Even in desperate times, the food of the palace was beyond extravagant.

Steaming plates of meat were laid out in front of them. King Ea sat on one end of the table, with Prince Ashur, his younger son, and Princess Agasaya, his older daughter, on his left and right. Lady Ishtar sat at the other end of the long dining table, picking delicately at her food and ignoring the Windcasters sitting beside her.

All the Windcasters of Dernexes were present at the table, except for the few that remained as messengers in the marching army down south. Tia had never seen so many of her own kind. All along the length of the hall were figures clad in pale blue cloaks, interspersed with a trainee's cerulean cloak. Casters of all ages, some as old as Master Anu and others as young as Tia, sat and ate in solemn silence. Some wore the golden pendant around their necks, indicating their role in the king's Casters; others were Windcasters not under the king's jurisdiction, with no pendant.

The dining hall was at least three storeys high, with a high-vault ceiling showing beautiful painted scenes of great kings, feasts, and victorious past battles. The oil lamps and torches hung on the sides of the marble wall threw shadows across the paintings, making the figures appear to dance.

Colourful tapestries streamed down the walls; most of them were depictions of the current royal family. The figures were recent and very flattering. King Ea's belly was shrunk to almost normal-sized; Lady Ishtar's slim figure was enhanced by the elegant dress she wore, and the two royal prince and princess were shown with pink-cheeks and bright-eyes, a stark contrast to the two sullen-faced, disgruntled children sitting at the table. They made a point of banging their cutlery and dropping food, forcing the servants to dive here and there to clean up.

The king ate like a ravenous beast, shovelling food without much aim into his mouth. He downed his drink, his face getting redder and redder with every refill. The sight of his greedy little eyes focused on nothing except for the expensive edibles in front of him and him chewing with his mouth open, with gusto, made Tia very nauseous. The smell of the aromatic goose made her stomach churn and the grease glistening on top looked like slime.

She started to pick at her food, but even the potatoes tasted like cardboard in her mouth, sticking to her throat; she spat it back out without anyone noticing. After eyeing the rest of the food for several minutes, she decided to just sit and wait for the meal to finish, not touching a thing. She was unused to such fine foods; the last time she had eaten such delicate foods, she had remained bloated for days.

Someone strode in and bowed to the king, holding a scroll on a metal plate. The king grunted, chewing with vigor at the leg of meat. Tia did a double take.

She almost didn't recognise the boy who was holding the plate. His dark hair was closely cut and his powerful jaw was clean-shaven, but there was no mistaking the strong frame or those intense, pale eyes as they swept down the table and met her green ones.

He was taller and heavier-built; his muscles were better defined, but he still wore the wrist guards that Master Anu had given him.

Her heart skipped a beat in joy at recognising her friend again. He remained stony-faced but she thought she could see a small smile beneath the grim expression. He gave her a curt nod as King Ea flapped him away, impatient.

"I have no time for this! Can you not see I am eating?" The king sprayed bits of food everywhere.

Whilst the Enlil Tia had known would have retorted something disrespectful and punishment-worthy, he now merely gritted his teeth, bowed his head and left. Tia watched him stalk off, head held high. She lost sight of him as he strode further and further down the corridor, disappearing amongst the statues and paintings.

With a small sigh, she turned to observe the other Casters. Most of them appeared to have gotten older since the last time she had seen them. Their faces had more prominent lines and their eyes were emptier. Tia's stomach twisted into knots. Who actually benefitted from such a war? Certainly not the people.

She glanced upstream of the table. Beyond Master Mami and her new trainee of Hume, she could see Apsu, the king's main advisor. She was surprised to find him to be a mousy man of so delicate a constitution. He was spindly and sickly-looking, with bags under his eyes and sallow skin. He fidgeted non-stop, tapping his feet on the marble floor, his eyes darting at the archways all around the open dining hall.

Perhaps if she jumped up behind him and scared him, he would just keel over.

She turned to look down at the other end where Master Anu was seated; he was cutting his food with care as he always did. He made no motion to eat the small pieces however; like Tia, he seemed to have no appetite. A frown was on his weathered face as he speared and cut rhythmically. He was pale and his white hair looked wilted. Tia wondered if he was ill.

