Following a lengthy hallway, Lauren began to pick up speed as she hurried towards the people held down here but turning towards the right, around a bend, brought her face to face with someone that she had not expected.

“So, you’ve come,” Jarod said with a sickening smile.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she demanded.

Before he could even answer, Lauren had her sword out and swung immediately.

Yet, even with all of her speed, Jarod managed to react quickly enough to jump out of her reach before she could connect with the attack. “Hah!” he screamed, launching a black orb at her, but she managed to deflect the unexpected attack with her blade.

The glowing black ball ricocheted into the wall off to the left side of the hallway, creating a deep depression in the stone as it released a horrible hiss and smell. “What the…” she shouted, dodging around the corner when Jarod released a bolt of crackling lightning at her.

“Come on! Stop playing, Lauren. Show me that strength you used to reject my Master!”

Lauren was confused at the request. She couldn’t understand why the twerp was asking for her to kick his ass, but she was also not entirely certain when she had rejected Erios in the first place.

“What in the hell are you talking about?” she demanded.

“Like you don’t remember pushing my Master out of your mind,” he said, pointing an accusing finger at her. “He would have shown you everything! He would have given you the truth of yourself, and you would have had the world at your fingertips,” he said and chuckled darkly. “Yet, you chose stupidity instead!”

Lauren’s stomach dropped when she finally realized what he was talking about, and the memories of that night swam across her mind. The darkness and cold touch of Erios’ Essence crept into her heart as she retreated further away from the corner, barely able to keep herself from falling into a whimpering mess right there in the middle of the hallway.

Then she remembered the voice she had heard that night.

It was right when she was about to become a slave to Erios’ every whim that a tiny voice spoke from the back of her mind. This tiny presence managed to bring Lauren back just enough to unleash almost all of her Essence, thereby expelling the deity from her body.

Lauren set her jaw firm and opened her eyes. “No,” she said and strode around the corner to release flames directly into Jarod’s face. “I will not be a victim to you or Erios!” she screeched and unleashed 30% of her total Essence into the hallway, surrounding her body in a pulsating aura of silver inundated with pinkish, iridescence.

The hallway trembled when Lauren used the additional Essence to empower her flames, causing the eruption of fire to sound like a jet engine burning hotly, and the blaze opened up to encompass the entire length of the hallway. “Never again,” Lauren snarled.

“Hah! Gotcha!” Jarod bellowed.

Lauren sensed a blast of vile magic headed directly for her, and she jumped back on instinct alone. During the desperate bid to get out of the line of fire, she tossed her hands over her face to protect herself from a black mist that had erupted when the bolt struck the corner of the hallway.

She cried out in pain as some kind of acid landed on her hands and began to tear into her flesh and clothes. “Damn it,” she gasped, retreating several steps from the bubbling puddle of acid on the floor and the bit that still dripped off of the dissolving stone above her head.

“Shit, shit, shit,” she whimpered, shaking her hands to dislodge the concoction.

Growling at the destruction of her lovely clothes, Lauren was forced to summon her armor to replace the rags that she was wearing at that point. Thankfully, in doing so, Lauren was able to breathe a small sigh of relief when her armor’s healing property went to work on her injuries. Some of the pain and damage began to mend, but she was reminded all over again of how careful she needed to be when dealing with either of those two.

Muttering as the agony continued to sting her hands, Lauren cautiously approached the wall.

Each step was made with mindful care as she watched the pool of acid, but she also listened intently for any sign of another attack. She wasn’t going to put it past that man to try a surprise attack, but she’d do the same thing. So, at least that aspect was all fair.

Lauren waited a short while at the corner, but she quickly grew impatient.

“I’m going to pay for this,” she sighed, peeking around the corner, but she saw nothing except the scorches that she had left on the stone of the hallway. “Jerk,” she grumbled and carefully headed around the wall, activating a bit of Wind to conceal the echoing sound of her footsteps as she hurried across the stone.

Lauren examined her hands to see if the wounds were quickly healed, but the pain was still horrible. In all of her second life, she’d never been burnt before. She’d forgotten how terrible it had felt before, but she had a renewed appreciation for her two immunities.

Pulling her eyes from her wounds, Lauren turned her attention toward the hallway.

“What is he doing down here?” she asked rhetorically.

She knew that it couldn’t be good for any of them, but the fact that Erios had sent that man into the dungeon at this precise moment worried her beyond anything else so far. To her, it wasn’t too hard to see that the god had seemed to be playing some kind of a long game, and he’d so blatantly sent his stooge into an area that he would have known Lauren would come to help those that needed her.

This was too much of a coincidence.

Worse, to this day, she didn’t know why Erios was truly after her, but she had foolishly allowed herself to hope that he would have given up on her after their little meeting on top of the keep.

“Nope,” she said as she stopped in front of a T intersection.

There had been no sight of Jarod, and that meant that he had gone further into the dungeon.

“Damn it, Jarod,” Lauren said, running her hands through her hair. “What the hell are you doing here?” she asked but sighed as she knew that that would be one of a million questions she had that would never be answered.

“Whatever,” Lauren said, rolling her eyes.

After taking a steadying breath to calm her nerves, Lauren activated Discovery.

The pulse of Gravity, Earth, Wind and Dark magic surged away from her, moving at lightning speed in all directions. With eyes closed tightly, she watched as the layout for this floor slowly imprinted upon her mind’s eye.

