Preparation

A patrol of soldiers was looking around in a forest for a certain group of people. They had been spotted moving through the forest in haste. They were most likely moving towards the Parvusean mainland. The Parvuseans has had it rough lately, their king is a drunkard fool who has plunged his country into debt. Many Parvuseans have turned to banditry and drugs. The latter making many smugglers attempt to cross the borders with illegal amounts of opium and alcohol. However, these aren't just your run of the mill smugglers. Unluckily for the patrol, they didn't know this and was found dead the next week.

""Solace in books, knowledge in others""

Able had never been a people person, he preferred to stay away from other people mostly. Only really talking to others when he needed something. This is one of the factors that made him shut himself up in the library for over 5 years. In these 5 years he had been reading, only stopping when he really needed to do something else. Able had practically read every book in the library at least twice. The more interesting books he would read several dozens of times. Although the library is big it doesn't hold enough content to last him 5 years.

Of course, he didn't just read them. No, he would occasionally "correct" them, he didn't directly write in the books obviously. Able had two notebooks, one to write hypothesizes and one to write results. The second notebook was very important, as it held Able's tested theories and creations. This is how he would "correct" the books, though the corrections were only accessible to him.

Yesterday, Able had been confronted by the newly hired Court Wizard in the library. He didn't know how to react, and just continued to stare into his book. Able knew of the Court Wizard, she had been snooping in the library before. She probably thought that Able didn't notice her, but Able is great at pretending people don't exist. However, he didn't expect her to confront him directly. "Hey, did you by any chance fix a magic circle?" is what she said. Able flinched at her in response, not being able to form a sentence. "I can see that you have charcoal on your hand, and I don't know why you would lie to me but don't try it. I have spells to handle that."

This wasn't a question; this was an interrogation. "I-I'm not sure what you are talking about, madam?" Able managed to spit out a sentence. The Court Wizard sighed at his response but didn't give up there, "Don't try to play dumb, I have searched the entire castle and town for who might have fixed the magic circle but I have found absolutely nothing." Able didn't respond, or *couldn't* respond would be more correct. She sighed again and said "We'll continue this conversation tomorrow" and left.

Able was still shaken by the confrontation today. It didn't help that the Court Wizard would be looking for him to interrogate him further. 'Should I just escape?' Able thought for a second, then ruled that idea out because the Court Wizard is probably making sure he isn't going anywhere.

Able was currently in his room, and he could feel a number of magic booby traps set up everywhere. He then looked over to his solar calendar. 'I turn 13 today' Able thought. For most children this would be something huge, as it would mean they could enlist in the army in order to be trained. For Able though, this meant something completely different. You see, in this country there are certain restrictions put on children. One of them is that using magic spells under the age of 13 is strictly forbidden, but after the age of 13 you were allowed to use magic under the supervision of an adult wizard.

Able left his room and headed for the library, the Court Wizard probably expect him to go to the dining hall to get breakfast served. Able instead went directly to the library, that way he would have time to read a little before the Court Wizard dragged him away to her interrogation dungeon. Able was just outside the library when he felt something *strange* in the air. He tried to dismiss it as nothing special, but the feeling grew stronger the closer he came to the library. And just as he entered the library, there she was, standing there with a spell already on hand. Able didn't even have time to think before she pulled him in with a grappling spell and tightened him to a chair.

"Now then, I have made sure no one will come here today, boy. Now you will answer my question whether you want to or not!" The Court Wizard said almost demonically. In Able's eyes, the Court Wizard looked like a sadistic succubus, needless to say he was afraid. "So, did you or did you not fix the magic circle?!" The Court Wizard shouted at Able. Able was way too scared to form a sentence and just stuttered. "Still, not answering huh? I guess I'll have to use less *orthodox* methods" she said and looked at her staff. As she was about to cast a spell Able screamed the words, "I-I-I did it, OK?! So, please just don't put me in the dungeon, I beg you!"

"Huh? Why would I do that?" The Court Wizard asked. "Eh? So, you weren't interrogating me about using magic without the supervision of an adult?" Able looked suspiciously at her. Able had freaked about this, because his entire life he had lived by the rules. He also had no idea how other people interacted with each other and is unable to understand where people's priorities are. Able had just saved the lives of hundreds of people by fixing the magic circle, yet he is unable to understand that no one will care that he broke the age limit set on using magic. Everyone in court already knew Able had been using magic, even the king did. It's just that no one really cared, the age limit was mostly set in order to keep children from hurting themselves. Thus, because no one cares about Able he was allowed to practice magic in secret.

"… You do realize that no one would care about that, right?" the Court Wizard had met nutjobs before but this was her first time dealing with someone who has been this socially isolated. Able looked up to her from his chair. "Oh yeah, I should probably untie you" the Court Wizard didn't feel the need to tie him up anymore. Able then asked the Court Wizard, "But I broke the rules, didn't I?" to which the Court Wizard responded, "Yes you did, but you broke them for the good of other people didn't you?" Able nodded. "Then what harm has it done? You don't deserve punishment for doing something so heroic!" the Court Wizard proclaimed.

