《The Crippled Seed》


 Chapter 1 - A Cripple And A Red Witch

    September, 4, Wednesday, Year of 1842. Nina Gray.


    Nina looks at faces of varying familiarity¡ªsome that she has seen before, some she thinks she¡¯s seen before, and some that she hasn¡¯t. None of them are children that she knows well because she hasn''t stepped outside her house for the last two years except today. She has to walk with them¡ª the survivors of her village¡ª captured by the very bandits that raided her village and killed her parents. Powerless. That is how Nina would define her entire life in one single word.


    She rolls her tongue inside of her mouth and tries to salivate, walking as fast as she can to avoid being hit. The bandits are cruel, and they will not offer sufficient water. Regardless of how familiar she is with others in her long march, they are in the same state¡ªchildren under 15 with their hands cuffed up and soles hurting from walking and running nonstop for hours. A tall boy suddenly stops and screams, rebelling against the demands of the bandits to remain silent.


    That is not his only act of defiance, for he proceeds to summon a fire as big as Nina¡¯s head and sends it flying on a bandit¡¯s chest. The children watch, impressed, as he sends two other bandits flying away by pushing the wind. His act of defiance prompts two more children to use magic and rebel but it is a na?ve attempt. They are all contained by bandits who push air towards them, and an hour later there are magic suppressing collars on their necks.


    Nina is unsure of how she feels about the three young magicians¡¯ outburst at first. Jealously rises within her and stings her. She is incapable of using any magic. Powerless. Most others that walk with her are incapable of the same but for different reasons¡ªthey¡¯re mostly younger than 13¡ªthe age that magic blossoms and comes alive in people. Nina is presently 16, having lied about her age and passing off as a convincing 14 year old year girl.


    There are two types of people, generally¡ªthe pure and the impure. The ones that can use magic well and ones that can only touch magic, but Nina falls in a separate category of her own with zero magic potential. A cripple. ¡°People such as you are extremely rare¡­rather¡­impossible¡­¡± she remembers her father sobbing in utter shock, ¡°We have to take you out of school.¡±


    There is only one record of someone like Nina existing in the entire country and the record is some hundreds of years old. It pains her heart every time magic is used and she wishes that she lived in a world without any magic. She thinks ¡°How wonderful that world would be! A world with no magic at all¡ªwhere everyone is truly equal!¡± and begins to imagine a world where every human is like her, a cripple at magic but she soon has to stop her mind from running places as the bandits make them finally stop walking.


    There are whispers and prayers, for no child really knows what is coming next. Nina is the oldest amongst the lot of 25, and even she has no idea as to why the bandits have taken them. Surely adults are better workers, she thinks. The cave that they are taken in is cold and pleasant, and to Nina¡¯s surprise, there is a gentle breeze in the cave. It reminds her of the only time she visited Cyra, the country across the mountains.


    A bandit that seems to be their leader once again examine the children one by one, taking a good twenty seconds before passing to the next. They are forced in a formation of five by five by the bandits. Now that they are within the cave, they are outnumbered several folds over¡ªnot that Nina thinks that they have a chance against them even if the numbers were swapped.


    They are each given a piece of bread and a cup full of water to drink. It is not enough, but it is better than nothing. They quickly eat and drink up. A bandit with a blue bandana soon addresses them. His voice is bittersweet and he appears to be in charge. ¡°You can rest for today. Your work will start tomorrow. If you need to go the toilet, tell the guards. That is all.¡±


    There are several questions¡ª¡°What do you mean by work?¡±, ¡°Why did you bring us here?¡± and ¡°Where is Mama and Papa?¡± along with several curses and threats¡ª¡°Take us back to the village!¡± and ¡°Return us our family!¡± but they are not responded to. The leader only motions for the children to be taken deeper in the cave, where they find bare preparations already made for them to sleep in, guarded by five grown up bandits.


    Most of them are too tired to complain about the cold floor and those who have the energy lack the courage. All of them quickly fall asleep, bandits taking turns on watching them during the night.


    September, 5, Thursday, Year of 1842. Nina Gray.


    Nina sleeps for a good ten hours, and for the first time in years is woken up by something that is not the chirping of birds. She resists yawning, not wanting to draw any attention to herself. She hears weeping, and curses herself inaudibly. She has suffered in a similar way to most other children there, losing her parents. Despite that, she cannot seem to bring herself to cry and run away. A part of her hates herself for being so inhuman but she suppresses it deep inside, hoping that she¡¯d have enough time later on to deal with her feelings. Feelings were not necessary right now. She must survive.


    The weeping children are forced to quiet down as the bandit leader with red bandana explains, ¡°Each of you will have to prove that you are worth keeping alive. Your work for today is simple and small. Memorize the map that we will pass along.¡± There are once again several unanswered questions, followed by barely audible vehement curses by small children that parents of those children will be shocked to hear¡ªif they live anymore, that is. A golden haired tall girl of perhaps fourteen assures everyone that things will be fine. She doesn¡¯t seem to believe her own words, but a ten year old boy hugs her and she repeats in a slightly more convincing fashion.


    The map is of Nina¡¯s own country, Gala. It is a country corrupt to the core and filled with cutthroats, bandits and all kinds of scum. ¡°How the mighty have fallen,¡± Nina makes a remark to herself, remembering reading about Gala¡¯s impressive history. She is asked a few questions regarding the map, and she ensures that she does not stand out. She gets an answer wrong on purpose and that seems enough to deter the bandits from including her in their exceptional category. Nina talks to no one, stares at no one, questions no one and hence becomes a no one as intended. At the end of the day, they still have no idea regarding their purpose. Are the bandits training them to be one of theirs, after all that they have done to them?


    September, 6, Friday, Year of 1842. Nina Gray.


    The second day is an excruciating day where they are made to train. Nina struggles to keep up because she has spent the last three years in her house, afraid of the outer world with magic. The bandits weed out the weaker children, and Nina barely makes the cut. Nina does not know where they take the weaker children. Most likely to the slave market.


    There is a small boy of ten that complains about everything. His name is Jimmy something, and Nina finds him grow more and more irritating as time progresses. He has not gotten over what has happened, not adapted like others. Helena caresses his hair at night and explains how dire their situation is and how everything will be alright. However, it is too late. Night comes and Jimmy is taken away by the bandits, away from the struggling Helena. Her eyes are full of tears, and she struggles to speak to anyone. For the first time in two days, the night is completely silent, with no gossip or Jimmy crying about something.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    September, 13, Friday, Year of 1842. Nina Gray.


    The training intensifies. They are now allowed to get out of the dreaded cave but only to run under supervision. Only fourteen children remain. Nina digs her nails into the grey cave wall, glaring at the back of the bandits. She lowly swears she would kill them all if she had even a bit of magic.


    There is an alarmed voice of a bandit, and Nina worries if they had heard her¡­ but they seem to be focusing in the other direction, towards the cave entrance. Nina then stares at Helena, who is just as confused and alarmed.


    The bandits quickly unsheathe their swords and a few take out their guns. A bunch of people enter into Nina¡¯s vision, their swords flashing. They proficiently use the wind magic, raising an air barrier to block bullets and divest the bandits of their weapons and lives. A red haired woman in particular proficiently uses the wind magic and gives out instructions to others. She must be their leader. Strange. They seem to be helping the children, but they definitely are not from the royal guard.


    The children are once again confused when the one-sided fight ends. A young man takes them to the entrance of the cave, where there are less signs of violence. ¡°We are the rebels of Gala. We are here to put an end to the Bezhas bandits but it seems like we are a little late¡­¡± He examines the children too, but unlike the bandit¡¯s, his eyes are not eyes of an appraiser. His name, he says, is Walter, and he is second in command to their leader.


    There is alacrity all amongst the children after he is done speaking. No more bandits, no more training¡­but no place to go back to either. What will they do now, Nina wonders? At least the bandits were feeding them. She has so many questions for Walter, but asking might attract attention and hence lead others to find out how she has no magic.


    So as she has done her entire life, she only watches, and particularly watches the red haired woman. It suddenly strikes her that she has heard of her, the red witch Lotti of the Galan rebels. She is known for her cruelty¡­and most definitely not for saving children. Strange. Were the rumours false?


    Walter soon addresses the children assembled in a semi-circle. ¡°You all have two choices¡ªeither go back to a neighbouring village or to join us rebels and help us in our goal to overthrow the current crown. The second option can be only taken by children who are 13 or older.¡±


    Overthrowing the crown¡­?


    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous!¡±


    ¡°Impossible!¡±


    Walter keeps on a smile despite the children¡¯s naysays. He says, ¡°I will not lie. We are neither liked by the bandits nor the Galan crown but we will feed and shelter you well.¡± So in the end, it¡¯s similar to the condition they are right now, huh? Well, at least they haven¡¯t killed Nina¡¯s parents.


    Children below 13 are taken away while the 9 remaining children are given ten minutes to think. Nina wants to join them and not remain powerless. For the first time in her life, she wants to do something active. In the end, 4 children decide to join the rebels. The 4 children consists of Nina, Helena, Keith¡ªthe boy that had initially defied the bandits and was then punished¡ª and finally a silent boy that kept to himself that Nina thinks is called Oscar.


    The red witch Lotti takes each of them aside to talk to them. Nina cannot tell what she asks of them, for Lotti creates an air bubble. After 30 minutes of interrogating both Helena and Oscar, it is Nina¡¯s turn and she nervously steps into the air bubble. For the first time, Nina notices how tall Lotti is. Nina has seen her fair share of tall people, and while the Lotti is not the tallest person that she has seen, she is certainly the tallest woman.


    The red haired woman stares at Nina for a moment and then approaches her with a jerk. She sniffs her forehead and then backs off, frowning. ¡°You are not eligible for the rebel army,¡± she hisses.


    Nina frowns back, confused. ¡°But you haven¡¯t even¡ª¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ impure,¡± she interrupts Nina, ¡°You cannot do magic well, can you? I will not accept impures in my army¡­but wait¡­I suppose you¡¯re not like any other impure that I¡¯ve seen. How peculiar. What is¡­this¡­?¡±


    Nina instantly tries to grab her attention, changing the subject, ¡°Please. I have no place to return.¡±


    The woman raises an eyebrow, and considers for a minute during which Nina wonders how the woman knew that she could not use magic. She knew that strong magicians could sense¡ªsmell¡ªmagic but it often took hours for most magicians. This woman had done so in a few second.


    Lotti finally says, hesitant, ¡°The army is not all that there is to rebels...but we will see. My name is Lotti¡ªmost certainly Miss Lotti to you regardless of whether you end up with us or not. State your name and age.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Miss Lotti. My name is Nina Gray and I¡¯m 14 years old.¡±


    Lotti raises an eyebrow again, but Nina makes no movement for a full ten seconds so Lotti says, ¡°I will give you another chance to answer. It better not be a lie again, or else I¡¯d have you work in conditions worse than the bandits. I am not a fan of impures, especially the ones that do not understand their place.¡±


    Just¡­how did she know? Nina takes a deep breath before forming a clear reply, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m actually 16.¡±


    Lotti nods to herself, then asks Nina to stretch her hands forward. Lotti examines her outstretched dirty hands, then asks, ¡°What weapon can you use?¡±


    ¡°I can use a sword.¡±


    ¡°Mm? I see.¡± Lotti says, looking down at her hands.


    ¡°I can take you in, Nina,¡± Lotti decides, ¡°but not in the rebel army. You can work in the rebel support group alongside fellow impures. Soldiers are not the only things we need. Money, information, influence¡ªthere are many ways in which the support group strengthens the rebel group.¡±


    Nina doesn¡¯t falter. ¡°I would like to be in the army, Miss. I want to train and acquire physical prowess, at the very least.¡±


    Lotti nods, then all of a sudden closes her eyes for a moment. When she opens them, she is looking highly sceptical. ¡°You are the most peculiar, Nina. To someone like me, distinguishing between the pure and the impure is as natural as breathing¡­but you¡¯re something different altogether. It did not come to me at first but now I can grasp your utter lack of magic better.¡±


    Nina resists her urge to gasp, but she is certain that she has already let up her poker face. ¡°How¡ªhow can you tell? Nobody else¡ª¡± Nina stops, realizing that she has let her tongue slip too.


    ¡°There¡¯s not many magicians stronger than me in this country,¡± Lotti snickers as she approaches Nina. ¡°Perhaps there are two.¡±


    Nina takes steps back as Lotti keeps approaching her. The air bubble expands to cover them both, no matter how far Nina backs away to the wall of the cave. ¡°What¡­is the matter, Miss Lotti?¡± She manages to ask, hoping that Lotti has not completely realized that she is a cripple and not an impure.


    ¡°Too late to play dumb, don¡¯t you think?¡± Lotti smiles and tilts her head. ¡°I¡­think I will take you in the army, Nina, but don¡¯t think that you will be allowed to fight. You are to be taken for a different reason altogether. You will be my research experiment.¡±


    Suddenly Nina feels like she should not be anywhere near this woman, but it is already too late. Lotti has finished scheming something in her head, and she says, ¡°I want to test you before all the experiments. Use magic, Nina. Light up a fire. Push the air. Make a drop of water from the air. Dig a hole. Any of those. Even the weakest impure can manage to do little magic, can¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°I refuse¡ªit¡¯s¡ª¡± Nina begins to say but has to stop as Lotti instantly grabs her head and smashes it against the cave wall. ¡°I said use magic, Nina. Do you understand what that means?¡±


    Nina sobs and holds her hurting head. She tries to find a way out of her precarious situation but her thinking is interrupted as Lotti smashes her head to the cave wall again. ¡°I will not stop until you do as I say,¡± Lotti says. Her voice is completely cold, and it has lost all of its humanity. ¡°Use magic, Nina. Come on, it is not too difficult, even for an impure sixteen year old. Imagine a fire, and then click your fingers. This one is the easiest, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Nina¡¯s head is smacked one more time before she gathers the courage to do as Lotti says. She imagines a fire as she has done a thousand times and then clicks her finger¡­but there is no change. No warmth emerges from her fingers and certainly no warmth emerges from Lotti¡¯s voice as she says, ¡°Interesting. Try a few times more. Can you use no magic at all, Nina?¡±


    ¡°I¡ªI can!¡± Nina says in a final frantic attempt. Lotti watches with amusement as Nina imagines a fire as big as an ocean and clicks her finger¡­but there is no fire. She clicks her fingers over and over, tears flowing down her face, screaming hysterically, ¡°I can! I CAN!¡±


    But she cannot.

 Chapter 2 - Declaration of War

    <blockquote>


    Lotti Hasard was not charismatic when she was young. She struggled through her teenager years to make friends and struggled to stand out. No one from her younger years has recollections of her except that she was astoundingly powerful. They all remember her power, but not her.


    However, Lotti became charismatic when she was in mid-twenties¡ªwhen she started a rebel group. Perhaps she realized that she needed more people to have a bigger influence. Her name echoed throughout Gala, but this time, it was not solely because of power.


    ¡ªSharron Gains, The Red Witch, Vol I, Ch.4.


    </blockquote>


    September, 16, Monday, Year of 1842. Veradis Candor.


    Veradis does not like to run. He, especially, does not like to run ten more rounds than anyone else in his unit, but Colonel Reina expects too much of him for his own liking. She watches him run, stiff and straight as a stick. She notes something down. She is short, but Veradis knows that it does not stop her from looking down on every person that she meets.


    As soon as he¡¯s finished running, Reina turns and walks away without a single word. He breathes deeply, cursing her retreating back, which is partially covered by her long, black hair. When she is out of his sight, he starts walking to the flag post, where Lily, his childhood friend¡ªas he and she insist quite often in public¡ªwaits for him every day, watching him do the extra training ordered by Colonel Reina. Lily always sits on a raised elevation near the centre of flag post.


