Edana steepled her fingers. “Yes, I would very much like to hear about your plan.” She pursed her lips. “What are you planning by the way?”

Frances grinned. “We thought it up while thinking about what we were thinking about what we learned about Thorgoth.” She winced. “There are some things I can’t tell you but basically, three months ago we had a discussion about what we knew, and… well we had some ideas.”

Months ago…

The crackle and pop of the fireplace was the only sound that filled the air between the group of friends.

That and Renia’s quiet sniffling, as Elizabeth and Ginger hugged her.

“Renia, thank you for sharing this with us,” said Martin in a quiet voice. “That was very brave of you.”

“I’m… I’m sorry I’ve always wanted to tell you all. I was just too afraid. The letter with the account of all the internment camps was the final push. We don’t know if this is a trap and maybe it isn’t, but while I think we know what Thorgoth is capable of, you haven’t seen what I’ve seen,” Renia croaked. “He could be making this up just to lure you in.”

Frances nodded. “That’s something I considered, Renia, especially… well—” she winced “—Sorry everybody, I found out a while ago, but I didn’t want to tell anybody without Renia’s permission.”

“Oh, so that’s why you seemed so worried by King Thorgoth of late, cuz,” said Ayax.

“Yes. I… I figured it out because Timur mentioned his brother’s wife and I realized that not only were the names too similar, Renia looked like Neria,” said Frances, sighing.

“The thing is, I don’t think it’s a trap.” Elizabeth let go of Renia and opened the letter. “After you showed me the letter Frances, I took some more time to study it. First of all, the camp’s in a location that’s hard to access and wouldn’t draw that many forces even if it was a trap. Also, assuming the map and information is accurate, it would be hard for them to ambush us there. Finally, did you notice it was signed with the letter T?”

Frances swallowed. “Yes, but… that might be hoping for too much.”

Ginger pursed her lips. “Frances, how many people whose name begins with T do you know?”

“It’s not that, but… I can’t be sure it’s from Timur. I don’t know if he talked to Titania.” Her throat choking up, Frances shut her eyes. “It’s even possible he just talked to his father.”

Martin crossed his arms. “I think we won’t be able to find that answer until we get to the camp and confirm their information.”

All eyes turned to Martin. Frances gawked, “You think we should trust this?”

“We can take the battalion, all of our troops. It’s a small enough force that we can escape a larger army, but large enough to deal with a camp of that size,” said Martin.

Elizabeth nodded slowly. “The location is hard to find, but not hard to access. We could get in and out if we plan this carefully. If we find that the defences of the camp are far more severe than we expected, we’ll just get out.”

“And if the information is correct, we raid the camp and get back to Erisdale?” Ayax asked.

“We probably need to get them to Erlenberg, kitten,” said Ginger with a grimace. “Trust me, Erisdalians aren’t the most tolerant when it comes to Alavari.”

Everybody nodded at that and Elizabeth smiled, “Then it’s settled. We’ll work out the details later. For now… I think we need to talk about what we learned, and what we can do next.” The Otherworlder scowled. “It’s clear Thorgoth is truly a monster. But this might provide us an opportunity to disrupt his rule, if we prove that he killed his own heir. Obviously, we can’t get Renia to speak up. It’ll be too dangerous and it’s the word of one Alavari, but it might be useful if we could find evidence.”

“Yeah. I… Renia, do you want to leave?” Frances asked, quietly.

“No. I’m staying,” said the harpy. She took a deep breath. “I… I think that you might be able to find something in Erisdale. At least, you might be able to find some clues on the wrecked ships itself.”

Martin started, “Renia, you know where your ship sank?”

The harpy shut her eyes and took a deep breath. “You have to understand that we weren’t just one ship. There were several—I think four ships in our convoy and we met up with two or three more. They staged the assassination right after the newer ships arrived and there was a… a naval battle where we were fighting people on our ship and other ships. In the chaos, I remember one ship being driven onto the rocks and others sinking.”

“Do you remember where these rocks were? What did they look like? How was the sea behaving?” Ayax asked.

“I… I remember they were this grey-black and the sea was already quite rough, and it was an island. It had a really dangerous-sounding name that Teutobal was telling me about. Keelcake? Kitewrecker?”

