"Agh!" My sword collided with a beautiful clang against my opponents sword. My opponent, Lucian, sighed and jumped back, taking a defensive stance, both hands gripping his sword tightly.

"You're really upset," Lucian confirmed, "Take some deep breaths and calm down, don't give in to the anger. Don't let it blind you."

"I don't want to calm down!" I yelled, jumping forward to attack him. He quickly blocked my attack and let his arms fall to his sides, leaving his body highly unguarded. Was he really that confident he could win our sparring match?

"You really are upset..." He raised his sword to block another one of my attacks as if it were nothing. I was beginning to feel drained, as if all my energy was flooding from my body and running into my sword, as it was suddenly feeling very heavy in my hands.

"Guys are just so... infuriating!" I swung my sword again tiredly and it collided with the ground, falling very short of where I was aiming. I fell to my knees, resting the hilt of the sword against my head.

"And... I think that's enough for today." Lucian replied, plucking the sword out of my weak grip. He looked down at me with concern, but also with faith. Faith that I would get up and overcome my problems. I sighed and gave a half smile as I stood up and brushed myself off.

"Come with me," Lucian grinned and nodded his head toward town. Of course, he led me right to a bar. It was busy inside, although not as much as it was going to be later once it grew darker outside. "I think you need a slight pick-me-up."

We sat down at a table and had tankards set down before us full of mead at Lucian's request. I saw people, many of them knights that were momentarily off duty, staring and whispering. Either about me or because Lucian was part of the group that led the kingdom, who knew. For the first time, I wondered how many people were against an oligarchy rule and would rather one lead them all.

I chugged every drop in my tankard and slammed it down on the table a little too hard. Lucian raised his eyebrows at me and tried to hide a smile behind his tankard. I received another drink. And another. And another.

Lucian and I talked about a dozen different things. Some personal, some just trivial matters. But it was nice to finally open to someone else that wasn't Gil or Erik. That could understand my point of view without getting upset. I had always liked Lucian, but we had never really had a day to connect—and I had to admit, this was nice. In a course of one day, he had actually become a really good friend.

I needed a break. I wanted my brain to stop thinking. I wanted to stop feeling. But nothing could stop these feelings except forgiveness.

"What are you going to do about these problems when you get back?" Lucian asked, now emptying his second round of drink.

"I don't know... honestly, it seems when I try to fix things, it only get worse." I took another long sip of my drink. "Now if you want to cause problems, I'm your gal."

"That's not true. I'm sure Erik just needs some time to blow off steam. Gil too. They are only upset because they care. For someone that apparently causes a lot of issues, you sure are loved."

"Maybe it's because I'm loved that there are issues..." I muttered. I hadn't told Lucian the full fight between Erik and I. We had been avoiding each other and he had put two and two together, although Lucian was so calm and trusting that I couldn't help but tell him that I had stupid fights with Gil and Erik. Lucian hadn't laughed, but let me blow off steam and vent, even when I could tell he was getting tired. I honestly had a newfound respect for Lucian after today.

"Come on, we should get back." Lucian said, dropping a pretty large handful of coins directly into the barmaids hand. We started for the door, but not before I scarfed down my drink. I felt fine, but it was nice to try and relax and get my head back on straight.

"Thank you for—" I was cut off by the loud ringing of the bell at the castle. A horn sounded. The noise seemed to cause adrenaline in our bodies and Lucian and I sprinted for the castle. Any guard or knight, off duty or not, followed. We weaved between women and children rushing to their homes or secret hiding places.

"Unknown ships incoming! Unknown ships incoming!" It was chaos inside the castle walls. We heard knights shouting and relaying orders to their men. We grabbed some armor and helped each other fasten it quickly before following the vast majority of the knights outside. I gasped as I took in the hundreds of knights that lined up along the hill overlooking the beach, awaiting orders. Some tents were already being set up, either for the possibility of camping out or for high military personnel and leaders to speak in private.

Lucian ordered for them to make space and we both walked past the knights. We saw most of our friends at the other end, standing in a formation close to the water. Phoenix and Geneth were the only ones I did not see, but it wasn't something I pondered on for too long. They were most likely ordered to stay back and stay with their families. To my horror though, I saw Gil standing there, next to Verity.

"Good! You guys are here! We were starting to get worried about you!" Verity exclaimed, giving an audible sigh of relief.

"What are you doing here!" I hissed, storming up to Gil, completely ignoring Verity. I reefed on his arm, fully intent on bringing him back to the castle out of harms way. "You can't fight!"

"I can fight, and I will fight if I have to!" Gill reefed his arm away, his strength stronger than I thought, although not anywhere close to what it used to be. "I still have one good hand."

"But you are in no condition to actually withstand a battle. You could really fight, Gil, I know you. But you wouldn't last long without more training and strength." I put a hand to his face and surprisingly, he didn't pull away again. I looked at his gray eyes, pleading. "Step back for this one..."

"Do you know what you're asking me?" Gil huffed, starting to get agitated. "I've spent countless months not knowing where you were or if you were okay, and now you want me to do it again?"

"And you're asking me to risk losing you again by letting you stay. I won't be able to fight the way I need to if I know you're here." I said as calmly as I could, trying not to let myself cry again. His eyes softened. Our worries and cares were the same thing. It was simply called love.

We both understood that we had bigger problems. We couldn't fight right now, when we might have a bigger battle ahead. He pulled me close and lingered a kiss on my forehead.

There were no goodbyes as he pushed his way past the guards. But there never were. We always hoped and believed we would come out the other side okay. Goodbyes would mean there could be an end. And neither of us could accept that.

I turned to my friends, taking in a deep breath. They were all silent, watching dozens of ships coming closer from off the horizon. The sun was going down, painting what would have been a beautiful picture in other circumstances.

"I think I know what the symbol is on the flag." Xander said, putting down his spyglass. He didn't take his eyes off the horizon. "It looks like the symbol for The Island of Judgement—or sometimes called Maiden's Island."

"The Island of Judgement?" I asked, confused, never having heard of the name. And I would have been sure to have remembered something so unique. I caught Erik glancing over at me before looking away again, still clearly upset.

"The island is run by a matriarchy." Xander explained. "They typically stay to themselves, away from world politics and war. It's how they have stayed under the radar for the last hundred or so years. It's easy to forget they exist—it's actually quite clever. But with cleverness comes danger. And their fleets are of course massive, given their home is a large island. Who knows how many people they have brought."

"What would they want with us now, then? If they have been quiet for so long?" I asked, a chill running down my spine.

"I don't know, Alyce.... I don't know." Xander said sullenly. "But I'm sure we will find out soon..."