Whispers influenced people. They heard what they wanted to believe and
let the honeyed words sway their hearts.
Valt knew that this couldn't be dismissed as a weakness. It was natural
for people to cling to hope as long as they lived. Humans would always
wish for joy over sadness, for bliss rather than pain. People who couldn't
see the future made their way in the world with ignorance as their salvation.
But he, lacking that escape, had no choice but to cling to a single hope.
And he wouldn't hesitate to trample others to make it real. The world would
get overwritten anyway. Their agony and deaths would disappear in time.
Valt sighed as he came upon the mouth to a small cavern deep in a
forest. "Here we are. There really is no path at all."
Overgrown trees blocked the mouth entirely, and there had been no trail
of any sort to follow. He'd managed to locate it by teleporting from nearby
using data from his ancestors' records.
A flash of his magic burned away the trees at the cave's entrance. He
pressed a hand to the barrier preventing anyone from entering. "As rocksolid as I expected. This might take some time."
Valt began an incantation to nullify the barrier, which may as well have
been a thick iron wall. No halfhearted efforts would break it. By the time
the lengthy incantation finished and the way was cleared, sweat dappled
Valt's forehead and night had fallen. Shoulders heaving with his breaths,
Valt stepped into the cave.
At the end of a narrow, winding path, he found what he was looking for.
A beautiful woman lay on a stone pedestal. She had light-brown curly
hair and held an ancient oval looking glass.
He only needed the mirror. But he saw that an even more complicated
barrier than the one at the entrance protected the object from theft.
Valt licked his lips nervously. "Can I make off with this without rousing
her?"
He had two strategies prepared. This was the second. If his
predecessor's account was correct, she shouldn't wake unless the mirror
was broken. If that was wrong, Valt would die.
Taking a deep inhale to steady his breathing, Valt started another long
incantation.
The world began to move again.
As the last month of the year approached its midpoint, the Farsas Castle city
bustled with celebratory activity.
The king's wedding was only a month into the new year. An air of
revelry was already taking hold of the city, but not every denizen welcomed
the impending nuptials. A woman who lived in a large estate near the castle
eyed the capital's festive mood with cynicism.
The twenty-year-old was not the legitimate heir to the estate. She was
the daughter of the duke and an outside woman, a Gandonan. She had been
born in Gandona and had lived there with her mother until she turned
thirteen, which saved her from the child abductions that plagued Farsas.
When her mother died, she was taken in by her father and moved here.
"If only I could turn back time," she whispered, winding a strand of long
golden hair around her finger.
She didn't want to remember him, yet she did anyway. Her thoughts had
turned to someone who was once very close but was now distant. During
their final conversation, she'd sensed that their lives would never intersect
again.
Initially, she hadn't loved him. She'd felt two contradictory things for
the man—curiosity and respect. There was no reason for her to still feel
sorrow or regret over his absence.
Even so, thoughts of him surfaced at all hours. His face would flash
through her mind even though she didn't want to see it.
This had been the case for half a year. She wanted to forget all about
him.
Regardless of her desperation, she also understood she would likely
never forget him.
Perhaps that was why she listened to the words of a shifty man.
Suppose there was a small forest.
Animals, insects, and trees lived out their lives there. Although these
woods made gradual movements, they always maintained their core
essence.
However, if someone took an interest in the forest and began to watch it
and experiment, then it would grow distorted, changing shape into a
miniature garden. This observer transformed the world into something else.
Would the insects living within the miniature garden have the power to
escape?
Tinasha stared, mesmerized by an exquisitely crafted miniature garden.
The enormous garden was a model of the entire mainland, with each
side the length of three adults with arms outstretched. It covered the surface
of the desk completely, and it even contained a tiny Tuldarr Castle.
"What incredible artistry," she commented.
"It took the artisans half a year to make. Apparently, they had to redo
parts of it after the fall of Druza," Legis replied with a smile.
The miniature garden, a veritable replica of the power structure of the
mainland, had been delivered to the castle today. Tinasha squinted at the
national borders delineated by vibrant threads and metal fixtures.
Farsas held the largest territory—its lands stretched from the center
down to the south. It shared its western border with Tuldarr. The other
countries bordering Tuldarr were Tayiri, a handful of minor nations, and a
small country called Magdalsia.
The queen nodded as she identified each of these regions. "In the past,
hardly anyone lived outside the castle city."
"I suppose it's because we have more mages now," Legis remarked.
"And because the population has grown. The rest of the mages came
from Tayiri," she replied, aware that her policies from four hundred years
ago had led to this. Once she began accepting refugee mages persecuted in
Tayiri, Tayiri retaliated by attacking Tuldarr.
After that war, Tuldarr had not been embroiled in conflict since, because
all knew of its unique values centered around magic. In the modern era,
Tuldarr stood at the forefront of magic research, always consulting with
other countries on spells and mediating magic-related situations.
Legis smiled as he traced the borders of his homeland. "Once your
marriage with Farsas is made, we'll be secure for a good while. Please do
your best to keep him twisted around your little finger."
"I'll try, but…don't expect too much from me," Tinasha responded. Her
fiancé would oblige her personal requests, but he would never concede on
official ones. There was no reason to believe that would change once they
were married. All that would change, if anything, was that Tinasha would
grow more likely to pop a blood vessel over Oscar's reckless behavior.
Chatting evidently reminded Legis of something, and he glanced at the
clock. "Isn't it almost time for your wedding gown fitting? Shall I escort
you?"
Tinasha shook her head lightly. "I'm teleporting over, so there's no need.
Thank you, though."
Farsas dressmakers were sewing her wedding ensemble, which meant
Tinasha had to visit regularly for measurements.
Only a month and a half remained until she abdicated and married the
king of Farsas. The crossroads was almost upon her.
"Your Majesty, you aren't going to go and observe Queen Tinasha's
dress fitting?" asked Lazar.
Oscar glanced up from his paperwork. "Seeing it now will ruin the
anticipation for the big day. Besides, she'll look beautiful in whatever she
wears."
The wedding planning was already in full swing. Naturally, the effort
was a joint one with Tuldarr, but the bulk of the workload fell on Farsas,
which would be welcoming the bride. There was much to do, leaving Oscar
juggling these new responsibilities alongside his regular ones.
Something occurred to him, and he tipped his head to one side. "Oh
yeah, should we invite Lavinia?"
"D-don't ask me!" exclaimed Lazar.
The witch who'd cursed the Farsas royal line was Oscar's grandmother.
The idea of inviting her made Lazar squeamish. He couldn't tell if it was
brazen or reckless to extend that offer so soon after she'd nearly killed
Oscar.
Eyeing his friend, who was clearly growing woozy over the idea, Oscar
tapped his pen against his temple. "Well, I can just ask my dad about it later.
We don't even know where she lives, anyway."
"Shouldn't you consult Queen Tinasha as well?"
"I don't think she'd be opposed. She's more likely to ask if we should
invite the witch, I bet," said Oscar. Unlike the king, who was born in this
era, Tinasha came from four centuries in the past and had no living family.
Even in her own time, she'd been separated from her parents soon after her
birth to be raised in the castle. Family had been an alien concept for all her
life. As a result, she tended to be more concerned about Oscar's own kin.
"A witch at the wedding, huh?" mused Oscar. Witches were beings of
great power who dwelled in the shadows of the world. There were only
three, and the blood of a witch ran through his veins. Their immense power
was on par with that of the queen he would wed and their future children.
However, Oscar believed individual strength, no matter how great, was
not sufficient to change the world. He, his wife, and their children would
one day fade into the annals of history, and the power of their lineage would
weaken. To Oscar, this wasn't unfortunate; it was merely the way of things.
Someone knocked at the door, Oscar answered, and a guest entered the
study. It was Tinasha, clad in a white, knee-length dress. When Oscar gaped
at her, she flicked the skirts of her dress at him.
"Is that your wedding dress? I can see your legs," he remarked.
"No, this is the same fabric, though. The dressmaker used leftover
material from my fittings to make it for me. The real one is much longer,"
she replied, twirling around. The skirt filled with air and flared out.
A line appeared between Oscar's brows. "You really are still a kid…"
"What? Why? Don't you like it?"
"Of course I do. It's adorable," he said, walking over to her. As she
beamed at him, he lifted her into his arms and spun around with her just like
he would with a small child.
She let out an almost feline yowl, not expecting that at all. Once she was
set back down on the floor, she wobbled unsteadily into his chest. "What
was that for?"
"You looked like you wanted some attention."
"I mean, I do… But not like that." She pouted, cheeks puffing out, and
Oscar laughed. He scooped her up in his arms again and carried her over to
his desk chair, where he settled her on the armrest and handed her some
papers.
Tinasha read them over. "Arrangements for the wedding? Looks
complicated."
"Don't talk about it like it isn't your wedding. Still, it's true that we're
handling most of the work over here. All you need to do is show up and get
married," Oscar replied.
Tinasha happened to be a foreign royal, yet in the past, some Farsasian
kings had married commoners and made them queens. Farsas would
prepare everything down to the jewelry the bride would wear.
But Tinasha was more concerned with another matter entirely. "What are
you going to do about security? If all the mages from Tuldarr coming in
will pose a problem, I can handle it."
"You don't think you'll be a bit preoccupied being the bride?" Oscar
questioned dryly.
"Of course I will, but that doesn't mean I can't also handle security. I'll
set a spell to ban magic inside the cathedral. I could place one around the
entire castle, but that wouldn't be good if someone suddenly needed
healing," Tinasha said matter-of-factly as she handed the papers back to
Oscar.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Is that what you did at your coronation,
too?"
"I didn't ban magic. That would've inconvenienced the Tuldarr mages.
