The worst thing about not needing to sleep was that you became all too aware of how much time people spent doing so. As the days passed, I found myself with little to do and much time to do it.

There was only so much reading that I could do before my mind would begin spacing out and I would be begging for a distraction. Out of pure boredom, I had found myself ‘flexing’ my magic.

Enhance.

Strength would fill my limbs, but there was nothing to use it on. Still, energy would drain away from me, and the jitteriness I had begun to feel from having full magic stores would relax. My magic stores themselves had changed. I had more than I began with, where healing a deer had taken so much from me—more than when I had healed the girl’s mother.

Yet I lacked any ability to quantify how much energy that was.

Even thoughts like these, though, did little to distract me. What I really wanted was people to talk to. Sara didn’t talk much, and her presence was more felt than heard. Alina and Lord Balar had been in meetings every day, and when they came back, both were far too exhausted to discuss much, let alone what his note had mentioned.

So as bored as I was, maybe I could be forgiven for climbing onto the roof of the academy to stargaze.

“Jamie?” Alina’s voice disturbed my stupor, and I looked around only to realize that the voice hadn’t come from beside me but instead from my room’s open window below me. I pulled myself to my feet and walked over to the window, sticking my head down to look through it. Alina was standing in the room looking completely mystified and perhaps a touch worried before she saw me.

Her expression brightened, but still had a quizzical frown, “What are you doing on the roof?”

I chuckled somewhat dryly, “I am really bored.”

Alina cocked her said to the side before she giggled, “Fair enough I suppose. I think I’m feeling parts of that boredom myself. Do you mind if I join you?”

I shrugged and beckoned at her before pulling myself away from the window and back up the roof.

Her red hair emerged seconds later before she pulled herself with ease onto the roof.

She walked over to me and sat down next to me, and a couple of moments of silence stretched between us.

Finally, she spoke, “I’m sorry, Lord Balar, and I haven’t been around. Lord Balar is still discussing things with the King, but I managed to escape early.”

The ever-present question of what was going on burned on my lips, but I stopped myself. They had already said that the deliberations were strictly private.

With limited topics I turned back to the stars, staring up at the cold sky yet Alina’s burning warmth next to me was somewhat comforting.

“I think it would have driven me crazy by now,” Alina said quietly, and I turned to look at her, confused.

She wasn’t looking at me but instead was looking at the stars; she continued, “Not knowing what was going on. It’s okay if you don’t believe me, but I know a little about that. Where I was… born, I wasn’t allowed any information about my life. Everything was monitored, every word, every action. It was only when I left and came here that I felt that I could truly be myself. That I felt I was free. Yet freedom has its price,” her lips twisted in a strained smile, “We are asked as part of our position to maintain a certain amount of confidentiality, and we’ve found out some information that if it was circulated… Well, things could get bad.”

I desperately wanted to ask, yet there were things I was keeping secret. It would be unfair.

“Part of being friends is trust, right?” I replied, attempting not to stumble over the word friends, “I’ll trust your judgment.”

Alina blinked, looking somewhat taken aback before her lips twisted into a small smile, “Thanks. That means a lot.”

I nodded hesitantly, “So what can we talk about?” I couldn’t help but ask.

Alina tapped her bottom lip thoughtfully, “Well, I suppose anything not related to what I’m currently doing should be fair game as long as I wear this,” she tapped a ring on her finger that looked strangely familiar before I realized what it was.

“A Ring of Secrecy?” I asked, and Alina nodded.

“Lord Balar, let me borrow one,” she grinned, “To be honest not sure if I want to give it back. It’s awfully handy.”

I nodded before I furrowed my eyebrows in thought as I tried to come up with something to ask her before I settled on a question.

“What’s your favorite thing about Haven?”

Alina blinked before seeming despite herself; she giggled once again, “Easy question! I love the food here the most. Haven has food from all over the Northern Continent and even some food from the Eastern Continent. Walking the streets here, you could have different food every night and not try half of the food here in a year.”

I nodded in thought once again, looking out across Haven, “That’s cool. Maybe I should try some of it.”

“You haven’t tried any yet?” she looked at me surprised, “What have you been eating?”

I blinked and then, despite myself, laughed, “Uh, I really haven’t been. White Mages don’t need to eat like other people, so I guess I kind of just forgot to.”

She blinked looking at me, “You don’t.”

I shrugged “As far as I can tell, no. I don’t get hungry. The only times I sleep are when I’m really out of energy.”

Alina frowned, “I guess I didn’t think about it. I don’t know much about White Mages beyond the history. No one does. There used to be a group of Elves who guarded White Mages when they left The Great Forest called the Fallen Leaves, but they were disbanded when the White Mages disappeared, and the Elves were exiled.”

