2407 Varkala 13, Briss

Kymalin stood outside the Heiress's tent, gauging its height and diameter mostly because she didn't want to come in. Not yet.

Her heart refused to calm down ever since a servant girl no older than eight came to fetch her in the dining hall, telling her the Heiress asked for Kymalin by name. It wasn't from excitement. More like...dread.

Of course, she still hasn't figured out who the traitor was. All she had was a lingering suspicion that Raena has something to do with the device she found in the outskirts of the camp. Over the next days since finding the contraption, she had attempted to ask Raena but it seemed like the Magistrate was either busy or not in the mood to talk.

A few days ago, when Kymalin could no longer hide her thoughts, she cornered Raena in the armory and asked her a simple question: "What does the Heiress do to the traitors she catches?"

Raena had paused in fiddling with the bandages of her wound to look up at her. "She kills them," she replied without batting an eyelid.

Kymalin remembered being stunned into silence that single afternoon. Why was she startled? Wasn't that the reason why the Heiress was able to rear such a large force and have them live in hiding in Desara? If one's life wasn't hanging in line, they couldn't be controlled. And the Heiress had always been the one in control, no matter where and how Kymalin looked at it.

"Aren't you concerned about this traitor thing?" Kymalin had blurted against her common sense. Raena hadn't bothered looking up to meet Kymalin's gaze. "Or the fact that your trainee is sitting at the helm of the investigation?"

Raena had rolled her shoulders, finishing her bandage a pushing herself up to match Kymalin's stance. The look on her eyes had hardened into a passive stare. "I couldn't care less what you do in this organization," she said. "I'm just here to teach you how to fight. It seems like you no longer need me since you're already waging your war out there."

Then, Raena's shoulders bumped against Kymalin's in the Magistrate's way out of the armory. Raena didn't look back as she left Kymalin alone in that tent.

Kymalin shook the memory off her mind. The Heiress might not have mind reading powers but she has to be safe for her own peace of mind. She heaved a breath, feeling the thick air of the camp infiltrate her nostrils. Here goes nothing.

She gripped the tent flap in the Heiress' tent and strode in.

The inside was nothing out of the ordinary. Shelves filled to the brim with leather-bound tomes sat in opposite sides of the tent, seemingly guarding the desk situated in the middle of the space. Lounge chairs fitted with velvet cushions scattered around the distance between the tent opening and the wooden table stacked to the brim with piles of parchment, various wooden knickknacks appearing to be children's toys, and a weird contraption featuring a bubbling purple liquid inside.

Kymalin stepped forward as if drawn by a force she couldn't refuse. Behind the desk sat the Heiress in a cushioned chair, complete with styled armrests and a carved top rail. Not a strand of hair was out of the Heiress' strict bun. Certainly not a speck of dust of lint could be found on her decorated back coat. Did this woman ever change from these clothes? Kymalin had never seen the Heiresses in other outfits than this.

The Heiress took her sweet time in noticing Kymalin's presence. She leaned on her desk, reviewing at least a hundred pages of parchment with no help from spectables. Even Kymalin's mother, the High Priestess, sometimes used those just to read the documents presented to her by the Rekshais. Kymalin stood still mere steps away from the desk, careful to not let any of her body language jar the Heiress off her task.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the Heiress blew a breath and rested her back against the cushion behind her. The chair creaked but didn't give way under her weight. As it should. "Do you already know something about the traitors?" she asked.

Kymalin bit her tongue inside her mouth. There was nothing stopping her from blurting out what she knew, but somehow, she couldn't. After seeing Raena's eyes and how guarded she became around Kymalin, it jabbed a heated pike of guilt and something more into her gut, every single time. Would she really do this to Raena? To...quite possibly the only friend she had in this entire camp? Finally, she got the reason why none of the soldiers volunteered that day. It wasn't an easy place to be caught into.

"Well?" the Heiress prodded.

"I-I have not come to the conclusion yet, Peredeira," Kymalin brought her eyes down to the tip of her boots before the Heiress could glean anything more from her expression.

"It's Raena, isn't it?"

