Crows and ravens circled above the Duke's castle, silent as the grave, the only sound was their wings flapping and the wind howling from the coming storm.

Lucrezia woke up coughing blood.

“Gods, what is happening,” Lucrezia whispered as she cleaned after herself.

She heard a commotion from the courtyard below her window. Opening it, the crows came to rest on it, they didn’t cry at her, just stared.

She saw a guard and a maid having a heated discussion, the maid leaving shortly after Lucrezia saw them, the guard, on the other hand, ran towards the barracks.

The room’s doors were opened by her First Maid, she looked focused, checking the room from top to bottom.

Lucrezia found this all very strange, well, as strange as anything happening lately.

"Do the creepy silent crows hanging about mean what I think they mean, Saa?" Lucrezia asked, already knowing the answer, things were about to get more complicated.

"Yes My Lady, the ritual was completed just now, we have multiple witnesses that saw an older man perform it in the central plaza."

"The court mage? Father and mother?" This was the fulcrum right there, if there was no reaction from those three, then it was up to her alone to bear the brunt of a goddess’s wrath.

"After much...complaining, the court mage was dispatched to the plaza, and he's currently conducting an investigation. Commander Eustace has declared martial law across the city, the fires in the south district are out as well,' She replied fast, with eyes on the many birds around the castle.

"My lady, I think it's best we go to the war room in the east wing, there are no windows there." Lucrezia could detect the woman was nervous, even someone as trained as her couldn't fight a fully powered Blessed or gods forbid direct intervention by Velkarius herself in the mortal plane.

"It's not going to stop them but if it makes you at ease, then let's go," Lucrezia downed another flask and moved towards the door, but as she got up she felt the world spin and plopped down on her butt.

"Sorry, got dizzy," she quickly got up, thanking the gods the maid was too distracted imagining the windows would burst, corvid attackers rushing in. Mercifully, the birds were happy to just watch them.

For now.

---

"We are here," said Saa'ryu opening the thick door with a lever.

The war room was full of maps, weapon racks, and rations in barrels, with a water duct visible in a dark corner.

"Good place to hole up Saa, won't hold up against anything Velkarius throws at us, but if we can evacuate the workers to here..." Lucrezia thought back to the workers and their families, with ample use of sleep potions and magic, they had managed to save a few from the chaos in the city, all hidden away in the forgotten corners of the castle.

"Most of the guards aren't on Eustace's payroll here, they are regular people hired after the knights were Exiled, the ones that were on his payroll were all recalled to their headquarters in the northern section of the city once the ravens came," Saa'ryu picked a map of the city, marking the spot with charcoal as she continued with her report,

"I've managed to infiltrate the prison and use record marbles there, we have all the evidence we need Lu! We can call the Arch Duke in," Lucrezia could see how her maid was pleased with herself, using those old skills of hers put her in a good mood even when the duchy was going up in flames around them.

"What's the time window for the message?" Lucrezia asked, the Hawks used by the nobles were out of commission now that the Winter's End was near, and the Maygriam highway access was likely being patrolled by Eustace's men.

"I got a ship for us! The captain already got the letter, he's leaving in one week."

"Then we got seven days to survive, and depending on which priest is deployed to our region we might even have a whole year, if and this is a big if, we can turn things around. Then, we will be able to pledge our case," Lucrezia knew she was grasping at straws, but dire situations called for the flimsiest of excuses when it came to keeping the morale up.

"Get me one of the guards who saw the ritual here Saa, if we can find out who was consumed by it, we might be able to plead with its spirit—"

"Necromancy! My Lady, you mustn't, performing necromancy without getting the license is nothing short of suicide—" Lucrezia held up her hand to which the maid stopped her objections.

"If I was a dirty peasant or hedge mage sure, but I'm a noble Saa, more importantly, the heir of one of the five Houses. Enough gold can make even those dusty skeletons shut up, hells, we can even open a church for their god here and call it a donation.” she cracked a smile, to which Saa'ryu laughed.

