Rhea had been awake since sunrise.
By the time Kael entered the kitchen, she had already cleaned the table twice, checked the front room three times, and looked through the window often enough that even she had started to realize how nervous she was.
She knew Marcus Vale was coming that morning, and unlike Garron, Marcus wasn’t simply an arrogant Gold-ranked hunter with an influential family behind him.
He was the reason the Vale family possessed that influence in the first place.
He had spent decades surviving dangerous expeditions, commanded one of Greyhaven’s strongest private hunter forces, and maintained connections reaching far beyond the frontier city.
If there was anyone in Greyhaven who had the power and reputation to make yesterday’s incident troublesome, it was him.
Kael followed her gaze toward the empty street before sitting at the table and picking up one of the breakfast rolls she had bought earlier.
Rhea watched him begin eating with absolutely no indication that one of Greyhaven’s most influential hunters would soon be standing at her door.
She eventually gave up waiting for him to show concern and began explaining Marcus’s reputation herself.
She told him about the Vale expedition force, the family’s businesses, Marcus’s experience in the deeper regions around Greyhaven, and his connections with the regional Hunter Guild.
Kael listened while eating, occasionally nodding to show that he had heard her, but his expression remained unchanged.
“Are you actually listening, Master?” Rhea finally asked.
“Yes.” “Then aren’t you worried?” Kael looked at her as though the question itself required explanation.
“About what?” “About Marcus Vale.” “Why?” Rhea stared at him for several seconds before deciding there was no point.
She had already watched Kael walk through a mountain because going around it was inconvenient.
Apparently, the reputation of a powerful hunter wasn’t going to accomplish what an entire mountain had failed to do.
The knock came almost an hour later.
Kael looked toward the door before glancing at Rhea.
“He learned.” Rhea frowned.
“Learned what?” “To knock.” She remembered what Kael had told Garron the previous evening.
Tell him to knock first.
Rhea rubbed her forehead before walking toward the entrance.
When she opened the door, Marcus Vale stood outside alone.
He was a broad man somewhere in his late forties, with dark hair beginning to gray around the temples and the build of someone who had spent most of his adult life fighting.
Rhea had seen him several times around Greyhaven, usually surrounded by hunters from his expedition force, but today there were no guards, no subordinates, and not even the sword he normally carried at his waist.
“Rhea.” “Lord Vale.” “May I come in?” The fact that he asked immediately eased some of the tension in her shoulders.
Rhea stepped aside and allowed him inside.
Marcus entered without ceremony, but the moment his gaze settled on Kael, his expression changed slightly.
He could clearly see a young man sitting at the kitchen table.
His eyes confirmed Kael was there.
Everything else told him the chair was empty.
Marcus had already heard that Kael couldn’t be detected, but hearing something in a report and experiencing it personally were very different things.
“Sir Kael.” “Kael is fine.” Marcus nodded.
“Then Kael.” He didn’t sit until Rhea offered him a chair.
Once seated, Marcus rested his hands on the table and looked directly at Kael.
“I’ve come regarding what happened yesterday.
I questioned Garron and the hunters who accompanied him.
My son entered this house as a guest, refused to leave after Rhea instructed him to do so, attempted to physically remove you, and then attacked you first.” Kael nodded.
“That’s roughly it.” “For his behavior, I apologize.” Rhea blinked.
She had prepared herself for accusations, demands, threats, or at the very least an argument about Garron’s injuries.
An apology had not been near the top of her expectations.
Kael appeared considerably less surprised.
He swallowed the food in his mouth and simply answered, “Okay.” Marcus waited for another response, but Kael had already reached for another breakfast roll.
The older hunter had probably prepared himself for anger, compensation demands, or deliberate provocation.
Instead, Kael appeared to consider the matter almost completely unimportant.
“Do you require compensation?” Marcus asked.
“No.” “Then you consider the matter settled?” “It was settled when I threw him outside.” Marcus studied him for a moment.
“You don’t hold what happened against the Vale family?” Kael finally looked directly at him.
“Why would I?
You didn’t attack me.” Marcus became silent.
“My problem was with him,” Kael continued.
“I dealt with him.” There was no grand declaration of mercy behind the statement.
Kael simply saw no reason to turn one man’s stupidity into a conflict with everyone sharing his family name.
Garron had annoyed him, Garron had attacked him, Garron had received his punishment, and as far as Kael was concerned, that was the end of it.
Marcus slowly nodded.
“I understand.” The conversation gradually shifted toward the subject that seemed to interest Marcus considerably more than his son’s humiliation.