She couldn't see Mommu, but she knew he would be near the Master, just as she sat opposite Master Marduk, who was picking at certain parts of his meat, cutting each chunk with precision into small mouthfuls and chewing much slower than everyone else.

This occasion was most uncomfortable and the silence was broken only by the clinking of cutlery and metal plates. People were fighting to the death only on the other end of the country, other fellow countrymen were starving from poor crops and lack of support from the government, and yet here they were, the king and his Casters eating as though they were gods.

King Ea certainly was not interested in political matters over his dinner. He was blasé to the fact that all the Windcasters present had rushed to Capital at his beckon, some of them had even ridden in without a rest in four or five days. He gorged himself, proclaiming his strange ideations at the top of his voice, not noticing the tense looks on his Casters' faces.

"Do you not think we have the best resources here in Dernexes?" shouted the king through a mouthful of vegetables. "Such elegance! Such grace! We are the stronger country and we are undefeatable!"

He was getting more and more raucous with every drink. Soon he wouldn't be able to string a coherent sentence together, much less talk about war strategies. Tia nearly gagged as the dessert, cream tarts, was served. He snatched his out of his servant's hands and proceeded to slurp from the filling, dripping cream onto his front.

Most of the other Casters were then served and most began to eat at a faster pace, keen to finish the meal and to discuss war business. Tia prodded at hers, her stomach turning over and over. She peeped down the table again. Master Anu stared with a stony look at his. Mommu – she could just about see his profile – looked green, even. His meal lay untouched in front of him. He must be worried sick about the war.

There was a bang as one of the servants by mistake dropped one of the plates onto the floor. The metal plate clanged loudly on the marble ground; the sound reverberated up the walls, making everyone flinch.

"You imbecile!" bellowed the king, jumping to his feet and storming in fury to the cowering servant, flailing his arms. "How dare you make such a racket? How dare you be so careless in the presence of your mighty king? How dare you–!"

A scream interrupted his tirade.

Tia's head jerked up and she, along with the rest of the attendees, gasped in horror. King Ea was still on his feet, staring down in disbelief beyond his double chin at the arrow embedded in his shoulder. Crimson seeped through his expensive silk tunic. He opened his mouth again and gave a bloodcurdling scream.

"My dear!" Lady Ishtar called, getting up. She suddenly collapsed onto her knees, her strained breathing becoming chokes. Without warning, she vomited a large amount of blood. It splashed thickly onto the thick carpet. Her small shoulders shook as she retched again, and then collapsed, face-first, into her own pool of blood, convulsing.

 "Stop eating!" roared a Windcaster, making everybody jump. He shot to his feet. "There is poison in–!"

The man choked. He had the pointed end of an arrow protruding from his chest, and from the wound, a circle of dark red blossomed. He made gurgling sounds, arms twitching, before crashing onto the benches.

Tia pushed her plates away, horrified as chaos erupted. She found Master Anu and Mommu, both of whom were on their feet, their faces white. No – they seemed fine. All around them, Windcasters and trainees fell to the ground like sacks of grains. Some were twitching and convulsing, some were heaving and vomiting profusely; others simply lay still on the marble ground, already dead.

Screams reached the air as the remaining Casters and trainees scrambled to escape. Arrows whooshed through the air, embedding into the chests of the other disciples of the Wind. Shrieks of pain and terror pierced the night air. Tia's arm was nearly wrenched out of its socket as Master Marduk, his long legs covering three times the ground of the average man, raced past and grabbed her.

"Run, Tiamat!" he shouted. He coughed – his hand came away from his mouth, bloody. Tia didn't need a second warning. She took off, snatching her Caster's staff and weaving between the upended chairs and keeping to the side, flinching as arrow after arrow skimmed the top of her head or whizzed by her side. The Ptarmigan Fortress Censor threw blasts of Wind behind them, forcing arrows off-course and missing the pair. She closed her eyes for a fleeting moment with every blow, half-expecting to never open them again.

