Thenio stared at Garem in shock. "How much?"

"A hundred and fifty crowns," Garem repeated, his exhausted, gloomy expression lightening a little in amusement at Thenio's reaction. "That's fifteen-thousand marks."

Fifteen-thousand.... 

The number echoed in Thenio's head as he continued staring at the vice-captain in disbelief. Bero had told him it would be a lot of money, but he'd only been expecting a few hundred marks at most. Fifteen-thousand was enough to buy a house.... Maybe not a fancy house. Definitely not a huge one like Ariom's. But it was easily enough for a small townhouse like the one Thenio and his parents had lived in before Lem was born.

It was enough for several message books. Or a golem carriage. Or a good-sized space compression bag. Or a huge pile of art supplies.

Fifteen-thousand marks would buy so many berry pastries....

"That's in addition to your original salary for helping with the job, of course," Garem continued while Thenio tried to wrap his mind around such a large sum. "That was part of the work contract we signed with Ariom, so he'll take it out of what we pay him. And we included an informant reward for both you and Focilo. As tragic as this incident was, it also led us to discover a large hidden criminal operation and allowed us to take it down much sooner and more easily than we would have been able to otherwise. So it's only fair that we reward you for that."

"But I didn't really do anything? I mean, I slept through most of it...."

"Maybe so. But Ariom wouldn't have participated if it weren't for you. And General Obarin gave us some extra personnel because he was upset about someone messing with one of his charges. Those two things helped us out a lot. So think of it as a reward for being able to inspire extra raid participation." Garem paused and glanced meaningfully toward the sofa, where Eteon was quietly sitting and listening to their conversation. "Well, it's something the captain decided, so just go ahead and accept it."

"Oh." Thenio wasn't sure how to argue with that. And he wasn't entirely sure why he should argue with someone wanting to give him extra money anyway. Though he did feel kind of guilty for getting so much for doing so little....

He also glanced over at Eteon. Ki'shiu had been with him in Ariom's dream, and Eteon and Brel were waiting for him at the Stability Center. So they'd obviously known about the kidnapping. Had they done something to help out with the raid on the Order base, too?

Garem had already heard about Thenio's connection with Ki'shiu from Mideis, though he obviously knew better than to mention it in front of Thenio's parents, who were currently sitting next to the bed in two of the wicker chairs that Brel had made, looking a little uncomfortable with the whole situation. 

Was Ki'shiu the real reason for that extra payment from the Royal Guard? Was it thanks for getting a mythic beast involved? Or as an apology to Ki'shiu for letting someone he was watching over get kidnapped?

It was hard to say. But it was probably best to do as Garem said and just accept it without asking too many questions.

Thenio was too tired to ask many questions right now, anyway. He really just wanted to get all this over with so he could go back to sleep....

"It's a lot of money for a sixteen-year-old boy to deal with," Thenio's father said. "I'd normally say you should let us save it for you until you're older, but...well...your doctor pointed out that saving it might not be the best choice, considering your situation...." He shifted uncomfortably and didn't quite meet Thenio's gaze. "We'll let you decide. Just try to be sensible about it, all right? And if you're not sure what to do, we can put it into a guild account for you until you need it for something."

"Ah...right." Thenio snapped out of his daze. There was no point getting too excited about all the expensive things he could buy. His father would never let him waste that much money on frivolous things.

He didn't really need to buy any of those things, anyway. He already had a message book. He couldn't use space compression bags or space pockets because of his magic instability. He also couldn't go anywhere alone right now, so there was no point in having his own golem carriage.

And his current salary was enough to buy art supplies and pastries.

Just saving the money also seemed like a bit of a waste, though. His father might say they were only saving it until he wanted to use it for something, but Thenio knew him well enough to know that once that money was in an account, it would be like pulling hair from a bicorn's tail to get any of it back again before he became a full, legal adult, at the age of twenty.

And the oldest chaos morph so far had only lived until nineteen....

Given the choice, he'd actually rather have Ariom take care of it for him. A grandmaster enchanter wouldn't be too precious about a mere hundred and fifty crowns. But he knew his parents wouldn't like that idea at all.

Fortunately, he'd already thought of a third option.

"Does the Royal Guard ever give out trade school scholarships?" he asked Garem.

"Scholarships?" Garem looked a little surprised at the question. "Yes, sometimes. But you can't go to school because of your chaos affinity, right? Not that working with Ariom is a bad substitute, as far as enchanting goes.... Or are you thinking of studying something besides magic?"

Thenio shook his head. "No, it's not for me. It's for my brothers. They both want to study more expensive magic fields, so a hundred and fifty crowns might not be enough to cover everything for both of them. But it will help a lot. It would be nice if they didn't have to sign long-term sponsorship contracts."

