Despite Kain's continued insistence, the chance to question Isidor didn't come until later that night after they finished making their purchases.

Their group gathered in the room the three men had elected to share in order to save funds. Which was how Kain ended up settling on the end of his bed with Natia curled at his side. Rhode and Mara took the room's sole chairs, while Callias brooded with his back against the wall. Dalphie hummed beneath her breath as she set about brewing tea with water provided by the inn.

Predictably, the witch of the hour didn't even attempt to appear interested in the conversation. He sprawled over the length of his bed, arms tucked behind his head as he studied the ceiling. Kain cut back a sigh, already sensing how fun an experience this was going to be.

"Do you need help deciding where to start?" he prompted.

Isidor snorted. "No."

A second passed and Kain found himself counting the spoons of sugar Dalphie was heaping into her personal teacup. Anything to distract him from responding irritably--he had a feeling that would only encourage the teen's attitude.

"I lied about my grandfather."

Kain scrambled to remember what little Isidor had shared of his family throughout their travels. "Your grandfather...? The one Koun blessed?"

"Mm. Yes and no. That is the grandfather I am referring to, but he wasn't the one blessed by Koun. I lied about that."

"Why?" Rhode asked.

From where he sat, Kain could easily catch the sardonic quirk of Isidor's brow. "Why? Well, I don't know, Your Majesty, why might one conceal aspects of their heritage? It isn't as if powerful people tend to grab the wrong attention so close to the border or anything."

"Isidor," Kain groaned.

The witch rolled his eyes, before pushing one hand into the mattress to prop himself up on the bed. Had Kain not been watching him closely, he might have missed the uncharacteristic tension lacing Isidor's frame, even as that familiar, ill natured frown remained in place. He's nervous.

As personally frustrating as the matter was, it was also fitting--and somewhat familiar--to see someone as naturally sharp-tongued as Isidor became impossible when under pressure. Iliana was similar.

"If it wasn't him, who was it?" Callias asked.

The question served its likely purpose, as Isidor sighed, but returned to the subject at hand. "My father."

That makes him second generation. It was unheard of for someone of so much power to remain unknown--especially in a place like Eol that so heavily prided itself on wealth and titles. But, it ultimately made the most sense. Isidor was stronger than any other witch Kain had met...not that he'd met all that many.

"The story itself is only slightly different," Isidor continued. His tone was passive, as if the tale belonged to someone else. "Rather than being an adventurer blessed in passing, he was a war medic."

Kain starred as his thoughts raced. War? Eol was infamously neutral. Was Isidor's family from somewhere else, then? His mind caught on a single, now important detail: Melas was a former Nubellan noble.

Was that it their connection?

"The best way I can think to explain what you saw, is to explain him. So...yeah. At the time, the kingdom found it difficult to scrounge up as many witches as they needed for the casualties they were facing. War with the empire is costly. So, anyone who had a scrap of medical knowledge was dragged off to an army camp, magic or not. From the stories Melas tells, my father saved countless with skill alone, including His Majesty. It must have drawn attention from Koun, because one month before the siege of the capital, he made his offer."

Kain scrutinized Isidor as he spoke. If they were stories told by Melas, then that confirmed it. The teen truly was Nubellan.

It felt more right the longer he looked. He'd thought it upon their initial meeting, but Isidor had an unusually slender build for an Eolisan. When combined with his light, slate gray eyes and the fact he was a lighter tan than most, Kain could see it--even if his black hair was darker than one would expect.

"My father, the healer he was, accepted it immediately. From what I understand, the king himself ordered him escorted from the field to the capital so he could experience the change in relative safety. Wanting to reward him, King Kalikrates then offered him the recently vacated position of court physician. It came with a title and responsibilities beyond anything my commoner father had known, but according to Melas, he accepted the appointment with a smile."

Mention of Nubella's late king drew a vague, hazed memory to the back of Kain's mind, only for it to flicker away the second he tried to grasp it. An issue for later.

"It was perhaps due to that grace that he escaped Nubella's collapse."

Isidor paused, his tone shifting from nonchalant to an unfamiliar bitterness. Like the tension, it felt odd. Perhaps because he so seldom showed any serious emotion beyond irritation. The tone prompted something in Kain, shifting his eyes to where Callias stood, pursed lips near the doorway. Were his fingers not digging into his forearms to a likely-painful degree, Kain might have thought him relaxed.

He hadn't realized until that second how the story might have been just as painful for the merman to hear as it was for Isidor to tell.

"Like most castles, the royal palace contained many private passages known only to a select view. It was how most of them attempted to flee when the siege broke. What they didn't realize was that a long-standing ducal household had defected. When the nobility broke out, they were met with blades and chains. My father, though, was new to his position and unaware of the passages. So, given the location of the infirmary, he fled towards the back gardens. He encountered Aretha there. Despite her numerous injuries, she cleared a path and together they fled using two of those hippogriffs Melas is so proud of.

