“Where are we?” asked Mia after she woke up from her long and dreamless slumber. She was frightened and did not know what happened to Jack. He was probably dead.

“Eh? What happened?” a voice emerged from the shadows after a while.

“Noah, is that you?”

“Yes. Who else? Mia, I know it is you.”

“Nope. I guess you can’t see either. It is too dark.” Replied Vale to the accusation a slight distance away from those two.

“We are in the Monolith, I guess.”

“That is correct.” Said a woman as a door was slammed to the walls. She had a lantern, which illuminated her features clearly. She had red hair, brown, mutilating eyes, which shone with an indecent instinct and cruelty, a cloak and a black uniform, made of synthetic leather around the shoulders and polymer elsewhere, only exclusive to the torturers of the Grey Monolith. The way she spoke was not proper, her intonation was irritating, but somehow determined and confident. She had scars all over her face. “Let me turn on the lights.”

A strong LED switched on suddenly, which almost burned out the prisoners’ retinae as they got used to the darkness already, but the lamp set itself to a bearable strength after a while. Noah and Mia were chained to the cold brick walls of the room, almost unable to move since the length of the chains were taut. Vale was placed on a plastic table in the middle of the room, unable to move. All of the convicts were wearing some crude linen rags with bloodstain indicating that this was not a new one from fabulous fashion shop.

“So, who would like to start?” she smirked. “Never mind, I know who I will start with. What is your name?”

“Fuck off.”

“Well, Fuck Off, nice to meet you. I am Avia. Zenon would have entertained you, but he got a nasty diarrhoea.”

“Are any of that actually a name?” Noah replied.

“Hrgggr, of course. If you try to resist, I have some drugs, just bear with me, Fuck Off. I am going to ask questions, you should answer honestly. You might survive the day, if you do everything according to the book.”

“So what is your name?”

“I told you to fuck off, right?”

She took out a gnarled whip from her brown leather satchel and hit her mildly muscular abdomen ripping her skin.

“I do not want to see her being tortured.” Mia thought.

“What is your name?”

“Vale.” She could barely talk.

“Will you tell the truth?”

“Yes.”

“Splendid. Who are your parents?”

“I was dumped after they died. An innkeeper called Jack took me in.”

“The fellow, who tried to protect you? He was such a nice guy.” Mia was hissing in the background, but she did not dare to anger her host. “Were you a member of the Resistance?”

“Yes.”

“Rank?”

“I didn’t have any. I didn’t care. I did what they asked me to do.”

“Why were you a part of it?”

“Wanted to defend my family.”

“You are a pathetic little child, Fuck Off. Were you active four years ago?”

“Not really.” She got another hit.

“I know when you lie. Don’t try it again. What did you do?”

Noah and Mia were staring at the scene shocked and unwilling.

“Nothing.” She got another, this time it was stronger. Nobody except her friends heard her screams, though. Both were watching with a horrified expression.

“Don’t lie.” Noah whispered, almost crying.

“I’ll be more exact then. Have you been to the Golden Trout Street? The street that had a ruin of an old building, the Paragon said it was some copy of ancient roman stuff. Only the decayed base remained.”

“Once I travelled through, if I remember well.”

“You are hopeless.” She had taken another whip out that had blades installed on its end. Mia tried to object, but that was useless.

“You could kill her with that. Please don’t. You can’t get any info if you kill her.”

“She agreed that she will only tell the truth. I’ll pass this one, but if you lie again, you’ll experience real pain.”

“Do you remember who the Leader of the Vanguard was then?”

“Edward Something.”

Noah realized everything. This was not interrogation, only torture. Also Vale wanted to protect him.

“Yeah, I didn’t know his surname either. Have you met him?”

“Yes.”

“What was he like?”

“Haven’t talked to him so what do I know? He pat my head once.”

“Understandable. Do you know who killed him?”

“No.” She said it with all her heart. Maybe with too much of it.

“Why did you lie? You want to die? I do not want you to.” She dared not to say anything.

“Shame, I started to like you.” She hurled her whip and slashed the blade in her abdomen, cutting it open and causing both haemorrhage and bleeding. She shrilled in a shock, yet nobody said anything. After she suffered enough, Avia turned to Noah.

“I knew you killed him. Tell me the truth or she suffers more. I saw your expressions, you wouldn’t let me botch her, right big boy?”

