There was something awfully wrong with the table.

  It was a decently sized piece of crystal with thick crystal legs, decently spacious, and, for some reason, terribly overcrowded even though only five people were dining on it. Each of them had a singular plate before them, empty, a glass, empty, and the necessary cutlery. They were waiting for Princess Anne and the future Prince Consort to grace them with their presence; until they did, no one was to try the delicacies spread before them.

  Isaac didn’t look at all tempted by the spread; he was chatting with the Duchess, a little with Sofia as well, and throwing Thomas curious glances. Thomas was only interested in the pie that was before him which just so happend to smell divine.

  As they first entered the dining hall, Thomas was confused by the lack of familiar faces. Then he remembered Elaine was a maid, which not only didn’t suit her personality but was incredibly degrading however monstrous she might have been, and the Ravens were… soldiers. And they could never dine with the king. They were lesser people, sometimes it seemed, and Thomas only remembered it at moments such as that one, when he felt out of place.

  Why am I even here? he would think to himself, and then a stand of dark brown hair would pop up in his mind as an answer. If it weren’t for her willfulness, he would have dined in the kitchen too, together with the lesser crowd.

  So, out of the two people he was acquainted with, one was Sofia, and Thomas had no desire to ever talk to her again. So, he sat in silence. Princess Anne was what really mattered anyway, and he had to prepare himself for their introduction, considering she was the strongest candidate for the Swan. Ideally, he should also get on the king’s good side to find out about any possible extramarital affairs and hidden illegitimate children; and as delusional as it might have seemed to Thomas, it was actually possible; what the Flamer didn’t know was that the King of Iceleus was as terrified of Diane Hunster as he was of a Demon invasion, so he would do anything to see them annihilated. Or Victoria White would; the King seldom thought of anything. She was the very reason why Thomas Hammer was sitting looking at the pie instead of bonding with the King. She was glued to him like a

  Leech. Of the worst kind. She even killed her own sister. No wonder Sofia’s so twisted, really.

  For now, he would focus on Anne, as she seemed in his mind the more approachable target. He had never met her before, she didn’t attend the Grand Ball, but even Geroge Brown was more pleasant than Victoria White.

  Okay, maybe not quite.

  The thing was, when it came to Anne, he had to do his investigating discreetly, only revealing the whole thing once he is sure that she was the Swan, and he could never be completely sure without Diane Hunster. So, he would have to put his eggs in a basket and pray to someone, not the Destiny, that he had chosen the right one.

  Kyle is right. How is it possible that she can’t make a decision for so long? It’s a different story for me; she has been living in this world forever. She knows all the pros and cons. Why is she acting so high and mighty? And if she comes back and tells us that she was wrong and that siding with Clara is the right thing to do, then what? Will she just let me die? Because there’s no way Elaine will forgive me. I need to get the Swan on my side; that’s the only way I can have a chance at survival.

  Princess Anne showed up at one point, completely unbothered by the room full of royals waiting for her. She looked pleased with herself and the man who walked a step behind her. She was tall and… ordinary. That was the only world that came to Thomas’s mind. Everything about her, her white hair, her eyes, and all the other elements of her face were simply ordinary. The way she walked, her aura, could not be compared to her cousin who was now bowing to her; even with her head lowered Sofia gave off an unwieldy energy, full of defiance and strength and authority that the future queen of Iceleus just didn’t have. She was worlds apart from Diane Hunster even though they were each other’s equals. As a ruler, you are either weak or strong; and this princess did not seem too promising. Thomas caught himself entertaining an appalling thought that Victoria White should have finished the job while she was at it.

  And the future Prince Consort looked very aware of all of it since he bowed at everyone, looked longingly at the royal cousin and whispered to Isaac who was sitting opposite Sofia, “Would you mind?”

  Isaac shrugged. “I apologize. I didn’t realize there was only one seat between me and the King.”

