There were five illusions for the obstacle course. The first course was a maze in the appearance of a town. The time within the illusion moved differently from time outside. So, competitors would notice that the day went from early morning to mid-morning either faster or slower than normal. By mid-morning, they needed to reach the exit checkpoint of the town gate.

The second course was to assess navigation, but this time, they wouldn't be in a town with discernible landmarks. They'd be in a forest or jungle and need to get to a river, which they only knew was east. They would also have to avoid poison plants and predatory animals. If they were caught or touched a plant, then they'd end there, and their total points would be in relation to their rank. The further along the five courses a competitor got, the more points they could get. The exit checkpoint was a river.

The third course was climbing a mountain to evaluate spatial awareness. They would appear part way up a mountain. This was where padding for the vase they carried was important, as it was inevitable that their bag would sway and hit the mountain or rocks. Though as far as duration, it was the shortest of the courses, but it was the one that used up the most energy. The exit checkpoint was the peak.

The fourth course took place in a nighttime illusion and typically was in a desert or barren area and it was to test navigation using stars, which had been, and still was, an extremely important skill. The exit checkpoint was an oasis.

The fifth and last course was unlike any of the others. It was indoors, facing a client, and the goal was to negotiate. Rank was determined not only by how quickly one finished, but by who made the most at the end. The final checkpoint was just to shout the sentence "I accept," indicating that the offer was accepted and could be totaled.

This event had so many points available that it could turn the rankings upside down, which was why it was considered the pivotal point of the all-around.

The last remaining events, which were the clay shot, and the chariot race were more to show off the skills of defense and speed.

Of course, in all fairness, the competitors were all made aware of what they'd be facing, their limitations, goals, and what the checkpoints would be. In fact, they spent much of their downtime reviewing the obstacle course.

The illusions were not exactly the same every year, so they always had minor changes.

Nera rushed into the illusion, clutching her bag, but instead of continuing to run, she slowed to a casual walk.

The field that had been in front of them turned into a bustling morning marketplace with sounds of people and animals coming from all directions.

The ground went from dirt and grass to well-worn cobblestones. If she reached out and touched a building, it would feel like a building. If she ran into one, the magic would make it feel and function as if she'd run into a real building.

But there were two things that always unnerved Nera.

First, there was no smell. She couldn't smell food, flowers, or animals. It was strange to her, as under normal circumstances, unless there was anything particularly pungent, she wouldn't notice a smell anyway, but there was a distinct lack of scents once in the illusion.

The second and most disturbing was that particular small details in the town illusion meant signs were gibberish and, worse, there was something off about the faces of the people. They weren't evil looking, or had some hint at maliciousness, or even looked ugly. Their faces were, for lack of a better term, boring. Yes, their faces moved. Mouths opened, eyes blinked, but there was something so empty and fake, almost in an eerie way about them.

It was clear that they were just illusions with no soul, and though Nera knew this, and it was expected, it was still disturbing, and she found herself at an unease in the first course. When she described it to the children, Hana had called it an 'uncanny valley.'

For all her criticism, Nera could only think of one thing as she walked through the marketplace. Ash can do better.

The starting point for all competitors was the town square. The marketplace happening was meant to be somewhat disorienting, but being in the very center of town also meant that the exit checkpoint was equal distance away, no matter what cardinal town gate they left from.

But there was a particular challenge.

Her eyes immediately searched for the tower. Every town center in the illusion had a tower on one of the town center sides. It was the tallest building in town, visible no matter where one was and could be used as a landmark. It was also a clock tower.

Nera's eyes landed on the pale face with the metal numbers and moving arms. The long arm was moving just past the top and was making another round.

Four minutes.

She had to get as far in one direction in four minutes, then stop and wait for the town to shift. Every five minutes, the streets would warp. Straight roads would become curves; corners would turn into forks in the road, and in some cases, large thoroughfares turned into dead ends right before her eyes.

The competitor needed to continue towards the checkpoint gate without getting lost and being turned around. For the best chance of this, right before the town shifted, she needed to stop and keep her eyes fixed on the horizon above the town in the direction she needed to go, avoiding looking directly at the street in front of her.

