"First though, we have to get outside the city, and outside this church," Azara said, shuddering.

"Alright," Irinia replied, sheepish as always.

The two walked out of the church, and down the main road. They continue to walk once they reached the outside of the city. Azara stopped along the way and asked a local if there were any of the natural hot springs close to the city. The man responded that indeed there were, and pointed them in that direction. For most of this time, they walked in silence, till eventually, Azara broke it.

"So I wanted to talk...but...not about Valerius. Ok?"

Irinia nodded. "So then if not about last night, what?"

"Well, it somewhat has to do with him, but it is more about you and me, Irinia," she asked. "I haven't been your teacher for very long now, but I feel like there is a problem that has to be addressed."

"What do you mean? Am I doing wrong?" she asked.

Azara sighed. It was hard to come up with the words, and she felt a little frustrated with herself as she struggled. Talking to shy and kind Irinia should not have been this hard, but now the girl’s every sheepish glance seemed like an accusation. Yet, she was also so kind. Irinia wasn't even mad about what had happened the night before. Azara knew that if it had been her in Irinia's shoes, she would have been breathing fire.

"I think we need to be honest with one another like that woman said."

"How so?"

"Because from the beginning of this journey, there have been a lot of secrets hidden, and that needs to stop right now. At least between you and I, at minimum, alright?" Azara asked.

Irinia was quiet for a bit before she nodded. "Yes, you're right. Honesty is the best. Lying is the first sin that was committed in the world."

"So, my first question is this - Why didn't you go to the Silver Knights after the Magi rejected you? Why not...why not my order? Why not my mother's order, the Ignis Evigan? We may be exclusive, but we would have accepted you to be trained as a healer at least! You have natural talent, and frankly, you would have stood out enough for my mother to have you brought into the order as a full member and trained."

Irinia's face fell. "I don't even have a consecration seal Azara, I can still barely do anything. Especially compared to you."

"What you can do is still much, much more than many that have Irinia, and under my tutelage, you've come a very long way very fast. You tossed a fireball a few nights ago. Most Ignis Evigan mages don't have consecration seals. One of our instructors is an alchemist from Sukarram, Fawsu, he doesn't have any consecration. Another is a minstrel, Hamel, who knows how to cast illusions with instruments, and he doesn't have a seal for that. You stand out and you don't need a consecration seal, and you should know that." Azara chided. "So why? Did you want the magi to reject you and then send you back North? Was it because you wanted an excuse to be with Valerius still?"

She shrugged and refused to look Azara in the eye. Her gaze wandered. "Is that so bad?"

Azara rolled her eyes, before speaking again in an exasperated tone. "Yes Irinia, it is. Because even though you've stuck by him, I’ve never even seen you two show physical affection to each other! Even though you two have been together forever and all, you still haven't done anything public about it. For heaven's sake, I could still swoop in and do as I pleased."

That comment brought look from Irinia that Azara had not thought the woman was capable of. "You wouldn't, and he wouldn't."

Azara wanted to roll her eyes again or laugh. She wanted to say Yes, he would, you should have felt him last night, but she restrained herself. She didn't want a fight with her friend and student. Now was the time to tell the beginning of her truth.

"I can see souls Irinia," Azara said.

Irinia blinked and then stared at Azara for a moment. She stopped walking. "What? What do you mean."

"It is complicated to explain Irinia, but its a power that I possess. It is not magic, not as you know it anyway. It like the power of the celestials, of the stars." Azara said and then motioned for Irinia to keep walking. Luckily Irinia did. "I can see the reflection of souls anyway, or little bits of them. I can't put it into words, but when I meet someone's eyes, its as if I can see into their soul and know something about them that others can't."

"Why, how?" Irinia asked.

"I'll answer that," Azara said, and she was almost angry when she did so. It was hard, telling this truth. "But first, you needed to know that. Because my problem is that you've been so reserved with Valerius, that despite spending quite a bit of time with you, I'd hardly ever even seen it."

Irinia crossed her arms and shrugged. "So, that's what you've come to tell me, that you can somehow read my heart, and that my...that my love isn't that strong for him? That I'm not worth -"

"No- I'm telling you that because I want to know why I couldn't see it. You gave up searching the world for your destiny, pursuing your interest in magic, just to stay by his side. And yet your so shy with those feelings that I could barely tell they were there."

"But you knew?" Irinia said, almost accusingly.

Azara sighed. "Yes, I suspected anyway."

Irinia shook her head. "You've got it wrong, Azara. It just wouldn't work. You know what I am. We realized our feelings a couple of years ago, we just...decided not to act on them. To stay close and that was all."

Azara scoffed. “And the idea that your about to start a war and try to kill a king didn’t make you think it was time to loosen up? To be more open with your feelings? Do anyone’s sensitivities mean anything now?”

“More than ever,” Irinia said, her face just a bit forlorn. “If he wants to become king, having a Veyorn girl as his lover would look terrible. That would not make it easy to win the people’s trust.”

“Maybe, or it could help him with his actual goal, of helping your kind. He's half Veyorn anyway, how could having one of your kind as his bride be worse? Someday he will have to make a public stand on the matter, and people won’t like it then any more than now.” Azara said.

Irinia shook her head, and it was clear she was becoming more and more displeased by the conversation. “No. I’m not the right person to make that sort of statement with anyway. Maybe you would be better off doing as you pleased.”

