Ambreala’s world crashed down. Mages were known to take people captive for one reason: sacrifice. It was said that mages gained great power by sacrificing innocents and consuming their souls, and for some reason some souls were worth more to them than others.

Her eyes filled with tears as she realized she was doomed. More than doomed. Her soul would be consumed and destroyed instead of carried to Simrasin, the eternal rest. There would be no rest for her; no chance to meet her god, or to spend eternity together with her family. Instead, her very being would be tortured for every bit of energy that could be ripped from it, and the discarded shreds that were left of her eternal being would be fought over by demons in the depths of oblivion.

Somehow her mind cleared of the worst of her terror now that there was nothing left to worry over. The worst judgement that could be had already been cast on her, and nothing worse could come, because there was no worse fate.

She saw her father’s anger on his face as he realized what was being demanded. Then she saw different expressions flit across his face as he thought through the ramifications, though no one that hadn’t spent a great deal of time would have been able to read it so. His finally settled on despair for a few moments before his stoic mask reappeared. He would either call the mage’s bluff, and likely leave everyone in the hall dead in the attempt, or he would publicly give in. If he did that, the destruction of his family would become inevitable. He had already taken a blow by the loss of dozens of his best men and the humiliation of his casual defeat, as well as the betrayal of his golems. If he bowed his head to the mage and surrendered his daughter his once unassailable position would be seen as deeply vulnerable. From there it would inevitably lead to a coup by one, or several, of the more powerful houses.

She knew the decision had been made when his eyes flitted across the room to take in where the men and weapons were. In the calculus of politics to the death it was better to make a roll of the bones than to wait for the inevitable fall. She saw when Erek realized the same, and without lifting his weapon he subtly shifted to prepare to move. She couldn’t see his face from behind, but imagined a bitter expression with the knowledge that he was about to die. Around her, she felt subtle shifts as others made the obvious calculations, and prepared for the inevitable confrontation.

“I’ll do it,” an unsteady voice cried out. All eyes in the hall turned to her, and she realized the voice had been hers. She took a deep breath, and forced some dignity into her voice. “I’ll go with him,” she repeated in a more even tone.

Everyone was watching her, but she had eyes only for one. Her father looked at her contemplatively, but the desperation had left his eyes. She knew, even before he spoke, what his words were going to be.

“Are you sure?” he gently asked. It was a disingenuous question. The question wasn’t an assurance that she was sure of her decision. It was emphasizing to those watching that this wasn’t a surrender on his behalf, he was merely allowing his daughter to go along with the man of her own volition. After she was gone, it would be not so subtly pointed out that the prince’s house was strong and so unified that members would sacrifice themselves for the greater good, no matter the cost to themselves. To be fair, it was obviously true.

Still not a victory, but suddenly it wasn’t a loss. Defeating a house whose members were that resolute in the good of the house would be very risky, much more risky than most houses would want to bet on.

If she backed out now, it would end up much worse than if she hadn’t said anything. Either way, she was doomed, but if she sacrificed herself she could save her family, and that made it no choice.

“I’m sure,” she said, pretending that her voice wasn’t quavering. “It will be for the best.” Her father gave her a sad, but grateful look. One that at any other time she would have traded a great deal for.

“Excellent,” the stranger said, interrupting the moment between father and daughter. “Given the unpleasantness earlier, I believe I will take my rest elsewhere. I’ll be back tomorrow morning to gather you before I continue on my way. You should say goodbye to your family.”

With that, he wavered, flickered and then disappeared from the room like a candle flame blowing out, leaving a room full of chaos behind.