We departed from the town as soon as possible, leaving behind the dead. The Princess had asked if she could use our wagon to store the prisoners, to which we agreed. Loading the prisoners, we set out back to Boncre to drop them off and to accompany the Princess. The knights took the reins of the wagons so I was left to try horseback riding, which I wasn’t exactly a pro at. With some time however I eventually became good enough to at least keep up with the others. 

As we moved towards the city I glanced at Cinda, who was looking at the ground the entire time. Getting my horse to move closer to her I tapped her on the shoulder. She glanced at me for a moment before looking back down.

“What do you want Teela?”

“Well… I just wanted to know how you are doing. I guess finding out that you’re a mother isn’t something you learn everyday…”

“Your ‘humor’ isn’t appreciated…”

“Sorry…”

She sighed. “I-I… just don’t know. I just can’t remember anything from that day expect that man’s face. So, suddenly being told that I was a mother… it’s… just overwhelming.”

I rubbed her shoulder. “Well… I can understand that. Being thrown into unfamiliar waters can be quite… uncomfortable.”

She looked at me.”Are you just saying that to pity me?”

I shook my head. “No Cinda… I woke up at one point… without any recollection of who I was, in the bottom of a well.”

She blinked in surprise at my words.

“I… see.”

I gave a small laugh. “It was quite the rude awakening but still… I preserved and ended up meeting Sarya, Zephy and Elora.”

She tilted her head, as if looking at something curious. “But isn’t Elora your daughter?”

“She’s my adopted daughter. I found her in a terrible state so I took her as my own.”

Cinda looked forward. “What about the other two?”

“Well… their both of my wives…”

Even though Cinda didn’t turn to me, she had a small tint of red in her cheeks.

“I… see…”

We had stayed quiet for a few minutes so I took the moment to check the others. Moving closer to Kale, I had some questions for him so I got to it.

“So…Kale. How did you get captured? And why?”

His face flustered as he looked away.

“I-I… don’t know. I was just eating in a tavern when they came in, started asking questions about you. I told them what I knew, mainly you just wanted to save the Qwarnell, but they still pulled me out of the tavern.”

“I see.”

I didn’t really know what to say to that, I was wondering if there was another reason that they would take it this far and how they managed to get bounty hunters with them but I guessed they simply just had the same cause so they allied. I moved away from Kale and moved to the Princess.

“How did you find us?” I asked, she didn’t see me coming so my sudden question made her jump slightly.

“Well… I had some someone follow you out of the city and then informed me, I had suspected that something like this may happen. After all, the Magic Founding Society had participated in the Coliseum so I could only guess that they wouldn’t be satisfied with the results and try to take Cinda by force.”

I frowned. “Are they always like this? Trying to muscle in on things?”

She shook her head. “No. For the most part they are reserved and just keep to their studies or exploring new things. Most of the Magic Founding Society is made up of scholars so even this attack is quite a rare thing indeed.”

“So if that’s true, then why would they go out of their way to try kidnapping a person?”

“Perhaps they are still enraged about the battles that took place many years ago. It is common for mages to study outside from the gaze of the Magic Founding Society. Because it is run by the kingdoms and some people despise them. They are unable to let go of the past and we all suffer because of it. Attacks on officials, raids on villages and even attacking squads of soldiers. These rouge mages are unpredictable.”

I glanced back at the wagon for a second.

“Some of them are rouge mages?”

She nodded.

“It seems so; I guess that the rouge mages have some connections in the Magic Founding Society. One of my knights found out because one of the mages in the group has wanted posters all across Boncre.”

“I see…”

So it seems that the Rouge mages are a bigger problem then I realized. I guessed that it was inevitable; people could find any reason to start a battle. Being cooped up with such power, someone would want to use it against… more lively targets.

They sounded like medieval terrorists.

“So… without Cinda… how are you going to dealing with this problem?”

She sighed.

“Well… we can find ways. Believe it or not the Magic Founding Society does help us with this sort of things. However, their help is… limited. So most of the time, we get bounty hunters or even trackers to find them and inform us. However… it isn’t the best solution… as you’ve seen.”