"Prior to it all, Melas had grown worried about the tide of the war. While he hadn't thought to escape it himself, he'd made plans to meet in Eol with Aretha should the worst happen. And while the escape had left her health too poor for such a journey, Aretha had a first-generation witch at her side. So, together they made it. Melas met up with them a few months later.

"My father met my mother, a simple farmer's daughter, here. And, like any intelligent refugee, he decided to settle down. The rest is obvious."

Not quite.

Several details about the situation struck him as odd. Why meet all the way in Eol? Why not regroup in Nubella?

Where were his parents?

"What was Melas' title?" Rhode questioned, interrupting his thoughts. The same doubt played across her face as frowned. "Stable hands don't anticipate the tide of war or claim titles, and most nobility don't keep their steads, nightmares or not, stabled at the place."

Isidor was silent for a moment, as if weighing whether to answer, before he dropped backwards on the bed again. "He was a viscount."

Kain furrowed his brow. Viscount wasn't low nobility by any means, but it certainly wasn't upper, either. He'd been expecting to hear the man was a duke or at least a count. Then again, it made more sense given Aretha's trade. No duchess would have the time to run a smithy--it was odd enough to hear she'd been a viscountess.

"And army general."

Oh. That explained a lot, except--

"Why wasn't he present during the siege?" Kain questioned.

Isidor shrugged. "That's a better question for him. I'm not sure it's my place to answer."

"He was there, wasn't he?"

His attention shifted to where Callias stood, looking no less stoic than he had at the beginning of the story. When there was no immediate answer, Kain looked to the others, only to realize that out of the rest of the party, only Mara looked as confused as he did. There was a knowing edge to the way Dalphie's lips had quirked, and how Rhode was studying Callias with a frown.

What had he missed?

Isidor's narrowed eyes spoke of his refusal before he even opened his mouth. "As I said, it's not my place. Ask Melas himself if you're so invested."

Kain bit his lip, holding back a demand for more information even as Callias seemed to decide to drop it. Pressing the witch for more would likely only backfire if he was so determined to hold Melas' privacy--which, Kain could understand. If he'd gained anything from the story, it was an awareness that whatever the relationship was between Melas and Isidor, it was more complicated than he'd initially thought.

Besides, what details he had given them explained a lot on their own. It was odd given the distance between the countries, but not unthinkable that Aretha and Melas would know a foreign knight given Melas' previous position. Generals were required to go along with the whims of the peerage, just like any other member of the nobility. There was a high chance they'd met a procession from Cieon at some point.

That did make Kain wonder about the identity of the knight, however. Not only did he wear the crest of the royal family, but to be on casual terms with a foreign general...

Well, that had to be safe to ask about, didn't it? The knight's presence had been the reason used to question him in the first place.

"Did you know who that was?"

Isidor pulled his glare away from Callias at Kain's question. "What?"

"The knight," he prompted. "Did you know them? Your story didn't explain that. Nor Aretha has smithies in two countries."

The witch shook his head. "The knight hasn't been by my shop before, and I didn't spend a lot of time in the smithy when I could help it. So, if he ever came to town, I missed him, or wasn't introduced. As for the other...another question I can't answer. You'd have to ask Melas."

So, they were no closer to an answer to his initial concern than they had been in the beginning. Would Aretha mention them if the stranger mentioned the search? Was it too egotistical to think that he was why a royal knight was this far from the capital?

"We should leave in the morning," Rhode suggested. "To minimize chances of encountering them."

Kain relaxed. So, it wasn't just him concerned about that possibility. He opened his mouth to agree, but was cut off as Isidor scoffed.

"You really think that knight won't hear about us before then? Even if they stay silent, it's not like we blend in. Someone is bound to mention our group."

"It's a crossroads town," Kain pointed out. "Strangers are normal."

"Strangers this far inland that consist of two sirens, one of the merfolk, a nightmare, a witch, and a cursed, halfling prince? Did you forget that only one person here is completely human, and she's currently infamous for regicide?"

He winced. There really wasn't an argument he could make--because, ultimately, Isidor was right. Rhode and Dalphie alone would draw the attention of everyone they encountered, regardless of whether or not the villager was capable of telling a gods' child from a human. Having them wear hooded cloaks would only make their part appear suspicious. But, in the end, they had to try, didn't they?

Kain sighed. "Unless you've a better plan--"

"Leaving now?" Isidor interrupted. "We have everything we need, and besides Duchess Regicide, you've all got an insane amount of stamina. I can substitute insanity with magic for her and I. There's no real reason to linger as long as we've all the supplies we need."

He hesitated. On one hand, Isidor had a point. On the other, they had already paid for the room. It seemed like a waste.

"Isidor's right," Callias contributed. "The sooner we're moving, the better."

Since when was he so enthusiastic about...anything? For the most part, Callias had been staying silent about these matters.

Regardless, as agreement chimed out between the others, Kain relaxed and threaded his fingers through the fur at Natia's scruff. The responding, encouraging bump of her head against his side spoke of her agreement as well.

Well, it isn't as if we're short on funds after what Kostantia gave us, he reflected.

"Then, we'll leave tonight."