Warmth touched his skin as he strolled along the grass blades brushing against his knees. His hands swerve methodically against the strands, letting the moistness of the leaves tap against his fingertips. Lucius stopped at the sight ahead of him. "Well fuck me."

The house across from him was a smoldering remain of what it once was. A brimming fire stood at the center of the cress, the charred remains of his home. Lucius lowered his hands to his hips, "when they said they'd burn me to the stake, I was hoping my house would remain."

He stepped onto the charred remains. He caressed his hands against the ash and soot. "Ah fuck, why couldn't they have just robbed me? I like getting robbed. It gives me a target to chase. Not like reckless vandalism."

Lucius popped open a hatchet beneath the ash. Inside, a chamber with shelves of glowing flasks glowed within the darkness. Lucius stepped down the stairs into the dark chamber.

"Here we go."

After skimming through the bottles of mystical juices, he pulled out a bottle of ale. He walked back up the stairs to the hatchet behind him, "and this is why the best things should stay hidden."

But before stepping outside the chamber, Elijah was looking down at him from above in disgust. "Ale?"

"Want some?"

"They burned down your house down, and we're about to be invaded. And you got ale?"

"Seriously, this is at least five hundred years old. It would taste splendid if you tried it with me."

She snatched the bottle from his hand and threw on the floor. It broke easily after hitting the ground. Lucius said, "I know I shouldn't cry over spilt ale, but I really was saving that for a celebration..."

"War, Lucius! Does the phrase even matter to you?"

He blinked at her. Elijah tapped her forehead, "why do I even bother?"

Lucius walked past her and headed towards the road. She followed after her, "let me guess, Isaac sent you to keep an eye on me?"

"Because if I didn't, no one else will."

"You know I only let you follow me because you're pretty, right? Its not at all because you're noble. I'm not that shallow."

"Yes, good to know you'd accept my body whether I'm poor or rich. That's exactly what a girl wishes to hear."

"You're welcome," he said, ignoring her sarcasm.

Lucius and her walked alongside each other. The dirt trail was smooth. Years of horses marching through provided a natural texture to the mud, making the walk easier for them both. Their hardly clattered as they took steps along the soft textured soil

Elijah asked, "do you even care about your home? You were born and raised here. I know you hate the nobles, but do you really think we'd be better under the King Lionheart?"

"Can't be worse than Isaac."

"Can't it? I'm a witch, Lucius, what do you think they'd do to me if they captured me?"

Lucius frowned. He kicked the road once as they continued walking. "Just because I don't give a damn about this island, it doesn't mean I won't keep my word."

Lucius lead Elijah to the end of a cliffside. A guard tower stood at its edge. Except it was abandoned. Yellow bricked with moss covering almost all over its outside. Vines wrapped around it. The tower was sitting so close to the eroded cliff edge it seemed like it would fall at any moment.

Elijah asked, "is that one of your labs?"

"No," Lucius said knocking on the front door. "Its someone else's."

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When he tapped the wooden door, the vines that were covering the surface pulled away. They slithered against the surface, pulling away like snakes into hiding. Elijah asked, "who lives here?"

The door opened, "my sister."

The girl opening the door had long raven black hair and eyes. Her robes were gothic black. It was almost like a bishop's, except the tight straps around her waist emphasized her body. She couldn't have been older than thirteen, but even girls of noble status could be envious of her physical features.

The girl tugged the hair strands away from her forehead and looked up at Lucius, "Lucius?" Her voice was soft an innocent. It was almost like a lute, something between a child's voice and a mouse.

"Hey, sis."

She ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him. She proceeded to rub her face closely against his chest, "I missed you."

He patted her on the head, "ok."

Elijah asked, "you didn't tell me you had a sister."

Claudia looked over at Elijah. Her lips shrunk, "sister? I'm his fiance."

Elijah raised an eyebrow. Lucius said, "we're adopted."

Claudia asked, "and who is this prude? She's not even pretty."

Elijah uttered a breath.

Lucius said, "I suppose I could do better."

Elijah uttered another breath.

Claudia hugged him tighter, "don't leave me this time, okay?"

