Prologue: Departure

There comes a time in everyone's life when a decision must be made. Whether or not that decision will negatively impact you or others is all up to you. The decision may go against everything you've known, but you must do your best to not let your convictions get in the way. You know what the answer is. It's right in front of you. So make the decision. Will you rule? Or will you submit?

Alyss hurried down the grand steps leading up to the Irinian Royal Academy of Magic, nearly tripping several times in her rush. Word had gotten around that a healer in service to throne had decided to abandon her position on the clergy, and citizens from all over the capital city had rushed to see the event.

As Alyss neared the bottom of the staircase, she finally lost her footing and tumbled down the last couple of steps, losing hold of her various books and sending them flying. When she recovered, she groaned in frustration to see that her various notes and markers as well as a few pages from each book had been torn out in the process. She quickly gathered everything up, not bothering to organize them as she continued her sprint towards the castle.

"Oh gods... I'm late...!" she panted, debating ditching the books. "Uncle will be furious..."

Luckily for her, she managed to make it to the castle steps with enough time and took a moment to rest. She spent the time to reorganize her notes and markers, but doing so made her lose track of time yet again as her focus had completely shifted to another task. After some time had passed, a royal guard rushed up to her and took the books, not bothering to wait for her permission.

"Go!" the guard urged. "They're waiting!"

Alyss let out something of a squeak and dashed up the steps to the castle. Upon reaching the grand building, she weaved her way through the halls, not bothering to stop for any guards. It didn't take long to reach the throne room, whereupon reaching it, she threw open the doors and strode in as calmly as she could manage. Of course, every head in the room turned to her, an irritated glare in their eyes. She strode down the long carpet leading to the thrones until the man standing in the center, the King Regent, Rathis, called out to her.

"Alyss!" the King demanded. "You're late!"

Alyss winced, the King's booming voice still getting to her. She picked up her pace and took a place by one of the women to the right of the King. Four people aside from Alyss also stood next to Rathis, with two men on his left. The woman closest to Alyss spoke softly to her, her tone firm but not cruel.

"I know that you're busy, Alyss," the woman commented, "but this is by no means an uncommon occurrence. Uncle is already frustrated that you neglect even your basic duties, but..."

Alyss glanced at the ground. "I know, Agnes... But I-"

Her words were halted when Rathis called for the beginning of the ceremony. "Bring in the healer!"

The guards by the door nodded and opened to doors once more, taking a position that kept them open as more guards from further down the hallway escorted a woman to the room. As they rounded the corner and began the slow progression down the long walkway towards the throne, Alyss's eyes widened when she saw who was being escorted.

The woman standing between the guards was one in her early thirties, with silver blonde hair that was cropped somewhat short aside from two twin tails at the sides that hung over her shoulders. Her indifferent eyes gazed over the high collar of her healer's robes. The wide skirt left her plenty of room to match the pace of the guards, and when she saw Alyss standing among the gathered, her eyes flicked to the ground, seemingly unable to meet hers.

Agnes glanced at her sister, and, upon seeing the dejected look on the young girl's face, she took hold of Alyss's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

The king raised an arm to bring the focus back to himself and the healer that now stood before him, kneeling. After a moment of staring, he nodded to the woman. "Stand, Erinn."

The healer did, her formerly hard gaze struggling to meet that of the king's. Even Rathis couldn't help but glance at Alyss to see how his niece was holding up. It was common knowledge among both the clergy and the royal family that Alyss had grown exceptionally close to the healer, so it wasn't hard to imagine how hard this was on the princess.

After a brief moment of silence, Rathis continued. "Erinn, healer of the Church and servant to the royal family, it seems that you have requested an early retirement and chosen to abandon your position. On what grounds do you request this?"

Erinn swallowed and met the King's eyes, doing her best to hide her hesitation. "I wish to serve the people in my own way, a way that I will not be able to do in my current position."

Rathis stared at her, pondering this. He found no viable reason to deny this of her, and, despite his wishes to do otherwise, he let out a silent sigh and motioned for her to join him. "Come forth, then, healer. Allow me to see you well one last time."

