Nagan and Carthadeus never did continue the conversation.

Things never really returned back to normality, and it didn't get any better knowing that two of the guards with the prince later passed from their injuries. All of the teens knew that what they were doing wasn't normal, but the disappearance of people whose names they barely got to know was...odd. It was real. Lieutenant Larksong, those guards, the messenger that came and went, those were people who had lives and families; families that they wouldn't be returning to.

Not knowing how to process these things, the teens busied themselves with others. Whether on a patrol, helping the villagers with damages, or even visiting Blaine, they did everything they could to help. Even Prince Georgivus had mellowed out and gave Blaine a mighty hug when he was allowed to see his caretaker again. Sure, there were still habitual tantrums, but the teens had learned that that was the prince's way of showing he was sad. He was still a young child, after all.

It took two weeks for the Totari to arrive. Professor Fai had just come back from the fallen soldiers' funeral—something about being the Captain of the troop and having the responsibility of burning their shrouds—and the teens could only watch the less-than-optimistic greeting between Professor Fai and Master Totari himself.

"Fai."

"...Master."

A long pause ensued, and even Nagan began to sweat. While not that much taller than Professor Fai, Master Totari looked tall, and none of the teens could figure out if this was a severe man or a resigned one. He didn't have any white hair yet, but it was clear that Master Totari was older than all of their parents. The long, deep blue robes and white trimming didn't help with the formality of the situation, and two silver pins held Master Totari's top knot together. Master Totari suddenly let out a heavy exhale.

"Have you lost your manners?"

"I have not, I just didn't see it fit for me to salute in this situation considering our positions."

"Then why still call me Master?"

Professor Fai didn't respond.

"Then, moving beyond this subject, why have I been brought here?"

Professor Fai minutely furrowed his brow. "I didn't summon you directly, you came on your own accord."

Master Totari clicked his tongue. "That's not what I meant, boy. Of course I'd come. You know I don't trust most messengers, so tell me, what happened here?"

Nagan couldn't understand what he was seeing at that moment. In his experience, all mages addressed each other formally by calling them master or madam. Maybe even young master and young maiden if they weren't old enough to be a master or madam. So why did Master Totari have a problem with Professor Fai calling him master?

On one hand, Professor Fai was tense and generally looked as if he didn't want to be talking to Master Totari, and that alone made Nagan like Master Totari less. But on the other hand, there was still a sense of familiarity between the two men. It wasn't as if they were father and son, but Nagan felt as if it was something similar to that.

Carthadeus, however, knew exactly what he was looking at. By the greeting alone, it was apparent that Fai was once a servant of the Totari household. He knew that the Froshrinese had a different hierarchy, one that bled over into how their mage societies worked. Mages and mediocres were still largely separated, but it wasn't uncommon for Froshrinese mage families to have mediocre families as servants. Especially the higher mage families. As servants, they weren't exactly paid like the ones in the Honoria or Arcloven households, but those families were well taken care of.

He didn't know what caused Professor Fai to leave—and it didn't look like he left on the best of terms—but Carthadeus firmly decided it was none of his business.

"C'mon, let's help load all his highness' stuff instead of...lingering," Carthadeus said in a low voice to his squadron, nudging Gath, who was next to him.

"Yeah," Gath quickly agreed, "this feels like I'm watching something personal. Let's go."

The teens filed away, heading towards the carriages and far enough away that they couldn't hear Professor Fai's voice.

"Wh-What was—s th-th-that-t about-t-t?" Aitor hushed.

"I think Professor Fai was a servant for the Totari household before leaving for some reason," Carthadeus explained.

"Which isn't a bad thing," Az cut in knowing Nagan's tendency to jump to conclusions. "In fact, most think of it as an honor since it gives them stability and safety, but...whatever happened back there was really something."

Gath, "I know right. If I stabbed my sword between them, I think reality would've torn."

Aitor gave a demonstrative thrust of an imaginary sword with a grimace.

"Either way, it's none of our business," Carthadeus concluded.

Nagan glanced back at Professor Fai and Master Totari before shrugging. He didn't feel the need to argue with Carthadeus on that point. But, that didn't mean he wasn't curious about the whole situation.

"I guess you're right." Nagan rolled up his sleeves. It was quite warm that day. "Let's get this over with."

It took a moment for all of them, including a couple other soldiers, to figure out how all of Prince Georgivus' things fit onto one carriage. It got to the point where Gath openly swore that there was an extra chest on the pile. In the end, a Totari guard finally told them they could load the extra cases onto another carriage, and it was Nagan's turn to swear. That guard definitely watched them struggle for a good half hour for entertainment before finally pitying them.

The teens were drenched in sweat and had long taken off their cloaks by the time Professor Fai came to check on them.

"Never thought I'd see the day you boys would do work without being told," Professor Fai drawled and held up a finger to stop any snide comments—mostly directed at Nagan. "But besides that, I got word that you'll be gaining a new comrade by the time we get to our final destination."

The teens' expressions changed from disgruntled to curious in an instant, and Professor Fai couldn't help the small smile.

"Milora's leg has fully healed, and she will be joining you at the Southern camp."

