"Absolutely not." Eres stared at the Queen.

"I'm not sure you have a choice, dear." She looked at him sympathetically.

"I don't get to choose who I marry?" He looked at her incredulously.

"Eres, this was always a possibility. Marriages are alliances." She put the chains back on my ankles and stood up. "I don't like it any more than you do."

"Marriages are permanent alliances." He laughed without humor. "Father just wants me to marry Kat so they can't back out. He knows they would never support mass genocide."

Does anyone know who the Ythopes are?

The royal family of Verkaina, the closest kingdom across The Vaspian Sea. Mari.

Would an alliance with them be good or bad for us?

I don't know why we would want an alliance with royals. Mari.

No, an alliance with them and Kalhiem.

Veya, did you hit your head? Irina.

Javus, what the fuck did you do to her? Finnick.

Clearly, I need to work on my Map magic. Javus.

I don't know why the Lykains would form an alliance with them, but it would probably be fine. Mari.

Hold on, who are these people? And why am I the only person who doesn't know about them?

You'll see. Cassius.

Report back when you meet them. Irina.

I'm scared.

You'll laugh when you meet them, don't worry. Mari.

"Veya?" Eres's voice brought me back to reality.

"Sorry, voices."

The Queen stared at me like I was a crazy person.

"It's a magi thing." I said quickly, realizing how I sounded.

"Okay..." She nodded slowly. "Well, is that done then?"

"Yep."

"Great, let's get going then."

...
I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but Kalhiem looked nothing like how I pictured.

It was almost sad.

Fifty-foot stone walls lined the borders. Smaller walls separated the outside of the kingdom. Eres called this the 'Outer City'. Everyone merchant class and lower lived here.

Small houses and people lined the walls. An old cracked stone path ran down the center as far as I could see. The grass was only green in small patches.

Everything was so crowded. I felt claustrophobic just looking at it. How could people live like this?

We walked through an archway into what Eres called 'the sekari', which was just a huge marketplace.

Aside from how crowded it was, the sekari was beautiful. Merchants and carts lined the walls and roads. People of all classes wandered around.

We kept walking towards another wall. People stopped and bowed as we walked past. Each one of them made sure to give me a disapproving glance. Eres wrapped an arm around me and returned their glares.

We walked through another archway. The 'Inner City', the heart of Kalheim.

It was the most open space I'd seen so far, but the smallest. A palace stood at the far end of the open space.

Large houses lined the outer wall, they were nothing like the houses in the Outer City. They were grand and evenly spaced out. These houses were meant for nobility.

Green grass, flowers, and the occasional oak tree covered the space between the houses and the palace.

It made me sick.

Guards lined the path as we walked towards the palace. I was suddenly very aware of the marks on my arms. I crossed my arms across my stomach in a futile attempt to hide them.

I gasped as we walked into the palace. It was beautiful. Not in the same way the sekari was beautiful, a very different kind of beautiful. The kind of glorious beauty that can only be bought by the elite class.

We walked into what appeared to be a throne room.

The King was sitting on what seemed to be his throne, an average-sized but very expensive-looking crown sat on his head.

The Queen walked across the room and took her place on the throne beside the King's.

Another man seemed to be deep in conversation with the King.

"King Teran Ythope of Verkaina." Eres whispered to me. "Which is-"

"The closest kingdom across The Vaspian Sea," I answered.

"Yeah," He gave me a small smile. "I didn't think you would know about other royals."

"I didn't, that's what the 'voices' were. I asked Mari." I gave him a sheepish grin.

Another woman walked into the room, a girl who looked a little younger than me followed behind her.

"I hope you two aren't arguing about the soldiers again." The woman shook her head at the two kings.

"Queen Serena Ythope," Eres whispered again. "I've never met her, but apparently she's terrifying. The King and Queen had an arranged marriage, but Serena's family wasn't noble, they weren't even rich. Rumors say she's a weapon."

"What kind of weapon?" I asked.

"No clue, this is the first time the royal family has been here."

I stared at her white gloves. They went up to her elbows. "You don't think she's-"

"Reina, who are your guests?" Serena looked at me and Eres and then the Queen.

The Queen gave Serena a wry smile. "My son Eres, the Crown Prince of Kalhiem. And his current object of attraction, Veya Morningstar, the magi."

"Current object of attraction?" Eres glared at his mother.

"You said he wasn't involved with anyone, Triya." Serena glanced at the King. "Or did I misinterpret that?"

The King shifted uneasily in his seat. "I wasn't aware that he was."

"Well, I suppose that our business is done here then." Serena glanced at her husband.

They seemed to have a silent conversation. I wanted to know who they were and what they were talking about.

I realized a second too late that I couldn't use my Map magic. I jumped as the vertez shocked my wrists and ankles.

Serena stared at me with confusion. "Are you alright?"

"Yep," I automatically responded.

"Your Majesty," Eres whispered in my ear.

"Your Majesty." I quickly added.

Serena turned to the King. "What was that?"

"A safety precaution." He answered.

Serena stared at him in shock. "I knew you had no love for the magi, but I didn't think there was animosity between your people."

I tried not to laugh and failed. I tried to cover it up with a cough, but that just made it more obvious.

Serena turned to me. "What's funny, Spirit?"

I blinked. "Sorry?"

"That's your title, isn't it?" She stared at me.

"Um, I guess." I shook my head. "I'm sorry, how do you know any of that?"

She pulled off a glove.

Dark markings traveled up her arms.

He traced the curved line above it. "I'm not sure about this one, but I think it has to do with the age you became a magi. Kovi's was different." I smiled. "You're very observant. Good guess, It's the location. This is the mark of Manthe Bay, Kovi was given her magic in Naris."

She had two lines that looked almost woven together.

He moved his fingers up to the lines. "The years you have been a magi, that one was easy."

She had seven more than I did.

He placed his hand on the star centered on the top line. "Family crest? I didn't notice it on Kovi, but Mari's, Javus's, and Finnick's were different."

A pair of wings.

He placed his fingers on the final mark. Two bands connected by eight small, thin, lines. "Council mark, obviously."

She had the same two connected bands that I did, but there was a third band on top. Four small, thin, lines connected the third band to the second.

He ran his finger along the crossed arrows. "Clan marking."

A marking I had never seen before. A triangle with a line through it.

...
surpriseeee

also, we're not done with the Ythopes. that was not a two-second conflict so don't get comfy

<3