"Field Marshal Kroft would like to see you, Alexander."

"Thank you for the notice, Sergeant Soldado."

Alexander had a feeling as to what Cressida wanted to see him about. For several weeks, he had done his job with the Korvosan Guard well enough with the field marshal letting him do his work without any special treatment. The life of a guard on patrol was simple enough for him as he was able to make enough coin for a living and go home after his shift was over to see Silana.

Yet, Alexander was aware of how Queen Ileosa was diverting funds away from the Korvosan Guard. For what purpose she was making such changes he was unaware of but he saw the impact it had on the Korvosan Guard. Several guards that he had come to know were removed from their position simply because the field marshal didn't have the gold needed to pay them. Alexander had hoped that his prior service working with his friends to help Korvosa during its period of anarchy would prove his value but it was not meant to be. Still, he realized that he had one last chance to make his case for staying with the Korvosan Guard and made his way to the field marshal's office in Citadel Volshyenek.

Alexander entered Cressida's office after knocking on the door and stood at attention. Cressida stood up from her desk and took a moment to look over him. It was the first time since he officially joined the Korvosan Guard that they met in her office. When Ileosa first became queen and Korvosa was on the brink of anarchy, Alexander couldn't help but notice how tired the field marshal was as she stayed up each night working on how to save the city. Now the trouble has passed, Cressida looks more rested, and for what it was worth, he was glad that she looked better than before.

"Thank you for coming, Alexander," Cressida greeted, although she wasn't able to smile. "I wish it were under better circumstances."

"Field Marshal Kroft-"

"Just Cressida will do," the field marshal sighed. "Especially since I can't have you work at the Korvosan Guard any longer."

"I know that money is tight but I had hoped that my service would have been enough," Alexander said, keeping his gaze focused on Cressida.

"Believe me that you're one of the last of my men that I would want to leave but there's more that I have to keep in mind than who to pay," Cressida told Alexander. "Queen Ileosa has sent some of her agents to question me about you. Supposedly, some members of her court believe that you had something to do with Blackjack rescuing Trinia from her execution."

"I was sick that day," Alexander pointed out. "You saw me and so did others."

"I know you're innocent, and while I'm certain that the queen can't come up with any evidence against you, she has acted without due process before," Cressida said with a frown. "That was how the trouble with Trinia started to begin with. I'm releasing you from the Korvosan Guard so that if Queen Ileosa decides to take action into her own hands, her agents won't find you here."

"Should I be so worried about the queen?" Alexander asked, concerned.

Cressida shrugged. "Truth be told, I'm not sure. I know that she's preparing for something big with Korvosa's infrastructure. She has asked me for records on exceptional guards. She has even expressed interest in some of the prisoners in holding cells. The rioters are being put on trial with most of them being let free with fines or community service but I worry about what her agents may do. Of course, I have nothing but my own feelings on the matter so there's nothing I can do. I can't help but worry about what role you and your friends may have to play in her plans."

Slowly, Alexander nodded and held back a sigh. "I understand, Cressida. I don't think she has anything too terrible in mind but I'm inclined to believe that she would be less understanding of my obligations than you are."

"That's also a good point. The queen may not give you time to spend with your daughter. Whenever you're looking for a new job, I'll be happy to speak on behalf of your character, but I can't have you work for me any longer."

"Very well," Alexander said, unable to hold back a disappointed sigh.

Cressida stepped forward and extended her hand toward Alexander. "You're a good man, Alexander. I'm sorry that this situation couldn't have gone better, but if you need anything, I can see what I can do."

Alexander nodded. Despite his disappointment, he had come to respect the field marshal. She was fair and just when it came to leading the Korvosan Guard and always had what was best for Korvosa in mind. Alexander enjoyed working under her command, both as an official guard and when he and his companions did their part to help Korvosa through the riots that plagued the city, and thought that Cressida was a good friend.

Alexander gripped Cressida's hand with his own, sealing the end of his service in the Korvosan Guard.

With a crate of his belongings from Citadel Volshyenek in his hands, Alexander made his way back home. With it still being the afternoon, he knew that Silana was still with her tutor for another hour or so. Between his stipend from the Korvosan Guard and the money he made under Griffin's "employ," Alexander was able to spend money to give his daughter the best life he could by giving her a head start on her education. She was a bright girl and it was his hope that with tutoring, Silana would find success as it was Alexander's hope to enroll her in a private school in a few years.

