She's been crying at my desk for some time. She doesn't want me to leave, but she can't look at me. I sit quietly on my cot, hands folded, waiting. I don't know what to do with myself.

"I can't even ask you why you did it. I approved the ordinance. I knew what was on that paper." She finally lifts her head, wiping her cheeks dry. "You used me."

"I tried to stop him-"

"Quiet."

Everything goes still around me.

"I'll not have you make this about yourself. An innocent man is dead. A good man."

My head drops and I stare blankly at the floor.

"Do you know what we went through? We were running, Vash. Lihala was distracting the gnolls, and we ran. She sacrificed herself to save us. We saw Halsin standing at the parapets of the gate, calling for us. When we were safe inside, he gave us food. Shelter. Helped us build what little we had in the hollow. He grieved with us. Then, he swore he'd find a solution to the dangers on the road."

I close my eyes, listening to the pain in her voice.

"He did everything he thought was right for us. He had no idea Kagha was acting for them. That's not his fault." She pauses with a shuddered breath. "He didn't deserve what you did to him."

I glance up.

She's standing, hands pressed into my desk. Her jaw is tight and she's staring down at me with regret, anger, hate, perhaps.

"What right did you think you had?"

My mouth opens, then closes.

"Gods... We handed you everything you needed to seize power. We trusted you because we were desperate." She shakes her head, and her voice grows quiet. "It never fails to amaze me what people will tolerate when they're desperate."

"What do you think Halsin would have done once he returned?" I say softly. "He would have dismantled everything these people bled for and brought them back to the old ways. And what then? They fall into peril again and again. I will not become the authority required to compensate for his poor leadership."

Her eyes snap to mine and she swiftly moves toward me, slapping me hard across the face. "Stop trying to pretend that what you did was justified!"

I straighten and draw my hair back between my horns.

"It seems like every time you think of a solution, someone ends up dead. Why? Why does it have to be like this?"

I reach out. My fingers barely touch hers before she snatches her hand away. My face falls. "I have obligations. Duties. Especially to the people who rely on me."

She steps back, one hand rising to her throat. "You really think what you did was for the best, don't you?"

"I do."

She shifts back. "Then you're not the man I thought you were." She begins to leave, and before I can think, my hand closes around her tail.

"Vash!"

"Don't go."

"Let go of my tail."

"Please."

"I said, let go."

"...My oath is conquest."

Silence closes around us until my tent feels like a sealed chamber. My fingers loosen, and her tail slips free.

She stares down at me. "Conquest. You're a conquest paladin. Your procedural oath. The coup. The executions. Halsin. All of it was in the name of conquest." She holds her elbows. "Did you ever care about the grove? About us?" Her voice breaks. "About me? Or am I just another conquest?"

"Bex, no. That's not what-"

"You're going to tell me everything. Right now. The truth of it."

I press my lips thin.

"Go ahead."

I rise, looking down at her. Her dark eyes watch me. Soft sunlight peeks through my tent and colors her face. I memorize it. I want to touch her curls. Cradle her face in my palms. But she is withdrawn. I tuck my twitching hand into the front of my coat and straighten my posture, jaw drawn tight.

Her shoulders rise. "Vash?"

"For every seed Chauntea sows in life's fertile soil, I am the pestilence that blights her fields.

I am the reaper who tallies the dead, triumphant.

Where I cast my judgement, the damned will fall.

My name is the hymnal of fear that foments devotion-"

"Stop."

I pause. "The truth, Bex. As you asked."

She breathes, then nods.

"My conquest will be unrelenting…" My voice grows soft. "…until the world falls silent at my feet."

She takes a sharp breath in, mouth parted. She doesn't break her gaze. Then her chin quivers and her nose curls. "…is that meant to frighten me?"

"Bex... I swear this oath to Lord Bhaal. By His will, by my hand."

Her lips press thin and her face stiffens as a tear runs from the corner of her eye.

"You bastard." She steps forward. "I have survived life as a merchant's daughter." My heel shifts back as she closes the distance between us. "I've survived a falling city. I've survived starvation, exile, and monsters more terrible than you can imagine. Monsters worse than you."

"Is that what you think I am? A monster?"

She pauses, and her face settles somewhere between pity and anger. "I think you're a very lonely man."

Everything goes numb and something in my chest… breaks.

She grips the edge of my tent flap, hesitates, then leaves.

She's returned to the hollow with Danis. She didn't speak another word to me. Danis clung to her as they left. He had questions. Everyone had questions. Neither of us spoke of what happened.