He had already received information about Daren’s expedition and had seen portions of the appraisal reports involving the materials Kael brought into Greyhaven.
Those reports had raised enough questions that Marcus clearly intended to use this opportunity to satisfy at least some of his curiosity.
“I’ve heard you were living inside the Hollow Depth,” Marcus said.
“Yes.” “Alone?” “Mostly.” Marcus noticed the wording but didn’t immediately pursue it.
“How deep?” “Beyond your maps.” Yesterday, Marcus might have assumed the answer was an exaggeration.
After seeing the appraisal reports, however, dismissing it became considerably harder.
Some of the materials Kael possessed came from regions where normal expeditions simply didn’t operate.
“How long were you there?” Rhea’s attention immediately sharpened.
Kael noticed.
“A while.” Rhea slapped one palm against the table.
“Master!” Kael looked at her.
“What?” “You keep doing that.” “Doing what?” “Not answering!” “I answered.” “No, you didn’t.
I asked whether it was months and you said longer.
I asked whether it was a year and you said longer.
Then I asked whether it was five years.” “Longer.” Rhea stopped.
Marcus’s eyebrows rose slightly.
Rhea slowly leaned toward Kael.
“Longer than five years?” “Yes.” “Ten?” Kael reached for his cup.
Rhea narrowed her eyes.
“Twenty?” Kael drank.
“Master.” Marcus watched the exchange with growing curiosity.
Kael finally placed the cup down and said, “I’m not avoiding the question.
Nobody has guessed correctly yet.” That answer was somehow worse.
Rhea stared at his face.
Kael looked like a man in his mid-twenties.
Nothing about his skin, hair, posture, or appearance suggested age.
Yet he had just casually confirmed that five years wasn’t even close enough to deserve an immediate answer.
Rhea was about to continue guessing when Marcus’s attention shifted toward the window.
Someone was standing in the training yard.
Marcus froze.
It was Kael.
He slowly looked back toward the table.
Kael was still sitting there.
The Kael outside stood with his hands behind his back while the Kael at the table calmly drank from his cup.
Marcus stared between them for several seconds before asking, “Is that also you?” “Yes.” “A duplicate?” “No.” “Some kind of projection?” “No.” Marcus frowned.
Rhea shook her head.
“Don’t.” Marcus looked at her.
“It gets worse the more questions you ask.” Kael seemed faintly amused by that description.
Marcus looked between the two positions once more before displaying the survival instincts that had probably carried him through decades of dangerous expeditions.
He stopped asking.
Instead, Marcus reached inside his coat and removed a folded map.
“I thought this might be useful.” Kael’s attention shifted immediately.
Marcus spread the map across the table.
It covered a large portion of the territories surrounding Greyhaven, showing cities, major roads, wilderness zones, political borders, mountain ranges, rivers, and several areas marked with warning symbols.
Kael leaned forward slightly.
Unlike discussions about hunter ranks or influential families, the map genuinely interested him.
“Greyhaven is here,” Marcus explained, placing a finger near the center.
“The Kingdom of Varell controls most settled territory south and east of us.
Farther west are the Free Marches.
North of Greyhaven, settlements become increasingly sparse.
Most permanent roads end before reaching the truly dangerous regions.” Kael’s eyes moved across the map.
“What are these?” “Restricted zones.
Some contain unusually dangerous creatures.
Others are restricted because the terrain itself makes expeditions difficult.” Kael pointed toward another marked region.
“And this?” “The Red Gorge.
Several expeditions attempted to cross it.
Most turned back.” “Most?” Marcus paused.
“Three continued deeper.” “They returned?” “No.” Kael looked at the marked gorge for another moment.
“Interesting.” Rhea, standing behind him, immediately felt uncomfortable.
She was beginning to recognize that word.
When normal people called something interesting, they might want to read about it.
When Kael called a dangerous place interesting, Rhea suspected there was a very real possibility he would eventually start walking toward it.
Marcus continued explaining the map for a while before his attention moved toward the training yard again.
“I heard you’ve begun teaching Rhea.” Kael nodded.
Marcus looked at her.
“What has he taught you?” Rhea hesitated before answering, “Standing.” Marcus waited for the rest.
There wasn’t any.
“Standing?” “Apparently I’ve been doing it wrong for years.” “Not for all of them,” Kael corrected.
“Probably since the leg injury.” Marcus looked toward him.
“You noticed an old injury from watching her stand?” “Yes.” The answer made Marcus thoughtful.
After a few seconds, he asked, “Then what do you see when you look at me?” Rhea immediately glanced toward Marcus.