“I heard something about that,” I murmured, trying to suppress my frown as I looked to the sky. It wasn’t fair, but I wasn’t sure what I could do. Sara had been about as firm as you could be.

“What’s it like being a White Mage?” Alina asked somewhat out of the blue.

I frowned in thought as I tried to put together an answer. Everything still seemed so jumbled, “I don’t know. I guess I would say I lose track of time uncomfortably easily. It happened more when I was in the Great Forest, but even now, if I focus on doing something, time will seem to slip by unless there’s something around to alert me to its passage. I- “

I paused as an uncomfortable truth almost emerged. It was lonely. I couldn’t help but feel a barrier when I talked to people—an inability to be truly honest. Even Alina, who knew the most so far, didn’t know everything. The fact that I had left to save the Tree of Life The feelings I had felt when I talked to the Great Dragon of the Last Frost.

Still, I was fine. I had to be. There wasn’t anyone else who was going to solve my problems except me. I had Sara, and I had to be strong for her.

An uncomfortable clenching in my chest eased as I felt Sara’s presence wordlessly brush through me. How long had she been alone? With all the White Mages gone and the Elves banished, had she set in alone in the Great Forest for the last seventy years with nothing?

I knew Sara could hear my thoughts and it worried me that she didn’t respond other than a gentle brush against my mind again.

I shook myself, “It’s complicated,” I said lamely.

Alina hesitantly nodded, and her eyes uncomfortably prickled at my face.

“It’s okay I didn’t mean to pry,” she said softly.

I shook my head more frantically than I meant to, “No! It’s fine!” Alina startled slightly, and I chuckled awkwardly, “Really, it’s fine. I’m not trying to be secretive. It’s just hard to describe. I don’t think I’ve experienced enough yet to be able to start defining the differences between White Mages and everyone else.”

“I suppose that’s fair,” Alina smiled softly at me, and despite myself, I grinned back.

“So, what’s it like being a Lady of the Kingdom of Glass?” I asked, turning the conversation to her.

Alina tapped her bottom lip, a thoughtful expression on her face, “Well, it’s busy. I have to balance it with my studies at the University, so I find myself with very little time. Honestly, sometimes I wish I hadn’t run for office.”

“You do?” I cocked my head at her, somewhat confused.

“Yeah,” Alina sighed, “I ran because there was another candidate that I thought would have been worse. His name is Faro, and he’s the son of a rather wealthy merchant family known as the Mercutio, who has a big presence across the Kingdom. It was a blatant grab for more power by the family, but they had the money to fund a massive public campaign for his election. My guardian, Io Dellar, is a well-known General in the Kingdom of Glass’s army, so that gave me enough name recognition to run. It helps she’s one of the few generals that’s been able to halt the Empire’s raiding parties.”

“Right,” I nodded my head thoughtfully before her last words hit me, “Wait, the Empire has raiding parties? Aren’t they simply trying to conquer the Kingdom?”

Alina shifted a hand back and forth, “Yes and no. Some view the Empire as a conquering force, but that’s not their real desire. Yes, the Empire will take over some settlements, but those are used more as encampments to base further forces out of. Many of the Kingdom’s leaders believe their goal is domination, I think they’re wrong.”

I furrowed my brow, focusing on Alina, “What do you think they’re doing?”

Alina bit her lip, looking somewhat nervous, “I… To be clear, only I and my guardian believe this. The fact of the matter is if you look past the battles, the Empire does not take and control land. Often, our armies will show up, and the forces of the Empire will already be gone. We lose and get crushed by the forces of Empire and lose even worse to the forces with the White Mages, yet when they have the chance, they never press the advantage and wait for the Kingdom’s forces to regroup before they fight again.”

I frowned, “Why would they do that?”

Alina helplessly shrugged, “I don’t know, but I’ve met several of the Legatus’s. If they were attempting to conquer, they would be conquering. Their honor would demand that they accomplish such if that was the Emperor’s goal. Yet they seem perfectly content to bleed the Kingdom.”

The Legatus we had encountered flashed to the forefront of my mind. He had retreated, hadn’t he? Why would he avoid an engagement with the Kingdom’s forces? Had he been uncertain of being able to defeat them?

“I don’t know enough to give any insight,” I shrugged helplessly, “I don’t even know why the White Mages are helping the Empire in the first place.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Alina sighed, “If anyone truly knew that, we’d be a step farther than we are now. It was the first White Mage that helped found the Kingdom of Glass. I suppose there’s something darkly humorous that now some of the last remaining ones are responsible for the devastation of its people.”

