Souls |Descension Book Two|

The Savage Princess

Auria's POV

The first thing I did on the ship was walk over to the imposter and slap her. "I'm flattered that you decided to impersonate me, but get out." The imposter turned around and gasped. "You're the imposter! Guards!" I laughed. "First off, that's a wig. Your eyebrows are blonde. Your voice is way too high, and if you were me you wouldn't need to call guards. And I doubt you are an actual mage. Now, get off this ship, or I will remove you myself." She huffed and got up. "You leave. I'm staying." I chuckled at her attempt to look menacing. "Fine, if you want to tousle. Just warning you, you'll probably leave this boat burnt, drenched, and with no pride." I cracked my knuckles. She reached for a sword and I grabbed my tiara. She gave me a confused look as I whispered, "Latonae tacitum tempus coepit. Ibi coepta silete a facie turbo impellens parietem." It transformed into a longsword. I smirked and held it out to the side in a fighting stance. I lit the blade and my left hand on fire. I looked over at Nina. "I'll try not to burn the Savage Princess. But of course, accidents happen." She nodded and I turned back to the poser. She had pulled out a mid-sized sword, somewhere inbetween a sword and dagger. I saw a flowery mark slip under her collar and I realised she was a sun elf. "What's your name? I need to know what to put on your gravestone." She scowled and pulled off her wig to reveal long, braided blonde hair. "Adelaide." I stopped and swung my sword over my shoulder. "Well, that changed a lot. Nina, get a room ready for her. Give her Arlyn's room or something. Adelaide, you and I need to talk. No weapons." I quietly changed my sword back into a tiara and put it on. Adelaide scowled and put her sword-dagger away. "Let's go to my cabin. Best not to have some listening soldiers, huh?" I suggested. She nodded. She cast aside her sheath and followed me down into my quarters, where I locked the door. "Look, I don't like this either. But the fact is, dangerous people are hunting you. I'm sure you've met them. I need you to join my team of the chosen few. I've seen you in visions of mine. The people who are hunting you are necromancers, forbidden mages. A few of them have soul magic. I'm a victim of both." I held out my arm and pulled up the armwarmer I'd been wearing for weeks. It reveal a mark burnt into my wrist. She pulled down the edge of her sleeve to uncover the same mark on her shoulder. "I was born with it. I thought it was just a mage thing." I shook my head. "Never seen it on another mage. My ex didn't even have it." She stared at me with sympathy in her eyes. "Was it a hard breakup?" She asked. I laughed. "You know when you think you love someone and they love you back, but they turn out to be a backstabbing, sabotaging, lying freak? Yeah, that was him. I just left him in the woods with raw fish and stale bread." She laughed. "I'm sorry for your loss of a decent human being. And for impersonating you. I really needed to get a quick ship to Oderga." I pondered that for a moment and inquired, "Why did you need a boat so fast?" She looked away. "Men attacked me at the academy. I tried to fend them off, but.. Luckily, my friend Luna was there. She just blasted them a few times with lighting. And then stomped on their heads when they fell unconscious." I laughed. "Where's your friend?" I asked as non-chalantly as possible. "They took her.. I don't know why. Maybe it was to get back at me, or ransom from her family. She's the granddaughter of Lord Morthil." I gasped. "Is she possibly half human?" I asked, more than slightly freaking out. Thankfully, Adelaide shook her head. "No. She's Elora's daughter. Why do you ask?" I laughed, relieved. "Zander is Lord Morthil's son and he's engaged to my sister. I mean, Zander is like three hundred. Twenty nine by human standards. Now that I think about it, Zander isn't that kind of person."  Adelaide laughed nervously. I realised that meant I was Luna's future aunt-in-law's sister. Royal life is complicated. "Well, we need to do a rescue mission. My future brother-in-law will want his niece back. Did she have the mark?" She hesitated. "I think she did. " I nodded and clapped her on the back. "I need to go check on some things. You can take Arlyn's room and comfy up in there. I'll check back on you later." I turned away and started walking towards the door. Adelaide put her hand on my arm and I paused. "Thank you, your Majesty. For everything." I turned back towards her and put my hand on her shoulder. "You can just call me Auria." She grinned and I returned it.