Cregan's back was killing him. It had been 4 years now since his old coworker had attempted murder on him, but the wound still brought pain when he leaned over or walked to fast. He remembered the day like it was yesterday. He'd had the idiot orphan Sage in his grasp and would be made a nobleman because of the gullible boy Roden. And then Sage had had that terrible idea to challenge Roden to a fight for the crown, and next thing he knew he was floating downstream, blood seeping out of his back. When he awoke, he was being cared for by a group of fishermen who claimed he'd been out for almost a week. It had taken over a year to regain complete control over his body, 2 to escape the grasp of the captain of fishermen, and 4 to form his plan of sabotaging the throne.

And it would work. In 3 days, he would be king of Carthya. All he needed was the Yellow Cuts.

"We have to get him back," he could hear a female voice saying from the gutter he was listening through by their base. Payton. She sounded older and more mature then when he'd known her, but the same arrogant kindness was in her voice. "He's going to die on the streets."

Toss's proud voice came next. "He left. His mistake not ours. We shouldn't have to help him."

"But-but," A voice he didn't recognize came into the mix. Young and innocent. "It's the right thing to do."

Cregan could practically see Toss rolling his eyes. "Just because its right doesn't mean it's easy."

Cregan took his chance at a surprise entrance. "Toss is right. Leave the boy alone."

"Cregan?" Payton's eyes went wide. "What-what are you doing here?"

Sage didn't know what to do. He had to stop the Yellow Cuts from breaking into Kerwyn's home, he had to stop Cregan from doing whatever he was up to, and yet this was supposed to be his vacation. His break. And when Sage didn't know what to do, he became an exceptionally good pickpocket.

And so now, tucked in his jacket was a pear, several garlins, an old lady's pin, and dagger from a passing soldier. But even his stealing tendencies weren't helping. He rolled a garlin over his knuckles trying to calm his questions and confusion. Cregan was supposed to be dead. Kerwyn was supposed to be his friend. And Sage was supposed to know what to do. Just then he ran into a guard on duty at the marketplace.

"Hey! You're that boy who stole-" But Sage didn't take the time to find out what happened next. He rolled under a table, wiped the dirt off his face, and put on his king face. It was time to become the king everyone expected him to be.

Tobias strongly disliked pretending to be Jaron. The clothes were to stiff, the work was too strenuous, and the rude wit was not in his vocabulary. He'd taken day shift and promised Roden that he'd stall Imogen long enough for Roden to go on a little escapade with that red-haired girl Felicity May. Imogen and whoever was pretending to be Jaron at the time had to be seen at dinner together, or else the regents might get suspicious. He sat looking out the window of Jaron's office, remembering the time when Jaron had surprised Amarinda and him one night by climbing through theirs.

"Your Majesty?" He straightened. It was probably a servant come to clear away his tea. "May I come in?"

With his most arrogant voice Tobias said, "Of course."

"My king," It was Kerwyn. Tobias gulped. "I wanted to talk… about.."

Tobias stared at the ceiling. He hated pretending to be Jaron. "Kerwyn. I'm busy right now. Can we talk later? Like in two weeks?"

"But, Jaron," Kerwyn sighed longingly. "In two weeks, King Mellor will have arrived, and work will need to be done."

Tobias stood. "Just this once, trust me. You don't want to talk with me."