"We'll leave for Hightide Manor once I have collected Elliot and Thea," Fritz announced to the lounge at large. "It shouldn't take more than half an hour."

Those of his team who had stood at his arrival returned to their seats and resumed what they had been doing previously, mostly chatting and bickering. Fritz left them, accompanied only by Bert, who strode by his side.

"Perhaps it's best you stay. Elliot finds you an eyesore," Fritz mentioned as they walked.

Bert shrugged. "He'll have to get used to seeing me. We'll be living together after all."

"Right and true," Fritz agreed. "Though be prepared for a cold reception."

"I'm ready for him to challenge me to a duel at any moment," Bert revealed. "Our bond, like the one between you and I, will be born in violence. We'll be brothers before you know it."

"How very unfortunate for him. Though I would prefer if you don't harm him too badly," Fritz said, letting loose a small smile.

"Boo, if he doesn't bleed a little, then he won't respect me," Bert said.

"You could try being respectable first, before resorting to such bloody means," Fritz advised.

"It's either a bit of a beating or I find another way to be accepted," Bert argued. "Say, you could always betroth your sister to me."

"I take it back, harm Elliot as much as you need to. And stay away from Thea," Fritz warned mildly.

He didn't really think that Bert would actually hurt his brother, and he was mostly sure he would treat his sister with the decency she deserved. The thin threats of marrying her were merely to get under Fritz's skin. Already, he was finding the jokes tiresome, but to show as much would only encourage his foolish, infuriating friend.

"If you insist," Bert grumbled, acting as if his sly schemes had been foiled.

"I do," Fritz stated.

The pair passed through the front door and strode into the rain.

"Who knows, maybe your brother will have had a change of heart," Bert said hopefully.

"Perhaps. A brush with death can lead to such things," Fritz mused, marching onward to the orphanage. "We can only see."

---

"What's he doing here?" Elliot demanded, standing up from where he'd been sitting at his desk. "While I can only just countenance you visiting, Francis. I can't abide this cretinous brute."

"Now, now," Fritz gently reprimanded, leaning lazily on the door-frame of Elliot's room. "Bert saved my life only a few weeks ago. And that's only the most recent time he's done so."

"And why should I care for that?" Elliot asked scornfully.

"Elliot," Fritz said darkly. "We may not be on the best terms currently, but we're family. I love you, despite your insistence to drive a wedge, barbed and bitter, between us. I say it again, because it bears hearing: Your one-sided grudge is misplaced."

"It is not I who errs, brother," Elliot argued. "You did not even inquire as to my injuries. The ones that are the fault of your inability to keep punctual, let alone a promise."

"Surely you have been told that my delay was due to a ploy. And if not, I would have thought my brother would have suspected as much," Fritz said. "As for your injuries, I watched the Healer mend them with magic. Though you are right, I didn't think to ask. My apologies. Did the wounds linger? Do they still cause you trouble?"

"My arm has healed well, but my leg is still a bit stiff," Elliot answered, mildly mollified. "I was worried I'd be relegated to bed rest, but the instructor said I would be fine with only a few days of light training. I am afraid I may have overdone it."

"Just be glad you weren't forbidden from exertion for a whole week," Fritz complained. "The poison that bastard healer slipped me robbed me of both time and conditioning."

"What?" Elliot asked. "Poison?"

"You hadn't heard?" Fritz asked, frowning. "I was nearly assassinated after I won my duels."

"Preposterous," Elliot scoffed.

"It's true," Fritz challenged. "Ask Sir Cold, he was there."

"Sir Cold?"

"Sir Quinn Cold, one of the Scale Guard," Fritz explained. "He was there, as was Sir Needle."

"And me," Bert added.

Elliot ignored the last comment, then worry and doubt crept onto his face. He began to tap his foot.

"What happened?" he finally asked.

Fritz gave what he remembered of the story, ending with, "And then, if you believe it, the man's flesh melted away like hot wax."

Elliot, surprisingly, believed it. "I have heard of that. There's a potion that is used to obscure the identity of assassins. Though it's mainly seen in the Empire's lands."

"Really?" Fritz asked.

Elliot nodded.

"Huh, "Bert said. "Why would the Empire want to kill Fritz?"