If she kept her head down, she'd get lost following a street. If she looked directly down a road, her eyes would play tricks on her as it adjusted to the occasional change in perspective.

She tightened the strap of the bag, securing it to the front of her body. She fixed her eyes opposite the clock tower and moved steadily in that direction.

Nera was told at the event's postmortem with the other competitors, that some of them ran as fast as they could to get as far as they could before the shift happened.

But the illusion had a way of making this undesirable, as if a competitor 'stood out' amongst the crowd, they'd be chased by the town's patrol. In order not to trigger them, Nera could only walk quickly.

As she walked, she counted time in her head, kept one arm over the bag, and paid attention to anything she could use to stuff the bag and the vase to protect it.

"...ten seconds." Nera whispered to herself and slowed down. She raised her eyes to look over the top of the buildings and counted to thirty. The shifts took a moment to happen, but she wanted to give herself buffer time.

From her lower line of sight, she saw a slight tremble of the images of rooftops when the shift happened. When she counted to thirty, she lowered her gaze.

As expected, what was formerly a long, but straight street in front of her was now a crossroads with a building directly in front of her.

Most people would find a way to go around as long as they kept their sense of direction, but in an illusion, senses were often off.

At her first Invitational, she realized rerouting took up too much time and energy, so if she could scale a building, she scaled it. If she could enter a building, she'd cut through.

As for the dummy people inside, as long as she acted as if she belonged there, they would not be triggered to stop her.

Just like in real life. Nera chuckled as she grabbed the door handle of a candy shop that had appeared in front of her.

"Welcome, Customer!"

Her brows shot up. "Hello!" She'd triggered an illusion dummy, which was meant to delay by distracting competitors. Ignoring them triggered patrols.

The old man with a white mustache in a striped apron smiled as he walked towards her from behind the counter. "What can I get for you today?"

"I want to make a custom order," Nera replied. "Bob helped me last time. Is he here?"

"Bob?" The old man cocked his head. "There is no one hear with that name."

"It was another gentleman. I'm sorry, I must've gotten his name wrong," Nera replied with a smile. "Can you check? I made an appointment."

The old man nodded and turned around to go into the back room. Without waiting, Nera followed him and continued chatting, keeping him from responding.

While she could not do this kind of magic that mages could do, Ash talked about it often and when they were back in Ashtar, Saphira would drone on and on about it to Ash, who listened enthralled. As a result, Nera knew a good deal of foundational knowledge about magic.

First of all, most mages would require complex spells, arrays, and equations to create illusions this elaborate. Nera knew that the Magic Tower put a lot of time and effort into the obstacle course illusions, as the Federation paid them a lot for it. The Magic Tower could do without many organizations and states, but not the Federation.

The illusions were a complex set of spells, arrays, and equations, but they had to be written perfectly. One incorrect character, one line out of place, and the entire thing could fail. And written magic was rigid. It could only do what it was assigned to do. If it faced something out of the ordinary, such as a competitor acting out in a way that was unexpected, it would either pause until it was over or reset in order to prevent complete failure.

And that was why Nera broke social norms and didn't wait for the old man to speak. Instead, she spoke quickly and in length to keep the old man from stopping her from entering or shoo-ing her back to the front.

Every time she took a slight pause to take a breath, the old man would open his mouth, but she would cut him off every time.

In the real world, this would've just been a simple distraction.

She continued to talk until she reached the back door. She kept facing the old man as she reached behind her, opened the door, and stepped out, closing it quickly behind her. Without a human competitor in range to trigger an illusion, the illusion would go dormant or reset.

At the last Invitational, she'd used this method to get through four stores, two homes, and an angry farmer's vegetable cart.

She continued forward, breaking into the building directly opposite the shared courtyard to come out the other side. Her eyes narrowed. A fork in the road.

Nera frowned and then looked at the building directly in front of her, that was on the corner of three streets. The sign was just gibberish, but from the display on the window, she saw bedding and pillows.

The corners of her mouth curled up. "Perfect."

Using her method of distracting store clerks, she stuffed several small pillows into her bag to pad her vase. Competitors were allowed to break normal laws in the illusion; they just couldn't get caught. Now, padding of the vase needed to happen in each illusion, as once she exited the checkpoint, whatever she used to pad the vase vanished along with the previous illusion. It was a bit frustrating, but expected.