    The Cyran flag is above her. It has three vertical strips¡ªdark blue, yellow and then dark blue again. The strips are accompanied by an emblem¡ªa black wolf. The emblem stands for their history, the rich presence of wolves in their forests, and how they believe in unity as a group, as a country, as a pack.


    Veradis wipes off his sweat with a white handkerchief when he approaches Lily. Most of his handkerchiefs are gifts from her. ¡°Extra ten rounds, huh?¡± she mutters, her sweet voice instantly making Veradis feel lighter. It always does. ¡°She definitely expects a lot from you. She doesn¡¯t treat anyone else specially, huh, rainbow boy?¡±


    Veradis nods in response, still breathing heavily. They slowly start walking to the ''food plaza,'' as Lily likes to call it, despite it mostly being just a large hall with old chairs and tables Every single day, it takes them five minutes to walk there, another five minutes to grab their food and then forty minutes to devour the same. The way is always a little crowded, but the tables are more than often empty and they quickly sit on any table that they can get, even though Lily prefers to have a table far in the back where she can smell the aroma leaking out of the kitchen.


    The food today is just like any other days; not bad, not good. That doesn¡¯t seem to affect Lily too much, but Veradis has grown tired of eating the same food over and over. As days go by, he finds himself finishing his food faster and faster. ¡°How is your day so far?¡± Veradis asks. He always starts lunch the same way.


    ¡°It has been quite well,¡± Lily answers. Always the same, too.


    They then gossip about the fellow soldiers, their superiors and their roommates, then talk about any new discoveries that they made and then eventually get bored enough to just stare at each other in silence. And suddenly they are not bored anymore. He could spend days looking at her. Blue eyes, just like most Cyrans, and blonde hair tied into a ponytail. The blue uniform suits her very well. She is 21 years old but she looks younger than him, despite him being almost two years younger.


    As soon as they are done eating, they take a walk. They still have an hour left until they need to go back to training. ¡°My father will be visiting three days later,¡± Veradis says.


    Lily stops walking for a moment. ¡°Visiting the camp?¡±


    Veradis nods. ¡°It¡¯s an informal visit to meet me. He is not visiting as a Brigadier.¡±


    Lily starts walking again, smiling wryly, ¡°I need to keep my best dress prepared, then.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to meet him if you don¡¯t want to,¡± Veradis says.


    ¡°No,¡± Lily says, ¡°I will not run away. I will make him accept us, one way or the other.¡±


    Veradis¡¯ father is not fond of Lily, mostly because she comes from a commoner background....but really, his father will have to manage. He has no plans on giving her up.


    As they walk a bit more, they notice soldiers rushing past them. One of them quickly approaches them and says, ¡°Did you not receive the instructions? Everyone is called to the central grounds. Colonel Reina has an announcement to make! Hurry!¡±


    Veradis and Lily both frown at each other, then turn and start rushing to the central grounds. To call every single soldier of the 44<sup>th</sup> unit of Cyra¡­there must be something big going on. There are 1200 soldiers in the unit, and that does not include the superiors.


    When Veradis reaches at the ground, there are some 600 soldiers assembled already. Veradis glances up to see Colonel Reina holding a letter in a red seal. The urgent sign from the Cyran crown. Something has happened.


    ¡°Veradis, what¡¯s happening?¡± Lily asks, noticing the same.


    ¡°How am I supposed to know? Colonel Reina will tell us soon.¡±


    And Colonel Reina does just that after ten minutes. She stands right below the flag, and shouts, ¡°Silence, everyone.¡± She pauses a moment to let the noise die, then points at the letter in her hand. ¡°I have an announcement to make. The Kingdom of Cyra has officially declared war on Gala. As the 44<sup>th</sup> land unit, we will now march to Gala and invade from the east, joining forces with the 27<sup>th</sup> unit on our way.¡±


    ¡°¡­Why?¡± Lily asks, her voice faint. She grasps Veradis¡¯ right arm with her her left hand. There are whisperings again and chaos ensues as the superiors do their best to ensure silence. Even though Reina does not hear Lily¡¯s question, she answers, ¡°The crown demands the war. There is officially no reason provided to me, but my trust in crown is enough of a reason for me¡ªand I believe it should be enough for all of you as well. The legion commanders will stay behind. Everyone else is dismissed. We leave at the first light tomorrow. Victory to King Aidan! Victory to Cyra!¡±


    Her words are followed by cheers from the crowd, but Lily¡¯s face is full of panic. ¡°Are you OK?¡± Veradis asks, making Lily look at his eyes. ¡°Th¡ªthis is stupid,¡± Lily says, clutching his arm tighter. She breathes deeply and continues, ¡°Gala is a poor nation. Why would we go in a war with them? I joined the army so I could fight against the inhuman Najaks, not¡ªnot to oppress people that are already struggling.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Veradis attempts to say something, but he is in dilemma. He agrees with Lily, but he admits that there might be genuinely relevant reasons for the war that he might not know. A part of him also feels that it is his duty as a soldier to do what is best for his nation; the Galans are not his responsibility. ¡°I¡¯m sure King Aidan has something in his mind,¡± Veradis finally says. ¡°We should trust him, for now. He wouldn¡¯t wage this war without a reason.¡±


    The soldiers start diffusing out of the ground, and both Veradis and Lily glance at Colonel Reina. She seems to be talking to a few superiors in a semicircle. Lily tugs his arm for a moment, then says, ¡°I suppose you¡¯re required there.¡±


    Veradis nods, starts to say something, stops and then speaks again, ¡°I¡¯ll meet you at dinner.¡±


    Lily nods. ¡°I do not like this, Veradis,¡± she says, quietly. She does not let go off her hold on Veradis¡¯ arm. ¡°We are one of the strongest nations on our continent. It does not suit us to pick on one of the weakest nation and abuse them. They don¡¯t have too many resources either. What will we loot them off? Why did this happen, Veradis? Why are we focusing on Gala when there are countless Nahjaks and bandits from Bern that are harassing, pillaging and murdering many of our country?¡±


    ¡°I do not know,¡± Veradis replies. ¡°but I have to go. If I find out about something, I will let you know, OK?¡±


    Lily nods then releases his arm slowly and undecidedly. He gives her a small final smile before running towards the center of the ground, glancing at the flag. Just like his uncertain heart, the Cyran flag continues to wave and flutter.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    <hr>


    September, 16, Monday, Year of 1842. Nina Gray.


    Nina wakes up on a hard, rocky bed in her dorm. It has been three days since she has arrived as the rebel camp. She glances around, and notices that everyone else has left to train. She isn¡¯t allowed to do so, of course. All she has to do is meet Lotti daily and let her experiment on her.


    She gets up after fifteen minutes and tours the place again. The tiles are grey and boring, but the walls are painted brightly. There are an excessive amount of rooms at equal small distances from the corridor. It¡¯s an abandoned school. If Nina were to glance at the building from outside, Nina would have never guessed that the rebels resided in it.


    She walks until she sees a big opening in the roof. It is on the left side of the corridor and rectangular in shape. There are two shiny grey ropes hanging in the middle of it, going through all the floors. She noticed the hole day before yesterday but still does not understand its purpose. Today, however, there is an old man mumbling to himself underneath the hole. He has a cane in his hand, with which he supports himself, even as he stands still.


    Nina taps her right leg against the floor, ¡°Excuse me.¡±


    The man snaps out of his mumbling, turning to Nina. His hair is entirely grey and he wears big, round spectacles. ¡°Hm? What do we have here? A new face?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m one of the new recruits.¡± Nina says.


    He snorts. ¡°Skipping training in your first week?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s complicated, Sir,¡± Nina says.


    He eyes her suspiciously, tilting his head.


    Nina changes the topic immediately. ¡°Are¡­are these ropes for climbing up?¡± She imagines magicians using air magic and climbing up using the grey ropes.


    The old man laughs and turns to Nina. ¡°These steel wires that you call ropes will indeed help people climb up and down, but not in the way you think.¡±


    Nina cannot for the life of her figure what a hole through multiple floors and ropes accomplish. ¡°This will be an elevator,¡± the man says proudly, examining Nina¡¯s clueless face.


    ¡°Elevator?¡± The word is foreign to her.


    He can hardly contain the giddiness and pride in his voice as he explains, ¡°Yes, an elevator. These steel wires will be attached to a container so people can travel up and down without any effort. They were first used in Cyra but after six years it seems like Gala is finally catching up!¡±


    Nina is still quite clueless so she frowns. The old man catches it. ¡°Do not worry,¡± he says. His voice is kind, and it reminds Nina of her father. ¡°You will understand when you see it in action, but come see me if you still want to know more about it.¡±


    Nina nods.


    He looks at her, then says, ¡°Let me give some advice to you. There is a lot to learn here. I don¡¯t know what happened to you, but most come here for revenge. Do not be like them. Clear your mind and learn something. There are so many things to learn here. Science. Magic. History¡­ Again, I do not know whether you are lucky or unlucky to be here, but here you are and you should make the most of it.¡±


    Nina nods slowly. ¡°When will the elevator be ready?¡± she asks.


    ¡°A week more,¡± comes the reply.


    She gazes at the hole for a minute, then asks, ¡°What is the time?¡±


    The old man takes out his pocket watch. ¡°3 minutes to 9.¡±


    ¡°I should go have breakfast,¡± she says, and leaves him. Others are instructed to train from 8 AM to 4 PM, but she has nothing of that sort. All she has to do is show up in Lotti¡¯s room every day from 5 PM to 8 PM.


    Spending everyday with her is a nightmare, but Lotti promised that she will get to the bottom of Nina¡¯s magic, which is why Nina has not ran away yet. She wants¡ªno, she needs to know why she is a cripple.


    The canteen takes up almost the entirety of the second floor but it is mostly empty currently because everyone is training. She sits alone and eats. Soup, a banana, some chicken and some bread. After eating, she wanders up to the library.


    The library is massive, and Nina is allowed inside without any hassle. There are about twenty more people inside the library. She goes by bookshelf to bookshelf, trying to decide what to read today. There is a clock in the library, and according to it, she takes an entire hour to decide what to read. Rise of Calleche. History, biography, tactics. Perfect.


    The book is a biography on Calleche, also generally known as The Emperor. She has read a few books on Calleche but they all focused on his life after he came to the power. Five hundred years ago, he had united the continent of Adrias to form a single nation. The book goes through his childhood life, and how he dreamed of a unified continent when he was only 12.


    ¡°Only 12! And I still have no goal or dreams at 16!¡± Calleche¡¯s life is so intriguing to Nina that she forgets to have lunch. She keeps glancing at the clock once she has realized that she missed lunch. Hundred pages to go. 4:00. Eighty pages to go. 4:15. She picks up the pace. Twenty-five pages left. 4:47. She really wants to finish it, but she keeps it back on the shelf and heads to the top floor, where there are three massive doors and a guard.


    Nina waits about two minutes before knocking on Lotti¡¯s gigantic red door. It opens instantly. ¡°Come inside,¡± says a voice from inside, and Nina spots Lotti, sitting on a black dining table in the middle of the room. Nina walks in, and the door behind her closes and locks. Wind magic. How convenient. Nina quickly takes the seat in front of Lotti under Lotti¡¯s instructions. She is dressed up in a black and white uniform which is apparently their training attire. Nina does not understand why a rebel group needs a uniform or why the leader of the rebel group wears the uniform too, but she has learned to keep her mouth shut in front of Lotti. A small impulse of a reaction from her can be the end of Nina¡ªor well, most people. It is still quite difficult to believe that she is sitting in front of someone so famous and powerful.


    Even while seated, Lotti is so tall that Nina feels uncomfortable leading her to look around the massive and well-furnished room. Lotti is very proud of her wine collection and her book collection.


    ¡°Cripple,¡± Lotti snaps Nina¡¯s attention back, ¡°Focus.¡± And so today¡¯s experiment begins. ¡°The past two days you tried to use magic through various means¡ªboth conventional and unconventional,¡± Lotti says, ¡°And¡­we failed. Today we¡¯ll see how your body reacts to magic. Show me your hand.¡±


    Nina brings her right hand forward, and Lotti clicks her finger, throwing a fireball at it. Nina screams instantly. ¡°How does it feel?¡± Lotti asks.


    ¡°It feels hot¡­obviously.¡±


    ¡°So nothing abnormal there.¡±


    Lotti creates water and drops it on Nina¡¯s hand. ¡°No pain? No reaction?¡±


    Nina shakes her head in confusion. ¡°It¡¯s just water.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but it is water made using magic. Natural water often forms slowly, but the water we make with magic is instantaneous. This leads to a few differences, especially on the microscopic level.¡±


    ¡°I¡­see,¡± Nina digests the information. Her knowledge of magic is deplorable since she was taken out of the school at 14, the age when magic classes start. Her hatred for magic also stopped her from reading and learning more about it.


    There is a knock at the door, and Lotti asks, annoyed, ¡°Who is it? I¡¯m busy!¡±


    ¡°Walter,¡± comes a loud rushed reply. ¡°It is urgent.¡±


    Lotti opens the door and locks it again with wind magic as Walter steps in.


    ¡°What is the matter?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Cyra!¡± Walter struggles to find proper words, out of breath. ¡°Cyra has declared war on Gala.¡±


    Lotti scowls, furrowing her eyebrows. ¡°Why? I thought Cyra liked their peace. Is¡­Is it confirmed?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Walter says, worried, ¡°I checked it five times from five different sources.¡±


    Nina is unsure of whether she should take her leave as Lotti and Walter discuss, but she remembers the old man¡¯s words. But here you are and you should make the most of it. Maybe she could help with something and finally not be powerless anymore. So she stays.


    ¡°Who do we stand with?¡± Walter asks, momentarily glancing at Nina.


    ¡°We don¡¯t want a foreign invasion,¡± Lotti says, ¡°but we don¡¯t want the current corrupt government to win either. This nation is not going to be improved by those crooked nobles enjoying life in the capital.¡±


    ¡°But Cyra will take the crown out easily.¡±


    ¡°No, they won¡¯t,¡± Lotti snaps, ¡°We are very poor in resources, but our nation¡¯s magic lines are one of the purest. They have better weapons, better technology and a better chance to win this war, but no way will this be a walk in the park for them if everyone resists.¡±


    Nina twitches ever so slightly as she says, ¡°Is there any way with which you can take over the crown? Won¡¯t the capital be unguarded if some soldiers are sent away to fight?¡±


    Lotti¡¯s eyes widen for a moment, and Walter speaks, ¡°But that won¡¯t solve the problem. Cyra is invading us.¡± There is silence for five seconds.


    Lotti breaks the silence, a glow in her voice. ¡°It might help. Most soldiers will be out to fight, and the others will protect the nobles, leaving the crown relatively unguarded. If we take over the crown, we can use the remaining soldiers to fight. We will still be outnumbered quite heavily but we will have a terrain advantage. This war is not impossible to win, especially if I command the army.¡± She breathes, then says slowly, ¡°Go announce the war, but not our plans.¡±


    Walter nods and runs out of the room. ¡°That was a good idea,¡± Lotti smiles at Nina. It is a horrible thin smile that makes Nina want to punch her face. ¡°I was thinking of assisting the crown and then backstabbing it but this idea is better. It gives us an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.¡±


    Nina is unsure about what to say, but she can tell that Lotti is now more interested in her. She¡¯s not convinced that it¡¯s a good thing. ¡°The army doesn¡¯t consist of only fighters,¡± Lotti says, ¡°Maybe it was a mistake to keep you only as an experiment subject, eh? On a scale this big, tacticians are required as well. Would you want to train to be one?¡±


    Nina¡¯s eyes widen with realization. Tactician! Of course! You don¡¯t need magic to be a good tactician. She knew about tacticians and she knew she would be good at it but the idea of becoming one never came to her. She almost feels insulted now that it is pointed out to her. It feels obvious. It feels like destiny. Nothing has ever felt so clear before.


