#fast-paced

Penny drags her body against the basement wall. The right leg refuses to move after the enemy archimage hit it with an ice spell.

The ceiling is low, Penny would still not be able to straighten up to her full height, but it's harder to crawl with one working leg.

Penny turns to the man reclining on the cold stone floor.

This outing was hard for both of them. The forces of resistance were melting away before their eyes. No one believed in success anymore. There were mostly people who wanted to die with weapons in their hands. Recently, Penelope ex-Eckart began to consider herself one of such kind.

They defended the northern port together with, who would have thought, the former Delman rebels. Their task was to buy enough time for the ships to sail safely. The pitiful couple of thousand people they were able to gather and save during their desperate retreat to the north, sailed away on them, hoping to hide from the enemies of the ancient magicians in the seas. Ironically, before that, the remnants of the ancient kingdom of Leila were hiding in the seas from them.

Penny was afraid to think about those who lived south of the capital and, thus, did not even have a chance to join them. Only a small part managed to get to the capital and an even smaller part managed to get out of it when Leia captured the palace and the dragon's claws, and hordes of demons who consider themselves gods poured from the southern islands.

Every time someone started telling or reporting on what was going on in the south, Penelope preferred to turn around and leave. She doesn't want to know. She has enough memories of what they tried to do to her.

Oh, yes, a girl with the blood of ancient wizards was great fun for their old enemies. They thought that they had all disappeared, and there would be no one to take revenge for their previous defeat, and she, a fool, herself got in their way. Wasn't it a wonderful gift of fate?

If even Winter's magic was child’s play to them, Penelope has no idea how strong her ancestors were. Leila, it seems, had an idea, because at some point, they began to discuss half-breeds.

Salvation came from where she did not expect. It came in a form of her younger brother Reynold. After she ran away from home and renounced her status as a noblewoman and the family name in general, according to the documents, he was no longer her family, but still acted like a real brother – for the first time in his life — and ran away with her in his arms through the underground corridors of the palace.

Until Derrick blocked their way. He was one of the first people Leia got to. Penelope had been wary of him from the moment Yvonne crossed the threshold of the Eckart estate, she had not seen him for several months. During this time, he became haggard and paler, Penelope could not understand why he was in such a state until he opened his mouth:

«I... I tried to resist, but... This pain and despair, they are... They're eating into you. She wants me to stop you, so that I... U-kill you... Then it will all be over, but...», Derrick grips the hilt of his sword, as does Reynold.

Penelope had never heard Reynold's voice like that... broken. He was always too cocky and hot-tempered for her to imagine him like that, «Please. We can all leave together-the three of us, and... »

«No! It's too late! It's too late... I... I...», The young duke's hands are shaking, as if he's going through a huge pain. He raises his sword, and, «I won't... I won't!»

The heir of the Eckharts pierces his chest with his own sword. Reynold and Penelope both scream. Derrick begins to vomit blood, and he falls to the floor.

«Brother!»

Reynold flies up to him and kneels on the floor, not letting Penelope out of his hands.

«I realized it only recently, but there... is nothing more important... than family... Run, Reynold... And so... rry...», Derrick glances at Penelope and closes his eyes forever.

Reynold is crying like a little baby. Penelope snuggles up to him and hugs his shoulders as much as she can in such an exhausted state. She knows what it's like to lose a family.

Penny turns to the body of the eldest son of the house of Eckhart and wishes him a reunion with his real sister and father, who has already paid the price for not being able to raise his hand on the body of his real daughter.

They get out of the palace, and even the capital, but Reynold has not gone far. The former slave, now the "king", was glad to find himself a queen without the knowledge and, thus, the prohibition of the "empress", and the younger son of the Eckhart, who mocked his mistress and drove him half to death in training, he never liked.

After a small battle, in which Penelope, exhausted by torture, simply could not physically take part, Iklis picks her up and sits in a carriage, taking the former duchess to the north. Penelope howls and cries, mourning her almost brother. The picture of his decapitated body will forever remain a scar on her heart and will haunt her in her dreams for a long time.

Penny thanks all the gods for the fact that a spell pops up in her head, despite the lost wand-mirror, and for the fact that Iklis, unlike Leila, does not know how to block magic. And when the new bastard-king of Delmania tries to get under her skirt, he gets a fireball in the face. And about-to-be-queen flees, disguised as a maid, leaving the body of her former escort in the royal bedchamber strewn with petals of roses that she hates.

Penelope runs through the woods at night without looking backShe's not even a bit ashamed. After this shit, they're even. Moreover, Iklis went mad by himself, and madmen on the throne always have one end - death at the hands of their compatriots, who, in this case, followed him for freedom from the empire, and not into slavery to the demons. A wicked joke. Penelope is bursting with laughter. If Iklis hadn't been obsessed with her, he might have been considered an intelligent king who knelt for the life of his subjects. Penelope stops and laughs out loud.

«Crazy game.»

Who could fix it all?

Of the key characters, only Callisto and Winter remained.

