Azura couldn’t believe he had agreed to this. Of all the ways he could think of to spend his summer break, running errands for a princess that was only slightly subdued from their last interaction wasn’t high on his list. Unfortunately she had 2 very major things keeping him in line. 1 being that she was currently protecting his sister, and the second being that he had promised his father that he would be an ideal heir until he graduated in exchange for the protection of his friends. He had honestly thought that his friends would go beneath his notice, aside from maybe Elismera, and Cynthia, but those were actually the 2 the man couldn’t target anyway.
He sighed, turning his thoughts back to his current ‘mission.’ He was wearing a thin black mask that covered his mouth and reached up to his nose, and another small dark gray metal mask with sharp edges with 2 slits over each eye so he could see. His clothing choices were also darker than usual being black and dark gray instead of his usual white and silver. All in all he looked like one of the so called ninjas that could be found in the east. Appropriate given that his current task was to steal something. It would almost be fun, and even kind of cool… assuming the thing he was stealing wasn’t some stupid doll that was.
Alice had been surprisingly upset at the loss of said doll from her collection, and ‘requested’ that he find it and retrieve it for her. In other words he found himself sneaking through dark hallways, and listening intently to make sure he didn’t run into anyone because his sister had bragged to the princess about how good he was at finding things, regardless of how hidden they were. Unfortunately it was also the sparkles in said sister’s eyes that really prevented him from refusing said request.
Tracking the thief had been rather simple given his magic, unfortunately tracking it after he sold it was significantly more complicated. Apparently the doll was a rather hot commodity, because it had changed hands 7 times in the last 2 weeks for increasingly ridiculous prices. Which made him feel a little bad for the current buyer who had spent over 2000 gold on it to give it to his daughter. He idly wondered how long a copy of it would last. It wasn’t a magic item, so theoretically the copy should last indefinitely, unless exposed to some kind of magical interference, but this family didn’t really seem to deal with magic much, so it should be fine, and it’s not like anyone would notice that it was a fake.
Either way, using his magic to reform inside the room of an 8 year old girl was not his proudest moment, even though he had his reasons. As expected for a child at 2 in the morning she was sound asleep. It was too dark for him to actually see anything, but thanks to his magic senses he at least knew where things were so he didn’t step on anything and give away that he had been here. Unfortunately his bad luck had reappeared with a vengeance the second he had left the school for summer break, and even 2 weeks into the break it showed no signs of slowing down.
The doll wasn’t being displayed on a dresser like he had expected, but rather was being tightly hugged by the little girl as if it was a stuffed animal. He held in his sigh this time, mostly out of fear that the girl may be a light sleeper, and that any noise may instantly wake her. Using any magic directly on the little girl was a risk. Any magic used on a person would certainly leave traces, and that could lead to some trouble. Not really for him, but he didn’t really want to inconvenience this family given that they themselves had done nothing wrong.
Unfortunately he was drawing a blank on how to remove the doll from her grips without using magic on her. The doll wasn’t even made of magical materials, so breaking it down and reforming it would be a no go. Maybe he could just give the princess the copy. She wouldn’t be able to tell the difference any more than the child would, but he had said he’d get her doll back, and that would not be that. Curse his need to keep his word. If he had considered this earlier he would have just promised to find her doll. Then whether he gave her the real thing or a copy he had done as he’d promised.
He had 1 thing he could do, but it was a bit risky. He scanned the doll quickly so he could create a copy of it. Now he just had to make a spell that would switch the dolls locations and positions instantly. All while focusing on being completely silent of course. He had a similar spell to switch his position with his copies, but that was more spirit magic than anything because he was just moving his soul around to a different physical anchor. In this case he’d actually be switching the physical objects, which was significantly more difficult, especially because the results had to be instantaneous.
At least making an enchantment that would disappear after 1 use was fairly simple, and objects didn’t really keep signs of magic use as long as living beings did, at least assuming they weren’t directly altered by said magic. He withheld another sigh. This was probably going to take a few hours. At least with his summoning spell for his money and equipment he had something to start with.