“Keelcracker Island. It’s on the southeastern coast of Erisdale. It’s probably the most dangerous patch of water on Erisdale’s coastline thanks to its shallows and reefs,” said Martin. The knight stroked his chin. “It’s sea-facing side is also barren and without inhabitants. It’s battered by storms continuously and has such little fertile soil nobody has bothered to cultivate it.”

“Basically a perfect place to conduct an ambush by sea,” Ginger muttered. “Definitely someplace we should look at, especially since nobody should know about the ships being grounded there. I mean we would have heard about it if we did.”

Ayax swallowed. “Prince Teutobal’s death isn’t the only one we should investigate.” The troll coughed. “My father. I… I’ve been trying not to blame myself for what happened to him and my mother, so I’ve been talking to Renia, and Liz.” Dark eyes focusing on Liz, Ayax smiled briefly, before her expression settled into a grim look. “Liz, you mentioned that there was something odd about how my parents died. Especially when I started talking about my home town. You… you didn’t press any further because I got angry. I’m still sorry about that.”

“And I forgave you,” said Elizabeth, smiling back. Only, she began to mirror Ayax’s grim look. “But yeah. Were you thinking about what I said?”

“Yes. You told me that you thought it was odd why they came to my village of all places. That isn’t the only thing. Our village wasn’t on the Alavari-Lapanteria border, it was much deeper in Alavaria and it wasn’t by the main road. Other places nearby weren’t attacked, including the town of Inglenis. Only a few of the nearby villages were raided.” Ayax’s tail stiffened. “But maybe, just maybe my father was targeted. It can’t have been by the humans. He was retired and he didn’t have many interactions with Lapanteria. So… given what happened to Archmage Zirabelle, it’s possible that Thorgoth might have targeted him.”

The troll grimaced. “Of course, we don’t know that. Maybe it was by chance, but… I want to visit my home again and see what I can find out. My father had some papers I hid before I left. There are spells I can learn and will help us, so we’ll get something out of this. And um, you don’t all have to come along. It’ll be dangerous and it’s a bit selfish but—”

“Ayax, we’ll come with you. Maybe not Martin and Ginger, though, I mean… too many humans in Alavaria and it’ll start getting difficult to hide you,” said Frances, pursing her lips.

Ginger chuckled. “You could disguise me as big burly orc.”

“Orcs generally don’t have red hair, Ginger,” said Ayax with a smirk.

“But they could!” Ginger exclaimed, much to Ayax’s roll of her eyes.

“On that note, that might work out. I mean, while you visit Ayax’s home, we can go check out the wreck site with Renia,” said Martin. He glanced at her. “If you want to, that is.”

Renia swallowed. “I do. I… I think it’ll be good for me.”

“But when can we do this?” Frances asked, curling her legs underneath herself. “We’ve been fighting practically nonstop and we can’t do this while we raid Gestoch.”

Elizabeth suddenly snapped her fingers. “We can request leave after we finish the raid. Whether we’re successful or not, the Lightning Battalion needs a few weeks of leave at the very least as we’ve been fighting on the frontlines for so long.”

“I don’t think convicts are entitled leave, Elizabeth,” said Ginger, arching an eyebrow.

“You need rest, though. So we’ll file it as a respite! Or a “training exercise in the building of morale!”” Elizabeth exclaimed.

“That’s the biggest load of bullshit I’ve heard,” said Ayax, smiling beatifically at her girlfriend. She leaned in and planted a quick kiss on Elizabeth’s cheek. “It probably is going to work.”

Frances nodded, but while she smiled eagerly, she felt not quite able to be as happy as she could have been. Their plan was good, but she wanted to do something… a bit selfish. Would it be wrong of her to ask?

“Frances, would you like to share something?” Renia asked. The harpy smiled. “You know we wouldn’t think anything badly of you for sharing your thoughts.”

“It’s just… can I spend a few days with my mom, before we leave for Alavaria? I… I haven’t seen her in a while, and I won’t because of the raid we’re going to be going on,” said Frances timidly.

“Oh, of course! We’ll definitely squeeze that in,” said Elizabeth, as everybody else nodded in understanding.“Thanks, everybody. You’re the best,” said Frances, smiling with relief.

---

Edana grinned. “Well, it looks like we’re going to be spending a lot more time with each other.”

Frances blushed. “I know. I’m very glad that it worked out, and um, since we are meeting with the Alavari delegation, it might be an opportunity for anybody working against Thorgoth to reach out to us.”

“You think they’ll do that?”

