Fay looked at herself in the mirror, she left the tunnels a few hours ago and was currently standing in the the ruins of the imperial city. She was afraid. Her hair had lost its sheen and was now a dull, coppery colour with grey streaks running through it, and she could already see wrinkles beginning to form under her eyes. And the voice, it was still there whispering at the back of her head. It had started repeating itself again. Remember me. Remember me. Those were the words, over and over and over again, never faltering, never stopping, just whispering though. She collapsed and pressed her hands to her head. It had been there for a week. And she was sick of it.

"Get. Out. Of my head." She slammed her fist against the glass and watched as the cracks spread through it. Something in her mind snapped. In each remaking surface she saw a different reflection, some older versions of her, others of before the overlord corrupted her. But the central one was the most disturbing. Her face had been replaced with a gold mask, and she had tusks jutting from the corners of her mouth.

The voices message changed again, but this time to a laugh, a single mocking laugh.

Lo decided that she liked Heaven's Peak, it was much warmer than Nordberg, seal nuggets weren't a staple in people's diets and it was easier to bathe in privacy. She was supposed to be introduced to the king, and his son, in a few hours so she had decided to unpack her belongings and try to make herself look a bit more presentable.

She was currently lying down in the bath, relaxing in the hot water. She let out a sigh as there was a knock at the door and quickly wrapped a towel around herself. That was another thing she liked, everything here was soft and comfortable, not like the itchy clothes purely designed for warmth the majority of people had worn in Nordberg. She pulled the heavy oak door open and peered out into the corridor, she glanced left, then right. Nothing.

"Down here miss."Lo looked down to see a dwarf standing there.

"Sorry, I'm not use to being around dwarfs."

"No fuss lass, the future king and his lord of the farmland friend were to nervous to see what you looked like so they sent me, I'm Drez by the way."

"Nice to meet you I suppose, so what will you say when you report back then?"

"That you wear towels and don't know when to either invite someone inside or tell them to wait while you get dressed."

Lo had forgotten that she was only wearing a towel, she was used to there being a cold gust of air in Nordberg and not the warmth that was here. "Sorry, would you mind waiting."

"Nah', you get yourself dressed and I'll wait here for you."

Lo gave a slight smile and closed the door, about fifteen minutes later she reappeared she was wearing a pale blue dress with lace sleeves that just hid the vine like patterns on her arms, a silver bracelet and necklace with a small emerald set in the centre. She snapped her fingers and Fengir walked from his position on the balcony, he was unused to the heat and spent most of the day lying in the way of a breeze.

"You clean up well. Nice wolf by the way." Drez commented as she came out. She gave an appreciative smile before he pulled a small, bronze flask from somewhere out of his chain mail coat and took a long gulp.

"Are you drinking?"

"Its only whiskey."

"It's ten in the morning and your drinking whiskey!"

"I've got stronger stuff than that if you want some? Seriously compared to the stuff my kind brew, this is rather light."

"No thanks, I don't think meeting the king tipsy is the best idea."

"Suit yourself lass, the call it liquid courage for a reason though. I'm going to report to mister fancy pants and the lord of the farmers, so I'll see you when you're introduced to the court then." He started walking before she could reply, his short leg's meant he wasn't moving that fast, but Lo didn't want to seem patronising.

He kept on walking till he was at the royal quarter, entering John's room without knocking.

Tristen was there leaning against the wall while the prince's head was in his hands. "What am I supposed to do, I can't back out of this whole marriage thing."

"You're not seeing the whole benefits, even if she looks worse than in the drawing she's going to look like that forever."

"Looks aren't everything you know."

"It depends on how good the looks are actually."

Drez cleared his throat and gave a mocking salute. "Reporting for duty sirs."

John looked up from his hands. "So, what's she like?"

"Well there are a few problems, first, she's over five foot tall, second, she's elvish."

Tristen put his palm to his face. "We sent a dwarf, to get an opinion on an elf. We really did not think that through."

"How did she look though?"

"I don't know, whenever I looked up there were always two things in the way." Drez gave a a laugh and Tristen's lips curved into a smile.

"Why am I still friends with you two?" John asked.

"My amazing wit and ability to stay sober after drinking more pints than you two combined. Not sure about him though."

Lo had never been so nervous in her life. She had no idea why, they were going to get married even if she made a bad impression they were going to get married anyway, but she thought if he liked her things might go much more smoothly. She was pacing outside the throne room, she was set to be introduced in five minutes. To her it didn't seem like a big deal, but apparently it was, she was the first elf, the first magic user, and the first to take the title of court sorceress.

There was a sudden fanfare of trumpets and Lo joined the procession. From what she saw, virtually all of them were men and most of them were in their mid-forties, a few were in their twenties but she was the youngest of them. When they walked into the room there was a massive row of seats lining the walls and then a few rows in front with each one stepped so the person behind could see over the top. Lo was slightly shocked when she saw where her seat was. Second away from the throne. She was sat next to Drez who was closer towards the exit, and a girl she didn't recognize. There was a murmur among the crowd, discussing pleasantries and other things before the more formal event began.

