I desperately clung to my father’s hand while he slept. Each breath was longer and more laborious than the last. The physician must have done something to raise his Health, but there were no visible effects.

If only she had more time.

I clenched my eyes tightly shut. Just thinking about the physician brought her horrific death to the forefront of my mind; eaten alive by one of Cedric’s Barghests. Captain Antigone, Jacob, and the rest of the Goldfire Battalion stationed in that barracks were all probably brutally slain in such a gruesome fashion. Was such terrible cruelty and reckless hate necessary? There was no war to wage. No fields to burn. No villages to pillage. They were our countrymen. Cedric could have granted them a clean death, at the very least.

Cedric… I-I’ll make you pay for this. For all of it.

I ignored the wagon’s painful, jolting rattle and nestled myself against my father’s side.

“Father. Please. I-I can’t do this without you.” I closed my eyes to seal away the hot tears that started to rim them.

I suddenly heard muffled shouts from behind the wagon. I crawled on my hands and knees to the rear and peeked out from the covers. Seven men on horseback bearing House Hasting’s insignia bore down on us, not a few meters away. Despite Anna’s best efforts and the sacrifices of my loyal retainers, it wasn’t long before Cedric’s elite guards caught up. They rode us down on horseback. Our carriage could only go so fast.

I have to do something, anything!

I braced myself against the waist-high half-door and stuck both arms out, palms facing Cedric's riders, thumbs barely touching. Hot, golden Mana flowed from my chest into my hands and coalesced where my thumbs intersected.

With a roar, I unleashed a small fist-sized ball of condensed, golden flames. It whizzed through the air, but the foremost rider simply ducked out of the way and nocked an arrow into his recurve bow.

Blood drained from my face. I channeled the Spell faster and faster. I launch dozens more Firebolts. A trail of blood dripped from my nose and searing pain stabbed into my skull, but I persisted until my vision grew spotty.

But the riders deftly swerved back and forth and even used their swords and shields to deflect all my Spells with contemptuous ease. They must have been at least 3rd Level.

"Ah!"

An arrow lodged itself into the door, right where my chest would have been. I flung myself back and flinched away as a second arrow slammed into my shoulder blade and bounced away. My Health protected me, although it felt like a hot knife carved into my back. I fell forward onto the floor next to my father.

Anna was desperately trying to whip the horses faster, but Cedric's riders still outpaced us. We couldn't escape. Cedric won.

"Princess," Anna looked over her shoulder, smiling even as tears streamed down her face. "I will distract them. You must then take a horse and flee."

Again? Run away again? This time, by sacrificing Anna, my closest confidant? The person who cared for me in place of my own mother? But even if I fled, what could I do?

"W-we surrender! We surrender! Please, just no more death!" I shouted and fell to my knees. My heart broke. All the sacrifices up until now were in vain. Captain Antigone. Jacob. Father. I’m sorry.

At my command, Anna slowed the wagon to a halt, but my pleas for mercy went unanswered. Anna was yanked off the jockey chair by her hair and dragged along the road. In a twist of fate, her screams awoke my father just as Cedric's riders threw open the wagon's rear door. Father lunged forward and lashed out a wild animal before the men could touch me. His eyes were bloodshot and crazed. He tackled one of the guards into the dirt, clawing and biting with reckless abandon.

"Father, no!"

One of the guards drew a short spear and chambered his arm backward. I leapt out of the wagon but tripped on my blasted skirts.

"No! He's delirious! Stop! We surrender-"

A dull, wet thud echoed. My vision went red.

"NO!" I screeched until my voice broke. One of the guards snatched my scalp and shoved my head into the dirt. I was Manaless, powerless, and hopeless. I didn't resist. My strength bled out from me just as my father's blood pooled onto the road.

"Princess! Unhand her you wretched fiends! Kingslayers! Traitors, all of you! May your souls be condemned to the Abyss!"

A rider back-handed Anna with his metal gauntlet over and over again until she fell into sobbing submission.

I prayed. With my face pushed into the moist dirt, I prayed to whatever god would listen.

