I can't say this is how I say this evening going. The first time Robin actually accepted one of my offers to do something together, and we end up going from one house to another and asking anyone we saw if they had seen a young girl in a blue dress with long blonde hair. As court mage, looking for a princess was not explicitly in my job description, but it was kind of implied.

    We walked through a slightly more deserted part of the village, and though Robin knocked on doors, nobody answered them. We weren't in the inner ring of the city, that much was sure. The houses began to lose much of the stone foundations, and more and more wood was appearing in the houses as we went. An awkward silence slowly crept up around us. It felt like one of us was going to say something for sure, but every time I meant to, Robin would shoot me a murderous glare with her red eyes. Those red rings around her pupils always both froze my soul but melted my heart. I wasn't sure just how to start speaking.

    "So," I said to make conversation. I was a genius, a complete genius. My fabulous words were astounding.

    "So," Robin confirmed. She clearly wasn't interested in talking, but I knew I should respond somehow.

    "Who are you?" I decided. It seemed like a relevant question.

    "Jermaine, I don't need to deal with your flirtatious questioning right now." Robin was glaring at me this time, and she was doing it intentionally. "I am already figuring enough out from today and I don't need an overly friendly mage pestering me right now."

    She almost seemed like the smallest thing was going to put her over the edge, but just from the little I knew about her, I could guess she was actually just trying to find some way to lash out after a frustrating day. I had gone down to her shop today to find it temporarily closed. I wondered what she had been doing that could be so frustrating and time-consuming, but nothing came to mind.

    "Alright, you can keep it to yourself," I said, shutting my mouth. I wouldn't have said anything more, but we actually managed to run into one of the other pairs. Fenril and the princess were just around a bend in the path, and I noticed a small detail before they saw us. Fenril's hand was clasping something, and at first I thought I was mistaken. Indeed, it was Princess Theo Reagis's hand in his own, though it quickly slipped from his grip when he saw us.

    I met the elf's eyes and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing while Robin greeted them, informing them we hadn't found anything. He seemed to stare at me with his undead eyes from under his large, pointed hat. I wasn't sure how he could look so terrible despite being an elf. They were usually very well built people, though the single dark elf I had met was quite the opposite.

    Our groups silently seemed to agree to travel together, and we started back down the road. I kept trying to pay attention to our surroundings or even the princess and the elf to find any other signs of something out of the ordinary, but I kept finding my attention landing on Robin. I really needed a little self-control when it came to this woman.

    We were in the farthest district out from the center of Glandarin when we met up with the third group. The two foreigners were walking down the street chatting and laughing, getting along wonderfully. Apparently I was the only one utterly failing in any attempt to court a woman, and these two had princesses to woo.

    "Have we had any clues where my mother is?" Brenson asked when the two were close enough for reasonable conversation.

    "Your mother?" I asked. I was under the impression we were looking for a young princess that was more than ten years younger than him.

    "Yes, Kara is likely with my mother, and is probably being held there against her will or being deceived into staying." The black-and-white-clad boy clearly didn't have much faith in his own mother.

    "Well, she's probably somewhere in this district then," Theo commented, "These are the cheapest houses in Glandarin, and many of them are owned by nobles in the inner city to be rented out to travelers."

    "If we had known that from the start we would have sent all the guards to these areas," Brenson noted. Clearly he was one to rush into things without too much prior knowledge of the situation.

    Fenril knocked on the nearest door, and it was answered quickly with a yell for us to go away and that the resident of the building didn't owe us any money. We moved on.

    Finally, one of the doors opened, and before us stood a tall woman with flowing black hair that curled at the end. She had the same strong blue eyes that the little princess had. Her skin was almost as pale as a dark elf's bleached complexion. She smiled when she saw us and I couldn't help but be drawn into the smile. It was almost intoxicatingly beautiful. Magically beautiful.

    "Oh, Brenson, son, I am so happy to see you! Oh, and look here. You've brought your friends home." Her voice was just as laced with magical beauty as her smile and appearance were. I simply couldn't place my words on why I didn't like the fact that she was just so beautiful.

    "Mother" Brenson stammered, "we- we're looking for Kara. Has she been- been here?" Rin nudged him in the arm, something the black-haired woman took special notice of, and he seemed to snap out of some spell. Why wouldn't he be snapping out of a spell? She must be a divine witch of Valesentia, the goddess of love and desire. With that knowledge, I looked at her resisting the magic, and she didn't look any different. She had the same appearance, but she was significantly less beautiful.

    "She's a witch," I expertly analyzed. Robin gave me a harsh stare but seemed to also confirm that she was indeed a witch.

    "Nothing so brazen," the mysterious not-witch laughed, "Though I do fancy myself skilled with some magic."

