LOCATION: THE CRUCIBLE, 100TH FLOOR
PLANET: LAPIS DIVINUS, ORION LUMINARY INSTITUTE
YEAR: ? | DAY: ?? | TIME: ??
The royal family of Seraph’s Hold traveled with a large contingent befitting both their stature and their need for security. The carriages passed wheat fields and vineyards, and the heady scent of the crops and fruit filled their senses along the three-day ride.
When they arrived at the castle in Goldenvale, attendants began offloading luggage. Kaela could hear bells and workers shouting from the harbor, and a pleasant, salty sea breeze blowing in from the ocean calmed her nerves.
King Galen, the ruler of the agrarian kingdom, greeted his neighbors from the east.
“King Alaric and Queen Emmanuelle. Thank you for gracing my humble doorstep with your august presence.”
He bowed low, bending at the waist and spreading his arms out to each side. King Alaric stepped forward and playfully patted his counterpart on the back of his head.
“What are you doing, bowing to me? That is not how you greet old friends!”
He pulled King Galen of Goldenvale into an embrace. The two laughed, as the overly obsequious greetings were an old joke between the two of them.
Sure, Seraph’s Hold possessed tremendous military might. But nobody can survive without food. And while Goldenvale was no martial powerhouse, it provided that food, wine, and the best ales to the entire realm. Also, due to its location, much of the trade for the region passed through its ports.
Alaric was wise enough to know that physical power wasn’t everything, and he highly valued his country’s alliance with Goldenvale. Plus he respected Galen, who had long ago chosen to invest so much of his kingdom’s resources in its lands, its infrastructure, and the prosperity of its people.
Queen Emmanuelle hugged him next, and when she stepped to the side, Lucien and Kaela were there smiling. Holding hands, even.
King Galen smiled, extending his arms wide.
“Well, look at this!”
He pulled both Kaela and Lucien into an embrace.
“I am overjoyed to see you two happy!” He turned toward King Alaric. “I hosted this young woman just a year ago when she was on her way to Seraph’s Hold. Who knew these two would come back to us with such smiles on their faces?”
Then he clapped his hands together, causing the nearby attendants to flinch in surprise.
“It seems we have more than the end of a war to celebrate. Come in, come in. Take some time to settle into your quarters, and join me in the sitting room for refreshments.”
Kaela and Lucien were led upstairs to a shared bedroom, as they weren’t just married, but they were also inseparable. They chatted for a time as their staff unpacked, and then descended the stairs to join the others for drinks before dinner.
The grand celebration was scheduled for three days hence, but tonight was a chance to catch up in a more relaxed setting.
As they neared the bottom of the wide, winding staircase, Kaela noticed scouts and guards rushing about. It was quite a commotion, and they were all heading in the same direction Kaela and Lucien were going.
“I wonder what this is all about,” Lucien whispered.
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They turned a corner and entered the sitting room. Overstuffed couches were arranged neatly around the space, with sconces and chandeliers casting warm light throughout.
Large windows overlooking the ocean were wide open, bringing fresh air and a cool evening breeze into the large room. The sun was already beginning to set to the west.
Kaela spotted the long tables lined with trays stacked high with meats, cheeses, and carafes of wine, and her stomach growled.
But as she was about to reach for a glass, she heard words that caused her to freeze in place.
“Princess Kaela,” King Galen said. “I am sorry, but I bear bad news.”
King Galen was with Alaric and Emmanuelle, reading a written report they had just been handed by one of the scouts.
The scout, dressed from head to toe in fitted black leather, was on one knee on the ground as he reported, still breathing heavily from having run here from a great distance.
Queen Emmanuelle raised her hands to her face and began crying softly.
Galen handed the parchment to Kaela, and Lucien looked over her shoulder as she read it.
---
King Galen
King Alaric
Queen Emmanuelle
Assassins have slain the entire Caerwyn royal family. We hear that they have killed every servant in the castle and have usurped the throne.
They have made no demands at this time, but they are quickly consolidating their power.
They have performed public executions of three city leaders, and are enforcing a curfew. The streets are patrolled with outside mercenaries, not the guard. From what we can tell, the guard have either been imprisoned or put to death, as we have seen no sign of them.
This is all we have to report currently. The situation is escalating quickly.
---
Kaela read it twice.
Then once more.
Her face was a mask of stone.
So many thoughts came unbidden.
Why am I not crying?
They were my family.
Why do I feel nothing?
But then she realized that wasn’t quite true. There was a cold, blue fire burning in her belly, and it was slowly rising.
The blue spark had always been there from the time she had first arrived on this floor of The Crucible.
That family was not kind to her. The spark ignited when she stood before her brother and father in the throne room, and it grew when she was attacked that night because they had carelessly sent their own Princess out onto a dangerous road with no protection.
They treated her as an expendable pawn. A pawn they cashed in only to save their own asses, showing no concern for the safety of the pawn itself.
And what did it all get them?
Assassinated in their own castle.
Her first thought was to leave it.
The family didn’t exactly deserve such a fate, but they certainly had displayed a certain karmic tendency that didn’t stir up her emotions.
But then memories began coming.
The Queen, crying and waving in the window as Kaela departed. The dress she had smuggled into Kaela’s luggage.
Ellister Rowan, who had risked the ire of the King by providing Kaela a safer escort.
Then there was the young couple at the farmhouse. That was the one that stuck in Kaela’s heart.
A lump formed in her throat.
No. Fuck the royal family. They may not deserve such a brutal end, but they definitely didn’t elicit Kaela’s sympathy.
And now the usurpers have mercenaries roaming the streets and terrorizing the citizens? That was the piece that didn’t sit right with Kaela.
In the end, it all came back to the farmhouse couple. Those two represented the good people of Caerwyn. They were the ones who must be spared the fallout.
Her face was still a wall of stone, but the blue fire burning in her breast was now bordering on an inferno.
“Kaela,” Lucien said, pulling her into a hug. He had been expecting tears to stain his tunic. But instead, The Lioness, his fierce wife, tightened under his arms, her muscles tensing.
She hugged him back for a moment, then released him and stepped back.
She turned to King Alaric.
“I know that we just ended a war with Caerwyn, and Seraph’s Hold deserves a period of peace. May I have leave to take a small team of your scouts to investigate?”
Alaric set his wine glass down on a table. He was quiet for a moment.
“They are your scouts as much as they are mine, my dear. You are a Seraphen now. One of us. You can take the entire army if you wish. They all respect you. If you want to march in force—”
Kaela considered what she knew of guerrilla warfare. An army would garner far too much attention, and only scare the people further.
A smaller, stealth-based contingent would be able to cross the border quietly and mix among the citizens to learn the truth.
Because that’s what was missing in this situation: information. Actionable intelligence.
“No, I would prefer a smaller, quieter approach. At least for now. How many Scouts can you spare?”