Chapter 4: The Cruel Princess and the Criminal

Chapter 4:
The Cruel Princess and the Criminal

 

“WE’RE A LOT LATER than we were hoping for,” Stale murmured to himself as he gazed out of the carriage window.

Nearly one year had passed since Prime Minister Gilbert’s party.

“Indeed,” I said. “But we don’t have any other plans after this, so we’ll be fine as long as we make it home for dinner.”

We’d gone to visit Prime Minister Gilbert with Arthur tagging along. It was supposed to be a quick trip, but the prime minister couldn’t stop gushing about his firstborn daughter, and we ended up staying longer than intended.

For some reason, Prime Minister Gilbert had asked Arthur and me to name his daughter. I racked my brain for names, but we only ended up with two suggestions: Jeanne, a combination of Gilbert and Marianne, or Stella, a combination of Stale and Tiara. In the end, Prime Minister Gilbert and Marianne opted for Stella, and I breathed a sigh of relief that such a heavy responsibility was off my shoulders.

“We’re almost at the castle!” Tiara said.

I looked out the window at the familiar scenery. Arthur sat up to open the door for us, when suddenly…

Clack-clack!

The smooth carriage ride jerked to a halt. Arthur and Stale went right for their weapons as panicked voices rose outside the carriage.

“Hurry, out of the way!”

“Get up! Get up!”

“What’s the matter? What’s happened?!” Arthur shouted at the guards outside the carriage.

“My apologies!” one responded. “A vagrant is sprawled out in the middle of the road. We’re moving him now!”

Vagrants weren’t an uncommon sight in the kingdom, but rarely did any get so close to the castle or royal residence. I wanted to see for myself whether this was a thief trying to target the nobility or a beggar after our sympathies. Still, it was safer for me to stay in the carriage and simply order the guards to leave food and water for the man.

They did so, and soon we got back underway. After we’d put a little distance between us, Tiara and I peeked out the windows to catch a glimpse of the vagrant. A tattered robe with a hood hid most of the man slumped over in the road. I was just about to ask Arthur to check up on the vagrant later when I caught sight of the dark skin of his hands and feet poking out from underneath the robe.

“Stop the carriage!” I said.

The wheels ground to a halt, the horses snorting at the sudden jerk on their reins. Arthur had to put out an arm to keep Tiara from tumbling right out of her seat, but I used the momentum to fling open the door and jump to the ground. The guards jerked toward me, shocked, while my companions called out to me from the carriage. Arthur leapt out after me instantly, and Stale wasn’t far behind.

“Your Highnesses! Please wait!” the guards shouted. But I just pushed on, making a beeline for the man hunched over in the road.

“If you find yourself in trouble, if you’re in desperate and utter need of help, come and speak to me.”

If it really was him…

“If you never find yourself in trouble, you’ll never have to worry about it.”

If he was truly following those orders, then I knew exactly who he was.

“Val!”

I called his name as I rushed up to him. Arthur was still yelling for me, but I crouched beside the man sprawled on the ground.

“It’s all right,” I assured Arthur and then turned my attention back to Val.

He wasn’t responding. I carefully drew his hood back to confirm my suspicions and saw a familiar face, though four years had taken a toll. He looked more like the character from the game now, a little more aged and worn. I rested his head on my knees, and he groaned quietly.

“Elder Sister,” Stale said. “That man is…”

I picked up the water the guards had left for Val and tried to get him to drink it, but he coughed as he swallowed. His eyes creaked open, then flew wide when he recognized me. He promptly fainted.

“Your Highness, who is this?” Arthur asked me.

The other guards were equally baffled. None of them would have met Val before—although he had briefly appeared on the visual projection when the knight commander was in trouble. Only Stale understood, but he seemed too stunned to respond.

“This man’s name is Val. He’s a guest of mine, and you’re to bring him along with us.” Stale blinked rapidly, and Arthur’s mouth fell open.

I still didn’t know if Val was here by chance or if he’d really been on his way to see me, but I had to find out for sure before I sent him out on his own again. I was the one who bound him to my service; it was my responsibility to take care of him if he needed help.

At my orders, the guards carried the injured and debilitated Val to the castle infirmary. Thankfully, the doctors in the castle, some of whom had special powers related to healing, treated his wounds. They reported that he had mostly endured some rough blows and surface-level scrapes, and that he should stabilize after a day of rest.

I left him in the care of the guards and doctors before approaching Mother and Father about getting permission to let an “acquaintance” stay in the castle for a while. They agreed, and I resumed my vigil in the infirmary, accompanied by Tiara, Stale, and Arthur. Tiara seemed frightened of Val and hid behind Stale as she peered at the injured man.

As my guest, Val got a private room in the infirmary. He also got a bath and clean clothes. He looked nothing like the vagrant in the road by the time I saw him next, but he still hadn’t awoken. He must have been terribly weak by the time we found him. In the game, he’d been illustrated as an evil character with only two sprite variations: “devious” and “shocked.” But here, lying peacefully asleep and cleaned up, he was rather handsome. He was probably in his early twenties, and he was quite beautiful.

Just how had he spent these last four years?

Timidly, Tiara made her way up to my side, drawing closer to Val. I squeezed her hand to encourage her, and she reached out for Val, smoothing his dark hair off his forehead.

He suddenly gasped, snatching Tiara’s arm the second he awoke. Tiara squeaked in surprise, and both Arthur and Stale drew their weapons.

“Val, I order you to release her!” I said. “She belongs to the royal family!”

He let go instantly, and then his gaze shot to me. Val and I had signed a fealty contract some time ago. That meant he had to obey my orders, including the order never to harm someone else or lay a finger on a member of the royal family.

Val had heeded my command, but he seemed confused. He looked down at his hand as though he didn’t recognize it. His head swiveled as he took in his condition, the room, and the other people standing around him.

“Where am I?” he asked. “What time is it? Who are you? Who are they?!”

“Just calm down and listen to me. You’re inside the castle right now. You collapsed along the road on the way here. I’m Pride Royal Ivy, the master of your fealty contract.”

He had to sit quietly and listen once I ordered him to, but his eyes widened as I explained. When I finished, he lurched as though attempting to escape, but then his body contorted unnaturally.

“What?! Agh… Grah… Shit!”

Val’s body spasmed, the contract superseding his will. He even sat up on the bed and tried to get on one knee. Part of his fealty contract dictated that he always pay respect to the royal family, and we now stood before him compelling that respect. It was all the result of his taking part in the ambush on the knights four years ago. He’d gotten off with having to sign the contract rather than a death sentence, and this was the result. Try as he might to resist, he couldn’t help but kneel in our presence.

“Let me introduce the others,” I said. “Listen well, Val. This is Tiara, the younger princess, and Stale, the firstborn prince and my brother-in-law. I’m sure you remember them. They’re fellow members of the royal family.”

It wasn’t just my orders he had to follow. He had to obey an order from any member of the royal family, meaning he couldn’t defy the people I’d just introduced him to.

“Val, answer me. Why did we find you passed out on that road?”

His face twisted and he jutted his chin, but the contract prevented him from lying to, misleading, or ignoring me. “I…came here…by Your Highness’s orders…in the fealty contract.” His hands trembled and hate soured every word, but he addressed me respectfully.

“You can act at ease around us,” I said, “as long as you don’t harm anyone.”

At this, Val slumped as though suddenly released from chains. My heart went out to him for this cruel way we had to communicate; it was hard to watch. He slouched back in the bed, but he just as quickly threw aside the sheets and dashed for the window.

“Stop right there!”

My words halted him before Stale or Arthur could. He stood trapped with his back to us.

“Damn it. You little…!”

I drew as close as I dared. “Look at me.”

Val turned on command and glared down at me.

“Why did you try to run away just now?”

“I’m only here because your fealty contract forced me to come,” he spat. “I don’t need anything from you or any damn member of the royal family!”

If the contract had forced him to come here, he almost certainly did need our help, however. That was the only reason he would’ve sought us out.

“You’re here because you need something from me, right?”

“No! No way in hell do I need your help!”

“But you do need someone to help you?”

He turned his face away, a muscle in his jaw jerking as he tried to keep from speaking. “Yeah.”

It seemed he didn’t even want to admit the truth to himself. But even if he wouldn’t accept my help, he did still need someone to step in.

“I have to ask you, Val…” I began, taking a deep breath, but he whipped back toward me, terror streaking across his face.

“No!”

The second I asked my question, he would have no choice but to answer. He obviously didn’t want to say anything, but the contract wouldn’t have brought him here without a reason. I had to know what he was after, even if extracting the information required cruelty.

“Val, tell me what you’re truly after.”

He instantly clutched at his throat, squeezing to choke off his own voice. His lips moved, but nothing but garbled wheezes escaped.

“Stop resisting,” I ordered. “Put your hands down, Val.” 

His hands trembled, but he lowered them. He sank to his knees in front of me, balling his hands into fists.

“Save…em…”

I could barely hear his quiet voice. When I ordered him to repeat himself, his face twisted with self-hatred.

“Save…them. Save…ids…”

Even as I heard his teeth grinding in anguish, I needed to understand. “As your master, I order you to state your desire clearly!”

“The kids!” he finally shouted. “Save them!”

His demand echoed through the room. As soon as he finished speaking, Val slumped down on the ground, like he’d lost all strength. He breathed raggedly, sweating from the effort of keeping this hidden from me.

What does he mean by that?

“What kids?” I asked him.

He didn’t resist this time, resigned to his fate. “Two kids from the slums. They were taken by human traffickers.”

He stared at the floor as he spoke, refusing to look at me.

“How can we save them?”

“Two days from now,” he said, “at sunset, that’s when they’re getting traded. And there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Val’s contract prevented him from involving himself with crime of any sort. He couldn’t initiate it himself or carry out someone else’s request. He couldn’t even get involved in order to save those kids.

“There, I told you,” Val said. “Now just let me get the hell outta here already!”

I ignored his request. “When exactly is the trade happening?” 

“I don’t know. I passed out in the afternoon on the day I tried to crawl here. I had two days left at that point. So it depends how much time has passed while I was out.”

He pushed up to sit so he could look out the window. The sun had long since set, leaving the city beyond the glass cloaked in darkness.

“That means the trade is taking place tomorrow,” I said. “What are you planning to do about it?”

“I’ve got nothin’ I can do,” Val replied. “Unless the compassionate Miss Princess has five people to give me to swap out for those kids or she gives me permission just for one day to kill all those bastards.” He barked a bitter laugh, eyes empty and dull as he gazed hopelessly out the window.

“I can’t do that.”

“I know.” He chuckled mirthlessly. Even if I released him right now, he wouldn’t be able to help those kids. In order for him to do anything about this, I had to command him.

“Val, you’re to stay in this castle tonight.”

“What?!” he cried, surging to his feet. “Hang on! You’ve got no use for me now, right?! Then hurry and let me go!”

“No. I can’t let you leave tonight.”

I turned to my companions, but Val screamed behind me. “What’re you planning?! Are you still tryin’ to punish me, you monster?!”

It wasn’t the first time he’d called me a monster, but this time it prompted Arthur to ready his sword in retaliation.

“Stale. Arthur.” I stepped up to the tense boys, forcing them to meet my eyes. I didn’t want them doing anything rash right now.

“As you wish, Your Highness,” Stale said before I even had to ask.

Arthur dropped to one knee. Tiara watched them and gulped, offering a nod.

“We’ll save the children,” I declared.

Then I turned back to Val. He gaped at me, mouth hanging open. I couldn’t ignore this now that I knew. Human trafficking was illegal here, and moreover, this involved children. Plus, this wasn’t a request Val was making for himself. He was genuinely concerned about the well-being of others. I was obligated to help him.

“Here are my orders, Val,” I said. “You must tell me everything you know about these people, including the children who were abducted.”

By the laws of his contract, he could never harm, deceive, or steal from others.

“I’ll save the people you care about no matter what, Val.”

 

***

 

“…understand, Tiara? If I…then use…”

Who is that?

A man stood before me. I knew his voice, but something blacked out his face, concealing his identity.

“No! There must be another way!”

That was Tiara. The heroine version of Tiara. She was taller and older here, an adult woman instead of a child. Tears shimmered in her eyes as she shook her head, and she clutched something in her hands. She stowed the item in her dress pocket before offering the man a nod.

“If only you could run away…be enough…”

“Hearing you say that is all I need. But I must protect you, so I can’t run now. Besides…”

Tiara wept, even as she nodded along to the man’s words.

“It will be all right!” she said. “I’ll protect them too! …Won’t die under my watch!”

Ah, this is the ending of the game. Just before the final battle, he and Tiara…

This was the one route where Tiara, the protagonist, acted on her own accord to protect this man and the Freesian people from Pride…from me.

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!”

I grabbed my chest as pain shot through me. I staggered, shoes scraping against the cobblestones. Blood gushed from my mouth, too voluminous to contain. I glared for as long as I could before collapsing into a puddle of my own blood.

That’s me. This is when I die a death befitting the evil final boss of the game. Now the kingdom will be sa—

“Ngh… Hic!”

She was crying.

Tiara was crying as I died right there in front of her. She covered her face with her hands and wept. That was when I remembered. This was the route where Tiara…

 

***

 

“-ghness… Your Highness… Princess Pride!”

My eyes flew open at Arthur’s shout.

He peered at me with concern, Stale standing right behind him. But it wasn’t just those two. We’d summoned an expert in human trafficking and crime—Prime Minister Gilbert. They watched me now, worry written all over their faces.

“Oh, sorry, I…think I fell asleep?” I murmured. I rubbed at my eyes and only then noticed the wetness on my cheeks. My throat was oddly dry as well.

“So did Tiara,” Stale said.

Still in a daze, I found Tiara dozing in my lap. She seemed to be crying too, perhaps from a nightmare. Even asleep, distress distorted her features.

I called her name and nudged her to wake up. Her eyelids fluttered a bit, and she looked confused when she roused. I tried to wipe the tears away from her eyes.

After some time, she said, “You’re crying too, Big Sister.” She reached up to brush away my tears, instantly more worried about me than herself. What a kind girl.

“What’s wrong, you two?” Stale asked.

“I must’ve had a bad dream,” I said. “I’m sorry to scare you all.”

I tried to answer their questions, but I couldn’t really recall the dream. Does Tiara remember hers, I wonder?

What an odd time to have a nightmare, though. Prime Minister Gilbert rushed in and handed Tiara and me a towel each from the infirmary.

I was still dabbing at my eyes when Tiara gasped. “Ahhh! I’m on your lap! I-I-I’m very sorry!” she stammered, sitting up suddenly.

Apparently not.

“It’s all right,” I told her. “There’s nothing to worry about. I’m sorry for resting you on my lap when I dozed off in the first place.” I stroked her hair to calm her.

“No, it’s my fault,” she said, a blush coloring her cheeks.

“I’m sure the two of you were just exhausted from all the planning,” Stale said. “It’s almost time for dinner, so why don’t we return to the residence?” We nodded at his suggestion.

“You’re going to go check up on Val after this, right?” Arthur said. “Bring me with you for that.”

Arthur knew all about Val’s role in the ambush thanks to Stale. It put him on edge around the man. Now Arthur insisted on being with me anytime I went near Val, and Stale seemed to agree with that approach. Therefore, I allowed all of them to accompany me to see Val after dinner.

 

***

 

The chefs made an extra serving that night. After a brief sojourn to our bedrooms, I took it with me when Stale teleported me, Tiara, and himself to the room where Val was supposed to be.

“Your Highness.”

Arthur was already there by the time we teleported in; we didn’t even have time to call for him. Stale must have sent him here before anyone else.

He held up a hand, urging us to stay back. “Please be careful.” He looked over his shoulder at the room where Val was supposed to be. I followed his gaze…and discovered the disaster awaiting us.

Unlike the infirmary, Val’s room was originally empty; it didn’t even contain any furniture. But the hallmarks of a struggle covered the space now. Dents dotted the floor and walls, as though someone had taken a bat to them.