    ¡°Yes¡­yes! I want to be a tactician.¡± Nina says, her heart fluttering like a butterfly. What is this feeling called, she wonders. It feels nostalgic.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Lotti¡¯s smile grows wider and grows to be even more disgusting. She opens a closet with wind and takes out a black and white board and a box. The box contains some 30 wooden pieces.


    ¡°What is this?¡±


    ¡°They call this chess in the west,¡± Lotti continues smiling. ¡°This is the first and the smallest test that I want you to pass. I will explain the rules.¡±


    Nina listens to Lotti¡¯s explanation, and two minutes in, the name of the feeling hits her. Alive. For the first time since her magic results ruled her a cripple, Nina Gray feels alive.

 Chapter 3 - Soldiers of Cyra

    <blockquote>


    Rudis is the creator of life and our world. Long ago, he gave birth to magic. Shortly after, he created three types of creatures¡ªbeasts, humans, and magical beasts.


    The beasts are the weakest of all with no magic. They have very little intelligence, although some of them like dogs can be docile.


    Humans have both magic and intelligence, but not a robust body. We also can use only seven elements of magic. We are vulnerable and physically weak.


    Magical beasts are the strongest amongst all creations of Rudis, for he did truly love them. They have similar intelligence to humans, and even greater magic with 9 elements and physically strong, long lasting bodies.


    ¡ªThe Church of Rudis


    </blockquote>


    September, 20, Friday, Year of 1842. Billie Hart.


    The county of Goldgate is built at the base of an inactive volcano, and is one of the more popular tourism spots in Gala. It is known for three things¡ªthe only volcano in Gala, a golden gate where Calleche is rumoured to have married and finally, mines of calcium. Now, it will also be known as the first Galan county to fall to Cyra¡¯s hands.


    Goldgate cannot possibly put up a fight with the small forces that they have. They surrender as soon as they look at the size of Cyran army and hence the fight is over before it starts.


    In one of the newer looking two story buildings, Billie sneaks open the window and watches the soldiers in blue uniforms tread the unkempt streets of Goldgate. ¡°I wonder if Lily is amongst them,¡± he says slowly.


    His father looks at him. ¡°Do you remember her unit?¡±


    Billie shakes his head in response. The last time he met Lily was when she had just joined the Cyran military. He was 14 back then, so it¡¯s been a year or so.


    There is a silence for a few minutes, and then Billie asks, ¡°Are we going back to Cyra?¡±


    ¡°This is Cyra now as well, Billie.¡±


    ¡°I mean¡ª¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already talked to our soldiers. We can leave this town after three days or so.¡±


    ¡°Why the three day delay?¡±


    ¡°They are finding more Cyrans, and then they will send all of us off. They don¡¯t want to waste too many wagons in war time.¡±


    ¡°I want to go back right now,¡± Billie says, looking around. ¡°I know the people do not like us anymore. Will we be alright?¡±


    His father doesn¡¯t say anything, but his worried blue eyes speak enough.


    Even though Billie stays inside the house, he can sense the tension rising in the town. People are evidently confused, and every hour or so, there is a distressing sharp cracking pop sound of a gunshot. Cyrans do not seem to want to take lives, so thankfully most of the shots land on limbs, which are easily healable wounds.


    In the evening, he is escorted to the central park with his father. The Galan viscount wears a magic suppressing collar, and looks absolutely pale as he announces the new laws in Goldgate. There are no guns pointed at him, but they very well may be. He tells the citizens of his county that Goldgate is now a Cyran territory, and that means that they now follow laws of Cyra. He then lists out a bunch of new laws for the Galans, which induce a great amount of rage amongst the crowd. A few of them cannot keep their rage within themselves, and end up being taken away and locked up in a prison. The rest of the viscount¡¯s speech is relatively peaceful because nobody else wants to go to the prison in vain.


    According to the new law, Galans are not allowed to lock their doors. There is also a curfew. Any Galan who is outside their house after 8 in the night is at risk of getting shot. The central park is offlimits. Any public gathering that is not approved by the viscount is forbidden, but at this point, everyone knows that the viscount is just a puppet. He has no authority left, and he certainly would not approve of any public gatherings that are not led by Cyrans.


    Cyrans are generally thought to merciless machines, but according to his father, they have been quite lenient this time. They have barely killed anyone, and they have promised to use the Galan taxes majorly for building services for Galans themselves.


    September, 21, Saturday, Year of 1842. Billie Hart.


    A new day, but the start is the same. A gunshot wakes him up, and he lays on his bed until the sun is up, when his father makes a Cyran stationed outside their house fetch a newspaper for them. The newspaper lists places which are now off-limit to Galans. Interestingly enough, the school is one of them. The article then goes on to talk about a new school that will be soon opened. It will exclusively have Galan students, but the education system will be Cyran. They also talk about how a few years later, both the schools will start accepting students of both nationalities.


    As he is about to go to the next article, there is a knock. Billie¡¯s father looks outside through the peek hole, then opens the door. There are five Cyran soldiers standing outside. They inform them that there are finally 10 Cyran civilians found in Goldgate, and that they will be escorted to the nearest carriage.


    And they do indeed escort both of them in all haste. The carriage is not spacious enough for 10 Cyrans with 3 escorts, but no one complains. They just want to be out of Gala and back in Cyra again.


    It is only a two days journey to his hometown by a carriage normally, and one day journey by a train, but Cyrans have halted the trains for now. Even on the road, they get pulled over and questioned multiple times a day so it will be a four day journey at this pace, his father tells him.


    September, 23, Monday, Year of 1842. Billie Hart.


    They have come across hundreds of carriages, all going in towards Gala. All of them were packed with Cyran soldiers, and all of them moved at a frightening speed, only stopping for their interrogation.


    On their third day of journey, they are made to stop once again. They all get out of the carriage and a man with dark black curly hair gathers all of them up. There are equally dark bags under his eyes, most likely from lack of sleep. He goes from person to person. ¡°What is your name?¡± He asks, then observes Billie. ¡°Billie Hart.¡±


    ¡°Hart¡­? It¡¯s a relatively common surname, but¡­you wouldn¡¯t happen to know Lily Hart, would you?¡±


    Billie and his father both nod. ¡°Is she in this unit?¡± His father asks, and the man nods, the man¡¯s hazel eyes now relaxed. He calls for Lily. Before she arrives, he introduces himself as Major Veradis.


    She arrives in less than two minutes, wearing the same uniform that Billie is now sick of. ¡°O¡ªOh, Billie and Uncle Alfred!¡± she exclaims in surprise as soon as she spots them.


    ¡°They were stuck in Goldgate for four days,¡± Veradis explains.


    ¡°Thankfully we¡¯re out of there now,¡± Billie¡¯s father smiles.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Lily smiles back and pats Billie¡¯s head, even though now he is almost as tall as her. ¡°He didn¡¯t cry, did he?¡±


    His father shakes his head the same time as Billie starts sulking. He does not want to be reminded about his crybaby childhood.


    ¡°Where are you heading?¡± Lily asks, ¡°Sophia?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Where is your mother currently?¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°Bellhall. She¡¯s undergoing some treatment there.¡±


    Billie¡¯s father shakes his head gravely. ¡°¡­I hope she recovers soon.¡±


    ¡°¡­Yes, same here. Pay her a visit if you can¡ªshe¡¯d be delighted,¡± Lily gives a small smile.


    Billie¡¯s father nods.


    There are a few seconds of silence, after which Lily glances at Veradis. ¡°Major Veradis¡­ we¡¯re already in a hurry. I don¡¯t want to delay us any further.¡±


    Veradis says, clearly hesitant. ¡°We¡­we better get going, then. Have a good journey.¡±


    His father looks at Veradis and Lily one last time, then says, ¡°Good luck to you all out there.¡±


    Then both the carriages resume their journey, one running away from pain and suffering, and the other towards it.


    September, 24, Tuesday, Year of 1842. Veradis Candor.


    Veradis¡¯ carriage is very close to Gala now. A few more hours and they will reach Goldgate, where, according to Lily, ¡®We can finally tyrannize some already poor people! How¡­very exciting¡­¡¯ She is very clearly unhappy with this war.


    ¡°We need to take a shortcut,¡± Veradis says at noon. ¡°We should have been there by now, but it will take us four hours more at this pace.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s entirely Colonel Reina¡¯s fault,¡± Lily says, then stands straight with chest out with no expression, as if mimicking Reina. Everyone around laughs at her mockery.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Veradis says, suppressing his laugh. ¡°We¡¯ll go through the Mighty Ash Woods. It is a small forest that would take barely an hour to traverse.¡±


    ¡°But what about the bandits, sir?¡± their scout Chase asks. ¡°That is the reason we were ill-advised against taking that route, were we not?¡±


    Veradis waves his hand in front of him, as if it is not important. ¡°Lily will take care of that.¡±


    Lily frowns. ¡°This is a bad idea. Bandits are always a bad idea. And an hour? I will have to recover vigour for an entire week if¡ª¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Veradis says. ¡°I just want to get there as fast as possible.¡±


    ¡°You want spoils of victory, Sir?¡± Chase asks, grinning.


    Both Lily and Veradis glare at him, and he frowns before turning to the other direction.


    After fifteen minutes, they reach the Mighty Ash Woods. Veradis looks outside the carriage, shoving the curtain to a side, then says, ¡°Start your magic, Lily.¡±


    Lily crawls next to Veradis, then sighs. ¡°I¡¯m telling you this is a bad idea,¡± she says, but nonetheless closes her eyes, ready to read the air. She excels in wind and water magic, and is absolutely terrible in other sorts of magic. Veradis, on the other hand, is very versatile but cannot use the elements to their full extent.


    Only twenty minutes later, Lily starts bleeding from her nose. Constantly reading the air is tough and consumes vigour rapidly, especially in a moving cart. Veradis has a very high vigour, but he can only read air in a radius of 200 meters.


    ¡°Honey, I believe¡­we have guests,¡± Lily whispers, her eyes still closed.


    Veradis immediately raises his hand and everyone in the carriage goes silent. ¡°How many and where?¡±


    ¡°Up the trees¡­around three hundred meters ahead, 1 o clock for me. Count is 15. They¡¯ve blocked the path with a tree.¡±


    Veradis looks around the carriage, then shouts, ¡°Prepare for combat! Keep your barriers up! Have the carriage parked here! I don¡¯t want it broken. We¡¯ll be stranded if it does break. Raymond and Silchar will stay here near the carriage to protect it.¡±


    Everyone grabs their muskets and swords. Veradis steps out first, an air barrier already raised. Everyone except the two on defence duty quickly walk towards the presumed bandits, following Lily¡¯s instructions.


    ¡°We are very close now,¡± Lily says, her eyes finally open. She looks extremely sleepy after having used so much vigour, but keeps up with the rest. Everyone looks up. Chase is the first one to point a finger. Good eyes, that brat. No wonder he was selected to be their scout.


    Veradis immediately pushes air in that direction, but it only hits their own barrier. Of course. How could he forget? Lily gives him a glance, supressing her laugh. Good old Lily, mocking him even in a middle of a battle.


    ¡°On the count of three, lower the barrier. I¡¯ll jump outside and push the air there,¡± Veradis orders, glaring at Lily, who can barely control her laughter, no hint of her earlier drowsiness on her face.


    Everyone except Lily nods, and Veradis starts counting to three. When it is time, he jumps outside and pushes the air in the direction that Chase points out yet again. Two men fall off the tree, or at least two things do. Veradis cannot tell for sure. It¡¯s too dark.


    Veradis is about to say something when hears grunts from the two fallen bandits. At least he can hear well in the forest. He lowers his barrier momentarily and pushes them against the trees. Chase points his musket in their direction, his hands shaking. Poor boy. Lily gently pushes Chase¡¯s gun to a different direction. ¡°Let¡¯s not kill if we can help it,¡± Veradis orders, then pushes the bandits against the tree again, hoping it finally knocks them out.


    The damned forest cover is so thick that he can barely make out the bandits on top of him, and the bandits wear green clothes that camouflage themselves. Very little sunlight makes in, of course, which makes it even more difficult. Chase points somewhere, and all of them push the air in that direction. No one falls. ¡°They have raised their air barriers now,¡± Lily whispers. ¡°Or stone barriers. I can¡¯t tell.¡±


    ¡°Let us pass!¡± Veradis screams. ¡°We¡¯ll both avoid trouble!¡± At this point, all the bandits must know his location anyway. No point in hiding it. But if they do respond, he will know their location, which must be why they never respond. There is only the annoying sound of cicadas, and of birds chirping. ¡°Please?¡± Veradis offers.


    He hears a supressed laugh, and immediately glances at Chase, who is very quick at pointing in the direction of the laugh. ¡°I can tell positions of 6 now,¡± Chase whispers. ¡°I cannot figure out where the remaining are just yet.¡±


    Lily shrugs. ¡°I could figure it out but then I¡¯d have to go outside the air barrier and¡­well, I don¡¯t want to get stabbed by an arrow.¡±


    ¡°Can you break¡ª¡± Veradis is whispering when he is cut off by a loud masculine shout, ¡°Stop bickering among yourselves, Cyran curs,¡± The voice pauses for a moment. ¡°Hand over all your money nicely, and we¡¯ll kill you painlessly.¡±


    ¡°Or else?¡± Veradis asks.


    ¡°Or we will gut all of you alive, ending with you, so you can watch all of them die first because of your stupid decision.¡± the voice replies. Another laughter, feminine this time. Veradis briefly glances at Chase, who discreetly raises 9 of his fingers. So still 4 more bandits up there somewhere.


    The bandits attack Veradis¡¯ barrier in an attempt to break it. They don¡¯t even come close to breaking it but Veradis¡¯ squad take him in their own air barrier anyway, which then begins to be bombarded by the wind and arrows.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to fight soon,¡± Lily whispers, glancing around. ¡°We¡¯ve kept the air barrier up for too long. Rudis help us if we have to stay like this for ten minutes more.¡±


    Veradis gives one final look at Chase, who says, ¡°Ten. I can see ten.¡±


    Veradis slowly nods, an arrow hitting the barrier right in front of him. ¡°We need to fight. Run away if your life is in danger. And remember, bullets won¡¯t pierce their air barriers¡ªthey are better magicians than us and outnumber us. We get only one more chance to catch them off-guard and only because they have spread too far off.¡±


    ¡°There, there, ¡­there, there and¡­there are the closest,¡± Chase says, hiding in the centre of his squad so that the bandits cannot see him pointing at them.


    The air barrier falls, and they push air in the planned directions. Three more bandits fall, their air barriers obviously weak. Veradis pushes them against a tree again and again, making them unconscious. The Cyrans immediately raise their barrier up once again.


    ¡°We should be killing them,¡± Chase whispers. ¡°They¡¯re bandits. We¡¯ll be doing a favour to everyone.¡±


    Veradis does not respond. He looks up, then shouts, ¡°We have five of your comrades! How about we trade them for a peaceful passage?¡±


    No one speaks for a few moments. There is a roar of a lion in the far distance, and birds, as always, chirping and chirping.


    ¡°Fine,¡± a feminine voice finally echoes. ¡°We¡¯ll make a compromise. Ten thousand takas, and we will let you pass.¡±


    Veradis scowls. ¡°I thought it was going to be free in exchange for their lives.¡±


    Another round of laughter, all over from the bandits. A particularly thick-accented Galan voice shouts, ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand. We are not sparing you that much money. We are sparing your lives because you spared their lives.¡±


    Veradis glances at his squad, all of them who seem to be willing to accept the offer¡­well, all except Lily, but she will have to deal with it. Veradis takes out ten golden coins from his pocket, and holds them in his hand. ¡°We accept,¡± he says, and tosses one of the coins up. It does not fall down. ¡°We will give you half now, and leave half behind when we are leaving. I swear to Rudis.¡±


    The bandits abruptly jump down the trees, and Veradis raises his air barrier. They seem to be wary as well, but do not look inclined to fight. Two big men dressed in tattered clothes walks up to the tree blocking their path. They shove it aside as another roar resounds in the far distance.


