...Please keep your brother from threatening us again. Remember how proud my people are. If these requests... if these demands were to be repeated my people might decide to intervene out of sheer pride. Then it would be the end of everything we know.

Excerpt from a letter, hidden in the secret archives of Irvanon.

Leila walked through the corridors of this strange palace. Sure the city was nice and all, but who built a palace as a kind of super long bridge? It must not have been practical to live there... Just the time it took between the kitchen and the flat must have been immense, it was guaranteed to have a cold meal. Unless they had several kitchens on each floor? In that case, the cost of maintaining competent workers for all floors would be expensive. Finally, if the owners wanted to go broke, good for them.

To put it simply, Leila was not a fan. She'd still go see those parks that were maintained on the rooftops, though, that sounded nice.

Their group had split up after passing through the main gates of the palace. Only the Eldar officer who had welcomed them, along with Zarune and Dereur, remained with her and her human companions. And that stupid fairy. She cast a wicked glance in the direction of Mustapha's pocket, the pocket began to move, as if the fairy had felt her gaze. Which was probably the case if what Jonah had told her was true. She would have to ask Zarune to confirm that.

Seeing her friend's serious expression, Leila thought she would ask her another time. But... After all, why wait?

- Hey Zarune.

The Eldar turned to her.

- Is it true that fairies can smell when you look at them?

Ignoring the look Jonah was giving her, she focused on her friend who had raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

- Not really...

As Leila glared at Jonah for lying to her, Zarune added, glancing at Mustapha's pocket.

- Actually, it's not your gaze she feels, but your intent. Fairies feed on emotion.

Leila heard a muffled laugh. Through a pocket.

- They generally prefer negative emotions.

Leila grimaced in disgust, which deepened when she heard another laugh. So if she got angry the fairy liked it? She would eat her emotions?

onah intervened before she could think of anything more.

- She's not evil, you can't blame her for doing what she is.

Turning to Jonah.

- Of course, I can blame her!

Just as he was about to answer her, Leila decided to put him down with a knowing look.

- So, if a pigeon shits on your jacket, you'll forgive him? It's his nature after all.

Jonah froze for half a second, before muttering under his breath.

- It was a brand new jacket.

The amused smile of Leila's companions made him realise that he had not spoken low enough. Deciding to ignore the fairy, Leila turned back to Zarune.

- So... how is your brother? Besides being overprotective.

Zarune, who was also smiling, was taken by surprise by her question, much to Leila's amusement. The princess glared at her.

- He's like his namesake.

- Her namesake?

Aurora intervened, jumping forward to stand beside them.

- Brenin, the God of Virtue and Justice. Is that it?

Zarune nodded tiredly.

- That's it. The perfect Eldar.

Spotting her friend's tone, Leila questioned.

- And that's a bad thing?

- No. Not usually. But he tends to follow the law to the letter. He lacks flexibility.

- Oh. That doesn't sound so bad, I know another one who lacks flexibility. He's not so bad.

The person next to her naturally recognised herself. Ignoring his reaction, she continued.

- Your parents like to name their children after gods. Do you have any other divine siblings in hiding?

Zarune glared again at Leila's for the question and playful tone.

- You'll meet him soon, I'll let you be the judge. And no, I only have one brother, and that's enough.

At these words Leila frowned, she felt as if she had forgotten something important. Shaking this impression from her mind she continued.

- Well, if this hallway had an end, I might.

- We're almost there. Patience.

- Don't talk to me like a child!

The smirk on Zarune's face led Leila to believe that this was her revenge for those earlier questions. She glowered at her and the others who had laughed.

Only the Eldar officer was not at the party. Even Dereur had let a small smile escape.

They chatted with each other the rest of the way, everyone participating, even Marie with her eternal smile. The young woman had always been sweet in Leila's opinion, but the patience and smiles she now had for everyone were a bit frightening. Whatever she had experienced in this forest had left its mark on her. She had not dared to ask him questions, his story was her own. But the others had tried to push a little, as gently as possible. They didn't get any new answers, according to Marie nothing serious had happened. Leila had finally asked them to leave her alone. If she wasn't ready to talk, she shouldn't be forced.

Mustapha was the same way, even if he told his absurd story with the bandits, Leila could read between the lines well enough to understand that he was deeply affected. She had to get angry with Jonah to make him understand that some things should be kept personal, he who used to keep everything to himself should understand that. And yet no, he was having trouble following his own advice.

Finally, they arrived at their destination, the two guards in front of the double door, opening it for them as they arrived.

As she moved forward, Leila bumped into Jonah's back, who had stopped abruptly. As she was about to jostle him to wake him up she saw over her shoulder the reason for his stop. She froze.

