“We’re being followed,” Captain Evira said with a frown.

Linea’s group had traveled for three nights through the duchy of Luna’sindra and the neighboring duchy of Alandis. They had slept the days in towns of the baronies along the Luna’aguna. The river cut the country in half and was - in contrast to the rest of the country - not within the forest. The northern forest stretched along the Nava’sinkuna mountains and the southern forest along the Ring Mountains. Low hills and grassland characterized the surrounding area of the river.

While the baronesses, who had hosted them, were hospitable, their standard of living was lower than Linea was used to. The City of Alandis was only a few hours away and Linea already craved for a soft bed and some Famnir. Even Sarah had come to love the stimulating brew after comparing it to something called ‘coffee’. The problem with Famnir was its rarity. Famnir only grows on the foothills of the Nava’sinkuna mountain range and they must be harvested when they are blooming on a night with a full moon in spring. The window for this specific set of conditions is only one night per year in which as much as possible is harvested. Since one cup of Famnir costs more than a month’s salary of a normal citizen, only the richest families even bothered to stock up on it.

Linea’s mind was ripped from her daydreaming about Famnir, when she realized what Evira had said.

“Are you sure?” she asked and raised an eyebrow. She hadn’t noticed anyone follow them and neither had Sarah.

“Yes,” Evira said with a firm voice and looked around. “I wasn’t sure until now, but I think we may have been followed ever since we left the capital.”

“I noticed nothing…” Linea said.

“Well, to be fair, you’re occupied with meditating,” Aruna interjected with a sly smile.

Linea blushed as she felt caught. The first lesson Aruna had given her was about the basics of Holy Magic, which healing was a part of. To draw on the power given by the gods, one had to be tranquil in mind. Only a balanced and calm spirit could connect to the power and release it.

And that’s were Linea’s problem started. The altercation with her mother still fresh in mind, she had a major problem focusing on anything. Aruna had given her the task of meditating on the way to clear her mind. A plan that had failed miserably.

“What are we going to do about our shadow?” Linea asked Evira, not commenting Aruna’s side blow.

“Whoever is following us is not great at hiding to be honest,” Evira said. “But he or she is good at sensing my artifacts search impulse.”

Evira fished an amulet from between her breasts.

“It’s meant to alert me of nearby magical signatures,” she explained. “But the farther away the signature is, the less accurate I can pinpoint the location. And our stalker stays just around the edges of my perception.”

“How do you know it’s always the same person and that he or she is following us?” Nora asked. “I mean couldn’t it be people living in the area?”

“Every signature differs from person to person. This specific signature is popping up every now and then.”

“Can you capture our follower?” Linea asked. “I would guess it is one of mother’s rats, but I would rather be sure.”

“I will try it, My Lady.”

And with that she let herself fall behind the group which didn’t slow down. They had still a few hours to ride until sunrise.

Half an hour later Evira caught up to them again.

“No luck?” Linea asked and looked at Evira, who was alone and had a frightening look on her face.

“Apologies, My Lady,” she pressed between her teeth. “Whoever is following us has enough magical training to evade me. Not much I can do about it without a hunting party.”

“Well, can’t you use your guardsmen for that?” Nora asked.

“I could, but my primary order is to keep the princess safe,” Evira answered and looked at Nora as if she had insulted her. “I will not risk her to hunt a suspicious person.”

“Good thinking!” Nora said with a smile and quickly looked in the other direction. Linea chuckled as she had once learned as well that an angry Evira was quite terrifying.

The rest of the ride to Alandis was silent. Everyone was sore after sitting on horseback for three nights straight and they all coveted a rest. They had already discussed the route beforehand, and they had planned to sleep two days in Alandis instead of one. In the night everyone was free to do what they wanted. Except for the guards, who were supposed to protect them.

When the walls of Alandis came into sight, they subconsciously picked up the speed. Two guards in the front and two in the back raised their spears in the air. They had mounted the royal banner on those spears to announce the importance of the traveling group.

The city gates were already open, and a troop of the city guard awaited them. Linea’s party was greeted by a rather muscular Moon Elf woman, who had a claymore strapped to her back and was wearing a thick plate armor.

“Your Royal Highness, I’m Lady Knight Talura of Asuni from the House of Esandi,” the woman greeted them. “I’m the military advisor of Countess Thudila. It is my honor to escort you to the palace.”