Thunder and lightning answered my pleas.

In less than a heartbeat, the men who killed Captain Antigone and his soldiers, hounded us for hours, and slew my father in cold blood were dead on the ground, like puppets with their strings cut.

I looked toward the source of the lightning and thunder to see a man in green, bloodstained clothes slowly step out of the shadowy foliage with a black, metallic staff held aloft like a crossbow.

He ran over to father and jabbed his fingers into father's neck. I did not know what he found in my father's flesh, but each move was precise and practiced. Even the stranger's response came out calculating and clinically analytical.

"Dead."

Any hope I still clung to died in in that moment. I numbly crawled along the ground while the stranger pried the spear from my father's corpse. I pushed the man away with what little strength I still had and rested my head on father's chest.

I begged. I bargained. I wept. I received no reply.

Anna led the stranger away. I was grateful. Finally, I could cry freely.

When the tears finally stopped, I felt something snap within me. Something changed. I gave my father one final kiss on the cheek and stood.

The frigid, empty pit of despair within my soul now housed a flaming hatred so hot it consumed every other emotion.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Anna soon returned with the strangely dressed foreigner.

He looked harrowed, although he hid it behind an iron mask of discipline. He was a warrior, recently pulled from the battlefield. His aloof demeanor and the blood coating his clothes spoke easily even when he did not.

"Princess, this is Mister Levin. He has agreed to guard us."

I blinked once at Anna. To so quickly agree to protect us was folly, no matter what Anna promised. He must be just as desperate as we were.

"My name is Lydia. Thank you for your aid and assistance, Mister Levin." I curtseyed and gauged his reaction, of which there was none. He made no attempt to return the gesture even with the simplest of bows. What a strange man, truly.

"We need to leave. You're being chased and there'll be a response force sent when this squad fails to report in."

His tone was eerily similar to Captain Antigone's. There was no room for argument. Did this man not know who I was, dressed in such finery, no matter how marred?

"No, we shall cremate my father, first."

"If we do that, the light and smoke will expose our position for dozens of miles."

"It's what my father deserves."

To be bathed in dragonfire, like the warrior he was. My father was a veteran from crusades against the Endless Abyss. Although he long retired his sword, in his final moments, he was a champion - my champion.

I glared resolutely at Levin. I know not what he saw, but his cold expression melted and he quickly built a pyre using loose timbers from the forest nearby. At one point, he ripped a small tree out of the ground with his bare hands.

Isn't he a mage?!

Once the pyre was built, he and Anna carefully laid my father atop it while I siphoned Mana from my mother's signet ring. The black spots in my vision gradually vanished and the headache receded like the ocean tide.

With my reserves replenished, I ordered Anna and Levin back then unleashed a torrent of golden flames from my hands. Dragonfire burnt the pyre and my father's body to ash within minutes.

"It is finished."

I stared up from the pile of ash as the night wind picked it up and scattered it across the sky.

Goodbye, Father.

Once we were boarded onto the wagon, I occupied myself by barraging Levin with questions. He was surprisingly earnest. I expected a more caged response, but his candor brought a smile to my face. I entertained the notion of throwing away my titles and living a life of wonder and adventure alongside him. It was clear he was a far-flung traveler, from a place of democracy and freedom, the United States. I knew not of such a country in all of Valeria and he knew nothing of our customs, courtesies, nor even Magic Crystals. I laughed lightly whenever he floundered his way through our conversations. His open demeanor and attitude was endearing. I decided to play along and cede some information in order to build goodwill and trust between us. I could live like this, as Lydia, and leave Lyudmilia behind, to have died with her father on the road.

I planned such a course of action and had no intention of revealing my true origins until-

"I’m a Ranger."

I blinked. My body froze. I heard Anna's breath hitch even from the jockey box.

Did he know what that meant? Was he deceiving me? What kind of game was he playing at?

Despite my disbelief, I sensed no lie from his words or body language. I was trained to read such things and Levin was a terrible liar.

If I entered his graces, promised him a reward, then retaking my kingdom and exacting my revenge was within my grasp.

