Azorin glanced at the communications orb and snorted again, another invitation from the King. He loathed the idea of sending Ieros to him but he knew he couldn’t hold him here forever. Even the Council was beginning to sway, mostly because of Thunwil’s constant nagging. If it was up to him, Azorin would’ve kicked him out long ago but unfortunately, it needed a 5/7 majority vote.

He hadn’t even told Ieros yet, at first because he was recovering but later because he just simply wanted to delay. It would be very easy if Ieros refused but there was also a significant chance that Ieros would accept, and if that happened, Azorin could no longer stop it. He sighed, no matter what, it seemed inevitable that Ieros would meet the King. Of course, he had known it would happen one day, but he was still reluctant.

But, seeing as it would happen regardless, he decided to finally let ieros know and decide. He would delay actually accepting through for a day or two, he didn’t want to send Ieros in unprepared. And so, he finally responded to the invitation, saying that he’d ask Ieros his opinion on the matter.

When broached with the question, Ieros had pondered deeply. He had heard to no end of all wrongs the King had committed but even so, he couldn’t help but be curious. And so finally, he accepted the invitation. Resigned to this fact, Azorin then responded to the King, scheduling a meeting for next week under the excuse that Ieros had to be coached on proper manners.

It was part of the reason but the other was to coach Ieros to carefully navigate a conversation with the King, to avoid any verbal traps, layered questions, and binding promises. Words, even without mana, had a power all to their own, although Ieros didn’t quite understand. Words without mana were just noises made to communicate. But, he figured that it would be easier to follow Azorin’s instructions.

A week passed, Ieros waking early that morning to prepare. He donned his ceremonial robes, layered with black and white with gold embroidery. As for his hair, he just gave it a quick comb, much to Atarum’s disapproval.

You’re not meeting just anyone boy! You’re meeting the King! If you go with that hair I guarantee his first impression of you will be nothing good!

Quite right, Zofiar agreed, You must bring pride to your masters Ieros.

Ieros shrugged.

“It’s just hair, besides, I like it this way.”

Atarum insisted, It doesn’t matter what you like, it matters what the King likes.

“Then what does the King like?” Ieros asked, snorting at the following silence.

“If you don’t know what he likes, then how do you know he won’t like my hair?”

Because it’s just too bland! You wouldn’t know because you’ve been kept here in the Tower but outside, there is something called fashion.

Ieros frowned.

“Why does that matter to me? It’s not like if I look better, my magic will get better too.”

Atarum sighed, My boy, to survive out there, you need more than just magic. Your looks, your words, all of these are important too! You have a great destiny ahead of you, one which puts you at the forefront of human advancement! You must become a symbol that all mages in the generations to come aspire to be, and no one wants to aspire to be a mundane person.

Ieros shrugged.

“I don’t really care if they don’t want to ‘aspire’ to become me.”

Atarum sighed again.

It doesn’t matter what you care or don’t care about boy, it’s going to happen anyway.

“And,” Ieros said, “I don’t care about that either. I’m going to go as is, I just want to get this over with so I can finally get back to my research.”

Zofiar chuckled.

It seems he has made up his mind. Let him be, Atarum. He’s the genius of his era, all geniuses have their quirks, his is just his bland hair.”

Atarum snorted but gave up, just saying, Be careful Ieros, be careful of what promises you make.

Ieros nodded.

“Yeah yeah, Azorin told me over a hundred times to avoid that, I’ll be careful.”

There then was a knocking at the door, Azorin’s muffled voice telling Ieros that it was time to go. The time had come. He stood, pulling on his hood and waving goodbye before he left, joining Azorin in the elevator.

“Are you ready?” Azorin asked and Ieros nodded.

“I am.”

Azorin let out a wry smile, saying, “Then I won’t bother with reviewing. I will say this though, you don’t need anything from the King, it is the King who needs something from you. You are in the position of power here, don’t forget that.”

The elevator slowed and then came to a stop, the two leaving the Tower and exiting the main building where a carriage waited outside. It took them to the Palace, where Azorin guided Ieros to the throne room, where he finally left him. From here on out, Ieros would be alone. Ieros looked one last time at Azorin as his name was announced, and the great doors opened. He turned his gaze forward, and entered the chamber, the doors closing shut behind him.

