Meera couldn't even sleep that night. She was too excited to kill some Frostweavers, acquire new skills, and merge them using her new toy. She would have to hide it from the sorceresses and the princess. At this point, she was considering the princess as one of them. After all, she did train under them, and her tag did say, Sorceress of Oblivion.

It made her wonder what sort of powers the girl had. What exactly did it mean by Oblivion?

I will soon find out, I guess.

She paced on her balcony, waiting for the sun to rise, which was taking its sweet time. Another thing she disliked was being among a group of people who knew she was an Ascendant. So, eventually, the question would arise as to why she wasn't exuding the aura of one and how her levels had dropped.

She figured it was a good idea to drop Misidentify when she was with them. To let them know that it won't be so easy to take her down, and sleeping would be out of the question. Fortunately, she didn't have to eat, which meant she could avoid poisoning.

A knock came at the door, right as the first light of the sun broke through the horizon.

"Come in," she called, hoping it to be Vasda, as she had asked her to bring a list of things last night. But the last person she expected walked into her room.

God King Arhazar strolled in with Munral in tow.

Meera's eyes widened, and she bowed at the waist immediately. "Your Majesty, you didn't have to come yourself. You should've called for me."

He was dressed in rather simple clothes for the God King. He wore a pearly white long shirt with a white sash. He had a punching dagger tucked in the sash, and didn't wear nearly enough jewelry as he usually did when he was at court.

"Please rise, Reverent Lady," he said. "It looks like I wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep last night."

"Yes, the coming battles kept me up, and I have a score to settle with the Cult."

"Yes, Munral informed me of their wrongdoings on Gethys." Arhazar walked over to one of the couches. "May I sit?"

"Yes, of course," Meera nearly fumbled over her words. "It is your palace, after all."

He smiled and sat down. "It doesn't seem so lately, but thank you." He took a long pause, and Meera took that time to sit opposite him.

"May I speak plainly, My Lady?" Arhazar asked.

"Please do."

"I am worried for my children," he said. "Which father wouldn't be. They are all going into peril, and one that was of my making. But there was no other way to stop the empire of mine from running red with the blood of its people."

So, instead, you forced your children to run the blood of others.

It was a masterful move. In one stroke, he stopped his sons from fighting each other and made it into a contest to determine his successor. As long as Meera was concerned, he had pretty much averted Meera's prophecy himself. She may no longer have to decide the empire's fate.

But who was she kidding? These prophecies always had a way of rearing their ugly head when one least expected it.

"But the one I'm terrified for is my Rehia." He sighed as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. "Which father wouldn't be afraid for his daughter who is going into battle, for the first time in her life?"

"Your Majesty, you needn't be afraid," Meera said. "Rehia is very smart. She knows what she is doing. She will have the might of the sorceresses, and not to mention, I will be there as well, watching her back all the time."

Arhazar finally looked up at her. "That is what I'm afraid of."

Meera frowned. "Your Majesty?"

It was Munral who replied. "You haven't had a pleasant history with the sorceresses. They tried to imprison you and destroyed them for it."

Meera sighed in annoyance. "I feel like we've had this conversation already."

"Then let's have a new one," the God King said. "The reason I'm concerned for my daughter's well-being is because she will be surrounded by a—what did you call them—a cabal of witches, who only look out for their own self-interests. They're supporting Rehia as we've given them refuge. I have no doubt they will betray her, the moment the wind changes."

"I know, Your Majesty," Meera said. "And I've informed Princess Rehia of such and will continue to do so. Like I said, I will watch her back the entire time. You can trust me."

"Trust you?" Munral practically sneered. "You ask us to trust you, when you don't trust us."

Meera scowled. "What are you talking about?"

"Drop your veil, Meera," Arhazar said.

She stared at him at that. For one, it was the first time he had called her by her name, and secondly, he knew that Meera was hiding her true self with Misidentify. She could deny it, but then she would be spitting in the man's face. It quickly came to her that if the princess and the sorceresses knew about her Ascendant nature, then it was most certain that Munral did as well. He must have had the witches watched at all times.

Stolen story; please report.

"How long have you known?" Meera asked.

"Ever since our first meeting," Arhazar replied. "I'm not sure if you remember, but Munral mentioned that you had destroyed the sorceresses and killed Veridiana yourself. When one kills an Ascendant, they take their Ascendant nature, no?"

How did I miss that?

He looked impressed. "It truly is a splendid skill that veils you so thoroughly that even another Ascendant cannot see through it."

"Yes, well, a very powerful friend taught it to me."

Meera shrugged and dropped Misidentify, letting herself be truly seen for the first time since arriving on this world, and their reactions did not disappoint.

Arhazar's eyes widened, while Munral took a protective step towards his king. She didn't fault him, after all, she was stronger than both of them. The aura that came off the king was one of awe and a little bit of fear. At the same time, she could see the Mana swirling inside Munral as he waited for Meera to make the wrong move.

"Relax, Munral," Meera said. "If I wanted to hurt your king, I would kill you first."

That did not sit well with the head of the Reapers. He gritted his teeth as he glared at her, but she spoke over him before he uttered a useless threat.

"I said, if. I bear no ill will towards His Majesty or his children."

