“Wow, so did you ever learn what your father did?” Aria asked.

“Yeah, I learned, but much later. I was already quite far into the training and I enjoyed my time training there. I built a deep connection with Teacher and made… a good friend.” Torrin’s cheeky smile came to Joseph’s mind, clear as day. He remembered her scent, like it was yesterday that he last saw her. He decided to keep that part of the story to himself. “Then one day…”

It was already night and Joseph, coming back from training grounds, wanted to say goodnight to the Teacher. Ever since he started the independent training routine, he hasn’t seen the Teacher at all.

“The King wants to know how the training is progressing. Is the Prince an adequate student?” The voice came from inside Fayelin's home.

Joseph was standing at the Teacher's doorstep, when he heard the voice inside inquiring about him.

“You can report to the King that the Prince is advancing just fine. And I hope this is the last time I will be seeing you. I don’t remember approving these types of meetings. Do you not realize where you are? These are holy grounds that you walk on not some rundown, back alley shack! Take your things and get out of my sight.”

Fayelin was furious. Whoever she was talking to was sent here by Darian to check on the situation. Joseph decided to listen in to their conversation for a little longer.

“With all due respect High Priestess, I don’t think you are in position to argue, seeing as we still hold your family… under surveillance.”

“Blast it all! What are you going to do with them? Kill them? Did Darian stoop so low to resolve to murdering innocent people?”

“I do apologise for my insolence…”

“Enough.” Fayelin’s voice trembled from fury. “Leave this place at once.”

Hearing the steps approaching the door, Joseph quickly hid behind a nearby tree. He couldn’t recognize the figure that left Teacher’s house, but the crest he wore on his sleeve was undoubtedly that of Aris. Joseph waited a while hidden behind the tree, making sure the man is still not snooping around. When he heard a horse leaving the compound he walked towards the door.

He wasn’t sure what to do. His mind was racing at enormous speed. He felt dizzy. The information he heard just now came to him like a punch in the stomach. Suddenly the door in front of him opened.

“You know, eavesdropping is incredibly rude. Don’t make a habit out of it.” her fist gently bopped the top of his head and then proceeded to ruffle his hair. She smiled but her eyes were still sore from crying.

“Teacher…”

“Don’t worry little Jossy. Like I told you, the Light brought you to me and that was enough to acknowledge you as my student. What your father did had no influence over my decision.”

“Still…” Joseph finally broke down into tears. “I can’t continue on knowing this. I must go. I must make it right.”

Fayelin hugged the boy. They stood on the doorstep in embrace until Joseph managed to calm down.

“I… I will go.”

“I know you will. It is something that you will always do. Make things right. Or, at least, try to.” Fayelin was still smiling. It was a smile full of sadness and sorrow. Unable to bear it, Joseph looked away. “That’s just who you are.”

“I am sorry.”

“No need to be sorry Jossy. If I could, I could perhaps stop you, but I doubt that would do any good. I have already taught you everything I could, technique wise, at least. But, there is one more thing that I can give you.” Fayelin paused and looked Joseph in the eyes. ”That I must give you. Come.” She moved past him in the direction of the main temple.

“So what was it that she gave you?” Aria asked.

“That I can’t say. It’s not up to me. But, the thing she gave me made me realize that she indeed couldn’t have had very many students.”

“Huuuh, so… it’s a thing, eh?” Aria continued.

“It’s not exactly a thing.”

“Is it a spell?”

“It’s not a spell.”

“Is it…”

“Stop it. I won’t tell you.”

“Okay, okay. I give up.”

“Anyway, I rushed back to the Aris…”

“Young Prince, please come to your senses. Your father is in the middle of a meeting. He can’t see you right now. Please, don’t do anything rash.” Heimlich, Darian’s royal knight and captain of the royal guard, was desperately trying to stop Joseph from confronting his father. He realized why Joseph returned as soon as he saw his face in the castle’s main hall.

“So, you knew as well…” Joseph's voice was calm. He was walking towards the meeting hall with unyielding resolve. He knew Heimlich’s attempts at stopping him would go no further than words. This old knight was blindly loyal to his father, but he wouldn’t dare to raise a weapon against Joseph. Not after all the years they spent together. In more ways than not, Heimlich felt more of a father to Joseph than Darian ever was. And the only son Heimlich ever had was Joseph.