She counted eight five-minute shifts that had passed when she began to see the gate in the distance. The roads and buildings moved, but the gates and city center stayed in place, as if the ground moved around it.

Nera was getting close to the gate when she heard a whistle behind her.

At first, she didn't pay much attention to it, despite the sound of a whistle being out of the ordinary, but when she heard it twice more, she finally looked around. Walking towards her in simple gray uniforms were men with short swords at their waists. Their blank, eerie eyes were looking at her.

"Stop right there! Woman in the white clothes!"

Nera almost looked down to see what she was wearing. All competitors wore white uniforms for this event. Only the embroidered patches differentiated them, as each uniform had to be tailored to their size and shape.

"Thirty seconds until the next shift...." she muttered to herself. She hadn't stopped walking. As long as she didn't run, the patrol wouldn't run. Her eyes flickered to the gate. Then they narrowed and she smirked. "I can make it."

In an instant, she had leaned forward, her feet barely touching the ground as she clutched the padded vase in her bag under her arm and ran forward.

The whistling increased behind her as the patrol illusion was triggered, and several men began to chase her. From what she read, all the 'people' inside the illusion had been modeled after real people in order to get a good variety of body types. Patrols had been especially selected to be modeled on actual city guards.

If Nera was a normal thirty-something year old woman, perhaps they would've caught up with her.

But even with her Lunapsar edge dulled, she was still faster and stronger than an average human woman. She also knew how to sprint so steadily, not a bit of energy was wasted. No excess movement: shoulders and hips aligned; feet placement was even.

"Ten seconds...." She could feel her heart pounding her chest as she easily scaled a wall by kicking the adjoining building wall to push herself up and then over.

She could see the gate ahead of her, just beyond a crowd of people. Whistling came from either side of her. Her speed triggered the patrols in the area.

"Five...." Nera saw the town patrol who was guarding the gate turn around and prepare to stop her. She snorted to herself. She grabbed her bag, raised it over her head, and jumped through them.

She heard a high, long beep as she landed on soft dirt and grass. Cheering erupted around her. She felt a humid breeze and a faint scent of salt in the air.

She'd cleared the first course.

Now, she had a few minutes to catch her breath.

Technically, she was still in an illusion, it was just one that blocked out anything outside of two paces from her sight. So, while she could hear the audience and smell the air, everything around her was just an empty field.

When her rest time was up, a new illusion would open in front of her, and she'd step in.

She'd complained to Ash before how while the rest time was good in order to clear their heads from the previous course, it would've been good if they could find out their current time, rank, or how much time had passed while in the illusion. She'd even submitted some requests for this along with other competitors, but heard that it was too difficult to do.

Ash had rolled his eyes. "Then, instead of continuing with the illusion, let the rest period be outside the illusion so competitors can look at the scoreboard. That's the easiest way to do it."

Henry thought they wanted to keep the competitors focused, thus the rest location illusions. Nera could only kill time checking her vase, stretching, and mentally preparing herself for the next round.

She heard another ding, and she adjusted the bag with the vase inside back against her body. She stood up straight and looked forward.

Once more, the sprawling fields and pastoral setting began to fade into a deeply wooded area. She could make out the thick trees and dense vegetation close to her, but after about five or six paces, there was a thin cloud layer about her height that blocked her vision.

Nera narrowed her eyes and stepped through.

The noise this time was the rustle of trees, but the smell of damp earth and pine, which she particularly liked, didn't reach her as expected. She couldn't help but be a bit disappointed at the lack of sensory features the illusion had.

One would think that after so many years of doing this, the Magic Tower could've figured out how to replicate scents in an illusion. Ash would've figured it out.

When this was all over, and Henry took the throne of Ashtar, she'd encourage Ash to prepare the obstacle course instead of the Magic Tower.

Nera stood in place and looked around. The river checkpoint was east, so she needed to figure out where east was.

It seems this year they'd added an extra layer of difficulty by adding the cloud layer. It wasn't very dense, or high, but it made it difficult to determine cardinal directions using the shadows, which in itself took time to assess.

