“Ow!” I flinch when my back meets the mattress. A weight looms over me accompanied by sweltering heat.

Risking opening my eyes, I’m met with burning embers from above. Daithi leans over me, one hand pinning my wrist to the bed, the other holding hissing flames in the palm of his hand. The peaceful emperor is long gone, replaced with a predator that will not hesitate to take my life.

How did this happen?!

“Your Majesty!” The voice calls from the door, which rattles with his knocks. “A spy was caught on the way to your chambers. Are you alright?”

“Of course I am. Take them to the dungeons. I will see to them myself,” Daithi snarls. His gaze never leaves my own, eyes that somehow burn and freeze all at once.

“As you wish, Your Majesty.”

The stranger is gone, leaving me to my fate that is, somehow, here even sooner. What went wrong? I did everything I was meant to! The only significant change is I never spoke with the other spy.

Were they perhaps meant to be caught? Did Daithi actually awake shortly after the real Kaeda stole the map? Was my climb actually too slow? Or perhaps because I did not speak with the other spy, they were on their way to steal the map? I don't have the answers. I may not ever have them seeing as I’m looking death in the eye.

How do I get out of this?

“I always knew you lacked honor, but this is a new low even for you,” Daithi growls. The flames diminish, as if to state that he does not fear me. I don’t blame him. Compared to him, I am nothing. For the first time in my life, I truly feel like nothing.

He leans in. Although the fire is gone, heat remains. He’s close, close enough to count the different shades of brilliant amber in his eyes. I’m not breathing. My lungs start to ache. I somehow appreciate the pain because it’s better to feel that than nothing at all.

“Did you think you could get away with it? The other spy is with you, aren’t they? Who are they and what did you plan to do with this?” Daithi waves the map that he somehow took from my grasp. “Sell it?”

What do I do? I want to live.

“Fine, if you won’t speak willingly—” Daithi drops the map only to return the flames. They flash blue, casting an eerie glow over the room and his deadly gaze. “I will force the answers out of you.”

Answers?

The flames grow closer.

Answers.

My cheeks are already burning.

That’s it! I have answers!

“The map is only part of it!” I scream.

Daithi hesitates. The flames flicker back to orange-red, removing enough heat for me to breathe normally.

“The map leads you to the entrance to Arlador, but there are traps along the way and, even after discovering it, you will not be able to properly wield the sword,” I explain, forcing as much confidence into my tone as I can muster.

His glare sharpens. “...why not?”

“Because there are trials you must pass, otherwise Arlador will not answer to you. I can assist you in overcoming them.”

These are my answers. The book will help me because the book allows me to know more than anyone else! I have changed Kaeda’s fate already (even if it didn’t exactly go as planned), so I can continue to change my own future.

I know, well, I have the basic idea on how to unlock Arlador. I know who Daithi should and shouldn’t trust. I have the name of spies, the whereabouts of his siblings and their armies, where they will hit. I have power. Daithi loves power.

But Daithi is also rightfully suspicious.

“Trying to spew lies won’t spare you,” he snarls.

“They aren’t lies. Do you honestly think your father would only leave a map to Arlador? How long did it take you all to understand his riddles? The late king made it difficult. Finding and using the sword won’t be easy either.” I grin upon seeing Daithi tense. He is no longer the predator, although I’m not really it either. At least I’m no longer prey.

“Why should I believe you? There is no reason nor way you would know this and not I.”

“I know more than the trials.”

“You’re a spy. Your job is to know what you shouldn’t.”

Time to show off the real guns. Looking over the book again was a good idea because I’m able to spew facts learned throughout the story. Information that has Daithi’s eyes widening in shock.

“I know that you and Aquilan weren’t always enemies. He was the only sibling that paid attention to you. As children, you two often played in the old watch tower that the king warned you to stay away from. You usually took the blame for Aquilan when he was the one that did something wrong. Oh! And the metal of the handle for your sword consists of the crown your mother once wore, which only you and the blacksmith were meant to know.”

I grin until the situation takes an abrupt turn for the worst. The flames return, hissing blue in Daithi’s hand.

“Who the hell are you?” he growls.

I may regret this, but I don’t want to die just yet.

I send my knee straight into his crotch.

“Agh!” Daithi drops with a pained grunt.

I barely scurry my way out from under him, but the rush has me falling to the floor. Daithi is already on the move, pushing away from the bed, bent over but still just as menacing. I’m crawling away when I sputter, “I’m someone w-with knowledge that can help!”

He lurches forward.

“Let me prove it! I’ll go with you to retrieve Arlador!”