Princess Amelia hated the Princess from Xi Long. Every Time they met she felt as if she didn't put her in the same class as herself. As if she was not worthy of her. Of course she never said it, but Amelia could feel it in ever glance or look she gave.

It didn't help that Myredien's own hero seemed infatuated with her; he seemed to have conflicting and longing stares at her constantly. It started about a year ago and he suddenly grew less interested in her and more interested in the other heroes.

It was only natural that the six people chosen by the Goddess would have a deeper connection, but in her heart she had hoped that she would be able to find a place besides Maxius.

*Tap*

*Tap*

*Tap*

Three rapid knocks came to the door snapping her out of her thoughts “Come in!”

Maeve Felmark marched not dressed in her usual paladin uniform, but still had her saber strapped to her waist. Amelia was pleasantly surprised by how quickly she had returned from the mission she gave her. Varen Felmark’s moves had given her a mild headache, but she suspected something deeper was going on.

“Welcome back Maeve I hope you have a good report.” Amelia turned to her desk and swiped up the map showing all the territory the Felmark’s had been buying up by the borders.

“E–yes my Princess! I have some news.” Amelia immediately sensed Maeve was struggling with something.

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“Talk to me.” she motioned for Maeve to take a seat.

“Yes…er well in the city itself it doesn’t appear they have done anything overtly illegal. I watched carefully and while they are quiet and doing things in background there doesn’t appear to be any activity that would be considered overtly illegal.”

Amelia watched Maeve shift uncomfortably. “Paladin Maeve…you are a terrible liar. You are leaving something out.”

Maeve closed her eyes as Amelia’s gaze penetrated into the awkward Paladin before her. “Well. I suspect they have plans near our borders of the wildlands. It is almost as if they suspect something big will be happening. How Varen knows this I’m not sure, but he clearly believes there is going to be major economic opportunity in the future in those cheap lands he is buying up. All his activities in the city seem to be directing resources there. Everything else is just for that purpose.”

Amelia felt there was still something missing, but perhaps it was familial and she decided not to push too much. What surprised her was that Varen seemed to correctly guess that Myredien is planning on using the Heroes to do a sort of test run on their skills in the local patch of wildlands that cut between their own border and the border of the Draakin.

This was a closely guarded secret, but she assumed it could be guessed by someone extraordinary or if there was a leak among the inner circle. The key to knowing what their intentions are is to find out what they are developing in those regions.

“Talk to them more.” Amelia said as she continued to consider what to do. “Paladin Maeve if you can go with them to these territories. Take a scrying orb and keep in touch with me weekly or when something important happens. If Varen Felmark is planning to use the territory for some reason then we need to know he won’t cause issues for Maxius or the other heroes.”

“As you wish Princess!” Maeve stood up and bowed quickly leaving Amelia alone.

Standing up Amelia walked to the balcony and looked out towards the Felmark manor. “Something is stirring.” she whispered to herself