Nera walked to the nearest tree. It was tall, stretching far into the sky. While the tree was narrow, there were many branches, and she could only make out patches of sky. Moss preferred to grow on the north side of trees, but the conditions had to be ideal, as air moisture and climate could allow moss to grow on any side. The environment here was damp and when she checked, there was moss growing in patches on all sides of the tree.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

She took a deep breath. She didn't have a compass, and even if she did, it wouldn't do her any good inside of an illusion. The illusion was based on the real world, but only within a limited scope. They couldn't even get people's faces right. What more a natural force needed to use a compass?

There was only one thing of which she could think.

Nera padded her base and bag with dried pine needles and dead leaves, not caring about it making her bag dirty, as it would disappear when she got past the checkpoint. She then slid her bag behind her, made sure it was securely closed, and undid her uniform belt.

She swung the leather belt around the trunk of the tree and grabbed it on either side, then made sure her hands were looped on the ends. She looked up, let out a tired breath, and began to climb.

When she was a child, her mother stressed the importance of practicing perfectly, as when one was practicing to ingrain a movement into their heads, the movement had to be correct. This was especially important, as many Lunapsar tended to learn and improve faster than normal humans.

And her body would not forget, as well as learn to adjust to her current height and weight with just a few movements. She'd subconsciously correct herself. She didn't sail for months and one practice evening on a boat and it was as if she'd never stopped.

Tree climbing was one of her lesser-known skills. She hadn't done so in a while, as if Effie wanted something from a tree, it would be one of her sons climbing.

However, when the boys were children, she would climb walls and trees to pick fruit they wanted that was too high for servants to reach. The children would wait at the bottom, eager and excited as they cheered her on. Arunsha would always ask for the highest one while Varellian told her to ignore him and to be safe.

Henry was in charge of catching fruit she'd toss down, while the two youngest at the time would hold hands and watch with awe.

At first, Saphira panicked seeing her climbing trees, but soon grew used to it.

Nera had been climbing all sorts of trees since she was a child. It was her preferred hiding place when she was playing with other children, young soldiers, and her father when she was a child at the border. Young soldiers taught her how to climb trees, earning them punishment from her father for teaching her to do something so dangerous.

Nera was always glad they did. She thought it was fun.

When she was older and went to West Wind Abbey to study at the academy, she and Soraya would go into the forests to forage for snacks every now and then for fun.

It was sitting on a branch of a sweet orb tree, collecting a rare fruit that only ripened in the winter, when she saw the Ashtari entourage get into an accident while trying to come down the mountain pass. At that time of year, the pass was too dangerous with snow at the top and ice on the surface to be used.

Warnings were placed everywhere, and well-known caravan routes knew to take a longer, but safer route.

Ashtar had recessed into itself a lot by that time and only a few wealthy and influential people could openly leave the country.

This included a young Enroshan Heigoren, the wild child of Prime Minister Heigoren, who had taken a year off after schooling to travel before returning to Ashtar to work for his family. As the second son, he was not obligated to take over, so he had much more freedom than his elder brother.

Enroshan was returning for an Ashtari holiday to spend with his family before planning to take a boat from Solyek to see all the Merchant Cities. His party was in a rush and decided that since it wasn't snowing, to just take the shorter route.

It wasn't snowing and most places no longer had snow, but was still cold and the road was slippery. The horses slipped, the carriage tilted and ended up teetering on the edge of the road, overlooking the cliff. It had broken through the wooden guard rail.

Nera heard the horses and turned her head, watching as it happened. She'd climbed down immediately and told Soraya to inform the abbey there was an accident before running through the forest to get to the road. She wasn't far away, but with the ice and the horses still slipping, they'd unknowingly pulled the carriage closer to the edge.

The guards were trying to pull it back, the drivers were injured, and inside, Enroshan was struggling to keep balance and not fall through the hole beneath him that had been created with one door broke off and fell over the side of the mountain.

The cliff wasn't a sheer drop, but it was steep enough that the drop would kill someone.