And there was blood on the walls.

Despite the dread winding tight in my chest, I gently moved Arthur’s arm aside so I could see the whole room. Val hunkered in a corner, his hands bruised and bloody with fresh wounds.

“Well, if it isn’t the royal family brats,” he said, narrowing his eyes at us with a feeble smirk. “Do you like what I’ve done with the place? You told me I could act however I pleased, Miss Princess.”

“I should have ordered you to behave yourself.” I stepped past Arthur to approach Val, setting the basket with his dinner in front of him. “Eat this. You’re not allowed to dump the food out or destroy it. The doctor who treated you with his special power said you should heal up if you rest well tonight. But I can see you haven’t been doing that, have you? It’s late, and this part of the castle is empty now, so go ahead and raise a fuss. No one will hear.”

Val clicked his tongue, but when I opened the basket, he reached for the food, taking out a plate and cutlery. He hesitated over something he found in the basket.

Then, he whirled a dinner knife right at me.

“Your Highness!” Arthur shouted.

The attack came so quickly and at such close range, I didn’t even have time to react. Air whistled past my ear, and the knife sank into the wall behind me with a soft shink.

Tiara shrieked. Arthur and Stale sprinted toward me. But I assured them I was okay and tried to stop their murderous rage before they could tear Val apart.

Val just sneered. “Sorry ’bout that. I saw a bug, that’s all.” He motioned with his chin, and I turned, shocked to find a spider pierced on the knife.

“You have good aim,” I said.

“My talents are wasted thanks to your little contract, Miss Princess,” Val said. “Want me to try it again with my fork?”

He went on grinning as he picked up a fork, pointing the tongs at me. It’s fine. He didn’t hit me with the knife, either. In truth, he couldn’t hit me or anyone else thanks to the contract. If he wanted to snipe at me, he had to do so through little displays of defiance such as this.

“Listen up, criminal,” Stale said coldly. “Don’t forget that Tiara and I are part of the royal family. We can give your orders too if we want.”

Beside him, Arthur unsheathed his sword. He looked ready to plunge it into Val’s chest if I gave the order.

Val just went on smiling. He tossed the fork away casually, eating the bread, roast beef, and other dishes with his hands. He made no effort to quiet his chewing or slurping, putting on a sloppy display.

“Was that hard to watch for the fancy Miss Princess?” he said when he finished. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and grinned. It seemed he wouldn’t stop until he managed to pick a fight.

“Your behavior won’t work on me,” I said. “I’m not going to let you leave this castle before tomorrow.”

He clicked his tongue and squinted at me. “You done feedin’ the criminal now? Yeah? Then get out of here.”

Val crossed his arms. I just sighed and started cleaning up his messy dishes.

“Now all that’s left is for you to get a good night’s sleep,” I said. “If you don’t, the wounds you got before you came here won’t fully heal. You have to be in good health if we want to save those children.”

“I already told you. I don’t need your help!” Val screamed.

He bared his teeth, hoping to intimidate. I couldn’t say I was completely unaffected, but I kept my composure, reminding myself that due to the contract he couldn’t lie—he truly did believe he could do this alone.

“Y-you don’t…want to save…Kh-Khemet and Sefekh?” Tiara said timidly.

Khemet and Sefekh. Those were the two children Val told us about. They were just seven and eleven years old.

“I do,” Val said. “But I don’t need help from the likes of you!”

He glared at the trembling Tiara. Both Arthur and Stale held out a hand, keeping Tiara at a safe distance.

“Aren’t those children important to you?” she said.

If they’re important to you, why won’t you just simply accept our help? I wanted to add.

“The hell’re you askin’?! I don’t give a damn about those brats!” Val said.

“Huh?” Tiara blurted.

I was just as shocked. Why did he want to save them so badly if he didn’t care?

“You’re not…worried?” Tiara asked.

“Hell no!” Val said. “Don’t act like you know what you’re talkin’ about!”

I had to remind myself once again that he couldn’t lie thanks to the terms of the fealty contract. But how could this be true?

“Then why do you want to save them?”

“Because I need them! I need them to make my life easier,” Val told her.

To make his life easier?! Could he have been using them to accomplish things the fealty contract prevents him from doing himself?

Everyone else seemed as baffled as me. Stale furrowed his brow; Arthur clenched his teeth, gripping his sword.

“I can’t believe it…” Tiara breathed, stepping back. “What exactly do Khemet and Sefekh mean to you?”

Val slammed his fist against the floor. “They’re awful little brats. I’ve spent four years with them. Just thinkin’ about it pisses me off! All I wanted to do was kill ’em at first.”

I suddenly wished I’d ordered him to keep quiet. Tiara looked more horrified with every word.

“Get the hell out of here when you’re done with me, Miss Princess. Go join the rest of the people in your world who get everything handed to them. You all make me sick.” With that, he turned his back to us and sprawled out on the ground.

Something about what he’d just said sounded familiar, though. I tried to remember him in the game. There was one scene where Tiara escaped to the local village and Val hunted her down, trapping her behind one of the walls he could make with his special power.

“Sorry, cute little Miss Princess, but spoiled brats like you make me sick,” he laughed in that scene.

It made me wonder if Tiara and Val couldn’t get along because he wasn’t a love interest character in the game. But Tiara was so compassionate. Surely she could care even for someone like Val.

When I thought about it, though, her relationships with the game’s love interests developed slowly and gradually throughout the story. Perhaps she and Val were simply strangers, having only met once so far, and she needed more time to actually come to understand him. Even Arthur was still telling her not to touch him halfway through the game, but they got married in the end. I decided I should keep a closer eye on things…once I had the time, that is.

Tiara tried to step closer to Val, but Stale and Arthur stopped her.

“Elder Sister, come with us,” Stale said to me.

It seemed Stale and Arthur were at the limits of their patience with Val. I couldn’t disagree. I’d given Val his dinner; I didn’t need to linger here rather than going to my room to rest up for tomorrow.

Even so, I said, “I’m going to stay a bit longer. Stale, Arthur, please take Tiara back.”

Val snarled at that.

“I’m sorry he frightened you, Tiara,” I went on, ignoring him. “But don’t worry. I’m going to talk to him.”

Tiara was a sweet and sensitive girl. Though terrified of Val, she still tried to reach him with her words. I couldn’t get their exchange out of my mind as I stroked her hair to reassure her.

Stale and Arthur seemed no more pleased with my idea than Tiara was. I reminded them about the contract and coaxed them to reluctantly agree to leave me with Val—on the condition that they could come back to check on me in one hour.

Before Stale could teleport her away, Tiara wrapped her trembling arms around me. “I’m sorry that I can’t do anything to help.”

“That’s not true.” I stroked her hair again, giving her one final reassurance before Stale and Arthur finally led her away.

Val snickered at my back as I watched the others leave. “You done with your little games, Miss Princess?”

Slowly, I turned to look down at the man still sitting on the floor. He crossed his legs and curled his lip into a sneer as he pierced me with that sharp gaze.

“So you wanna talk to me, eh? Do you think I’m some poor innocent victim like that other little softie princess did?”

“I won’t allow you to insult Tiara. She’s the younger princess and possesses a compassionate soul. She is this kingdom’s treasure.”

At my words, Val’s jaw dropped, but he made no further remarks about Tiara thanks to the contract.

“Shall I watch over you here until you’re ready to rest for real this time?”

“Huh?! Hell no! How am I gonna sleep with a brat like you in here?!” he blurted, baring his teeth. “I must be real entertainment for you pretty little princesses, huh?! You pick up the half-dead criminal, treat his wounds, dress him up, and feed him in his cage. Then you’ve gotta watch him fall asleep too?! Aren’t ya done toying with my life yet, ya little brat?!”

I get it now. The things I was doing for Val’s sake all came off as malice to him. That made sense given that all of this was happening against his will.

“What’s next? Want me to crawl around, wag my tail, and then come lick your feet, Miss Princess? All it’d take is one simple order,” he scoffed, as if he was prepared for me to ask.

“It’s just for tonight,” I said. “Tomorrow morning, you’ll join us in saving Khemet and Sefekh.”

“I don’t want your goddamn help!”

No matter how many times and ways I offered, Val just kept on refusing my help. I still couldn’t understand why he was so stubborn about this. That conversation he had with Tiara made no sense. And despite all his barbs, Tiara still worried for him.

“Answer me. Why are you so insistent on refusing our help?”

Slowly, I closed the distance between us. Val gave me his best menacing look, his eyes full of hatred, but I continued.

“You’re the one who put me in this situation.”

“Answer me. Does that mean you think it’s too shameful to accept my help?”

“That’s right.”

I preceded each question with that command so he couldn’t refuse. “Answer me. Khemet and Sefekh, those children you wish to save. Is your pride more important to you than they are?”

“Ye…o…” He struggled, making a strangled sound that was neither “yes” nor “no.” Finally, his mouth twisted into a pained shape, and I made out a faint, reluctant “no.” He may not have wanted our help, but he truly wanted to save those kids. He couldn’t lie about either of those things to me.

“Tell me this. How did you meet Khemet and Sefekh four years ago?” I advanced closer, leaning down to meet his eyes.

Unable to lie, Val clicked his tongue. “We’re all poor. They used to live in the same place as me. Since I can’t hurt anyone, that brat Sefekh brought Khemet along to follow me all over the damn place.”

“Are Sefekh and Khemet Freesian?”

Both of their names sounded unusual for this kingdom. I wondered if, like Val, they looked different than most other Freesian citizens. Val turned his head aside and nodded petulantly.

“They’re both from here, no different than any other brats in this kingdom… Annoying little snots.”

“Why did you live with them?”

“I already told you. They wouldn’t leave me alone! They just came back to me over and over and over again. Even when I moved, they always came lookin’ for me. But I couldn’t lay a finger on them, even if I wanted to kill ’em.”

“Do you know why they did that?”

“They said they’d be safe around a guy like me! Those annoying brats were glued to me for four whole years.”

I see. It did seem safer for two kids to live with an adult instead of trying to make it on their own. Alone, they ran the risk of encountering hoodlums and gangsters in the slums. But if they stuck with Val, that could be enough to scare off potential threats. Even if he couldn’t hurt anyone, his spiky demeanor would ward off most before a scuffle began.

Val crossed his arms and didn’t say another word. Something still wasn’t right. The way he spoke made it sound like he truly hated the fact that children clung to him. In that case, these words were most puzzling: “Because I need them! I need them to make my life easier!”

Easier.

Val had already admitted that the kids had special powers. Sefekh could create water; we weren’t sure what Khemet could do. Making water was certainly useful, but I doubted Val was all that interested in it. It really just meant a constant source of drinking water. So what was he really after?

“What exactly are Khemet and Sefekh like?” I asked.

Val’s shoulders flinched when I asked that, confirming my suspicion that there was more going on here. He set his jaw, still not looking at me, but he could only resist a direct command for so long.

“They’re just kids,” he said. “Khemet can speak like pretty much any adult, but the jerk’s got no will of his own. Every single day, he’d just follow me or Sefekh around. He said he has a special power, but I don’t know what it is.”

His prickly attitude softened a little, and he went on. “Sefekh always took Khemet with her everywhere she went. They weren’t blood-related, but she acted like his older sister, always keepin’ her eye on him. She was real cheeky for a kid. If I got mad at her for it, she’d use that damn power of hers to blast me with water. Sefekh was the one who came up with the idea to follow me around in the first place. She was a restless sleeper so she’d end up stealing my blanket every night. I even had to teach the two of them what money is. When we ate together—ahhh, damn it!”

He interrupted himself, slamming his fist against the floor.

“Now I feel sick again! Are you satisfied yet?” he said, yanking at his bangs with one hand as he kicked his legs in frustration.

Why does this feel so strange?

“Are you sure you’re not just worried about them?” I asked before I could think. These kids didn’t sound like mere hangers-on to me; they seemed special to Val. Moreover, why was this line of questioning making Val sick?

“I told you, I’m not!” Val snarled.

“What does it mean to you to worry about something?” I asked.

His eyes widened, but he didn’t answer, as though he didn’t understand the question.

“Val, what are some things you’ve cared about in your life?” I crouched down in front of him, and he finally met my eyes, though he leaned away.

“Money and my own life,” Val said quickly. “What else is there to care about?”

But he couldn’t hurry my interrogation along—I’d come up with a theory, and I wasn’t ready to give up on it. “That’s all there’s ever been? What about your family and friends, or the comrades you lost in the cliff collapse?”

“Why would I give a shit about parents who abandoned me? And I don’t got any friends. Those guys who died at the cliffs were just some people I partnered up with because they were useful at the time.”

“Then what about Khemet and Sefekh?! Would you really be okay if those two died?!”

At this, his face twisted up in pain. He sneered and gritted his teeth, but a quiet “No. Hell no,” finally emerged.

“Val! That’s exactly what it means to—”

To care about someone.

“SHUT UP!” he screamed before I could finish.

I slapped my hands over my ears as he roared his denial.

“They’re just brats! Of course I don’t care about them. If I did, I wouldn’t feel so damn sick right now!” His shoulders heaved with each breath. He hung his head, pounding against the floor. “I ain’t never felt like this before. I’m just about ready to puke. My heart is racing. My chest hurts. What the heck is happening?!”

He bared his teeth at me, face red with fury.

“If I cared about them, they wouldn’t make me feel so damn sick!”

The contradiction between his words and his body’s reaction revealed the truth. Val didn’t understand his own emotions, but they became clearer to me every second.

“Why? Why does my chest ache when I think about them? Why do I feel so sick? When I think about where they are right now, it’s enough to make me puke. My hair stands on end; my stomach cramps up. I can still hear their last words, their last screams. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before! I’ve kidnapped kids too, y’know! I’ve stolen all kinds of brats like them and killed ’em too! It was as easy as sharpening the blade of a knife. So why…why can’t I accept it all of a sudden?!”

“Val, you—eek!”

I tried to reach out for Val in his state of confusion, but he swung his fist at me first. In shock, I shut my eyes and fell backward. But his fist never struck me. Instead, he lightly tapped it against the side of my head, incapable of actually hitting me thanks to the contract.

“It’s all your fault!”

I lay on my back now, and he planted his hands on either side of my head. When I opened my eyes, his face was right in front of mine, glaring down at me as he growled.

“Back then, if you’d just executed me instead of asking what I wanted, none of this would have happened. If you’d killed me back then, I never would’ve suffered like this… I don’t want to be this kinda person!”

He clenched his jaw, arms trembling. Then, incredibly, a single tear slipped from his eye to land on my cheek. Baffled, he reached out and touched it.

“What the…?”

He held up his hand and studied his own fingertips like he didn’t recognize them. Yet even as he blinked in confusion, more tears welled up in his eyes. Once the dam broke, the water just kept coming, even as he swiped it away.

It was almost too awkward to watch. I sat up and shuffled back a little. Even after all this, Val still didn’t realize how he truly felt about Khemet and Sefekh. He simply couldn’t comprehend it at all.

I took a chance and reached forward to hug him around the neck. He yelped in protest and tried to jerk away.

“Don’t reject me,” I ordered. He fell still at my command, and his tears soaked into my dress. “I’ll answer your question. The suffering you feel right now is punishment.”

He shuddered. I leaned back, cradling his head in my hands for a moment before pulling him in closer.

“You’re most likely going to keep suffering forever to repay all the suffering you caused others,” I told him. “You don’t understand what it means to truly care for something because you’ve never experienced those emotions until now. That sickness you’re feeling? Its true name is fear. You’re afraid for those kids, Val.”

He didn’t know there were things he cared about beyond himself and his money. He genuinely didn’t know that he was worried about those kids. He couldn’t comprehend the pain he caused the people he’d hurt and killed. Even after destroying the walls and floor of his room in his grief, even after wounding himself, even after failing to sleep because of the worry exhausting him—he still didn’t understand his own anxiety and fear.

“The frustration you feel and the tears you’re shedding…” I should have realized it sooner. Tiara had seen it right away, that pain in his heart. She’d taken one look into his eyes and sorted out what took me so long to realize.

