Soaring across the clear spring skies of the Karagon Empire, a lone hawk flapped its great wings against the winds as the air eventually turned humid the closer it got to the East’s sea. Below, seafarers sang their arrivals and mounted their sails. The sea’s waves languidly washed over the piers in rhythm, like a slow heartbeat. On the land not so far away were the gates that led to the East’s lush port city, Whydstell, with a strewn of carriages full of merchants and visitors waiting to be permitted to enter.

Only the hawk did not have to wait as it flew past its borders. Once a towering white manor glimmered into its sight, it began to dip straight down. It narrowly avoided the twisting spires of its iron gates and shot towards the part of the estate that glowed with a soft purple light invisible to a naked human’s eye.

At the sight of the hawk from below, the guard hurriedly fumbled to blow the horn, announcing its presence. There was only one family in the entire empire who would send their hawks trained with a secret method only they knew. It was a rare sight to see, and the inhabitants of this estate were the only ones in the East trained to know what it meant.

In the estate’s barracks, a young girl sparring with one of its knights halted midswing at the sound of the horn. She quickly withdrew the flow of power from her sword and gazed upwards, wiping a bead of sweat away from her forehead. “A message from the imperial palace?” she murmured in question.

“The hawk must’ve been attracted to your aura light, Lady Ellowyn,” said Oren, the knight who was sparring with her a second ago and her mentor. He was also the only one in Whydstell who could safely withstand her power while she trained without accidentally breaking more of her sparring partners’ blades.

The hawk continued circling above the barracks, perhaps confused at the sudden absence of aura light. Feeling slight pity, Ellowyn hooked her thumb and forefinger between her lips to whistle. The hawk soundly heeded her summons and descended. It stretched out its sharp, polished talons to safely perch upon her raised forearm. On its leg was a piece of paper tied securely around it. She frowned slightly while gently scratching the hawk’s head, and it ruffled its feathers happily.

There was only ever one other time she had witnessed an urgent message from the empire’s royal family. Otherwise, they would simply deploy messengers to the provinces.

After hoisting the hawk to perch on her shoulder instead, she turned towards her mentor and flung her sword towards him. “Oren, let’s cut today’s training short. Father’s probably expecting to see the message right now.”

Oren deftly caught the sword by the hilt with a single hand and nodded. “Of course, Lady Ellowyn. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

She gave a polite smile as thanks and headed out of the barracks. As she turned her back towards him, she swiftly untied her hair, letting it fall into flowing waves down her back. In a dimly lit or indoors setting, her hair was the color of ash, like the ones left behind by sweet-scented wood after its been lit aflame for hours in the fireplace. Yet when she stood directly beneath bright sunlight, one could see that there was actually a purple tint to her hair–a trademark of the Vesteins that only revealed itself in a peculiar way for her.

Oren sighed as he hung the training swords back on the racks. He did not have to hide most of his exhaustion anymore now that the lady wasn’t here. ‘How long has it been since Lady Ellowyn arrived at the household already?’ This year, the daughters of the Vestein duchy had both recently turned eighteen. He, as one of the many servants of this household, was honored to have been a witness to both their growths over the years. And as Ellowyn’s personal trainer, he easily felt a closer connection to her as he watched her get stronger with each passing day.

He dearly wished to see her take his place one day as captain of the Vestein Duchy’s knights. He had a feeling it would be sometime soon.

Or perhaps that was simply how strong a human’s desire could be, as long as you fervently believe that it will come true.

…

“Lady Ellowyn, His Grace is awaiting you,” Jorge, the estate’s butler, informed Ellowyn the moment she walked into the hallway.

“Thank you, Jorge. Please prepare some food for the hawk to eat as well.” She heard a deep rumble come from the bird, as if it was trying to say something to her. “...Small prey, if you can stomach catching some.” It flicked its wing once at strands of her hair. She understood the gesture as the bird being pleased for now. It seemed content to be at her side, so she had no choice but to bring it with her all the way into her father’s office. She could only hope he would not mind.

Once Ellowyn opened the doors to Duke Vestein’s office, she greeted him promptly. “Father, I’ve come to deliver the palace’s message to you.”

Duke Solon Vestein wasn’t a man of many words, and as she knew he was expecting her arrival, it wasn’t a surprise when all he said was “Come here” and took the piece of unfurled paper from her hands. It was only when he told her to remain in the office while he read its contents that she wondered if he already knew what the message was about. Of course, she was curious and had fought the urge to read the message herself along the way here, but her eagerness to remain dutiful was stronger. Plus, there was no telling whether the hawk would attack her if it saw that someone other than the message’s intended recipient opened the message.

After a couple more bouts of silence, Ellowyn could not help but ask, “Is there anything else you need me to do?” Just how many words can fit into that little slip of paper?

It was then that the duke’s brows furrowed, eyes roving over the message multiple times. “This message doesn’t say who in the palace it’s from. Was there anything strange about the hawk, Ellowyn?”

She peered sideways at the hawk still perched on her shoulder. It cocked its head back at her, as if saying ‘Me? Strange?’ “I don’t think so, Father. Is there something concerning in the message?”

“All it says is that the emperor is bedridden, and a plea for aid.”

“...” Ellowyn’s eyes widened. She did not expect him to tell her the contents of the message outright. But nevermind that, nearly every noble who paid attention to the empire’s royal family had known about the emperor’s ongoing illness for years. That in itself wasn’t any news at all, so why the sudden plea for aid?

The duke rubbed his temple as he finally set the message down and turned his full attention to her. “I know what you’re thinking. Still, there’s nothing in here addressing our house directly, and the paper is ordinary. There’s no telling at all which member of the Mir Ervicts sent this.”

Now that he mentioned it, she recalled the fact that since each royal family member trained a hawk on their own, they also had their own specially designed papers that the head of each province could recognize. It was an inconvenient way of communicating, but a good method to emphasize an important event or information with its rarity of use.

The first time the Vestein duchy had received a hawk messenger was from the second son of the Mir Ervict royal family: Calypse Mir Ervict. He was merely a young boy back then, and he had expressed his deepest desires to wed the duke’s younger daughter, Florencia Vestein, when he used to come visit the East during the summers and the three had spent adequate amounts of time together as children. With the Duchess’ urging and Florencia’s own keenness, the Duke had relented.

It sounded like this time, the message wasn’t so formal as the one the prince sent so long ago.

“Should we send our best doctors to the capital?” she asked.

“The best doctors are already in the capital.” Ellowyn’s mouth clamped shut. The duke was right. He sighed. “We can easily ignore this, but I have a bad feeling. Let’s wait and see if the other provinces have received any messages.”

“Then please allow me to deploy our scouts for you.” She wasn’t yet sure how serious she should take this sudden situation, and it seemed the duke didn’t either. It was better to be safe than sorry, though.

The duke nodded. “Go proceed with that. Oh, and let your mother know I won’t be joining supper again today.”

…

At around the same time in the capital, a different hawk plunged to the ground within a certain part of the palace. It laid there lifeless, an arrow struck cleanly through its body.