His own contract had been to work at the Perinith Workshop for five years after finishing his apprenticeship, with a percentage of his salary going to pay off the debt for his school costs. Those were pretty standard terms, and it wasn't like having a job waiting for you after you finished studying was a bad thing. But he'd been enrolled in the general enchanting program, which had relatively low fees for materials. Alchemy and golem-making both cost more, so Lem and Kleyo would likely end up with seven to ten year contracts if they wanted to attend the Royal Academy.

That was all right if they liked whatever workshop they ended up working for, and there was always the option to pay the debt off earlier. But having that contract hanging over his head had added a lot of anxiety to Thenio's short-lived academy experience. He wanted to help his brothers avoid that as much as he could.

Especially Lem. Going to the academy was probably going to be difficult for him....

"You...want to give all that money to Lem and Kleyo?" Thenio's mother was clearly nervous about being around Garem, and she'd mostly been staying quiet. But now she finally spoke up, looking stunned by Thenio's request. "I mean...it's wonderfully generous of you. I'm sure they would both appreciate it very much. But...are you sure?"

She wasn't really the type to give a lot of money away without getting anything in return, so it must be difficult for her to understand his reasoning.

Thenio nodded resolutely. "I'm sure. I'm very grateful to the Royal Guard, of course, but I really don't need all that money. Like Vice-Captain Ranior said, working with Ariom is as good as studying at a magic academy. So if he can figure out how to stabilize my magic, I shouldn't have any trouble getting my wizard certification and earning money when I'm older. And if he can't...well, I still won't need it."

His words were followed by an uncomfortable pause.

"All right," Garem said, breaking the silence. His expression had turned rather gloomy again. "If that's what you want, I'll see to it that the funds are reserved for the two of them." He looked at Thenio's parents. "I'll have scholarship certificates sent to your home within the next few days. You'll just need to contact the Royal Guard headquarters when your sons are ready to start applying to trade schools. We'll take care of the final details at that time."

He excused himself and left the room after that to give Thenio and his parents some time to talk privately. But Thenio was having trouble staying awake, and his parents didn't really seem to know what else to say. So after a few more minutes of awkward conversation, they also left to go find Lem and Kleyo, who had moved over to the other bedroom with Brel and the familiars to continue the puppet-making project.

When they were gone, Thenio closed his eyes and lay back against his pillows with a sigh. 

He was so tired....

He heard soft footsteps and the creak of one of the chairs beside the bed. Then he felt Eteon gently smoothing his hair.

"You handled that very well. I'm proud of you."

Proud of him.... Those words felt a little strange. Had Thenio's parents ever told him they were proud of him? It seemed like they must have at some point, but he couldn't specifically remember anyone besides Eteon ever saying it.

Thenio forced his tired eyes back open and looked up at the old woodcarver. "Was it really okay to do that? To give the money to Lem and Kleyo?"

"It's fine. If that's what you want to do with it, then it's perfectly fine. As you said, when your magic is stable, you'll be an amazing wizard and can earn as much money as you want. And until then...well, you have a dream beast looking after you, don't you? Do you think getting money is a problem for him?"

"Oh. Right." Thenio smiled a little as he closed his eyes again. "Ki'shiu can probably just make money out of thin air, can't he?" 

"He can. Though making too much isn't a good idea. We don't want to make Kafron's economy collapse, now do we...? But he's not going to let you go hungry, at any rate."

Right. Thenio remembered that time he'd been lost and hungry, hiding in the alleyway. Ki'shiu had sent someone to help him then.

No...that was a dream. He was remembering a dream. The hungry boy in the alley had been someone else. 

He still remembered it, though. He remembered how relieved and safe he'd felt when his father.... No, not his father. That was a different dream...right? He was sleepy, and his memories were getting jumbled up again. It was...Eteon? Ki'shiu? Peqeran? Someone...someone had come for him. Someone had always come for him. He was safe. Everything would be all right....

With those comforting thoughts, Thenio drifted off to sleep, with Eteon still lightly stroking his hair.

 

---

 

Ariom slumped back onto the sofa with a tired sigh, appreciating how much more peaceful Thenio's medical suite had suddenly become.

Focilo said he would walk Thenio's family and Garem out to the parking area, so they'd all filed out after him, with Thenio's mother throwing nervous glances back at Kino, who was walking quietly behind them.

Well. After seeing the storm hound fighting with that manticore, Ariom could somewhat sympathize with her attitude.

He felt a set of little dragon paws clambering up onto his lap and lifted his hand to stroke Iggy's head. "Are you hungry, little guy? It should be close to dinnertime."

