The next morning, I woke late to a knock at my door. The sun was high and bright, the day warm and the sounds of people chatting in the courtyard drifted up to my balcony on the summer breeze. I got up and gingerly pulled a robe over my aching body before heading to the door. Adri stood on the other side, her skin glowing from morning training, a plate of cheeses and fruit in hand. There was a guard I didn't recognize in Scipian armour standing next to my door, facing the corridor. He looked down at me and nodded once. Another guard stood behind Adri. He was handsome, if a little stoic, with dark red hair and fair, freckled skin. Adri's grass green eyes darted to the side and back to me, widening with sparkle and mischief. A wordless communication simmered in her expression that said look what else I brought with me. I smiled.

"You brought snacks," I said thickly, my smile widening. "You do know how much I love a good snack."

"Oh yes, in the morning in particular," Adri replied, the mischief in her eyes brightening. I swallowed, tramping down a laugh.

"I'm famished."

"I bet you are. You haven't eaten in so long. Really, a long time. You're in dire need of snacks. It's just becoming sad."

I shot forward and grabbed her arm, pulling her into my room before I could burst out laughing. I shut the door quickly with a word of thanks to Adri's guardian who took up post beside the other soldier. "Oh my gods, you are truly terrible," I hissed through a giggle. "So who is this new snack of yours? He looks very serious."

"He's my lead guardian," Adri replied, climbing up onto my bed and setting the plate down on the blankets. "His name is Rikar," she said around a grape.

"Well, Rikar may be in need of some lightening up," I said, climbing onto the bed next to Adri. I popped some cheese into my mouth and relished the strong flavour, not realizing until that moment how hungry I was.

"My thoughts exactly. It would be a fun challenge," she said with a wink as she brushed some sweat-dampened hair from her forehead. "I've still got nearly a year to play before the wedding, and it would be an entertaining way to pass the time until then. If only he weren't my guardian... I'd rather not be done for treason." We fell quiet for a moment as we picked at the plate Adri had brought, both thinking about her upcoming arranged marriage to Nikolas, Diviner of Smoke.

"What about Rolfe?" I asked, the joking tone from earlier having ebbed away. I knew she was intrigued by him and the boldness of his offer at the Theatre. She didn't say anything for a long moment.

"I haven't searched him out yet, but I'm thinking about it." Her eyes were cast down toward the blanket as she plucked at a broken thread. "I do like his terms. Stabbing him still holds a certain appeal." She smiled up at me, infusing her expression with a bit more of the mischief she'd entered with.

"I think you should," I said, lying back on my bed while I inspected a particularly delicious slice of cheese. "He is obviously smitten and he hasn't even seen your face. If nothing else, you'd have a nice dinner and an opportunity to stab him with a fork. What more could a lady possibly want from a date." We smiled at one another but I could see something lingering in her eyes, something that dampened the usual brightness there. "What's wrong?" I asked, laying my hand on hers.

"I just... I don't know what the point is. I barely know him but I feel... drawn to him. Not like the other snacks around here," she said with a joking yet vulnerable smile. "What if I like him? I'm fated to another. It's not like I'll be able to get away with what Deacon could, being married and loving another as he did. I'm not related to royalty. I have nothing to bargain for keeping secrets like that. Once Nikolas and I are wed, that's it." Adri looked down and tugged at the broken thread of the quilt. "It doesn't seem fair."

"It's not. It's not fair at all," I said, squeezing her hand gently. "But what's also not fair is stopping yourself from living now because of what might happen in the future. That's not being fair to yourself. Anything could happen over the course of a year. You could have dinner with Rolfe, end up hating him, and stab him in the chest with a fork." Adri giggled, though I caught sight of a tear rolling down her cheek. "You could fall madly in love with him, and the marriage laws could change. Or you find a way to keep it a secret love, like Deacon did, even without royal connections. Maybe you end up realizing you've been madly in love with Nikolas all along." She shot me a doubtful glare and then laughed. "How will you know unless you let yourself try?"

