Rachel had spent the day trying to deal with the fallout of the patient transport fiasco. An investigation had quickly revealed that the escort party for the chosen patient had been captured, and they had all been killed. Nobody wanted to believe the Elves were behind it, but they couldn’t take any chances, not with the Emperor potentially on the loose. All threats had to be taken seriously.

At least, they did during the day. Now, since it was evening, Rachel took the time to relax with a nice, hot bath. She’d tied her hair on top of her head as she sank under the water, with only her head and the tips of her toes visible. One of the good parts of being royalty was the ability to take daily baths, and she loved them. The feeling of just laying in the warm water as the day’s problems washed over her shoulders was unmatched.

Of course, she was still worried. For starters, how had the attackers gotten word of the expedition? If they were Elves, it became even more surprising. Then there were the fates of Steve and Nadine. They were supposed to meet the expedition in Industria, so when they didn’t show, would they have waited around or just left? Or would they have returned to Marisia to see what was the matter? She hoped they hadn’t done that. If they had, something must have happened because she would’ve met up with them by now.

She was distracted from her thoughts by a piece of paper appearing from thin air and landing softly on a table beside the tub. It had appeared after a flash of orange, which meant it was one of Nadine’s letters from Industria. Rachel enjoyed reading the letters, since they gave her a glimpse into a culture that was similar to her own, but yet was still very different. Nadine’s attempts to explain the various technologies and cultural differences were particularly hilarious, as well as her descriptions of whenever Steve did something silly, which was surprisingly frequently. Her last letter where she’d described how he’d gotten busted for drawing a picture of a young woman, who Nadine had not named, had been very entertaining in her description of how other, jealous young women had all dropped their normal demeanors and confronted him about it. Nadine was known to exaggerate, though, so it might not have been that bad.

Rachel finished bathing, dried off, and put on her bathrobe. With her hands now dry, she picked up the letter expectantly, hoping for good news. However, the letter had no good news. The first indication something was wrong was that the handwriting was different. Once she started reading it, she realized it was not news, but was rather a cry for help. The minute she finished the letter, she put on her slippers and headed out.

She wanted to speak with the Chairman immediately, but she knew he was out of the Palace at his weekly card game at Edmund Follis’s chateau, and she wasn’t allowed to leave the Palace to go and speak with him. Mental communication was banned from the card game to prevent cheating. So she had to deal with the next best thing.

Ten minutes later, she was banging on the door to the Jameson family rooms. The door was locked, so she was forced to knock. Her stepbrother Paul opened the door, looking alarmed. “What’s up, Rach?” he asked, letting her in. He knew it was urgent since she was still wearing a bathrobe and not something else more fitting for a late night stroll.

“I received a letter from Industria,” she told him, shoving the letter in his face. “We have a big problem. And I have to admit that Donovan was right, which I hate most of all.”

Paul quickly skimmed the letter, getting angrier by the second. “We need to save them,” he said at last. “The Elves have gone too far this time.”

“I agree,” said Rachel. “The attack was unprovoked, so responding in kind is only natural. In fact…” she stopped suddenly, feeling that usual sensation of someone brushing her mind.

“What’s happening?” Paul asked as the sensation disappeared.

“It feels like someone is trying to contact me,” she explained. The feeling returned, so she sat down in a chair and tried to respond. The presence was familiar, but she couldn’t identify it until they started talking.

“Hey, this is Rachel, right? I’ve never contacted anyone like this myself,” Steve began.

“Steve, I just heard what happened! Are you all right?” She mentally beckoned Paul over, and included him in the conversation. “How are you speaking with us? Surely the Elves would’ve given you an anti-magic potion by now!”

“They haven’t yet, but they’re about to. They didn’t realize we knew magic until Nadine panicked and spilled the beans.”

“Then we should make this quick,” said Rachel. “Where are you now?”

“We’re in an Elven dungeon somewhere,” said Steve. “There’s a feudal Japan-looking city out the window, but that’s all I know.”

“So all we know is that you’re in one of their cities,” said Paul.

“Look, I hate to ask this of you, because I know you’re busy, but could you, I don’t know, arrange for us to be released or something?”

