We started out fine after the whistle blew. Jamal, Serenity and I made a beeline for the buildings and got up to the roofs with ease. Jade and Derrek headed for the road between both buildings and set up there, Derrek with his shield up and Jade just behind him with her axe ready.

  I scrambled up the next roof after Serenity and dropped down in front of her into the lower part of the building and watched as the other team’s 5 members stayed on the ground and set up shop between the buildings.

  “Jamal, get down!” Serenity yelled just before arrows came flying towards them. Serenity dropped down where I was and I watched as Jamal took cover behind another part of the building to his left.

  “What do we do now?” Serenity asked, peering over my head.

  “We’ll have to either wait for them to make a move or we move first.”

  “Riv!” Jade called up.

  I leaned over the roof and looked down at her. “Yeah?”

  “If we all move forward, can you go around the edge? You’re really small, you might be able to make it without being seen.”

  I squinted at her and sighed, nodding. Maybe being short and stocky did have its advantages.

  “Serenity, Jamal, stay up there and pick anybody off if you can, we’ll move forward.” Jade said, patting Derrek on the back of his shoulder. He nodded and moved forward, holding his shield up to defend them.

  Serenity and Jamal started firing their bows, causing the other team to duck for cover. I waited for a few minutes as Derrek and Jade got closer, the other team too busy being occupied with dodging Jamal and Serenity’s arrows. I glanced at Serenity’s quiver, checking how many arrows she had left. It was about half full since she’d forgotten to refill it, meaning we didn’t have long to piddle around.

  I grabbed my halberd and dropped down the right side of the building, ducking between another building to my right. I looked up towards the other squad’s side and crouched, slowly making my way towards them using the little fountains around the middle of the square for cover. I dropped lower as I got closer, almost crawling around to the other side, hoping no one had seen me. Their archers were still on the ground as far as I could tell, so they didn’t have the vantage point to see me.

  Once I made it across to the side of the enemy squad’s building, I peeked around the fountain, judging the distance between me and the first person. Luckily they had their back to me, so I ducked low and ran to the building, and paused, trying to make eye-contact with Jade or Derrek to let them know it was time to press the attack. Neither of them saw me, so I jumped up and waved, before I crouched back down, causing Jade to burst out laughing.

  The other squad members looked around in confusion and that’s when they saw me. I dashed forward and hit the shield bearer behind the knees, the weight of his shield causing him to topple over. I turned to parry the sword behind me, but was a little too slow and got a brand-new gash in my forearm as payment.

  “Duck!” I backed up just in time as Jade launched herself at the swordfighter, knocking them out cold with the flat of her axe. Derrek was right behind her clashing with the other shield bearer who was still on the ground, struggling against Derrek. I swapped my halberd to my other hand and unsheathed my rapier as I ducked around in front of the shield bearer, using him to block the archers. I tried to kick the shield out of the way, but I got in Derrek’s way and he tripped over me, falling forward.

  I pushed Derrek down, out of the way of the sword that was coming down towards his head and stabbed upward into the shield bearer’s other arm, causing him to drop the shield. I pushed it away from us and pulled Derrek to his feet, ducking one arrow and getting another in my shoulder.

  “Riv, what are you doing?” Derrek hissed, holding his shield in front of us both as I pulled the arrow out of my shoulder. Jade took out the other swordsman before launching an attack at the shield bearer, helping Derrek take him down. She ran back behind Derrek as Serenity and Jamal dodged and weaved arrows as they made their way up to us.

  “I thought I could take out the shield quick.” I said, holding my rapier up.

  “Next time, don’t.” He glared at me.

  “Sorry.” I muttered, looking around, trying to think of a way to take out the archers.

  “We just have those two, so it might not have been pretty, but we got it sort of handled.” Serenity said, releasing two arrows in quick succession, hitting one of the archers with one of the two arrows.

  “Jade, think we can go around behind the buildings and take them out from behind?” I asked, nodding to the right.

  “Maybe.” She said, chewing on her lip. “I don’t see why we wouldn’t be able to, but if the swordsmen get up, it’s just Derrek who can fight close-ranged.”

