Nostalgia sat on a high chair in the reception hall. Next to her sat Armad, all dressed in reddish, pure silk. Other than them, there were the beautiful maids who served them.

After a while, the guard's voice rang in the hall, "The kings have lined up and are waiting for permission to enter."

Nostalgia looked at Armad, seeking his permission. Armad nodded. "The first on the line should come in," Nostalgia said.

The gatekeeper opened the small gate to allow the king to enter. In the king's hands was a small bag. He walked forward until he was about ten feet away from Nostalgia and Armad and then stopped. He opened the bag in his hands to reveal a white stone inside. The king picked up the stone and said, "I, King Fatahu U. Sisiyu, have given the princess this stone as a gift. It has been inherited by my family more than fifteen hundred years ago. I do not know the uses of this stone but according to a book left by my grandfather, the stone can be used to create a contract bond between man and djinn. It's the most priced thing in my possession. Please, accept it, my princess."

Nostalgia waved her sleeve and the maidservants came forward and took the gift away. King Fatahu congratulated the princess and her fiance once again before he left.

The next king was summoned.

"I am king Damar D. Sisiyu from the city of Kalmir. I give the princess ten million ayrid coins and one thousand gold bracelets."

After him, the next one came.

"I am King Na'isu of Bawa. I gave the princess eighty thousand full-body armors."

"I, King Shiftu of Dalru, have given the princess ten thousand horses and ten thousand double-armors."

On that day, the kings of Sisiya blessed Armad and his fiance with many gifts. Armad was amazed at the sheer amount of material wealth being displayed. The hall was so crowded and they couldn't leave the place until evening.

After the event, they walked back together, chatting and laughing like they'd known each other for so long.

"Why do I sense you're not happy?" Nostalgia asked.

Armad said, "Of course, I'm happy. It's just..."

Nostalgia turned and looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Just what?"

"It's because of us that war is about to break out. Do you think there is a way this marriage can happen and at the same time prevent the war?"

Nostalgia smiled bitterly and shook her head. "I have been thinking about this for some time now. I even asked my father about it. Do you know what he told me?"

Armad shook his head.

Nostalgia went on, "There has always been a feud between my father and King Rafiya. It's like the two Kings have been at war forever. Meanwhile, King Hán'Ibal has long wanted to acquire the Bend of perpetual damage from my father. Rafiya and Han'ibal, even without this marriage, have long been looking for a way to wage war on us. So my father told me to look at this war as a test of power between the jinzidal Kings. He wants to show them he is as strong as ever and not someone they can easily bully. He allows this marriage to show the enemy they can't stop him. Do you understand his perspective?"

Armad took a deep breath and thought about her words in silence. There was no doubt that this was what was going on in the King's mind. But still, it didn't feel right. Should he just relax and enjoy his marriage while his father-in-law battle for everyone's sake alone? Of course, Bihanzin was likely doing it for his ego as a King but Armad felt like he needed to help and give it his all. After all, if Bihanzin fell, he would also fall. And if they succeeded in killing a King or two, then that would be a massive step forward for his plans to defeat the jinzidal. And at the same time, he would be securing his marriage and wife. If Bihanzin were to fail, then not only would his wife-to-be die, but he would also likely be the first one to die. All in all, he and Bihanzin were allies now and more than likely in the future.

They stopped at the entrance into the princess' house. Armad opened the door for her and then followed her behind.

"So after today, we will have... Walking Day, right?" Armad said jokingly in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Nostalgia narrowed her eyes. "You... You have forgotten about it again?" She looked at him inquisitively as if waiting for him to shake his head. But Armad nodded with a serious expression. The woman sighed helplessly. "Please, how many times do I have to tell you about the four days of our tradition? Today is Gift Day, the day when every king will give us his gift. Next is Wedding Day. The wedding vows will take place on that day. Following this will be Walking Day when the bridegroom takes his bride on his back and walks around the city so the people of the city can bless them. The last one is Consummation Day, but that won't be happening since I'm still not up to eighteen years of age. Gift day. Wedding day. Walking day. And Consummation Day. So the next one is Wedding Day in a couple of months. I won't be saying it again."

Armad took a deep breath and nodded solemnly. "I won't forget it again," he said. Unfortunately for her, she didn't realize Armad was pulling her legs throughout.

She gave him the look that said, "You better not."

They went into the princess' quarters chatting.

"I'll take my leave then," Armad said when they stopped in front of the bedroom.

Nostalgia gave him a questioning look. He quickly explained, "There's something I need to do."

Before she could refuse, Armad had run away laughing. For some reason, he kept thinking about Consummation Day and the fact that his bride was below eighteen. He didn't believe it for one second. Female Benders could be cunning when it came to their age. Since they knew they wouldn't age physically because of the protection provided by their pol, they could just pretend to be young forever. Once, a young woman celebrated her eighteenth birthday ninety-eight times.

Nostalgia sighed and went inside. Armad had been like this for the past few days - always busy at night. She later found out he was training every time he left. According to her 'spy', Armad barely slept nowadays and was always chanting in the middle of the night.

***

Armad went straight to his room. There was no time to waste so he used photon jump to appear in his room. The once speckless room was filled with books that he recently borrowed from the library.

Armad wanted to share his lightning element with other people, but it was proving to be difficult and for a good reason. A djinn was always the one that gave elemental magic to its master, not the other way round. But Armad had lost his djinn at the hands of Uznu Ururu, so he had no chance to create a Contract through the usual way. However, by giving him double 'six' during his assessment, jinni wood had hinted that Armad could take the role of djinns to share his magic. It was just a hint, but it was confirmed by Ilias.

After a long discussion with Ilias the previous night, they concluded that, theoretically, Armad could share his element. In simple terms, djinns could produce lightning from their bodies and Armad could do the same. Djinns could give their magic to other people, then why couldn't Armad do the same?

If Armad completed this Bend, he could give other people the ability to use lightning. It wouldn't be exactly like a Contract Bend (which allowed every person to use their djinns independently), but it would allow him to assemble his army. Besides, the people he gave his lightning to might even be able to use other elements from their djinns - one element belonging to their djinns and the other belonging to Armad. It would be spectacular. Something no one had ever seen or done.

But that was exactly the problem - no one had ever done something like that and because of that, even the books in front of him had no clue about it. Before Armad, Eyrion was the first and the only person who had ever acquired the ability to transform his body into lightning. But there was no record about Eyrion giving people the ability to use lightning. Did that mean it was impossible? Or maybe there were some serious risks involved in the process that caused Eyrion to avoid it?