“Please, don’t apologize for asking about something this serious. If I had my way, I’d be arranging for that at this very moment, but anything international has to go through the Council to avoid creating any incidents. We don’t have formal diplomatic relations with any of the Elf Clans or Dynasties right now, so that will not be easy. Perhaps the Goblins will be willing to mediate. It’ll take two weeks to get a letter to their leaders, and another two to get a response.”

“Hold on,” Steve interrupted. “I’m not staying here for a month. Screw that.”

“Steve, please be reasonable,” Rachel pleaded. “Negotiating for a prisoner release is a very delicate task. There’s no easy way to do it, especially with a power we have a bad history with. It’ll take even longer since we don’t know which Elf power has you.”

“I don’t know a thing about Elves or dynasties or anything like that,” said Steve. “All I know is that their shields have a green tree on them.”

“Of course it’s the Yamada,” Paul said furiously. “Aren’t they the clan that originally turned against us?”

“Captain Mark will know more about their intentions,” said Rachel. “During our last trip, he mentioned having history with the Elves, so I looked into his record. He was stationed there as security for our ambassador during the time when our relations with them went to shambles twelve years ago.”

“Really?” Paul said in surprise. “I thought he was just patrolling the border or something.”

“No, he was there with the head of the Yamada,” Rachel replied. “He’ll know more about them than anyone else we know, so I will ask him about it.”

“Good,” said Steve. “Will you let us know what you’re going to do?”

“You bet,” said Paul. “We’ll contact you twice a day, once at noon and once at sunset. You two be ready, all right?”

“There’s three of us, actually; my dad’s here, too,” said Steve. “I think he’s going to try to negotiate something on our end, but that’s all we can really promise unless they tell us what’s going on.”

“You do what you can, and so will we,” said Rachel. “When you are released, I promise to bring you all back to Robertston and treat you to a feast fit for the goddess as an apology for their behavior.”

“I think Nadine will appreciate that. She’s a little distraught at the moment, so could you talk to her or something, just to help her calm down?”

“You’d better believe it,” said Paul. Rachel took that as her cue to end the communication and try contacting Nadine, but she couldn’t get through. There was something off about her mind that prevented communication.

“So I’ll talk to Captain Mark first thing tomorrow?” Paul asked Rachel after she resolved to try again the following day.

“Yes, I think that’s wise. We need to divide and conquer, though. I’ll talk to your father about potential courses of action. You speak with Captain Mark to gain information.”

“Lucky for me I still have a job with the army, then,” Paul told her, grinning. “Especially when you tried to keep me out.” He was still grinning, but he was staring at her with a withering look. Their relationship had become much more strained than before, especially without Nadine around to mediate, not to mention his new job kept him busy.

“I thought you needed to take it slow,” she protested. “Well, you’re working with Bill as a gatekeeper now, so it’s basically a compromise.”

“Still a soldier, but no fieldwork? I guess that’s okay.” He said that, but he didn’t really look okay. “Anyways, I’m tired, so I’m going to go to bed.” With that, he turned away and headed for one of the back rooms, leaving Rachel to find her own way out.

XXX

The following day, Rachel visited Chairman Jameson in his study once again. As before, he was busy doing paperwork when Rachel barged in. “Princess, what have I told you about not knocking?” he sighed, dropping his pen and looking up at her. He was alone in the room this time.

“I’ll knock for personal business,” she lied. “This is not.”

“Very well. What’s going on?”

Rachel unrolled the letter and passed it over. “I received this late last night. It is from Steve’s mother.”

The Chairman quickly read over the letter. “How did she even get this to us from Industria?”

“I had a system I used to exchange letters with Nadine. If I had to guess, she asked Hannah for assistance.”

“Ah, the smart girl,” said the Chairman, understanding. “I remember her. She took one look at me and informed me what I’d had for breakfast from the crumbs in my beard. Except for the hordevoire. She’d never heard of that before.”

Rachel remembered Hannah quite clearly as well. They’d had some very deep conversations about the differences between Industria and Charminia, among other topics of discussion. The girl had been very chatty and hadn’t been intimidated by her royal status, something she appreciated. From what Rachel had gathered, she, like Rachel, usually wasn’t that open with people. “Well, due to her help, we now have that letter. So we now know for a fact that the Elves kidnapped two Industrians and Nadine. We must retrieve them immediately.”

