At one point in my life, I said that mages were the biggest backstabbers in the world.

Understatement of the bloody year.

It began like a normal day. At least, as normal as what passes for normal in a land of mages. I woke up after a wonderful night’s sleep in a luxurious bed completely refreshed and in a wonderful mood. A hearty breakfast with a surprisingly refreshing something called “tea” provided a strong start to my day. It seemed to set a perfect precedent for what my day was going to be like.

It took a while for the grim reality to set in.

A servant graciously took me on a tour of the Ivory Palace. He told me that he had been sent on the Witch-Queen’s behalf to guide me. I left my dragon egg in my room (hidden, of course) and allowed the servant to explain the rich history of the Palace as he began his tour. For several hours, I followed him through glistening halls and lavish rooms, each one rivaling the beauty of my own home, the Castle of Brimstone.

I found it to be incredibly boring. When I said I wanted a tour of the Palace, I meant to see what the Palace had to offer, like a tour of the barracks or training grounds, how they managed the training of their soldiers, or things like that. The servant took it to mean that I wanted a long-winded explanation of the history of his country and started guiding me down halls full of portraits of deceased rulers.

Finally the servant stopped before a pair of portraits. “And this would be the late Wizard-King and his wife, the late Witch-Queen.” The King was a very regal elf with long pale blond hair, and very noticeable green eyes, but also very sharp features, notably his long, pointed ears. The Queen was fair, with long, straight red hair and very familiar looking green eyes. Her ears, however, while pointed, weren’t as long as her husband’s and were more rounded at the tip. I pointed this out to the servant, and he nodded.

“That would be because the Witch-Queen was only a half-elf. The kingdom found it odd that the Wizard-King would take a half-elf as his bride, given that possessing even a drop of human blood denies the bearer elven longevity. It used to be a punishment among the elven community, you know, to “infect” an elven criminal with human blood to force them to live only as long as a human does. It’s quite the shame, really. More than twelve generations of proud, pureblood elves ruling this land, and then the King goes and marries a half-elf. The entire bloodline is tainted, now. Such a shame.”

I snorted. “That’s some way to talk about your ruler. Maybe I should let the Witch-Queen know how you feel about her parentage.” The servant looked at me nervously. “I-I-I was merely repeating the sentiment of the common folk! Just because some feel that way, doesn’t mean I do! Please don’t mention what I said to Her Majesty, or gods forbid, the Prime Minister! He’d carve out my heart if he heard what I said!”

Cocking my head questioningly, I asked about his fear. “What does it matter if I tell him or not? If you don’t want people telling the guys in charge how you feel, you shouldn’t be flapping your lips.” The servant quailed. “You don’t understand. The Prime Minister is like a father to the Witch-Queen. He raised her himself. And I’m sure it’s common knowledge how much a father can dote on his daughter.”

That struck a chord in me. Only recently had I discovered my father’s ambitions for me, and it was still very much a sore spot that he had been killed by my eldest half-brother. I decided there was no point in heckling him on the subject, so I let it slide. “Yes…quite right.”

The servant turned as though he were about to guide me down the hall further, but then stopped, and then abruptly about-faced. “Well, that’s all there is to see here. Nothing down that way but some busts of ancient kings and whatnot. Why not head this way and we can-“

I blocked his way. “You seem awfully eager to leave. A minute ago you couldn’t shut up about these old kings and queens. Now you say there’s nothing down that way? Fess up. There’s something you don’t want me to see down the corridor, isn’t there?”

The man’s expression went sour, fast. I could almost hear him debating in his head about whether it was worth tempting my wrath or not. After a moment, he decided he was screwed either way, and had the grace to see that his game was through. He sighed heavily before leading me down the hall to a very ornate memorial. I could tell it was a memorial because a grave marker, wrought of dormicite and draped in finery, made up the majority of the display. Etched on the memorial were two names: “King Lascow Reinhardt” and “Queen Mirka Reinhardt”. The man drew my attention to a display case at the forefront of the memorial.

In the display case were three knives. I recognized their make immediately; they were Ishmarian. The dull sheen and non-reflective surfaces of the knives gave them away as dragon tooth metals. They were clean, as though someone had taken great pains to make them presentable. When I looked back at the servant, he sheepishly took a step back. I glowered at him. “What is the meaning of this?” I asked with a growl in my voice.

