Ryn stood panting halfway up the balcony steps and surveyed the aftermath of the battle in an exhausted trance.

It was almost entirely black-armoured bodies that lay on the floor, though there were a handful of golden-armoured Manolians who Cid had not been able to save.

Elrann, Vish and Sagar were up here as well. Blood dripped from their swords and whip. All of them were panting too. Even Vish.

“Well…” said Sagar. “...well done, pup. I hate to say it, but you got us out of some sticky poodoo there. If you hadn’t got the Ruby offa that Imperial officer and gotten it to the women, then boosted up here to distract the soldiers till they arrived… Well…thank you.”

A ‘thank you’ from Sagar. Anything was possible.

“Yes,” said one of the Manolians, “thank you, young…man.” She sounded almost as reluctant to say it as Sagar, if not still more so. “If it hadn’t been for your intervention, we might have lost our princess as well as our Queen.”

Princess?

“Nuthea!” Ryn said.

She was still down on the ground level, next to the throne, kneeling on the dais, face buried in her mother’s neck.

When they got to the ground floor, Ryn noticed one of the Morekemians was missing.

“Where’s the lady Shadowfinger you killed?” Ryn asked Vish. There was a streak of blood on the floor where she had been, but no body.

“Ah,” said Vish. “She may have escaped in the confusion.”

“But you stabbed her through the back!”

“Elpis has always been resourceful. In my rush to assist you, I did not double-check that she was dead.”

Did not check, or let her live?

“Never mind that now,” said Cid. “If she lived she will have fled by now.”

They went to Nuthea and stood in a circle round her.

Nobody said anything for a while. Nuthea stayed where she was.

Ryn knelt next to her and tried a whisper. “Um, Nuthea… I’m… I’m really sorry you lost your mother…but…are you going to get up?”

Nothing.

The guard called Kathuna knelt by him and spoke equally quietly.

“Princess… Our grief is great, and there must be time for mourning. But now that the Queen has died, the throne will pass to you. You must be strong for the Queendom.”

At that Nuthea raised her face. It was tear-soaked, blue eyes bloodshot.

“You are right,” she said, hardening all of a sudden. “I must compose myself. It is what she would have wanted.”

She wiped her face, then stood and addressed the ring of companions and guardswomen.

“The Manolian throne now passes to me,” she said in a loud, clear voice. “And already it is fixed in my mind what I am to do with it. Never in our long and glorious history has an adversary infiltrated this palace and assassinated a Queen. We must make sure that nothing like this ever happens again. That is why I am leaving tomorrow to embark on a quest to find the rest of the Primeval Jewels before the Emperor of Morekemia.”

“What?!” said everyone at once.

“Do not forget yourselves in the presence of your new Queen-to-be,” Nuthea said sternly, eyes flashing. “The whole reason these evil deeds came to pass is because the Morekemians were seeking our Lightning Crystal. As long as it remains here, Manolia is not safe. You heard that Imperial General. They know of other Jewels already. The Emperor will clearly stop at nothing to get his hands on them. But we have the advantage now. We have two Jewels, and two more who are Jewel-touched. The Emperor must be stopped, not only for the sake of Manolia but for the sake of the whole of Mid itself. We must find the remaining Jewels before he does. That is why I am leaving with the Lightning Crystal, to do just that.”

Ryn was surprised to discover that what Nuthea was saying felt...right. He knew right away that he must join her. What else was he going to do with his life now? His hometown had still been destroyed. There was nothing left for him to go back to in Efstan. And he had finally achieved the goal that had brought him here. Mum. Dad. Cleasor. Found Vorr. Got Vorr. Killed Vorr. Find the Jewels. Save the world. Stay with Nuthea.

“But princess,” one of the Manolians said. “If you leave us, who will govern the Queendom?”

“Kathuna will serve as regent while I am away,” Nuthea said without hesitation. “She has been a good and loyal friend to me for a very long time. I trust her judgment implicitly.”

“But princess,” said Kathuna, “I want to come with you.”

“Yes,” said another guard, “we all want to come with you.”

“We will muster a mighty Manolian army” said another, “and make war on Morekemia!”