"Young Lord! Are you all right!" There was a response of affirmation, but then a loud, terrifying creak of wood and the slight tilt towards the edge. "Don't move! Don't move!" The panicked guards started screaming to try to prevent the carriage from going over the edge.

The guards were yelling and splitting up. Two ran to try to hold on to the carriage while two more tried to pull the horses back. One of them kept calling out to someone who seemed to be trapped inside the carriage. From the sound of the replies, it was a young man.

Nera hadn't been far away, so she reached them quickly.

"Don't pull on the horses!" She tried to raise her hands and waved to get their attention. If the horses continued to be frightened, they'd only continue moving and pulling the carriage, which would inadvertently move it closer to the edge.

The guards were trying to pull the reins towards the road and lead the horses away, but the horses were nervous and struggling. Nera scowled.

She'd have to take it into her own hands.

Her winter uniform was a thicker version of apprentice nun uniforms and though her long over robe had an embroidered seal of the West Wind Girls Academy on her left breast, at first glance it wasn't noticeable. Laymen would think she was just an apprentice nun.

"Stop! Do not pull the horses!" She took a deep breath and let out a loud order from her stomach in Ashtari. Her voice boomed, making the guards snap their mouths closed. Unsurprisingly to her, the horses did not panic. She turned her attention to them and raised her hands. She slowed her movements as she approached. "Calm down. Calm down. Don't move and I will help you."

The horses snorted and shook their heads, still tense, but their fidgeting hooves planted themselves on the road. Nera praised them and a guard looked over at her.

"Sister, can you keep the horses calm and in place while we pull up the young lord?" one of the guards asked.

Nera didn't take her eyes off the horse. "It's safer to unhitch the horses to prevent the carriage from moving closer to the edge," she said. "Don't move it. It's already in a precarious position. My friend has run back to the abbey for assistance."

The guards were hesitant, but they didn't seem to have a choice. When they didn't move, Nera unbuckled the harness and coaxed the horses away. When they were far enough, the guards decided to try to pull the carriage closer to the road.

They seemed to have forgotten the slippery road. One of them slipped, slid, and hit part of the carriage, pushing it closer to the edge. A shout came from within.

"Stay back!" the young man yelled as the carriage let out a violent creak.

Nera's eyes widened.

"Young Lord! Can you climb out?" one of the guards asked.

"Um…not really!"

It didn't seem like there would be a choice. The guard seemed to realize this and tried to encourage him. "Climb out and try to jump! You're not far from the ledge! You have to move quickly!"

"Young Lord, you have to get out!" Another guard agreed. He looked at the others. "Quick, pull the back of the carriage to keep it steady!" The wooden carriage protested against any movement with loud creaks, but as long as they held on long enough, the man inside could get out.

Nera rushed to help hold back the carriage. With her help, the guards called out to the young master. After some hesitation, she saw a pair of hands reach up and grab hold of the window frame. She could feel the carriage move as a young man with tousled dark hair lifted himself out and crawled out of the window.

"Keep it steady! Keep it steady!" The guard yelled. Nera wasn't sure which guard it was, but someone had to readjust his grip as it was slipping. He lost his footing and nudged the carriage, sending the others, Nera included, pulled forward by the carriage. They slipped, the carriage teetered.

"Young Lord, jump!" One of the guards raised his arms towards the young man.

The young man stumbled and jumped just as the carriage slipped from their grasp. Nera screamed for them to let go so they wouldn't be dragged with it as it tumbled down the side.

The young man let out a grunt as he slammed into the edge of the cliff. The force of the landing seemed to knock the wind out of him, stunning him for a moment before he desperately began to grab at the earth while his lower half dangled over the edge and began falling down.

"Young Lord!" The guards were screaming his name and rushing to the cliff to try to grab him. The soil beneath his fingers began to crumble.

Nera ran forward. She grabbed the sword from the sheath of a guard, and as she saw those dirt covered fingers slipping and grasping for something in vain, she jumped over the edge. She grabbed his arm and pulled him up with such unrestrained, adrenaline filled force that she managed to get an arm under his.

But they were both falling.

"What are you doing?" The young man she'd grabbed and held against her looked at her with wide, burgundy eyes filled with awe, fear, and guilt. "It's too dangerous! You'll be killed!" She could almost hear what he was thinking without him speaking it.

