Chapter Seven

The Unmarked, Book One

Oct 24, 2025

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River

It was the largest fire that had ever happened in Aura. The city inn along with the surrounding homes had caught fire and were burned to the ground. There were no casualties, only mild burns and aching lungs. But thirteen families had lost their homes. River had spent the entire night helping people and trying to put out the flames.

Once the flames were put out and the injured were tended to, some sense of order was beginning to take shape. Members and unworthy began to be mobilized and given tasks to clear rubble, while Third Orders were broken out into teams, some to inspect buildings, others to interview witnesses, and others to tend to the victims of the fire. Guardians who were not put on specific duties relating to the fire were ordered to proceed with “business as usual”, but with the notice of gathering and reporting any information concerning the incident.

Wanting nothing more than to go home and rest after having barely slept the past two days, River had to suppress a groan when he was handed a last-minute task report. He was supposed to be off-duty for the morning.

At least I’m not the one that has to deal with all this paperwork River thought with a smirk.

As he skimmed through his assignment for the day, he noticed a couple of Third Orders, Coal and Bryn, distributing flyers. He walked over to them. “What’s this?” he asked.

“Wanted posters. Just came in from Ardus” Bryn replied.

“Hard to believe we have to investigate something even more eventful than the fire last night, huh?” Coal added excitedly. Coal liked his drama.

River took a poster. When he saw the image, he clenched his jaw so tight he thought his teeth would crack. There, staring at him back from the page, was the mystery traveler who had danced with Dawn on the night of the festival.

“WANTED BY THE PALACE

Wolfe Bloodwood.

Blasphemer and Heretic.

Anyone possessing information must report to the Governor’s Hall immediately.

Your contribution will be highly rewarded”.

“So it is who I think it is” Bryn said as he studied River’s expression.

River had been with Bryn and his sister, Dove, when Dawn had gone to dance with Wolfe. She had done it to make him jealous, probably because he was talking to Dove instead of her. River tried not to get annoyed at that. Dawn had been jealous because she cared for him. Isn’t that what he wanted? It didn’t matter. Dawn was his now. She was…

Where was she? He hadn’t seen her among the helpers during the fire.

“Riv?” Bryn asked.

“Yeah. It’s the guy who was dancing with Dawn on the night of the Festival”.

Coal’s eyes widened. “What! No way?” he asked in dismay.

River hoped the glare he cast Coal’s way conveyed the meaning of “shut up” as strongly as if he would have shouted it from the rooftops.

Coal clamped his mouth shut.

“What in Tariah’s name was he doing in Aura?” Bryn asked quietly “Do you think he’s still here?”

River shook his head, which was beginning to spin from exhaustion, smoke and nerves. “I don’t know” he said, “I just need to find Dawn”. He looked to Coal and Bryn. “One of you report to my father immediately. Wolfe is in the region, and maybe even still inside the city. A search needs to be organized to find him”.

The two nodded.

River turned on his heels and ran to Dawn’s house, all exhaustion melting off of him in the heat of the moment’s adrenaline.

Wolfe Bloodwood was here only two nights ago. River thought. But why? Does he know he’s being hunted by the Queen?

Aura was on the edge of the map: it was as north as one could get. Going further led you into uncharted lands; a place of rocky mountains and eternal winter. Some said the Rayless Wood plagued the other side of those mountains. Not many people dared venture into those mysterious lands, and the ones who ventured too far, never returned.

The grey mountains with their snow-capped peaks could be seen from within Aura’s marble walls. They were beautiful, despite their danger. Was Wolfe trying to escape the wrath of Her Eminence by going out into those doomed hills?

Damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t. River thought.

Upon arriving at Dawn’s house, River skipped up the steps of her shared home with Lilly. He knocked, but there was no answer. He tried to peak through the window, but the curtains were drawn. He was considering knocking the door down, but first tried turned the handle.

The door opened.

Confused as to why the door was unlocked, River cautiously stepped into the house.

“Dawn”? He called calmly, not wanting to startle her, “Are you home?”

The space was dim. All the curtains were still closed, as if it were the middle of the night and not midday. As he walked down the hall, he wondered if Dawn maybe was ill. His mother was often plagued with migraines and would draw the curtains because the light of the sun would make the headaches worse. He peaked into every room, but they were empty. Dawn’s own bed was made, as though she hadn’t even slept in it. He allowed himself to enter her room and look inside her closet, not sure what he was expecting to find. He frowned. He definitively wasn’t expecting to find portraits of her parents tucked under a sheet at the very back.

Interesting. He thought, slightly uncomfortable.

He left the room and continued on his trek through the house.

As he stepped into the kitchen, River’s jaw dropped.

“What in Tariah’s Name?” he breathed as he looked upon the disaster laid before him

Broken dishes and overturned furniture made up what once was a simple little kitchen.

