“Lyria?” my brother yelled, his domain exploding in anger. “What are you doing here? How did you even find me? Finally here to finish the job?”

I pouted.

“Don't compare me to her,” I said.

“Lyra?” he asked, taking a step closer, his domain still pressing down on mine.

“Yes, Lyra! And I met some of your minions in the desert,” I said. “They now work for me.”

“People are not minions Lyra,” he sighed, a boring chair of rock forming opposite of my beautiful throne as he sat down, his domain vanishing back into his body. “What happened to my guards?”

“I promised one of them to make a scene big enough to lure you out if he didn't allow me to pass,” I shrugged. “He didn't believe me and I decided to keep my promise.”

“That's not the sort of promise you need to keep Lyra and you know it,” Lydan sighed.

“I do,” I answered with a grin. “But it's exactly the sort of promise I enjoy keeping. You need to train your minions better, these here barely put up a fight. At least teach them how to recognize a fight they can't win.”

“Lyra, you're the most promising mage Roh has seen in decades,” he said. “There's hardly a world where they'd have to know how to recognize you. My guards are skilled, but no amount of skill can bridge the gap in power. No training will ever be enough to deal with someone of your caliber, my dearest sister.”

“Only one of them even managed to continue after my first move!” I complained. “The rest just rolled over. That'd never happen to my minions!”

"Our family guards are all mages from families loyal to ours for generations, bred and trained to fight for us since childhood. You cannot compare that," he said.

"I just did and it's disappointing," I said.

“I see you did not change a bit in the last decade,” he sighed.

“I changed a lot!” I disagreed. “And you shouldn't sigh this much, it makes you look old!”

“What do you want Lyra? Did father send you to finally kill me instead of your sister?” he sighed again, ignoring my advice.

“I am here on an assignment for our father,” I agreed. "But I didn't know you're here until my minions told me of this place. I guess only the oracle knew you're here.”

“What assignment?” he asked.

“The traditional one,” I said.

"I guess congratulations are in order then,” he said. “I didn't think you had it in you to deal with Lyria."

"I did not have to," I agreed. "But her plot was sloppy and got exposed after your exile, so father had to name me heiress. He's not happy."

"I can imagine that neither of them are," he said with a genuine smile.

“Indeed not,” I agreed.

“Tell me about your task," he demanded, his eyes moving towards the entrance as my new minions entered, driven in by my guards. The bird of sand arrived as well, settling down on my throne for a moment before dissolving back into inert sand, its task completed.

“Well there is this very pretty oasis near your home,” I said. “Father wants to control it.”

“And he sent you out alone, with just a single detachment of guards?” Lydan asked.

“Like you said, he's not happy,” I agreed. “But I have one additonal piece of equipment to help me.” I stated, proudly pulling the broccoli out of my saddle with a tendril of sand.

“You're shitting me?” he asked.

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“I'm dead serious,” I answered.

“My lady,” Acharo chose the moment to greet me, moving to stand behind me. “Mage Lydan.”

"Acharo," my brother said wearily. "I see you're still around."

"Of course," my guard agreed. “I always will be.”

“So," I asked, ignoring that byplay. "How many deserters do we have?”

“Just two of them managed to flee, my lady, we managed to kill the other three runners,” he reported. "The sand mage and one of the grunts got away."

"No great loss then," I decided before turning back to my brother.

"I heard you're a warlord now," I said. “Leader of a bunch of bandits and similar lowlives?”

“I am not!” he disagreed. “Certain criminal elements might have sought shelter here every now and then, but this is a town of laws and always was.”

I raised a single eyebrow.

“Certain criminal elements? Weren't you always the first to stamp out this sort of thing?” I asked.

“I was,” he answered sourly. “Things didn't go as planned thanks to our sister and I didn't screen everyone entering here at first.”

“I guess you did not,” I agreed. “So you don't fancy yourself the future ruler of Iriloh?"

“Hells no,” he exclaimed. “I'm quite happy where I am right now. I've been slowly turning this town into something worth living in, I'm not going to give that up for a bigger oasis."

“I'm glad you're doing better,” I admitted. “Considering how things were the last time I saw you.”

“Things were different back then,” he said softly.

“That they were,” I agreed. “I'm sorry I didn't stand up for you at the time.”

“You were a child Lyra,” he said. “You're the only one in this rotten family I did and do not blame.”

“I'm not a child anymore,” I said.

"Yes, you certainly grew up," he admitted, his eyes firmly locked onto mine. "Do you really have to dress that way? You look like our sister."

I looked down at myself, finding nothing amiss. I looked like most other girls my age at home, heels, loose pants till my knee and a free belly. Very comfortable in the desert heat with only a little magic needed to keep me from sinking in the sand or my skin burning off.

"I look like everyone else?" I answered honestly. "Lyria is wrong in many things, but I can't fault her for her choice of clothing. I look good like this and get to start most conversations with an advantage while the ministers oogle me. It also drives father up the wall.”

One of his minions moaned and interrupted my speech as he woke up, causing all eyes to fall on him.

"Can you release my guards now please? They did not deserve this and probably need medical attention," he said. "And cover yourself up properly while you're here. You're my little sister!"

"I know how much a human can take," I dismissed his concerns, dissolving the prisons into a loose wave of sand to elevate my throne just a little bit more.

He sighed.

"Are you sure you won't throw another tarantum?" he asked. "Do you know just how long it'll take to get all this sand out of here?"

"It's a short walk," I said. "Maybe ten minutes. I'll take it up with me when I leave."

Lydan did a double take at my words.

"You?" he asked.

"Of course! I made a mess so I'll clean up after myself,” I said, before quickly speaking up agin. "Somewhat. Your minions are responsible for any damages incurred."

“Now as you might imagine I'm not here for a social call. I'm in need of both information, a guide and some money," I added. "You wouldn't mind helping your cute sister out a little, would you?"

"You don't have any money?" he asked.

"Father only gave me the broccoli," I said honestly. "I'm operating with minimal resources right now."

"I'm not in the business of giving freebies, even to family," he said. "Especially to my family to be entirely honest. You'll have to work for it."

"Hey!" I pouted. "Don't be so stingy!"

"Our father exiled me only because I am too powerful to easily kill off and he wanted our sister on the throne, Lyra," he said. "You didn't have anything to do with my exile and were still a child back then, so I'm not going to hold that against you. But I'm a leader myself now, I need to look after my people and my town and I can not spare the money you're talking about. Especially because someone just trashed the back entrance!"

"So you're not gonna help me?"

"I'm open to sharing the information I'm privy to with you," he said. "But you'll have to pay for everything else yourself."

"I guess that's fair enough," I sighed in defeat. “You really don't have a reason to help me after all.”

“I do not,” he agreed.

“Do you have a couple of rooms for me to take over for the night at least?” I asked. “A night inside will do us good.”

“Of course I do,” he said. “You're still my sister. My favorite sister even.”

“That's not a high bar to pass,” I pouted.

"I'm keeping the minions that attacked me. I have a use for them," I added as an afterthought.

“I do not, in fact, claim ownership of any of the people living or frequenting my humble abode,” he said. “If you can motivate your people to stay with you I will not try to poach them. How you do that is up to you.”

“That's good enough," I said. Lead the way then."