Beyond?

“Magic is power and power corrupts. The wielders of power always have to reflect on their own actions and the actions of others. Otherwise this power takes us down a dark path. Step by step, until you look back one day and realize that you already walked over the edge of a very high, dark cliff.”

-Papyri magicae.

***Free City States of Nict, Capital***

***Azir***

I was so happy when Stella's father finally left! His eyes told me instantly that he doesn't like me. Normally I am bad at reading other people's feelings, but Lucas's eyes said it all.

So why is the bastard back on the couch in our living room? He walked in here like the damn house belongs to him... ah, on the other hand, it probably does belong to him... in a certain way at least, his wife paid for it.

It has been three days since his first visit when he barged in on my happy time with Stella. Damn him. The mood was gone for the entire rest of the day.

He is just sitting there with his muscular body. I am sure that he is doing some kind of muscle training. His hair is blonde and his face is sharp and edgy with a small beard on his chin. Thank the gods that Stella doesn't take after her father.

There is a small scar on his left cheek and his horns split up into four mean looking spikes right at the base of his forehead. If he is actually intending to look intimidating he is doing a really good job at it.

Finally he decides to speak. “I am glad that you two have the time to help me with this.” He places a stash of papers on the table in front of us and smiles. “If Stella hadn't returned to her duties as a princess I would've been in a tight situation. Fortunately she got herself a dependable aide.” He takes a meaningful look at me. “This'll make the situation much easier for her.”

Stella takes the papers and looks over them. “Those are personal files?”

Lucas leans back on the couch. “Yes, they are the files for the exchange students. Our ambassador up in the north did a really good job in soothing the waters. The Dwemer aren't quite ready to talk to us on a national level, but they voiced the wish to send us a few of their youths.”

“But sending exchange students while refusing to have a consulate within our borders... that's madness. They didn't set a foot into our country since generations.” Stella is baffled. And she is right, the Dwemer cut all ties with us a long time ago.

Her father gestures for her to calm down. “Oh, please. Nobody really believes that they are sending exchange students. They are surely a group of young and highly skilled spies, who have the order to scout our country and test our resolve.” He frowns. “The Dwemer's culture is similar to ours. Their highest ranking individuals are the shamans and the magically skilled members of their society. They have very few of them, so they won't send one of their trained shamans into enemy territory.”

I point at the files. “And why do we have to know this?”

Lucas grins at me. “Because you two will have an eye on them while they are here. You'll be their official connection to me and Helen. On top you'll play their guides and see to it that they don't suffer any harm during their stay.” His expression turns vicious. “As the second princess's fiance you'll surely not deny her your support. Think of this as a first small test.”

Stella smiles at her father. “Dad, please stop this behaviour towards Azir. He is my one and only love, so try to get over your petty instincts.”

Lucas's expression drops. “But he violated my little darling! You are my cute, youngest child. Please don't get corrupted by this fellow!”

Stella's left eye started to twitch during Lucas' outburst. “We already talked about this. I like being violated by him. And he likes being violated by me. You should accept that I stopped being a little child a while ago. Since I gave up my freedom, I'll of course help in this matter, but be assured that I'll use every opportunity to explore my physical relationship with him.” Stella kisses me on my cheek and grins at her father. “Actually I like the riding position best so far. It lets me stimulate the right spot so that it feels the best!”

Lucas's eyes widen and for a moment it looks like his soul is leaving him. “What happened to my cute daughter. I wasn't gone that long. It was just a month.” He stands up and walks out of the room, while mumbling to himself.

“You should probably follow him and have a little discussion between daughter and father.” I gesture at the broken man. “I already said that I don't like him, but now even I feel bad for him. He seems to be just a doting idiot parent.”

Stella purses her lips. “You think so? Maybe I went a little overboard. I'll go and talk to him. It could get troublesome if he works himself up over our relationship.” She stands up and follows her father, her tail gliding along my body while she separates from me. “He has to learn that he is exaggerating.”

I am not sure if she is aware of her tail's actions or not, but the way she is using it on me became really lewd. Not that I am against it, but she is even doing it in front of other people. Her father saw her in a completely different light up until now, so he is probably redirecting his emotions towards me.

Without anything better to do I take the documents which were left behind by Stella and take a look at them. Seems like this delegation will consist of four people and they are scheduled to arrive next week. They'll join the academy as extraordinary students, which means that they can take whichever classes they like.

It's reasonable to let them choose their own interests if you take into account that the Dwemer use a completely different magical system from ours. A long time ago I researched shamanistic rituals, but I found it very troublesome, so I gave up on the matter. By now I remember almost nothing about it. Using something like spells, runes and magical circles is much more to my liking. Shamanistic rituals may grant more control, but they are troublesome to set up and not as clearly defined as a magical circle.

My eyes return to the first file. Adala Colte, nineteen. She is an expert on shamanistic rituals. According to this file she is on the best way to become a full fledged shaman herself. So they are really sending us people who'll probably take high places in their society. According to this file she has black hair. Ah, the next page is actually a picture of her. I guess they are really a different race from us. The girl in front of me has no horns and her pupils are dark and round. Her eyes are big, but not in an ugly way, though it makes it impossible for her to disguise herself as a citizen of Nict. She looks more like a child of our race, than a nineteen year old student.

The next file is on Padma Unnur, twenty two, older than me. She looks similar to Adala, but her hair is brown and she has brown eyes. Probably they all look the same to me since my mind focuses on the obvious differences. She specializes in artifice. Right off the bat I can't imagine how artefacts and shamanistic rituals match with each other. I have to ask her when I get the chance. Maybe magical circuits aren't completely unknown to them? Just because they are from another country doesn't mean that they know less than us. Maybe Nict even stole some knowledge from them during the times of the empire. Sometimes I wish that those records weren't lost.

Eliot Donocan, twenty four. He has white hair and looks more muscular than the women. His face is less childlike and he has a very formidable handlebar moustache under his nose. He is a close combat expert who is on a military career, focusing on espionage and infiltration. Now that is interesting. Either those guys don't bother to hide anything from us, or they put him into the group to draw our attention towards him. Of course we can't be sure that their files aren't complete lies. I don't think that the information in them was gathered by our intelligence service. Due to our racial differences it is hard to send spies into each other's countries.

The last person is Nikita Truls, twenty one. Again the same facial features with green hair and green eyes this time. Maybe her face is a little slender compared to Padma's. She is on the path to becoming an architect, hah? Is that some kind of magical occupation in their society? Maybe her abilities are similar to the Gejene's? They built a house within a day. I have to get a little more information about that one.

In addition, all of them will bring a servant with them and they are accompanied by a caretaker of the name Saana Unnur. There are no files on them and all I get regarding the caretaker is her or his name. Of course it could also be that the servants and the caretaker are the real brains behind their mission. I hope they don't make too much trouble.

Stella returns, waving her tail, she takes the files from me to study them herself.

I arch an eyebrow and look at her. “Your father?”

The corners of her mouth curl upwards. “I think I managed to explain the situation to him and that our relationship is already sealed, no matter what he does. Don't worry, everything will work out.”

“That sounds like you only went after him to finish him off!”

.