**[Later that Day]**

“Shhh!” Aiden and Rita were creeping down the hallway towards the family library that afternoon. Stealth wasn’t actually necessary, but it made them feel better about stealing if they at least tried to be sneaky about it. Shushing someone tended to destroy the entire purpose, and neither kid knew how to walk quietly, so if anyone had been listening, their mission would have been compromised before they had even left her hallway. “It was fun pretending though,” thought Rita, “if impractical.” She wasn’t used to friends, and while she and Aiden were not at that point, they were teammates now. She enjoyed the forced comradery more than she probably should. Horace was meditating in her room while they completed their 'secret mission', and she had given him enough pointers to have him busy for a while.

The library was on the far end of the keep near her father’s office and the war room. This meant going past some of the busiest areas where they could easily be questioned by one of his men, or potentially her own father. Luckily, Rita had lived here her whole life and could use the various service tunnels and secret entrances to her advantage. Already they had traveled through the bustling kitchen, filled with distracted servants and an angry cook whose shouting could be heard long after they left, to get to her parent’s wing before using the false closet in her mother’s sitting room to get to their current position under the east stairwell nearest their destination. The stairs lay above their heads, casting them in shadow amongst the crates stored here. Aiden was slightly behind her in their alcove as they waited for the hall to become silent, and she could feel his warm breath against her next. Once the last voice had vanished, they tiptoed their way to the dark mahogany door halfway up the passage past dozens of suits of armor and weapon stands. A noise behind them startled Rita into making a strangled squeaking sound, and she turned to see what it was only to realize Aiden had lost one of his copper coins, and the noise was it rolling across the floor into one such suit. He blushed bright red when she glared at him for officially making this the worst spy mission in the history of their kingdom.

He gave her a half-smile and whispered, “At least it was just me. No one else heard you scream.” She smacked his arm hard, and the sound of skin striking skin echoed through the hall. This time they both blushed. Turning away, she pushed open the door, and they stepped into a long room filled to the brim with books.

A large candelabra stood prominent in the center with a lone table under it. Her father believed that reading was a personal experience, not a shared one, so she was not surprised to find the room empty. Her brother rarely did anything educational, and her father’s men were too scared of intruding on him reading to invade the space. Walking along the dark wooden shelves, Rita searched the titles and chose any that looked useful to add to her bag. Aiden did the same on the other side. While doing so, she paused to marvel at the enormous map filling the only space bereft of books. It showed the entirety of the known world. Her kingdom stood proud in the center, surrounded by colored pins denoting the dungeons and their severity. Another tiny mark of peace in the sea of colored pins showed where the only other known pocket of civilization was, and she looked closely at Aiden to make sure he had not noticed the map. Fortunately, the handsome boy was busy squinting at a book on the other side of the room and was completely oblivious. Peasants were taught that their kingdom was the last left standing, which was mostly true, yet smaller forts and nations likely did remain. Her advanced education in this very room had given her the knowledge to deduce that the current map was probably quite inaccurate. However, it was undeniable that the vast majority of land had been lost, and it was that land her people sought to reclaim for humankind. For that cause, she would be sent to her doom, and it almost made it palatable. She only looked for a moment to avoid drawing his attention to it, and soon they had eight books between them and decided to head back. She took one last regretful look at the room she had spent so much of her childhood before turning her back on her former life. Everything was different now.

Their bags hid the loot, albeit quite obviously, so once they had gotten out of the library, they confidently walked back, pausing to let Aiden retrieve his lost coin as they went along. When they were almost to her wing, Rita noticed the servants were acting more anxious than normal, and she straightened.

Years of living in the constant presence of servants and guards had taught her how to read the subtle cues they gave out. “My father is here, do not look him in the eye or speak unless asked a direct question,” she whispered at Aiden.

Before going any further, she stashed their bags behind a nearby statue and untied her hair to make her appear younger. This was another learned behavior in a society where being a mature female noble had repercussions. Any youthfulness was exploited shamelessly by girls like her to maintain what little influence they had. Together they walked towards the foyer by her room, and at the last second, she quickened to make sure Aiden was a step behind her when they entered. Her father stood inside, surrounded by his steward and various aids. All of them dressed in navy uniforms liberally coated in metals denoting their status. Her father practically shown with the reflection from all the gold and brass pinned across his body. The men quieted at her entrance, clarifying that they were indeed waiting for her, but her father continued to speak at them like nothing had changed. His dark eyes flashed with annoyance at their shift in attention, and she waited to avoid inciting his wrath.

A moment passed, and once he finished his statement, the regal man who shares her long nose and forehead but hides his under curly brown hair looked over and beckoned them to his side. Aiden bows nervously but is ignored completely by all who are present, and she can feel his confusion as he stands next to her. Rita chooses not to bow for the first time in her life. Normally, a show of respect is required, yet one bonus to being chosen for the draft is that she is to be treated as a full member of the nobility to honor her sacrifice until she leaves. She enjoys the sensation of looking her father straight in the eyes without curtsying more than she should, and the anger in his eyes sent a thrill through her body.

“Rita, you disgraced us with your show at the draft. To think a child of mine would dare to cry in front of the masses, it is good you will be leaving as your very presence makes the peasants see me as weak,” her father said without a hint of emotion in his voice as was usual. The men around him glanced at each other in surprise. None expected his cold response when it is customary to thank the draftee for their service, not tell them how much of a failure they are. They had assumed he would break his frigid countenance at the thought of losing a child. She had known better. Her father had lost his gentle side long ago if he had ever had one to begin with.

