“Please, I’m begging you.”

“I am sorry.”

The woman was not crying, the pain too intense to be expressed so simply by the body.

“I…I just want to hold him…”

“He is dead, and we do not have the time. Your sacrifice is one made for all of us.”

“Just let me hold him in my arms.”

“I am sorry.”

Dialogue between a God-Touched and a woman, Past.

“Nay?” Trinne was looking at her friend, worry in her eyes.

The young Legio had her eyes closed, her head down. “Sorry, headache.”

“Is magic training that hard?”

“No, it’s the box. The scrambler.”

“You can feel it from here?”

Nay shook her head. “Fortunately no.”

The training room was on the second story, too far away from the chapel for Nay to feel the tragic Rreico held secure in it.

“It’s just…every morning…and it’s useless because I can’t get any results anyway.”

Trinne looked around for a short instant. Lisana wasn’t there yet, and except for the two women, no one was inside the room. She laid her hand on the Legio’s shoulder. “It’s only been two weeks, you’ll manage. You can’t give up that fast while I’ve been stuck and trying my best with the Rreico for months? You can’t be less courageous than the noble heir who always received whatever her whimsical mind desired? I know I’m quite the perfect woman, but still, you can’t be that bad.”

Nay raised her cloud-coloured eyes towards her. “Don’t depreciate yourself like that.”

Trinne guffawed. “Didn’t I do exactly the opposite of that?”

“And the scrambler is far away, I can feel your Rreico perfectly.” The young Legio repeated.

The young redhead pouted. “And that, that is profoundly unjust, and comes close to breaching my intimacy.”

Nay couldn’t stop laughter from escaping her lips when looking at her acting friend perfectly mimicking being offended.

“I’m the one not respecting your intimacy? Really?”

“Well, what?”

“Well, what? Do you even know what you…” The Legio didn’t finish her sentence, feeling a dual Rreico coming closer to the training room’s main entrance. “Liz is coming.” She provided Trinne.

Her friend held out her hand. “Then get back up, you can’t show yourself as weak and in pain in front of your little sister, can you?”

Nay took the offered hand and rose to find herself face to face with her friend. “See? You complain about not being respected in your intimacy, but you don’t have any qualms in getting into my head, with or without Rreico.”

“Pfuh. That’s nothing like what you’re doing. I’m not responsible if you’re as transparent as the glass doors of the Imperatrix’ balcony.”

Nay hid her amusement a second before the main door opened. At that moment, all attempts at hiding her expression failed miserably as a large smile broke shone through her features.

“Liz!”

“Big sister!”

Nay’s little sister ran straight for her, jumping in her arms.

Trinne rolled her eyes. “Every time.”

“Being jealous is not pretty Rinrin!” Lisa held out her tongue towards the redhead, while still hugging her sister with all her strength. She had learned not to strangle Nay, and, as she was still only eight years old, it wasn’t painful, but the Legio was already asking herself how long that would last. Lisana had quite the genes, after all.

Because while Nay and Trinne had many difficulties facing their respective training, the one growing stronger at an astonishing speed was without a doubt Lisana. She didn’t have the greatest control over the Rreico, Nay had estimated her to be slightly less talented than she had been at the same age, well, relative age. But with blades, Lisana’s talent was well above Nay’s. Ra’fa was quite worried about that, as Lisana was even sleeping with the dagger Nay had offered her sixth month prior. She was carrying it everywhere. It was currently hanging around Lisana’s belt on her waist, in its scabbard. It looked more like a sword on the child, but Lisana wasn’t small for her age. She was much taller than Nay at the same age, and it made no doubt that she would reach Ra’fa’s height once an adult. Nay really hoped that the moment where she couldn’t carry her little sister in her arms would never come, but she knew it was quite the impossible dream.

“Big sis, are you okay?” Lisana was looking at Nay straight in the eyes, suddenly concerned.

“Yes, why?”

“Your Rreico…”

“Just a headache.”