“Princess Pride? Is there something you need from me?”

“Why can’t anyone save my dad?!”

“Those tears are…”

I struggled to finish my sentence around the lump in my throat. Val’s sorrow and regret welled up within me as well. If only I’d been able to relieve him of this pain sooner, the way I’d helped Stale and Arthur.

“They’re tears of love for your family!” I finally said.

Val gulped against me, shaking as the emotions broke within him, and he wailed—no, howled—with grief. My dress got even wetter as Val wept. He hugged me back, clinging to me now that the undeniable truth was out in the open air.

“Because I need them! I need them to make my life easier!”

That was what he’d said before when we pressed him for answers, but I read a new meaning in those words now.

“I know that without the two of them it would be too painful for you to continue,” I said. “Nothing would ever be easy again. You’d lose all sense of happiness.”

Now that I understood his pain, the tears flowed from my eyes as well. He couldn’t harm anyone anymore, but that meant he had to watch harm come to those kids. This punishment for his crimes was just too cruel. He might lose them entirely and be utterly helpless to do anything about it.

The weight of his body slumped against me as he gradually calmed, his breaths smoothing out until his crying ceased. But when he finally relaxed, the full weight of his body hit me, dragging me down beneath him. He lay limp atop me, his head against the floor. I held still, confused until I heard his deep breaths and realized he was sleeping. It was so strange to have him lying there against me like that, so at ease that he actually fell into an exhausted sleep, but I didn’t want to move him away.

All this from a man who’d once believed he had no capacity for compassion.

 

***

 

On the day of the trade, five people arrived at the slums—only one of many deeply impoverished areas—to make the handoff. All of them covered their faces with cloth, but one stood out among the group, a giant of a man wearing a bundle of chains from his neck to his shoulders that jingled with every step.

“I believe I said I’d make the trade for five people,” one of the men said. “This is only four.”

Val stood before the men. Behind him sat a run-down shack, barely more than four simple walls and a roof, surrounded by rubble. That’s where I lay with the others, three young boys and a girl, our arms and legs bound.

“I’m the fifth. Now gimme back the two brats you stole,” Val snapped.

The men burst into laughter. “Who the hell would wanna buy you?! We only deal in people from this kingdom! You’d never sell if we—”

“I have a special power.”

The debris around Val’s feet shifted as he summoned up a wall of stone and earth. The men raised their eyebrows. Their laughter took on a giddy tone as they observed Val’s ability.

“Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about! And to think we almost let somethin’ so valuable slip away!”

“So what’s the problem?” Val said. “Just gimme back the k—”

Schwiiiiing! A shrill sound rang out.

One of the large man’s chains shot out in front of him and coiled around Val like a snake. It had to be a special power at work. No ordinary chains could crawl up his body like that and cover his mouth, preventing him from moving or speaking. Val lost his balance and toppled to the ground, completely bound. He groaned as the five men sneered.

“I can’t believe we actually got five people out of this!”

“We can get a real market going in no time now.”

One man lashed out at Val, knocking him unconscious.

“What an idiot. Who the hell gives away good product just like that?” he said.

The large man dug his heel into Val’s head for good measure and then ordered his companions to carry off the four of us in the shack. The oldest of us was slung over a man’s shoulder, two more were carried under his compatriot’s arms, and the smallest was forced into a bag. In the meantime, his chains came back to life, dragging Val across the ground.

Everything was going according to Stale and the prime minister’s plan.

 

***

 

“The carriage ride didn’t take very long, so even if we end up going late, the knights will be able to make it in time tonight.”

As he spoke, Stale undid the string of the bag I was curled up inside. I stuck my head out and took a deep breath of fresh air. The four of us had posed as offerings in the trade-off for Khemet and Sefekh. In so doing, we’d gained access to the very headquarters of this human trafficking organization. Prime Minister Gilbert already used his special power to change all of us, except Arthur, into young children. He’d even changed himself.

“Prime Mi—I mean Gil, are you all right? We both had a really bumpy carriage ride…” Arthur said.

“Yes, and thank you for your concern, Sir Arthur. It was hardly a bother at all.”

“Gil” lay on the floor, a boy of just thirteen with light-blue hair that fell over his shoulders. He looked exactly like the character I remembered from the game but nothing like the prime minister people in this world knew. It was a good disguise, but it made me sad that this was how I got to see “Gil” in his younger form.

The rest of us also had fake names and altered appearances. Stale was now a ten-year-old named Phillip. Arthur hadn’t changed, but I was eleven and went by Jeanne, a name I’d initially suggested for the Butlers’ first child. I never imagined I’d be the one using that name instead. We also all dressed like commoners, which made it easier to move around when we weren’t bound. Stale left his glasses behind, partially to enhance his disguise and partially to protect them from damage.

When the carriage arrived at the traffickers’ base, Stale teleported all the captives besides us to the knights’ headquarters. Chains rattled as the large man apparently left the carriage behind. His four companions came to drag us out, but before they could even touch us, Stale teleported them to a cell in the castle’s dungeons. The knights could take care of them now.

“Hey, wake up already,” Stale said, slapping Val with his tiny hands. “We’ve gotta go save Khemet and Sefekh.”

Val groaned, slowly rousing. Stale had to teleport the chains off of Val to free him.

“Where are we?” Val asked, still dazed.

“We’re at the enemy headquarters, just like you wanted,” Stale told him. “Remember what I told you about the plan? You’re coming with me now. We’re going to free everyone from this place, including Khemet and Sefekh. It’s time to make use of your life of crime. I’m royalty, just like my elder sister, so you know you can’t disobey my orders, right?”

Val simply nodded.

In all likelihood, the traffickers were keeping the children in an area for those with special powers. In this kingdom, people sold through human trafficking received a “grade,” mid-grade if they could have a special power, top-grade if they definitely had a special power, and first class for those with rare or valuable powers. Khemet and Sefekh were probably with the top-grade prisoners.

“All right. I’ll be on my way now, Big Sister,” Stale said. “Please don’t ever separate from Arthur. If anything happens, give the signal.”

Right, the signal. I nodded. Stale and I had agreed on using a whistle when we needed to signal to each other. In the game, I saw Pride whistle or snap for Stale frequently, which gave me the idea to try it out. It turned out he could hear it quite well, even when Arthur whistled from all the way down in the village.

It was just another thing this world perfectly mirrored from the game. In ORL, Stale had incredible hearing, just like here. Tiara had her charm. I had my fighting cheats too—the other day, stressed about choosing a name for the Butlers’ baby, I’d accidentally sliced an old suit of armor clean in half while swinging a sword around, much to Stale and Arthur’s horror. In the game, Pride used to feign innocence, “accidentally” running her sword through armored knights and guards, killing them instantly. Hopefully, those in-game skills could serve us now.

After warning Stale to be safe, I got back into the bag where I had to stay. They sealed it up, and Val and Stale left to carry out their part of the plan up in the top-grade area. Arthur and I would standby below in the mid-grade area so Stale could use us as a reference point for teleportation. All of this would ideally clear the way for the knights to sweep in and clear out the traffickers for good. We just had to get the captives out of the way first.

One of the men guarding us cursed. “Damn it! The kids that’re left don’t even have special powers! What’s with our luck today?!” He hurried us out of the carriage. Through a small hole in the bag, I could see that this base was actually a large cave. There were some cliffs nearby but little else. We were truly in the middle of nowhere out here. An enormous cage awaited us once the men forced us into the cave. It was like a zoo from my previous life, but people were the animals. Already, people stood crammed into the cage. They didn’t flinch or look up when the men forced us to join them inside.

“Well, what can you do?” the man grumbled. “Besides, these three’ve got some pretty faces. That’ll fetch a nice price.”

The man reached into the bag and grabbed my head. Prime Minister Gilbert and Arthur glared daggers at him. Even the trafficker felt their cold eyes and released me, instead strutting around the room to survey it, searching for the source of the chilling aura. Little did they know it came from the two boys at my side.

“A-anyway! We’re gonna find the men we lost and the product that got away!” the man declared. He shoved Arthur into the cage and slammed the door shut. Four guards stayed behind to watch over all of us.

“Ya don’t think they ran off with our product, do you?” one said.

“How would they even manage that?” replied another.

“Are you all right, Your Hi—J-Jeanne?” Arthur blurted.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” Prime Minister Gilbert said.

They hurried to my side once the guards were occupied, helping me out of the bag and brushing the dust off my clothes.

“I’m fine,” I told them. “All we can do for now is wait for the next step.”

There was no sense getting enraged when the best thing we could do was sit and wait. While we did, I took in the room around us. The guards relaxed in chairs scattered throughout the cave. They didn’t seem to notice or care if we whispered to each other, but there were plenty of people in this cage with us, many of them drooping with weakness and despair. Some were so skinny it was hard to look at. The guards might have been starving them, but these people probably hadn’t had much to eat back in the slums either. Even if we freed them, they might not have the strength to escape. And while some were adults, a lot of them were very young, too young to run.

Many of the youngest sat huddled together. I crawled over to them. “Are you all right?” I asked.

They flinched away from me, apparently too terrified to respond.

“I’m sorry to scare you. Can I ask how long you’ve been here?”

The children still trembled, but at last they began to answer.

“I don’t know.”

“I’m scared.”

“A long time.”

It seemed that was the best I would get from them. It had to be difficult to mark the passage of time in this dim cave. I wished I could reassure them, but all I could do in that moment was hug them close and try to keep them warm.

“Val…”

What?!

I looked toward the source and saw a small boy just to the side murmuring to himself. A girl sat beside him. They looked…yes, they could certainly be seven and eleven. And they matched the descriptions Val had given us. The boy, who was cradling his knees and staring at the floor, had wild black hair. The girl narrowed her sharp eyes at the rest of the captives. Her shoulder-length brown hair framed her face, and she had lent the boy her shoulder to lean on as if keeping him safe.

Shocked, I turned back to look at Prime Minister Gilbert and Arthur and found them staring back with wide eyes.

“Khemet and…Sefekh?” I tried. They jerked their heads up.

“Why are you two here instead of in the top-grade area?” I asked.

These two supposedly had special powers. They should have been in the top-grade cage, not here.

“Who are you?” Sefekh wrapped her arms protectively around Khemet.

“Wait, did Val…?” Khemet didn’t dare finish his question, but both children went pale.

Prime Minister Gilbert and Arthur drew closer. The children probably assumed we’d been captured and brought here because of Val. That wasn’t entirely untrue, but I didn’t want them to get the wrong idea, so I hurried to correct them.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “We’re just, um…friends of Val. He told us all about y—”

“Val doesn’t have any friends.”

Sefekh shot down my excuse before I could even finish. Even in a situation like this, she glared defiantly at me, protective of her younger brother. And she didn’t sound too pleased with Val, either. Honestly, her fierce stare rivaled mine when I put it to use.

“You don’t have to hide it,” she went on. “Val captured you guys, right? He must have actually thought they’d let us go. He’s such an idiot.”

Wait, why’s Val getting so much hate all of a sudden?!

The girl grabbed my hand. “I’m sorry. You’re here because of us. Val tried to save us, but he ended up getting tricked instead. I’m really sorry. What an idiot.” She offered the three of us a pleading look. So she was harsh on Val, but she really did care about him. Was it just my imagination, or were Prime Minister Gilbert and Arthur smirking?

“What happened to Val?” Khemet asked timidly.

“Yeah! You’ve gotta tell us,” Sefekh said. “I’m sure you don’t wanna think about him anymore, but please. Where’s Val? In the town? Or did he get taken along with you guys?! Don’t tell me he’s dea—”

“Calm down. It’s okay. Everything’s okay.” I spoke slowly, trying to calm her down. The kid I was still holding squirmed away at Sefekh’s intensity.

“Would you be so kind as to answer our questions before we answer yours?” Prime Minister Gilbert cut in. His soft voice and gentle grin soothed Sefekh somewhat.

“Val told us that you two have special powers. So why is it that you’ve been put in this area?” I asked.

Sefekh knit her brow at that question. “Val and his big mouth,” she muttered. “Khemet didn’t want to. I’m his big sister, so I couldn’t just leave him.”

So Khemet’s power was still hidden. That had to mean that Sefekh had hidden hers as well in order to stay with him.

“But why is Khemet hiding his power?”

“I promised,” Khemet told me.

I didn’t understand, but when they begged us to keep their secret, we agreed.

“We answered your questions, so tell us what happened,” Sefekh said. The children buzzed with anxiety, their eyes glued to us as they awaited a response.

“Val is somewhere within this cave,” I said. “Right now, he’s probably searching for y—”

“I knew it! He got captured!” Sefekh said.

She jumped to her feet. A second later, Khemet joined her, and they clasped their hands together. Suddenly, they stood tall over me, no longer the cowering, shy children I’d first met.

“We have to save him right now!” Sefekh shouted, scaring away the few remaining children clustered around me. “You three should get out of here too.”

Arthur tried to put his hands on the girl’s shoulders and calm her down, but it threw all three of them off balance.

“You there!”

The cage’s door opened with a screech. A guard entered, brandishing a knife. More guards crowded around the entrance, smirking at the display they apparently expected.

“Gonna teach ’em a lesson?” one of them asked.

“Gotta straighten out these newcomers already?” said another.

Arthur released Sefekh and faced the guards instead, placing himself between us and the man with the knife.

“Outta the way, you brats,” the guard spat. “The new blood’s gotta learn the rules around h—”

Ka-BOOM!

An explosion rattled the entire cage and echoed off the walls of the cave. Guards and captives alike stood stunned before they started shouting confused questions. The man nearest to us, the one with the knife, leapt away.

“What’s going on?” Sefekh cried.

Arthur, Prime Minister Gilbert, and I exchanged a glance. It had to be Stale and Val. This was the signal that they’d freed the top-grade captives. Soon, they’d teleport to us, and we’d regroup to free the mid-grade captives before turning this whole operation over to the knights.

One of the guards rushed into the room. “The top-grade cages are under attack!” he shouted. “I don’t know who it is, but they sealed off the entrance and are messin’ with our product!”

“What did you say?! Those assholes! We worked hard to round up the ones with special powers. Do you have any idea how much money we’ll lose if a single one of ’em dies or gets away?”

The guards shouted frantically at each other, like squawking birds. One yelled at someone to go fetch the man with the chains.

“The top-grade cage?! Val!” Sefekh gasped.

Both of the children went pale, still gripping each other’s hands. They believed Val had been captured and placed in the top-grade cage. I rushed to explain the situation and reassure them that this was all according to our plan. But just as I leaned down to whisper to Sefekh…

“Hey, you! Whelp! What’re you up to this time?!”

The man with the knife glared at us. He stood just outside the cage now, but that knife pointed at us again. Sefekh and Khemet staggered forward, still holding each other’s hands, glaring right back at the guard. The guard drew the knife back. Arthur tensed, about to leap in front of the blade.

“Val,” Sefekh whispered.

Then a torrent of water shot right into the guard, flinging him away.

Arthur, Prime Minister Gilbert, and I fell speechless. The guard struck a wall and slid down it, unconscious. The water even warped and bent the bars of our cage. The remaining guards gaped before rushing at Sefekh with knives and guns drawn. But she blasted them away just as easily as the first guard.

When Val said Sefekh could create water, I never imagined something quite like this. This wasn’t just your average tap water—it was immensely powerful, like a blast from a fire hose back from my old life. She blew the cage’s door open with the force of a thundering waterfall.

“Give us Val back.”

Amid the shocked silence, Sefekh’s voice rang loud. Though small, she exuded power and ferocity.

“We’re going to live together. Khemet, Val, and me.”

She and Khemet ran through the mangled door. She then blasted the other guards, knocking their guns and knives away. I lurched after the children, but Prime Minister Gilbert stopped me.

“I’ll do it,” he said.

He chased after the children, lagging quietly behind as they rounded a corner and disappeared from sight.

