I'm lead to the infirmary with the wounded prince and king. They refuse to tell me anything before we reach the room. They also refuse to let me heal any of them with magic.

Mathew shuts and locks the door behind us as the physician and his assistant begin to tend to our wounds. They make me take off my shirt in order to fully expose the wound on my side, and I end up exposing my milky skin to everyone in the room. I could have sworn that Alfred's eyes stayed on me a little too long as well.

"Who the hell was that?" I demand, wincing as my wound is expertly patched up.

"Ivan," the king says, sounding weary and old. "He's tormented our kingdom for years, taking whatever he wants."

"He kills so many people just to get what he wants," Alfred adds, looking at me with shame and sadness in his blue orbs.

"Has anyone tried to stop him?" I ask, shifting my weight to my other foot in distress.

"Many times," the king says, leaning against the wall. He sounds so tired. "But every time we try, he ends up killing more and more men."

"Don't tell me you've given up," I say, looking at the three royal members in astonishment. "You have, haven't you?"

Alfred sighs, but he says nothing. They all look down in shame.

I shift again. "Well, does he have any known weaknesses?" I ask, and they all look to each other.

"We don't know of any," Mathew answers. "All we know is that he's confident, and whether or not that is wrongfully so we have no idea."

I nod again. "I guess I'll just have to fight him myself then, " I state with a weary

sigh. 

Alfred immediately erupts from where he was sitting. "You're going to what?"

"Fight him," I repeat, looking into his eyes with determination. 

"No," he says, the same amount of determination staring back at me.

"Someone has to," I state. "And if it's me he wants, then it's me he'll have to handle."

"I forbid it," Alfred bites out, glaring at me in anger.

Furrowing my thick brows, I move closer to his face, trying to get my point across. "What are you so scared of, Alfred?"

8"Losing you," he says quietly, not missing a beat.

His response has me blinking in confusion, anger disappearing. He pulls back, and I realize that he was so quiet that only I heard his response. 

After being told that I'm okay to leave, I turn to the door. "Someone still has to fight him, Alfred."

"I'm aware of that, Arthur."

I leave the room quietly, shutting the door behind me and turning to the long line of knights that fills the hall.

"Anyone willing to let me heal them with magic?" I ask, searching the faces clad in blood-stained armor.

Only a few give me wary nods, and they're the younger ones. The older knights seem too proud to let me help. I don't blame them. I'm their enemy, so they don't trust me.

With a few short spells, I fix a few broken bones and heal some minor slashes, stitching the skin back together with ease. Thankfully, none that survived seemed to be too hurt, which is kind of weird if you think about it.

Instead of heading back to my chambers, I take another detour to the garden, but as I'm heading towards the open space, a room catches my eye. In it resides a middle-aged man with brown hair and a loose curl in the locks. He's studying a book rather intently, and it looks exactly the other ones lining the walls of the small room.

"Hello," I greet, looking around with a small knock on the door.

"Oh, hello," he greets cheerfully. I can't help but wonder how he can look at me with his eyes closed. It's rather unsettling. "How can I help you?"

"What is this room?" I ask innocently, lightly resting my hand on one of the shelves.

"This is where all of the books on magic are kept!" He continues smiling at me, apparently waiting for a response.

"I'm sorry, I thought that people in this Kingdom didn't believe in magic."

"They don't. Most people here believe these to by myths and legends." He laughs, but it doesn't sound like he agrees with them.

"May I borrow some of these?" I ask, pulling a book off of the shelf and studying it. It is one about dragons, which are actually little known in my Kingdom. They haven't been seen or studied for centuries.

"Feel free," he says kindly. "I've already read every book in here three times." With that he goes back to reading the book that I know see to be a cookbook, which isn't what I was expecting. He's looking at a page filled with pasta recipes.

"Thanks," I return, grabbing a few books and retreating to my chambers. Maybe I can find something about this Ivan in a book or two.

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Heylo, my lovely little nuggets! I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! I'm really sorry I haven't updated in a while. Please don't kill me. ;-; If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave them. They never fail to make my day :) Anyway, I'll see y'all nuggety readers in the next update! Until then, have an absolutely fantastic and fabulous day! Bai!!! >:3

-IggyScones