Their return by airship was a quiet affair. It was lucky in that Louise didn't have to face more danger, and unlucky in that Louise was left with only her thoughts. More than once, she found herself staring into space, seeing nothing but the Storm. She supposed she could just have her familiar distract her (he was good at that), but things were now… uncertain between them.

She shied away when she saw him. Even with some time to start processing the many things he dropped in her lap, she still hadn't fully absorbed everything. She found herself writing a list to break everything into manageable chunks:

-I am a Void Mage.

She didn't know how to feel about that. She supposed she should have felt excited. Finally, she knew her element! The problem was that it was discovered after singlehandedly ending a civil war, and she couldn't muster up the energy to be excited. As it was, her reaction was more along the lines of well no wonder none of my spells have worked. Any other starting mage who ignored their affinity and tried to cast other spells right out of the gate would… probably get similar results to her, only they'd be element-specific. Instead of explosions, they'd probably end up spraying water, setting things on fire, shattering the ground, or blowing things away. Except not so extreme as her explosions, because…

-I am powerful.

If she were to compare her failures to failures of a normal element, well… Her explosions were huge, the result of a ludicrously high amount of energy being channeled. Other mages would be "lucky" if their failures merely made things slightly damp, singed, cracked, or breezy. Musician was right to call her powerful, even if she had yet to learn how to control that power.

-I am Brimir's "heir."

…Yeah, she didn't have anything. Was she supposed to march into the throne room and declare herself Empress of the West? Ask the Pope to step aside, because her… holiness was bigger than his? Amusingly crude as the thought of getting into a dick-measuring contest with the Pope was, she was more than a little afraid of trying to disrupt the status quo, and more importantly she didn't want to be a warrior-queen. She'd probably be terrible at it.

-The elves are probably(?) not deserving of death.

She'd never met an elf, so she had no way of knowing either way. That said, that was a better position that what she had before Musician started tearing apart her worldview. In any case, they definitely had women and children, and not all of them could be evil (if any even were), right?

-Musician is the Void's Chosen.

What the hell did that even mean? None of the other elements "chose" anybody. If Kirche had pranced about calling herself the "Fire's Chosen," Louise would've just hit her, consequences be damned. But apparently the Void could "whisper" and put itself into a physical vessel. It apparently craved destruction of apocalyptic proportions.

Far be it for her to second-guess that an element whose apparent basic manifestation was an explosion desired destruction, but none of the other elements had desires. Or do they? No, that way led to madness.

But if it was the same Void Brimir used, then… Was that why the scriptures changed from the first to the last? At the beginning, Brimir tried to keep humanity safe and establish peace and order. If she ignored the later chapters, it wasn't hard to see why he was revered. Although he didn't shy away from violence, he was noble, selfless, hard-working, and more.

And then humans were chased out of the Holy Land. And Brimir's words grew increasingly bitter, and his actions grew increasingly more warlike, and he told the fledgling nations that they ought not to suffer an elf to live.

She hoped that the Void didn't influence its wielders that way, that it was merely the Founder's weariness and sorrow speaking as she'd always thought. Bad enough that Musician suffered from such an affliction. She didn't need that in her life.

-The "Lesson."

And there was the major point of contention she had. Musician had gone out of his way to provoke a reaction from her, by showing her what it'd be like if he couldn't push the Void's temptations aside. At the time, it was scary, horrible, and played into her distraught state. But now, more than a week later, she could follow the conversation back, all the way to his summoning. It hadn't come out of nowhere. He had been working to that moment.

Everything from Guiche's duel to the Familiar exhibition went to show that she could trust him, in spite of how whimsical he seemed. He was not a fool, nor careless, nor nearly as unpredictable as some of his actions would suggest. He had waited for the moment that she let her pride down, let him in. He had said so himself. And then came the constant question:

What do you want to do?

Just thinking those words made her feel sick. So innocuous they were, but their weight had influenced many of her heavier decisions. Every time she heard them she felt as if she was balanced on a point, and whichever way she fell, it would change the world forever. And it all led to that moment of silence after the Storm, where she refused to let the Void consume her world.

The changes she'd undergone were for the better, but the underhanded manipulation he'd used to get her there was most definitely not acceptable.

But she couldn't avoid him forever. And she'd like to have her affairs sorted before they arrived back home. So how should she proceed?

What do you want to do?


"Musician."

"My lady."

"We need to talk."

Her familiar nodded. "I suspected."

Louise's fists clenched. "This whole time… This entire time you've been playing me like just another of your instruments."

"Hm…" His head waggled side to side. "You're not wrong."

Tears threatened to come out, but Louise kept them in through sheer force of will. "Why? I appreciate everything you've done for me, everything you've taught me. But you were obviously steering me towards something. Why?"

"Louise, might I be frank?"

She rolled her eyes. "Like you're ever anything else."