    "Mother, Kara." Brenson seemed more confident, and this almost sounded like a command, rather than a pitiful question.

    "Oh, right, I almost forgot. She's just over in the other room, darlings. Please come in." She stepped out of the door, and let us pass into the main room. It was a small three-room building, with the second floor likely being the bedroom, and the wooden walls looked worn and beaten. We followed the dark-haired woman into the other room on the lower floor, and we found our missing princess. She was sitting in front of a small bowl of soup, and she looked terrible.

    Her blonde golden hair looked as though someone had tried to pull the color out of it, its shine being only a muted, pale white. Her skin was a similar pale, and not the glamorous white of silver or even when you stare at the sun. This was the white of the skin of a corpse, lifeless and dead. I hadn't really interacted with the young princess all that much, the young child wasn't often welcome in Reagis's courts, but I knew that the pale shell of a girl was indeed not the princess's usual appearance.

Brenson, Robin, and Theo all said something at the same time while gesturing to Kara, but the clamor of all of them at once made it difficult to understand. I caught some accusations, and maybe a question.

"Mother, she's clearly not well. I am taking her back to the castle where she belongs," Brenson said once the clamor stopped. His mother simply smiled and laughed.

"Sweet child," she said with the same magic laced tone she had greeted them, "Kara is thriving with me. She loves it here, don't you sweety?" The last question was directed to the living corpse of Kara.

"I..." she said while slowly nodding, "I love it here. I love it..." she didn't finish speaking, but rather closed her eyes and collapsed onto the table.

"We are taking Kara, and you won't stop us, you witch," Robin snapped. "I can see what you're doing here, and it is despicable."

"Oh, is that so, young coast elf?" the witch asked with a sly tone and pity filled look to Robin. "I only just regained my darling niece and you would take her from me? Can an aunt not love her only family?"

"Only family?" Brenson snapped, "And what does that make me, mother?" His words were like blade through forest foliage, they shattered any doubts I and the others would have had. Only the cold hard truth can do that when it comes to the magic of Valesentia.

"Your tricks are useless on us, witch," Robin scolded, "We're taking Kara from this home, and you cannot stop us." The witch's glare that was directed towards Robin lost all pity and turned to wrath.

"Mother, Lydia, don't be foolish."

"You will not take that child!" Lydia, as the witch was apparently named, took a large step forward and thrust her hand towards Robin. Her grip closed around Robin's throat and we all reacted at once. I went for my scythe on my back, and Fenril had his hand on his sword, Princess Reagis's hand went to her spear on her back, but it was Brenson who reached her first with a weapon. His own hand gripped her wrist.

Robin stumbled back as Lydia's grip on her neck released, and her eyes widened, staring at her wrist. Small ice crystals formed and her hand darkened. It was quickly freezing and dying. She screamed and swung her hand wildly. Her hand finally hit the nearest thing, the table. She smashed her hand into the soup bowl and they shattered. Both the wooden bowl and her grasping hand broke into shards. She pulled away her broken and mangled limb, howling in pain, or perhaps not even pain, but rather frustration. Kara seemed to snap out of the same spell we had all been in as Lydia's noise continued. Robin offered her a hand, which she took, quite confused.

Lydia's screams must have attracted some attention, because when we exited the small building there were several residents that had felt the need to not answer their doors previously when we came knocking. They looked on with bewildered faces as we all found our way out of that witch's home. Their looks turned from shock to terror when Lydia even stumbled out after us.

"That girl doesn't belong to you. She's my niece, so she and her magic are mine! They are mine to take!" Lydia was screaming as we walked away and several of the residents retreated into their homes. I didn't blame them, that woman was a nightmare.

When we got back to the castle, the springtime sun was already setting behind the castle. The doors opened and swallowed us along with the feeling of apprehension in my gut. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was following us, possibly some angry spirit of a specific magician's hand.

"Well, the banquet is long over by now, we were searching for some time," Princess Reagis pointed out. "I think it is time little Kara retired to bed, especially being so weak." Kara seemed to deflate at this, but she still complied. We started to talk as she and Reagis walked towards the royal quarters.

"Well, what do we do?" I asked when I was sure they were out of earshot.

"I believe you mean what do I do. She's my cousin and my problem," Brenson snapped back. We were making our way down to Robin's shop as we talked, and the black and white covered boy seemed to be under the impression he could order me around. I didn't need to touch him to run him through with a scythe.

"Kara is my friend too, boy. I am also the court mage of this kingdom, thus she is partly my responsibility. That is without mentioning the presence of a malicious-" I would have finished telling the boy off, but Robin stopped me with a glare.

"Back in that that witch's home, she was sapping Kara," Robin said in a hushed tone. "I could feel her doing it to me when she grabbed me. My internal magic was being sapped slowly."

