Burning Ashes

Chapter 4: Welcome and Goodbye

What? I'm not even sure if I said that out loud or just thought it. I think it was just in my mind. For now. "Welcome to our kingdom. My name is Victoria Althea of Avara, daughter of Alaric and Eleonora of Avara, the rightful rulers of the Kingdom of Avara. On behalf of my parents, I will be conducting today's audience." There is silence for a moment, almost as if Miss Important needs to catch her breath after the whole string of family names. "I am pleased to finally meet a natural-born sorcerer." The little doll of a princess speaks as if she doesn't even feel a hint of fear. This is very different from the knights who brought me here. Why is the princess of a kingdom less afraid of me than you are? You guys need to do a better job!

"Asher Falkner," the princess continues without waiting for a response from me. "You were found near the core area by Lyra Ardent and you pretend you don't know how you ended up there." Wow, someone's done their homework. The information system is surprisingly efficient. "You were also attacked by bone hounds, which you repelled with a flame magic we don't know. According to Ms. Ardent, your hands were dipped in fire and you initially refused to extinguish them." Okay, she really knows a lot. That knight who wrote down the information and brought it to her definitely needs a raise! After Princess Victoria Something has finished her summary of my last few hours, she sighs once. "Unfortunately, however, the law states that humans who can use magic are to be considered allies of demons and thus judged accordingly." Excusez-moi? That doesn't sound good...

"I haven't spoken a word and I'm to be executed? That's too quick, even for me." "Indeed, it is," the princess laughs and holds her hand in front of her mouth, though it only partially covers her gleaming white teeth. "But I see you're quick to understand, I like that." One thing is still bothering me, though, and I have a feeling that if I don't speak to her now, I won't get the chance. "Forgive me for asking, since we seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot, but what are demons anyway? I have no idea who I'm supposed to have allied myself with here and the only demoness I've met so far is called Lyra." Even though my back is to her, I can clearly feel her piercing me with angry glares. But I have no regrets!

To my surprise, the princess laughs again. But after years of experience in the field of trickery and con artists, I can say with confidence that this laugh is fake. "You have a quick tongue, Asher Falkner. Have you never considered that this may one day become a disadvantage to you?" "Quick thinking - no. And if my mouth can keep up with my thoughts, I don't see that as a problem."

Princess Victoria slowly gets up from the lonely throne and moves through the hall. It falls silent for a moment and each of her softly placed footsteps leaves an echo that bounces off the walls, giving me a sense of approaching danger. "So, if your mouth can keep up, you see no problem in that, how interesting." She stops short in front of me and looks deep into my eyes. With her curious gaze, she analyzes me closely until she raises her hand and touches my cheek with great care. The princess's hand is soft, you can clearly tell that she has never had to do any physical work, and it smells of vanilla mixed with a pungent rose scent that hangs in the air for a while. "But I hope you understand that this is nothing personal. It's simply my job as princess of this country. People would lose their trust in me if I let someone walk around who can use magic whenever they want. You are a danger to the safety of Avara." As she speaks these cold, emotionless words, her face is positively drenched in emotion. She smiles at me with a look I know all too well. A look of self-denial. None of the feelings she shows me are real, but she knows what she has to do to achieve her goal and chooses her words wisely. I can't imagine what kind of life she must have lived to maintain such a perfect fake. If I hadn't grown up in the environment where I had to learn to fake my feelings myself, I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. I take my hat off to a person who could manipulate an entire kingdom with words as sweet as honey and sharp as blades. I could tell from that brief interaction that her and I are probably more alike than I would have expected, so maybe it's for that reason....