“We…” he stammered. “I lured him to the street and she cut his throat while I distracted him.”

“Oh my, if she is a criminal then she truly deserves punishment.” She smirked again, it was much more hideous than the last one. “I even found huge crystal of an illegal drug.”

“I gave her an amber before the festival. You seem to be stupider than I thought or you didn’t care.”

“Oh well, that is sad. Should have been drugs. She would have suffered more.”

“At this pace, she will bleed out.” Mia said. “I do not want to lose you, too.” She started to cry.

“I know.” Her smile was crueller, more intense and more malevolent than ever. “A murderer deserves it.”

“Why?”

“She lied to me.”

“Is that all?”

“The Paragon might want her dead.”

“Fuck him.”

“You stupid brat.” She leaped forward.

“What is the meaning of this?” A voice shouted at the evil executioner with fury, a voice Mia heard before that was confident, dominant, supreme and demanded respect. The executioner stopped and her smile disappeared.

“What is happening? Will she die? Are they playing with us?” Mia thought.

“Sir.”

“Don’t sir me. Do you remember 2-c.1?”

“Sir…” she stuttered.

“Do you?”

“Yes.”

“Quote.”

“No executioner has the right to act without consent.”

“Yet you acted without mine. WITHOUT MINE. You acted without any of my consent or presence. Medic, treat the lady.” Three of the medical team rushed in. They were the ones who kept the prisoners alive to prolong their suffering.

“I wanted to appease you.”

“Without inviting me over? Wasn’t that just for self-satisfaction? I hope you remember the punishment of these crimes as well.”

“Yes, sir.”

“No objections?”

“Can I?”

“Absolutely not.” The Paragon turned away. “Can you save her?”

“Unfortunately no. She’s almost bled out. Her internal organs are a mess.”

-Will she die?-

“Fucking great. Put her to rest. Stop her suffering.”

“Hey, you two. Do you need medical attention?”

-She died?-

“No.” Both replied, grieving for their friend. Mia tried to glance at Vale, but her eyes displayed cold nothingness, a grasp unique to death, a true lifeless, blank stare.

“I need you to stand up, and come with me. Can you do that?”

“Yes I can.”

“Yes.”

“Then follow me.” They did it without a word. Two guards tied up the executioner and led her to the Grey Palace. Tyronne wanted to ease his guests, so he escorted them to his favourite restaurant, just outside the Monolith. The building itself seemed to be modest and ordinary, but the inside of it was the real deal as the flooring was made of black oak, the walls of pine. The chairs were covered in velvet, ornamented with gold, the tables were beautiful craftsmanship from the South, the waiters, only women, had big bosom and revealing outfits. This was one of the most renowned restaurants in the Upper City, the favourite of the Paragon.

“This was a grievous mistake.” He explained while sitting down at his designated table with the youth. “My chancellor messed up. You can do whatever you want with the Avia, by the way.”

“Eh?”

“You can kill her, rape her, or whatever. What do you want to eat? Be my guests.”

“Eat? Our friend was recently murdered and you want to buy our indulgence with food?”

“I think you misunderstood. She didn’t have a choice, but you do. You can die as well, but you can choose life. She couldn’t. I want to recruit you, Noah, to the Vanguard and I need someone to bring my successor up.” He glanced at Mia. “I would have wanted Vale to accompany my friend, Ethan. She would have been trained and become a bodyguard to protect Seamus.”

“She won’t accept… I wouldn’t accept… She… wouldn’t…” Mia thought.

“Why would we even accept anything from you? You have only made us suffer. My father was murdered by your orders, Mia’s parents died because you wanted them to. You have only brought us suffering. The way you manipulate people, the way you use them and throw them around is disgusting.” Noah exclaimed, everyone was staring at him with immense hatred as he dared to disrespect the Paragon. They even stopped munching.

“Your minion killed my best friend. What do you want from us?” Mia thought.

“Is that bad? You wouldn’t have met without those conditions and you have a peaceful life. I could have killed you, you know, but I thought that kids shouldn’t be. The reason your father is dead, Noah, is that he strangled her second wife, but I do not think you know about it. Your bloodlust is unjust, Mia’s wouldn’t be, Vale was different, but she is dead.”