Yeah… she certainly had a point. The bounty hunters that we fought joined up with criminals so they couldn’t be trusted. As much as it sounded like I was being unreasonable… Cinda certainly was useful. She had an advantage over everyone else, though it came at a heavy price. We didn’t talk for the rest of the trip; we just focused on getting to the kingdom.

……………..

We had entered the city again and immediately, some soldiers surrounded the wagon and started pulling out the prisoners. The Princess surprised me by giving orders in a professional manner; there wasn’t any shouting or the opposite, a trembling voice. 

She just gave her orders like a grand Princess would, and everyone followed to the letter. Once the prisoners were lined up the soldiers started to march them. The Princess turned back to us, wiping sweat away from her brow.

“Well then… I would like it if you would accompany me to the castle Teela. I… would like it if someone would accompany me when I speak with my Father.”

I frowned at her request, it wasn’t that I didn’t expect that she would ask this but she just seemed uncomfortable with asking me the question. It was like… she was afraid of confronting her Father.

“Yes… if you would prefer that.”

She smiled.

“Thank you, Teela.”

……………..

All of us, (Me, Sarya, Zephy, The Princess, Cinda and Elora) had made our way towards the castle. The guards were hesitant in letting us in but the Princess persuade them. Soon we were passed the main hall, which was ass I’d expect it to look like: Adorned with banners and long red carpets, and of course suits of armor and weapons displayed on the wall. Making our way to the second floor, The Princess led us to a large set of doors and turned to us.

“I’m sorry but could I just have you accompany me Teela?”

I shrugged and followed her inside. As she opened the door a man, who had quite flashy armor, blocked our path.

“General, I need to speak with my Father. She’s with me.”

Since our weapons were taken at the gates, the General nodded and left us, much to my surprise. As we entered the room the Princess reached up and removed her crown, placing it at her side. I stood by the door and she walked halfway towards the bed.

“Father? Are you awake?”

The bed that stood at the edge of the room had a pair of curtains that were transparent. So I could see a figure through them. It sat up slowly and pushed back the curtains at the edge of the bed.

The man looked to be in his late sixties, however, he had blotched skin and hair that has mostly fallen out. He sat at the edge of his bed and he cleared his throat.

“Well… who do… we have… here?”

His voice was horsed and he kept breathing deeply.

“She’s a woman who, both won the Coliseum and helped me with a few rouge mages.”

“I see…”

“Father… when we were questioning one of the mages, he told us something that I wish to discuss with you. The rebirth of the Qwarnell project.”

The King was quiet for a moment before answering.

“I… guess he said… that I… told them… to… do it?”

The Princess nodded. “Is… it true?”

“It is…”

The Princess winced slightly at his answer but before she could ask him anything else he cleared his throat and started again.

“Delphinia… you and I… both know… that… the rouge mages… are… a serious …threat. However… that wasn’t… the only… reason… why I… had the… project… reborn.”

“Then why?” I blurted out before I could catch myself. The King looked at me for a moment, with a somewhat annoyed look and his gaze returned to Dephinia who asked the same question. The King sighed.

“You… know that… I was… a… different person… back then… Dephinia…”

I frowned at his cryptic words, it sounded like he was going to say something he'd regret.

“The project… started… ten years ago…”

I scowled at his words. Why was he telling us something we already knew? I looked at the Princess, whose eyes were as wide as plates.

“Ten… years? Why… didn’t I see it before? Mother…passed away at the same time too….”

What? Why was she…? Suddenly the answer hit me so hard that I couldn’t breathe.

He whispered: “The Qwarnell… have the ability… to numb their… nerves, increase… their recovery… rate and…”

He paused.

“…and revive them… from… near death.”

My eyes were as wide as Dephinia’s; she was in such shock that I was the one who could ask the question.

“Don’t tell me…. You revived the project to see if it would work on your wife?”

His head sank down; his lack of answers was the only one I needed.

“Father… why…?”

She quickly moved to his side.

“Why… her…?”

“I’m… sorry… Dephinia…”

“Father? FATHER!?”

She shook him but he didn’t respond. The General burst into the room and was by the Kings side, soon more traffic came through and a healer gave us the announcement we all knew.