However, I maintained a surveillance network. I would've known
immediately if anyone used unauthorized spells, and I'd have forced them
to surrender. I plan to do the same for Legis's coronation," she informed
him.
"If you ended up forcing someone to surrender at your own wedding,
it'd turn into quite the circus…"
Anyone who'd witnessed Tinasha's coronation knew not to attempt
interfering at her wedding. She had inherited the twelve spirits of Tuldarr.
The atmosphere in that room had been such that all understood going
against her meant death. And she would be bringing all of her spirits with
her to Farsas.
Oscar glanced at the woman sharing his chair. "I can't believe Tuldarr is
really going to let you go…"
"Is that how you see it? Don't you think it's more dangerous for them to
have a security risk like me in the country? No one in Tuldarr has so much
as tried to stop me," Tinasha remarked calmly, but for an instant, Oscar
caught a flash of a bottomless abyss in her dark eyes.
He frowned. Once, that power had granted her the throne. Even now,
centuries later, her power had necessitated that she rule again.
Should Tuldarr wish to eliminate Tinasha, it could never do so by force.
Farsas had Akashia, however, and could potentially control her. That made
Oscar a person capable of killing her.
Oscar pressed a hand to his mouth unconsciously. He glanced at
Tinasha, and she eyed him quizzically in response. "What is it? You don't
look very good."
"It's nothing…"
He hoped that was true. The pair had previously shared minor
disagreements, but they'd never led to a complete breakdown in their
relationship. It would be all right. They could spend the rest of their lives
together at peace.
To banish his inner worries, Oscar tugged on a lock of Tinasha's hair.
She responded by leaning in close to him, which made him press a kiss on
her smooth cheek. She blushed like a maiden. "Hey! What was that for?"
"No reason."
"Your Majesty, have you forgotten that I am still here?" Lazar sighed
wearily.
"I haven't," replied Oscar.
Tinasha picked up a book lying on the corner of the desk. "Oh? You read
fairy tales?"
"I got it for the castle reference library. I don't have time to look through
all of it, but I glance at it from time to time," he explained.
"Oh, here's the story on the Mirror of Oblivion. I suppose that it's
remained a mystery even after four centuries, although I have my
suspicions that a mirror that can absorb sadness must be a magic implement
that utilizes psychological manipulation."
"Aren't these stories fictional?" Oscar asked.
"Who can say? That one is from before my time," Tinasha said
innocently as she flipped through the pages. Oscar gave a wan smile as he
watched.
The new year was only two weeks away, meaning the king was
swamped with work. Yet when he thought about how his future with her
waited for him at the end of it all, it didn't seem so taxing. He was about to
begin his life with his chosen partner. All that remained was to trust in that
and keep going.
Magdalsia was a minor nation to the south of Tuldarr. A small castle and
less than twenty villages dotted its forested terrain. Almost all of these were
peaceful farm settlements.
Tall mountains and thick forests prevented any road out to the south or
west. The only country accessible on foot was Tuldarr. Because of this,
Magdalsia maintained a minimal army and had gone hundreds of years
without worrying about foreign aggression. The Magic Empire, founded on
land that was originally vast wilds, was indifferent to expanding its
territory.
For that reason, Magdalsia was occasionally derided as "Tuldarr's tail"
by the small, war-torn nations in the east of the mainland. However, that
didn't bother anyone in Magdalsia, whose citizens largely prized a peaceful
life above all else.
One day, a week before the new year, Queen Gemma of Magdalsia
visited her husband's bedchamber, concerned over how late he was
sleeping. King Hubert was in his mid-fifties and had no health problems.
He carried out his duties with vigor, though he occasionally indulged in
fantasies. While he could not be said to be particularly bright, his good
nature made him beloved by the people.
"My king? Are you feeling unwell?" Queen Gemma called. The day
before, a rare visitor had come to the castle from another country, a
merchant whose assortment of unusual curios had intrigued the king. The
merchant had recommended many things, which Hubert gladly purchased.
And now his health had taken a sudden turn. Alarmed by the king's lack
of response, the queen stepped into the room and attempted to shake the
king awake. When he wouldn't rouse no matter how much she shook him,
the blood drained from her face.
"My king… Someone! Someone, come quick!" Gemma cried, flying out
of the room to summon help.
An ancient mirror lay fallen on the other side of the bed, out of sight.
Tinasha was in her study, taking care of her regular royal duties with the
new year just around the corner, when urgent news came to her.
She frowned. "Whatever could be the matter at this time of year?"
"The king of Magdalsia has fallen into a mysterious coma. No reason for
it can be found, but as he is entirely unconscious, magic is suspected. They
request that we come and investigate immediately," Renart reported calmly.
Tinasha plucked the letter from him and scanned it for the salient points.
It explained that the Magdalsian king had fallen unconscious the day
before and that the castle physicians and mages had failed to discern a
reason. Desperate, Magdalsia was now asking Tuldarr for aid. Tinasha
heaved a sigh. "What could it be? I suppose I won't know unless I go take a
look."
"Shall I send an envoy to carry out the investigation?"
"No, it's too dangerous with so much unknown. I'll go myself today,"
Tinasha said, deciding.
Renart's expression didn't change as he nonetheless offered his candid
thoughts. "You're going to visit personally? We don't know what this might
be. It may very well be a trap laid for you, Your Majesty."
"That's true… All right, then I'll choose someone to come along. Would
that suffice?" she said, though it hardly counted as a proper reply.
Renart pulled a long-suffering face.
Tinasha winced. "Legis is most important to Tuldarr right now. I'm only
a temporary ruler. And besides… Even if it is a trap, I have a feeling I'll
still come back in one piece."
Since advancing her abdication, Tinasha had been handing more and
more of her duties off to Legis. At this point, he should've been able to
govern Tuldarr without her.
Despite his queen's assertion, Renart still wore a sour look. Tinasha's
awareness that she was a temporary ruler and her confidence in her own
powerful magic made her act rashly.
Still, none were better equipped to solve a magical problem than she
was. After a sigh, Renart fastened his gaze on his queen. "Very well. You
should also notify the king of Farsas before departing."
"Ugh… Do I have to?" Tinasha groaned.
The man she was to marry was a weakness, in a manner of speaking.
He wasn't weak. She was weak to him.
Whenever something happened, he grew upset with her, scolded her, and
grumbled that he needed to teach her a lesson. The thought of telling him
about this made Tinasha pale instantly.
But she also realized that she couldn't leave things to chance, and she
gave a reluctant nod. "Urgh, fine… But I don't like it."
"It's better than him finding out later and telling you off."
"Both are equally bad," Tinasha whined, while divvying up the
paperwork in her in-box and arranging for some to be sent to Legis. She
assigned Renart the task of selecting her companion on the journey and
teleported away.
"And there you have it… I'll be leaving for Magdalsia now."
"What do you mean, 'there you have it'?"
"Ow, ow, ow!" Tinasha cried as Oscar tugged on her earlobe. She had
barged in on Oscar while he was in the middle of work, rattled off a
suspicious explanation, and was attempting to flee. As she flailed around,
close to tears because of his iron grip on her ear, she didn't appear the ruler
of a nation at all. Nor did she even look her age, although that was a
complicated matter—Tinasha was over four hundred in the body of a
twenty-year-old. It certainly wouldn't do for her to look her true age.
Oscar finally released his fiancée's ear, only to grab both her wrists and
pull her close. Her dark, teary eyes gazed up at him.
"Listen to me. The new year is right around the corner and our wedding
is in only a month. Why are you trying to get yourself involved in such a
shady situation?"
"Well, they contacted me…"
"So? Just forget about it. Don't go."
"I—I can't do that," Tinasha protested. While Magdalsia was a minor
nation, it was still Tuldarr's neighbor. She couldn't ignore a direct request,
and she also had to hurry because the king of Magdalsia's life hung in the
balance.
She cast beseeching eyes up at Oscar. "I'm only going to take a quick
peek."
"Remind me again of how many conflicts you've gotten embroiled in
after telling me you were only going to take a quick peek?"
"Urgh…"
While Oscar didn't allow Tinasha's resentful look to sway him, he let
out a little sigh and released her. He lowered a hand onto Tinasha's head.
"Well, I suppose I have to commend you for coming to tell me first, at least.
Take your spirits with you and be back by nightfall."
"You mean you won't be upset with me if I go?!"
"I reserve the right to go and remove you at any time," Oscar said,
although it was only a warning. In truth, they were equals both in their
private lives and as public figures, and he couldn't exactly interfere in
another country's domestic affairs.
Tinasha broke into a relieved grin and nodded. "I'll be back before you
know it! Thank you!"
Happily, she jumped up to throw her arms around Oscar's neck, then
teleported away and vanished.
The abrupt departure left Oscar dumbfounded. "She really is just a little
kid…," he mused. He couldn't even imagine what kind of a wife she would
make. Would she act like this her whole life?
Tinasha could cloak herself in an aura that was downright terrifying
when necessary. Oscar chuckled at the stark contrast she was capable of as
he returned to preparing for the new year's festivities.
Trouble was already brewing in Magdalsia before Tinasha arrived.
Accompanying her were Pamyra and two military officers. After saying
hello to them, Tinasha attempted to summon a spirit. But no matter how
long she waited, said spirit didn't appear. "Senn? Where are you?"
Tinasha's summonses had never gone unanswered—not during the Dark
Age or the present one. Growing frantic, Tinasha made contact with all the
other spirits and found that only Senn was unaccounted for.
Mila appeared in his place, and Tinasha fretted to her. "What do you
think I should do? What if something's happened?"
"I'm almost never with him, so I have no idea, but it's very strange.
Unthinkable. Failing to answer your call is a breach of the contract."