I find myself sitting in the druid's chamber across from Emila. My leg is shaking and I'm staring blankly at the table in front of me.

Emila is coiled across from me, pipe in hand. She carefully empties it of ash before tapping in a fresh pile of pipeleaf and tamping it down with her thumb. She lights her pipe and takes a few drags, closing her eyes and blowing the smoke from her nose.

"In light of Halsin's death, it seems the exit clause for your stewardship is now void." She puffs smoke contemplatively. "So, how do we proceed?"

"As we have been. Cloakwood and the Cult of the Absolute are still a threat, and I have no intention of letting the matter rest."

"Understood, but by what authority does your stewardship continue?"

I pause and tap my claw on the table. "By the same authority entrusted to me. Necessity."

She holds her pipe steady in front of her. "Necessity can be objective."

"And yet most would agree that I am necessary."

She sits back and folds her cloak tightly in front of her.

"Have we heard back from Aelar about the gnolls on the Merchant's Road?" I ask.

"No," she says flatly. "There has been no word from them for the last three days."

"I'll travel to the Merchant's Road myself to see if I can find them." I glance around the druid's chamber. "Where is Rath?"

She speaks with a solemn timbre. "I regret to inform you that Rath is hereby deceased."

"Dead? Since when?"

"Since the day it happened, and we will discuss it no further."

My brow rises.

She takes a few puffs from her pipe.

"May his spirit rest. Who will be serving as First Druid?"

"My consecration will take place tomorrow, after the funeral."

"Good news, and you have my congratulations."

She glances at the mural to her left. It is an image of a druid priestess holding a vessel, surrounded by congregants.

"I have been the guardian of these lands since long before the grove became host to any druid circle. I knew one day I would lead these people, and I knew when that day came, I would despair."

"Why?"

"Because it would mean the Shepherd of Death has come."

I rest my foot on my knee, gripping my ankle. "That seems a bit grave, given the present state of the grove."

She gestures toward me with her pipe. "What do you want from us, Vash?"

"What are you expecting me to say? Treasure? Power? A good time?"

"I expect the truth."

I feel myself roll my eyes before I get a chance to settle my face. "Look at me, Emila." I tug on my coat. "I'm just a man making his way. You asked for help, and I helped. What more is there to say?"

She rests the mouth of her pipe against her lips.

"I want a purpose, like anyone else." Bex's voice echoes in my mind, and the ache in my heart returns. "...I want somewhere to belong."

She seems to settle at my words. "You showed up at our gate and restructured the entire circle in a matter of days. That kind of influence is not common, even among paladins. Who are you? Where in the Hells did you come from?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes. I'm no stranger to harboring dangerous men, but in order for me to work with you, I need to understand you."

My foot begins to shake. "I am no one. I woke up not long ago, conveniently devoid of any memories of my past life. I have nothing to give you."

"You mean everything you've done has been pure instinct?"

"I suppose so. If you want to put it like that."

"You do understand how alarming that is. Whoever you used to be..." She falls silent for a moment, taking one more drag before tapping her pipe on her hip. "That will need to be resolved. In the meantime, the ordinance will remain, but I want you to understand something." She leans forward. "I have survived many leaders who have followed wayward paths, Neel. Regardless of how this story ends, I will outlive you."

I give her a soft smile. "Then I can die knowing the grove is in good hands."

I make my way back to camp, quiet, none of my own thoughts running through my mind. The shades hum calmly. Bhaal hisses sadistic requests beneath them. I flex my fingers and scratch at my arms. The buzzing in my ears sets my teeth on edge.

When I make it back, I approach Ox. "Good afternoon."

He chews his cud. "What is it?"

"A humble request from a dear friend. I seem to be having trouble on the Merchant's Road. I need a beast to carry me north, quickly."

Ox grunts. "I don't know of any." He turns back to his hay, grabbing another mouthful.

I stand quietly, as he eats.

He turns back to me. "Was there anything else?"

"Ox... I need a horse."

His chewing slows and then his ears perk up.

We charge down the trail. Ox hammers the path, a black shire. He cuts across the tributary with a single stride as we make it to the Merchant's Road, halting only when we reach the site of the ambush. He champs and settles, his hooves pressing firm into the dirt road. I listen for any sign of gnolls or the wardens. I finally hear quiet cackling to our right. Ox whinnies as I pull his reins. He climbs the hill and we find ourselves surrounded by the gnoll warband.