As she ran, Sefekh swore, “I won’t let you people get away with hurting Val!”

 

***

 

It wasn’t that deep, after all.

I gazed back up the rope we’d just climbed down. It had led Val and I down here to the top-grade cages. I’d teleported the guards here right to the knight’s jail back at the castle, then sent the captives back to the order as well. Meanwhile, Val searched for those two kids he knew, but it seemed like they weren’t here. Perhaps they’d hidden their special powers, in which case they were probably with Pride and the others now. Things should be okay once we reconvened.

I interrupted Val’s frantic search to ask where they were keeping the first-class captives. He pointed at a hole at the back of the cave, where a small flash blinked in the dark depths. It must’ve been about five meters deep, so I could probably jump down just fine, but there was also a tunnel in the wall that I could follow down instead.

“Rgh… Agh…”

Below, someone groaned. I picked up my pace as the cold and dark closed in around me. My meager torch attempted to push it back, but this deep into the cave, it could only do so much.

“Is someone there?” I called, holding my torch up.

The voice came from the same place as that flash of light I’d seen. Someone lay on the ground, head turned toward me, covered neck to toe by some kind of bag. What little I could see of the captive’s face revealed a young man, perhaps fourteen or so, roughly my age. A cloth covered his eyes. Only his mouth was free, probably so that he could eat.

“Who are you?” he asked, voice raspy and weak.

“I’m here to save you,” I said. “I’m going to get you out of here.”

First, I had to ascertain his special power. If he was here, it was something rare and potentially dangerous, but I couldn’t tell with those restrains on him.

“What’s your special power?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he groaned.

As he spoke, his body lit, the same flash I’d seen from above.

“What is that light?”

It blinked for an instant, blindingly bright. I wasn’t sure if I could touch him if that light had any heat behind it. Even the bag he was in lit up, as though his whole body was shining.

“It’s my special power,” he said.

His special power is light?! I could see how that would be useful, but why did it warrant such extreme caution and restraint? Perhaps there were applications I hadn’t considered. Regardless, I needed more information.

I loosened the bag around the boy, teleporting it away so I could get a look at his body. He wasn’t bound or restrained within it. The boy gasped when I freed him. He reached for the blindfold, tugging it off his face. He blinked, having to adjust to even the meager amount of light from my torch after so long in the dark.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said. “My name is Phillip.” I offered him my fake name, trying to remain calm so he wouldn’t panic.

I had to keep a cool head. If the traffickers were keeping this boy down here, there was definitely more to him than met the eye.

“I am…ah…my name is…Powell,” he managed. He didn’t seem aggressive or threatening, even once freed. He struggled to sit up, his shaggy blond hair falling around his shoulders. It must’ve been short when he was brought here. He’d looked so small tied up on the ground, but as he shook himself out of his daze, I realized he was actually bigger than me.

“Everything’s all right now,” I assured him. “You’ll get to go home.”

He seemed pretty banged up, but not dangerous, so I could send him home and get back to the mission. I reached my hand out for Powell.

At that moment, something tore through my skin.

I jerked my hand away, searching for a weapon or something. But it was still just Powell sitting there before me.

“No! I don’t wanna go home,” he said.

The blood drained from Powell’s face. He crawled away from me, his whole body shining with that strange light. Now it pulsed rapidly, crackling over his skin like lightning. That must have been what zapped my hand.

“I’m never goin’ home!” he screamed.

The light intensified, splashing against the walls. A buzz suffused the room, stings zipped along my skin, and I smelled smoke as my clothes started to burn.

“I don’t even want this stupid power!”

Powell probably wasn’t trying to hurt me, but as he lost control, that crackling light clawed at me. He just sat there cradling his head in his hands and crying over and over that he wouldn’t go home. A battle played out before my eyes—I was just collateral damage.

What would Pride do in this situation?

“Powell!”

The answer was obvious. Pride would reach out to him. She would try to reach him with her words if she couldn’t do so physically. But even as I called out for Powell, my clothes started to burn away, exposing my arms and legs to the heat.

“Where don’t you want to go home to?!” I called. “I can send you somewhere else! Somewhere much better than here!”

“I don’t have anywhere to go!” he cried.

Craaaaack! Powell slammed his fist against the floor, and pebbles flew off like a hail of gunfire.

“You have a special power, so you’re Freesian, right?” I tried. “How can you say you have nowhere to go?”

Only Freesians possessed these kinds of powers, and the kingdom was vast and thriving. But if Powell didn’t want to return to our kingdom, he’d have nowhere else to go. I gulped. Other countries didn’t understand our powers and sometimes feared them. We had to register our powers to cross the borders between kingdoms. If Powell truly couldn’t stay in Freesia, then where else could he possibly go?

I didn’t know what happened to make this boy so terrified of home, but when I saw his special power lash out, it wasn’t hard to imagine. It was an incomprehensible power capable of accidentally hurting the people around him, like a physical embodiment of lightning. And it didn’t seem like he had much control over it. He likely spent his life being shunned and whispered about and avoided, too dangerous to get near.

I came to the realization too late. Powell glared at me.

“People suffer when they’re with me,” he said. “That’s why I left. I left everything behind. But what…what did I do wrong?”

Naturally, I couldn’t know exactly what he’d been through, but if he’d ended up here, it couldn’t have been good. Powell trembled and bit his lip, tears streaming down his face. They sizzled away, burned off by the heat of the light emanating from his body.

“…with…to live?”

I couldn’t hear him over the crackle of his power. I tried to shout, but I could barely hear my own voice through the thunder roaring in my ears.

“What’s so wrong…with wanting to live?!”

My vision went white. The heat overwhelmed me, threatening to burn me alive.

I teleported away in desperation, slumping to the ground at the entrance to the tunnel I’d taken down to Powell. Lightning leapt up out of the darkness. Once it died away, a scent of ash and burning lingered in the air. I shuddered to think what would’ve happened if I hadn’t teleported when I did.

“Took ya long enough, Mister Prince! Did ya piss off the guy in there?” Val said behind me. He held a gun in one hand and fired it at the ceiling to scare off the guards trapped behind a wall of rubble.

“You knew about the boy down there?”

“Not quite,” he said. “But I did hear the big fuss from the guys on the other side of this wall while I was waiting. Sounds like they’ve got somethin’ big kept away in there. They said he’s a rare product that took a lot to catch. So? What happened?” The mirth in his voice tempted me to order him to grovel on the floor, but I bit back my craving.

“Val, why did you ask for the fealty contract four years ago?”

He grunted, hesitating to respond, so I ordered a reply.

“Everything would be over once I died. I wish I could take it back, though.” He fired two shots at the ceiling in frustration, then regarded me with a toothy smirk. “You’re part of the royal family. You own my future, Mister Prince. I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

It wasn’t the response I expected, and there was more behind it than just hostility. It was closer to…melancholy.

“I’m going back,” I said. “You stay here and guard the entrance. Keep your eye out for danger.”

Val grumbled but headed for the entrance as instructed. “Miss Princess would be none the wiser if you left the kid down there.”

“That would be a betrayal of her wishes. I could never do that to her, and neither could you.”

He stopped, looking over his shoulder at me. I wouldn’t normally bother with courtesy for a criminal like him, but…

“You’re part of the royal family. You own my future, Mister Prince. I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

I shared no blood with Pride, Tiara, or Mother, but Val lumped me in with them anyway.

“When I was adopted at the age of seven, I signed a subordination contract with my elder sister,” I told him.

Val’s eyebrows shot up at that. He stared at me, speechless, and I couldn’t help a twinge of satisfaction.

“But even without that contract, she would still be everything to me.”

With that, I teleported away, back down into the pit for the first-class captives.

“Powell!”

I called out to the glowing mass before me. He was cradling his knees, curled up in a ball. Light glanced off his body in random flashes, accompanied by that menacing crackle.

“Phillip, are you okay?” he said.

Powell raised his head and sighed with relief. Tears evaporated into steam on his cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “You came here to save me, but…I hurt people, even little kids like you.”

Powell and I were probably around the same age, but he wouldn’t know that right now. I tried to reassure him as I approached slowly.

“Powell, you’ve got to go home to Freesia,” I said.

Powell’s shoulders shook when I said that. He scowled, tightening up as though preparing to lash out again. I probably gave Pride that same look all that time ago.

Seven years had passed since then, but I still remembered the very first night I met Pride. I lay curled up and small on my bed. She spoke to me patiently, understanding my pain even when I tried to hold it back. She’d saved me that night.

“I don’t even want this stupid power anyway!”

I’d hated my power too.

Ever since they took me away from Mom, I despised the fact that I was born with a special power. It was a curse to me. Powell probably felt the same. An ability like his, one that lashed out wildly, prevented him from having anything like a normal life.

I drew close, stopping when light snapped against my skin like a white-hot whip.

“Stay back,” Powell warned.

That’s right. Back then, I was still pushing Pride away just like this.

“Don’t worry, I’m just sending you back inside the kingdom. I won’t lock you away or tell anyone you were here.”

The light grew stronger as I spoke. His power was spinning out of control as Powell’s emotions surged.

“Powell, I know that Freesia must be a hard place for you to live right now.”

Our kingdom certainly had its flaws. We’d strengthened our bonds with neighboring lands, but that didn’t mean they had a perfect understanding of special powers just yet. To put it in Val’s words, we were all “monsters” to them. And despite Prime Minister Gilbert’s efforts, we obviously had a major issue with human trafficking. The lower classes still suffered from poverty. We’d been making steady improvements over the past two years thanks to new laws, information control, and things like that, but plenty of Freesians suffered, including the boy in front of me.

“Just wait a little longer. In a few more years, Freesia will be the easiest place in the whole world for you to live.”

“How could you possibly know that?” He glared, power sparking.

Facing him head-on with complete calm, I said, “I’m sure of it. The kingdom of Freesia has Pride, the crown princess.” Powell cocked his head at me and his power quieted down just a tick. “By the time Princess Pride becomes queen this kingdom will be different. It will be much better than it is now. I know it.”

I took one step closer to the boy. A prickle of heat burned my fingertips, but I held steady.

Four years ago, Pride asked Val a question: whether he preferred a fealty contract or a death sentence. When I heard about this from Tiara, I didn’t understand why she’d bother giving him a choice. And Pride didn’t merely offer him an option; she also offered her help, telling him to return to her if he ever found himself in trouble. She did all that for a prisoner, someone she stood to gain nothing from. At the time, I couldn’t understand it.

Now, however…

“What’s so wrong…with wanting to live?”

“Everything would be over once I died.”

Now I understood. I understood why Pride had reached out to Val. Even if he’d hurt people in the past. Even if he hated and rejected our kingdom. Even with all that, we were all born in Freesia. We all came from the same land. He deserved one more chance at happiness just as much as anyone else. I had to reach out, unwavering, and take his hand. Just like Pride did.

My arm was hot. I reached for Powell, who sat there in a daze, and lightning snapped against my skin. The light seared my eyes. My whole body tried to revolt, but I pushed on, grabbing Powell’s shining arm. His eyes widened as he gazed into mine.

“I don’t have anywhere to go!” That was what he believed, at least, but I wouldn’t let him stay that way.

“There’s still a place for you!” I shouted.

Pain lanced through my body, but I held firm and yelled loud enough for him to hear through the crackling. White engulfed my vision. Through it, I could still make out his incredulous face.

“Freesia! Our kingdom! That’s the home you’ll return to once Pride becomes queen! I swear it!”

The crackling sound roared in my ears. I clenched, bracing against the fire boiling under my skin, when suddenly…

“You mean it?”

A soft voice rang in the sudden quiet. The heat and light faded. I struggled to find Powell through the pain and discovered his face red from crying and twisted with agony. I knew that expression well. He was burdened with so much despair, and now he glimpsed a single ray of hope.

“I…I don’t know if…someone like me…could do that…”

Arthur.

My best friend. Another person whom Pride had saved, just like me.

The dear friend who saved me at times too.

Arthur was another person Pride pulled out of despair and hopelessness via her belief in him.

“I mean it,” I said, raising my voice. My head ached. It was getting harder to breathe. The whole scene wavered before me, but I tightened my grip on Powell and refused to budge.

I can save him, just like Pride saved me.

“That’s why you’ve got me!”

I can take that weight off his heart with just a few simple words, like Arthur did for me.

“If you really don’t believe you have a place in this kingdom, then go wait in Freesia for Pride to become queen,” I said.

Powell watched me with a pent breath. I mustered up all the power I had inside me. If Pride can’t save this boy, then I will!

“I’ll find a place for you to call home!” I declared.

The light pouring from Powell’s body flared bright, spilling out in a blinding wave. I threw up my arms, sure I was about to burn…

But then the light stopped.

Powell’s arm cooled with a hiss. The light pulsed in frail flickers, slower and slower. He stared at me, unblinking, silent for some time. I could breathe easier now, and my shoulders slid down away from my ears, rising and falling with my breath. I had light burns on my arms. Even so, I tightened my grip on him, refusing to let go.

“Why are you doing all this for me?” he asked, his face twisting as he hunted for my true intentions. “I’m…”

Ah…I know that face too. It reminded me of Prime Minister Gilbert when he’d confessed his crimes to Pride. Powell couldn’t comprehend the forgiveness I offered, especially since he’d been attacking me all this time.

“Because of someone I know,” I told him. “She reaches out for anyone who needs help, regardless of their class or crimes or anything else in their past.”

I reached up to touch my glasses out of instinct, then remembered I’d left them behind.

“I’m one of the people she rescued,” I added.

I let go of Powell’s arm and offered him my hand instead. He looked at it like he’d never seen one before.

“If you go back to our kingdom, you’ll probably get to meet her.”

“All of you are citizens of my kingdom, just as you are knights, and my people are my pride and joy.”

He lifted his hand slowly, hesitating before he finally set it atop mine. His eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

“This man is one of my subjects.”

Pride’s voice rang in my mind. In the face of Val, the criminal, and Prime Minister Gilbert, the traitor, she offered love and mercy. I mimicked her words.

“You are one of our subjects. I promise you won’t hurt anyone else with your power. I’ll make sure you and everyone you care about can smile for as long as I live.”

His eyes got even larger, and fresh tears leaked from his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak.

Then he disappeared.

I teleported him not to the knights but to a spot outside the town I knew well. He would be safe there. It should make for a calming retreat too.

The cave fell into total darkness with him gone, my torch long lost along the way. I slumped down on the ground, too exhausted to care about the dark. My arms hurt, but it didn’t seem too serious, especially if I could get them healed soon.

“I can’t believe I used Pride’s words just now…” I sighed, reaching again for my missing glasses. I was suddenly grateful I was alone when I realized what I was doing.

“I promise I won’t cause you any more suffering,” I said. “I’ll make it so everyone in this kingdom, including you and your mother, can spend each day with a smile on their faces! I swear it, for as long as I live.”

Seven years had passed since Pride made me that promise, but I never forgot her words. She swore that oath to me while I was still a commoner and not yet a member of the royal family.

I’d spent every moment since dedicating myself to becoming the perfect seneschal someday, all for Pride’s sake, all for the day she took the throne, all to protect her beautiful heart.

But another thought now stirred inside me. I didn’t just want to work for her anymore. There were others out there like Powell, people filled with hurt and grief. There were people like me, like Arthur, even like Prime Minister Gilbert and Val. None of us changed until we met Pride, but once I was seneschal, I’d work for them too.

With Pride beside me as queen, I would dedicate myself to her and the people, here in the kingdom we’d build together.

Just like the promise she made to me on that day.

“I need to get to Pride, fast…”

I stood up, intending to dust myself off and teleport back to her. But then, my vision went black. It wasn’t my teleportation; my body was failing me, dropping to the ground. I could hardly brace before I hit the stone. My mind went blank, and my breaths felt thin and insufficient, as though the cave lacked oxygen.

Then the whole world faded away into darkness.

 

***

 

“Arthur! What the hell are you doing?!”

“As her imperial knight, you’re supposed to be with Her Highness at the prime minister’s mansion right now.”