Arhazar nodded as he smiled. "This brings me some reassurance, My Lady. I had expected you to be strong, but this…I do not doubt that you are more than sufficient in protecting my daughter." He stood. "I bid you great fortunes in your campaign."

Without another word, he made for the door. His German Shepherd followed after him, but not before glaring at Meera.

The God King opened the door and paused. He looked around the room. "I hope you and my daughter return safely, so I don't have to send more pleasant company in the night."

"We'll be watching you very closely, Reverent Lady," Munral said. "You know, in case you need any help."

With that, they walked out of the room, leaving a bewildered Meera behind.

It was him.

All this time, she had thought it was Munral acting alone, but no, it had been the God King. He had ordered the Reapers to attack her in the night, as a test, most likely. They knew that she was an Ascendant even before they had met her.

He was testing her to see how powerful she was. But why?

The only reason that came to mind was that she had dropped her level quite low, which must've made them doubt who she truly was. She pinched the bridge of her nose.

It was like being back in the dragon keep. Actually, it was worse. These people were nice to her face while scheming behind her back. At least, the sorceresses were true about their intentions toward her. They never lied about not wanting to use her.

Hiral was right. Arhazar was a two-faced, lying bastard who couldn't be trusted, and as far as she could tell, his daughter was the same.

Her anger rose with each passing moment. She wanted to hit something. She decided to unleash her wrath on the room. After all, the God King could afford to replace everything in the room.

She pulled off two Level 2 chakrams, then hurled them at everything in sight. They zipped across the room, decimating furniture, ripping through the bed, and cutting the burning brazier in half. The burning coals rolled off across the room. One rolled off under the curtains. It didn't take them long to catch on fire.

Her rage wasn't so easily dissipated. She breathed heavily as she recalled her chakrams. Then she walked over to the closet and gave it the same treatment as the room. All of the pretty dresses were nothing but rags by the time she was through with them. As she was about to walk out of the room, her eyes fell on the jewelry case.

She took every necklace, earring, or expensive ring that was in there, as recompense for the nightly attack.

Then she walked out of the room, activated Druvis Might, and slammed the door so hard that the walls shook. The door fell off its hinges, and the guards jumped away from her. The fear in their eyes was so evident.

She realized that she didn't have Misidentify active. So, they must've been feeling her rage, and it felt good to let loose for once.

"Someone ransacked the place," Meera said.

She arrived in the palace gardens where the princess had assembled her army—the remaining sorceresses. There must've been around fifty to sixty of them. Maybe a little more. That wasn't even a quarter of the number that she had seen at the dragon keep. She was surprised that so many survived the dragons' massacre.

They all eyed Meera as if she were a feral cat. The look of sheer hatred in their eyes was evident enough, but as it turned out, Meera's anger at being backstabbed by the God King hadn't totally abated.

She glared at them and, for just a moment, retracted Misidentify and blasted all the aura she could muster. The less powerful of them shrank back immediately, averted their gaze, but some, as it turned out, needed a more obvious warning.

"As I've told your dear leaders, I'm not to be fucked with," Meera snarled. "If any of you so much as even come within three meters of me, I will gut you where you stand. Lower your fucking eyes or lose them."

The chakrams on her back blasted off to hover in the air around Meera. Then one of the ones in the front spat on the ground. Meera gritted her teeth, and she was about to make an example of her when the princess arrived.

"Meera, didn't I say to pretend they're not even there?" Rehia said.

"Did you tell them that?" Meera growled.

"Looks like you woke with a thorn in your butt."

"Yes, and that thorn is your father."

Rehia frowned. "Did he and his guard dog threaten you?" She sighed as she shook her head. "I knew that was bound to happen. Put whatever he said out of mind, Meera. We'll need your full attention and focus on our mission. Besides, if you lose focus, we'll all plummet to our deaths."

It was then that Meera noticed that the impaasive Duinith and the grinning Firaan flanked her.

Firaan raised her hands. "You don't need to threaten me, Ascendant. I got your message loud and clear last time. Like I said, we'll keep them in line."

Meera drew a deep breath, let out a deep sigh, and recalled all her chakrams. "Did you figure out a way for me to carry you to the Cult?"

"We sure did," Rehia grinned. "We trained a new Sorceress of Mirrors to assist you in your task."

"In one day?"

"Oh yes, we did." The princess said, still smiling.

She stepped aside to reveal Vasda. Meera frowned at first, but then quickly used Identify on her.

[Sorceress of Mirrors – Level 182]

"You?" Meera gaped. "You were…"

Rehia put an arm over Vasda's shoulder. "Contrary to what you might have believed, she was always my spy, reporting your comings and goings. After all, I had to make sure you were okay, because my father and Munral couldn't be trusted."

Meera stared her in the eyes. Neither can you.

She turned back to Vasda. "Okay, sorceress, let's see what you can do."

"I live to please the Reverent Lady." Vasda bowed her head and smiled a genuine smile.

But Meera knew now that there was nothing genuine about that smile. There were no friends here. She would have to watch her every step. There was an unspoken threat in the princess's words. Where her father was blunt, she was subtle, like a doctor's scalpel, making an incisive precision.

Well, if you get in my way, Princess and I'll show you the Meera that brought down the strongest magical faction in the three worlds.

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