  “I have my dagger.” Serenity said, knocking another arrow. “Just go, don’t look back. We’re close to finishing this fight. Besides, if they turn their backs, we’ll be here to take them out. Jamal and I are running out of arrows, so make it quick.”

  “Right.” Jade nodded to me and we both took off. She went left and I went right, heading around the back side of the buildings.

  My arm hurt really bad so I leaned my halberd against the wall behind me and swapped my rapier to my left hand. I’d practiced with it before on several occasions at Teodoric and Torgrud’s insistence, but I was definitely weaker with that arm.

  I stopped at the corner and leaned around, jerking my head back as an arrow whizzed passed my nose. One archer was facing us and the other was still facing the other way, both ducked down behind part of a wall that jutted out.

  “What now?” I called to Jade, as she leaned against the wall, panting heavily.

  “He’s not shooting as fast as Serenity, let him shoot and then make a run for it. I’m not as fast as you are, so I’ll get the other archer.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” I nodded, taking a deep breath before I leaned my shoulder around the corner, ever so slightly, hoping he would shoot at me. He did and I took off around the corner, realizing my mistake as soon as I faced him head on. He hadn’t shot the arrow, his teammate had. He smirked as he released his arrow and I dove forward, hit the ground with my hurt shoulder and rolled back up, stabbing out with my rapier, holding it to his throat.

  Jade, hot on my heels, took the arrow to her chest. Luckily for her, it glanced off her chestplate and she kept running, knocking out the other archer with ease.

  “Oh my gods, did we do it?” Serenity asked, running towards us.

  “Are they still alive?” I asked, stepping away from the archer who held his hands up in surrender. I leaned down and checked the pulse of one of the swordsmen, he was still alive, just out cold.

  “They’ll be fine.” Derrek shrugged.

  “Check on the other one, I hit him pretty hard.” Jade said, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.

  “They’re all still alive.” Jamal said, standing up from where he was crouched over the shield bearer. “Might not want to be when they wake up, but they’ll be fine.” He snorted.

  “Ah, geez.” I smirked, shaking my head.

  The swordfighter in front of me groaned and shifted, so I leaned down to help him sit up. He knocked my hand away and stood up on his own.

  I shrugged and stepped away to check on the other swordsman, but she was already up, talking to Jade.

  “That was fun! I just wish we’d been able to duel it out, guess I have a long way to go still.” She said, putting her hand on her hip and rubbed the back of her neck. “Did you have to hit me so hard, though?”

  “Sorryy, I guess I got carried away.” Jade said, patting her on the shoulder.

  I walked around behind the building to grab my halberd and froze when I finally heard the crowd cheering. I did a little wave, causing some to cheer louder, before I hurried back to my squad. I smiled to myself, remembering one of the few times Igraine and I had snuck down to the city streets to watch a few of the battles before we’d been caught and sent back to the palace.

  We didn’t have to wait long for the captains to come and get us, handing us each a long page of notes of what we needed to do for improvements. Jade rolled hers up and shoved it into her back pocket with a scowl on her face as she helped Derrek pick his shield up.

  “That bad?” I asked, strapping my halberd back on.

  Derrek made eye-contact with me and gave a sharp shake of his head, so I moved away, wondering if she was okay.

  “That was something.” Serenity said, coming up beside me and leaned her arm on the top of my head. “I think we did fairly well for our first fight.”

  “I would agree, but did you have to stab me like that?” The shield bearer said, his eyes narrowed at me.

  “How else was I supposed to stop you?” I ducked my head. It wasn’t like I wanted to hurt anyone, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

  “Next time you come up with some idea to get underfoot, don’t.” Derrek squinted at me.

  “Sorry.” I mumbled, unrolling the paper to read the comments.

  “Not here.” Serenity shook her head. “Let’s go back to the training field for dismissal and then we’ll go over them together later.”

  I nodded, rolling it back up as I followed everyone out of the arena. The mages were already at work cleaning up the blood and arrows off the ground.

  Serenity and I trailed behind the other knights in silence, looking around at the crowd. People were starting to clear out for the evening, but there were a few drunks hanging around the entrance slurring their shouts at us. I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, but Serenity tensed up, her hand gripping her bow.