Adri shrugged. "I just don't want to get hurt."

"No one gets away from life unscathed. We Diviners know that better than anyone." I crawled carefully off the bed and went to my wardrobe, flicking through the dresses until I found a dark blue one. "How much time do you have until you're needed back at the training yard?" I asked over my shoulder as I disrobed.

"About an hour, why?"

"That should give us plenty of time to find Rolfe," I said as I pulled the dress over my head.

"Oh gods no, not now!" Adri whined but still slid off the bed, brushing crumbs of cheese off the front of her training tunic. "I look like I've been dragged behind a horse. I smell like it too."

"Never. You're as beautiful as always." I walked over to her and swept back a few strands of her cornsilk hair that had escaped from her low bun. She rolled her eyes and squared her shoulders, heaving a heavy sigh as she smoothed out her sleeves with her hands.

"Fine, let's get this over with. I'm taking your falchion, though," she said, grabbing the sword from where it hung on the side of the wardrobe. She strode toward the door, determination in her steps.

"That's the romantic spirit." I followed, albeit stiffly, the pain from the last two days still radiating through my limbs and chest. Opening the door, Adri focused on her new guard.

"Rikar, we're going on a little expedition and I need you to keep your distance. This is Quinn. She has an attack snake. You're going to want to be nice to her." With that, Adri strode off down the hallway, and Rikar and I blinked at each other. I could tell that my bloodshot eyes repelled him, but he was too polite to look away.

"Pleased to meet you," he said, stunned by the unexpected encounter with his new ward.

"Pleasure's all mine," I replied. I turned to the other guard. "Are you joining us?" He gave a stiff, slightly confused nod. "Alright, we should get a move on then. You don't want to keep a Diviner waiting. Particularly not that one..." I pivoted away from the Scipians and started down the corridor after Adri, the guards following a few paces behind. I caught up with her as she reached the end of the corridor and headed down the flight of stairs toward the foyer of the Sanctum. Once outside the building and into the fresh air, she stopped abruptly.

"I haven't a clue where to look," she said, sounding surprised, as though the realization had only just struck her that she knew very little about Rolfe or his habits. "What does he... do... exactly?"

"I have no idea, but I think I know someone who can help." I turned toward my guard, who I still hadn't even met, and marched over to him and Rikar. "Do either of you know where Kiran is, please?" They looked at each other, seeming surprised that I would address them so directly. Rikar swallowed.

"He's with Captain Donseer, my lady."

"...My lady?" I repeated, squinting.

"...Your grace?.." I shook my head. "...Diviner..." I shook my head again.

"Quinn," I said emphatically.

"Lady Quinn." I rolled my eyes and glanced back at Adri, who simply shrugged and shook her head, equal parts dumbfounded and ready to move on to the task at hand.

"Can you lead us to him, please?" Rikar gave a nod and the two guards led us toward the barracks where the Scipian soldiers had taken residence. Though it was one of the more utilitarian buildings within the fortified walls of Castle Eridanus, the foyer and reception rooms were still decorated with sculptures, armour, and beautiful silk tapestries that depicted images from the Kingdom's history. Kings and queens, brave soldiers, legendary battles, and successful meetings with the leaders of allied territories all hung on the cold stone walls. As we waited in the foyer while Rikar summoned Kiran, I looked at each tapestry in detail, stopping in front of one with the title The Fallon Fields embroidered at the top. Adri came to stand next to me, scrutinizing the battle scene.

"Wasn't Kaylon at the Fallon Fields? Didn't they call upon him to help win that battle?" Adri asked, searching for his likeness.

"He was, yes," I replied.

"Do you think they'll do the same for the Blackmoors?" Adri asked quietly after a long and thoughtful pause. "Make a tapestry and leave out the contribution of the Diviner who granted them that glory? Seems like the lot of the Diviner, doesn't it. We win the wars, and then we are erased from history." She ran her fingers over the fabric, tracing the face of one of the soldiers immortalized in silk. "For all our sacrifice, we deserve a little thread," she whispered.