“Dawn?” he called louder, but still no answer. He examined the wreckage, and he felt his heart sink to his stomach.

Blood.

The wooden floor was stained with it. River followed the crimson trail and was led to the bathroom. There, he found a towel stiff with dried blood.

What happened here?

By the looks of it, it seemed as if there had been an altercation in the house, and someone had gotten severely hurt. Heart racing, River left Dawn’s house and began questioning neighbors if they had seen Dawn lately.

“Not since the day of the Initiation Ceremony” was the common consensus.

River’s last stop was to the Eastern District Center where he asked the Guardian at the desk if Dawn had checked in for duty in the past two days. It seemed that the last time she had come to the center was the day before the Initiation Ceremony, earning herself two strikes. River couldn’t believe it. One strike in one’s career as a Guardian was already grievous, but two in the span of two days? Unthinkable.

“And has this been reported?” River demanded the Guardian at the desk. “Has anyone looked into why she hasn’t shown up for duty in the past two days”.

The young Guardian at the desk seemed a bit shaken. He was about to say something, when a second, older Guardian emerged from the back room.

“What seems to be the problem here?” he asked.

“Dawn Brookesdaughter hasn’t checked in for duty twice in the past two days and I’m told no one has reported it. This is unacceptable.” River said, anger rising inside of him.

The older Guardian regarded him for a long moment, his expression impassive. “Check-ins are private information” he said, casting a pointed glance at the younger Guardian. “As are all Eastern District affairs. Unless you have a writ from your father to look into Dawn Brookesdaugther’s affairs, please trust that our people will handle the situation as appropriate”.

River glared at both Guardians. The younger one avoided meeting his gaze. “Thank you for your time” River forced himself to say, calmly. He turned on his heels and marched out of the District Center.

If its a writ they want, its a writ they’ll get. He thought angrily as he made his way to the Governor’s Hall.

Once back in the Northern District, Coal ran up to him. “Riv!” he cried.

“What is it?” He asked, still walking.

“Just spoke to the man whose inn burned down. He said that Wolfe Bloodwood had checked in that day and then left the same evening, during the Festival”.

River frowned. Which meant that Wolfe left the inn right before or right after he had danced with Dawn. But why would he check into the inn if he was on the run? River wondered.

“Anything else?”

“Yeah. A few hours after he checked out, a Guardian came looking for him, saying he was in some kind of trouble”.

Strange, as no one had yet known about Wolfe’s treachery at the time. Supposedly.

“Did you find out who the Guardian was? We need to question him”.

Coal made a strange face. “Her” he corrected. “The Guardian was Dawn”.

River stopped. Dawn went looking for Wolfe at the inn? His head began to spin again.

“Does my father know about this?”

“Not yet” Coal said. “Bryn and I wanted you to know first”.

River wanted to reproach Coal for wasting time waiting around to relay him information that needed to get to the Governor as soon as possible. But deep down, he appreciated that his friends’ loyalty came to him first. Part of it felt blasphemous. It wasn’t the first time people have pledged themselves to him instead of his father, Torrent. Never openly, of course. But River knew. In the end, he assuaged his discomfort with the notion that as long as people’s fidelity came to Tariah first, it didn’t matter who came after. Right?

***

“Enter” the Governor called from behind the door of his bureau. River pulled open the door. As he walked into his father’s office, two of his council members nodded to River and walked past him, arms filled with documents.

A stack of papers rested on the corner of Torrent’s desk. His father massaged the ridge of his nose. His black hair was streaked with white. “Hello son” he said. River bowed. “Please, sit” he said, motioning to the cushioned chair across his wooden desk. River wanted to decline. He was too on edge. But he didn’t want to disrespect his father’s hospitality. Immediately after sitting down, River felt exhaustion overcome him. At that moment, River wanted nothing more than to sink into the chair and close his eyes.

“It has been an extreme couple of days,” the Governor said, pulling open the bottom drawer of his desk. “unlike anything Aura has seen in a very long time.” River tried not to squirm. He sensed his father was making small talk, and River just wanted to get to the point of this meeting, but he forced himself to shut up. He had to tread carefully. He would be bringing up the topic of Dawn, and that topic never came without tension.

Torrent Eastson set two silver chalices on the desk and popped open a bottle of mead. “It seems like it’s just one thing after another” he said as he poured the alcohol into the cup. “First all the preparations for Membership Day and the Initiation Ceremony, then the fire and the homeless families. Now I’m getting word that some suspect the fire to have been intentional, which makes me wonder if it doesn’t have something to do with the unmarked rebels. And now I’m receiving word that the Queen is hunting down a dangerous heretic and blasphemer. Among other things”.

Torrent shook his head and smirked. He handed a chalice to River and raised his own. “To being needed” he said. River toasted his father and took a sip. The alcohol burned his throat and settled heavily into his stomach. When’s the last time he had eaten anything? River decided it was better to abstain from drinking the rest of the mead, lest he stumble out of his father’s office. He gently pushed the chalice away from him.