The predicament had left the entire party held up just outside the castle
transportation array they were to take. After some thought, Mila gave a light
shake of her head. "He's probably in a situation that's rendered him unable
to manifest. That's the only thing I can think of. The contract is still there,
so he's not dead."
"Itz, Karr, Saiha. Would you search for Senn?" Tinasha ordered. The
three spirits heeded her command.
While anxiety still darkened her face, Tinasha forcibly suppressed it and
pasted on a smile for her retinue. "I'm sorry about that. Let's be off."
"But Your Majesty—"
"It's all right. We need to hurry," Tinasha cut in, her smile not faltering
for a moment. Compared to her previous loss of composure, it was like she
was a different person. It was obvious she was concerned, but her
responsibilities came first.
The queen drew herself up straight and stepped into the array. It was a
portal installed one hundred and fifty years ago at the wishes of both
Tuldarr and Magdalsia, linking directly to the latter's capital city.
Upon the group's arrival, guards came to escort them to the castle's main
gate. There they were greeted by Queen Gemma and a few magistrates.
Gemma bowed gratefully to the other queen, who appeared to be twenty
years younger than she was. "I'm very sorry for asking you to come. We
simply cannot discover what's caused this…"
"It's no trouble at all. Tuldarr has a duty to accept requests like this. May
we make haste and see King Hubert right away?" asked Tinasha.
"Of course. Please follow me," Gemma replied, lifting her heavy skirts
and turning on her heel. The group from Tuldarr followed her into the
palace.
Magdalsia's castle was not large or luxurious, but it was crafted
thoughtfully from good-quality materials. Unfortunately, the king's
unexplained coma meant the structure was filled with a distinct sense of
unease.
Tinasha was musing to herself that she wouldn't know if she could help
until she inspected the king, when Gemma suddenly came to a halt in front
of the entrance to the throne room. Tinasha almost tripped over the
woman's skirts, though she managed to steady herself with help from a
nearby officer.
"Who are you? You're not allowed to be in here!" Gemma barked.
The young woman standing before the throne only smirked, remaining
still.
Tinasha peeked over the queen's shoulder. The intruder was a beautiful
woman with light-brown curly hair falling to her waist. Her amber eyes
were striking and sparkled with provocative intent. Her arms were crossed,
with a paper held between the fingers of one hand.
"Nice to meet you, Gemma. No need to worry about the king. He's only
sleeping," the woman greeted them.
"I asked you who you are!" shrilled the queen.
"I'm Lucia. I'll be filling in for the king while he's asleep."
"Filling in…?"
Lucia gave a half smile and flicked the piece of paper in her hands. It
floated through the air and landed in Gemma's grasp. She glanced down at
it, and within a matter of seconds, her hands began to tremble.
"No… This can't be…"
"It's the king's handwriting, isn't it? You don't need to worry about
him," Lucia stated.
The letter outlined that Lucia was someone the king of Magdalsia
trusted and that she was to be given full authority while he was immobile.
Yet this was still someone Gemma didn't recognize, a woman of completely
unknown origin.
Gemma's gaze turned harsh, and she stood firm. "If the king is truly in
no danger, I will hear it from him and no one else! Move away from there!"
"Gemma, are you really that incapable of grasping a situation?" Lucia
questioned in a low tone.
The queen, who carried herself with a deep majesty no ordinary person
could possess, drew back. Realizing that she was cowering instinctively,
Gemma twisted her face in humiliation. Just as she was about to say
something, a door across the room opened, and a man nearing his elder
years entered.
Gemma beamed at the sight of him. "Gasparo! Do something about this
woman, please."
The man scanned the room.
Whispering, Tinasha asked, "Who is he?"
"The prime minister. He's held this position for over twenty years. His
Majesty and all the magistrates trust him absolutely, and he will not let
some strange girl tell us what to do," Gemma replied, gazing at the prime
minister expectantly.
After letting out a sigh, the prime minister turned to face his queen.
"Your Majesty, I deeply apologize, but I cannot obey. Lady Lucia is
currently the acting ruler."
"Excuse me?!"
The entire chamber was thrown into an uproar, excepting Lucia and the
prime minister. Sighing again at how severely shaken Queen Gemma was,
Gasparo glanced at the door he'd entered from. Two soldiers stepped into
the room.
"I understand your concern, Your Majesty, but you should rest for a bit.
Soldiers! Escort the queen to her chambers!"
"Wh-what?! Unhand me!"
Ignoring the queen's protests, the soldiers each took an arm, and she was
frog-marched away to her chambers.
The delegation from Tuldarr and the magistrates who had escorted them
in were left behind. Pamyra and the Tuldarr officers gawked at the abrupt
escalation.
Only Tinasha and Mila were eyeing Lucia pointedly, and Lucia's amber
gaze fell upon Tinasha. "So that's how things are. I appreciate that you
came all this way, but there's no longer any need. I'll ask you to leave now."
"You're a mage, aren't you?" questioned Tinasha.
"And what if I am?" the woman replied boldly, and Tinasha arched a
brow.
She hesitated for two to three seconds before she responded, "May I see
the king?"
"No need."
"Because you can't allow us to?" Tinasha returned coldly.
Lucia gave a shallow grin. "The king is not well enough to meet with the
Queen of Tuldarr. When the time comes, he will visit you."
"That won't be necessary," said Tinasha, tilting her head to peer
suspiciously at the woman on the throne. She honed her concentration to a
fine point as colossal amounts of magic pulsed in her body.
That was when she noticed multiple pairs of eyes on her. Soldiers had
streamed in from the door in the back, ready and watching.
Their expressions were devoid of emotion. It was clear they would draw
their swords on command.
Tinasha relaxed her power. With eyes as cold as ice, she stared at Lucia.
"Very well. We will take our leave for today. I do hope we'll meet again
soon."
"So sorry I couldn't provide better hospitality," Lucia apologized
mockingly, confident of her victory.
Concealing her emotions, Tinasha turned to depart. Her retinue gave her
reassuring smiles.
The woman seated on the throne smirked as she watched the ruler of
Tuldarr disappear the way she had come.
The party returned to Tuldarr almost immediately after leaving. Renart
greeted them with astonishment.
Once in her study, Tinasha dismissed her guards and exhaled hard.
"Things do not look good over there…"
"Who in the world was that woman?" inquired Pamyra, naturally
referring to Lucia.
Tinasha sat in a chair with her knees drawn to her chest. "I don't know if
the king really gave her the right to rule, but she's extremely bad news. She
has…as much magic as I do, or as much as a witch. It's not normal."
"What…?"
Renart and Pamyra paled. Tinasha sighed over her knees. "I can't
believe we ran into such a dangerous person. Oscar will definitely not be
happy about this."
Mustering courage, Renart finally managed to ask, "Do people with as
much magic as witches truly exist?"
"Strictly speaking, Lady Tinasha has more raw magic," put in Mila.
"But power isn't measured by capacity alone. It's hard to tell how much of
a challenge she would pose, so I think it's good we retreated for now."
The spirit made her assertion in a flat yet unhappy tone before floating
into the air and taking a seat on top of a bookcase.
In terms of people with abnormal amounts of magic, that fortune-teller
Tinasha met the other day certainly qualified, though Lucia was far more
hostile. Moreover, Itz had vouched for the fortune-teller.
This mysterious woman who'd popped up in Magdalsia's court was like
no other. Tinasha folded her hands and rested her chin on them. "She means
to take the country, doesn't she?"
"I wonder. Those soldiers looked like they were being mind-controlled.
And in that case, she could have complete domination almost overnight,"
Mila replied.
"She really showed us up, right at the end of the year and everything,"
Tinasha muttered.
Tinasha would have preferred to evacuate Gemma, at the very least, but
a chance hadn't presented itself. Had she forced it, she could have at best
sparked a battle of spells with Lucia or, at worst, started a political scandal.
Lifting her head, Tinasha glanced over at Pamyra and Renart. "I want
to…get rid of her, I'm pretty sure…"
"I'm not sure that's a good idea…"
Her followers preferred Tinasha to leave the situation be, so long as it
brought no harm to Tuldarr. However, no one knew what the future might
bring. Unsure of what to say, all fell silent for a moment.
Tinasha stared up at the ceiling. "Because of how powerful she is, I'd
like to come up with a bit of a strategy for going up against her. Phaedra got
the better of me with a particularly nasty type of spell, after all."
"But this Lucia is human, isn't she? She wasn't a demon or anything."
"Hmm… I don't think she's a witch," Tinasha mused.
Of the three witches in the world, Tinasha knew who one of them was—
her fiancé's own grandmother.
It couldn't have been Lavinia, which left two others.
"The Witch of the Water or the Witch of the Forbidden Forest, huh? I've
never met either."
"You might be able to get some answers if you questioned all the spirits.
The Witch of the Water was the one with invisible spells, right?"
"That's what people say, yes. I really don't want to face her," Tinasha
replied.
Skilled mages could camouflage their spells and make them invisible to
other casters. If Tinasha herself felt like doing so, she could make it so an
ordinary mage wouldn't see a spell of hers. Invisibility was fairly laborintensive, however, and it'd have no effect on someone who rivaled her
strength.
According to legends passed down in Tuldarr, all of the magic the Witch
of the Water used made her spells and their results completely undetectable.
Her opponents would fall in defeat, having never seen the blow coming.
Were that true, she'd be a fearsome opponent.
"And the Witch of the Forbidden Forest specializes in psychological
magic. I wouldn't want to fight her, either," Tinasha remarked.
Mila gave a disgusted shudder. "Demons are weak to high levels of
psychological magic, so that's even worse than the Witch of the Water for
me."
Unlike humans, whose souls and minds were closely linked to their
physical bodies, high-ranking demons were formless spirits merely clothing
themselves in bodies as conceptual manifestations. This meant that demons
were more susceptible to strong psychological spells than humans, and the
same was true for curses. The fierce curses of the Witch of Silence had
rendered them all powerless instantly.