“Who is Seamus? I do not remember anyone in your family with a name like that.” Asked Mia timidly. -Will I be used as a courtesan? I hope she didn’t die for that. Do I have to educate a kid? She wouldn’t accept...-

“I found him alone, he had nobody, so I took him in. He is fast-witted, and conscientious kid worthy of becoming my successor. You would be his private tutor, I think you are talented enough to bring him up, which could be a heritage from your parents. You could make him whoever you want him to be. A liberal or someone like me, I do not care. If there is anything you need,” he winked “You can ask any time.” Both of them ignored this comment.

“Why didn’t you come after us four years ago?” It was Noah’s turn.

“I did, but then I realized if I make the Resistance and make you join, then crush it. I figured that would deal a heavier blow. You were my pawn, and I loved it. I would have executed you soon enough if it was not for the Grand General.” Mia could see Noah’s break down bone by bone, nerve by nerve. “Three of your best dish.” Tyronne barked at the owner, who ran back to the kitchen. “You see, I was asked to forgive you, so I thought I could make you my associates. You are skilful enough to be my advisors as well.”

“Why would I?” replied Noah.

“If any of you declines, all of you die, or at least I wanted it to be like that. The only thing I want to ask from you is not to kill me. I’ll give you everything you want.”

“I want Vale.”

“Everything but dead people.”

“So bad.”

“I could give you all them bitches” he thought. “Would you sacrifice Mia to save your precious pride?”

“Eh?”

“If you decline, she will die too. We could have a lunch in the Palace, but I didn’t know about this little event before.” A waitress brought three plates full of well-done steak, a sauce that was a mixture of cranberry and sour cream, rice and different baked fruits such as apple, peach and lemon.

“Bon Appetite.”

“Enjoy your meal.” Replied Mia, though Noah was blankly staring at his delicious dish. -She did die, didn’t she? Noah feels it, I feel it. She is not here anymore…-

“It’s not poisonous.”

“I know.”

After they finished, Tyronne signalled the waiter, who removed the plates delicately. Her breasts shoved onto Noah’s face as she tripped.

“Sorry, I am so sorry.”

“Hmmh.” Tyronne did not care. “You do your job as you please. If you are attracted to this young man…” She blushed.

“What is he talking about?” Mia thought.

“Why did you say that?”

“She liked you. I have eyes for people. I can tell their true intentions.”

“You are joking.”

“You consider joining so that you can cut me up at the most unexpected moment, right?”

“Eh?”

“Your eyes tell me everything.” He smiled “You are a god-damn moron, if you believe this.” He thought.

“I doubt it.”

“It is okay to doubt, but will you be able to tell me how I did that? Only the latter gives you advantage. I only have one question left. Do you accept?”

“Yes.” Replied Mia thinking “I do not want to sacrifice his life, Vale wouldn’t let me…

“I am still not convinced.”

“You want to change this nation, don’t you? Help me then.”

“Will I be a puppet?”

“Yes, but I will not ask you to do anything immoral.”

“Then yes.”

“A carriage is waiting for us. After we arrive, I want Noah to come with me for instructions, Mia should head to the Maid’s for a custom uniform.” Tyronne instructed them to get into the carriage, travelled to the entrance of the Grey Palace. The meal was free of charge.

“Have anyone tried to kill you?”

“Yepp, it is getting boring. I dispersed a conspiracy against me some time ago. It is not easy to rule, you know.”

“Is there something we must know in the near future?” asked Mia with phoney curiosity. “Did I forget about Jack? He is probably dead, too. I miss him, I want to ask him for some advice, but…” She thought.

“We are going to the Convergence.”

“Convergence?”

“Annual meeting of the five powers. We have to address issues, for instance the Enigmatic Vault. This goes every year, but no solution ever was made at that place.”

“Will we go with you?”

“Yes. Both of you. Noah will be one of my bodyguards, you will help me with speeches and such. You need to learn. Now, Noah come with me, I’ll ask you about your armour and weapon preferences and order them accordingly. If you have anything to ask for, just let Nathan or me know.”

“Nathan?”

“Yes, the chancellor. Red hair, long nose. You’ll know. Mia, if you take the stairs, go down two levels, then take the right. It is the first door on the right, with a sign ’Maid’s’ on it.”