Captain Alan and Eric called out when they saw me.

After Prime Minister Gilbert left with the others, Princess Pride and I waited for Stale, but it was the Freesian order of knights who arrived first.

The first and third squadrons swept in to annihilate the enemy. The first squadron also approached the cage we were in, which drew a cry from the captives. My fellow knights recognized me right away. I tried to explain, but there wasn’t time for it right now. Stale had never returned, which meant that I had to be the one to act. I scooped up Princess Pride and dashed for the cage’s exit.

“Please save the people in here!” I called as I ran. My first priority had to be getting Pride out of this place. I pushed past Captain Alan, Eric, and the rest of the first squadron.

“Arthur, wait! Explain yourself to Captain Alan! And who is that girl?!” Eric yelled. He grabbed my shoulder before I made it past him. When he yanked, I lost my hold on Princess Pride, who’d been hiding her face.

“She’s just…” I struggled to come up with an excuse on the fly. Meanwhile, Her Highness whipped her head straight up. Oh, crap.

“There are many criminal operatives up ahead! They’ll have others with them, people I care about very much, so please save them!” she said, not even attempting to hide her face.

Oh, crap, oh, crap, oh, crap, oh, crap! Your Highness, if you show them your face like that…

“Your Hi—gmph!” I slapped my hand over Eric’s mouth before he could finish. His mumbling continued, muffled and inaudible now. His eyes flew wide as he looked at Princess Pride. Behind him, Captain Alan’s eyes were just as huge.

“A-anyway, I’ll lead you there, so come with me as reinforcements!” I said, “There’ll probably be a ton of enemies.”

Ignoring the dazed knights, I shifted Princess Pride in my arms to hide her face. Then I brushed past them, hurrying along my way while Captain Alan shouted for Eric to help the captives.

“Everyone who’s not on rescue duty, you’re with me!” Captain Alan said. “Once Eric’s group gets the captives away safely, regroup outside with Squadron Three.”

So he thinks he’s just gonna come with us?!

“Arthur, why do these people look so shocked? I know we met at Prime Minister Gilbert’s party, but…” Princess Pride muttered.

“They noticed you, of course,” I told her. “They remember the way you looked four years ago. They see through the disguise!”

After a beat of silence, Her Highness muttered, “Oh…”

You really don’t understand?! Everyone remembers how you looked four years ago when those cliffs went down, and that’s the age Prime Minister Gilbert returned you to. Your bravery back then was something people couldn’t forget. And even at a different age, you still carry yourself like a princess. Captain Alan is trying to stay by your side!

“Please pay a bit more attention to how the knights see you,” I groaned.

Captain Alan was slinking up to my back, trying to get closer. I hefted the princess in my arms and pushed on faster, not wanting the knights to catch up.

We hit a fork in the twisting passages of the cave. A cloud of dust billowed out of one side. I covered my mouth to keep the smoke out, but that thoughtless motion made me move my arm out of the way.

“Arthur, the girl you’re carrying—”

“Eeeeeeeek!”

I yelped when Captain Alan stepped up close.

“She looks exactly like the crown prin—”

“She’s Jeanne! Jeanne! A girl I know!” I said.

“I’ve never heard you mention any ‘Jeanne.’ Plus, she’s—”

“Anyway! My friend’s name is Jeanne! Please call her that, Captain!”

Captain Alan paused. Then his eyes took on a strange glint. “Oh? A ‘friend,’ huh?” he said.

It’s over. He totally knows.

He ran side by side with me. “Hey, let me carry little Jeanne too,” he said.

“Absolutely not,” I snapped.

Of course this guy’s enjoying himself at a time like this.

As we approached the source of the dust, pops sounded—gunshots off in the distance. I stood torn between rushing toward the fight and getting the princess as far from it as possible, but then she whispered “Hurry!” and I dashed onward.

We jumped headfirst into the dust, the remnants of some kind of wall, apparently. The knights behind us tensed, sensing the looming battle. Princess Pride tightened her arms around my neck. Even she was nervous.

Another piercing gunshot rang through the cave. At Captain Alan’s command, the knights advanced slowly and quietly, trying to lie low. Just outside the entrance, a large group of enemies gathered, among them the huge man with the chains. He was stepping on Val, who lay trapped on the ground under his foot.

“There’s a lot of them,” Captain Alan whispered. He signaled to the knights. The traffickers hadn’t spotted us yet. They were all focused on the man with the chains, who was raising his gun, pointing it at someone.

“Pri—!” Princess Pride released my neck to slap her hands over her mouth.

Prime Minister Gilbert. That must’ve been what Her Highness was about to say. The thirteen-year-old version of the prime minister stood before the massive man, arms spread as though he was shielding something with his own body. Blood stained his shoulder. When I looked past him, I found Stale slumped over on the ground.

“Captain Alan, I’m borrowing your sword,” I said.

The captain had been trying to sheathe his sword to exchange it for his gun, but I grabbed the blade and yanked it out of his hands.

“H-hey!” he hissed, but the captain fell silent when I shoved Princess Pride toward him. Thankfully, she seemed to understand my plan and went willingly.

“Arthur,” she said firmly, and I glanced back at the enemies as I gripped my sword. “Go now.”

Her command was like a spark lighting a whole bonfire. Propelled by a fresh sense of urgency, I took off running, my feet quietly tapping on the floor. The moment I got close enough, I leapt at the huge man. I raised my sword mid-flight, aiming at the filthy arm pointing a gun at Prime Minister Gilbert and Stale.

“Don’t you dare touch them!”

I swung.

Slash! The blade bit through the man’s shoulder as I fell. His scream echoed through the cave as blood sprayed from his severed flesh.

“Who’s this kid?!”

Guns swiveled in my direction as the large man clutched his arm and wailed for his companions to kill me. Captain Alan ordered the charge, and knights surged toward us at the same time. With the knights approaching, the enemy couldn’t focus solely on me. I could cut through three at a time with each step, or even five in one swing if I leaned into it right.

I adjusted my grip on my bloody sword and rushed at the traffickers. Springing into the air, I landed right in the middle of the group. With my natural speed and the element of surprise on my side, the enemy didn’t even get to pull their triggers before I cut eight of them down. I slashed off their arms before they could fire, lashing out too quickly for them to respond. Between my training with other knights and my bouts with Stale, these traffickers couldn’t throw anything at me I wasn’t ready for.

They tried grouping together, but that only made them easier targets for me. Five bunched together, each holding knives, and tried to lure me into close-quarters combat. Before they could act, I tossed my sword into the air. My distraction worked. While they were wondering about my sword, I smacked them in the elbows and legs. I grabbed one man by the arms and threw him aside. They were easy opponents, each one weaker than even Prime Minister Gilbert.

I caught my sword as it fell, then charged back into the group. But before I could finish them off, the large man with the chains turned toward me with murder in his eyes. He clutched the gaping wound where I’d cut off his arm, somehow still on his feet despite the blood loss.

The man with the chains was standing on Val. He winced as he uncovered his wound to unholster his gun and level it at me. Bring it on. He could threaten me all he wanted as long as it meant he wasn’t going after Stale and the others instead.

“Sir Arthur!” Prime Minister Gilbert said. “Phillip is safe, as are Khemet and Sefekh.”

I nodded but didn’t take my sights off the large man. From the corner of my eye, I saw Princess Pride, now free of Captain Alan’s arms, flying to Stale and Prime Minister Gilbert. Thankfully, Captain Alan followed to protect them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I dodged each bullet. The moment he pulled the trigger, I leapt out of the way, running ever closer as I evaded his shots. I dove for the big man, slashing up before he could fire a fourth shot. I took off his hand with the gun still clutched in his grip.

“GRAAAAAAAH!” he screamed, now bereft of his hands. He stumbled backward and off of Val. I slashed once more, sure that would be enough to—

“Look out, Sir Arthur! Your feet!”

Prime Minister Gilbert shouted a warning, but a metal chain was already coiling around my feet. I braced my sword against the ground, pushing down on it to lift my feet up. Then I flipped backward, kicking the chain off as I somersaulted through the air, sword still in hand. How was the large man even conscious with such severe injuries? He sat slumped on the ground, still bleeding profusely. What’s going on here?

“Ngh! Gaah?!” I heard behind me.

I swung around. Now it was Val with a chain wrapped around his neck. He scrabbled at the metal, desperately trying to free himself, but the chain only tightened.

“Drop your sword.”

One of the men fighting with the knights approached, but something about him didn’t feel right. He covered part of his face with cloth, so I could see little but his eyes. Still, I placed myself between Princess Pride and this man. Who the hell is this guy?

“You were one of the five men who showed up for Val’s trade, weren’t you?” Prime Minister Gilbert said.

I gasped. I’d never gotten a good look at those men, aside from the giant. One had stuffed Her Highness in a bag. Another carried me. Yet another carried both Stale and Prime Minister Gilbert. That only left one more, a man who hadn’t carried any of us.

“So that large man with the chains was just a distraction—or rather, your pack mule?” Prime Minister Gilbert pressed.

This wasn’t good. If what the prime minister was saying was true, this guy was probably the one in charge. Was it possible that the large man had never been the one controlling those chains in the first place? I glanced over my shoulder and found Princess Pride tending to the wound in the prime minister’s shoulder.

“Lay your sword down,” the man growled. “If you don’t, I’ll kill him.” With a trembling finger, he pointed down at Val while he peeled away the cloth over his face. Val groaned as the chains around his neck coiled.

My grip on my sword tightened. The man glared, his threat hanging in the air between us, but I didn’t drop my weapon.

My vow to Princess Pride four years ago rose in my thoughts: “I’ll protect you and those you care for. I’ll protect Mom, Dad, and all the people in the kingdom with everything in my power. That’s the kind of knight I’ll become!”

Even though Val was one of the attackers who’d nearly killed my dad, Princess Pride saw him as one of her citizens, one of the precious people of her kingdom. If his life was in danger, it was clear what I needed to do.

I dropped my sword. Val’s eyes went wide in disbelief, even as he was being strangled.

“You fool!” Captain Alan shouted. Every knight gaped at me in shock.

The man smiled. “You better not resist now.”

His chain slithered toward me, snaking over my feet and coiling up to hips, my arms, my chest, my neck. Soon, they covered my entire body, and I could barely move. If this man wanted to snap my neck, he could do it with a thought.

The man commanding the chains smirked, a cackle spilling from his lips. “It can’t be easy to stand with all that weight on you, hmm? You’ll be dead soon, so what’s the point in staying on your feet?”

The chain around my neck tightened.

“Agh…fine…to…” I choked out.

“Keep quiet!”

The man glowered and the chains constricted until I could hardly breathe. My vision went black around the edges as air struggled to reach my burning lungs.

“What’s ‘fine,’ huh?! Tell me, brat!”

There was no way I could answer him anymore, even if I wanted to. I can hold on. I can stand here and be a wall between this man and all the others. That’s my duty right now. That way…

The thought comforted me while my body screamed for air, and soon a small smile crossed my lips. Seeing it, the man’s face twisted with fury.

“Haaahhh!”

The cry didn’t come from the man—it was a cry of valor, of victory. Something red fluttered by my face, and I caught the scent of flowers as the chain around my neck cracked and crumbled into pieces, releasing me from its hold.

 

***

 

I made it.

Thanks to Arthur’s valiant distraction, I moved without hesitation, absolutely confident as I let out a deep breath and scooped up the sword he’d smartly discarded in my direction. I couldn’t tend to the prime minister’s shoulder anymore, but with Arthur’s body serving as a barrier, I could arm myself as Prime Minister Gilbert surreptitiously returned me to my actual age. Strength flooded my lengthening limbs. Back to my true age of fifteen, I leapt to my feet and launched at the enemy, brandishing Arthur’s sword.

I landed beside Arthur, whose face was turning an alarming shade of purple. I steeled myself, remembering the way I’d sliced through a full suit of armor thanks to my last boss cheats; surely I could handle a simple metal chain. With that conviction in my heart, I aimed at the chain and brought the sword down.

Craaaaaack! The blade cut cleanly through the metal. Shattered fragments scattered across the ground in all directions as Arthur collapsed, limp.

“Are you all right?!”

Prime Minister Gilbert was carrying the unconscious Stale as he raced toward me and Arthur.

I crouched beside Arthur to confirm he was still breathing. He gasped in a deep breath. Reassured, I dashed to Val and freed him as well. The chain fell away so easily, it made me wonder if I could cut through anything at all as long as I had my last boss cheats.

Finally, I faced the man commanding the chains, raising my blade toward him. He narrowed his eyes at me, tensing in the face of my aggression.

“You there, fiend,” I said. “What do you intend to do with my citizens?”

The man’s eyes swept over the destroyed chains. His mouth pressed into a hard line as he weighed his options before an enemy who could easily flick away his horrible restraints.

“Go to hell!” he finally yelled, red in the face. He sent multiple chains lashing out at us. They coiled together like a pit of snakes, then slithered toward us.

“Pathetic,” I sneered. I ran right at the chains, cutting them down with one clean slice to each knot before they could reach my companions. I slashed right through the middle of the links and the chains fell apart, useless—hardly worthy of being called chains at all by the time I was done with them. A recovered Arthur moved in, and the other knights followed, forming a circle around me and the chain-wielder.

“Wh-what?!”

The man staggered, unable to speak. He kept stepping backward, eyes wide as he tried to escape me. With trembling legs, the man raised his gun in both hands, pointing the barrel right at me. I couldn’t jump out of the way, not with Stale and Prime Minister Gilbert and Val behind me. In that case…

I pointed my sword at the man, never daring to take my eyes off him. He stiffened and his finger twitched on the trigger of his gun. Flames leapt from the barrel.

“I see everything with my precognition!”

Pride, the final boss queen, laughed inside my head.

I knew what was coming before the bullets even left the barrel. Light flashed and I slashed with my sword, splitting the bullets in half. The fragments whizzed past me, harmless.

The chain-wielder ground his teeth in frustration, then fired wildly, unloading his gun at me. Bang bang bang! Each shot echoed through the cave. I twisted and turned my blade, and the bullets scattered all around me, as if I stood behind a force field. Eventually, his gun clicked, depleted of ammunition.

He had nothing left. His gun was empty; his chains lay destroyed around our feet. With my sword in one hand, I approached the man, and he pulled out a knife. He howled at me to stay away, but I just continued my slow pacing toward him. He barely even had any comrades left, with the knights dispatching most of them already. The man cowered, brandishing his knife fecklessly as his lips began to tremble.

“You monster!” he shrieked.

It wasn’t the first time I’d been called that. I brushed the insult off. After all, I knew better than anyone that I was an unnatural freak.

“Since you have a special power, you must be a fellow Freesian citizen, I assume,” I said. “How unfortunate.”

His hand shook. He barely maintained his grip on his knife. I took another step forward. “J-just try it and see! We might stab each other at the exact same time, but before you kill me, I’ll make sure you’re d—”

“I won’t dirty my hands by killing you.”

He flinched, then a sly smile seeped across his face. “I see, I see. How kind.” He bowed his head and I closed my eyes, not wishing to see him any longer. Royalty rarely ever dirtied their own hands with bloodshed. We could hand down a death sentence, but we did not usually carry it out. I wouldn’t do so now; I didn’t want to be like the bloodthirsty Pride of the game.

I was the crown princess—the future queen of this land. No matter how guilty this man was, I could not directly take his life. Four years earlier, when I fought the ambushers at the cliffs, I never killed anyone either. My hands were still pure and unstained.

That was why…

“I won’t kill you. Not with my own hands.”

I tossed my sword high into the air. The man gaped up at it as it flipped and spun.

“Her Majesty, Rosa Royal Ivy, queen of the Kingdom of Freesia, has ordered the annihilation of all traffickers!” I declared.

I never took my eyes off him as I spoke. The man may have been one of my people, but he was also an enemy of my people. The queen had already sealed his fate.

“Eliminate him, Captain Alan.”