  “What is it?” I asked, leaning closer to her.

  “Nothing… Just drunkards with no sense left.” She scowled, picking up her pace, hurrying away from them.

  We split off from Jamal, Jade, and Derrek when we got to the training field after Kaine waved us over to him. Jade and Jamal waved us goodbye and Derrek only stood there, a blank expression on his face.

  “I saw a few things we need to work on, but I think you two already have the whole teamwork thing down.” Kaine said, handing us both a water jug.

  “I’m not sure I want to team up with the other three again, but Jamal’s a good shot.” Serenity shrugged.

  “Good, because the teams are going to be split up again for tomorrow. Today gave the captains a good idea of what people are capable of. Derrek and Jade make a good team, Jamal is a force all on his own, so he could realistically be placed on any team and make the most of it. You two are a permanent fixture, so be prepared to be placed on any team from here on out. Although, now that I say that, they’ll probably partner you up with your future team under Captain Marigold sooner. You both have enough training already, unlike most of these new recruits who only picked up a sword today.” Kaine stretched his arms over his head and looked towards Captain Burkhardt as he addressed the crowd. We were too far to hear him, but Kaine jerked his head towards the barracks and we followed him as he turned away.

  “Oh, while you were busy, Lord Silvo requested your presence immediately Rivienne. He said to meet him in his office in the palace, he said you knew the way.”

  “I do…” I sighed, wishing I could just go eat quick and then crash on a cot for the night. “Well, duty calls.” I shrugged, waving bye to Serenity as I jogged towards the palace.

  “Meet us in the barracks when you’re done, we’ll get a plate of food for you.” Kaine called after me.

  “Thank you!” I replied, picking up my pace. Food would be waiting for me. All I needed to do was get this meeting thing over with and then I could eat.

  By the time I finally made it to the palace, the sun was just about gone. I hurried down teh halls as fast as I could go without running. I made a quick detour on the way to Lord Silvo’s office, stopping by Igraine’s rooms, hoping she was there. I saw her guards posted outside the door, so I hurried on, hoping to see her before I went to Lord Silvo.

  I went to knock on the door when the guards crossed their lances over the door, blocking me from it.

  “The Princess is not receiving guests right now.” The one on the left, Bucky, said.

  “Not even me?” I asked, backing up a step.

  “Sorry, not even you. She’s… well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tell you, but she’s been really upset ever since she met with Lord Silvo earlier.” The guard on the right, Adrianna, said, shrugging at me.

  “I wonder what happened…” I said to myself, shaking my head. “Thank you.” I saluted them, remembering they were technically my superiors now.

  “Oh that’s right, you did join the knights today. How’d that go?” Bucky asked, lowering his lance.

  “I dunno, I haven’t read my report yet.” I waved the paper in the air. “Although, we won our match, so maybe that’s a good thing?” I shrugged.

  “How’d you think it went then?” Adrianna asked, leaning against her lance.

  “I have a few things I need to work on, my confidence being the biggest thing, but I think I did okay for my first day. Anyway, I have to meet with Lord Silvo. Have a good evening you two! Oh, if you don’t mind, could you tell Igr- er, Princess Igraine I said hello?”

  “Sure thing.” Bucky nodded.

  “Bye Rivi, good luck this week if we don’t see you again!” Adrianna said, waving to me.

  I waved and headed back down the hall the way I came, heading left down another hall, before I crossed the upper balcony, making my way to Lord Silvo’s office, just passed the king and queen’s offices.

  “Rivienne.” A voice hissed from behind me.

  I froze and turned slowly, recognizing Queen Elincia’s voice.

  “Yes?” I whispered.

  “Come here, quickly.” She said, leaning out of her office door.

  I hurried into her office and she shut the door behind me. “The Royal Guard wasn’t posted outside the door, I didn’t re-”

  “For good reason. I don’t want him knowing I’m in here,” she said, jerking her head towards Lord Silvo’s office. “Now, two things. One, I have a mission for you and two, well, nevermind on the second one for now.”

  “Yes?”

  “I need you to sneak into Edvard’s office.” She said, leaning against the front of her desk.

  I blinked at her and glanced at his office door connecting to hers.