Penelope had heard nothing about the first one. After she gave up the name and ran away in search of the mirror of truth, she never saw him. However, judging by how quickly Leia captured the palace, it would not have been possible without his participation. This was his routine in normal mode afterall. Her heart sank uncomfortably.

As for Winter, Penelope seemed to have heard something about him in the conversations of her torturers. Most likely, he fell into their hands. His fate is unknown, but... But Penny could bet anything, even though she didn't have anything left to bet, that she wouldn't envy.

With such thoughts, she goes further into the depths of the forest and further from the palace, if she is lucky, she will be missed only in the morning. The girl moves through the snowdrifts and frowns at the fact that snowflakes fall on her eyelashes and prevent her from clearly seeing the road. Looking at the snow, Penny wonders how much time she spent in custody — she was captured on her way to the mirror, a couple of weeks after her coming-of-age ceremony, back in the summer. The girl stops and absentmindedly wipes a single tear from her cheek. She shakes his head, now is not the time.

She needs shelter, food, and oh, hell, at least some kind of plan.

She gets to some small village, seemingly untouched by the outbreak of the war. And Penelope understands why - crumbled houses, covered with snow, small farms, an old sawmill and a blacksmith shop, who needs it?

But never say never, because at this moment two emissaries, accompanied by a dozen magicians, enter the village and start convolve the locals.

Why is it that every time someone says "Somebody do something!", it turns out to be her?

The brain screams to turn around and leave before it's too late, but the blood boils with the magic of ancient wizards and asks for battle. And when Leila reaches out to the little girl with a carnivorous smile, lightning pierces his head.

Penelope had enough of this spectacle on the Soleil Island when her not-stepsister ate people alive, thank you. She's had enough.

A scuffle begins. The villagers arm themselves as best they can, mainly with hunting bows. And Penelope finds herself on the front line, and not in her usual position at the back.

After the battle, the girl falls frozen and exhausted loses consciousness.

She wakes up again in the forest, and the head of the local rebel squad, on his knees, asks her to join their ranks. For some reason, the girl does not even think to refuse.

Could Penelope have thought that she would swap the title of a lady to the title of an archimage, long curls to a short ponytail, still curly though, and ball gowns to an army uniform? And the crossbow is replaced by spells, because magic is replenished unlike arrows. Penelope begins to make decisions that she would have made in life, and notes to herself that she has already grown together with Penelope.

During the next planned outing, everything goes wrong. More leilas have suddenly been pulled here, and Penelope can't figure out why, until their squad is knocked out of the encirclement by imperial soldiers.

There is no room for pride now, survival is at stake, and the rebels are joining the troops of the empire.

Her commander calls her to talk to the command, and there she meets the Crown Prince himself. She will never forget his shocked face, although hers was probably no better.

Her commander, without reading the situation, continues to negotiate dispassionately. This sobers Penelope, and she puts an impassive expression on her face, and concentrates her attention on the map. When she looks up at Callisto again, he sends her a look she can't read.

Immediately after the end of the meeting, Penelope goes to the fresh air to breath and somehow calm the raging heart. Having already moved away from the camp, she suddenly hears the crunch of branches behind her. She turns around abruptly, but the spell does not come off her tongue, as she sees golden hair shining under the moonlight, burning ruby eyes and his beautiful face...

He kissed every scar left by the enemies of her kind, licked every tear from her cheeks, hugged her so tightly that Penelope doubted that there was such a force in the world that could pull him away from her at that moment. And most importantly, Penelope finally forgot herself and thought only about him, and not about demons, magicians and deaths, and games, and other dimensions, while he took her right on the grass under the starry sky.

Then, gasping for air, they lie in an embrace. Penny buried her face somewhere between his neck and shoulder and crossed her fingers on the one hand with his. Callisto loosens his grip a little and lifts himself up. Penny looks at him in surprise, but calms down when his cloak falls on her shoulders. Penny snuggles even closer to him and throws her leg over him in a possessive gesture. She hears a soft chuckle, but ignores it, already dozing away. Callisto lifts himself up, although he wants to say something to her and looks at her face, but only clicks his tongue, seeing her closed eyes.

He stays quiet for about five minutes, and then says:

«Just marry me at last.»

Half-asleep Penelope mumbles her agreement and pulls his cloak higher.

A week later they get married in some dilapidated village church. And instead of petals from the sky, fireworks, feasting, dancing and music, the imperial wedding is celebrated with a double ration. That's probably why people were most happy about this wedding.

Penelope was not one of those girls who dreamed of her wedding, imagined the perfect dress, a bouquet, a hall and a cake, but... Looks like Callisto was. Because looking at her in a long white nightgown-yes, it was the best they could come up with—he looked sad and guilty. Penelope adjusts the falling wreath of wildflowers and reaches for a kiss. She's just damn glad that at least Callisto, she was able to defend.

Callisto had prepared the rings in advance, even before her escape. Penelope would have laughed at his arrogance, but now this ring on her finger is the only thing that warms her soul in these dark times.

