What the fuck was that, thought Choice as she held her bleeding nose while bending her head back to stem the flow. Too many weird things are happening to me recently, I discover I have previously undiscovered water powers and now I have a dream that I know isn’t a dream. I can’t even fucking sleep in peace? And what the hell did it say about my father? It called me an abomination? It’s the abomination.

Choice looked at the sunlight streaming through her windows. She’d woken up later than expected and this was confirmed when Rachel entered her room, without knocking, to awaken her.

“Wake up sleepy princess,” Rachel said with a cheery grin, “I know you are tired but it’s just a few hours before noon. So let’s get you prepared for the d- oh fuck your nose is bleeding.”

Choice glared at Rachel. “I didn’t give you permission to enter. Never again enter my room without asking for permission to enter.” Rachel ignored her glare before walking across the room and holding her face in her eyes. She put her face very close to her own and peered intently at her bleeding nose.

“It looks like an ordinary nosebleed. There’s no cut on your face.” Rachel took a kerchief from her pocket and used it to wipe her face.

“Ouch,” said Choice flinching away from the cloth. It was made from a rough material that scratched against her soft skin. “That’s enough. That’s just make it worse.”

“Sorry, your highness. I didn’t know your skin was that delicate.” Choice knew that there had been a dig at her in that sentence but Rachel’s body language was as consistent as before.

“Yes,” she replied, “I take very good care of my skin. That’s the mark of a high class woman.”

“I see. Ah it’s stopped bleeding.”

“I’m glad you finally noticed that,” Choice snarkily said and moved her face out of Rachel’s hands. She had a lot to do today and she would think better if she wasn’t ignored by the bundle of joy her mother had sent her way.

“Would you like my help with your bath?”

“I’m not an invalid, Rachel. Also, don’t be so overeager. Save it for some young lord.”

“Why would I do that your highness. You alone are enough for me.” Choice looked at her and frowned deeply. Nothing seemed to shake this girl’s cheeriness. Clearly something was wrong with her up there.

“Don’t follow me,” she said while walking out, “And don’t enter my room without knocking again.”

Rachel waited until Choice left the room before letting her smile drop from her face. She glared at the door Choice walked out of with barely concealed disdain. She looked at the drop of blood on the piece of cloth she’d used to clean her nose. At least the Queen will be pleased with me.

----------------------------------------

Choice finished her bath and was surprised when Rachel did not offer to come with her as she was on her way out. Oh well, I’ll notice if she tries to follow me. She clutched her mother’s letter in the pocket of her blue skirt. She also had her knives as well as the conch she’d liberated from her brother. These were the only things she owned that actually belonged to her and for that they were valuable to her.

She looked at the map and walked to where she had previously seen the library on the map. Just like the day before, the library was nowhere to be found. She brought out her pocket watch. The King had sent that to her for her eighteenth birthday. It was a few minutes before noon. Looks like he meant exactly noon time.

“Hey, can I help you?” A voice said coming over her shoulder. Choice rolled her eyes then smiled as she turned around to look at Lee. He looked no different from the day before except that his hair was better styled and it looked like he had added another coating of nail polish.

“Sure, I’m trying to get to the library,” Choice said laughing and playing along.

“Come with me. We don’t have long. Librarian Perry is on the fifth floor today but only for an hour. I don’t know why but she’s like this all the time anyway, she never sticks to her decisions.”

Lee waved his hands and the library appeared out of the blue just like the day before. She didn’t pause to admire the building as she was in a rush. After a few minutes of walking, they cameng to connect the first floor with the second.

“I’m going to tell you a secret about this place. It always magic.” Lee brought out an needle from a side pouch and pierced his finger. He smeared the blood on the wall. He held his hand out to her. “ Hold on tightly. When the stairs appear, climb up as quickly as you can. The library spirit will identify me as the only person to go upstairs so the stairs will appear one at a time for a short period of time. Security is the most important thing in this library.”

“Okay, I can be fast,” Choice responded resolutely. She could move very quickly when she wanted to.

“Don’t worry about it though, if you aren’t fast enough. I’ll use my wind to make sure you’re not hurt. I just can’t use it to take us to the next level. It’s not allowed.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll be surprised at how fast I can run.”

“That’s good. Oh also, the library read my blood so it knows my species. Only two feet are allowed on the steps at a time. Any more and it’ll throw us to the ground and send an alarm straight to Librarian’s Perry device. We also can’t stand on a step for too long or the same thing will happen. So we have to be in sync.”

“Your school is very paranoid.”