The servant gulped audibly. “This is a memorial dedicated to the Wizard-King and Witch-Queen. Milady Sheena’s parents. They were felled twenty years ago by Ishmarian assassins. These daggers are the proof, plain and simple.” He gingerly took a few more steps away from me. “I was given explicit orders not to show you this particular part of our history, given how you took offense to the accusation that your people were involved in the assassination of our former rulers.”

I had to admit, it made sense. Showing me alleged “proof” that my country had committed regicide against a country that I was trying to get on the good side of? That wasn’t a good idea. I was already trying to wrap my head around the idea that Ishmar had allowed such a thing to happen. In my homeland, assassination was frowned upon. It was the weapon of opportunists and cowards. For us to betray our principles in such a way, even to try and gain the upper hand against our most hated foes? I could scarcely believe it.

Or maybe, it was that I chose not to. I had only just recently learned of my father’s plans to install me as the new Queen of Dragontamers, defying centuries of bloody traditions in an attempt to pull us up from our barbarism and old hatreds. Something didn’t fit right, here. I struggled to try and figure it out, but that was out of my wheelhouse, so to speak. I wasn’t the one to do much thinking, as much as I hated to admit it.

I had a short moment where I actually wished Kuro was here. He probably would’ve found the link between my father’s change of heart and his attempt at assassinating the rulers of Algrustos. As it stood, I wasn’t able to find a connection, though not by lack of trying. It didn’t make sense. Why would my father order the assassination of the rulers of Algrustos, only to change his mind fifteen years later and try to make peace with them through me?

I understood the ends, but the means eluded me. After the knowledge that their monarchs had been slain by Ishmarians, no Algrustian in their right mind would accept peace with Ishmar. And yet the person who would have had the greatest reason to hate me wanted peace the most. Nothing made sense anymore. Furthermore, the way the Witch-Queen acted had me on edge. All that shameless fawning over Alverd made me wary, and her bossing him around was doing little for my mood.

But why was I so angry about it?

It was like a slow, but sure, burning in my chest. It was just a dull ache that I could never put my finger on. Just watching Sheena act the way she did, so frail and clumsy and…the way she was, with Alverd, annoyed me in a way I couldn’t place. Maybe it was just the way she played damsel that did it. In Ishmar, a woman was expected to be just as tough, and at times even tougher, than a man. Every one was expected to pull their weight and then some. So to watch Sheena act all girly and princess-like was weighing on my patience.

That was when it clicked. That must have been it. Seeing Sheena act the way she was had to be it. It was completely off-putting and it was insulting as well. Ever since I was young, I was taught that to act like some powerless waif was to show weakness. Looking at my half-sisters, it wasn’t hard to see that they’d been given the same lecture. Even the most voluptuous and sensual of my siblings, Leila, had learned to use her good looks to her advantage.

I pounded my fist into my palm, pleased that I had been able to figure it out. I was so satisfied with myself however, that I had almost allowed the weaselly guide to get away. The little bastard was sneaking away while I had been thinking to myself. I quickly grabbed him by the collar and got right back to intimidating him. “And why did you think I didn’t need to see this part of your history, huh?” I growled at him.

The little man gulped for the third time. “Look, it wasn’t me. The Prime Minister wanted you to know about our history, but he didn’t think it would be a good idea for you to see this part. He knew you’d have…thoughts about it.” I glared at him, baring my teeth for good measure, before I said, “And where is your oh-so-wise Prime Minister right now?” The servant offered to guide me to the Prime Minister’s study, and we both set off.

When I arrived there, I burst through the study doors furiously. Albrecht was seated at his desk, the light of the early afternoon sun filtering through the curtains. He raised his head, saw me, and went back to whatever he was writing, though he politely addressed me. When he saw that I had no intention of leaving, he motioned to a nearby chair and I sat down. He smirked at me.

“What can I do for you, Princess?” The words rolled off his tongue, without a hint of condescension. He wanted me to know that I was free to ask him any question I could think of. I was about to show him the error of his ways on that account.

“Who ordered you to keep me occupied for the entire day? Was it the Witch-Queen?” Even now, I could not bring myself to say her name. Whether it was because I was being formal or just petty didn’t matter to me at the moment. All I cared about was answers. Lord Albrecht sighed heavily and sat back in his seat.

“Please do not misunderstand. My niece did not have any sinister intent. She merely wanted some time alone with your companions.” Lord Albrecht put aside his quill and leaned forward. “She is still so much like a child, sometimes. But perhaps that is my fault, for raising her that way. Alas, there is little I can do now, of course.”