This intersection wrapped around as a kind of antechamber, and it let out into a massive area filled with what appeared to be a latticework of rooms. It was nearly impossible to count all of the hallways that she saw, and she became worried about how difficult it was going to be for her to collect everyone to remove the corruption.

Then came the fact that she wasn’t able to sense any of the people that Reyn had brought into this dungeon, and that included the fact that she knew for a fact Jarod was somewhere down here as well.

“Damn it,” she cursed, opening her eyes.

Yep. She should have remembered the fact that her life was never easy. Meh.

“Be ready, James,” Lauren said as she dashed towards the right.

“Good to go, Madam.”

Turning around the first corner brought Lauren to a heavily armed and armored soldier with a woman dressed in an incredibly detailed and finely woven dress. Their glassy eyes snapped upon her immediately, and they roared before they rushed her.

Lauren fell into a defensive stance with her blade at the ready.

The guard came at her, but she was able to deflect a powerful blow with the side of her blade.

Her reaction had been nearly automatic, but she was proven to be correct as the gauntlet covered hit the wall at her side with enough force to rattle the stone and for half of the guard’s arm to vanish within.

With barely a fraction of time to think, Lauren dropped to her stomach, avoiding a wild swing from the woman. Focusing her field of vision upon the well-dressed woman, she came off the floor to deliver an open-handed slap against the woman’s midsection while unleashing a blast of silvery Essence.

There was a loud crack as Lauren’s magic propelled the woman several feet down the hallway, leaving her sliding nearly to the next intersection before she went still. Unable to even catch her breath, Lauren danced away from a haymaker the guard sent as he spun towards her.

Dropping to the floor, Lauren tried to sweep the guy’s legs, but she only succeeded in banging her shin against an immovable object. She bit her lip to keep the wail of agony away from her lips, but Lauren had to roll away from a boot smash that cracked the stone where she had just sat whimpering in pain.

Once she was at a safe enough distance, Lauren shot the guard an irate glare. “You suck, so badly,” she groaned, as she tried to rub the pain out of her shinbone, but no amount of rubbing seemed to work.

The guard roared and jumped at Lauren.

“Lightning Dash!” she called out.

With electricity coursing upon her body, Lauren found her footing and came at the guard from a slightly lower elevation. Right before they would collide, she used Wind Jump to launch herself up at the guard.

The resulting uppercut to the guard’s chest sounded like a shotgun blast had just gone off as several bones were broken within the guard’s body from the impact, but Lauren also unleashed another blast of silver Essence that catapulted the guy to land just past the woman.

Landing on the floor, Lauren shook her right hand. “Damn, that hurt,” she grumbled and headed towards the duo while the numbing of her fingers began to slowly wear off. “Are you ready?” she asked mentally.

“Yes, Madam.”

“Do it,” Lauren said, stepping past the two.

At her back, she heard two low popping sounds as both of the newly freed citizens were taken out of the dungeon, but Lauren was a little curious about who that woman had been. Those clothes hadn’t exactly been something common issued.

In the middle of the next hallway, Lauren found a group of over a dozen of Vy’ruth’s people that had been poisoned by Erios’ corruption, and they found her. Thinking quickly, Lauren came up with another alternative, but she wasn’t entirely certain how often she would be able to unleash a large-scale release of her Essence.

In any case, she’d always been one to act first anyway. “Essence Blast,” she called out, sending a wave of her silver energy careening down the hallway.

The walls funneled the blast perfectly as Lauren had hoped, and the people didn’t even flinch as the energy collided with them. They simply dashed through the wall of silver for her, but they collapsed several feet away.

“James,” Lauren called out, carefully striding around the prone forms.

One at a time, the bodies vanished with an audible pop until Lauren was alone in the stretch of the hallway. Then she glanced back over her shoulder while listening intently for any sign of movement but nothing overt caught her attention. So, she continued towards the center of the dungeon.

At the next bend, everything changed as the rest of the dungeon opened up in the lattice work she had seen with Discovery, but it wasn’t exactly what she had thought it to be. Instead of rooms through the doorway to her right, she found it was a wide open floor filled to the brim with steel cages set up in neat little rows.

What worried her was hundreds of soldiers, guards, merchants, and citizens of every age milling about in the room. They were within cages, around them, and on top of them. What Lauren saw was reminiscent of zombies from the movies that John had watched back on Earth.

Unlike the people she had freed, this group had gaunt skin, sunken eyes, and faces filled with furious rage. Lauren found more doubts about being able to help these people than she’d ever had before.

“I… was too late?” Lauren whispered in despair.

It had simply never occurred to her that she wouldn’t be able to free the people of the capital.

She had assumed that the corruption would be simple to remove from the body, and she had to fight with herself over the fact that she had failed. No, she wouldn’t accept that. She couldn’t accept that it was pointless. She had managed to save the few she’d come into contact with so far, and she wouldn’t give up now.

Fisting her hands until her fingers were white-knuckled, Lauren strolled into the room.

“Welcome to your death.”

Lauren’s head snapped towards the ceiling to find Jarod floating near the top of the room with his arms folded. “Aren’t you just so sweet,” he said with a disgusted look.

“Too bad you’re far too late.”

“I will stop you,” Lauren vowed.

“Cute,” he said with an eye-roll. “So, are you ready to join us?”

Lauren glared at him. “Like I would ever.”

