Replaying a memory that Callum first saw from the eyes of his brother as a third perspective was weird, to put it mildly. And while he knew what would happen next - and boy, was it very traumatic - he had no other options but to witness it again. He might have an eidetic memory, but Ezran barely saw anything that could lead them to their culprit.

"Come in."

"Ez? It's past your bedtime. Opeli might kill us both if you're going to be late in your weekly council's meeting again."

"Yeah, yeah. I know..."

Triggering the Historia Viventem spell would not only show them the realistic illusion of the crime scene, but it would also unveil the parts that were hidden by magic, if there was magic involved. It may seem far-fetched, but Callum didn't want to exclude Viren as a possible suspect.

He hoped that his treasured moon opal was worth its sacrifice, that its energy was enough to sustain the illusion until it revealed the culprit's facial image.

His forest green eyes were glued completely to the window where the attack occurred. He assumed that the killer entered the room when his brother approached the door to pass the letter to Soren, but he couldn't deny the possibility that the killer was already inside, waiting for the perfect moment to execute his attack.

When a four-fingered hand suddenly appeared and pushed the glass window open, the pair immediately knew that they were dealing with something far worse than they had expected.

Rayla's heart momentarily stopped when the hooded person entered the room like a trained assassin, and felt her blood run cold at the sight of a familiar binding around his left wrist.

It was the same binding that she wore years ago back when she was assigned to kill Ezran.

She couldn't tear her infuriated gaze from the culprit's face as she slammed her fist to the wall, growling "He's a Moonshadow elf!"

Callum felt numb as he froze on his spot. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. How in the world did a Moonshadow assassin end up in his brother's room? And who the hell sent him out to kill him?

"H-how come he - " the mage prince sputtered when Ezran's illusion approached the window, unaware that the culprit had been standing there all along. Was he invisible? "B - but it's a waxing crescent last night, so why - "

"Only the elite Moonshadow assassins can use invisibility even if less than a full moon," Rayla answered, shutting her eyes closed when the culprit raised his silver blade above Ezran's head. She had seen enough.

His knees buckled as the illusion dissipated, making him sit to the ground with a shudder. Several emotions were brewing inside him - anger, frustration, and confusion - and it was so overwhelming enough for him to forget how he should react to it.

The revelation spell that he cast gave him more questions than answers.

A loud thump nearby snapped him back to reality. He glanced at the source of the sound and saw his girlfriend pressing her forehead against the wall, cradling her balled fist with red gashes on the knuckles.

The prince immediately stood up and walked towards her. "Rayla?"

"I don't know who in Garlath's name that shitbag is!" she spat hotly, then flinched when she felt his hands on her shoulder. She let him turn her around and faced him with her lilac eyes brimmed with tears. "And why a Moonshadow, of all the scunning elves, would attack Ez!"

"Do you think he's from the Silvergrove?"

She shook her head briskly, her tears were flying everywhere. "I don't know... and I don't want to know..."

"I'm sure he's not working under the authority of the Dragon Queen." he murmured, cupping her face gently so he could brush her tears away with his thumbs. He was a bit surprised how clear-headed he was despite the revelations, and how Rayla, who was usually the sensible in their relationship, was on the verge of a meltdown.

Maybe his shock hasn't sunk in yet.

"There's no way Queen Zubeia would send us both here just to foil her plans."

"A mercenary, perhaps?"

"Possibly. What are you doing?" she asked when Callum stepped away to rummage Ezran's desk drawers.

"Looking for something to fix your hand. Here." he led her to sit on the four-poster bed, uncapping a tube of ointment then dabbed it to her bruise gingerly. "We can't have it get infected."

"It's fine," she replied with a wince when he covered her sore knuckles with an adhesive gauze pad. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." he kissed the palm of her injured hand, which earned him a blush. "Are you okay now?"

Rayla let out a watery laugh. "Is this going to be a Big Feelings Time?"

"Of course."

"Honestly? No," she confessed with a sniffle, wiping her tears with the back of her uninjured hand. "It was my kind who wanted to hurt Ez."

"You're not responsible for his action," he told her evenly.

"I know," she averted her gaze towards her lap where their hands were intertwined. "But I can't help myself but feel guilty."

