Finding himself unable to sleep after his near-death experience, Adrian opted to take a midnight walk, figuring he had seen enough of the palace to find his way back to his room.

The halls, though devoid of any servants or nobles, were in no way empty--just as many guards, if not more, patrolled the halls than they did in the daytime. Adrian didn't pass a single guard without being noticed and intercepted--when they recognized him as the visiting human, they visibly relaxed then advised him to return to his room, as to not alarm any more guards.

Even so, Adrian knew he wasn't going to get to sleep anytime soon, and pacing in circles in the cramped room would drive him crazy, so he finally decided to ask a guard if there was a place he could walk where there were no guards. He was directed to the center courtyard, which was large and not heavily guarded, being far from the quarters of anyone distinguished and practically in the center of the palace grounds.

Using the directions given to him, Adrian made his way to the courtyard, taking careful note of his surroundings as to not get lost on the way back. Eventually he glimpsed the arches that marked the open entrance to the courtyard, picking up his pace with his destination in sight.

He slowed, though, as he glimpsed a flash of amber light shine off the glossy white stone. His mind raced back to the night in the forest, to a plume of fire engulfing the world. Heart accelerating fearfully for the second time that night, he crept forward, considering calling for the guards.

He peered around the pillar into the courtyard as flash after flash lit up the night. Bursts of fire, proud and orange, stood clearly against the black backdrop of the sky. Eyes struggling to adjust to the dark after the sudden bright, Adrian could make out a silhouette in the center of the courtyard, an amber glow already building up in its hands.

Again he was blinded by the burst of the fire. Tentatively, Adrian stepped out from behind the pillar; he thought he recognized the figure in the courtyard. "...hello?"

The figure froze and glanced over at him. "Who's there?"

The voice confirmed his suspicion. "It's, uh, me." He walked down the steps into the courtyard, a large, square area surrounded by the walls of the palace, an arched entrance on each of the four walls. Even through the pitch black of night, the courtyard appeared to be empty and decrepit, the stone pavement gray and cracked.

Blaise hurriedly pulled her red cloak over her shoulders as Adrian approached, though there was only a mild chill.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" She regarded him cautiously, a nervous air about her, as if she 'was ready to run off at a moment's notice. Her eyes flitted around, searching for shadows that weren't there.

"Taking a midnight walk," said Adrian. "I couldn't sleep."

Blaise eased up somewhat, sending him a sympathetic smile. "Oh, I understand. Those jerks put you under a lot of pressure."

"Mm." Adrian frowned at Blaise, who still seemed on edge. "What are you doing out here?"

Blaise tensed and averted her gaze. "I'm..." A thought seemed to occur to her, and she chuckled gently to herself, relaxing once again. "Practicing. Practicing my magic."

"Is that so." Realizing that sounded a bit standoffish, he quickly added, "But don't you need sleep?"

Blaise scowled and crossed her arms. "Those jerks in the council say that too. 'Don't practice during the night, Blaise, it's not good for you!' 'Blaise, you need sleep.'" She scoffed. "But then the next day, they say, 'Practice, practice, practice!' 'You're still not good enough!' 'You need to work harder!' Gah!" She kicked a loose stone, sending it skidding across the courtyard. "No-good hypocrites, that's what they are."

"That's...unfortunate."

"Kaia's the only good one." Blaise sighed. "But the rest...they shouldn't chosen me for the position if they thought I was so 'inexperienced.'"

Curiosity piqued, Adrian asked, "How did you get chosen, then?"

"After the previous councilwoman died three years ago, the council was caught off-guard," muttered Blaise. "She was so talented; her death was unexpected."

"How'd she die, then?"

Blaise stiffened somewhat. "A dirty sneak attack, that's how. Since everything's been so unstable with the attacks, they needed to fill her position, and fast. I was told the usual process would take too long--"

"What's the usual process?"

"Well," said Blaise, "you've probably have noticed each council seat is held by a separate magic type. Each seat's controlled by a really big family with that magic. Usually, when a seat needs to be filled--which is really rare, since we don't lose councilmembers often--a pool of candidates in that family is chosen by the council, and the citizens vote for the council member out of that pool."

Before Blaise could continue, Adrian cut in. "Does one family always hold the captain place?"

At this Blaise frowned, and paused to think before answering, "I'm...not sure. Astin's been the captain for longer than some of us have been alive. I...I think the captain position is always held by the Sidereus family. That would make sense, so that way the power is balanced--they really like balance."

"What's this balance? What magic does Astin have?"

"Well, I was taught that they try to keep an equal amount of power between each of the magic types, so other families in the kingdom don't feel unfavored and get angry. The Sidereus family has dark magic, a really rare type only found in their family--within this kingdom, at least. So when they're captain, nobody else is left out."

"What magic does the monarch usually have, then?" asked Adrian.

"Light magic," said Blaise. "It's bad for combat, which is why it's not in the council. It's great for balance, though. When an angel with light magic has children, each of the children will have a different type of elemental magic, and one child with light magic. If there's more than five children, the cycle repeats. So the child with light magic, usually the oldest, is the heir to the throne and the other children are given other jobs."

"Sounds like a fragile system."

"It is," agreed Blaise. "Which is why the killer is messing us up so much. So, since they needed to find a new fire councilwoman quickly, the council decided to skip the voting process and just pick the successor directly."

