After hearing the Princess's words, I looked around the room. Instantly, I noticed two things. First, I was standing in the center of a ten-foot-wide pillar of fire. And second, the dozens of terrified women staring at me or, more specifically, the fire. Taking a deep breath, I stepped away from Asra. Closing my eyes, I tried the one thing I could think of. I tried pulling the flames inward.

I stood there for what felt like an eternity, trying to pull the flames inward. Right as I was about to give up, something happened. In an instant, a wall of wind hit me from all sides as all the air in the room was sucked toward me. Then, just as quickly as it started, it stopped.

Opening my eyes, I was greeted by the sight of a fire-free room. Turning to Asra, a wide smile spread across my face. The surprised look on her face only made me smile wider.

"Wow. You look really hot right now." At the sight of my raised eyebrow, Asra continued. "Like literally hot. I can see the heat coming off of you." Looking down at my now outstretched hands, I could see the waves of heat distorting the air. Well, that was new.

It wasn't what I had wanted, but it would have to do. At least the pillar of fire was gone. I looked back to Asra; her face was a mixture of wonder and worry.

"I think I'll stay over here." I told her. "Just until I cool down." I added at her look of disappointment. I didn't really know why I said it; I just felt like I needed to. At least, it seemed to make her happier.

"well then." Raya said, grabbing everyone's attention. "That was quite the show. I've seen girls overheat when I kiss them, but none have ever burst into flames. Does that happen if anyone kisses you, or does it have to be Asra?" she asked teasingly.

I really didn't want to tell her that I didn't know, so I did the only sensible thing. "It only works for Asra."

"Too bad." she said, sounding a bit disappointed and looking like she knew more than she was saying. "Anyway, I don't think you should tell my father about the fire, but I think this should be enough to convince him."

"So why are we not telling the king about the fire?" I asked, not understanding why we wouldn't tell him.

"A few reasons." Raya answered. "First, it probably wouldn't be the best idea to kiss in front of my father. He doesn't really view gay relationships as valid."

We all just stared at her for a moment. Everyone but Sophia and Beylith seemed to be utterly shocked by her words. I hadn't expected the king to non-accepting with how his daughters had turned out.

"I know, right." Raya continued. "He's even still trying to marry me off to different princes and nobles. He's insistent that I 'must continue the line,' so every few months, I have to scare off a 'potential suitors' he brings in. The way most of them look at my girls makes me sick." She finished, disgust radiating off of her.

"Um, you said there were other reasons?" I asked timidly, wanting to move away from this topic.

"Right!" Raya instantly returned to her cheerful demeanor. "There's a bit of a superstition about Blades with fire powers, Living or Demon. They tend to kill royals."

"What?" I asked in utter shock.

"About 33% of all recorded royals were killed by Blades with fire-based abilities." Raya explained. "It's something the royals like to keep hidden, but we're all taught to be wary of them."

A shiver went down my spine as a creaking cackle echoed in my mind. That wasn't ominous timing. No, absolutely not... I'm going to end up killing a king or something, aren't I?

"Anything else?" I asked, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Yes, there is something else you should probably know. Norbert has a tendency to spout order faction propaganda. So far, he has proven loyal to the king, but we have no idea how far his ties to the faction go." Raya explained.

That didn't sound good at all. My bad feeling only intensified as a rumbling growl ripped through my mind. I was getting more and more worried about whether or not this would work.

In a daze, I made my way over to Asra, only realizing what I had done when her arm wrapped around me. For a moment, I stilled, worried that I'd burn her. When that was proven wrong, I relaxed a bit and leaned against her side.

"Let's get this over with then." I said, resigning myself to my fate.

"Not quite yet." Raya returned. "I may have been convinced by Eliza confirming your skills, but we shouldn't assume the same will be true with my father. Do you have anything you could show them?"

"Not on me. I have some things back home that I've been working on." I told her.

"It's a good thing we're not on a time crunch then." Raya said a bit too happily. "Well, I probably shouldn't say that; it would be best if we get this done today. Go home and get something to show them. Don't bring something complicated like the relay. Treat it like you're trying to impress children."

"I think I have something that might work." I said, a specific project of mine coming to mind.

"Would you care to elaborate, or are you planning to leave me in suspense?" Raya asked, looking quite interested.

I answered her question with one of my own. "How much do you know about memory crystals?"

"I can't say I know all that much about them. They're gems that can record and store memories. I know they are the only legal form of nonprotective mind magic and have ties to the god of memory." Raya explained.

"That sums up most of it. I had an idea to use them to store music and other bits of entertainment from Otherworlder's home worlds. It's not uncommon for Otherworlders to play music from their home worlds. Still, I have always wondered what the originals sound like. That's not even mentioning the other forms of entertainment they had." I explained. "very early on, I encountered a massive problem standing in the way of my plan. Memory crystals were just too expensive. So I started working on a way to make my own."

"You can make memory crystals?" Raya asked, looking at me in utter disbelief.

"Not quite." I answered a bit nervously. "I figured out a way to grow them. It only works on one that's already been filed, but I can grow them. Then, if you harvest them properly, the fragments will retain the original memory."

