Breathing in, breathing out, Alfread took his shot. "I love being Leverian. But I also hate it. The oppression in this kingdom disgusts me." He halted, not feeling safe as some of the masters glared at him.

"Go on," Kai said, softly. "Show us the fire that burns within you."

He let his anguish out. "Try being born poor and nameless or having Leverith create your heart to love people who are the same gender as you or answer your prayers with a life's mate that is in a different social class. Try it! The system is built to protect those at the top and to rain so much shite down on everyone below that they spend their lives trying to shovel a path through the muck when they could have freedom and the opportunities to live to their potential." Alfread breathed out, but he wasn't finished. "Then there's the Gemstone War. We fight to the death against people who could be our lovers, our family, our friends. What in Zamael's Hells are we bleeding for when we divinedamned know what the panacea is!"

Alfread kept going, rising from his seat, pushed forward by Kai Blazelord's nodding. "This kingdom could be a beacon of hope for humanity. We could wave banners of freedom, peace, and love, and yet it chooses to maintain the status quo, to stab itself in the heart. And yes, I love it too. I came here because I wanted to learn how to defend it and how to do whatever I can to guide Leveria toward a brighter future because I know how much better we can be."

Talen Dalardor shook his head at him. Like Irvaine Celvine this man was the problem come alive.

Kai Blazelord tapped Pandemonium against the marble floor. "Such fire. Had he the power, I doubt a single fragment of Seraxa's divinity would've remained unchanneled by his passion. Maintain the flow, Master Supernova."

"Herblore. Master Engela Brighton."

A middle-aged woman with bushy brown hair, Master Herblore's voice was warm as sunlight. "You are Mirielda's son?"

It was too late to deny it. Whether it brought bias or not. "I am."

Engela Brighton grinned. She exchanged glances with a few other masters then said, "Welcome home, Mirielda's son. Physiology. Master Felore Jennet."

About the same age as Alfread's mother, the fair-faced Felore Jennet was one of the masters that Engela had traded gazes with. "If fate permitted, your mother would be sitting in my chair today and you would have grown up on this campus. These last eighteen years, I've been convinced that my dearest friend made a grave mistake. Now I see the fruits of her departure." She smiled. "You are no mistake, Alfread son of Evan. Welcome to Leverian University. Welcome home."

Alfread wiped at his eyes. "Thank you, Master Physiology," Alfread said, choking out the words.

"My question," Master Felore continued, her voice breaking just as much as Alfread's, "is how did you recall all thirteen of Master Casimir's numbers?"

Alfread didn't want to lose all his secrets. He remembered a story that had a protagonist who used numbers as a component of their magic. "I visualized the numbers as Master Casimir spoke them. While he talked, they appeared as corporeal to me as any of you. What you witnessed was not recalling so much as reading."

"Fascinating. Law. Master Ticus Ogden."

Master Ticus was an older gentleman with a knight's physique and a lordling's bearing. Alfread wouldn't be surprised to find him with a cane that was used just as much for bludgeoning as ambulation. He grinned at Alfread before speaking in a booming, charismatic voice. "Your performance on my section of the test was your bane."

Alfread shrugged. "I have much to learn from you, Master Law."

Master Law continued more seriously, "Indeed. Let us take a measure of the laws you would create, applicant. Pretend you are King Adameon's highest steward and he asks for your sage advice with a dilemma. His brother has been caught trying to usurp his throne."

Lira shot a scathing glance toward Ticus. Master Law's charisma stumbled slightly before her gaze. "For today's purposes let us say that he has a hypothetical fourth brother, Prince Usurpaeon."

Alfread chuckled along with a few other masters.

Ticus Ogden's frenetic enthusiasm was contagious. "King Adameon knows that the legal penalty is death. Alas, he loves his little Usurpie. The king remembers playing wooden swords with him during boyhood. He cannot bear to see Usurpaeon executed. What advice do you offer?"

"Can you elaborate on how Prince Usurpaeon was planning to usurp his brother?"

Ticus tapped his hand against the moon-blue crescent for a few turns. "He was fornicating with the head chef and they were plotting to put poison in the royal family's goblets at the birthday ball."