"Mmm! The snack sticks I ate are all gone from my tummy!"

"All right. We'd better feed you, then." Ariom patted the dragon's back and looked up at Uncle Bero, who had just come back into the sitting room after going to check on Humerus. "You brought some containers of dragon chow over from the house, didn't you?"

Dragon chow was a common food for domesticated dragons. It was similar to meatloaf—a mixture of meat, grain, and vegetables that was baked together and then cut into pieces and stored. The recipe was easy to adapt for an individual dragon's tastes and nutritional needs, and it was convenient to keep on hand for times when Ariom was too busy to cook Iggy anything more elaborate.

And he really didn't feel like cooking right now.... He'd slept most of the day, so he wasn't quite as exhausted as he'd been when they arrived at the Stability Center. But he still felt far from energetic, especially after enduring the visit from Thenio's family.

"Yes, I did," Uncle Bero said. He looked up at the clock hanging on the wall over the sofa that Ariom was sitting on. "But he can have something better than dragon chow if he waits a little longer. We're getting dinner delivered, and it should be here soon."

"What, did you order something from the cafeteria? Do they make food for familiars?"

Uncle Bero grinned. "Nope. Namyis is bringing it."

Ariom gave him a disgruntled look. "And why exactly is the ice mage bringing us dinner?"

"Because she sent me a message earlier asking if we wanted her to bring it, and I accepted the offer. She's also giving Seyli and Tava a ride over from the academy. I told Seyli that you and Thenio were staying here for a couple of days, and she wanted to pay you a visit. So it all works out nicely, doesn't it?"

Iggy perked his ears up at that. "Tava and Seyli are coming?"

"That's right. They're going to eat dinner with us. Seyli is in charge of picking out something tasty for you and Tava."

Iggy's tail started waving enthusiastically. 

Ariom scowled but didn't say any more. It was hard to complain too much when Iggy was so happy about the idea. The poor little guy had been through a difficult experience and was obviously still feeling rattled by it, judging by how he was refusing to leave Ariom's side. He deserved to have a nice dinner and some playtime with his favorite cousin, even if it meant putting up with the annoying ice mage for a while.

"Humerus is getting a special treat for dinner, too. Brel offered to give him some wood shavings from Ket'shiu, as a reward for protecting everyone yesterday." Uncle Bero glanced toward the bedrooms and lowered his voice a little. "And as an apology for making him smell that demon poison on Eteon for the past couple of hours."

Ariom grimaced. Spectral beasts were less vulnerable to demon poison than magic beasts were, mostly because they hated the stuff and would avoid it as much as possible. 

Humerus said it smelled like rotting meat...though it was hard to say whether he really knew what that smelled like or not, since he didn't have a proper nose. But he claimed he'd inherited a memory of it from one of his former vessels, so he should have at least some idea of how nasty it was.

He'd still chosen to go in there during the visit from Thenio's family rather than stay in the other bedroom by himself, though, so it couldn't have been too terrible. And staying in his carry bag would have protected him somewhat. But he'd apparently been telepathically complaining to Uncle Bero the entire time.

He couldn't complain out loud because Eteon had warned them all earlier that Thenio was absolutely not allowed to find out about him being poisoned. He didn't really explain why it was so important to keep it from the boy, but his stern expression had been more than enough to frighten Humerus into compliance.

"Is it really all right for him to eat Ket'shiu's wood? I got scolded for using some of his magic, remember?"

Uncle Bero shrugged. "I guess that's not a problem for spectral beasts? Brel said it was safe as long as he only eats a small amount and digests it properly before he absorbs it. He said it ought to help Humerus heal up faster. The silly little glutton was thrilled, of course. Between that and the puppet, I think Brel just became his new favorite person."

Ariom raised an eyebrow. "We only met him this morning.... I mean, he seems all right so far, but is it really okay to take his advice on revenant nutrition?"

"Humerus seemed to think it was fine. I know he gets blinded by food sometimes, but it's not to the extent that he'd ignore someone having ill intentions toward him. And if Brel did want to hurt him, how exactly am I supposed to stop him, anyway?"

"Well...that's a fair point. Isn't Ket'shiu supposed to be one of the strongest mythic beasts in the world? I'm sure his agents aren't people to be trifled with." Ariom sighed and lightly scratched Iggy's ears. "What did Humerus think about Lem? I only saw him briefly when we went to Thenio's house, and I couldn't use magesight when they were here just now. He looks normal enough on the surface, but...well, so does Thenio. And the way Lem acts is definitely unusual." 