"How quickly can you grow one of these crystals?" Raya asked, clearly having taken quite an interest in this subject.

"It depends on how much mana you can provide it with." I explained. "The more mana you give it, the faster it grows."

"Absolutely amazing! My father would be an idiot to throw away such a genius." Raya exclaimed, causing a light blush to spread across my face at her praise. "Now then, go get whatever you need. When you get back, we'll go speak to my father."

With that, the meeting was over. Mother, Asra, Lyra, and I all headed back to the carriage. There was some light chatter on the way home, but I wasn't really paying attention. My mind was focused on what was to come.

As soon as we arrived at the house, I rushed off to my workshop.in the far corner of the room sat a large ornate chest. Hundreds of runes were carved into the trim and fittings with an untold number of functions. A massive padlock latching it shut.

Pushing the chest out of the way revealed a trap door inlaid into the ground. The surface of the trap door was smooth, without a handle or latch. The only thing on its surface was a runic knot the size of the average human hand.

Placing my hand on the knot, I pushed my mana into it. Like the feeling of a heavy log being dropped into place, I felt the runes activate. Lifting my hand, I was bathed in an ominous turquoise light as the trapdoor followed it. Sliding my hand off the door, I quickly made my way down the now reveal ladder.

Like most rooms I spent a lot of time in, this one was also a mess. The walls were covered in runic arrays in various states of completion. Half-finished projects lined the tables. Books were strewn all across the room. In one of the corners sat a massive turquoise gem reaching from the floor to the ceiling, jagged bits of crystal branching off in every direction. If the above was my workshop, this was my secret lab.

Walking over to the crystal, I looked over the tables near it, searching for the tools I needed. The tables near the gem were covered in jewelry and gem-cutting tools. Taking up the tools I needed, I began carefully cutting away at the gem, removing a fragment of it.

I gave it a quick polish before making my way back up the ladder. Resealing my lab, I pushed the chest back on top of the trap door. My eyes lingered on the chest. Maybe I should look through it again now that Mom is back.

Making my way back to the other, I held up the crystal so they could see it. "I got it. Let's get going."

"Are you going to show us what's in it, or do we have to wait to see it with everyone else?" Asra asked.

"Nope." I said a bit teasingly as I got into the carriage.

One quick carriage ride and we were back standing in front of the castle gates. I held the crystal in one hand and Asra's hand in the other as we approached. Beylith stood ahead of us, waiting for our return.

"You ready for this?" Beylith asked as we got closer.

With a simple nod in response, she led us inside. As she guided us into the labyrinth that was the castle, I noticed one thing. We weren't being led to Raya's inner sanctum this time. Eventually, we stopped in front of a new set of double doors. Apparently, they were pretty common in this city's architecture.

The doors were larger than any I had seen before. The massive doors were made from rich dark wood, and the fittings were gold-plated. The door had a landscape carved into it and inlaid with silver. It depicted an open field full of flowers with the ruins of a castle lying in the center of it. For some reason, it seemed oddly familiar, but I couldn't remember why.

"The throne room is just through these doors." Beylith told us. "Everyone else is already inside."

"Have they been waiting for us long?" I asked.

"Not at all. They should have just arrived. I was leading you in circles to give them time." she answered with a cheeky smirk.

Shaking my head, I let out a heavy sigh. Looking Asra in the eyes, I gave her the brightest smile I could. Letting go of her hand, I walked over to the door and pushed it open.

The first thing I noticed in the room was the imposing stone throne that the king sat on. The king himself looked quite annoyed to be here. He had the same silver hair as his daughters but not their eyes. While the princesses had a rich gold, his were a cold gray.

Next to him, standing slightly behind the throne, was Norburt. The prick had a smug grin on his face as we entered the room. I really hope he doesn't try to pull anything.

On the king's other side stood an absolutely massive man. This man was Sir Boburt, the captain of the king's guard. Sir Boburt was a legend in Sestria. He was known as the kindest, most honorable man in the kingdom. People say he ran through dragon fire to save a little girl's puppy.

Standing about twenty feet in front of the throne were Raya and Sophia, waiting for us. Sophia looked about the same as before, but this time, Raya was dressed in something much more befitting of a princess. She wore a knee-length purple dress, her latex bodysuit still visible under it. Atop her head sat a tiara that thrummed with magical energy. Seeing it, I was almost tempted to ask her to let me have a look at it. I had always wanted to tinker with a royal's crown.

Stepping up next to them, Raya asked me a question. "You ready for this?"

"Not at all. But I don't really have a choice now, do I?" I responded with a bit of cheek, trying to distract myself from my growing anxiety.

gNatonthewall

Hello, everyone. I had intended for the meeting with the king to start this chapter, but we didn't quite get there. The next chapter will reveal just how stupid Norburt is. What do you think is on the memory crystal? I'd love to see your theories. Onto the topic of the name of the captain of the king's guard. I saw Bob the Butler at a younger age, and the name Boburt has been stuck in my head ever since. Anyway, thank you for reading, commenting, and favoriting. Have a nice day.

Edit: I added a couple of lines at the end. I realized I forgot to describe Raya's new outfit and didn't feel like it would fit in the next chapter.