Lisana nodded. “Ok. Should we skip our training?”

Nay put her down. “You think a little headache is going to let you skip your work?”

“No, no of course not. But maybe we could skip the warmup, you know just…”

Trinne laughed softly.

“Out of the question!” Nay raised her voice. “And I see your game, little girl, and because of that it’ll be a half dozen more rounds!”

“But…”

“You can get to it now, and faster than that!”

“Yes big sis…” Lisana removed her belt and put down what little stuff she had on the bench at the back of the room, before starting to run.

“Aaah, the start of the rebellious age…” Trinne whispered next to the Legio.

Who turned around to give her a dark look. “You want to run too?”

The redhead raised her hands. “I’ve had enough with what we did before, sorry.”

“Mhmhh…”

But then Trinne couldn’t stop herself and added: “I am under your orders…mistress.”

“Great! Well then, you can run behind Liz. AND FASTER THAN THAT!”

Trinne’s smile transformed into a grimace. “I was just joking. Wait, are you serious? We did a warmup before and…”

Nay took one menacing step towards her.

“Fine. Fine!” The redhead put her hands up in a vain attempt at peace, sighed, then started running as well.

The Legio watched her Proteges, then, deciding they weren’t going fast enough, ran behind them to push them and force them to accelerate even more.

“Wait! That’s my technique!?” Trinne complained uselessly.

Nay pulled down on her robe, hoping to gain a few centimetres of modesty. She had no idea why she was still letting Trinne take care of her own clothes. No, scratch that, she knew why she was letting her friend do that. The young redhead had a much better knowledge of Imperial style and fashion, and the Legio had zero interest in anything related to haute couture.

Nay sighed and turned her attention back to what was being said around the table. She quickly abandoned that idea. She had been anxious when, the previous week, Konnie had brought her an official invitation to an Imperial lunch pertaining to the one-hundred and twenty-seventh iteration of the end of the Firante war celebration. But now that she was there, she was mostly just feeling bored. The end of the War was celebrated every year, each city having its own way of honouring it. In Gite, there was a one-day break as well as a long procession of all the clergies, walking from the Northern Door to the Ducal plateau carrying beautiful wooden sculptures, to be burnt at sunset. The young Legio had no idea what was going to happen now that the plateau was almost entirely in ruins. She was worried about what was currently happening in the city she had grown in, but her worries were nothing compared to Trinne’s. It was now a bit less than a year since the two young women had been confined in the Imperatrix’ chambers, and while Hyn was giving them more and more liberties, they were always accompanied and limited in their outings. Never allowed outside some districts of the capital. Nay didn’t feel claustrophobic at all, because she had free access to the outside of the Chambers, and loved to climb the numerous stone facades of the frozen mountain, but Trinne felt responsible for Gite. She was technically the duchess, after all. Her current isolation made it difficult for her to get access to her numerous contacts. As such, she was constantly concerned about what she could do for her city, and was currently listening to the conversation around the table with extreme focus. She looked for anything that could help her in the future, and she was currently trying to get an example of what a good organisation could achieve. Because the festivities in Leïn were nothing like those in Gite. While a big event in the coastal city, it was nothing like in the capital, where it was a gargantuan endeavour. For three days straight, all the hundreds of churches in the capital would participate, the entire police force would be mobilized, and the whole administration would be put on hold to focus on the celebration and resolve any problem that could arise. It was the most anticipated moment for all merchants and innkeepers, and with the new railway system connecting all the little cities in the surrounding area to the capital, the number of expected tourists was ten times what it had been the years before.

The Imperatrix, Jarl the bohemian, the merchant guild master, five patriarchs of the main noble families, two representatives of the most dominant bourgeois of the city, the chief of police and his secretary, as well as the archbishop of every clergy except Vanni’s were gathered inside the large dining room of the chambers of the Imperatrix, sitting around its massive rectangular wooden table. At the end of it was Nay, Trinne, and the sergeant-general of the Imperial armies.