Kymalin had never whipped her head that fast in all her life. Black spots danced in her vision due to the sudden motion. "Sorry?" she blurted. "She's...she's not."

The Heiress hummed, setting her documents aside to retrieve a glass vial from one of the wooden racks to her left. Then, her delicate fingers thumbed a handle at the end of her weird, glass contraption composed of swirling tubes. The purple liquid glistened in the faint light from the lamp hanging in the tent's ceiling as it sloshed in its new container. A satisfied smile spread in the Heiress' lips as she tipped her head back and downed the whole thing from the vial.

"A little word of advice for you, dear Kymalin," the Heiress said after wiping the edge of her lips with the back of her hand. "One mistake on your part could get our agreement revoked. Think about it."

Kymalin didn't speak. Her worst fear had come true. She wouldn't want to waste a year of hardwork and kissing up to the Heiress and not get her other end of the bargain. She's here now. She should see this through, up to whatever end.

"Kill the traitor, Kymalin," the Heiress implored. "Or you will never see your brother healed. You only have a limited number of times to fail. Don't let this be one of those."

Kymalin flinched when she didn't mean to. The Heiress didn't raise her voice. She didn't need to. Just the gravity of the message implied by her words was enough to get Kymalin sprinting out of the tent without a solid plan and without a proper farewell courtesy. The Heiress wouldn't mind.

Probably.

Kymalin collapsed into the unmade bedroll in her tent, her chest feeling like it was going to burst. You will never see your brother healed. It was a threat. A slap to Kymalin's inner and greatest fear. She couldn't lose her brother. Not when he hadn't even lived yet. She had to see this through.

And nothing's going to stop her.

Not the gambling pals she had interacted with over the years. Not the creepy, bug-eyed Magistrate from Carcalet. Not the red coats and the warehouse workers in Thenaserine. She lived through all those ordeals. This one wasn't going to stop her either. It shouldn't.

Then, she thought about theway Raena's eyes softened when she thought of joining Cardovia to change the world. What kind of change was she aiming for now that she betrayed the organization? Why would she do it in the first place? What drove her to do it?

Just how far was she willing to go to make that change come true?

Kymalin sat up and stared at the unlit lamp propped at the table beside her bedroll. The ashes of the card she burned in its flame were still there. It wasn't a far drop of a coin to conclude Raena was probably the one who sent it to her tent.

If she was the traitor, it could be the only reason she had stuck in Kymalin's side all these months. Raena had planned to recruit toKymalin to whatever it was they were doing. Us. That meant there were more of them. Were they in Cardovia? All of them? It's safe to say some would be out there, staying out of harm's way. Raena would be the few, brave ones to go into enemy territory and risk it all then.

Had the Heiress known this all along? They way she questioned Kymalin revealed enough of the extent of her knowledge. She wasn't looking to get rid of the traitors. She was looking for Raena's replacement, the one who would do the job.

A test. This was nothing but a test.

Kymalin's inside burned. She had come this far. It would be better for her to see this through. Her brother's pale face flashed in her memory, igniting a trail in her reasoning. She would be able to do what her mother couldn't. Everyone gave up on her brother. She promised Daexis she wouldn't. Not now. Not ever.

She gritted her teeth. She sprang up from the bedroll, her fingers closing around the sheath of the sword Raena had given her. The walk to the open field where Raena usually trained in during the night was quick. Her steps were a direct contrast of the heartbeats pounding in her ears. When Kymalin reached the training grounds, Raena was there, executing her deadly slashes, her blades flashing in the harsh light of Crozal's crimson rays.

Raena must have sensed Kymalin's presence watching her because the Magistrate stopped to face her. "So you've figured it out," she smiled even though there was nothing to smile about. "Have you made your decision yet?"

To defy the Heiress and join Raena in her betrayal or to follow the Heiress and kill the Magistrate? It wasn't a choice Kymalin should even be making had she not thought she had everything figured out.

Kymalin leveled her gaze at Raena and drew her sword. The Magistrate just laughed and brought her twin swords at the ready. "Thought so," she whispered. Then, without a word, Raena lunged.