At my command, a shadow raced forward. Captain Alan caught his sword out of the air and raised it above his head. The man drew back, but it was already too late.

“By your will,” the captain said, grinning.

When he swung down, a spray of blood shot forth. The chain-wielder stood stunned for a moment, then collapsed, body sliced in two.

“Princess Jeanne…” Captain Alan said. Red stained his uniform, but he smiled over at me. Before he could continue, more knights rushed into the room, shouting for their captain.

“Did everyone make it out already?!”

“Captain! I received word that Eric’s squadron has finished the rescue operation and regrouped with Squadron Three!”

“Perfect,” Captain Alan replied. “All that’s left is our own escape.”

I exchanged a relieved look with Arthur and the others when we heard the report. It sounded like the knights had defeated the ringleaders and most of their underlings as well. But we had no time to celebrate our victory. We had to make for the exit immediately.

Just as we did, an explosion rocked the whole cave.

Chips of stone fell from the ceiling, soon followed by larger chunks. Whatever had exploded was bringing down the entire cavern. Prime Minister Gilbert turned me back into a child so Arthur could carry me toward the exit. It seemed like the blast came from outside, and that meant there could be more enemies waiting for us there, but we had no choice but to head that direction. Stale, still unconscious, couldn’t even teleport us away if we met with danger after escaping the cave.

I was worried about Sefekh and Khemet, but as we ran, Prime Minister Gilbert explained that he’d put them in the care of two of the knights. Afterward, he’d even made his way to the top-grade cage to see how Stale and Val fared. There he found Val, his defensive walls broken, pulling an unconscious Stale out of a tunnel. Prime Minister Gilbert had protected both of them while Arthur, the knights, and I arrived, which meant everyone was safe. There was just one thing left to take care of.

“I just received word that two children under protection of the order just escaped and fled into the cave!” a knight shouted at Captain Alan.

“You’ve gotta be joking,” Val said. I could hear the worry beneath his annoyed tone.

“What the hell is Callum doing out there?!” the captain asked.

Callum was the captain of the third squadron. He should have been rushing to meet us, but since he wasn’t, Captain Alan ordered us to be on our guard.

“How exactly did those children escape the knights’ custody?!” I said.

Any knight should be able to handle a pair of kids. But as soon as I tried to voice this, Arthur shot me a warning glance and I realized I wasn’t hiding my face any longer. That’s right. If I show myself like this, the knights will figure out who I am.

I choked off my question and turned toward Arthur, who was carrying me. He voiced the question instead: “What kind of children are they, the ones who escaped?”

“A boy and a girl, both around ten years old. I don’t have many details, but I’m told they escaped by using a water power—”

“Aaaaahhhhh! Those shitty little brats!” Val cried. He took off running, leaving behind the knights who’d been leading us all this time. I tried to call out for him to stop, but just then Captain Alan roared over me.

“Hey, wait!” He drowned out my order, but I doubted it would even have mattered. Val was screaming for Sefekh and Khemet as he charged down the passageway.

At last, someone responded. “Val?!”

It was a girl’s voice. Sefekh’s voice.

Val took off after her before I could even register what happened. Captain Alan commanded his troops to pick up the pace and chase after Val.

“Val! Vaaal!” we called.

Sefekh stood at a fork in the path. By the time we reached her, she was already hugging Val’s legs with tears in her eyes. Val held her back by the shoulders. “Where’s Khemet?!”

“Down there!” She pointed away from the exit, back down a path sealed off with rubble, probably because of the explosion.

Sefekh explained that the collapse had separated them and that she couldn’t get back to him on the other side of the debris. Val looked like he was trying to use his special power, but it wasn’t working. Perhaps it could only build up walls and not tear them down.

The cave shook again, even as the knights tried to dig through the rubble. More rock fell, undoing their meager progress. I even attempted to cut through the blockage with my sword, but destroying part of the wall just created more small stones to block it up.

“Damn it! Khemet! Khemet! Answer me!” Val shouted.

Val clawed at the rocks in front of him with his bare hands. He stuck his hand in any gap in the wall he could find, digging out chips of rock. The sharp stone cut his skin, but he just kept going at it, completely unfazed by the scrapes and bruises.

A few knights came to help him, but the cave was still crumbling around us. When they ordered us to evacuate, I clung to Arthur and refused. None of us wanted to leave while Khemet was still in danger, but the knights did carry away the unconscious Stale, as well as Sefekh.

“Arthur! Don’t you dare let Princess Jeanne die!” Captain Alan called as he led his knights out to safety. Only two remained behind with us. Arthur set me down so we could all work on the rubble alongside Val. But it was hard going in the body of an eleven-year-old. I used both hands to lift rocks that the others easily threw aside.

The cavern rumbled and groaned around us, threatening to come down any moment. Even as Arthur and the knights begged for us to flee, a tiny voice squeezed through the rubble, crying out for help. Through a small hole, we glimpsed Khemet’s terrified face.

“Val…?”

“Khemet! Stay right where you are!” Val yelled.

We dug furiously, trying to widen the hole, to get it big enough for Khemet to squeeze through. We expanded it to the size of an adult’s arm before a rumble trembled through the ground right beneath our feet.

The floor itself was collapsing.

“This is bad! We’re on top of a cliff now!” a knight shouted.

My breath got caught in my throat. The danger pressed in from below as well as above. We needed to save Khemet, and fast.

We widened the hole a little more, but Khemet still couldn’t reach us. That was when he revealed that he was pinned down, trapped between large rocks. We had to free him and pull him out before the whole cave collapsed on all of us.

“Val, you’re close to Khemet, so you can build a dome around yourself to protect both of you and—”

“I can’t! He’s too small! He’d be swallowed up with the rubble!” Val growled with frustration. “Forget it. Just get your asses to the exit!” He had to know that this was hopeless. His special power wouldn’t save them like in the cliff collapse. If the floor fell out from under him, there would be nothing he could do.

Two knights attempted to drag Val away from the rubble, but he fought their hold.

“Leave me alone!” he screamed. “Is this your first day on the job?! Did you all forget?! I’m a criminal. I attacked you four years ago, took your commander hostage, and got forced into a fealty contract. I’m trash! Just leave me here!”

The knights refused to relent. They grabbed Val and tried to pull him along, but he still refused to budge.

“Val,” I said.

“Don’t say it!” Val screamed. “Don’t say it! Don’t you dare order me!”

I could force him to leave right now. One simple order and there would be nothing he could do. He’d have no choice but to abandon Khemet.

This isn’t right.

Val scrabbled urgently at the rubble, desperate to act before I could order him to stop.

“Val.”

“Stop,” he said. “Don’t do it.”

As the collapse continued, I looked Val straight in the eyes and gave my command: “Use your special power to force us away from you.”

With my permission, he shoved the knights away from him, then activated his power. Rubble piled up and formed a wall between Val and the rest of us. As the debris rumbled and gradually hid Val from sight, he turned to regard me.

Then, he smiled.

I couldn’t make out his words over the roar of the cave-in, but I could see his lips moving. “Thank you,” he mouthed just before the dirt wall overtook Val and he disappeared completely.

Arthur scooped me up as I stood there, stunned. “Let’s go,” he told the other knights, breaking into a run.

I clung to Arthur’s shoulder and bit my lip hard. I buried my face against his chest to hide my tears. Debris still rained down, swallowing up Val and his wall.

It was the only choice I had. This was what Val wanted. Forcing him to leave would have been unimaginably cruel. But it still hurt to watch him vanish, and we’d have to tell Sefekh what happened. Perhaps she’d hate me for not ordering Val to leave, but it was clear that he wanted to save Khemet or die trying.

We left Val behind and raced toward the exit, avoiding the large boulders along the way and enduring a shower of debris from above. Soon, a distant breath of fresh air reached us. Someone shouted “Hurry!” from outside the cave, and we charged up a sloped path and toward the dim glow of natural light and torches.

The second we reached the top of the slope, we dove out of the cave.

“Jeanne! Sir Arthur!” Prime Minister Gilbert shouted. He rushed up to us. “Are you injured? The knights are still looking after Stale.”

“Where’s Khemet and Val?!” Sefekh asked, shoving her way through the knights.

Arthur and I fell silent, unsure how to break the news to the trembling girl. One of the knights stepped in to explain how Val forced us away, staying behind to dig for Khemet. Before he even finished, Sefekh dashed for the cave, but one knight caught her by the arm.

“Let me go, morons! Khemet and Val, they—”

She sprayed water at the knight holding her, kicking and struggling even as the men tried to calm her down and warn her of the danger awaiting her in the cave. She wasn’t listening, though, and just kept fighting, tears pouring down her face.

I bit my lip, head hanging. I had no right to try to calm her down. This was all my fault. It wasn’t a game; I couldn’t just rely on some sort of cheat like I would in ORL. Here, I was just a powerless child.

I longed to be stronger, to possess some skill or power that could make this right. But I wasn’t like my friends and companions. I wasn’t like Stale, who’d studied for years to become the ultimate strategist. I wasn’t like Arthur, who exceeded even the knights’ standards by practicing combat with Prime Minister Gilbert and Stale. I wasn’t like the prime minister, who changed the very direction of the kingdom for the better. All I’d ever done was rely on the knowledge and power I was born with in my previous life. How could someone like me ever become the next queen?!

Anger bubbled up to replace the regret and powerlessness. I hunched over, hands trembling as I braced against the ground.

“Jeanne.” I lifted my head when Prime Minister Gilbert called out for me. He averted his eyes for a moment, hesitant to speak. “This is only conjecture, but…” he began.

My eyes widened. It can’t be!

Arthur was listening too. “Wait, are you serious?!”

That’s it. That’s what we need.

I looked at Sefekh once more. She was weeping, calling Khemet’s and Val’s names over and over. Seeing her grief, I knew what I had to do. Arthur borrowed a sword from another knight and I took off running—right for the collapsing cave.

Prime Minister Gilbert and Arthur stopped Captain Alan and the knights from getting in my way. I leapt into the cave with Arthur right behind me.

“I’m going with you!” he shouted before I could protest.

Just then, rocks tumbled from the ceiling, sealing off the exit and trapping us in the cave. There was no going back. We pushed on, with Arthur using his sword to clear out the falling debris blocking our path.

“Val! Answer me!” I shouted down the tunnel, trying to make myself heard over the roar of the collapse. We’d reached the rubble wall where we’d last seen him, but he was gone.

“That’s an order!” I said. “If you can hear my voice, answer me!”

“Why the hell are you here?!” he shouted back.

Thank God. He’s still okay.

“Did you find Khemet?!”

“Not yet,” Val told me. “But he’s so close! You guys need to get out of—”

“Val, I’m ordering you! Take down your dirt wall right now!”

He snarled with frustration, but the wall started to come down. Arthur and I rushed over it while he was still lowering it.

“What are you back here for?!” Val snapped. He glared, but scrapes and bruises and blood covered his arms. All this time, he must have continued trying to dig his way to Khemet, but the hole was still barely large enough for a child’s head.

“I order you, Val. Reach your hand inside and take Khemet’s hand.”

Val looked shocked, but he had no choice but to obey.

“Khemet, grab Val’s hand!” Arthur shouted.

“Hey! What’s going on?! I can’t pull him out of a hole this tiny!”

Val jammed his entire arm into the hole, all the way up to his shoulder. Even with his face pressed against the stone, he scowled at us. And all the while, the ground beneath us trembled, presaging the collapse to come.

“Once you’ve grabbed Khemet’s hand, use your power to—”

“I told you! I can’t just move rubble however I w—”

“It’s not just rubble!”

I didn’t have time to explain this to him. I had to use the power of the fealty contract to force him to act.

“I have his hand!” Khemet yelled from the other side.

“Val, heed your master’s order!”

The falling rocks clapped like thunder in our ears. I raised my voice, screaming as loudly as I could so Val couldn’t deny my order.

“Take control of this entire cave!”

Val’s face slackened with shock. He had to obey the order, but he didn’t look like he believed he could. Still, the fealty contract bound him to that command, and his special power activated, pouring out with more strength than it had ever possessed before.

“Ngh… Ahh! Aaaaaahhhhhh!”

Val screamed, incapable of forming words. His eyes fluttered as his body jerked from the force of the power flowing out of him. The next moment, the entire cave swelled around us, like we were standing on some enormous, breathing animal. The cracked ground contorted, rippling in waves like a carpet.

The constant rain of debris abruptly ceased as I looked up to find the dust and pebbles frozen in midair. Slowly, they floated up, returning to the ceiling and fitting back into place. Even the debris blocking us began to slide away, clearing an open path. The cave wasn’t just going back to its original state; it was rebuilding itself from the ground up, reconstructing itself around us.

“What’s going on?” Val blurted.

He gaped at his own power, blinking over and over, jaw slack. Suddenly, he jerked, spinning toward the wall that had trapped Khemet. The rock and dirt fell away the moment he noticed them, as though they had a will of their own.

When the rubble cleared, we saw Khemet, still holding Val’s hand, face soaked with tears. He stared up at Val, never taking his eyes off the man.

“Khemet,” Val said. He hauled the boy up into his arms and hugged him tight.

“Val!” Khemet cried, fresh tears pouring down his cheeks.

Even Val’s shoulders were shaking as he held the boy at last.

“Moron,” he said. “Why the hell… Why the hell’re you two always doin’ stupid shit? Always…” Quieter, so soft I could hardly hear it, Val sighed, “Thank God.”

“Did you do this, Val?” Khemet asked between sobs.

Val lifted his head, swiping at his eyes before saying, “I have no idea.”

He turned his gaze on me and Arthur, waiting for an explanation.

“No,” I said. “The two of you did this together.”

They both blinked at me. Even Val seemed confused, as though he didn’t understand his own special power.

“Khemet, how would you describe your special power?” I asked the boy. He had hardly spoken before now, but I was betting that he understood that he had a special power and how it worked.

“Only Sefekh knows my power,” he said.

“Only Sefekh knows his damn power,” Val said at the same time. They might not understand, but Prime Minister Gilbert had figured it out earlier and explained to me the moment before Arthur and I dove out of the cave.

Khemet’s special power was the ability to strengthen others’ powers.

The prime minister had been curious about Sefekh ever since the knights dragged her out of the cave. She’d tried to hit the knights with water, but it was a mere splash rather than a jet. Prime Minister Gilbert couldn’t figure out why she was holding back; she’d blasted through the cage door and sent enemies flying when she was holding Khemet’s hand. That was when Prime Minister Gilbert put it all together.

“Sefekh did that?!” Val said. Apparently, he’d never witnessed the children’s combined power before.

“Sefekh always said she could do things like that if she used her full power,” Khemet said.

Apparently, he’d believed her explanation. I could see why she’d want to keep his power a secret; it was too incredible to reveal. If others learned of it, more than just the traffickers would come after Khemet, hoping to use him.

I should have figured it out sooner myself. The night before, when Val told me about Sefekh, he said that she blasted him with water at full force to wake him up every morning. Hitting him with something that could warp the metal bars of a cage would crush his face. Her power obviously came at different strengths at different times. That was why she hadn’t had the power to clear the rubble with her water jets either. She couldn’t reach Khemet to get his help.

When Prime Minister Gilbert explained it all, I knew there was still a way to save Khemet—if Val could reach him. I bet on their combined powers being enough to stabilize the cave, but I never imagined they could achieve all this.

Khemet now stared at his own hand, clenching and unclenching it like he barely recognized it. As his hand flexed, the cave pulsed in time, a giant heart beating around him. Perhaps I should have warned him about playing around with a power like that, but in that moment, I was too awestruck to say much of anything.

A smirk spread across Val’s face. He motioned at the ground, and it swelled at our feet, a path to the exit forming right under us.

“Ha!” Val barked a laugh, then slammed a hand to the ground, and the whole floor lurched up with a roar.

I shrieked. Arthur grabbed me. Khemet, still close to Val, clung to Val’s shirt.

