Elizah walked into her room, still smiling about how Jayden was so happy. She was about to get into the bed when she saw a solemn Micah seated on her bed. In his hands was the one thing she hoped that Micah wouldn't notice.

"Liz, what's the meaning of this?" he asked. He stood up to show her the book he was holding.

It was a book of magic that she'd borrowed from Jade to look at. She wanted to hide it away from her mother and Micah to make sure the wrong conclusions weren't made quickly, but of course, things never went the way she expected them to go.

"I can explain it…." Elizah tried to defend her actions.

"What can you even say? Liz, I don't know what to even think after this," Micah was almost shouting at her.

"If you quieten down a little, I can try to explain," Elizah said with anger tipping off in her voice. Still, she was careful not to raise her voice, fearing that Roxanne might overhear about what happened.

"Mother's been asleep for a while. Don't worry about waking her," Micah said and glared at his sister.

"I have magic," Elizah said with a defeated tone in her voice.

"Genius, you thought I didn't know that? Isn't there a way you can suppress it? Tell me why you need this treacherous thing in our household. Why are you using it? Magic took one person from me. I can't lose another person," Micah asked and pointed at the book again. His voice was solemn, his earlier anger fading slightly.

"You don't understand. If I don't use my powers, that will be a worse situation. Didn't William ever explain this to you?" Elizah asked through gritted teeth.

"He always said some strange things, but I never understood what he meant. I warned him not to use magic, and he didn't listen," Micah said with frustration.

"Magic isn't something we choose, Micah. It chooses us," Elizah growled.

"How do I know that this isn't some set of lies that the Prince fed into you, or he inducted you into the cult of magic users, just to betray you in the end?" Micah asked.

"Can you stop being an idiot, and try to listen to me for at least a moment?" Elizah asked, growing tired of their argument.

Micah was silent, and he met her gaze. His grey eyes tried and failed to hide his pained expression.

"I have magic, but it isn't a bad thing Micah. I use it only for my infusions and to heal people," Elizah said and closed her eyes, "Speaking of which, you have a bruise on your finger, did you hit something by mistake?"

Micah looked taken aback by Elizah's sudden observation and stared at his sister in awe.

"How did you know?" Micah asked as he felt Elizah's gentle hand on his and a warmth flowing through his finger.

"The power of healing, sometimes tends to awe me itself," Elizah said and retracted her palm when she knew the bruise was gone.

"So that's how your magic works? It's different from how I remember Will's being," Micah asked in wonder as he observed his finger, with a sad smile on his face.

"The types are different in how they work. Darkness is something different to all this," Elizah said and took the book from a startled Micah's hands.

"I just am worried. I don't understand all of this, but I don't want anyone to get hurt," Micah said softly and put a hand on Elizah's shoulder.

"Hey, it's alright," Elizah said and smiled, "All is forgiven. One day, I'll explain everything to you, maybe then you'll understand."

"That would be nice of you, but I don't think I will ever get it, as someone who doesn't have those abilities," Micah said with a small sigh, " Be careful, That's all I want."

"I will don't worry. I'm sorry I got too heated," Elizah said and bowed her head slightly, "Just, don't bring the Prince into our arguments. People really judge him too much. And that thought frustrates me."

Micah grinned slightly at his sister and said, "Well, maybe your feelings for him are clearer than you think."

"Shut up, Micah. I'm not ready to take that leap just yet," Elizah said with a flustered gaze and cheeks slightly scarlet. Micah laughed gently and embraced her before turning to the door.

"Good night Liz. We have some hard labour out in the fields tomorrow," Micah said as he walked out of Elizah's room, and she tucked herself into bed.

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

Jayden awoke when there was a knock at the door. He got up from the bed with a groan and made sure he looked presentable enough to meet whoever was at the door.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

For a moment, he made sure that it wasn't late in the day or anything but realised that dawn was still barely breaking. That bought out the curiosity inside him to check whether something was wrong.

He rushed to the door and found a young servant maiden waiting there. "My lord, your father was summoning you to the weapon room," the maid answered as soon as the door opened.

"Did he specify what the reason was exactly?" Jayden asked and raised an eyebrow.

"He only said that it was urgent and important that you were there at the earliest time possible," the maiden shook her head and answered softly.

"I'll be right there in a moment," Jayden said and dug into his pocket to find a small piece of gold from his pocket.

"Go buy yourself a cinnamon bun, and take a rest for the day," Jayden said as he dismissed the girl.

Jayden hated how his mother treated the young servants in the palace and felt the need for so many servants was entirely unnecessary.

"Thank you my lord," the girl said and bounced off with a smile on her face.

On the other hand, Jayden ran down the stairs to the armoury. He knew that whatever had happened was of utmost importance and could be something terrible as well.

When he made it there, he saw his mother, father and a family kneeling down in front of something on the ground. When the king spotted Jayden, he called him towards himself.

Jayden saw what they were looking at and stifled a gasp. There was a body on the ground, covered in bloody scars and cuts. The face was so deformed that it would be impossible to identify the person without the badge on his chest. He was the leader of the spy force that Jayden's father had maintained, and Jayden had actually spent some good time with the man, learning tricks of stealth.

"I'm sorry you have to see this my boy," Cyprian said and gave Jayden a sad glance.

Jayden looked around him at all the people in mourning. He wasn't sure how to react to what was going on then.

"When did this happen?" Jayden asked.

Now, as if a sudden force was working on Cyprian, his eyes were more severe than caring.

"Last night, someone killed the man," Cyprian answered bluntly.

"Have you called for someone to examine him?" Jayden asked.

"Your father has taken care of that. In fact they should be arriving any moment from now," Noxaura answered.

They waited for a few moments, honouring the man before the doors opened, and a white-cloaked woman walked in with another young lady.

Jayden looked up to see their face and nearly jumped in surprise. Elizah and Jade were standing in front of him.

"What is the problem here sire?" Jade asked and observed the corpse.

"He was killed last night, we were wondering if you'd be able to find the cause of death," Noxaura answered, and Jade continued to observe the man along with Elizah's face full of shock.

"Why are you here?" Noxaura asked and raised an eyebrow at Elizah.

"I asked for her to also come. She is well known for her cures in the town," the lady kneeling on the ground, who seemed to be the man's wife, spoke up.

"I actually gave him a healing tonic only last night, since he said he was feeling weak and his muscles seemed to be overworked. I met him at his house last night before I ran an errand for my mother," Elizah answered.

Jade, who until then had been silent, then answered, "I need to do a thorough examination to figure out the cause of death. Would you mind allowing a few sentries to bring him to my cottage?"

Noxaura looked surprised by Jade's question and only nodded in response, "I'll send them by the evening. I thank the two of you for spending your precious time to help us out, and I'd like to hear about the actual cause of the problem here."

"Thank you, milady," Elizah answered, and the two of them bowed before they left the room.

"Father, why are you investigating this?" Jayden asked, confused about what was going on.

"The massacre of the man was quite brutal, I'd wish to punish the culprit dearly for their actions, and I lost a great friend," the king said solemnly.

Jayden wasn't willing to argue with his father's judgement and nodded as the man was covered up, and they all mourned in silence.