Chapter 4: Part 2 - Family Secrets

Orr. Of all the places Yinn could have sent them... Jean knew his location as soon as he took off the blindfold Yinn had insisted they wear. To one side rose a monolithic structure, all broken arches and odd angles. To the other was a smaller ruin, equally bizarre and fractured. He knew enough Orrian history to recognise them as cathedrals; it hardly mattered if he couldn't put names to them. Barely two minutes away, at the foot of the slope he'd landed on, was a camp.

Jean tried to look casual as he strode through the magical barriers, just in case any competitors were watching. He didn't want them to know how Orr made his heart race and his palms sweat. More than anything, he didn't want Marissa to know. The camp was quiet, though. A handful of researchers and explorers worked nearby, but there was no sign of any travellers other than himself.

Meaning Yinn had comprehensively split them up. Jean wasn't sure how he felt about that. Avoiding confrontation with the other teams would be welcome, but he needed to find the rest of his family soon. Marissa was the only one with the clues from the last round; she hadn't let anyone else so much as glance at them.

Jean picked an explorer at random: a hooded sylvari, the markings on her forehead making her look somewhat angry. "I don't suppose you've seen a human mesmer around here? Tall, well-dressed, rather haughty?"

The sylvari stared at him for several seconds, as though trying to decide what to make of him. Eventually, she folded her arms. "We've no lack of mesmers, or any other profession, for that matter. You humans all look the same to me, though."

Ah. Jean supposed he had been rather abrupt; no wonder the sylvari had responded with similar rudeness. He stuck out a hand. "Let's start again. My name is Jean Valpari. It's a pleasure to meet you, even in this inauspicious location. I'm currently looking for my sister and two cousins–"

"Valpari?" The sylvari's forehead wrinkled. "You're looking for Oska, then? He passed through here not half an hour ago. Heading west."

Of course. This sylvari was from the Order of Whispers. Jean had never been very clear on whether Oska was himself a member, but he seemed acquainted with an awful lot of them.

There was someone else from within the Order he'd been thinking about lately, too. Oska could wait a few more minutes. "I don't suppose you know Scholar Primm?"

"Primm?" The sylvari was still frowning. "Doesn't she work somewhere in the Shiverpeaks? Keeping an eye on the grawl, or some such?"

"That's the one. Have you, er, seen her lately?"

The sylvari only grew more perplexed, until Jean knew he'd made a mistake. He'd hoped the Order's interest in Yinn would be common knowledge amongst its members, but it appeared that wasn't the case. Their investigation into Yinn was clearly secretive – if they were still investigating at all.

"Never mind," Jean said quickly. "Primm's an old drinking buddy. I was just wondering if she ever left the Shiverpeaks, but apparently she doesn't. Now, about my cousin...?"

He left the camp a few minutes later, with two heartening pieces of information: Oska wasn't far ahead of him, having stopped to buy supplies in the camp – and he was with Auri.

It wasn't long before Jean started to question if the sylvari understood time even less than she understood humans. Malchor's Leap was vast and definitely not featureless; it would have been more hospitable if it had been empty. Jean found himself skirting roving packs of Risen, sinkholes of bubbling tar, stinking pools of oily water. He couldn't understand what the Pact was still doing out here – Zhaitan was deader than undead, wasn't he? – or why Yinn would send his teams to such a place. Surely even his audience would tire of watching such dreary surroundings.

If they were watching at all. They had only Light's Memory to thank for that piece of information; Jean had found little to corroborate it. They'd seemed honest enough, but... What if it was all a ruse? What if they were just one more piece of Yinn's manipulation, right down to this 'Archon' the asura had spoken of? None of it felt real.

Though if this was truly Yinn's idea of entertainment for himself alone, someone needed to give him a stern talking to, maybe even therapy. Sending them here was... unhinged.

"Don't move." His thoughts were scattered by the voice, only a step behind him – and by the dagger that glinted at his throat.

Even so, Jean's shoulders slumped in relief. "Oska."

Oska circled round to look Jean in the eye. "Prove it's you."

Jean's mind went blank. "I, ah... I like watermelons."

"That's the most inane thing I've ever heard." Slowly, Oska lowered the dagger.

"And that's enough to confirm it's me?" Jean wasn't sure whether to be amused or insulted. "You're far too young to know what 'inane' means."

"I grew up next door to you, didn't I?" Oska sheathed his dagger, scanning their surroundings. After a moment, he whistled – and as Jean had expected, Auri emerged from the shadows of a nearby ruin.

Jean nodded towards her. "How do you know that's Auri?"

Oska looked at her. "We just–"

"–Know," Auri finished.

Jean sighed. He supposed that was proof the twins weren't an illusion. "You're both well, then. Any idea where Marissa is? Or what's going on out here?"

"All the teams have been split up," Oska said, confirming Jean's suspicions. "We were both dropped off south of here. We saw two asura from the Nth Degree find one another, on the edge of the Valley of Lyss. They were looking into a ravine. I think another of their teammates was down there."

