Noctifer let out a breath after finally sneaking past what felt like their hundredth harbinger.

"Can't you simply—" He made a snapping motion with his fingers. "Anything so we don't have to keep holding our breaths around these things?"

"I'm not that powerful," Ordephus said, amused.

He hummed. "I see. Can't say I'm not disappointed."

The legend snorted at that. "You're not the first."

"But I'm serious; I've seen you do more with less. Not even a concealment spell?"

"I suppose," Ordephus shrugged, "but one: I don't have a spellbook with me, thus, the spell might go haywire. And two: I still have just as much mana as I had in Weststar."

"Is that important? You seemed to do just fine back with the seelie."

"That wasn't mana."

Noctifer gave him a blank look. "Then are you going to tell me what it was or do I have to wait till we get back to Iver?" He paused, remembering something one of the seelie had said. "Does it have something to do with you not having fae blood? And didn't Iver say you need fae blood to use mana?"

"That would be correct, and no, do not tell Iver what I'm about to tell you." He shuddered. "He'll snap my neck."

Noctifer raised an eyebrow at that but stayed quiet to hear what the legend had to say.

"You see," he began, "my mother was a dragon and my father was a human with no fae blood whatsoever—more on that later when we're back with Iver—and I was raised primarily with humans. Now, here's the thing about any dragon-blooded children: We are absolute menaces to authority. It's just how we are. That's why in dragonkind families, you are very unlikely to see siblings within ten years of each other. Ventura tried her best with me, but, well, as you probably know, she was taken from Amare too early."

Noctifer nodded solemnly, knowing of the Warrior Queen's fate. "So you were raised by her then?"

"I was, for the first twenty years of my life, but after her assassination, the court didn't really know what to do with me. They couldn't control me, either. Not as well as Ventura. So no one really stopped me when I announced that I relinquished the crown to Utoria."

The story was interrupted as another unseelie came in sight. Not quite a minor harbinger, but close to one. Nonetheless, they once again kept to the shadows of the trees as Ordephus held his hand to his neck to nullify his magical presence. A question burned on the tip of Noctifer's tongue until the danger had passed, and they could resume talking.

"You were a crowned prince of Nimn? Why isn't that included in your tale? Not even bards sing of it."

"They did in the past, but the stories go through cycles. Right now they're fascinated with me being the son of a god." He grinned. "So when you hear me say that I've never heard a version of my story before, what I really mean is that I haven't heard it in awhile. I like to think I've heard it all, but who knows. Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised."

"Now you're getting sidetracked."

"Ah, you're right." He shook his head. "Anyway. Yes, Ventura declared me her heir since she felt I was her son all the same, and she truly believed I could rule Nimn. Utoria was more timid and was more interested in politics rather than swordwork. Don't get me wrong, Ventura respected that since she was a firm believer in diplomacy before force, but I was still the oldest. So she was hoping we would work together in ruling Nimn since I was already capable of commanding an army and Utoria had already helped establish several policies that made the people happy.

"But going back to the original question. I was still within the palace, but I was more or less given a specific wing that was eventually cleared out as I started fiddling around with various things. Things I really shouldn't have been meddling with. The Fae were a big problem back then, always wreaking havoc and pushing boundaries trying to expand their own kingdom. Many were relying on Nimn to keep them at bay, but the Fae had magic, and the other fae-blooded races kept out of the way rather than put their own in danger. There were wizards back then, but it was a very . . . unpredictable art, and it simply wasn't practical to use it. So I got curious."

"That's a dangerous statement," Noctifer commented.

"You haven't even heard what I have to say," Ordephus grinned.

"No, but I can take a good guess." He waved his hand. "Continue."

"As you wish." He cleared his throat. "I started studying magic. Going to reservoirs, talking to wizards, and even traveling to Ichorwood multiple times to talk with the elves. They didn't like me, of course, but they eventually relented and told me a few elvish spells to get rid of me. Whenever I wasn't leading a campaign against the Fae, I was known for carrying a book that held all my research."

He let realization dawn on Noctifer as he took a drink of water.

"It's not an event I can easily forget. I was in my room at the time, pacing around while flipping through the pages of the book, and I was beginning to realize I couldn't truly study magic if I didn't possess it since I didn't have a drop of fae blood in my body. So I got to the pages that held the elvish spells. I had already translated them into the common language at the time and began thinking about how the wizards had described it when they used mana. Of course, I had recited the spells out loud on many occasions in every language I knew, but not as if I were trying to actually cast a spell. It was a simple energy expulsion spell, and I really didn't think anything would happen, but there was a sudden ringing in my ears, and it felt as if something was ripping my heart out of my chest. I only heard the window shatter before I passed out."

"Please calm yourself, Your Majesty. Look, already he stirs."

I moved my head to the side with a groan. Everything ached terribly. It was another few moments before I could open my eyes, only staring forward blankly before they could focus on anything. There were several people in the room—my room, I remembered. I was in bed despite it being the middle of the day. Or . . . evening? Wasn't it midday just a few moments ago? What happened? I sat myself up as my limbs complained in pain and looked to the two closest to me: Utoria and the head medic, a half-elf named Elistar.

