Aspiration to the Heavens: Becoming the Supreme Mage Vol 2- Descent of Darkness

Episode 48: Dancing Waves

*Sarah*

[Sera- Royal Palace]

I spun around and attacked the twin knights, Dai and Fai, with as much force as I could. Both of them dodged but in different ways. Dai ducked while Fai jumped.

"Not bad Princess," Fai said, grinning as she looked down at me with a smug grin. "You almost had us there."

I tightened my grip on my rapier and gathered the droplets in the air and turned them into needles. The twin knights gasped as the needles struck their armor.

"Got you now," I said, grinning. I sighed and allowed the droplets to fall to the white tiled floor.

"Wow, impressive," a voice called out. I turned toward the door and saw my brother walk through the silver and navy blue doors. Alongside him was my nephew, Ecelaph.

My brother had on his royal garments rather than his usual casual style. Though for these past three weeks I had grown accustomed to seeing him in his fencing garments. He had actually taken the time to train me.

Much to my surprise he hadn't grown rusty despite having stopped practicing back when he was a third year in high school. That was when he became king...

I suspected he practiced in secret, likely to avoid raising our occupier's concerns. Though why would he have taken it upon himself to grow stronger but denied me that opportunity? Had he truly been looking out for me all this time as he claimed? Perhaps I should've given him more credit.

"Get changed you three. Team Sera heads out in an hour. We will be accompanying the Kyuu Seishinian delegation to Rios."

"Kyuu Seishinian?" I said, eyes wide.

Brother smiled. "Why the surprise? They're our allies. In these times of rising anxiety due to those creatures, we must stick close together.

"But what about H.E.H.?"

Brother snickered as he turned his back to me. "What about them? They aren't the rulers of this nation, I am. Even if they may think themselves as my puppet masters, they are but fools."

I always wanted my brother to speak up for himself and the kingdom but a sense of dread stuck me as he said those words. While I often said them, little was done against me. However, I was but a princess. My brother on the other hand was the ruler. If he started to pull on the strings H.E.H. put on him then there was no telling would could happen. He could very well die as gruesome a death as my parents.

I knew I faced that risk, but I had little to lose. However, my brother had Ecelaph and his wife to think about. They could get hurt or worse if they wished to inflict a pain worse than death upon him.

"Aunty, you alright?" Ecelaph asked, tilting his head me. "You seem worried."

Big brother chuckled. "Relax Sarah, you'll do fine. At the very least I expect bronze from you in the sword competition."

I tried my best to smile.

Brother pulled me closer. "I do not think we need to worry about them for now. They appear to be plotting something. I overheard one of them talking about that friend of yours, Lei."

"Lei?" I asked, stunned. How did they know about him? Why would they even show interest in him... unless if... Oh no. Had they find out about those strange dark powers? But how? That was supposed to be a secret.

"H.E.H. has moles in several places. I wouldn't be surprised if they had one in the council," Brother said as he crossed his arms.

"Brother, we need to meet up with the Wahkanian delegation. They could be in trouble."