“Don’t mess with me,” Lynn pushed, clearly unamused. “Will you explain how you pulled that arrow-catching stunt off or not?”

Faced with Lynn’s questioning, hundreds of pre-prepared and Federation-approved replies flashed by in front of Adan’s eyes, but she felt reluctant to use any of them. She sighed. She was growing tiered of bending the truth.

“Would you accept it if I simply said that I have good reflexes?”

“No.”

Searing pain ran through Adan’s limbs and head as she spoke with the young man. She had moved more on reflex than anything else when she stopped the arrow from striking Lynn, but that didn’t mean she would be spared the punishment for intervening. Since the situation was not yet resolved, Adan could postpone the full force punishment for a while, but would still get the lighter reprimand right away.

“Sai apologizes,” the A.I. comforted her with an unusually troubled voice. “Punishment is in Sai’s core programing and is outside of Sai’s control. . . .”

Adan ignored the A.I. – she knew the consequences of her actions well enough – and focused instead on talking to Lynn’s without revealing her pain.

“Then how about if I say that I’m a genetically altered being from beyond the skies, created for interstellar warfare and destruction?”

“What? No!” Lynn retorted angrily and pulled back. “Look, if you don’t want to tell me, then fine, but don’t go insulting my intelligence.”

Adan smiled meekly. His response was expected, yet it stung more than she thought it would. And it was not the physical pain that her moment of flippancy, had added to her punishment that hurt.

“Then you tell me, Lynn — what do you think let me catch that arrow mid-flight?”

At Adan’s prompting, Lynn’s offended expression shifted to a more pensive one, his elegant brow slightly frowning in thought. Adan let him think in silence, their carriage rocking back and forth on the uneven road a few times before a slight flash of revelation surfaced in Lynn’s eyes.

“Wait, you’re a tracker!” Lynn suddenly remembered. “Supposedly, your reflexes should be faster than normal, your sense for flames sharper . . . but to that extent? I didn’t think- . . .”

He considered the different possibilities for a while longer.  As he spoke, Adan made point of forcing a ever growing smile. When Lynn noticed the now smug look on Adan’s face, the young man seemed convinced that he had found the truth.

Lynn leaned back in the cabin’s seat, his icy blue eyes glowing with mixed emotions. Eventually, he sighed in resignation.

“Well, at least this will make it easier to eventually run away from the King. . . .” Lynn muttered.

Adan chuckled to hide her own dejection. It was a classic manipulation technique that almost always worked – being unbelievably vague in one’s descriptions to allow the listener to pick their own most logical explanations – but Adan would have liked it if Lynn hadn’t been so easily distracted. It bothered her more than it should.

“Your Highness, we have arrived!” Colonel Dallas’ strong and uncharacteristically excited voice called from outside, effectively ending all talks about Adan’s skills and their origin.

---

The door to Lynn’s black carriage was opened from the outside and Duke Kimba’s figure appeared in the opening. He couldn’t help but notice that – as it had before – the Duke’s gaze first sought out Adan before quickly turning to Lynn.

‘His concern isn’t so surprising anymore. Given Adan’s affinity for fire, he might even manage a natural awakening. . . .’ Lynn mused, his self-made truth seeming even more probable.

“Lady Lynn,” the duke greeted respectfully. “Your father mentioned in his letter that it is your first time visiting Fire Isle.” The man’s dark eyes darted towards Adan before continuing. “I would recommend stepping out of your carriage to take a look; it’s quite a view.”

“With pleasure.” Lynn didn’t hesitate before agreeing. Now that he was finally here, the nerves he had managed to keep in check so far threatened to unravel him. Any break that pushed their arrival time forward, even just a little, was more than welcome.

Lynn stretched out his hand, prepared to use the offered stability of Kimba’s own hand to climb out, but a slightly lighter hand intercepted him.

“Let me.”

Adan was so close that his warm breath brushed against Lynn’s ear as he spoke, joined by a subtle sweet smell that he couldn’t quite place. A pleasurable shudder ran through Lynn’s body, intensified by the soft heat spreading from their touching hands. Instinctively, Lynn attempted to pull back, but Adan’s grip wouldn’t budge. For a moment, Lynn was amazed that such a delicate-looking hand could have so much strength.

“Is something wrong, my Lady?”

That infuriatingly smug voice snapped Lynn back to reality. Adan had already backed out of the cabin and was waiting for Lynn to follow.

“Of course not,” Lynn replied, his voice snappier than he had intended, and he immediately regretted it. Why is it so hard to stay composed in front of Adan?

He mustered up every ounce of his elegance as he too stepped forward. Once outside, Lynn’s confused thoughts instantly evaporated.

He was standing on a small hill, looking out over a lake so enormous that he could barely see the end of it. In the middle of the body of water was a sugar-top-shaped island, almost entirely covered in houses of various sizes. At this distance, however, it was difficult to say where one building ended and the next began, and yet one structure was simply impossible to miss.

It was the gigantic building that was situated right at the top of the island. Its walls were pitch-black, apart from the two towers at each end of the building; one blood-red the other ice-blue.

“The whole island is a volcano. . . .” Adan’s amazed and slightly dazed murmur drew Lynn’s attention.

“A what?” He had never heard that word before.

“Ah. . .” Adan started, looking slightly embarrassed.

‘ cute look on him. Lynn mused. Wait, what am I thinking?

“The island,” Adan continued, clearly ignorant of Lynn’s internal crisis. “It’s the top of a mountain that breathes fire. My family calls it a volcano.”

“O-oh, you mean a cykjab?” Lynn forced himself to look away and calm down. “Yes it is. But don’t worry; it isn’t active.”