—Ieros—

My footsteps echoed throughout the grand throne room, my eyes roaming the place, seeing marble pillars gilded with gold, a tiled floor made of black marble, with tall windows of stained glass which told the stories of the Kings of old. And then of course there was the King, sat upon his gilded throne and no less gilded himself with his crown and robes. His golden hair framed his stone-like face, his piercing blue eyes seeming to peer past the shadows of my hood, although I was fairly certain he couldn’t.

As I approached, I then eyed the floor, I had to stop at the fifth tile from the stairs and bow. I reached it and bowed as I was taught, meeting the King’s eyes once more. He said nothing, his eyes almost seeming disapproving, which made me think of what I had possibly done to displease him. I was sure I wasn’t late, nor did I make a mistake while entering here...

Oh! My hood. I hastily pulled it off, frowning as I felt my hair dishevel, combing it roughly into shape with my fingers before I returned my attention to the King. For a few more moments, he kept his stone-like face before he laughed, which surprised me.

But I kept silent until he finished laughing, the King saying, “You seem like a normal boy, I can scarcely believe that you managed to defeat five of the Academy’s best..”

I wasn’t sure how to respond so once again, I kept my mouth shut, the King’s mirth fading somewhat as he asked, “Can you not speak?”

“I can, your Majesty,” I decided to be honest, “I simply did not know how to respond so I kept my mouth shut.”

He chuckled.

“Honest too. That’s good,” his tone turned, “I would hate for you to lie to me.”

I bowed my head again, to avoid his eyes as I said, “I will not lie to you, your Majesty.”

“Excellent!” he said with a smile as he asked, “Then tell me, do you have a girl you like?”

I blinked.

“No, I don’t think so.”

The King raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t think so?”

I nodded.

“Well I don’t know what it is to like a person in the first place, your Majesty.”

The King waved his hand dismissively.

“You don’t need to keep saying ‘your Majesty,’ think of me as a friend. And right, I did forget that you had been raised in the Tower for most of your life, how long was it?”

I replied, “Seven years, your Majesty. Oh, I-”

“It’s fine, just ignore it. Anyway, seven years, that’s quite a lot of time. How old are you now?”

I thought for a moment.

“I think I am sixteen now.”

“Sixteen years old, that means you were nine when Azorin took you from your parents.” the King observed.

I frowned as I said, “My parents agreed to it.”

The King said, “Because they had no choice, I mean what could a peasant family do to refuse the will of an Archmage? If your parents had refused, I’m sure Azorin would’ve killed them to get you.”

My frown deepened.

“No... he-”

I couldn’t finish my words, now that I thought about it, it was very possible that Azori would do that. Seeing the doubt, the King pushed forward.

“He must’ve kept his true nature a well kept secret, but even the best masks slip with time. Did you honestly not know?”

Once again, I resorted to honesty.

“I... I guess I just never thought about it.”

The King sighed, “He was always this way, keeping certain bits of information tucked away. He does this to manipulate everyone around him, it’s all just one big game of chess and the people around him are but pieces on the board.”

Chess, pieces on a board, I had heard that before.

“Ah! That’s what he said about you.”

He blinked.

“Pardon?”

Realizing that I had said that outloud, I explained, “Oh, it’s just that Azorin said the same about you.”

He laughed again, although his eyes seemed to grow colder.

“Fair enough, I figured he would’ve espoused exaggerated claims about me. Not that he’s wrong, but he isn’t entirely right either.”

He clapped his hands.

“But that’s enough of that, we’ve gone on a tangent for long enough. You can ask some questions if you’d like.”

I took a moment to think, I wasn’t particularly curious but there was one question that niggled at the edge of my mind.

“Why does Azorin hate you so much?”

The King smiled, although once again, his eyes did not as he pondered how to answer.

Finally, he said, “It is a long story, one that I’m afraid we don’t have time to discuss here. And even if I did, Azorin would likely claim that I am pretending to be the victim of the story. I can almost hear his voice saying I was equally or more in the wrong than him.”

“Then,” I pondered some more for another question, finally saying, “Then why did you want to meet me?”

“To congratulate you of course,” he said, “Your victory is deserving of my praise.”

I frowned again.

