Sonia watched Liam issuing orders and felt a new irritation rise in her.

Who is he to order people around?

She crossed her arms without thinking about it.

Well, he is not ordering this Princess around.

She rolled her eyes.

"What are we going to do about the storm?" Her tone came out sharper than she intended. She did not mean it, but her dislike of Liam was bleeding into everything.

Liam’s head snapped toward her, his eyes cold and unfriendly.

"I don’t give a rat’s ass about the storm. Arthur and Thea are way more important than the storm!" He retorted.

No one else reacted to the sudden change in him. But Sonia’s jaw dropped. No one had ever spoken to her in that tone.

She was so offended she snapped straight back. "This storm has been affecting every single person in Solarys! It is making people want to fight each other. And it will not stop at arguing. It will get physical. Do you really want that on your conscience?!"

Liam sneered. "If it matters that much to you, then you handle it. I’m calling Emergency Services."

He turned away and dialed without another word.

Leaving Sonia fuming with no one to aim it at.

------------------------------

Sonia stops.

She glances at Elder Loujt, trying to gauge his reaction. She knows she is not supposed to snap at people.

"A princess does not speak in harsh tones. Period."

Elder Maer has always said that.

Elder Loujt looks at her, confused by her sudden pause.

"Your Highness? Is something the matter?"

Sonia shakes her head.

"Then please, go on."

Sonia nods.

------------------------------

Ambulances and fire trucks arrived in under ten minutes. One of the perks of being a Monfort. Liam had ordered for Arthur and Theo to be taken to Solarys General Hospital, the best hospital in Concordia.

And the one where Linus Monfort had influence.

Monfort Industries had been their medical supplier for years. The hospital was practically theirs to command.

"Julian, you can let go now." Liam said. He patted Julian’s shoulder.

Julian nodded and exhaled slowly. The eight floor building crumbled gradually to the ground, without touching the buildings on either side. If it had not been raining so hard, it would have been an extraordinary sight.

Sonia had her hood up, shielding herself from the downpour. Liam and Julian had no such concern. Both of them were soaked through, head to toe.

Like drowned rats. Sonia scoffed inwardly.

Then she remembered herself and cleared her throat.

Both Arthur and Theo were already gone. The ambulances had taken them. Maeve and Alicia had gone with them. The bald man had been taken away too.

Apparently he had broken his ribs at some point. Sonia had no idea how. She had not seen anything happen to him that would have caused it.

That left the three of them.

"You should go to the hospital too." Julian said, pointing at Liam’s right arm. "Get that looked at."

Liam’s right arm hung completely motionless at his side.

He glanced at it and nodded. "Yeah. You should come too, Jules. You don’t look much better. You look like you’re about to go down any second."

Which was not an exaggeration.

Sonia felt it too. The strain of recoiling magic. Every mage experienced it. The higher the level, the more mana spent, the harder the toll on the body afterward.

It was why the Vaelin trained their bodies as well as their magic. Not for muscle, but for stamina.

Another siren approached. They looked up and saw a third ambulance pulling in.

"Come on." Liam said to Julian, with only a brief flicker of a glance toward Sonia. "That’s our ride."

------------------------------

They rode in the back of the ambulance in silence.

No one said anything. Only the paramedic asked questions, working through his assessment of Liam’s broken arm.

Liam answered simply. "A piece of rubble got me." He offered nothing further.

Sonia frowned. A memory surfaced.

When Theo had rushed toward Arthur, he had been completely oblivious to everything around him. He did not care about the rain, the wind, or the debris flying in every direction.

One of those pieces of debris had been large enough to cause serious injury. When it was on course to hit Theo, Liam had stepped in front of it and taken it on his own arm.

Idiot. Why didn’t you use your Water? Your arm would be fine if you had. Sonia thought.

Then she sighed.

She had been surprised in that moment. Genuinely surprised to see a Monfort do something selfless.

She leaned back in her seat and said nothing.

------------------------------

Sonia goes quiet.

Elder Loujt blinks and nudges her gently. "Your Highness? You have something on your mind?"

Sonia looks at him, her face full of questions.

"Elder Loujt, we are always taught about what the first Monfort patriarch did to us. To the Vaelin." She begins carefully.

"Yes, that is correct. The animosity between the Vaelin and the Monforts began when Magnus Monfort, the first patriarch, betrayed the Great El Dhaerith. Your ancestor, Your Highness." Elder Loujt confirms.

"I know the story. It is part of our history. As the last direct descendant of the Great El Dhaerith, I am expected to remember it and never forget what he and his family did to us." Sonia nods.

"But?" Elder Loujt presses.

Sonia smiles awkwardly. "But I don’t know the whole story. I don’t understand why we only stay away from them. I mean, they betrayed us. Why did we never seek revenge?"

"I apologize, Your Highness. I cannot answer all of your questions. Not because I am unwilling, but because I genuinely do not know. It happened so long ago that the details are no longer clear."

"But." He takes a breath.

"There is a book in Vaelin, written in ancient Altheon, that explains everything. Our history. How the Vaelin came to be, why we chose to live hidden from the world, and so on. The Monforts are in there too." He explains.

"That book will be passed to you when you take over as Vaelin leader. For now, Elder Maer is its guardian. None of us are permitted to read it. Not even Elder Maer."

Sonia goes quiet again.

"I suppose it helps knowing there is an explanation somewhere. I have always been taught to be kind and not to judge before understanding. But I have also been taught to hate the Monforts. It is a little contradictory."

Elder Loujt laughs.

He loves Sonia the way he would love his own daughter. He and Elder Maer raised her together, and from a young age it was already clear that Sonia was different from her parents and grandparents before her.

She has always been curious. Always wanting to know the reason behind every decision. A quality that has given everyone around her a considerable headache over the years.

"You are not wrong, Your Highness. It is contradictory. Because it is. If you take it at face value, there is no resolving it. You do need to find the truth behind it. But you will have to wait until you become our leader. Read the book then, and decide for yourself what to do about the Monforts."

"For now, it is better to keep your distance. Until you have a clearer picture."

Sonia nods.

"Now, would you mind continuing? You have not yet explained how Liam Monfort turned the storm into snow."

Sonia nods again and continues.

------------------------------

At the hospital, Sonia was cleared by one of the doctors. No visible injuries, only exhaustion. She was given the option to rest at the hospital or return home.

She was still thinking it over when the doctor, apparently mistaking her hesitation for concern about the bill, added that she had nothing to worry about.

"Monfort Industries will be covering all bills." The doctor had said.

Which promptly settled the matter. Sonia decided she would rest at her hotel room.

"Are you sure, Miss Hart?" The doctor had asked.

Sonia gave a firm nod.

And just like that, she was discharged. Free to leave whenever she chose.

She was walking happily toward the exit when she saw the rain through the glass doors and stopped. She sighed.

How did I forget? The storm still needs to be stopped.

She turned around and headed toward Theo’s room.

As she neared it, she found Liam standing outside the door. Right arm in a sling, left hand gripping an IV stand. He was not moving. Just staring at the door.

Alright, Monfort. Standing outside a young woman’s room and staring like that is unsettling.

Sonia approached, ready to say something about it. She positioned herself behind him and tried to see what exactly he was looking at with such intensity.

She had been fully prepared to find something she could reproach him for.

Instead, Sonia’s breath caught.