    ¡°Go bring the carriage, Rida,¡± Veradis whispers. ¡°Keep a barrier around it. Inform Silchar and Raymond about our situation too.¡±


    Rida gives a brief salute and runs away. Veradis can finally look at the bandits properly now, despite the darkness of the forest. His eyes have adjusted. They all wear tattered gowns or tunics, and only three of them have simple bows¡ª No crossbows. They genuinely seem to not want to fight despite their numbers advantage.


    He tosses four more gold coins at them, maintaining his distance. The carriage quickly arrives in a moment, the horses extremely panic stricken. Is it because of the lions? They seem to be roaring for no reason. Veradis lets his squadmates enter the carriage then momentarily lets his air barrier dissolve so he can use the air to jump on top of the carriage. He combines his barrier with the rest of his squad mates, now on top of the carriage, then as they move forward, throws five more coins backward.


    As soon as the bandits are out of sight, he slips inside the carriage, and is met with sighs of relief, and one glare. ¡°The ten thousand takas are on me,¡± Veradis says.


    The glare remains.


    ¡°I admit I was wrong. We should have taken the safer route.¡±


    Lily finally breaks off the glare. Veradis hunches and walks next to her, then sits down. ¡°We are lucky that they did not want to kill us,¡± she hisses.


    ¡°Now that¡¯s not true. They could not possibly break our barriers without expending all of their vigour. It wasn¡¯t that bad. It all worked out, didn¡¯t it? They¡ª¡± Veradis says, then has to stop because Lily roars loudly into his ear, ¡°We are NOT going through a path filled with bandits again.¡±


    Veradis grabs his hurting ear and sighs as Lily goes back to reading the air. Good Rudis, there really is too much roaring in Gala.

 Chapter 4 - The Red Witch is now a Queen

    <blockquote>


    Fifty million takas are not nearly enough. The cripple has already been heavily influenced by me, and I feel like a maternal figure when it comes to her. Bluntly, I¡¯ve taken a liking towards her, despite myself.


    Perhaps the cripple is worth fifty million takas, but I feel as if I¡¯m selling myself¡ªor a part of myself¡ª when I consider your deal and I am quite priceless, Arthur, so I¡¯d advise you to redirect your attention and resources. I will never sell her to you. Or anyone.


    P.S.: Any further communication from you will be discarded instantly without being read.


    ¡ªLetter found in the safe of the late Sir Arthur, 1845.


    </blockquote>


    October 1, Friday, Year of 1842. Nina Gray.


    Nina goes to the library in the morning wishing she could time skip to 5 PM, or at least practice a weapon during the day, even if it is not allowed. ¡°Leave the fighting to the pure,¡± she hears Lotti¡¯s obnoxious voice inside her head, ¡°Impure are generally better off serving the pure.¡±


    There is a spot near the farthest window in the back that every regular visitor of the library now knows is Nina¡¯s spot. Like always, she grabs two books and goes and sits there, minding her own business. She skips the lunch because she falls asleep, wakes up after three long hours of slumber and looks at the clock in panic. It is still only thirty five past four. Taking a sigh of relief, she returns the books and slowly starts heading up to Lotti¡¯s room.


    The guard doesn¡¯t do anything as she walks and knocks on Lotti¡¯s door. The door opens instantly, and Nina steps in what she likes to call the witch¡¯s lair. The accused red witch sits on the table, reading something with an eerie black cover.


    Despite the place being labelled a lair in Nina¡¯s mind, she has to admit that the room is the most pleasant room that she has ever seen. It is as big as the entire dorm room that Nina shares with seven others, and even if Lotti is a single person, her room is much more stuffed than any that she has seen.


    Today the witch appears to be quite happy. The lair is not as messy, and she wears a fresh smile on her face¡ªnot the one that makes Nina want to punch her face. Nina debates over inquiring about this strange joyous mood, but decides against it. It is better for her if the witch is in a good mood.


    The witch soon begins her magic, making her lair dance. The book that she was reading is swiftly sent to the bookshelf behind her, where it gently slides into a hollow opening between two books. Then, a drawer to the far left of the drawer opens and a box full of needles is sent her way, whose sight almost immediately make Nina clutch the sides of her chair. The witch then lifts Nina and her chair and drops her gently, nearer.


    Nina shrinks as Lotti grabs the box of black, long, and thick needles that could pierce through most parts of her body. ¡°What are those?¡± she asks.


    ¡°Do you know how the magic supressing collars work?¡± Lotti asks back.


    Nina thinks for a second, then shakes her head.


    ¡°Then you will not understand what we are going to do today,¡± Lotti says, and opens the box. ¡°But basically, I¡¯m going to pierce nine needles in your body that break the seal of magic suppression. Seven for elements and two others.¡±


    Nina tilts her head. ¡°Didn¡¯t you find no magic suppression seals on my body?¡±


    ¡°Not on your body. There is indeed no seal but now I wonder if your entire body is a seal itself¡­so we¡¯re going to break it.¡±


    Nina frowns. ¡°That sounds painful.¡±


    ¡°Not as much as you think it would. Pain doesn¡¯t start to kick in until the needles are removed. Now undress and turn around. The points are on your back.¡±


    Nina nods hesitantly, gets up, undresses her dress, keeps it on the table and then turns her back to the Lotti.


    Gently, Lotti traces her finger along Nina¡¯s back over and over, as if trying to find something. When she is content, she pierces a needle on that spot. The needle is as long as her middle finger and just as thick, but it slides in without a problem. Lotti was right. It really does not feel so painful just yet. ¡°Nina,¡± Lotti says, picking up another needle. ¡°Talk to me. That¡¯ll help.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to talk about?¡± Nina asks. ¡°My past again? Or do you want to hear how my day was?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard from you enough times,¡± Lotti says, starting to trace the back again. ¡°So well, just for today, I will allow you to ask me questions. I might not answer though.¡±


    Nina frowns. ¡°You¡¯re being quite generous today. What happened?¡±


    ¡°Good news happened,¡± Lotti says, ¡°Be ready now.¡± Lotti pauses for two seconds, then pierces the needle in.


    ¡°What¡­good news?¡± Nina asks after a slight groan.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know.¡±


    Nina looks down, ashamed, and asks, ¡°Because I¡¯m not pure?¡±


    Lotti takes two needles, and pierces them roughly in quick succession on her back. ¡°No¡­that¡¯s not the reason. You don¡¯t need to know because that¡¯s not a part of your role.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? What is my role?¡±


    ¡°Your role as a piece, Nina. You really don¡¯t need to think of all this, okay?¡±


    Silence, and a minute later of piercing needles, Lotti says, ¡°That¡¯s all of them,¡± she says, still sitting behind Nina.


    ¡°Is¡­is there any change?¡±


    ¡°No. Your magic is still quite non-existent.¡±


    Nina sits stiff, then says, dejected, ¡°I suppose my body is not like a magic suppressing collar, after all.¡±


    ¡°Yes. It does not seem like your magic is being suppressed, then.¡±


    ¡°So¡­I really have no magic?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t be sure just yet.¡±


    A pause, and then Lotti takes out the needles gently, then ties the wounds rough with a single cloth around her torso. It really does not hurt much, and Nina wonders why as Lotti says, ¡°We failed the experiment yet again today. Now let¡¯s continue your strategy training.¡±


    Nina nods slowly, watching the chess board and the books on the table. She looks at the pieces, then asks, ¡°What did you mean by ¡®that¡¯s not a part of your role¡¯. What is my role? Am I a pawn?¡±


    ¡°A pawn, at its core, must be disposable and worth very little but¡ª ¡±


    ¡°But since I¡¯m not disposable and worthless, I¡¯m not even a pawn.¡± Nina cuts Lotti off, and instantly regrets it. Lotti has never liked being interrupted.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Nina says, and Lotti sighs.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to say that you¡¯re worthless. In fact, you¡¯re worth more than anyone that I know¡­except me, I suppose.¡±


    ¡°Empty words,¡± Nina looks down, thinking of ways in which she has done something impactful in the camp. Nothing. Nothing but leeched off Lotti for food and shelter. ¡°There¡¯s not a single good thing I¡¯ve managed to do for you, or for my parents, or for my friends or¡­for me.¡±


    ¡°Fifty million takas,¡± Lotti says.


    There¡¯s a pause for a few seconds. ¡°Fifty¡­million Takas? I¡¯m surely not worth that much¡­ I couldn¡¯t earn that much money in a thousand lifetimes.¡±Stolen story; please report.


    A drawer opens, and an enveloped letter flies out to Nina¡¯s lap. The seal is broken, but she still hesitates for a moment before fully unfolding the letter. Nina¡¯s hands shake as she goes through the parchment. It¡¯s from church of Rudis, and they propose to ¡®buy the cripple¡¯ for fifty million takas. ¡°Wha¡­what?¡±


    ¡°We must have a spy inside the rebels that reported you to the church of Rudis. It must be someone with fairly high magic skill since they noticed you, but don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve put Raze up on the task. He¡¯s going to follow you everywhere so that you¡¯re safe. He followed you until my room too, but you most likely did not notice. Anyhow, as you can see, the church wants to buy you for fifty million.¡± Lotti says.


    Nina has the immediate urge to turn back and look at her expression. Is she angry with the offer? Is she happy to get such an offer? What does the witch exactly intend to do with the cripple? Is Nina sold? Is this the end? If so, why is she still being so friendly? The church of Rudis were the ones that experimented on and killed the last known cripple, so if¡ª


    ¡°I rejected the offer, of course,¡± Lotti says, ¡°You¡¯re mine, and no one takes my things away from me.¡±


    October 3, Sunday, Year of 1842. Lotti Hasard.


    Stagford is covered with trees and is famous for its cultivation of grapes. It is a famous for being a ¡®green¡¯ town, which is quite unusual because most of the Gala is infertile and lacks rain.


    ¡°This is one lucky town,¡± Della says, looking at the greenery. ¡°They have a fertile land despite being in Gala.¡±


    ¡°Imagine the loot, ehehe,¡± Tuck says, grinning from ear to ear. ¡°These look like rich people.¡±


    Lotti pats her horse Spot as she looks around the fertile Stagford. She would love to cover these green land in shades of red.


    The mayor stands inside an air barrier, and Lotti can only make him out from the others because of his fancy birdlike stupid looking golden helm. He has the entirety of the town¡¯s militia present behind him, who are dressed in heavy armour.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like this,¡± Ash says, her blue eyes looking worried.


    ¡°You should complain less,¡± Lynx says.


    ¡°Shut up your mugs,¡± Hog says, stroking his beard. ¡°Just let the boss talk.¡±


    Lotti waves at the mayor, then shouts, ¡°I can only assume that you have rejected my offer, Mayor Vincent. It is a shame. I would have liked to avoid the bloodshed.¡± A lie, of course. She has always loved bloodshed.


    Mayor Vincent shouts back, ¡°We will not join your camp of traitors and rebels! Never!¡±


    There is a moment of brief silence, and then Vincent raises his hand. His hand tremors as he says, ¡°Go kill them!¡±


    ¡°What a shame,¡± Lotti shouts, raising an air barrier. Arrows land on the barrier, and some of the cavalry seems to be rushing to slash at it. Lotti¡¯s barrier is possibly the best in Gala, but a few hundred people will still eventually break such a large barrier.


    She glances back at her army, then says, ¡°We don¡¯t have Raze today, so be extra careful. He was a significant part of our strength. And no using fire so Ash, you¡¯re in charge of protecting Arael and other healers. Aquila and Cord will be ready to douse out a fire if there is any. Squad one and zero will go first. The other squads will follow them later¡­and well, try to stay alive.¡± Or they could die. Lotti didn¡¯t care. ¡°This isn¡¯t too difficult of a fight. I want the mayor and the horses alive. Everyone else can die and¡­ I¡¯ll need a few minutes to regain vigour.¡±


    Lotti counts to three and the barrier opens, pushing air outwards in all directions. The trees sway as some of the enemies fall flat on their back. Lotti breathes heavily, regaining vigor inside Ash¡¯s barrier with rest of the healers. She watches the battlefield.


    Della takes the command instantly. She and Lotti are very similar in their strong and swift magic. Della is also the squad leader of her best squad. Della¡¯s best magic is fire, but Stagford is full of greenery and Lotti does not want the fire to spread, hence Della only uses her other three elements, which are still very, very strong. ¡°We¡¯re running to the centre of their formation,¡± Della commands.


    Since neither side wants to use fire and since water is close to useless in such situations, most of the magicians focus on controlling the air and earth. None of the militia¡¯s magicians are extraordinarily strong, but a few hundred people pushing air can be overbearing, which must be why Della ordered the squad to infiltrate enemy¡¯s centre formation. Pushing air at a point from two opposite sides is counterproductive, after all. They could push and pull but that could hurt their own soldiers on the pulling side, which is why rushing to the centre of the enemy formation is a clever move.


    Lotti then rides slowly to the centre where Lynx and Hog are already going ham, their swords taking one life after the other. She touches the hilt of her sword upon watching them. She loves magic, but there is a special comfort in having a nice sword in your hand. She has always liked the sound that her sword makes when she cleanly separates heads from bodies.


    Lotti hears a familiar scream, and turns around to see Big Rike. His barrier seems to have been broken and he seems to have caught an arrow on his gut. His inexperience is showing.


    Ash and the healers rush towards Big Rike but are intercepted by a score of enemy cavalry, which is why breaks the formation to run at them. Lotti sighs as she watches her squad¡¯s formation break down piece by piece.


    Hog glances at the enemies attacking Ash¡¯s stone barrier, then runs off in a opposite direction towards the Mayor with his unit. Lotti smiles. That is such a Raze-like thing to do, but seems like Hog is taking up his role now. Hawk¡¯s unit, the archers, shoot arrows on Ash¡¯s attackers and manages to get five of them down before Della reaches there, flinging all of the attackers away. Lynx arrives just in the nick of the time to slash at some of them who have fallen onto the ground.


    Lotti then glances back at the mayor where Hog¡¯s unit is trying to muscle his way through 20 footed soldiers to get to the mayor.


    ¡°Cord and Aquila!¡± Lotti says, rides to quickly catch up to them, then glances at the panicking enemies. ¡°Are you ready? They might use fire as their last resort!¡±


    They do not have to respond because just as she predicted, the grass beneath them is set on fire. Cord and Aquila douse the fire with water, making it rain easily. They have been gathering water vapour since the start, after all. Lotti raises an air barrier around the three of them momentarily just so they avoid getting wet.


    ¡°Boss, please permit the usage of fire!¡± Hog screams from far away, slowly retreating back. Rudis, how can someone shout so loudly? ¡°I can take care of the rest easily if you¡ª¡±


    Lotti raises her voice, looking at Cord and Aquila. ¡°How long will it take you to accumulate sufficient water vapour if there is a fire?¡±


    ¡°We have used most of the vapour already to douse the earlier fire,¡± Aquila says, ¡°It will be difficult to douse another large fire.¡±


    ¡°No fire permitted, then. Why potentially ruin a good piece of land?¡± Lotti says, shaking her head. It¡¯s a fun game for her, watching her pieces on the board fight against the enemies by themselves.


    She then wonders how she would classify the army. The pieces won¡¯t fit perfectly, but she tries anyway. Della would be her Queen, of course. The all-rounder and the best of the lot. She needs to work on not breaking the formation, though. Aquila, Hog and Hawk are her knights. Arael and Cord the bishops. Ash, Tuck and Lynx the rooks. The rest of the soldiers would be pawns. She¡¯s seen very little of Big Rike, so she cannot classify him well.