  “I’m serious, Rivienne. Go, do it.” she waved a hand at the doors.

  “I’ve never picked a lock without magic-”

  She rolled her eyes and strode forward, snatched my arm up, pulled my sleeve back, and used her own magic to take off the bracelet.

  “There. Now, go. Break into his office.”

  I paused, thinking. Do I disobey a direct order from the Queen? No. I squared my shoulders and grasped the tiniest wisp of mana, sending a bit of wind magic into the key hole, using it to try unlocking the door. I could feel a block on it however, not allowing my magic to open it. It made sense, being the King’s office after all, so I changed tactics, using a bit of earth magic to create a physical key. I half expected it to not work either, but I grinned as the lock clicked open.

  I stepped back and she stepped forward, a look of satisfaction on her face.

  “Why-”

  “Sh, don’t ask questions.” She stepped into the King’s office and motioned for me to follow her, so I did, lingering by the door as she walked around the room, looking for something. I wasn’t sure what she was looking for, so I waited silently, my heart racing in my chest. She’d almost made a full circle around the room, looking at the books on the shelves, when she stopped, suddenly snatching an old rolled-up map off the shelf.

  “Ah, here it is.” She said, unrolling it and setting it on the floor. “Come here and look at it, tell me what you see.”

  I walked over and traced the lines of the borders, recognizing the Deepwood Forest, Reilu Tuuli, Vihainen Tuuli to the west across the mountains, Jaa Tuuli to the north, and Tulipalo Tuuli to the south. Nothing out of the ordinary. “I just see the forest, the capitals, the borders of each country, why?”

  “Good, now, look at this one.” she said, pulling another map off the shelf, unrolling it on top of the first map. “What do you see on this one?”

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  It was the same map, but the east… “There’s a capital to the east.” I said, putting my hands on my knees to lean closer.

  “Exactly.” She nodded. “This is my second task for you. In your free time, I need you to research everything you can about this city the east.”

  Free time? What free time? I simply nodded, squinting at it. “How old is this map?”

  “Not a clue, but it doesn’t matter. Lord Silvo is up to something and I need my plan to move faster than it is. I know you have two weeks left of your training and I can’t hurry that along any faster without becoming too suspicious, but I need you to do what you can to find this city.”

  “May I ask why?”

  “You may ask, but that doesn’t guarantee you an answer.” She smiled, an amused glint in her eye.

  “I may know someone who might know.” I said, thinking about Tiamat. If she didn’t know, then maybe she knew of someone who did.

  “If they’re in the capital, you cannot ask them. We are going along with the thought that no one can be trusted. I do mean no one. Not even my daughter right now, she’s become too close to young Silvo.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.” I saluted, my heart aching at the thought of keeping something like this from Igraine, but I had to trust my queen.

  “Now go, I’ve kept you long enough. Hopefully by now Lord Silvo is too annoyed with you being this late that he’ll send you away without any trouble.” She smirked, rolling up the maps to put them back on the shelf.

  “Your Majesty?” I paused at the door.

  “It’s Elincia, Rivienne. Nothing has changed between us except for the fact that I can send you places and no one will bat an eye. Now, what is it?” She asked, turning to me after she put the maps on the shelf.

  “Oh, my bracelet, but…” I took a deep breath before turning to her. “I assume you trust me enough, otherwise you wouldn’t give me this… job.”

  “Of course.” She nodded, pulling my bracelet out of her pants pocket.

  “Well, if… I felt the need to consult someone else for their expertise-”

  “Rivienne, I trust you. You’ve proven yourself time and time again over the years, as long as you don’t give up the specific details of this mission I’ve given you, you have my blessing to do what it is you need to do.”

  “I understand.” I said, turning away to head back through the door.

  “And Rivi?”

  “Yes?”

  “Thank you,” she smiled, her familiar warmth filling her eyes.

  “Of course.” I returned her smile, before I left, heading to face whatever Lord Silvo had in store for me.

  It turned out he didn’t have time for me anymore, so he sent me on my way, a scowl deeply set on his face. I left, making the long trek back to the barracks, ready for bed. I wasn’t even hungry anymore. It was still mid-spring, so the nights were still chilly. I shivered, wishing I had a coat at least.

