After their meal, Lillian excused herself and headed to King Zander's office.
(King Zander) "Come in!"
King Zander's voice rang out through the door after Lillian knocked. Lillian opened the door and looked in.
(King Zander) "Oh! It's you! Come, take a seat."
Lillian bowed slightly, did the greeting, then walked into the room and took the seat which King Zander pointed to.
(King Zander) "Okay, so, how are you getting along here?"
King Zander inquired.
(Lillian) "I'm fine, thank you."
Lillian replied.
(King Zander) "That's good to hear. I take it you've been helping Liana with her magic?"
(Lillian) "Yes, I have, and she's been showing a lot of improvements."
(King Zander) "That's good. How good is she now?"
(Lillian) "Very good, actually. Her powers are more powerful than any normal person you can come across. I still need to find out what her weaknesses and strengths are, so that I know what to train her on and what not to train her on, though."
(King Zander) "Okay. Now, to the actual reason I called you in here for. When you first agreed to be Liana's bodyguard, you told me that you had one condition. That you need to go back home at least once every four months. That time is coming soon, right?"
Lillian glanced at King Zander's calendar, then said,
(Lillian) "Yes. I need to go in about a week or so, and with your permission, sir, I'd like to bring Liana with me to visit the clan."
(King Zander) "I'll think about it. In a few days we will be having our monthly visit to the village, and I'd like you to come along as Liana's bodyguard. There have been reports of someone planning an attack that's aimed at her. That's why I wanted to get her a bodyguard."
(Lillian) "I understand, my king."
*
After the meeting ended, Liana asked Lillian about it.
(Liana) "What did he want to see you for? Why would the great King of the Adrenian Empire want to see you about?"
(Lillian) "You know it sounds very funny when you call your Father that."
Lillian said then chuckled.
(Liana) "Why? And I still want to know what he wanted to see you about."
She paused, then smiled and said,
(Liana) "Also, this is the first time I've heard you laugh or seen you smile so wide, you should do it more often."
(Lillian) "I don't know, it's just funny."
Lillian said with a playful smile on her face. Then with a serious face, she continued,
(Lillian) "You will know, or find out, hopefully soon. But for now, it is best if you do not know."
(Liana) "Why? Oh, never mind you're not going to tell me either way, are you?"
Liana said, putting on a pouting face. Lillian laughed when she saw her face and said,
(Lillian) "Come on, let's go train. You need to practice your magic."
*
(Liana) "How do you even know so much about magic anyway?"
Liana asked Lillian for about the third time that day after practicing and learning new spells from her for about two more hours.
(Lillian) "Long story. I will tell you sometime. But not now. And haven't you asked that question multiple times already?"
Lillian asked, then shot what looked like a class five spell at a dummy, causing it to explode, shattering it into millions of tiny pieces.
Lillian looked at the outcome with a pleased look, then walked over to the remains of the dummy and picked something up. She examined it for a while, then smiled.
(Liana) "What are you doing?"
Liana asked, thinking she was doing some strange things. But it reminded her of the real reason she had realised she needed someone to train her in the first place.
(Liana) "Oh, I forgot to ask you, is the forcans spell supposed to burn? I used it on a dummy a few days ago, and it blew up, and when I went to look at it, there were pieces that were burnt."
(Lillian) "Hmm, it shouldn't burn. But it can burn if you want it to. Here, look at this. Does it look like what happened to the dummy when you used the spell on it?"
Lillian said, then showed Liana what she had picked up earlier. Liana took it, looked at it for a while, then said,
(Liana) "Yeah, why?"
(Lillian) "What were you thinking about when you started and shot that spell?"
Liana thought for a while before opening her mouth to speak.
(Liana) "Hmm, I was thinking about whether you will practice magic with me, then I thought about you meeting my friends. Then I thought about one of the guys I know, and about how he might react to you, then I think I got a bit angry, then I shot."
Liana said, then suddenly thought of something.
(Liana) "Ohh, is it because I was angry?"
She turned to Lillian who was smiling at her. Lillian nodded, affirming Liana's guess.
(Lillian) "You have to be very careful when using magic. If you feel cold towards a person, you could easily shoot ice. Since you were angry, it was fire. It only happens when the caster is powerful enough, though."