Mia did everything according to her instructions and was led to the room. ”What did I do wrong? Why wouldn’t I force them to move out? I could have prevented their death. Why didn’t I? What is wrong with me? Why did let them continue? I can’t… it cost me dearly… Jack, Vale… you are too much to lose…”

“Oh, a new maid? Welcome.” Said an old woman. “I am the tailor of the Grey Palace, called Zia.”

“I was told to come here by the Paragon. I am to be little Seamus’ private instructor.”

“Oh? What a lovely girl, and so young. I’ll take your measures.” And she did. She measured the size of her chest, the length of her shoulders and other body parts. The old lady decided to reinvent an older style she was told about by the Paragon. Since the colour of the standard uniform of the maids was grey-blue, this one was made of velvet of that shade of colour. The outfit was smart, and contained a grey skirt and suit, a sailor tie of the same shade, and a blue shirt. Nothing too fancy. Nothing too revealing.

A maid approached her in a haste. “Are you Mia?”

“Yes, pleased to meet you.”

“According to the Paragon’s personal request, you can take your time to grieve for your friend to try to forget the tragedy you lived through before attending his successor. You do not have to push yourself.”

“I understand.”

“I guess you are tired. I’ll show you to your room.”

“Thank you.” They ventured towards her room on the second floor, next to Seamus’. “How could I mess this up? What can I do? They are not coming back. They are not going to come back. Why do I feel like it is all my fault? If I didn’t push Jack… If I was much more resilient… If I …”

“You will have breakfast at nine o’clock, lunch at one o’clock, dinner at eight o’clock. All will take place in the dining room, with the Paragon and Seamus.”

“Okay.”

“You have to introduce yourself to the kid, after you take a bath and use the toilet.”

“Of course.”

While the maid told her crucial information about the Palace, they arrived at her room. It was huge, fully furnished and had a similar style to the Paragon’s own room, but had a smaller bathroom and bathtub. An exact copy, so to say. There were several manuals and books on the table, all of which was about the basics of politics and commerce that she had to teach to her student one day. She found a note on her bed.

“I know this is sudden, but we will leave tomorrow. If you have anything you need, tell one of the maids I assigned to you. Make sure to bath and rest, but introduce yourself to Seamus. He is the only reason you are here after all. The room has a standard design, if you do not like it, you can refurbish it any time. We have dinner at eight o’clock, come to the dining room and eat.”

She did everything accordingly. She took a bath, attended chamber business. Then she went over to Seamus, who was trying to figure out how to do subtraction and was helped by another maid.

“So you must be Mia.” The maid intensified.

“Yes, happy to meet you.”

“Who are you?” asked the kid.

“I am the one who will help you learn stuff. What are you doing?”

“Subtraction.” He was holding his head. Anyone could tell that he did not understand because he didn’t want to. He was bored after all.

“That is easy, do you have a pen and a paper?”

“Yes.” He gave it to Mia.

“Come, sit on my lap.” She started to tell him about it very simply.

“So we have five coins, and we want have to give two to Tyronne, how much will we have? You see we just remove those two. How much do you see?”

“Ummm. One… Two… Three.”

“You just subtracted.” - Jack thought me to. This was his way of telling things. I used this method when I helped Vale to learn…-

“Really?”

“Yes. We signal that with a minus sign. See? Five minus two is three. We take the two out of the five.”

She spent a considerable amount of time with him to see his talents. As she did not know where the dining room was, she heavily relied on Seamus. On arrival, Tyronne waved, and Noah was sitting beside him.

“So we have duck tonight with mashed potatoes covered in different spices.”

“Isn’t that too heavy for a kid?”

’Don’t worry, he wanted oats-meal. By the way Noah was sitting at his chair all day long, and did not really say anything. How are you? I see you were distracted.”

“This little guy is talented for sure.”

“Huh?” Seamus did not know what was happening, he was paying too much attention to his oats-meal.

“Both of you should eat as much as you can. We won’t be eating too much next week. We start our journey tomorrow morning.”

“What will I be doing?”

“Stay here and study. That is the most important.”

“Again?”

“What did I tell you?”

“Doing nothing will not please you in the long run. Okay.”

After everyone finished their dinner, they went to sleep so that their journey would not start with weariness bearing only hardship. But the sorrow and regret remained.