"Hold on tight!" Those were her first words to him. It was an order, but also reassurance. He scrambled to hold on to her waist. Personal space and polite distance with an unknown woman be damned; he wanted to live.

Nera stabbed the cliff side with her sword with all the strength she had. The irritating scraping sound of poor-quality metal against compressed dirt reached her ears while displaced rocks hit her. Her arms tightened and burned as she gripped the sword. It was a miracle in itself that the poor-quality sword didn't bend when she stabbed the mountain side and actually went more than two-thirds of the way in.

They slowed to a stop, dangling above the forest floor by just a half body's length. Nera's hand firmly gripped the sword. One arm was holding them, the other had grabbed onto the back of his clothes to keep him up. His eyes had been shut tight. She knew this because when she looked down the first thing she saw was his shut eyes and his face buried against her side.

The side of her left breast.

In the end, she told him he was safe to let go. They were close to the ground. He opened his eyes to check, only to realize where his face had been, and he'd immediately released her.

He landed, screamed, and crumpled to the ground.

That's when he told them that he'd hurt his leg when the carriage fell over on its side. The doctors at the abbey said it was a fracture, and he needed to rest. His trip to Ridua ended up being delayed until the late summer so he could heal, though she didn't think he needed to stay that long in the abbey's infirmary.

The sisters who were caring for him had told him and his guards that he was all right to travel within a week, but he remained, and for some time, his handsome face and tall, slender figure of a decadent, tragic young scholar became a bit of an attraction for some of the students.

He was friendly, but avoided people when he could. Nera, with a sense of responsibility, visited often and rather than send her away or make an excuse to avoid seeing her, he'd try to keep her and even send messages for others to send to her, asking her to come see him because he was 'sad' and 'felt alone' while recovering. She tried not to get attached, but it was difficult not to.

She had admitted to Soraya that part of it was his face, to which Soraya pointed out every flaw Enroshan had that she could find. Nera also assured Soraya she also enjoyed his company. After she saw him off, she thought they'd never cross paths again in the near future.

He returned three months later.

"You have another few months until your schooling here is finished," he told her, excited. "I'll escort you back."

She had looked at him with a deadpan expression. This man was handsome, and he had endeared himself to her, but didn't seem all that responsible. His guards had secretly asked her to try to send him back because his father wanted him to start working. Nera had tried. "That's a few months away. Don't your parents need you to return?"

"No, they're fine." His beaming, charming smile never left his face.

"Didn't you want to continue traveling?"

"That can wait."

"....Well, what about work?"

"I am jobless." He had said it to shamelessly.

Nera completed basic academy schooling at sixteen and planned to continue studying. When she told him, he assured her it was no problem. He'd stay with her, and the longer he stayed, the more she fell in love with him.

It wasn't that it was love at first sight. Nera didn't have time for that sort of thing. Aside from her general education, she spent evenings in town with the Council of Elders to solidify her knowledge of Lunapsar history and rule, which she found enjoyable and connected her to her late mother.

She was always busy, but somehow, during those few moments she had time, Enroshan was there. Many times, to Soraya's annoyance. When he stayed while she furthered her studies, he simply didn't lounge around. He started teaching at the town school.

Nera had overheard the guards talk about how the Young Lord was a scholar who actually exceeded his older brother's studies and abilities, but because of his…disposition for being lazy, he had no plans to join the Ashtari ministries. The more Nera learned about him, the more she thought it would be a shame.

Enroshan really was brilliant. She'd sat in his classes and found herself enthralled by his teaching, his lectures, and impressed by his patience and ability to explain and clarify rather difficult or complicated topics. She remembered thinking that he would make an excellent minister.

The gods knew that Ashtar needed capable people, as the Emperor didn't seem to have the right kind of strength and competence needed to rule the country. As the daughter of an Ashtari general, Nera pointed this out to Enroshan, who shook his head and said he didn't want to get into governance.

"It's frustrating and messy. You have to deal with people who'll drive you insane with either stubbornness, stupidity, or arrogance," he'd told her once with an exhausted breath. He'd turned to her with a smile and sparkling burgundy eyes. "I love your silver hair, but I don't want mine to turn that color too soon."