Before I could reply, we heard footfalls approaching from the corridor where the study and common rooms were located. Rikar strode toward us, followed by Kiran. I swallowed thickly as our gazes met and then quickly looked away, remembering how awful my eyes still looked and how unaccustomed the Scipians would be to seeing the aftermath of our tithing.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Good day to you both," Kiran said, coming to a stop beside us.

"Good day," Adri replied.

"Is there something I can do for you? Rikar said you were in need of my assistance." Adri fidgeted, shifting from side to side on her feet.

"Yes, I..." she said, trailing off. "I need to..."

"I believe you know Rolfe?" I supplied, meeting Kiran's gaze again. He showed neither pity nor revulsion in his expression, only a hint of amusement as his eyes darted to Adri and back to my own. "We need to speak to him. Do you know where he might be?"

"Actually, I do," he said, barely containing the faintest smile. "He's in the Queen's Garden. He will be securing purple jade from the East for the new extension. I believe he's there now to take measurements." I looked at Adri, raising my brows in question. The look of renewed determination was set again in her jaw and her vibrant green eyes. She gave a little nod.

"Many thanks," she said, and with a turn as elegant as a dancer, she was off again, headed to the open doors of the barracks and into the sunlight. I offered Kiran a slight smile and said good day, following after Adri but keeping some distance. I heard the footsteps of the guards as they fell in step behind me. Once outside, Adri headed toward Queen's Garden, which was spread beyond the rear of the Great Hall, and I veered off toward the balcony at the back of the Hall where I might be able to watch from afar.

"Stay with me, please. She needs some space for a moment," I called over my shoulder to the guards without looking back.

"Yes, Lady Quinn," I heard Rikar say. I shook my head and resolved to show Rikar how unladylike I could be on the training grounds once I had recovered from the tithe. The guards and I walked up the wide stone steps of the balcony adjacent to the Great Hall and looked over the gardens, spotting Rolfe standing in the distance, bent over a table that had been brought out for his work. I smiled to myself, thinking he had no idea what storm approached.

"He's in for quite a surprise," Kiran said, his low, rich voice startling me as he came to stand on my left. I hadn't realized he'd replaced my earlier guard and come with Rikar. My heart stuttered a broken rhythm as my injured eyes took in his tanned olive skin that glowed in the sun. A dimple appeared in his stubbled cheek as he offered a lopsided smile.

"Just wait until she stabs him with a fork. Then he'll really be surprised."

Kiran chuckled in response, and we were silent for a long moment, watching Rolfe as he dipped a quill in ink and wrote in the journal laying open on his desk. "Are you alright, Quinn?" Kiran asked quietly. I glanced up at him, entrapped by his white blue gaze.

"Yes... why?"

"The tithe..." he said, trailing off. I looked away again, not responding for a long moment.

"It has happened before, and will happen again. It is the sacrifice all Diviners must make from time to time," I said quietly. I looked down at my hands, turning them over as if there was something to be foretold from the lines on my palms. "Why do you ask, Kiran? Are you concerned?" I asked, trying to infuse my voice with a little brevity through a faint, joking smile.

"Yes," he said. I felt heat rolling off of him and turned my gaze to his. Kiran's eyes were piercing shards of ice, his expression hard, his jaw set. We stood motionless, staring at one another, his anger warming the space between us. He seemed too close, and yet not close enough. When I tried to avert my eyes, he moved his head and kept my gaze locked to his. "I am very concerned."

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Everything I thought I could say died on my tongue: you can't change anything, you don't know what it's like, I don't need your concern... none of it felt right or true. The truth was, I wanted to be able to change it, and I did think he knew what it was like to have to sacrifice, somehow. And I did want him to be concerned, because it stirred something in me to have the care of someone who wasn't like me, who didn't have to tithe at the Oraculum and who wasn't bound by the same fate. Someone who cared even though they didn't have to experience the same pain.