    And then who¡¯s her king? Going by importance, it would be Raze but he is definitely not as weak as a king. It could be Arael because she is their healer. Losing her would be a massive setback. And finally, it could be Nina. She fits perfectly with the powerless king role, but then again, she is not that important. Or is she? Lotti is not sure. She has started to like Nina. Once Nina is finished with her tactician training, she will have to make a good king¡ªthe final piece that Lotti needed.


    A minute later, Lotti finally enters the battlefield, unsheathing her sword. She rides towards the mayor, and the sight of her instantly makes two of the soldiers near the mayor flee. Lotti scowls but ignores them. She likes battle, but she likes people respecting her more. She joins up with Hog, stabbing two soldiers. About ten enemies are left near the mayor. Or it could be fifteen. Lotti doesn¡¯t care. It¡¯s all the same effort to crush those bugs.


    But just when she wants to kill them, all of them surrender their swords, looking at her. Three of them who had muskets drop them too. Really? What a disappointing battle.


    Hog grabs the fleeing Mayor, and drags him back to the dismounted Lotti. ¡°You have two choices, Vincent. I don¡¯t think that I need to tell you what they are, do I? I really do want to avoid the hassle of electing a new mayor.¡±


    He nods slowly inside the stupid giant golden helm and says, ¡°I¡ªI accept your demands.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± Lotti raises him up, making him stand. ¡°A man called Walter should be here within half an hour. He¡¯ll take care of legal matters. That¡¯s his role. Now stand here with Hog as we take care of all these men that you killed.¡±


    ¡°But you were the one to kill them,¡± he retorts.


    Lotti glares at him. So there¡¯s still something left in him. Something that Lotti doesn¡¯t want. A puppet ought to always say yes. ¡°I wish we had Raze here,¡± Lotti says. Raze is always heartless, cruel and efficient.


    ¡­Maybe Lynx could do it? ¡°Lynx,¡± she says, ¡°Go bring in his son and wife. We don¡¯t want him to say anything except ¡®yes¡¯ in the future, do we?¡±


    Lynx looks at the mayor, then at Lotti. ¡°I don¡¯t like this,¡±


    Lotti frowns as he continues, ¡°We don¡¯t need to get innocents involved.¡±


    ¡°I agree with him,¡± Aquila shrugs. ¡°I didn¡¯t join the rebels to kill children.¡±


    Arael nods as well, giving a tight lipped smile to Lotti.


    Pieces, pieces. If only the pieces didn¡¯t have their own opinions and feelings; if only it would be that simple. A piece ought not to be much different than a puppet, but it¡¯s much more difficult to control a piece. A piece has some real power, after all.


    Lynx is perhaps her best swordfighter, while Aquila is her best scout. She can make replacements, but it will take some unnecessary extra effort and time. But Arael? Now a healer that good is hard to come by.


    ¡°Do as I say,¡± Lotti caves in, ¡°I won¡¯t kill them. It will just be a threat. Just bring them here. You have my word¡ªwe will not harm them. That was never the plan. I wouldn¡¯t want this new age to start with such an unpleasant incident.¡±


    Lynx is clearly doubtful. ¡°New age?¡± He asks.


    ¡°Ah, yes, boss,¡± Hog asks, ¡°Why are we doing this? We¡¯ve never attacked a town before¡­and what¡¯s with the legal nonsense and Walter?¡±


    Lotti yawns, raising her arms, even though she barely did anything. ¡°The legal matters is to make the city ours. We haven¡¯t attacked any other towns before because this will be our capital.¡±


    ¡°Capital? As in our new base? We¡¯re moving our base here?¡± Hog asks, dismounting.


    ¡°Some things are easier to remake than repair," Lotti says, "We''re giving up on fixing up this shithole of Gala. Stagford will be the capital of New Gala¡ªa new country that we made from ragtag rebels.¡± A pause. "And as the first and only Queen of New Gala, I now declare war on Gala! We''re going to invade the capital and snatch this land away from those corrupt nobles!"

 Chapter 5 - The Red Witch Likes The Cripple

    <blockquote>


    Before I met her, fighting in the ring was my life. I didn¡¯t care who my opponent was. All I had to do was win. When we die, the money doesn¡¯t matter, but name and glory does. If I kept winning, I would be remembered for a long time¡ªperhaps forever.


    One day, the king of the arena challenged me. He was twice my size, and had at least three times more experience. Irrelevant. All I had to do was win. The fight lasted for hours but his yearning for winning must surely be lesser than mine, because he tired out earlier, and then it took one simple slash. I had beaten the king. I was the king. I looked up at the crowd, to bathe in glory and praise from the spectating nobles, but instead, I saw her. Everyone began to run away or fight her, which did not end up well for them. She turned the entire crowd stands red in only a few minutes, and then approached me.


    She said that I was one of the pieces that could help her. She asked whether I wanted to change the world. I said no, all I wanted to do was win. ¡®Come fight with me, then¡¯, she said. ''Take a week to rest. Same place, same time.'' I took my rest, and arrived as she had instructed. She crushed me in the fight. ¡®Come with me. I can put your skills to use,¡¯ she said. ¡®And don¡¯t you dare leave until you win against me.¡¯


    ¡ªAccount by Lynx Present in The Red Witch Vol.1, Ch.7, by Sharron Gains


    </blockquote>


    October 13, Sunday, Year of 1842. Veradis Candor.


    ¡°It¡¯s been far too long since we¡¯ve done something,¡± Lily grumbles, ¡°And this thing tastes like piss. What is this thing called again?¡± Regardless of her complaints, she takes a sip. Veradis has only taken a taste of it. It smells like medicine, but tastes somewhat like whiskey and is smoky grey with yellowish orange swirls. She glares at the glass, as if doing so would help her remember the drink.


    ¡°One would think that the poor drink was your eternal enemy,¡± Veradis finally says, after one minute of him staring at Lily and Lily glaring at the drink.


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember!¡± Lily shouts, and then sloops down to the table. ¡°I¡¯m so bored. I¡¯m bored of practicing, too. And Gala¡¯s too hot. And I really have no idea what we¡¯re supposed to do now.¡±


    ¡°Waiting is all we can do, really.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already waited! What an awful time for the new country to be formed,¡± She groans, then takes a sip, pauses and then drinks it all in one go. She then lays her head on the table, sighing.


    The new country has forced Cyra to reconsider their options. Even though the new country was rejected instantly by Gathering of Crowns, they continue to grow at a frightening pace, and the Cyrans do not have orders from their crown to attack New Galans.


    Lily speaks, her voice muffled because she lays head down on the table, ¡°If only it was found before we declared war, we wouldn¡¯t be suffering in this stupid place...and I had just came to terms to the fact that Galans would be happier under Cyrans!¡±


    Veradis just gives a wry smile. In truth, he doesn¡¯t mind staying in Ragdow too much. They have nothing to do¡ªnothing except spend time with each other.


    Chase appears from behind Lily, and grins. He¡¯s too young to drink, but he eyes Lily¡¯s drink as he says, ¡°Are you coming for a night walk? The curfew has started for Galans. I heard there¡¯s a lake in the east of the city.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Veradis says, glancing at Lily. ¡°She¡¯ll drop on the street if we go now.¡±


    Lily glares at Veradis, then says, ¡°Listen, now, Veradis. You know a lot about me¡­but I rarely drink and I believe you have not seen me drink... You should know that I can hold drinks very well.¡±


    Chase looks at them awkwardly, then says, ¡°Well¡­we could go tomorrow. I just thought it would be nice for all of us to go as a group. Everyone seems to extremely bored.¡±


    ¡°Better go while you can,¡± Lily speaks, her voice muffled yet again, ¡°I think we¡¯ll be asked to get back soon.¡±


    Chase frowns. ¡°Why?¡±


    Lily points at Veradis, and says, ¡°Ask him. I can¡¯t be bothered to explain.¡±


    Chase¡¯s frown deepens, but he turns to Veradis nonetheless.


    ¡°We¡¯ve done a lot of thinking on why we attacked Gala,¡± Veradis says, lightly tapping the wooden table, ¡°We didn¡¯t like it when we attacked Gala, so we thought for the longest time about why we decided to attack this country and not any other one.¡±


    Lily then sits upright, serious, and pours the drink into her glass.


    ¡°One more?¡± Veradis says. ¡°I¡¯m not sure whether that¡¯s a good idea.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be¡­fine,¡± Lily shrugs, ¡°I think.¡±


    ¡°Not very convincing,¡± Veradis smiles, and Lily raises an eyebrow, taking a sip, as if taunting him. ¡°Have I ever been wrong, Veradis?¡± She asks.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Veradis ignores her, ¡°The people here wanted a change. They were sick of living in the same shithole for decades now. Cyra would provide an alternative¡ªsomething that wasn¡¯t so bad. We would take over their land and take away their power, but treat them well, like how Galans are now treated in Goldg¡ª¡±


    ¡°You should take a seat,¡± Lily says, pointing to the chair next to Veradis. Chase quickly sits on it, and Veradis continues, giving a brief annoyed glance to Lily, ¡°Anyway, they aren¡¯t treated like Cyrans, but they¡¯re treated OK, and have been provided many facilities in return. Cyra added more buildings in Goldgate in a month than the Galans did in a year. New schools, new hospitals, better market, and what not.


    ¡°A country is, at its core, is its people. If you conquer a country, the people of that country will generally react angrily and there will be riots and rebels for years. But say, if you conquer a country that was already unhappy, and if you make them happier than before, their people will be quite glad to integrate with you. We take away all the power away from them, but we let them live their life in a decent way. Something like a dog that you would own. You feed them, you shelter them, but you take away their freedom.¡±


    ¡°And Galans would be fine with it?¡± Chase asks.


    ¡°Oh, they would be more than fine. Bandits scourging over the country, corrupted nobles, a government that would do everything in its power to please the nobles but let the people suffer and then finally a rebel group led by an infamous sadistic red witch that threatens further instability. I think His Majesty understands that what these people want is not freedom, but peace and stability. A decent life.¡±


    Chase looks blankly at Veradis, then asks, ¡°I don¡¯t understand. How is this related to us retreating?¡±


    ¡°This new country of rebels is a real problem because we were providing an alternative to Gala but now New Gala is also an alternative that Galans can choose. And they¡¯re New Galans, so they¡¯d attract Galans despite having worse resources than us,¡± Veradis says.


    ¡°I¡­I still don¡¯t understand,¡± Chase says.


    Lily snaps before Veradis can say anything, ¡°What we¡¯re saying is, if Cyra does not withdraw, there will be another civil war amongst Galans, and this one won¡¯t be as one-sided as the current war between Gala and New Gala. This one is more like a¡­mutiny. It¡¯s not full on fight between citizens¡­only between rebels and Galan soldiers. No innocents. Now, the one between Cyran-sided Galans or whatever you want to call them and New Galans won¡¯t be so pretty.¡±


    Chase breathes, then nods slowly, finally understanding.


    Lily is about to pour another glass when they hear hooves outside their modest inn. The soldiers inside raise their guard, and only open the door when the password is correct. A messenger strolls in, and hands a letter to Veradis, the current squad leader. Lily smiles, looking at Chase, who stares at the letter. ¡°Isn¡¯t¡­isn¡¯t this it? You were correct!¡± Chase whispers to Veradis, excited.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°Veradis is a great man,¡± Lily says, ¡°He takes some stupid risks sometimes but he¡¯s still quite an amazing man...actually the best I¡¯ve known¡­but you know, even he can¡¯t read the letter without opening the seal.¡±


    Veradis laughs for a good ten seconds as others stand in uncomfortable stillness, anxious. Then, finally realizing that no one seems to be laughing with him, he unseals the letter. ¡°It¡¯s from the Cyran crown,¡± he says then goes through it quickly and smiles. ¡°Good news everyone!¡± He shouts, ¡°Pack your bags! We¡¯re retreating the first thing tomorrow!¡±


    October 22, Tuesday, Year of 1842. Veradis Candor.


    Veradis has missed Sophia¡ªtall buildings, comfortable even streets, and plenty of greenery. The Cyran capital is indeed just as majestic and beautiful as ever. The air feels fresh and cool. If Veradis was to choose his heaven, it would be Sophia, and he guesses it would be true for most of people that have been to Sophia at least once.


    ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± Lily asks, standing in front of a four-story building.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Veradis says confidently, and they walk in the clothing shop


    for the rich¡ªor more specifically, for parties. They quickly navigate towards the women¡¯s sections and Lily looks at all the dresses. ¡°They¡¯re all fancy, and look uncomfortable. This,¡± she points at one, ¡°Is more of frills and less of a dress¡­and the colours¡­Rudis, they¡¯re the worst.¡±


    ¡°This one? It¡¯s black.¡± Veradis asks, pointing towards a black party gown with a bunch of shiny white stars. It covers half of the shoulders, flows down to a keyhole neckline and is¡ª¡°Of course not,¡± Lily glares at Veradis. She doesn¡¯t have to examine the dress further, probably. The shiny black and the keyhole neckline are already more than she could handle.


    ¡°It¡¯s a party,¡± Veradis says, frustrated. ¡°People are supposed to dress nicely!¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t even invited properly!¡± Lily keeps glaring. ¡°I¡¯m only been allowed in because of you, and I¡¯d rather not stand out. The nobles hate me, and they¡¯ll call us names¡ª¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t care about them,¡± Veradis says.


    Lily picks a red dress, examines it and roughly shoves it back, clearly angry. ¡°It¡¯s not only about me, you know. They taint your name too, saying you¡¯re marrying your servant and that you¡¯ve always lacked some nobleness.¡±


    Veradis shrugs. ¡°It¡¯s not true. You were never my servant.¡±


    ¡°Which makes it doubly worse.¡±


    ¡°They shouldn¡¯t stop you from wearing pretty dresses,¡± Veradis says, quickly making her face him. ¡°You can¡¯t let them affect you, otherwise they have won.¡±


    ¡°The crown is going to be there!¡± Lily says, ¡°And¡­a bunch of other countries¡¯ crowns too, along with that insane red witch. Did you hear what she¡¯s doing with the Galan nobles? Torturing them in front of the crowd and not letting them die by healing them continuously? New Galan government is militaristic and unnecessary cruel, and it is all because of her. Why would I want to stand out in such a place amongst such insane people?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll stand out more if you wear plain clothes,¡± Veradis says. ¡°It¡¯s a very high profile party. The Cyran crown, the New Galan crown, and potentially more will be present. I hear some from church are also attending.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Lily asks, ¡°Why would the church attend?¡±


    ¡°They sometimes show up at important events. My father says they¡¯re heavily invested this time.¡±


    Lily nods, then asks, pointing towards the entire rack, ¡°Do all the women wear flashy and fancy dresses? Would I stand out if I didn¡¯t wear, say, monstrosities like those?¡±


    Veradis laughs. ¡°Monstrosities,¡± he repeats, and laughs again.


    ¡°Answer my question,¡± Lily says.


    ¡°I¡¯m not too sure,¡± Veradis shrugs, ¡°You know¡ªI haven¡¯t really paid too much attention to women in the parties that I¡¯ve attended. I¡¯m not the type to do that. Why would I look at other women? Definitely n¡ª¡±


    Lily almost shouts, ¡°Don¡¯t you dare lie to me.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine,¡± Veradis says, ¡°It¡¯s a ball party so yes, they will all wear fancy dresses. The entire point of a ball party is to have men ask you for a dance, and you have to stand out for that. There¡¯s always plenty of unmarried noble daughters, so there will be plenty of gaudy dr¡ªI mean, monstrosities. The married women will also wear their best dresses because it¡¯s such a high profile party.¡±


    Lily sighs, not wanting to go to the party anymore. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll take the black dress,¡± she picks up the dress. ¡°I hates this type of dress, but I would hate standing out even more. Besides, you think this one looks pretty, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Veradis grabs the black dress off her hands and puts it back. ¡°No, no. We¡¯re not going anywhere until you are satisfied. Keep looking. We have time.¡±


    Lily gives a smile and then goes around the store, spending time shopping expensive clothes that she would wear probably once or twice in her life and does not want to wear in the first place.


