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With hesitation she agreed. I didn’t quite see a reason why she would hesitate. Maybe she couldn’t throw far. It was rather a simple job, just undo the rope which was dangling, change back into your normal clothes and go back to whichever palace you came from. It should be easy since she was the Empress’s servant so she should be able to move around freely.

She grabbed a handful of pebbles and started chucking them to the knights, quite a stone's throw away from us.

I started following her actions.

I was quite surprised by her arm strength. Although she barely managed to jump from there to here, the power of her legs seemed to go to the arms.

Although we only just started chucking, she was already close to hitting one of the knights. My first few throws were the closest to the knights and yet, her throws were getting closer and closer with most of her throws. I couldn’t give up either.

I lost track of time while we were chucking rocks.

CLANG

Dazed, we both laid low on the roof as the knights were wondering out loud if it was a bird dropping a stick or something.

“Well, I won!” she said happily, then turned back to me. “The rope.” she extended her hands with long fingers.

I threw her the rope. She cheerfully took it, and made a gesture, placing her finger on her lips then pointing them to me. Was that the Empire’s way of saying thank you?

“But, will I see you tomorrow at the competition?” I asked. Maybe because of the wind or the bustling guards, she didn’t seem to have heard it. I opened my mouth to ask again, but closed it. It might not be worth asking, I told myself.

Her expression turned serious suddenly. Her eyes became more focused and her expression normal, instead of smiling. She turned back to where the knights were, as they started changing shifts. They seemed to be chatting although I couldn’t make their words out.

“Crap.” she grumbled.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I have to get back, like right now.” her eyes somewhat shone with urgency. I wondered if she was aware of her eye colour, that it was sort of exposed.

“Ah ok.” I tried to sound nonchalance. “I guess I'll see you tomorrow?”

“Maybe. You will see me if you...Never mind. I’m not quite sure if I’ll be able to be at the swords competition though. You know, maid shifts change, time to time. Anyways, hopefully, if you go to the finale I can see you there.” She hesitated. “By the way, before I go, what should I call you?”

My name…. although I liked my name I wanted to be called different. “Azure. Or Azura. I don’t mind. ”

Her eyes narrowed but those eyes were the sign of smiling. “I’ll remember that, Azure. “ she hesitated before going to the edge of the roof. “Bye!”

She climbed down the rope and headed towards the Main Palace.

I started wrapping up the rope, to remove any evidence and sat back down.

Tomorrow’s knight’s competition….. The winner had a high chance of getting recruited by the legendary Empress herself. Although I only met the Empress only twice, she felt somewhat familiar and it felt like I was relatable with her. She is a ruler and her vibes and aura felt so different than my Dad’s or from her brothers. It felt like she was on a whole different level.

I stood back up, determined to win, practicing for tomorrow.

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By the time I went back to my room, I was nearly caught going out for my night walks. I barely had enough time to undress into my nightwear, before the maids came in to check in or something. What were they doing, opening my chamber in the middle of the night? They mumbled among themselves though I couldn’t quite make out their words. Maybe it was a fire tent language. Assassins? But there’s too much security. Unless the knights outside were their accomplices. No. They seemed to walk around the room as if searching for something. I slowly moved as I itched my neck. They left the room.

After I made sure they completely left, I hastily changed back and carefully crawled back into my bed, and slipped into my dreams.