I hid a wince at that; I didn’t need another reminder; I was associated with a group of people who were actively working to raze parts of the kingdom to the ground.

Alina must have noticed me wincing as she raised her hands, a somewhat panicked and embarrassed expression on her face, “Oh, sorry! I don’t mean that as in blaming you. I don’t think it’s right to blame the White Mages, especially considering all they did for not just the Kingdom of Glass but the Northern Continent. If you talk to Dwarves and Elves, their opinion of the White Mages is still high. Humans, though, because they don’t live as long, tend to forget easily.”

“I get it,” I nodded, “I can’t blame people for being angry. It’s their homes and lives that are being torn apart.”

Yet somehow, unless I found other White Mages, I was beginning to worry were my only option for getting Sara the help she needed.

Alina cocked her head and looked at me, “You’re not upset? Many people hate White Mages. Doesn’t that bother you?”

I shrugged as I attempted to put feelings into words, “I mean, it’s not great, but I guess being upset about it wouldn’t help. I guess the big part of it is that I haven’t met any other White Mages. Maybe we really do deserve the anger.”

“You don’t!” Alina flared up suddenly, and I was taken aback, almost physically recoiling.

Alina took a deep breath, seeming to calm herself down, “When I came to the Kingdom of Glass and discovered the reality of what the Empire was doing, I felt a little like how you must be feeling now. Io told me something, though, that I say to myself whenever I start feeling like that again, ‘You’re not responsible for anyone’s actions but your own.’ You didn’t join the Empire, and you shouldn’t be judged as the White Mages who are leading its armies but the boy who leaped in front of the sword of a Legatus to defend a child.”

I sighed rubbing my forehead, “The child would have been fine if she didn’t think a White Mage was wandering around and healing people.”

Alina reached out, grasping my shoulder firmly, forcing direct eye contact, “It’s not wrong to help people.”

I wanted to flinch at the intensity in her eyes but the power in them drew me in. It was an almost regal look she was giving me.

“Okay,” I mumbled.

Alina nodded firmly and then looked down at her hand before chuckling awkwardly and removing it.

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be so intense,” she turned away, looking away from me for the first time in a while.

I shook my head before I realized she couldn’t see the movement, “No, you’re fine. I think I needed that.”

Alina glanced my way somewhat shyly before she nodded hesitantly. We sat there for a while staring at the stars, and my mind began to drift. I was so lost in thought I didn’t notice at first that Alina had leaned against me. I glanced at her out of the corner of my vision and saw her eyes were closed, a peaceful expression on her face. I could hear soft and long breaths coming from her, and I realized she had fallen asleep. It was only now I noticed the dark circles underneath her eyes.

Had she been sleeping enough?

Either way, there wasn’t any need to wake her. If she was tired enough to fall asleep sitting up, the least I could do was allow her any rest she needed. I went back to watching the stars.

At some point, I noticed the night sky was fading away, submerged by the light of day, and I realized the night had passed.

It was another night of no sleep, but somehow, this night hadn’t bothered me.

As the sun’s first rays fell upon us, I felt Alina stir against my shoulder before her head rose, and she looked around somewhat blearily, getting her bearings.

“Jamie?” she murmured questioningly.

“You fell asleep,” I said, “You seemed pretty tired, so I thought it best to let you keep sleeping.”

She blinked slowly, “Thanks,” she said slightly louder, still seemingly slightly out of it.

A bell rang in the distance, signaling the beginning of the day, which seemed to give Alina the energy she had been lacking as she rose to her feet in a swift, smooth movement only slightly interrupted by a small stumble.

“We have another meeting today,” she said, then hesitated, “Lord Balar mentioned that he wanted to talk with the both of us, and I know we haven’t had the time, but I promise soon. They can’t keep us in meetings forever.”

“I got it,” I gave her a lop-sided smile, “Don’t worry about it. I’m not just going to just disappear.”

Alina bit her lip and she glanced away for a moment before she nodded, “Right. See you tonight, Jamie.”

With that, she leaped from the roof, and an arc of bright red flared out, slowing her fall to a gentle landing below.

It was incredible how naturally she used magic. Admittedly, all I had seen her use was fire magic, but the sheer ease and natural way she did it was awesome. Perhaps because the movements were so well practiced.

I wondered if someday I would reach the same ease with my magic.

A bath later, I was walking through the streets of Haven, enjoying the sights. The city was truly just stirring, but with the number of people inside the walls, it still felt alive. In some ways, it was similar to the sensation I had felt after the fight with the Legatus. The life around me thrummed against my skin.

