12. Everen: The Prince & the Thief

Summary

• In the chapter, the character Everen frees himself from ropes and explores the shop he is in.
• Everen uses a small looking glass to scry, i.e., to see into another world or location, and communicate with his sister Cassia.
• Through the mirror, Cassia explains that he and a human are half-bonded, their magics intertwined, a rare connection. The only way to break it is to fully bond with the human.
• Cassia suggests a risky plan to leverage the bond and gain the human’s magic. Everen has to make the human trust him, then eventually kill the human.
• Everen and the human, named Arcady, interact awkwardly, clearly not thrilled with their tethered situation.
• Arcady supplies Everen with necessities, including medicine and clothes, demonstrating a survival instinct.
• Together, they go to a restaurant named Emme’s. Outside the restaurant, they engage in a tense conversation, as Everen poorly attempts to lie but ultimately reveals he is a prince from another land.
• Arcady is not convinced or comforted by Everen's story, and believes that he is hiding something. However, Arcady seems sympathetic towards Everen’s homesickness.
• Arcady proposes researching about magical bonds at the university library or Citadel archive, but admits that infiltration into these places is difficult.
• Everen suspects Arcady to be a criminal due to her living conditions and reticence. Arcady admits to being a thief, and challenges Everen to a game of theft using a copper coin.