Moritz and I walked through the Moor, our heads low from exhaustion, even Screech just clinging onto my mane, without the energy to fly. I looked at Moritz, who was so clearly born to be an adventurer. He hadn’t ever told me this, but when I was doing my research on who to contract to accompany me, I’d heard that Moritz had once said that he couldn’t live without diving into the dungeons. You could see it in his body, in the way he held himself, and for the way that his eyes lit up as soon as we went underground – this was what he lived for. As I thought about that, I also thought back to the reason I was even here. Father. He’d ruled our land for as long as anyone could remember, long enough that everyone believed that he’d always been heir to the throne. But when I was younger, he’d taken me aside and told me the truth. That he wasn’t born into his regal position, but had to fight for it. I’d known that in theory, one could become a ruler through blood or through challenge, but I’d never heard of taking the challenge route. As he told it, he’d always known that he’d been destined for greatness. He’d gone adventuring exactly once, in the deepest levels of the dungeons, and he had found a mirror that had told him a Truth. He wouldn’t tell me exactly what the mirror had said, but he told me that it had changed him. After that, he never adventured again, but he had trained. Trained every single day, until he was strong enough to challenge the then-ruler of our lands. He’d challenged him, and won. The fight had apparently lasted the best part of two hours, and was so vicious that nobody had dared challenge Father in all the years since.

Even my siblings weren’t adventurers – and neither was I, not really. I wouldn’t have set foot in this dismal place if it weren’t for my quest. Thinking about it now, I could see Wulfe being pretty good at this if he actually put his mind to it. Sable would be abysmal. She’s strong, but she’s nervous. She thinks of the repercussions of every single choice, and that would only be a detriment on an adventure. And I’d heard the rumours about Callisto forming an adventuring duo with some common Courser out in the middle of nowhere. I scoffed. Pathetic.

I continued to think about it as we trudged forwards, my family members swirling around in my thoughts as I tried to shake them loose.

No, I thought. I’m not an adventurer. I will be a ruler.