Kallion Nuragor had been Phloria's boyfriend for a while, and after Lith had publicly humiliated him, the young man had trained his body as well as his magic without ever taking a single day of rest.

"Mage Nuragor, what a pleasant surprise. I'm curious to understand the role you played in Velan's little charade." Jirni welcomed him with a simple nod of her head, without even bothering to stand up.

"It's Great Mage Nuragor to you, Lady Ernas." Kallion clenched his fist so hard that his knuckles turned white.

He held his rage back only because he knew that from that distance, despite the difference in their build, height, and age, Jirni could hand his ass to him with only one hand. Attacking Jirni would only give her a plausible excuse to kill him.

One year of training was nothing compared to a lifetime on the field.

"Great Mage?" She giggled like an airheaded noble dame. "Kallion must have done a pretty good job if you spent the gold necessary to buy a two bits mage like him such title."

All about Jirni from her tempo to her tone of voice was studied to provoke her opponents. Both Velan and Kallion knew it, but only the former had the cold blood to remain unfazed by her disrespectful words.

Being called a talentless mage that needed to bribe his way into the Mage Association brought him seconds away from attacking her, but Velan beat him to the punch, sending him flying with a wave of his hand.

"Forgive him. Youth makes people slaves of their instincts to the point of being stupid." Velan sighed while keeping his left forefinger raised and Kallion nailed to the wall to save his life.

"For stupid he is stupid. How did he help you, exactly?" Jirni giggled again, taking another sip of her tea.

"Disgruntled daughters need to vent with someone about their meddling parents." Velan chuckled, making Jirni's smile disappear. "Boyfriends make an excellent shoulder to lean on. You wouldn't believe how many things a young woman is willing to share, especially during pillow talk."

"Moreover, you are underestimating Kallion. After your birthday party, he worked hard as if he had to prove the whole Mogar wrong, achieving such feats that it only took me a few good words here and a bit of gold there to make him into a Great Mage. Can you say the same about your daughters or your good-for-nothing sons?"

"No, because everything my children got, they achieved it on their own." Jirni restored her poker face while her brain spun at top gear to understand all the innuendos of their conversation.

"Force my hand and it will not just be your daughter's career at stake, but also her reputation, along with that of the Ernas Household." Velan said.

"If you really have such power over me, why there's no rumor going around, yet?" Jirni asked.

"Consider it a gesture of goodwill. We can still settle our scores peacefully." Velan emptied his cup and magically refilled it.

"Interesting. You invested all this time and resources just to show off your influence over the Royal Court. I must assume you're about to ask me a heavy ransom." Jirni didn't bother asking what he wanted. She was sure Velan would tell her of his own will.

"I only ask for what is rightfully mine!" Archmage Deirus almost lost it when she called him a thief. "I want no ransom, just weregild for my son. You can either disown Quylla, so that I can make her face justice without the protection of the Ernas name, or give me Phloria, so that I can adopt her."

"I beg your pardon?" Jirni raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"A child for a child, as simple as that. Quylla killed my Yurial so it's only fair for me to do the same. The only other acceptable solution is that you give me an heir. Phloria's career is already over and she's an embarrassment for your Household.

"No one could blame you for getting rid of her, while I would take her in the name of our old friendship. Phloria would have her reputation back and the Deirus would thrive.

"It would be an excellent opportunity to show to the whole Kingdom that old and new magical bloodline can work together for the greater good. Everybody wins." Velan said.

"Not at all, it would be only you to emerge victorious. Disowning Quylla would make my Household lose a powerful mage and her future heirs, while if I gave you Phloria, the moment something happens to Orion or me you could make a claim over the Ernas's magical legacy.

"Let me guess, you're planning to marry her with Great Mage Nuragor, correct?" Jirni put down her teacup and stood up, ready to leave.

"You're smarter than I gave you credit for, Lady Ernas." Archmage Deirus stood up as well, to be able to keep looking down on her thanks to the height difference between them. "You've guessed everything right except for the last part.

"I would never mix my blood with a traitor. I'm grateful to Kallion for his services and I've properly compensated him for it, but I think the Deirus Household's heir deserves a husband who doesn't switch sides out of petty grudges."

Kallion turned pale at those words, realizing that the reason why Velan never released him from the spell that nailed him to the wall wasn't to protect him so much as out of spite.

"You are counting your chickens before they hatch. The Deirus Household will die with you because I'm not going to give up on either of my daughters. I'll see you in the Court." Jirni turned around and walked toward the door.

"That's what I'm counting on." Velan said, making her stop. "Go ahead, you can search even my private property without a warrant. I've always followed the law, so your role as an Archon will do you no good."

A rage bordering on madness lit his eyes.

"You know, I've tried to bring down Lith as well, but that monster has no openings. I had him searched after the ogre's crystal incident, I made sure that everyone in the north knew who he was and what he did, yet he never lost control.

"I failed to get him discharged after Kulah only because unlike Phloria, he belongs to no one so everyone wants a piece of him. The Royals, the army, the mages, the old and new household, all of them want to reel him and refused to support me.

"To make matters worse, Mirim Distar keeps protecting Lith, and bypassing the authority of the Lord Commander of the Queen's corps is no easy feat."

"You knew about her real role in the Court and still dare to make a move?" For the second time in less than an hour, Velan Deirus had managed to surprise Jirni.

"Of course I know. I served in the corps as long as your husband." Velan sneered. "Once Lith leaves the army to join those filthy beasts, however, all those who protected him so far will either turn their back to him or simply lose the authority to help him.

"I'm telling you all of this in the hope you listen to reason and do the right thing. I know you care about Lith enough to groom that little wench of his and believe me, once I'm done with you, he'll be the next on my list."