Food for thought later.

Smooth white stone buildings intricately carved passed by, and I could see the beginnings of stalls being set out to attract daily customers. I walked, enjoying the sights.

“I don’t know how you plan on carrying all this, but if you’re sure, I’ll sell it to you.” I glanced idly at the source of the voice and was surprised to see the same Dwarf from the forge talking to a tall, elegant elf with short-cropped silver hair and dark eyes with broad, sturdy shoulders. Between them were two crates of what looked like metal bars.

The Dwarf just shrugged, “I’ll manage.”

The Elf gave the dwarf an odd look but then shrugged as if washing his hands of the business.

“Fine, I’m not going to try and debate a stone,” the Elf held out his hand for payment, which was given in the shape of silvery coins.

The Elf walked away, and the Dwarf bent down to lift the crates, but once he tried to lift them, the problem became obvious as the crates towered over his head. He stumbled for a moment before he tried to walk away, managing only a couple of steps before he had to set the crates down.

I was once again in a situation where I could offer help that was likely unwanted. I tried to turn away, but my legs wouldn’t shift. The feeling I had felt watching him work returned.

The Dwarf took a couple more steps, and the top crate shifted and began to fall. My legs finally moved, but in the wrong direction.

I reached forward just in time to catch the crate, easily settling it into my arms.

The Dwarf, about to curse, looked up, and his eyes widened suddenly before they began to narrow.

“You,” he said lowly.

“Me,” I replied, raising an eyebrow.

We stared at each other for a long moment of one-sided animosity.

“You going to give that crate back?” the Dwarf asked.

“Sure,” I replied, “I’ll just carry it to where you’re going.”

“I don’t need your help,” the Dwarf growled.

“What if I need yours?” I replied, raising an eyebrow at him.

The Dwarf blinked and looked nonplussed, “No one needs my help.”

We locked eyes, staring at each other.

Finally, the Dwarf growled, “Fine! Just follow me, you help me carry, and I’ll hear you out.”

He started off and I trailed after in his wake. For a while, we walked in silence before the Dwarf spoke up again.

“So, out with it! What do you want?”

What did I want?

“Your name, for one thing,” I replied.

The Dwarf grumbled slightly, “Tol,” he replied shortly.

“Great, my name is Jamie,” I replied.

“I don’t care,” Tol replied.

“What are you planning to do with this metal?” I asked.

“Forge it.”

“How long have you been a student at the University?”

“A while.”

“Okay, how about this for a question? Do you have another personality besides grumpy?” I asked blandly.

“I don’t,” Tol replied.

I sighed, so much for trying to make a friend. It had been so easy with Alina. Maybe that’s why I had vague memories of having trouble with friends in my previous life.

We walked in silence for some time. As we arrived at one of the University building's steps, Tol set his crate down with a thump.

“This is far enough,” he said.

I was about to say I didn’t mind carrying the crate the rest of the distance before I smelled it.

Death.

I stopped dead in my tracks, glancing about suddenly on edge. The cold scent trailed through my nostrils.

“What are you doing?” Tol’s voice broke my reverie.

“Nothing,” I set down the crate, “Well, nice chat. We’ll do it again sometime.” I spun on my heel and began to follow my nose.

“Humans,” I heard him mutter, but I didn’t have the mindset to care about his words.

I walked through the streets desperately following the scent, my stomach turning. Had someone else been stabbed by one of those knives?

I followed the turning and twisting streets on edge as could be. The scent would grow stronger and then fade away, and with a start, I realized that the scent source must be moving. I picked up the pace, but I didn’t feel comfortable with anything more than a hurried walk. Still, I thought maybe I was gaining on the source of the smell.

I was so focused on the source of the smell that I didn’t notice at first that a faint flickering of a constant life presence was following me. I turned around, trying to locate it. It was around here somewhere…

Finally, I pinned the sensation down, and I realized it was above me. I looked up and, at first, couldn’t spot anything until I saw a strange distortion on the roof. I didn’t think normal eyesight would be able to spot it, but my eyes, which were far sharper than I remembered human eyes being, saw that the roof wasn’t quite right. It was as if there was something laid against the roof that looked to be the same color and texture, but if you looked closely, the color and texture were projected out too far.

I took a deep breath, attempting to think. Now that I could see it, I realized that the smell was coming straight from that distortion.

“You have sharp eyes for a human,” a soft, lilting voice echoed out, and I realized it was coming from the distortion.

“Uh, thanks,” I said, so whatever the distortion was, it didn’t know I was a White Mage. That was good.