I snorted, loudly. “Maybe a little less doting and a little more discipline, and she wouldn’t have turned out to be the way she is. I’m sure she could stand to learn a little restraint.” That was the last thing I should’ve been accusing someone else of, but again, I didn’t give a flying hunk of dragon crap at the moment. I leveled my steely-eyed gaze at Albrecht, as if daring him to speak back at me.

Albrecht placed his quill back into an ink well and folded his hands. “Perhaps that’s true. However, thinking it and wanting it are not the same thing, and she is too old now to easily learn something as complicated as restraint. But I think of that quality as quite charming. It gives her an air of…sincerity. As you can imagine, she hasn’t had much opportunity to trust others. Hence her fascination with knights. Bastions of truth, honor and chivalry. It’s no wonder she latched onto such a romantic ideal, given everything she’s been through.”

Albrecht stood and turned to face the window. “Twenty years it has been since that night. It was just after she’d been born. The assassins came in the shadows and killed her parents. I heard a commotion and came running, and found the bastards about to kill Sheena, just a babe in her crib. I killed all three, saving her life. But there was no hiding the truth. Our King and Queen lay dead. I had to quell our peoples’ desire for revenge.”

“I told them that one day, our princess would decide Algrustos’ fate. I entrusted that to her. I have protected her as best as I can, even though she is not my blood. She is…all I have. When I agreed to Ishmar’s cease-fire, the Magister Lords nearly called for my resignation. They wanted to continue our war, even after losing their King and Queen. But in the end, I had the authority to call back our troops, and I did.”

I could see Albrecht’s hands wringing, even as he continued to stare out the window. I couldn’t even see the midday sun, thanks to his imposing height. When he spoke again, his tone was full of wistfulness, and the gruffness from earlier seemed softer than I remembered it ever being.

“You must understand. Before I became Prime Minister, I was nothing. Just some wanderer with magical talent who caught the eye of royalty. Many resent me for that, how I ascended from nothing to the position of power I have now. Her father did me a great kindness in assigning me to this post, and in return, I will not let Sheena be harmed.”

Even though he was facing away from me, I could feel the quiet resolve in Albrecht’s tone. He was dead serious about his dedication to the Witch-Queen. I felt the same spirit in him that I felt with my late Father. I could respect him, even if he had gone and helped his niece manufacture some excuse to get me away from Alverd so she could be alone with him.

Mother Evros, why did that bother me so much? Was it because Alverd didn’t seem to consider keeping me safe his number one priority anymore? Was it because he kept paying attention to the Witch-Queen? And why did those realizations just make me even angrier?! Grrr! Too many questions and not enough answers! I started chewing on my lip angrily as I tried to wrap my head around my sudden attitude change.

Lord Albrecht must have turned around and saw me fuming or something, because he chuckled. “Goodness. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were jealous, Princess. Your face is all red. If it bothers you so much, perhaps you should go find them. Last I heard, they were all on the eastern common garden, though I heard one of your companions returned to his room and has not emerged since.”

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I stood and bowed deeply to the Prime Minister. “Thank you for your help, Lord Albrecht. I hope you forgive my actions. Where I come from, we don’t suffer people taking what’s rightfully ours.” And with that, I turned and rushed out of the study before he could utter so much as another word.

I had enough time to return to my room and retrieve my hammer. I felt that I was going to need it for some heavy disciplining in the near future. I then ran straight to Kuro and Alverd’s room and banged on the door with my fist. Eventually Kuro opened the door. He looked distracted, and more than a little exasperated, but when he tried to close the door on me, I jammed my hammer into the doorframe to keep him from shutting me out.

“Hey! What’s with you?” I pushed the door open, and entered the room. “What the hell is going on, Kuro? What are you doing skulking around in your room? What happened to your magic training?” Kuro gave me a distant look. “That…that’s on hold for now. If you’re looking for Alverd, or Sheena, they should still be out on the Palace commons.”

“WHAT?!”

I shrieked at him. “Are you stupid?! Why on earth would you leave those two alone?!” I gave him an earful about leaving Sheena alone with Alverd, but he still looked like he was a hundred miles away, mentally.

