Following Jennis up a trail on a small mountain, I breathe in the fresh air. The trees block out the sunlight, until the end of the path at the top, where there is a small clearing of rocks. I climb onto one and look around at the expansive view.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Jennis says, climbing up next to me.

“It is. But there’s more, isn’t there?”

He affirms, “Otherwise I wouldn’t have brought you a few hours away from the academy and would instead climb the cliff face that the rock climbing club uses.” Sitting with his legs hanging off the side of the rock, he summons a picnic basket and opens it. I sit next to him and take a sandwich.

“What’s special about this place?”

“You see that lake over there?” He points to the distance, and I look at the lake my parents took me to all those years ago. A bit of pink is visible even from here. “On a clear day, when the sun sets, the nightloques will go through the rainbow. Many know this, but very few know that the nightloques reflect the sunset in a certain direction and create an aurora.”

“So we are waiting for the sunset?” I look up at the sky. “But, it’s not a clear day.”

“It is a shame that it’s not so, but just because there are clouds does not mean that the aurora will not appear. It will just look different.”

I silently munch on my sandwich. “By the way, Jennis, do you know the saying about nightloques?”

“The moment when the nightloques go through the rainbow is when the link between our world and the demon world is the strongest.”

“Right. If that’s true, and if there is someday an invasion, which side would you stand on?”

“Isn’t the answer obvious? I would stand on your side, whether that’s with demons or with humans.”

The sun begins to set in the distance, and streaks of colors wave through the sky. “Even though you are from the Jorein House?” I watch from my peripheral vision as Jennis turns his head to look at me.

“What do you mean?” His expression shows confusion, but his voice contains danger.

I tear my eyes away from the aurora and look back at him. “You are Donovan’s son, right? And you’re working with the demons.”

“It’s not what you think-”

I turn away from him. “It’s not? Then what is it? You were sent to spy on me, to find out my secrets, so that I wouldn’t be a threat to the invasion, right? Then, if you told the Donatella House my location, and possibly my mother’s, then your house would be rewarded and you would rise in the ranks.” My voice turns harsher with each word despite my attempt to keep it gentle.

“I…” He opens and closes his mouth a few times, and then turns away. “It’s true that my father works for demons, but not all demons are bad. Not to mention, what would you do if Prince was listening in on this conversation?” I stay silent, and he sighs. “The Jorein House works for the Manatolans, the demons who live in the country of Manatola. In order to gain resources, the King of Manatola decided to invade another world, namely this one. He appointed the Donatella House as the leaders of this invasion, giving it a chance to pay back everything that humans did to it.

“And the demon faction… the demon faction experimented not with creating demons, but controlling demons. Even non-first generation demons cannot resist the seal made from your blood. You are so intelligent that Prince wouldn’t feel at ease if you weren’t being watched. Every time you disappear, someone pays.”

I raise a hand to stop him. “Why are you telling me this? I don’t care if someone from your side pays for my freedom. It’s not up to me what’s in your dumb leader’s head.”

“I realized that no matter how intelligent I appear to others, to you it would just be child’s play. If I want to stay by your side, I should show my loyalty.”

“You realize you are speaking to a ten-year-old, right?”

“What’s important is that you are a natural born leader, and if you claim a throne in the demon world, no one would be able to stop you.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“You could even control your own clones, so any seal created with your blood, whether from yourself or from your clones, will be under your control.”

“Clones?” Before he can reply, I change the subject. “How do I know that you aren’t going to betray me? Prince could be controlling you right now, for all I know. And besides that, he implied a reason that you wouldn’t betray him.”

Jennis scoffs. “It’s not me betraying him, it’s him cutting off my family. He took my mother and sister away, and even as I work for him to keep him from torturing them, I cannot free them on my own.”

“So I’m just part of your agenda to free your family.”

“Don’t put it like that-”

“It’s exactly like that. Don’t try to sugarcoat it.” I point to him and say, . His nose stays the same size and he rolls his eyes.

“Now that you used the liar curse, do you believe me? I truly wish to work with, for you.”

“Are you a demon?”

He looks surprised, and then nods. “I thought you would have figured that part out by now.”

After taking a breath to think, I finally nod. “Okay. If I’m to someday take over the world, you will be my right hand. Since Prince wants to find out what I know so much, your first task is to let him know that I’m essentially a native when it comes to the magi language and I wouldn’t bother to explain any spell that I use.”

“Understood.”

The aurora begins to fade, giving way to the sky full of stars as I finish off the last sandwich in the basket. I stand and stretch before turning to look at Jennis, who has gotten down on one knee.

“It might be a bit cheesy, since we have no witness, but…” He places his fist against his chest. “I, Jennis Jorein, pledge allegiance to my leader, Nova Allandis, until my death.” He ends his oath with a , the spell used to seal any oath.

Stunned for a moment, I begin to laugh, and then I can’t stop. His face turns a shade of red so different from his usual color that it’s visible even under the dim light of the moon.

“Why are you laughing?”

Wiping tears from my eyes, I force out, “I apologize. Seeing you so serious is just so different from your usual self that I’ve been rendered speechless.” I finally calm down, but another giggle escapes. “You made the vow yourself, Jennis. Don’t betray my trust.” I have really triggered too many flags in the past, haven’t I?