Hyenas charge us. Ox bucks and strikes them, crumpling them beneath his hooves. The Doom Hammer rests against my back and I pull it free. I crack it into the head of a gnoll that tries to grab Ox. Arrows whiz past us. They miss me, but a few stick into Ox's side and neck. He pushes them out and his flesh mends.

A sharp howl comes from a cliff side as the gnoll leader steps forward. She growls low, and my mind begins to quiver. She's tadpoled. I slam the hammer into the back of another gnoll that charges before pressing my mind into hers.

Feed. Kill. Meat.

I break through. Her name is Flind.

...I remember her.

Shapes shift in her mind that solidify into images of me. I am dressed in finer clothes, and I have her cradled in my arms. I'm feeding her as a pup. Holding her. Teaching her. Breaking her. Molding her into what I needed her to be. A Warlord.

Her resolve wavers. "L-Lord...?"

"Pull back your warband or watch them die by my hand. Choose, Pup!"

She straightens and howls. The attack dies around us. The gnolls lower their weapons, snarling, but they obey.

"What happened to the druids who came to face you?"

"Meat... is... hiding..." She points toward a crack in the cliff face.

I dismount and approach the cavern entrance. I snap a flame into my fingers and hold it up. Inside I see hands rise to shade their eyes.

The wardens. Many bloodied and wounded.

I turn back to Flind and press into her mind. "Take your warband and go. These people are under my protection."

"Meat... must... feed."

"Are you telling me no?"

Her shoulders rise, and her hands curl into her chest. She whimpers softly. "Noooo Lord..."

I hold out my hand. "I am generous, Pup. Don't bring this upon yourself."

"M-meat..."

My fist clenches, strangling her mind. She drops, kicking and squeezing her head. "Noooooooo! Good pup! I good pup!"

I release her and she lies on her back, panting. She finally clambers to her feet and howls once again. The gnolls cackle and step back before scurrying off. She looks to me once more.

"Rally your band and get to Moonrise. Meet me there."

She whimpers before darting after them.

I walk back to the wardens. "Where is Aelar?"

Sunken faces stare back at me before I find Maylee.

"Vash," she breathes. Her mouth is dry and she's cradling Aelar in her arms.

I take a breath and climb inside. "Aelar. Is he-"

He's laying stiff. He's been dead for a few days.

My stomach drops, and my voice grows quiet. "Come, Maylee. It's time to go." I move to take his body from her, but she screams. No words escape her, but her wail rattles me. I pause. "Maylee. Let's take him home."

Her breath is heavy. I gently reach out and grip his body, slowly pulling him from her.

She shifts her knees to her chest as she watches me take him from her. A few of the wardens follow me out.

I carry Aelar to Ox and lay the body across the horses back, tying him in place. I pull a canteen from my saddle. They pass it among themselves. Maylee emerges, limp and vacant.

"Ride with me," I offer.

She walks up to me, and I lift her onto Ox's back. I mount him and she lays against my back. We walk back together at a steady pace. The wardens move slowly, but I leave no one behind. Maylee wraps her arms around me, face buried in my coat. I feel an occasional sob, but most of the time she lays still against me. I press my hand into hers. She shifts behind me as she grips my tunic.

...had I known, I would have handled this myself. The wardens could break from this loss. Once they have time to make peace, I need to rally them. For now, they need to rest.

It is dark when we return. The torches are properly lit along the redoubt. I leave them to settle, and return to camp, drained and aching.

As I arrive, the camp is still. I look around. With Bex gone, it feels vast and empty. I feel cold. I step into my tent and find Astarion deep in meditation on my cot. I get undressed and carefully climb into bed, wrapping my arms around him.

"Finally." His voice is groggy as he clings to my arms.

"Will you accompany me to the Rites, tomorrow?"

"An excuse to wear my finer clothes for once? Of course."

I kiss his neck and give him a soft squeeze, then quickly drift off with him in my arms.

Morning comes and I am rummaging through my clothes to find something appropriate. Astarion pulls on a fine blouse and clean trousers.

"I don't know if I have anything," I mutter.

Aside from my usual tunic and trousers, the clothes Astarion purchased don't seem to fit the occasion. I tug something free, assuming it was a belt, only to find myself holding a full harness. A large one. "Was this meant for me?"

He glides up to me, dragging his fingers across my chest. "We don't ask. I tell you when to wear it."

I press my lips thin and carefully put it back. I find slightly nicer tunic and trousers. Black, clean, comfortable.

He smiles and begins tucking in my tunic. "For once you don't look like a brigand."

I grab his wrist as he dips his fingers into the front of my trousers. "Careful." I give him a playful grin.