“They have reason to be, we are trying to sneak in after all. Also, I’m graduating this year so it won’t be my school for too long.”

“Don’t worry, I learned balance and dancing at school. I was in fact one of the best students. I know how to adjust to someone else’s rhythm. Also, you’ll always be a student of this school even when you graduate.”

“Wow, your school must be quite prestigious. Dance is not an often taught subject.”

“It was a finishing school. That was one of its main focuses,” Choice returned, perhaps a bit too harshly as Lee glanced at her curiously. “Sorry, I have just have few unpleasant memories. There was a lot of jealousy.”

“I get it, I had to deal with some of that as well. Well are you ready?”

“Always,” came her response. Lee nodded at her and she felt something project out of him. Choice assumed that he had emitted some of his mana. She took a deep breath in and when the first step appeared, she put her feet on the step at the same time he did. In her mind, she went back to her lesson to the hag, Ms Henshaw, who had insisted they learn to match any rhythm by making them dance with their bare feet on rough ground in order to feel ‘the vibrations’.

She had learned everything from her and then got her revenge on her by ripping all her footwear to shreds. It had been petty but at least for a few hours she had felt what she’d had. So, it sufficed to say that Choice did not have any problem matching Lee foot for foot as they ran up the stairs.

When they reached the top of the stairs, they watched the last step vanish and when no alarm came, they looked at each other and burst out in laughter before shushing themselves so that no one would look at them askance.

“Come this way. The identification device is in a separate room from the reading areas. You’re supposed to get permission from a member of staff to use this room but there are perks to being a student librarian. I get a free access every month.”

“Only once a month and you are using it on me. That is a big sacrifice. Thank you very much.”

“Don’t thank me. I never really use it and anything to help a princess. I don’t really have that many friends so I treasure those I make and I feel that we will very close in the future.”

“Yeah, we will be very close friends,” Choice said and slowly slid her hands out of his grasp. She felt a little guilty that she was planning to never see him again but she was simply giving Lee a much needed lesson on trust. She wondered how he grew to be so sheltered as to help someone he had just being threatening.

“So,” he said as they entered the room where the device she needed was, “Since we are friends, mind telling me the real reason why you want to take a look at the magic on the letter ‘cos I don’t believe the story you told me yesterday.”

Choice looked away from the device that she presumed was going to be used to read her letter, a grey cuboid slab of stone with runes written all on the surface, to Lee’s face. He had a dark expression on his olive face and his hand was clutching a needle. The man who’d threatened her was back.

“What do you mean I told you the truth,” she smiled trying to look as non-threateningly as possible. Her hand slipped into her pocket and she held the conch. If he tried to attack her like he did yesterday, she would not be as helpless as before.

“And I believed you. Then. When I slept on it, I realised that I was going to risk the status I’d worked hard for four years for a Legume princess I barely knew. Also, regardless of the fact that you don’t come to this school, you are a princess. I refuse to believe that your mother would have sent you with a letter through Favrien Portal without telling you what what protections were on the letter and without making sure all the runes were placed correctly.”

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“Legume isn’t really a rich country, my mother might not have even known that. But I guess someone from a Borein high family wouldn’t know that. As I said we don’t have enough to hire mages so we wouldn’t know what is correct or not.”

“Legume- a kingdom with a population of two million. It is characterised by its abundance of trees and its ability to grow any plant as long as it’s edible. It is often called the garden farm of the southwest Xin Continent,” Lee said as if he was reciting from a book, “Your Kingdom might not be as rich as mine but it’s wealthy enough to send three princes to Internationale and proof all of them. Even if you are unaware of how magic works, there’s no way the Queen of the Kingdom isn’t aware of it.”

“Maybe but I’m very protective of my brother. I might just want to make sure everything is perfect.”

“And you’ll also read the letter during this process, won’t you. I don’t believe you. Just tell me the truth, maybe I can help.”Tell you the truth, why would I do that? I barely know you and you want me to spill my secrets to you. Never. But I must applaud you for making me relax my guard around you. It’s never going to happen again.

Choice looked at him for a few more moments while his hands clenched tightly onto his needles. The wind in the room started moving rapidly and Choice felt it scraping her arms. Suddenly, tears started dripping from her eyes.

“You can’t leave a lady with her pride, can you? You really want to know the real reason I want to see that letter.” Lee stayed silent but his grip on the needle relaxed. “I’m having disagreements with my mother. She wants me to get married, I don’t want to yet. It’s been going on for a while and I overheard her saying that was going to fix me before she asked me to give this letter to my brother. I wasn’t lying when I said I don’t really know much about magic but she does. So, I was wondering if she was going to ask my brother to do something magical to me so I can agree to this marriage. That’s the real reason why I wanted to have a look at the letter.”