"Irinia. After we are done, if you'll accept it, I'd like to take you under my wing and keep teaching you magic. However, it is going to be under two conditions. The first is that the first step in Valerius’ rule, and in leading the Veyorn out of their oppression is that you take your place beside him. I want more than that though, I want you to stop holding back in general. I want you to discover your full potential Irinia, a damned queen if you must be, not some runaway hiding from her fate." Azara stated, her tone strict and more stern than usual. She was going to get Irinia a spine one way or another. Furthermore, if she couldn't have Valerius and the potential that came with it, she sure as hell wasn't going to let someone else pass up the opportunity. "Because I can also see that in your soul Irinia. You could be very strong."

Irinia looked unsure, and her eyes lingered down at her feet. There was a longing in her eyes though, Azara could feel it. It was something in Irinia's soul that was tugging her in the right direction, pushing her onward to saying yes. That could be enough, Azara thought.

"The second condition...well, the second condition may be harder for you to accept," Azara said, finishing her conditions. It was a struggle to get the second half the sentence out of her mouth. Soon, she knew, that there would be no turning back. This would be the ultimate act of trust.

The statement caught Irinia's attention, and she looked at Azara like she thought the woman was crazy. "You just asked me to literally marry Valerius, to be the queen of a country he is going to take by killing his father. What could be harder to accept than that?"

Azara took in a deep breath and readied herself for what was to come. "Well, just like you and everyone else had a little secret when we started this journey - I have a secret too. It also changes things about our journey."

Irinia thought about this a moment before she spoke. "To tell you the truth we've suspected something."

"And what would that be?" Azara replied and felt her heart skip a beat. Did they already know?

"We don't know anything specific, it is just that we've all suspected something. You're different. You aren't like other mages I've met, but that can't just be your consecration seal. Some of the things you've said are strange too. You aren't a normal person. Forgive me but, it is kind of creepy how you almost know what people are thinking, or at least it feels that way." Irinia explained. "Valerius wondered if you were some specially trained mage, like a spy or something. Kasper thinks you have elf blood in you or something, I don't know where he gets that notion. I guess you're eyes explain the reading people part, but that doesn't explain why you can see things other people can't."

"And you?" Azara asked. "What do you think?"

Irinia blushed.

"I made a few guesses. I thought maybe you had dragon blood in you, like some of the old dragon slayers were said to have."

Azara couldn’t stop a smile from springing to her face. Her student was smart, that much was true.

"What a guess! It comes the closest out of all of those. Youare talented and intelligent, like I said."

"Wait, my guess was close? What is it then?" Irinia said. Her mood brightened with the validating comment, and she became a little excited, like a curious child.

"Well, this may make things easier for me. So now, I want you to think, how do you suppose humans received the blood of dragons? How did humans come to be born of dragons?" Azara asked.

Irinia shrugged. "I don't know. The legends never talked about that part. Some said you had to kill a dragon."

Azara shook her head. "Killing a bat wouldn't turn you into a vampire, would it?

"Alright, well then, err, drinking its blood?" Irinia said.

Azara rolled her eyes and then shuddered. "Same problem I'm afraid."

"Then how?" Irinia asked.

"Have you ever heard of Isiya?" Azara asked.

Irinia's eyes wandered for a moment as she pondered the question. "I think so. Wasn't she that...that dragon, back in the time of the Titan Empire, the one who turned herself into a human and married the emperor?"

"Only to be discovered upon their wedding night, because her transformation wasn't perfect. There was a patch of jewel-like scales upon her back. That was all, and he freaked. She had hoped to be accepted by him for what she was, and what she wanted to be, his wife and lover, but instead she was cast out as a monster." Azara said, summarizing the old story. Saying it out loud made her feel frightened. Isiya hadn’t even been accepted by her lover, her husband.

"That wasn't the version I remember," Irinia replied. "Is that the version that they tell in Aericia?"

"That is the version Isiya told me," Azara stated, in a matter-of-fact tone.

Irinia's jaw dropped for a moment, before speaking. "So you mean to say that...you’ve met a dragon?"

Azara didn't answer at first, and for a while longer they walked in silence. They passed several small hot springs, and they soon reached a large area covered in them. This created a few small ponds and a bit of a bog, around which were some small hills and raised areas of land. There was no one around, the residents of Issawast were either in town for worship services or farming far from the boggy ground that surrounded the springs. The area was also covered in a dense fog thanks to the cold and warm air meeting. This would be the perfect place, Azara decided.

"Wait here, keep your distance from me," Azara said, as she walked down to the edge of one of the ponds.

"Why? What are you going to do?" Irinia asked.

Azaradiu not respond. Instead, she started to undress from the beautiful white gown she had been wearing.

"Um, Azara?"

An article of clothing came hurtling her way, and Irinia grabbed it before it touched the ground.

"Making sure these clothes are not destroyed or soiled."

A few more pieces of clothing came Irinia's way before Azara left her staff on the ground near the pond, and removed all her gems and jewelry as well. She then turned to walk into the water but stopped short of doing so, as if bracing herself.

"Irina, promise me this. Even if you don't like what you are about to see, promise me this. At least don't scream. Don't be horrified. At least treat me with respect." she said before she walked into the waters, which hissed and boiled as she splashed away, much to Irinia's surprise. Soon, she had vanished into the fog.