“Negotiating a hostage release will take time, longer since they don’t like us. We might have to use a proxy, and we’ll have to find something or someone to trade. I’m sorry, Princess, but that’s all I can do. You ought to already know this, so why are you questioning policy?”

Rachel was furious now, but she knew that arguing would be a waste of time. She knew he was right, and he was also right about her knowing procedure. She’d just explained it the night before, after all. She’d been hoping there was another option he’d know that she didn’t, but that was in vain. With no quick legal options available, she spun on her heel and stalked out of the room.

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She had magic training to go to, but she didn’t care about that right now. She was much too infuriated with her lack of ability to do anything to concentrate on something so mundane. “Paul, any luck?” she asked him silently.

“I can’t find Captain Mark,” he responded. “He wasn’t anywhere I checked, and then I ran into Bill. He yelled at me for a while before forcing me to go to work.”

“Fine, I’ll talk to him,” Rachel sighed.

That task proved to be difficult. For starters, she was missing her morning magic lesson, and that would come back to bite her before long. Her instructor wouldn’t take kindly to her skipping her tutoring, and neither would the Chairman. Secondly, she had no clue where Captain Mark was stationed. Chances were high he was in the city, since there were no active military conflicts, but the city was a big place, so that didn’t help much. She decided to try the military barracks first, as they would be fully stationed with soldiers, and they might know where he was.

The problem was that she wasn’t allowed to leave the Palace. Supposedly it was for ‘safety reasons.’ Her recent excursions to gain information about the plague had been unsanctioned and she had been yelled at for leaving without permission. They had recently updated the sickness’s description to plague since reports had come in the previous day of people in nearby towns becoming ill. Her status, combined with the plague and the Emperor-detecting checkpoints meant she couldn’t leave either as herself or in any type of disguise. Therefore, that left her with one option. She still changed into peasant clothing, but instead of going out through the gate, she went out back to the garden and used magic to hop the wall, also using magic to deflect the magical defenses so she wouldn’t be detected. The deflection was only possible because she knew the exact nature of the defenses as she had assisted in their upgrade after the multiple intrusions last fall had revealed the old ones were no longer sufficient.

The barracks, situated in the southwest corner of the city, was the main training facility and military installation in the kingdom. There were other training facilities in other cities, but the one in Robertston was the largest and the most prestigious. The military commanders in the barracks were responsible for both the city’s defense and that of the surrounding region, including a few little towns.

After arriving at the Barracks, Rachel came face to face with more guards. Like the Palace, the Barracks were always guarded. Hesitating briefly, she approached them to try and sweet-talk her way in. The guards crossed their spears as she neared them. “Hold there! This is a restricted area!”

“I’m sorry, but I’m here to see one of the soldiers,” said Rachel. “Is Captain Mark Goddard here?”

The guards took interest in that. “You his gal?” one asked immaturely.

“She’s a pretty little thing, isn’t she?” said the other, craning his neck for a better look.

Rachel was not used to being treated in such a way, and was highly offended. She dropped all pretenses of being a peasant and donned her lightweight gold circlet she’d brought with her. “You would prohibit me from going inside when I have official business there? I am Rachel, Princess of Marisia, and this is your only chance to apologize for your rude behavior and let me in.”

Most people would’ve been apologizing bitterly by this point and scrambling to accommodate her while kissing the ground, but not these guards. However, they did, at the least, stop being vulgar. “I’ll need to see proof of identity,” said the first guard, regaining some semblance of formality. “You are not dressed royally, and for all I know that crown could be fake. We are on heightened alert at the moment.”

Heightened alert protocol had been put into action after the Emperor’s disappearance, and had proven to be a necessary nuisance more than once. Rachel’s problem right now was that she had lied about having official business, and due to the protocol they couldn’t let her in no matter who she was if she didn’t have a good reason.

She could try to force the guards to let her in, but since they were unsure of her status, she would have to rely solely on her outward appearance to charm them, which after their rude comments earlier she didn’t feel like doing. Besides, she wasn’t very proficient in charming people anyways, so that likely wouldn’t even work.

With no way to get by the guards, she decided to find another way in. “Well, congratulations, you passed the test,” she told the guards, playing off the fact she wanted to leave. “Keep up the good work.” With that, she put her crown away and left them, walking away down the street.