Erinn bowed,ascended the steps towards the throne and began to kneel, but Rathis stopped her. "Don't be silly, Erinn. Stand." She did, confused, until he rested a hand on her shoulder with a kind smile on his face. "I hereby relieve you of your duties to both the church and the royal family. You are free to live your life as you wish." He removed his hand from Erinn's shoulder, and just before she turned to leave, he smiled at her one last time. "Take care of yourself, Erinn. You will always be welcome in the castle."

Erinn gave the king a sad smile before turning to leave. Alyss did her best to fight back tears as the healer slowly walked down the carpet path once more. The princess wanted to stop her, to convince her to stay, but if there was thing that Alyss knew for absolute certain about the healer, it was that she was more stubborn than even her thick-headed older brothers. Just as Erinn reached the doors to make her exit, Alyss hurried down the steps and stood there, panic in her eyes. The entirety of the royal family stared in confused silence until the princess finally called out.

"Erinn! Wait!" The healer stopped and turned, giving Alyss a sad smile.

Rathis started down the steps, hoping to control his niece before she made anymore of a scene. "Alyss, it's done. There's nothing you can-"

She turned to the king with a determined look on her face. Rathis stopped, surprised.

"Then I shall go with her," Alyss declared, eliciting a gasp from everyone in the throne room. Erinn said nothing, but Alyss's brothers and sisters surrounded her, their attempts to figure out what had brought this on being lost in the incoherent jumble of voices that now filled the room. Rathis let out a yell to silence them all, and Alyss's siblings stepped aside to let him approach his niece. As he did, Alyss met his gaze, doing her best to look as sure of herself as she possibly could.

"Alyss," he began, his voice failing to hide his worry. "Surely you can't be serious? You're still a princess, and you have a very bright future ahead of you at the academy. You would truly abandon it all?"

Alyss nodded, her eyes meeting his. "I would. I'm the youngest of five, Uncle. I will never hold power, and staying where I am will just bound me to my research, and I do not wish to do that. Aside from that, I cannot allow Erinn to go alone, nor do I wish to see her off so soon. Should she say so, I would go with her."

Rathis let out a heavy sigh and looked over the girl and towards Erinn. The healer nodded her permission, further exasperating the king. He fell silent as he pondered this decision, and Alyss's oldest brother as well as the oldest of the siblings, Kylen, stepped forward. "Alyss... This is a very large decision to make at your age. You've yet to even reach adulthood, and you would give up the life of a noble to become a traveler, struggling to make a living?"

Alyss nodded again. "I would. Besides, my magic will better help the innocent out there where I can do so directly than if I stayed here and merely continued my research."

Agnes gave her a worried look, but seeing the girl's conviction, stepped back. Kylen gave her a surprised look, but another glance at Alyss's face told him that it was probably best, and did the same. The other two siblings soon followed suit, leaving Alyss and Rathis to themselves. Finally, after a couple of minutes of further silence, he took a deep breath and nodded to Alyss. "... Very well, Alyss. You may go."

Alyss's eyes brightened, and she thanked her uncle repeatedly until he held up his hand to silence her. "Just never forget who you are or your place here. Your parents would never rest well if you were to die by this decision, but before you leave, I have a gift for you. I'd meant to give it to you when you graduated, but now seems as good a time as any." He turned to a guard and ordered him to retrieve the item from his quarters. The guard returned a few moments later with a smaller, red tome bearing the royal crest surrounded in flame. Rathis handed it to Alyss and smiled. "This is the product of your current research: the Fire tome, Ignis. It is yours, Alyss, and it exists only because of you. Use it well, and please, live a good life."

Alyss fought back tears as she stared at the book. She soon threw her arms around her uncle, losing all composure. Once she let go, she gave each of her siblings their hug and goodbye before running to join Erinn, who gave the princess yet another comforting hug. With one last universal goodbye, the two departed the throne room and left for the castle entrance. There, they found countless people waiting on either side of the castle steps, waiting to see the outcome of the ceremony. At the sight of the princess, the crowd fell into a stunned silence, but she and Erinn just made their way down the steps as though the crowd weren't there.

The decision that the two had made was a great one, and its effects would show before too much time had passed. As the two rode out of the city on horseback, Alyss cast one last glance back at the grand castle. Even now, the city seemed oddly quiet, as though it was mourning the departure of Alyss and Erinn. Pushing any other worries out of her head, Alyss faced ahead once more, looking to the future that she had chosen.