Jarod sighed softly. “That’s too bad. To have one of your people join us would have made this so much easier,” he said but shrugged. “It’s no bother,” she said and smiled at her. “Eventually, we will have all the energy we need anyway.”

A small portion of Lauren was curious about what he was talking about, but her rage was still bubbling uncontrollably. “Just die!” Lauren shouted as she prepared to go on the offensive, but Jarod acted first.

“Come to me,” he said, and a ball of writhing shadows appeared in the air directly in front of his body, and Lauren had to cover her face when a powerful maelstrom of black energy erupted from every corner of the room.

“No,” she growled, but she could barely move as the wind threatened to rip her right off her feet.

Not willing to give up, Lauren squinted between her raised hands so she would be able to go on the offensive, but she was pushed back nearly to the hallway when another blast of air came to life. A powerful vortex opened in the center of the room, and it spun around Jarod as both an offensive and defensive measure.

Then Lauren was forced to watch as whatever this was absorbed the souls of every corrupted person in the dungeon. It was like a black strobe light had been turned on, and Lauren was left in despair as each flash took another soul.

“No!” she screamed and abruptly unleashed the most powerful spell she had at the ready.

“White Sun: Burst!” she screamed.

The silver-white flames cut across the room, but the energy was immediately absorbed by the storm in much the same way that the souls of all those within were being pulled into the writhing shadows of the ball.

“You’re lame! That little spell was the best that you could do?” Jarod chuckled.

Lauren grabbed her right wrist with her left hand. “Solar Flare!” she screeched.

A pulsating silver and iridescent light flared to life directly in front of her palm, but she screamed against the pain that this spell brought out of her body. It was like something was ripping her soul in two every time she used the amount of Essence required to bring the power behind this one to fruition.

Lauren had barely begun to piece together what was required to create her Solar Flare, and this Beta version was barely controllable. It just took way more power to create than even she had at her disposal, and it took part of the energy needed directly from Lauren’s life force.

“So close!” Jarod shouted excitedly.

Lauren went to put more energy into the spell, but she didn’t know what to make of the fact that the orb she was creating began to glow with a silver light covered by an all too familiar pinkish, iridescence.

“What the hell?” she gasped.

“Yes! Yes!” Jarod shouted in total excitement.

Then the piercing pain exploded into her left eye, bringing her to her knees.

Lauren screamed in agony as she grabbed at her head. The pain was several magnitudes beyond anything that she had ever felt before, and she was forced to watch in horror as the Solar Flare she had put her life on the line to create was absorbed just like everything else.

“No!” she cried out in despair.

Jarod folded his arms and shook his head in disappointment. “You were so close, but you’re still unable to access that same energy,” he said in a tone that was almost akin to how a teacher would speak to a student failing to meet expectations.

“Fu…” Lauren went to scream at him, but the words were ripped right out of her mouth when the pain increased even more.

Jarod landed on the ground in front of her and yanked her up by the hair at the top of her head, and she was nearly powerless to do anything with the debilitating pain tearing into her relentlessly.

“I have left you alone to pursue other matters, and I am disappointed to see that your use of that power was simply a one-off,” Erios said angrily and slapped her across the face. “You had best get your shit together or you can watch all of the people of this kingdom and many more that we’ve taken for their Essence die by my hand,” he snarled at her.

Erios grabbed Lauren by the throat with his other hand and lifted her face to face. “Sylvia will be awakened, and I promise you that nothing you do will stop me from meeting my goals,” he said and put his face directly against Lauren’s. “Stop me if you can,” he said and smirked at her. “Lady Worthless,” he said, tossing her to the floor before he vanished.

Lauren was left in tears when the pain finally subsided.

She was pissed, she was frustrated, but she was also terrified.

It took her several minutes to struggle to her feet, but she was left in despair at all of the death that she had been unable to stop. Lauren fell back to her hands and knees with tears flowing down her cheeks.

“No!” she cried out and punched the stone. “Why! Why! Why can’t I beat you?!”

Weakly, she leaned back onto her knees and grabbed hold of her head. “What is happening to me?” she asked while furiously wiping tears from her eyes. “Who are you?” she screamed up at the ceiling, but her eyes inadvertently found all of the corpses all over again.

Lauren hung her head in shame. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Feeling thoroughly defeated, she headed towards the entrance.

Her life might have been insane before, but Lauren was finding this situation with Sylvia and the strange agony that was constantly playing havoc with her eye to be some of the worst things that she had ever had to deal with. The worst part was the fact that she had no idea why this was happening.

One thing did become clear.

All of those kidnappings had to be tied to Erios’ attempt to wake Sylvia.

The next question that Lauren needed to ask was why was whatever power she had used to kick him to the curb on top of the keep so important to him? Although, she quickly realized that according to Jarod’s reaction, it was tied around that energy with the pinkish, iridescence.

Stepping out of the dungeon, Lauren was met by Galen and Frieda.

“Lady Wrath?” Galen asked, seemingly noticing how distraught she was.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“I need to speak to Gilda and Gerald,” she told them.

The man nodded. “After the castle was rocked a few times, they made it clear that we were to bring you directly to them,” he said, motioning for her to follow them.

Lauren nodded. “Lead the way.”

“Would you be able to tell us what happened?” Freida asked.

“I failed,” she said simply and averted her gaze to hopefully get the point across that she did not want to speak any further on the subject.