Resting her cheek in one hand, Tinasha felt her thoughts racing.
While she had built up her magical resistance since she was young, there
was no way of knowing how prepared she was to face a witch. An ordinary
human who hadn't undergone such training would be no match for a witch
at all. She didn't even know if her fiancé would come out victorious against
such an opponent.
"I'm stumped…"
The queen leaned back in her chair with her arms folded behind her head
and sighed deeply.
With only a week to go until the end of the year, people in every country
were drowning under piles of work.
Oscar rushed to complete his duties and made his habitual visit to his
fiancée an hour earlier than usual.
Half a day had passed since she'd informed him of her trip to Magdalsia.
He hoped her lack of contact since meant there were no major issues, but he
worried regardless.
"Is she not back yet?"
Tinasha's bedchamber was dark and empty, with only a candle flickering
on the table. Perhaps she hadn't returned yet. As Oscar was deliberating
over whether to wait or go out looking for her, he heard the door behind
him opening and whirled around.
A ray of light cut across the room.
"Oscar? You're here early," Tinasha said, coming in from the bathroom
and cocking her head to find him there. Droplets of water dripped from her
black hair, which was piled into a bun. Steam wafted from her body as she
padded over to him on bare feet, clad in only a white towel.
He eyed her incredulously. "You're getting the floor all wet. Dry
yourself off before you come in."
"Oh…I'll do that," she said, wrapping her hair in the other towel she'd
brought as she glanced behind her. All it took was one look, and the water
on the floor evaporated into thin air; she hadn't even said an incantation.
Noticing that the droplets beading on her creamy, taut skin were also
disappearing, Oscar was amazed. He stroked a line from the nape of her
neck down her spine.
"Waugh! What do you think you're doing?!" Tinasha yelped, letting out
a strange cry as she jumped back.
Oscar looked down at his hand and marveled. "Your skin's not hot at all.
And here I thought you were drying it using heat."
"I'd die if I did that! The spell only affects water!"
"Gotcha. That's pretty handy," he commented.
"Unbelievable… That tickled, you know." Tinasha pouted, quivering
with anger. Then she let down her hair and began to dry that, too. Oscar
gave her a flat look before he reached out to lift her into his arms and
moved to sit on the edge of the bed, settling her on his lap.
She gazed up at him innocently. "Aren't your clothes going to get wet?"
"I don't care," he stated, drinking in the floral scent wafting faintly off
her soft body. She had never felt shy or wary around him in intimate
situations, and that hadn't changed since their engagement.
Savoring the virtually inescapable pull of her unusually warm frame and
flushed skin, Oscar let his eyes close.
Tinasha dried her hair quickly, perhaps conscious of how she was
dampening Oscar's outfit. After only a moment, she was completely dry, as
was the towel wrapped around her. She teleported a comb over to her and
started to brush her locks.
"You've been pretty well-behaved lately," Oscar commented.
"That's because you're always getting upset with me!"
"Which is a result of your love for poking your nose into absolutely
everything," he shot back. Tinasha stuck out her tongue at him childishly
but didn't refute his point. She knew that Oscar's many annoying warnings
came from a place of love.
Oscar pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder. "Our wedding is only a short
while after the new year. Why don't you move to Farsas early? It won't be
so different from having our rooms connected."
"What? But you're the one who's always complaining about how hard it
is to get me to wake up in the mornings!"
"I'll wake you up anyway," he said. It was hardly a sacrifice if it meant
making Tinasha his bride at once. He had held himself back this entire time,
aware that taking her chastity would mean weakening her spiritual magic,
but things had been peaceful for a while, and she was behaving herself.
Surely, they didn't have to wait until after the wedding.
Tinasha appeared confused at how quickly Oscar had responded. She
tossed her hair over one shoulder and made to stand. "All right, I'm going
to go get dressed."
"You can stay like that," Oscar replied, holding her down on his waist.
He tipped up her chin and pressed a deep kiss to her lips.
She was so hot to the touch that he felt like he would melt. He knew that
a good half of that heat had to come from her emotions. He wanted to melt
her down to her core and pick out the most constant and true part of her. He
would do it over and over. And he sensed that she desired to do the same to
him.
Oscar whispered into her ear, "Tell me you don't want this, and I'll stop.
You have to tell me now."
Tinasha had consented in the past, but that was then and this was now. If
she didn't want it, he would back off. Yet he desired her so intensely that his
reason was beginning to fail.
He rubbed his thumb over her bare kneecap, feeling the smoothness of
her skin as he slid his hand up along her thigh, hidden under the towel.
Releasing her chin, he gazed down at her, finding her lips bitten as red as a
flower petal.
"I…I'm not…going to stop you…"
Her dark eyes brimmed with innocence, surrendering to everything and
practically liquid with emotion. That look of hers made him dizzy, and he
smiled. He kissed a line down her neck, his ardent passion ruling him
entirely.
"But Oscar?" she called, her voice the tiniest bit tremulous.
"What?"
"I need to tell you something. You'll be upset if I tell you later," she
panted, although her voice also carried an edge to it. A bad feeling took root
in Oscar's stomach. Tinasha's long eyelashes fluttered as she closed her
eyes.
"Tell me, then," he said.
"I—I might need to fight an enemy who's as strong as a witch," she
confessed.
"..."
Night had fallen completely in the queen's bedchamber—a heavy,
almost tangible silence blanketed its two occupants.
After letting out a very long sigh, Oscar lifted Tinasha and settled her next
to him. With his eyes squeezed shut against the headache boring at his
temples, he clapped her on the shoulder. "Go get dressed, then we'll talk."
"Umm, but it's really all right. I have plenty of magic, so I can figure
something out even without my chastity…"
"Put on some clothes! I was a fool to let down my guard!"
"Sorry," Tinasha muttered as she headed for her closet. While she was
doing that, Oscar helped himself to a glass of one of the liqueurs from her
shelf. He had never touched any of the bottles without her permission first,
but desperate times called for desperate measures. He wanted a distraction
from his own irrational behavior; he was furious with himself for the selfish
indulgence.
"What if I go my whole life never getting to touch her?" he murmured,
and it didn't seem all that implausible. If the two of them allowed her
personal safety to outweigh the need for heirs, if they didn't trust in their
own power, that future could very well become a reality.
It was too early to worry about that, however. For now, Oscar had
merely lost all desire to cross that line with her until after the wedding. He
was taking a sip of bitter liqueur when Tinasha returned wearing a black,
long-sleeved dress that trailed along the floor behind her. Sweeping the
skirts up, she sat down across from him with a dejected look on her face.
Oscar got right down to business. "So, who's this opponent that's as
strong as a witch? How have things reached this point?"
"It's a long story, but…"
Tinasha gave a clear and concise explanation. Oscar frowned as he took
everything in.
A mysterious woman with as much magic as a witch had appeared out of
nowhere and taken over a country, albeit a minor one. The facts alone were
highly irregular.
But for the time being, this was all another country's problem. "As long
as no harm comes to us, you should leave it alone."
"Renart said the same thing," Tinasha replied. "But we don't know what
her motives are. Magdalsia is Tuldarr's neighbor, so depending on how
things go, we may want to strike as soon as possible."
Magdalsia and Farsas did not share a border, but Farsas was much closer
to it than Gandona in terms of distance between the two capitals, with
Tuldarr between the route connecting them.
Resisting the urge to put his feet up on the table, Oscar took another sip.
"Why Magdalsia? There's nothing there."
"Yes, that's true. There's only untamed nature."
"Have you asked the other spirits if she's a witch?"
"Yes…"
Before Oscar's eyes, Tinasha veritably wilted, anxiety and worry casting
a pall over her face. The king of Farsas raised an eyebrow.
Tinasha brushed her bangs from her face. "Actually, I've met the Witch
of the Water."
"You did? So you've fought against her, too?" Oscar questioned,
appalled that this was his first time hearing of it.
Tinasha shook her head, a mysterious look on her face. "No. Do you
remember when I mentioned the unerring fortune-teller? I had her tell my
fortune after Itz introduced me to her. I believe she's the Witch of the
Water."
"What in the world…?"
"Itz told me in confidence that the Witch of the Water is apparently a
blood relative to the founding king of Tuldarr. But as that came to light only
after he abdicated the throne to the next generation and left the country,
only three of the spirits know her. I can vouch for all of them, though. I only
wish Itz had told me sooner," she grumbled.
That left only one witch. "What about the Witch of the Forbidden
Forest, then? Do none of the spirits know about her?"
"One does… But he's missing at the moment."
"That's possible?"
"This has never happened before. I didn't think it ever could," Tinasha
said, slumping over the table.
Oscar frowned. He knew the spirits were more than familiars to her—
they were her friends. Of course she would be depressed with one of them
missing.
"In that case, it's pretty likely that we're dealing with the Witch of the
Forbidden Forest."
"Do you really think so?"
"Two major incidents have occurred simultaneously. You should
definitely be considering if they're linked. If that spirit were around, he
could tell you whether the woman in Magdalsia is a witch, couldn't he?"
"That's…true. Does that mean she could have silenced him?!"
"I'm just saying it's possible. I don't know for sure," Oscar replied,
forcibly cutting himself off there. There was a lot he didn't know about
witches, and even more he didn't understand about the mystical spirits, who
were high-ranking demons. "Is there anything in any records about the
witches?" he inquired.
Surely Tuldarr's vast archives held some clue, no matter how small.
Tinasha put her hand to her chin and hummed. "Hmm, they've mostly been
treated as abominations. No one was in the habit of recording their names
or physical descriptions, even if those facts were known. Leonora—the
witch I killed—only entered the records after her death."
"Gotcha."