    At least it doesn¡¯t last long. Twenty minutes later she finds something that she likes buried amongst so many dresses. ¡°Thank Rudis for dark blue!¡± Pretty, but not too catchy. The dress is simple, comfortable, and still looks pretty. She wouldn¡¯t overly stand out, and so that¡¯s the one that she will wear on the party night.


    October 27, Sunday, Year of 1842. Lotti Hasard.


    Nina shows up a few minutes late today to their meeting, but that¡¯s fine. Lotti likes Nina. She can forgive her, as long as she isn¡¯t too tardy. Nina is very important to her.


    Today¡¯s experiment is a failure as well, but that¡¯s fine. Lotti likes Nina. ¡°Raze will take you to the town today,¡± Lotti says, looking at the dejected Nina.


    ¡°Why?¡± Nina asks, clearly taken aback. She¡¯s very expressive, and that¡¯s not really a good thing in Lotti¡¯s mind, but that¡¯s fine. Lotti likes Nina.


    ¡°You need to pick a dress. We¡¯re invited to a Cyran ball party.¡±


    ¡°Me? Why am I coming¡ªI mean, what use will I be there, Your Majesty?¡±


    Your¡­Majesty? Lotti keeps up her smile despite wanting to frown. Nina hasn¡¯t referred to Lotti before like that before and she looks scared. Well, she always looks scared, but today, she seems more scared and meek than usual. Did she finally hear the latest news about the nobles? Oh¡­well. It was going to happen sooner or later.


    ¡°You will be coming with me because there will be the church and Cyran crown there,¡± Lotti says, and Nina freezes, somehow becoming even more scared than she already was.


    ¡°No, no, the church will¡ª¡±


    ¡°Do nothing,¡± Lotti says, ¡°and can only do nothing. I¡¯ll be there with you. Besides, it¡¯s a crown¡¯s royal hall. Any murder or act of violence committed there will be denounced and penalized by all crowns and the church.¡±


    ¡°But¡­but what use is it to take me?¡± She still does not understand her role, but that¡¯s fine. Lotti likes Nina, after all.


    ¡°You¡¯re the grape, Nina.¡±


    She frowns, staring down at herself. ¡°Grape?¡± Her reaction is quite comical, and Lotti has to give a small snort of a laughter before she says, ¡°A grape that the foxes can¡¯t reach, and never will. I will offer them an outrageous deal for just a slight taste of grape, and they will have no choice but to accept.¡±


    ¡°But¡ªbut if they get a hold of me¡­¡±


    ¡°I just told you that they won¡¯t, didn¡¯t I? They can never do anything to you with me there.¡±


    Nina looks down, considering. A few minutes pass. Annoying. Lotti doesn¡¯t like repeating herself or waiting, but that¡¯s fine. Lotti likes Nina.


    ¡°The church is¡­is evil, isn¡¯t it?¡± Nina asks.


    ¡°Maybe. Does that matter? They want to experiment on you.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­I know,¡± Nina says, looking down.


    Lotti walks up to Nina, and holds her face in her hands, making sure Nina¡¯s eyes are on her face. ¡°It would help me immensely if you come. I would very likely get a very good deal just because the church wouldn¡¯t want to piss me off, considering I have you. Really, you would be such a big help.¡±


    Lotti can very easily guess what goes into Nina¡¯s mind. That girl is one-dimensional. All the cripple wants to be is to be useful. All she wants is to be needed, to belong, and to be worth something.


    ¡°Really? I would be helping you¡­?¡± She asks.


    Lotti broadens her smile, and Nina instantly says, ¡°I¡¯ll...I¡¯ll come with you, then.¡± She speaks if she has a choice. She has grown quite out of her place, but that¡¯s fine. Lotti likes Nina, after al¡ª ¡°No¡­¡± Lotti whispers suddenly, ¡°No¡­this isn¡¯t good.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± Nina asks, frightened. She almost starts to cry. So she really has heard of the public tortures¡­.or is it because of the face that Lotti is making now? Lotti isn¡¯t sure what kind of face is it, but she can tell that she¡¯s not happy.


    ¡°I just feel¡­a little sick. Go wait in your room,¡± Lotti says, letting go of Nina¡¯s face. ¡°Walter will be there in an hour or so. He and Raze will go to the town with you to decide your dress.¡±


    ¡°A¡ªare you sure? What about the¡ª¡±


    ¡°Do I need to repeat myself?¡± Lotti asks, and Nina shakes her head, leaving the room in a rush.


    If only all pieces were like her. A few sentences here and there, and Lotti has what she wants. She could probably convince Nina that the sky was green.


    But there is still a problem, and it¡¯s not with Nina. It¡¯s with the Lotti. Give a successful king or queen a loving spouse, two innocent and adorable children, and all of the sudden you have a ruler with three weaknesses. Nina is growing up to be her weakness. She is her trainee, her student, her work. Hers. A possession that has started to mean something.


    Lotti takes a red wine from her wine collection and sits down, contemplating. She has avoided close relationships for so long. They wouldn¡¯t have lasted anyway, considering how often her relationships ended up with her partner getting killed by her, but she has to admit that she feels a small sense of regret. Maybe she¡¯d be with someone, and they could have adopted Nina. She really does seem like a nice child who¡ª Lotti frowns now, getting up her chair and shaking her head violently.


    No, no, no, no. This won¡¯t do. A piece. That¡¯s all that Nina is. Nothing more than that. She has always wanted to be needed and be useful, so what is the problem with using her like a ragged cloth and then throwing her away when she¡¯s of no use? Just think of her as another piece on the board. It can¡¯t be so difficult. It shouldn¡¯t be so difficult¡­


    Lotti groans and throws the wine bottle on the floor in frustration. It breaks. It¡¯s a good sound. She likes that sound. She grabs another one and throws it too. Another one, again. Good sound. It¡¯s like music to her. Soothing. Breaking things is good. Breaking hearts have a good sound too, as long as it belongs to others.


    But right now it¡¯s her heart. Her ice heart is breaking and cracking. Her entire foundation is threatened by this one monster with no magic. Lotti likes Nina, and that¡¯s not fine.

 Chapter 6 - Journey to Sophia

    <blockquote>


    While the magical beasts can use nine elements, we humans can only use up to seven elements. Fire, air, water and earth are common amongst humans, but light, dark and lightning magic are rarer. Being blessed with six elements is extremely rare, and they¡¯re sought all around the lands, but the ones truly blessed are the ones with seven elements, the spectrums, the avatars of Rudis.


    ¡ªThe Church of Rudis


    </blockquote>


    October 29, Tuesday, Year of 1842. Nina Gray.


    According to Lotti, the amount of Galans that are joining New Gala have been overwhelming, and Nina can certainly see that now, standing inside the Stagford town hall. She peeks outside a window to see thousands of people waiting for news from the assembly conducted by Lotti. It makes sense, Nina supposes, since the red witch was already quite famous, and people still generally support her actions against the bandits and the corrupt nobles.


    Nina feels that the nobles are terrible, but she also feels that they don¡¯t deserved to be tortured heavily. No one deserves to be, but Lotti doesn¡¯t pay much heed to her. Nina still clearly remembers what Lotti said. ¡°The two things I like is people respecting me or me hurting them. If the nobles cannot respect and accept me, I will at least hurt them.¡±


    Lotti finally appears on the floor. She¡¯s with her best squad, as she calls it, with the exception of Raze, who is next to Nina. There is a new soldier amongst them, named Ethan, that only joined recently. Lotti has told Nina about him, but she has yet to talk to him.


    Lotti wears her black and white military uniform. Perhaps it¡¯s only because how every guard and person bows and makes way for her when she arrives, but despite standing amongst everyone in the same uniform, she stands out very clearly.


    Raze and Walter stick close to Nina, making her stand out even more between the two tall men. Nina nervously glances at Ethan, who seems to be the only one with similar height near her. He glances back at her, looks up to Raze and Walter, and then smiles at Nina, whispering, ¡°I know how that feels.¡± Nina decides she likes him.


    They all go inside a room with Nina, joining their guests. ¡°I¡¯m glad that so many of you have taken time to assemble here,¡± Lotti shouts over the noise of the crowd outside, playing with her red hair. ¡°Walter, I understand, has selected all of you based on your strength and leadership capabilities. Most of you are hailed as Galan heroes in various fields, but I do not care for that. All that matters is how useful you are to me. That is all¡­I suppose. Walter will take care of the rest.¡± Then Lotti leaves the room, glancing at Walter, Raze and Nina in order.


    Walter coughs as soon as Lotti is outside the door, and directs all of the attention to himself. Nina realizes that Walter has shaved for the occasion. He walks to the round table and sits at the head¡¯s position which leads an invited woman to gasp.


    Walter, presumably, quickly raises an air barrier over the entire room, and the background noise of the people gathered outside the town hall fades, making it easy to listen to anyone that talks.


    ¡°Walter, is the Queen that busy that she does not even time to talk to her subjects?¡± An old man asks in a feeble voice. He has almost no hair left, but impressively, the few ones that he has are still black.


    Walter shrugs. ¡°She has to leave for an important Cyran ball party in a week,¡± he says, ¡°Besides, you are not her subjects. As already written in the letter, she vehemently opposes the autocratic government that Gala has. She does not want nobles in her land¡­but she does still need people to govern over areas, especially because we are growing so rapidly.¡±


    The faces on the table brighten and Walter pauses a moment before he continues, ¡°Even though I say govern, none of you will be allowed to make or break any laws. All land in New Gala is owned by the Queen and she will lend¡ª¡±


    ¡°What kind of nonsense is this?¡± A particularly plump woman asks, ¡°She does not own the land that my father passed to me.¡±


    Walter glances at her, then sighs as a few more people complain about the same. Walter looks at the plump woman, a dangerous look on his face. ¡°This isn¡¯t up for dispute, Bonnie. Be careful when pronouncing the Queen¡¯s orders as nonsense.¡±


    Bonnie scowls, but does not say anything. Walter nods, satisfied, and then continues, ¡°You all will be enforcers, not rulers. New Gala has only one ruler. All laws will be made, changed or removed by only the Queen¡­and it is your duty to uphold to those laws faithfully.¡±


    ¡°What do we get in return?¡± A burly man asks.


    Walter smiles. ¡°Wages.¡±


    ¡°And?¡± He asks, anxious. ¡°No titles? No land?¡±


    ¡°The land, as I already said, is all owned by the Queen, so you¡¯ll be allowed to borrow a medium size estate in the area you govern. As for your titles, you¡­I suppose¡­will be the head enforcers. It does not come with any privileges.¡±


    ¡°All of us already have lands¡­so all we are getting is a salary and a useless title? We might as well be servants!¡±


    Nina smiles. Not just them, but everyone in New Gala might as well be Lotti¡¯s servants. That¡¯s just how Lotti is. For the first time, Nina realizes how lonely it must be for Lotti, for she has no friends¡ªonly servants and pieces.


    She notices Ethan looking at her quizzically, and hence drops her smile. Ethan opens his mouth, closes it, and then opens it again to say, ¡°I was going to compliment you on your smile. You should have kept it.¡±


    Nina looks at him, frozen for two moments, then smiles again.


    Walter continues when the murmurs finally die, ¡°The wages are 15000 takas a month, but they will be increased with the inflation. Either way, it is quite enough for a decent life, is it not?¡±


    Bonnie growls, ¡°Are you insulting me? Only 15000 takas? I¡¯ve seen some impure make more than that! Why would anyone want this job?¡±


    Walter looks at her. ¡°Did you read the letter I sent you? I already mentioned that we will be working together for the betterment of people, did I not? Is that not why you all gathered here? Or did you assume that you will be granted land, title, money and honour like nobles? Everyone in this nation is a servant to the betterment of the nation.¡±


    Bonnie glares at him, then gets up. ¡°I cannot stand this any further,¡± she says, and another man joins her to head outside.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that if I were you,¡± Walter says. ¡°The only way outside accessible to you is through the front door¡­and there¡¯s at least a thousand people outside.¡±


    Walter drops the air barrier, and shouts, ¡°Can you see how much the crowd is cheering for Her Majesty?¡± He pauses, then says, ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll have questions about what transpired here in the meeting. Not that I would wish such a fate on you, but I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they lynch you, realizing that you did not take up this job. Her Majesty¡¯s supporters tend to be¡­radical.¡±


    The men on the table talk to each other, but Nina cannot hear them until an air barrier is raised yet again. ¡°Is he out of vigour already?¡± She hears Della ask. It doesn¡¯t seem like a question.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t Walter¡¯s barrier?¡± Nina asks, and Della glances at her, as if surprised at the fact that she could speak. After a moment, Della says, ¡°This is my barrier. Walter will waste all of his vigour if he raises another air barrier this big. He¡¯s not a soldier by any means.¡±


    Nina is about to say something when she notices Raze is glancing at both of them, his index finger to his lips. She instantly closes her mouth. Raze is the second last person that she wants to anger.


    Nina focuses back on the table, where they seem to be arguing with Walter. ¡°We can just use the back exit!¡± A short man says, ¡°That¡¯s how we entered.¡±


    Walter tilts his head, then says, ¡°That exit is not for civilians. I¡¯m sorry, but you will have to leave using the main entrance.¡±


    The man says, slowly, ¡°We¡­entered¡­through¡­it.¡±


    ¡°Only because you were special guests. If you leave this meeting without taking the job¡­you are no longer our special guests.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The old man coughs, then says, ¡°So if we do not accept the job, we have to face the thousand people outside¡­isn¡¯t it? I see¡­you have held us hostages.¡±


    Walter looks at the old man, and says, ¡°It is unfortunate that it turned out this way.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that crap!¡± Bonnie screams, ¡°You had this meeting advertised! You planned for all those people outside!¡± She pushes air at Walter in frustration, but before Walter hits the wall with the chair, he¡ªor someone else¡ª pushes the air back. Bonnie unsheathes her sword, lunging and Nina has to wonder how someone that big can run so fast.


    Bonnie never reaches Walter. Della and Lynx are quick, and they disarm her. ¡°Take her to the prison. Her Majesty might enjoy time with her afterwards.¡± Walter says. He does not sound angry.


    Lynx looks at Walter, conflicted, but then is thrown outwards by Bonnie¡¯s air magic.


    ¡°You should restrain yourself before you find yourself in more trouble,¡± Walter warns her. ¡°You fifteen are here because you are popular. Her Majesty believes that you have a duty to uphold to the people because of that.¡±


    Bonnie does not seem to be listening, and lunges towards Walter once again. She has to stop because an arrow passes in front of her, almost hitting her. The arrow hits the wall, and she looks at the source of the arrow to find Hawk, already ready to shoot the next arrow.


    Before she can do anything, Della hits the back of Bonnie¡¯s neck with her sword¡¯s hilt three times, over and over. Then, she pauses, and hits once again, just to make sure, Nina supposes. Lynx raises Bonnie using the air, then groans, letting her down again. Hog joins in to help him, and both of them leave the room, taking Bonnie away.


    ¡°Now,¡± Walter says, watching the table like how a hungry cat watches a mouse, ¡°I hope we have no further distractions. Let me tell you as to what you are expected to do as head enforcers¡­and what happens if you fail to enforce the laws and peace.¡±


    November 6, Wednesday, Year of 1842. Ethan Saint.