  Violet asked me to join the resistance, Queen Elincia now asking me to gather information on an eastern city I’d never heard of. No mention of it in any of the tomes I’d read. Do I tell the resistance about her plan? Surely their goals would align, eventually at least. No, she trusted me to keep it secret. I already had a lot of secrets to keep, what was one more?

  When I got back to the barracks, Serenity and Kaine were still up, reading through her notes.

  “Hey.” I said, collapsing on the cot across from Serenity’s.

  “Your food’s on the table.” Kaine said, not looking up.

  “How’d it go?” Serenity asked, glancing up at me.

  I shrugged, holding the bracelet up that I hadn’t put back on yet, letting the stones glitter in the candlelight. We had lights run by magic circles, but I guessed one of the other two, like me, preferred candlelight to the bright lights.

  “You didn’t put it back on?”

  “No, not yet…”

  “You need to eat and then we’ll go over your notes.” Kaine said, passing Serenity’s notes back to her.

  “I’m not hungry, we can just go over-”

  “Eat.” Kaine said, narrowing his eyes at me.

  “Dinner’s really good, it’d be a shame to let it go to waste.” Serenity said, getting up. She grabbed the plate and brought it to me.

  “Oh.. thank you.” I said, sitting up to take it from her.

  “Sorry it’s cold.”

  “It’s not your fault.” I shrugged, using some magic to warm my plate up.

  “Are you seriously going to risk your neck just to warm your dinner up?” Kaine asked, shaking his head at me.

  “Mm, yeah. I’ll use magic while I still can.” I shrugged, picking up my fork to dig into the chicken and rice as Serenity sat across from me, polishing her bow.

  I balanced the plate on my knee, pulling the page of notes out of my pocket with my other hand and unrolled it. I skimmed through it as I ate, squinty at the swirly cursive writing. Several comments about building more confidence in my decisions, learning to take charge more often, solidifying a plan before making a move, communicating better, learning to be patient, choosing one weapon and sticking with it, paying more attention to my surroundings, and prioritizing my own defence more.

  “Let me see it.” Kaine said, leaning forward to grab it from me.

  I let him have it and went back to eating my chicken, shoving the rice to the side. None of the notes were new to me, it was the same thing Teodoric and Torgrud have been telling me for years.

  “What’s wrong with the rice?” Serenity asked, setting her bow on the mattress between us.

  “Nothing, I just don’t really care for rice,” I said through a mouthful of chicken.

  “Don’t waste food.” Kaine glared at me from over the top of the paper.

  “I wasn’t planning to, I’ve got some sauce I shoved in my suitcase because I know rice is the main thing knights eat. That and beans,” I shrugged.

  “Sauce? In your suitcase?” Serenity snorted at me.

  “Mhm.” I hummed, leaning down to grab my suitcase from where it sat, resting against my cot. I snapped it open and opened a box I’d shoved in the bottom, puling out a small jar of Torgrud’s famous sweet and sour sauce. Serenity took the jar from me and opened it, sniffing at it.

  “Who made this?” She asked, wrinkling her nose up at it. “It smells really sweet.”

  “Torgrud made it especially for me, he knows I have a sweet tooth.” I hummed, watching as she opened it to pour some on my rice for me.

  “Can I try some?”

  “Sure.” I passed her my fork and she scooped some up, taking a bite.

  “Wow.. that is very sweet.” She shivered, scrunching her nose up. “It’s good though. I’ll have to stop by the tavern next time I’m home and try some that isn’t… Rivified.”

  I laughed, nodding at her. “Yes, you should.”

  “Well, I have a good idea of what we need to work on tomorrow. Light’s out.” Kaine said, standing.

  “What, not gonna stay in here with us?” Serenity smirked.

  “Oh Hells no I am not staying in here with you two. I have a much more comfortable bed to go sleep in.” He folded the notes up and put them in his pocket as he left us, leaving the barracks.

  “Well, I guess that’s that.” Serenity said as she stood and headed to the sink, grabbing her tooth brush off the counter.

  I shoveled the rest of the rice into my mouth as fast as I could, running to grab a cup of water off the table when I started choking on the rice.