Our gazes finally unlocked when we heard a yelp of surprise from across the garden, and we looked across the lush beds of exotic flowers and blooming shrubs to see Rolfe standing rigid at his desk with Adri pressed up behind him. She had the falchion drawn against his neck and was speaking quietly into his ear, too distant for us to be able to make out what she was saying. Rolfe's hands were posed in surrender as he listened, finally nodding once to whatever Adri had said. She then slowly withdrew her sword from his neck and backed away a few tip-toed steps, and then took off at a run toward the low garden wall that she scaled in a graceful, twisting jump. Rolfe then slowly turned around, hands still raised, scanning every flower bed and tree for a glimpse of the woman who had already melted into the air like a whisper. He turned fully until he saw us on the balcony and offered a wide, bright smile, his hand smoothing over his neck where the blade had kissed his skin.

"They are fated. He could only fall in love with a woman better than him, and I have a feeling she's better at everything than Rolfe," Kiran said with a dimpled smile after instructing Rikar to head back to the training yard where Adri was due to arrive. His eyes lost all of their iciness, replaced with warmth and affection for Rolfe who was packing up his belongings on the table.

"I won't argue that she is better at everything, nor that he will fall hopelessly in love with her..." I said with a touch of sadness etching my voice.

"But you don't believe they are fated?" Kiran's eyes darkened, faint lines appearing between his brows as concern crept through his expression.

"I can't speak for fates or gods," I said. "I don't know what the future holds. But if the path she follows is that decreed by the Queen, then Adri is to marry the Diviner Nikolas next summer." Kiran's eyes seemed to flare with refracted colours. They looked like hurt, and sadness, and anger.

"An arranged marriage," he said as looked toward Rolfe, who was starting to wind through the garden toward us.

"Yes. We are to marry others of our kind, carefully matched by our capabilities, in the hopes that our children will inherit blended powers."

"And you?" Kiran asked, his voice deeper and with an edge as though it was being dragged through jagged stones. He gripped the bannister of the balcony, his knuckles turning white. "Are you fated to marry?"

"No," I said after a pause. "Not yet. There is no other like me, no other that I would be well-matched for." I looked down into the garden, so many emotions fleeting through my chest like falling feathers. Loneliness, as I felt separate from the other Diviners. Relief and sadness, both always twining together whenever I thought of our arranged marriages; I was still free of that obligation and the potential to be wed to someone I didn't or couldn't care for, but sadness for how it kept me from ever moving forward. And lastly, a hint of excitement, that the most handsome man I had ever seen seemed relieved when I said 'no'. The way his grip on the bannister relaxed, the deep breath he'd taken - none of these small gestures went unnoticed by my skipping heart. Even though I knew it was forbidden to be with a guardian, and I knew nothing would ever come to pass between us, the fact that he cared would be enough. It would have to be.

Rolfe joined us on the balcony before either of us could say anything more, taking the steps two at a time with a flourish when he landed on the last, like a magician performing in front of children. His smile was wide and his face beamed. "I will be crossing swords!"

"I don't think I've ever seen a man say that with such a smile before," Kiran said with a grin, his expression losing the edge it had acquired during our talk of arranged marriages. He seemed hopeful and pleased for his friend. "I take it that the lady Diviner has agreed to your deal?"

"She has. Three days from now, at midnight. If I win, she will have dinner with me the following night."

"And if you lose, you die?" I supplied. He turned his gaze to me and his smile widened, his warm brown eyes sparkling through thick, dark lashes.

"Perhaps, though I tend to have luck on my side." Rolfe took a few steps toward me and reached for my hand. "You must be the Diviner of Beasts," he said, and brought my knuckles to his lips. "After all this time, I finally have the chance to see your face."

