As Arthur marched over the aura line, Penn stiffened dangerously before he shifted his gaze away. The runes were gone, but he was still fighting his compulsion from the Mind Singer.
Arthur would just have to make this quick, then. But not until he made a point of glancing at the discarded card in the corner to make sure it was actually the trap card. It was.
Sitting in front of his cousin, he reached for Brixaby's Call of the Void. He aimed for the Pain card first, if only to make the rest of the cards easier to extract.
The Webbing card made things extremely difficult. It was like lifting a heavy weight using only the tips of his fingers. But Arthur had more skills up his sleeve. Using his Card Shuffling skill, he directed his attention to the Webbing card instead and started to pull.
Penn made an inarticulate yell. It probably felt like Arthur was trying to remove one of his ribs. However, his hands tightened into fists, and he didn't push Arthur away.
With a ripping, snapping sound, Arthur jerked his arm back. The Webbing card appeared between his fingers. The process had taken less than ten seconds.
Arthur tossed that card away, too. Ugh. It seemed to want to stick to his fingers.
"That's the Webbing out," he said for Cressida and Marion's benefit.
Penn immediately grabbed the Pain and Death cards and tossed them away. Then he bent over, retching, a hand over his heart.
"That's the last of it," Arthur said. His hand hesitated before landing gently on Penn's shoulder. "The last of what they did to you."
Penn nodded, eyes squeezed shut in clear pain.
Marion rushed over, and Arthur got out of his way so the healer could attend to him. A brilliant light flashed over Penn's heart. Marion had said he didn't have the mana to heal him all the way, but what he was able to do must have helped because Penn quickly recovered his composure.
"I'm... going to sit down," Marion said, jerking a thumb toward the nearest couch.
Arthur and Cressida helped him stagger over, where Marion flopped down, pulled a pillow under his head, and was instantly asleep.
Almost fondly, Cressida pulled his glasses off his face and set them to the side.
"He can't heal anyone else for a while," she said to Arthur in a way that clearly warned he better not ask.
He grinned back at her. "Yeah, better let him rest for future healings. Penn, follow me over here." He gestured for both to follow him into a secondary room, which had a desk and a few chairs. Arthur closed the door behind them and they all took a seat.
Penn was sweaty and still rubbed at his chest like it ached, but he wasn't worse for wear. "What now?" he asked with a wary glance at Arthur.
"I want to talk to you about the Rowantree Estate," Arthur said.
His suspicion visibly increased. "Don't tell me you want that too."
"I don't," Arthur said. "I want to see it restored—with you at its head." And that was the truth. He couldn't take over the land even if he were willing. Not while being a leader of a whole hive. Besides, that option had been closed to him from the moment his father was forced to give up his cards. Arthur hadn't grown up there, didn't know the land or its people.
Penn crossed his arms over his chest, unimpressed. "Then take your people and eradicate the scourglings there. That's what hives do, right?"
"There have been some complications," Arthur said, then briefly outlined what he and Brixaby had discovered.
Cressida gasped, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. "Arthur! You need to immediately take this to the king."
"I will," he said, "but nothing is going to happen within the next few hours. I need to deal with my uncle first."
Penn blinked. "What? Why?"
Arthur met his gaze. "Did he paint those runes on you voluntarily, or did the Mind Singer compel him?"
His cousin stiffened. "What are you implying?"
"I need to know if he can be reasoned with." Arthur threw out his guess. "He's still back at the estate, isn't he?"
Penn didn't immediately deny it. He drummed the tips of his fingers against the tabletop, though he didn't voice whatever he was thinking. Instead, he shook his head as if pushing something else away. "I'm not stupid, Arthur. I know you want his card, but you should know they're family cards. You already have one—no, two others. That's more than enough."
Now was the time for the truth. "I want the whole set, Penn."
"Wow." He drew back as if he'd been slapped, though Arthur’s Acting skill told him at least part of it was for play. "My father did warn that you were power-hungry, but—"
"It's not about power—"
Cressida snorted.
"Okay, it's a little about power," Arthur admitted. "The King's dragon herself charged Brix and me to become Mythics. I need Master of Spells and Master of Combat."
"My card," Penn said flatly.
"It's not your card anymore. You gave it up."
"Under duress."
"It's gone, Penn." Frustrated, Arthur slapped the table with the flat of his hand. "It's all going to be gone if we in the kingdom don't get serious about the scourglings. You just heard what I told you is growing under towns. It's growing under Rowantree, too!"
He scoffed. "So you say."
"What would a Mythic want with a mid-level estate?" Cressida asked sharply.
He looked affronted. “It is hardly mid-level—"
“Penn, pull your head out of your butt and think like the nobleman you were trained to be."
Arthur sent her a confused look, but she was too busy glaring daggers at Penn to see him.
Think like a nobleman?
Whatever that was supposed to mean actually got Penn to shut up and consider his next move. He sat back in his chair, still drumming his fingers. Arthur let him. Sometimes silence could be convincing on its own.
