Turning back to the princess, who was staring at him with wide eyes, Arenim positioned himself in front of the board and, using magic, began to write. Mai'ya straightened up, picked up one of the blank books, and started taking notes. But as she read what he was writing, she realized that this lesson wasn't just about general history. It was a lesson about the magical history of Orhyan.
Mai'ya thought about not saying anything, but in the end, she spoke up. "M-my lord," she stammered nervously, "I am forbidden from receiving lessons related to magic."
Finishing his writing on the board, Arenim looked at his student. "Well, everyone knows that magic is intrinsic to Orhyan. Every area of our knowledge is related to it," he continued. "It doesn't surprise me that you've made so little progress in your lessons—you were learning everything without the crucial element, which is magic."
And so, Arenim spent the next three hours teaching the little princess about magic and about Orhyan.
...
Looking out the window of the royal office toward the gardens was Anik, the king of Kálan. Knocks sounded at the door.
"Enter," he permitted.
The door opened, and Valissa stepped inside. "Your Majesty," she curtsied in greeting. "Saphira Haliae just informed me that the high priest of Selèn has come to Kálan to tutor the second princess." She straightened up, and the king could see the anger shining in the queen's blue eyes.
The queen was wearing a red dress with gold details, an obviously expensive piece, and he might have even thought it made his current wife beautiful. However, nothing about that morph appealed to him. From her blonde hair to her milk-white skin, everything about her only filled Anik with disdain.
"Is that all?" he questioned, looking coldly at Valissa. He had only agreed to marry his former sister-in-law because of his plans—after all, she came from an influential noble family, and she knew it. He had won over the council of nobles, convincing them that Orion was too young to assume the throne. And just as Anik had predicted, he was chosen to take the position of king until his nephew was ready.
"Yes, my king," the queen replied.
"Then leave," Anik said fiercely. With another curtsy, Valissa left the office, stomping her feet in frustration.
Alone again, the king furrowed his brow, intrigued. "What on earth is the high priest of Selèn thinking by offering to tutor Mai'ya?" He had been studying the high priest's movements for years, and as he knew, it wasn't in Arenim's nature to act the way he did today. Anik sat down at his desk and summoned his notebook on the high priest, and just as the king had suspected, the old priest's recent actions were different from his usual behavior. "What are you plotting, Arenim?" the king wondered in his thoughts.
...
Arenim said goodbye to Mai'ya and left the princess's courtyard, tapping his cane as he walked. Once he was out of sight of the second princess and her maid, he closed his eyes and furrowed his brow in concentration. When he opened them again, he was in his quarters in Sagreif.
The high priest's living room had walls made of white and blue marble, and the ceiling of the room was painted like the night sky of Orhyan, with its constellations surrounding the moons Yaci, Selèn, and Eris.
The furniture there was exquisite. There were four light wood chairs upholstered with blue velvet around a round table, and two three-seater sofas, which matched the chairs, forming an L-shape in front of a pink marble fireplace that was unlit. A light wood coffee table occupied the space between the sofas and the fireplace.
However, the high priest did not stay in the living room. He entered one of the two doors in the room, specifically the one that led to the bedroom. There, the sight of the furniture wasn't much different from the living room, except for the light wood canopy bed. There were two more doors there—one leading to the washroom and the other to the dressing room. Arenim headed to the latter.
There were open wardrobes with shelves and hangers, all filled with the high priest's attire. Besides the wardrobes, there was a mirror that covered an entire wall. Arenim stopped in front of it and looked at his current reflection with unease. "Worried about something, milord?" a voice sounded from the doorway of the dressing room.
"Of course I'm worried," he said, turning to the newcomer. The person leaning against the doorframe was identical to him. "It's not every day that I need to infiltrate a kingdom, after all," The Arenim in front of the mirror continued. "It wasn't so easy to impersonate you, High Priest," he went on. "If the situation weren't critical..."
"Well, you can't blame me, my young friend," The Arenim standing at the door said with humor. "After all, even among our species, shapeshifters are rare," he explained. "Especially if the shapeshifter in question is one of the twelve demigods of Orhyan. Now, please, return to your original form," the priest requested.
"No need to ask twice," the shapeshifter said, sighing in relief.
A silvery light began to emanate from the shapeshifter's body. It expanded until Arenim had to close his eyes to avoid being blinded. When the light faded, the high priest opened his eyes and saw before him a young man, tall and strong, with tan skin that accentuated his silver hair and eyes.
The high priest bowed. "Greetings, blessed by the full moon, Lucien, son of Selèn. It's good to see you safe," Arenim said with a smile.
"It's good to be back," said the demigod.