"I have a few questions..." Kai trailed off. It had been around three days since the so-called duel. The Crown had concluded her visit, Fiera had fulfilled her obligation to spill blood and things were starting to quiet down. She hadn't heard again from the Master of Shadows which she assumed was the good thing she had been aiming for. She was assigned cleaning up duties indefinitely and commanded to follow the footsteps and religion of the Resident Keeper - Ubo. Her duties involved, waking up before the sun, to give a sweep through to her assigned floor, and though she was allowed to partake in the meals with everyone else, most of her learning stemmed from Ubo's old wisdom about elbow grease and the efficient management of the Element-Practitioners to the windows clean-up.

"Go on." Fiera stacked the last of the chairs in the Dining Hall and turned to him.

"So, what can you tell me about your Blood Magic?"

She froze a little and her eyes unfocused. The use of her Blood Magic and the unveiling of her sword mid-strike had caused a great deal of hustle after the events. Mr Blake, led by the Crown's retinue, riddled her with insults, questions & accusations. She bore it all quietly, refusing to let even a word out, as Aaron defended her to the Crown in private. It was only when the Crown shooed her assailants away, did they leave her alone, but although Terrol and Kai found time to spend with her, in these three days, she had known that deep down, they were probably questioning their choices too. And it was coming out now.

"What, what do you, want to know?" she asked.

"Well, I know that your mother was a Rhionalian, so that is probably where you get the Blood Magic part from. I want to know how it all works." He said, "Like, you know that we get our Elemental nature because for generations our bodies have adapted to persuading these elements to bend to our will. And we pass it on by purity of the bloodline -"

"That is," she interjected, "Just one theory."

"The most widely accepted one, though," Kai said.

"Yes. Well, Rhionale is pretty much the same," It had been a while since her mother's country was mentioned by someone other than Rose, "Except there are various ways to manipulate everything in nature. We have bloodlines of people, who can manipulate elements, just the same as Polis, with Wind, Water, Fire and Earth, but it is not to as great an extent I would say."

"Extent?"

"For example, if a Polis Wind-Practitioner is able to lift a certain amount of weight by the power vested by the Winds, a Rhionale Wind Mage is able to do a tenth of it. This is verifiable in studies."

"So what is the extra oomph factor?" Kai opened the Mop Closet for her, and she restocked the mops.

"Well, we can use our blood to do more stuff. Like, build up barriers. Or track down things. Or find things. Or summon things. Among other things. Small things really. But there are a few bloodlines, solely dependent on Blood Magic." Fiera shut the door.

"That's where your mom comes from?"

"Yes. She was from a prominent line of Blood Mages." Fiera said. "But the mixing of bloodlines with my Father's fire, well they have no idea how long I am going to be able to use my abilities for." Fiera said, "So I try to use them sparingly."

"But you were born with it -"

"Yes, but apparently it is quite possible to lose it." Fiera smiled.

"So what about the sword -"

"The origins of that sword," Fiera interjected, rather rudely, she mentally made a note to be patient, "Is not up for speculation. I will tell you the story behind it, someday."

"But not today."

"Yes, not today," Fiera said. Kai looked like he had more questions for her, and she was not so sure if she would be able to tackle it at the moment, and she did not want to find out how long she would be able to keep certain things to herself. But thankfully, he just gave a half nod, as if accepting her response - for now.

"How much of this am I allowed to tell Terrol?" He asked. And she gave a vague shoulder shrug, to indicate that this was free information. She would have to keep track. Mind-maps, flow-charts whatever. She would have to keep track of what she was saying and how much, and she did not like the idea of that. They were about to make their way back to the Dining Hall when a polite fake-cough caught her attention.

"Fiera." the woman said with a bright smile that would shock the stars. Her skin was about as dark as Fiera's and her hair was a golden-brown mess stuffed into a bun. Her eyes glittered like stars and she said, "Kai if you will excuse us?" Her voice was extremely pleasant to listen to and Fiera knew that music was probably a large part of her life.

"Yes, of course, Zare," Kai said. He gave a measured punch to Fiera's shoulder and was gone.

"Ah, you're the one -" Fiera began.

"Yes," Zare smiled, "Aaron sent you many times to meet me, but unfortunately we couldn't." But of course, Fiera had glimpsed her before, though not at this close proximity and boy, she wished she had gotten this view a little earlier. "I have just received a message from Mr Blake. Your friend Rose -"

"Is she fine?" Fiera felt her heart race a little.

"And awake."