“He has… passed away.”

……………

The next day was spent getting the funeral ready. The group and I hadn’t been present during this, as it wasn’t our duty. However Dephinia had asked if we could stay in the castle for the time being. For some reason, I felt like I should be out there, mainly because I wanted to help Dephinia due to her just losing her father. They gave us a room which I had spent a good time pacing in. Zephy had taken Elora to the dining hall to get something to eat so I was here with Cinda and Sarya.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Sarya looked at me for a few moments before leaning forward on the bed she was sitting on.

“Teela…. If you want to go and help her then you should hurry. We can stay here.”

I sighed.

“Well… I don’t know if I should. I mean that this is something for her right?”

Cinda was the one to speak.

“Well… she needs someone to lean on. She is capable of being strong but she still would welcome some support.”

“Well…” Sarya stood up and placed a finger on my lips.

“Just go Teela…”

I rubbed my lips and thanked them for encouraging me. I left the room and asked a passing maid where the Princess was, she told me in the garden and pointed me in the right direction. Opening a set of doors I walked down a hedge maze path, with flowers and vines dotting the hedge. I was about to call out her name before I walk past a doorway through the hedge and seen her sitting on a bench in front of a water fountain.

I silently walked up behind her and sat on the bench, she glanced at me before looking back at the fountain.

“Hello Teela. How are you?”

“Me?” I asked. “I should be asking you that question, I came to find you.”

She looked down at her lap and only then did I notice that she had a note sitting on it.

“He… had this under his pillow, as if he’d been writing it while he was bed-bound.”

She glanced at me. “Would you like to know what it says?”

I thought about it for just a second and then answered: “No, he took the last of his moments to write that for you. It was meant only for you.”

When I had first met the Princess I didn’t think much of her, on that balcony she gave me the impression that she was a somewhat naïve of the world we were living in, but after talking to her it only showed how arrogant I was. She was in the same position as me, just that she had a crown sitting on her head. Deep down inside she just wanted what she believed was best for everyone, women included. She had shed tears at painful memories, yet she still showed me her courage by helping me when the bounty hunters and rouge mages had cornered us.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close. She begun to tremble and quietly sob as I held her. We stayed close as she let her tears out, not stopping until she fell asleep from it.

I laid her head down on my lap again and looked out at the garden, from the birds chirping to the rustle of flowers. After, roughly a half an hour, I could hear her moan and yawn as she rolled to look up at me. She blinked and parted her lips.

“Did… I fall asleep?”

I nodded.

She had a small tint of red in her cheeks.

“Thank… you. I don’t usual cry this much, honest.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“We all do have some times where the only thing we do is cry; I’m not above that myself.”

She sighed.

“Well… I guess I’d better get back to my duties. I… have a funeral to prepare for.”

She got up and was about to leave before I grasped her hand.

“Dephinia… if you need anything, then please don’t be afraid to ask.”

She nodded and I gave her hand a squeeze.

“I’m serious… you don’t have to do everything yourself.”

“I will… thank you.”

………………..

After a few days the funeral took place, the entire kingdom had attended, which I guess I should expect, plus some other kings from other places as well. To say that the funeral was grand would be an understatement, it was breathtaking.  With endless flowers and petals falling, knights were marching along the roads and even people with large, yet sad, masks wandering the streets. Many different things and spectacles were shown.

Finally after all that the Princess made her speech about her taking over the throne and the responsibilities she would face, with that she grabbed a torch and lit the coffin on fire as apparently every offspring would have to in order to take the throne. After everything was said and done, we now sat in our room a day after the funeral, waiting for the Princess. I was teaching Elora to read some more and the other were simply eating, reading or whatever activity they could amuse themselves with. Soon after the Princess entered the room which got our attention.

“So… as you know the Qwarnell project has been stopped. However, there’s still one thing left. This kingdom has the documents from over five hundred years ago. So I had the library opened once again, I was wondering if you’d like to join me?”

I looked at the others, who were all in agreement, besides Cinda, she didn’t say anything so we all followed the Princess down below the castle. She told us that the library was located in a chamber underground and hasn’t been open since the experiments. 

