lisa rushed through the palace corridors, her heart hamring against her ribs. The news of Aria's attack had spread through the city like wildfire.
The hallway leading to the royal chambers was blocked by four knights in full armor, their expressions grim and weapons at the ready. They crossed their polearms as lisa approached.
"Halt," the tallest one commanded. "The queen is not receiving visitors."
"I need to see her," lisa insisted. "It's urgent."
"By whose authority?" another knight demanded, his hand tightening on his weapon.
"What? Mine," lisa snapped, her patience evaporating. "I'm lisa Blackfla. I've spoken to the queen many tis, and the queen will want to see ."
The knights exchanged skeptical glances.
"The nim mage?" one asked, his tone making it clear what he thought of that particular combination. "After what just happened, no outsiders are permitted near Her Majesty."
lisa's temper flared. Red sparks danced at her fingertips.
"Listen, you glorified tin cans. Queen Aria specifically—"
"Let her pass."
The weak but commanding voice cut through their argunt. A lady-in-waiting had appeared in the doorway behind the knights, her elegant dress stained with what looked disturbingly like blood.
"Her Majesty is asking for Miss Blackfla," the woman continued, giving the knights a pointed look. "Specifically."
The knights reluctantly parted, though their suspicious glares followed lisa as she squeezed past them. One muttered sothing about "nim whores" under his breath, but lisa pretended not to hear. There were more important things than him right now.
The lady-in-waiting led her through an antechamber and into a spacious bedroom that slled of healing herbs and blood. A massive canopied bed dominated the center, where Aria lay propped up against a mountain of pillows.
The queen looked both better and worse than lisa had feared. Better, because she was conscious and alert, her gray eyes clear. Worse, because her normally flawless skin was ashen, and thick bandages were visible beneath her loose nightgown.
"Your Majesty," lisa bowed, her throat suddenly tight.
"Just call Aria," the queen said, a weak smile touching her pale lips.
The lady-in-waiting withdrew silently, closing the door behind her. lisa approached the bed, trying not to stare at the bloodstained bandages.
"I ca as soon as I heard," she said, hovering awkwardly beside the bed. "How bad is it?"
"Bad enough," Aria admitted. "The blade was spelled. Court healers say without my personal shield spell, it would have pierced my heart. The wound itself was healed away. I'm mostly just... a little exhausted." She gestured to the chair beside her bed. "Sit. You look like you might faint."
lisa sat, feeling oddly like the patient rather than the visitor.
"It was him, wasn't it? The guard I warned you about."
Aria nodded.
"With the scar on his cheek. Sir Markham." She closed her eyes briefly. "He's served the crown for fifteen years. I've known him since I was a child."
"I'm sorry," lisa said, aning it. "I should have been more specific when I warned you. I should have—"
"You did more than anyone else," Aria interrupted. "If not for your warning, I wouldn't have been suspicious at all. Wouldn't have had my shield ready."
She sighed, a small sound that seed to carry the weight of her entire kingdom.
"But it saddens that after everything—after my mother's death, after the trials and executions—the Shadow Mages are still here. Still hidden within my own palace walls."
"They've had decades, no, centuries to infiltrate," lisa pointed out. "Fully eradicating them will take ti."
"Ti I may not have," Aria said grimly. "This was not their first attempt, and certainly not the last."
She reached out, placing her hand over lisa's where it rested on the bedcovers. Her fingers were cool to the touch.
The world tilted.
Aria was in her throne room, listening to a routine report from her treasurer. Sir Markham stood at his usual post to her right, his expression betraying nothing unusual.
Then, in a blur of motion too fast for an ordinary human, he lunged. A dagger glead in his hand—a blade that pulsed with sickly green magic.
Aria had perhaps half a second of warning—an instinct honed by years of palace intrigue. Her hand ca up, a shimring blue shield forming around her just as the dagger struck.
The magical barrier stopped the blade from reaching her heart, but the spelled weapon shattered her shield and sliced deep into her shoulder. Pain exploded through her body as she fell from the throne.
Chaos erupted. Other guards tackled Markham, who was screaming words that made no sense—random syllables in a language Aria didn't recognize.
As she lay bleeding on the marble floor, watching her staff and guards panic around her, one crystal-clear thought ford in her mind:
[I can't trust any of them. Not a single person in this palace.]
Reality snapped back, and lisa found herself still seated beside the queen's bed, Aria's cold fingers gripping hers tightly.
"You saw," Aria said. Not a question. "One of my mories, right? You made the sa face I usually make when it happens."
lisa nodded, not bothering to deny it, but also not fully explaining it.
"Have your episodes been as bad as mine?" Aria asked.
"More frequent," lisa confird. "Not bad, though, necessarily."
"I suspected as much. I've been seeing glimpses of your life, too." A faint blush colored Aria's pale cheeks. "So rather... intimate monts."
lisa winced, wondering exactly what the queen had witnessed. Her and Raven? Her and Armia? Gods forbid she'd seen her and Isabella going at it like animals.
"We're working on a solution," she said quickly. "Professor Folden believes she can help."
"Good." Aria nodded weakly. "While I find your life fascinating, Miss Blackfla, I'd prefer not to invade your privacy further."
She withdrew her hand, and lisa imdiately found herself missing the contact. A reaction that surprised her.
"I should let you rest," lisa said, though she made no move to leave.
"Not yet," Aria replied, her voice stronger than before. "Tell , have you investigated these episodes? I imagine you have."
"Uh, yeah."
"Ah, wonderful. And, what's your progress in figuring this out? Is this so odd Shadow Mage plot?"
[Not exactly.]
lisa hesitated.
"We're close to a solution. My professor believes we can stop them tonight, actually."
But as she spoke, an idea began forming in her mind. A dangerous, potentially brilliant idea.
[The mory Snare could be used one last ti. For sothing important.]
"You're thinking quite loudly," Aria observed with a weak smile. "Care to share?"
lisa t the queen's gaze, weighing her options. She couldn't reveal the mory Snare's existence, but perhaps she could still use it to help.
"You ntioned you can't trust anyone in the palace now," she said carefully. "What if I could help with that?"
Aria's eyes narrowed slightly.
"How?"
"I have... certain magical abilities that might help identify loyalty," lisa said, the half-truth coming easier than expected. "I could potentially detect connections to the Shadow Mages."
"You're proposing so sort of magical loyalty test?" Aria asked, interest sparking in her tired eyes.
"Sothing like that," lisa nodded. "But I'd need access to your entire court. Dozens of nobles, servants, guards..."
"A reception," Aria suggested, her political mind working quickly despite her weakened state. "For my recovery. Everyone would attend, everyone would want to personally wish their queen well..."
"Exactly," lisa said, mimicking a handshake. "Just one brief contact with each person."
[And one glimpse into their mories to see if they're loyal or traitors.]
A slow smile spread across Aria's face—the first real smile since lisa had arrived.
"It's risky," she said, studying lisa's face. "Outing the Shadow Mages left could-"
"I've been fighting them for years," lisa shrugged, cutting her off. "It would be nothing new."
Aria's expression softened.
"Your courage continues to impress , lisa Blackfla." She gestured to a small bell on her bedside table. "Hand that, would you? I need to summon my chamberlain. We have a reception to plan."
As lisa passed her the bell, their fingers brushed again. This ti, no mory transferred—just a small jolt of awareness, a connection that felt increasingly familiar.
[One last use of the mory Snare's power,] lisa thought as Aria rang for her servant. [One final mission before ending its influence forever... A nim, using it to help a human queen find traitors. Kind of ironic, eh?]
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