"Have Leanu to take stock of all our food. Water should be a non-issue, but if the Arch Duke takes his time..." she shook her head, “Now go, I must...I must plan..."

Lucrezia felt dizzy again, she barely made it to a chair before coughing violently, blood flying into her handkerchief, Saa'ryu went pale for a second before rushing over her, her eyes burning with questions.

“Lu, maybe it would... maybe it would be best for you to take a rest, we can plan tomorrow—”

"QUIET! I gave you an order, now get me that SOLDIER!" Lucrezia barked out firmly.

The maid hesitantly took a step back, bowed, and left the room.

Lucrezia did something the court mage had taught her so long ago when she was but a child learning the first magicks, she pushed mana into her soul instead of drawing from it. The process was a simple exercise to help anyone feel where their soul and mana were, but it had a peculiar side effect, it removed fatigue and the need for sleep, but after three weeks the effects would stop and the body would go into shock. If used in moderation, however, it was an excellent way for many would-be acolytes to cram a particular spell shaping exercise for a test or two.

She could taste the Ice on her lips now, Magnetism on the other hand had no "taste" she found, but it still gave her a much-needed boost for the times ahead.

"Time to organize this dump," Lucrezia got to work, changing chairs and sofas around, on the table lay maps of the city and a blueprint for the castle together, and Lucrezia marked several hidden caches of food, weapons, and armor they could take if need be.

An hour later, one of the guards showed up, a new hire, she noticed. The youth was short, more skin than muscle, barely an adult. He saluted to Lucrezia and made his way inside the war room. From the corridor, she could see ravens were looking directly at her.

She closed the door a bit too hard if the jump the guard did was any indication.

"Private Morcolur reporting for duty, My Lady!" another salute,

Well, someone is eager, she thought,

"At ease Private, I was told you were on the security detail when the ritual took place, yes?"

"I...uh...Yes My Lady I was indeed posted at the plaza when it happened..." he said, shifting his legs.

Strange, Lucrezia thought, the young man didn't show signs of Knight's Terror or any of the mind plagues one could fall prey to when faced with these circumstances.

"Can you describe the perpetrator of the ritual? His build, skin tone, hair, and eye colors? We must find out who it was" She said trying to sound in control, and more importantly sell the idea to him that she was gonna set this right.

"Yes...He looked old, white hair I think, I didn't see the eyes he had a hood on, you see! I tried to stop him, My Lady, I did! But the man fought back like a beast with the fury of five orcs..."

Now that was strange, there was no mention of a fight, plus this kind of ritual can't be broken unless one has very specific miracles or spells on hand, something a mere guard like Morcolur here most certainly lacked.

The young man was going into increasingly elaborate details on his "fight" against the "dark cultist sent to ruin the duchy".

"...And then I leaped into the air, My Lady! Using the secret Ki technique that my great grandfather taught me I stalled the ritual enough..." a harsh knock on the door stopped the fantastical tale dead in its tracks.

Lucrezia moved to open the door, Leanu getting here early meant...

The moment she opened the door, a stern-faced guard saluted her, the man looked like he had recently walked from a battlefield.

"Private Serkj, My Lady" he saluted and went quiet.

"Can I help you Private?" Lucrezia was genuinely curious, had Saa'ryu sent another guard who saw what happened? That was when she noticed from the corner of her eye, that the young man inside jumped in fright the second he heard the name.

Well well, it seemed like someone was trying to pull a fast one on her, she gestured with her head for Private Serkj to come in, the young guard looking like he had sucked on a Lime from the Shogunate by now.

Serkj wordlessly walked in, immediately going over to Morcolur, and fiercely slapped the young man in the back of the head.

"You godsdamned clown, lying to Our Lady at this junction! You deserve the rope those maniacs are hanging the citizens in!" The man was livid, but besides screaming at Morcolur he didn't hit him anymore.