That wretched, flirtatious man was just two years older than her – a year, and nine months, he'd insist, and he was already capable enough to lure the Lunapsar Queen. No wonder the Elder Council didn't like him. They simply couldn't find anything negative to say about him aside from the concern that he'd take her back to Ashtar, and that they found him annoying.

When Nera left with him, she assured the Elder Council she'd eventually return, as in her lifetime, the leased territories on the coast were set to be transferred over, and that was where she and her mother, with the support of the Elder Council, planned to move the Lunapsar refugee diaspora to. She also swore she would stay connected using birds, which she did.

With the exception of those few months where she was drugged, forced into marriage, and trapped. Had it not been for her pregnancy, and her fear that the rest of the Court of Imperial Wives and their children would be punished if she disappeared, Nera had stayed even after she recovered.

In addition, she held a heavy grudge against the Emperor. More than a few times had the thought of regicide crossed her mind, but considering the power structure of Ashtar and its struggles, leaving a power vacuum could lead to unrest and possible deaths in the Court of Imperial Wives.

She maintained communication using animals as a beast master. The Elder Council followed her instructions, and she waited for the right time to leave.

She wished that what triggered her leave wasn't Arunsha's death. She wished she had time to find a way to save sweet, gentle Laheran, but no one expected that the accident would happen so soon after Arunsha's death. Saving Henry by faking his death was the best she could do.

Even after she left, animals she left behind watched the Court of Imperial Wives. If something happened, she'd react. Henry and Ash believed that because their sisters were daughters, they'd be spared, but that wasn't a certainty. Nera didn't trust their father.

While the Emperor didn't go out of his way to kill his daughters, if one of them got sick or injured, no additional help would be provided. Varellian caught sickness that could've killed her, and the Imperial doctors said they did not have the right medicine to treat her, but they did.

Nera knew because her squirrels found it. She had medicine brought to Saphira to prepare for Varellian. The Emperor's willful negligence of his remaining children made Nera increase her vigilance. When the twins fell into a pond during a gathering, two eagles had picked them up and brough them to shore.

To this day, the twins' mother lit candles for her, believing that her spirit was still guarding them, as they had noticed Nera seemed to communicate with animals, though never confirmed. The twins 'found' two 'kittens' Nera sent to protect them. The twin's mother was convinced they were sent by Nera and so the two desert lynx cubs were named Ah and Na, after her name.

Nera also kept watch over Enroshan and his family, especially Talam, whom for those few months she raised like her own son. When he was sick, medicine magically appeared at his bedside. When he was led to do anything questionable or risky by peers, he'd get into a small animal-induced 'accident' that would cause him to go home. Her precautions successfully kept Talam from being caught up in activities that got several other noble sons in trouble and danger.

In all honesty, she didn't know if Enroshan realized it, but he'd arranged for Varellian and Talam's marriage without prompt. Nera had mixed feelings, but mostly saw it as positive.

On one hand, she was relieved as Varellian would be in a good family, but she felt uncomfortable that they were put in a position where they had to be arranged. She hoped Talam was all right with this and that the couple would be good to each other.

Things had gotten chaotic, so she'd had to spread her 'eyes and ears' further away from Ridua and didn't know how the young couple was doing. Perhaps after this, she'd take a look.

There were so many things for her to take care of. Her children. Her company. Her people.

Annaneraka Heikavarian was being pulled in a thousand different directions to deal with a thousand different things her bloodline, birth, and responsibilities tied to her, but all she wanted to be was Nera Atractas, who had a simple family and a warm home, and several platinum rings from Federation Invitationals. More than ever, she understood Enroshan.

"I don't want to be involved in government. I just want to have a happy life with you," he'd once happily told her. "Do you need a consort to marry in? My love, I am willing."

It turns out she was willing, too. That was why when news came of his brother and sister-in-law's death, she packed up their things 'to go back.'

Enroshan always appeared playful and irresponsible, but she'd been around him long enough to know that it was all a facade. He was hardworking, patient, and extremely responsible when the situation called for it.