"They're obviously worried about the great height I will reach," Fritz boasted, attempting to hide the distinct unease he felt.

"Unlikely," Elliot said, shaking his head. "It was sourced from the Empire or someone with a connection to it. Anything else would make no sense."

"Like an Empire Prince?" Bert asked.

"Perhaps," Elliot said, then scowled. He hadn't meant to answer the man but had gotten swept up in the speculating.

Bert grinned.

Fritz nodded. The Empire Prince, the notion seemed right, though he had no idea what he'd done to earn that man's ire. Maybe one of the nobles he had duelled had requested it? They had been acquainted, having Climbed the Mer Spire together.

It mattered little at the moment, but Fritz would make sure to follow up on that particular thread.

"Enough about Princes and Princesses," he said. "We should leave soon."

"I didn't say anything about any princesses," Elliot said.

"You don't have to, Fritz is captivated by them," Bert espoused.

"I am most assuredly not," Fritz argued.

"Oh? Then why were you moaning, 'Princess, I come for thee,' while you were poisoned?" Bert asked smugly.

"Did I?" Fritz asked incredulously.

"You did. And you mumbled about someone named Sylvia. Two other women, Fritz, how bold," Bert gloated. "Sid's gonna be as sour as a pickled squid when I tell them."

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"They will not, because you would never tell them," Fritz said. "You would never betray me like that. Would you?"

"Of course not!" Bert declared.

"Then enough about the murmured nothings from when I was dying," Fritz said dismissively. "Let us be off."

"I'm not going anywhere with you until you tell me where we're going," Eliot said.

"Huh?" Fritz said. "I thought it would be obvious. We're going home. The manor is ours again, and I want you and Thea to be with me when I go. I want us to return to it as a family."

"I see," Elliot said, his brow furrowing with indecision and uncertainty. "Will it just be us? Or will he be accompanying us, too?"

"My whole team, not just Bert, will be joining us," Fritz explained.

"Oh," Elliot said sourly. Sparks of dark emotion flitted around his head.

"Now, don't begin brooding," Fritz said, trying and failing to keep the exasperation from his voice. "I intend for them to lodge with us; in fact, I will insist they do."

"Why? Why are you inviting commoners to intrude upon our manor?" Eliot asked, barely able to keep the hostility from his tone. "Can they not provide for themselves? Or have they already wasted what they have earned from your Climb? Either way I can't see why you would have them live with us."

"Don't be so disdainful," Fritz reproached. "They may not have noble blood, but they are definitely deserving of respect. Each of them has proven loyal and has unfailingly fought by my side against dire dangers and baleful beasts."

"How gracious of you to say so, Lord Hightide," Bert said drily. "We commoners are not worthy."

"It is good you know your place. Though do not deign to contradict me, lowborn," Fritz replied, full of false haughtiness.

Bert grinned and signed something completely crude.

Fritz turned back to his brother and addressed him seriously, "You should know by now that a person cannot be measured by the purity of their blood or the loftiness of their station, but by their actual skill, character, and most of all, their deeds."

Elliot nodded hesitantly. "Still, to welcome them into our home..."

Fritz smiled. "Didn't you mingle with the commoners at the orphanage? Surely you couldn't justify denying Jess a room in our manor if she asked? Not when there are so many to spare?"

"I suppose not," Elliot said, thoughtfully. "However, that's different, it's Jess. She's been helping us since we first entered the orphanage."

"I regard my team in a similar fashion, if ever more keenly," Fritz said. "And once you come to know them, I'm sure you will too."

Elliot sighed. "Very well. You're the Head of House Hightide, so it's your decision to make."

"That's correct, though I would prefer you agree with me on such matters," Fritz said.

"Prefer away," Elliot muttered sullenly.

Fritz's smile only faltered for one moment, but that was enough to make Elliot look away.

"Let us make haste. Where's Thea likely to be?"

Elliot pondered for some moments before saying, "I think she is currently attending her embroidery society. It's a few streets away, in one of the merchant's estates."

"Lead the way," Fritz entreated.

With one last sigh, Elliot did so, shouldering past the two and out into the hallway. Soon, they were striding down the street to the door of a modestly sized manor. There, Elliot rang a bell and waited for an answer.