“Huh?! What?! No way! No way, no way, no way, no way!” I was screaming in panic as the ground swayed like waves breaking. We were flying toward the exit, carried along by a current of rock. But while most of us were clinging to each other and shouting in fear, Val’s laughter rang out over the groan of the churning rock. Maybe I shouldn’t have shown Val this after all…

“Aha ha ha ha ha ha!”

He was like a kid with a brand-new toy. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me nervous. I told the man with quite possibly the worst judgment about Khemet’s power. The ground was moving so fast beneath us—until it stopped just as abruptly, launching us all forward.

For all his hysterical laughter, Val had timed it well. He landed smoothly, even with Khemet still in his arms. The rest of us weren’t so lucky. Arthur skidded across the ground, keeping me out of danger and taking the brunt of the fall himself.

Prime Minister Gilbert and the knights ran up to us, shock splashed across their faces. They had to be confused, what with the crazy shifting of the cave and us suddenly shooting out of it like some strange carnival ride.

“Khemet! Val!”

Sefekh pushed her way through the knights and let out a cry. Val set Khemet down and he flew into his sister’s arms. I decided I’d protect them by explaining everything away as Val’s triumph alone.

“Thank God… Thank God…” Sefekh sobbed as she held Khemet.

Relief washed through me. I’m so happy they’re all safe.

 

***

 

Clang… Clang… Clang…

“Woo-hoo! Everyone’s saved! I’ll just bet that’s what they’re all thinking right about now.”

Looking down on the knights from my place in the sky, I cackled at their little celebration. I adjusted my binoculars to bring them into focus and muttered to myself.

“Oh, but that sure was impressive. They moved that whole cave around somehow. So they’ve got themselves an earth power, huh? Whose is it?! Teepet! You’re not letting those knights catch on, right?”

It was tough to see the people below between the dark and the distance. Still, I scanned, trying to pick out anyone identifiable.

Beside me, Teepet listened silently, blank and mute as a doll. With the rope they wore around their head, it was difficult to determine their expression, their gender, or much of anything else. But I didn’t care. Teepet didn’t need to respond; they simply had to obey.

“Whoa! No one from Freesia was killed or injured? Or are they still stuck in there? If none of the products died once the knights got their hands on them, that’d be so anticlimactic, don’t you think?” Ignoring Teepet’s lack of response, I grinned at the men steering the hot air balloon we rode in. “You don’t really wanna haul the remaining half of our bombs back home, do ya?”

The men nodded, understanding. I wasn’t really commenting on the state of the bombs so much as issuing an order, one they were happy to comply with.

They leapt to obey.

And a shower of bombs rained down from the night sky.

 

***

 

Bang! Bang! Ka-boom!

Explosions cracked, sending shock waves through the air. Part of the area where we stood with the knights got blasted away in a blinding shock of orange.

My ears rang. My vision blurred. Pain pounded in my head as I searched for the knights, Prime Minister Gilbert, Val, the kids, anyone at all. I crouched, unable to stand quite yet.

“Are you safe?!”

“Call out if you’re injured!”

The knights shouted commands, trying to find order among the chaos. A figure emerged among the hazy cacophony. I squinted, but couldn’t make them out until they started screaming, “Sefekh! Khemet!”

Val found me before the kids. He furrowed his brow, searching around us.

“V-Val!” a small voice cried. Sefekh.

Val scanned all around, trying to see through the kicked-up dust.

“Val! Behind you!” I said, pointing.

The blast must have carried Sefekh quite a distance, because she lay sprawled out a meter from the edge of the cliffs where the cave perched. She dragged her way toward us, one leg lame, face twisted in pain.

“Sefekh!” Val bolted toward her, but just as he reached out for her, the ground beneath her crumbled.

The earth fell away like a slice of cake cut by a fork. Sefekh was too shocked to move.

“Goddamn it!”

Val leapt for Sefekh. He stretched his hands out and grabbed the girl’s arm. As he continued falling, he twisted, flinging her back to safety. She landed with a hard thud and coughed from the impact.

And then, Val…

 

***

 

Why…? Why is this happening to me?

The ground beneath me gave way. I made the mistake of looking down but couldn’t even see the bottom of the pit I fell into after throwing Sefekh to safety. It was like floating, wafting downward on the crumbling rock like a leaf drifting down off a tree branch.

Why’s someone like me doin’ this for one little brat?

But it wasn’t just one. Earlier, when I thought the cave-in would crush Khemet, I couldn’t leave him behind. What the hell was I thinking, throwing my own life away for some random punks? I never used to care what happened to anyone else as long as I made it out fine. Hell, I’d killed plenty of people myself. Now I was saving some kids?

Some part of me just couldn’t let them die.

I never wanted to lose Khemet and Sefekh ever again. The image of them right before they got kidnapped played in my mind over and over until I felt sick from the sight. My heart beat all funny, and something roiled in the pit of my stomach, leaving me nauseated. I couldn’t stand it anymore. Dying had to be better than living like this. The me from four years ago never woulda believed what a pathetic mess I was.

He never woulda believed how I’d given up everything for a pair of brats.

“I’ll answer your question. The suffering you feel right now is punishment.” That was what the princess told me the night before, and damn, was she ever right. This was one hell of a punishment.

I’d changed. I wasn’t the bastard who only cared about his own happiness anymore. And I hated it.

Whenever I thought about those two brats suffering, I hurt all over again. I couldn’t take it. When they smiled…I didn’t hate having them with me. For some reason.

“You’re most likely going to keep suffering forever to repay all the suffering you caused others.”

This was the end, then.

That was fine with me. I was finally gonna be free from all the pain. All the happiness too. All these damn confusing emotions would be gone. When I thought about it like that, dying didn’t sound so bad.

In fact, it was perfect.

“You don’t understand what it means to truly care for something because you’ve never experienced those emotions until now.”

She was right. I never cared about anything before. I never kept anything close to me. It made life easy; I could do whatever I wanted. I didn’t need anyone’s understanding if it meant they could affect me like this. I preferred to live the way I wanted without worrying about anyone else. It was so easy that way.

But for some reason, I’d reached my hand out to Sefekh. I knew when I did it that I’d die, but I just couldn’t let her take this fall. I’d rather die than sit back and watch her go through this instead. And even as I fell, the relief of knowing she was safe eased the fear.

Sefekh deserved to live more than someone like me. Khemet still needed her. That annoying princess who never shut up about saving her people was probably pretty pleased as well. But none of that had anything to do with why I saved her. My body had started moving before I could even think about it.

“Caring about people,” huh?

The wind brushed my back as my thoughts wandered. I couldn’t even tell up from down anymore.

I guess I found people to care about in the end.

Khemet and Sefekh were a blessing I’d never imagined for someone like me. I couldn’t even regret trading my life for theirs to protect them.

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad life, after all.

Even as I scoffed at myself, a warmth suffused my chest. I closed my eyes and surrendered to fate, letting the end come as it would…

“Open your eyes! Val!”

I gasped. My eyes flew open. Someone was there, diving toward me like a bird plunging out of the sky.

“What?!”

I blinked, but the person falling toward me didn’t disappear. This was real.

“I order you to grab my hand!”

My body responded before I even processed the princess’s command. I reached out for her, and our hands smacked together. She yanked me up, pulling me in against her.

“What the hell are you doing?! You’ll die too!”

What’s going on here?! What do you think you’re gonna do, brat?! You already saved all the captives. Khemet and Sefekh are safe too. What’s the point in coming back for me?!

“You’re one of the people of my kingdom, aren’t you?” she said without hesitation.

The princess looked right at me as she raised one hand to her mouth. The wind whipped past us, and I couldn’t tell what was up and what was down anymore. I stared back at her, unblinking, as she took a deep breath and…

Tweeeeeeeeeeee!

The piercing whistle rang even louder than the wind whipping past our ears. I grimaced at the sound, but the princess just drew a deep breath to do it again.

“Pride!”

The princess twisted and, seeing someone above us, broke into a wide grin. “Stale!”

He plummeted toward us, taking her hand. He offered me his other hand. The moment I accepted, the entire world blinked away. Looked like I wasn’t done with this life quite yet.

The wind vanished. The open air turned into solid ground. I was lying on my back, no longer falling, though my mind rocked at the sudden shift.

I was saved, saved by the princess of Freesia. Me. A man abandoned by the whole world. I just couldn’t understand it.

My parents were the first. Mom was born and raised in Freesia. She fell in love with Dad, a traveling merchant from a foreign country, and then they had me. Dad was barely around, always bouncing from place to place. When he came back, he’d leave us a souvenir. That was all I ever really knew of him. “The guy who leaves souvenirs.”

Sometimes he’d read me a book he brought back, usually ones from his homeland and written in their native language. I was way more interested in stories and customs from his homeland, since everyone there had the same dark brown skin I was born with, unlike here, where no one looked like me at all.

When I was seven, Dad disappeared for an entire year, and Mom finally gave up on him. Gave up on me too. She found a new man and ran off with him, leaving me behind at a garbage dump in the slums. Strangely, it didn’t really make me upset when Mom abandoned me. She’d never really given me a second glance those first seven years anyway.

I’d had to fend for myself my whole life. I was good at making do with what I had. As long as I had a roof over my head, it didn’t matter where I had to live. Part of me was glad to be rid of her; she spent half her time grumbling about Dad anyway.

Or, at least, I thought I was glad. Soon enough, the harsh realities of the world changed my mind about being on my own.

People threw stones at me. They robbed me. They threatened my life. I could barely do a thing about it until my special power finally manifested. Once I started growing, I could finally fight back—I could finally throw my weight around.

At fifteen, when I was staying with bandits, I heard whispers of an easy score with a good profit. I just had to head to some cliffs outside the city. Three years later, the damn princess ripped away my life, my work, my whole place in the world with that fealty contract.

“Those are my orders. You’re free to go, so begone from the castle.”

With that ridiculous order, she sent me out of the castle. I had no clue what she was thinking, but at least I didn’t have to deal with her anymore. So I thought, at least.

That princess was a monster. No eleven-year-old should have been able to cut down a bunch of grown men. And she even knew about my special power somehow. It gave me the damn creeps. If she hadn’t ordered me to stay in Freesia, I would have tried my luck somewhere else, just to get farther away from her.

“You’ll be released very soon. Tell me how you plan to live in the outside world.”

How the hell would I know? I’d lived on the fringes of society pretty much my whole life. She cut off my way of life and then demanded I find a means to go on. Still, it sounded better than dying, at least in the moment.

I decided to go back to the place in the slums where I’d been living a few years earlier. I wasn’t attached to it or anything; I just couldn’t think of anywhere else to go. With all my usual means of making money and surviving cut off, I couldn’t just stroll back into my old life.

By the time my feet had dutifully carried me to the house, I was surprised that anything at all remained. It was hardly more than four walls and a roof, but at least it still stood.

“There’s nothing in there.”

A little girl called out to me when I tried to step inside. My time as a trafficker had taught me how to guess at kids’ ages. I placed her at roughly seven or so.

“What, you live here or something?” I said. Out in the slums, folks would live in any place they could get.

“No, I don’t. I just sleep, eat, and hide in there.”

How’s that any different from living there?

“Okay, then,” I said, turning away.

“Are you leaving?” the brat asked. I wanted to strangle her for continuing to whine at me, but the contract wouldn’t allow it.

“Who cares?” But when I turned…

Clack!

A rock hit me in the back of the head. A couple of kids stood behind me, holding rocks, but I didn’t think I was their true target. No, they were actually aiming for that girl. It was so much like when I was a kid getting picked on for being weak. That was just how things went around here.

I glared at the brats with the rocks. They paled and took off running, not wanting to mess with the dark-skinned adult. If only I could chase after them and give them a proper beating, but that stupid contract held me back. All I could do was click my tongue and walk away.

I needed somewhere to sleep. I’d returned to Freesia from the cliffs just this morning; the second I found a place to rest, I passed out. But when I woke the next morning, I found that girl from the house sitting there staring at me, an even smaller kid in her lap.

“You slept a lot,” she said.

For a second, I just lay there, mind fuzzy. What the hell?

“Why the hell are you here?” I asked her. “Why aren’t you at that house?”

“We live here now,” she said, pulling the kid in her lap closer to her.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? I’d just woken up, and my head was already pounding. If only I could physically kick these kids out.

“I figure the safest place to be is with a guy like you,” the girl said.

I scowled. “Who’s the runt?” The brat stared up at me with big round eyes.

“I made him my little brother.”

“Made him,” she says. So I guess they weren’t related until they wound up here together.

“I’m busy,” I grumbled. “What am I supposed to do with you bringin’ your baggage here?”

“He’s not baggage. He’s the only family I have. Without me, he’d die.” She hugged her brother tighter as she spoke, and I noticed the bruises all over both kids’ arms and faces. They were so small, such obvious targets, like I was, with my brown skin that made me stick out in this pasty, pale kingdom.

“And that’s how you protect the kid?” I said.

She had to be using her own body as a shield. It was the only explanation for those bruises all over her.

“I’ll protect him from here on out,” she declared. “All I need to do is stay with you.”

“What the hell?!”

Just when had I agreed to be a babysitter for a couple of brats? This had to be some kind of sick joke. I wanted to smack her even for suggesting it.

“Cut the bullshit! You think I’m gonna walk around with a couple of brats on my tail?!”

“Don’t pay any attention to us. We’ll just hang behind you wherever you go. Think of us like air.”

I couldn’t dredge up anything more than a glare, but no matter how much I scowled, they just wouldn’t leave me alone.

At first, I just kept trying to get away. Up until that day, I’d sold, stabbed, and hurt all kinds of kids just like them. Now I couldn’t shake two brats who weren’t even ten years old. I even used my power to try to get them off my back, but they always found me again eventually. When I asked how they managed this, they smugly told me I was easy to spot.

An entire week passed this way. I eventually gave up and stopped bothering to check over my shoulder for them. I knew they’d be there.

Due to the fealty contract, the only work I could take was legal work. I ended up hauling rubble at a construction site. It paid enough for food and water, but the brats had to scavenge in the trash. They never once looked at me with envy or begged, though.

One month passed, then two. Then three. At times, I forgot they were even there, completely comfortable with their presence.

“Hey, brat,” I said one day as I lay in bed. “How long do you two think you’re gonna follow me around?” It was the first time I’d spoken to them in three months.

“Um…forever?”

“Are you serious?” I said with a sigh of frustration.

Gimme a break already. Was I actually stuck with these kids until I could find a way to shake them off?

“Hey, Mister, is your name Val?” the boy asked. He’d never spoken to me directly before. He sometimes whispered with his sister, but for the most part, he kept quiet.

“Yeah? What about it?”

The boy ducked his head. The girl muttered “Val” to herself. They must have heard someone use my name while I was working or something.

They sat in my house now, their shyness about getting closer completely gone. They huddled in a corner, wrapped in ragged sheets from my bed. Annoying as hell.

“What’re your names?”

They shot each other a glance.

“Trash? Scum?” the girl tried.

“Scum? Trash? Um, ‘Little Brother’?” the boy said.

I groaned. They were just listing the things other people called them. Gimme a break. It’s not like I can call you Trash and Scum on a day-to-day basis.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “So annoying…” I pointed at each child in turn. “Sefekh. Khemet. That’s what you should call each other from now on.”

“Sefekh. Khemet.”

“Khemet. Sefekh.”

They pointed at themselves, then each other, still confused by something as simple as a name. A headache started to form behind my eyes. Why couldn’t they just accept it?

“Why is she Sefekh and I’m Khemet?” His voice quavered as he asked.

I rolled onto my side, putting my back to them. “They’re words from another country. Sefekh means seven and Khemet means three. Those are pretty close to your ages, right?”

I didn’t know much of the language my father had taught me up till I was six, but I still remembered some numbers and a few basic words.

“If you don’t like them, then come up with your own names.”

With that, I shut my eyes and fell asleep to the sound of them muttering, rolling the names around in their mouths.

From that day forward, they talked to me more. It was a waste of time and a pain in the ass. I honestly spent a lot of time wishing I could just get rid of them once and for all.

