Interlude: What Was Touched by Flame

Ada was brought somewhere inside a tower close to the main one. It was an unpolished room, its stone walls laid completely bare. The only furnishings were a single desk and a few backless chairs. Ada was less than satisfied with the arrangement; she’d hoped to be taken to Prince Reginald’s room, not here.

Once she had been forced to sit and enough time had passed to make her wonder if he wasn’t coming, Prince Reginald finally showed up.

He wasn’t alone, however. Ada had anticipated that his captain of the royal guard, Groul, would accompany him. But why had he brought Emmeline Finard along, too?

When Ada failed to mask her displeasure, Emmeline dispassionately informed her, “There’s a reason I was called here. When a woman is summoned to a private room to be interrogated, her reputation could be damaged if there are no other women present. This was the prince’s kindness, so you’d do well to accept it.”

Now Ada understood. She was so delighted to hear that Prince Reginald had shown her consideration, she didn’t doubt the explanation in the least.

“Well then, I’d like you to tell us everything you know.”

Prince Reginald sat down across from Ada, turning his gaze toward her. Overjoyed to have those blue eyes fixed on her, Ada broke into a smile as she nodded.

“I was there for a Llewynian attack on Trisphede Castle. The countess allowed me to use a secret passage to escape.” As she recited the script she’d been given ahead of time, Ada hung her head in a pretense of sadness. “There were Llewynian soldiers closing in on us, so Lady Trisphede stayed behind to let me get away. She was afraid that if she were nowhere to be found, they would scour the room until they happened upon the passageway. It wasn’t long before I heard the sounds and shrieks of the countess being captured... and then I overheard one of the Llewynians say something.”

She paused there, glancing upward to get a glimpse of Prince Reginald’s reaction. Satisfied with the pity she saw in his eyes, she continued her story.

“He said that she might be what the viscount was looking for—that she might satisfy the conditions to become a spellcaster.”

“The what?”

“He claimed that ‘chances’ were better with a daughter of nobility. After some time, the very viscount he’d mentioned showed up, but that’s where the trouble started.”

Ada swallowed to wet her throat, dry from all that talking. Would the prince really believe her? No, of course he will, she was convinced. Enough of the truth was mixed into her story, after all.

“Someone said, ‘If we can turn her into a spellcaster, she’ll make for a good pawn.’ Then I heard the countess’ screams and the sounds of a struggle... And that’s when I heard this ‘viscount’ say it—that if only he’d had Kiara, he wouldn’t have had to bother with this. He wouldn’t have had to use up valuable shards to create these pale imitations.”

Now he’ll understand, Ada thought. If he had Kiara serving him as a spellcaster, Prince Reginald had to know what the process for becoming one was. Going by her account, he would determine that the countess had had her aptitude for magic tested and died as a result. He would realize that if Kiara had stayed with the viscount, he wouldn’t have attempted to turn anyone else into a spellcaster.

If word got out, perhaps the victims of all those defective spellcasters would come to resent Kiara, laying the blame on her. Kiara would lose ground, and Ada, who had provided all this information, would become a more valuable asset to the prince.

“It was too late for the countess, so I went ahead and used the secret passage to escape from Trisphede Castle. When I made it back to my own province, however, I found it had already been occupied... and that was as far as a weak woman like me was going to get. I was swiftly captured.”

Having finished her tale, Ada drew a deep breath. It had been incredibly nerve-racking to weave a lie under all that scrutiny—even if she knew it was a necessary step in luring Prince Reginald to her side.

After hearing out her story, Prince Reginald appeared to be deep in thought. As she stole glances of him closing his eyes and folding his arms, it was all Ada could do to keep herself from grinning.

Eventually, the prince asked her, “You mentioned a soldier saying that ‘chances are better with a daughter of nobility,’ yes?”

“Y-Yes! That’s right! He did. He said something else, too... Something about how they’d be fine even if the Farzian army came along, I believe.”

Reginald stared at Ada, his eyes widening. “Can you remember what exactly he said?”

“I can try... but a good bit of time has passed now, and the first thing that comes to mind is simply how scared I was at the time. But if I remember correctly, he mentioned something about you, Your Grace.”

“About me?”

“With a little more time, I might be able to recall what he said... In any case, I’ve wanted to tell you all this for a while now, but that knight over there always stopped me.”

