Shrivelled, browned skin covered most of the right side of his face. His top eyelid almost fused shut with the lower and his lips formed a permanent smirk from the scarring. The front right part of his hairline disappeared, replaced by scar tissue.

"Thank you for being so prompt to attend, mages," he said in a deep voice.

The air of ominousness sent chills down Seiren's spine and made it difficult to breathe. She didn't recall the face, but she remembered this feeling of unforgiving fear. Hearing that voice raised goosebumps on her flesh and for a moment, she was sitting in the rain again, drowning in helplessness and despair. Her necklace burned against her skin.

"King Pollin wishes to express appreciation for your hard work and dedication with regard to recent events involving the Hannans' declaration of war and supporting your fellow countrymen. Our great country remains powerful because of selflessness and great prowess in the likes of you. Even from Benover, King Pollin has kept close observation of your actions and assures you your hard work will be well-rewarded."

"Cut the crap, Butterworth," barked Tahir Portendorfer. He leant forward in his chair and tilted his head to the side. "Why are you really here? Some of us have places to be, Hannans to kill."

Domic Butterworth smiled, although it looked more like a leer with his deformity.

"I'm glad you asked, Mage Portendorfer."

If it were possible for someone to unnerve Seiren more than Portendorfer, Butterworth had managed it. Portendorfer had the air of an untamable animal. Butterworth reminded her of a puppeteer: knowing every move, predicting every reaction, cold and calculating.

"I'm sure you are all here because of staunch loyalty to Karma and King Pollin and would obey the king's command without question, because why else are you state mages, sworn to protect the country? You're selfless, able to put others' needs above your own, the lives of Karmans' before yours."

He paused and spread his hands before him. Seiren's heart pounded.

"King Pollin has issued an order that overrides any and all previous ones." Butterworth smiled, twisting his scarred features into a sinister expression. "Kindly exterminate the population of Acrise."

There was a stunned silence.

"I beg your p-pardon?" stammered the mage beside Rowan, who seemed the same age, with spiky brown hair and a startled expression.

"You heard me, Mage Temples. King Pollin would like you all to exterminate every citizen in Acrise."

"This is madness!" said the female mage from earlier, Henley Culpepper, her eyes almost popping out of her head from behind her spectacles.

"Hanna is on the brink of invading Karma, Mage Culpepper." Butterworth sighed with the patronising air of explaining something obvious. "Karma has to make the first move or we suffer losses. Killing the remaining citizens of little Acrise is one easy step and only a small sacrifice. The alternative is wait for them to make the first move, catch us short, and we suffer greatly. Would you wish that upon Karma?"

The room was silent.

"I thought not."

"Why don't we just invade them?" said Culpepper, scowling. "Why all these fancy excuses and pretense?"

"History remembers, Mage Culpepper. Teirrin and Moakai may not take kindly to our neighbourly behaviours -- or even feel threatened--" Butterworth's lips curled in disdain. "--if they knew the truth. Of course, I trust you won't go spreading terrible lies like how we killed our own to initiate war now, would you?"

"When do we start?" said Portendorfer, a grin stretching from ear to ear and looking as if his birthday had come early. Seiren's heart skipped a beat.

Monster, whispered Madeleine. Look at him. He's glowing.

"Excellent question, Mage Portendorfer. King Pollin expects all citizens of Acrise to be... sorted by sunrise tomorrow."

"And if we refuse?" Rowan said at last, anger barely concealed in his words. Butterworth raised his remaining eyebrow.

"Those who disobey shall be treated as traitors of the country and will be subject to the death penalty, either on capture by the king's army or -- as decreed by King Pollin -- at the hands of any mage under the Council of Mages." He paused, smirking. "I trust you'll make the right decisions."

He locked eyes with Seiren before leaving the room and she recognised him at that moment.

If you play the game right.

He was the mage who'd returned Madeleine after Halen Ashworth had gutted Seiren.

The room, as well as Madeleine, erupted into chaos the moment the door slammed.

You never told me about him!

It wasn't the right time.

"This is a ridiculous joke," declared Henley Culpepper, throwing her arms in the air. "Like King Pollin would ever order an extermination of his own countrymen!"

It wasn't the right time?! All this time I thought you came back to me after our argument and it turns out Mother's acquaintance brought me back and you didn't think it was important to tell me?!

"You think Butterworth is masquerading in his name?" said Temples, biting his lip.

"He couldn't. This has to come down from the king's mages, which means Pollin must know about it," said another mage, looking shellshocked.

"Why are you doubting his words? Are you going to disobey the king?" said Portendorfer slyly.

"Not everyone is as happy to kill as you, Tahir!" said Culpepper. "We are aids to Karma, not weapons!"

"We can be both." Portendorfer shrugged. "A knife can be for cutting meat or for gutting someone open. We certainly have more than enough firepower."

"On our own people? Who trust us?" said Temples, pale.

"Makes the job all the easier."

"No. I refuse," said another mage. "We'll send the people away. If there are no Acrise citizens left, then there's nobody to kill. That's our job done."

"Would be nice -- except the tracks started freezing about three hours ago. There is nobody coming in or out of Acrise now," said Maura.

"You're supporting this mindless massacre?" said Culpepper, gobsmacked.

"My own views are not important." Maura's voice was flat. Seiren was reminded of her ethos again: to obey at all costs. "I am a military mage, sworn to obey King Pollin. These are the king's orders."

"Orders to kill our own people!"

"I'm glad someone else sees the light," said Portendorfer cheerfully. He caught Seiren's eye and winked, sending shivers down her spine.

"Butterworth, you bastard!"

