The Fifteen Gates - Prey

Location : Castle Frelia , Delita Prefecture Date : 18th Sun's Peak , 354 - 3rd Era

In the stone castle of Frelia sat a young princess surrounded by comfort most people in the prefecture would kill for , her brown skin practically glistening under the heat of the Frelian summer , placing her fingers around the glass of cold water felt like a chore at this point due to the amount of times she had to hydrate , just to keep the damned heat at bay . 

" Soren.... come here " she ordered , a man dressed in black robes limped over , his entire body covered by tattoos of various runes , a walking barrier they called him .

" Something wrong mistress ? " 

" Look out there by the Assari , what do you see ? " 

" Fishermen , and a couple of guards "

" All that magic implanted into you yet not a single one lets you see clearly "

" Apologies my lady I don't understand "

She then stood up looking at him from head to toe , a disappointed look plastered on her face , placing her hands on her hip she began to pace back and forth around the balcony.

" Do you know why Mages are held at a higher regard than those who were not gifted by the living stone ? " she asked whilst holding her cold glass with two hands cooling her palms in the process .

" Because they are closer to the spirit of the Living Crystal , and so they are its chosen people , its chosen protectors , they are as close as the Living Crystal may have to children " 

" You know your scripture well , but the truth is they only held mages to this pedestal when the empire fell , mainly because it was a guild of mages that did it , Mother used to speak about it , about how being a Mage was only listed as a skill if you wanted to apply for work , or just a miscellaneous trait you have , often soldiers use spells to disorient enemies on the front line , the ones who are well taken care of a Healers , for obvious reasons " 

" I don't seem to follow my " he asked a bit confused at his mistress' story 

" I'm trying to tell you that Mages are no different than the guardsmen you see , though Mages get paid better and have lofty titles like Silencer , Arcanum , or Celestre , in the end they're still idiots clinging onto their weapons and trying to be the first to land a blow " 

" Is this supposed to be a lesson my lady ? " 

" Yes , a lesson , for you to go to the nearest healer and get yourself some spectacles for your bad eyesight , my brother has sent a Spirit Walker , which means one of two things , he's dead , or Armads has fallen , either way send an emissary to the Living Tower by Singing Stones , relay the message to my mother , he should be close to the Nomadic caravans " 

" Absolutely my lady " 

He then ran off in a hurry to get the news to the Living Tower , Sayuri stood there watching the horse gallop across the water , it had drawn the attention of the nearby fishermen .

" You rely too much on your magic little brother , you draw too much attention to yourself , hopefully you learned your lesson " 

She sat back down placing the glass of water back on the table , her thoughts lingering on the fate of her brother .