Morcolur on the other hand began sobbing, he kneeled in front of Lucrezia and begged.

"Oh, Fair Lady Lucrezia please forgive me! I didn't mean to lie about the ritual My Lady, I'm but a poor guard please don't kill me! Please!" he was wailing now, only to get another slap on the back of his head.

"Kowtow! How can you beg forgiveness by staring Our Lady in the eyes!" he then turned to Lucrezia and said, "I'm sorry My Lady, I've been training this wretch but he's stubborn as a Dire Goat."

"On your feet Private Morcolur," Lucrezia said, the man clamped his mouth fast, he got up and stared at Lucrezia.

She summoned wisps of cold to her hands, moving them along Morcolur’s arms and neck as she was ready to deliver a speech about not lying to her when suddenly the young man fainted.

"Oh gods did I kill him?" she asked, stunned, but Private Serkj shook his head,

"No My Lady, the boy is deadly afraid of snakes and anything that look like ‘em, he must’ve mistaken your magic coiling up his arms for one and fainted,” The private took one last look at the unconscious youth, spat on the ground, and said;

"But I don't think you wanna hear about Private sleepyhead over here right, Lady Lucrezia?" he was looking at her now, his ashen eyes and pointed ears hinting at an elven lineage.

"No. Were you near the gate when the ritual happened, Private?" she asked, fearing this was another dud.

"I was guarding it with this fool over here Lady Lucrezia, he didn't fight a thing then, the bastard ran when the birds came and the people started chanting in the plaza, but I stayed," he looked proud if only a little.

"Did you get a good look at the one performing the ritual? We must get his name," Lucrezia was nervous, this could spell disaster to the whole duchy if she messed it up.

"Better yet My Lady, I know the man who did it"

"Well tell me the name then, out with it Private!" she said, excited at this stroke of unexpected luck

"It was Mr. Reiner the baker, I've eaten at his bakery before so I recognized the man, he was in pain and thin as a skeleton, but it was him for certain, My Lady.

Lucrezia felt her world go upside down, she wanted to throw up, to scream, but the effects of the earlier mana injection made it so that it was impossible, she stared at the wall as the private made his way to prop Morcolur in a chair, covering him with his guard coat and hat.

She plopped down on a chair and stared at the maps, holding back tears now. After a tense few seconds, she turned to Private Serkj

"Private, you should take your friends and go back to the barracks..." she was crestfallen, her voice a low whisper.

"No can do Lady Lucrezia, with the Commander’s absence here, and your parents being isolated in their castle wing, we will only take orders from you."

"What about the court mage?" she asked weakly,

"Not a part of the chain of command my lady, we aren't acolytes or mages, it's you or no one else, I'm afraid." he looked her dead in the eyes, Lucrezia saw in them, that there were no lies in what he said.

"Tell the guards to double their watch on the walls and the west gate. I want fully armored troops on the plaza and the moat waters to be raised, have every bow and crossbow we have to be ready, and prepare enough ammo for them."

The man saluted and marched out of the room, she didn't even have time to mention his fellow guard currently knocked out in the chair.

---

Leanu showed up an hour later together with an older acolyte. The man looked ragged, his light blue robes had tears on them. They both hurried into the war room.

Eyebrows were raised at the sight of the knocked-out guard, but nobody said anything.

"Lady Lucrezia, this is Acolyte Wilson, he's in charge of the younger magical students now that the court mage is busy with the ritual, he has...dire news, My Lady." Leanu sighed in resignation.

Acolyte Wilson placed his hand on Leanus's shoulder, he then spoke, his voice rasping like the man hadn't slept in days.

"Lady Lucrezia, it’s as Leanu said, I bring horrible news to you, I and a few of the senior acolytes have discovered that whatever the Master is doing on that ritual with your parents is not to salvage the lost grain, what they are doing is actually—"

"—Making Winter's End come earlier." Lucrezia finished, feeling numb.