"Child." Louise abruptly stood straight. "I am a god. I don't like playing that part up. Most other deities I've met are petty, jealous, and stuck up their own asses. I don't want to be like that, so I prance about and feed my madness and the Void in me through harmless nonsense. But I am not someone to be trifled with. At any moment the temptation could grow too high, and my… affection for you would not be enough if the disease of my mind were to drown out everything but the song. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes…?"

"The arrogant, prideful, broken little girl who summoned me would not have been able to stop me."

"Y-you're a god! I couldn't stop you either way!"

"You can." He put his hands on her shoulders. "Not through force. As the Void's vessel, I would be immune to any Void spell you could cook up anyways. But I don't need a warden. I need a friend."

What?

"When I am so deep in the thrall of the music that my reason leaves me, I need someone who can reach me. Someone who understands the burden and can help me carry it when it's too much."

Fear. He was afraid. Afraid he'd slip. Afraid he'd hurt people.

"You could've just told me…"

"Would you have understood, though?"

Louise shook her head. "But was it really necessary to put me through all that?"

He looked away, ashamed. "I… I don't know. I don't usually… connect with people. They like me, or hate me, but they don't know me."

"None of them?" The constant music might be annoying, but that shouldn't have stopped him from making friends.

"There was one…"

"Oh?"

"He stabbed me in the chest and then locked me in an inescapable prison."

Louise's jaw fell open, then her mind caught up to the rest of his words. "But you're… here now?"

"Of course. I escaped."

"How can a prison be inescapable if you can escape it?"

"Obviously it wasn't a very good inescapable prison, now was it?" He grinned winningly at her.

And heaven help her, she burst out laughing. He joined her, her softer chortles mixing with his booming voice. After wearing down, she sighed. "Musician, I forgive you." She looked directly into where his eyes would be. "Once. Don't do anything like that anymore."

He frowned, and went to speak, then closed his mouth. He tried again, but at her look, closed his mouth again. Finally, he shrugged. "Very well. I promise." He smirked. "Well, I'll still surprise you, but I'll make sure it's nothing world-shattering."

"Well so long as it's not that, I guess it'll be okay," she said, voice laced with the deepest of sarcasm


"Louise!" Henrietta ran up to her and threw her arms around her. "You're back! Oh, we must speak. I've heard the most bizarre rumors and reports, and I couldn't believe any of it!"

Louise held up the letter. "You're welcome, Anne."

"Oh, sorry, sorry!" The princess took the letter and shoved it into her clothes somewhere. "Yes! Thank you, Louise! I knew I could count on you! Now come!" She dragged Louise over to a table, where a servant had just finished laying out tea.

"Thank you," murmured Louise to the maid before turning to her familiar. "Hey, could you give us some music befitting a calm chat between friends?"

Musician scratched his chin. "Signs point to no." The song that filled the room resembled a panicked pack of pelicans prancing past a perky and plentiful pile of puppies.

Henrietta giggled, which made Louise grumble. "Oh sure, it's funny. Once."

"You complain, but the two of you look quite comfortable with each other. I'm afraid I haven't spent much time getting to know you, mister…?

"Musician."

"Mister… Musician…? But I imagine it must have taken you two some time to work out your differences."

Louise glanced at her familiar. "You could say that."

"I must ask, though…" Henrietta peered at Musician. "Is it really all the time?"

"Every moment of my life," he responded genially.

Henrietta sucked a breath through her teeth. "Oh, you poor man. That must be terrible."

"Hey, spare some pity for me! I have to live with it!"

Henrietta's face filled with barely restrained amusement. She reached out and patted Louise's head, keeping her hand perfectly flat. "There there, Louise. There there."

Louise pouted, and the princess made a most un-princess-like sound that was halfway between a laugh and a snort. "Why does everyone always tease me?"

"Dear Louise, you are at your most adorable when you're pouting."

"I concur," Musician remarked offhandedly.

Louise collapsed face-first onto the table. "What am I to do when my best friend and my familiar are picking on me?"

Henrietta quickly moved her seat closer and put her arm around Louise's shoulders. "Accept our love with all your heart?"

"Love. Right." Louise sat up and then leaned her head on Henrietta's shoulder. For the first time in over a week, she felt herself unwind. Suddenly, tears ran down her face, and next thing she knew, she was crying into Henrietta's dress as the princess held her tightly.

"Oh, dear Louise, it's okay. It's okay."

"N-no, i-it's not! I-it's not okay. I-it was horrible!"

"What happened?" asked the soothing voice.

"R-Reconquista was g-going to k-kill th-them! K-kill them all! And I couldn't- c-couldn't bear it! A-and Wardes w-was a traitor and-"

"Wardes? A traitor?" Henrietta's expression hardened slightly. "Are you sure?"

"H-he tried to k-kill Prince Wales…"

"I see." Henrietta resumed slowly stroking Louise's back. "Alright, keep going. Let it all out."