"She's a mana thief and a follower of Valesentia?" I asked to clarify. Mana thieves were very rare, and often were rejected by deities for fear that they would slowly sap their power instead of the other way around.

"Yes. I think she was draining Kara for some time, and the effects were finally showing. It's the only explanation." It really did seem like the only logical explanation. As we began discussing, we finally reached Robin's small shop, which she unlocked and let us all in. There were three tables around the shop, and we took the one closest to the door.

"This is dangerous news for this kingdom," Fenril noted. "If this witch has talents of seduction and the ability to steal other's strength, then she is much like a siren of the seas, leading those who hear her call to their deaths. Those are terrible creatures."

"And who are you to speak of the sirens of the east?" Brenson said. I forgot for a moment that this boy wasn't present when Fenril was introduced, and he likely didn't make the connection that this was the Fenril Malorne that everyone knew.

"I don't believe I have properly introduced myself, young Brenson. I am Fenril Malorne, The Enchanted Blade, and I am currently tasked with Princess Theoginalia Reagis's personal safety by request of my friend and mentor, Lord Drinivan. Do not question me and my authority here." Brenson seemed to cower before the elf, but then he realized something he must have said in his intimidating speech. His face suddenly brightened, and he nearly jumped with surprise.

"You're Fenril Malorne! The elf who killed the water dragon of the east seas! I have been looking for you for nearly a month since I remembered that you killed a dragon too!" Princess Rin definitely seemed surprised by this notion that this boy had indeed killed a dragon, and I would have to say I didn't see it coming myself. Fenril's reaction was much more controlled than my own indeed.

"I honestly forgot I did that," Fenril said with only a hint of a smile, "besides, I couldn't sail the eastern sea alone. The credit should be more with the crew than myself really. I just killed the beast."

"See that's what I say too! The guards of Borea did a lot of work too to kill that dragon! I just arrived late enough to finally finish it off."

"This isn't important at the moment!" Robin cut in. I of course immediately shut my mouth. Robin seemed especially concerned about this witch. "Fenril, you go talk to the king about the presence of this mana thief, I need to talk with Jermaine."

"And us?" Rin asked. I actually didn't have much of an idea what these two were even doing here, so I didn't have much of an explanation.

"I think I will actually turn in for the night, Princess. Excuse me." Brenson bowed and went for the door, and Rin nodded to us and followed after him out of the shop, leaving Fenril with us two. He grumbled something about Robin having a good idea, then went out the same door, no doubt heading to the throne room to talk with King Raegis.

"Well, what were you going to say," I asked her when the door shut, "Or was that just to get us alone?"

"Jermaine," Robin muttered, "shut up."
I complied.

"I asked you to stay because I was thinking about what Fenril said before the banquet-turned search. I need to reopen this place as a tavern as well."

"Oh, wonderful! Do I get free drinks for support of the idea." The thought of all the free drinks made my stomach do flips over itself. Maybe an excuse to visit Robin more often too...

"No freebies, Jermaine. I might just charge you extra if you stick around too long."

"Then why are you telling me?" I whined, suddenly shorted my fantasized drinks. Robin glared at me before she finally answered.

"I need a name. Robin's workshop wouldn't work."
"Well, no. Of course it wouldn't, that would be totally lame," I agreed. I thought for a while, but none of my ideas seemed to pop out to me as especially brilliant. We stood together, thinking without saying anything for a few minutes. I honestly thought it was rather romantic.

"I guess I should just stick to my job as a craftsman." She frowned and stared at her work bench. I of course finally hit my brilliant idea with her depressing statement.

"Robin, Crafter. That's the key. Tavern... inn... tap? Tap. That's it!"

"What are you muttering about," Robin muttered back to me, "I thought you weren't drunk at the moment."

"The Crafter's Tap! That's what you could call it!" It was brilliant. Pure genius of the Glandarin court mage.

"The Crafter's Tap? I hate to admit it, but it actually isn't a terrible name." She smiled thinking about it, I guessed she was thinking about the Glarin and Curin it would rake in.

"Well, can I take you out for a celebration?" I asked, hopeful that she would accept once again.

"Jermaine," she said, "don't get any ideas. You're hardly welcome in my bar when it opens, much less taking me out for drinks."

"Well then, I guess I should go."

"Yes. You should."

"Alright. Goodnight, Robin." She sighed and finally returned my farewell without hurling a hammer at me.
    "Goodnight, Jermaine." It was better than nothing.

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Heyo!

Hope you guys are loving The Enchanted Blade so far, Make sure to hit that vote button and leave a comment of your favorite character so far!

I have totally forgotten until now to give special thanks to everyone that helped inspire these stories. I will make sure to give names along my acknowledgments at the end of the story.