"Goblets? As in he would murder Queen, Princesses, and Prince too?"

"Our little Usurpie is an improperly ambitious man," Master Law said. "Can't have heirs in the way now, can he?"

"What poison?" Alfread asked.

"Cordesine. That is all you get from me, applicant," he said with a playful sternness and a rapidly wagging index finger.

Alfread thought hard, not relying on any code of laws save his own morality and what would be best for as many people as possible. "I would advise King Adameon to be steadfast. The man who seeks to poison him and his children is no longer the boy who played wooden swords with him. I would suggest a private, but publicized, execution by cordesine. The execution is private out of memory for the brother he loved and publicized to warn dissidents of the king's justice. Cordesine is fitting because it is fast and relatively painless to honor their boyhood love while also being commensurate to the method of usurpation.

"If Prince Usurpaeon has children, I would advise King Adameon to raise them as though they were his own rather than exile them or send them as wards to archlords that might use them as leverage for greater power or even the throne. The children are innocent of the father's crimes. If they are shown love, they will become allies rather than usurpers, solidifying our king's legacy."

Master Law gave a noncommittal nod. "Thus spoke Alfread." He banged his hand against the table, as if it were a gavel. "Astronomy. Master Hubert LaGrett."

Hubert LaGrett was a handsome, well-built man. Like Engela Brighton and Falore Jennet, he would've been in Mirielda's cohort. Alfread wouldn't have been surprised if this was a man that might have shared deep affection for his mother. Thus far, he'd been watchful, but never making eye contact, never breaking silence or showing either approval or disapproval. Alfread sensed how the other masters paid closer attention: Lira's thin grin, Emmalyn's silent sigh, Engela's prodding nodding.

In the end, Hubert announced, "I abstain. Sky. Master Chester Balbaroar."

Alfread tried to get a better read on Hubert, but he kept his eyes down, carrying what Alfread sensed was a sorrow of sorts. There was more here, he noted, but the interview went on and Alfread's mind could only be in one place at a time—even if it excelled at going far from the place he was.

Master Sky had a loud voice, one that could rival Theo or Kenneth in its flair for the bombastic. A wiry man with a japing grin, he said, "Today is Twincess Serapheena's 18th birthday. Use that as your theme and make me laugh."

Alfread grinned, letting his mind run away for a few turns before rhyming:

"Princess Serapheena ages.

Lords, nobles, and mages,

Assemble when Adameon calls

But Camellia holds his balls."

The applause wasn't universal, but enough chuckled or laughed that Alfread didn't feel like it was a total miss. Nearly all of the cognitive-affectomancers laughed, Barnabus Bitterbreeze the exception as he complained that phallic humor was the lowest there was. Tidecaller, covering her little grin, offered. "The best part of that is that he's not wrong."

As the king's sister-in-law, Lira Tidecaller had a little more ground to judge validity on such things. She winked at Alfread. He shot his glance to the far end of the table where Chester Balbaroar reined in his laugh.

"Ethology. Master Jaina Rainwater."

Master Ethologist shared Salora Rainwater's fair features, if not her youth or her softness. This was a woman as hard as the beasts she studied, who'd likely spent significant time in the wilds and wasn't a stranger to weaponry. Alfread would've found her quite attractive, were it not so clear that she'd been one of the ones most consistently disgusted with him. Her disposition toward him was a shame. The value of knowing beasts would rise like floodwaters as the Celegans invaded.

"Cats or dogs?" she asked.

"Both have their virtues," Alfread said, "but I favor the independence and cleverness of cats over the companionship and emotionality of dogs."

Master Jaina Rainwater's disdainful expression remained, as if sharing even the briefest interaction with Alfread was like swallowing a whole plantation of lemons. "Theology. Master Martine Beckett."

Master Theologian was an ancient man who looked like he might've held his post for a few centuries. "Choose one deity to honor above all others," he commanded in a slow drawl.

Alfread hesitated. He contemplated his favorites: Leverith, Norali, Celegana, Seraxa, and, of course, Yadeen. He reviewed his options, finding that the longer he reflected the less able he was to choose just one.

