Fifty million takas are not nearly enough. The cripple has already been heavily influenced by me, and I feel like a maternal figure when it comes to her. Bluntly, I’ve taken a liking towards her, despite myself.

Perhaps the cripple is worth fifty million takas, but I feel as if I’m selling myself—or a part of myself— when I consider your deal and I am quite priceless, Arthur, so I’d advise you to redirect your attention and resources. I will never sell her to you. Or anyone.

P.S.: Any further communication from you will be discarded instantly without being read.

—Letter found in the safe of the late Sir Arthur, 1845.

October 1, Friday, Year of 1842. Nina Gray.

Nina goes to the library in the morning wishing she could time skip to 5 PM, or at least practice a weapon during the day, even if it is not allowed. “Leave the fighting to the pure,” she hears Lotti’s obnoxious voice inside her head, “Impure are generally better off serving the pure.”

There is a spot near the farthest window in the back that every regular visitor of the library now knows is Nina’s spot. Like always, she grabs two books and goes and sits there, minding her own business. She skips the lunch because she falls asleep, wakes up after three long hours of slumber and looks at the clock in panic. It is still only thirty five past four. Taking a sigh of relief, she returns the books and slowly starts heading up to Lotti’s room.

The guard doesn’t do anything as she walks and knocks on Lotti’s door. The door opens instantly, and Nina steps in what she likes to call the witch’s lair. The accused red witch sits on the table, reading something with an eerie black cover.

Despite the place being labelled a lair in Nina’s mind, she has to admit that the room is the most pleasant room that she has ever seen. It is as big as the entire dorm room that Nina shares with seven others, and even if Lotti is a single person, her room is much more stuffed than any that she has seen.

Today the witch appears to be quite happy. The lair is not as messy, and she wears a fresh smile on her face—not the one that makes Nina want to punch her face. Nina debates over inquiring about this strange joyous mood, but decides against it. It is better for her if the witch is in a good mood.

The witch soon begins her magic, making her lair dance. The book that she was reading is swiftly sent to the bookshelf behind her, where it gently slides into a hollow opening between two books. Then, a drawer to the far left of the drawer opens and a box full of needles is sent her way, whose sight almost immediately make Nina clutch the sides of her chair. The witch then lifts Nina and her chair and drops her gently, nearer.

Nina shrinks as Lotti grabs the box of black, long, and thick needles that could pierce through most parts of her body. “What are those?” she asks.

“Do you know how the magic supressing collars work?” Lotti asks back.

Nina thinks for a second, then shakes her head.

“Then you will not understand what we are going to do today,” Lotti says, and opens the box. “But basically, I’m going to pierce nine needles in your body that break the seal of magic suppression. Seven for elements and two others.”

Nina tilts her head. “Didn’t you find no magic suppression seals on my body?”

“Not on your body. There is indeed no seal but now I wonder if your entire body is a seal itself…so we’re going to break it.”

Nina frowns. “That sounds painful.”

“Not as much as you think it would. Pain doesn’t start to kick in until the needles are removed. Now undress and turn around. The points are on your back.”

Nina nods hesitantly, gets up, undresses her dress, keeps it on the table and then turns her back to the Lotti.

Gently, Lotti traces her finger along Nina’s back over and over, as if trying to find something. When she is content, she pierces a needle on that spot. The needle is as long as her middle finger and just as thick, but it slides in without a problem. Lotti was right. It really does not feel so painful just yet. “Nina,” Lotti says, picking up another needle. “Talk to me. That’ll help.”

“What do you want to talk about?” Nina asks. “My past again? Or do you want to hear how my day was?”

“I’ve heard from you enough times,” Lotti says, starting to trace the back again. “So well, just for today, I will allow you to ask me questions. I might not answer though.”

Nina frowns. “You’re being quite generous today. What happened?”

“Good news happened,” Lotti says, “Be ready now.” Lotti pauses for two seconds, then pierces the needle in.

“What…good news?” Nina asks after a slight groan.

“You don’t need to know.”

Nina looks down, ashamed, and asks, “Because I’m not pure?”