Freida went to speak, but Lauren was saved when Galen placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder and shook his head. It was clear that he at least had understood what Lauren was trying to imply, and she was grateful for the moment’s respite before she would have to tell her soon-to-be in-laws that she had failed them.

Yeah. That was what she’d wanted to do. Gah!

Entering the lavish room with Gerald and Gilda upon their thrones, Lauren found an older man she had never seen kneeling before the royal couple. Upon sight of her stepping into the room, Gilda motioned forward.

“That was kind of crazy,” Gerald chuckled.

“Yes, we never expected the entire castle to rock like that,” Gilda said but any amusement she wore vanished when she got a good look at the somber expression that was plastered across Lauren’s face.

“My dear, what happened?” Gilda asked, standing up.

Gerald’s normal jovial demeanor vanished as he too finally caught on. “Lauren?”

Lauren bowed her head, with hands on her hips. “We have a problem,” she said and looked up at the royal couple. “I was able to rescue a few of those that had been secured in the dungeon,” she began but was interrupted when the older man abruptly stood up.

“What do you mean a few?” he demanded as he turned to face Lauren.

“There was an unexpected…” she started but the man cut her off.

“What happened? We were led to believe that you would be able to handle this. What could have possibly happened that was beyond your realm of so-called expertise?” he demanded as his face flushed red.

Lauren bristled at the blatant disrespect, but she pushed her rage to the side. “Erios and his loyal lapdog arrived to steal the souls of those I had not been able to free,” she said, but the man scoffed. “Likely story,” he snapped. “As I have been saying for years, that being is nothing more than a bedtime story,” he snapped and opened his mouth to continue.

“Count Eobard!” Gerald shouted.

The man abruptly turned around. “You can’t possibly believe this… this… ridiculousness?”

“I will remind you only one time that you are speaking to a member of the Royal House from the kingdom of Ara’lyso. More importantly, If I was you, I would watch how I speak to a woman that will one day be your Queen,” Gerald warned the man.

“What?” the man bellowed.

Gilda beamed at him. “Oh, did we not tell you?” she asked amusedly.

“Prince Javi and Lady Wrath are to be wed after their fifteenth birthdays,” Gerald explained, and the Count rounded on Lauren looking incredibly furious. “This is ridiculous!” he bellowed and stormed out of the room.

Gilda stepped towards Lauren. “I’m sorry, dearie.”

Lauren shook her head. “It’s fine. That jerk is the least of my worries.”

“Yeah, but he’s been hounding us about accepting a marriage proposal between his daughter and Javi for years,” Gerald grumbled.

“Years?” Lauren asked.

Gilda pinched the bridge of her nose. “His daughter isn’t too far from my age,” she said and shook her head. “So, forgive us for finally being able to hopefully shut the old man up,” she said before placing a comforting hand on the side of Lauren’s arm. “What happened?”

“I failed,” Lauren whispered, feeling ashamed.

“We were told that you got some of the people out?”

She sighed but nodded. “Yes. James and I were able to evacuate a few of them before Jarod and Erios took the others,” she said but closed her eyes. “They also made it very clear that they had been the ones to kidnap the missing people in Vy’ruth, and that he was going to wake a being named Sylvia.”

“No, no,” Gilda said, shaking her head. “You must have misheard him,” she said.

“No, I didn’t.”

Gerald stepped closer. “You were under a lot of pressure. Isn’t it possible that you misheard what he said?” he asked, sounding like he was lost in denial.

“Why are you acting like this? What is so horrible about this Sylvia?” Lauren asked.

“That’s complicated,” Javi said as he approached from the doorway.

Lauren turned toward her fiancé. “Are you going to tell me I’m nuts too?”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t have a death wish,” he replied with a small grin.

A tiny smile appeared on Lauren’s face. “Good choice,” she said.

Javi looked past Lauren to stare at his parents. “I’m just as concerned as you, but we can’t simply bury our heads in the sand when we have a chance to prepare for what is about to happen,” he told them.

“Ready for what? Who is this?”

Javi groaned and rubbed his face before he moved around in front of Lauren so that he could stare directly into her good eye. “Sylvia is a dragon. She is known as The Ancient Dragon and caused untold damage to the continent ages ago. Then was imprisoned because of all the destruction, and her revival would be a calamity that we cannot afford,” he explained.

“Wait. Dragons exist here?” Lauren asked.

“That’s a weird way to put it, but yes,” Javi replied, eyeing Lauren suspiciously.

Clearing her throat at the slipup, Lauren motioned at Javi. “Why haven’t any of the rest of us heard about this creature?” she asked but followed Javi’s eyes towards his parents. “It was decided that keeping the dragon’s existence hidden would lead to fewer maniacs trying to wake it,” Gerald explained.

“Well,” Lauren started looking between the three. “Where is this thing?”

Javi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “In the Heverian Forest. So, we need to speak to Isabella.”

Lauren abruptly folded her arms across her chest and cocked a hip. “Woah. Woah. Who is this Isabella?” she asked, feeling irate that she’d never heard of this woman before when she seemed to be rather important. It felt like she had been purposefully kept out of conversations, and Lauren didn’t like where that was headed.

“Jealous?” Javi grinned.

Lauren bowed her head slightly to stare through Javi. “Are you sure you want that answer?”

“She’s my older sister, and the Queen of the Heverian Forest,” he replied quickly.