“Very well, lead the way,” Linea replied with a nod. “My men and I are tired and wish to rest.”

“Of course, Your Grace.”

Accompanied by the city guards, Linea and her group made their way through the city. The word had gotten around that the blessed princess was visiting the city, and so the streets were filled with people, who wanted to greet her. The guards made sure that no one came too close, but Linea smiled at the crowd and waved occasionally. It was a situation, she was used to. The enthusiasm of the people was considerably higher in Alandis, which was only natural as they weren’t used to see someone of the royal family.

‘Damn, the people love you,’ Sarah noted surprised. ‘Your family is well liked as it seems.’

‘Of course,’ Linea said with pride. ‘My family has ruled this country since its formation after the Great Cataclysm. And even before that. This admiration is the reason why I want to do something meaningful. I want them to respect not only my family name, but me as a person.’

‘That’s noble of you,’ Sarah noted. ‘I’m sure not everyone would think like that.’

‘Well, I’m not like everyone.’

‘That’s true,’ Sarah agreed and laughed.

They reached the palace, which seemed like a smaller version of the royal palace. Only on closer look, Linea noticed some differences in the architecture. Everything looked straighter and less playful. But the garden in front of the palace was beautiful.

After they had passed the main gate to the palace, servants helped them with their horses. Linea gave some orders to Tenasia and Minara, and followed Lady Talura into the palace together with Nora, Evira and Aruna. Talura led them into a reception room where the countess already awaited them.

“Ah, Talura,” she said with a smile. “I see you brought me a precious flower today.”

“Your Grace,” Talura said to Linea, “may I introduce to you The Right Honorable Countess, Lady Thudila of Alandis.”

Linea stepped forward and put out her hand. The countess got on her knee, took the hand and leaned her forehead towards it. After paying her respect, she rose and smiled.

“It is such an honor to host you, Your Grace,” she said and with a wave of her hand a group of servants rushed in and placed steaming cups on a table which stood in front of the fireplace and surrounded by a big couch.

The smell emanating from those cups was pleasantly familiar to Linea.

“Famnir. You seem to know, how to make friends, Lady Thudila,” Linea said with a smile and let herself be guided to the couch. Evira opted to stand at the side as it was not her place to sit down with the nobility. Nora on the other hand sat down on the couch and moaned in comfort.

“Three nights on a horse,” she commented. “This is such a nice change.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think we have been introduced before,” the countess noted and looked at Nora and Aruna, who seemed to be troubled.

“The bold one is my court lady, Lady Nora of the House Molana,” Linea introduced them quickly and motioned at Aruna. “And this is Priestess Aruna, my personal mentor on Holy Magic. Please take a seat.”

Aruna smiled relieved and sat down.

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Lady Thudila said. “I hope you will enjoy your stay here. I will have prepared a feast in your honor tomorrow before you leave.”

‘A feast?’ Sarah asked. ‘That seems quite excessive for a quick visit.’

‘It’s polite to honor the travails your guest has gone through to meet you. It’s a tradition from a time, where traveling from one city to another could be lethal because of all the Torra.’

‘Well, I won’t complain, if the food is good.’

Linea chuckled.

“I’m honored by your hospitality,” Linea commented.

The talk moved on to some basic political stuff from then on. The countess was of course interested in Linea’s blessing, but she was tactful enough not to demand from Linea to show her mark.

When Thudila mentioned the looming war, the discussion took an interesting turn,

“Duchess Orundia’itsa has already conscripted an army of two thousand men. They should have departed towards Alandis by now and are expected in two weeks. I will shelter them as long as the human army stays at our border,” she told Linea.

“Orundia’itsa expects the humans to attack us with only five-thousand men?” Linea replied questioningly. “Marquess Ranadir should be able to handle that much.”

“The Duchess sees parallels to the last war with the empire,” Thudila explained. “Back then we had been weakened by a plague and if it hadn’t been for High Priestess Saria, we would have been defeated. There have been theories that the disease was not as random as one would like to think. These rumors, about how the humans infected us with the Black Blood to weaken us, are still prevalent today. It is strange that there had been no humans infected by it.”

“Let's assume that this theory, which doesn’t convince me, is correct, how does this relate to the current situation?” Linea asked. “As far as I know, there is no plague around.”

“But there are other ways to weaken us,” Thudila replied. “The dark mage for example. If he is controlled by the empire, then it would make sense to unleash him on us before a potential war.”