Finally, the mage looked me in the eye. He scowled at me. “What’s it to me if they’re alone together? What do I look like, their chaperone? I’m not Alverd’s keeper. Nor is it my job to watch Sheena. If she wants to make some move on him, then she deserves it for being smart enough to get him alone in the first place. And it was your choice to learn more about the Algrustians anyway. So you’re just as much at fault as you claim me to be.”

I wanted to smack him, but he had a point. I had allowed Sheena a great deal more freedom with my appointed servant than I should have allowed. I grabbed hold of Kuro’s collar, and he made no effort to try and break away. “We’re going. Show me where the Palace commons are.” Kuro sighed heavily, but again he didn’t try to resist. He brushed my hand away, then grabbed his staff. After that, he walked back out into the hallway, and I followed him close behind.

The two of us made our way down to the palace garden on the eastern common. Sure enough, we found Alverd and the Witch-Queen lying on the ground, making small talk as they gazed up at the clouds drifting lazily by. I made a beeline for the two, my hammer at the ready. As soon as she saw me, the Witch-Queen jumped to her feet, mortified to see me.

“Oh! Um, Princess! What a surprise! I didn’t expect to see you so soon!” Mother Evros, her face was so red I doubted she had any blood left for the rest of her body. “Uh, how did you like the tour of the Palace? Was it to your liking?” I ignored her and continued marching straight up to her, until I was right up in her face.

“You think you’re so smart, don’t you, Witch-Queen? Thought you could send me on a snipe hunt while you try to snake my servants out from under me? Well I’m onto you now! I’ve been tolerant of your tomfoolery up till now, but this is the last straw!” I waved my hammer menacingly. “These two are MY servants, and I don’t care what you pay them! They were contracted to me first, and they still haven’t paid me back in full, so I don’t see why they should be pledging themselves to any other person until they’ve paid their debt to me!”

Sheena kind of shrunk back from me, putting her hands up in a placating gesture. “You must understand! I was…I was just curious about the lifestyle of a knight! I haven’t had much time to speak to Sir Alverd, and I just wanted to ask him a few questions about what it was like to be one…and as for hiring while still on a contract, you certainly didn’t offer up any objections when I bought their services earlier. Why bring such a thing up now of all times?”

I was about to open my mouth and retort when I realized that she had a valid point. If I had wanted to raise a stink about a conflict of interests, I should have done it back when Sheena had “hired” Alverd and Kuro in the first place. “Well…” I sputtered. Sheena was quickly stealing the high ground out from under me. She stood there, head cocked, waiting for my answer.

“I…I just don’t want their attention to be split too many ways! They’re my bodyguards, after all. They have yet to fulfill their obligations to me, so until that time comes that I release them from that responsibility, they are mine. Don’t you get it?” I waved my hammer around, not in a threatening manner, but enough so as to show that I meant business.

Sheena countered with another fair point. “But protecting you and protecting me are not mutually exclusive goals, Princess. In fact, by taking on this second contract, nothing has changed substantially. So I don’t see the harm in allowing your bodyguards to expand their duties to another. It’s a compromise, plain and simple.” She replied with a smirk that was just a little too self-satisfactory.

I could barely hold back my growing anger. ”I see what you’re doing. You plan on taking them all for yourself! Well, guess again, spellslinger! Deal or no deal, these two morons are off the table! We Ishmarians don’t do compromises!”

“Then perhaps that is why no nation would ever consider peace with you, lizard princess.”

I turned my head to face the origin of the voice that had just joined our conversation. I beheld Zajj Necce, one of the Council members, walking toward me with a personal entourage of mages in red and blue robes. Well, walking wasn’t really the proper word. Slithering was a far better choice. As he came close, his thin lips became a grim smile. It did little to make his face any more bearable to look at.

“You Ishmarians, so quick to anger and so eager to engage in violence. Your natural response to anything new is to bludgeon it to death with a rock like the savages of old. That you managed to tame dragons is a mystery even the great sages could not answer. And yet she wonders why her people stand alone against a suspicious, wary world? I need no further proof that you are barbarians, through and through.”

Necce’s soldiers, four in number, began to fan out and surround us. Two of them were wearing the same combat mage armor that Captain McFarlane had been wearing, and were also carrying the long quarterstaff weapons as well, rubies and sapphires set along their lengths. I didn’t like where this was going.

Neither did the Witch-Queen. She took up a stance, her staff in her left hand, her right held forward in a warding gesture. “Lord Necce, what is the meaning of this?! Are you allied with the seditionists?! What are you doing?!” Her pleas fell on deaf ears, however.

