Page 24

L ilith surveyed the hall. There was no sign of the prince.

His class was at a far table boisterously munching away.

Similar to when she moved in the hallways, she felt gazes land on her.

A shiver ran up her spine. Losing her appetite, she got up and left, making an excuse to the classmates around her.

Knowing that Lilith was still on suppressants, Sir Tornbury excused her from class.

They were practicing duelling and she “serves no purpose if she can’t cast magic.

” He also told her to skip the private class with him scheduled for tonight, but to find the prince to let him know.

Freed for the afternoon, she went to the library.

Hoping to run into the prince, she was disappointed to find the place empty.

She ventured to the stacks of books. Endless forgotten tomes.

She spotted a few familiar titles, ones her father kept.

She spotted a thin leather bound book with a rune symbol.

She unbound the leather tie and flipped to the opening page.

It was in a language she couldn’t decipher.

Tossing it onto a nearby desk, she went back to the dusty bookshelf.

Books about far off kingdoms, old kings, poisons, tonics, but nothing spoke to her .

Echoes of faint footsteps fell nearby. She looked around, expecting someone to come down from the entrance, but the unlit hearth rumbled and then slid open.

Out of the darkness, came the frowning face of the prince. He stopped walking when he noticed her and his facial expression changed from serious to concern.

“A very unexpected encounter. You must be feeling better? But why are you not in class?” he asked her.

“Are we going to skip the part where you explain why there’s a secret door behind the fireplace?” Lilith picked up the book with runes and tucked it under her arm.

He wagged his finger and slowly approached with a look that Lilith was sure would take the undergarments off of many ladies, stopping inches away from her.

Lilith froze. She noticed the dark circles under his eyes.

He was using this flirtatious mask as a distraction.

Royals wear many faces. She could not trust him so easily.

“What have you been up to?” She mirrored his look. His eyes fell to her lips. “Your flirting will not help you here,” she boldly cautioned him, gently pressing her palm into his chest. He leaned down, as if ready to kiss her. Lilith instinctively leaned into him.

He mischievously smiled. “If that were the case, why are you not backing away?”

“I have poor judgement of character and bad taste in men,” she spoke, her heart beating fast. Would he do it? Is that all it takes to get what he wants?

He laughed and straightened. “Yes, you do. We have a lot to discuss. The tournament for starters. It’s time you explained yourself. Where did this power come from? ”

Lilith felt a blush creeping up. Her predicament was embarrassing.

Without her mana, she couldn't fortify her mental barriers to make sure he didn't creep into her mind, but hoped that he wouldn't peer in.

“During the summer, Lord Elwin paid our family a visit,” she awkwardly paused; her ears were flaming red.

“Considering how hard you’re blushing, this must be quite the tale.”

“Ass.” She gave him a light shove. It helped.

“So, there is an oracle.” Maybe I don’t have to explain the whole prophecy part?

“You know what, let’s skip that part.” She started spewing words out.

“Anyway, Lord Elwin believes my powers will grow to the point that I would lose control and destroy… well, everything. So, he held me against my will and put a binding spell on my magic. When I woke up, it was like a part of me was missing. He left before explaining the conditions to the runes. I’ve been slowly trying to figure out the extent of my abilities and what it all means for my future, especially now, after the emergence.

” Prince Demetrius was awfully quiet. She looked anywhere but at him.

She felt his hand carefully caress her cheek and then delicately pulled her chin up, so that she was forced to look at him.

She trailed her gaze up his chin, his soft lips, his straight nose, until she found his ice blue eyes. They beheld her with such wonder.

“You looked like a goddess at the tournament. Beautiful.” He brushed his thumb across her lips. Her lips parted at his words. She remembered a silky dark voice calling her a 'beautiful goddess,' but it was not his voice. Lilith blinked a couple times and stepped out of his touch .

“I was in the hospital for a week and I didn’t hear from you. As my mentor, I would have thought you’d stop in. At least yell at me for ruining the tournament.” She felt disappointed everyday he didn’t show.

“I wanted to visit you, but I had to take care of some things.” He let out a heavy sigh.

“Which brings us to why I came out of that passage. There are many secret rooms and passageways hidden in this old castle. I suppose it is time that I let you in on my secrets. This particular passage leads to a village east of here. I was doing business with a friend.” He walked up to his favourite chair.

“Before the tournament, I came with an offer. An offer you had agreed to.”

“This business has to do with me becoming one of your spies?”

“There’s business in secrets.”

“Why bother gathering secrets this far north?”

“Before I reveal anything further, I must ask you to confirm your fealty to me.”

Lilith walked once more to the bookcases, casually scanning more titles. “You should know others have approached me, offering to help me with my runes. Offers to help with no ties attached.” She heard the scuff of his boots moving. Demetrius grabbed her wrist.

“Then I ask for your help in return for a favour. If I could do everything myself I would, but I don’t have that time. I need men. Eyes I can trust.”

“You trust me?”

“I trust you will not turn on me.”

She contemplated her choices. She didn’t have to help him, but she was curious.

Was he acting on behalf of the King? “I want to secure my family’s safety with the threat of the Void looming over our kingdom.

I want you to promise to keep them safe.

In exchange, I shall help you... for now.

But if you deceive me, I will make you suffer. ”

“I expect nothing less. Pull up a seat.” He dragged his favourite chair to a desk and reached into his shirt.

He pulled out a folded parchment and unfolded it onto the table.

Lilith curiously approached, leaning beside him.