He wouldn't have a snowflake's chance in a wildfire of convincing him if not for Marion's ability to heal a heart deck. The first card was special, and surely Penn was still mourning Master of Combat. Yet Marion had healed that wound. The question was if it had helped clear some of Penn's resentment.
"I have two conditions," Penn said at last.
Cressida let out a breath and sat back, a slight smile on her face.
"You're in no position to make demands," Arthur said reflexively.
Cressida put a hand over his own. "Why don't you hear him out?"
She wanted this? Maybe that was what she meant by thinking like a nobleman: wringing concessions out of an enemy so they felt better about agreeing to terms.
Arthur was so glad he hadn't grown up like that. He nodded to Penn to continue, though he would never agree to anything outrageous.
"The first is you will let my father live, and your little Healer Prince will help him with the loss of his card."
That was... surprisingly reasonable.
"And the second?" Arthur asked.
He lifted his chin. "You will give me a Legendary card to fit my station. And I will have the right of refusal in case you try to offload a useless card."
Arthur briefly considered offering him the Time card just so he could see how Penn dealt with the time psychosis. Then he ran over the request again in his mind.
"You want a replacement Legendary card just for yourself? Not for your father?"
Penn looked back at him with hard, flinty eyes. "The Mind Singer couldn't get into his head. He put those runes on me, made me the bait for a trap. He—" His voice faltered for a moment before he continued. "He stood there and watched as she sung me into removing my own card."
"The Mind Singer has it in her core," Arthur said. He'd guessed that, but it still felt like a punch to the gut to hear.
"She does." Penn smiled nastily at him. "Have fun with that."
Damn it, Arthur thought. Then he shook his head. His first target was Master of Spells.
"I assume the Mind Singer's gone?" he asked instead.
His cousin started to nod, then stopped, surprised. "How did you know?"
"Well, someone has to be setting up the scourge hatching grounds all over the kingdom," Arthur said.
Penn shuddered, perhaps thinking of other grand estates about to go through the horrors his own had. "Yes, as far as I know she's gone, though she left some thralls behind."
Arthur nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "I agree to both terms. Your card will be paid once I have Master of Spells," he said, and the two cousins, eyeing each other warily, nodded to each other. They didn’t clasp hands in a shake, but this would be good enough.
Arthur pulled out a fresh piece of paper from his Personal Space. "In the spirit of cooperation," he said with a smile, all teeth, "why don't you describe the layout of the estates? Specifically, what's in the southwest corner?" That had been where the map showed him where the eggs were.
"The winery," Penn said. "Give me something to write with. I'll draw the layout."
Penn had quite the drawing hand. If Arthur didn't know better, he would have assumed it was card-made, but his heart deck was empty.
The layout he sketched made sense, and it seemed that the Mind Singer had been known to stay there for days on end. She enjoyed the cooler cellar rooms on hot days. Perhaps she'd taken the opportunity to seed the eggs there.
After they hashed out the details, especially the exits, Arthur turned to Cressida. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner I go to the king. Go ring the eruption bells, but tell Joy to inform the portal greens to hold off. That will get the hive assembled."
He was hive leader, so he might as well use the biggest stick he had.
"What do I do?" Penn asked.
Arthur clapped him on the shoulder, knowing he'd hate the familiarity. "Relax. Maybe talk to the healers and see if any of them can remove that song from your mind. Then get ready to take over the Rowantree estate once we've cleared it out."
****
Arthur found Brixaby up at the ledge, furiously sending and receiving scrolls with messenger Purples. Eavesdropping, Arthur heard they were from the other dragons interested in joining up.
“How are those Purples going back and forth between hives?” Arthur asked.
“Bribing the portal Greens,” Brixaby added as if this were the most natural thing in the world. “That is, if the Purples don’t have a swift transport card of their own and just keep the bribe themselves.”
Arthur started to ask, but then decided the less details he officially knew, the better. “Okay… Anyway, you didn’t eat that blink teleport card, did you?”
“What teleport card?” Brixaby asked, swinging around in surprise.
“That one you took off the Green that took me to Rowantree Estate.” What was the name? Oh yes. “In A Blink.”
He had the rare chance to see his dragon go still in shock for a moment before he silently reached into his Personal Space and brought out the card to hand over.
Arthur grinned. “You forgot about it, didn’t you?”
“It is only an Uncommon,” Brixaby snapped. “The teleportation is short distant, exceedingly unpleasant, and mana intensive. It is far below my notice.” A pause. “What do you want with it?”
“We’re mustering the hive to bring down on Rowantree estate,” Arthur said, tucking the card in his heart. Brixaby was right on all counts, but it still was a teleportation card.
“Good. Master of Spells will be much more useful than In a Blink.”
At that moment, the alarm bells began to ring.
Next chapter: Tuesday Feb 3rd, 9:00 PM PST