37 Alessandria

Behind high marble walls that enclosed a grand palace of gold tipped spires reflecting the sunlight, a beautiful woman sat together with a regal old man. The woman had just come into adulthood, she had long blonde hair almost reaching the ground. Fair skin that would turn pinkish red in the sunlight and a soft yet slim body that echoed her pampered lifestyle.

The old man looked upon her with kind loving eyes. He was dressed in comfortable yet exquisite robes, rare metal and gemstones adorning the hems and cuffs. His head was still thick with grey hair and when he smiled the wrinkles on his face were that much more accentuated.

"Father, must I really go and placate that… boy?" The young woman asked, reluctance clear in her voice.

Not perturbed by his daughter's unwillingness, King of Morgania, Lexington Morgania caressed her hand with his. "I'm afraid it must be done. He was cursed while within our walls, we are the most likely culprits in their eyes."

First Princess Alessandria Morgania shook her head vehemently. "But we had nothing to do with that. We had done everything in our power to help him when he fell ill."

"I know my darling, but the true culprit is still at large. They have no reason to trust us. Even now their troops are gathering at the border, it is only a matter of time before the fuse is lit and war will be upon us." King Lexington said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

With a sigh, Alessandria adverted her eyes from his gaze, looking down to the floor. "What about my brothers? Surely they could talk to him?"

"You are by far the best choice, for…... obvious reasons." He said, almost embarrassed.

She took her hand away from his, anger in her face as she directed her eyes to his. "Is that all I am to you now? A bargaining chip that you pull out whenever needed?"

"You know better than that!" He said, reflecting her anger back towards her.

"You are the first Princess of the kingdom of Morgania, but most importantly you are my daughter. I could never 'bargain' you off to some upstart king." He paused, choosing his next words carefully.

"But, right now, I can not go about this issue by thinking like a father. I must also think of the people's lives that I am responsible for and do everything in my power to avoid a war. You must understand the role you play in this, don't you? You don't have to do anything untoward with the man, just talk to him, have him see reason. That is what I'm trusting you with, the future of both our kingdoms."

For a brief moment, the man sitting in front of her was not her father, nor was he the strong infallible King of her nation. He was an old and feeble man, worn down by the enormous responsibility that was on his shoulders, looking towards her to share some of the burden that he was sworn to carry.

The anger washed from her face, replaced by a soft smile. She took his hand with her own, patting it with the other. "I'm sorry father, of course I know better. I apologize for my childish outburst."

"All is forgiven, I could never really be angry with you." He said squeezing her hand.

Returning the gesture, she spoke. "I will visit Lenova then and request an audience with the newly crowned king. I'm sure I will be able to talk him down from whatever he may have planned."

…..

Time moved on quickly, the green leaves of summer were starting to show signs of fall. The evening air brought a chill along with it and the days were getting shorter. Lenova, the capital of the Kingdom of Amine had calmed down greatly. Any public dissent about what had transpired nearly a month ago was now almost forgotten, everything almost returning to normal.

The most notable difference that remained were the increased presence of regular soldiers. They were patrolling the streets much more regularly, although they did not do much, they still deterred some petty crimes from occurring. Other than the increased patrols in the city, recruitment notices had been posted all around the city asking the residents to answer their nation's call and enlist in the army.

Most people with any sort of income would never imagine enlisting in the army. The notices were mainly aimed at those with no other place to turn to, or to criminals that were unable to find work after being released. These sorts of people would only drag down the fighting effectiveness of the army, but they did not care; they only wanted souls that they could throw at they enemy, giving the knights and mages time to attack. Most everyone understood this, so only the truly desperate would answer the call.

Another notable event that had occurred was the coronation of the new king, King Alexander Amine, son of King Hector. The ceremony was, of course, closed off to the general populace. Only high-ranking nobles could attend. Even those of the rank of Baron were excluded, showing that even in high society there were still differing classes.

Now the city was once again in a buzz. The knights had made a reappearance, cordoning off certain districts of the city. At first when the knights rode their horses down the streets, the people began to think that another grand search was under way. They were soon relieved to see that they were wrong, it seemed that the knights were preparing to receive an esteemed guest.

None of this affected the Academy in any meaningful way. The gates were still wide open, allowing students and staff to move about freely. Professor Kal was making a rare appearance at the practice field, guiding his students in the proper way to handle Firebomb Potions.

