“Well then, I suppose I’ll just have to learn to put up with him until I earn your trust,” Rivalen sighed. Suspicion and more suspicion; it seemed that he would always be beneath someone’s watchful gaze. If only the king had been seeking an attendant for his son, then he wouldn’t have had to worry about being scrutinized for signs of perversion by every person in the castle. But, as the situation stood, he [i]was[/i] Roxanne’s personal attendant and he [i]was[/i] going to be monitored because of it. He would just have to be extra cautious whenever he used his magic beneath the roof of the palace.

After a brief moment of silence, the princess addressed him again and began inquiring about his background, leading him to wonder what he should tell her. He had already started inventing a false past for himself when he spoke with the king earlier that day, but he didn’t want to make up too much otherwise it would be difficult for him to keep his stories straight. Keeping that thought in mind, he decided that it would be best to stay true to the majority of his memories and only fabricate the areas concerning magic—and his imaginary wizard friend, of course.

“I still believe you won’t know the name of my home village,” Rivalen said adamantly. “But I’ll tell it to you anyways: I come from a small settlement on the east side of the kingdom called Oldpine. It is quite humble with a population of only thirty people at the most and, as far as I know, nothing important has every happened there apart from a few witches and wizards being captured.” [i]My mother included,[/i] he added to himself with a stab of longing. “Overall, though, there isn’t much to say about the village, and that’s why I doubt you would have known about it.

“Now, you also wanted to know about me?” Rivalen glanced down at Roxanne and caught sight of her subtly looking him over from the corner of her eye. He turned his gaze away and wondered what she hoped to learn by doing that. His clothes were like that of any other peasant in the kingdom and he carried nothing of importance—at least, he had cast an enchantment over his valuables so that they [i]looked[/i] like nothing of importance. From what he could tell, there wasn’t much the princess could glean from his appearance alone, so he left her to her fruitless examination and went on speaking, “My mother passed away when I was young and I have no siblings, so my father is the only living family I have. I don’t want to give you my entire life’s story in the same day we met, so for now, that’s all the information I’m going to give you about myself.” He smirked slyly.

When Roxanne asked why he was called ‘witch-slayer,’ Rivalen scoffed, “Actually, today is the first time anyone has referred to me by a title that presumptuous. As I told you before, I only see myself as a common man who happened to be at the right place at the right time. Yes, I have killed three wizards, but no, I am not some all-powerful [i]witch-slayer[/i], as your father chose to put it…” He fell silent as his eyes rested on a young man rounding the corner ahead of them. There had been many people passing by as they walked to Roxanne’s chambers, but this one seemed different from the others. He carried himself in a more businesslike manner and wore clothes that looked much too expensive for the likes of any servant boy. Rivalen watched him with interest. Could he be…?

[b]“Brandon!”[/b] Roxanne called out, confirming his suspicions. The young man was indeed the crowned prince, the son of King Cedric. He was also Rivalen’s third and final target. The warlock took a step back as the two siblings began speaking with one another, hoping that they might not mention him, but still it didn’t take long before Brandon directed the conversation towards his sister’s new personal attendant. Rivalen groaned inwardly. He had had enough attention for one day, especially since everyone who laid eyes on him seemed to think he was some sort of a lecher or other lowly type of human being. At this point he had almost given up hope that he could convince them otherwise, so even when the prince began challenging his presence in the castle, he didn’t bother to defend himself in the slightest.

[i]Let him doubt,[/i] Rivalen thought bitterly. [i]I have his father’s blessing, anyways.[/i]

Fortunately, however, the siblings’ conversation was steered back towards kingdom affairs and Rivalen was spared from the annoying task of refuting accusations of ulterior motives. He was glad about that, but they also mentioned something that piqued his interest: supposedly there had been magical attacks on one of Miroin’s borders. He turned away, concealing a smile by pretending to admire one of the paintings on the wall. His father must have been making a move to distract Cedric from keeping wizards out of his own estate, thus making Rivalen’s job to get in much easier. He would have to remember to thank Morold for that later.

Rivalen’s good humor fled at Brandon’s final words, however. [i]Filthy wizards?[/i] His kind did nothing to warrant such hateful words! It was the [i]king[/i] who drove them to violence, not their own nature. Granted, there were some wizards with a tendency to do wrong, but the same could be said about normal humans. The hypocrites! They had no right to look down upon those who were born with magic just because one person used his gifts for evil. He bit his tongue to keep from snapping these words at the prince. Forcing himself to remain calm, he took a shaky breath and reminded himself that soon it wouldn’t matter what the royal family thought. Morold was going to be king and wizards would be free once again. It was only a matter of time.

Rivalen was just about to decide that he disliked Roxanne’s brother when the prince said something that caught him off-guard. There was still a threat attached to the end, but Brandon had essentially given him his approval to take care of the princess. Rivalen blinked in surprise, “I will tend to Her Highness to the best of my ability, My Liege.” He bowed to the prince, though he found the gesture to be much more difficult than when he did the same for Roxanne. Brandon might have earned a few points back for putting his trust in him, but Rivalen still didn’t forgive him for his comment about ‘filthy wizards.’

The prince went on to tease his sister about someone named Frederick—Rivalen wondered who this man was that could make Roxanne’s cheeks turn rosy at just the mention of his name—before he took his leave, bringing Alain with him (God bless!) so that the princess and her attendant were left alone in the corridor.

“We shall,” Rivalen nodded when Roxanne asked if they should continue. He allowed her to take the lead as they started walking again, “I’ve spoken a fair bit about myself, so I think it is only fitting that you tell me something about yourself now, My Lady.” He grinned at her in a friendly manner. “I’d like to learn a little more about the lovely young princess whom I’ll soon be attending.”