She signed the last paper in the stack: Aurora Ashcroft. It was her first research paper, and she intended for everyone to know she'd written it.
A small raven, landing with a soft thud, perched on her left shoulder. He tilted his head at the sight of empty ink bottles scattered across the table, his beady eyes seeming to survey the damage.
In Aurora's mind, his voice was as clear as the sky outside. "No credit to me? I gave you half the ideas." It was the voice of an old man, not a caring one, but a cranky grouch scolding her.
She frowned and scribbled "Arden" below her name in tiny lettering. "Happy now?"
The bird croaked unhappily but said nothing more. Knowing he wouldn't get anything else out of her, he flew back to the rafters. Turning to her research paper, she smiled brightly and placed the signed page at the very bottom of the stack.
"The Core Of Magic: The Resonant Heartbeat." A fitting title for her "magnum opus," or so she thought. It delved deep into, scientifically speaking, how magic operates in the world of Aethel. At the heart of all magic was the Resonant Heartbeat—not a physical organ, but the unique magical frequency and vibrational signature of an individual's soul. It was a pulse that dictated their connection to the inherent mana of the world. Each Heartbeat was distinct, akin to a personal song or aura, its intensity and complexity directly reflecting a person's magical capacity and potency.
Aurora stood up and stretched, finally giving herself a well-deserved break. For the past two months, she'd been writing that research paper, hardly eating or drinking during the process.
Her ears perked, and her nose twitched. "Someone is here… and they brought food!" A moment later, a knock echoed from the plain wooden door separating her shut-in self from the outside world.
Quickly opening the door, she expected Sally, a young girl from the nearby town, with her mom's home-cooked bread, as usual. Instead, a tall, handsome golden-eyed man in an expensive, tailored suit stood before her. A stark contrast to her plain brown dress, which she realized, now that she thought about it, she hadn't changed out of in days.
"J-Julian… uh—"
Before she could finish, he walked inside, much to her frustration. Isn't barging into people's homes without permission illegal? He sat down at her table without permission too. That has to be illegal. What if he broke the chair with his fat-
"Aurora."
She squirmed, not out of affection—definitely not—but because she knew why he was here. Trouble.
"You never showed up to the Summit at the Royal Capital. His Majesty very much wanted to thank you personally for saving the port city of Aurelio."
Aurora plopped into the chair across from Julian, her fingers intertwined in her lap, her thumbs twiddling like panicked mice. She refused to look up at him, finding her hands far more pleasing to gaze upon.
"Sorry…"
He narrowed his beautiful golden eyes. "Don't 'sorry' me." He glanced at the stack of papers on her table, then back at her, before adjusting his glasses. "I assume this is the reason you did not attend?"
"Yeah," She glanced up for a brief moment before looking back down and biting her cheek—a habit she used when nervous, which was often. "I got a little distracted, is all."
"Hyperfixated is more like it." He flipped through some pages of her "magnum opus" and sneered. "You need an editor. Far too many of your pages are of you rambling like a madwoman."
She crossed her arms and looked up into the rafters, spotting Arden looking back at her. She felt like they were both mocking her. "Is that the only thing you came here to do, mock me?"
"Heavens no. I came here to punish you."
In an instant, she was across the room, putting as much distance between them as possible.
"Nope. Nope. No punishments. I'm allergic to punishments." She wanted no punishment from the man known as the "Demon of the Order."
He laughed, a rare occurrence—not because he was stoic, but because he believed all jokes were beneath him, except his own.
"Fret not, Aurora. Treat it more as blackmail rather than a physical punishment."
Well, that doesn't make her feel any better at all. She wanted no part in his schemes; they would distract her too much from her work.
"Nuh-uh."
"I believe you meant to say 'yuh-uh.' Because you have no choice in this matter." He pulled a small piece of parchment from his coat pocket and released it into the air. A faint green aura formed around it, and it floated gently into Aurora's hands.
It was a magically produced image of Princess Alara of Everglades. Her long silver hair stark against the yellow parchment, her violet eyes seeming to pierce right through the paper and into Aurora's soul.
"Um…" She looked Julian directly in the eye for the first time that day. "Why are you keeping images of young women in your pockets?"
He coughed, taken aback by her question. "I uh... the only reason I brought that with me was because I feared a shut-in like you would have forgotten the faces of the royal family."
Aurora smirked and looked at him confidently, a rare occurrence, almost as rare as him laughing. "I must be better than you thought I was."
"Not exactly something to brag about." He sighed and adjusted his glasses. "To think that my opinion of you was already rock bottom."
"Well, I will still graciously accept your applause."
Julian narrowed his eyes, but held back. As a fellow Order member, he couldn't harm her—not today, at least.
"Back to the original topic at hand."
"Nuh-uh."
His patience was running thin; his eyes turned cold. "Enough of your childish reactions." Aurora visibly shivered. If her cabin had more square footage, she would've backed up further.
"Your task is simple: Ensure the Princess' Resonant Heartbeat is not tampered with."
"Tampered with?" She tilted her head in wonder. Heartbeats were part of the soul; to tamper with it meant the potential to kill that person. Only a few factions dared to take that risk, to silence the songs that played within all the souls dwelling within Aethel.
"Princess Alara's Heartbeat is much akin to a Mana Shard. It's raw; it doesn't sing a fluid song like the rest of us. Instead, it just leaks raw, untainted mana."
Julian stood up. "And if it is tampered with, it could mean the end of not just her life, but also the lives of everyone in the kingdom."
Aurora's eyes were wide. This new information could lead to many discoveries in the field of magic, just like what her father wanted.
"Aurora," Julian held the handle of her door. "I expect you to be at the Royal Castle by noon in two days." He opened the door and turned only his head, his beautiful golden eyes gazing down at her. "If not, then I will come back here to dish out a real punishment."
She audibly gulped and nodded her head vigorously, so much so that it seemed like her brain would turn to mush from the force. With those final parting words, he left, the door closing behind him.
Once she knew he was well and truly gone, she slid down the wall and sat on the floor, her legs curled to her chest. Sure, the potential to discover new magical breakthroughs was tantalizing, but this was a lot of work.
She was already imagining all the court politics and intrigue she would have to navigate just to stay by the Princess' side. Groaning, she closed her eyes, mentally preparing for the headache that was to be her future.