30

The morning sun warmed the kingdom of Librona, its golden rays stretching over the land. Calliope strolled along the streets of Alryn, admiring the fresh fruits and vegetables the farmers brought from their farms outside the city. A bright, red apple caught her eye, and she handed the man a coin in exchange, thanking him. She took a bite of the juicy apple as she walked and smiled.

She watched as the people of Librona busied themselves, bartering and calling to one another. Children pushed their way between legs as they scurried through the usual morning's crowds. She spotted William and Jon together, as they always were, amongst a group of giggling women. The two friends inched closer to them as they spoke proudly of some exaggerated adventure. They caught Calliope's gaze and waved her over. The women watched in awe as she approached them.

"Calliope, tell my friends here I'm not lying," William said. "I saved you from those Nequam, didn't I?" He nodded slowly at her, hoping that she would go along with his story.

"Oh, yes," Calliope said, feigning relief towards her savior. "If it weren't for William, I'd probably be dead."

The women looked at William with admiring eyes.

"I always believed Calliope was a good witch," Jon chimed in. "Right, Calliope?"

Calliope nodded. "Jon was the only one. He stood up for me. Such a caring man." She batted her eyelashes at him playfully. The woman then turned to Jon and sighed.

Calliope smirked and rolled her eyes as she left William and Jon to their flirting. She bent down and fed the remains of her apple to a stray dog who took it gently from her hands.

"There you are," a voice behind her said. Mido trotted up to her side.

"Here I am," she said. She scratched the dog behind the ear before standing up.

"I was wondering where you went off to."

She looked to Mido and smiled slyly. "I'm sorry, your highness. I didn't know I had to stay cooped up in the castle."

Mido rolled his eyes. "I would just appreciate it if you told me when you were going out."

Calliope bowed to him dramatically with a smirk on her face.

"Calli, I'm serious. Not everyone here loves you."

Calliope shrugged. "They won't mess with me."

Mido's gaze darted over the morning crowd. He spotted Barric and Carsen; their eyebrows pinched together as they met Mido's gaze. The two men had been quiet since their last encounter when they first met Calliope. They were not keen on trusting Calliope then and they still did not trust her now. Mido pushed closer to Calliope, narrowing his eyes at the two men.

"Let's hope not," Mido said, pushing Calliope along. Calliope followed his gaze.

"Don't worry about them," she assured Mido. "They won't do anything. They'll be banished by the king."

"Still," Mido persisted, turning away from the men, but Calliope was no longer at his side. His heart leapt in his throat as he searched the crowd for her, his eyes darting back and forth. A warm glow of light caught his attention. He turned to see Calliope waving her hands before a group of giggling children. A golden ball of energy grew from her palms. She tossed it gently in the air and it burst, scattering colorful flower petals around them. The children jumped and grabbed at the falling petals with their tiny hands. Calliope grew a delicate lily from the ground, picked it from it's home in the dirt, and placed it in a little girl's hair.

Mido sighed and made his way to her. The children dropped their flower petals when they saw him and hurried to his side.

"Where's Lily?" a little blonde girl asked him.

"Can I feed her a carrot?" A little boy waved a carrot in the air at him. His dirty brown bangs bounced over his eyes.

"No, she likes apples, better," the girl retorted, an apple in her hand. She jumped in the air in an attempt to bring the apple closer to Mido's face in hopes of grabbing his attention.

"Lily's at the royal stables," Mido said. The children awed and whined. Calliope got to her knees and pulled a letter out of the air.

"Give this to the soldiers," she said in her most serious tone. "This special pass will let you into the stables, but nowhere else." She handed the letter to one of the boys who gazed at it in awe. Without hesitation, the children took the letter and dashed towards the castle.

"Really?" Mido asked as Calliope stood. She smiled at him and handed him a lily.

"A lily for Lily," she said. Mido took the flower from her and admired it, watching Calliope from the corner of his eye. He shrugged.

"Thanks." He smiled a crooked smile at her, twirling the flower between his fingers.

"Sure," she said.

"So, we're forging fake notes for children, now?" a voice behind them said. Mido and Calliope turned to greet their friend.

"Hi, Ian," Calliope smiled at him.

"I have a hoard of little people in the stables with what I'm pretty sure are stolen carrots and apples."

Calliope giggled. "How odd."

"That note reeks of magic, Calliope."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. That royal decree must not be taken lightly."

Ian smiled. "Of course. We must not upset the witch. She could turn on us at any minute." He bowed to her.

"I would think the king's head soldier would have something to say about this," Ian said, straightening and turning to Mido.

Mido threw his hands up. "I have no control over her."

"Clearly."

"And he's not the head soldier," Calliope interrupted, stealing a sly glance in Mido's direction.

"Not yet," Ian pointed out.

"Please stop putting ideas in his head," she said. "Don't get any ideas," she shot at the grinning Mido.