Linea frowned at the implications of those assumptions.

“Well, I’m on my way to defeat this dark mage,” she said. “If the humans control him, I will find out. Either way, the humans will not lay their hands on our lands.”

“Of course, they won’t,” Thudila agreed. “But the Duchy of Orundis will be prepared either way.”

“That is commendable,” Linea said with a smile. “Your devotion towards our country and people honors you.”

“Thank you for your kind words, My Lady. But I would like to ask if it would be a possibility for you to stay in Alandis for a few weeks until the army arrives?”

Linea’s smile changed into a thin line.

“Why should I?” she asked. She hoped the countess didn’t expect her to lead the army into the south.

“Well, if you were to give your blessing to our soldiers, they would be even more motivated in the coming fights.”

Linea sighed. To bless an army was a priestess’s job. Something she had no inclination of doing at the moment.

“I’m sorry, but I have to decline,” she replied. “Even though your intentions are noble, delaying the fight against the dark mage could cause additional civilian casualties, which is not acceptable. I hope you understand that.”

“Of course, My Lady!” Thudila answered quickly. “It was just my duty to ask you at least. For our soldiers.”

“Again, your intentions are commendable, and if I wasn’t on an important mission, I would have helped you gladly,” Linea assured the countess. “But you can give a message from me to them. My heart is with them on their task to protect our country.”

“I will tell them your message, Your Grace,” Thudila said and nodded.

After sleeping for the whole day in a comfortable bed, Linea felt refreshed. Her plan for the day was to visit the local temple together with Aruna. Her problems with meditating didn’t seem to be solved so easily and Linea wanted to ask Luna for help.

The temple in Alandis was smaller but impressive in its own rights. The architecture resembled the temple in Luna’sindranar and Linea felt a little homesick. She banished those thoughts and focused on her task. Aruna talked to the few priestesses, who gazed at Linea in their curiosity, while Linea sat down on a bench.

‘Let me do it,’ Sarah intervened before Linea started to pray. She shrugged and motioned Sarah to go ahead.

‘Hey Luna! What’s up?’ Sarah suddenly said. ‘Got time for us?’

Linea groaned internally as she should have expected something like this, but Sarah’s unconventional prayer seemed to work, nonetheless.

‘Hey Sarah!’ Luna said in a chipper voice. ‘Is Linea listening as well?’

‘I am,’ she simply said.

‘All right, what can I do for you?’

‘Linea can’t concentrate enough for using Holy Magic. Aruna said she should just meditate, but she is a girl in puberty… I don’t believe clearing her mind is a workable way,’ Sarah explained.

‘What does my puberty have to do with anything?’ she asked irritated.

‘You’re too emotional,’ Luna said knowingly. ‘That’s why I wanted you to learn magic first, but alas…’

‘How do I fix this?’ Linea asked and felt slightly insulted.

‘Ask Sarah for help,’ Luna answered without explaining it.

‘How can I help with her emotions?’ Sarah asked confused and Linea thought the same.

‘You’re a psion, aren’t you?’ Luna added but waited for Sarah to make the connections, who didn’t seem to get it. ‘Never encountered a psion with mind manipulation skills?’

Sarah was silent for a second, but then it seemed to come to her.

‘Oh!’ she exclaimed, and giddiness flooded over to Linea.

‘What? What are you talking about?’

‘Sarah will explain it to you,’ Luna said and moved on to a topic of her own. ‘While you’re here, I’ll give you a piece of knowledge about Holy Magic. Holy Magic draws on Life Force. Either of your chosen deity or your own.’

‘The second option sounds dangerous…’ Sarah noted, while Linea was still trying to understand what Sarah and Luna had talked about.

‘Yeah, it will weaken you, if you do it that way. For example, it will cost your body the same amount of Life Energy that would have been needed by the injured person to heal by himself naturally. Regrowing a lost limb is most likely lethal. So, for smaller stuff you can use it, but for miracles you need to access my power.’

‘Why didn’t Aruna tell me about the option to use my Life Force?’ Linea asked.

‘Because novices only learn that later on,’ Luna said. ‘They first need to learn patience. When they can draw on my power, they learn that there is a dangerous shortcut. I’m telling you, because I believe you wouldn’t be stupid enough to try that.’

Sarah chuckled at that.

‘What is that supposed to mean, Sarah?’ Linea asked with a pout.

