The rest of the trip was, thankfully, boring as hell.

They docked at Kerth two days later, some mid-sized sandport city Theodore had never bothered learning about. Place was busy though. Ships coming and going every hour. The nobles from their ship scattered immediately, still eyeing each other like one wrong move would start a blood feud.

Good riddance, honestly.

Theodore booked them passage on a smaller vessel heading to Valence. From there, they'd take a carriage to the capital. Could've gone direct, but the direct ships were all booked up. Tournament season, apparently. Everyone and their mother wanted to get to Astra Lucis before it got all too busy in the coming months.

The second ship was cramped. Freya complained the entire time. Juliana just read her books and pretended the world didn't exist. Three days of that, then Valence. Another city, but this one Theodore actually knew. His father had taken him here once, years ago—or rather, the original Theodore had. Something about trade negotiations. He'd been maybe twelve? Young enough that he'd spent most of the trip staring at street performers instead of paying attention to the actual business.

Regardless, the carriage ride was the worst part. Two full days of bumpy roads and Freya's commentary about every single thing they passed. "Look, cows." "That cloud looks like a sword." "I'm hungry." "Are we there yet?"

Roland, bless him, just sat with the driver the entire time. Man knew how to travel.

***

Astra Lucis hadn't changed much, and it was still as massive as he remembered. And it did look great enough to be called the capital. White stone buildings stretching up like they were competing to see who could get closest to the clouds. Gold trim on everything because subtlety was apparently illegal in the capital. Even the street lamps had little decorative flourishes that served no purpose except to say "look how much money we can waste on street lamps." Theodore had never liked this kind of stuff, but then again, it had its own beauty and artistry to it he couldn't just ignore either.

He could appreciate this from time to time.

The Lockheart estate sat in the noble quarter, obviously. It was not the biggest mansion—but it was definitely the biggest he'd ever seen. Sprawling gardens that probably cost more to maintain than most people saw in a lifetime. A fountain out front with some ancient ancestor Theodore couldn't remember the name of. The head butler was waiting at the entrance. Graves? Grayson? Something with a G. Old guy, been with the family since before Theodore was born.

"Young Master Theodore, Lady Juliana, and Lady Freya," he said, bowing precisely the right amount for a prince returning home. "Welcome home."

Home. Right.

"Gregory," Theodore said, the name finally clicking. "Good to see you."

If Gregory was surprised Theodore remembered his name, he didn't show it. He just had that same neutral expression he'd perfected over decades of service.

"Your rooms have been prepared. Lady Juliana, Lady Freya, Master Roland, accommodations have been arranged for you as well."

They followed him inside. The entrance hall was exactly as Theodore remembered. Marble floors polished to mirror brightness. Paintings of dead Lockhearts staring down with various expressions. That stupid chandelier that had more crystals than any reasonable person would ever need.

Theodore had been exiled for a reason. Not officially exiled, of course. That would've been a scandal. He just been... encouraged to go manage some backwater territory where he couldn't embarrass anyone important. The original Theodore had fucked up pretty spectacularly. Something about a duel and a broken engagement and accusations that were probably true but couldn't be proven. There was so much more to that, too.

His father hadn't even been angry, really. He had

been disappointed, however. Which from what he could gather from his memories, Theo thought was worse, somehow.

And now here Theodore was, walking these halls again like nothing had happened. As if he hadn't spent a long time playing at being a lord in Holden while ignoring the resources literally at his fingertips.

Goodness, he was an idiot.

The Lockheart family had connections everywhere. Libraries full of knowledge he could've been accessing. Treasuries that could've funded anything. Influence that could've pushed through reforms without him having to kiss ass to local merchants. But no, the original had fucked up somehow and he had suffered because of it.

What a waste.

He could've been doing so much more. Not just in Holden, but kingdom-wide. Real change, real improvements, backed by real power instead of scraping together coins and hoping the local guilds didn't decide to fuck him over.

His clone was doing good work, sure. But imagine what they could accomplish with actual resources. Proper funding. Political backing from the most powerful families in the kingdom.

Theodore sighed.

"Something wrong?" Freya asked.

He shook his head. "Just thinking."

***

Back in Holden, things were going smoothly. Theodore's clone was having the time of his life tearing up the streets.

Well, not literally him doing the tearing. That's what the hundreds of workers were for. But watching Hayden's face cycle through various stages of disbelief as they kept adding to the project? That was entertainment.