Smiling, Lauren nodded. “Oh, that’s fine then,” she said, relaxing a great deal.

Javi mouthed the word ‘Wow’ before he shook his head. “Anyway, I’ll need to visit the south,” he announced and looked towards his parents. “Have you heard anything from Bella lately?”

“No, she’s been rather quiet,” Gerald replied.

“I’m going with you,” Lauren announced.

Javi folded his arms and laid his eyes directly on Lauren. “I love that you want to help me, Lauren, and I wish that I could let you. Unfortunately, we cannot take the chance that the member of the first delegation from Ara’lyso to visit us was harmed.”

Lauren blinked at Javi. “D… Did you just hold a grudge?”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “No, but I don’t want to take the chance that you’d be harmed,” he said, stepping a little closer. “Even if it wasn’t just the fact that I worry a lot about you, I promised your girls that I would do everything in my power to protect you,” he said and blanched as he leaned closer. “They told me I’d best look out for you, or I’d miss the boys,” he whispered, causing Lauren to giggle. “That does sound like them.”

Clearing his throat, Javi stepped back. “My sister also has a problem with those that she does not know. So, considering the seriousness of the creature that they are doing their best to keep control down there, I can’t expect them to let someone that they’ve never met before into the country on my whim, love,” he went on to explain.

“If that’s the case, then how am I supposed to meet her?” Lauren groaned.

“I want you to meet my sister, but I don’t think it would be the best idea to combine these two trips. I can’t foresee Isabella being open to meeting you while she knows that I am there to talk about Sylvia,” he explained.

“Is this thing that scary?” she whispered back.

“Yes.”

Lauren sighed unhappily but nodded her acceptance to Javi. “Can we have a few minutes before you need to organize this?” she asked quietly, and Javi nodded. “Of course,” he said, taking her hand into his before looking at his parents. “I’ll be back to plan this out.”

Javi led Lauren to the garden on the outside of the keep.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I can’t beat him,” Lauren said angrily.

“Who?”

Lauren yanked on her hair, squealing in ultimate frustration. “Erios,” she snarled and turned to face Javi. “Even after all that he’s done to me, I can’t stop him at anything!” she shouted and rubbed her face roughly as she shook her head. “Every damn time I come face to face with him or his stooge, they win.”

Javi placed his hands on Lauren’s shoulders and forced her to look him eye to eye.

“Don’t take this the wrong way but have you lost your damn mind, Woman!” he told her angrily and sighed softly as his face softened. “I know you’re just defending yourself, but this is a god for crying out loud, Lauren. What do you expect to do against a being on that level of existence?”

“Am I supposed to just lay down and let him murder everyone?” Lauren snapped.

Javi shook his head. “No, but you need to get this idea out of your head that you can go toe to toe with a god, Lauren. All that you’re going to do is end up getting yourself killed,” he told her and averted his eyes. “I lost you once. I don’t want to go through that all over again because you keep pushing your luck.”

Lauren went to speak but was unable to form words when she saw the look that Javi wore.

Sighing, she averted her eyes. “I know it’s crazy, but if I don’t stand up against him to protect those that can’t, who will?” she demanded.

“That’s the problem,” he told her sternly.

“What?” Lauren snapped, turning to face him once more.

“You’re not the only one that is prepared to fight for those that you love,” he told her, staring into her eye. “You have many of us that are ready to stand at your side to protect you as well as everyone that we can.”

Lauren swallowed and looked to the ground. “Javi, I love that you’re my shield… But… I don’t want you to be hurt. This isn’t those creatures up north. This isn’t some warlord trying to wage war on us, it’s a god that has it out for me,” she said in a little voice.

Javi gently lifted her chin to look her in the eye. “You’re my lady, Lauren,” he said gently and pressed his forehead against hers. “I want you to lean on me, I want you to trust me to have your back like you do mine,” he said and gazed into her eyes. “The thought of you being hurt crushes my heart, Lauren. Yet, you are constantly throwing yourself into the most ridiculous situations without a bit of forethought,” he chided her gently.

“I love you,” Lauren said quietly.

“I love you, too,” he said and gently caressed her cheek. “Now stop throwing yourself into all of this madness, young lady,” he told her with a worried smile.

“You sound like Emily,” Lauren grumbled out of the corner of her mouth.

“Don’t tell her that, she’d probably blast me for it.”

“Then you’d better bribe me, or I’ll tell her.”

Javi tilted his head. “Alright. What do you want?”

The idea popped into her head almost immediately. There has been one thing that Lauren had wanted from the moment that she had received the letter from Javi back when they’d both been children. She knew it wasn’t possible back then, and they’d not had the chance to complete her wish since they’d found each other again.

“I want a date with you when you get back.”

“So, our first date?”

Lauren nodded. “Yes.”

“That sounds lovely,” Javi said as he hugged her.

She wasn’t expecting it to happen, but the safety that she felt while Javi held onto her was like it caused a switch to flip somewhere deep inside of her heart and soul. The anger, hate, and rage all melted away to be replaced with the fear and doubt that she had long since bottled up, but she also felt something new.

Lauren wanted Javi to comfort her, but the need was almost alien to her now.

With her family, Lauren needed to project an image of leadership and confidence. Even when she doubted herself, that wasn’t something that she could ever allow anyone else to see within her. For the first time, she desperately wanted someone to comfort her, and she latched onto Javi with more fervor than ever before.