"If anyone knows, it'll be Travis…or Lavinia," Tinasha said, aware that
both were shrewd and crafty. She didn't want to go near Travis, despite
knowing where he lived, and Lavinia's whereabouts were unknown.
That prompted Oscar to recall that he'd asked his father about inviting
Lavinia to the wedding. "Do whatever you want," his father had answered
with a weak look. Perhaps he had some idea as to where the witch resided.
"I'll contact Lavinia. Don't go to Travis," Oscar stated.
"What? Are you sure you want to do that?"
"Eh, it'll be fine. And if you start hatching any plans, tell me about them
first. Same goes if this Lucia comes to you. You need to let me know as
soon as you can."
Tinasha thought on that. "What about making the first move?"
"You're unbelievable…"
According to her story, the witch hadn't done anything yet. There was
no reason for a preemptive strike.
However, Tinasha looked truly puzzled by Oscar's reaction. "But why
shouldn't we? A witch is capable of waging war against an entire country."
That reminded Oscar of one of Tinasha's nicknames—the Witch Killer
Queen.
During the war with Tayiri four hundred years ago, Tinasha had battled a
witch and the Tayiri army at once.
Her words were incongruous with her sweet face, but Tinasha continued,
ignorant of that. "The reason why the remaining witches and the mainland's
political powers maintain a tacit nonintervention agreement with one
another is because the witches have never used their power to get involved
in conflicts between countries. If they were to incite a nation to start a war,
that would be the equivalent of battling two full countries at once. We can't
afford to let this go. We should take action before they have a chance to
prepare themselves."
"I understand what you're saying, but we'd be landing ourselves in a
quagmire if we crossed that line. The impact on the mainland would be…"
Oscar trailed off, struck by the look in Tinasha's dark eyes. It was the
countenance of a queen, the same one he had witnessed several times
before.
This was the first time, however, he glimpsed a peculiar, overwhelming
force there. It was the bottomless depths of the abyss itself, swallowing up
everything with a contemptuous, domineering glare.
That look said that she would show not a shred of mercy to an enemy,
that she was a mage capable of killing a witch.
Curbing her power now might be the best course after all, Oscar
thought.
That flash of insight drifted through his mind. Perhaps it was not wise to
leave her as a chaste spirit sorcerer able to wield boundless amounts of
magic. While this thought was born from neither love nor lust, he brushed it
aside immediately.
Such a notion was unbecoming of Tinasha's husband. It had occurred to
him as the ruler of Farsas.
Therefore, he thought it wrong to consider such thoughts.
Oscar did his best to maintain his usual expression and keep his voice
sounding normal. "Anyway, it wouldn't be good. You always overdo it right
out of the gate. I'd be in a very difficult position if something happened, so
you should rethink that. It makes me very uneasy."
"Fine," Tinasha said, accepting this with a huff. Still, she blushed,
undoubtedly happy that he was worried about her.
That reassured Oscar. He reached out and stroked her hair. "You really
have no shortage of irritating enemies."
"That's the sort of country Tuldarr is. We settle magical situations gone
wrong," she replied, aware that Oscar also got drawn into all manner of
troublesome matters by dint of being the Akashia swordsman. Now that he
was marrying Tinasha, he might find himself constantly at war, even after
they were wed.
But he didn't intend to lose, no matter who came at them.
It was not mere pride that made Oscar believe firmly that there was no
predicament they couldn't overcome.
Valt always made the first move.
The world was a tangle of the known and the unknown. Each time it
repeated, the known grew larger, but the unknown never vanished. The
world would undulate and smack him with another shape. For someone like
him, who walked through time, the present seemed no different from a
dream.
So much of it was absurd, illogical. All that he could remember were the
hopes that had been betrayed.
Valt had even engaged in self-harm, sick of the growing wounds on his
soul. However, he'd quickly reminded himself that it wouldn't change
anything. On occasion, he'd wished to forget everything, and on others, he
sought to hasten his own demise, as his father had.
But as the world continued to repeat, and he absorbed its distortions and
warping inside himself, there came to dwell within him a darkness as clear
as a lake on a windless night. Sunk at its bottom were mountains of
resignation, remorse, and hatred. They could not be seen from the surface,
which reflected only the azure moon shining in the heavens.
Would this be the time for those emotions to function as a trump card?
"I'm really in it this time. No matter how long I try, I can't settle these
miscalculations. I didn't expect there to be a barrier inside the mirror, too,
or for all of this to happen."
"Perhaps it's because you were greedy," offered Miralys, glaring coldly
at him.
"I'm ashamed of myself," Valt confessed, shrinking back in the face of
her glower.
He dropped his gaze to the map of the mainland spread on the table.
Sighing, he stared at the words Tuldarr, Farsas, and Magdalsia, the last of
which was written smaller.
"All we needed was to have the king of Magdalsia touch the outsiders'
artifact while in a coma, but it looks like only half of the mirror activated.
And one hell of a ruler has claimed the throne in his absence. I guess it's
partly because we've had so many first-time clashes this go-round. Who
would've thought it'd turn into such a pain?"
"You reap what you sow," Miralys commented mercilessly, sitting on
her chair with her knees drawn up and a stormy expression on her face.
"I'm sorry." Valt gave her a brief, terribly fond look, then glanced away.
"Well, it's all right, I have many pieces on my board. I'll get things going
here first," he said with a wink, pointing to the picture of Farsas Castle on
the map.
The Farsas new year festivities went off without a hitch. Oscar waved to the
people as he paraded through the streets on his way back from the temple,
protected by airtight security, then returned to his chambers. Ordinarily, that
would be when he visited Tinasha, but Tuldarr's new year festivities began
at dawn, not at night like in Farsas. That was when the ruler would give a
speech to the populace. Waking up was not the queen's strong suit, so she
would likely be going to bed extra early. He couldn't bring himself to
disturb her slumber.
While his schedule had been a busy one up until now, it would only
grow more so with the new year. In two weeks, there was a founding day
celebration in Gandona, and Tinasha's abdication and Oscar's wedding to
her was another two weeks after that.
Even Oscar found it too hectic, but such responsibilities came with the
territory of being king. And unlike the Gandona revelries, which he had no
desire to attend, he was hoping to move up the wedding. He certainly
wasn't complaining about what the near future would bring.
As he shrugged off his jacket, he spoke to the air around him. "Nothing
happened, so you can go back now."
After a moment, a shocked-sounding girl's voice responded, "You knew
I was here?"
"I felt someone watching me. Did Tinasha order you to do this?"
"Yes," replied a red-haired girl as she materialized close to the ceiling.
This was the only spirit of the twelve who had been with Tinasha before her
coronation, and the one Oscar knew best—Mila.
He asked her, "Did you find the spirit who went missing?"
"No. He hasn't returned to our realm. If only he were here to confirm
whether we're dealing with a witch."
"Did he and this witch once have a battle or something?"
"Actually, I've heard they were lovers, though it was a long time ago,"
Mila explained.
"Oh yeah? So more than four hundred years ago, huh?"
Oscar sank into a chair, poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher,
and took a sip. He glanced up at the spirit on the ceiling. "In that case, is it
possible he's betrayed Tinasha and gone back to the witch?"
"Absolutely not. High-ranking demons cannot break the contracts that
cause them to manifest. If the witch used her power to force him into doing
so, Lady Tinasha would be immediately aware that the agreement was
broken. The same would be true if he died."
"So he's not dead, but he can't do anything."
"More than likely. I wish he hadn't acted on his own and spared Lady
Tinasha the worry," Mila spat. Evidently, her master was more important to
her than another spirit.
Oscar set his water glass on the table. "How freely can spirits act?"
"Hmm, well, we can't appear unless summoned. That can keep us from
helping our master, too, even if she's in mortal danger."
"That's pretty strict."
"Those are the terms of the contract. The first king set them when he
made the pact. To put it bluntly, we avoid getting trampled by politics, and
we are allowed the freedom of our own judgment. To put it nicely, it means
humans handle their own affairs. Ultimately, we're just tools at Lady
Tinasha's beck and call. The difference in power between ordinary humans
and us is just too great, so doesn't it make sense for us to have restraints?"
Oscar did not answer Mila's question. The first person who came to
mind when Mila mentioned a vast power disparity was his fiancée.
"However, we can go wherever we please when our master doesn't need
us. Of course, we can't engage in battle or anything, but we can certainly
poke around here and there. Although up until now, none of us have made it
a point to do anything like that," Mila grumbled bitterly, sounding very
much like she blamed the other spirit for his situation.
Oscar crossed his legs and picked up the letter he'd set on the table. It
was a reply to one of his own.
"Let's put that aside for a moment. Here's where our next clue about the
witch is going to come from. Looks like she got my letter, even though I
sent it lacking knowledge of her address. This is Lavinia's reply."
The missive, which was only a reply to Oscar's inquiry and nothing
more, included the name and physical appearance of the Witch of the
Forbidden Forest, as well as a brief description of her personality and
abilities.
Mila's face darkened as she listened to Oscar read the letter aloud. "Oh,
what in the…? So it probably is her. Lucrezia is Lucia, huh? I see."
"From the way Lavinia describes it, the Witch of the Forbidden Forest
doesn't seem the type to have any interest in politics. I wonder what's going
on here," Oscar said.
"Who knows? You humans are always changing—that's probably all it
is. Anyway, it's the part about her being a psychological mage that I don't
like."
"What? Is that something you can't handle?"
"Nope, not from her. Anything cast by a regular mage would be fine."
"Gotcha. I see how it is," Oscar replied, folding the letter and placing it
in his jacket pocket.
Mila must have decided the conversation was over, because she gave a
nominal good-bye and vanished.