  “Mm mmhm mhm?” Serenity turned to me, her mouth full of toothpaste.

  I chugged the water and coughed before drinking some more. I forced out a laugh once I’d gotten myself back together and waved her off, before I grabbed my own toothbrush.

  “I’m fine,” I laughed. We brushed our teeth and crawled under the blanket on our cots, not even bothering to change clothes or shower. It was too late at night and we were both too tired to care.

  It didn’t take Serenity long to fall asleep. I was listening to her deep, even breathing trying to calm my mind down. All I could think about was what Queen Elincia asked me to do. I kept wracking my brain, trying to remember anything about an eastern city that I might’ve read about as a kid. I’d read a lot of history books, trying to piece it all together. A lot of the historians were Astral Mages, so of course most of what I found had painted them in a perfectly good light. However, the stories the dragons, Shalana, Torgrud, and even some of the stories passed down through Hunter families said otherwise.

  I eventually just gave up and got up. I was going to seriously regret not sleeping tonight, but I had to do something before I drove myself insane thinking about this.

  I was almost to the door in the barracks before I remembered the stupid bracelet and went back to the cot and dug through the blanket for it. I grabbed it and shoved it into my pocket and left, heading into the cool night air. Clouds had moved in and the moon barely shone through, but it was just enough to be able to see where I walked until I got out of the knights’ grounds, heading up the long twisting streets towards the palace.

  Anyone else wandering around at night would have been suspicious, but the passing patrols nodded as we passed each other. Being a well-known friend of the princess had its perks on occasion, until it didn’t

  “Rivi?” One of the guards at the palace gates stopped me. “Hey!” She took her helmet off.

  “Hey. Oh, hey! Aria! It’s been… I don’t even know, a year?”

  “Something like that. Been busy with patrol and… doing damage control.” Her expression darkened as she tucked her chin down slightly, the shadows hiding her face.

  “I assume after magic…”

  “Yeah.” She sighed, leaning against the wall behind her. “What brings you up here this late?”

  “Actually, I might be here to see you, now that I think about it.”

  “Oh? What’s up?” Her brown eyes sparked in interest, her Lagonai ears twitching.

  “You were a pirate once upon a time, right?” I dropped my voice low, stepping closer to her. I knew she didn’t like to talk about it much. I’d only found out when I found her gryphon’s nest in Deepwood years ago.

  She regarded with suspicion, before reluctantly nodding her head, “Yeah, why?”

  “Well… uh…”

  “Spit it out.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Do you remember hearing anything about a city to the east?”

  She thought for a moment, scrunching her eyebrows. “Hmm… We sailed along the cliffs mostly, there are fishing villages out there, but nothing that would be close to being called a city. Why?”

  “Well… I can’t… tell you.” I trailed off.

  “Please just tell me you’re not doing anything dangerous.” She sighed.

  “Not at the moment,” I grinned sheepishly.

  “Fine, but if you need anything, you know how to find me. As for your city…” she leaned down, lowering her voice. “I’ve heard there’s a rather large library in the underground city. If you ever have the opportunity to check, I’d start there. It’s mostly untouched by the Astral mages.” She winked at me knowingly. “Apparently, it’ chock full of all kinds of forbidden knowledge.”

  “Huh… I hadn’t thought about that.” I wondered how I’d be able to sneak down there, what with the sealed gates blocking the entrances.

  “Queen Elincia has an entrance somewhere, ask her.”

  “How-”

  “She’s been up to something for months now. She’s doing a fine job of hiding it, but anyone who really knows her, knows she would never leave her people in the state they’re in for long. I was wondering how long it would take for you to come find me about the city. She asked me the same question a few weeks ago.”

  I went to ask another question, but stopped, thinking about what she’d just told me and what I knew of our queen. I’d always thought of her as another mother since I grew up in the palace most of the year as a kid, but did I really know her?

  “What is it?” Aria asked, fiddling with her cutlass.

  “How long have you known Queen Elincia and King Edvard?”

  “Since they were born, why?” She squinted at me, thoughtful, but not judgemental.

  “I just wondered… Have they changed? Have their goals and ideals changed? Queen Elincia asked me to find the city, but does she have some ulterior motive for after it’s found?”