"No promises, little one. Afterall, I'm here on a mission."

Claudia let go of him and stepped away. He said to her, "did Isaac put you up to it? You don't need to listen. We can kill him easily."

Lucius shook his head. "I want to help him because I want to. He... Offered me his daughter's hand in marriage if I did."

Claudia's eyes gaped in horror. Like a squirrel caught in a trap, Lucius' words were painful for her to hear. "You... Meant it when you said you loved her? I was hoping it was a sort of elaborate rouse when you left."

"If it were a hoax, you'd be the first I'd tell."

Water formed at the edges of Claudia's eyes. Her voice came out softer than ever, "yeah, I should've known you meant it."

Lucius continued, "right now, there is a vessel that's carrying king Lionheart's fiance and sister. If we don't capture it, Lionheart will conquer the island without mercy."

"Capture?" Elijah interjected. "That's you're plan? To hold his family hostage? That would only infuriate the soldiers."

"They already have reason to be angry," Lucius stated. "The moment they set foot on this land, we become his enemy. The only way to mitigate the damage, is to hold something of value he can't risk harming."

Claudia snapped her fingers, "oh! I could also torture the shipwrecked men! Let's crucify them on the beaches to scare them from setting foot here!"

"Are you both mad!?" Elijah said. "You're telling me that a drunken idiot and a fragile little girl are going to casually capture crusaders?"

Lucius retorted, "I'm actually sober."

Claudia puffed her cheeks, "fragile girl? Did she just call me a fragile?"

Lucius took Elijah by the hand and pulled her back. Claudia reached into her satchel and pulled out a rosebud see. She tossed it against the tower.

The rosebuds popped. The made loud popping noises as they hit the surface. Sizzling liquid spewed out from the buds, and they hit the ground and molded into the grass and tower walls.

The liquid solidified into vines. It snapped and crackled as the vines grew upwards at once. The vines were giant and smooth, becoming massive plant stems as they nearly encompassed the tower.

Claudia yelled, "does this look fragile to you!?"

The stems sprouted into giant tulips, with each tulip head sprouting into a giant flower. Elijah's jaw dropped, "is that... Aether?"

"No," Lucius answered. "Its alkhemistry. And she's not even her best student."

Elijah turned to him, "not even her best? What does that mean?"

The flower heads broke apart very quickly. The weight of the giant tulip's snapped at the neck of its height, and the petals broke apart to drive into the seaside. The rest of the stem quickly followed suit, as they withered into an autumn orange color before dissipating into dust.

Lucius answered, "her plants don't actually last long."

Claudia walked over to Elijah and crossed her arms, "do not judge an artist by her size."

"Point taken," Elijah said raising her hands in defense. "But kidnapping the princess? That's just asking for more trouble."

Lucius and Claudia answered at once, "nothing we're not used to."

Lucius asked, "so can you help us?"

Claudia looked away from him. Whereas before she was torn by Lucius' words, her composure was restored from impressing Elijah. With a mutter she said, "you... Really want to marry the princess instead of me, don't you?"

Lucius nodded. Claudia gnawed at the lower portion of her lip. It was going to bruise as she continued it, but every ounce of her didn't want to accept that she'd lost to a princess.

A part of her was convinced that Lucius had some sort of devious plan to his actions, but she wasn't sure. So instead of accepting Lucius' plea, she asked, "can... Can you at least tell me why? What made you decide to choose her instead of me?"

Lucius held still. They'd both known each other for years, and the last thing he ever wanted to do was lie to her. He pulled out a coin from his satchel and decided to let god decide how to answer. He flipped the golden medallion. After it landed on the back of his hand, he glanced back to Claudia and answered, "I flipped a coin."

"What?" The two girls asked.

"I flipped a coin and it landed on heads. That's why I slept with her."

Claudia's jaw dropped. Her mouth began to quiver as the thumping in her heart picked up. Elijah's voice was plain, "I hate you, so much."

Claudia shouted out, "you're a bastard!"

Claudia raised her satchel over her head. She shook the bag, causing all the rosebuds to fall at Lucius' feet. Before they could launch him into the air, Lucius said, "yeah, I deserve this."