Lord Necce laughed. “You know the only reason I’m on the Council is because my seven older brothers were all in the military, don’t you, my Queen? And each and every one of them died in the service of the crown, against our hated enemies. But when I pushed to escalate our efforts against Ishmar, back when you were only six years old, you refused. You put my motion down without even allowing the Council to debate it. And since then, I have seethed with righteous fury. And now, I will have my revenge. My brothers shall rest easy this night.”

And with that, our enemies completed their maneuvers. They had effectively corralled us in a small space, our backs to the outer wall, making us easy targets. I backed up until I could see Alverd at my side, his shield at the ready and the Sword of Evros in his right hand. I looked over my shoulder and saw Kuro with his new staff, waving it at two of our enemies. Our “employer” was firmly secured behind the three of us, but she wasn’t having any of this. She slammed her staff into the ground and a flicker of icy cold streaked out of her chest, along her arm, and up the staff into the emerald at the top. The only thing I heard from her was, “so be it.”

I didn’t need to be told twice. I pulled one of the knives from my left hip holsters and threw it at the closest mage; he didn’t react in time and the small knife buried itself in his upper leg. He screamed in pain and dropped his staff, falling to his one good knee. One of the combat mages came barreling towards me with her staff leveled like a jouster’s lance, and I ran forward, ready to intercept.

Behind me, Alverd slowly closed the distance between him and the other combat mage. He blocked several offensive spells with his shield, advancing steadily until the combat mage twirled his staff and attacked with physical force. Meanwhile, Kuro had taken on the role of defender, and was staring down the two mages he had been eyeing before.

Both mages attacked at the same time, throwing fire and ice with lethal accuracy; however, Kuro effortlessly created a barrier of shimmering blue and both attacks dissipated harmlessly against it. I’d never seen him do something so efficient or effective before. But I chalked it up to his new staff; Sheena had bent my ear for several hours about how much raw power was contained within it.

As the combat mage closed the distance with me, he planted the staff in the ground and tried to plant both of his feet into my stomach. The blow snuck under my hammer and knocked me back, almost off my feet. That pain, the pain of having taken an attack that I didn’t need to, enraged me. I could feel my rage beginning to flood through my blood from the center of my chest to the tips of my fingers and toes. As my attacker regained his feet and yanked his staff free of the ground, I grabbed hold of my hammer with both hands and charged him.

My enemy obviously hadn’t expected me to recover so quickly. He swung his staff up with both of his hands, narrowly blocking an overhead swing I’d aimed at his head.

The bastard put an impressive amount of strength behind his defense. But nothing, absolutely nothing, stopped a berserker. I pushed off my back foot, hard, and forced him back. Unprepared for such a show of force, the bastard dropped his guard, and his footing. As he tried to steady himself, I swung another two-handed blow sideways at his head. He pulled up the bottom of his staff in a pathetic attempt to stop it, but my attack knocked his staff from his hand. A follow up attack sent him spinning through the air. He landed with a sickening thud, and his body didn’t even twitch.

I threw Sheena a look over my shoulder to see if she was alright. She had planted her staff in the ground beside her and was now throwing small javelins of ice at her attackers. Her staff itself was linked to the shield Kuro was now using to keep two of our attackers at bay. As far as I could tell, it was like the two magical forces were combining to make the shield stronger; many of the spells directed at it either shattered harmlessly against the shield or bounced off.

I noticed that Sheena didn’t really need her staff to conjure her ice javelins. Growing up, I’d been instructed by every martial instructor I’d ever had that mages required their staves to use magic. The lessons had always been the same: rob a mage of his staff, and his attack options dropped to near zero. It wasn’t uncommon for mages to go out in a literal blaze of glory through self-sacrificial final attacks, but most simply didn’t have that kind of gumption.

Sheena, on the other hand, wasn’t just making do with her situation. She was thriving in it.

Both of the assassins menacing Kuro had no choice but to back down in the face of Sheena’s offense. Kuro saw an opening and let go of his shield, instead channeling a lightning bolt forward. The glowing arc splintered into multiple forks that slammed into the assassins, causing them to fall to their knees as electricity danced across their forms.

Alverd was having the easiest time of it. The mage who had thrown the initial opening attack was now slowly being overtaken by his advance. He swept his combat staff for Alverd’s feet, but the knight jumped over the sweeping attack and then bashed the front of his shield into the mage’s face. The mage reeled from the blow, and lost his grip on his staff. Alverd leaned back, then made a short leap forward, ramming the shield into the mage’s face again. This time, the mage crumpled to the ground with a meaty thud.