And it did back in Ridua when he took over the shattered family. For a brief few months, aside from having her own room, they were the quintessential master and madam of the Heigoren Clan.

They were just teenagers playing the roles of adults, not realizing they'd returned to Ashtar only to end up marrying other people.

"Focus, Nera." She verbally chided herself back to the present as she reached high enough on the tree that she could see well above most of the forest and far above the low clouds for a clear view. Her eyes scanned the horizon and caught an awkward break in the distance and following it, she caught sight of a long, glistening jagged line.

It was the river.

"There we go." East was just to her left. Nera carefully descended the tree, making sure to orient herself facing the river. When her foot hit the forest floor, she unlooped her belt and returned it to her waist.

Once on the ground, the low fog remained and continued to obscure her vision. She took a deep breath and looked ahead of her. A strange part of perfecting her martial movements was to be able to move in the correct direction blindfolded. This was to ensure her body knew where to go and she had control and a sense of direction.

The low fog might've troubled others, but not her. Regardless, she picked up a stick and dragged it behind her. Every so often at the point where the fog would cover her tracks, she'd look back to make sure that the line remained straight. If it curved just a bit, she'd realign herself.

Judging from the distance she saw from the treetop, she would take at least an hour of time in the illusion to get to the river. This part of the course was the easiest. No rushing or counting down, no clinging for dear life or being worried about being chased by patrols. This and the desert night navigation were her favorite parts.

She found it relaxing.

A shudder went through her all of a sudden and she paused in mid step. She heard what was the sound of dead leaves being stepped on. She narrowed her eyes and glanced around. The sound in the illusion was mostly the rustling of trees and shrubs, the crunch of her feet on the dead leaves, and wind.

The crunch she heard was out of sync with her step. The illusion wouldn't have allowed such a mistake without warning. She took a few more steps and occasionally paused, and the same thing happened. She heard more footsteps not just behind her, but around her somewhere in the fog. A glitch would've been consistent.

Her eyes narrowed. She began to quicken her speed as she walked. The footsteps behind her kept up until she broke into a run. She lifted the stick and threw it into the fog, in the direction of the nearest sound.

"Ugh!" A groan was heard before someone else yelled.

"Stop her!"

Nera sneered. This was the best the Magic Tower could do? Send more illusion dummies to try to delay her? Ridiculous. Nera turned around checked her vase against her back and then scanned the fog, listening carefully.

"What? Are you scared now that I know you're here?" she asked with a slight chuckle as she shifted her weight and prepared to attack. "I have time to spare, so let's see what this new illusion can do."

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"I forget how boring this is from our prospective," Hana said in a tired voice as she leaned back against her seat. "We're just staring at a dot, like a cat with a laser pointer."

The others couldn't help but agree, but when the glowing teal dot representing Nera moved, they couldn't help but become excited. Nera's dot was typically steady, only stopping every so often, but unlike the other dots, Nera's trail was straight. This meant that while other competitors occasionally got disoriented, if not completely lost, like one of those competitors from Dareisol, Nera marched to her goal with steadfast precision.

It was unfortunate that they couldn't see what was actually happening in the illusion.

Of the group, Ash was leaning forward, his eyes fixed on the field instead of the tracker board. His eyes were narrowed, and his lips were pulled into a tightline.

"You look so serious," Prince Tae joked with a grin. "Should I be concerned?"

Henry grinned as he looked over. "Ash can see magic, so it seems he can see the fluctuations within the illusion." It would explain why Ash had always been particularly invested in watching this event and never took his eyes off the field.

"Second Brother, how is Momma doing?" Effie asked as she hopped over beside him.

Ash was quiet for a moment, which made Henry tilt his head. His brother's usual high-energy and cheerful reaction did not come. Henry frowned. "Ash?"

Ash took a deep breath, and his hands paled as he grasped is knees. "Second Brother?" Effie tugged his shirt sleeve. "What's wrong?" Her face fell. "Is Momma okay?"

The suite was quiet despite the sound of occasional cheers.

"There are other people in the illusion," Ash said in a tense voice. "Not the competitors. I don't know who they are," Ash said, never taking his eyes off the empty field below. "There are five real people inside Momma's illusion with her."

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