Firebomb Potions were extremely volatile alchemical products that would react to any sudden shocks. Once disturbed, the potion would explode violently, producing a large fireball that burned white hot. The flames would be so hot that they were capable of melting steel and would burn for several minutes, depending on the mixture.

With an underhanded motion, Professor Kal lobbed a glass bottle at a dummy standing thirty feet away. His aim left one wanting greatly, hitting the ground over ten feet from the target. That was the beauty of the Firebomb Potion though, you just had to be close in order to kill your target.

As the bottle hit the ground, a flash of light caused the students to shield their eyes. Immediately after that, a loud boom could be heard as the shockwave caused their ears to pop. By the time they opened their eyes the dummy had already turned to ash as it was only made of wood and burlap, not able to withstand the intense heat. A sea of flames continued to burn in a circle of twenty feet with smaller fires spreading out because of the dry grass.

The students that stood a little too close to the flames had their eyebrows singed off as the wind happened to push the heat towards them. Immediately stepping back, they waited for instructions from Professor Kal.

"As you can see, it is imperative that you handle these potions with care, or you might end up like that dummy out there. Here, I'll make a better target for you guys to aim at." Professor Kal said as he summoned a small stone golem ordering it to stand still where the dummy once was.

One at a time he handed out Firebomb Potions, only giving them out when it was the student's turn. Although he adopted more of a carefree attitude, not even he would trust a child with such a dangerous weapon. One by one, the students threw their glass bottles at the unfortunate golem. By the time the last student stepped up for their turn a small crater had been burned into the field and the golem was melted together and was as smooth as a glass figurine.

"Alright, our time is almost up. Next week we'll go over how to craft a Firebomb Potion, class dismissed." Professor Kal said, dismissing his golem.

The students started to go their separate ways, chatting as they did so. Ben and Ryan stuck close to each other like they always have, Laura could be seen jogging towards them, her ponytail bobbing as she did so.

"Ryan!" She called out, catching his attention.

"Have you told your family about the trip?"

Laura had become an integral part of the group over the last few weeks. She got along well with both boys, especially Ryan. Ben just shook his head; they were both oblivious to their mutual affection towards each other. It was obvious for anyone to see it, but neither one of them would take the next step.

Ryan smiled at her, almost a little too enthusiastically, his face betraying his hidden feelings. "Uh, yeah. I just told my father that it was a school trip. He's always so happy for me when it comes to the Academy, I feel a little bad lying to him."

Laura had a wide smile on her face as well when facing him, though, when she started talking, she diverted her eyes towards the ground. "Yeah, me too. I told my father and mother the same thing. That it's a trip to study under another mage with the same affinity as me. Anything to do with my affinity causes them to get tunnel vision. Sometimes I think that's all they see me as anymore."

"Well, I think you're perfect just the way you are, affinity or not." Ryan said, his ears turning read as he realized what he'd said.

Looking up, Laura's bright smile returned to her face. "Really? That means a lot. You wouldn't believe what my parents have been like ever since I found out. At first it was great, but now they treat me like some commodity being sold off to the highest bidder."

Seeing how down she was becoming talking about her parents, Ryan changed the subject. "So, where do you think the Professor will take us when we leave?"

"I don't know, but it's exciting, isn't it? It's like an adventure!" She yelled out, clearly excited.

"As long as it doesn't end up like it did in the forest." Ben said from the side, clearly forgotten by the two others.

Ben's words seemed to have awakened long forgotten memories, Ryan and Laura's faces dropped while turning pale. An awkward silence fell over the group as they slowed down their steps.

"Well, I see I've done my part." Ben said as he embarrassedly rubbed the back of his head.

"I'll see you later Ryan, bye Laura."

With those parting words Ben hurried off to the main building of the Academy, leaving Ryan and Laura behind. The awkward silence continued for a little while longer between the two when Laura broke it.

"Hey, Ryan?"

"Y..yeah?"

"Do you…do you want to go into town with me after lessons end?" She asked, looking at him expectantly.

"YES! Er, sorry, I mean, sure, that sounds like fun." Ryan yelled out before quickly correcting himself and his face turning red.

"Great, I'll see you at the main entrance then. Bye!" Laura said as she bounded off towards the main building, following the same path Ben had used.