“For Queen Nuthea!” said another.

“For Queen Nuthea!” they all said together, and raised their spears in unison.

“No!” Nuthea said, and they lowered their weapons like chided children. “First, I have not been coronated yet. And second, this quest does not call for an army or great show of strength. We will need to operate covertly, seeking out the Jewels one by one and warning their owners of the Emperor’s intent, without being detected by him.”

‘We’?

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Then who will you take with you?” said Kathuna.

“I would take those who helped me to return here and who made it possible to defeat the Imperials who infiltrated the palace.”

She turned to the companions, all standing next to each other in the circle.

Sagar held up his hands. “Woah, now! Just wait a second here, princess. I believe I was promised gold, gemstones and beautiful women in return for bringing you safely back here. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, I suppose I did promise you those things…” Nuthea said with a sideways glance, to a chorus of gasps from her assembled countrywomen. She gestured for them to calm down. “Let’s see then…” Ryn detected just the faintest note of mockery. “Well, gold we have aplenty in Manolia, and we shall be taking lots of it as we shall need lots of it on our journey, to look after our airship and stay stocked with supplies. Gemstones we have two: the Fire Ruby and the Lighting Crystal. And as for beautiful women—well, I am not unattractive in appearance, am I, Captain Sagar?” Understatement of the epoch, Ryn thought. Though he didn’t like that Nuthea was pointing this out to Sagar. “And Elrann is beautiful too, in her own special way.”

“Thanks, princess-girl,” said Elrann. “I think.”

“So really you will have everything you were promised as a reward if you come with us on this quest.”

‘Us’?

“Now hang on,” said Sagar, pointing at Nuthea. “That is not what I signed on for. That is not what I thought you meant when you promised me ‘gold, gemstones and beautiful women’ and you know it!”

“Well…” Nuthea bit her lip. “I suppose you could stay here if you wanted. As I say, there is a lot of gold in Manolia, and there are some jewels of the non-Primeval variety here as well. I would even give you some to send you on your way with, skycaptain. But with regards to the beautiful women… Yes, I am afraid to say I may have misled you there somewhat. My apologies.”

Now Nuthea was apologising to Sagar for something. This truly was a day for impossible happenings.

“I mean,” Nuthea went on, “there are a lot of very beautiful women in this country too, but they won’t allow themselves to just be ‘given’ to a man. I suppose you could commit yourself to the service of a woman who would have you and see if you could win her carnal interests over time, but there is no guarantee there, I’m afraid.”

Sagar looked from Nuthea to the Manolian guardswomen. One of them winked at him. Another made a little meowing noise and scratched at the air like a cat pawing at a toy.

“Rrrrr,” said Sagar as he turned back to Nuthea.

“What is more, I would really rather prefer it if you came with us, seeing as in order to get around on our quest we will be needing your airship.”

“My ship?! What about my ship? How do you know where my ship is?”

“You heard Vorr, didn’t you? He managed to get a single ship into Manolia for his audience with my…mother.” She swallowed. “And he stole your airship, didn’t he? I assume that it is therefore somewhere around here.”

“My ship…” said Sagar quietly, looking into the distance.

“Furthermore, if you come with us, although I can only promise you at present the company of two beautiful women, I will pay you monthly for the use of Wanderlust in addition to the substantial fee that you are due for safely delivering me back to my homeland.”

Sagar continued to stare at nothing. Eventually his eyes came back to the princess. “In that case… I can’t believe I’m saying this, but: alright then. Rrrr. I must be crazy. I want a lot of gold for this.”

“You will have it. An excellent choice, skycaptain.”

Nuthea’s eyes moved one person along the circle. “Lady Elrann, you will come with us too?”

The purple-haired engineer shrugged. “Sure, I’ll come. I’ve got nothing else better to do what with Imfis being under Imperial occupation and all. Er, I wouldn’t mind taking a cut of that gold, though. For serving as the ship’s engineer, like.”

“Consider it done.”

“Hey—” started Sagar.

“Don’t worry, skycaptain, that is of course in addition to what you will be paid for your navigation skills and the use of your ship.”

