"Forgive me for being so sudden. Do you think you could prepare the ship for them?" Callen said to Halad.
After the incident at the port and deciding that Lin would take them to Tarzovia, Callen went to speak directly with Halad.
"Princess Zara here, and I knew nothing about it." Halad rubbed his forehead. "The Goddess could appear and I wouldn't even notice."
"Don't blame yourself for that. For some reason, it seems we're good at going unnoticed."
In the room below, Jullie kept the group company, chatting amicably with Lin, Zara, and Derek, while Alice listened in silence.
"I can give you the ship. It won't be anything out of this world, but it will be enough," Halad said.
"That's good. If possible, I'd like them to leave today," the prince added.
"There won't be any problems." The noble looked at the situation on the floor below, then returned his gaze to Callen. "Prince, forgive me for intruding, but are you sure this is the best?"
"Of course it's not the best. The best would have been for those assassins to never have appeared at all." Callen sighed.
"What will you do, then?"
Callen hesitated before responding.
"I would go see Father directly, but not even he can easily intervene in the Temple's affairs." He cleared his throat. "So I'll go meet with Princess Olivia."
Halad nodded slowly.
"If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask. After all, it's thanks to you that I'm still alive." The noble gave him a bow.
"Callen, I have to tell you something."
Zara came up the stairs to them. Callen hadn't seen her arrive, and Halad quickly withdrew to the first floor to give the two siblings space.
The princess stared at him for a few seconds—doubtful, nervous. Callen watched her with a raised eyebrow. From his experience, Zara only got like this in two situations. The first was because she had done something very stupid. The second was because she had discovered something that was hard for her to say.
"Speak, come on. The longer you keep it to yourself, the worse it'll be," Callen told her, offering a small smile.
"Well..."
The princess let out all her air, then took a big breath.
"I know it'll sound strange, but you have to believe me. Listen, I..."
The princess told her brother everything that happened in the ruins in great detail. How she seemed to activate the ruins, how they reacted to her spirit, how her hair and eyes changed to a golden color for a brief period of time. Plus, most importantly, her little encounter with that form of light.
Callen's reaction was to stand with his mouth open, his gaze lost on his sister's face.
"Are you a spiritu—!?"
He couldn't finish the sentence because Zara hurried to cover his mouth.
"Shhh!"
Those below looked up at them but returned to their conversation seconds later.
"Only Derek knows what happened, because he was with me, anyway," the princess began to say while removing her hand from her brother's mouth. "I don't know what happened or what that power is. Do you know anything?"
"Spiritual abilities are different when they deal with very specific concepts. I've never heard of something similar." Callen's eyes then lit up. "But I think I know someone who has."
"Olivia."
"Olivia."
The two siblings said at the same time. Upon remembering their sister, Callen couldn't help but look at Alice. He remembered how Olivia had asked him to kill the Tarzovian woman if he had the opportunity. After everything that had happened, he could only ask himself, why? Another explanation he had to ask her for.
"Luckily, I'll be heading to see her from here. If I'm not mistaken, she should be in the border city of Duruak."
"That Tarzovian city Father conquered two months ago?"
"And what marked the beginning of the war." Callen sighed. "I don't know what Father is looking for with all this, but one thing is certain—there's no turning back now."
The princess lowered her gaze while gripping the clothes she wore with her hands.
"Is it really necessary to continue this war? Isn't there a way to stop it?"
Callen looked away.
"The mutual blows have already been too many. That damned city—even now the population refuses to submit. I hope Olivia doesn't do anything she'll regret."
Zara sighed—not calm, but understanding that the situation was truly irreversible. The hatred between the two kingdoms was already high enough before the war. Now it had only increased.
"If Olivia manages to give you any answers, I hope you'll write me a letter," Zara finally told him.
"It'll be complicated to write a letter to an unknown place," Callen added, smiling. "If the situation doesn't worsen, head to Fenris."
"They won't. They probably won't even realize you're Princess Zara."