In front of her was a room with a huge table in its centre, several Eldars were present. But it wasn't them that had caught her attention, sitting on a couch in the corner of the room, legs up on a low table, hands behind his neck were Mat. Seeing the doors open, the supposedly dead man turned to them, before waving vaguely and saying in an annoyed tone.

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- What took you so long? Did you stop at every fishing village on the river or what?

Beside her, Leila heard Aurora hiccup, before striding towards Mat. He saw the young woman coming quickly towards him and stood up, slightly panicked. Just as he was about to back away warily, Aurora arrived and took him in her arms in a smothering embrace. The young man froze, not knowing what to do with his hands, he remained as rigid as a post.

Soon Jonah arrived as well, and patted his shoulder, his eyes slightly moist. As the rest of the group approached she could see how uncomfortable Mat felt, for some reason that made Leila happy.

The young woman could see Zarune who had followed them looking at Mat with a concentrated look, looking slightly angry. Before she could say anything another Eldar arrived and took her in his arms, taking the princess by surprise. Leila almost laughed at his shocked expression. She was having a lot of fun today.

- Since we're hugging, I had to follow the trend.

From the Eldar's happy tone, Leila understood that this was something the princess rarely allowed. This one was her brother, if the shape of his nose and eyes weren't enough of a clue, the colour of his silver hair would be.

- Let go of me!

she heard Zarune and Mat say in the same shocked tone.

Leila didn't even hide the big smile on her face.

Aurora finally let go of Mat before giving him a big smile and telling everyone.

- I knew you weren't dead! I knew it!

Mat looked warily at the whole group around him. And he said in the same ironic tone that was his trademark.

- Obviously. Why should I be?

Zarune, who had managed to escape from his brother, came closer. By violence obviously, as he rubbed his stomach to erase the pain, despite the big smile on his face. In a cold tone, she said.

- That's what I would like to know, what did you do?

- Why?

- Why?!

- You thought I was dead. Why would you think that?

Leila had rarely seen her Eldar friend lose her temper as she was doing now, and she wondered if Mat evoked the same sense of unease as she did. Jonah, always trying to avoid conflict, intervened.

- Zarune he's alive, that's what matters, right? And you, Mat, it's just that the Eldar have a way of knowing where we are, and that way didn't work for you.

- Are you following us?!

Zarune with cold anger says.

- Yes. But not you. You did something. What did you do?

Mat's face, which had gone from shock at their welcome, to anger at learning that the Eldar could track them through their prism, lost all emotion.

- I don't know what you're talking about. But the fact that you can't find me is a good thing for me.

A quickly disappearing glint in his eye made her assume he was lying. He was hiding something.

Before they could continue the discussion, a polite cough echoed behind them.

- A reunion with a friend you thought was lost is a reason to rejoice. Let's celebrate together if you don't mind!

He gestured towards an attendant who bowed, before hurrying off to a small door at the side of the room.

Zarune's brother, such as Leila, enjoyed the situation if those sparkling eyes were anything to go by.

Taking his sister by the shoulders, ignoring her murderous stare, he walked her to the end of the large central table.

- Let's sit down together. Let's get to know each other. Mat already knows who everyone is here, but you must be a little lost.

Leila watched her friends take their seats, Mat being pulled by the arm by Aurora, who made him sit next to her. Even here Mat still had his sword on him. Touching Dune Fallen on her back Leila moved closer too, before choosing a seat next to Marie, on the far side of the table where Zarune and her brother were. The latter, still standing, bowed to them once they were all seated.

- Welcome to Tera, my friends. I am Brenin, and you can have the same confidence in me as you have in my little sister.

The Eldar gave them a big encouraging smile, Leila felt her heart miss a beat as she met his gaze. She frowned.

Brenin introduced the rest of the Eldars in the room. Leila didn't remember any of their names. She glanced vaguely at the one who was the head of the city's ruling house but chose instead to focus on the dangerous-looking soldiers at the end of the table. She didn't like the look they were giving her and the other humans. The Eldars had this passive-aggressive way of looking at her, which she found annoying.

If they had hostility for them, let them say so. She couldn't stand the hypocrisy. As he finished the introductions, a group of servants entered with refreshments and food. Leila's attention was immediately drawn to the hot food that arrived.

Sometime later she heard Jonah say.

- So the situation is not so bad?

Brenin spoke enthusiastically.

- Oh yes it is. Yes, we've won all our battles without too many losses. But the fighting isn't the main reason we're in trouble.

- The land?

- Yes. The Green-Lands are one of our main food exporting territories. And even if we don't run out, it's going to cause a lot of problems for the stability of the Kingdom, mainly for...

One of the Eldar next to him coughed.

- Highness...

Brenin made an annoyed gesture in his direction, still looking at Jonah.

- Yes. Jonah, what you need to understand is that the stability of the Kingdom relies on the strength of the Houses and their responsibilities to each other. This war with the South weakens assets that will weaken the interior of our borders. And as your own experience proves, there are powers other than the Eldars in the Emerald Kingdom that does not have the same overview as we Eldar.