“Where else could they talk to humans without getting attacked?” Frances asked.

Edana nodded. “Excellent point.” She smiled. “So aside from you going with me, your plan is going to be unchanged. I’m guessing it’s going to be easier for Elizabeth and Ayax to go into Alavaria, though, since there is going to be a ceasefire?”

“Yes, though, Elizabeth is going to be in disguise. We don’t want her to draw attention.” Frances blinked. “Actually, mom, there’s something I want to ask you about magic. There’s a device in my world called a telephone. They’re communication devices like our hand mirrors, but they don’t need to display an image. I was wondering if you can help me do that but for my friends. I’ve got it to work, but its range is quite short.”

Edana leaned forward. “Can you show me, Frances?”

Scooting over to her mother, Frances showed her mother the rudimentary device. It was a hand-sized wooden tablet on a string, with Frances’s name carved into it. Around the carving of her name were some runes that glowed with power.

“We’re making it look like an identification tag so that it won’t be easily identifiable,” said Frances.

“Ah, that explains why it’s wood. You don’t want someone to take it from you.” Edana looked up from the tablet. “I suppose the idea is that you want to make something that can communicate without needing the same amount of magic to create.”

“Exactly,” said Frances.

“Hmm, have you considered that the magical signal would have to go through earth and that you’ll need to bend it over our horizon?” Edana inquired.

Frances blinked and groaned. “No. Oh, that explains it. In our world, I… I remember that the signal is carried by special buildings that project the signal over the horizon. I forgot that.”

“We can fix that, though,” said Edana. “Why don’t I show you to my temporary workshop and we can do it together?” She grinned as Frances lit up with glee.

“I’d love that mom. Thanks!”

---

“Are you sure you have everything you need?” Frances stammered.

“Cuz, we have your new communication devices, disguises, Alavari coinage and spare clothing. Also we took out the anti-pregnancy charms you packed us because um… why did you pack us anti-pregnancy charms?” Ayax asked.

Frances opened her mouth to reply, blinked and touched her hand to her head.

Elizabeth giggled. “We’re not even at that stage Frances, but thank you, for your concern.”

Frances blinked owlishly. Ayax turned to Elizabeth, utterly perplexed. “I don’t think that’s the problem, Liz.”

The Otherworlder smiled innocently at her troll girlfriend, before bursting into a fit of giggles. “I’m joking, Ayax.”

“You should wear your nice Conthwaite robes!” Ginger exclaimed in the distance.

“They’re so bloody uncomfortable and they make me look like a snob!” Martin retorted. The pair came into view of the others, continuing to trade barbs at each other until they came to a stop in front of their friends.

Ginger turned to her friends. “Frances, tell Martin that he needs to look the part when we get to Keelcracker Island.”

“Tell Ginger that we need to get the people on our side,” Martin hissed.

“Maybe pack both and see what the situation is first?” Frances stammered.

Martin and Ginger glanced at each other and grudgingly nodded.

“Sorry, you know how it is, couple’s argument,” said Ginger, elbowing Martin.

Ayax frowned, “You argue like…. So much these days. Is everything alright?”

“Yes,” said Ginger

“Mostly,” said Martin. The pair glared at each other.

“The children thing, right?” Ginger asked.

“Children thing?” Ayax, Elizabeth and Frances echoed.

“Ginger wants at least four children. I want her to pay heed to what the doctor told her about her health and aim for one. You are recovered from what they put you through, but pregnancy is a completely different kind of stress!” Martin hissed.

“It’s my body!” Ginger snapped.

“And I am going to be your husband, and I care about you!” Martin pleaded.

Ginger groaned and took a deep breath. Martin, turning away slightly, did the same.

“Put the discussion off until the war ends?” Ginger asked.

“Yes!” Martin sighed, “We’re probably going to argue about it, though, but yes!”

Frances nodded slowly. “If this is what having a relationship is like, I’m starting to wonder why I ever wanted one.”

“Cuz, when it gets real good, it is pretty darn good,” said Ayax with a smirk. She regarded Ginger and Martin. “When are you heading out to Keelcracker Island?”

“In a week, when Frances and Edana head for the peace conference. We were just making our plans,” said Martin.

“Speaking of which, the last members of the battalion have left and the Erlenbergians are safely on their way home. They know when to assemble and key sergeants have those newfangled devices you made, Frances,” said Ginger.