Once he was confident the spirit had left, Oscar locked the letter from
his grandmother in a drawer. He didn't want Tinasha to know its contents,
even a detail that might be obvious to her.
At the end of Lavinia's curt letter, she had written, You can't fight
psychological magic, so be a good boy and let her do it.
The first three days of the new year passed in the blink of an eye.
On the evening of the third day, the sky was clear, and its blue tone
deepened each hour.
Lazar made his way down the hall, glancing outside the castle windows
at a sky that had reached the exact shade of Oscar's eyes. That was probably
why he ran straight into someone who had just rounded the corner ahead of
him. Flustered, he quickly moved out of the way to the right.
He adjusted his grip on his papers and was about to apologize when he
froze. "L-Lady Zefiria…"
"It's been a long time, Lazar," she said, curtsying to him gracefully.
Lazar knew her well. She had a mind like a steel trap and eyes that were
somewhat cold, perhaps owing to the time she'd spent outside of Farsas
before coming to live with her noble father. While her smile was placid, her
disinterest in everything was unnerving, enough so that it may have even
troubled Oscar.
But she was also someone who was not permitted to be here now. Lazar
stared at her searchingly. "Do you have business in the castle?"
"I'd like to wish the king a happy new year. Where is he?" Zefiria asked,
twirling a strand of golden hair around her finger.
Finding something alarming in her beautiful blue eyes, Lazar held his
breath for a moment before replying, "I'm very sorry, but I cannot tell you.
I shall give your regards to him myself and will have to ask you to please
take your leave."
"Oh, how cold of you. It isn't as if I'm going to eat him alive."
"How you jest, my lady. Didn't the king tell you himself that there was
no need for you to wish him anything ever?"
"Did he? Well, if you won't tell me, I'll search for him myself. You
don't have the authority to send me away," she said with a mocking smile.
Lazar drew himself up straight. "It isn't a matter of authority. I am
saying this as his friend. Please depart."
"Is this because he and I used to be intimate?"
"Lady Zefiria!" fumed Lazar, red in the face, and Zefiria let out a
tinkling laugh.
Only a few people knew about her and Oscar, including Lazar, the king's
friend since childhood. Zefiria's father and others may have sensed what
was going on, but they did not discuss it openly.
Lazar broke out in a cold sweat at the mention of this woman. Her
relationship with Oscar had been over since Tinasha's arrival in Farsas, and
it should have remained a buried secret.
In three hours, Tinasha would arrive for a briefing session on the
wedding. Lazar wanted Zefiria gone before then at any cost, and if possible,
he did not wish for Oscar to see her, either.
Without taking his eyes off Zefiria for a moment, Lazar asked a probing
question to try and glean her true motives. "What are you after?"
"Oh, nothing, I'm simply having fun. If you're so eager to know, why
not play along?"
Provocative words. A bewitching smile. Lazar scowled as he sensed
something ominous there. And as he did, someone approached from behind
and abruptly struck him on the back. The surprise almost made his heart
stop.
Before Lazar could turn to see the culprit, he collapsed in the hallway.
Oscar, who was in his study and had just finished the last of his paperwork,
frowned when he realized Lazar hadn't returned. It had already been half an
hour since he'd left to drop off some documents with Nessan, the minister
of the interior. That errand shouldn't have taken this long.
When Oscar opened the door to the hallway, eyes narrowed suspiciously,
he found a lady-in-waiting about to knock. She apologized for her rudeness
and informed Oscar that Lazar was waiting for him in the king's private
chambers.
"In my chambers? That doesn't make sense," Oscar said. Even Lazar,
his longtime friend, could not enter those rooms without permission.
Tinasha was authorized to do so, but she wouldn't enter when Oscar was
absent.
Puzzling over that incomprehensible message, Oscar hastened to his
chambers and flung the door open once he had arrived.
Lazar wasn't there.
Instead, he found a woman standing by the window, the waxing moon at
her back. When she noticed Oscar's arrival, she looked to him slowly. With
a graceful smile on her lips, she dipped into a curtsy.
"I apologize for the long silence," she greeted him.
"Why are you here? Where is Lazar?"
"Lazar? I don't know. Perhaps the lady-in-waiting got her message
mixed up?" she replied with faux innocence, and Oscar swore under his
breath.
Zefiria couldn't call him here herself, so she'd used Lazar's name. The
king's mood plummeted upon realizing he'd fallen for such a foolish trick.
"What are you doing here? Are you in trouble?" he demanded,
concerned for Zefiria despite his anger.
A look of terrible sadness came over the woman's face for just a moment
before it vanished. She walked over to the table and picked up a small bottle
resting on it.
"My mother's winery has produced a fruit wine this year that is the best
vintage yet. I've come to invite you to taste it," she explained, pouring the
red liquid into a glass and stepping over to Oscar to hand it to him.
He received it and stared at the liquid. "Is that really why you're here?
Don't hold back. Just come out and say it."
"That's really all it is. Please, enjoy the wine," Zefiria said with a
beautiful, clear voice.
Oscar lifted the glass up to the moonlight and put his lips to its rim.
Ultimately, he set it back down on the table without taking a sip. "Sorry. I'll
have some later."
"Oh? What's wrong?"
"It isn't that I don't trust you, but I can't be too careful lately. Forgive
me."
"I don't mind," Zefiria assured him, smiling and taking a step closer and
reaching out for Oscar. "Very soon, you'll be married. Congratulations."
"Mm-hmm."
"Farsas will flourish with this tie to Tuldarr. You are the very image of a
king, Your Majesty." Invisible thorns barbed Zefiria's words, and Oscar
scowled.
He caught hold of her wrist as she extended her arm toward him. "Like I
told you before, I didn't choose her for her status. I like her for who she is. I
don't know what you're thinking, but keep the gossip to yourself."
The woman only laughed in response. She gazed up at Oscar, eyes filled
with chaotic, whirling emotions.
Oscar's voice grew more chilling. "Zefiria, what have you done with
Lazar?"
"I told you, I don't know."
"Then why hasn't he returned, and why did you use his name to bring
me here?"
"I merely borrowed his name. I don't know where he is," she asserted.
Her face claimed ignorance, yet her voice felt barbed. Oscar made a face at
how vague she was being.
Zefiria had never been one to reveal her emotions. She had long
maintained a coldness about her, as if she were using her keen mind to keep
a calculated view of everything. Perhaps it was that aspect of her—so
similar to Oscar's—that had garnered his interest. However, she had
remained the same all while they'd seen each other and even upon their
separation. Now, for the first time, he began to see the sharp edges lurking
in that smile.
Zefiria laughed, her eyes inscrutable. "I actually have one request."
"What?"
"I want you, Your Majesty."
"You can't have me. Give up," Oscar replied immediately, rejecting that
request that reeked like a poison flower. They'd been lovers in the past, but
the relationship had never been romantic. Neither Oscar nor Zefiria took
advantage of their statuses to claim the other. They'd simply approved of
each other and met on occasion.
Her perceptiveness, which Oscar had once appreciated, now possessed a
strange hue. Zefiria clearly enjoyed Oscar's suspicion of her. She wriggled
her hand out of his grasp. "I'll abandon hope, then. But in exchange…"
Sharp pain lanced through Oscar's right hand, the one that had been
gripping Zefiria's wrist, and he yanked it back. Glancing down, he saw that
it was oozing blood, as if pierced by a thin blade.
Reflexively, the king wrenched Zefiria's hand up. Pain twisted her
expression, yet her smile remained gleeful. "In exchange, I shall betray
you."
Upon those words, Oscar's vision went dark.
Everything grew very distant.
His consciousness slipped into darkness.
As he crumpled to the floor, Zefiria gazed down at him fondly.
Tinasha arrived in Farsas about twenty minutes sooner than scheduled,
carrying a spell book that her friend Sylvia had asked for.
Now that Tinasha was about to become her queen, Sylvia had regretfully
decided to stop asking her questions about magic. Tinasha wished for their
friendship to remain as it always had and insisted Sylvia make as many
requests as she liked.
Tinasha asked a mage she passed in the hallway where Sylvia was and
was told she waited in the outer gardens. Dusk was falling, and once
Tinasha located Sylvia, she discovered that fellow court mages Doan and
Kav were also there, drawing a magic circle by the light of magical lamps.
"What are you doing?" asked Tinasha.
"Oh, Queen Tinasha! We're trying to create a transportation array with a
variable destination that can be changed each time you want to use it. I
thought it might be useful in times when there isn't a lot of space to set up
multiple arrays," explained Sylvia.
Tinasha stood next to the three and examined their work. "Hmm, sounds
interesting." The configuration was fairly well crafted, owing to the efforts
of the trio. "Excellent job. But the destination can only be changed by those
who can work magic. You'd need to output it to a magic implement or
something."
"I know… I'd like to make it simpler, though." Sylvia sighed.
"You could create a crystal for every destination, give each a unique
name, and define them in the spell configuration. That would allow the
destination to shift, depending on the crystal fitted into the array. It would
require some adjusting of the spell, however."
"Ooh, I see!" said Sylvia, accepting the book Tinasha brought her with
gratitude.
The large transportation arrays permanently installed in the castle could
not be combined into one, as it was sometimes necessary to depart for
multiple locations simultaneously. Still, this invention could be used for
simple configurations installed in people's rooms. Once implemented,
getting around the castle might become a lot easier.
As the three mages fell into serious thought, Tinasha giggled and waved
her hand at them. "Oh, but then you'd have to put chains or something on
the crystal to prevent removal. And you'd be in trouble if you ever lost
one."
"Ooh, that could definitely happen… I can see people walking away
with them by mistake," Sylvia agreed.
Tinasha stared at the magic circle. "This really is well crafted. You've
designed it to utilize minimal magic for maintenance, and when it's
activated, it will absorb magic in the area and amplify it. While that means
it wouldn't work without enough latent energy nearby, you'd just need to
place it carefully, and it would work as a hidden array."
