Only after Ruena left the room did the details begin to sink in. Jerath was a prince, Velcorna was the one who accused him, and in a weird way the Black Wolf might be the one to save him. Tianna focused on writing down as much detail about the kidnapping as she could remember and one of the warriors came to pick it up.

A few days passed after that. The stay in base of the Alodan warriors was comfortable, and all of the warriors were surprisingly friendly. Well, all of the warriors Tianna had met. She had been warned about a few that were bitter or hot tempered.

Finally, Ruena summoned Tianna and she was guided to her office. The office was fairly large, and while it was lined with weapons it had a very neat appearance. Ruena sat behind her desk, and off to the side sat-

“Jerath!” Tianna exclaimed and immediately went over to him, “Are you okay? What happened?”

“I’m fine,” Jerath assured her before glancing at Ruena.

“For now, he is being banished to his home country,” Ruena explained, “I thought I should give you the opportunity to say goodbye. It may take him a while to return since he will no longer be able to use the power and influence of the Saorsa.”

“What does that mean?” Tianna asked.

“I have been stripped of my position,” Jerath answered, “They couldn’t prove anything, but they could no longer trust me either. I am not sure the Saorsa is what it was when I first joined anyway.”

Ruena stood up and walked over to them. “There is something else you should know,” she broke in, “The Saorsa decided on their own to assign you a new guard. I tried to reject their choice since he is one of my people before he is theirs, but Soral agreed to it despite my opinion.” Her tone was grim and her knuckles turned white as they gripped the ornate wooden quarterstaff in her hand.

“He seemed to have some kind of plan in mind,” Jerath added.

“Regardless of his plans he should have at the very least consulted with me first,” Ruena fumed. A light, timid sounding knock sounded from the door. Ruena sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “You can come in, Soral.”

The door opened slowly and Soral cautiously stepped inside. “Um… Hi?” he ventured.

It was silent for a few moments before Tianna decided to speak up. “So I heard you are in charge of guarding me now.”

“Temporarily!” Soral announced, his voice regaining some of its usual energy, “Very temporarily. In fact, I actually only agreed to it to help with the transition. You see I have a better idea. We can worry about that later, though. You should decide what to do about Jerath’s situation.”

“What can I do about it?” Tianna asked.

“Oh, lots of things,” Soral replied, “but nothing I can decide for you. Just because he can no longer leave his country using the power of the Saorsa doesn’t mean he can’t leave at all. His actions may be restricted due to being royalty, but he is also granted certain privileges.”

Tianna was still confused, but Jerath seemed to understand something. “I will go home and prepare right away,” he stated, “Tianna… Soral, can you explain things to her?”

“Of course!” Soral answered instantly, “Have fun on your trip back!”

Jerath grimaced slightly. “I doubt my escort has fun in mind, but at the very least I should be treated properly as royalty.”

After watching Jerath leave the room, Tianna turned on Soral. “What did he mean when he asked you to explain things to me?”

“Yes, you have quite a bit of explaining to do, don’t you?” Ruena added with a deadly smile in his direction, “As my second in command, why are you letting someone else order you around.”

“I don’t take orders, I just thought it would be a good idea,” Soral defended, “Besides, they would never have accepted my idea upfront, but since I accepted theirs they have no choice now.”

“What idea?” Tianna asked.

Soral grinned. “Rather than having some guardian assigned to you by an organization you might not be able to trust I thought it would be better for you to make a proper deal yourself. With Ruena, for example. You need protection and help in order to ascend the throne, and Ruena… She can speak for herself.”

Ruena had relaxed as Soral explained, though she still seemed a little irritated. “Very well. In that case I will make the offer first. I will give you all of the training and support you need until you become Queen. I only ask for two things in return. The defeat of Velcorna Alodan, and the official recognition of my warriors.”

“Before I agree, can I ask something?” Tianna began, and continued when Ruena gave her a nod, “Isn’t Velcorna Alodan your mother?”

“You wish to hear the story?” Ruena asked, “I am fine with telling you, but only after our deal is official.”

“How do I make the deal official?” Tianna asked.

“For now a verbal agreement will do since I have my ways of recording things. Later we will sign a magic contract.”

Tianna flinched slightly at the mention of a magic contract. As the name implied magic contracts bound the signers with magic to follow the rules stipulated in the contract. They were dangerous, but so was making a deal like this without one.

“I understand,” she finally agreed, “Can you tell me now?”

Ruena paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. “By now, the simple details of the story I am about to tell you should be famous. Velcorna murdered my father for his money and for his title as the Duke of Alodan and direct heir to the throne. Since then she has become desperate to gain the throne for herself. Those are the cold facts. The story is a bit more personal.

“You see, before this happened I was close with my mother, though not as close as I was with my father. My father trained me to continue his legacy both as the heir to the Alodan house and the title he earned as the Weaponsmaster. The quarterstaff I now carry was his, one of the few things I managed to claim before that woman sold off everything.”

Tianna glanced at the quarterstaff as Ruena ran her fingers down it subconsciously.

“I will never forget that night. I had gone out to practice before father came home, as usual. When I came inside I was a bit later than usual, so I expected to be scolded for practicing too long. Instead I heard my mother’s voice from another room. I still don’t know if she was talking to herself or someone else, but she said it quite clearly. ‘I murdered my husband. He’s finally gone.’ After that she started laughing.”

“At first I thought it was some weird joke. Maybe she was reading a book or something, but I didn’t see my father that night, and the next morning the official news of his death in a terrible accident arrived. As soon as his funeral was over, she claimed the properties of the Alodan house as her own and sold off all of father’s things. I was young, so I didn’t have the foresight to plan. I took this quarterstaff and ran. That is when the Black Wolf picked me up.”

“And that is why we need your help,” Soral suddenly interrupted, “According to the deal she made with the Black Wolf, so long as he isn’t the one who wins against Velcorna, she owes him nothing and she will be free.”

Ruena glanced back at Soral. “So that is what you were up to,” she muttered, “but he is right. I have already paid my debt for the assistance the black Wolf gave me as a child, and I rebuilt the Alodan Warriors with my own power.”

“I will do my best to help you,” Tianna promised. She couldn’t tell if she was moved by the story, by the promise of support, or the strange connection she had felt with Ruena from the beginning. Either way, it was now too late to turn back.