"Do you have any information on why they are doing the ritual, or how to stop it? Winter's End is a ticking dwarven clock and if we don't get the city fixed, it will wipe them out." Lucrezia was trying to keep herself calm but it was trying, her hands were shaking, legs trembling.

The acolyte sighed, "I'm sorry My Lady, after a series of rituals all we’ve gathered, is that the Winter Spirits are the ones holding back the storm." he removed a stack of papers and scrolls from a satchel and organized them on the desk, "We gathered this from the Master's main office and his room, there are no talks about stopping the storm in these documents, My Lady." He stopped for a second, looking at a window, a raven was trying to get inside the corridor via a breach, Wilson raised a hand and the window snapped shut.

"Acolyte Wilson, how can I trust you to not go blabber about this to the court mage?" Lucrezia asked weakly, if the man was going to betray her she would have no choice but to kill him.

Could she do it? she thought, all it would take was a snap and she would shackle the Acolyte with Ice and cave his face in with the enhanced strength of magnetism—

The man removed another scroll from his satchel, it pulsed as if it was alive. Lucrezia gasped.

"By your reaction Lady Lucrezia, I assume you know what this is? Then you know I'm not a spy sent by Master Kapha’tur."

A bidding contract, the madman was ready to bind his very soul to prove he wasn't lying.

She took the scroll.

"Are you sure mister Wilson? With this, all I need is but a thought to end your life."

"My Life belongs to this duchy, if my masters are the ones poisoning it then I'll do whatever it takes to uproot the rot away. Will you do the same, Lady Lucrezia?" The man spoke with conviction, his eyes bore into her.

Lucrezia nodded, opened the contract, and with a drop of her blood, bound Wilson's soul to it, should he betray her in any way, the contract would break and he would die.

"Once this is over, we can undo it in the Spirit Shrine," Lucrezia said to the man, he nodded, "I need you to round up all Acolytes and prepare for the worst, have at least two posted on the walls." the man nodded again.

"One more thing, do you know anyone who can perform Necromancy? I need to talk with the spirit of the...man who died performing the ritual in the plaza." She struggled to not let slip Mr. Reiner's name.

Wilson's face twisted into a frown, "No Lady Lucrezia, and I recommend you to not try it, we already provoked one major god’s fury, offending another one is a... tactical mistake, in my humble opinion." the mage said, and with a bow, left.

Leanu stayed behind and began tidying up the place, which earned a curious look from Lucrezia.

"Leanu. What are you doing?"

The Head Maid stopped, having already summoned a mop and a rag, wet and caked in dust, she slowly turned to Lucrezia and said with steel on her voice.

"As Head Maid of Castle Wulfgrem, I must keep everything clean My Lady, it doesn't matter if we are in the middle of plotting a coup or fighting against the goddess of Vengeance herself, I refuse to stay in a room this... this dirty!" she said, motioning all around her.

Lucrezia could see behind her bravado was a very scared woman, trying to cling to any sense of normalcy she could.

"Leanu, look at me" the maid looked up, tears in her eyes, Lucrezia grabbed her by the arms and said, "Once we get the letter to the Arch Duke it will all go back to normal, I swear on the Wulfgrem name." The maid stared silently at Lucrezia for a few seconds before calming down, she muttered thanks, and wiping her eyes, resumed her cleaning, only to stop once again when she reached the sleeping guard.

"Who's this guard My Lady?"

"That's one of the guards that was posted in the plaza when the ritual took place, he ran away," Lucrezia said while poring over the court mage documents.

Nothing so far, she thought to herself as she read notes upon notes about new spells and acolyte report sheets.

"But why is he knocked over the war room?" Leanu finished her work and sat on a sofa at the far end of the room.

"Lady Lucrezia spooked the boy something fierce with her magic, don't ask." RepliedPrivate Serkj for her, as he arrived inside the room together with Saa'ryu, who looked curiously at the motley crew they had gathered here.