"W-Wales l-lost an eye, and was s-screaming and b-bleeding, and Wardes w-was l-looking at me, a-and I c-couldn't j-just let Reconquista d-do what they wanted!"

"And then?" Henrietta asked softly.

"I-I told M-Musician to k-kill th-them a-all…"

Henrietta stiffened, looking over to where Musician was picking dirt out of his fingernails with a battleaxe. "What… what did he…?" she asked uncertainly.

"Th-the Storm. H-he caused th-the S-Storm of Newcastle."

Henrietta felt chills run down her spine. Those were the reports she'd believed least… "How? What are you?" she asked, looking him in the eye.

The man looked over at his weeping mistress, pondered a moment, then nodded. "I'm a god. Not of this world, but of others. I am The Musician, god of music, revelry, chaos, and destruction."

Henrietta's throat went dry. She coughed several times, and carefully juggled Louise around so she could drink some tea. As she went to put the teacup down, she noticed the tea inside shaking.

And as much as she tried, she couldn't stop herself from shivering.

"You killed every member of Reconquista?"

"I killed every single human who had the fervor of revolution, the cruelty of unchecked ambition, or the madness of fanaticism in their heart. There were a few who survived, those who truly didn't believe and didn't want to be there. They were a… small minority, unfortunately."

"What about Cromwell?" she asked insistently.

Musician reached into his pants pocket and then flipped something through the air onto the table. It was… a ring? "I didn't get his name, but I'm pretty sure that belonged to the person you're asking about. There's something… poisonous about its melody, so I took it along."

Henrietta hesitated, then picked it up. "A Brimiric relic? Or the treasure of a spirit, maybe? If it's truly 'poisonous,' then I'll find a place to put it that no one can reach."

"Thank you, Henrietta."

The princess opened her mouth, then reconsidered her words. A friend of Louise's was a friend of hers, and he was a god, so perhaps he just didn't care about using titles for a mere princess? Either way, it was probably okay that he didn't call her your highness, at least in private. "You're welcome, Musician."

"Mm-hm." He tipped an imaginary hat.

"I must say… You don't look at all like what I would imagine a… god to look like."

"And you're taking an introduction to a god of destruction who wiped out an army over the course of five-minute song rather well, considering."

Henrietta laughed nervously. "No, not really." She'd just about calmed her shakes, but that didn't stop the overflow of emotions that she was carefully keeping a lid on.

Musician smiled. "No, not really," he repeated.

"I… Do you realize just what the church would do if they heard you say that?"

"If they act like you're implying?" The dark lens on his face shined maliciously. "They would die."

"No!" she said. "If you truly are a foreign god, then please… respect our customs and sovereignty."

"Men are men," he replied. "If they would hurt Louise, then they will die as all men do."

Henrietta gaped at him, then turned to the girl in her arms. "Louise, tell him he can't-" Louise was asleep. Likely the first peaceful sleep she'd had since Newcastle. She was calm, and rather snuggly. Henrietta couldn't bear to wake her up. Well, she supposed she could spare some t-

"Your Highness." The maidservant from before had returned. "Count Hamill has arrived for his meeting."

Henrietta looked between the waiting maid, the smirking deity, and the girl cuddled against her. "Tell him that he will have to reschedule. Tell him it's… an emergency."

The maid observed the situation with a neutral eye. "Yes, ma'am. A most perilous emergency situation. I shall let him know." She turned and left immediately.

"Give that woman a raise," Musician said.

"I'll give her two."

"What would you do without their help for such emergencies as having a cute young girl sleeping in your lap?"

Henrietta rolled her eyes. "I guess I'd die."


The princess waved as Musician and Louise left. The moment they were gone, her smile disappeared. "What do you think?"

Agnès stepped out from behind a curtain. "He is dangerous."

"He is. But it seems as though he obeys Louise utterly. I don't think we need to worry about his power being turned on us."

Agnès shook her head. "Power is one thing. If it was only that, I'd only think of him as a supremely powerful, if delusional, mage."

Henrietta relaxed her self-control slightly, watching as her hands began shaking again. "I have no doubts as to what he is. To what they are. I'm just not certain… what to do about it. A Void Mage and a God of Chaos? I want to trust Louise more than anything else, but I don't know if I can afford to. Their presence alone could destabilize all I wish to accomplish. I don't know if I'll even be able to maintain order."

"Then don't," Agnès said bluntly. "Politics is a fragile and complicated thing, but what it comes down to in the end, every time, is force. You were going to try changing things slowly and carefully, taking control of the system from within. But since that's not going to be possible with them around, use them."

"You saw how Louise was. I couldn't possibly ask her to-"

"Not that way, your highness. They're wild cards. You can't predict them, you can't stop them, and they can do anything. It doesn't matter what anyone's hand is when put up against something that breaks the game."

Henrietta nodded slowly. "You can either try to fight against it, or take the opportunity for what it is. I see."

Agnès' mouth twitched upwards. "I knew teaching you cards was a good idea."