The air tasted like old, musty perfume. The taste you get in your mouth when you playfully try on the blouse of your late grandmother from when she was in her early twenties. It was pungent, yet nostalgic. [Y/n] realised her comparison definitely didn't fit what she could smell or taste at all; all she knew was the smell and taste was familiar, yet she had become estranged to it. Or perhaps it did smell like old, musty perfume. She could no longer tell.

She sat, slightly uncomfortably, on a dead tree stump. The tree hadn't been chopped, it had been gnawed through by some mammal - likely a beaver - and so it was uneven and not the kindest to the posterior, but [Y/n] didn't care much for comfort right now. It matched how she felt internally - on edge.

[Y/n] felt alone, despite the small group of faeries that surrounded them. Initially, Al had insisted his troops should go to the front lines and that he could take care of [Y/n] alone, however Feron had said otherwise. So a group of faeries hid in the undergrowth, and Al's main body was close also.

The smaller, split-off version of Al appeared from inside [Y/n]'s pocket, his tiny glistening wings fluttering as he hovered before her.

"You need to stop panicking," Al said, his voice minuscule, however [Y/n] could just about hear him. "It's gonna be fine. You're well protected and the King doesn't dislike you either." [Y/n] hesitated, nodding her head.

"What do you think will become of Vihren after this war, Al?" [Y/n] questioned quietly. She held out her hand so the boy could sit on her finger. He leaned back and looked ponderous - or at least [Y/n] assumed he did; it was hard to work out what his expression was.

"It really depends," Al managed. "If we lose, we will lose more innocent people to Kutelo, and more of our loved ones will be enslaved," he said honestly. "If we win, we annihilate Kutelo and take back what is rightfully ours." He looked down. "But maybe someone will come along with another idea. You never know; not every war is as simple as winning or losing," he muttered.

[Y/n] was about to comment on Al's statement, but the faerie hopped back into her furry coat pocket and hid. [Y/n] then detected distant footsteps, and she held her breath. She was scared - what if whoever she encountered ambushed her and killed her in a split second? Her whole plan would be ruined.

Thankfully, these footsteps seemed rather relaxed. They weren't hiding themselves, and [Y/n] assumed whoever it was felt no reason to hide. Maybe they didn't even know she was there.

Eyes trained on the bushes the footsteps grew closer and closer to, [Y/n]'s heart rate began beating faster and faster. And when the bushes began to rattle, about to be parted, [Y/n] wondered whether she'd just drop down and have a heart attack.

The girl froze.

Worst possible outcome? Perhaps.

She stared Rayne dead in the eyes, watching as he pushed through the foliage without a care in the world. He leaned himself against a nearby tree, his green gaze trained on the human who watched him with a glare of poison and fire.

A brow raised, Rayne made sure he was the first to speak.

"Rather careless of you to waltz back without a care in the world," Rayne drawled, his tone lazy and bored, "did you miss us?" Yet he knew this wasn't the case - he could feel the magical presence around him which most certainly did not come from the mere human on the oddly shaped tree stump.

"If you're leaving to fetch some supplies or another test subject, I'm afraid you've gone the wrong way," [Y/n] commented. Rayne laughed, shaking his head.

"Oh, no, I do know the way to the nearest town. I assure you, I am not lost," he smiled falsely. "I actually came out to see you, [Y/n]. I was tipped off that you might be in this area," he hummed. Tipped off? [Y/n] couldn't bear to think that there may be a traitor among them.

"Tipped off?" [Y/n] questioned, voicing her thoughts, "by who?"

"Unless you know the names of each and every aspiring spy in Kutelo then I don't think it will mean much to you," Rayne shrugged. [Y/n] narrowed her eyes, but she supposed he had a point. They had been sitting here long enough for someone to report their whereabouts back to Rayne. But why to Rayne and not to Nyais? Was Rayne some sort of powerhouse? Perhaps the workers were inspired by him - he is technically one of them.

Plucking up the courage to stand from her seat and be level with him, even taking a semi-threatening step forwards, [Y/n] decided to ignore the fact that Rayne had shown up and continue with her plan regardless.

"I need you to tell Nyais I am here," she said calmly, her eyes narrowed. "Tell him to come here. Alone."