Zara remembered how Lein hadn't recognized her at first and decided to agree with her brother's words.
Both siblings looked once more at the floor below, where a guard was withdrawing after saying something to Halad.
"Prince, the ship is ready to be used," Halad told him.
Callen went down to the first floor, followed by Zara, who slid down the stair railing.
"I always wanted to do that," she said upon landing with a triumphant expression.
"Does everyone have their things ready?" Callen asked the group of four.
They all nodded, though Lin looked downcast.
The orange of the sunset flooded the village and reflected on the ocean. The streets were beginning to empty, the fishermen were returning from the sea, the guards were beginning to patrol with greater intensity. Though he had only been here a few days, the prince had grown accustomed to seeing the activities of these people. He felt good connecting from time to time with what the village did.
In a few minutes, the group reached the port, where the enormous pirate ship that Viss's crew had once used was anchored.
"Callen," Lin said, stopping beside him.
"Tell me," Callen responded.
"You're not thinking of giving me command of that ship to transport only three people."
"That was exactly what I was thinking."
"Whoa, we'll travel on a pirate ship!"
In the background, Zara looked extremely happy with the idea of traveling on that ship, which was clearly built for a larger crew than just four people.
"You were a pirate for a long time. Surely you know something about crewing a ship."
"Yes, I do know how to crew, but with this ship we'll draw the attention of half the ocean."
"Then it's good that the 'captain' is someone as good as you, don't you think?"
Lin smiled with pride.
"Weeell, if you put it that way."
Alice, with the apathy that characterized her, was the first to board the ship to get away from the others. Derek followed her, carrying the little luggage they had.
"See you, Callen! Take care!" Zara shouted from the boarding plank, waving her hand.
Callen returned the farewell. He would never understand how his sister was capable of going through all this and recovering almost instantly. It seemed that excitement overcame her fear or doubts.
"So, I suppose we'll be apart for a while," Lin whispered to the prince.
"That seems to be the case, yes," Callen said. "Once you're done with them, head to wherever the imperial army is stationed. I'll probably be there at that moment."
"Of course, I'll keep it in mind." Lin walked until she stood in front of him. "Goodbyes aren't my thing."
The woman said goodbye to Halad and Jullie with a small gesture of her hand, then turned to Callen and, taking him by surprise, gave him a small kiss on the cheek.
"Don't miss me too much, little prince. See you." The girl withdrew with a kind of triumphant smile.
Zara watched with her mouth open as she walked up to board the ship. Jullie had brought a hand to her mouth, and Halad stood without blinking. Callen, for his part, just stood still, and though his face couldn't be seen, he knew he must be blushing.
"That damned pirate..."
Zara ran after Lin, who headed to release the masts, freeing the enormous sails of the ship, while Alice and Derek raised the anchor. In a few seconds, the vessel began to move.
"Until we meet again, friends!" she shouted, raising the hat that had belonged to Viss while taking the ship's helm.
"Prince, I didn't know that you two..."
"I don't know what you're imagining, but the answer is no," Callen said, bringing his hand to his face.
Though he seemed annoyed or uncomfortable, the truth was he was happy. He didn't know why—or perhaps he did know but it was just hard for him to accept it. He didn't remember the last time he had a moment like this.
Far away, to the south, at that very moment, a woman with long white hair watched the city stretching beneath her feet from a window. Reflecting the sunset light on her monocle and her crown, accompanied only by her thoughts.
Thoughts about her siblings, worries. Would Zara be all right? Would Callen have found her? Would they have had any problems? Those thoughts betrayed her and barely let her sleep. Now, added to her worries, her father had sent her to the border city, Duruak.
Apparently, they were about to finish a weapon capable of breaking through the enemy ranks, and she was to oversee that it had good results.
"Hey, princess, you look worried."
"How are the preparations going, sorceress?"
"Good. That impressive weapon we've built seems to work. You'll go see its debut tonight, right?"
"Tonight is soon, and yes, I'll go. After all, I was the one who directed that project."
Olivia sighed before pulling away from the window.
