I felt apprehension rise in my chest as the door shut behind the prince. He didn’t look particularly pissed to me, but calm instead, and he wore long regal clothes. The priest who had attended me had stayed outside, leaving us alone.

Was it an act? I had broken the one thing he’d told me not too, after all. ‘Treason’, as he’d put it. But perhaps the nature of how I revealed it made it better? A Demonbane wasn’t really a gift you quibbled too much about, at least not in my opinion.

He strode towards me, stopping only a few feet from the side of my bed.

“You really need to stop this.” He chuckled.

“Why? I just slayed a demon, right? Why shoul-” I stopped mid sentence, my prepared arguments falling from my mind.

A chuckle?

“...stop what, exactly?”

“Isn’t this the third time you’ve knocked yourself out and awoken in bed after needing life-saving magicks? In just a month, even?” He laughed again. “I’m starting to feel like half the times we’ve spoken it’s been in such a situation.”

…He wasn’t angry? Really? The same guy who's been ranting about treason for a month now? [Christ], had I died after all?

“It’s not really my fault, you know.” I said. “I’m always just getting thrown into stuff like this! Really, you’d think the country would be safer.”

Well, perhaps it would be a little unfair to take none of the blame myself, but only Gideon really knew how much of my fault it really was. It was better for him to think that I’d done it all accidentally.

“I’m sure.” He said. “But no matter the cause, the Star has seen fit to cause you distress more than most. And as it would seem, there is no end to that written in your future. In fact it appears as though you are chosen for ever greater risks.”

A rare chill ran down my spine at that.

“What do you mean?”

Being told something like that was never good. Especially by someone with as much pull as Andril.

“You keep getting into these messes, right? It really would be for the best if you were better prepared, wouldn’t it? By the reports of Duke Belvan’s soldiers you only shouted out the names of base and simple spells. Not really the magical prowess one would expect from the first snow mage in centuries.”

I raised an eyebrow, not quite believing what I was hearing.

“You want to train me? Weren’t you the one who said it was treason to learn magic at all?”

“That was before, of course.” He said quickly. “Our current predicament requires a change of course.”

“Uh-huh.”

I wasn’t stupid. It was obvious to me that this was a political ploy, one that perhaps revealed just how big of a deal my magic actually was. Old laws and thinking seemed like they were going to be the first casualty of Andril’s war.

But was it worth going along with it? Getting even more involved with Andril’s rebellion could only hurt Gideon and my plans to get back home, and it was entirely more risky than staying on the political sidelines. Actually, was it even possible to say no? If the situation was dire, I couldn’t see Andril accepting me just standing by, or even leaving for Summark. He might even judge the consequences of me falling into the senate’s hands too much to allow.

But he wouldn’t kill me, right? Surely if I just rejected him he wouldn’t see me as a rival or problem.

…Right?

“And I wouldn’t be the one training you.” Andril continued. “Amelia has already volunteered for the task, and I would be loath to deny you such an opportunity. I’m sure you’d find her more agreeable a professor as well…”

“And what’s the catch here?” I asked. “What exactly would you want from me? I’m still in the academy, you know.”

I mean, I wasn’t too attached to the academy myself, but nor did I want to pick up a gig that promised to take way more time than it did. Ah, and especially after I saw that vision when I fell with the demon.

I had no proof, but I somehow felt entirely sure that what I had seen right there had been a Lmenli. It was lying in the centre of an active volcano, of course, but when had I let a hostile working environment stop me before?

Andril looked at me for a few seconds, debating something with himself.

“You will march with the campaign, if you’re willing.” He said. “If our foes were to see me with the power of ice by my side, they would look to all the old omens and stories in panic, and in those papers they would only see their doom.”

He nodded to himself.

“No, they would see it as an affirmation of the Star’s faith in my rule. A return to the Lmeri kings of old.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Ah, the prince had grown pretty full of himself in the last few weeks, hadn’t he?

“And you don’t care where I actually got this power from?” I asked gently. “They wouldn’t see it as flaunting those old laws or whatever?”

“I don’t care, and from what the others tell me you don’t truly know either. And even if others did see it like that, it’s a bit too late to worry about that now, isn’t it?” Andril said. “The stories have a life of their own now, and how could they not? While yes, I would’ve preferred that you tell me before, there was no better way to do it than how you did.”

Damn, my friends ratted me out already? They couldn’t’ve have waited until I woke up?

I crossed my arms, irritated.

“How come I feel like you would’ve stopped me if I’d told you before?”

“I would’ve. Because it would’ve been treason then, and heresy beyond that. Now though? It was divine intervention.”

While I wanted to say my head swam with the politics of it all, I really didn’t find it too difficult to understand. No, it was rather more irritating that he just straight out admitted his bias in front of me.

Like seriously? Weren’t you supposed to lie about that?

“So now you want to use me as a political pawn?” I huffed.

Andril frowned.

“Why do you choose to take this in the worst way possible?” He leaned forward, coming within a foot of my face. “I can provide untold privileges once my throne is claimed, of course. And Summark will profit from a united Verol, that much I can assure you. If not for yourself, would you not do it for your people?”

“While I appreciate the bribery, I’m not really in need of too much…” I scooted back a bit, uncomfortable with his proximity. “Where’s Silst? I haven’t spoken to him since yesterday…”

Sadly for him, I really didn’t feel too much affinity for either of those options. Saphry was a noble, after all, with all the carefree life that came with it, and from what I could tell Summark wasn’t exactly struggling. And more importantly, I wanted to discuss this all with Gideon before I made any decisions at all.

