The first part of Aerys's plan relied on a kind of manipulation no child should have understood so well. Callius nearly collapsed laughing when he heard it.Even jinn burst into laughter the next morning after Aerys explained her role in the scheme. Then she disappeared into the forest like a startled doe, vanishing between the trees on her way toward ios tower to deliver Aerys's "official apologies" to Lissandra.
Afterward, she was meant to meet them beside one of their hidden camps near the River north of the fortress.
Callius remained behind with the others in case Titos launched another raid while Aerys and Roque headed toward the rendezvous point.
Night fell. ,jinn never arrived.Despite the darkness, Aerys and Roque climbed the narrow trail leading toward ios tower . The forest felt wrong at night. Too still. The branches overhead swallowed the moonlight while the cold wind carried distant sounds through the mountains, Neither of them spoke.
They reached the hill beneath the tower shortly before dawn. Five of Titos's men wandered near the entrance.
Rosis suddenly grabbed Aerys's arm and dragged him down into the undergrowth, Fifty meters away, Vixos sat perched atop a thick tree branch overlooking the road like some carrion bird waiting for a corpse to stop twitching.
Aerys's stomach tightened. "Had they captured jinn?" "No, She was too fast for that , Then had someone betrayed them?"
The thought settled heavily inside his chest ,They waited another hour before finally retreating. By the time they returned to camp, the sun had already risen above the mountains. Aerys had rarely felt so exhausted, Blisters covered his feet. The skin along the back of his neck had begun peeling from sunburn. Every step sent dull pain crawling through his legs.
Léa rushed toward them the moment they entered the ruined fort , Something was wrong.
She threw herself into Rosis's arms first, trembling violently—not from fear, but rage. Then she turned toward Aerys with an expression so sharp it almost startled him.
"I want you to butcher that bastard, Aerys," she hissed. "I want you to cut his balls off."
Titos , Aerys immediately scanned the camp , No sign of Callius. Something cold tightened inside his chest.
"What happened?" he asked quietly. "Where's Callius?"
Léa explained everything rapidly, anger making her voice shake, Titos had captured Quinn on her return from ios.
He had beaten her publicly. Then he had deliberately sent word to their camp, knowing it would provoke Aerys.
But Callius had reacted first. The brilliant, arrogant son of an Imperator still believed ancient honor and noble customs meant something here.
He was wrong.
Outside the academie , Callius would have been untouchable , Not here. Aerys grabbed Léa by the shoulders hard enough to make her flinch.
"He's alive?"
"Of course I'm alive, my dear prince," a rough voice growled behind them.
Everyone turned, Callius emerged slowly from the ruined fort shirtless Rosis visibly paled. One side of Callius's face had swollen so badly it barely looked human anymore. One eye was completely shut. The other was bloodshot and ringed purple. Both lips had split open, and dried blood crusted along his jaw and throat. Bruises spread across his ribs and chest in ugly shades of black and violet.
Three of his fingers bent sideways unnaturally.One shoulder hung lower than the other.Dislocated.
The camp fell silent, Callius—the beautiful heir, the perfect noble son—looked ruined. Unlike Aerys, they were not used to seeing beauty destroyed, And beneath the blood and sweat lingered another smell Urine, Callius reeked of it.
Yet somehow he still managed a crooked grin.
"They smashed my face in when I challenged Titos," he muttered. "Then they pissed on me for good measure."
Rosis closed his eyes slowly, Callius continued almost cheerfully.
"They locked me in their dungeon afterward, but Paul let me out. Good lad. He even agreed to open the gate for us later if we need him to."
Aerys stared at him coldly.
"I didn't think you were this stupid."
"Of course he's stupid," Rosis muttered. "He wants to join Knights order someday. Those idiots spend half their lives beating each other senseless."
He rubbed dirt from the leather cord tying back his hair.
"You should've waited for us."Aerys cut the conversation short.
"but What's done is done. We continue as planned."Callius slowly cracked his swollen knuckles. The sound was wet.
"Fine by me," he growled, Then the smile vanished from his face completely ,His remaining eye darkened.
"But when the time comes…"
The air around him seemed colder suddenly.
"Titos is mine."