There was genuine hatred in her eyes as she stared at Felix, but he just returned her gaze impassively. What a wretched fellow. She had to be allowed by Prince Reginald’s side; otherwise, she would never be able to save him. And yet, this man always stood in her way.

Ada thought she had politely conveyed that she had no desire to speak to Felix, but Prince Reginald just smiled and said something to the opposite effect. “If you do remember, I’d like you to relay it to me through him. Also, be careful not to disclose anything we’ve talked about here. There isn’t a single one of my men who would violate the orders I’ve given them. If any word of this gets out, you’ll be the prime suspect.”

With that, he stood up and left the room.

Dumbfounded, Ada was escorted back to her room by Felix.

That wasn’t how it was supposed to go. She’d expected a different reaction, after giving him so much information. How curt he had been.

“Perhaps... that won’t be enough.”

Still, if she had to pass everything on through Felix, it was going to be a long while before she could get through to him.

◇◇◇

The next day, Ada walked through the morning mist to her destination: the chapel. Seeing as it was right near the tower where she was staying, no one could give her a hard time about going outside. That man always came by to worship around this time of day, so it was easy to establish contact with him.

Once she was inside the chapel, Ada waited for him to finish his prayer before the altar.

The moment he rose to his feet, she called out to him. “Good morning, Lord Azure.”

Niven, the marquis of Azure, looked back over his shoulder, a shadow of apprehension crossing his face when he saw Ada. He then asked her in an unusually quiet voice, “I heard that you were taken in for questioning by His Highness. It wasn’t about that fire, was it? I told him it was a trifling matter yesterday, and he has yet to ask me for any further details.”

Ada had to stop herself from laughing at the marquis, so petrified of getting on the prince’s bad side.

“Worry not, Lord Azure. I didn’t mention your name. I simply created more opportunities to talk to him, all so we can lead His Highness back to the right path—to get him to walk the same road as us, rather than rely so much on that spellcaster.”

“Well, good.” Lord Azure heaved a sigh. “It’s important for His Highness to be exposed to new ideas, but it’s no good if it’s always the same person giving him advice. He ought to consider our feelings toward the enemy and reassess whether or not there’s a need to have them buried. Showing our foes the gruesome, rotting corpses of their comrades is bound to inspire greater fear among their ranks.”

He was mincing his words, seeing as it concerned his beloved prince, but it was clear what he actually wanted to say—he couldn’t stand laying the enemy to rest.

After the battle to recapture the fort, Lord Azure had nearly gotten into an argument with the spellcaster, Kiara. Ada, who had witnessed the scene from atop the fort walls, had decided to use that to her advantage.

Sure enough, all she had to do was put on a show of dismay over the enemy burial, praise God, and glorify Prince Reginald, and the marquis had become putty in her hands. He was fully convinced that she was a fellow believer, devout enough to wake up early each morning to worship in the church.

“Did you say anything about the fire?”

Plus, thanks to that incident, Lord Azure had come to see Ada as a confidant.

Ada was the one who had actually caused the fire. When she had been wandering around the fort in search of information, she’d gotten into an altercation with a soldier. He had dragged her into the firewood storage, at which point she’d done away with him by setting him ablaze. She’d taken out the witness who had made a move to stop her, too.

Once the deed had been done, Ada hadn’t been sure what to do next. She’d used a lamp to set fire to the remaining wood, then fled the scene as soon as the burning straw and wood had a good blaze going. It was on her way out that she’d bumped into Lord Azure.

She’d clung to the marquis, instantly putting on the façade of a frail woman who had just been assaulted, and he’d fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. The men involved had hailed from the marquis’ territory, making it even easier for Ada to steer the conversation in her favor. She was perfectly positioned to exploit his weakness—that he didn’t want to report his own negligence to the prince.

“I no longer believe that His Highness will listen to anything I have to say, I’m afraid. I barely qualify as a noblewoman, so I suppose that’s only to be expected. Therefore, I’d like to call on your help to get me closer to His Highness.”

“What sort of help?”

“I’m going to entrust you with some information I overheard regarding Llewyne. Verify its accuracy, if you would. Once you have... I’m sure everyone will grow more interested in whatever else I have to tell.”