Zara’s steps echoed through the palace as she marched down its hallways, lit only by expensive lamps on the walls. She paid no mind to the ornate decorations, nor the confused faces of attendees and guards, wondering why she wasn’t in the reception room. Rounding corner after corner, she was on her way to finish her preparations for their departure. Even the fact that she was going to enter the Wildlands for the first in her life didn’t truly register. All that mattered to her was that she was one step closer to seeing Riala.

Unfortunately, this deal with the king that would allow her to leave Alarna came at the price of a heavy shackle that had continuously dangled from her neck for hours. She had hoped to finally shake it, but hurrying after her, it eventually caught up to Zara once more.

“Zara, wait!” came Lait’s voice from behind her.

Her response was silence as she kept going. When he was finally in range, he grabbed her arm and stopped her by force.

“I said wait! Can you not listen once?”

Any attempts to free herself from his grip were fruitless and her head snapped in his direction, fire and fury in her eyes. “Let me go...” she said menacingly.

“I can’t! It’s apparent that my lessons from earlier didn’t stick yet. Do you not realize that your behavior is dangerous? You can’t run around as if you were owning the palace, when you really know nothing!”

“Spare me the threats. The king wants Riala, he’s not going to do anything to me.”

Lait was taken aback. “You... know the king’s plan?”

“Do you think I’m stupid? Of course I know what he’s after. And it only makes sense that she would end up working for the town. But I guarantee you that I won’t let you do as you please with her.”

“I see...” He was a little surprised by her astuteness, but shook himself out of it. “Still! If you don’t act in accordance with your new role, you will invite nothing but trouble! Not only for you, but me as well.”

“Why would I care about you Rulers?” Zara spat. “You were the first to take her from me. You even locked me away for a time! And just when I could finally have her back, that idiot decided not to execute Tomar! Grah!” she moaned in anger. “I could club each and everyone of you!”

Lait frowned, trying to make sense of her words. He wasn’t aware that she had been detained, though it made sense. At the very least, she would’ve been questioned by the guards back when Riala escaped town the first time. The “idiot” who didn’t execute Tomar was presumably Grom, who had indeed deviated from the plan when he announced his indefinite incarceration.

Lait could actually sympathize with her view on this, but he was wary of Zara openly calling powerful members of the Rulers names in public. He quickly looked around and dragged her into the first room he could find.

“Come,” he commanded.

“Hey, what are you doing? Let me go!”

Zara stumbled after him. They entered an empty lounge and he sat her down on a couch. She rubbed her wrist when he finally let go of her, and squinted suspiciously at him when he sat next to her.

“Listen to me. Just this once. Please,” he said.

Nodding slowly and reluctantly, she prompted him to continue.

“That idiot is Grom, and he is essentially next in line to become king of Alarna in lack of a more suitable candidate. King Hertar is a benevolent and fair man, and he’ll put up with some of your antics, but many of the others won’t. Especially not Grom. And if they start to dislike you, King Hertar won’t be able to protect you either. If nothing else, believe me when I tell you that you can’t go around insulting them in public. The best would be not to act disrespectful at all... but please at least don’t deliberately provoke their displeasure towards you.”

Scanning the face of the man she was now married to, Zara wasn’t sure what to make of him. He seemed genuinely concerned, and despite her misgivings, she realized it would be careless to dismiss his worries outright.

“That guy is supposed to become king?” she asked after a moment.

“Indeed. Now that Ms. Hayla has left, there are no more suitable Rulers left in the Varant family line. At least for the moment. Grom is the youngest Ruler of age in either of the dominant lines, ready to be groomed for the position.”

“Uhu... And what ‘line’ do you belong to?”

Lait sighed in exasperation. “Did you truly not listen to a word spoken around you up until this point? I, or we, more accurately, are of the Dana line. We have served the leaders of this town diligently for centuries.”

“Served?” Zara asked in confusion. “You’re all Rulers... Aren’t you all equal?”

“Heavens, no! The Varants and Rahas are direct descendents of Alarna Ragar! My family came from humble beginnings, but miraculously we brought forth children with pure Ruler Callings time and time again.”

“That sounds convoluted...”

“You will learn to understand in time I’m sure. In the meantime, I must ask you to act with restraint, even if you need to fake it. It’s for your own good.”

“And yours...” she said, an eyebrow raised.

“I won’t deny it, but you need to understand that, as my wife, I will also be affected by your actions. This in turn, can then fall back on you once more, and me, and so on. It can turn into a death spiral that some have faced in the past. We must support each other, as is the will of the gods. Do you believe we can do that?”

Zara’s eyes widened in surprise. “You mean you will actually help me?”

The deal was that she would be allowed outside in the company of a small guard detail and her husband. She assumed this was mostly meant to keep her in line and assure that she would come back, with the implied hope that her sister would join her. At no point did the thought cross her mind that Lait would actually support her.

“You might not realize, but I’m already doing my best to help you,” he said through a sad smirk. “It seems you don’t even know where you’re going after all.”

She was right back to being irritated. “What do you mean? I was on my way to my room.”

“Actually, your room is on the other side of the building... You were walking off in the entirely wrong direction.”

Her annoyance turned to awkwardness as she tried to recall where she had come from and which path she had taken on the way back. “I was?”

“Yes, that was the primary reason I asked you to wait.”

“Oh...”

“But to answer your question, now that we’re actually starting to have a conversation, I wholeheartedly hope that we can have a successful marriage, built on trust and mutual beneficial actions. I know you want your sister back, and I will do what I can to support you, assuming that you’re willing to support me as well.”