Lillian explained.
(Liana) "Oh. Wow."
Liana said, amazed.
(Liana) "Oh, right, I was going to ask you, what's your last name?"
Liana turned to Lillian and asked. Lillian hesitated a little, but replied,
(Lillian) "Lera."
Something about Lillian's name reminded Liana about something, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it, so she said,
(Liana) "Nice name. In a few days my parents are going to visit the first village on their trip, the closest one to here, so they asked me to go with them, are you coming?"
(Lillian) "Yeah, your father asked me to go along as your bodyguard. I think he wants to test me or something. And either way I would still have to go as that's my job."
She said, but Liana could hear the joke in her voice. Liana laughed and said,
(Liana) "Don't worry. Even if you don't pass his 'test', I'll still want you as my bodyguard."
She said, emphasizing the 'test'.
*
Liana woke up a few days later to the sound of voices outside her door. She had been training hard every day with Lillian, and it tired her out, but she was ultimately still a light sleeper.
(Someone) "Is it bad?"
(King Zander) "I don't think so. Think you can handle it?"
(Someone) "Yeah. You can count on me."
(King Zander) "Good. I would say your position counts on it if I could. But… I can't."
(Lillian…maybe?) "Liana has awoken."
Liana thought,
(Liana's thoughts) 'Dad and someone… Lillian? Maybe. But what was it about?'
As she went to change and get ready for breakfast.
*
As they were walking through the village three hours later, a voice familiar to Liana rang out.
(Drew) "Liana!"
Drew ran over to them. Liana waved to him but didn't say anything until he got closer.
(Drew) "Hi, fancy meeting you here."
(Liana) "My parents wanted me to come along this time."
Liana shrugged and replied.
(Drew) "Hey, who's this?"
Drew noticed Lillian and asked.
(Lillian, through mind-link, to Liana) "You don't need to tell him I'm your bodyguard if you don't want to."
Lillian could sense that although they seemed close, Liana was averse towards the guy. Liana turned to Lillian, and said,
(Liana) "She's my friend. I asked my father whether she could come along."
She lied, not wanting to tell him she had a bodyguard for a few different reasons.
(Liana, through mind-link, to Lillian) "Is that okay?"
(Lillian, through mind-link, to Liana) "Should be. But are you sure you want to lie to your friend? What's his name anyway?"
Lillian was guessing that Liana didn't really like him much and wanted to find out more, so that she would be sure he wouldn't harm Liana.
(Liana) "Drew, this is Lillian. Lillian, Drew. He's a friend that comes from this village that I used to study with once in a while."
Liana introduced them to each other, and Lillian could sense the strange tone that she was using. Drew grinned and stretched out his hand as he said,
(Drew) "It's an honour to meet you."
Lillian frowned lightly but didn't pull away when when she reached out, he brought her hand to his lips, bowing his head a little to kiss it. He looked back at her after standing up properly and smiled widely.
(Lillian, through mind-link) "Do you trust him? Do I have permission to read his mind?"
Lillian asked Liana through mind-link.
(Liana, through mind-link, to Lillian) "I trust him, but how much is a different matter. I guess you can read his mind. Make sure no one knows."
Liana replied through the mind-link.
(Lillian, through mind-link, to Liana) "Don't worry. I will just read what I need to know, then I will stop. No one will know, not even him."
Lillian assured Liana.
(Liana, through mind-link, to Lillian) "Okay. Just be careful."
Lillian proceeded to read Drew's mind, gathering the information she needed.
(Lillian, through mind-link, to Liana) "I'm going to talk to your father for a minute, okay? I'll still be able to protect you from there."
Lillian told Liana when she was done, again through the mind-link. Liana frowned lightly, but replied,
(Liana, through mind-link, to Lillian) "Okay."
Lillian walked over to King Zander, who, upon seeing her approach him, turned to her and asked,
(King Zander) "Nothing yet?"
(Lillian) "Not yet."
(King Zander) "Okay, keep a look out then."
Lillian nodded. They continued talking for a while until Lillian heard something. Within a split-second, Lillian turned around and immediately knew where the arrow she heard was heading.