Lucien chuckled and rested his chin on the top of her head.
His solidness let Ariane relax, and she leaned into him slightly. No matter what the future holds…I am glad I met Lucien and I was given the chance to love him. When she could feel herself growing too lax, she cleared her throat and stepped out of the hug. “You weren’t at dinner—will you be retiring soon?”
“Not yet.” Lucien glanced at the full desk. “I feel like I am missing something…like the answer is close, but I can’t see it.”
Ariane approached the desk, itching to whisk the dirtied dishes off to the kitchen. “What are you reading?”
“History books mostly.”
Ariane tilted her head in surprise. “History?”
“Mmhmm.” Lucien plopped back in his chair and picked up a small book that sat on top of the stack. “You can learn a lot about the present by searching the past. This little unassuming book is a copy of King Steinar’s journal from the time of Verglas’s Snow Queen. It has been quite an interesting read.”
“But can history really help you identify who—or what—is doing this now?” Ariane asked. “Monarchies rise and fall. Countries are taken over, and citizens rebel. The world is always changing.”
“Yes, but humans aren’t,” Lucien said. “Our nature is the same, so you can see reflections throughout the ages. Sometimes, you can even see patterns in the actions of countries or groups of people. It’s even easier when you look at the corrupt and evil forces. They always have a thirst for power. You think that sorcerer who has set up shop in Kozlovaka is bad? Some of the magic users Princess Rakel and her rebels faced were far worse. They were far more powerful than any rogue magic user we’ve seen in recent history…”
Lucien trailed off, and his eyes gained a sort of far-away look to them.
“Lucien?” Ariane asked.
Lucien took several deep breaths, then bolted out of his desk. He ran to the door, threw it open, and shouted. “SEVERIN! ELLE!”
Ariane furrowed her eyebrows as Lucien stalked to the wall where his notes were pinned over Severin’s maps. “It can’t be,” he muttered. “That would be too terrifying, too cunning!”
“What is it?” Ariane asked.
Lucien’s eyes wildly rolled from his notes to the unassuming journal. “I think I might have figured it out. I might have found the unifying factor!”
Ariane felt her heart leap into her throat. “What?”
Before he could continue, footsteps pounded down the hallway.
“Lucien—what is it?” Severin slipped into the room with a feline grace, Colonel Friedrich right on his heels. Elle popped up shortly after, nearly colliding with her husband, and Craftmage Stil and his wife Gemma were the last to skid to a stop outside the study.
“I think I’ve done it. I think I figured out what is behind all of this!” Lucien shook his notes in the air.
“Explain,” Severin said.
Elle nudged him farther into the study, then gently drew Stil and Gemma inside as well before she closed the study door. “And start from the beginning,” she said.
“It’s just like Scholar Pierre said—it’s all in our history!” Lucien railed. “We know from Steinar’s journal that many magic users united themselves under a fellow named Tenebris Malus. They were called the Allegiance of the Chosen. He promised them safety—a country to call their own where no one would hurt them. As magic was despised at the time, it was a pretty tempting draw. They invaded Verglas. But Tenebris selected Verglas as his target for a very specific purpose: to find and secure a powerful and evil mirror that had been buried in the northern mountains. He planned to take over the continent and destroy anyone who didn’t have magic.”
“Did his followers know this?” Colonel Friedrich asked.
“No,” Lucien said. “Which is why many abandoned Tenebris and joined the Snow Queen’s forces. After Tenebris was defeated, even more magic users—many of whom had been forced to join Tenebris unwillingly—gave their allegiance to her. However, there was a small contingent of Chosen forces led by a magic user named Grimick. They escaped Verglas before Princess Rakel entirely sealed off the country.
Elle frowned. “What? I don’t recall hearing that.”
“Probably because it never amounted to anything,” Gemma—a citizen of Verglas said. “If memory serves me right, they tried forcing their way into the country for a while after Tenebris was defeated, but the Snow Queen’s magic would not allow it.”
“So…what happened to them, then?” Stil asked.
“Supposedly, they scattered,” Lucien said. “But I suspect otherwise. I think they stuck together, and I think that group is behind what we are facing today.”
Severin furrowed his brow. “Why?”
“Because they learned from Tenebris’ defeat in Verglas, and they’ve spent centuries preparing for this,” Lucien said.
“That cannot be.” Colonel Friedrich shook his head. “Several factions of rogue magic users have attacked since the Snow Queen’s time. We all have long dead heroes in our countries’ history as a result.”
“You are right,” Severin said. “Even here in Loire, we have the Girl in the Glass Coffin.”
Lucien rolled his notes up. “Yes, but doesn’t it strike you as odd that every country was tested? None of the rogue mages or forces of darkness ever came as close to overtaking a country as Tenebris did. And they never appeared randomly; usually they were stirred up only when a country was already in a great upheaval, and often they appeared to be solo acts with no traceable roots—a surprising tactic considering the sort of power they used against our ancestors. I think it’s another sign that these remaining forces from Tenebris’s lot carefully trained up each generation to learn from their encounters. They studied our countries, observed our military strengths and weaknesses, and learned how to use our own cultures against us. As a result, we have generations of well-informed evil mages that have been building their forces and preparing for a time when they can lead a full-on assault. I believe that time is now.”
The idea made ice form in Ariane’s heart. That means none of this is random—or even part of a short-term plan. That means we are facing an enemy that has had centuries to prepare, and they’ve already half closed the trap on us!
“It certainly appeals to my sense of organization and my life experiences,” Elle said, “but what proof do we have? No one has breathed a word of Tenebris’ forces since the Snow Queen’s time! The mages we have captured have never declared they are from the Chosen.”