“I’m scared, Javi,” Lauren admitted as she held onto him.

In return, Javi held her as tightly as he could. “I will do everything that I can to help you, love,” he said and pressed his lips against her forehead. “We’re not married yet, but I’ll make the vow right now to support you until death do we part,” he vowed.

Lauren squeezed him and kissed his cheek while she let his words wash over her.

“That’s a little morbid,” she said with a teasing smile. “Yet, I loved hearing it.”

“I failed you once, and I’ll do my best to never do so again, Lauren.”

“No, Javi,” she sighed and looked into his eyes. “We both did,” she admitted and took one of his hands in hers. “I got too caught up in what was happening to understand how panicked you would be with me missing,” she continued and smile apologetically. “I should have tried anything to let you know that I was safe.”

Javi stared directly into her good eye. “When you arrived in that meeting room, I should have just grabbed hold of you, and carried you around for a while,” he said and grinned at her. “At the least, we would have had a bit of time to catch up.”

Unable to stop it, Lauren giggled softly. “Yes, I think I would have preferred that.”

“Are you sure you wouldn’t have just blasted me for daring to do it?”

Lauren shrugged helplessly. “Guess we will never know.”

“Oh, yeah?” he said and abruptly lifted her into his arms. “Yep. We’d never know,” he said as he began to carry her around the garden in a princess carry. “My, my, I seem to have a fiancée just hanging around.”

Lauren groaned at the pun and slapped his shoulder playfully. “Stop. You’re not punny.”

Javi laughed. “No, probably not.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, laying her head on his shoulder. “Sometimes it feels like none of this will ever stop,” she said, feeling the weight and dread lift from her shoulders as if it was never there.

“I told you, Lauren.”

“Till death do we part, eh?”

He nodded. “You and me, wrinkly and old.”

Lauren grimaced. “I don’t want to be wrinkly!”

“Oh, come on. You’d still be the most beautiful woman in the world.”

Blushing, Lauren smiled up at him. “Thank you.”

Javi stole a kiss and winked at her. “Any time.”

Giggling while blushing to the tips of her ears, Lauren grabbed his neck to pull his head back down. “If you’re going to do it, do it right you slacker,” she chided him and captured his lips properly.

Once the duo stood face to face, Lauren smiled at him. “Being here with you, I can look to the future for once, Javi.”

“Oh, what do you see?”

“A full house,” Lauren admitted, blushing even brighter. “I want many more children.”

“You already have four. How many more do you need?” he laughed softly.

Lauren playfully slapped his arm. “Don’t make fun of me. I just love children,” she said and leaned closer to grin into his eyes. “It’s not like I foresee you complaining about helping me to create all of those children that I want.”

Javi gave Lauren a quick once over as his face turned scarlet from presumably understanding what she was hinting at. “Right,” he said and cleared his throat. “So, I had better go get ready to visit my sister,” he announced and ran off to hide his embarrassment.

Lauren considered what Javi had said while she watched him run away from his embarrassment. She didn’t know if the thought of their end should make her feel better, but Javi’s commitment to her was something that she had come to treasure almost as much as how wonderful he could still make her feel.

Sighing softly to herself, Lauren turned to head back into the castle, but she was nearly bowled over when Command Calen came rushing out of the doorway. After giving a quick apology, Lauren quickly made a break for the inside of the castle.

Nope.

It wasn’t meant to be.

“Oh, Lady Wrath?” he said, abruptly stopping to face her.

Lauren was brought to a halt before she’d even managed to take more than a few steps.

Hating her luck, Lauren turned back toward the man with a fake smile. “Yes, Commander?”

“Would you have a moment to speak with one of our nobles?”

Lauren’s smile vanished as suspicion immediately crept across her face, and she folded her arms tightly against her chest. “This wouldn’t be that Count Eobard, now would it?” she asked derisively.

Galen arched an eyebrow. “That type of contempt most likely comes with a story that I’d like to hear,” he said curiously before he shook his head. “No, Lady Wrath. Countess Bridget has requested a meeting with you,” he said.

Lauren lowered her arms, tilting her head as her curiosity overpowered the anger she felt at her treatment at the hand of that jackass. “I don’t believe that I’ve met this woman. I can’t imagine why she would request to meet with me.”

“Begging your pardon, Lady Wrath. You just met her a short while ago when you saved her from the dungeon,” he explained.

“Seriously?” she asked but understanding flashed across her mind as she remembered the woman with the fancy dress, and she stepped closer to the older man. “She wants to see me?” she added quickly.

Galen nodded. “Yes, Madam,” he said and held his hand in the direction Lauren was headed. “If you’d be willing, I am sure Countess Bridget would be grateful for you taking the time to speak with her.”

Lauren pursed her lips. “Be honest with me.”

A sly smile spread across the weathered face of the old man, and he nodded as he most likely managed to ascertain the meaning behind her cryptic question. “If it helps, night and day between the two.”

“Oh, in that case, lead on.”

While they walked through the castle, Lauren’s mind wandered back to all of those that she had failed to save. Then she began to consider those that she lost during her fight with Lust, and she didn’t understand how people were able to handle this pain.

“Lady Wrath?” Galen asked, bringing her out of her stupor.

Lauren shook her head and turned her attention toward the man. “Yes?”

“You look stressed. Is there anything I can do to help you?”