Astarion wraps his arms around my neck. "You shouldn't be this horny before a funeral."

My face falls. "Right."

He rests his palm on my cheek. "I'm sorry for reminding you."

I lean down, kissing him gently.

He sighs with a smile. "So, what happened between you and Bex? Why did she leave?"

"I'm surprised you want to know."

"Of course I want to know. It's not just hot gossip. We're talking about a schism in authority. Halsin's dead, and suddenly the Peace Bringer and his lieutenant are no longer speaking. It doesn't seem coincidental, and I won't be the only one who notices."

I pause, my lips curling inward. "Halsin... would have dismantled my entire system if he had returned."

He stares at me for a moment before his eyes grow wide. "By the nine, you killed him, didn't you!"

My head dips. I can barely look at him.

He begins laughing. "You absolute fiend!" He slaps my arm. "How could you! I mean, think of all the trees who won't have their bear friend anymore!"

"Astarion, no," I say with a vague smile.

"No wonder she left. How on earth did she find out?"

"She witnessed it. That was not intentional."

"Of course not," he says through pursed lips. "How did you do it?"

"Does it matter?"

"Call me curious."

I bite my lip, trying to hold back a grin. "I had him by the wrist as he hung over the abyss. I let him go, but he clung to my arm. So, I cut off his hand." My nostrils flare with my restraint. "...I was never really attached to him." I snort.

Astarion furrows his brow, pressing a hand into my chest. "Are you okay?"

My smile falters and my heart sinks. I pull him in, burying my face into his shoulder.

He holds me quietly.

The druids have gathered on the riverbank. The Chionthar flows steadily as Hembry and I stand on a platform. Aelar's body is prepared and laid on a pyre. Effigies to Halsin and Rath are erected next to him. One has the skull of a bear, resting high on the shoulders of the wooden man. Dried oak leaves are draped across it, rustling gently in the breeze. The other is covered in raven feathers interspersed with more dried oak leaves.

I stand before the circle. A hand firmly tucked behind my back. My lip twitches. I can't help but scan the faces for Bex.

"Halsin. Rath. Now B-… Aelar." I try to focus. "Good men who gave their lives in service to the grove. Halsin was the arms that helped the needy. Rath, the spirit that carried us to a new dawn. Aelar..."

I stop. I feel my throat tighten, but I clear it and begin again. "Aelar, my friend, who-"

"You broke your promise!" A woman staggers out of the congregation. "You were supposed to bring Halsin back alive!" She throws a spoiled tomato at me. Red pulp bursts against the planks of the platform, spattering my freshly waxed boots.

I glance at two of the grove wardens. They approach the woman, but she bolts. "No!" Her scream splits the air. They catch her by the arms, restraining her. She wheezes with barely enough strength to fight them. "You promised!" They drag her down the path leading to the cells with what remains of the Shadow Druid loyalists.

Several people in the congregation watch her. Voices rise, and some druids glance at me.

My voice softens. "We are all weary."

A tiefling steps forward from the crowd. Arka. She reaches for me, standing before the platform. I kneel and take her hand.

"It's as you said, Vash. Some should grieve where it does not burden others. We are all grieving."

"You remembered."

She nods softly and squeezes my hand before returning to the congregation. I look across the faces once more. "My friend, Aelar, who led the wardens dutifully and protected the grove from the Shadow Druids. Their deaths will not go unanswered. May my peace be defended. May our circle survive."

Heads bow in silent prayer.

I step back as Hembry conjures a flame. "May their ashes feed the roots, and their spirits walk beneath the boughs of the Oak Father. Long live the Peace Bringer." He lights the effigies and the pyre.

I stand vigil. Sharp cries and soft sobs rise from my people as the pyre and effigy burn into the quiet of the morning. Emila sits coiled near the platform. Crimson cloak crossed tightly over her chest. The light of the fire flickers in her grey eyes. After a time, my gaze drifts to my boots.

I'll have to polish them again.

Hembry nods to Emila. She slides onto the platform and takes her place before the congregation. He approaches her with a ceremonial laurel. She lowers herself, and Hembry places it on her head.

"Silvanus bless you with wisdom. May your judgement be merciful.

Silvanus bless you with strength. May your might bring balance.

Silvanus bless you with compassion. May your heart beat with the rhythm of the circle."

She straightens and takes Hembry's hands. "Thank you." She shifts forward and speaks to the congregation. "Where the roots have rotted, we have dug them out. From the soil something verdant has grown. We were not cast into shadow. The dawn has come, and with it, a new serenity.

Long live the Peace Bringer."