“About that. Father, there’s been sightings of Wolfe Bloodwood on the night of the Festival. I’ve come to request that a search be sent out for him, immediately” River paused and gathered his courage. “And for Dawn”.

Torrent’s eyes shot up to River. “Dawn?” he said, taking another sip from his mead.

“I don’t know what’s happened to her. We were scheduled to meet the morning after the Festival and she didn’t show up. No one has seen her in the past two days. She didn’t check in for duty earning herself two strikes in two days, and when I went to look for her, her house was trashed. She’s gone missing” he said. Just like Lilly River couldn’t help but realize. He remembered how worried Dawn had been over Lilly’s delayed return.

Torrent listened intently.

“Which makes me think, father, Lilly has also been missing. Have you any word from her?” Maybe they could finally send out a search for her as well.

His father looked to him somberly. “A few days ago, I intercepted a letter from Lilly to Dawn. It’s one of the reasons I suspect the fire at the inn to have been some sort of attack rather than an accident”.

River titled his head, a sudden sense of foreboding overcoming him. He took a sip of his drink to calm his nerves.

“In the letter, Lilly Eromsdaughter admitted to being with the unmarked rebels. The letter was a call for Dawn to join her in the fight against our Queen”.

“Dawn would never” River said, the words leaving his mouth before he even had time to process them, before he even had time to process what Torrent was saying about Lilly, one of his own council members. He absently took another long sip of his drink. Mistake.

Torrent ignored his son’s comment. “And strange that only soon after I get this information, a mysterious traveler shows up to Aura on the night of the Festival, who, in fact, is hunted by the Queen for heresy and blasphemy. Did you see him on the night of the Festival?”

Sleep deprived and very hungry, the alcohol was working quickly to fog River’s mind and loosen his tongue. “Well, I did see him speaking with Dawn. They danced together, and then Dawn went looking for him at the inn he was at, saying he was in some kind of trouble…” River clamped his mouth shut, regretting sharing that last bit of information with his father.

“Do you believe there could be a connection between Lilly and Wolfe?”

“I… I don’t know. But Dawn would never join the rebels” River said dumbly. It was getting hard to think logically. He pushed the drink away from himself again.

“Maybe, maybe not. But now you present me with information that is causing my mind to make parallels between recent events, that I would have deemed coincidental otherwise”.

“What do you mean?” River asked cautiously.

Torrent took another sip of his drink. “Well, Lilly writes to Dawn asking her to join the rebels. Now Dawn suddenly hasn’t been seen since the night of the Festival. And then a strange fire takes place the day after, which grabs the attention of every single Guardian and Member in the vicinity”.

Tension seized every muscle in River’s body. “What is your conclusion, then?” he asked stiffly.

“Wolfe Bloodwood was sent to escort Dawn back to her rebel mentor, and the fire was set as a diversion so that they could leave the city undetected”.

River shook his head. “What about her house? It was completely wrecked. There was blood on the floor, Father! And why would she have gone looking for Wolfe saying he was in trouble?”

His father shrugged nonchalantly, which angered River even more. “Distractions, to create false leads for their pursuers”.

“And what if they’re not distractions?” River challenged.

“You tell me, son” Torrent replied calmly.

River forced himself to think clearly despite his buzzing mind. “Maybe Dawn suspected something about Wolfe on the night she met him, so she went to look for him. Then… then she got kidnapped. If Wolfe really is connected to Lilly, then he took her by force. Dawn would have never gone of her own accord”.

“You think very highly of her, River”. Torrent said.

“As does everyone” River said levelly. “She is a Guardian” he reminded his father.

“Yes” Torrent responded pensively. “And so was Lilly Eromsdaughter, a council member even”.

River decided it was time to bring the conversation back to his original intent. They were getting too sidetracked and he feared saying anything that might make him sound like a love-struck fool. His father often liked to point out how Dawn brought out the “whimsical” part of him.

“A search needs to be sent out.” River said, “If either of our theories are true, then sending out a patrol will lead us to Dawn, Wolfe and Lilly”.

Torrent contemplated him for a long moment. He pulled open one of his drawers and took out a paper which he filled and then stamped with his seal. River watched the scene unfold, summoning all of his strength not to fall over in his chair, and all of his will not to drink any more to settle his nerves. Torrent handed him the paper.

The letters swam in front of River. He blinked a few times. Once the words settled on the page and he read them, he frowned.

“You want me to lead the patrol?” He asked, slightly shocked.

“Yes River. Because if my theory is true, and anyone other than you discovers it to be true, then there will always be a part of you that will question if I somehow had a hand in it. And I cannot have you doubt me, my son. Your loyalty means everything to me”.

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