I asked her how she knew all this.

“It was in my father’s letter.” She said.

I didn’t press any further as we walked towards some large double doors. The Princess pushed them open and as I moved inside I seen a large chair at the end of the enormous hallway and immediately knew where I was.

“Isn’t this… the throne room?”

The Princess only nodded, without saying a thing, she moved to the throne and walked behind it. I frowned at her actions and looked around the throne to see her grab a torch that was well out of place. She turned the torch clock-wise until it lay horizontal and a sudden crack echoed out. Smoke wafted out from a hole in the wall and the Princess pushed against the hole to widen it.

“A door?” I asked.

All of us stood at the entrance and looked down the dark tunnel.

“Well… this looks welcoming…”

We all looked for a few seconds more before the Princess started to move to the door. I placed my hand on her shoulder.

“Let me and Zephy go first…”

She placed her hand on mine.

“I’m ok, I can-“

“I know, but this place hasn’t been open in a while, or at least I’d imagine so. So me and Zephy can look first and see how the place is holding up.”

She sighed and moved to the side allowing us to enter the door. As we moved, Sarya handed me a torch and lit it. I took the lead, with Zephy coming up behind me. Shortly after, we stood at the landing and for what the light from my torch showed me I could see that there were some tables with scrolls and papers laying on them, plus some bookcases that stood against the wall.

“So… this has been around for five hundred years?”

“Hmmm… perhaps…”

I turned to call the others and noticed that Zephy was smirking.

“What?”

“Nothing…”

I frowned and heard the other walking down the staircase.

………………..

We had been in the library for about a half hour, looking through the bookcases and scrolls. It seemed like it would take forever, as I searched through every piece of paper I could get my hands on. There were things on history, past technologies, ancient tribes, past leaders and even things like history on the contact of the Ralma. But still no mention of the Qwarnell project. Even though it had only been a half hour, I was getting agitated. I could suddenly feel a tug in my leg and looked down to see Elora looking up at me. Smiling I grabbed her and sat her on my lap.

“Hey sweetheart, are you doing ok? Want to get something to eat?”

She shook her head.

“Uh… I was… wondering… c-could I…”

She trailed off, glancing at the Princess. I immediately knew what she wanted.

“Would you like to meet the Princess?”

She nodded vigorously. I suppose after all that’s happened she hasn’t had a proper introduction, with the passing of the king, the hunters and the new leaders and such.

“Delphinia? Can I talk with you for a second?” I called out.

She nodded and put her book down she was reading, upon coming closer she smiled as she seen Elora and knelt down in front of her.

“Well hello there, I guess I didn’t get a chance to meet you properly. I’m Delphinia.”

The Princess held her hand out for Elora to take.

“E-Elora…”

“She’s my adopted daughter.”

Delphinia eyes blinked in surprise at that.

“I see…”

“U-um… are you like the Princesses in fairytales?”

I gave a small laugh at Elora’s questions, it was cute.

“Well… I don’t know about that. But I try to be as nice and helpful as them. I do try my best.”

“W-Well… I wanted to ask because… you look pretty…”

Delphinia smiled and laughed.

“Thank you Elora. You quite cute yourself!”

Elora tucked into my clothes, Delphinia looked worried but I filled her in.

“She’s just embarrassed.”

Delphinia’s smiled again and suddenly Sarya called out.

“I found it!”

We all rushed over to Sarya and she laid out a few books and scrolls. I grabbed a book and stared on it, and found the thing I was looking for. One of the pages showed Cinda face and her information. And it was recently dated... ten years ago. Could it be the pages that the team of mages saved after their attack? I read it.

Name: Cindai Allerca Gensou (Pronouced Cin-die Al-err-caw Gen-soo)

Gender: Female

Age: 23

Previous occupation: unknown

There was little information but there was one thing that caught my attention.

During operation Subject 9 showed late stages of pregnancy, in agreement, the team opened her and took the child out. The child showed signs of life so the team had one of their own take the child to an orphanage.

There was a small strip on the side, information on the child.

Child info

Name: unknown (never given name)

Gender: Female

Age: 0

Location: Evergreen orphanage