It hadn't been what she expected.
Or, rather, her expectations had been met, but her fantasies denied.
But at least I was able to be distracted for a little bit…
…no, I knew I would lose myself tonight.
That was never the issue.
If I examine myself, I might not like what I see, but that's not what scares me.
I'm afraid that I might like myself too much.
And if I don't keep myself in check…
Jessamine laid back in the darkened room, lit only by the moonlight streaming through the windows, and clutched the sheet that separated her body from the cold night air.
"Do you regret it?"
Jessamine didn't have to look behind her to know whose voice had spoken.
Caspian was reclining against the headboard in a similar state to her own, draped in bedsheets, arms folded back behind his head. His eyes were closed, and his face, though largely impassive, sported a small smile curling up from the corners of his mouth.
"Regret would imply that I had strong feelings about it."
"Hey, now, you could give a guy performance anxiety."
"That's not what I meant, Caspian."
"You can call me Caz, you know."
"I did enjoy it, thank you," she said, changing the subject. "If this is the price of your allegiance, I'm more than willing to pay."
"Are you sure about that?"
"…about what?"
"Being 'more than willing.'"
Jessamine didn't respond immediately, but when she did, her voice was more uneven than it had been.
"You think I'm grieving, don't you? That my emotions have clouded my judgement?"
"It's a fair question."
"If that's what you think, then why did you accept my offer? Wouldn't you be taking advantage of my grief to your own benefit?"
"If I did, what would that tell you about me?"
His tone did not carry with it the warmth due a lover. Jessamine sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, gazing at the full moon as she did so.
"You're like me. There is no limit which would stop you from achieving a goal."
Caspian allowed her response to hang prominently in silence.
The sound of distant thunder echoed through the room.
"Looks like rain tomorrow," Jessamine muttered.
This chewing, gnawing feeling in my soul… I wish it would vanish.
"And what's your goal, Jess?"
She finally turned to look at the man in bed with her.
Once again, he's completely nonchalant.
I wonder if he cares.
No, if he's anything like me, he cares about this as much as I do, which is to say… it's a means to an end.
What's his end?
"My goal…" she sighed, "…is the complete and total destruction of the Blackstone family, starting with that whore Elisabeth."
Jessamine looked away in shame. Now that her grudge against the Blackstones was out in the open, she realized how petty and childish it must've sounded, so distant from a grudge befitting someone of the mighty and proud di Cadenza family.
"That's why I need you," she continued, "why I was—am—willing to go this far. I figured out who you are. You're an Ultimate, a member of the Magi, one of the most powerful magicians in all of Britannia. You have the power to stand up to Elisabeth."
This is the best way to convince him to help.
Expose myself, make myself vulnerable.
Give him an incentive…
Appeal to his masculinity, his desire to save me.
Wait—does he have such desire?
Probably not. He didn't care whether or not I was in my right mind when I invited him to bed.
An ultimate with so little regard for others… that's a scary thought.
Jessamine looked back to Caspian and was almost horrified by what she saw:
A smile.
A devious, malicious, utterly excited smile.
A smile which was familiar to Jessamine, as she had been repressing that very smile for as long as she could remember.
He doesn't hide himself.
"Your dedication is breathtaking," he said, breaking the silence with a chuckle. "Very well. I'll continue to uphold my end of our bargain, as long as you uphold yours."
He met her gaze, and Jessamine moved to lay beside him once again.
***
If he was honest with himself, Matthew Gödel would have to admit that he pitied Arthur Trevena. He was the heir to the throne of Britannia, he was a soldier in the enemy's camp, and he was more intelligent and resourceful than he appeared; still, Arthur was a child in terms of experience, and it was a shame for someone to die for a cause unknown to them.
Still, if the operation was to succeed, Arthur Trevena had to die.
As Gödel reviewed the mission directives and planning documents on his desk, he noticed that his hands were trembling.
The stability and position of a major world power depends on this.
It depends on me and my men.
It's a heavy load to bear, but bear it we must.
Britannia will fall!
He took a moment to pull up the surveillance reports on Arthur. Their operative had been reporting on his activities ever since the future king arrived in the Coalition of Sovereign States, and though he was supposedly training to become a magician worthy of the rank of Ultimate, their operative had assured Gödel that Arthur's progress would not be fast enough to present a serious threat.
Gödel wondered if every future king had undergone similar training, or if any of them had become Ultimate magicians on their own before ascending the throne—there were certainly individuals whose genes afforded them advantages in that area, but the House of Pendragon seemed to have confidence that its heirs would be Ultimates.
It could be Excalibur. An abominable tool like that has no right to exist.
Good thing it's safe in the hands of Vivianne Loche. That girl doesn't have the consitution to use a WMD like Excalibur.
If Lafayette acquired it…
She'd certainly be a terrifying foe.
Gödel grimaced at the thought.
Their plan was a makeshift one due to the King's choice of heir; his superiors, and indeed the strategists at his own S2 Magus Technology Holdings, considered Vivianne Loche a shoe-in as the next Queen of Britannia. Morgan Lafayette, who was perhaps better suited to the position, was nevertheless a foreign national—and the days when such an individual becoming Queen was possible had long since passed.
They hadn't expected the King to have a third potential heir. Britannia's intelligence network must've spent a considerable effort keeping his existence a secret.
I wonder if the Blackstones knew about him?
There's an easy way to find out.
Gödel tapped his earpiece.
"John, can you bring Ms. Blackstone to my office?"
He received a reply in the affirmative, and within minutes Vice President John Burton and Elisabeth Blackstone were standing before him.