***
Serena was ecstatic to have her brother around again. Even if he was noticeably uncomfortable around Alice for some reason. They had rarely gotten to spend time together, but after their brother died Azura had made an effort to be there for her, and she was grateful for that. Azura had always been so distant before Draconis died. She shook her head. Such thoughts wouldn’t do her any good. She focused instead on cleaning her face as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her long white hair reached all the way to her back, and her eyes were an even brighter blue than Azura’s. Aside from her relatively short height even for a 12 year old she was a mirror image of her mother. She wished her mom could have seen her.
She wasn’t doing a very good job of thinking positive thoughts today it seemed. She sighed as she left her overly ornate bathroom to the equally impressive bedroom she had been staying in since she was invited to the castle. It was a little better than the last family she had stayed with if she was being honest, and the fact Azura had somehow gotten their father not to marry her off kept her feeling relatively safe. Still the ostentatious sights that she was often stuck with always left her feeling uncomfortable.
“Looks like you’ve learned to keep your room clean since I last saw you huh?” Her pensive frown instantly vanished as she turned to see the smiling face of her brother carefully holding the doll Alice had been fretting over for the past few weeks.
“Azura!” She rushed over to hug her brother, making sure not to damage the doll. Alice could be scary when she wanted to be, and Serena wanted no part of that. “I knew you’d be able to get it back. The investigators of this kingdom have nothing on you!” Azura hugged her back gently, and even though she couldn’t see his eyes from her current position she was sure they would be rolling at the praise.
“More like not even her father would waste resources hunting down a doll that had been stolen because Alice had taken it out during a banquet. I’m sure if they were forced to the kingdoms investigators would be able to find it.” It was her turn to roll her eyes as she released her brother and stepped back to a more polite distance.
“Can’t you ever just accept praise?” He had always been this way, though she supposed it was probably their father’s fault since Draconis was the same way. “I mean according to the rumor mill you’re the strongest 1st year in the Grand Forge academy, and if that’s not a feat worth praise then I don’t know what is.”
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He laughed and patted her head while she stared at him with an unimpressed look. “I can accept praise, but only if it’s deserved. Hunting down a doll is hardly anything worth mentioning, anyone with the proper skillset could have done it. As for being the top 1st year, that meant my grades were higher than everyone else's, not necessarily that I’m the strongest. There are a few others that would give me a run for my money.” She rolled her eyes again, and her brother had the audacity to call her stubborn.
“Of course, because there is nothing impressive about having the highest grades, being one of the strongest, and having several unique skill sets.” Her tone was dry, to this day her brother was still the only one that could frustrate her enough for this side of her to shine through. She supposed he thought he was helping her in some way by making his achievements seem less impressive. She would remain in his shadow as far as being nobles of the Silver house went, but it wasn’t as if she cared about that anymore than he did.
A small upturn of his lips was all she was going to get to acknowledge her comment, but that was fine. That little bit of pride was all she had wanted to see anyway. “How was the princess in my absence?” She sighed unsurprised at his change of subject. She still didn’t understand his issues with Alice, but with Katy’s reactions to the princess being much the same she was forced to wonder if it wasn’t her that was treating the princess strangely.
“She’s been delightful company, even when Katy’s around and being all skittish for whatever reason. Speaking of another one of your friends from the academy came to visit. Thankfully she seemed much calmer than the last one.” What was the girl's name? Lila? Lily? Something along those lines surely. The purple haired menace had been insane. Even with Azura keeping her in check she had set no less than 12 fires. How Azura and Katy could be completely comfortable next to a person like that and on a razor’s edge with the princess was beyond her.
Azura laughed. “Calmer than Lily doesn’t really narrow it down much Serena. Any other hints before I go say hi?” That was good at least, Lily wasn’t the norm for his friends. That was at least some small comfort. Still she endeavored to remember the name this time, it wouldn’t do to forget the people Azura trusted.
“She had a cool bird with her, it had stars across its body.” That had to be unique right? Afterall her studies were extensive, and she had never heard of such a creature. Admittedly her studies were never quite as in depth as Azura’s due to her not being able to be in multiple places at once, but surely the holes in her knowledge were not so extensive as to miss something like that.
“Ah Luna it is, she certainly is much calmer than Lily, no doubt about that. I’ll pay her a visit before my daily training with the knights.” She winced at the reminder of Azura’s training, which subsequently reminded her of why he was training. As much as she adored her older brother, she honestly couldn’t picture him succeeding. Even with 4 years of the intense training he had been taking part in. Their father had a strength that far exceeded human comprehension after all. Azura was clever, but against their father she didn’t think that would be enough.