“You sure?”

The tone in Adan’s voice caused Lynn to look back at the boy, only to find an enigmatic smile on the latter’s face. Rolling his eyes, Lynn was about to explain that the volcano hadn’t had an eruption in over a hundred years when a sudden dull trumpet sounded out over the lake. Lynn tensed.

Moments later, two dozen finely-dressed men and women came riding out from the large gatehouse that guarded the entrance to the only bridge between the shore and Fire Isle. Seeing this, Lynn couldn’t help but clench his fists tightly in his sleeves.

It was the envoys of the king.

This was it: the point of no return. Every cell within Lynn’s body was telling him – screaming at him – to run away. To not let the king see him nor allow himself to be taken to the holy place that doubled as both castle and church.

But he mustn’t run away – he couldn’t anymore.

“I’m kind of regretting not leaving when we had the chance,” Lynn murmured so softly that he doubted anyone would hear him.

Lynn heard fabric shifting behind him. He felt Adan moving so close behind him that his scent—a strange blend of almond and something faintly charred—brushed past his senses. Oddly warm. Oddly grounding. For a moment he thought that perhaps Adan was about to pat him on the shoulder or something. However, no comforting touch, nor any reassuring words came. Lynn almost laughed at his sudden weakness.

You’ve come this far on your own, Lynn of Gakkvisa. Now is not the time to falter.

Lynn straightened his back and took a deep breath to steady himself. Regardless of his gender, he was a future ruler of ice and snow. He told himself to be as his element; cold, detached and unforgiving.

---

For a second, her hand had hovered over his shoulder. Seeing the beautiful man in front of her tensing in obvious fear, Adan had felt a sudden urge to comfort him.  To assure Lynn that she would do what she could to keep him and his family alive as they made it through this ordeal, but she knew that would be a lie.

What was it? A moment of weakness? Or affection? Even Adan wasn’t sure. She let the hand fall, silently — back untouched.

Her first priority right now was finding a way home – or at least a way to contact her sister and commander. If she succeeded, or if her investigations led her away from Lynn’s side, Adan would have no choice but to leave. Even if she could stay – perhaps ordered by her superiors to learn more about the mark in her chest – Adan would still be prohibited from intervening too much in this planet’s natural course of history.

I will do what I can, while I can.

The distance from the hill to the gatehouse was neither very long nor particularly short, but the king’s envoy clearly wanted to make an impression as they approached at a slow yet steady pace.

The twenty-four horses were all black with clear white manes and moved in a manner Adan could only describe as elegantly bouncy.

“According to Sai’s records, humans on ancient Tellus used to train their horses to run in a similar style,” the A.I. informed and soon an image of a fancy woman in a tight suit and high hat appeared in front of Adan’s eyes. Underneath the woman, her huge stallion was indeed running very much like the approaching party. “They called the style a passage.”

“It is a very inefficient form of running.”

“On ancient Tellus, this style was only meant to be used during competitions and performances. The gallop or the trot were used for speed.”

“I can see why. . . .”

A full ten minutes had passed when the King’s envoy finally arrived, their ages varied but the look of importance on their faces was the same for all of them.

“Princess Lynn of Gakkvisa,” the oldest and most refined-looking man in the group greeted with a serious tone. “I’m the King’s steward and have been sent to escort you to the palace.”

“I see,” Lynn’s tone was neither polite nor rude. “And the others?”

“Reverend Mother Amaris may naturally join Your Highness when Your Highness greets the King. Colonel Dal-”

Lynn raised his hands to stop the elder’s words. “Mother Amaris has been relieved of her duties,” he informed coldly. “There is no need for her to join me.”

For only a heartbeat, the old steward failed to hide his surprise, but he was clearly a weathered man who was a master of his own trade, because he quickly adapted to the situation.

“Very well. In that case, the reverend mother may go wherever her holiness sees fit.” The man harked his throat. “As for colonel Dallas, she will report to her superiors and bring the city guards and prisoners with her. Duke Kimba will be called upon the by the king separately at a later hour.”

“And my bodyguard?”

“Bodyguard?” The old steward inspected the people standing behind Lynn, his eyes eventually falling on Adan. “Ah, the Sun Tribe youth. I assume he will be called upon together with Duke Kimba, if at all. His services as a protector are no longer needed.”

Lynn shook his head, his midnight-blue hair flowing around his face. “I disagree, steward. Only I can dismiss employees in my care.”

“As can the King,” the steward added hastily with narrowed eyes.

“Naturally, but has he given an explicit order to dismiss my personal bodyguards?”

There was a brief pause before the steward admitted that he had not. Lynn smiled coldly, and with that the matter was settled.

Adan was given permission to join Lynn, and while she could tell that Duke Kimba wanted to protest, the latter held himself back in the end. Lynn was led to a horse of his own, its coloring a stark contrast to the others since it was inverted; a black mane but a snow-white coat.

The smug smile Adan received from the envoy who explained that they had not expected an additional rider so there was no mount for Adan stiffened when she simply shrugged and replied that she preferred to run, anyway. It was no surprise when the horses suddenly broke out in an elegant gallop, clearly wishing to leave her behind.

Lynn had been about to reprimand the king’s steward for their behavior when Adan winked at him playfully and too started running. She quickly caught up with the horses and then kept a steady pace with Lynn’s mount. The distance to the gatehouse wasn’t that great and at their speed it only took a minute or two to get there, but Adan’s behavior still earned her a few astounded stares.

Even Lynn kept his eyes fixed on Adan, his eyes filled both with wonder and satisfaction. She guessed he was happily contemplating how to use her skills to run away from the king.

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