"I think this is the hardest question yet," Alfread said. "I cannot choose one. We need them all."

"Even Zamael?" the old master asked.

"Even Zamael," Alfread said, a memory coming to him; one of the ones that he tried not to think about. Alas, sometimes it was a curse to have perfect recall of every moment of your life. The ones that resonated the deepest were always right there waiting, like a maelstrom just beneath the surface of a lake that looked placid.

Melody was dying, the deathbed in Alfread's room. He clung to her, crying like he never had before and hadn't since. This woman was a second mother to him, but she'd been able to see further into him than anyone else ever had. In those moments where it felt like his chest was being ripped open, he'd wished that death didn't exist, that people could be immortal like elves in the stories.

Melody, ever observant, the wisest person he ever met, told him then something that he wouldn't be able to forget without his gift. Tears in his eyes, he looked at his own feet, and repeated to the masters the beginning of her final lesson. "Death ends us but without it we would never begin our lives."

Hubert LaGrett shot up in his chair, brown eyes studying Alfread for a few turns before falling to the crescent table again.

Do not fear death, my storyteller, Melody had said next. Fear not living.

Alfread wiped his eyes, suddenly glad to be here despite how scary it was. Whether the masters wanted him or not, today he hadn't let fear stop him from living. Somewhere in the stars, in Meladon's Paradise, he hoped that Melody would be proud.

The ambience growing more solemn, Master Martine cleared his throat. "A wise answer but be wary that you do not spread your devotion too thin, Applicant Alfread. Sometimes, a man must make a choice, even when surrounded with many good options." He offered an ancient smile. "Spirit. Master Zoey Iaso."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Master Spirit appeared to be one of the younger cognitive-affectomancers, except for Lira Tidecaller. Society would've been surprised that she was the Ruby Kingdom's eminent Leverith channeler, given that few would say she was blessed by Leverith.

"Have you ever been in love, applicant?"

"I have a deep love for my parents, for my best friend Zander, and for his mother. I have a general love for all people. We are constantly trying to do our best with what we are given and I believe every person has capacity for love. I have had to learn how to love the people I have treated in my mother's clinic for there is powerful healing in love."

Alfread thought of Asa. He'd thought he was in love but did being in love require two? Were his feelings even real or based on dreams and fantasy? He still felt that he should be "faithful" to her, but could one be unfaithful to a woman that spurned you then pleaded for you to come back once you were leaving?

Master Spirit caught his pause. "Have you ever been in love with a woman, applicant?"

He doubted he paused longer before answering any other question.

"It's not that hard," Barnabus Bitterbreeze snapped.

Alfread inhaled. He shrugged, offering, "I thought I had been in love. Yet here I am, hundreds of miles away from her. Now I question whether what I felt was real or only just a boyish fantasy."

"Hmm. Love can be complex, young man. Come speak with me some time, if you want to explore what is true in your heart." Only two questioners remaining, Master Iaso twisted to the woman beside her instead of the man in the middle of them all. "Potioneering. Master Emmalyn Panacea."

Emmalyn Panacea was, if anything, sterner in this room than she'd been on the campus grounds—going from a stiff broom sweeping him wherever she would to a quarterstaff with a bristly handle whacking him in the arm. "Why does the Gemstone War persist?"

"It depends on who you ask," Alfread answered. "A mapmaker would argue that the strong natural borders that divide Leveria into east and west make conquest difficult. The Eagle, the Bear, and the Owl rivers are hard to cross and allow for constant resupply even should one kingdom take a city along that river. Northern Leveria's median is divided by the Balbaraq Mountains and the Vulcan mountain ranges which are very hard to scale and prevent resupply. This is particularly true of the Balbaraq ranges where an army will be devastated by lightning blasts. The dangers of the Impwood make crossing through Mirrevar a challenge. The Marshes of Madness are another hopeless crossing where an army is likely to lose battalions to the pythanaji and chameliath. Though not on the border, the Sinful Steppe, the Roaring Plains, the Fogwood, the Tenacious Mountains, the Golden Massif, and all the other woodlands make troop and resupply movement challenging. The Sea of Qoryxa is hard to traverse, often leaving ships smashed against Vulcan's Hammer if they try to hit the north seaboard. The Sea of Seraxa is the most viable pathway to conquest and yet both kingdoms know this and mass produce their navies there in Meridian and Eaglerun. Thus, even when a city falls to one kingdom, they cannot maintain hold over it because of geographic isolation.