    Ethan is a Galan turned New Galan only two weeks ago, but he has already found himself amongst Queen Lotti¡¯s best squad, and he regrets it now, sitting in a carriage, doing nothing. His carriage consists of the Queen, Lynx, Ash, him and Nina. Out of them, only Ash is the talkative type.


    They stop at a place called Black Daggers tavern, and Ethan cannot believe how the Queen likes to stop at dirty taverns rather than polished hotels. She also always wears the uniform, and Ethan decides that she must at least have twenty of those. It is quite risky wearing that uniform in Gala, but the red witch must be the last person to care about that. She grabs Nina and both of them head outside the tavern. Strange.


    ¡°Where are they going?¡± Ethan asks, taking a sip of the beer.


    Ash looks at him, then says, ¡°I don¡¯t care¡­and you shouldn¡¯t either. If Miss Lotti senses you approaching, she¡¯ll behead you so quickly that you won¡¯t have any time to react.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard tales about her,¡± Ethan says, trying not to look at Ash¡¯s eyes. They¡¯re blue. Is she a Cyran?


    ¡°Who hasn¡¯t? The red witch is quite famous. Everyone knows a couple tales, at least. Most of them are not true¡­but it is true that she can behead very fast, and from very far. She doesn¡¯t hesitate, you see.¡±


    Ethan frowns. ¡°I thought you meant beheading using a sword. How could she behead me from far away?¡±


    ¡°It has to be the wind or water,¡± Lynx joins in.


    ¡°Yes, it has to be wind or water¡­but I¡¯m not sure how she does it,¡± Ash admits.


    ¡°It¡¯s not possible to push wind that fast,¡± Ethan says, disbelief clear in his eyes.


    Ash shrugs. ¡°Don¡¯t doubt Lynx. He¡¯s always so serious¡ªI don¡¯t think he can even lie. Have you ever tried lying, Lynx?¡±


    Lynx shakes his head after a minute, recalling all times, and somehow Ethan finds it more unbelievable than beheading people using air. ¡°You must be joking!¡± Ethan says, looking at both of them.


    ¡°Maybe as a child?¡± Ash asks.


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember my childhood well, so it is possible that I did in fact lie.¡± Lynx says.


    Ethan finishes his drink in one go and then asks, looking at Ash, ¡°Is he serious?¡±


    Ash nods. ¡°You can¡¯t lie if you don¡¯t speak. He talked even less at the rebel camp. You should have seen him! Miss Lotti would have taken you in back then just as easily because you¡¯re a hex. That¡¯s like, what, one in a million? Six elements! Rudis must love you very dearly!¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­I suppose he must,¡± Ethan admits, staring at the empty jar of his beer. ¡°But it¡¯s not an achievement by any means. It¡¯s just a gift. I haven¡¯t done much except¡­being born. Her Majesty is quite different, isn¡¯t she?¡±


    ¡°Magic generally doesn¡¯t grow too much after adulthood,¡± Ash says, ¡°And Miss Lotti was already quite powerful at 13 or 14. But even now, I don¡¯t think her magic has stopped growing. She is 28! How does that happen?¡±


    ¡°Have you tried asking her?¡± Lynx interjects, and Ash shakes her head, saying, ¡°There are easier ways to kill myself. She would torture me to death, and she would enjoy it very dearly.¡±


    Ash then turns to Ethan, asking, ¡°How did you know she was different? That her power keeps growing?¡±


    ¡°My older sister¡­let¡¯s say, knew her when she was 14 or 15. She said that Her Majesty was very strong, but not as strong as she is right now. She said that Her Majesty couldn¡¯t possibly the strongest magician in Gala. Maybe in her county, but not in Gala.¡±


    Ash shrugs. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s true. I¡¯ve heard the same thing from many others, too. They say that she was not particularly charismatic either, was she? She didn¡¯t like talking to people at 14 or 15 but now the New Galans adore¡ª¡­wait. Is 15 the age when she was accused of killing couple of her classmates? She talked about it once.¡±


    ¡°My sister says it was never proven that it was her.¡±


    ¡°Did they die horribly?¡± Lynx asks.


    ¡°Slow burns. Fire.¡±


    ¡°Definitely her.¡±


    ¡°She used to take around three hours a day to spend time with Nina,¡± Ash says, ¡°But now they do the same thing in fifteen minutes. That¡¯s¡­not believable, is it? Have any of you noticed time being strange when around her? It¡¯s¡ª¡±


    ¡°Shut up,¡± Lynx says, and Ash does so immediately, glancing at the door. Lotti seems to have come back with Nina but this time, Nina seems unconscious and¡­red. Lotti carries her with wind, stopping by at their table. She drops Nina on it, and then looks at Ethan. ¡°Heal her.¡±


    Ethan finally realizes the red is blood, and asks, frowning, ¡°What did you do to her?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not your job,¡± Lotti says, waving her head. ¡°Just heal her. I don¡¯t want her to die.¡±


    ¡°Are you torturing her?¡± Ethan asks again, then realizes he is trembling.


    Lotti shakes her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think¡­that is what it should be called. We¡¯re just experimenting. Sometimes, it just involves a little bit of blood and pain.¡±


    Ethan¡¯s frown deepens. ¡°What¡­what do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Heal her. I¡¯ll count to five.¡±


    Ethan gives in after a second, starting to heal Nina. Lotti nods, satisfied, as a crowd assembles near them. The tavern is in Gala, which is their enemy, but they don¡¯t say or do anything, most likely knowing that Lotti is the infamous red witch. Ethan didn¡¯t think there are many in Gala¡ªor Adrias¡ªthat haven¡¯t heard of her. Besides, Ethan doesn¡¯t think most civilians in Gala dislike New Gala. They¡¯re quite fond of her, it seems, from their eager yet careful eyes.


    Nina regains consciousness after a minute, and rubs her eyes. She looks up at Lotti for a moment, then looks down again. ¡°I failed once again, didn¡¯t I?¡± She asks.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Ethan asks, but not to Lotti.


    Nina turns around to look at him, then covers her nose. Looks like the smell of the tavern finally got to her. Or maybe it¡¯s just the beer that Ethan drank. Or maybe it¡¯s Ethan. He hopes it¡¯s not him as she says, ¡°Nothing happened. This isn¡¯t the first¡­and isn¡¯t the last. I¡¯m going to keep trying.¡±


    Lotti looks at Nina, then whispers, ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find more material in Sophia. I¡¯ll request access to their library.¡±


    Nina nods. She gets off the table the same time as Galan soldiers start popping inside the tavern through the door. They look at Lotti and she instantly raises an air barrier around the five of them. ¡°It¡¯s fun being famous,¡± Lotti says.


    ¡°It¡¯s because of the uniform you¡¯re wearing,¡± Ash says. ¡°They wouldn¡¯t know we¡¯re New Galans if you didn¡¯t wear that. There¡¯s no difference in appearance or accent to identify us.¡±


    ¡°But what fun would that be?¡± Lotti asks, then unsheathes her sword, glaring at the tavern door. More and more soldiers seem to be slipping inside, all wearing a helm and an armour. They seem to be fully prepared. ¡°We really do have a rat inside, then,¡± Lotti says to them, and then asks, ¡°How long until Della¡¯s or Raze¡¯s carriage reaches here?¡±


    ¡°We left two hours apart to avoid notice,¡± Nina says, ¡°And it¡¯s been about four hours since we¡¯ve been here. They should have been here by now.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only been an hour and half,¡± Ash says, frowning at Nina, who frowns back at Ash. Then they both look at Lotti in unison, understanding. One of the red witch¡¯s tricks, of course. ¡°I was wrong,¡± Nina says, ¡°It¡¯s been an hour and half. Unless they got side-tracked, Della¡¯s carriage will be here in thirty minutes, and Raze¡¯s carriage in two hours and thirty minutes.¡±


    ¡°Does anyone want to count how many of them are there?¡± Lotti asks, as the people inside the tavern evacuate or are forced to evacuate through the entrance, the Galan soldiers letting them pass.


    Ethan guesses it¡¯s about 50 inside the tavern, at least. He doesn¡¯t know how many of them are outside. Once the civilians are outside the tavern, the commander shouts, ¡°The red witch! Your atrocities end now!¡±


    Lotti¡¯s air barrier is attacked by a round of bullets, and then wind is pushed against it.


    ¡°I¡­I give up,¡± Lotti sighs, but despite that, strengthens the barrier.


    ¡°Give up?¡± Nina asks, scared.


    ¡°I mean, I give up on counting them,¡± Lotti clarifies. ¡°I got to 26 and then grew tired.¡±


    ¡°It might be easier to just ask,¡± Ash says.


    Lotti looks at her, then looks at the enemies, shouting, ¡°How many soldiers do you have?¡±


    The commanding officer hesitates a full ten seconds before responding, ¡°We have 700 soldiers! You should surrender peacefully!¡±


    ¡°So it has to be around 300,¡± Lotti says. Ash nods, and another round of musket shots almost breaks the barrier. ¡°I don¡¯t want to kill 300 Galan soldiers. They have families¡­and then I wouldn¡¯t be popular among Galans anymore. So we¡¯ll have to do this the hard way¡­by knocking them out.¡±


    ¡°We could try to run away,¡± Ash suggests. ¡°The tavern¡¯s walls seem quite strong so that¡¯s out of option¡­but underground maybe?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather die than run away. Nobody wants a coward as their ruler,¡± Lotti says, then releases her barrier, pushing air in all directions. It flings the soldiers against each other, and they fall down. ¡°Try not to kill, but you can if they¡¯re too much trouble.¡± Lotti raises a barrier yet again.


    Nina takes a deep breath, then says, ¡°Capture the tavern¡¯s entrance, and then defend our position from there. We won¡¯t be at an overwhelming numbers disadvantage if the area of fighting is limited to just the entrance. One of you can cover it while the other three rest.¡±


    Ethan and Ash look back at Nina. She¡¯s right. The stone door seems like it would hold, and limiting the air barrier to only the entrance will buy them more time. Besides, the enemies can¡¯t fit more than two soldiers at once through the door. ¡°You heard her,¡± Lotti says, smiling so awfully that Ethan instinctively holds his sword defensively.


    She tosses Nina to Ash. ¡°Keep her safe,¡± she says, and then she charges at the door with Ethan and Lynx.

 Chapter 7 - Blight Approaches

    <blockquote>


    The city of Sophia is truly the gem of Adrias. Its charm is matched by the backdrop of pristine skies which have helped shape the city to what it is today. The climate these skies brought were of great importance, but they were also influential when it came to architectural designs as the vast majority of buildings have been built to great heights, as if to try and reach the blue skies above them.


    Many different cultures have left their mark not just on the city''s development, but also upon Sophia¡¯s identity. What historically was a city of no variation full of Cyrans has grown into a large melting pot of diversity. Hundreds of food carts, ethnic inns and taverns offer a plethora of culinary choices and those who feel hungry for something else can enjoy nature, music, magic sports or one of the many other recreational venues.


    ¡ªTrav Ellor, Sightseeing in Adrias, Vol. 1, Chapter 6.


    </blockquote>


    November 6, Wednesday, Year of 1842. Lotti Hasard.


    The Galan soldiers are surprised by Lotti¡¯s squad¡¯s aggressive manoeuvre, but they recover quickly, changing their formation to divide Lotti, Ethan and Lynx. Some of them rush towards Ash and Nina, but Lotti knows that Ash can deal with most of them. Thirty more minutes. She could make the time faster for a while, but it would absolutely crush her vigour for weeks if she does so with so many people around.


    When she tries to move towards the enemy commander, she is surrounded by twenty men, who all have their air barriers raised. At least they aren¡¯t mounted. She unsheathes her sword, then points it in the enemy commander¡¯s direction, glaring, ¡°Get out of my way.¡±


    Only two of them hesitate, but that¡¯s enough for her to jump at them, breaking their air barriers and pushing them away to the side. She runs through the opening, just barely outrunning the soldiers behind her, but before she gets to the commander, she gets intercepted by ten more soldiers again. Great. The enemy is focusing on her.


    She is thinking of what to do when she hears a round of gunshots. It hits her barrier. She decides she cannot let them hit her barrier freely with gunshots, and so she brings down the barrier, then brings down wind so quickly that the enemy muskets get torn in half.


    There are screams all around even though she hurt none of them. ¡°The red witch!¡± She hears them say, afraid. Of course. Very few people know how to make air so fast that it pierces metal, or beheads people, and it¡¯s all the Church¡¯s fault. They teach that they¡¯re nine elements, but humans can only use seven of them. And even when they teach the seven elements, they only teach the absolute basics. They tell you how to make a fire, but do not teach how to remove heat to create ice. They teach to create barriers and spikes of earth, but do not teach digging.


    She had to invade the Church¡¯s secretly for four years to find this information, but even then she did not get to the deepest secrets of the Church. Who knows what else have they hidden?


    Four men flee away from her after she has cut their muskets, screaming ¡°Witch!¡± but the remaining score or so of soldiers stand around her. They charge at once at her barrier, and she grits her teeth as she thinks of a way out without hurting them.


    She puts her barrier down once again and pushes them away. What a pain. Maybe she should just kill them. A fire wouldn¡¯t be so bad. There would be many screams. It could also buy them a lot of time, but Lotti doubts that she can set up a fire easily in the stone tavern.


    The enemies get up and surround her once again quickly, lunging at her. This time she takes slightly longer to raise the air barrier, and so one of the enemies¡¯ swords finds itself inside the barrier. She looks at it almost touch the side of her stomach, then slows the time for herself and barely moves out of the way.


    That was close. She returns the time back to normal, then throws him and his sword on the ground, resisting her urge to stomp on him. She hears Ethan scream, and immediately rushes towards the scream, throwing anyone in her aside to the side.


    As she runs towards him, she realizes Lynx has also done the same, and now the three of them are exactly in middle of the enemy formation. ¡°Nina is in trouble,¡± Lotti says to Lynx. He stares at her blankly.


    Lotti repeats, this time, irritably, ¡°Nina¡­is¡­in¡­trouble.¡±


    Lynx starts running towards Nina and Ash¡¯s direction, and Lotti makes the space for him by pushing everyone except a few that have strong air barriers. Then Lotti examines Ethan, who has found a sword pierced through his left shoulder. He is still somehow maintaining his air barrier under the attacks of Galan, his entire life depending on the air barrier.


    Lotti manipulates time yet once more to get to them quickly and drive her sword in their chest. She¡¯s had enough. She cannot possibly keep both her allies and enemies alive.


    She grabs Ethan, then observes his wound. The sword doesn¡¯t seem to be poisoned, and it¡¯s only his shoulder. He should be fine with light healing. ¡°Stay on the defence, and stay close to me,¡± she says, then walks to help Lynx. She can look at Ash and Nina from the corner of her eye, pushed to the wall. Ash still has her barrier up, however, and most of the enemies are dealing with Lynx, not them.


    She hears his scream this time, and sighs. ¡°Why did you send him there alone?¡± Ethan asks, and she almost throws him to the enemies. Why does this piece keep questioning her? Does he not realize it¡¯s his scream that has caused her so much trouble? He¡¯s almost intolerable. She should have sent him to the enemies instead. Lynx is so much more useful, even though he has a stupid sense of justice.


    She then shouts aloud, ¡°Leave my soldier alive! If you kill him, I guarantee that none of you will be leaving this place alive tonight.¡±


    The enemies stop attacking Lynx, but keep their guard up. Their commander shouts from the other direction, having moved deeper, ¡°Don¡¯t listen to her! Kill him!¡±


    ¡°I swear upon Rudis,¡± Lotti screams, then pushes air at the source of the enemy commander¡¯s voice, and hence beheads him and the four people in the way. ¡°If you do kill him, all of you will die in a similar manner. If you want to live, drop all of your weapons and walk outside the tavern.¡±


    The soldiers are in a state of panic upon seeing the fallen commander¡¯s head, but even then they make the decision to slowly back away from Lynx¡¯s fallen body, screaming ¡®witch¡¯. Now that Lotti can see him without bugs surrounding him, she can see that two of them have driven their swords his stomach and chest. That must hurt.