“Great. I’ll have yours soon.” Frances knocked some dust from her white robes. “They’re easier to make than a hand mirror, but there are a lot of them.”

“I’m just glad we’ll be able to contact each other during this,” said Elizabeth. She took a deep breath. “I’m going to miss you all.”

Frances swallowed, the tears she’d been biting back finally surfacing. Elizabeth and Ayax stepped forward and hugged her, Martin and Ginger.

“Stay safe,” said Ayax, her voice choked.

“You too,” Martin said, quietly.

After what seemed like forever, the friends let go of each other and Ayax and Elizabeth mounted their horses. Waving as they rode through the courtyard, they went through the gate and disappeared from sight.

All the while, Martin, Ginger and Frances waved them away.

The site of the peace conference had been carefully chosen by Alavari and Human negotiators. It had to be on the border between one of the Human Kingdoms and the Kingdom of the Alavari, but it couldn’t be on territory that would be too dangerous. That is, the Humans were worried the Alavari might try to ambush them, and the Alavari vice-versa.

After what Frances had suspected was hours of debate, the final location chosen was the island of Delbarria.

Delbarria was in the middle of the border between the Kingdom of Lapanteria and the Kingdom of Alavaria. How does an island happen to be in the middle of a border between two land-based countries? Well, Delbarria was an island in the centre of the Green-Streak River. Two bridges led into this island on both sides of it and it held enough space for Human and Alavari delegations to set up lodgings. Both bridges on the Lapanterian and Alavari sides had large stone forts guarding them. Though, the northern bridge on the Alavaria side had its bridge fortified from both sides.

Riding beside her mother, Frances could see the island was practically covered with tents and flags. It was like a miniature city had sprung up overnight.

But aside from the many tents, though, there were no army formations. One of the conditions of the meeting was that no military units above a thousand soldiers could stand nearby.

Mages, however, didn’t count, which was why Frances and Edana were now crossing the eastern bridge onto Delbarria with their escort and the rest of the Erisdalian delegation.

Frances had lived in Durannon long enough now that she knew that first impressions were everything, especially in a world where there was no television or internet. Whilst her mother wore her gold-trimmed White Order robes, Frances wore her White Order master-rank robes. They’d considered wearing armour, but worried about the message that might send, they’d forgone in.

Instead, Frances and her mother had customized their robes with some magic. Edana’s robes had a flame illusion that made it look like the edges were on fire, though, they didn’t burn anything. It was an unnerving, eye-catching sight. Frances had cast a small illusion on herself that made stylized blue lightning bolts zip across her white robes as if they were darting across the sky.

Used to going more or less unnoticed, Frances found the humans cheering her and her mother very unnerving. As to how she knew they were cheering her and not just her mother, well…

“Stormcaller! Stormcaller!”

“Firehand! Firehand!”

Watching her mother for guidance, Frances blinked as she saw Edana soak up the praise. She waved at the crowd, guiding her horse deftly forward, a bright, natural-looking smile on her face.

Frances did her best to copy her mother, but she knew her smile was coming off as a little shy, and hesitant. Thankfully, the crowd didn’t approach them until they dismounted near the horse’s corral.

“Just stay close to me, Frances,” Edana whispered as a wall of bodies surged forward.

Frances nodded and tried to keep smiling, even as she pressed up against her mother. Luckily, most just wanted to shake her hand and thank her. A couple had questions that she managed to satisfy with the odd word.

But otherwise, it was dizzying and deeply uncomfortable and some of the questions were truly random.

“How old are you?”

“What is your favorite food?”

“Do you think we can be successful?”

“How did you learn your lightning spell?”

“How did you get the Firehand to adopt you?”

“Oi! Break it up!” bellowed a man.

Frances blinked as a man with a purple cloak cut through the crowd. As her eyes settled on him, she realized that she had met him before, years ago.

“Your Highness,” Frances said, curtseying.

“Lady Edana Firehand, Lady Frances Stormcaller, it’s a pleasure to meet you again,” said Prince Sebastian of Lapanteria, smiling with relief.

“Likewise,” said Edana.

“How’s Baroness Megara, Your Highness?” Frances asked.

“At home, resting after giving birth, and grumpy, but she sends her regards,” said Sebastian. He paused and in a low voice, whispered, “I’d like to apologize again for conscripting you into the Vertingen campaign all those years ago.”

Frances shrugged. “You did what you had to.”