Of course, now that Alexander was unemployed, he would need to borrow some of his adventuring gold on living expenses. He had plenty saved up, but unless he found a well-paying job, the money he saved would be spent and he'd have to pull Silana out of her tutoring.

For a moment, Alexander thought about seeking out the Vosslers for employment. Between his friendship with both Tiran and Griffin Vossler, he knew that it was likely that one of the two would be more than willing to employ him as a guard for their home. He would be paid well enough and the nobles would understand his obligation to his family. Yet, Alexander couldn't bring himself to seek the nobles out. He had to set a good example for Silana and he believed that taking what amounted to free gold from friends wasn't the example he wanted her to learn. Although it wouldn't be easy, he would find work the old-fashioned way like the other citizens of Korvosa had to.

When he turned around the corner leading to the street his home was on, Alexander was surprised to see two men standing outside his house. He walked closer and went unnoticed by the two until he recognized one of the men and dropped his crate in shock. The crate landed on the ground with a thud and a young man with brown hair turned to face Alexander and smiled.

"Alex!" Verik Vancaskerkin greeted with a wave. "We were looking for you!"

Alexander reached into the crate and pulled out his flail. "Verik, get away from my house!"

Verik went pale as Alexander started to advance and threw his hands up in the air. "I mean no harm!"

Without any visible weapons on him, Verik likely wasn't a threat, but in the moment, Alexander's anger did get the best of him. Although typically a calm man, he found it hard to not take action against someone who plotted open rebellion against Queen Ileosa. It wasn't so long ago that Verik had an arrow aimed at Alexander, threatening to shoot him. Now, the would-be rebel found the home of the man responsible for bringing him to justice and Alexander couldn't help but think he had some sort of revenge planned.

The man with Verik quickly stepped in between the two. He was shaved, shorter than the two warriors, and dressed in plain white robes. Alexander caught a glimpse of the holy symbol hanging from his neck of an ankh. He recognized the symbol belonging to Sarenrae, and in his recognition, he lowered his weapon. To raise a weapon against Verik was one thing but he couldn't find it in him to do so against a follower of Sarenrae.

The priest quickly bowed his head. "Sir Fletcher, I understand you have a past with Sir Vancaskerkin, but I ask that you heed my words."

"I'm listening," Alexander said through gritted teeth.

"I am Brother Kallen of the Temple of Sarenrae. Recently, our clergy has offered to assist the city by providing community service to the more violent rioters as we felt such service fell in line with the Dawnflower's teachings."

"That still doesn't explain why you're here at my home."

Brother Kallen sighed. "Unfortunately, the arbiters have given us more rioters in need of redemption than we had anticipated and the temple is quite full. It was decided that we would seek out citizens held in high regard within the city who are capable of overseeing their community service. Sir Vancaskerkin suggested that you might be such a man."

"I told them you were a decent man," Verik said. "I thought we could leave our conflict at the butchery in the past with no hard feelings."

"I see now," Alexander said with a nod. "While I appreciate the trust the Temple of Sarenrae has in me given that I'm not a member of the church, I don't think now is a good time for me to help. Due to a lack of funding, I've been removed from my position with the Korvosan Guard and have to find another job so that I can take care of my daughter. She'll always come first."

"The Temple of Sarenrae won't ask for you to do such a service for free, Sir Fletcher," Brother Kallen informed Alexander. "We're willing to pay you if you can house Sir Vancaskerkin and help make sure that he completes some sort of community service. It won't be as much as you've made with the Korvosan Guard but we hope that it can help with some of your expenses."

Alexander contemplated the offer seriously for the first time. He had no doubt that he could find work but any jobs he could find quickly were likely low-paying jobs involving manual labor. It certainly wouldn't be enough to ensure that Silana kept seeing her tutor. If the Temple of Sarenrae paid enough and he found a decent job, he could pay for his expenses as well as keep Silana's tutoring and keep his adventuring gold in reserve in case of an emergency.

While considering the offer, Alexander turned his gaze towards Verik. His former enemy put on a friendly yet awkward smile. While it was true that they once fought each other, Alexander recognized at the time of their fight that even if Verik meant to overthrow the queen, he genuinely thought it was good for the people of Korvosa. Had Verik not tried to rebel, the two likely would have worked together in the Korvosan Guard.