“So, your marriage…”

“Is not a sure thing yet. I keep on talking about it to get used to it but I cannot. Not yet. Are you satisfied now. Now that you have a peek into our dirty secrets, is it believable enough for you?” Choice asked cuttingly.

“I’m so sorry that’s happening to you. I didn’t know any of that. You didn’t tell me.”

“I know. I don’t go around spilling my family’s dirty laundry. I thought you would understand but I guess you do not.”

“I’m sorry. I really am, I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.” Choice pursed her lips and looked at him. She wiped her eyes and sniffled for a few seconds.

“Hah,” she scoffed, “Look at me, crying to a stranger.” She raised her head and looked him dead in the eyes, “I forgive you. You didn’t know about my situation and you don’t know me. You were just fulfilling your duty as a member of the library and I can’t fault you for that. In fact, I admire your commitment. I could learn something from you.” She gave a strained smile and Lee grimaced back.

“You know what, I’m going to step out for a bit. Give you some privacy.”

“What?”

“Yeah. It’s the right thing to o. I already know too much so I’ll stay out for a bit while you read the letter and find out what your mother is planning. Unless you want me to stay and give you support.”

“Really you would do that for me. Thank you and thank you for your offer of support but I think I have to face this on my own.” Lee nodded and walked to the door. When he was halfway out, Choice realised something.

“By the way, how do I use this slate? I don’t have any magic so I hope it does not need any mana to activate.”

“Oh don’t worry about that. It does not need mana. You just want put whatever you want to be evaluated on the slab and ask it to reveal its secrets. If the magic on your letter is low enough, it read it. If it is higher than its abilities, it won’t do so. It’s actually very simple.”

“Really? Thank you,” Choice said and gave him a soft smile. Lee went out the door and Choice waited until she heard it shut before she look in its direction with disbelief. How lucky, I didn’t even need to do anything to get him to leave. He’s really weird. He’ll be naive one second and be very sharp the next. She stopped paying attention to the door and walked closer to the slate. Let’s do this before he changes again and changes his mind. Unreadable people are the most annoying.

Choice brought out the beige envelope her mother had given her. She looked at the simple patterns on it and smiled to herself. Her mother was not going to take her for a fool. She stopped a few metres from the slate and threw it gingerly on it. She did not want to be too close to the slate in case something bad happened.

“Reveal enchantments,” she said in a low tone of voice. For a second, nothing happened. Choice looked at the door outside which Lee was standing and back at the slate. She didn’t think he was lying to her but you can never trust someone completely.

Before she could start to worry, a gentle breezy voice whispered next to her ear. “Enchantments identified are an explosion charm, a rune of protection and a poison spell. All enchantments are low grade enchantments”

“A poison spell?”

“The withering poison. It is an airborne poison that causes the victim to experience major organ collapse. The victim experience excruciating pain before dying instantly.” I guess there goes my plan of telling my mother I used the letter to kill John. If I’d used it as a weapon, I’d be dead and so would my brother. I guess I do have to give this letter to Librarian Perry.

“Spirit, can you remove the enchantments from the letter but keep them for a short while so I can return them back to the envelope later on.”

“I can do that but only for ten minutes. After ten minutes, I will disintegrate all enchantments.”

“Okay. Please, lift all enchantments.” Choice looked eagerly at the slate hoping to catch its magic at work.

“All enchantments are lifted. All enchantments will be destroyed ten minutes from now.” Oh, I guess there’s no flash of lightning with you. Choice gingerly picked up the envelope. She looked at the wax seal and thinking for a moment, decisively broke it. She pulled from the envelope a sheet of paper and started reading.

Dearest Perry,

I hope this letter reached you safely and found you in good health. This letter comes from custard all the way from the Royal Palace of Legume. I’m afraid I have to get straight to the point. Even all these years of living in a palace, I’m afraid I haven’t changed my straightforward nature as much as I hoped.

I send this letter because I desperately need your help. I’m in a fight for my life and you are the only one I can turn to. Do you remember the talk we had years ago about reshaping the way the world sees us? I think I’m about to begin fulfilling that dream. You have always being my closest friend and I hope the years apart hasn’t reduced our friendship to nothing.