"Care to explain why I'm in bed?" I asked slowly, glancing between the two of them before leaning over to the side to see why the servants were crowding near the window. Some had brooms while others picked up various items off the floor. The window had been blown outwards and no doubt had rained shards of glass into the courtyard below. Looking around the rest of my room, it became clear that it wasn't only the window that had been damaged. There were signs of something wearing away at wood and stone while other glass items had shattered. The door was hanging askew off its hinges. Papers were scattered everywhere if they hadn't been shredded. "Actually, care to explain what the hell happened in here?"

"That's something we should be asking you," Utoria said in a worried tone. "One of the servants heard you scream and then an explosion, and when they arrived, they found, well, this, and you unconscious on the floor." She raised my notebook—it was completely unharmed—and fanned through the pages before setting it aside on a mostly intact desk on the other side of the room. She then turned to glower at me. "I can barely make sense of what's in that book of yours, but I know what you've been doing for these past few months. You're trying to learn magic! And you're not a wizard!"

"Oh, so you're allowed to look through my notes when you literally threw a knife at me when I read through three pages of your diary?" I joked, swinging my legs over the side of my bed, fully intending to stand until Elistar rested a hand on my shoulder.

"Ordephus, I'm serious!" Utoria scolded, crossing her arms with a scowl. "What did you do?"

"Give me a few seconds, and maybe I can think of the answer." Now I was annoyed and shot Elistar a glare when he once again prevented me from standing.

"Forgive me, Your Highness," he said, tilting his head down, but still kept a firm hand on my shoulder, "but what you did may have done more damage to yourself than you realize."

This startled me a bit. In truth, I felt completely fine besides a slight ache to my head, but I assumed it was because of the fall. Nonetheless, I had endured worse before while training and in battles. What was so serious that I couldn't stand? Utoria came to sit down next to me and held onto my arm. Something she did when she was nervous. Her hands were shaking. Had this really scared her that much? Not knowing what else to do, I laid my hand atop of hers, and we waited for Elistar to continue.

"First, I should ask this," he began, turning to me. "How do you feel, Your Highness? Physically and mentally. Tell everything; nothing is insignificant."

"Everything was sore at first, but I feel fine except for a slight headache."

"And what of before this incident?"

It took a few seconds for me to recall. "It—There was this ringing, and then it was like my heart was being ripped out of my chest," I said truthfully, and Utoria's grip tightened.

"I see." He took a deep breath. The servants continued to scuttle quietly, but it was clear they were listening as well. "This is very odd to me as well, so this is all speculation, Your Majesties. Forgive me if my words mislead you. But by the look of it, Ordephus did successfully use magic."

A thrill ran up my spine at the news.

"The reaction mirrors the explosiveness of an elven child's first spell," he continued. "However, I can also confirm that he still holds no magical trace, thus, does not possess mana. And that is where things become dangerous. You see, when a magic wielder uses their entire supply of mana but continues to cast spells, they, well . . . they begin drawing from another source as compensation: Their very own lifeforce."

Utoria gasped and paled beside me, letting go of my arm in favor of putting her hands over her mouth. It looked as if she were about to puke. But I couldn't help but stare at the book on the desk as one thought kept repeating in my mind: I can use magic.

"Normally, the magic wielder's body would begin to go into shock and their heart threatens to stop at the sudden lack of mana, but," he gave me a perplexed look, "your heart is still in stable condition. I can only assume it's because you possess no mana to begin with."

"Can you tell how much of my lifeforce it took to cast that spell?"

"Approximately a few months, Your Highness."

"So not that much," I murmured, standing before anyone could stop me and striding to the book. I flipped to the tabbed page that began the list of spells, lightly touching the words. "Efficiency comes with experience and control. Is that correct, Elistar?"

There was a pause, and I could feel all eyes boring holes into my back. They didn't know what I was about to do, and those who did were too afraid to stop me. Good. I didn't bother waiting for Elistar's reply as I took the book in my hands, focusing on a candle in front of me. I didn't bother saying the spell I've read over a thousand times out loud; I knew I didn't need to with the book in my hands. The wick smoldered for a bit, the horrible feeling in my chest returning, but I pressed on until the wick burst with a flame. It had singed the wall, but it was better than anything I could have hoped for.

"I asked you a question, Elistar," I said, turning to face everyone behind me, my notebook still in hand.

"Yes, Your Highness," he answered, finally, after a long pause. "Efficiency comes with experience."

The servants still present shuffled uneasily, unsure of what to do and how to react. Elistar looked reluctant yet bowed his head in resignation. I knew I could trust him to have my back as I continued experimenting with my newfound power. Utoria, however, had tears streaming down her face as she watched in horror.

"My body eventually became receptive to mana since I was using my lifeforce as a replacement, but by then, I had already used around 300 years of my life."

They had stopped by a stream to rest, luminescent foliage around them to light the dark, and Noctifer gave Ordephus a hard, disbelieving stare.

"So you were a madman from the start!"

"A little bit, yes," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm telling Iver this," Noctifer suddenly declared, standing to signal the end of their break. Ordephus quickly sprung up after him.

"I said we are not telling Iver this!" He caught up to the warrior swiftly. "Just because I can revive, doesn't mean I like dying!"

"That sounds like your problem."

"Seriously?!"

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