I folded my arms and restored my royal composure. Levin tilted his head in apprehension at the transformation and I was glad that my beauty was preserved despite the violence. If necessary, I would tie Levin down to me and Renalis by marriage.

"It's an honor to meet you, Ranger Levin."

I smiled as his face fell. At that moment, I gave up on living the rest of my life in exile. Levin would be mine. And with his power, my birthright restored.

==A few weeks after retaking Veles Citadel===

"Your true mission," I began after pacing once around Idyia. I inspected every inch of her, dressed in her provocative maid uniform. Anna was quietly making some custom alterations to emphasize Idyia's Elven, hourglass beauty. Satisfied and slightly jealous, I stopped in front of her and leaned back on my desk, arms folded.

"Is to ensure no other female forms any close relationships with Levin. Seduce him yourself and use your body to keep his lust in check, if you must. I will tolerate you as a concubine, perhaps even as a third wife."

"Your Majesty, is such a thing necessary?" Idyia was obviously confused.

"Yes." I tapped my elbow in irritation at her voice. "I've watched how Levin's Unique Aspect, Devotion, greatly affects his personality, his choices, and his daily life. I have even used it for my own benefit." I stroked the precious ring on my finger; a simple trinket compared to my other finery, but one that symbolized our engagement.

"It binds him to those he loves and considers family. I noticed it most the morning after he deflowered me and after Renala's birth. It is a beautifully pure Aspect, one that preserves his mind against the absurdity of his Quest. Most would just give up, but Levin's desire to return to Rebecca borders on insanity. Because it is so pure and so powerful, it is an Aspect that is easily manipulated."

I intensified the temperature around us enough that Anna had to retreat a few steps. Idyia didn't flinch. We both knew she was stronger, but I leveraged her very soul and her tribe's future.

"If Levin is stolen away from me while under your charge, I will hold you responsible. Do you understand?"

I used one hand to create small, Dark Elves of flames that danced in my palm then closed my fist to snuff them out.

Idyia nodded once.

"Let me be perfectly clear, Silverflash Idyia: I hate you. You only continue to draw breath because Levin allows it. If it were up to me, I would burn you alive along with all of Hasting's conspirators. You murdered my friends, my guards, and my retainers. Your cursed people will cause Renalis no end of grief and will turn my kingdom into a religious pariah before long."

I wrapped my fingers around her throat and relished the feel of her Health slowly draining away beneath my smoldering grip.

"Give me an excuse."

I released Idyia a few moments later and dismissed her from my office. She was to join Levin into the city so he could commune with Goddess Seras. I couldn’t keep him waiting without drawing more suspicion. As much as I loved Levin and as much as he loved me, I was fearful of his response. Would he reject me if he knew his perception was being severely altered by his Devotion?

Anna poured me a fresh cup of tea as I sat behind my desk to review the mountain of bureaucratic nonsense that erupted because of Hasting's coup. It would take months to repair all the political damage and tame the aristocratic infighting. I pulled at my hair. Even after his death, Hasting continued to hound me.

"Your Majesty, can you not forgive her? Miss Idyia's information and prowess with her cloak and dagger have been vital to regaining control over the Separatists. She even assisted me when interrogating the citadel staff."

I smiled. Anna, ever the kind voice of reason. I now understood why Levin fell in love with her first.

"Perhaps someday. But it's too soon. The hurt, too raw."

I didn't bother committing to an answer. Did dragons forgive and forget? No, they held grudges that lasted for millenia. Their rage destroyed entire civilizations and drove other races to extinction.

I penned a letter to Lord Belmond, detailing Levin's arrival and my intentions to use his personal crusade to foster the next generation of Endless Abyss veterans. He was a competent general and politically savvy, I was certain he would manipulate the scene to my advantage.

"Take this to the bird tower." Anna took the missive, bowed and left me to my own thoughts.

Forgiveness. If it was for Anna, Levin, and our family-to-be, then perhaps I could pardon Idyia. I looked out the window, at the courtyard filled with the charred corpses of Hasting's supporters.

But not yet.