It was a fair proposal, and while Zara hadn’t paid perfect attention during the lengthy explanation of all the marriage contract’s facades, she did understand that this aspect was one of its cornerstones. It was supposed to encourage cooperation between the spouses. She would’ve never expected Lait to be on board with that, however.

Searching for the catch, she asked, “And what do you need from me in exchange?”

“For the moment, I only ask that you make an effort to behave yourself and fit in.” Zara was about to give him a piece of her mind, when he followed up. “Don’t misunderstand my words. I’m not trying to tell you who to be, but Rulers expect each other to act with a certain decorum. For better or worse, you are a part of that now, and it’s in both of our shared interests that you appear and act like one of us. Please, can you do that for me?”

The moment she stopped ignoring all that came out of his mouth, Zara found herself positively surprised by how nice and reasonable Lait was being. It was her understanding that he was an unwilling participant in this deal as well, yet he seemed to have every intention of making the best of it. He also wasn’t acting as haughty as most of the other Rulers, which was downright refreshing after being greeted like a dirty commoner by a few of them over the course of this day. Her mood had truly reached rock bottom after everything that happened today, but this served as a slight updraft.

Somewhere along the line, something had snapped within Zara. Not too long ago, she had felt a lot of reverence towards authority figures, like Rulers or high-ranking members of the church. She had always trusted the guards, even when they locked her away for a night during questioning. She had also believed that the authorities would bring her sister back, but they had failed. Zara had even entrusted Riala to Lilly, believing her words that there really was no way around giving her sister a special education. But all that did in the end was that Riala burned down half of the main square and then left again. To top it all off, the Rulers had failed to stop Tomar a second time. It now seemed like they were all either untrustworthy or incompetent. Though perhaps her husband wasn’t such a bad guy.

“Maybe you should become king,” she said absentmindedly.

“And please don’t make such jokes in the presence of others...”

She nodded, showing her will to work with him, though she hadn’t meant it as a joke.

***

Standing in a near pitch-black alley in the market district, Konnor hammered against a wooden panel on the side of an unassuming building.

“Hey! Is anyone there?”

Were anyone to see him like this, staring and knocking intently at a wall, they would question his sanity. Though it seemed less strange when the panel suddenly swung inwards like a door and revealed a narrow hallway and stairs leading downwards into a subterranean area.

“Finally!” Konnor exclaimed, looking Ten’s assistant Ari in the face. “I’ve been waiting for minutes! You— Wah!”

After a quick glance outside, she suddenly grabbed him by the collar and dragged him into the building, smashing the door shut behind him. Before he could process what was happening, there was already a dagger pressed against his throat.

“What are you doing here? How do you know about this place?” she asked pointedly.

As a Fighter, Konnor was perplexed by her strength and agile movement. He had heard before that these guys took pride in not having Callings, and he was now beginning to understand why. Somehow, this woman appeared at least as capable as a Ruler in combat. Unable to comprehend how she had become like this, he stared at her wordlessly, even though he would’ve been able to free himself.

“I asked you something,” she said, the blade’s pressure on his throat intensifying.

“I-I saw Cullep go in here once,” he stammered. “I need to see Ten.”

“You know the official way to contact him. Leave.”

While threatening him with one hand, she reached for the door with the other.

“No, please! It’s urgent! The Rulers want to force my girlfriend to marry one of them! I need help getting her out of there, they won’t even let me talk to her or the king! I don’t know who else to go to.”

“What?” Ari thought this strange claim over for a moment. It seemed to make little sense, but Konnor was a simple-minded man. He probably wasn’t making it up. “Who is your girlfriend?”

“Uh... Zara Fera.”

That name told her everything she needed to know. The big sister of Riala Fera, she thought. That does make sense then. With an overly dramatic sigh, she let go of Konnor and put away her weapon.

“Where is she?” Ari asked.

“She packed her things and went to the palace earlier. I tried getting in, but—”

She interrupted him. “What’s ‘earlier?’ Be precise.”

“It was after I got back from work, so... maybe around eleven? Why is this important? Listen—”

“Who is the happy groom?” she interrupted once more.

“Happy? Are you mocking me!?”

“Just answer the damn question.”

Konnor frowned. He wasn’t going to get an audience with Ten if Ari didn’t agree. “It’s Lait Dana.”

“Really...” Ari mused. “Interesting choice. Well, I have bad news for you, Konnor. The new High Priest traveled to the palace about an hour ago. If she was already there when they called for him, the ceremony is most likely over by now. Your girlfriend is not your girlfriend anymore. Sorry.”

Konnor stared at her, slack jawed and at a loss for words. If this was true, then he was too late. Zara was already part of a holy marriage, with no hope of escaping it. His shoulders slumped as this information sank in. But his breathing soon grew ragged and anger built up inside him.

“Why... Why would they do this!?” he yelled. “I... I will... I’ll kill these bastards!”

“Mhm, that would solve the problem,” Ari said, nodding happily. “Though getting to a Ruler is never easy. How do you plan to do that?”

“I will— I’m going to— Maybe...” He kept shouting, but every time he started, he grew a tad quieter. “I... don’t know...” he said eventually. “Wait... What am I even saying? I wasn’t serious about it. Sorry for barging in like this, I will leave... And thank you for telling me...”

He was reaching for the door when Ari posed a perplexing question. “Would you like to take revenge and get her back? If so... You might be in the right place after all.”

“You mean... But to break a holy marriage, I would...”

Ari grinned mischievously. “Come on, let’s talk,” she said and climbed down the stairs, briefly leaving Konnor behind. There was no doubt in her mind that he would follow her, and quick footsteps behind her soon proved her right.

This might be a good opportunity, she thought. Let’s see what Ten thinks.

They kept going, disappearing into the dimly lit basement.