I blushed, looking down at his knees at the grass and dirt lingering on the fabric where he'd knelt during his work in the garden. Something about it felt sincere and endearing. "It's a shame then that this will be your first impression. I am usually more put together. I apologize for my disturbing appearance, it will resolve in a few days." I saw Kiran's hand fold into a fist in my peripheral vision, and looked back up to meet Rolfe's gaze. His smile softened and he squeezed my hand gently.

"Not at all, Lady Diviner," he said. "You are more beautiful in person than Kiran described." I glanced up at Kiran, surprised, and saw a blush flame briefly across the tops of his cheeks as he kept his eyes trained on Rolfe. Rolfe's smile flickered with amusement at the scrutinous glare from his friend.

"Please, call me Quinn. It's a pleasure to meet you outside the pit."

Rolfe gave me a nod and let go of my hand, and the conversation shifted to his work procuring rare stone for a new section of the garden for the Queen. Rolfe was a trader in many rare objects it seemed, and he spoke of travelling to the East to obtain the purple jade and other gems that were destined for clients at Castle Lakeridge. As they spoke of precious stones, my gaze flicked to a movement in the garden. A large bridle dog trotted down one of the pathways through the beds of brightly coloured dahlias, its tail down and its head low to the ground. I recognized it immediately, having seen it at the edges of the training yard many times before.

"Excuse me," I said to the two men with a brief nod before picking up a brisk pace down the stairs to head off the dog before it could disappear from the garden. Keeping it in my sights, I jogged past the beds of chrysanthemums and starflowers and stopped in front of the surprised animal.

Hello, I projected, with intentions of warmth and safety, expressing an image of seeing the dog lying in the sun at the training yard. I knelt down and communicated the scent of blooming roses and rich sandalwood. My name is Quinn.

Draco, the dog said. I saw an image of myself at the training yard, the dog showing me a time when I'd been practicing hand-to-hand combat with Brogan, Diviner of Sand.

I saw the Blackmoors through your eyes. I am sorry about Stelos. I grieve for your loss. I showed Draco the image of Captain Stelos' face from a happier time, when I'd seen him walking through the courtyard joking with fellow soldiers, Draco trotting happily next to his master. I felt sadness from Draco and he whined, sitting on his haunches. His amber eyes looked troubled, darting around the garden as if he wanted to escape to the shadows. The Diviner of Fire, I said. I saw his bonds burn.

Smelled magic, the dog said, the smells of the battlefield flooding my sinuses and the back of my throat. The smell of life and decay, the scent of magic and ash.

Yes, I felt it. Why did the Queen burn his bonds? I asked. He was destroying the enemy after they killed our soldiers, and I don't understand. The dog tilted his head and regarded me, confused that I hadn't seen all of what he had. Draco then jumped backward suddenly, his hackles rising and his head down, startled as Kiran approached me from behind.

"No," I said, throwing a palm in each direction, imploring them both to stop. "Please wait."

Not safe, Draco whispered. A chill raced across the gold in my arms and up the back of my neck.

Who... him? I asked, showing an image of Kiran's face in response.

No. For you. The dog looked around and whined, and then he showed me. I saw our soldiers in the Blackmoors, stalking around the oily bogs toward the enemy in the distance, their weapons drawn. I saw smoke drifting toward them, crowding them, and then they all stopped, standing motionless. I felt the unease in Draco, the smell of stagnant water, of sulfur, of sweaty men, of metal and fear. Draco looked up at Stelos and scraped at his leg with a paw, but the man didn't look down, caught in an unbreakable trance. In unison, the men raised their arms, tilted their heads to the sky, pressed the sharpened metal to their skin, and drew their blades across their necks. They fell, gurgling, gasping. They all fell except one, Deacon, who staggered in disbelief and despair toward the dying body of a man. Theo.

"Another Diviner..." I whispered aloud. "But I don't understand, Draco. Why did the Queen burn Deacon's bonds?"

But Draco did not reply, and backed away until he finally turned and disappeared into the shadow and safety of the dahlias.