Sylvia nodded. "We arranged it so that it could be used even in places
without any mages."
"Now that you've pointed that out, this really is an extraordinary idea,"
Tinasha remarked.
For Tinasha and Tuldarr, the concept of "not enough magic or mages"
was somewhat foreign. No Tuldarr mage would have considered a way to
keep a magic circle going on minimal magic. However, a concept like this
would be useful in places where mages were scarce. Likewise, there was
the fact that when mages battled one another, hidden magic and spells were
often used, meaning that it was worth researching to see whether this could
be adapted into a magic circle for long-term use. Tinasha crossed her arms,
falling deep into thought.
Aware that if he let her go on, she would ponder it all night, Doan said,
"Queen Tinasha, aren't you here for the meeting about your wedding
ceremony?"
"Oh, yes, I'd completely forgotten. I suppose Oscar's in his study?"
"If you're looking for the king, I know where he is," purred an
unfamiliar voice from behind her, and Tinasha whirled around. So did the
other three mages.
It was not a lady-in-waiting who spoke but an upper-class woman in an
elegant dress.
Tinasha bobbed her head to her and asked, "Could you tell me?"
"Oh, I don't know. It wouldn't be any fun if I revealed it right away,
would it?" drawled the woman, making no secret of how much she was
enjoying this.
Tinasha frowned. When she glanced at Doan, she found him pale. He
hissed. "That's Zefiria, daughter of Duke Jost."
"I see… It's nice to meet you. My name is Tinasha of Tuldarr."
"I am Zefiria. It is an honor to make your acquaintance. This is my first
time seeing you from up close. You really are lovely. I can certainly see
why the king is so captivated," said Zefiria, her tone dripping with derisive
scorn rather than prickly barbs.
Unsure of how to respond, Tinasha scratched her temple. From the
corner of her eye, she saw that Doan's expression looked just as grim as it
had once in the past. She racked her memory and soon recalled when that
last time was.
He'd made this same face the last time Tinasha faced off against an
unknown woman in Farsas Castle. It had been the king's mistress on the
previous occasion.
Tinasha clapped her hands together in recognition. "Are you Oscar's
lover?"
Her question was so indifferent that it made the three mages tense. Kav's
and Sylvia's jaws dropped in shock, while Doan went truly white. Their
reactions confirmed Tinasha's hunch.
Zefiria narrowed her eyes and smiled patronizingly. As if Tinasha were
some underperforming student, she replied, "My… I had heard you were
quite an aloof young lady, but you are surprisingly astute."
"Yes, although I won't deny that I can be dense at times," Tinasha
answered, giving Zefiria a sardonic grin.
Tinasha lacked Oscar's keen intuition. In fact, she was rather
thickheaded for a lady of royalty. But that was when it came to emotional
matters in her private life; as a public figure, Tinasha was extremely
shrewd.
Presently, Tinasha was carefully ascertaining whether this sudden visitor
expected to interact with her on a private or a public level. She could
certainly denounce Zefiria for her rudeness; perhaps that was what she
should do. But too much was unknown about the situation for her to do that.
Doan whispered softly to Tinasha, "It's ancient history now. The king
hasn't seen her since proposing to you."
"I surmised that much. I can't go getting upset over every past dalliance.
There would be no end of it," she muttered back with a bitter smile on her
lips, which visibly reassured the mage trio. Naturally, Tinasha was a little
irritated, but her wedding to Oscar was just around the corner. She couldn't
involve Oscar's subjects in her feelings, nor did she want him to scold her
for causing a fuss.
After composing herself, Tinasha projected an air of calm on the surface
as she faced Zefiria head-on and met her gaze.
With four pairs of eyes upon her, Zefiria tapped a finger to her chin.
"Unfortunately, I know the king much better than you do."
"Is that so? I don't know a thing about that man."
"I'm surprised that you're marrying him, then."
"I love him."
Zefiria sneered. "Really? What makes you believe you haven't just
imprinted on him?" It was a direct provocation. Tinasha knew Zefiria had
come to start a fight.
Her face darkened, but ultimately, her lips curled in a faint smile. "I
suppose when we first met, I only adored him the way a child might. But
the man I longed for when I was younger was not the one for me. The love
of my life is the Oscar with me now, the one who's vexing and mean to
me."
The Oscar she'd met in the past had lavished her with affection.
Her fiancé was not like that. He teased and scolded her; he stood by her
while never holding back. That was proof that they held equal positions and
that he saw her for who she was.
Tinasha's eyes drifted shut in her reverie; then, with a sudden inhale, she
opened them. All of the daunting power of the abyss filled her dark gaze. A
cruel smile played about her lips. "So tell me, who has bribed you to come?
I would so love to know."
A different sort of tension shot through the air. The court mages held
their breaths.
No mere jealous ex-lover would turn up before Tinasha and label her
love for Oscar as false. Zefiria must have been informed of the queen's past.
Eyes flashing, Tinasha fixed a stare as cold as ice on the other woman.
However, Zefiria only looked a little astonished by the sudden change that
had come over the queen, before her facade returned. She clasped her hands
before her heart, smiling. "I do so apologize if I've offended you. I heard
about it all directly from His Majesty."
"From Oscar?"
"Yes. If you like, you can ask him yourself? His Majesty is in his
bedroom. Oh, but he just fell asleep," Zefiria said with elegance and scorn.
That managed to needle at Tinasha's emotions.
Logically, she knew that Oscar wouldn't allow any woman besides his
fiancée into his bedchamber. He wouldn't. Still, her eyes flashed
dangerously, and she couldn't stop the low growl in her voice as she spat
out, "What do you mean?"
"Precisely what I said, Your Majesty. You claimed you wouldn't get
upset about past affairs, but…what about current ones?"
Tinasha heard someone gulp, yet she couldn't be sure who it was.
Her thoughts overheated, and her vision warped as her face screwed up
into a grimace, as if that would hold the pain at bay.
Zefiria broke into a delighted grin as she observed each and every little
fluctuation in Tinasha's composure. Her laughter rang out across the
twilight, echoing unpleasantly. It was the laugh of someone who stirred up
other people's emotions for her own amusement.
Clutching her forehead, Tinasha took a step forward. "Enough. I'm
going to go and ask Oscar myself."
"Ask him? You're not going to kill him?" the woman mocked with glee,
causing the queen's face to darken further.
Tinasha trusted him. That hadn't changed.
But…she was still unnerved. Her heart was no longer her own.
It was all so uncomfortable and frustrating that she wanted to burn
everything to the ground, an impulse unbecoming of a mage. She had never
felt anything when others betrayed her in the past, but when it came to him,
she was reduced to an ignorant little girl.
It made her feel truly foolish—but that was all it was.
Tinasha suppressed the warm sludge threatening to swallow her mind. A
smile like a flower under the moonlight bloomed across her face. "I…don't
know him as well as you do, it's true. But I love him much, much more than
you think," she said. Tinasha intended to keep moving forward despite the
doubts in her heart. Zefiria did not look furious or unhappy to hear this; she
only grinned with eyes narrowed.
Tinasha sidestepped the irksome woman and walked past her, not
looking back once as she left.
"Oscar? Can you hear me? Are you alive?" Tinasha called, knocking on his
door, but there was no reply. As she deliberated over whether she should
teleport inside, she remembered something and called, "Nark, can you hear
me?"
The dragon served Oscar, though Tinasha had been its master for a time.
After a short wait, a little red dragon came flying in response to Tinasha's
summons. "Go inside and open the door if Oscar's in there. If he isn't,
come and tell me."
Oscar's private rooms should have had a window left open during the
day so that Nark could come and go as he liked. The dragon let out a chirp
of acknowledgment and flew out a nearby window.
Tinasha waited for a bit before she heard the click of the lock turning as
the door opened from the inside. Nark glided over to her, and she patted the
creature's head. "Thank you. Stand guard here. Tell me if someone comes."
As ordered, Nark remained by the door while Tinasha ventured deeper
into the room. Oscar wasn't there. Only when she entered his bedchamber
did she find him, asleep on the mattress. She gasped and ran to check his
pulse and breathing.
"He's alive… Good." Tinasha let out a held breath.
He was fast asleep. Even Tinasha, who occasionally slept in his bed,
rarely caught a glimpse of Oscar resting, as he lay down later and rose
earlier than she did. She patted his cheek lightly as she gazed down at his
gorgeous face, no emotion in her eyes.
Oscar showed no signs of waking.
"Ugh… I really might kill you for this," Tinasha muttered, getting onto
the bed and mounting him. Reaching out, she wiped away the smudge of
red lipstick on his lips. He was shirtless, revealing numerous red marks and
scratches littering his skin. Tinasha eyed them expressionlessly.
It was a very transparent attempt to provoke her. She would be a fool if
she let it anger her.
The emotions she couldn't rein in turned to roiling magic. She wanted to
gouge out each and every one of those marks, to tear him apart and put him
back together.
Considering that Oscar was unconscious, Tinasha could do with him as
she desired. She could kill him lovingly. The little girl inside her screamed
out that she wanted to.
Tinasha stroked a finger along his neck. Magic seeped out and shattered
a glass on the table. Broken shards and wine spilled to the ground, but she
paid them no mind at all. She traced a nail along his carotid artery and
scratched the mark already on it.
"To let someone do this to you… If you're going to hand yourself over
to someone, I will take control."
The cold flame in Tinasha's eyes died as she lowered her gaze and drew
near his face. Opening his lips, she kissed him deeply and slipped some of
her magic into his body.
Instantly, Tinasha understood that Oscar had fallen into a trap.