  “You’re wondering if you can trust them.” She said, matter-of-factly.

  “Well… not exactly, but yes.”

  “I can say with certainty that you can trust Queen Elincia, however, if she asks you to do something that your gut tells you not to do, don’t outright ignore that feeling, but don’t refuse her order. There’s a reason she’s asked you to do it. If you can, ask for clarification. See if she’ll explain her thought process a little more. You’ll find she’s very agreeable and willing to let you into the fold, especially if she’s already given you the task of finding the city.”

  “I see…”

  “Now, rumor has it you’re being placed with Serenity Iktuk, do you know which captain?”

  “Captain Marigold.” I said as quietly as I could, knowing she’d hear it, not risking someone else overhearing.

  Her eyes widened quickly before she went back to a neutral expression.

  “Why?” I asked, suddenly concerned about the placement.

  “No, no. Sorry, it’s just… I would’ve thought she’d put you on one of the squadrons posted closer to the palace. Though… if it’s Marigold…”

  “Aren’t those elite squads, though?” I asked, tilting my head. “King Edvard only wants the best of the best to defend the palace.”

  “Yes, but… hmm… I was there that night in the throne room, so I know your predicament with Lord Silvo. If she really wanted to keep an eye on you, she would’ve found a way to put you on one of the elite squads. Even if you are a bottom of the barrel fighter,” she smirked at me.

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  “If she’s putting you on Marigold’s squad, that changes a lot. Captain Marigold is… different from a vast majority of the rest of the captains. She’s extremely good at what she does, but have you ever met her?”

  “No, I can’t say I have.” I shook my head.

  “There’s a few reasons for that. The first being that she and her squadron are gone for months at a time on a single mission, or even just a routine patrol, and they usually return one or two members short. She refills her ranks and they leave again, for another few months. I’ve only met her once, and she’s kind, but there’s something odd about her and her squad, nothing I can quite put my finger on.”

  A shiver ran down my spine. -they usually return one or two members short. “I guess Serenity and I will have to make sure she doesn’t lose any more members.”

  “I wouldn't worry too much about it, word is you can hold your own against Kaine for a decent amount of time at least.”

  “I can, but I have a habit of getting in the way of squad mates and I rush in too quickly.”

  “You’re a fencer, yes?”

  I simply nodded.

  “That’s your job. Rush in before the enemy can react and then get the hell out of dodge. Same with daggers. Once you start working with your official squadron, you’ll learn their fighting styles and be able to anticipate their movements in addition to your enemy’s. Just gotta get over your tunnel vision,” she shrugged. “It comes with the territory. Even with all your training, nothing prepares you for the real deal.”

  “I see…”

  “Now, it’s late, you need to go sleep. I’ll send a hawk to some of my old shipmates and see if they can scrounge up any information for you,” she held her hand up to stop me when I went to protest. “I know it’s something you’re technically not supposed to have told me about, but,” she held up a finger. “If I raise the flag, the entire fleet will come to our aid. I may have retired from pirating, but the Admiral’s Phoenix will never stop sailing. Riv, this entire mess for lack of a better word, has been in motion for decades. The same problems are occurring from before the Mage War, just under different leadership.The historians might not have been writing anything down, or writing what the Astral mages wanted them to, but we Lagonai and even the elves have been watching and keeping our own records. The decisions humans make affect us all, as much as we don’t want to admit it.”

  “How have humans been allowed to make such decision anyway?” I asked.

  “What you humans lack in power and immortality, you make up for in sheer numbers and the strength of your resolve. Besides, the immortal races have a habit of getting set in our ways and refusing to help or combine forces. Now, we’ll talk later, I promise. I can feel the questions bubbling up, but you seriously need to sleep. Your dark circles are darker than normal and the next two weeks are going to be brutal, so go. Shoo.” she waved me off.

  “Fine, fine.” I sighed, wishing I could ask my burning questions. “Goodnight, Aria,” I waved and headed back to the barracks where I collapsed back into bed, content with my plan to go see Queen Elincia tomorrow evening and ask her about getting to the underground city.

  I jerked awake when Serenity dropped her mirror, the glass shattering as it hit the floor.