Fritz observed the building as a thief would and as he usually did, making a mental note of any easy entries or escapes. His gaze slid through a glass window on the second floor, where he traded gazes with several young women crowded around and peeking through the rain-streaked pane.

There was a chirp of a shriek, then the faces fled, save that of his sister, who had about her an air of embarrassment. Even through the walls and the rain, Fritz heard giggling and gossiping.

Thea waved, and he returned it with a smile.

A neatly dressed servant answered the door, then Fritz concisely explained he was there to collect his sister. The man glanced over his sceptically, though when he noticed the signet ring on his finger, he left to retrieve her.

Once Thea had said her goodbyes to her society, she introduced the young lady of the estate to both her siblings. Though both brothers said polite greetings, Ms. Binder seemed mostly to have eyes for Fritz.

He indulged her only a little, saying a few sweet words that set her cheeks to blushing and her eyelashes to fluttering.

Thea let loose a stifled laugh as passed under the gate. "Did you see her face? I thought she was going to melt, or burst into flames. Who knew you had such an absurd effect on women?"

"It's not just women," Bert said.

"It's not?" Fritz and Thea asked in the same second.

"It's best you don't know," Bert stated sagely. "You're already too confident; any more would have you balloon, then pop from too much pure, jellied arrogance."

Fritz mock scowled, then laughed.

The four of them made their way to the Climber house they currently rented. There, he gathered his team and then they all set off at a brisk pace towards the closest gate to the Palace Ring.

When they arrived, Fritz and his entourage were stopped by the Scale Guard, but with a flourish of his signet ring and the recognition his now notorious name brought, they were soon let through. The sergeant on duty also had some advice.

"You may desire to acquire passes for your servants," he informed him. "It will allow them to enter and egress at their will without your presence or seal being required."

Fritz nodded, and they passed into the palace ring without more hurdles. Once they were away from the guards, Jess offered to handle the matter of the passes, which he agreed to gratefully. He didn't want to deal with any bureaucracy if he could help it.

"We'll only need them if we decide to live up here," Cal groused. "And I already don't like it."

"Oh, and why is that?" Lauren asked.

"I dunno... It's like a painting, I guess... allowed to look but not to touch," Cal hedged.

"I thought you would be used to that," Fritz said.

"Unkind, Francis," Jess chided absently. She was more interested in admiring the pristine surroundings, those splendorous manors and sculpted gardens, than she was in a rigorous reproach.

"It's too clean up here," Rosie said. "And too quiet. Why is there no one around?"

Elliot sneered at the comment, but held his tongue.

"I suppose the nobles don't need to take to the street on foot as we do," George provided. "They have carriages and boats."

"And a bunch of servants to do everything for them," Cal said with a note of envy.

"Or they swim, many of them being Merfolk," Lauren said.

As they talked, a carriage rolled into view up ahead, then passed them by.

"We should have brought one of those," Bert said, pointing at the carriage trundling away.

"There isn't one big enough to carry us all," Fritz replied.

"Then we should have got two," Cal said.

"And miss strolling through the parks?" Fritz asked.

"We don't have all day, Fritz," Lauren said. "Some of us are busy."

"Indeed," George agreed. "I could have had that device done by this afternoon if not for this expedition."

"Oh, you'll have it working properly?" Fritz asked eagerly.

"I think I'm very close," George said proudly.

"We'll have to hurry along then," Fritz said.

"Where is your house anyway?" Cal asked, searching the various tall and exquisite estates.

"It shouldn't be too far," Fritz said, gazing westward. "If we circle the outer part of the Palace Ring, we'll come across it soon enough."

Minutes passed, nine, then six more. Every step he took, he could feel both his apprehension and excitement mounting. Fritz gripped Quicksilver's pommel to steady his nerve. Then, there, peeking over a high wall, he could see blue leaves on twisted branches of dark wood. It was achingly familiar, and the sight hurried the pounding of his heart. His hand squeezed harder.

"That's it, there," Thea said, pointing. "I could never forget that sapphire willow. Remember when we used to run around it, Eli? Or when Francis used to climb it and be scolded by mother."

"I do remember," Elliot croaked.