She didn’t go far. She ducked into an alleyway after making sure no one was watching her. Taking a deep breath, she reached for her supply of magic, concentrated on what she wanted to do, and said, “Jump.” When she jumped a moment later, she jumped five meters straight up, easily reaching the roof of the building in front of her. “Wow, I feel like Nadine right now,” she thought, making her way across the stone roof. “She loves climbing things.” Ahead of her was the wooden wall between the main city and the Battleschool training area. It was patrolled by soldiers, so she had to time her next move so they wouldn’t see her. There were also more defensive spells she’d have to bypass, so she started working on that while timing her jump.

When she spotted an opening, she prepped herself, checked her counterspells, and broke into a run while heading for the edge of the roof. When she reached the edge, she shouted “Jump!” again, and she sailed right over the fence. She used magic to cushion her landing before picking herself up.

“Intruder!” a sentry shouted, peering into the yard. Rachel cursed her bad luck and quickly ran around a corner and hid in a bush to avoid getting spotted. Soldiers who heard the shout broke off from their drills and searched the area for the intruder, forcing Rachel to use a concealment charm to hide herself whenever someone approached the bush. Considering it was the middle of winter, that meant the bush didn’t provide much protection and she had to do it a lot. At least there was no snow on the ground, since that would’ve made it a lot harder to hide.

Eventually, she made use of a break in their search patterns to slip inside the main training facility, this time managing to remain unseen. This was the building she would’ve come to if she’d come in normally, so it wouldn’t be suspicious. She approached the main desk, circlet in place and said, “Message for Captain Mark Goddard.”

The soldier on duty did a double take as he realized who she was. “Your Majesty!” he exclaimed, jumping to his feet and bowing politely.

“At ease, soldier,” said Rachel, motioning for him to retake his seat. “Is Captain Goddard around? I need to speak with him.”

The guard checked his log. “Yes, he and his men are here today. They are training in yard three. May I take a message?”

“No, it’s too urgent. Which way is yard three?”

“That way, but I’d suggest not going yourself. There is an intruder on the grounds and…”

“I’ll be fine with all these soldiers around,” Rachel reassured him, waving as she went the way he pointed.

“At least let me call you an escort!” the guard called after her.

Rachel walked slowly to the specified location, taking care to stay inside as much as possible due to the cold. When she reached the yard, she went to the fence surrounding the practice area and watched the proceedings.

The soldiers were busy practicing jousting, with the soldiers racing down the field on horses and trying to knock over straw mannequins with lances. The other soldiers looked on and encouraged the riders. It looked like some kind of game, and a fun one at that.

She spotted Mark in the nearest set of soldiers, directing his squad in an attempt to beat the competition. Moving along the fence, Rachel took up a new position directly behind him. She waited patiently, watching the competition enthusiastically, before she caught Mark’s eye and waved at him.

Captain Mark certainly looked surprised to see her there. He quickly excused himself and came over to talk to her. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Princess?” he asked, stopping in front of her.

“I am in need of assistance,” Rachel began. She’d been thinking about this all morning, and now was the time to ask. “I’m thinking of putting a small team together to rescue Steve and Nadine. They’ve been abducted by Elves.”

Mark’s face took on a look of utter shock. “Elves?” he exclaimed. “How? Weren’t they in Industria?”

“It’s a long story. The point is that going through official channels to get them released will take time, and that’s time they don’t have.”

“Which clan?” Mark asked quietly.

“The Yamada.”

Mark cursed loudly. “Why am I not surprised? Those Elves have always had it in for us!”

“Not always, as you very well know,” Rachel reminded him.

“Yes, I know,” Mark sighed. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you, Princess. I swore to myself I’d never deal with the Elves again.”

“Again? So you have dealt with Elves before?”

“Yes, actually. I was stationed as a guard for the ambassador to the Yamada clan. Then relations soured and we all had to flee.”

That much Rachel knew. “Well, then, you’d know more about them than anybody!” she exclaimed. “You have to come with us!”

“Please, don’t order me to do this,” said Mark. “It’ll just cause problems.”