"How are you doing?" The girl enquired.

"Fine, how are you?"

"I am well, I assume your the sorceress?"

"Yes."

"You have no idea who I am do you?"

"Not a clue."

"I'm Emily ,we're going to be sisters in law by the way."

There was another fanfare and the room fell silent before half of the occupants stood up and began leaving. "What's going on?"

"If we don't have business or aren't on the King's council we resume our original duties. I'm basically here to dress up the place, but you're going to have to stay with the whole formal introduction." She started leaving and Lo felt her nerves become even tenser. Drez gave her a nudge and offered the bottle and she promptly shook her head.

There was a third and final fanfare as a crowned man walked in, followed by Audrey and a young man that Lo assumed was their son. Not bad, a bit of stubble, but otherwise... she shook her head, snapping out of her day dream.

"Lords and ladies, in the name of prosperity and unity, this court is now in session. I would like to introduce the newest member of my council, Lo Crasius, court sorceress, first to take the title and first elf to help with the royal affairs." The king gave a grand gesture towards hear and Lo felt every eye in the room fall on her.

There was a drawn out pause until Drez gave her a nudge. "Your supposed to say thanks, kissing his arse is optional."

"Thank you, my lord."

She let out a sigh of relief as Baleon resumed speaking and everyone's eyes drifted of her, apart from one set.

John couldn't believe what he was seeing, at first he thought she must be a succubus, in his mind no one could have been that naturally beautiful, then he had heard her voice, sweet and soft but she was cracking from being nervous, then he had noticed that she glowing, the light softer than her voice and only noticeable by looking at the shadows that fell around her chair. In his mind, she was perfect.

Parcid was pacing back and forth in one of the ruined buildings, one of his eyes constantly focused on the governor's mansion. The people had made it perfectly clear to the lord that they wanted him to step down and for Parcid to take his place, but he had refused. Now there was only one path left. Revolution. The Huntsman walked to his side.

"Three swords from each shipment as you requested, and a letter to each saying the next will include the amount borrowed doubled."

"No killing unless absolutely necessary, we're doing this as peacefully as possible."

"What about the guards?"

"We'll keep them distracted, you and the fisherman grab the rich bastard, put him on a boat to somewhere far away, and then come back."

"Got it, we'll be rid of him by the eleventh strike from the clock tower."

After walking downstairs the two split off with Parcid moving to the head of a crowd with The Guard tailing. As Parcid gave a gesture the mob followed him, each with a blunted sword in their hands. Within the hour they had reached the large house that crowned the hill at the centre of Nordberg. They just stood there, the swords they held pointed towards the ground as group after group of guards came, neither side moving.

"What's going on here?" One of them yelled.

"Return to your homes." Another shouted, his armour was more elaborate than the others, marking him as the captain.

The person on the left of Parcid raised his sword but Parcid pushed it down. "We will not return, we will stand where we want." He glanced towards the clock, five minutes.

"Lay down your arms and return home or we will use force."

"On peaceful citizens? That does not seem like something a guard would do."

"You are armed, and therefore cannot be peaceful.'

"Our swords are blunt, purely for defence."

"From what?"

"You."

"Arrest that man, I want him in chains."

Four guards moved forward but Parcid remained still, only The Guardsman moved to his side. "That's not going to happen." He grabbed a second sword from one of his followers and dropped into a guard stance. He glanced to the clock, three minutes.

The first guard moved forward, trying to grab one of the swords but ended up with having the pommel of the other smashing into his forehead, knocking him unconscious. A second charged, a fist raised before having The Guardsman slam a shield into his gut.

The other two drew their own swords and slowly circled their targets until Parcid lunged forward, striking one of their shoulder's and forcing them to drop their weapon.

There was another shout from the captain as more guards poured forward surrounding the pair. Parcid and his ally went back to back, revolving slowly so they could see each guard. Parcid heard a bell chime, one. The first guard moved forward and he quickly dispatched him with a kick to the chest. Two, a pair of them started flailing at The Guardsman, there was a slight ringing noise as their clumsy blows bounced off his armour and he started to return his attacks, each precise and felling the pair along with a few others.

Parcid felt sorry for his would-be attackers. The lord had scraped away the budget for security as well, the men were poorly trained, poorly equipped and had no where near enough man power.

Neither side moved for a quarter of a minute, and Parcid started to smile. "Lay down your arms and you'll keep your jobs." The eleventh chime had passed.

Suddenly the captain forced his way through. "What are you talking about."

"The people accept me and your lord has gone on a long trip very far away."

"Do not accept that order, apprehend him."

Parcid was joined by The Huntsman and The Fisherman at that moment. " I thought the desert was far enough away. Will this man be trouble?"

A/N thanks for reading and a special thanks to undead3 for the reviews. Oh and over five hundred views, yay.