“I’d like to think so. That being said, I had a small gift delivered to the tent you’ll be staying at. A token of my sincerity,” said the prince, smiling.

Smiling back, Frances dipped her head, “Thank you, Your Highness.”

Edana arched an eyebrow, and nodded approvingly, as Sebastian bowed back and had his escort disperse the crowd. Once clear, Frances and Edana followed Sebastian into a large tent with a central round table.

The nobles at the table turned as they entered, but kept to their seats.

“Right on time, Lady Firehand,” said one of the nobles, a gorgeous brown-haired woman with piercing blue eyes. Those eyes practically simmered with fury, as Edana sat down at the table. Keeping as quiet as she could, Frances took the empty seat next to her mother, hoping she wouldn’t be noticed.

“Princess Clawdia of Roranoak, it has been some time,” said Edana. Her smile was somewhat strained, and Frances realized that she had not let go of Poker. That was a little odd. Frances knew about her mother’s past was tied to the Lapanterian-Erisdalian War, but that had never involved Roranoak, the kingdom on the westmost part of the continent.

To Frances’s consternation, Clawdia turned her sneer at her. “You must be the Firehand’s adopted daughter. Tell me, what possessed the Firehand to adopt such an ugly thing.”

“Your Highness, this is your only warning,” Edana hissed.

The princess giggled as if she hadn’t heard Edana, her eyes still fixed on Frances’s neutral expression. “Wow, you’re rather quiet. What, does your mother beat you or something?”

The words felt like the lash of a whip and suddenly all of Frances’s attention narrowed onto Clawdia.

“Leave my daughter out of this,” Edana hissed.

“Explain why you rejected my brother as a student first!” Clawdia hissed. “He’s dead now because of that!”

Edana opened her mouth, but Frances was faster.

“I don’t care what you and my mother’s history is. We’re at a peace conference and you’re the one provoking Erisdale’s chief negotiator, the head of my order, and my mother, who I would die for. So, Your Highness, I suggest that you think before you say anything else, or you’ll have to contend with me.”

Her tone was cool, and yet Frances made sure that she projected her voice so that Clawdia could hear the warning in it.

Clawdia narrowed her eyes at Frances, “So the Stormcaller does have fangs.”

“If we’re doing with this posturing,” Sebastian growled with no small bit of anger, “We can get to the business of negotiating peace for our kingdoms. Are our privacy spells up?” the prince demanded, glancing at the purple-robed mages in the tent. At their nod, the prince coughed.

“I’ll get to the main point, Lapanteria wants peace desperately and we’re prepared to cede all claims to any territory north of the Green-Streak River, but not to Vertingen. We’re not prepared to continue the war at all, but Vertingen is an essential buffer for us and we want it to remain unoccupied.”

“Erisdale can continue the war, but we’d prefer not to. We want monetary compensation however for damages inflicted on our civilians,” said Edana.

“Erlenberg has recognized that peace is in our interests, but we refuse to provide tribute,” said a half-human half-goblin. Frances recalled from her mother’s pre-meeting briefing that he was Orcas of the Voidsailor House.

All eyes now turned to Princess Clawdia, whose smile faded. The princess stiffened, her chin tilting up.

“The Kingdom of Roranoak will accept whatever terms necessary to secure peace, even if it means abandoning our alliance with our partners.”

The uproar at that declaration made Frances’s ears hurt. Everybody seemed to be shouting at once. It took Edana and Sebastian several attempts and her mother casting a spell that made a loud “clap” before the room calmed down.

“Princess Clawdia, what is the meaning of this? Lapanteria and Erisdale have provided Roranoak with hundreds of pounds of gold and silver, soldiers and weapons, mages and all the like, all in order to help you fight this war. Now you saw you will abandon us?” Sebastian said, his voice shaking with the effort he was using to restrain himself.

Clawdia’s posture didn’t change. She glared right back at the prince. “We don’t have a choice. Hundreds of my subjects are dead, their homes burnt to the ground and you want us to keep fighting? Once we lost our border forts, we were fighting a losing war.”

“We repeatedly offered to help you retake those forts and you refused!” Edana exclaimed.

“Because we couldn’t have held them at that point, not after the losses we’ve suffered.” Clawdia pointed at Frances. “Then when we requested the services of the Lightning Battalion, the War Council denied us!”

Frances blinked, glancing at her mother, only to find herself taken aback. Her mother looked as if she was going to erupt and spit flames at the princess.