A small cheer erupted among the teens. In hindsight, it was an odd thing to cheer about; a close friend was being sent to war. But Milora was joining them. They much rather she was with them, and they could all watch each other's backs.

They would protect each other.

"Is she leaving now?" Gath asked.

"Probably. The message was worded in a way that she should be arriving just before us."

"And I just sent her a letter," Nagan muttered. "We'll probably reach her before the letter does since it's gonna get to Carvolier before being sent back."

"Oh~? A letter?" Gath prodded, resting his elbow on Nagan's shoulder. Nagan rolled his eyes in response.

"Not this again."

"Oh, come on! You know she really likes you!"

Nagan snorted. "I sure hope so, or else this is a one-sided relationship."

"I see, I see." Gath nodded along before he froze, Nagan's words finally sinking in. "Wait—you're dating Milora?!"

Everyone stopped and stared at Gath.

"Yes?" Nagan replied, absolutely baffled. "For months, now?"

"They've been flirting with each other since they met. Of course they're dating," Carthadeus added.

Gath whirled to Carthadeus. "You knew?!"

This time, Az piped up. "We traded Carthadeus for Milora almost every day so he could be with Silvina." He turned to Professor Fai. "Not literally. As a respectable and upstanding student, I swear that we absolutely did not sneak in the opposite gender to the girls' dormitories."

It was Professor Fai's turn to snort. "I don't believe that for a second."

"Carthadeus is dating Silvina?!"

By this point, Nagan had his head in his hands in disappointment. Az and Aitor had long since deteriorated into a cackling mess. Professor Fai was slowly questioning his life choices for the fifth time that day and wondered how such a bright student could be so clueless. It was Carthadeus who attempted to comfort Gath, patting his shoulder as an awkward, "there, there," gesture.

"I am the dumbest person on earth."

"Well, in some areas," Carthadeus tried to say comfortingly, "But don't worry, you make up for it in others."

"Thanks," Gath replied miserably.

Aitor let out another long wheeze.

It was just after noon when the Totari caravan was ready to leave.

"It was truly wonderful travelling with you," Blaine said to the teens from inside a carriage. The door was still open to let in the cool breeze, and Prince Georgivus sat quietly by Blaine's side. "Maybe one day if you get stationed in Froshrinra, you can visit us."

"We'll certainly try," Gath piped up. "I'd hate to cut things off like this."

Blaine smiled at that, but Nagan could see the remnants of sympathy at the corner of his eyes. Gath was right, in a way. They weren't particularly close, but it wasn't as if they hated being around Blaine. If anything, Blaine was almost like an older brother to them. Distant, but they still felt enough to care for him. A look of clarity suddenly washed over Blaine's face.

"Here." He reached to the side and into a small bag and drew out the same black figurine that had protected the pair weeks ago; the same that Nagan returned as soon as Blaine was awake. "It's a protection charm I received from my grandmother years and years ago. I didn't think it actually worked, but, well, it certainly did when we needed it most."

Blaine carefully tugged on Nagan's arm—he was the closest—and placed the charm in his hand. "I don't know where this war will take you boys, but...keep this to protect yourselves. You need this protection more than I do."

"And take this, too!" Georgivus thrust forward a gold ribbon, obviously not wanting to be left out of giving something to his protectors. Blaine chuckled at this, swiftly tying the ribbon around the figurine's neck in a neat bow while Gath and Az naturally cooed.

"Thank you, your highness," Gath said. "We'll treasure your gift forever."

Georgivus beamed at that before saying something mightily (and arrogantly), but Nagan stared at the figurine for a few more seconds before looking up at Blaine. For a moment, he could've sworn he saw a type of knowingness in Blaine's eyes.

Nagan wordlessly pocketed the tourmaline charm.

•________________•

So, I have good new and bad news...

I'm just gonna rip the bandaid off and tell you the bad news. I'm gonna have to cut Warfire short, bringing it to only two parts instead of the planned three.

But, the good news is that said part three is becoming its own book.

You're welcome.

Nagan was 50k words, while Warfire will most likely come around 60k words. Now, that's not as much as the average length of fantasy novels (which is 70k to 100k words), but its for the sake of uniformity that I'm cutting Warfire short.

Edit: DING DONG I WAS WRONG. *slaps the top of it like a car commercial* THIS BABY'S GOT 85k WORDS IN IT.

When I first wrote the outline for Warfire, part three was only going to come up to around 10k words. It was a strong enough tonal shift that it warranted its own part, but it wasn't long enough to be its own book. However, now that I'm coming up to the end of Warfire part two, I had many, many more ideas along the way. So much so, that I had to rework my entire outline. Come to find out, Warfire part three would've had to split again, making a part four. Not only that, it would've brought Warfire up to 100k words.

I know the last book isn't going to make it anywhere near 100k words (well, maybe it will, but it's more forgivable for the last book to be the longest), and I thought it'd look weird if the middle book was the longest. That's why I'm spitting Warfire into two books. The new, third book may end up being the shortest in the series, but oh well. If I need to, I'll rearrange everything once I get to actual publishing.

This is what I get for posting first drafts.

So anyway, I deeply apologize for the inconvenience of adding a fourth book to the series. I hope you'll find it in your heart to forgive me, dear readers, and give it a read when it comes out 😉

Tata~