"I'm practically a knight," he said to her. "I could go off to war at a moment's notice. I must obey my king."

Calliope scoffed. "I guess it's a good thing there won't be any war," she said, mocking him.

"Now, now, Mister and Misses," Ian said.

"Mister and Misses?" Calliope echoed in question.

"He's calling us a courted couple," Mido explained, narrowing his eyes at Ian.

"Witches cannot be courted," Calliope said, crossing her arms.

"Can you go check on Lily?" Mido asked her.

Calliope turned to him, caught off guard by his change in subject. His expression was suddenly serious.

"Yes, of course," she said. She smiled to Ian and made her way towards the castle.

"Did you find anything from Samus?" Ian asked when she was out of sight. He and Mido made their way through the crowd with no destination in mind.

"Not much," Mido said.

"Well, as long as she doesn't drain herself on petty tricks, she'll be fine."

Mido said nothing for a moment, deep in thought. Calliope seemed to suspect something, and it worried him.

"What are you thinking?"

Mido sighed. "Nothing. You're right. And I don't want her getting any ideas, anyway."

Ian stopped and Mido turned to him. "We've got company," he mumbled. Mido spun around to see Barric and Carsen approaching them.

"What do you want?" Ian asked.

"Where'd your witch go?" Barric asked.

"Back off," Mido growled.

"I thought we were at an agreement?"

"She's just playing with the kids," Ian said.

"She is not to use her powers within the kingdom," Carsen barked at them.

"And you're not to be anywhere near her," Mido stated. "Go home."

"If you don't control your bitch," Barric hissed. "we're going to the king."

Mido felt his face heat up. Ian's hand pulled at his arm.

"King Sloan is on our side, not yours."

"We can change that."

"Get out!" Mido yelled at them.

They fixed their gaze hard on Mido for a moment before backing away.

"Of course," Carsen mumbled. "We wouldn't want to piss off the king's favorite soldier." They spat at the ground, turned, and walked away.

"I'll kill 'em," Mido yelled, pulling angrily away from Ian.

"Mido, relax. They won't touch her."

Mido glared at the two men as they disappeared in the crowd. He could feel the rage boil inside him. He huffed and turned away, walking towards the castle. Ian hurried to his side and walked with him.

"You need a break," Ian said.

"A break from what?"

"From Calliope. You don't need to babysit her."

"Yes, I do."

"Why?"

"Because she's going to hurt herself."

"No she's not."

"I'll end up finding her dead somewhere because she was too busy entertaining the damn kids."

"That's a bit extreme. I don't think that will happen."

"Or Barric and Carsen are going to lure her somewhere and kill her."

"Calliope knows to stay away from them."

"You don't know what they're capable of. They don't care if they get banished."

Ian sighed. "You're worrying too much about her. Let me take care of her for a while."

Mido scoffed at him. "Okay, good luck with that. She's a handful."

"You act as if she's a child."

"Well, she is only three."

Ian rolled his eyes.

"I can take care of her."

"What? You don't trust me?"

"No, you know that's not it."

Ian smiled. "Oh. Of course."

"Stop it," Mido growled.

Ian nodded at a group of soldiers that walked by as they entered the castle's grounds. He sighed as he looked upon the castle's towers.

"What?" Mido asked.

"Just funny. You would have given anything to see her dead six months ago."

Mido ignored him as they approached the stables. Inside, they found Calliope lifting the children up to feed carrots to the horses. She smiled when she saw them walk in. The children ran and giggled, jumping into piles of hay.

"All right," Ian yelled. "I think you've tortured the horses enough."

Mido walked to Calliope's side and patted his mare on the nose. She nickered quietly.

Ian gathered the children around him. "I'm taking your royal decree away. Time to go home." He herded them out of the stables, leaving Mido and Calliope alone.

"Shall we go to the house?" Calliope asked, patting Lily's neck.

Mido shook his head. "I don't think there's anything there to find. It's been weeks. If he had anything, he destroyed it."

"Oh," she said, disappointed. She shifted her gaze to the ground.

"Maybe we'll find something, someday," he said in an attempt to reassure her.

Calliope shrugged.

"You shouldn't be using your magic, anyway," Mido reminded her. "We came to an agreement with Barric and Carsen."

"You can't stop me from being a witch. It's who I am."

"Calli, I'm just trying to protect you."

"You're trying to change me."

"Calli, you know that's not true."

"You don't know what it's like. It's like keeping a horse from running. I was born, created, to run, to use my magic."

Mido bit his lip. "Calliope."

Calliope met his gaze, furious. His face was soft.

"We'll figure something out, okay?"

She averted his gaze and shrugged.

"Promise me you won't worry about it right now and just lay low?"

She sighed. "Okay."

"Promise."

She rolled her eyes. "I promise," she mumbled.