Before leaving for the Manoir at the Capital, Raymond called for a simple meeting with the commanders.
Raymond and Alex descended through the fortress.
They passed the Hall of Standards, where banners from centuries of DoeFuera victories hung motionless in the still air. They crossed an inner bridge suspended above one of the forge chasms, where rivers of molten metal cast red light over the carved stone. They moved past doors marked with Adalisa's sigils, each symbol faintly glowing as they approached and dimming after they passed.
Soldiers bowed as Raymond walked by.
Some looked toward Alex with questions they did not dare ask.
Neither man slowed.
At the western command chamber, Commander Baulen waited with the senior officers.
Raymond entered without ceremony.
"I am returning to the capital," he announced. "Lord Alex will accompany me."
A murmur passed through the room before discipline silenced it.
Baulen stepped forward. "For how long?"
"Until the threat to the family is understood."
"And the fortress?"
"Yours to command under emergency authority."
Raymond removed the black-and-silver command signet from his coat and placed it into Baulen's hand.
The commander stared at it.
"My lord?"
"If an imperial order conflicts with the safety of Melvalore, you will delay compliance until I return."
Baulen's eyes lifted. "That could be interpreted as defiance."
"It is judgment. Use it."
Baulen closed his hand around the signet. "Yes, my lord."
Alex turned to Captain Saer, a lean woman with close-cropped silver hair and a scar running along her jaw.
"The lower sea gates remain sealed," he said. "Double the night watch. No vessel enters without blood verification and an alchemical scan."
"Understood."
"If anything approaches from the inland passes?"
"Signal the capital, then collapse the outer road if necessary."
Alex nodded.
Every officer straightened.
Raymond looked across them all.
"Melvalore has guarded the empire for generations. Today, it guards our return. Hold the mountain."
Fists struck armored chests in salute.
"We hold," the officers answered.
One hour later, Raymond and Alex stood on the lower departure platform deep within the mountain.
The chamber was vast; its ceiling lost in darkness. A narrow alchemical rail disappeared into a tunnel ahead, lined by blue crystals that awakened one after another, casting cold light across the stone. The transport waiting on the platform was long and armored, built low to the ground, its metal body engraved with the DoeFuera crest.
Only a small escort would accompany them.
Speed mattered more than ceremony.
Outside, the storm had reached Melvalore.
Rain swept across the mountain in silver sheets. Wind tore around the towers, screaming through the battlements. Far below, the sea struck the cliffs again, but the fortress did not move.
It had never moved.
It was mountain, weapon, refuge, and memory fused into one impossible structure.
Alex paused before entering the transport.
Through a narrow opening in the departure chamber, he could see a portion of the sea: black water, white foam, and the distant line of the horizon disappearing beneath the storm.
The transport doors opened.
They stepped inside.
As the vehicle began to move, the blue crystals along the tunnel flared in sequence, illuminating the carved walls. Ancient symbols passed beside them, some military, some alchemical, some so old their meanings had been forgotten.
The train accelerated.
The Fortress receded behind them, but its presence remained, a weight in the earth, a promise at their backs.
.....
The steady rhythm of the alchemical rail filled the compartment.
Blue light flashed beyond the windows as the transport cut through the mountain's hidden passages.
Neither man had spoken since Melvalore disappeared behind them.
Alex sat opposite Raymond, staring at the dark glass.
Finally, he broke the silence.
"I should have been there."
Raymond did not need to ask who he meant.
"Eris is alive."
"That doesn't change what I said."
Alex's jaw tightened.
"He was attacked."
His hands clenched.
"Attacked badly enough that Lyanna sent word to Melvalore."
The frustration in his voice grew harder.
"Whatever happened, it was serious enough for my mother to pull me away from the fortress without explanation."
Raymond remained silent.
That silence irritated Alex more than any answer could have.
"I left him there."
"You left him in his own home."
"I left him carrying responsibilities that should never have fallen on him."
The words came out sharper than he intended.
"He was already dealing with the estate. The fallout from Ada's death. The household. The servants looking to him for answers he didn't have."
Alex looked away.
"And while I was here managing walls and soldiers, my son ended up in a sickbed."
The compartment fell quiet.
Rainwater streaked across the glass outside.
After several moments Raymond finally spoke.
"You believe your presence would have prevented it."
Alex didn't answer.
Because he did.
"Perhaps it would have," Raymond continued.
"Or perhaps I would have been the one lying in that bed."
Raymond's voice remained calm.
"We do not know."
Alex let out a bitter breath.
"I am tired of not knowing."
For the first time, Raymond understood exactly what his son meant.
Not the attack.
Everything.
Adalisa.
Ada.
Now Eris.
One disaster after another.
Each arriving with questions and leaving without answers.
"I know," Raymond said quietly.
Alex rubbed a hand across his face.
For a moment he looked older than he normally allowed himself to appear.
"When the message arrived..."
He paused.
"...all I could think was that I was about to lose another child."
The words hung heavily between them.
Neither man moved.
Neither tried to soften the truth.
Because there was no comfort to offer.
Raymond looked out the window.
The blue light reflected faintly across the glass.
"Eris survived."
"Yes."
"And when we reach the manor, he will still be alive."
Alex nodded.
Slowly.
"Then that is where our attention belongs."
The train continued forward.
For a time neither spoke.
But the silence no longer felt empty.
Both men were thinking of the same destination.
The same young man waiting for them.
And the same question they would demand answered the moment they arrived.
Who had dared lay a hand on a DoeFuera?
…..
Dawn had not yet broken over the horizon when the carriage passed through the gates of the DoeFuera Manor.