Lotti takes two needles, and pierces them roughly in quick succession on her back. “No…that’s not the reason. You don’t need to know because that’s not a part of your role.”

“What do you mean? What is my role?”

“Your role as a piece, Nina. You really don’t need to think of all this, okay?”

Silence, and a minute later of piercing needles, Lotti says, “That’s all of them,” she says, still sitting behind Nina.

“Is…is there any change?”

“No. Your magic is still quite non-existent.”

Nina sits stiff, then says, dejected, “I suppose my body is not like a magic suppressing collar, after all.”

“Yes. It does not seem like your magic is being suppressed, then.”

“So…I really have no magic?”

“We can’t be sure just yet.”

A pause, and then Lotti takes out the needles gently, then ties the wounds rough with a single cloth around her torso. It really does not hurt much, and Nina wonders why as Lotti says, “We failed the experiment yet again today. Now let’s continue your strategy training.”

Nina nods slowly, watching the chess board and the books on the table. She looks at the pieces, then asks, “What did you mean by ‘that’s not a part of your role’. What is my role? Am I a pawn?”

“A pawn, at its core, must be disposable and worth very little but— ”

“But since I’m not disposable and worthless, I’m not even a pawn.” Nina cuts Lotti off, and instantly regrets it. Lotti has never liked being interrupted.

“I’m sorry,” Nina says, and Lotti sighs.

“I wasn’t going to say that you’re worthless. In fact, you’re worth more than anyone that I know…except me, I suppose.”

“Empty words,” Nina looks down, thinking of ways in which she has done something impactful in the camp. Nothing. Nothing but leeched off Lotti for food and shelter. “There’s not a single good thing I’ve managed to do for you, or for my parents, or for my friends or…for me.”

“Fifty million takas,” Lotti says.

There’s a pause for a few seconds. “Fifty…million Takas? I’m surely not worth that much… I couldn’t earn that much money in a thousand lifetimes.”

A drawer opens, and an enveloped letter flies out to Nina’s lap. The seal is broken, but she still hesitates for a moment before fully unfolding the letter. Nina’s hands shake as she goes through the parchment. It’s from church of Rudis, and they propose to ‘buy the cripple’ for fifty million takas. “Wha…what?”

“We must have a spy inside the rebels that reported you to the church of Rudis. It must be someone with fairly high magic skill since they noticed you, but don’t worry, I’ve put Raze up on the task. He’s going to follow you everywhere so that you’re safe. He followed you until my room too, but you most likely did not notice. Anyhow, as you can see, the church wants to buy you for fifty million.” Lotti says.

Nina has the immediate urge to turn back and look at her expression. Is she angry with the offer? Is she happy to get such an offer? What does the witch exactly intend to do with the cripple? Is Nina sold? Is this the end? If so, why is she still being so friendly? The church of Rudis were the ones that experimented on and killed the last known cripple, so if—

“I rejected the offer, of course,” Lotti says, “You’re mine, and no one takes my things away from me.”

October 3, Sunday, Year of 1842. Lotti Hasard.

Stagford is covered with trees and is famous for its cultivation of grapes. It is a famous for being a ‘green’ town, which is quite unusual because most of the Gala is infertile and lacks rain.

“This is one lucky town,” Della says, looking at the greenery. “They have a fertile land despite being in Gala.”

“Imagine the loot, ehehe,” Tuck says, grinning from ear to ear. “These look like rich people.”

Lotti pats her horse Spot as she looks around the fertile Stagford. She would love to cover these green land in shades of red.

The mayor stands inside an air barrier, and Lotti can only make him out from the others because of his fancy birdlike stupid looking golden helm. He has the entirety of the town’s militia present behind him, who are dressed in heavy armour.

“I don’t like this,” Ash says, her blue eyes looking worried.

“You should complain less,” Lynx says.

“Shut up your mugs,” Hog says, stroking his beard. “Just let the boss talk.”

Lotti waves at the mayor, then shouts, “I can only assume that you have rejected my offer, Mayor Vincent. It is a shame. I would have liked to avoid the bloodshed.” A lie, of course. She has always loved bloodshed.