“You wanted to send them at General Meowza’s Alavari army, which outnumbered them by ten to one.” Edana forced herself to take a deep breath. “Your Highness, is there nothing Erisdale and Lapanteria can offer Roranoak to keep her in the war?”

Clawdia shook her head. “None. We’re done. You will have our guarantee that we will not join the war on Alavaria’s side, but we are spent.”

“Do you really think King Thorgoth won’t try to force you to join him?”

The attention of the people in the tent shot towards Frances. After being repeatedly insulted, Frances had had quite enough of the princess.

“We’re at a peace conference. What is he going to force us to join?” Clawdia asked.

“I think we all know the peace that might come from this conference will be fragile and temporary. So, when you break your alliance to Erisdale and Lapanteria, what’s stopping Thorgoth from making you submit to Alavaria?” Frances asked. Studying the princess’s scowl, she narrowed her eyes. “That is… unless you are aware of that possibility and don’t care either way?”

As the humans glared at the princess, Clawdia snorted. “You have no right to question me, Otherworlder. This isn’t your home.”

“Edana is my mother and her home is mine. I have no other parents,” said Frances in an oddly quiet tone. Oddly quiet, because Frances didn’t think she’d ever been angrier in her life.

The princess wanted to withdraw her kingdom from the war at the cost of turning on her former allies? It was not only mind-bogglingly selfish but stupid.

“Even if Durannon isn’t our home, even if we can’t die, do you think the Otherworlders will be happy with Roranoak endangering their chances of winning a war they’ve poured four years of their life into trying to win?”

Clawdia’s smirk vanished. “What are you implying, Stormcaller?”

Frances mirthlessly crossed her arms. “I’m stating a fact, Your Highness. Just like how Thorgoth is a lying, murdering clodthrog who would immediately want to make sure that his neighbour is fully pacified, I’m explaining to you that nobody, my fellow Otherworlders and I, and Lapanteria and Erisdale, will take this betrayal well. So you best reconsider.”

“We might be getting ahead of ourselves, maybe the Kingdom of Alavaria wants peace as badly as we do. They might not demand Roranoak break their alliance,” said Orcas. He gave Claudia a mirthless smile. “Until they do make that demand, can we have Roranoak not announce their willingness to do so?”

Clawdia took a deep breath and nodded. “So long as we can get peace.”

Frances exchanged a glance with her mother and a slight nod passed between the two women. No, they didn’t trust Clawdia, but they weren’t going to press her any further than they already had.

---

“Mom, what happened to Clawdia to make her hate you so much?” Frances asked later.

The tents for the peace conference were truly elaborate and fully furnished. The tent that Frances and Edana shared had screens that enabled both to have some privacy and a lounge room where they could talk and meet with people in private.

Sebastian’s gift was also here, which were a new healer’s kit and pack. It was an eminently practical gift and Frances quite appreciated it.

She would examine it in detail later, though, because Edana was sitting on a wooden chair, one hand pinching her nose. Frances sat across from her, watching her exasperated mother in silence.

“Years ago, when I was about twenty-one, Clawdia had a little brother called Calen. He was a mage, about thirteen years old. The Kingdom of Roranoak wanted him to join the White Order and as Erisdale’s premier mage they wanted me as his teacher. I wanted nothing to do with him. I had nothing against the child but I… I…”

“You were still recovering after the Lapanterian War, right?” Frances whispered. Her mother didn’t like talking about that time, but Frances had been told much by her mother’s friends. “It ended two years before this happened, right?”

“About two and a half. I had just finished half-a-year with the White Order and… and—” Edana shut her eyes, but that did nothing to hide the anguish on her face. “Archmage Star had managed to keep me sober and out of trouble for that time, but that just made the pain and the guilt worse. My friends had left me because I had been a bitch. I was estranged from my family. Archmage Star and I… we didn’t really have the relationship you and I have. She was strictly my teacher and my minder. I had nothing to take my mind off of how I’d killed so many people so horrifyingly and yet thrown the little, and the people I loved into the trash.”

Something about the tenor of her mom’s trembling voice put Frances on edge.

“Mom, is there anything I can do to help? Are you sure you want to share this with me?”

“No, you should know. I think you would understand the most. But please, don’t tell Igraine, or your Grandmother. Igraine suspects and a few of my siblings know, but I’m not ready to tell her or my mother yet.” Edana took a deep breath. “A month before Calen arrived at Salpheron I tried to kill myself.”