"And the people were okay with that?" asked Adrian in disbelief.

"It's a troubled time." Blaise shrugged. "They trusted the council."

"Amazing," commented Adrian wryly.

"The problem with my family," said Blaise, "is that they're a bit too...hotheaded for the council to handle. Not suited for the job, apparently." She scoffed. "Or, at least, there wasn't enough time for the council members to turn them into their obedient puppet. All the younger, more impressionable kids weren't good enough at magic, either. So they picked me, right in the middle. Young enough to be manipulated but somewhat skilled in magic. Hmph. Clearly not good enough, though.

"Even so, I think the biggest reason they chose me was because I was the most closely related to the previous councilwoman, so that way the citizens wouldn't complain that much." She hesitated, then muttered with some reluctance, "I was...I'm her daughter, see."

Oh. Oh. Her mother was murdered three years ago. And I asked how she died. Oh. Sorry.

"And since my father was exiled years ago, and I have no siblings, it was me." She scoffed. "Bet those council fools are regretting it now. I'm practicing day and night, and I'm still not growing fast enough for them. They don't even want me practicing during the night--what in the world do they expect? You'd think if they put me on the accelerated course, dangerous as it is, they'd go all out and let me work as hard as I want!"

"Dangerous?"

"Yeah, it can be." Blaise shrugged nonchalantly. "Fire magic is the most dangerous to practice. Burns and all."

"Oh." Unsure of what to say, Adrian took a few steps back, preparing to leave. "Good luck practicing, then."

"Wait," said Blaise. "Before you leave, one last thing."

"Yeah?"

Her voice suddenly solemn, Blaise said, "If you could seriously consider helping us...I know it's risking your life, and I don't want to pressure you into it or anything, but you may be able to help save our kingdom." She looked down sheepishly. "I know it's rich from me after that outburst yesterday, but..."

"Why'd you do that, anyway?" asked Adrian. "You barely know me."

Blaise instantly fired up. "Because what Delta did is wrong! Tricking you into a life-threatening situation for something you didn't know anything about--what a terrible thing to do."

Though he still didn't quite grasp her motives, Adrian nodded and continued to walk backward.

"Guess I should go to bed too," muttered Blaise. She walked a few feet across the courtyard to pick up something on the ground, her arms emerging from the cloak for the first time.

"What's on your arm?" asked Adrian.

Blaise flinched and her arm instantly shot back inside the coat, leaving the item on the ground untouched. "Oh--well--ah, why do I bother?" She walked over to Adrian and stuck out both her arms for him to see.

Burn scars of varying severity mottled the skin on her arms up to her elbows; red, blotchy skin that hurt just to look at. "From training," explained Blaise as she went back to the item on the ground--they were her long gloves, which she quickly put on. "I get burned a lot. Most of the more serious burns are healed directly with magic, but I get a lot of these from training secretly, so I treat them myself. Which is why I wear the gloves."

"Isn't there anything you can wear to protect your arms?"

"No," replied Blaise calmly. "The easiest outlet for magic is through the palms, so anything I wear would just burn up."

"Fireproof material?"

Blaise frowned. "I...I wasn't aware that was possible. Even so, it'd just trap the fire in the gloves, and that's no good as well. I don't really mind the scars, anyway; I just can't let the council see them, or they'll know I've been secretly training." She cast Adrian a pleading glance. "Please don't tell them about this, okay? They can't know about this, or I'm sure they'll increase security, and that'd drive me crazy."

"Okay," agreed Adrian, once again backing up as he prepared to leave. "Goodnight, then."

"Goodnight!" said Blaise, smiling warmly. "And...if you'd please consider helping us."

"Okay," repeated Adrian. He turned around and hurried over to the archway, hoping he wouldn't be intercepted again. Blaise let him go, and he made his way back to the room, only being stopped by a few guards this time.

He sighed as he laid on his bed; he had been given so much to think about, he doubted he'd ever get back to sleep.

________________________________________________________________________________

Adrian had been able to sleep, after all, but only after an hour of tossing and turning. He was waken far too soon by a knocking on his door. Sighing, he pulled himself out of bed and stood up, attempting to look at least somewhat awake.

"...hello?"

The door opened slightly, and a servant stuck her head through the gap. "Captain Sidereus will be arriving in ten minutes to hear your answer." She withdrew and shut the door, not waiting for a response.

Yawning, Adrian put on his shoes and jacket, then made the bed because he had nothing else to do. As he stood there waiting, a thought occurred to him, and his fingers crept up to his throat. He could feel the thin, long but shallow cut on his throat that Delta had given him. It had stopped bleeding, but if he could feel it, it was definitely visible. After a moment's consideration, he zipped up his jacket all the way so it would cover the cut. Judging from their conversation, Astin had most certainly forbidden Delta from hurting Adrian, so the wound would just raise questions, and Adrian didn't need Delta any angrier at him.

He knew what to expect he heard Astin's voice on the other side of the door. "I have arrived."

"Come in." Adrian swallowed. He had made his decision, but doubts haunted the edge of his mind. Am I really going to do this?

Astins stepped in, wasting no time for formatilites as he asked, "So, what is your decision?"

Adrian took a deep breath. He thought of the threats made, Astin's appeal, his midnight conversation with Delta, then Blaise. I'm definitely crazy. Hardly believing he could be speaking these words, Adrian finally replied, "I'll help."