Mayor Vincent shouts back, “We will not join your camp of traitors and rebels! Never!”

There is a moment of brief silence, and then Vincent raises his hand. His hand tremors as he says, “Go kill them!”

“What a shame,” Lotti shouts, raising an air barrier. Arrows land on the barrier, and some of the cavalry seems to be rushing to slash at it. Lotti’s barrier is possibly the best in Gala, but a few hundred people will still eventually break such a large barrier.

She glances back at her army, then says, “We don’t have Raze today, so be extra careful. He was a significant part of our strength. And no using fire so Ash, you’re in charge of protecting Arael and other healers. Aquila and Cord will be ready to douse out a fire if there is any. Squad one and zero will go first. The other squads will follow them later…and well, try to stay alive.” Or they could die. Lotti didn’t care. “This isn’t too difficult of a fight. I want the mayor and the horses alive. Everyone else can die and… I’ll need a few minutes to regain vigour.”

Lotti counts to three and the barrier opens, pushing air outwards in all directions. The trees sway as some of the enemies fall flat on their back. Lotti breathes heavily, regaining vigor inside Ash’s barrier with rest of the healers. She watches the battlefield.

Della takes the command instantly. She and Lotti are very similar in their strong and swift magic. Della is also the squad leader of her best squad. Della’s best magic is fire, but Stagford is full of greenery and Lotti does not want the fire to spread, hence Della only uses her other three elements, which are still very, very strong. “We’re running to the centre of their formation,” Della commands.

Since neither side wants to use fire and since water is close to useless in such situations, most of the magicians focus on controlling the air and earth. None of the militia’s magicians are extraordinarily strong, but a few hundred people pushing air can be overbearing, which must be why Della ordered the squad to infiltrate enemy’s centre formation. Pushing air at a point from two opposite sides is counterproductive, after all. They could push and pull but that could hurt their own soldiers on the pulling side, which is why rushing to the centre of the enemy formation is a clever move.

Lotti then rides slowly to the centre where Lynx and Hog are already going ham, their swords taking one life after the other. She touches the hilt of her sword upon watching them. She loves magic, but there is a special comfort in having a nice sword in your hand. She has always liked the sound that her sword makes when she cleanly separates heads from bodies.

Lotti hears a familiar scream, and turns around to see Big Rike. His barrier seems to have been broken and he seems to have caught an arrow on his gut. His inexperience is showing.

Ash and the healers rush towards Big Rike but are intercepted by a score of enemy cavalry, which is why breaks the formation to run at them. Lotti sighs as she watches her squad’s formation break down piece by piece.

Hog glances at the enemies attacking Ash’s stone barrier, then runs off in a opposite direction towards the Mayor with his unit. Lotti smiles. That is such a Raze-like thing to do, but seems like Hog is taking up his role now. Hawk’s unit, the archers, shoot arrows on Ash’s attackers and manages to get five of them down before Della reaches there, flinging all of the attackers away. Lynx arrives just in the nick of the time to slash at some of them who have fallen onto the ground.

Lotti then glances back at the mayor where Hog’s unit is trying to muscle his way through 20 footed soldiers to get to the mayor.

“Cord and Aquila!” Lotti says, rides to quickly catch up to them, then glances at the panicking enemies. “Are you ready? They might use fire as their last resort!”

They do not have to respond because just as she predicted, the grass beneath them is set on fire. Cord and Aquila douse the fire with water, making it rain easily. They have been gathering water vapour since the start, after all. Lotti raises an air barrier around the three of them momentarily just so they avoid getting wet.

“Boss, please permit the usage of fire!” Hog screams from far away, slowly retreating back. Rudis, how can someone shout so loudly? “I can take care of the rest easily if you—”

Lotti raises her voice, looking at Cord and Aquila. “How long will it take you to accumulate sufficient water vapour if there is a fire?”

“We have used most of the vapour already to douse the earlier fire,” Aquila says, “It will be difficult to douse another large fire.”