He was a light sleeper, so he would have woken up at a knock on his
door. In any case, she had come here for an appointment; Oscar wasn't so
careless as to forget he had plans and dabble in an affair.
Using her magic to probe throughout his body, Tinasha soon found a
spell, just as she'd expected to. With her mouth still pressed to his, Tinasha
scowled as she sensed the hex entwined with a complicated spell, likely
caused by a potion. Then she recalled that she had seen a very similar hex
before, although its caster had been executed.
Why, then, did an almost identical configuration still exist? Tinasha's
mind raced to form conclusions.
Then she felt a flicker of magic in the distance. It was a tiny wave
rippling out to notify her that something had made contact with one of her
barriers, and, of course, it wasn't coming from the protective barrier cast on
Oscar.
Tinasha scanned the room. The royal sword, which Oscar always kept
with him, was nowhere to be seen.
"Was I deceived? Itz!"
"I am here."
"Keep watch over this man!" Tinasha ordered, and the white-haired old
man swept into a bow. "I'll be right back!"
As her fury colored her fine features, Tinasha teleported away.
Zefiria was a shrewd, dauntless woman.
Valt attempted to cajole her into letting herself be manipulated, but when
she saw through his lies, he decided it best to tell her the truth.
He hadn't told her everything, but none of it was false.
She set two conditions: one, that he would not take Akashia away, and
two, that Oscar would not be put into any mortal danger. Valt agreed
readily. As a mage, he had no need for Akashia, and he certainly didn't want
Tinasha holding a grudge against him for killing Oscar.
After Zefiria handed Akashia to Valt, he asked her, partly as a joke,
"What would you change if you could go back in time?"
"Hmm… I would find my mother when she was young and tell her to
have better taste in men," she replied facetiously, but the remark possibly
contained a grain of truth. While Zefiria was proud of who she was, she also
detested herself.
Valt chuckled at the complexity of emotions and watched the woman as
she left, knowing he would likely never see this person again.
"Ow! If that had taken any longer, it would have melted me to the bone."
Valt sighed as he glanced at his hideously burned hand and the royal sword
on the ground.
Akashia, the artifact passed down through the Farsas royal family, had
the ability to nullify any magic it touched. Valt did not know the exact
reason why only the direct descendants of Farsasian royals could wield it.
He hadn't expected the hilt and blade to heat up when he took the sword
and touched it to a spell configuration.
He healed his hand as he carried a small box out of the Farsas treasure
vault. Ordinarily, breaking the wards on the box would alert the queen, but
she probably couldn't spare the concern for that at the moment. Even so, he
needed to hurry, or someone would notice the fallen guards.
When Valt exited the no-teleportation zone around the treasure vault, he
said an incantation and cast a transportation spell. Zefiria had led him inside
the castle; to leave, he would cross the wards. He also needed to cast a
complicated spell to prevent anyone from tracking him.
Suddenly, Valt detected someone with a very murderous intent behind
him. In a voice like the clearest flute, she called, "It's been a while. Where
do you think you're going?"
"Well, well… I never thought you'd notice," Valt said, tensing up and
turning around. There before him, he found the very embodiment of an
abyss of darkness in the form of a beautiful woman, vivid and real. Blue
lightning crackled around her right hand, its light flickering against her
exquisite features.
Thunder rent the air, though Tinasha didn't appear to be bothered by it at
all. She pointed to the box in Valt's hands. "I shall have to ask you to leave
that here. Along with yourself."
"Mmm. While that is an enticing proposition, I'm afraid I already have a
girl waiting for me," Valt said with a smile, drawing back his left leg as a
small crystal tumbled from the hem of his pants.
Her gazed fixed squarely on him, Tinasha narrowed her eyes, so black
that no emotion could be discerned. "Then die."
Lightning erupted, but as it did, Valt kicked the crystal up before him.
The bolt intertwined with it, snared before it could reach him.
As Tinasha drew up a new spell, Valt smiled. "We'll meet again soon,
Witch of the Azure Moon."
What he said left Tinasha unguarded for one crucial moment, which Valt
seized. He activated his teleportation spell and disappeared.
Tinasha was left to stare around in a trance. "Witch…of the Azure
Moon?"
Then she shook her head violently to snap herself out of it. Striding
down the hallway, she arrived at the treasure vault. The lock was broken.
By searching the messily arranged space, she found that there was no white
box on the pedestal. It was empty, and below the stand on the floor lay
Akashia.
"You're lucky it was a hex I remembered dealing with. You almost landed
yourself in a coma like Legis," Tinasha remarked, colder than Oscar had
ever heard her. Her tone was so chilly he could practically hear the ice floes
cracking in it.
He clutched at his head, sitting up in bed. Glancing down at the marks
littering his body, he knew he needed to think about what to say first. The
wrong thing might mean losing his head.
But before he could open his mouth to speak, Tinasha asked, "Did that
woman bring you this wine? It's dosed with a potion."
"No, I didn't drink it. She cut me with a razor of some kind."
"You really will let a woman be the death of you one of these days."
"..."
Oscar wanted to defend himself, but he knew that this wasn't the time.
He obediently bit his tongue and kept quiet.
Tinasha was sitting on the edge of the bed with Akashia across her lap.
If not for that, the mood in the room would be even more miserable.
Tinasha gave him a bright smile, though only for show. "Lazar was
found asleep in an empty chamber. He was only knocked out with magic,
and Doan is examining him. There is a team in pursuit of Lady Zefiria, but
she hasn't returned to her home. Since the hex used on you resembles the
one that was placed on Legis, we can assume Valt is responsible on both
counts. He's managed to steal Eleterria right out from under us. Sorry."
Despite the apology, it was clear Tinasha felt only rage.
Oscar cut in with one of the eleven ways of appeasing her he had
thought of. "Hey, Tinasha."
"What?" she responded, her ear-to-ear smile frightening.
But he couldn't falter now. "First of all, thank you for saving me. And
I'm sorry. I let my guard down."
Those few words were all he had to say. Tinasha narrowed her eyes at
him. While her lips were curved into an approximation of a smile, she
looked more like a statue than a person.
Tinasha set Akashia aside and got onto the bed, crawling slowly over to
Oscar on hands and knees, resembling nothing so much as a lithe jungle cat.
She assessed him with the eyes of a predator. Then she leaned down and
pressed a light kiss to his neck.
In a titillating voice, she whispered, "Is there anything else you want to
say?"
"I'm sorry," he grumbled reluctantly, sulking, and Tinasha burst out
laughing.
A childlike gleam came into her dark eyes. "It's a bit fun having our
positions reversed for once."
"Oh yeah? Well, it makes it a little better to know you're enjoying
yourself."
"I may be feeling pleased, but I am fifty times more absolutely livid
with you."
"Don't call off our engagement."
"I wouldn't!" Tinasha shouted crossly. When she touched Oscar's
shoulder, the marks on his body that were placed there to infuriate her all
disappeared at once.
Looking deeply unamused, Tinasha sat back onto Oscar's lap. "I'm glad
nothing worse happened to you. I didn't want to have to kill someone for
personal reasons."
"So you were thinking of killing me?" Oscar muttered, something cold
running through him.
Tinasha threw him an appalled look. "Of course I wasn't. I was talking
about her. I placed a tracker on her, which I undid once I learned you had
simply been careless. If I'd known she was working with Valt, I would have
kept it on her. That's my mistake. I should have knocked her out when I met
her in the gardens," Tinasha said lightly, as if she wasn't discussing life and
death. Her confidence in her magic remained apparent, however. This was
her true self, the Tinasha who wasn't a child or a queen.
Oscar couldn't help but grin at her.
The sight prompted Tinasha to frown. "Do you understand what you
did?"
"I do. I understand."
"Did it sink in?"
"Absolutely."
"You are prone to making women obsessed with you, so you need to be
careful," she chided seriously.
Oscar gave a wan tired smile. "What about you?"
"Unfortunately, the only men who are interested in me are after what's
inside my body."
"What the…?"
A grin flashed across Tinasha's face before she turned serious again.
"Valt wants both orbs of Eleterria, so he shouldn't be able to use just the
one right away. I need to fortify the security around the remaining orb…"
"Why don't you just destroy it? That seems like the path of least harm,"
Oscar suggested.
"We don't know what might happen if I try," Tinasha said, nose
scrunching up.
She had no idea how a magical artifact that could send people back in
time might react to harm. The potential backlash was far too risky.
Just to be certain, Oscar asked, "Is the Tuldarr treasure vault secure?"
"I'd like to say it is, but the recent irregularities have me worried,"
Tinasha admitted. After a beat, she looked at him. "Valt is extremely good
at reading people. He seems to know a lot about you and me, and not just
general facts."
"Owing to when he infiltrated Farsas Castle as Nephelli's mage, I'm
sure. You talked to him then, too, didn't you?"
"Yes, but his understanding runs deeper than the superficial. I mean in a
more familiar sense."
"Familiar?"
"He probably knows my current self. I can't let this continue…"
Tinasha cut herself off, her gaze turning distant as her thoughts sank to a
deep, dark place. All the emotion faded from her eyes, leaving behind only
a cold and calculating mind.
Her train of thought took her deeper and further away. She grew so
distant that it was like she was rewinding time.
She was becoming someone Oscar didn't recognize.
"Tinasha?"
Her name fell from his lips involuntarily, surprising even Oscar himself.
Immediately, the emotion came back into her gaze, and she smiled. "What
is it? Are you going to beg to keep your life?"
"So you really do plan to kill me…?"
"Of course not. We're not even married yet."
"I know… If you're gonna kill me, at least wait until our kids are
grown."
"I'll consider it," Tinasha joked, giggling. She turned to burrow into
Oscar's chest. Yet as her long eyelashes fluttered closed, her thoughts sank
once more to the coldest depths.