A tiny, grateful smile spread across her lips. “I appreciate the thought, but I doubt there is anything you or anyone can do for a failure,” she replied, but the man immediately brought her to a halt.

“A failure? You saved quite a few people,” he tried to point out, but Lauren shook her head.

“No, I let many more die because I wasn’t good enough,” she countered.

Galen sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’ll hurt to hear this, but you can’t save everyone. It’s just not possible,” he told her.

“But…”

Galen shook his head. “No, Lady Wrath. All you can do is your best. As long as you do everything that you can, you can’t view what you’ve accomplished in comparison to how much damage was done. You’ll go mad with grief. You need to look towards the lives of those that you saved,” he told her.

Lauren frowned deeply. “I can’t stand by while people die!”

Galen shook his head. “No, I am not saying that,” he said and motioned her forward. “Come with me, I’ll show you what I mean,” he said and grabbed Lauren by the hand to drag her down the hallway.

A few minutes later, Galen pulled Lauren into a room of beds.

There were dozens of empty beds but fourteen were currently occupied by a group of people. Lauren saw a couple of older men, an older woman, many between the ages of twenty and forty, and two that looked to be several years younger than her actual age.

All of them were in the same type of hospital dress and appeared incredibly tired.

“These are those that you saved, Lady Wrath,” Galen whispered.

Lauren swallowed as she looked around the room to watch them all in various stages of their lives. One of the older people was in a conversation with who looked to be their children and grandchildren. The two youngest were in the arms of their mothers and fathers. Many of the others were spending time with their husbands, wives, and children.

While they all looked tired, Lauren could see that all of them were happily holding onto their families. Slowly, a gentle warmth spread throughout Lauren’s chest as she watched the scenes play out before her, and she managed to feel a bit of gratitude for the fact that she had managed to save a few of them.

That fact didn’t erase her guilt of failure, but it did help to alleviate a bit of the pain.

“Thank you,” Lauren said, glancing at Galen.

He nodded and motioned towards an older woman near the back of the room on the left-hand side. Lauren followed him in her direction, and the woman looked up at their approach with a smile. “Galen, is that her?”

“Lady Wrath, I’d like you to meet Countess Bridget,” he said, motioning at the older woman.

“My, my, aren’t you quite the beautiful, young thing,” the Countess said with a smile.

Lauren immediately flushed. “T… thank you,” she stammered.

Though, while Lauren knew the Countess had to be in her later years, she was still incredibly beautiful. Her hair was long, blonde, and well kept. She barely had any wrinkles upon her unblemished face, and she wasn’t exactly failing in the body department.

“I am Lady Wrath,” Lauren said, performing a graceful curtsey.

The Countess smiled. “Such a lady too.”

As Lauren stood up she heard various voices whispering around the room.

Glancing around she found that everyone in the room was currently gazing at her while whispering to those closest to them. The whole situation made her feel incredibly self-conscious, but she pushed that to the side to find out why she was asked to visit the Countess.

“I heard you asked for me?”

The woman examined Lauren for a few seconds. “You don’t seem the least bit put off by speaking with a higher ranking member of our nobility,” she commented.

Lauren’s lips twitched as she forced herself to remain as stoic as possible. “It’s true. I’ve had some experience working with nobility and royalty,” she said simply, but she had to covertly tap Galen’s ankle with a boot when he went to speak, possibly ruining her little bit of fun.

“My word. You must be a trusted member of your household back home?”

Lauren nodded. “Oh, yes. I am trusted with matters that no other member of the house is allowed to handle,” she said, but she found it increasingly difficult to maintain a stoic face when Galen was struggling to keep from laughing out loud.

“If you’ll excuse me,” Galen said through strained laughter. “His Majesty has requested that I assist Prince Javi with his preparations for a trip that is coming soon,” he said and abruptly ran out of the room, howling with laughter once he was through the doorway.

The Countess arched an eyebrow at the doorway. “My word. The Commander is normally such a wonderfully composed gentleman,” she said, shaking her head in disappointment. “I wonder what has gotten into the man.”

Lauren covered her mouth to hide her amusement. “I am remiss at the failings of the poor man as well,” she replied.

“Quite,” the Countess said and sat up to pillow her hands on her lap. “I have asked to have a conversation about the reason that you’ve come to our kingdom. I am hopeful that you would be willing to talk to me about your people and possibly other matters that I think could benefit us all,” she said, motioning to a seat beside her bed.

Lauren pushed her amusement to the side as she sat down to have a conversation with the Countess about her people, but she knew that there had to be more to this meeting than the woman considering helping out due to a simple reward.

Leaning back in the chair, Lauren pillowed her hands on her lap. “So, Countess, what is it that you are offering me as it pertains to my people?” Lauren asked.

“My, my, right down to business?”

Lauren smiled at her. “Do you know what the Wrath family is known for?”

“Would you enlighten me?”

“Gladly,” Lauren said, leaning forward. “Action, Countess,” she said and leaned back to watch the woman for a few seconds. “In your culture, the word wrath is all about violence and revenge. In our culture, it’s all about acting whenever it is needed. It’s about being unable to sit idly by while you can fix something,” she explained.

“Hmmm,” Countess Bridget said thoughtfully. “I like that.”

Lauren leaned forward, placing her left elbow on her knee. “So, Countess, what is it that I can do for you?” she asked, getting right to the heart of the matter.