Jean shuddered. "Yinn wasn't too careful where we were placed, then."

Oska was silent, which was enough for Jean to understand where his thoughts were going. Marissa could have been deposited in a pit of tar, or in a nest of Risen, or in the ocean. There was no guarantee she was alive.

Jean swallowed dryly. "Marissa won't be easy to kill."

"She's not dead. I'd know if she was," Auri said. She narrowed her eyes, turning her face towards the weak sun as though she could read meaning there – and said no more. Jean resisted an urge to take her by the shoulders and shake her. If Marissa did die and Auri felt it, would she think it important enough to tell the rest of them?

"What now?" Oska asked, which startled Jean back to the present. The thief was so capable, but also so young. Jean forgot that, sometimes.

"West, of course," he replied.

"We don't have the clues."

"We don't need them. Yinn isn't likely to send us back towards safety, is he?"

Oska considered that for a moment, then nodded. "Agreed."

Their feet crunched over the dry ground as they set off again, every step carrying them closer to an end Jean couldn't imagine. A scroll full of riddles and the desolation of Orr – what did Yinn expect them to make of that? This round would only be worthwhile if their mysterious watchers enjoyed seeing the teams fight for their lives.

They'd been walking for only a few minutes when Oska broke the quiet. "It's good to have a chance to talk to you without Marissa around."

Jean looked up, startled. "Is it?"

"There are things we need to speak of. They affect all of us."

"I see." Jean glanced uneasily over his shoulder, as though Marissa was going to jump out and surprise them. Neither Risen nor his sister followed them, though. Jean wasn't sure which would be scarier. "All right. What did you want to tell me?"

"I think you've heard the rumours. Yinn doesn't operate alone."

The rumours. Ah. "You're talking about the Archon."

Oska didn't even blink at the name. "I first discovered their existence after the second round. That guild we met in the Shiverpeaks were asking about them."

"Light's Memory?" That made sense. They were the ones Vasha had gone to for help, the only ones she'd believed would be honest with her. They seemed to know more of Yinn's secrets than anyone else. "What did they find out?"

For the first time, Oska looked frustrated. "I don't know. The sources they used wouldn't speak to me. After we ambushed Floxx, our team developed a reputation. Yinn's staff are reluctant to go anywhere near us."

Jean found his hands clenching into fists. He shared Oska's frustration. Marissa thought she was subtle, but she had a tendency to go after the things she wanted with more brute force than cunning. "But you're certain the Archon is guiding Yinn?"

"Yes." Oska looked at Jean for the first time, his blue-green eyes steady.

"Why does it matter? I know Marissa wants to go after Yinn, but the rest of us don't care who's in charge – do we?"

"Less than sylvan hounds care about omnomberries," Auri put in. Jean shot her a look, but she was staring off into the distance, squinting at something only she could see.

Something had occurred to Jean, though, and it had nothing to do with omnomberries. "Why did you want to talk about this when Marissa wasn't around?"

Oska still didn't blink. "Because archons are members of the Durmand Priory. It's one of their highest ranks."

Oh. That changed things. Marissa had tolerated entering the Priory headquarters as an alternative to chasing rabbits around in the snow, but she hadn't been comfortable there. And why would she be? She'd spent her childhood longing to join them, but when she'd finally become an initiate, she'd barely lasted two weeks. Jean still didn't know what had happened to her, or why she'd refused to speak of it in all the years after. Maybe that was nothing more than injured pride... Or maybe not.

"You know Marissa joined them, then," Jean said. "It was long before you were born."

Oska glanced back at Auri. "There aren't many family secrets that are closed to us."

Of course there weren't. Even before Oska became a thief, the twins had always seemed to know a bit too much. "You think, if Marissa found out about the Archon, she'd take it personally?"

"Wouldn't you?"

Jean had no idea. He didn't have his sister's capacity to hold a grudge and he'd always known he wasn't as single-minded as she was. Their parents had found that a failing in him; the older he got, the more Jean thought it was a blessing.

"Jean..." Oska sounded hesitant. "Have you noticed anything about Marissa lately?"

"Like what?"

Oska stared straight ahead. "Like the fact she's becoming dangerous."

Jean's first instinct was to defend her, but he swallowed it down. "What do you mean?"

"This whole game has put her on edge. Ambushing Floxx. Trying to cut deals with Yelazar. This vendetta against Yinn. I've never seen her so... angry."

The truth was, neither had Jean – but none of it surprised him. He'd always known Marissa's worst tendencies; this game was just bringing them to the fore.

"Do you want me to say I'll take care of it?" he asked.

Oska shrugged. "I don't know. It's just... If Marissa does something really reckless, we might have to stop her. I wanted you to know what we've been thinking."

"Thank you for being honest with me. You don't need to worry about Marissa, though." Even as Jean spoke, he wondered if it was the truth. Still, he didn't want the twins to be scared of their own cousin. "Whatever Marissa does, I can handle her."

"Good," Auri said suddenly. When Jean turned, he found she'd come to a stop and was pointing towards the north-west. "Because I know where she is."