The conversation was pretty much entirely focused on logistics and costs, so Nay couldn’t stay focused more than a few minutes at a time. She had decided to enjoy the meal peacefully, smiling gently at Trinne whenever her anxious friend was looking at her, hoping it would calm her worries, even if only slightly.

Hitoli, the main chef of the Imperatrix chambers, had, according to Nay, greatly improved. She was a bit proud for being partially responsible for this. The yaeda steak was slightly overcooked though, and Nay was already preparing on how to tell the quite susceptible chef about his mistake. Finding the right words for him was quite the challenge, one Nay had mastered. She would not have usually bothered, but Hitoli’s pâtissier expertise was too precious. Nay didn’t want him to stop giving her cooking lessons each late morning.

“…Nay?”

“Mh, Yes?” She raised her head hurriedly, finding herself scrutinized by everyone around the table.

“Perfect. I’m happy you agree.” The Imperatrix had her usual warm grand-ma smile, but Nay would have currently described it as diabolical. The Legio gave a quick glance to her red-haired neighbour. Trinne was holding a napkin in front of her mouth, completely inexpressive, but you didn’t need to have the gift of Rreico to see how much she was trying to hold her laughter.

“I’ll let you discuss the details with Dorico and Garnet.” Hearing the Imperatrix’ words, it seemed the subject was over. Nay clenched her teeth.

She gave a slight kick to her neighbour's foot.

“What’s happening? What did I agree to, exactly?” She whispered.

You could still hear the smile in Trinne’s soft answer. “You just accepted being the Imperatrix’ bodyguard during the ceremony at the cathedral. That’ll teach you to get distracted during important political reunions.

“That’s your job! Not mine! You’re supposed to give me a recap in the evening!” Nay took offence to that.

“Shh, too late now. At least act like you’re interested. Hyn is watching.”

Nay crossed the warm gaze of the Imperatrix, and immediately stood straighter, and continued her meal while acting like she was perfectly aware of everything going on around the table. She decided to follow Trinne’s advice, and faked looking interested at the things being said. Something about a bonus to be given to inns to help them keep up with the massive influx of tourists. In truth, she concentrated on each of the archbishops, and tried to recall the lessons on miracles Defin had taught her.

Each of the different coloured monk-wearing archbishops was either a very powerful God-Touched, or a perfectly normal person. The youngest amongst them was the thirty-year-old or so Sage-Brother, who had no power, spoke little but always added a piece of pertinent information to the assembly. He was basically the only one not putting Nay asleep when talking. He was one worshipping Adienha, and her miracles were very diverse, talking with animals, and the miracle of perfect memory, to cite a few. The archbishop of Lebe was one of the main reasons why Nay didn’t want to come to the meeting in the first place. She had quickly realized it was unwarranted though. The Lebe worshipper was a beautiful woman, much younger than she really was due to her power as a very blessed God-Touched. She was mostly just looking at the Imperatrix with adoration in her eyes. Nay had crossed paths with her a few times, but they had never spoken, the Legio following her parent’s advice in always trying her best to avoid Lebe priests. And considering what she had been taught about Lebe miracles, she understood those warnings much better now. Lebe miracles were either linked with something sexual, like fertility and impotence cures, or helped with healing or transforming the body. That last point was what was sometimes used against the most violent criminals. Defin had explained the sentences reserved to the criminals briefly, and it been quite enough for Nay. Nay looked at the archbishop of Ja next. His power was well above every other God-Touched present, with the exception of Jarl the Bohemian. The two men were Touched by Ja, his miracles linked with fire or earth, very rarely other inert materials. Nay scanned the rest of the archbishops quickly. They were all in their sixties. The archbishop of Gert was wearing a very colourful monk robe, a lot of colours scattered all over, and he was thin and always smiling. Gert’s miracles were linked with art and vision. Trayx’ archbishop was wearing black and was even paler than Nay. He hadn’t opened his mouth once, not even to eat, barely to drink. Nay knew almost nothing of Trayx’ miracles, except her own, and she knew completely nothing of Jormun’s. Trayx’ miracles had been banished since the birth of the Empire, and Jormun’s had been banned three years ago. The archbishop of Jormun was a powerless Truth teller, he was charismatic, wearing plenty of jewellery and accessories, and even a bit of make-up to hide some of his wizening features. Canna’s miracles were almost always linked with agriculture, and her archbishop was quite the heavy man, wearing a very vivid orange robe, speaking with a deep and loud voice. Despite him being quite large, he could have been considered anorexic when compared to the archbishop of Dyone. The man was barely able to hold himself on his wooden chair. Nay had no idea how the piece of furniture was still in one piece. Dyone’s miracles were almost always linked with air and water, even though water miracles could also be attributed to Vanni half the time. Her archbishop was the only one missing, Nay seeing no red robes around the table. The Legio looked around once more, knowing she was forgetting something. An old man, quite muscled and wearing a violet robe, his face littered with scars, angled forwards to contradict something the Sage-Brother had said, and so appeared from behind the massive physique of the archbishop of Dyone, coming into Nay’s view. Nay finally remembered the last of the main gods: Patrex. He was linked with family, but also war. His miracles were often linked with that last point. Helping forge weapons, making swords extra sharp…

