was sturdy as a rock. "This wasn't his fault."
"You should have been there." Quirin said. "You shouldn't have abandoned him." Hector's stomach twisted when he heard his own thoughts being thrown at him. They hadn't talked about supervising Varian and Horace from a distance, just to be sure they were okay, but Hector should have watched them for at least a few days, just to be safe. Varian wasn't old enough to be left completely without supervision, and Horace wasn't responsible enough to be on his own, so why had he left?
"Quirin, enough." Edmund stepped forward and helped Adira pull Quirin away from Hector. He fell to the ground, his legs refusing to support him. Adira knelt by Hector's side as Edmund held Quirin back. "Hector's not at any more fault than the rest of us, and you know it. I know you're worried about Varian, but you can't take it out on your brother."
"Don't tell me what to do." Quirin snapped as he pulled himself away from Edmund. Quirin grabbed his travel bag.
"What are you doing?" Edmund asked, even though Hector thought it was really obvious.
"I'm going after my son." Quirin said.
"No, you're not." Edmund said. "If you would attack your own brother just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, then I fear what you will do to Horace when you find them."
Quirin's glare was murderous. "I'm not going to abandon my boy."
"We're not abandoning them." Edmund said. "Adira's the best hunter among us. She'll go after our sons." Edmund looked towards Hector. "Who is protecting the Great Tree at the moment?"
"One of my bearcats." Hector said. He knew that it wouldn't be enough, so he wasn't surprised when Edmund continued.
"I'll need you to guard the Great Tree until everything's sorted." Edmund said. Hector nodded, knowing his duty. Adira was less pleased with the order.
"Your majesty, Hector's in no state to be on his own right now." Adira said. Hector scowled. He hated it when Adira tried to take care of him. He was fine. He could go a few days without food and limited sleep. He didn't know why his body was stubbornly failing him right now. He should be able to handle more than this.
"What if I stay here and protect the moonstone?" Hector suggested, both to get Adira off his back so she would focus on what really mattered, and because he was trying to give Quirin the chance to go after Varian. "Quirin can guard the Great Tree."
"Except we all know that he won't." Edmund said. "No, Quirin will be staying here to help guard the moonstone."
None of them were very happy with this plan to divide and conquer, but they could tell by his tone of voice that Edmund wasn't speaking as their brother, but as their king. They couldn't go against his orders.
Quirin and Adira immediately started protesting against Edmund's orders, but Hector knew it was no good. Right now Edmund's word was law, and no amount of argument was going to change his mind when he got like this.
"Yes, your majesty." Hector said. He pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the shaking of his legs. He was fine, even if his body hadn't gotten the note. He couldn't travel to the Great Tree for a few hours, just because his rhino needed to rest. Hector could prepare for an extended stay at the Great Tree though.
Mostly though Hector wanted to keep himself busy so he could avoid Quirin. His brother was still furious, and Hector didn't want to be yelled at again. He could handle a lot of things, but his sibling's anger was not one of them.
Adira gave a furious glare to both Edmund and Quirin before she stood up and followed Hector. "Don't listen to Quirin. He's just angry."
"He has every right to be." Hector said. Adira grabbed his arm and began to lead him to the kitchens. He was too tired and numb to resist.
"Maybe so." Adira said. "But he has no right to take it out on you." She gave him a concerned look. "Despite what he said and what you believe, it's not your fault."
"We have the responsibility to protect the kingdom, the moonstone, and the power contained in the Great Tree." Hector said. "Now the heir's missing and the power's released. That's two out of three of our duties gone wrong."
"We all have those duties." Adira said. "If you've failed, all of us have."
"But I was the closest to the tree." Hector said. Adira frowned, distressed. Somehow stubbornness seemed to be a common trait of members of the Brotherhood. When they were at odds with each other it usually became a battle of wills. They'd all learned when somebody couldn't be swayed from something they'd convinced themselves of, and Adira recognized that Hector was at that point.
"I really don't want you to be alone at the tree." Adira said.
"I don't really have a choice." Hector said. He needed to follow orders.
"Well, I do." Adira said. "I'll go after the boys, but not until I know you'll be okay on your own at the tree."
Hector glared at Adira. "You can't prioritize me over our prince and Varian."
"I'm not prioritizing anything." Adira said. "I'm just stalling a little, because I don't want to return to find you sick and barely functioning because you're pushing yourself past your limits because you're trying to make up for a perceived fault that you really couldn't have helped."
Hector scowled at Adira. "I don't need you to baby me just because I'm currently the youngest here."
"I'm not babying you." Adira said. "I know you're capable of taking care of yourself. I just also know that you won't right now, so I'll do it for you."
Hector didn't like this, but just as Adira knew that he wouldn't change his mind, he knew that he wouldn't be able to convince her to leave him alone, and he didn't have the energy to try to fight her. Besides, he already had one of his brothers furious with him. He didn't want to push away his sister.
Hector didn't have the stomach to eat anything, but Adira was insistent. When they reached the kitchens she pushed some day-old bread and dried meat into his hands. He glared at her, but nibbled on the bread anyways. The flavor was simple enough that he wasn't overwhelmed with the smell or flavor.
"Has Horaced talked to you about where he would go if he ever got away?" Hector asked.
"He's smart enough to not talk to us about that kind of thing." Adira said. "However, considering his near obsession with the light of the sun, I think he's probably gone west."
"Well, that narrows it down." Hector sighed.
Adira gave him a small smile. "Don't worry about Varian and Horace. I'll take care of finding them and the spear. You just take care of yourself."
"And guard the tree." Hector said.
"I don't need to remind you to guard the tree." Adira said. "We both know you'll do that anyway." Adira's expression became serious. "Please, brother, promise me that you'll take care of yourself."
Hector sighed. "I'll try." That was about as good as he could do. "Just bring the boys home." Hector would relax once Quirin and Edmund were back to their normal selves. Even if Adira wasn't able to find the Spear of Demanitus, Hector would feel better if Varian and Horace were okay. They could all go after the spear together when they were no longer worrying about their youngest members.
The next few weeks, or more likely months, or perhaps even longer, would be difficult. Hector didn't feel ready for it, but he didn't have a choice. This was the situation they had to deal with now, and Hector had to figure out how to adapt. They all did.