Elizah sat at the desk in her chambers with a quill in hand. Her frustration was evident as the quill looked as if it was on the verge of falling apart from the force she was exerting on it.

She was looking at a huge map of the Larkspear empire and all the possible locations for new allies who Levi could meet, but her mind was wandering elsewhere. The intruder she met earlier was still on her mind.

She was about to put her quill down on the table but ended up breaking it with the pressure on her hand.

She let out a frustrated sigh and stood up to try and collect her thoughts when there was a knock at the door. 

“Come in,” she said without looking over and didn’t care for whoever it was.

“Still no leads?” Jayden’s voice asked with a serious tone and Elizah only groaned.

“What do you assume?” she asked as she sat up and Jayden only walked over to put an arm around her.

“I know that my wife can find the right place when she puts her mind to it,” Jayden said as he noticed her frustrated face.

“Whatever annoyed you so much?” he asked with a puzzled glance as he noticed the broken quills on her desk.

“I suppose you already heard all the rumours of the intruder,” Elizah said and she walked to the chair by the window.

“Did you actually imprison him?” Jayden asked.

Elizah sighed, “What else did you hear?”

“I heard a lot of things, but I can’t believe everything. Tell me what happened,” Jayden said as he pulled another chair and held her hand.

“An intruder wanted to have an audience with us, but didn’t believe that I was queen so he was thrown into the cells. What’s more to say?” Elizah said and her mind was far from the conversation that she was having.

“Did he say something?” Jayden asked, prying for more information from Elizah which was difficult since she seemed distracted.

“Nothing but the usual,” Elizah said and she was more frustrated now and Jayden could see her hands tensing up.

“Look, there’s something else you’re not telling me. Do I really need to ask so many times to find what bothered you?” Jayden asked and he was starting to grow mildly impatient.

Elizah didn’t turn to him and instead turned towards the window.

“His eyes, Jayden. I know those eyes. They’re just like mine. His face and gaze match my mother’s description of him. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’s the one person I’ve been looking for all my life,” Elizah said and she suddenly turned to Jayden.

Her eyes were full of hope and fear while Jayden was mildly bewildered.

“It’s not possible Liz,” Jayden said and tried to push the idea away.

“What if it is? Maybe my mother was wrong, but there has to be a connection. What if he finally chose to see me,” Elizah said and there was a lingering fear in her features.

“You waited all this time to see him and yet you seem pensive about it. What did he say?” Jayden pursued the topic slowly.

“It’s more of the fright that he tried to pick a fight with me. And insulted me before we could talk. What if he did leave because of me?” Elizah asked and she hid her face in her hand.

Jayden put a cautious hand around Elizah and held her close.

“He didn’t leave because of you. He can explain himself tomorrow. Probably he was mistaken,” Jayden said softly.

Elizah only sighed. She thought her family matters were finally settled when she convinced Roxanne and Micah to return.

Elizah and Jayden both remembered what had happened when Elizah first tried to convince Roxanne and Micah to return after she had been coronated. 

Roxanne and Micah had assumed that Elizah had been hurt by Jayden, and had been tricked into this nonsense. Micah in particular was the most worried, and his trust in Jayden only lowered. Elizah had managed to convince the two to return after months of requesting and pleading, but Jayden and Micah still had some ice between them.

There was a sudden set of three rapid knocks at the door, a particular pattern for emergencies and Elizah strolled up to the door with a frown on her face.

“What is it?” Elizah asked and the soldier stood in salute to her.

“Your majesty, I’m afraid there’s some bad news,” the young man said as he was trembling in fear. He was one of the younger recruits from the soldiers.

Elizah’s gaze turned alert, “What happened?”

“There was a breakout from a cell. One man escaped,” the man said with his voice still trembling.

Elizah’s knuckles turned white immediately and her eyes hid her shock. Jayden’s comforting hand was on her shoulder.

“Who escaped?” Elizah asked, now she was the one worried. Her life was possibly in danger again. But her main fear was about the possibility that the person who had broken out was the one she confronted in the morning.

“The man you’d arrested in the morning. He seemed to have escaped with the help of an accomplice, milady,”the soldier said and Elizah’s face now hid the fear but was now only frustration.

“Find him at all costs. He could be an assassin,” Elizah sharply said

The soldier glanced quickly in the queen’s direction before he nodded and ran off with the urgency clear in his quick pace. Elizah was left with a feeling of worry and frustration at who the man possibly was and what the man wanted, and her suspicions starting to not seem sensible.

Noxaura was seated at the window watching outside the room like an excited child. Only she wasn’t excited, but rather worried and scared that she was going to see the one man she absolutely detested with all her being, or maybe she didn’t, she wasn’t sure.

There was the sound of the door opening and Noxaura jumped like a startled animal out of her seat.

“Relax Nox, it’s only me,” there was a man’s voice and Noxaura’s confused emotions were revealed.

Her flames were all around her as she walked up to the man but there was a gentle hand at her wrist that seemed to dull her magic.

“Still the same bastard as usual,” Noxaura snarled as she yanked her hand out of the man’s grasp and pulled out a blade from her waist pouch.

“I see you’re still the ball of flames and anger as usual,” the man said with a slight laugh and he gripped her hand before twisting it and making her drop the weapon.

“Nox, if you set fire to my home, I will end you without a second thought,” the leader intervened in their exchange.

“I’m glad you haven’t changed either,” the man said and laughed in the leader’s direction and they only rolled their eyes.

“You betrayed our cause when you left here. You think I have my trust for you now?” Noxaura said as she glared at the man.

“I’ll give you two some space. Fight it all out. Otherwise I’ll have to find two new conspirators,” their leader said with a glare before they closed the door behind them as they went into the bedroom.

“Nox, what happened to you?” The man asked gently and ran a hand across Noxaura’s cheek.

She’d certainly lost weight over the years, and she’d become almost like a stick.

“Leave. Me. Alone,” Noxaura said and took out small finger blades that could murder anyone by touch.

“Seriously, what's wrong with you?” the man asked, as Noxaura’s hands dug into his palm.

“You left me for dead with Cyprian. You never even cared to see me. How in the name of the incarnates do you expect me to trust you in the slightest?” Noxaura roared out with all her fury, but there were tears in her eyes, and a voice in the back of her head begging her to stop.

The man was certainly confused by what Noxaura was saying and suddenly her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell flat to the ground. He immediately picked her up in his arms and the door opened from the bedroom.

“She’s out cold again isn’t she?” their leader asked and the man only gave a confused nod.

“She still needs to learn about her powers. It’ll take her a while to get used to her new strengths, and control. Come, take some rest. She’ll be awake and raging in a while and you’ll need energy to face her,” their leader said with a smile and ushered the man to the kitchen, while the man only wondered if the leader had something to do with Noxaura’s sudden wave of fury and jumbled emotions.