“Yes, I knew.” Heimlich sighed. “And I knew better than to say anything to you.” The old knight found it hard to follow the determined steps of the young Prince. He stopped to catch breath, watching after Joseph until the boy turned the corner and disappeared.

“Foolish boy.” he lowered his head into his palm and started rubbing his forehead. “What should I do now? I hope these old bones give up soon because life is becoming too complicated for my nerves.”

Joseph barged into the meeting room unannounced. His father was sitting behind a big round table, with no one else in the room. Two magic mirrors were placed on the table, facing him. His eyes averted from the mirrors and looked into Joseph’s direction, his head still resting in the palm of his hand and his stoic face expression completely unaffected by the unexpected visitor.

“I must go now.” with a sweep of the hand he broke off the mirrors’ connection to whomever he was talking with. Cold eyes still glared at Joseph.

“Release them. At once.” At the sight of his father, Joseph instantly lost his calmness. His voice was trembling. He didn’t know if it was out of fear or anger.

“What are you talking about, Joseph?" Darian asked with a dull, bored voice.

“T-teacher’s family. You are keeping them hostage. Release th...”

“Did you finish your training?”

“N-no. Not yet.”

“Then, why are you here?”

“Because I want you to leave Teacher’s family alone!”

“They are safe.”

“I am not going back until you do it.”

Darian stood up from his chair. His demeanor was calm, but his eyes were burning with a fiery rage.

“You are going to go back to the Temple, finish your training, and bring me back Fayelin’s secret. Until you do that, you are just a worthless leech, unfit to be called my son.”

In that moment, Joseph realized what his father was really after. He didn’t care about him or his wishes, he was using him to get a hold of the teacher's secret. “I will never tell you Teacher’s secret! I would rather die.” The trembling in his voice stopped. His hesitation was gone and he knew that he needed to protect the gift that teacher lent to him.

Darian noticed his son's newfound resolve. “So, you learned about the secret. Good. You will tell me everything. Then you can die.”

Before he could activate a defensive spell, the air around Joseph disappeared and he started choking.

A spell? But I didn’t see father cast anything. How did he do it?

Joseph tried to fight by casting a spell to disrupt father’s concentration, but no words could come out of his mouth. He took a step forward towards his father in a last, desperate attempt to do something, anything to stop him, but to no avail. His eyes went to the back of his head and he dropped to the floor, unconscious.

“Heimlich.”

The old knight entered the room through the still open door. “Yes, my Lord?”

“Throw him into the dungeon. And come to me, right after.”

“As you say, my lord. What shall we do with… the High Priestess?”

“I got what I wanted. You can withdraw the surveillance team.”

“Very well, my lord.”

Joseph woke up sitting on the ground, his back leaned against a tree trunk. It was dark, but he could gather from his surroundings that he was in a forest. Next to him, sitting beside a small campfire, was Heimlich.

“Ah, you are awake Joseph. Good.”

“Heimlich… where are we?”

“Hm, I’m not sure myself, to be honest. Important thing is that you are safe. At least for now.”

“Safe?” Joseph asked, confused. Then, he recalled the events that unfolded before he lost his consciousness. “Heimlich!” he yelled.

“Shhhh! We are safe for now, but the whole royal guard is looking for us, so you might want to keep it down a notch. Listen. You will travel to Orfurt, a small city south of here. Look for Adam, the city mayor. He will take you in and hide you. You can trust him and you can tell him everything that happened here.

“But Heimlich, what about you? This is treason. I can’t let you do this.”

“Don’t be stupid, Joseph.” Heimlich flicked a pebble at the boy’s forehead.

“Ouch.”

“I am fully aware of what I am doing. And I chose this path myself. Don’t worry about it, haha!”

“Heimlich…”

“Adam is a good friend of Fayelin’s. I think you will like him. Your father will try to find you, so be careful at all times. He will want to keep everything undercover, so he will probably pronounce you dead, or something along the line. I suggest you go along with that narrative. You will avoid a lot of problems if people don’t know who you actually are.”

“Th-thank you, Heimlich.”

"No, no. Don't thank me. Get up and go. I will divert any potential followers that might go after you."

Joseph got up on his feet and looked around.

"You will have to travel on foot. Sorry about that." Heimlich got up and placed his hand on Joseph's shoulder. "You will be fine son. Don't worry."

Joseph nodded, turned away hiding the tears and walked into the shadows of the forest's trees.