"An ethologist would suggest that conquest is challenging for the same reasons why Leveria still has more frontier than settled land. The beasts of the Leverian wilderness are more dangerous than armies."

Alfread caught his breath, knowing that for those very reasons the Celegans could conquer Leveria.

"A military strategist," he continued, "would argue that both kingdoms have strong fortified walls and nearly infinite supply lines. A philosopher would argue that the maintained enmity of Ruby and Sapphire facilitates group cohesion among internal archlords. Rather than battling each other, they are focused on their enemies on the opposite side of Leveria. A scholar of law might say that the law gives their king the right to rule the entire continent, to be the successor of the Dreamer's Throne; this law mandates continued conflict. A priestess might say that Gidi and Zamael exert their influence, feeding humanity's impulses to inflict pain and war. If you ask a Ruby peasant, it is because, thanks to propaganda, they believe that the Sapphire are Zamael worshippers. A historian would say that—"

"—I am asking Alfread son of Evan, applicant at Leverian University," Master Panacea said, stressing each word with enough sternness that Alfread felt like he should be cleaning his dishes and recovering from an ear pinch.

Alfread inhaled, held, and slowly exhaled. "I believe in all of those reasons, yet, I believe the war persists primarily for two reasons. First, Ruby and Sapphire have stopped seeing their enemies as people. We see them as the monsters that wounded our fathers and burned our lands. It is far easier to justify the murder of a monster than the purging of people. I have been to battle. I have seen the Sapphire marching toward me. I have caused, and heard, the wailing of their widows. They mourn their dead. They love their living. They're not so different from us. We are all people. Each of us is alive. Each has their own story. War makes us forget this and leaves us seeing monsters rather than reflections of ourselves.

"Second, I believe the war persists because the archlords and kings don't even see their own subjects as people with their own unique stories. The common folk that are sent to war are nothing but numbers to most of them. The highborn have no issue sacrificing numbers to preserve their power, to fight for all those reasons I already mentioned and dozens more. They care not the cost in life, happiness, and freedom as long as they still have a family name."

Of scowls, Alfread saw several, including among those with important last names like Talen Dalardor and Jaina Rainwater. A few nodded to his response, most prominent among them was Kai Blazelord; the deadliest man on the continent was quickly becoming his favorite in this room.

Masters like Hubert LaGrett kept their eyes down. Engela Brighton and Felore Jennet shared knowing glances with each other. Even the cognitive-affectomancers, those who'd spent their lives on the battlefield before earning a teaching position at Leverian University were split by his answer. Lira Tidecaller seemed bored, twiddling her wand as if he had talked too long about nothing at all.

Master Panacea returned his gaze with a steady nod. "Thank you for sharing your answer, Applicant Alfread. Fire. Archwizard Kai Blazelord."

The Blazelord was the first master to rise for their question. The Archwizard's face was one you'd expect to belong to a farmer or an innkeep in a small village. Take away Pandemonium and his robes—black emblazoned with red flames, like fires cloaked in shadows—and he would look like any other middle-aged lowborn father of three.

"Alfread son of Evan, thank you for sharing your wisdom and your earnest heart with us. I am certain your parents are very proud of the young man you are and I am eager to see the man you have yet to become. My life is consumed with one question. This question has troubled me in my waking angles and in my dreams for years. I can use your help answering this most important question. How does the Gemstone War end?"

Alfread saw flashes of the past: wolves fighting three squires in a thicket, sasquatch attacking a mounted giant with auburn hair, a troll beside the Cardian with an arrow landing at its feet. In order to survive, the war must end.