"News about my sister?"
"None. My mages couldn't detect her in the Rest."
Olivia bit her lip while striking the window.
"You should rest, princess. Dark circles don't do your face any favors."
"I'm fine. I'll rest after the demonstration."
The princess pulled out a small pocket watch, observed the movement of the hands for a few seconds, and put it away again.
"Let's go. They must be waiting for us." The princess made a motion for Melissa to follow her.
The two women walked through the hallways of what appeared to be a mansion, now abandoned. Olivia looked at the paintings on the walls—paintings of the family that once lived here, the leaders of this city, probably. Upon reaching the patio, she found several people.
The group didn't exceed twenty, but by their elegant suits and military garments, it was clear they all had decent positions in the imperial army. They were all around a cloth blanket that concealed a long object.
"Princess." One of the men greeted her, and automatically everyone bowed to her.
"Gentlemen, you're forgetting someone here." Melissa pointed to herself.
Though some seemed to complain under their breath, they also gave a slight bow to the woman, who seemed to enjoy the attention.
"We're curious, princess. What is so important that made you gather us here?" another of those present asked.
The princess advanced until she stood before them, then drew her weapon. The dark runes surrounding the drum caught everyone's attention.
"This weapon was a discovery I made during an exploration of some Illuminated ruins," the princess began to explain. "Originally there were two, but I used the second to learn how they worked."
As she brought her finger close to the trigger, the runes began to glow in a light blue color, and they began to spin around the weapon.
"Its function is simple. These runes absorb part of my spirit and convert it into a projectile."
The servants brought a suit of armor to the place. Olivia aimed and fired twice. Upon impact, they left two holes in the armor. The people began to applaud at the demonstration.
"Unfortunately, it's still not powerful enough to pierce other thicker materials."
She fired this time at the rock wall, which only left some scratches.
"And what does that have to do with the demonstration?"
"I'll get to that now." The princess walked to the cloth. "My father asked me to thoroughly investigate how this weapon works. The truth is, building more is impossible, but we've managed to recreate the runes the Illuminated used."
She grabbed the cloth as night began to make its presence known, hiding the last rays of the sun.
"By embedding them in other weapons, we managed to increase their performance. Though it's not much more useful than Barsenium for weapons or armor, we discovered something interesting."
Olivia pulled the cloth aside, throwing it away, revealing a cannon with wheels. A cannon surrounded by two pairs of runes similar to those on Olivia's weapon. Everyone began to whisper in amazement.
"The spirit is unstable—explosive, perhaps some would describe it—and it seems the Illuminated found a way to imbue it into some artifacts. Would anyone do the honors?"
One of those present stepped forward—an old man with gray hair who had no left arm.
"What should I do, princess?" the man asked.
"Just put your hand on that lever."
The man did so. The moment he made contact, the runes began to glow and spin just like on Olivia's weapon. They aimed the cannon at a tower about to collapse, a product of the siege that caused the city to fall two months ago.
"Pull the lever when you're ready."
The man pulled the lever. The thunder made everyone cover their ears, but they were able to watch in amazement as the cannon projectile, now with a blue glow, crossed the air, faintly illuminating the night sky.
"That, gentlemen, is what will lead us to victory."
Upon impacting the tower, a great explosion followed, which brought down everything and barely left rubble. Olivia had ordered that area to be evacuated just in case, so there shouldn't be any problems.
When the smoke dissipated, all that remained were the remains of the tower—those that didn't fall to the street, at least. Everyone looked amazed, so much so that silence was present until the smoke completely cleared.
"For two months we've abstained from launching more advances. The snow and the Tarzovian walls were in our way. We couldn't maintain a siege in a territory that disadvantaged us."
Everyone present turned to look at her directly.
"That disadvantage ends today. There will be no more prolonged sieges. The moment that cannon fired for the first time, the war ended. We win."
All the men began to applaud at the princess's demonstration. Yes, that was her deep down—an armorer, an inventor who only invents weapons, the princess of a nation that only seeks war.