It took a full year before I taught them anything useful. First lesson: Money. They didn’t even know what the stuff was, but once I taught them, they learned to beg and could earn enough for their meals.

After another year, they really got the hang of it. I learned about Sefekh’s special power when the kids came up with a scheme to use it to sell water. They both had special powers, which is how they’d ended up out on the streets. Sefekh had had to run away from her family, while Khemet was abandoned by his, all due to those natural gifts. Somewhere along the way, while they were sharing their stupid life stories, I shared a bit of my own as well.

I didn’t know why I kept talking to those clingy brats, but before I knew it, three years had passed and I still hadn’t eradicated those parasites.

“Hey, Khemet. Stop grabbin’ my pants. You’re getting in the way,” I snapped one day.

“Oh, sorry!”

“If you don’t want your clothes to get stretched, then you should hold our hands,” Sefekh said.

These brats had only grown cheekier as time passed. Khemet let go when I told him to, but the next day, he’d go right back to clinging to my pants. He and Sefekh were always holding each other’s hands, and sometimes they even tried that stuff with me. I just shook them off, bought dinner for the night, and headed back home, the two brats trailing behind me as always.

“Val, what did you buy for dinner tonight?” Sefekh asked me.

“Can’t you tell by looking?” I held up meat, an entire roast, and then explained it to them. We were lucky to have it. The butcher couldn’t sell it because it came from an animal that folks in this kingdom didn’t eat. That also brought down the price to the point where even I could afford it. I had only started eating it at my last job, when I started living at the cliffs.

After so much pestering about what it was, the kids cocked their heads at the explanation. Curiosity overtook any qualms they might’ve had about my snapping at Khemet only minutes ago.

“Give it a try,” I said.

I tore off a piece of meat and tossed it to them. I chewed some myself and found it pretty fresh. They’d already eaten the fruit and bread they bought for themselves, but now their eyes went wide. They rushed to grab the meat with both hands.

“Ouch!” Sefekh threw the meat on her lap and produced some water to cool her burning hands.

“We’re really allowed to have some of this?” Khemet asked. His eyes were so wide as he looked at me, like he didn’t even care that he just got hurt.

“It’s payment for the water,” I told them. “I don’t want to be spoiled by a couple of brats.” I bit off another hunk of meat and turned away, trying to forget the annoying brats. If it weren’t for the contract, I could have just left the kingdom and found whatever food I wanted.

The kids were gushing behind me.

“It’s delicious!”

“I’ve never tasted meat before!”

So damn annoying. This wasn’t a big deal. I was just repaying them for the water Sefekh made. It was no different from feeding stray dogs.

I glanced over my shoulder. Sefekh and Kemet were beaming as they bit into the cheap meat. Their eyes lit up. Grease smeared their faces and dripped onto their clothes. They were like animals eating. No, not animals.

“Little kids.”

All this time, and we’d never eaten a meal together. Just that took three whole years.

By the fourth year, they were living with me, infiltrating every single aspect of my life.

“Val! Val!”

I was at my construction job when I heard them calling for me. Sefekh and Khemet ran up to me, carrying something between them.

“Huh? What happened?”

I slung the bag of rubble over my shoulder and faced them. Maybe they’d had all their money stolen again or something, though that hadn’t happened in a while.

“We got fish! Fish! Someone gave me fish for water!” Sefekh cried.

“They let us have a whole fish, since it didn’t sell today!” Khemet said.

Their fish was bigger than Khemet’s head. The kids held it up proudly.

“I heard sunlight makes it go bad, so we’ll take it home now,” Sefekh told me.

“Please come back early today,” Khemet begged.

They were talking faster than I could keep up with, too excited to slow down. I figured they wanted to share their spoils with me, since they were taking it “home” and all. Behind me, my coworkers muttered.

“What’s that about, Val? Having a treat with the whole family today?”

“Aww, I’m jealous.”

Usually we kept to ourselves around here, but they got chatty when they saw the brats come around. They must’ve been looking down on me.

“They’re not my damn family,” I muttered.

“Right…”

“Oh…okay.”

I shooed the brats away, but my coworkers would be right back to pestering me about it the second we got our break. As soon as I told the kids to scram, they hung their heads and wouldn’t look me in the eye. What’s wrong with them?

“Let’s go, Khemet.”

“Um…Val, we’ll be waiting for you!”

Sefekh hugged the fish like some precious prize and tugged Khemet after her. I just shook my head and went back to moving rubble.

“Aww.”

“That wasn’t good.”

My coworkers tried to goad me into responding, but I ignored them and went back to work. We weren’t family. We just ate together. And lived together. They clung to me because I was useful to them. We’d started sharing the same bed and ragged blanket about a year ago, and those brats would cozy up to me even when it wasn’t cold. Every single morning, Sefekh stole the blanket for herself in her sleep, so I was thinking about getting another one soon. I could buy it if I had some spare change after I bought today’s dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast. Maybe I should have just gotten one for Sefekh, since she was such a restless sleeper.

I was still musing through all that when I finished work and headed home. I wandered without paying much attention, walking aimlessly through the slums until I wound up back at the hut without even noticing.

My house was a heap of rubble.

The old shed was completely gone. Three men stood before what had been my home, with the two brats wrapped up in chains. Khemet and Sefekh were sprawled on the ground.

“What the hell are you bastards doing?!” I shouted before I could pause to think.

No, what the hell am I doing?

I could tell right away that they were human traffickers. Kidnapping people from the lowest classes was exactly how they operated. That was part of the reason Sefekh and I kept our powers hidden—that kind of thing only made you a bigger target around here.

Then why bother with them?

Khemet and Sefekh screamed for me, but what could I do? There was no way I could get them back from the hands of the traffickers.

If they haul away these annoying little brats, it’ll be the answer to my prayers.

A huge beast of a man with a chain draped around both shoulders rumbled a laugh. Something coiled around my feet—another one of those chains. I gaped as the chain wound its way up my legs, but I wasn’t actually surprised. This was one of my coworkers. He was well known for a special power that involved chains.

I had only a moment to register all this before the large man whipped the chain around his shoulders at me. With my feet bound, I couldn’t dodge. The chain smacked into me, and I flew back until I hit a wall. The blows just kept coming after that, with the chain whipping down to sting my arms, head, shoulders, anything it could reach.

“Hey, stop hittin’ a good product,” a man growled.

“We’ve gotta get going. These days, it’s easy to get caught in the slums if you’re not careful,” another said.

The brats were still yelling my name. Sefekh struggled in her chains until one of the men snapped at her to shut up. She shrieked when he lashed out at her with his foot.

Just shut up and watch it happen. Don’t fight back. You’ll finally be free.

“Damn…you,” I groaned.

My whole body throbbed with pain, and blood rushed to my head. I tried to grab at the big man, but my limbs trembled. The chains came down again, a bright streak of pain lashing over my shoulders.

“Wait a second, look at his skin. He’s not from here.”

“No good then, huh? Should we kill him?”

The large man smirked at that suggestion. I’d known plenty of his type in my more disreputable past work. He’d like nothing more than to finish me off, but I sneered up at him and told him to piss off. I was going to add more, like the fact that I was actually Freesian despite my appearance, but a chain wrapped around my mouth and muffled me. Chains also gagged Sefekh and Khemet now.

“I know how we can use him.”

One man gave a signal, and the big man held back from ending me. He gave me another good kick in the stomach, though.

“Two nights from now,” he said. “Bring five people here. Five Freesians, and nothing else. Do that and you’ll get the kids back.”

Even with his mouth covered, I could hear the creepy smile in his voice. I wanted to tell him to go to hell, but I could manage nothing more than a groan. He kicked me in the head, leaving me with a pounding headache and a sneering “Good luck.”

The group dragged Sefekh and Khemet away by their chains. They were still crying out for me, though it was hard to make out with their gags. I felt sick. But why? What the hell was wrong with me?

Don’t screw with me. Give ’em back.

I gritted my teeth, trying to find some rubble to grab and fling at them. But my body froze up. I couldn’t fight back. All because of that damn fealty contract.

As I watched the men walk away with the kids, the princess’s words from four years ago flashed in my mind.

“If someone harms you, you can never retaliate.”

That monster had demanded that of me.

“No matter how hard someone strikes you…”

With my feet bound by chains, I couldn’t even chase after the traffickers. I tried to crawl instead, but my body screamed with pain at even the slightest movement.

“No matter how much they take from you…”

Khemet and Sefekh were screaming. Their shrill voices rang out until a man shouted, “Shut it!” A heavy thud. Then they went abruptly silent, knocked out.

“You can never so much as raise a hand.”

Gravel crumbled in my fist. I reached in the direction the traffickers went, but I couldn’t do a damn thing.

That didn’t stop my body from moving before my head could catch up.

“For you, it might be a fate worse than death, if you choose it.”

Give them back!

I pounded my fist against the ground, screaming around the chain gag. Hatred welled up in my chest, murderous intent burning hot.

“Aaaaahhh!”

Give them back, give them back, give them back give them back give them back give them back give them back give them back give them back give them back give them back give them back give them back give them back give them back!

An incomprehensible rage washed through me. I could do nothing but lie on the ground and writhe with nausea and heat and pain until the special power controlling the chains finally slackened. Some strange desire filled me, an urge I couldn’t control.

“If you find yourself in trouble, if you need help, come and speak to me.”

The fealty contract…had activated.

 

***

 

“I teleported us next to the medic carriage,” the prince said. “I don’t know what’s happening at the cave right now, so I think we should avoid going directly back and try to stay hidden.”

Stale teleported the princess and I behind a group of carriages and horses belonging to the Freesian royal order. Before he could teleport back away, the princess grabbed him and said, “Wait, let me confirm that no one nearby is injured.”

She peeked out from behind the carriage, standing on her tiptoes to get a better look. A few broken carriages sat around us but almost no injured people. It seemed the bomb targeted the cave specifically and not the broader area. The knights ringed a group sitting inside the carriages, protecting them from any sort of follow up attack.

“Those people over there were in the same cage as us,” she said. “Thank God they’re safe.”

She sighed with relief, still worried about everyone but her damn self.

“We need to get moving,” the prince said, and the princess took my hand again.

Just then, a shrill wail rose above the clamor of the crowd. There was something about that sound…

“Is that one of the rescued kids?” the princess asked.

No, that voice was…

My legs were churning before I realized what I was doing. I’d been tossed about by rubble, beaten with chains, and kicked sideways and back by life. But I couldn’t stop myself from rushing toward the sound. The wounds on my arms tore back open, gushing blood.

The freed captives sat in a carriage, but the cry came from just past that. The knights stiffened when I approached, but the prince and princess were at my side, ensuring I could pass without issue.

I rounded the carriage and finally found the source of the cries. It was the brats, crying and screaming. If the knights had even dared to approach them, Sefekh had probably fought back against them every step of the way. She was always on guard. When I worked back at the construction site, she wouldn’t even acknowledge my coworkers; she only spoke to me and Khemet. As for Khemet, well, he never did anything without his sister’s prompting, so if she was giving the knights a hard time, he was too.

It must have taken so much courage for her to approach me that first day—and all so she could make a better life for Khemet, a life where they were both safe. She’d probably switched over from begging to selling water so fast because she was terrified of adults. I’d realized a few years ago that she must’ve had some pretty terrible parents.

“Are they over there?” the princess asked, looking up at me. She and the prince were so small that they couldn’t see the kids.

I offered a quick obligatory nod, then started through the crowd. If I could have, I would have shoved the knights out of the way to get to those brats, but the contract prevented me from doing it, making my whole body scream. As I got closer, I could make out Sefekh and Khemet whining, “Val, Val” as they cried. They didn’t even attempt to quiet their synchronized wails, ignoring the droplets soaking their faces, their clothes, and the ground. They were like a pair of animals howling at the moon. My eardrums stung.

What’re you cryin’ so hard for?

My skin crawled, and my chest ached. Nausea clenched in my stomach. I never once heard them cry like that in all the four years I knew them, not even when the traffickers kidnapped them. It didn’t make any damn sense to me. Why were they crying if I’d just saved them?

I staggered, and one of the knights caught me by the shoulder. How humiliating, getting help from a knight. They were no better than the royal family, who had me figuratively in chains with their damn fealty contract. Even when the brats got kidnapped, my body had acted almost on its own. I trudged after them, screaming for somebody, anybody to help them in the ways I couldn’t due to the contract.

I knew I’d be better off without the brats. I’d be better off dead than having them attached at the hip. But while I could repeat that in my head as much as I liked, my heart betrayed me, forcing me to act whenever they were in danger. Struggle all I liked, I couldn’t shake the desire, the need, to rescue them.

Just what exactly was that pain in my chest? Or the anger that felt so much like nausea? That irritating feeling of suffocation? What could I call the sickness that was eating away at me?

Caring. Worry. That was what the princess called it. But up until that point, I’d never cared about anything beyond where I’d sleep any given night. I’d never worried, either. What point was there in worrying when I was already at the bottom of the barrel? It was almost comforting to look at things that way.

The suffocating feeling was new, though. I’d never felt anything like it before. Whenever I thought about those kids, it threatened to overwhelm me, to crawl up into my throat until I couldn’t even breathe.

I braced against the knight and stood up straighter. I shambled toward the kids, who had their backs to me. The people nearest drew back, opening a path from me to Khemet and Sefekh.

I stood right behind them, looking down at their shaking shoulders. I froze for a moment. I could run. I could let them think I was dead, escape them once and for all, and never have to deal with them again. The old me urged me to do it too.

But instead I just watched them cry. I watched their little red faces gush with tears as the trembling hollers tore from their throats.

I’d never cried like that in my entire life. I didn’t cry when my parents abandoned me, when people made fun of me, when the princess forced me to sign the fealty contract. I stood there and took whatever life threw at me…until that night. The princess’s words kept ringing in my mind, no matter how I tried to shut them out.

I dropped to my knees. Some part of me screamed, but I ignored it and wrapped my arms around Khemet, then Sefekh. They both jerked when I hugged them. They spun around, eyes fearful, instantly on the defensive with Sefekh about to strike—until they recognized me and gasped. Their mouths hung open, and they sat there frozen for an instant.

The next moment, they nearly tackled me to the ground. I sank to my knees, pathetically balanced by these little ones, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. If they called for me, I couldn’t tell. The sound came out as garbled sobs. Sefekh’s shrill voice pierced my ears from so close. Khemet buried his face against my chest, tears soaking into my clothes and stinging the wounds on my body.

Nothing had changed. They were still a couple of annoying brats. But I wasn’t going to let go of them now.

I tried to speak, but only a hoarse wail came out at first. I had to swallow and gather myself to try to rise over the sound of their crying.

“What an annoying family…” I grumbled.

They held tight and didn’t let go. The moonlight poured down, wrapping us in gentle light.

 

***

 

Clang… Clang… Clang…

“Heads up, everyone! It’s time to retreat back to the motherland. Freesia’s invasion was already over by the time we showed up. Some idiot went and used all our bombs by mistake!”

I yanked on the chains of the man in front of me. The prisoner lurched after me, already beginning to beg and whine.

“What sounds better?” I asked with an unabashed smirk. “Dying a horrible death to my special power or a regular old punishment once we get home?”

The captive trembled and cried, but I just grinned. “Oh, don’t you worry. I already know. I just wanted to be sure is all.”

I flicked the chains away and went to the edge of the balloon’s massive basket, ordering the driver to head for home. Knights in chains clanked and clinked as they shifted around.

“Don’t you forget, you slaves are nothing more than products to the rest of us,” I said.

I ignored the captives and gazed down at the Freesian knights far below. They scuttled around like insects waiting to be crushed.

“Just you wait, Freesia. Someday, every last one of you will be products to display on our kingdom’s shelves.”

My grin spread to include all my teeth. Oh, how I’d enjoy seeing those proud knights groveling.

“You’ll belong to the empire of Razia, and me, Adam the magnificent!”

I laughed to myself as the balloon drifted out of sight.