"One would think they would have better security." Irina pulled her mask down.

I shrugged. "They're overconfident."

"Is this the prince's room?" Irina smiled.

She picked up a woman's shirt from the floor. "This isn't royal or sleepwear. He has a lady friend."

I smiled at her. "I told you so."

She threw the shirt over her shoulder. "You use magic, that's cheating."

"I dis-" A vision cut off my sentence.

The image of a woman blinded me. She was walking down a hallway that seemed to be part of the palace. She was wearing a shirt very similar to the one Irina had just been holding.

"What did you see?" Irina turned to me.

"The prince's lady friend."

"That's it?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Maybe we should take her? I don't know what else that would've meant." I looked over the room. There wasn't anything valuable in here.

She pulled her mask back up. "Fine, let's hope that the rest of the palace also lacks security."

Then the door handle turned. We both managed to hide before it opened.

"Sleep with the guards Elyse, you've done it before Elyse." A woman muttered.

As soon as we heard the door shut Irina jumped to her feet. "Move and you're ash."

The woman squeaked.

I stood up.

Irina looked at me. "This her?"

I looked down. "Yup."

"Maybe -and I'm just guessing here- but, maybe the vision was because she was coming into this room?" Irina whisper-yelled.

"How the fuck am I supposed to know what the outside of this room looks like Irina?" I looked up at her.

"I don't know, how did it not cross your mind?" She shot a glare at me then turned back to the woman.

"How did it not cross your mind?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Because you only told me who you saw. I didn't know what she was doing." She rolled her eyes.

I turned back to the woman. "Well, we need to take her now."

"Oh really? I thought we could just leave her here knowing that two council members snuck into her boyfriend's bedroom." She said sarcastically.

"He's not my boyfriend." The woman mumbled.

"Do I look like I care?" Irina snapped at her.

"I mean kinda. Also, what's a council member?" She looked between us.

I laughed.

"Okay, shut the fuck up." Irina stared at her.

"Are you like a special kind of magi?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Are you stupid?" I looked at her.

She gasped. "Is the Map that we caught a special type of magi? That would explain so much."

Irina grabbed one of her tainted arrows and shot it in the woman's leg. Within three seconds she was unconscious on the ground.

"She is stupid." Irina rolled her eyes.

"Is she still alive?" I walked towards her.

"Unfortunately, she probably has some valuable information." Irina sighed. "Let's go. The sooner we leave the sooner we get to Sifa."

I lifted her up and threw her over my shoulder. "Why are we meeting there?"

"I managed to summon Cairo for a second, the founders trust Veya." Irina shrugged.

"Go figure." I rolled my eyes.

"She's a defensive magi, she already has Cure and Map magic mastered. She's the best one of us for the job." Irina glanced back at me.

"Does she even know what the job is?"

"Probably not. But don't be so negative about it, at least it isn't you."

I shut the window behind me as a jumped out. "It's still kind of unfair. Why can't this be a council job? She's going to be praised by all the clans for the rest of her life."

"If she lives." Irina pulled herself onto her horse. "She's going against the crown and all of its resources, plus any mercenaries. That's not even the hardest part."

"In your opinion what is the hardest part then?" I made sure the woman was secure on the horse before we started moving.

"Freeing the founders. Spirit legends say it's almost impossible to break a soul tie."

"Those are just legends."

"Do you know what Flame legends say?" She glanced back at me.

"What?" I sighed.

"A child burned by the Eternal Flame is destined for greatness." She pulled off one of her armbands and revealed the large burn scar. "I don't think it's a coincidence that my dress caught on fire the day after I became a council member."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Isn't that legend why the Eternal Flame has to be guarded at all times?"

"Yes, teenagers kept trying to burn themselves." She mumbled. "That's not the point. I didn't jump into the fire Cassius, airborne ash lit the sleeve of my dress on fire and it wouldn't go out. Legends don't always lie."

I pressed my lips into a thin line. Visions didn't really have legends. We could look into the past or future to see if something was true or not.

I knew that Irina was right. Legends were true most of the time.

Maybe I was upset about it because I wanted it to be wrong.

Or maybe I wanted to be in Veya's place.

...

I added a map to the background info and changed the cover today

I don't feel great about either of them but I'll live

<3