The estate lay shrouded in darkness, with only a handful of illuminated windows betraying the presence of servants awake long before the rest of the household. Rain from the night before had left the gardens glistening with moisture, and a light mist still lingered above the lawns.
The journey had lasted three days and two nights.
Three days of alchemical trains, transport relays, and roads traveled with scarcely any pause.
Raymond and Alex had informed no one of their departure beyond Melvalore's command circle. The fortress continued to operate as though its masters still resided within its walls.
But Lyanna knew them.
She knew her husband.
She knew her son.
The moment they received the letter, they would begin the journey home.
She had known it with absolute certainty.
That was why, when they passed through the manor doors before dawn, she and Vyera were already waiting.
Lyanna stood in the entrance hall, straight-backed despite the hour. Beside her, Vyera looked exhausted but alert.
Alex did not waste a second.
The moment greetings had been exchanged, he asked,
"Where is he?"
Vyera understood immediately.
"He's still asleep."
Alex simply nodded.
Then he turned and headed for the staircase.
No one tried to stop him.
Eris's room was silent.
The faint glow of the bedside lamps cast soft shadows across the walls.
Alex pushed the door open carefully.
His son was asleep.
For the first time since receiving the letter, Alex felt the pressure around his chest ease ever so slightly.
Eris looked pale.
Thinner.
There were still traces of weakness in his face.
But he was breathing.
Steadily.
Peacefully.
Alive.
Alex walked to the bedside.
For a moment, he simply stood there, looking at his sleeping son.
The weeks spent at Melvalore.
Ada's disappearance.
Adalisa's death.
All of it had taught him one thing: some absences became permanent.
This time, he had arrived in time to see that Eris was still here.
His hand came to rest briefly on his son's shoulder.
A small gesture.
Almost awkward.
Then he withdrew it.
"He's going to give you a hard time when he learns you were watching him while he slept."
Vyera's voice came softly from the doorway.
Alex turned.
A faint smile rested on her face.
The first genuine smile he had seen from her in a very long time.
"I'd gladly take that risk."
The smile faded almost immediately.
Silence settled once more.
Then Vyera stepped further into the room.
"He won't wake for several more hours."
Alex looked back at Eris.
"I can wait."
"No."
The answer came instantly.
"You've just arrived after three days of travel. Go wash. Eat something. Get a few hours of rest."
Alex opened his mouth to protest.
Vyera raised a hand.
"The butler had a meal prepared for you."
He closed his mouth.
"Eris will still be here when he wakes up."
This time, he found no argument.
After a moment, he nodded.
"All right."
One last look at his son.
Then he left the room with her.
While Alex followed Vyera upstairs, Raymond remained in the entrance hall.
The journey had been long.
Three days and two nights of movement with little sleep and even less patience.
Yet despite the fatigue weighing on his bones, he found himself looking toward the upper floor where Eris slept.
Alive.
The letter had said as much.
Seeing the manor standing before him made the words easier to believe.
Lyanna watched him quietly.
"You look older."
Raymond snorted.
"I traveled across half the Empire without stopping."
"That's your excuse?"
"It's the one I'm using."
For a brief moment, something close to amusement touched Lyanna's expression.
Then it vanished.
The house felt different.
Not broken.
But strained.
Like a rope pulled too tight.
Raymond noticed it immediately.
The servants spoke more softly.
The halls felt heavier.
Every person they passed carried the alertness of someone waiting for another disaster.
"How bad was it?" he asked.
Lyanna knew immediately what he meant.
"Bad enough."
The answer was simple.
And somehow that simplicity said everything.
Raymond nodded once.
They began walking.
Neither hurried.
The manor was quiet at this hour.
Most of the household still slept.
Only servants and guards moved through the corridors.
After several minutes they arrived at Lyanna's office.
The fire had been prepared before their arrival.
Its warmth spread through the room.
Raymond sat heavily in the chair opposite her desk.
For the first time since leaving Melvalore, he allowed himself to relax.
Only slightly.
Lyanna poured tea.
Neither touched it.
For a while they sat in silence.
Married for more than forty years, they had never needed words merely to fill a room.
Eventually, Lyanna spoke.
"You should rest."
"So should you."
"I wasn't sitting inside a train for three days."
"No."
Raymond looked at her carefully.
"You were worrying for three days instead."
Lyanna didn't deny it.
Because she couldn't.
He leaned back in his chair.
"How is he?"
"Sleeping."
"Good."
"The healers are satisfied with his progress."
"Satisfied isn't the same thing as happy."
"No."
That earned the faintest movement of Raymond's eyebrow.
"Then I'll speak with them later."
Lyanna nodded.
For a moment, neither said anything.
Then Raymond looked toward the window where the first pale signs of dawn were beginning to appear beyond the glass.
"The family is scattered."
It wasn't truly a question.
Lyanna understood.
Ada was gone.
Eris was recovering.
The youngest granddaughter was living elsewhere with her fiancé.
Alex and Vyera had spent more time apart than together these last months.
Even Melvalore had been left behind.
The realization settled heavily between them.
"Only temporarily," Lyanna said.
"Let's hope so."
For the first time that morning, Raymond sounded tired.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
The same exhaustion that had settled over every member of the family since Ada's disappearance.
Lyanna reached across the desk and rested her hand over his.
A simple gesture.
One she rarely allowed herself.
Raymond looked down at it.
Then at her.
Neither spoke.
They had lived too much of their lives together to require words for everything.
Outside, the darkness slowly retreated from the sky.
And for the first time in three days and two nights, the Lord of Melvalore allowed himself to believe that at least one of his grandchildren would still be there when morning came.