"And you are?" asked Leanu,

"Private Serkj of the Guard,” Serkj responded without missing a beat and turned to Lucrezia “My Lady, I've given the orders to the guards, we got word down the vine that you also talked with old Wilson and now we got Acolyte support, that will do wonders for morale," he reported.

"That was fast," Lucrezia said to no one in particular,

"Wilson was already planning on helping the guard My Lady, by taking charge yourself, all he had to do was give the orders via divination." Leanu spoke.

"Convenient, all we need is to find an Acolyte to give castle grounds-wide commands, then." Lucrezia picked out the city map and marked a few point locations,

"First, we need information on three key points to set off the plan," she pointed to the map, "I need patrol routes and intel on the officers in charge of the martial law. Saa, I'll leave this one to you, grab whatever you need from the other war rooms and the secret stashes, even Acolytes if need be."

"I only need pure mana stones Lu, easier to top off my mana reserves with them," the First Maid said, her eyes already scanning the map.

Taking a cue from her mistress, Leanu got up and picked a silver box from a table, retrieving its contents and bringing them to Saa'ryu who nodded a silent thanks.

Lucrezia continued her plan, "Second, we need to train the workers of the castle and their relatives should we get invaded by the commoners, Private Serkj, can you run drills?" she turned to the man,

"Yes, My Lady" he pointed to the castle blueprint, specifically the south wing war room, "This room has ample pikes and tower shields, give me three days and every maid, butler, gardener, and kitchen cook will know how to keep a pike wall up."

"Will they hold said wall, Private?" Saa'ryu asked doubtfully,

"I sure hope they can First Maid, or pray to goddess Morugarius to take the reins," he said with mirth in his voice.

Lucrezia nodded her approval, and he left the room again, moving towards the south wing.

"Third. Leanu, I need you to form a small group and take stock of every food item we have, including the vault, should the food riots get worse and no one else is blessed with food magic again we will need to feed the populace." Lucrezia took a key from her bosom and gave it to the maid, "This unlocks the vault, It's mostly dried meat and grain there but we need all we can use now." Leanu nodded and ran off as well, saying she would relay the plan to Wilson, when she saw him later that day.

"How about you Lu? What are you going to do?" Saa'ryu asked, the other two spots marked on the city map didn't get any mention in their plan, after all.

"We need to hit the deep seaport today Saa, I need to talk with the Magi-Folk there, should the city fall, King Byr will shelter the survivors..."

Saa'ryu shook her head, "My Lady after I delivered the letter to the captain, security spiked all across the port, the Magi-Folk have already left to the deep ends and we lack the means to reach them.”

Lucrezia was furious, "Gods damn all, how did they find out about the letter?!" she slammed her hands on the table, "We need to assault the port Saa, bring as many guards as we can!..."

Lucrezia was losing it, as she drew lines on the map, the more frantic she got, then she felt a hand on her shoulder, Saa'ryu looked at her and just shook her head.

She took a deep breath, "...I'm sorry Saa, I just..."

"Lu they don't know who has it, it will work trust me, the court mage can't cast any Divination powerful enough to find it, not while he's tending to the ritual in the private wing, all we must do now is wait and prepare."

"Alright, alright..." she sighed, “Hells, I forgot to tell Leanu to get the doctor and the alchemist to come here—"

Saa'ryu cut her lady off "Lu, they were both called to the Prison together with the wounded we were housing in the castle."

"Shit, that's bad," Lucrezia was getting the shakes on her hand again.

"Focus Lu," Saa'ryu whispered, she pointed to the last spot marked, "What do you want in the chapel of Uumaries?"

Lucrezia shook her head, "I need to speak with High Priestess Chloe, if she can lend shelter to the populace, we can take some people off the streets before Winter's End hits.”

The maid nodded, "We can check the chapel after I'm done with the soldier's headquarters, I will hit the place today after dark."

Lucrezia nodded, "We can go there tomorrow morning then, do you have all the gear you need?"

