As the creature ordered, Orphelia observed. She had no choice as her thoughts scrambled, the spells she’d formed forcefully pulled beyond her reach, accompanied by a pounding headache. Ethor launched his spell. At the same time, Robert, Cecile, and Lanston dropped to the ground, their eyes rolled up into their heads.

Sebas alone was left standing. His attention was on the fallen form of Lanston as several pieces of metal hit him. One drilled through his skull, splattering gore as it blew out the back of his head. His corpse wobbled before falling forward.

WHAT DID YOU DO?!

Dead. One of her charges was a corpse. Not the scholar who no one would miss or the expendable granddaughter but someone who was blood to the king. The skies should have rumbled with thunder to herald the death of a royal. Instead, the moment was punctuated by an eerie silence.

“Oi…I didn’t do that.” Ethor’s gaze was glued to Sebas’ corpse. “I didn’t do that! My spell was aimed for his legs. I didn’t put a fucking hole in his head!”

His teammates hurried over, one of them throwing the reins to his horse at him. “Why are you standing there like an idiot? We have to get out of here!”

The fear in his voice snapped the murderer from his fugue. As he reached for the reins of his steed, the world slowed down once again.

[Consequences, as promised.]

Did you affect the trajectory of the spell? Did you kill him?

[I didn’t kill the royal. I did save the others. You should be thanking me. Imagine the fallout if all your charges were slain.]

Orphelia felt sick at the thought. She would be a dead woman walking. That didn’t make her current situation good. The blood of the king had been spilled. Only blood could appease his anger. Unless…

You. Thralls have the physical affinity. You can save him.

[Are you asking if I can? Perhaps, though restoring him to full health might be tricky. Brains are delicate things. I won’t even be attempting though.]

Why?! Do you not understand what that corpse means? There will be a reckoning, for all of us. Including your summoner.

[I don’t think so. Neither my summoner nor I killed the boy. We aren’t the ones charged with protecting him.]

I’ll tell them about you.

[Please do. Tell them that Lourianne Tome has within her employ a powerful thrall. Raise her value to the crown further.]

I’ll tell them that you let him die.

[It’s not commendable but we have no obligation to save people.]

I’ll tell them that you hindered me and stopped me from saving him!

[Did I? Was I the reason that you weren’t fast enough to save the boy? Or mayhap you froze.]

I didn’t freeze!

[It’s perfectly understandable. It was a stressful situation. You had far too many interests to consider and it slowed your reaction. You are still young and, despite what you may think, inexperienced. They will not blame you…much. It’s not as if you can prove otherwise. There will be no evidence, my pretty blade. Not even your head interrogator will be able to detect any influence on your mind.]

She didn’t know if she believed the creature’s claims to be capable of avoiding detection from the kingdom’s strongest mental caster but that didn’t change her situation. A member of the royal family had died while under her protection. There would be consequences. Dire ones.

Her mind whirled as she tried to find a solution, some way to mitigate the fallout, but it was fruitless. She didn’t know what to do.

[Where is your confidence now, Orphelia Yemen?]

You…are a monster.

[No. I am powerful. When you are the strongest, no one may judge you. They don’t dare. The same as you will never dare to dismiss me again.]

No, she wouldn’t. She couldn’t afford to if she managed to find a way out of this mess.

[Once more, I will offer you the choice. Join me.]

You may not be a monster but you are insane. Why would I ever swear allegiance to you? You’ve ruined my life.

[Simple. You will join me and you dedicate yourself to me because as easily as I have torn your life apart, I can repair it. I can make you greater than you could ever imagine. I will give you what you desire most.]

Orphelia wavered.

[Or you can face the wrath of the king alone.]

She cracked.

Orphelia swore she could feel the creature’s smug satisfaction at her surrender. [Good, let’s begin.]

What…should I do?

[You don’t know? I thought it would be obvious to a blade. Slaughter them.] The creature chuckled as she mentally flinched away from the order. [Do you think anyone will listen to a thing you have to say if you allow the killers to go free? I would kill them all but at the very least, the one named Ethor cannot live.]

I can’t.

[You are worried about your secrets being exposed. Don’t. I already know what you’re hiding.]

Cold dread twisted her stomach. How? I—

[Your paltry training against attacks on the mind could not keep me out. You trained to recognize the blows of a buffoon with a hammer. I am beyond your greatest masters. Your secrets may as well have drifted from your mind and into my hand like a feather carried by a soft breeze. I know everything about you, Orphelia Yemen. Let me tell you something you need to hear. You are not special.

[Oh, you are above the apes that compromise most of your species but you are by no means exceptional. Neither is that innocent puppy who wants to be a hero. On this realm alone, there are beings to whom you are nothing but ants. Beyond this realm? Gods walk, little girl. Gods. Your secret is worth nothing. Keeping it is certainly not worth the consequences, of which include my displeasure. Once more. Kill them all.]

Orphelia’s eyes glowed as she channeled mana and released a spell. The enemy team exclaimed as darkness spread around them. True darkness, where they couldn’t see their hands held in front of their faces. The horses panicked, neighing in fear and shuffling about.