That was the sort of question someone should probably ask Kael only if they were prepared for the answer.
Kael barely needed to look at him.
“Your right shoulder was damaged badly.” Marcus’s expression changed.
“You compensate whenever you raise your arm above here.” Kael indicated an angle with one hand.
“Your right knee bothers you after prolonged movement, but the knee itself isn’t the problem.
Your left hip rotates slightly too far, so your right side absorbs more force than it should.” Marcus stopped moving.
Kael continued as casually as though describing scratches on a table.
“There’s also something wrong near your spine.” The room became quieter.
Marcus’s voice lowered.
“Where?” Kael pointed toward the lower section of Marcus’s back.
“Your internal force doesn’t move evenly through that area.
You’ve adjusted your breathing to compensate for it.” Marcus stared at him.
Rhea understood immediately that at least one of those things wasn’t common knowledge.
“How could you possibly know that?” Kael shrugged.
“I can see it.” Marcus remembered the strange reports surrounding Kael’s perception.
Until now, he had probably considered them exaggerations born from exhausted hunters trying to explain something they didn’t understand.
Sitting across from Kael, that explanation no longer worked.
For the first time, Marcus seemed to understand why Rhea had impulsively asked this strange man to become her master.
He leaned back in the chair.
Then unexpectedly smiled.
“Do you accept older disciples?” “No.” The answer came so quickly that Rhea looked offended on Marcus’s behalf.
“Why did you accept me?” Kael looked at her.
“I was bored.” Marcus turned toward Rhea.
She sighed.
“He really means it.” For the first time since entering the house, Marcus laughed.
The remaining tension disappeared after that.
Before leaving, Marcus assured Kael that Garron wouldn’t trouble him again.
He also told Rhea that if anyone associated with the Vale family attempted to cause problems because of yesterday’s incident, she could contact him directly.
Kael accepted the assurance with a simple nod, while Rhea thanked him before accompanying him to the door.
Once Marcus left, Kael immediately returned to the map.
Rhea closed the door and walked back toward him.
“That went considerably better than I expected.” “He was reasonable.” “You threw his son into the street yesterday.” “His son wasn’t.” Rhea couldn’t argue with that.
She leaned over the table and followed Kael’s attention across the map.
His finger moved northward, passing several settlements and dangerous territories before stopping over an enormous region that contained almost no markings.
Unlike the surrounding lands, there were few roads, no major settlements, and almost no geographical information inside it.
Only a name had been written across the blank territory.
The Silent Expanse.
Kael tapped the map.
“What’s there?” Rhea’s expression immediately changed.
“Nobody really knows.” “Nothing?” “I didn’t say nothing.
I said nobody knows.
Expeditions have entered the outer regions and returned, but groups that travel too deep usually disappear.
There are stories about ruined cities, strange environments, places where sound stops traveling, and even areas where normal navigation becomes useless.
Most of those stories can’t be verified because the people who go far enough to confirm them generally don’t come back.” Kael’s attention remained on the blank region.
“Nobody crossed it?” “Not that anyone has confirmed.” Something subtle appeared in Kael’s expression.
Interest.
Rhea immediately pointed at him.
“No.” Kael looked up.
“I didn’t say anything.” “You didn’t need to.” “I’m looking at a map.” “You’re looking at the one place on the map everyone is specifically told not to enter.” “That makes it interesting.” Rhea closed her eyes.
Of course it did.
Greyhaven’s walls hadn’t impressed him.
Hunter rankings barely interested him.
The Vale family’s influence had meant absolutely nothing.
Yet show Kael a blank region and tell him nobody knew what existed on the other side, and suddenly he paid attention.
Rhea pulled the map slightly toward herself.
“We’re training tomorrow.” Kael looked at her.
“So?” “So you’re not walking into the Silent Expanse.” “I wasn’t planning to.” Rhea narrowed her eyes.
“Yet.” Kael smiled faintly.
That single expression made her regret letting Marcus unfold the map in the first place.
Somewhere far beyond Greyhaven, beyond the roads and settlements that marked the edges of human exploration, the Silent Expanse remained untouched by Kael’s perception.
It lay outside the reach of his senses, beyond everything he could currently observe from where he stood.
He didn’t know what existed there.
He didn’t know why expeditions disappeared.
He didn’t know what waited beyond the empty portion of the map.
And that was precisely why it interested him.
For perhaps the first time since leaving the deepest reaches of the Hollow Depth, Kael had discovered something in the outside world that he genuinely wanted to see.