Penelope has a gold ring on her hand, and every morning she wakes up, though on the ground, but in his embrace. And it seems that life is slowly getting better, despite all this atrocity around, but...

Her newfound friend, an expert in history and archaeology, as well as ancient magicians in particular, and concurrently the young wife of her husband's closest adviser, has a miscarriage. For the first time, Cedric asks his Highness for a day off to spend it with a broken Marien, and Callisto gives it for the first time.

Penelope is ashamed that while wiping the tears of her first friend in this world, she thinks that this is good news. At such times, the birth of a child is not happiness, but a great grief.

Penelope notes to herself that years of forced hunger strikes and months of torture and work at the limit of both physical and magical abilities have most likely made her infertile now. Now and only now, it's good. And Penelope definitely won't cry because of this sudden insight into the pillow, no. The fact that she lost her family, and will not be able to create her own, is not the worst thing that could happen to her in this crazy world. She tries to believe this. Just to save some bits of her sanity left.

A couple of weeks later, they hear that the "empress" has been killed. By her own. Penelope doesn't even have the strength to grin anymore.

The Crown Prince and the Crown Princess decide that this is the right time for their maneuvers. But an offensive on, but an evacuation.

The Crown Prince recalls that during their operations to capture Delmanians, expeditions to the northern seas took place and a couple of islands were discovered. Due to the infertile soil, they were considered unprofitable, and because of the war with the empire, the research was quickly closed, but now these pathetic, useless pieces of land are their best option.

The problem was that lately they had been mostly engaged in partisanship, and they needed ships for thousands of people. Taking small fishing villages would attract attention before at least some acceptable part of the people could escape.

Thus, an operation to seize the commercial port was organized in a short time. The plan was more suicidal, but Penelope can't remember the last time she took part in another one. Apparently, the others were of the same opinion, since it was approved.

Penelope worked as a distraction, bombing enemy magicians with fireballs and lightning. Pulling the leilas greedy for wizards away from the evacuation zone. Callisto, meanwhile, was storming the port from the other side of the city.

Penelope swallowed hastily brewed and hellishly bitter mana replenishment potions, and continued to pour spells on opponents while the ranks of her fellow magicians continued to thin.

At some point, there were a dozen of them left, and a Jean familiar to her, who at first taught her not to pour all the mana into one spell, told her, «Your Highness, go. The last ship is leaving now. We will detain them.»

Unprecedented generosity. Penelope would have been moved if it hadn't been for her inexplicably newfound pride.

«Unfortunately, I married the captain of this sinking ship. We're both not going anywhere.»

«You should. People need someone to lead them.»

«You are “people” too», Penelope retorts, wiping the blood from the wound on her head with a sharp, quick movement.

«If you die here with us, it won't change anything at all.»

Jean reaches out and casts a spell on her, which she herself put on the squad that was going on a preliminary sortie earlier.

«Find His Highness.»

Penelope freezes for a second, but...

«Bye, Jean», she whispers.

But the invisibility spell soon runs out. Penelope takes refuge in an alley, and uses the search spell again. This brings the two leilas to her.

Fights in alleys are terrible and cruel stuff, and when there are three magicians in an alley, it is disgusting and destructive.

Penny has learned to attack first a long time ago. Melt the face of one, depriving the eyes, shield from the spell of the other, counterattack, take a blow and finish off... Penelope gets off with a small loss - a leg. And while the leg is not completely gone, she limps to her man.

There is a real meat grinder going on in the streets of the coastal city, but Penny has learned not to pay attention to it. A soldier in a hurry points her to some building, and runs to help his comrades. Penelope doesn't have time to order him to retreat.

The Crown Princess is already climbing down the wall, and here she is a few meters away from the one she was looking for...

«Why didn't you leave?», such a stupid question that she won’t deign to answer it.

She finally crawls up to him and settles down next to him. Examines him, notes how he holds his hand on his stomach, from under which a spreading bloodstain is already visible.

Penelope has no mana left, no potions, no scrolls, no ordinary bandages, but the woman tiredly notes the ruby ornament clamped between his fingers, which has not shone as brightly as before during treatment for a long time. Penelope Regulus tells herself to calm down.

«Let us take a nap for a while», Penelope lowers her head on her husband’s shoulder, simultaneously intertwining her fingers with his.

Everything is floating in her eyes, white noise in her head. She knows rather than feels that Callisto is forcing himself to exert force to bend his fingers so that he can also hold hers. He exhales heavily and raggedly—and Penny doesn't like the way he wheezes—and puts his head on top of hers.

Penelope is crying for some reason. She suddenly wants to say with all her heart that she loves him more than anything in the world, but her body is so tired, so tired for all this time, starting from the moment she crossed the threshold of the duke's house, that her tongue does not obey, and her eyes close.

When she forces herself to open them by pure force of will, she is sitting on her knees, in some heavy clothes that pinned her to the floor. She abruptly looks up from the floor and sees the young duke swearing at her, because she did something at the banquet again.

Tears continue to flow from the Crown Princess' eyes. She grabs her hand, which now has no wedding ring on it.