  As he stood up, Isaac gave Thomas an amused glance that let the Flamer know that he did it to show him something. Now that the Crown Princess and the trusted aide were sitting by the King, and the daughter and the tragic lover opposite one another, the two guests could enjoy the dinner to the fullest. Except Thomas found nothing amusing in that situation, not only because of the nervousness that mixed the inside of his stomach like some soup, but because he felt sorry for the participants. How beautiful his past commonness seemed now! If only he could find a way to return to that amoebic form and the time when he didn’t have to think about anything other than homemade dinner!

  I don’t even have a home now.

  It was terrifyingly easy to turn into them, and the realization was like a knife in his gut: he had no choice but to turn into them. He was them, sitting at a fancy table, eating exotic meals while the snow fell on top of so many people’s heads; they went on with their lives undisturbed by the snow on their heads because they couldn’t see it. But Thomas could see it, now more clearly than ever. So many things were wrong with this world they were living in, so many obvious abominations he couldn’t help but wonder why no one was doing anything about it. What were they all waiting for?

  He was now right in the middle: one wrong step and he would either go back to being an ant they step on at will, or become overconsumed by ordinary problems, such as someone’s life or death, and each had as many benefits as terrors.

  “Mr Hammer,” Princess Anne asked, “how do you like Iceleus? I am told this is your first time vising.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Thomas cleared his throat; he still felt the pie he swallowed in his mouth. “Oh, it is very nice.”

  She looked at him for a second. “That is all?”

  Thomas didn’t want to offend anyone, and there were very few nice things he could say about Iceleus based on his first impression.

  “Well, what did you expect?” Victoria cut in. “That’s Diane Hunster’s dog.”

  They all, including Isaac, found her remark extraordinarily entertaining. They laughed, repeated it, added wonderful things to it, played with it until half an hour at least had passed and they had exhausted their wells of evil. That was when Sofia turned to him and said, “Have you come up with anything? We gave you some time to think.”

  “How nice of us,” Victoria added and they all nodded, Thomas being the only one who thought she was joking.

  “So, how does it feel to be a peasant?” Sofia went on.

  Thomas blushed. “Well, I mean, I’m not sure what you’re asking me.”

  Isaac just looked at him. His face was completely blank like he wasn’t even listening to the conversation. But Thomas looked back with a cry for help which the prince wasn’t interested in noticing.

  “Well,” Sofia chuckled, “just what I asked. Do you know how to write?”

  “Yes, I went to school.”

  The massive giggling the word school caused filled the room with mockery.

  What’s wrong with going to school?

  Sofia looked at his confused expression. “I guess you wouldn’t understand, would you? But that’s alright. Diane likes her dogs stupid.”

  “Well, who doesn’t?” the King added, completely serious now. “They listen the best.”

  “That is true,” Anne agreed. “I don’t like it when they talk too much. I had to let a maid go last week because she acted smart advising me what ribbons to wear! Can you believe that?” The gasps of disapproval encouraged the Princess to keep talking about all the “insufferable” domestics they had had over the years, and how creatively she punished them all. “But, Mr. Hammer, you are not just a peasant anymore, are you?”

  Thomas’s greatest flaw was his inexperience; it was evident in his eyes he was thoroughly confused, which sent the royals into another fit of laughter.

  “You will become the King of Crystalia soon if I am not mistaken,” Princess Anne explained once they were all back to normal.

  “King Consort,” Victoria corrected. She had such a soft spot for those details.

  “Oh, dear aunt, nobody cares about such formalities anymore! A king is a king!” Anne bit back. “And a queen such as Diane Hunster certainly wouldn’t mind little errors in addressing, would she?” She chuckled. “Besides, I didn't realize you were so sensitive to hierarchy, considering how quickly you took over after my dear mother’s demise.”