Fritz glanced at his brother to see that his eyes were watery and his features were shadowed in a profound shade of pain. He himself was only holding back his own tears by crushing his emotions tight with Control. Fritz hastened his stride, and the rest followed in his swifter pace.

They found themselves in front of the high stone wall surrounding the manor grounds, then made their way to the iron gate set into it. Though it wasn't completely rusted through, it was not well-maintained either. Fritz pulled out the ring of keys that had been sent along with the deed. He was easily able to discern the right key for the gate's lock, which was of thick iron, matching the bars.

The lock clunked and the hinges creaked and crackled, flakes of rust tumbled. Fritz set a shoulder to the stubborn iron and pushed. With a grinding wail, the gate opened.

Fritz made a sweeping gesture, entreating his team and siblings to enter. They filed past quietly.

"This is your house?" Cal asked in wonder.

"Bigger than I thought," Bert said.

"Huge," Rosie agreed.

"Yes, I feel as though you have been understating your wealth, Fri-Lord Hightide," Lauren said.

Fritz followed through after that last of his team, closing the gate with another horrible creak. Then he beheld his home for the first time in a long while.

While the manor wasn't as enormous as he recalled, his memory obviously shaded by the fact he was a child, he did have to admit it was large. It was at least three times the size of their Climber house and its yard. And that was merely the main building itself. There was still his mother's garden, the groundskeeper's cottage, and the small training hall behind the manor proper.

Fritz joined his marvelling team, then strode past them, right up to the tall double doors that led into the entrance hall. These doors were made of hard wood and were banded with rainsteel; not a speck of rust to be seen on the floral designs carved into the polished surfaces.

This lock clicked softly, and the doors swung easily upon their well-oiled hinges. Fritz was thankful that at least this door was well cared for. It would have been a true humiliation to have to barge through the front door like he did the gate.

It opened onto a large hall with a smooth wood floor. There were stairways and doors on both sides, leading to the east and west wings, respectively. The door right ahead, Fritz knew, led into the dining room, and beyond that a kitchen.

The upper floors had all manner of bedrooms, mainly for guests or a large family. They had gone disused even when his parents had been alive, having no extended family to speak of and few visitors otherwise.

Fritz strode into the centre of the hall, his light footsteps echoed off the bare walls.

"It's empty," Thea said softly. Her whisper was as loud as a shout in the silence.

"It is," Fritz said. "Though Count Wavereach was amenable to returning our estate, he had already sold much of what was ours. Still, I didn't think he'd leave it so barren."

He scowled, not attempting to hide his bitterness. Thea's eyes narrowed perilously, and Eliot glared.

"Echo!" Bert cried, startling the whole group while his voice boomed and bounced.

"Echo!" Rosie shouted.

There were various yells that followed, then hisses of 'stop!'

Fritz laughed, his own tones joining the cacophony.

Eventually, the team quieted, and the sound died down.

"What do we do now?" Cal asked.

"We explore," Fritz said. "And while you do so, consider what it would be like to reside here. I want a decision by the end of the day."

"Oh, I definitely want to live here," Rosie stated. "Look how big it is!"

Cal sighed, but a small, exasperated smile touched his lips.

"Go on, go explore, this is an order from your Lord and Captain," Fritz commanded.

The team went their separate ways. Bert bounded through the doorway to the east wing while Jess and Lauren took the west.

"Where's the kitchen? Cal asked.

Fritz pointed, and Cal and Rosie strode in that direction.

George left through an eastern door.

Fritz began to make his way up the stairs, toward where he knew the secret passage for the vault would lie. With a pulse of Awareness interwoven with Door Sense, he found the right direction quickly. As he moved through the empty halls, each step more melancholic than the last, he realised he was being shadowed by Cassandra.

He turned on her.

"Why are you following me?" he asked.

She tilted her head and signed back, "It is proper. You are my Lord and employer."

"Oh, right. Go follow Cal instead," Fritz said, waving her away. She obeyed without hesitation, signing and smiling a thanks.

Fritz returned to his search, certain he was no longer being watched and finding his way to a blank patch of stone brick. At a glance, it looked like any other wall, but he could feel the vault's door behind it. He slipped the runed key from his pocket.

"Now, let's see what the Count left for us. If anything."

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