"Right. That." Uncle Bero frowned a little and walked over to sit down on the sofa next to Ariom. "He had a rather strange reaction when I gave the two younger boys a plate of snacks. Kleyo was happy to start eating right away, but Lem just sat there and stared at the plate. Kleyo said he likes to study new foods before he eats them, but...I don't know. It looked more like he was afraid to touch them."

"Seyli said something like that, too, after she met him at the park. She said he didn't like being touched, especially by Thenio."

"Hmm...." Uncle Bero looked thoughtful. "Both of Thenio's brothers seem to have much higher power reserves, relative to their age, than either Thenio or their parents do. That's a little odd. But I didn't notice anything strange about the magic itself. Humerus couldn't really get a clear read on Lem. His senses aren't working normally today either. But his general impression was that the boy himself isn't dangerous, but messing with him might be. 'He isn't a monster, but he has the smell of one,' were his exact words."

"The smell of a monster?" Ariom repeated blankly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know. Even Humerus wasn't sure why Lem gave him that feeling. But it could be that he's under Ki'shiu's protection, like Thenio is. Lem and Eteon seem to be fairly close, after all."

"Do you think he might have some special magic abilities, like Thenio does? Something you can't see just by looking at him with magesight? Teselin did say that he refused to do a blood analysis. Doesn't that seem like he's hiding something?"

"Well, maybe. Some people just hate the sight of blood. But it's true that it's a little suspicious, especially if Ki'shiu really is keeping an eye on him. Either way, it's probably better to trust Humerus' intuition and leave him alone. Ki'shiu knows where to find us if he wants help with something."

"Yes...unfortunately he does...." Ariom made a face. Then he looked down at Iggy. "What do you think about Thenio's brothers, little guy?"

"I like Thenio's brothers! They smell kind of like Thenio! And his little brother played with me at the park!" Iggy said, swishing his tail. 

"Do you think their magic is different from normal people's, like Thenio's is?"

"Um...I don't know." Iggy tilted his head. "Maybe it's different? His little brother's magic smells nice. Like Thenio's! But not as nice as his, okay? Just some nice. Like Seyli's? Maybe? And Thenio's other brother smells nice, too! But his magic is a dark sort of smell, so I can't smell it very well."

"Dark smell? Hmm...." Ariom thought for a moment and then shook his head. "I don't know. Like you said, it's probably better to leave him alone for now. Just dealing with Thenio is enough of a challenge already."

"Isn't that the truth?" Uncle Bero sighed and leaned back against the sofa. "He's a good kid and all, but...well, he's almost too good. It actually bothers me a little. I was shocked when I heard that he wanted to give all his compensation money to his brothers. It was quite a lot, so I can understand giving them some...but all of it? What sixteen-year-old boy does that?"

"Well, it's true that he doesn't really need it. I'm giving him a decent salary, and the Magic Corps is paying for his living expenses."

"I know. But it would still be perfectly reasonable for him to use some of it on himself. He's been through a lot lately. And he doesn't know how much time he has left. No one would blame him for wanting to splurge a little. That's why Focilo said they ought to let him decide instead of just handing the money over to his parents, right?" Uncle Bero shook his head. "At first I thought his family must have had financial difficulties when he was younger, so that's why he's always worried about how much things cost. But then he gets a lot of money, and he immediately wants to give it all away. Rather than worrying about not having enough...I think he feels like he doesn't deserve it." 

Ariom frowned, stroking Iggy's back thoughtfully. "Is it because of his parents always feeling uncomfortable around him? Do you think they've mistreated him more than he lets on? Or is there another reason he's so insecure?"

"I don't know. I'm sure that growing up feeling different and isolated from most of the people around him was terribly hard on him. And children who have extra needs or can't quite live up to expectations often feel like they're a burden on their families, even if they're loved and treated well." Uncle Bero gave Ariom a sideways glance. "I've certainly encountered a child or two like that before...."

Ariom snorted and didn't reply.

"Still...considering what Mideis and Amisi told you about him, it's very possible that he had some kind of traumatic experience in his past that is still affecting him, even though he doesn't remember it. Ki'shiu told you that you have to be careful of what information Thenio is exposed to, right? Because dream magic can potentially turn information into reality?"

"Right. That's how he was able to replicate the ice mage's magic."

"Then what happens if a boy who can use dream magic has a truly horrible memory?"

Ariom let out a long breath. "You think that's why they're so cagey with information about chaos magic? Not because there's something they don't want Thenio to know...but because there's something he already knows that they don't want him to remember?"

"I don't know. But it kind of makes sense, doesn't it? It's something I've been thinking about ever since you told me about that message Ki'shiu sent Mideis. Weren't there folktales about dream beasts keeping bad dreams away from children? Maybe that's all Ki'shiu is really trying to do—stop a certain boy from having an especially terrible nightmare...."