Saa nodded and patted her on the arm, "Yup, don't you worry about me, Lu." The woman left again, closing the door on her way out.

Lucrezia didn't miss the ravens circling the windows.

She could almost feel the pressure those birds gave off, the weight of so many lives wasted, and twice as many locked away unfairly, to not think of any other abuse that might be happening—

She returned her gaze to the Court Mage’s documents once again.

There was only his diary left, if there was a hint of what they were doing in that wing, it would be from this. She began leafing through it;

Day of feasts, Month of Thunder:

The duchess came over with an interesting proposition to me: Some of the knight's scouts found a shrine in a bog in the countryside, with no god’s name on it, or any marks really. I was tasked to figure out how to tap into the shrine.

Lucrezia flipped through the pages, many seemed to her as if senseless ramblings, like some sort of code,

Or Kapha’tur is losing his marbles, she thought.

Day of Waiting, Month of Thunder:

A breakthrough finally! We have the deity's name, the duchess managed to commune with it, and her mana reserves grew tenfold! She even succeeded in casting a fully empowered Thunderstorm, a feat not even the best mages of the capital are currently capable of, we must...

More pages full of inane ramblings, some torn, some with ghoulish drawings on them, she flipped until the very end until she found readable text.

Day of Fears, Month of the Peregrine:

The duke has finally joined us! We only need to get Eustace on your side now and remove the thorn that is Knight Commander Erwin. Our plan is nearly at the end, ample sacrifice was gathered and the rituals performed, we only lack the final piece now...

Her worst fears confirmed, Lucrezia couldn't help but cry, sobbing at the unfairness of it all. everything she knew was out by the roots, the people she trusted with her life becoming madmen drunk with a fallen god’s power.

She didn't even realize when night fell, all she did was cry herself to numbness all alone in the war room.

---

Saa'ryu moved across rooftops with the grace of a cat, and the silence of an owl. This late in the night the city was dead, the food riots and martial law killed what was once one of the best nightlife in the kingdom.

She got closer to the old Knights’ headquarters, now populated by the soldiers of Eustace. Making sure there were no Acolytes in sight, she pulled out her grappling hook and threw it towards the closest rooftop that could give her an overhead view of the compound.

On top of the roof, the woman crouched down and sent a mana wave towards her target, shaping the simple Divination spell into an elaborate three-dimensional map that could scan the foundations of the building.

Another spell was fired in quick succession, this time a pair of sinister-looking tentacles wiggled their way to the top of the building. On the map, numerous dots showed up, each one a guard in the premises.

"Fast, Silent, Unseen," with a small prayer from her old life, Saa'ryu ran, forcing Ki into her legs and feet. When she was at the edge of the rooftop she leaped, crossing the night sky like a bird, she then cast another spell to stick to the walls, using her grappling hook for extra support. She descended through the closest window, slowly opening it while attached to the rope.

Getting inside proved easy, as the top floor was deserted. She conjured the map again, it showed three dots moving down the stairs.

Saa'ryu stalked her way through the room, finding the door leading to the stairs.

"Lights Out!" she muttered, activating a small band on her ankle, the three guards got stunned for a moment.

She jumped over the stairs, falling into the section they were in, by a hair's breadth she grabbed the nearest guard and bashed his face against the wall, going down with a thud, she twisted her frame towards the second guard, choking the woman with her thighs, her spell’s stun effect was almost over when she finished and moved to the final guard.

"Sleep," another band, this time on her neck, lit up, and the third guard went down without a sound.

"Modifying Lights Out to remove sound was a masterful move, even if it makes me unable to hear anything for its duration," Saa'ryu muttered as she cast a panel of force and dragged the unconscious bodies to a utility closet at the end of the stairs.

"Five minutes," she counted, a small hourglass’s countdown appearing on her map.

The woman made her way to the fourth floor, the map now showing five guards spread out over the place.