Frances instantly stood up, ran to her mother’s side and wrapped her arms around the older woman’s shoulders. She didn’t say anything, though, because Edana continued to whisper, words spilling from her lips.

“I snuck out to a House of Light. My plan was to have a wild night out, then return to my quarters, where I had already prepared my last meal and a note. I had poisoned my meal beforehand. I’d eat, fall asleep, and just not wake up.” Frances’s mother sighed. “Thank Amura and Rathon that I made a mistake. I stayed out too long. Archmage Star searched my room when she realized I had snuck out. When I returned, Salpheron was filled with mages searching for my whereabouts. I think that was the first time I ever saw Archmage Star cry because she hadn’t realized how I felt.”

“I was immediately put on a twenty-four-hour watch and sent to get counselling. Into all of this… came Calen. Archmage Star tried to block this, but she couldn’t, at least not without telling the Kingdom of Roranoak that I’d tried to kill myself. As for me… I was desperate to prove that I wasn’t some broken, drunk, sex-crazed maniac, so I agreed to a probationary period.”

“Only, Calen wasn’t a good student. He was moderately talented and he idolized me. However, he couldn’t, or wouldn’t understand that I wasn’t the person he thought I was. If… if I had been older, wiser, I could have reigned his brashness and arrogance in and he would have been a magnificent apprentice.”

“But you were already struggling with what you felt about yourself,” Frances whispered.

Edana nodded. “It took only two weeks before I realized I couldn’t take him on as an apprentice, and I formally rejected him. I told him that it wasn’t his problem but that I wasn’t worthy to teach him.”

“He didn’t take that well. He thought I was lying to him and thought it was my way of saying that he wasn’t worthy of my instruction. So he tried to create a new spell, without the proper safety precautions, with all the arrogance of a thirteen-year-old prince who’d been buoyed by approval all his life. It killed him and Clawdia, his twin sister, has never forgiven me since.”

Frances, still holding onto Edana, digested the story in silence, a river of thoughts and feelings running through her head.

“Mom… did this… is this why you seemed to just understand what I was feeling when you first started to teach me?” Frances asked.

Edana smiled, “It was one reason. The rest was a lot of experience with other children.”

“You… you don’t blame yourself for Calen’s death, do you?” Frances asked.

“Not now. I was devastated back then. I… I tried to kill myself a second time. Igraine knows about this one because she and my friends came back and talked me out of it, but it was a close thing.” Edana grimaced. “I know now that it was his fault, even if he wasn’t old enough to realize it.”

“Thank you for sharing this with me, mom,” Frances said, squeezing Edana one more time, before letting go and returning to her seat.

“Thank you for listening, dear,” said Edana. She steepled her fingers. “I… I also have a question for you too, Frances. When you were talking to Clawdia, you threatened her. I mean, you said it as a fact, and it is a fact, but you rather… intense.”

Frances winced. “Sorry mom, I… when she started insulting us and then saying that Roranoak would betray us for peace if necessary, I just… it made me so angry. It was not only selfish, but so stupid that she couldn’t see how angry we would get.”

“I understand, just be careful. The Alavari are going to want to enrage us so that we’d make mistakes. You’ll have to watch your temper, and vent your frustrations to me, or in any way possible,” said Edana.

Frances was about to nod, when a thought occurred to her.

“Mom, I’ll definitely do that, but… you also got angry in that meeting too. Who is going to be allowing you to vent at them?” Frances asked.

“Angry when—” Edana blinked. “Oh. Ah, right. When Clawdia insulted you.” The older woman pursed her lips. “I… I need to work on that. I didn’t realize I looked so furious.”

“You looked like you were going to set her alight, mom,” said Frances, arching an eyebrow.

Edana winced. “Truly? Oh dear, I… I didn’t realize. The moment she brought you up, I just felt that I had to step in and protect you.”

“Oh, I understand mom, but… I can protect myself now too, you know?

“I know, it’s just—” Edana looked down at her feet “—it’s hard for me to stay calm when something is happening to you, my daughter, right in front of me, Frances.”

Frances nodded, smiling. “As long as we both understand and are trying to make things better.”

Edana gave Frances a look filled with pride. “You have grown so much, my dear.”

“I have an amazing mom,” said Frances, smiling right back.