King Mikael and Contessa rode side by side, one thought between them.
Who knew armies were this loud?
The thundering rhythm of hooves and boots filled the air as the king's army moved behind them like a living tide. Wearing dark armor, each soldier bore the silver lion of Elnoria across their chest.
Contessa kept her eyes forward, her thoughts fixed on the army stretched behind them. Thousands of them. All tested. All awakened.
She had watched as each soldier stood before the Shivering Tree at Rainhold, taken into resonance, and emerged changed. The most interesting part? All had succeeded.
It was quite easy to give in to fear when one is a sixteen year old walking through an invisible wind towards a magical tree, but not when you were a fully trained soldier. Of course, some grunted and others screamed, but they all endured. And they'd been blessed for it.
All who endured were no longer ordinary men and women. They were something new. Something more.
Resonance magic had once belonged to the Church. Now it belonged to a king too.
She could feel it in the way they moved. Even with only basic training, their cohesion and the way their resonance flickered in tune with each other told her what she needed to know.
With their teamwork on their side, they weren't individually strong. But together? They were devastating.
"You haven't said a word for the past hour." King Mikael said, cutting through the silence. His voice was low, calm, but there was a regality that was never missing in it. It was the voice of a king. The voice of one who never stopped giving commands.
Contessa glanced at him. "I was thinking about your army."
He gave a faint smile. "Impressive, aren't they?"
"Terrifying." She corrected. "And impressive."
They rode a few paces in silence. Then, Mikael shifted in his saddle. "Where is your pair?"
Contessa blinked. "Your Highness?"
"You're a Chosen." He said. "You wield resonance magic, just like my soldiers. Correct me if I'm wrong but all Chosen wield this magic. And all Chosen are paired. Male and female. Balanced."
His eyes narrowed. "So where's your pair?"
She frowned, keeping her gaze ahead as she wondered why he was asking. Why not turn the question around? "Where's yours?"
Mikael let out a short laugh. "I don't have one."
Contessa turned to face him, eyes narrowing. "That's not possible."
"It is, as the Shivering Tree cares not how many people are after its resonance." He said, his voice more serious now. "My father tried everything. But the best kept secret is the one with the fewest keepers."
"And so it was decided. The burden would be mine to bear alone. It was a great gamble. But it was worth it."
Contessa looked at him with something between disbelief and horror. "How have you not killed yourself yet?"
Mikael grinned. "Good question. By all logic, I should've burned myself out. Resonance magic without balance is supposed to unravel the body. And the mind."
"It does." She said flatly. "Everyone knows that."
"Everyone except me." He said. "I've lived with it for over twenty years. I've mastered it."
She stared at him. "That's impossible."
"Or improbable." He said, his grin fading into something harder. "And there's one thing I know. There is no one alive who can control their resonance like I can. I might not be the most powerful. But I'm the most skillful. And that's not arrogance, Contessa. That's a fact."
"But I have to ask you," a dark grin came over his face, "who told you I'm not insane?"
Contessa stared at him for a few seconds before facing forward again.
The wind swept across the field around them, lifting the corner of Contessa's cloak.
They rode in silence, both of them ruminating on Mikael's words.
Eventually, Mikael spoke again, voice quieter. "But you didn't answer me. Where is your pair? Why are you here if your pair is not?"
Contessa was silent for a long moment.
Then, slowly, she began. "I was born to a merchant family. Not nobility, but well-off."
"My father was respected. Smart. Too smart, maybe. He made enemies in high places. They conspired against him. Brought false charges. Took everything."
She swallowed, eyes hard. She remembered the day it all happened. The drunk laughing faces. The way the women suffered and the men were bloodied. As much as she longed to forget, she couldn't.
"They gave me to the Church. A 'mercy,' they called it. I was barely ten. But I survived."
She looked at Mikael. "And that's where I met him. My pair."
Yes, that was where she met Nero, but he was not her salvation. No, she was ten when she met him.
He promised it to her. Her vengeance. And he gave her an anchor. Nero.
And when the day finally came, she savored it. She enjoyed their screams. The way their flesh split beneath her knives. The blood.
She swallowed, mentally shaking the story off her thoughts.
Mikael raised an eyebrow. "He's still alive?"
Contessa took a moment to remember what he was talking about. Her pair? "Very much so." She nodded. Nero wasn't that easy to kill.
"Then why isn't he with you?" Mikael asked, eyes narrowed.
"Because he's out there." She said. Her voice was low, but sure. "In unsafe places. Searching for a way to end this plague."
She turned to look Mikael full in the face. "And when he finds it, he'll find me. Because he knows where I stand."
Mikael studied her for a long moment.
Then, he gave a nod. "He sounds loyal."
"That makes two of you."
Contessa blinked. "Excuse me?"
Mikael turned forward again. "You didn't have to warn me about the Synod's message. You didn't have to offer me help. You could have burned the scroll and walked away. But you didn't."
Contessa said nothing.
Mikael looked at the horizon, a small smile on his face.
"You believe in something bigger than yourself." He said. "So do I."