  “You okay?” I sat up, my heart racing.

  “Yeah, sorry.” She sighed, bending down to pick up the pieces.

  “No, wait, don’t move.” I slid off my cot when I saw her bare feet by the glass. I still hadn’t put the bracelet back on, so I used combined a little bit of wind and earth magic to not make a swirling tornado of death, but still pick up all the shards of glass. I used a bit of fire magic to put it back together before I put the glass back in the cracked frame. I wasn’t sure how to fix cracked wood, so I left it alone.

  “Thank you so much,” she said, grabbing it and hugging it to her chest. “It was a present from Shalana a few years ago, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Well, we gotta get moving, Kaine’ll be here any minute now. Oh, they brought us our plate armor and red tunics a few minutes ago.”

  “Yay, generic one-size-fits-all armor,” I snorted.

  “Yeah, but we have to be uniform,” Serenity shrugged. “Maybe once we get our official squad they’ll let us wear our armor that actually fits.”

  “Mine is silver, so I doubt it, buuut…”

  “You can’t use magic to make a new set,” Serenity chuckled. “By the way, how’d you get the bracelet off?”

  “Uh… long story. I’ll explain to you later, once we’re not crunched for time.” I picked up the crate sitting in the middle of the floor and popped the top off.

  “You’d better. We can’t have secrets between us, that only causes trouble, plus, if you’re on some super secret mission, I want in on it,” Serenity grinned.

  “Fair enough, I’ll definitely have to tell you what Queen Elincia asked me to do, even though she told me not to trust anybody.” I held up a hand at her indignant expression. “I have every intention of telling you, you’re on the same squad as me anyway. Marigold might be in on it already too.”

  “Marigold?” Serenity asked, tilting her head in confusion.

  Crap. I forgot she didn’t know about that yet. “Uhhh… okay, the story is even longer. I’ll explain as much as I can throughout today.” I grabbed the two tunics and tossed her the longer of the two.

  She caught it and nodded, though her eyes narrowed at me some. “How is it you know more than I do?”

  “Serenity, jealousy is a green-eyed monster, please don’t let it ruin our friendship.” I pleaded, realizing the unfairness of it all. I felt like I was watching my own relationship with my sister all over again. Though, was it me with the jealousy problem or my sister? “I only know what I know because the blacksmith told me about Marigold, and then I went to see Lord Silvo but met with Queen Elincia instead, and she told me some things, and then I met a friend last night-”

  “Last night when you were supposed to be asleep?” Serenity crossed her arms, her red tunic crumpled in her fist. “You’re quiet when you walk, but not that quiet. I heard you come back in.”

  “Sorry… yeah.”

  “It’s fine, just don’t let your lack of sleep get in the way,” Serenity took a deep breath. “We don’t have much time, but be straight with me.”

  “What’s up?” I asked, setting my tunic on the end of the cot.

  “Do you-” she was interrupted as the door crashed into the wall as Kaine came in.

  “Hey, we have a problem. I need you both with me, now.” Kaine said, striding into the room, grabbing our weapons as he walked passed.

  “What?”

  “Let’s go.” He tossed Serenity her boots and I ran to grab mine. “I know it’s only your second day, but there’s been monster sightings right outside the walls of the city. Massive ones. Since you both are from Deepwood, you’ve been asked to assist.”

  Serenity and I looked at each other, both wondering the same thing.

  “What about the hunters?” Serenity asked.

  “There’s been a massacre of townsfolk, hunters, merchants, anyone who was in the area at the time. We sent some Riders out to hold them off, but it’s not looking good. Let’s go.” Kaine said, picking up the bracelet on the end of my cot.

  “I was planning on putting it back on.” I rushed out.

  “Don’t.” Kaine said, tossing it back onto the cot. “I’ll take responsibility for any magic you choose to use. Don’t hold back.”

  “Are you certain?” I asked, as I stood. “I don’t want to risk Lord Silvo-”

  “Lord Silvo can burn- sorry…” Kaine heaved a sigh. “Don’t worry about what you do. Just focus on taking them out.” He turned and strode to the door, Serenity and I glanced at each other and nodded once before following him out. The hunt was on.