“I can’t help but wonder about you though. You’re enrolled at the University as a student of Lord Balar. Yet the information is sparse. Are you just a boy with no family who came here to learn from the University? Or are you something more?”

I very carefully kept my face neutral, “I’m here to learn.”

“Learn what I wonder?”

This person was setting me on edge, especially because of the smell, “Can’t we just talk like normal people?” I said.

“An interesting concept, normal. Why is your hair white?”

“It’s a family trait,” I sighed quietly.

“As are your silver eyes, I presume?”

“Yup,” I popped the ‘p’ mind racing. So far, I felt the biggest issue people had with making the connection was that the majority of White Mages were supposed to be dead.

“I see,” There was a long silence, and I could feel the weight of an entity gaze on me.

I had to remind myself to be calm. Whatever this was, there were important secrets that I had to keep.

I felt it before I saw it. From midair, seemingly, an arrow lanced out at me. Instinct drilled into me by Sara took over, and my hand lashed out, snatching the arrow, only to realize the arrow hadn’t been aimed a foot to my left.

My stomach sank.

“Why’d you do that?” I asked.

“Oh, just a test. Human reflexes aren’t all that high. Yet yours are simply ludicrous.”

The distortion shifted and twisted and suddenly there stood an elven woman with long blonde tied in a not and narrowed brown eyes that looked at me like a hunter would prey. She was dressed in elegant silver armor and was holding a long white wooden bow. Objectively her features were elegant, yet they were twisted into a small unfriendly smile.

“By the Order of the Kingdom, I’d like you to come with me to answer a few questions.”

Oh.

“Sure, I’m at your disposal,” I said pushing swirling anxiety down inside my chest.

The woman leaped down landing lightly landing with barely a sound as she hit the stone. She gestured with a hand for me to follow and reluctantly I did.

We walked out of the alley and through the streets. Occasionally people would glance at us but I did my best to keep my head down like everything that was happening was normal.

Through stone streets, we walked twisting around corners till we came to a square rectangular building made of smooth white stone lined with small glass windows.

The woman gestured me forward and I walked through the pair of open front doors into a busy-looking reception area where other people dressed similarly to the woman walked around or sat in discussion with each other on comfortable-looking plush armchairs. Instantly I felt their attention on me though it wasn’t obvious visually that they were focused on me. When the woman followed in behind me, I felt the attention switch to her and an undercurrent of tension began.

The woman seemed entirely ignorant of that and gestured down a hallway which I followed her then up a stairwell then finally into what was an office with a small desk and a rack of bows against the wall along with several containers of arrows.

The woman stepped in behind me and shut the door before taking a seat behind the desk.

A long moment of silence emerged as she locked eyes with me staring at me cooly. I simply focused on not fidgeting.

“So-” the woman began before a loud knocking erupted on the door.

She stopped blinking before her brow furrowed, “Come in.” she said.

In stepped a tall, slender elf dressed in similar-looking armor with grey hair and serious, mottled brown eyes, “Lieutenant Ilsa, you were supposed to report to me half an hour ago.”

Lieutenant Ilsa frowned and opened her mouth to reply, “I encountered a suspicious individual, and I was-“

“Not reporting to me,” the woman said, “I stuck my neck out for you when you were recruited don’t let me down now.”

She looked at me, her frown twisting further down “Who is this?”

“He is the individual I encountered.” said Lieutenant Ilsa.

The woman frowned, looking at me closely for a moment before she turned back to Lieutenant Ilsa, “He’s just a human boy. Did he do something in particular?”

Lieutenant Ilsa shook her head, an obvious amount of frustration building on her face, “No, but don’t you think he looks a bit odd.” She asked in an obviously leading question.

The woman sighed, shaking her head, “He’s a young boy with silver hair. That’s not so uncommon from the Long Mountains, where elves and humans settled together.”

Lieutenant Ilsa made to respond, but the woman raised her hand, “Look if he hasn’t done anything, we can’t detain him.”

Lieutenant Ilsa looked even more frustrated, but the look on the other woman’s face subsided, “Right, you’re free to go,” she said to me.

“Right, uh, thanks,” there were few words I believed less. This woman thought she knew something, and it seemed unlikely she was going to let it go.

Still, I walked out of the room and the building and only released my breath when I was significantly away from the building.

Still, my mind turned back to the smell, and I realized the smell had moved the entire walk, and when I was in Lieutenant Ilsa’s office, it had been almost overpowering. That meant that somehow there was some level of Black Magic on Lieutenant Ilsa’s person. Could she have possibly been related to Lord Balar’s stabbing? Furthermore, could she be related to the King’s poisoning?

This was going to be a long conversation with Alina and Lord Balar.