Alfread matched his questioner's energy, rising from his chair. "For a few years, Linus reminded Leveria that both the Ruby and the Sapphire were people. He convinced kings that there was more profit to be made in peace than war. Yet, those changes didn't survive his death. I wish I could say I knew how to change the hearts and minds of millions. The truth is that people struggle to change unless they need to change. They cling to what has worked for them even if there are better ways."

"I wonder," Kai responded, "what would need to happen to create circumstances where the Leverian people needed to change?"

"That I can answer," Alfread said. "A common existential threat that doesn't discriminate between Sapphire and Ruby, such as an international invasion by either the dragon knights of Volqor or the tamers of the Celegan Hollows."

The eerie silence that followed told Alfread that this notion wasn't unfamiliar. Wayn Bearbreaker's message had been delivered and distributed to the masters. The loud silence continued for several turns, Alfread's frustration mounting as nobody did anything. This was why he was here, why he'd left Asa, left Zander. His purpose wasn't just to learn, his story wasn't that of a student going to a magic school to learn how to defeat the big bad evil guy. He wasn't a chosen one; he wasn't Alexia Bluerose.

Alfread was here to shoot one arrow: to make the Ruby Kingdom see what was coming, to get them to prepare for the fight that would determine the future of every Leverian for the rest of human existence on this world.

He wouldn't hold his arrows now when he might not get another chance to hit the target. "The Celegans are already here. I've encountered them four times: wolves along the central Bear, sasquatch in the Impwood, trolls along the Cardian and in the Impwood again. When they invade in full force, Leveria will either have unification or extinction."

Alfread's arrow vanquished the silence. The masters chattered, several conversations bursting at once where even quiet Hubert LaGrett had things to say. Only Kai Blazelord remained quiet, his thus far supportive gaze now more solemn as he studied Alfread with a flat stare.

Alfread made out some of the chatter. Princess Serapheena Ruby, the birthday girl herself, had her name thrown around like a hot potato. Her master's thesis had been approved by Master Rainwater, detailing her findings that monster attacks were on a meteoric rise, then she correlated the pattern of monster attacks across the past few centuries with Celegan imperialism. The precocious princess would be his staunchest ally here, in addition to her arrows probably having saved Alfread's life when the Sapphire marched on the Mirrevar encampment. She was already loosing this arrow, and, unfortunately, losing the battle.

Despite her brilliance, despite the privilege of her last name, most of the masters scoffed at her conclusions. Alfread memorized each master's stance, knowing this was the true battle he fought in Rubinia.

Talen Dalardor, divinedamned Master History, gave flat refusal without considering too much history. Fortunately, his wife cited Vara Spearman's stories as evidence that the notion shouldn't be dismissed. Barnabus Bitterbreeze had the audacity to question whether Tuya of the Hollows wasn't just some bard's concoction to sell drama. Engela Brighton, thinking too much on the sunny side of things, said that because of Tuya they'd never have to worry about something like this. Clintaeon the Render suggested that Celegans might test their powers and harass Leveria from Vesarra but would never cross the salt waters they despised. Master Theology offered conjecture that Celegan imperialism and the rise in bestial aggression were both caused by Zamael's waxing influence.

Master Tidecaller's counterpoint was by far the most persuasive to Alfread. The Mahagan witch wondered aloud whether it was more likely that the Sapphire had allied themselves with individuals who could tame. After all, Captain Bakari had used taming in Vara's tales while being opposed to Gurgaldai ezen Celegan. Emmalyn Panacea was the lone voice asserting that the Chimaeras of the Celegan Hollows would break tradition to invade Leveria, citing several arguments that Princess Serapheena had already articulated in her thesis. Hubert LaGrett said that truces ought to at least be considered while data was collected, showing enough sense to make Alfread more convinced that he'd loved his mother.

For all the ruckus, the man that interested Alfread the most remained silent, watchful. Long after the discourse strayed from the question, Kai Blazelord let the chaos unravel the mythical aura of the masters. Then he slammed Pandemonium down into the marble floor, unleashing a thunderous burst that left everyone covering their ears.