The words 'heroic' resounded within Able's head. It was a word he knew well from the many tales written about great generals and soldiers. However, he hadn't quite grasped what it meant. All he knew is that it involved helping others at the cost of their own life. Using that definition how was he heroic? Able didn't know, neither did he question it. Because being told that made him feel warmth and a sense of belonging. Able smiled to the Court Wizard, who smiled back. These feelings were something Able had been longing for a long time. The Court Wizard decided to sit down next to Able and said, "Now, why don't you show me how you fixed that magic circle?"

* * *

King Edward 'the Lionheart' was sitting in a camp listening to the reports from the scouts about the surrounding areas. Most of the surrounding area was mountainous terrain. More scouts poured in, none of them had reports of an enemy army. Then again, the King had sent out 40 scouts and only 34 so far had returned. The King saw his options and decided it was best if they packed up and left at the first sight of dawn tomorrow.

King Edward was a brilliant strategist, as the kingdom of Noibla bordered the Parvuseans to the north, dragons in the north-east and the numerous kingdoms to the south. Noibla itself was positioned on the west coast of Mittel and is the northernmost human kingdom. Noibla was no doubt the dominant power on this side of Mittel, this was achieved by the extreme martial society. The Noiblaen men used to be required to keep equipment on them at all times and was actively encouraged to train in the fields. Boys would be thought how to fight from an early age and girls used to be the influential land owners. This has largely shifted to favor men but women still hold significant influence as they will be in charge of farms and estates while their husbands are fighting. They can also inherit said land if their husbands died without them having a son old enough to take over. The rules aren't this extreme anymore, but it's a large part of Noiblaen culture to always carry arms and to be trained in combat.

This means that King Edward is boasting a 25K strong army that mostly consists of strong and well-trained men. However, King Edward knew better than anyone what he was up against, the people subjugated by the Dragon 'Daylbog' are fierce and loyal warriors. Daylbog arrived at this continent centuries ago as a young dragon, conquering everything he saw. He only stopped once he started having internal problems with the people from the lands that he conquered. Now that he had beaten the loyalty into the humans and Parvuseans living there, he was ready for an invasion of Noibla while it was weak. This had failed and the invading army was easily beaten back by the angry commoners of Noibla. This have made them learn to fear the Noiblaen people. Which might be why the defending army of Daylbog is too afraid to face King Edwards army head on and is most likely planning an ambush.

It was just a hunch that the King had, but if it was true, he could exploit it to trick the ambushing army to fight them in favorable mountainous terrain. King Edward was currently fighting an uphill battle against Daylbog's forces as he had just managed to get the army under control. Even so, he was confident that the spirit of Noibla would grant him victory.

The King's army packed up and left at dawn after getting some rest. Their plan was to deliberately march down the forest with a decoy army who would run towards the mountain side where the King's main army would be waiting to give them hell. The plan worked completely in the King's favor, just as expected, the enemy army was lying in wait and immediately charged the decoy when they marched past. Although somethings went different, in the end, King Edward had managed to capture the entire enemy army. Of course, this wasn't Daylbog's entire force and they still had ways to go before they could force the surrender of Daylbog, but for now they celebrate this major victory.

* * *

Court intrigue was no simple matter, you needed to be cunning, charismatic and willing to some unorthodox things to get what you want. Yet, spies were everywhere. There is always someone listening, not matter how private or intimate the meeting is. Emelia was heavily entrenched into the world of intrigue. Always prepared, always had a plan. Knew everything and everyone. Even with Emelia's skills there would always be someone listening. Intrigue rarely involved any magic shenanigans, mostly because magic is detectable. However, Emelia was a magician and she frequently used it in her operations.

The fact that she used magic was one of the reasons she had become effective. Her magic compromised of small, almost undetectable spells. They didn't do much, but it increased her effectiveness. Though, if they were so good why weren't every spy using them? Because these spells were tailor made by a talented mage back in Noibla and so really only fit her. Although, she had seen Able use some of the same spells to avoid being seen by other people.

The type of intrigue she was conducting now was mostly just preparation. Setting up spy networks, bribing officials and so on. Emelia's strength lied mostly in this part, as the execution of plans was mostly based on luck, all you could really do was prepare and gather information until the time came. The most essential things for a plot are people. Preferably the people in high positions or relatives and close friends of the target. However, for Emelia the plot was only a secondary objective. Her main goal was to gain power in the form of information and dirt on the other kingdoms and monarchs. This way she could control one or several kingdoms like they were puppets on her strings. All she needed to make sure of was that no one would cut those strings in the future.