“But why here, wouldn’t it have been better to congratulate me at the arena?”

He explained, “You were wounded then, and I wanted to get to know you privately first. That and the nobles were rather dissatisfied with your unorthodox methods so a public ceremony may have been a bit too much for their pride.”

“Well it’s not my fault they couldn’t think of it.” I said, prompting another chuckle.

“Yes indeed it is,” he said while smiling, “It was also another reason why I wanted to meet you, I wanted to secure your help against the nobles.”

Seeing the question in my eyes, his smile disappeared as he looked off into the distance.

“You see, Ieros, there is a fragile balance between the nobles, the Academy, and the Crown—that is, me. The nobles rule the fiefdoms and the people within them, the Academy rules the mages—which include much of the noble faction, and I must make sure to keep them all in line. There is the Church but that is mostly isolated from this balance, they command the faith of the masses and typically don’t interfere with non-theological matters.

And as of late, there has been a growing problem. Since magic is closely tied with noble blood, the Noble faction has been growing in power. More of their descendants end up returning to the family rather than joining the Academy as teachers and staff, which is slowly weakening the Academy. Even fewer go on to join the army or enter the Court, that leaves both me and the Academy slowly weakening in power.

And then you came along, and suddenly, the Academy’s power increased greatly as you’ve proven yourself to be worth multiple mages. You aren’t a noble, no ties to the Noble Houses, so you would remain loyal to the Academy, which is a much needed check on the power of the Nobles. However, that now leaves me the weakest of the three and I can’t help but feel a little left out. If things continue like this, the Crown will lose its authority and the unity and peace currently enjoyed by Athera will descend into chaos.

The Nobles will announce their independence and/or alliances with foreign Kingdoms and wage bloody wars with one another. The Royal Army will likely lose many of its mages due to noble familial ties, same with the Academy and its students and teachers. The majority of the power would lie with the Noble Faction, and despite your great power, I doubt even you would last against hundreds experienced mages who are willing to die to kill you.

So, inevitably, both I and the Academy will fall and the magical knowledge that resides in the Academy stolen or worse, destroyed in the ensuing civil war. I would very much like to avoid this and the only solution that I can see now is to ask you for help. I know that Azorin will not agree to an alliance between myself and the Academy, neither do I have the support of the Council. I can only rely on you.”

To be honest, I didn’t fully understand but I got the gist, he needed me to prevent a civil war. I wasn’t sure if I believed it, I would have to ask Azorin later.

But for now, I only said, “I cannot and will not fully serve you. But, as long as the benefits of helping you help me and the Academy, I see no reason as to why I cannot.”

He smiled.

“That’s just what I wanted to hear. I do have a task in mind but I fear I have a meeting coming up, it has been a pleasure speaking with you. How about we meet two days from now, this time in the afternoon. I shall send a letter with further instructions which hopefully reaches you without interference.”

I nodded, and then caught myself, awkwardly turning it into a bow before I turned and made my way towards the exit. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if this had eben a good meeting or not but it seemed like he was happy and I had not fallen for a verbal trap. After all, I was pretty sure my wording meant that I could refuse a request if I thought it was a bit too much.

The doors opened and I slipped on by, looking for Azorin to find that he wasn’t there.

Suddenly, the guard by the door said, “The Archmage said he had business to attend to, you are to meet him back at the Tower.”

I just nodded and began to retrace my steps to the carriage, although I found that to be gone. Azorin must’ve taken it. I sighed, I really didn’t want to ask for one. And it’s not like I had to either, I could fly. But then again, I wasn’t sure if I had permission to fly, I had meant to ask Azorin afterwards but I was recovering, then I got busy with my research and then I had to do speaking lessons.

I sighed again, I really, really didn’t want to ask for a carriage. I could sort of do it at the Academy because I sort of knew them, but here, I didn’t know anyone. It was an agonizing few seconds of debate before I finally reached a decision. It would only be a quick one, and I wasn’t really supposed to be hiding anymore. And if I was, I could always say that he didn’t tell me not to fly, yeah, that should be fine.

———

A guard who had been watching Ieros stand there for a few minutes was about to ask him if he needed help when suddenly, Ieros began to ascend into the sky, before he reorientated himself horizontally and flew off into the distance, leaving the agape guard.