She moved in towards the door. Peering through the keyhole, she saw the chancellery with many desks and papers laid out, two guards sitting at desks, backs to the exit.

Silently opening the door, she moved to a chest height countertop and retrieved a coin from her pockets. She flicked it to the far left of the guards, away from her path.

They both moved, curious by the sound.

Saa'ryu crouched past them, keeping her profile low and near to the many desks.

She reached a long room, her target had one guard in it, the other two were either sleeping in the bathroom or up to the unspeakable.

"Owl's Rush," she muttered, and became a white mist moving through the corridor, in below the door, and behind her target.

Her mana reserves dropping like a rock, the spell expired, and she flashed her dagger. The guard didn't even have time to react, a blade right through his throat was all that he saw.

She stashed the body in a closet and searched for patrol routes and any documents that could help in their case for the Arch Duke, more letters could be sent, should Lu manage to appease the crowd.

Saa'ryu opened up the window and jumped, using her grappling hook to anchor to a nearby rooftop.

As he used the pure mana stones to top herself off, she thought of her operation so far,

"Too sloppy should've taken those three down faster, guess I did get rusty after playing maid all these years," her mind went back to the events of her current employment, the ambush by the rival guild, the Duke saving her from a death in the northern wastes...

"A shame your daughter turned out to be the better person Duke, now she will need to wet these grounds with your blood to save the family name," she spoke to no one as she walked back to the castle, avoiding the patrol along the way.

---

"Lu? Why aren't you in your bed?" Saa asked when she reached the war room, expecting to find the place empty. Instead, her Lady was there, staring at the maps and taking notes.

Lucrezia turned to her. Her eyes were devoid of hope, the woman looking broken, with the same expression Saa'ryu saw from the civilians that survived the war in the south.

"The Court Mage's diary Saa, they were in this the whole time... My family didn't just betray the city, they betrayed the people, the country, and the gods themselves." Lucrezia laughed a hollow laugh, only stopping when a coughing fit started, she downed another potion like it was water.

Saa'ryu could see now her Lady was devastated, her morale had sunk to rock bottom.

"Look Lu, I got the patrol routes, we can do this, WE MUST. " her emphasis and force shook Lucrezia out of her crestfallen mood, "We will take that tomorrow to the ship, the royals will come via the Highway, and you will help them set things right."

Lucrezia smiled a thin, fragile smile. She looked tired, exhausted even, she must've used mana injection to keep herself up for so long without collapsing, not to say those coughs she kept having.

"You need to rest Lu, you can't keep going like this, come, let's go to your room.”

As they moved outside of the war room, a raven managed to sneak itself in via a window, the little bird didn't cry when he approached the two women, it carried a small black ribbon, leaving it at their foot before going back to the window and joining its murder nested in the castle roofs and trees.

Lucrezia fell to her knees and wept,

Finally, she thought, finally a break from their perpetual torment.

"Velkarius is giving us a chance to make this right Lu, you won't be judged by her when her priest arrives."

A sigh of relief came from Lucrezia, "Yes, the black ribbon will keep us safe Saa...With this, we can—"

A loud boom was heard across the whole city, from the corridor facing the south gate, the night sky lit up bright crimson. They didn't get a chance to react when two more booms went off.

Lucrezia began to cough blood again, downing the last flask she had, she made her way to the south gate wall, the light shining brightest from there. Saa'ryu close behind, they were joined by their accomplices on the way, Wilson, Serkj, and Leanu following them up the watchtower. The soldiers and acolytes were running all around them checking if it was an attack on the castle.

"Is that... Is that the deep sea Harbor?" Asked Leanu, her voice trembling,

Wilson cast a few spells, and nodded slowly, "Someone or something just cast a high-powered meteor swarm on the harbor, there's not a single boat left..."