The folded parchment was a map. “Danai. You can come out now.” From the shadows of the room came a dark figure with long pointed ears.

Lilith blushed. Has she been here this entire time?

Danai’s pointed look confirmed Lilith’s suspicion.

“Danai has been an invaluable asset. She will walk you through our next task.”

“Which is what, exactly?” Lilith glanced between them.

“We believe there will be a movement against my father soon. They wish to overthrow the current monarchy and put forth one of their own instead. They think that the old gods are at war with the current monarch and how our society is run. They believe if they reinvent the current system of ruling and remove lords and those in power, there is potential the Void would disappear.”

“Any act of rebellion would be disastrous for this realm.” Danai shook her head. “They mean to massacre all royals and lords, along with their entire family line.”

“So they’re essentially making a sacrifice to the old gods?

” Lilith knew that things were desperate, but to pull off an assault on that scale would require time, money and patience.

Things she didn’t think the common folk were able to secure.

“ Who do you think is behind this? They need financial support? So, lower ranking nobles?”

“Precisely. They are looking for an opportunity to advance their social status. My father cannot fight a war on two fronts. His attention should focus on holding off the Void and re-establishing a barrier,” the prince said.

“From our previous attempts at locating these noblemen, we have come across a meeting point close to here.” Danai pointed to a village named Tilton, east of Skilheim Stronghold.

“We believe they will hold another meeting soon, which is why we want you to blend in and listen for any valuable information.”

“They know my face. I cannot easily blend into a crowd,” the prince added. “ You and Danai will work together to find out what they’re planning.”

Lilith held out her hand. She felt like her brain was overloading with questions: “Hold on. First question: how do we know exactly when they’re meeting next?

Second question: how are we supposed to leave this school and have our absence go unnoticed?

We have classes. People will wonder where we went. ”

“To answer your later question, I am working with Lord Helmer. As one of the lords of this kingdom, he would be greatly affected by this movement. He was the one to suggest that we bring you into our fold.”

Okay, that’s a big shocker, Lilith thought as she tried to comprehend all this news.

“He suggested that we use the guise that I am taking you on training quests as a way for you to learn to control your powers. To answer your first question, we know when they’re holding the next meeting because we have someone working with them.”

Lilith took a moment to process all of this information.

The prince and Danai exchanged looks, which Lilith could not decipher.

She ground her teeth. “If you’re serious about this, I suggest Danai and myself should go into Tilton beforehand.

Establish our cover story before the meeting occurs.

New faces will look suspicious, especially in a small village. ”

Danai smiled at her, satisfied with Lilith's idea. “We will head off in two days. The meeting will occur two days after. I will go over the details when we leave.” She nodded to the prince and then made for the library exit.

Lilith looked closer at the map. It seemed that most of the markers, which she assumed to be meeting locations or locations of people of interest, were northwest of the Vanguard.

Some markers were in Vanguard itself. This was madness.

The prince leaned in close to her. “You will do well tomorrow.” He reached past and took the map.

She could feel the heat radiating from him.

Folding it into his pocket. Lilith rose from her chair, the strain of a headache forming along her temple.

She nodded to the prince and made for the dorm.

"Wait," called out the prince. Lilith paused but didn't turn to face him.

She felt him walk over, making her stomach flutter in excitement.

He pressed his hands on either side of her temple pulsing out a warm light that eased the pain of her headache.

Once he was finished, his hands drifted over her shoulders and down her side.

His touch was comforting, it felt right.

She leaned back and they stood in a silent embrace.

His breath sent tingles up her neck and she shivered, breaking the moment.

The prince dropped his hands and stepped back.

" Good night, Lilith." She wasn't ready to speak her feeling towards him, so she left without looking back.

The day went slowly. Half of her classmates entered their emergence. She finished her run with Storm, whose first day back was today, and partnered up with him during the physical training.

“What did it feel like for you?” Lilith asked him. She had been curious to try out her abilities now that the suppressors had run their course.

“It was akin to the worst sickness, a fever that felt like it would never break, and then a rush of power. Like I have access to a new tap of mana,” he said stoically. “They’re suppressing you, yes?”

Lilith raised the sleeve of her shirt exposing her runes around her wrist. “If you mean the suppressors the healer gave, those have left my system. However, I’m under a more aggressive form of suppressing.” Storm gave her wrist a curious glance.

“Well, care to see how limited your abilities are? I know I want to try.” He gave her a small smile.

They gave each other ample space. Lilith shook out her muscles and then called for her mana.

She liked how Storm described it, like a 'new tap' was unlocked.

She could feel the flow of energy flowing through her more readily.

Storm had his hands out, his aura glowing as if he were casting a light blue fire around himself.

He shot his hand out and cast a ball of electricity towards her.

The sphere crashed into her shield. She wondered if she could do the same.

She reached for her powers, that spark of electricity flowing through her.

She sent a similar sphere towards him, which crashed into his shield and let off a loud boom.

They went back and forth casting various elements.

She was not surprised when she saw Storm's abilities included electricity (which was a rare ability in itself,) but also fire and air. Although she didn’t drain as quickly as before, there was still a strain.

She felt that she could go further, but her runes were quick to suppress her.

She yelled out a cry of frustration as the runes felt like they were burning her.

Storm quickly ran over, a look of concern on his usually stoic countenance.

Lilith’s eyes brimmed with tears. She felt like she could control more power, but the cursed runes were stopping her. She thanked Storm and then stomped away, wiping her tears of anger. Mistress Rhodes dismissed her to her room.