As the team tried to soothe their panicking mounts, Orphelia ran toward them while casting two more spells. Over her eyes, she created a film of mana that would filter light, protecting them. At the same time, a large ball of white light appeared over her enemies. As they all instinctively looked at the reprieve from the darkness, it detonated, burning with a radiance that made the sun seem like a candle before winking out.

Men and horse alike screamed in pain. The riders were thrown from their mounts as they ran off, one unfortunate man screaming again as his leg was trampled by the beasts. All her targets lie prone. Vulnerable.

Yet, their training showed. They fought through the pain and each of them formed a shell of their elements to protect them from the unseen danger. One of water, two of flame, one of howling wind, and a metal shell around the man who murdered her charge and put her in this position.

It was too bad the defenses meant nothing to her.

With her targets remaining still, she took her time forming her spell. The singular spell that had survived from the time of the first saint, given to the blades wielded by the crown. A power that not even dragons could ignore.

Seconds later, four thin beams of intense light shot from her raised hand. The two fire casters and the wind caster died immediately, their elements doing nothing to protect them. Ethor lived seconds longer as her attack burned through the metal, his curses growing shriller as his metal shell heated up and was pierced.

Orphelia slowly approached her victims, starting with Ethor. His metal shell remained but the hole she burnt into it still smoked. The disgustingly enticingly smell of cooked flesh drifted to her. She felt reasonably assured that he was dead without prying his shell off and moved on, checking the others.

After confirming their deaths, she made her way to the shell of water. The woman who cast it cried inside. The pitiful sounds meant nothing to Orphelia as she cast a spell to move away the shell. Her mana drained from her as she stole control of the water.

Her enemy wailed, thrashing her limbs uselessly at the enemy she couldn’t see. Orphelia palmed a dagger and plunged it into her neck, silencing her. Thin fingers grasped the arm of her robe as the woman choked on her own blood.

The spell over her eyes had the second function of allowing her to see in the dome of darkness she’d created. Orphelia stared at the wide, desperate gaze of her victim for a moment. Then she pulled her sleeve free and turned her back on them. As she walked away, the darkness fell, revealing a clear blue sky.

[Very good. Killing is easy. It takes a strong heart to stare your victim in the eye as they slip away.]

I told you, I never hesitate. The creature was right. Whether he intended to or not, Ethor had killed one of her charges. She would have killed him regardless of the creature’s order. What concerned her was the cleanup. I suppose I do need to thank you. This would be infinitely more complicated if the others had been awake.

[Never doubt me. I am not infallible but humans are not my equal, not even close.]

Then what shall I be doing next, master?

[Enjoy your sarcasm. Soon, it will become sincerity. What do you believe you should do next?]

I thought you gave the orders.

[If I wanted a braindead husk of meat, I needn’t bother recruiting you. There will be times where I will not be able to give you orders. So, you will learn to think. Expand your sight to see not how to complete a mission but how to progress an agenda. What is your goal?]

To not die for letting Sebas die.

[Too small. Think bigger. What do you want?]

…to face no consequences from this but that is impossible.

[It seems we must also address your definition of impossible. It is simple. People will come looking for someone to blame. You simply need to make sure that they do not blame you.]

How could they not? I was meant to protect him.

[They understand that even with protection, people die. You must make them see that the circumstances were beyond your control. How could you know that a knight would send assassins disguised as initiates to kill your charges? Fighting off five assassins is too much for a single defender when fully prepared, let alone caught off guard.]

You…

[The Hall admits all who seek excellence in spellcrafting but it is a bit too much to allow treasonous rebels to walk amongst the heirs of the kingdom. How intriguing the Hall created a test without the presence of instructors and agreed to allow you as your group’s grader.]

…

[Not to mention the embarrassing display of your charges. They are meant to be the future of the kingdom, Dunwayne’s successor amongst them, and yet they faint at the first sign of serious combat. Deplorable. What was their teacher doing? Did Sir Quintana teach Robert anything at all? Or were all those years of training a pony show to appease the crown while he crippled one of their greatest assets?]

With a few sentences, her failure had been transformed into a conspiracy. She had failed, yes, but only because everyone before her had failed. Two reputable knights were painted as traitors, the creature preyed on the crown’s hidden fear that the Hall would one day balk the king’s authority, and the blame of Sebas’ death was pushed onto his own teammates.

For the first time in a long time, Orphelia felt twinge of fear. A strong enemy was a problem. A cunning enemy that could so easily prey on the insecurities of men was a disaster. If the creature’s claims that its mental affinity exceeded that of the head interrogator proved true, the kingdom could be facing the greatest threat since the man-mutating horror Aggro.

Yet, mixed with the fear was excitement. Right now, she had the opportunity to ride the colossal wave headed for Harvest before it drowned the crown. A loyal daughter would do everything she could to warn her father about the impending disaster heading for them.

But, as she said, her loyalty lay solely with herself.

[Good. Now, let’s wake up the children. They have their own part to play.]