"You won't cause any trouble, will you?" Alexander asked Verik.

"I've had a long talk with Brother Kallen about the severity of my actions and what I'd need to do to make up for it," Verik told Alexander. "I won't commit anymore crimes. I'm serious about my redemption."

Although Alexander had some doubts about how serious Verik really was, he would deal with it when it came time. "Brother Kallen, I'll accept your offer."

Brother Kallen smiled widely. "Wonderful! I'll check in with you every week to observe Verik's progress and to pay you. Do you have any questions before I leave?"

"None at all," Alexander shook his head.

"Both of you, take care."

Brother Kallen bowed his head, and with his duty completed, turned around to make his way back to the Temple of Sarenrae. Alexander and Verik turned to look at each other, and despite the latter's smile, the former let out a sigh. He wasn't sure if he truly was suited for the duty the Temple of Sarenrae trusted him to do, but at the very least, the coin he would be paid would help him get by. He turned toward his house door and unlocked it. From the corner of the living room, Duke woke up and looked toward Alexander.

"So, what now?" Verik asked. "Any big adventures planned with your companions."

"I'm afraid that we're no longer together," Alexander said as he stepped inside.

Verik frowned. "You're not. Damn. I was hoping that my community service would be exciting. Are you sure that there isn't some fight that you need to take part in for the good of the city?"

Alexander chuckled. "I'm sorry to disappoint but those days are behind me. Speaking of work that isn't exciting, we're going to take some time to get some chores done around the house. If you would, could you grab the rest of my things?"

Verik sighed. "Sure thing…"

For what it was worth, Verik followed orders well enough and without complaint when it came to helping with chores. Over the course of a few hours, Alexander and Verik cleaned up the home. Since his house didn't have a third bedroom, Alexander told his new guest that he could sleep on a couch until he could find a cot. If Verik had any objections about his living arrangements, he didn't speak up. Although he still found it hard to trust his former enemy, Alexander was at least doing what he could to make his stay comfortable as was his responsibility.

Although he was uncomfortable with the idea of bringing Verik with him to pick up Silana, Alexander thought that it was best to keep an eye on him rather than leave him alone at his house. Silana was happy to see both her father and to make a new friend. Alexander had introduced Verik to his daughter as someone he knew from work who fell on hard times and needed a place to stay. Although he had no wish to lie to Silana, he wasn't sure how best to explain his history with Verik and kept the explanation simple. Verik went along with his role as he joined in on the family conversation as the two adults asked the young child about the lessons she had learned.

Alexander also decided to hold off on telling Silana that he was no longer working with the Korvosan Guard. He knew that he would have to tell her eventually when she saw him around the house during his usual work hours but he at least wanted to find a new job before he did so.

The remaining hours of the day went by without too much trouble. When they returned home, Alexander made soup for dinner and the three ate their meal by the dining table. He was not a professional cook by any standards but the food he could make tasted good enough to finish. As night settled in, Alexander tucked Silana in and she fell asleep within a few minutes, tuckered out from her lessons and the walk home. Verik was passed out on the couch, and after some thought, Alexander at least believed that his new guest wouldn't try anything during the night, and if he did, Duke would wake the house up.

When he entered his bedroom, Alexander gasped in surprise to find a dark-haired woman seated on his bed.

"Alexander, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you but I couldn't hold off from speaking any longer."

With a deep breath, Alexander calmed his nerves. "It's alright, Zellara. It's been a long day. What can I do for you?"

Alexander still wasn't used to living with the ghost of the woman who brought him and his companions together against Gaedren. Zellara's spirit was infused with her harrow deck that Alexander kept on him. Occasionally, Zellara would take up a physical form when she wanted to speak, but for the most part, kept to herself in her cards. It was easy to forget that she was watching but Alexander knew that it was best to listen to her when she manifested as she did so now.

Zellara stood up from the best. "I've heard you've lost your job. I'm sorry to hear about that and I hate to distract you from finding work but I need to ask a favor of you."

"How can I help?" Alexander asked and closed the door behind him.

"I need you to get the others. Griffin, Falenas, Viera, and Takota. I need to perform a harrowing."

"You do?"