Nay nodded, happy she remembered everything. She knew that categorizing miracles according to Gods wasn’t precise in any way, maybe even a waste of time. Hyn had explained how many of those rules taught by the clergy had no real basis. They weren’t as rigid as archbishop Defin claimed. A good example was the miracle of water, sometimes attributed to Dyone, sometimes to Vanni. Many Touched with phantom miracles linked with water had an easy time with all miracles linked with water. Whether they were loved by Dyone or Vanni didn’t change anything about it. Another example was the archbishop of Ja himself. He was great with miracles linked with earth, but not with those linked with fire, while in theory, he should have had it easy with both. To summarize, the lesson wasn’t of great use. But categorizing things was essential to create psalms, and those were the only way for a Touched to use the phantom miracle of another touched.

Nay had finished her meal for a dozen minutes now, but that didn’t mean the current conversation was ending any time soon. She was ultimately saved by the sergeant-general, who excused herself soon after, and asked for Nay to follow her to discuss in private about the Imperatrix’ security.

Despite the angry expression on the military lady’s face, Nay was quite happy at being given such a perfect opportunity to flee. She rose to her feet gracefully and gave a little goodbye bow to Trinne, who answered with a wink before refocusing on the ongoing talk about entrances in churches. Nay bowed deeply towards the Imperatrix, who dismissed her with a hand gesture, not bothering to look.

Once past the large dining room door, Garnet gave her a dark look, before walking across the western corridor. Nay followed her, and the sergeant-general began talking.

“Listen well, you may be the Imperatrix’ goddaughter, I don’t need an amateur pissing on my territory while I’m handling security.”

Nay didn’t get offended at the very impolite tone, not even with her headache starting after the extenuating meal she had just suffered through. “I get it. Too many things I don’t know, and to be honest, I have no desire to be a bodyguard, I answered yes just because…”

“Not my problem what you want. The Imperatrix said so, now we have to adapt.”

As Nay had a very bad memory at the last time she had been charged to protect someone, her mood dampened. “I won’t be of any use, unless someone attacks her head-on with a blade or something. With the crowd surrounding us, I’m not even sure I could spot an archer or…”

Garnet stopped her.

“You really think you could stop an assassin from reaching her with a sword? On your own? How old are you?”

“Eighteen years old.”

“Well, if you’re telling the truth, that would be something I can work with. But you understand that I don’t believe you in any way.” The heavily muscled woman stopped for a moment, thinking, then changed direction, clearly going to the training room. “Can you prove your claims?”

Nay shrugged her shoulders. “I can.” She answered, nonchalant. In truth, she was excited at the idea of sparring with the sergeant-general. That was quite the perfect way of getting rid of her headache and waking up after the meal.