“Oh. Well I guess that’s alright, then...”

Nuthea beamed at Elrann. “Good to have you aboard, Lady Elrann.” Her eyes moved one person along. “Grandfather?”

“Of course I will come with you,” said Cid. “There is nothing that I want more. Except at present possibly a hot meal and a bath. But after that, to quest with you in this way has been my intention from the start, as you know, Granddaughter. It is the Will of the One.”

“It is the Will of the One,” agreed Nuthea, nodding. “Shadowfinger Vish?”

“I will come with you so long as you keep me supplied with poppy.”

“I can do that,” said Cid. “And slowly we will work at weaning you off it.”

Vish grunted. He didn’t seem all that keen on the idea of being ‘weaned off’ the poppy but he had said he would come with them all the same.

“Then it’s settled,” said Nuthea. Huh? What about me? “Guards, have chambers made up for my companions. I want them in the finest guest rooms, the ones in the east tower. Rest well, my friends. I will see you at dinner in the great hall. I have business to attend to.” Her voice trembled very slightly as she said that last sentence. “You will be provided with the means to wash, and fresh clothing. We leave at first light tomorrow.”

The circle broke, the guards immediately beginning to move about and start clearing the bodies from the hall.

Nuthea had gone back to her mother and was looking down at her, one hand over her mouth. She managed to hold back the tears, for now.

Ryn couldn’t hold back any more though.

“Nuthea…”

She turned to him at last, and her eyebrows rose above her pale blue eyes.

“I’m…” said Ryn. He couldn’t hold her gaze and had to look at the floor, realising why she had been unable to address him. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for behaving like such a...like such a sleemo and being so horrible to you for the last part of our journey. I was mixed up and confused and full of rage and bitterness.” He looked up at her still-expectant face. “But I’ve dealt with that now. I’m sorry for holding onto it for so long.”

Nuthea held eye contact, held him in agony as he waited for her response.

“It’s alright, Ryn,” she said finally. “It was unpleasant, but I forgive you too. The Way of the One is to forgive.” She moved close to him all of a sudden and whispered in his ear. “You can spend the rest of the quest making it up to me.” She kissed him delicately on his cheek. “I’m still sorry, too. Thank you for saving us from the Imperials, and from Vorr.”

She walked away from him and began issuing the guardswomen with commands about removing her mother’s body from the throne room.

Ryn stood watching her go. His cheek felt on fire with sensation, and he had to put a hand to it to make sure that it was not, in fact, actually on fire.

“What was that all about?” said Sagar, stepping up next to him on the dais.

“Hm? Oh, nothing. Just some unfinished business…”

“Well anyway, pup, you did it.” Sagar slapped Ryn on the back. “You finally killed the General. I suppose I’m actually a little bit impressed. But only a little bit.”

The two of them looked down at Vorr’s body. The General’s corpse lay flat on its back, flesh hideously red and brown and charred. Its eyes were closed. It was beginning to smell.

“You know,” said Ryn. “In the end, I didn’t even really want to kill him any more. But strangely, letting go of my hatred for him, and for myself, was what gave me the power to beat him.”

“You what?”

“Never mind.”

“Well done, young man Ryn,” said Cid, stepping up to join them too. “You’ve taken your first steps on the Way of the One.”

Ryn didn’t reply, but he thought I suppose I have. And that might not be a bad thing.

“Er, guys…” said Elrann, looking up at them from where she next to Vish. “What should we do now?”

“I am going to go and take some poppy,” said Vish, turning away.

“Wait!” said Cid to him. “Can’t you hold out a little longer?”

“No.”

“We’ll come with you,” said Ryn. “To the rooms, I mean. What we should do now is get some rest before dinner is served. You heard Nuthea—we’re leaving on a ‘quest’ at first light tomorrow and we need to make sure that we’re all fed, watered, washed and rested.”

“Pup,” said Sagar, “that’s the most sensible thing you’ve said all day.”

They all walked off together to find a Manolian to show them to their chambers.

Mum. Dad. Cleasor. Found Vorr. Got Vorr. Killed Vorr. Stay with Nuthea. Find the Jewels. Save the world.