“Not even for your people? I assure you that your help could stop untold deaths before this conflict spreads across the plateau.” He sat down on the bed beside me and grabbed my wrist. “And while I pray for it not, I can see this conflict lasting many painful years. Does your heart not weep for the Good Peoples?”

What the hell was with this guilt trip? [Christ], was this really the guy favoured by the church? Were they all just a bunch of scumbags?

I looked away with a huff.

“And wouldn’t that be your fault? If you care so much about it all, why don’t you just, I don’t know, not start a bloody civil war?”

This was all his affair, you know! I certainly didn’t want to sit on some freezing battlefield so that I could watch soldiers beat and burn each other to death! I’d certainly seen way more than my own fair share of that recently. I had much better goals to be working towards, thank you very much.

Andril’s grasp on my wrist tightened.

“...How could you say that?”

I peeked back towards him and immediately felt my irritation morph into fear.

A shadow had come over his face, and a dreadful pall took over his gaze. He looked like I had just suggested some rather unpleasant things be done to his family. And after taking a moment of thought to what I’d just said, I suppose I kind of did.

“My brother died in the halls of my birth, ripped away from Elys for the political dreams of savages.” He spat. “And now you expect me to let those very same people lead our people? To let murderers and psychopaths drown our nation in blood? I won’t allow it. The House of Evandal deserves, no, demands retribution for such a sin.”

I held my tongue, certain that whatever biting retort I had wasn’t likely to earn me any points.

“Have I not been more than forgiving with my offers? You throw away good-natured deals as bribes and games, but I think you betray your ignorance here. The world is not won through benign bonds of companionship as Fredrick might say, but through favours and loyalty.”

“I understand that, but-”

“You understand nothing.” He said. “I could’ve easily have had you thrown into the dungeon for going against my words and learning magic. Have you no respect for your lords? Have you no thought to the laws of our ancestors?”

I tried to jerk my wrist out of his, but settled for glaring at him when I couldn’t break his grasp.

“Respect?” I mocked. “That should be a two-way street! Where was the respect when you first met me? And where was it when you butchered that man outside the gates a couple weeks ago?”

Could he not see how much of a goddamn hypocrite he was? He talked about wanting to stop murderers from leading the country, but had he really been all that much better recently? Could he not see how he’d let anger control him? [Christ], he’d been a maniac ever since that night!

“And now you want to lecture me? I just saved the city, for the Star’s sake!” I said. “I don’t think some pitching [baboon] like you has any-”

I blinked as the back of his hand hit my cheek hard enough for me to see stars, and my head twisted a few degrees to the left.

“You surely must-” He began to whisper.

He didn’t finish before my own palm barreled into his face, the full weight of my anger put behind it.

He stared at me for a few seconds before the recognition hit him, but I didn’t wait for that anger to manifest. Ripping my wrist out of his grasp, I flung myself out of bed with all the adrenaline I’d had during the fight with the demon. I left my hands in front of me, ready to raise in case I needed to cast something.

He didn’t bother to respond, though the fury on his face told me all I needed to know about what he thought. It only took a moment for him to start striding around the bed towards me, a wand summoned into his hands from seemingly nowhere.

I didn’t wait for him to make the first move.

“Sal-”

“Ligan!”

As the words left his mouth I felt my own die on my tongue. Even as I moved my mouth and worked my vocal cords I could hear nothing, as if my words were being whisked away to some distant, desolate realm.

Panicking as my one defence was stripped from me, I backed up as he approached until my back lay flat against the wall, my fists held up feebly in front of me.

The difference in weight and strength here was obvious, however, and without any potion to bolster me it was only a pathetic ten seconds of resistance before I was staring into his eyes with my wrists pinned above my head.

“I. Am. Your. LIEGE!”

I recoiled back, suddenly wishing that I could just shrink right into my skin. There was a long silence between us, one that I could’ve sworn stretched for upwards of half an hour.

“I could’ve thrown you into the dungeon, for the Star’s sake! You’ve done nothing but go against all I’ve asked, but now when I try to offer you help you dismiss it? What kind of brat did the Markee raise? And assaulting your lord? I should have you executed for that!”

He took a deep breath, and for a fleeting moment I feared he might do something worse, only for him to suddenly shake his head. His face softened, and for a moment I caught a glimpse of the same noble I’d met back in the capital.

“I apologise for the strike, I fear my anger caught the better of me right then. You had the right of it to fight back.” He said. “But you cannot go about bandying such horrid words to your future king. If you had said that in earshot of anyone else…”

I had to stop myself from snorting at that. It certainly sounded like a stupid excuse to me, though I could see the reasoning. It wasn’t worth striking me, though.

He let go of my wrists and stepped back, looking ashamed himself.

“I suppose I’m sorry as well.” I said. “I shouldn’t have called you a [baboon].”

Really, a gorilla fits more anyway.

He chuckled.

“Though I have no idea what that is, am I right to believe it isn’t anything good?”

“Perhaps not when comparing someone.” I admitted.

A knock on the door interrupted us, and the priest’s voice sounded behind it.

“Is everything alright? What was that ‘thump’?”

Andril and I glanced at each other, each of us probably wondering how much of that he’d heard.

“I suppose we can speak more of this later.” Andril said. “The offer stands, and I greatly encourage you to take it. Verol could use such a useful mage among its ranks. And I would be honoured to fight beside you. I certainly wouldn’t fault your courage.”

I hesitated before giving him a small nod in return.

“I’ll think about it.”