"And why, pray tell, should I listen to you? It sounds to me like you've hatched a plan to kill the man who let you live," Rayne snarled out. "If we are supposed to be the selfish, ungracious ones, then what does that make you?" [Y/n] watched him dully. Rayne knew humans. She knew that he'd be able to see that she was scared of him, but she continued to stand authoritatively. She wouldn't let him see her as the weak mess she'd been before. She stayed silent, waiting for Rayne to refer to the order she had given.

It was tense - the pair of them glared standoffishly. It wasn't until a third presence appeared that either blinked.

"Sir, our Queen gave you an order," Al said simply. Rayne gave Al a curious look. Now that was interesting - he was sure there was more to that boy than met the eye. He'd most certainly seen him before.

"Queen?" Rayne echoed, looking thoughtful. "You have terrible taste in leaders."

"Says you," Al responded with a forced smile. Rayne shrugged, before swiftly pulling his scalpel from his pocket.

"Would you mind telling your little faerie boy to leave, your highness?" Rayne asked with a condescending tone, his scalpel directed towards the pair of them. [Y/n] shook her head, and Al let out a soft whistle. The clearing filled with the faeries who had been in hiding.

"I believe I asked you to get Nyais for me," [Y/n] said calmly, despite the trembling in her fingers and the way her skin erupted in goosebumps. Rayne sighed as he looked around at the large group, understanding that he was outmatched. He slowly placed his scalpel back in his pocket and a slight snarl appeared on his lips, though there was definitely something deranged about it; his slightly wider than normal eyes, which could not show emotion - the way his brows furrowed a little as though showing some pity or disdain, perhaps both. [Y/n] felt unsettled but more relaxed now that she knew she was safe.

Strangely quietly, Rayne turned around and began to walk away, glad when the faerie soldiers cleared a path for him to go back.

"And if you dare tell the boys I'm here... I will make sure everything malicious you've ever done will be done to you in greater measure."

Rayne almost felt threatened.

"My, how scary."

* * *

The living room hadn't been this full since their first 21 days. No... that wasn't true. They'd all gathered in here twice after - though admittedly Mitzu couldn't accurately remember when. This time their gathering was not for silly things like fights, and nor was it for [Y/n]. Or maybe it was - they didn't know yet. No, they'd gathered to speak over a very important subject: their conscription.

Nyais had made a public statement in the morning that there had been activity from the army of Vihren, and that the captains had met for the first time in over three hundred years. Though Nyais said in his statement that this may not mean a war is approaching, he explained that they had to be prepared just in case, and so they had sent out letters of conscription to all men strong enough to fight in the army. The six had of course received their letters of conscription. Though not one of them had suggested they gather in the living room to talk, each and every one of them had made their own decision to go there. They realised that this may be closer related to them than anyone else alive in the kingdom, and so they had to be careful.

"So you really think [Y/n] is the cause of this?" Laion questioned, looking blankly at the coffee table in the centre of the room. He was sitting on the sofa, cross legged like a child.

"Yes, I do," Seishin dipped his head. "She is most certainly the catalyst in one way or another. I wouldn't be surprised if she told them to go to war with us in the first place," he sighed.

"No one knows for sure that they are planning to attack," Draka put in. Seishin rolled his eyes.

"Get your head out of the clouds, Draka. Their loved ones are still our slaves. They fear us. A sudden burst of morale is all they need to light the spark on the powder keg," he muttered. Draka shrugged. Kori cleared his throat, and everyone turned their attention to the boy standing beside the door.

"I do see where Draka is coming from, Seishin," Kori said calmly, "if they have a dragon, a herd of centaurs, an army of faeries, and whatever else on their side, why did they not attack sooner? It sounds to me like they've been growing their forces for the last 300 years, while we lay dormant and do nothing." He cracked his neck. "What I'm trying to say is... we don't stand a chance, and probably haven't stood a chance for a while—"

"Another imbecile!" Seishin groaned. "Their leader is Feron. Feron may be a dragon, but we had our own dragon, did we not? Or did everyone hallucinate the great white beast Olli became?" he huffed.

"But Olli had a weakness—" Kori was cut off again.

"A weakness that they didn't want to test. If he annihilated them in a single blow, his weakness really wouldn't mean much, would it?"

"Sounds like this is a bit more complicated than you're making it out to be, Seishin," Aytsa put in, an absentminded grin on his face. "If we hypothesise that in these 300 years, Feron has been scared of Olli, then why have the faeries led their own separate attacks on us multiple times? The faeries fight under the orders of Feron, so are you telling me that their captain does not take orders from their Prince?" Aytsa questioned. "In that case, I would imagine that none of the captains are under Feron's direct orders. So perhaps they haven't fought us because they have actually been a divided group, and haven't wanted to expose to us their lack of unity." Kori nodded his head.