“I still don’t think torturing yourself by having 3 of the top 10 come at you simultaneously is going to help you very much. Wouldn’t you learn more if you actually got a chance to fight back?” She knew her brother was strong for his age, but even asking him to take on 1 of the top 10 was too much. Watching him fight 3 was a painful proposition. He did a surprisingly good job at not being hit for a while, but to her it honestly seemed like the only thing he was training was his endurance.
“Not if I’m preparing to fight father. No attacks I can practice will leave so much as a scratch on him. Anything I can hit him with that might injure him would at the very least severely maim almost anyone else. The only one of the knights defense oriented enough to tank those kinds of hits is Lux, and that’s separate practice.” She sighed, they had this conversation several times already. She wasn’t allowed to see that practice, she hadn’t understood why until she, along with the rest of the city, had felt the very ground shake as a pillar of light lit up the sky far from the city. Lux came back with a shattered shield and broken armor, but as the man who had tanked a full power hit from their father he seemed more or less unharmed.
“Do you think you can win?” That was the question she had been avoiding asking. She knew his answer before he gave it, and had been stalling so she wouldn’t have to hear it. Azura wouldn’t mince words with her, and the hope he gave her would almost surely be crushed.
“No, but I have to anyway.” Her eyes closed as the breath left her lungs. Tears gathered on her eyes and it took more self control than she expected to keep them from falling. If even Azura didn’t think he could win, then it was impossible right? Azura was the smartest person she knew, or at least the most clever. Even if the princess was smarter than him she was confident Azura would find ways around it, but their father was a different beast.
“Why did you agree to this challenge then? Surely dad wouldn’t go after your friends himself, at worst he would pay someone else to do it, and you probably could have protected them from that.” Azura sighed. He scratched his head aggressively.
“I couldn’t risk it. I’ve underestimated the lengths father would go to once, I don’t intend to make the same mistake twice.” The look in his eyes made it obvious. It had been about her. Their father had threatened her in a way that Azura hadn’t even considered. Something so bad he had to get her in with the princess to protect her. No one else would have been able to protect her. As odd as it felt when there were children that wished for nothing more than to have their parents present in their life she was glad to just be a footnote to their father. She got to avoid the brunt of the man’s ‘parenting’ style, but for the first time she regretted not being as strong as her siblings had been. To think she had just been a tool for the man to keep them in line with.
“But it’s not worth you suffering the rest of your life for. Father is just too strong, it’s not too late for you to play it safe. Just spend the next 3 years making counter measures to protect your friends and then back out of the bet.” Azura winced. She didn’t really enjoy hurting him like this, but she couldn’t just pretend she thought that he could win. She had a huge amount of faith in her brother, but their father… that man was something else entirely.
“I was the one who evoked the challenge.” Her heart froze. It was one thing to turn down a challenge someone else presented, it was quite another to drop a challenge you yourself presented. It was more shameful than a loss, and it would be black mark on his name for a long time. Challenges, especially duels like the one he had apparently set up were very important. Sacred almost. Only a foolish coward would set up a duel they weren;t willing to see through to the end.
“What?” Tears dropped down her face as the last of her hope withered and died. Surely she misheard. Why would he do something as reckless as that? A mage who couldn’t even back up their own words was worthless, and that kind of failure would ruin Azura’s career before it even began. His solemn face convinced her that she hadn’t misheard. “Why?” It was quiet, barely more than a whisper, but she wasn’t sure she could have said it louder if she wanted to.
Azura gave her a forlorn smile. “Because it was the only way he’d leave me, and more importantly the people I care about alone. Besides, my growth this past year was far above what I expected. If I can keep up this rate of growth, or find a few new tricks for the next 3 years then I might actually be able to win, no I will win. No matter what. So for just a bit longer, can you put your faith in me?”
She wiped tears from her face and offered her brother a shaky smile. She wasn’t strong enough to help him train, and he was more than able to heal himself to a degree that made her healing abilities worthless, so her faith was all she had to support him with, and she’d be damned if she didn’t help anyway she could. “You better not let me down, you know. You have a lot of promises to keep.” Memories flowed through her of their time together in that awful castle. Her brother really had a habit of making the most outlandish promises, but he hadn’t failed her yet.