"I don't know how to explain it but I feel as though something terrible is coming to Korvosa," Zellara explained with a sigh. "Yet even my vision is clouded. I hope that a harrowing might reveal more of what to come."

"I have no reason to doubt you but this isn't the best of times," Alexander explained. "I really need to find a new job, and on top of taking care of Silana, I have a new house guest."
"Verik can fight, right?" Zellara asked. "If so, I suggest you bring him as well. This trouble may be too much for the five of you to handle by yourself."

Alexander pressed his hand to head and sighed. "I guess I can bring him with me since I'm not ready to leave him alone by himself. I'll see what I can do tomorrow but I make no promises. I'm not the only one who's moved on from our adventuring days and I can't say for sure that the others will be ready to help."

"Thank you," Zellara said with a smile. "That's all I'll ask of you for now. Have a good night, Alexander."

With that, Zellara disappeared from sight. Alexander couldn't help but wonder what troubles Korvosa could face now. The riots were in the past, and thanks to the efforts of his companions, Korvosa didn't have to worry about any wars. Still, if Zellara thought that there was trouble, Alexander was inclined to believe her.

Still, Alexander couldn't help but think about how the troubles will affect his life. When he and his companions first worked together for Cressida, he had to spend a lot of time fighting and less time with his daughter. The jobs he completed paid well enough and he was thankful to have Tiran watch Silana back then but there was always the worry in the back of his mind of what would happen to her if he died. Although he wanted to do the right thing and stand against any evil that threatens his home, Alexander's priority was ensuring Silana had a good life. If he was cut down in one bad fight, he would have failed as a father.

Alexander missed his friends. He missed the eccentric mannerisms of Falenas and the silent loyalty Takota had to his companions. He missed seeing Viera's smile and the kindness she had as well as the discussions he had with Griffin on matters relating to Korvosa, even if they had their disagreements. What Alexander didn't miss was the dangerous life they lived and hoped that he didn't have to return to it. His role was to be a father to Silana, not to be a hero risking his life.

Alexander collapsed on the bed and closed his eyes, although sleep would not come to him as quickly as he hoped.

Author Note's: Welcome back to the Curse of the Crimson Throne story. I started writing about a group of adventurers in Korvosa a year ago for National Novel Writing Month, and a year later, I'm back with the sequel.

When it came time to decide on a new NaNoWriMo project, my first thoughts went to writing another Pathfinder fanfic. I really enjoy the story and honestly wish to see more people write in our small community. I know I haven't been posting stories for Pathfinder recently. Truth be told, I'm hoping to see how Seven Dooms for Sandpoint plays out before I get too far in Burnt Offerings out of fear of making a story decision that influences Sandpoint to a point where it's different. Still, I'm back with big plans for other Pathfinder adventure fics that I'll go more in depth about when it comes closer to time.

I wanted to take a brief moment to explain an important story choice I've made which is arguably the first decision that truly sets my story apart from the canon of the adventure path, and that's the return of Verik Vancaskerkin. I did mention when I first wrote about him in Edge of Anarchy that I was considering about bringing him back as I found him to be a fun character to write. If you've read some of my other fanfics, like Defense of Greenest over in Dungeons and Dragons, you'll know that I have a habit of including NPCs into the main group. Sergeant Markguth was just a throwaway NPC only mentioned a few times in Hoard of the Dragon Queen and was likely going to die, but in my story, he joins the group, is part of the main cast, and even has a first name since the book only gave him a surname.

Other thoughts that influenced my decision to give Verik a bigger role include the idea of redemption, a theme of which I'm a big fan of and hope to include in my writings. Additionally, having read a lot of the adventure paths, I'm just a fan of the Vancaskerkin family in general. There's really no reason for the attachment but I just find it hilarious that this one family has members that keep ending up in trouble. The order in which I've bought adventure paths has been influenced by if there's a member of the Vancaskerkin family in it or not, so there definitely is a bias.

For those of you interested in the mechanical side of Verik's inclusion, there's really nothing to it. There's no Leadership feat or anything like that in play. I'm just making the executive decision to include him in the story and hope that it makes for an entertaining tale that differs from typical playthroughs of Curse of the Crimson Throne to make this more unique.

At the time of writing, I'm at 3,300 words, which exceeds my goal for the first day's count. Expect more chapters in the future, and as always, feel free to like, follow, or leave a review.

Until next time.