“Then I won’t order you,” Rachel replied. “This won’t be an official envoy anyways, so I can’t actually do that. Not officially, anyways. Captain Mark, whatever happened twelve years ago might have been bad, but now is our chance to fix it. The Elves have given us the perfect excuse to go talk to them and find out just what happened. Once we know that, we can work on putting things right.”

Mark’s expression softened. “You say that, but it won’t be easy. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Sir Yamada had put a kill order on the entire party from back then.”

“That’s true, but there’s no evidence he’s done that. At the very least, he would’ve sent us a letter demanding your return. So while they have kidnapped our allies, we need to give them the benefit of the doubt for now, at least in regards to a kill order.” She paused a moment before leaning on the fence and staring him down. “Captain Mark, will you join Paul and me on this mission?”

Mark looked doubtful, but what he did next was surprising. “I tell you what; I’ll go with you if you can prove to me that I won’t just be a babysitter this time. Tell me, can you hold your own in our game?”

“I’m sorry, but what do you mean by ‘babysitter?”

“You and that guy Steve were always getting into arguments, and I had to keep you and Nadine from acting like brats. So if I go with you this time, I want a guarantee that won’t happen again.”

Rachel didn’t appreciate what he said, but she was also grateful that he’d actually said something rather than just staying quiet as most people would do. “Why are you agreeing suddenly?”

“Regardless of my personal reasons, your friends have been kidnapped and need to be freed. Rescuing them is what your mother would do, and since you are like her in many, many ways, assisting you would be the most appropriate way to help you achieve success and honor her memory.”

“I...thank you, Captain,” she replied, at a loss for words.

“Since you’re here, and I know you train similarly to us, would you like to participate in our exercises?” Mark asked, gesturing to the game behind him.

The game did indeed look fun and, since Rachel was never one to turn down a challenge, she agreed. “Let’s go,” she said, ducking under the fence.

“Bob, the princess wishes to join!” Mark called to one of the men.

“Do you wish for some armor?” Bob asked Rachel when she neared him.

“No, it’s not fitted for women and I don’t like wearing it,” she replied. That was true, and was why she was so proficient at defensive magic. She wasn’t a true magician, although that’s what most people called her. No, she was an up-and-coming magic knight, half mage and half knight. Magic knights were the most versatile military unit, and one of the most elite and respected. She had always been in awe of them since she was a little girl and had strived to become one when she got older. She would still be Queen, of course, but that wouldn’t stop her from being a magic knight. She had taken the Chairman’s words the other night to heart, and decided to fully dedicate herself to becoming a magic knight, to differentiate herself from her mother, who had primarily been a mage.

“She’s a magic knight in training,” Mark told Bob, which made his jaw drop. The men were silent, then started cheering for her.

The cheering gave her a boost in confidence, and she quickly hopped up on the provided horse. She took the javelin Bob handed to her and led the horse onto the track, locking eyes with the straw dummy. “What are the rules?” she asked.

“Send the dummy flying as far as you can,” Mark replied. “Use any means you can, but play to your strengths.”

“Got it,” she replied, focusing on the dummy. She crouched down, leveled her spear, and then sent the horse running.

She’d done exercises like this before, but not often. Concentrating, she cast spells to both enhance her strength and reinforce her arm holding the javelin, both basic spells in a magic knight’s repertoire. It was also standard to use a spell to help her aim with the javelin, but as this was a game, that would disqualify her.

When she neared the dummy, she was traveling at a full gallop. Combining the speed of the horse with her own enhanced strength, she struck the dummy with all her might. She hit it on the left side of the lower torso, so not a perfect shot. The dummy was skewered by the thrust, but didn’t get knocked off its base. Instead, the javelin just tore a hole through the straw and cloth, not even leaving her hand.

“Not bad, Princess,” Mark replied, clapping politely. The other men were cheering for her.

It wasn’t a perfect run, but Rachel was happy with her performance. She’d hit the target with no magical assistance, which was good enough for her at the moment. She pulled up on the reins, stopping the horse, and dismounted. “This is the power of a magic knight!” she proclaimed loudly as she raised the javelin over her head, which led to more cheering.

As she prepared to leave, Mark stopped her. “Whenever you plan to leave, kindly give me a day’s notice to prepare.”

“Of course,” Rachel replied, putting her palm over her heart in a gesture of solidarity. The two nodded at each other before going their separate ways.