“Close the gates!” knights called as others hauled the gates closed with massive ropes. Bowmen from atop the wall loosed arrows towards the tigers, each taking multiple before falling. As others climbed over their fallen comrades, nearing the gate, Vel attempted to sever the threads.

  She snapped three of them before the tigers could slip through the gate, but two made it past the knights. They still pushed after her as Voran, Enno, and the rest of Enno’s squadron carried her forward.

  [Sever Link level 18]

  [Sever Link level 19]

  The two tigers didn’t last long, taking arrows to their backs. Behind them, the gates shut, and knights in green placed a massive wood bar across it. The gates rattled as something smashed into it, the knights bracing it. More climbed up the walls, their forms growing small as Vel continued down the streets.

  She turned her head, looking forward. The street was completely empty, one woven basket rolling against the ground at the base of a stark blue building as they passed, almost as if it’d been dropped in a hurry. The horns still bellowed, and as Vel searched the square windows of the colored buildings, she could see the nervous faces of the people watching.

  There was a system in place to keep people safe, she figured. When those horns blared, people got inside. It was convenient for Enno and his men as he charged Vel and her little party down the street, straight towards the castle gates at the city’s center. Massive castle gates, though smaller than the city’s gates. The castle beyond, however, looked as if it could have housed the entire kingdom!

  Vel tilted her head back, looking at the spires that were topped with colorful teardrops against a dimming blue sky. There was a story painted on those bulbous toppers, one that she could almost see from where she was. On the center spire was a figure silhouetted by an abstract sun behind him. Stretching out from his hands and passing over the other towers were musical notes, elementals, and finally, people. She interpreted it as some sort of creation of the people here.

  They stopped before the gates to the castle, Enno dismounting and approaching a castle guard in purple. They conversed momentarily before the guard waved to someone atop the gates, who then waved to someone behind the gates. Enno mounted back up behind his lieutenant as the gates creaked open, a sound barely audible with the horns.

  The passed, slower now, through the castle gates, hooves grating against the cobblestone street that led all the way up to a fountain. It encircled the fountain, stretching to the palace steps, where Voran stopped the horse.

  “This way, please,” Enno said, dismounting and starting up the steps.

  Voran got off first, then offered Vel a hand. She took it, wincing at the stiffness in her behind. While she’d ridden a horse before, she hadn’t done so quite like that for an entire day. She looked up at the granite pillars that supported the awning, also decorated with splashes of color. The palace doors were ornately carved, swinging open to allow them entry into a tiled hall.

  Vel’s jaw dropped as she looked around the room, letting go of Voran’s hand, which she hadn’t realized she’d still been holding. She turned, looking at the pillars that supported the round room, then up towards the domed ceiling, shimmering over a golden chandelier. By what magic the chandelier was lit with, she knew not, but what she did know was this was by far more beautiful than she could have imagined. It was like one of the absurd places Edard may have told her about, probably blessed by fairies too.

  “Your majesty,” Enno said, Vel barely registering the words as she continued to turn all the way around. Her eyes traced back down the pillars, all the way to Sigurd’s ragged face, which was a stark contrast to the beauty that laid behind him.

  Please tell me I don’t look that bad too, she thought, furrowing her brow as Sigurd called her by name.

  “He’s talking to you,” he said.

  “Right,” Velmira replied, and turned to look at Captain Enno. Beyond the captain laid a dais, two empty red and gold thrones sitting upon it. However, a woman with gold hanging from her ears and silk adorning her form stood before them. Upon her blue head was a gold diadem, an emerald dangling on her forehead.

  “I have been informed by Captain Enno that you are the [sacrifice],” she said, standing tall. She took slow, graceful strides down the steps from the dais, Captain Enno stepping aside to allow her through to Velmira.

  [Skill gained: Appraisal]

  [0.5 Acuity added]

  The woman took a deep breath, her chest heaving with it. “I see,” she said.

  “You do?” Vel asked. Then shook her head. “I’m sorry, pardon my manners,” she said, unsure if she should have even spoken. Perhaps she should have bowed? Curtsied? By the gods, she had no idea how to respond to royalty, or perceived royalty━she had no idea who she was talking to.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “[Dark Avenger], I do not expect you to maintain your manners in such a time,” she responded, and if Vel’s jaw wasn’t already drooping enough, it was now.

  And she had to test this appraisal skill.

  Purple Fairy, how do I use this [appraisal]? she asked.

  [Appraisal: An active skill used to gather information on another being or object]

  We really need to discuss how bad your informative skills are, Vel thought, finally clamping her mouth shut. Now really wasn’t the time for this, so straightening herself out and smoothing back her windswept hair, she asked, “Where is Edard?”

  The woman raised her brow, and took in a deep breath, though the rest of her remained composed.

  [Skill gained: Poise]

  [0.5 Acuity added]

  “Perhaps you should meet my mother-in-law first, the high queen,” she replied.