No longer needing to waste his time with a shielding spell, Kuro turned the intensity on his lightning up a notch. The golden beams streaking from the jewel on his staff arced across the two, causing their bodies to jerk uncontrollably as the lightning ravaged their bodies with indiscriminate fury. Finally, the two expired. Their bodies ceased to move, and both fell to the ground, lifeless. Kuro glanced around warily, watching for any attempt to flank him. When he saw that he was safe, he lowered his staff, holding out an arm to keep Sheena behind him.

Lord Necce was not pleased to see his servants having so much trouble right off the bat. He raised his own staff skyward, and a gust of wind shot past me as it attempted to knock me off my feet. He conjured a lightning bolt in his hand, and began chanting something. “Spirits of rage, I beseech thee! I offer you tribute in the form of blood. Take my offering and unleash thine anger upon all who displease me! Destroy what has no place here!” His lightning bolt crackled and arced, growing until it covered his whole body. But then another voice came from behind me.

It was Sheena’s. “Wandering souls, I grant you release. Let go of thy hate, for it shall avail thee nothing. I speak unto thee, a humble soul, to quell thy anger. Sovereign agents of judgment, set your sights instead on these impure souls!” She grabbed hold of her staff and hoisted it in the air.

Lord Necce’s spell rocketed forth and streaked toward us with blinding speed. But Sheena caught it with her staff. Redirecting it skyward, the lightning surged up her staff and back into the sky, harmlessly.

Lord Necce fell back, his face contorted in rage and fear. “You little bitch! You waste the power of your royal blood! We have every right to destroy Ishmar! Have you no shame?!” He tried to fling a fireball at us, but Sheena batted it aside with her staff.

Sheena started to walk toward Lord Necce. “Lord Necce, I hereby place you under arrest. You will henceforth provide the names of all who were involved in the conspiracy to dethrone me, and depending on your level of cooperation, will be punished according to the law of this land.” Alverd and Kuro began moving close as well, ready to help her restrain Lord Necce if necessary.

Lord Necce wasn’t about to go down without a fight, though. He raised his staff again. “You…you don’t realize how many people want this, do you? You can’t win. There are too many of us. Our voices shall not be silenced! Glory to Algrustos! Death to Ishmar!” And with that, he aimed his staff forward, fire swirling into form around its tip, at Sheena.

And then a gaping hole appeared in the Magister Lord’s chest.

As Lord Necce fell backwards, we all turned and stared. We stared at Kuro, who was breathing hard. His staff was pointed in Lord Necce’s direction, lightning still crackling around the brass-cradled ruby at its tip. Necce hit the ground with a thump, smoke still curling from his corpse.

In the aftermath, there was silence. Everyone was staring at Kuro. But then Sheena strode over to him. “Why did you do that, Sir Kuro? If we had taken him alive, we could’ve learned who else was behind the conspiracy! What was your reasoning? Please, tell me!” Kuro began to squirm a bit, but I could see the bitterness in his eyes. I could put two and two together. He wasn’t happy to be chewed out by someone he had a crush on.

Kuro didn’t answer. He just kind of cast his eyes down and scowled. Alverd tried to put his hand on Sheena’s shoulder, as if to tell her to ease off. She relented, and we all walked back to the Palace in silence.

In the aftermath, we looked over our attackers. I had killed mine with the blow to his head. Alverd had snapped the neck of his attacker. Both of the mages Kuro had shocked had no pulse. Sheena glared wearily at Kuro when we confirmed the deaths. In a way, she had a right to be angry. With Lord Necce’s death and the death of his cronies, we had no lead on the conspiracy against Sheena. We trudged back to the Palace with heavy hearts and exhausted limbs.

Kuro walked the slowest. He seemed to be lost in thought. Was he regretting what he’d done? I couldn’t say. From where I was standing, it could’ve been an accident. But the look in his eyes after he let his spell go was…chilling. His eyes had been empty, without remorse. As if he didn’t plan on regretting the choice he was about to make. But later, when I learned how he had stormed away from training (figures Alverd wasn’t able to see the deeper connection behind such behavior), I guess it made sense that Kuro would act that way. I just hoped that a good night’s sleep would help the little mage feel better the next day.

The last thing we needed was another enemy amongst our own.