    ¡°Go outside,¡± she orders. ¡°And tell the rest of the soldiers to not enter. I will kill anyone that tries entering this tavern as soon as you are all out.¡±


    When the soldiers do not react, she beheads two more soldiers to her left. ¡°Go outside already, will you?¡±


    There¡¯s a few screams, and two of them seem feminine. One of them is from one of the enemies, and one is from Nina, who watches Lotti, peeking out of Ash¡¯s back. This is the first time Nina has seen Lotti fight.


    The Galan soldiers immediately start heading outside, and Lotti smiles, relieved. Her bluff worked. It was going to be difficult to behead more enemies. Accelerating wind to high speeds always took a heavy toll on her vigour. She needs to get better at it.


    She walks to Lynx, and looks at Ash. ¡°Go guard the entrance with Ethan. Keep a barrier around it. Nina¡ªyou come here with me.¡±


    She does not like kneeling so she raises Lynx¡¯s body using air to examine his wounds. ¡°The chest one looks deep,¡± she says, removing the sword.


    ¡°What are you doing?!¡± Nina asks from her side, almost screaming. ¡°He will bleed to death if you¡ª¡±


    Lotti looks at her and is about to say something when the smell of blood hits her. Finally. It¡¯s been taking longer and longer for her to pick up on the smell of blood on battlefields. Perhaps she¡¯s getting used to it. She hopes her nose never gets used to it, however. It¡¯s a nice smell.


    ¡°Nina, go bring me a cloth from one of the dead soldiers. Make sure there¡¯s no blood on it, and that it is clean.¡±


    Nina hurries to a dead soldier, and Lotti immediately removes the other sword off Lynx¡¯s stomach. He coughs up some blood, and looks up at Lotti, almost pleading. Lotti begins her magic, and starts fixing his internals, bit by bit. She stops for a moment when she hears someone vomit. It is Nina, of course, but she does eventually brings a uniform to Lotti, and thankfully none of her vomit falls on her dress. The uniform fumbles in her hand, as if she¡¯s afraid of Lotti¡­or perhaps it¡¯s just her nervousness again.


    Lotti immediately tears the uniform into half, and Nina watches the wounds get patched on Lynx¡¯s body. ¡°You¡­know light magic?¡±


    ¡°I wish,¡± Lotti says, smiling. ¡°Then I wouldn¡¯t have to rely on Arael so much.¡±


    ¡°But the wounds¡ª¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not light magic,¡± Lotti says. She lowers her volume, and whispers in Nina¡¯s ears. ¡°There are two elements that the Church hides. I want you to guess and tell me what they are.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Time,¡± Nina says instantly, and Lotti nods. ¡°Then what about this one?¡±


    Nina looks down at Lynx¡¯s body, and more specifically at his wounds. ¡°Blood,¡± she whispers. Lotti nods once more.


    November 11, Monday, Year of 1842. Veradis Candor.


    Veradis¡¯ parents accompany Lily and Veradis to the ball party inside the Grand Hall of Sophia. Neither of them are fond of her. They don¡¯t like that she¡¯s a commoner, which is to be expected. Veradis is the first son, and they always urge him to him marry someone like Blight Demonia, the heiress to the Demonia noble house.


    ¡°Speak of the devil,¡± Veradis whispers, grabbing Lily¡¯s hand, as Blight shows up next to them with three of her friends whose names Veradis has forgotten. Two of them are young men, and one is a young lady. Blight and her friends address his parents respectfully, bowing. Veradis¡¯ parents start talking to her as Lily urges him to walk away. Before he can do so, Blight turns to him and grabs his other arm. She completely ignores Lily as she asks, ¡°How are you nowadays, Veradis?¡±


    Veradis tries to not look impressed at her pretty black dress as he shakes off her hand, ¡°I have been fine, Blight. Thank you. What about you?¡±


    ¡°I have been quite fine, too¡­.but I could be better. Would you have a dance with me tonight?¡±


    Before Veradis can answer, Lily grabs Blight¡¯s hand, gripping it tightly. She smiles, then says, watching Blight¡¯s repulsed face, ¡°That is how it feels when someone grabs your hand without permission. And Veradis is quite busy tonight. Perhaps you should find someone else.¡±


    Blight quickly shakes off Lily¡¯s hand, then stares down at it. ¡°Now that¡¯s enough,¡± Veradis¡¯ father immediately says. ¡°You young ones should be getting along. Lily, you should mind your actions.¡±


    Lily nods meekly, and Veradis frowns at his father. ¡°She didn¡¯t do anything wrong,¡± he says. His parents stare at him blankly, then sigh. ¡°Veradis¡­we have been over this,¡± his mother says, ¡°We thought it was just a¡­phase, but you seem genuinely interested in Lily. You¡¯re the heir. You cannot marry a commoner. It will bring great shame to our house.¡±


    ¡°But you accepted her,¡± Veradis snaps.


    ¡°We thought you would get over her in a few years,¡± his mother says, looking at Lily. ¡°It is unfortunate because she is such a sweet girl, but we really cannot afford to have you marry a commoner.¡±


    ¡°Cannot afford? We are one of the strongest noble houses in Cyra!¡± Veradis says forcefully, but still keeps his voice low.


    ¡°Which is exactly why we can¡¯t do that,¡± his mother says.


    Veradis glares at her, and his father sighs once more. ¡°We will talk about this after the party.¡± Then he and his wife leave, leaving the young ones to themselves.


    Veradis looks at Blight, whose smile has broadened. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll have to spend your life with me, like it or not,¡± she says.


    Veradis ignores her, and looks at Lily, who looks absolutely devastated. ¡°We¡¯ll find a way,¡± he says, putting a hand over her shoulder. Then he finally looks at Blight, asking, ¡°Is this your doing?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps,¡± Blight says, glancing at Lily. ¡°Either way, you should teach your wench some manners. She has no respe¡ª¡±


    Veradis raises his hand and barely stops it before it hits Blight¡¯s face, making her stop. Her only female friend gasps. ¡°Maybe you should learn some manners yourself,¡± he threatens. ¡°It would good you do to not call my future wife a wench.¡±


    Blight smiles.  Did you not hear what your parents said? She¡¯s not your future wife. I am. The Demonia house will be integrated into the Candor household before the next year. Our parents have already decided the marriage hall¡ªthis same very place!¡±


    Veradis grabs the sobbing Lily¡¯s hand and attempts to go away when Blight catches his hand once more. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t do that, you know. It will only make it harder for her to accept it.¡±


    ¡°Leave us alone,¡± Lily snaps, shouting. Gazes finally turn towards them, and Blight sighs, shaking her head in amusement. ¡°Look at what you¡¯ve done. Caused so much more drama than needed.¡±


    ¡°Go away!¡± Lily shouts again, but is more controlled this time. When Blight does not move, Lily almost pounces on her, and Veradis has to control Lily from hurting Blight. ¡°Can you please stop disgracing yourself than you already have?¡± Blight says. ¡°This isn¡¯t a party for the uncivilized servants.¡±


    Veradis gently holds the back of Lily¡¯s neck and makes her look at him. Only him. ¡°It will be fine,¡± he says. ¡°It¡¯s not over. You should know better. Don¡¯t you say that you know me the best? I wouldn¡¯t¡ª¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know,¡± Lily says, rubbing her eyes. ¡°But it was just a big shock¡­here I was thinking about our future and suddenly I find out that it isn¡¯t going to be anything quite like it. But¡­it¡¯s fine. We¡¯ll talk about this with your parents afterwards. For now, let us focus on the party.¡± Lily says.


    ¡°Oh, Dear,¡± Blight says, mockingly. She plays with her long blonde hair as she says, ¡°What a tragedy. Perhaps we should make an opera out of this. What should we call it? ¡®The poor wench¡¯? ¡®The grand tragedy of a noble and his whore¡¯?¡±


    Blight¡¯s friends stare at her uncomfortably, but say nothing. Veradis does his best to ignore Blight¡¯s remarks and focus on Lily but fails after that remark. ¡°Blight, what will it take you to leave us alone?¡± He asks angrily.


    ¡°Well,¡± Blight says right after, biting her red lips, ¡°How about we start off with a dance? I suppose I¡¯ll leave you alone tonight if you agree to that.¡±


    Both Veradis and Lily glare at Blight.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take as a no,¡± she says, nodding. ¡°And that means I¡¯ll continue bothering you.¡±


    Then she turns to her friends, and waves at them. ¡°You all should enjoy the party,¡± she says. ¡°I¡¯m going to spend tonight with him. And then eventually the rest of my life, too.¡±


    ¡°Stay far, Blight,¡± Veradis warns her as soon as her friends are gone. ¡°Stay very far.¡±


    ¡°No, thank you,¡± Blight says, stepping close to him. ¡°I really do think we should dance tonight.¡±


    Lily sighs and goes away to find a chair to sit onto. Veradis follows her, and sits next to her, but no matter how much he ignores Blight, she sticks close to them, grabbing a chair right next to his.


    For the first time, Veradis and Lily focus on today¡¯s main attraction. A group dressed all in black and white uniforms. They clearly stand out, dressed all in uniforms while everyone is in party wear.


    Veradis whispers to Lily, ¡°The new country. I¡¯m not sure whether I understand their thought process behind wearing their military uniform here.¡±


    ¡°They must be ready to fight,¡± Blight interrupts.


    ¡°No. They would never come here to fight. It¡¯s suicidal. It¡¯s just one of their antics, I guess. Maybe they¡¯ll show up at every party with their uniforms. We don¡¯t¡ª¡± Veradis shuts up once he realizes that he responded to Blight. He is supposed to be ignoring her, but is clearly failing. She smirks at him.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Lily says, discretely pointing a teenage girl dressed in a dress. She¡¯s the only one not dressed in the black and white uniform of New Gala. It¡¯s not too impressive¡ªjust a long white dress¡ªbut the contrast is undeniable. ¡°Who is that?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Veradis shrugs. ¡°I only know about Lotti Hasard.¡±


    The party has had very little interaction so far so Lily asks ¡°Is this normal?¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course, but you wouldn¡¯t know,¡± Blight responds instead.


    Veradis ignores her and says, looking from group to group. ¡°It¡¯s quite normal. The New Galan group. The Cyran group. The Church of Rudis. Those are the major three powers here currently. But see here, there¡¯s also those small groups from Runan, Ivinity, and Iota.¡±


    ¡°How can you tell?¡±


    ¡°14 years of attending parties will do that.¡±


    The groups finally start diffusing into one another. All eyes are on Queen Lotti Hasard of New Gala and King Aidan of Cyra, but they don¡¯t seem to approach each other. ¡°Are they saving it for the last?¡± Lily groans, ¡°I¡¯ll grow bored to death.¡±


    ¡°They just want the other one to approach them.¡±


    ¡°As a power move?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a noble thing,¡± Veradis shrugs. ¡°It¡¯s all about who puts away their pride and dignity aside first. I hope it¡¯s not the King, but he wouldn¡¯t want to waste all the night, and the New Galan group is barely interacting with people.¡±


    Just as Veradis says that, an old man dressed in heavy robes approaches Queen Lotti. Lily can¡¯t hear what they are talking about, but the old man looks furious. He¡¯s from the church of Rudis, judging from his robes. Has Lotti Hasard done something to piss off the church? Surely not. Queen Lotti suddenly grabs the shoulder of the only girl not dressed in a uniform and sends her away.


    ¡°What?¡± Veradis frowns, as the girl walks away, extremely hesitant. She seems to be walking in no particular direction. ¡°Who is that? Why¡¯s she dressed differently?¡±


    ¡°Political marriage, maybe,¡± Lily grumbles. ¡°Isn¡¯t it really common for you higher class people? Like you and this¡­bitch.¡±


    ¡°Be careful with your words, wench,¡± Blight says. ¡°I can very easily get you removed from the military. You should be thanking me that I haven¡¯t done so yet.¡±


    Lily ignores Blight and looks at the New Galan girl. ¡°She looks like she¡¯s 15. That¡¯s not an age for marrying.¡±


    ¡°Political marriages don¡¯t really care about that,¡± Veradis says.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go have a talk with her,¡± Lily says, and Veradis grabs her hand tight. ¡°Why? What¡¯s the point of picking a dress that doesn¡¯t stand out if your actions are going to stand out?¡±


    ¡°I¡­I just want to make sure. She¡¯s too young. Besides, I want to be¡­not around with you or her for some time.¡±


    Veradis frowns, then says, ¡°I¡¯m telling you that it¡¯ll be fine, aren¡¯t I? Why are you acting like it¡¯s over?¡±


    ¡°Because I really have nothing against her,¡± Lily says, glaring at Blight. ¡°I know that she¡¯s going to get me fired from military no matter what I do. She¡¯s going to make sure we¡¯re separated.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll stop it,¡± Veradis says. ¡°My word weighs higher.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t weight as high as her or your parents¡¯ words. You¡¯re the heir. They¡¯re the real nobles.¡±


    ¡°I see the commoner has some semblance of brain, at least,¡± Blight says. ¡°She¡¯s right. As I said, our parents have already decided to marry us off, regardless of whether we want it or not.¡±


    Veradis lets go slowly off Lily¡¯s hand and she runs off. Blight begins to talk about something, but he isn¡¯t paying attention to her. A moment later, he gets up and chases after Lily, despite her wishes to be left alone for a moment. Blight follows him, and he follows Lily to the white dress girl.


    The white dress girl still seems quite lost, and no one else approaches her, unsure of what and who she is. She reminds Veradis of Lily ten years ago. Left alone. As they walk closer, a tall man and a short woman intercept their path. They¡¯re both wearing the New Galan uniform. The man scares Veradis very much, but he still says, ¡°We would like to talk to that¡­young lady.¡±


    They look at each other in amusement, then bring the white dress girl ahead. ¡°You can talk, but maintain your distance,¡± the tall man says.


    ¡°Hello,¡± Lily smiles, ¡°What is your name?¡± Good old Lily, trying to be nice to people even when she¡¯s really pissed off.


    The girl anyway in a thick Galan accent, ¡°Nina.¡±


    ¡°Where are you going? You¡¯ve been roaming in circles for a minute or so.¡±


    The girl doesn¡¯t answer, just shakes her head in a light manner. She looks so terrified. ¡°What is the matter?¡± Lily asks, ¡°Now I know that our countries haven¡¯t been on the best terms recently¡­but if there¡¯s any problem you have in Cyra as our guest, it is our problem, yes?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Nina says, ¡°I¡­I just want to get out of here. I feel the church glaring at me. They¡¯ll¡­¡± She doesn¡¯t say anymore for a second, then takes a step back. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be this far. I need to be in Lotti¡¯s sight.¡±


    She¡¯s an impure, Veradis notices. Not that it would matter much in a political marriage if that¡¯s the case. ¡°Are you getting married?¡± Veradis asks, and Nina looks at them, stupefied. ¡°What¡­? No?¡±


    ¡°Then why are you dressed in such a¡­uh, normal manner? The rest of you are all in uniforms.¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± Nina nods slowly. ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m a grape.¡±


    Veradis tilts his head. Grape? A fucking fruit? ¡°Grape?¡±


    ¡°Yes, a gra¡ª¡±A sudden scream makes them all turn towards its origin. Lotti. No, not Lotti. The old man that Lotti was talking to¡ªnow he is floating in the sky, at mercy of Lotti. ¡°No violence in here!¡± A Cyran guard¡¯s voice echoes, and all of the Cyran guards unsheathe their swords, ready to fight.