My son is about to begin a fight for the throne of Legume. You know him, he’s a student of our school. I need you to keep him safe while I make preparations for his ascendance. Also, I need you to reach out to your contacts in the Xy Continent. I’m going to need much better equipment than can be found on our meager continent. I also ask of you a small favour. I need five mages with at least one of them being a level two mage. I remember the chaos a mage spread when they attacked my capital and I’d like to have that on my side.

If our friendship is not enough for you to do this favour, please do remember that I know your deepest secret. Despite how uncaring the Internationale seems to be, you and I know the darkness lying beneath the surface of that school. But I would not like to use threats to gain your cooperation so get in touch with Tosin. She has something that will help with that condition of yours.

Much Thanks and Love.

Queen Sera Amaka Legume, your closest friend.

Choice looked flabbergasted at this letter. She closed her eyes and shook her head. Her mother was as bold as ever. She was asking someone else to intervene in their succession contest. What wouldn’t she do to help her son get crowned. Also, mages. Mages! The last time she’d seen a real mage was when she was seven. One left rivers of blood in the capital and the other had saved her. Both had been too powerful to be human. If her mother was asking for mages, the selection process would become more difficult. Choice was about to put the letter back in the envelope when she saw something else.

P.S.

This letter should have come to you in the hands of my daughter. I want her to fulfil a request of mine but I suspect she will not obey her mother, unruly child. I need to persuade her in your own special way to listen to her mother. Who knows this could be the breakthrough you’ve always wanted. I too want to understand my daughter well. Above all, I just want her to know that I truly want the best for her. And that is my way.

Choice looked at the last few sentences before she started laughing vigorously. She laughed until her sides split and became so loud that Lee who was standing outside became startled.

“Don’t come in,” Choice said sharply at the sound of the door opening, “Just give a few more minutes.” ‘Persuade me in her own special way’. She means mindfuck me, doesn’t she. Ah mother, you monster. You truly are terrifying. I definitely underestimated you. Choice looked at the letter with such menace that if she could have set it on fire with her words, she would have.

She clutched the conch and tried to enter the calm state she needed to use her magic. She clenched her teeth and as if she was struggling against a boulder, lifted the ink of the postscript out of the paper. Using the ink that was floating in the air, she rewrote the postscript until it said:

P.S.

This letter should have come to you in the hands of my daughter. She will be the intermediary between us. Treat her well, I have big plans for her.

Choice quickly folded the letter and put it back into the envelope. She concentrated and using her magic, shifted the wax back into place. It looked seamless as if it had never been broken. Choice rubbed her temples to reduce the pain of the headache she’d gotten for her effort. She placed the envelope back on the slate.

“Return the enchantments,” she said in a dark tone of voice. Her own mother was willing to use magic to control her. Her mother had really changed in the past twelve years but that was okay. She’d changed too.

“Enchantments returned,” the airy voice replied. The envelope glowed purple for a second before Choice snatched it and put in her pocket. She opened the door and came face to face with Lee. She looked at him with a stony expression before it softened.

“Let’s go,” she said in an even tone. They sneaked away from the room they had been in and went back to the barrier between the first and second floors. Lee repeated his action of cutting his finger and they went down the same way. This time, it was even smoother.

When they reached the first floor, Choice breathed in and shook her shoulders. “There was no magic on the letter. My mother lied about that.” Lee looked at her face and kept quiet. Choice looked at his face that seemed to want to ask her what she read but kept quiet so as not to upset her. It didn’t matter, she was already upset.

Still looking at his face, for the first time Choice felt grateful towards Lee. This boy had helped her without knowing much about her and without asking for anything in return. That was rare in her world. People rarely did something or nothing and even your blood could betray you. She smiled softly at his face and on impulse, gave him a peck on his cheek.

Lee blushed and held his cheek in surprise. Choice grinned cheekily at his face. She was glad that her dark skin could never let her blush and show such an involuntary reaction.

“Thank you. Really thank you very much. You’ve helped me out of your own free will and without me offering you anything in return. I’m truly grateful to you.” Lee stammered trying to explain that he didn’t need thanks but Choice cut that off with a shake of her head, “I don’t like owing people so I promise one of these days I’ll repay you. But for now, I really need to be alone.”

“Oh that’s fine. I can go. I’ll see you...I’ll send you a letter if we can’t meet again.”

“I’ll reply when I get it.” Even though she didn’t have the same beliefs as Boreins, she didn’t have the privilege to ignore anyone who could help her. Maybe Lee would help her in the future just like he had today.

Lee left at her request, such a perfect gentleman. The smile fell off her face when he did so and she touched the envelope in her pocket. She had a letter to deliver.