"Perhaps you aren't as stupid as you look, Aytsa," Kori laughed, to which the raven haired boy simply rolled his eyes, but his grin didn't falter. Mitzu noticed that Aytsa seemed to be enjoying this - he had a plan, most likely, and Mitzu wanted to know what it was. But he didn't dare direct any questions to the unstable boy yet. He would wait until they were alone. Kori cleared his throat to speak again. "If the group were divided then I can only assume their Princess' death was what divided them in the first place - after all, Helena was their beloved ruler, and her death 300 years ago must've caused conflict between them."

"Yep," Aytsa agreed, "so, I suppose that would mean their new ruler would be [Y/n]." Seishin raised a brow.

"So it would seem. But that wouldn't explain everything..." he tailed off. Mitzu assumed he had knowledge that everyone else did not have; the way he knitted his brows as though trying to make an extra fact fit the narrative just presented was a massive tell.

"You hiding something, Seishin?" Mitzu finally spoke up, his amber eyes narrowed. Seishin glanced over to him.

"A rather bold accusation," Seishin hummed, "but a well made observation. Yes, I am hiding something, what of it?" Laion stood from his seat on the sofa, letting out a long, exhausted sigh.

"I don't really care about the facts or history of what is going on," Laion huffed, "and I don't see why you're wasting your time with it either. Of course they're divided - Vihren are notorious for their inner disputes. So the points you're all making are completely pointless," he groaned. "Either way, it looks like a battle is inevitable. We're conscripted, so we'll be counted amongst the rank and file. We need to focus on working out a way to split from the main group."

"Why would we need to do that?" Draka questioned. "Doesn't it make more sense if we win the war first, then find [Y/n]?"

"[Y/n] will probably be kept away from the fighting." Laion looked around the room, likely to gage everyone's reactions to the statements he was putting forwards. "We are by no means experienced fighters. We would be safer finding a route around all the fighting - we should try to head for Vihren's territory and see if we can find [Y/n]."

"Wrong," Kori shook his head. "Vihren's territory will be heavily guarded, even more so if there is a war going on." He paused. "More importantly... [Y/n] will not be kept in Vihren. I'm sure of it." Seishin nodded.

"All Vihren's past leaders have fought on the front lines," Seishin explained, "so [Y/n] will probably be there with them." Mitzu didn't like the sound of that. She would be a sitting duck on the front lines. The idea of [Y/n] plunged into a war was enough to make even Mitzu's skin crawl.

Three weighty knocks on the front door brought the boys' attentions back to the present. Kori, who was closest to the door, dipped out of the living room and walked down the corridor. Mitzu poked his head around the living room door, watching Kori cracking the door open and waiting for the knocker to announce themselves.

"You are Kori, correct?" Mitzu heard a voice say from the other side of the door - he seemed timid and unfamiliar.

"Yes, I am. What do you want?" Kori questioned briefly, his tone abrupt and moderately irked. Mitzu could see the slight sneer on his face - he wondered if Kori was truly annoyed at the interruption of their conversation, though. It was common knowledge that Kori hated conversations. Perhaps he just hated everyone for breathing. That sounded... Kori like. Though, on reflection, Mitzu realised he fit into that category as well.

"All elite level individuals are being summoned at once, sir," the stranger, likely a guard, said quickly and urgently. It seemed that he was trying to keep a stutter from his voice.

"Now?" Kori questioned. There was no answer from the other side of the door, but Mitzu assumed the boy must've nodded as Kori continued, clearing his throat. "Right. I'll tell the others. Where is the summoning taking place?"

"The surface, sir," the guard continued, his voice even quieter this time. Kori huffed in annoyance. Mitzu understood why - he felt the same way. Things were moving along too quickly - they hadn't had the chance to fully discuss plans yet.

"And under whose orders are we being summoned?" Kori inquired once more.

"Mira, Queen Regent," he said quietly. Mitzu hadn't recalled Nyais choosing a regent, so he assumed Mira had been placed in the role automatically as she had previous experience of regency. Though it was strange; why had Nyais not given the orders himself?

"Where is Nyais?" Kori continued. Mitzu heard an uncomfortable shuffle from the other side of the door.

"H-he... left. About an hour ago."