Her heart raced as quick as a carrier and her breath came in gasps. All around her were bodies of other Casters. Cries for help came from some of the figures; others were dead and still.

"Where are you going?" shrieked King Ea, waving his remaining useful arm. "You are my Casters! You are supposed to protect me! Come back!"

Two guards stepped from the direction of the main entrance, clad in gleaming armour. With a hiss, the Master pushed her in a different direction, with another hacking cough; someone else grabbed her and threw her into a side room, which was bathed in darkness. The door slammed shut behind her and a lock slid into place.

"I will have all of your heads for this! You are supposed to obey me!" The king's voice rose to a scream.

Tia's heart palpitated as she heard yells and the roar of Wind under Master Marduk's magic. Small particles were blown against the wooden door, making it rattle. There were the sounds of metal scraping upon metal and tapestries flapping. Voices speaking in a foreign language were distorted in the Wind. There were shouts. And then without warning, all was quiet.

The fat king's shrills broke the silence. "What are you doing?! Let go of me at once, I order you! I am King Ea, monarch of the kingdom of Dernexes! Release me now!"

Trembling in the darkness, Tia felt a hand snake into hers and gripped it. She grinned in the darkness, despite the situation as she recognised the familiar stubby nails and thick wrist.

"How dare you?! How dare–! Do not touch me there! Can you not see I have a wound?"

The two forced their breaths to slow, terrified that their breathing would give their position away. Tia squeezed Mommu's hand and the curly-haired boy squeezed back; she hadn't wanted their first meeting after a year to be like this!

"What a sorry state you are in, King of Dernexes."

The voice was mellifluous, almost like the Wind. It was a very jarring contrast to the bloodshed and death that was going on in the dining hall.

"Who are you? What have done to my Casters?"

"You are quite pathetic, King of Dernexes. Despite all your so-called glory and power, you are nothing but a puppet: easily influenced and blinded by flattery. You are about as useful to your country as rotten wheat."

"I need not hear such rubbish from the likes of you."

"My liege," said a greasy, cocky voice that Tia recognised, but couldn't place. "I have done entirely as you bid; the king is captured and we have killed most of his little Windcasters."

"What?!" squawked the king. "You betray me, Apsu! After all I have given you–!"

Tia gasped; Mommu slapped a hand over her mouth.

"'Most'?" The disdain was obvious in the speaker's voice. "I asked you to kill all of them. I even gave you the ingredients for it. Who has escaped?"

 "No more than five Casters, I assure you, my liege!" Apsu, his previously mousy and hesitant traits having disappeared almost completely, protested. "I can get them for you! Trust me!"

"You have served your duties," growled the other man. "My men will do the rest before you botch up anything else."

"And my payment, sir?"

There was a cry of surprise and pain, followed by a sickening squelch of blood; the sound made Tia's blood freeze. A thump indicated that a small-framed body had just hit the marble ground.

"Now, King Ea."

"Don't kill me!" The fat king's arrogant, indignant tone had turned swiftly into a pitiful one. "I will give you anything! Riches? Take them! You want my silks? My paintings? My men? Have them all!"

"I have no interest in your petty riches, you repulsive insect." The killer's voice was cold and disgusted.

"I will give you anything. Just please, do not kill me. Have the kingdom. Have all of my people. Just let me live, I beg you!"

"What a sorrowful, despicable leader this country has. It is my job to eradicate such pestilence."

"No! No, please! I beg–!"

Tia whimpered in the dark as the fat king's voice was cut short; she heard another gargle, followed by a squelch and a much bigger thud hitting the ground. She gripped Mommu's hand and elbow with all she had. What was going on? Why did they all die? Who was the speaker? What did Apsu do?

"Search the palace and round up every single Caster that you see, and kill them all. Do not let a single one live or escape." There was a shout of acknowledgement from at least thirty men. The speaker laughed; a hollow, chilling but musical sound. "Dernexes has fallen. Long live Mawlin!"

"Long live King Asag!" chanted the men. Their voices echoed hollowly in Tia's head. "Long live King Asag!"