  “Then that makes ya the queen?” Aden asked, then said, “ow!” taking a smack in the back of the head from Sigurd. “What was that for?”

  “Speaking out of turn,” Sigurd huffed.

  “I’m not her citizen! I’m completely unrelated. Ain’t no turn then!”

  The queen merely looked amused at the teenager before turning her gaze back to Velmira. “Captain, introductions?” she asked.

  “Yes, excuse my lack of decorum, your majesty,” Captain Enno said. He turned to Vel, then said, “Her royal highness, queen of Ymril, Amoira Ymarro.”

  Vel nodded in thanks, though she still furrowed her brow. Briefly looking at the others, she asked the queen again, “How come I cannot see Edard?”

  For a moment, she swore she saw an sullen expression in the queen’s eyes, though that faded. What was she not saying? Was Edard dead? Did something happen to him? A sinking feeling came to Vel’s gut, and her chest filled with an ache she wanted so badly to squash and stuff back into some deep abyss, never to claw its way back out. If she could just see him, just see Edard, then it would go away.

  “Please, follow me,” Amoira said, and turned. She moved towards an archway at the right side of the room, which opened up to arching halls with tall windows on the right wall. Vel followed right on her heels, the footsteps of her friends a whisper compared to the blaring horn that was significantly louder in this hallway than it had in the throneroom. She swore the windows even rattled, up until the warning sound finally ended after two sharp blares.

  Good, that was good. At least she hoped it was, praying to . . . well, no one, she supposed. It was hard to not have a god, but then, she considered that there had to be a god that gave her her class. She hoped he could hear her prayers, the ones deep in her heart that begged for Edard to be okay, and that asked for the preservation of life for those that guarded this city.

  The hallway rounded toward a set of open doors, leading to an open-air hall that ran along the outside of a courtyard. At the center of the courtyard was a rounded pool, one in which washer women used for laundry. Not far from it was a tea table, where an elderly woman with whitening purple hair━nearly Vel’s lavender━sat. She set the book she was reading down when she saw the queen, then lifted her teacup for a sip.

  “Wait here,” Captain Enno said to Sigurd and the others behind Vel.

  Velmira, on the other hand, followed Amoira straight towards the tea table, her eyes glued to the elderly woman, who was just as adorned, save for any crown or diadem. Rather, she word a sapphired beret that held her light lavender locks up.

  “Who is this?” she asked, looking towards Amoira with tanned eyes.

  “Your highness,” Amoira smiled, and a look of knowing came to the old woman’s eyes.

  “Oh,” she said, then repeated the word as she turned her gaze to Vel, “Oh, by Dark’s good graces,” she said, standing up. She beckoned for Vel to come closer with a hand. “Please, let me see you.”

  For a long moment, Velmira stared at the hand. While their skin might have been vastly different colors, their hair wasn’t so, nor were their hearts. For a moment, brief as it was, her worries washed away. Real family, she had a real family, real as anyone else’s. She took her mother’s hand, stepping closer as she looked into her eyes.

  The image of that little girl holding her mother’s hand back in Evamyn played in Vel’s head. She had wished for a real mother at that time, and now here she was before her, even if it was from a prior life. Her eyes welled up with tears, as her worries crashed back into her, like the stress of everything that had happened could finally escape. Without even asking, she stepped forward, giving her mother a hug. The other woman accepted it, her old arms stronger and firmer than Vel could have expected.

  “Welcome home,” she said.

  And like a dam had broken, Vel’s voice cracked as tears spilled from her eyes. Her knees grew weak, yet her mother still held her up. All this time, she’d needed to be strong, to be a warrior, and how terrible she’d been at both, despite all her growth. Now, however, she could just be a girl, barely an adult, if she could even be called that.

  Vel’s form shook as she allowed the tears to escape her, getting the ugliest cry of her life out! Oma would have never let me do this, she thought, heart aching for all the tears she’d held back or hidden her entire life. She never got to be the child that played and had fun, never got to be the normal person that pursued normal people things! No, she had been a prisoner, and . . . and . . .

  Velmira pulled back, wiping at her tears. “W-where is he?” she breathed out, looking at her mother. “Where is my Edard?” she asked.

  Her mother’s eyes closed, brows furrowing as sorrow overtook her face. She didn’t hide her feelings behind [poise] like Amoira had. Rather, they were on display, enough for Velmira to know that something was horribly, terribly wrong.

  She took a deep breath, holding it as she waited, tears still staining her cheeks.

  “Edard was here,” her mother started, finally opening her eyes and looking up at Vel. “Please, sit.”

  Vel stood like stone for a long moment, debating if she needed to be sitting for this; debating if she would lose her legs if she heard the words she feared most. Please, oh please be alive, she begged internally, and ultimately slowly lowered herself in a chair adjacent to her mother’s as they both sat.

  As Mother took a hold of both of Velmira’s hands, she looked her straight on. “They took him,” she said, her grip tightening around Vel’s fingers. “He was abducted last night.”

  One night . . . Velmira was one night too late.