"So let me get this straight. We're not just doing sewers anymore."

"Correct."

"We're also doing storm drains."

"Also correct."

"And fresh water pipes."

"You're on a roll."

"And we're paving the streets."

"Can't have rain turning everything to mud, can we?" Theodore said. "Besides, we've already torn everything up. Might as well do it all at once. The storm drains need to be separate. Can't have them connecting to the sewers. Last thing we need is things backing up into the streets during a heavy rain."

"Of course not."

"The storm drains go deeper. Below the sewer lines."

"Why below?"

"Because if they intersect, it's bad. This way, if the sewers leak, it goes into dirt, not directly into the storm system. Plus, if we need to pump water out, that's easier than pumping sewage. Also, the tunnels need to be big enough to walk through."

"Walk through?"

"For maintenance. Both systems. Can't exactly fix a problem if you can't reach it."

Hayden stared at the excavation. Workers were already down there, hauling dirt up in buckets. The hole went down about fifteen feet so far. They'd need to go deeper for the storm drains.

"You realize that we're essentially building an underground city beneath the actual city."

Theodore hadn't thought of it that way, but yeah, that tracked. "Think of it as security. I'm making this with years ahead in mind. The accumulator pipes need to be offset from each other too. Can't stack them directly. Need earth between them for drainage and structural support."

"Accumulator pipes?"

"The big ones. The ones that collect from all the smaller pipes."

"Right. Of course. The accumulator pipes. And these all need to be waterproofed, I assume?"

"The sewer and water lines, absolutely. Storm drains can have some permeability, actually helps with groundwater management."

One of the workers called up from the pit. Something about hitting rock. Hayden walked over to look, and Theodore followed. Sure enough, about sixteen feet down, solid granite.

"Well, shit," Hayden said.

"Language," Theodore said.

"We'll need to bring in the specialists," Hayden said. "The ones who worked on the quarry. They know how to break through this kind of rock."

"No need, I will be enough."

***

Hayden POV

In a few minutes, Lord Theodore had figured out the rock problem. They'd already mapped out the first phase of storm drain placement and this was an obstacle in the way. The fresh water pipes would go in last, closest to the surface. Easier to access for repairs that way.

The locals had stopped complaining about the construction after the first week. Mostly because Theodore had hired half their sons and brothers for the work. Hard to bitch about torn up streets when your family was getting paid good money to do the tearing. Plus, he'd explained the benefits. No more cesspit smell or sewage in the streets during floods. Most of them didn't believe it would work, but they were willing to let him try. Especially since he was paying for it.

Hayden had seen mages before, sure. Fire mages showing off at festivals. Water mages helping with the wells. But a noble with actual, practical earth magic? Working construction? His knees nearly gave out.

"That should clear the immediate problem," Lord Theodore said, dusting off his hands like he hadn't just done something that would've taken his crew hours.

Hayden managed to close his mouth. Professional. He needed to stay professional. They returned to the makeshift workshop there and Lord Theodore spread out the map with their plans on it.

"Also, how's it going with the access points for maintenance?"

"Iron covers would indeed be best, my lord," Hayden suggested. "The smiths' guild has been looking for a large contract. This would keep them busy for a while."

"Good thinking. We can commission them for sure. Now, look here."

***

Theodore POV

Theodore's room in the estate hadn't changed.

He sat on the edge of the bed, trying not to think about dinner.

Family dinner. In about two hours. With his father, mother, siblings, and—most importantly—grandfather.

His grandfather who definitely knew about the purple fire. The man had been around for long, had connections everywhere, had probably seen every type of magic that existed. If anyone had answers, it'd be him.

But that meant actually talking to him. And talking to him meant navigating whatever the hell their relationship had been before Theodore got himself exiled. Not just with grandfather, but everyone else.

Theodore flopped back on the bed. The mattress was ridiculously soft.

His mother would want to know everything about Holden and his life there. She loved him no matter what, after all, she was too caring. His father… he didn't want to think about that. And his siblings... actually, he had no idea what to expect from them. The original Theodore's memories of them were colored by resentment and jealousy.

Grandfather was the real concern.

Theodore rubbed his face. This was giving him a headache. At least Juliana would be there. She could deflect some of the attention. Small mercies.

He should probably shower and change.

Time to remember how to be a Lockheart.

***

Next Chapter: Family Dinner

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