  “It was truly a tragic time,” the King replied, his eyes welling up. “I am so glad you were there to take charge. Otherwise, I would have…”

  “I only did what was right,” Victoria assured. “I couldn’t leave the citizens of Icelieus so helpless. They simply wouldn’t have known what to do!”

  No, he wasn’t anywhere near them; just because they happened to sit at the same table didn’t mean he knew how they functioned, what they felt, if they felt anything other than resentment, what they hoped for or what they dreamt about. Diane Hunster had clouded his judgment. Diane Hunster wasn’t them either; she was, and always would be, an anomaly they feared. That is why no one dared to go against her even though they hated her for showing them how incompetent they were. Every single person sitting at that table depended on Diane Hunster and her choice. Every single person in the world waited for her to save them from a reality they didn’t even realize was crooked. What did this room do to deserve to be so imperious?

  We are all made of flesh and blood. We were all born and we will all die. So, what makes them better than Elaine? Would any of them be able to do what Elaine has been doing for years? They don’t even know any of this is happening. King, how I wish they would perish!

  It’s strange how sometimes wishes align with reality. Some would say such moments are the work of destiny, but they would be wrong; Clara Heal had no such power. What keeps the world moving are coincidences, such as a window shattering right as Thomas Hammer was thinking about high treason. The pieces of glass that protected the royals from the outside world flew towards them and landed in their food and, more importantly, in their faces. The King of Iceleus, that bleak coward, ended up face down inside his soup, the blood running from his neck giving it the flavor it desperately needed. Victoria White didn’t even look at him; she jumped up and pulled a sword from under the table to protect herself from the surge of Demons that filled the room. Some of the unwanted visitors stayed behind to make sure the world was purged of these abominations they called ‘rulers’, while the majority went on with their business which Thomas knew nothing of.

  No one approached him. He was ready to fight for his life, but no one paid attention to him. Still, he felt it was his duty to try to protect these people he hated, so he smashed a few skulls with his fists, pulled a few arms, and burnt some flesh. Victoria White didn’t last too long, which he was a bit glad about, but Sofia seemed determined to stay alive, though they didn’t seem too keen on sending her off with her mother. From the way they avoided her and Anne, Thomas deducted that Elaine thought them promising candidates for the Swan. The whole thing didn’t last more than a minute, though in Thomas’s head, it seemed like it would never end. There was blood all around him again, but he wasn’t so appalled by the sight of it anymore. Isaac was still calmly sitting at the table, playing with his soup and looking at his own reflection in it. Anne was screaming, her dead father and boyfriend lying on opposite sides of Her Majesty the Queen of Iceleus, so she didn’t know where to look first.

  Thomas only stood frozen for ten seconds this time, looking at the scene. Then, he stormed out of the dining hall to see some of the Demons, now bloody, stationed at random points in the hallway. He didn’t know where exactly he was going, but his legs were moving quickly and with determination. They all let him pass without a word, so when he asked them where Elaine was, they just shrugged. Thomas spent the next half an hour roaming around the castle, less distressed than he had expected, until he finally saw Elaine, a lot more distressed than he had expected, pacing around an empty room guarded by Demons. They let him go in and close the door behind him.

  “Oh, Thomas,” she let out, now standing still in the middle of one of the many bedrooms she shouldn’t have access to.

  “What is this?” Thomas asked calmly.

  “We’re taking over.”

  “I can see that,” he bit back. “Do I need to remind you that this goes directly against your deal with Diane?”

  “It was George’s deal,” she replied nervously. “If it were up to me this would have ended long ago.”

  Thomas sighed. “I don’t doubt that.” He didn’t like how nervous she looked. As much as he hated her confidence, he felt oddly at ease thinking she knew what she was doing. The wandering of her eyes and the flickering of her spirit introduced to Thomas the idea of a new player, one that not even Elaine could control.

  And he was there, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, watching Thomas’s back. The Flamer didn’t notice him until a chill all too familiar ran down his spine and he turned around to look once again into the eyes of George Brown.