"They're setting this as a trap. If we don't obey, they're giving others the permission to kill us. How is this not a threat?"

"It's not a threat if you just obey the rules."

"I did not swear to commit murder!"

"You swore on graduation day from King's that you remain under the will and power of Karma and her leader and will use your skills and life to benefit her and her people," said Maura, cutting across the furious outbursts.

"How is murdering the people of Acrise benefiting her people?"

"It will if it means we start the war, before the rest of the country gets affected."

"It's not a case of trading lives for peace!"

"If we don't do it and Karma falls, the blood is on our hands!"

The argument became heated once more. Mages leapt to their feet, gesturing wildly and red in the face. Harsh words fired from left, right, and centre. Most were horrified at the idea and unsure what to do. Their agitation and shrill voices drilled into Seiren's brain. She whipped around and tore out of the room, entering the blissfully chilly air of the corridor outside. Her legs took her ahead, away from the fear and conflict. All the while, she could only think about Butterworth, that day in the rain.

She burst out onto the courtyard. Soldiers marched past, giving her one curious glance before continuing with their patrol.

"Seiren!"

A hand clamped around her wrist. She made to jerk it out but the grip was strong. She whipped around, about to curse whoever it was that caught up. It was Rowan, out of breath. For someone so short, he sure ran fast.

"What do you want?"

"I just wanted to catch you before you did anything rash."

"I can take care of myself," she snapped.

"But will you? Because I haven't seen it. You always rush into things without a care for yourself -- but there are people who care, believe it or not."

Her hackles rose but she caught herself before she spoke without a filter again. She shook her head and ran a hand through her dark blonde hair.

"I can't do this," she said in a low voice. "I can't... I'm not..."

"Not a killer? No, you're not." He eased out a breath and rubbed his head. "But this is more than just what we are. King's decrees can't be overturned."

"I can't become a monster just because some ponce in a crown tells me to be."

There was the ghost of a smile on Rowan's face.

"If we don't do as we're told, we're going to die. Tahir Portendorfer will see to that."

"What do you suggest? Run away? Hide? I can't do that. These people -- they depend on us. They need us to do what's right."

How unusual. Seiren Harred, actually thinking of others and of her own duties for once. Maybe you should hide them instead.

Can you be serious for a moment, Madeleine? This is madness!

I am being serious. Hide them. It'll buy them some time to get away.

"Madeleine said we should hide them."

Rowan caught on immediately. "With runes? That's possible. Right now the only ones keen on killing them are Portendorfer and two other burst mages. With your runes, they stand a chance."

"But Maura..." Maura would never allow that. She, a Woodbead, would never disobey the king. That would destroy what was left of the Woodbead legacy and Maura would rather die. I am a military mage, sworn to obey King Pollin. And Maura would see right through Seiren's runes.

"Let me deal with Maura. You hide the people."

Seiren nodded and took off at a run, pausing at the cloak cupboard to snatch a rainbow-lined black cloak.

What are you going to tell them?

Her mind whirred. She hadn't thought to that stage yet.

Classic, Seiren. Aren't you meant to be some kind of prodigy?

Who said it was my intelligence? She paused. Uh. Drill training? Outbreak of yellow fever? Demons on the loose? Free food?

That's... quite the imagination.

"There is an emergency!" she announced, waving her arms and marching through the centre plaza of Acrise. The citizens working there turned to look at her. "I need all of your attention. All citizens must follow me. This is not a drill. On command of his majesty, King Pollin, Acrise is undergoing lockdown. I repeat, all citizens, follow me!"

She kept her back straight and ensured the rainbow lining of her cloak was on full display. Soon she had most of the remaining Acrise citizens in her wake, muttering amongst themselves with apprehension. Soldiers watched from above; they were linked to the military, and likely safe from the onslaught to come. But they would bear witness to her summoning the people away. Seiren swallowed and marched ahead, barking over her shoulder and emulating Maura's authoritativeness as much as she could.

She took them to one of the smaller dungeons near the edge of the city where the sewers run out into the wilderness just south of Acrise. When the last of the people filed in, she cleared her throat. The place fell silent.

"We have received intelligence that Hannans are planning to invade with more powerful demons tonight." Her voice steeled. "As such, King Pollin has declared a state of emergency that Acrise be evacuated of any person who is not affiliated with the military or the Council of Mages. The last train has left and I appreciate the conditions out there are deadly, but it will be more deadly here. I will provide you with yellow and orange runes. It is important that you all make your way to Iwade tonight."

Ah, lying without a blink of the eye. You're getting better at this.

"Why do you have to tell us this here?" said one of the citizens, bewildered.

"We are preparing the grounds with runes as we speak. There is no time."

"Surely it makes more sense if some of us stayed? We know Acrise well. We are trained to fight. We can be of help."

Crud.

Didn't think they'd feel such loyalty to protecting their city, huh?

Seiren settled for her best Kommora Haigh withering icy stare and persona.

"A state mage," she said, enunciating each word with a desire to stab and kill, "is telling you to evacuate your ass out of this city and get the hell out of our way and you're saying your limp ass can help us? Are you demented? Should I lobotomise you?"

The colour drained out of the man's face.

"N-no, Mage. I would never dare," he said, eyes wide. Seiren ensured she kept eye contact with him long enough so that he looked away. Sure enough, there were no further questions.

"You will stay here. When night falls, leave via the sewers." Seiren pulled out a stack of paper and sketched runes on them all. "Keep moving south and do not return. Do not respond to further calls or summons and absolutely do not leave this room. Do I make myself clear?"

Numbed faces nodded at her.

"Good," she said with a haughty sniff, with Madeleine snickering in the background.

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