"We won't get the Arch Duke or the royals in time now, All-Father's balls we are fucked!" spat Serkj, "Lady Lucrezia, we must launch an assault on the Highway Entrance, otherwise we are be doomed. Your guards have already dusted off every single weapon and armor from the war rooms and hidden caches if we can send at the very least one person..."

"And get blown to the Spirit Realm like the harbor? Whatever stopped our letter knows about us, or knows that someone is trying to get the word out!" Hissed Wilson, looking to the sky.

Everyone bar Lucrezia went still, afraid whatever carried out that massive attack would come for them in the tower. After a tense minute was over and nothing happened, they relaxed.

"Maybe it was an automatic response? I've seen rituals where they have protection wards and spells in place to stop anyone or anything attempting to leave the premises without its knowledge." Said Saa'ryu,

Wilson furrowed his brows and spoke again in a normal tone, "Yes, I recall Master was working on something like that last year, to automatically detect the barbarians from the wastes, they have been using snow elven shamans and druids to sneak through the border..."

"My Lady, I wouldn't recommend an assault on the Highway checkpoint but it might be the only way, the wards in place there can take the strike of a major god and hold, whatever magical strike was this won't be able to pierce it" Wilson pondered, "We have four acolytes that have mastered the basic Blink spell, if we can cook up alchemical bombs, Granarius warfare would be useful here," Another spat from Serkj.

"Lady Lucrezia? What do we do now?" asked Leanu, finally noticing her Lady hadn't said a single word.

Lucrezia was pale, paler than a Vampire Count from the Imperium. When the deepsea harbor went up in flames she felt hollow, like all her hard work and effort was for naught.

Hearing that her best option was a suicide attack on the most heavily defensible outpost in the city bar the castle was the final nail in the coffin for her morale.

No support from the Magi-Folk, no way to get the Arch-Duke or Royalty’s armies.

"It's over," she said in a hushed whisper, the magical flames painting a grim picture over the land, reminding Lucrezia of just how small she truly was.

A worthless princess who couldn't save her people in their direst moment, a spoiled little brat that...

"Ugh," Lucrezia gagged on blood and bile, she fell to her knees and coughed blood.

Reaching for another potion, she found the remains of a half-drunk one and drank it like it was the last bottle of water on the planet, but Lucrezia felt even worse. Whatever was ailing her wasn't stopping now.

"LU!" Saa'ryu grabbed her and rushed inside, the others following close behind. They rushed to her room, Wilson screaming for any Acolyte who knew a healing spell, Leanu rushed to the doctor's office with Serkj in tow, to see if there was any medicine left.

"Please Lu! Listen to my voice! Gods above Lu, don't close your eyes, please." Lucrezia could barely feel her friend's tears falling on her face, the whole world was blurry.

She could still feel the dark ribbon on her wrist, and hear the soft chirping of a bird just behind her ears.

"I'm sorry Saa...I couldn't...do anything..." her voice was barely audible, Saa'ryu only being able to hear her due to being right on her face, the maid cried, begging Lucrezia to remain awake, but it was so hard... he felt cold and tired, her body and soul begged her, screamed at her to just let it go.

"LUCREZIA!" Saa'ryu screamed right in her face, her voice filled with mana, it was warm, with faint traces of cherry blossom and rain in it.

Lucrezia focused a bit, the world getting sharper for a solid second, she saw Serkj busting into the room with a flask in hand, full to the brim, she could barely make out the words "Healing" and "Blood" before Saa'ryu grabbed the vial from his hands and forced it in her mouth.

Lucrezia felt alive once again, Saaryu's face lighting up like a mage fire display in the capital.

Then Lucrezia felt deep in her bones, a flame so strong, she wanted to scream, but when she opened her mouth, no sound came, she looked at her friend one last time before snapping her eyes shut, the screams from Saa'ryu getting further away.

---

At last, she knew peace, Lucrezia arrived at the Long Queue, but as she was ready to step into the line, the world around her went white in a flash, and she blacked out once again.

The last sound she heard was a scream.

---

Lucrezia's Prologue

End