“No fire permitted, then. Why potentially ruin a good piece of land?” Lotti says, shaking her head. It’s a fun game for her, watching her pieces on the board fight against the enemies by themselves.

She then wonders how she would classify the army. The pieces won’t fit perfectly, but she tries anyway. Della would be her Queen, of course. The all-rounder and the best of the lot. She needs to work on not breaking the formation, though. Aquila, Hog and Hawk are her knights. Arael and Cord the bishops. Ash, Tuck and Lynx the rooks. The rest of the soldiers would be pawns. She’s seen very little of Big Rike, so she cannot classify him well.

And then who’s her king? Going by importance, it would be Raze but he is definitely not as weak as a king. It could be Arael because she is their healer. Losing her would be a massive setback. And finally, it could be Nina. She fits perfectly with the powerless king role, but then again, she is not that important. Or is she? Lotti is not sure. She has started to like Nina. Once Nina is finished with her tactician training, she will have to make a good king—the final piece that Lotti needed.

A minute later, Lotti finally enters the battlefield, unsheathing her sword. She rides towards the mayor, and the sight of her instantly makes two of the soldiers near the mayor flee. Lotti scowls but ignores them. She likes battle, but she likes people respecting her more. She joins up with Hog, stabbing two soldiers. About ten enemies are left near the mayor. Or it could be fifteen. Lotti doesn’t care. It’s all the same effort to crush those bugs.

But just when she wants to kill them, all of them surrender their swords, looking at her. Three of them who had muskets drop them too. Really? What a disappointing battle.

Hog grabs the fleeing Mayor, and drags him back to the dismounted Lotti. “You have two choices, Vincent. I don’t think that I need to tell you what they are, do I? I really do want to avoid the hassle of electing a new mayor.”

He nods slowly inside the stupid giant golden helm and says, “I—I accept your demands.”

“Good,” Lotti raises him up, making him stand. “A man called Walter should be here within half an hour. He’ll take care of legal matters. That’s his role. Now stand here with Hog as we take care of all these men that you killed.”

“But you were the one to kill them,” he retorts.

Lotti glares at him. So there’s still something left in him. Something that Lotti doesn’t want. A puppet ought to always say yes. “I wish we had Raze here,” Lotti says. Raze is always heartless, cruel and efficient.

…Maybe Lynx could do it? “Lynx,” she says, “Go bring in his son and wife. We don’t want him to say anything except ‘yes’ in the future, do we?”

Lynx looks at the mayor, then at Lotti. “I don’t like this,”

Lotti frowns as he continues, “We don’t need to get innocents involved.”

“I agree with him,” Aquila shrugs. “I didn’t join the rebels to kill children.”

Arael nods as well, giving a tight lipped smile to Lotti.

Pieces, pieces. If only the pieces didn’t have their own opinions and feelings; if only it would be that simple. A piece ought not to be much different than a puppet, but it’s much more difficult to control a piece. A piece has some real power, after all.

Lynx is perhaps her best swordfighter, while Aquila is her best scout. She can make replacements, but it will take some unnecessary extra effort and time. But Arael? Now a healer that good is hard to come by.

“Do as I say,” Lotti caves in, “I won’t kill them. It will just be a threat. Just bring them here. You have my word—we will not harm them. That was never the plan. I wouldn’t want this new age to start with such an unpleasant incident.”

Lynx is clearly doubtful. “New age?” He asks.

“Ah, yes, boss,” Hog asks, “Why are we doing this? We’ve never attacked a town before…and what’s with the legal nonsense and Walter?”

Lotti yawns, raising her arms, even though she barely did anything. “The legal matters is to make the city ours. We haven’t attacked any other towns before because this will be our capital.”

“Capital? As in our new base? We’re moving our base here?” Hog asks, dismounting.

“Some things are easier to remake than repair," Lotti says, "We're giving up on fixing up this shithole of Gala. Stagford will be the capital of New Gala—a new country that we made from ragtag rebels.” A pause. "And as the first and only Queen of New Gala, I now declare war on Gala! We're going to invade the capital and snatch this land away from those corrupt nobles!"