"We can debate about the nature of the rising beast attacks and their strong correlation with the rise of the Celegan Empire for moons, but the underlying question is whether a Celegan invasion would persuade the Ruby and Sapphire Kingdom to unify."

Alfread's confidence was cast into doubt by the Blazelord's question. He'd assumed that faced with the threat of certain death, peace would be the natural reaction. But, as his father loved saying, "To assume is to make an ass out of 'u' and 'me.'"

Would Ruby and Sapphire bicker amongst themselves like the masters at this table until it was too late to do anything about it but blame the other side? Kings, lords, lordlings, could be obsessed with image, uncaring about the costs of their actions. It was entirely possible that a hostile takeover would be needed to bring east and west together.

"You all know my heart," Kai said. "I hope to see peace in my lifetime. Perhaps I am too cynical to expect that the Ruby and Sapphire wouldn't use a Celegan invasion to their advantage in the Gemstone War. Rather than unite, they'd seize the opportunity to let their ancient enemy fall. They may even hasten the opposing nation's demise by aiding the invasion." He sighed, setting his eyes on Alfread. "I hope you continue to strive to find answers to my question, Alfread. I promise to listen whenever you believe you have found a path."

"I will try, Archwizard," Alfread promised, meaning every word. Other than Serapheena Ruby, he might not find a better ally in this city.

"Thus ends our examination," the Blazelord said, shifting from paternal to formal. "Nineteen masters hath presented questions and tested the applicant's aptitude and mind. Who deems the applicant worthy of the rank of novice?"

Seventeen hands went aloft. More than Alfread anticipated, including Hubert LaGrett and Jaina Rainwater. Only Barnabus Bitterbreeze and Talen Dalardor rejected him.

The archwizard's staff was a blazing beacon, held over the Blazelord's head. "Judgment hath been rendered. I admit Alfread son of Evan to the rank of novice."

Alfread smiled. This was a momentous achievement, but he wasn't done fighting yet.

"Do you seek a meritorious grant, Novice Alfread?" the Blazelord asked.

"I do."

"Who would volunteer to sponsor Novice Alfread?"

Seven voices declared, "I would."

Kai grinned. "You are blessed with many choices, Novice Alfread. Whom would you choose to be your sponsor?"

Alfread examined his options. Seven. Engineering and Mathematics were not his passions nor would he find his answers in their study. Five. Alfread was talented and interested in Physiology and Herblore, yet he didn't come to Leverian University to further master skills he could better learn from his mother nor would he find a way to end the war in healing the individual body or with his knowledge of flora. Three.

He intended to study Law as it was an area where he lacked proficiency. Before his story ended, he would need to understand the system to fix it. He was determined to study under Ticus Ogden, but his sponsor needed to be somebody he could trust to watch out for him in this city where more people would want him gone than trying to upend their lives. If Ticus Ogden was committed to conserving the law, it couldn't work. Two.

Alfread shifted his gaze between his final two sponsor candidates. Master Charlotte Dalardor would know many stories and she might be a grand ally as Alfread wrote his own destiny. Yet, he owed his life to Master Emmalyn Panacea and she was the only one of the whole nineteen who fully acknowledged the Celegan threat today. His skills in potioneering needed advancement and yet it was Emmalyn's aged wisdom that he found most compelling.

He and Charlotte Dalardor held eyes for several turns as Alfread imagined the life he would have chosen without a second guess had his reality permitted. The Coward within urged him to study under her, to get lost in stories and let the world pass him along the currents of time. He could live thousands of lives in his stories and they would all be easier than the one he would live learning from Emmalyn Panacea. Cowardice conquering, Alfread opened his mouth to pledge himself to Charlotte.

But he stuttered. His mind's eye saw an image of a great wall of fire. Asa was on the other side, calling for him. Zander battled Alexia in Mirrevar, bodies piled by the hundreds. Beasts attacked Bear's Crossing, his parents disemboweled in front of their burning manor. Covademara withered, every flower dying, as a chimaera mounted Goddess Hill.

The brave author within him pushed the Coward down, climbing over him. He needed to learn how to make his shots and he knew who could best guide him.

One.

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