“Well, now. I think this is a genuine opportunity for us to help each other.”

“Oh? Do tell?”

The Countess looked around the room and leaned a little closer. “With our people coming together for the first time in living memory, this is a perfect opportunity for both of our countries to benefit from a great deal of trade and negotiations,” she said.

Lauren nodded. “I see. Those that bring about these benefits would receive the greatest rewards for being involved from the beginning of the negotiations?” she asked.

“That’s right,” she said and glanced around. “If you could set up a meeting between the head of your house and those of us looking to work together in Vy’ruth, we would be able to help usher in a new era of prosperity for both kingdoms,” she said.

“What type of compensation would you be looking for?”

The Countess waved a hand at Lauren. “Nothing too ridiculous. A little financial guarantee for my family would be perfectly fine for me. I am more looking towards the future with Castilgard on one side and Ara’lyso on the other.”

Lauren arched an eyebrow. “Are you expecting a war from one of us?”

The woman looked genuinely surprised by the statement. “I am impressed that you’ve gained that much from our brief chat, but I am,” she said but quickly lifted her hands. “I am not speaking of your people. Rather, I think it’ll be inevitable that Castilgard will decide that they want to take us on once more.”

“You’re probably not wrong,” Lauren said thoughtfully.

“Oh, you’ve had experience with them?”

Lauren glanced at the woman as she considered how honest to be, but she decided it would be best to hold her hand as close to her chest as possible. “Yes, we’ve had a brief run-in with Castilgard in the past, and I am not exactly impressed with how they operate.”

The Countess nodded and motioned at Lauren. “Now, are you prepared to admit to who you are?”

“Not that foolish, eh?” Lauren chuckled.

The woman opened her eyes a bit wider and gazed expectantly at Lauren.

“Alright,” she said and leaned closer. “I am Matron Wrath and Second Seat on the Council of Seven,” she whispered and leaned back to watch as the woman’s face went through a myriad of expressions before settling on legitimate shock.

“Wait. Then you’re…”

“Yes, I am also engaged to Javi.”

“Oh, wow. Who’d have thought that someone that was essentially a princess would be as powerful as you,” she said, but Lauren waved her hands through the air. “No, no, no. I am not even close to that,” she said, desperately trying to avoid that misunderstanding.

The Countess smiled slyly at her. “You are the second highest member of nobility from Ara’lyso and a rather cute woman to boot. So, I’d say that counts,” she said and went thoughtful while she nibbled on her lip. “Oh, how I could sell that vision of you to the public,” she said while she was practically hoping in anticipation.

“Don’t. You. Dare,” Lauren said, pointing a finger at her.

The Countess’s face erupted in a brilliant and evil smile. “It’s been such a lovely time meeting you, Princess!” she shouted, and everyone in the room immediately perked up as they all turned towards her. “A Princess?” was the general chorus around the room, causing Lauren to glare hatefully at Bridget.

“I hate you.”

“You don’t even know me,” she scoffed.

Lauren’s shoulders slumped forward as she hid her face in her hands. “You’re right,” she mumbled, but she also had to admit, even with this strange fixation, that she kind of liked the old bat so far.

Giggling, Bridget continued the conversation. “Go and see my Viscount, Reynard. He will be able to help you find those from Ara’lyso in the kingdom. With his help you should be able to get all of the answers that any of us need in a day or two,” she said.

Lauren’s head snapped up. “Seriously? You’ll do that for me?”

“That depends,” she said as the same sly smile reappeared. “I will, but you have to make an appearance at a ball I will be throwing in a month as payment for me making your job much easier,” she said.

“A ball for what?”

Bridget shook her head. “You’ll find out that night, but I must have your promise now that you’ll be there so that I can plan it out.”

“You’re holding me hostage.”

“Nope. You have a choice.”

Groaning, Lauren bowed her head in defeat. “Fine. I promise to be there.”

Smiling, Bridget slipped an ornate ring off of her right ring finger. “I’ll want this back, but you should have no issues getting any answer that you want from Reynard or any of my vassals while you have that,” she said, handing the ring over.

“You’d trust me with that?”

The woman smiled. “I bet you didn’t know that Gilda had an older sister, Lauren,” she said with a wink. “I may not have known what you looked like, but that sister of mine has loved to talk nonstop about the wonderful girl that Javi has found for himself.”

Lauren found herself smiling shyly at the news that Gilda had been talking about her with such fervor, but she couldn’t deny that it felt wonderful that her soon-to-be-in-laws had such a high opinion of her. With all of the stories she could remember from Earth about in-laws, she’d been kind of worried.

“Gilda is a wonderful woman,” Laure said as she accepted the ring but couldn’t stop a chuckle from escaping as she thought about the unexpected way that she had saved Bridget and earned the trust of Gilda’s big sister.

“What is it?”

“I’ve often said that I hate how fate plays a big role in my life, but I find myself kind of happy that she helped me out this time,” she answered. “I always like finding that I have more family than I realized,” she told Bridget with an amused smile.

“Well, we will see how you feel about me later, Princess.”

Lauren’s smile faded. “Stop that.”

“No.”

Grumbling, Lauren turned to leave.

“Come see us again, Princess!” several of the younger folk called out excitedly, causing Lauren’s body to seize briefly. “Oh, for crying out loud,” she grumbled and walked out of the room to Bridget yelling “Goodbye, Princess,” as loudly as possible.