"Thank you for coming, Ms. Blackstone," he began after introductions had concluded. "I'm reviewing our preparations for tomorrow and encountered a question you may be able to answer. Was the Blackstone family aware of Arthur Trevena's existence prior to the King's announcement?"
Elisabeth smiled coldly.
"Indeed, Mr. Gödel," she replied. "Hardly anything happens in this country without our knowledge. If you had possessed the foresight to consult with us prior to your initial attack, we could've helped to adjust your attack vector for maximum efficiency."
"Yes, we're beginning to understand that," he replied with a conciliatory smile, though Elisabeth wasn't fooled.
"Are you really?" she asked, allowing malice to creep into her expression. "Well, in that case, do you mind if I ask how you intend to deal with Mr. Trevena?"
Gödel looked at his young counterpart with suspicion, but relented after a few seconds.
"We have two teams on standby who will engage, subdue, and execute the subject," he replied. "They aren't our best operatives, but they're more than enough to deal with an Apprentice magician like him."
"Are they, now?" Elisabeth muttered with a sly smile. "I guess we'll find out soon, won't we?"
***
"I want to spar again," said Jessamine, taking a sip of her coffee. She and Caspian were sitting on her favorite bench, the one overlooking the harbor, having just finished a breakfast which made the shop owners along the road stare and giggle to themselves like schoolchildren. "I want you to help me become an Ultimate magician, like you."
"You will never be able to be like me."
"I can, at least, be an Ultimate."
"You do have the ability to be one, yes," said Caspian, studying the girl to his right. "But I fear your mind is limiting your potential."
"Because my heart is full of hate?"
"No."
"Why, then?"
"Because you won't let yourself be free," he replied, standing. Caspian gazed towards the mainland, momentarily allowing his mind to wander through the forest of miscellaneous thoughts…
He's right, Jessamine realized. If I weren't constantly controlling my primitive desires, I'd probably be a stronger magician.
Yet I need to control myself; I know no other path.
It's amazing how much the dynamic between us has shifted.
I thought I was in control…
…how terrifying.
"Only you can decide whether or not you will become an Ultimate," Caspian finally stated, "though I can help you make that decision."
Jessamine thought she perceived a shade of cruel delight flash across Caspian's face, but it had vanished so quickly that she doubted herself.
I'm projecting.
"I won't train you," he continued, "but I'll spar with you as much as you want. It's only fair, after all."
That's right.
It's a fair trade, in addition to his help with the Blackstones.
"You aren't going to alter the terms of our arrangement?" she asked, more out of caution than doubt or mistrust.
"I don't recall agreeing to any particular terms," he shot back with a rakish smile. "I merely assumed we'd be available to—help—each other as need be."
Jessamine nodded.
"That's what I assumed as well."
"In that case, where would you like to spar?"
"Well, I'd like to do so in a training arena, but they're all so far from here and I doubt the match will last long enough to justify the time it would take to travel there…"
"I could teleport us."
"And risk someone else discovering your secret talent?"
"Are you jealous?" teased Caspian, earning a glare from his new lover. "It's a bit of an open secret, anyway… anyone who's been paying attention to my research group should know already."
Jessamine's brow furrowed.
"Does that include Elisabeth Blackstone?"
"Why do you ask?"
"If she's aware that you purposely threw that duel… she could be designing a strategy to counter your abilities."
"That's certainly possible," Caspian replied, making an effort to appear thoughtful. "However, teleportation isn't the only secret ability I possess, and it may work out if she thinks she knows everything."
"True, but there's still a risk."
"There's risk in everything."
"Fair enough, I guess," said Jessamine with a sigh. She looked around the waterfront, slightly ashamed that she wasn't appreciating the atmosphere as much as usual; and it was a lovely day, too. "Shall we spar here, then?"
"Might as well."
Caspian moved a few yards away, closer to the base of the pier, and Jessamine stood to face him.
"Whenever you're ready, Jess."
She narrowed her eyes.
Something about him still aggravates me…
She began chanting a physical improvement spell: "Iadon dluga ugear ds homtoh!" and felt the wave of energy exploding through her muscles and bones. With barely a thought, she dashed towards Caspian at superhuman speed… time seemed to slow as she watched his movements, waiting for a potential counterattack—
Huh?
He's looking towards the Academy?
…
…he left himself open!
With only a second to spare, Jessamine drew back her fist and prepared herself for the impact before investing all of her magically-amplified energy into a single strike.
Wait…
…this seems familiar…
Just as her fist was about to connect, Caspian's body suddenly shifted back by a few inches, enough for the punch to miss and Jessamine to fly past him at incredible speed.
No!
I just made the same mistake that he only pretended to make during that duel!
I have to recover—
But before she could, Caspian's surprisingly firm arms had encircled her waist and upper arm, and were now pulling her close to him.
If he had been anybody else, Jessamine would've said that she was being drawn too close.
Hey now, watch where you're—
"Jess, stop," he said, calmly but firmly. "Listen. Something's happening."
Jessamine shut her mouth before her unspoken protests could be aired. Confused, she focused her mind on the sounds of the environment surrounding them.
That's when she heard the sirens.
A quick glance towards the Academy which had so enraptured Caspian revealed flashing yellow lights in many areas, meant to call the students to muster in case of an emergency.
As a member—the new Chairwoman—of the Societie Royale, Jessamine was aware that this was the first usage of those alarms in decades.
"What's happening, Caspian?" she asked, surprised to find her voice suddenly shaky.
"The beginning of our trial by fire," he replied.