Zarune intervened.

- Beings like the dryads will try to free themselves from our influence for short-term power gain. We can subjugate them later, but they can do significant damage in the meantime.

Leila was sure it wasn't just the monsters. She had met enough ambitious Eldars that she did not doubt that some wanted this instability, to gain more power for them.

Brenin smiled sadly.

- This is the price we must pay to remain in this primordial refuge. To face ancient and ambitious creatures.

- And the Rhogars? In Irvanon you painted them as terrible enemies.

- They are, but they are not united, even though they outnumber us twenty to one, they are too far apart. They are whole tribes, with wife and child, fleeing north, some hating and warring with each other even in these terrible times.

Aurora leaned forward, looking at the prince.

- They are fleeing? What are they running from?

Zarune looked at her brother in puzzlement.

- I didn't know about this, so it's not an invasion?

Brenin held up his hands as if to defend himself against his sister.

- If it is an invasion. A mass exodus of many peoples. They think they will be safe on the other side of the rifts. Some are even heading east, trying their luck with the mysterious Empire of the Skulls and the small kingdoms surrounding it.

- Against what Brenin?

- We don't know, the tribes we used to trade with have been destroyed. It is difficult to dialogue with people who do not speak our language and whom we slaughter.

The Eldar next to him coughed again.

- Highness, they are invaders, we cannot allow them to stay on our land. They plunder our crops and burn our farms.

- I won't discuss this with you Kar, my father has told me enough about his point of view.

- Brenin.

- Later Zarune.

Turning back to the humans.

- Whatever is driving entire peoples and races from their ancestral homelands, highly territorial peoples, we must prevent it from reaching our lands. Even if it means stopping all these innocent people and trapping them with those they flee. Trapped from when they are unable to get past the Towers' barriers.

Leila could see the pain the Eldar was trying to hide when he said that last sentence. Again Leila met the Eldar's extremely frank gaze.

- That is why I am so grateful to you for participating. Even though we gave you little choice in the matter. Thank you.

Brenin lowered his head in their direction, much to the outrage of the Eldars present, who exchanged scandalized looks.

Marie smiled at him and said.

- We'll do what we have to do.

The Prince smiled back at her.

- In any case, there was no question of such a dark subject. We are here to get to know each other.

Rising from his seat he beckoned them to follow him.

- Come along. Kar, if you don't mind, we would like to abuse your hospitality a little more.

- My house is yours, your Highness.

The rest of the group followed the Prince to an adjoining room, lined with soft sofas and tables where cocktails were already laid out for the guests. The rest of the evening was like the social evening Leila had experienced in Tuanon, but with far fewer participants, and Eldars far more accustomed to the harsh military life than the salon life. Except for this Kar and a few of his supporters.

- Leila, you must have impressed my sister to give you Dune Fallen.

Leila turned to the Prince and those frank silver eyes.

- I didn't know what she was giving me then. Now I know how precious her gift was.

The Prince smiled at her.

- Zarune has always been impulsive, but she is rarely wrong. You must be an exceptional person.

Sipping her cocktail, Leila looked at Brenin.

- What do you want Prince?

- Do I have to have a reason to talk to you?

- Every Eldars I've ever met has had an idea in mind when he talks to one of us.

- Even Zarune?

Leila was silent. Brenin smiled again.

- I hope to gain the same trust she has with you. I will show you that Eldar is not united in their perception of non-Eldar.

Thinking of her friend and Dereur, Leila thought she might give this prince a chance. She nodded towards him.

- Jonah tells me that you have a great mastery of internal weaving

- Jonah?!

- Don't hold it against him, I can be quite insistent when I want to get to know someone.

Unsure how to respond to this comment, Leila drank her cocktail again, watching the prince carefully.

- If you like, I can show you some uses for your internal weave that you won't know about.

Interested Leila raised a questioning eyebrow.

- Oh? Like what?

- A good augmentation weaver must be able to use his aura.

- Aura?

- Yes, with Internal Weaving it's also possible to manipulate what surrounds your body.

Thinking of the sock story, Leila nodded.

- Yes, I can do that.

Brenin smiled as he leaned towards her interest.

- But do you know how to use your aura to transform a part of yourself?

- Huh?

- Yes, a Master of the Inner Weave can change the very matter of who he is. If he wants to, he can turn into an elemental himself.

- Like become the wind itself if I want?

- If you specialize your prism in that sense yes, myself, I have focused on becoming an avatar of fire.

- Interesting...

Brenin looked at her in silence, before giving her a big smile.

- So, what do you say we meet tomorrow in the training room to watch this together?

Leila looked back at Brenin, met his frank gaze and said.

- I'll do it.