"Nobody will accuse you, Ray. Not even Ez," he soothed, pulling her closer. "You were innocent just like me."

"What if there's a reason behind why a Moonshadow elf was sent out to kill Ez?"

Callum had thought of that too. "If they wanted to pin you down on this attack, then they were doing a very sloppy job. They should have planned this after we arrived for the harvest festival."

"Unless they don't know our itinerary."

"Unless..." he trailed off, remembering the upcoming annual celebration. Unless it was something else.

"He has an assassin's binding, Cal. He wasn't doing it for himself." Rayla pointed out. "If he made the oath last night, then that means he has a maximum of two weeks to finish his mission - which happened to be the Night of the Harvest Moon."

Callum opened his sketchbook and began to draw their elven culprit. He was six feet tall with a lean build, and probably around Ethari's age. His long dark hood was able to cover his horns but not his pointed ears. He has a typical Moonshadow elf hair color based on the side bangs that framed his square-jawed face, but he wasn't sure of its length. His skin was a bit tanned, with three claw marked tattoos across the bridge of his nose painted in dark blue, which happened to be the same shade as his eyes.

His weapon was a single broad, slightly curved sword with a cutting edge on the convex side. It reminded him of a machete but with a copper guard and a leather-covered hilt. There were no intricate carvings on the blade that he usually found on Moonshadow elf weapons in Silvergrove, but then he hasn't seen any Moonshadow elf weapons that were forged by other elven smiths aside from Ethari.

"Wait."

His hand stopped when Rayla pressed herself closer to his side, his charcoal pencil hovering above his drawn paper.

"He was not wearing any Moonshadow garment," she tapped his unfinished sketch detail of the culprit's upper clothing with her finger without smudging the lines.

"So what? You've worn Katolian clothes before."

"Well yeah, but I don't wear them when I'm on a mission," she responded dryly. "Xadian clothes are more durable, light-weight, with no fabric noises when you rubbed or stretched them compared to any human-made clothes - no offense to the Pentarchy."

"None taken." His brows furrowed as he stared at his unfinished sketch. "You said that only the elite Moonshadow assassins can use invisibility even if less than a full moon. If that was the case, then he should know the protocol, right?"

"Not all elves are traditional. You know that."

"But he's an elite assassin. You're not."

"Or a very strong Moonshadow elf who has a higher affinity to the moon."

His brow perked up. "Like a mage?"

"If you were Lujanne, would you climb a three-story tower and struck your target with a regular sword instead of using a spell?"

"Maybe he's a dumb version of Lujanne?"

Callum shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly when she gave him a narrow look.

"So basically, our culprit is a very strong Moonshadow yet a non-traditional assassin, who has a deadline until the Harvest Moon festival to kill my brother or his binding will cut his wrist off," he muttered as he finished his drawing. "Now the question is, is he working for someone in Xadia or one of the Pentarchy?"

Rayla hummed in contemplation as she stared outside the windows. It was almost sundown.

"It's okay if you don't want to come with me when I talk to Ez about our discovery."

She shook her head with a sigh, then stared at his green orbs filled with fear and concern. "I hate that I'm feeling guilty about something that I'm not involved with, but I don't want to make everyone assume that all Moonshadow elves are like him. We made an oath to serve the Dragon Queen and to stand for her desire for unity and peace. What he did to Ez was a crime against Xadia. He's a disgrace to our kind. An abomination."

He reached out for her uninjured hand and squeezed it affectionately. "I want you to know that I love you and I'm always here for you, okay?"

"I know, and I love you too." Rayla pecked his lips with a smile. "That's why you need to wipe that mopey face out and stop worrying about me. I'm a big girl. I can face anything."

But not everything, he wanted to add but decided not to instead.

"We have to inform Queen Zubeia about this." he shut his sketchbook closed then stood up. "Once I made several copies of this sketch, we can send one to the Silvergrove. Maybe Ethari or someone there can give us more clues that could lead us to our culprit."

"But what if Corvus and Soren were right?" she asked as she followed him. "What if this was an inside job?"

The mage prince flashed her menacing grin. "Then we have no choice but to lure them out."