‘Anyway,’ Luna tried to get their focus back. ‘I’m in a hurry. I hope Sarah can help you with your problem. If not, then give it some time.’

‘But how? How can she help me?’ Linea asked in frustration.

‘I have not enough time to explain. See you, girls!’

And with that, the goddess was already gone.

‘You are insufferable!’ Linea said furiously.

‘You like that word, hm?’

‘Argh!’

Sarah was amused but tried not to show it too much. She knew it would have aggravated Linea even further. Linea didn’t get up from her bench for a while as she tried to compose herself.

‘I hate it when people treat me like a child,’ Linea said after a few minutes.

‘Well, but aren’t you…’ Sarah tried to reply, but Linea interrupted her immediately.

‘Don’t you dare even thinking that sentence to the end!’

‘All right princess,’ Sarah said.

They both kept silent for a few more moments.

‘Want to know how I can help you?’

Linea had her arms crossed and starred at the statue of the goddess behind the altar. Even though she still angry with Sarah, she was too curious.

‘Yes. Please.’

‘It’s simple to understand, but hard for me to pull off.’ Sarah started. ‘Remember after your fight with your mother, when you were so angry that it made me angry as well?’

Linea just nodded.

‘Well, the idea is that if you were able to manipulate me, I should be able to manipulate your emotions as well. For example, I would put myself into a deep state of tranquility, which might pour over to you and thus calming you down enough.’

‘That sounds… interesting,’ Linea had to agree. ‘Can you do this?’

‘I don’t know,’ Sarah admitted. ‘I can learn it, but mind psionics are not my original field. On the other hand, I never tried it. Perhaps I’m good at it?’

‘We’ll see,’ Linea noted still peeved. ‘I will just focus on that feast tonight.’

Said feast was more than Linea had expected. When she heard most of the baronesses from the surrounding baronies would attend, she was forced to buy a new dress in the city. She had not anticipated a social gathering of this level and had packed nothing appropriate.

Nora and Aruna on the other hand were happy about a little shopping tour.

“She can’t wear white!” Nora said in a heated discussion with Aruna. “She is neither a priestess nor a bride.”

“But she is the Chosen One of our goddess!” Aruna argued back.

“This is not about her blessing, it is about her station as a princess!”

“But being the Chosen One outranks her princess status!”

Linea stood on a pedestal in her undergarments and had an attendant of the tailoring-shop taking her measurements.

‘Girls will be girls,’ Sarah noted in amusement. ‘It’s refreshing to see that some things just seem to be universal.’

‘Your findings regarding the behavior of females are laudable, but it doesn’t help our problem at hand. What should I wear?’

‘Well, the highest-ranking nobility apart from yourself will be the countess,’ Sarah started. ‘And we don’t expect to meet a duchess on our journey. So, we should keep ourselves from investing too much into this. Just enough to not affront the countess.’

‘That’s what I thought as well,’ Linea agreed. ‘Verenian Silk should do the trick. But which color scheme?’

‘Well, you could go with both, white and dark-violet. At night your skin seems more lilac. White and violet complement that. You said this tailor uses magic for his creations, so perhaps we can make it more intricate?’

‘Any ideas?’

‘Let’s go with a flower motif,’ Sarah suggested. ‘Have him make a white dress. It should be a backless neck holder. It should be close-fitting from top to your hips and from then on flare out to floor-length. The upper part should be white, but the lower part should have floral stitching in dark-violet. Your hair pinned-up, and large earrings to complement that.’

Linea paused for a second and then giggled.

‘That was specific,’ she noted in her amusement. ‘I didn’t deem you to be that type of girl.’

‘Which type?’ Sarah asked confused.

‘The fashion type,’ Linea explained. ‘You always seem so mature and serious.’

‘Just because I couldn’t do stuff like this in my old life, doesn’t mean I didn’t want to.’

Linea knew she had overstepped their unspoken agreement of not talking about Sarah’s past, but she couldn’t deactivate her curiosity.

‘I will go with your idea,’ Linea said to distract Sarah. ‘It sounds solid and I can give a good statement with such a dress. That I’m devoted to our goddess, but still part of the royal family.’

Linea interrupted Aruna and Nora, who were still arguing. She explained Sarah’s idea, and both girls seemed to be appeased by the compromise.

The only thing still unclear was whether the tailor could provide the dress in time or not.