“Father, I was surprised by the turn of events at the square, but I will return home from the dungeon to bring back the honor I have squandered,” Rita assured him to try and placate the man who could make her remaining time in their country much more difficult.

He was having none of it, “Of course you will. If you don’t, I will have your memory used and then discarded once the novelty of a noblewoman's death has passed.”

“Surely, father, I cannot fail. With the resources available to us, we could handle any rank one or two dungeons with ease. I will be returning successful and well in a few months.” She spoke confidently but blanched at her father’s cruel laugh.

“I will not be giving your team any support. I do not aid the others, and I will not have rebellion because you survived with assistance where the people’s children did not. Should you succeed, I can use it as a lesson on personal ability like Baron Jeram did with his son, but do not confuse yourself. From the moment your name past the announcer’s lips, you ceased being my child. You are a servant of the kingdom now, and your fate is not my responsibility.” Rita swallowed back the bile that rose to her mouth at his declaration. Glad she had hidden the books and could hopefully retrieve them before he kicked her out with nothing.

She tried one last approach to gain his support, knowing it was likely to fail, “I am aware of what Baron Jeram did, but the circumstances are vastly different. His son is a very skilled Elementalist and needed no weapons to survive easily in any dungeon.”

“And? You had just as many lessons as he did, if not more. Your lack of practice does not necessitate any actions on my part. Jeram’s son had a valuable magic ability that many encouraged him to protect by giving the boy artifacts or enchantments. Good old Jeram refused to risk it and instead used the experience as a test for his son's potential. Mica is now the heir to the barony due to his stellar performance and the standard it sets. I fully support the whole endeavor.” Her father looked down at her as he finished before turning back to his steward and walking out of the foyer. The other aids stared blankly at his back and shot her a pitying look as they rushed to follow.

Aiden’s hand on her back made her jump in shock, and she batted her lashes to keep tears at bay. Together they retrieved the bags before hurrying up to her room to pack in case they were getting kicked out.

**[Horace]**

Horace was sitting cross-legged on the floor and opened his eyes at their abrupt entrance smiling until he saw her horror-struck face and Aiden’s grimace. "Oh no, what happened?" he thought to himself. Out loud, he managed to raise an eyebrow and choke out a horse “What?” They looked at each other before Rita rapidly shared the tale. Horace was speechless. This was not going to plan, and things could get much worse fast if they didn’t take matters into their own hands. “Ok. We need to leave now,” he whispered, looking at the hard floor beneath him.

Rita scrunched up her forehead and responded, “Where would we stay? Things are comfortable here; we can leave in the morning like normal.” Both her and Aiden nodded at the idea that nothing had changed, but Horace was having none of it.

“If we stay, provided he even allows it, there is an almost a hundred percent chance he will search us as we leave. I want to keep whatever edge we can, so I plan to leave now with whatever we can scrounge up. The barracks are safe enough, and your father won’t risk a scene there. In the morning, we will leave before he catches on.” To try and get them going, Horace started filing his bag with treats from her room and grabbed one of the comfy pillows under his arm.

They were still staring at him, so he moved over to the window and opened it wide. The two-story drop was high, but he was confident they could manage if they lowered themselves down first. Belatedly, Horace realized he had spoken to them unhindered by his charisma and wondered at the cause. It was too late to evaluate what had changed, yet he was eternally grateful to have a moment of clarity now. Aiden reacted first and squeezed Rita’s arm before loading his bag and moving to the window. She gave her room a sad glance before taking his bag to the closet and filling it. Another bag followed before she declared herself “Ready." He gave her some time, knowing that to her, this must have blown her confidence in their survival. He had known his family couldn’t give him any aid and had gone into this knowing that, but she had been sure that her position would give her security. That expectation had made her vulnerable to disappointment and grief.

They let Rita down first, lowering her by the arms as far as possible before dropping her. She rolled as she fell and didn’t seem to be hurt, so they tossed the bags down to her as silently as possible. Next, Aiden lowered him since he had shorter arms, and as soon as Aiden joined them, they began moving towards a back gate to the barracks. Fortunately, the gates were locked from their side. Rita knew the locations, so they were not as likely to be caught. It was only dusk out which made them easily spotted if anyone was looking.

They were almost to the gate when they heard a low shout. The strange boy who had been watching him train came running up. Rita looked surprised to see him and spoke softly, “Ivan, what are you doing here?”

The boy furrowed his brow at her and spoke, “I heard what dad said. He is right that you need to survive to prove yourself, but he is wrong to treat you like a commoner. That reflects badly on all of us. If we can’t even keep our own family safe in there, then what's the point of being nobles? You are my sister, and you will come back.” His eyes shown with determination, and before she had the chance to respond, he shoved a bundle in her arms and took off. Horace could see how flustered this exchange left her and took the package to see what was inside.

The blanket around it peeled away to reveal a stark white stick with a fragile bone-like appearance. Rita’s eyes widened at the sight. “His wand,” she murmured. “He loves this thing and spent months begging father for it. I cannot believe he would give it to me.” Horace and Aiden looked at each other before she tucked the wand into her bag, and Aiden guided her out of the Keep’s courtyard and into the barracks training grounds. A few soldiers were on duty, but none spared them more than a glance as they went into the bunkhouse.