The palace of Aberon was surrounded by many different yards and parks, in which people could walk all day long. Some of them were only accessible for the council members and other important people and some of them were only accessible for the soldiers of the army, like the drill yards which lied behind the palace. Swords hitting on swords and the sound of punch getting exchanged filled the dusty air. A few soldiers fought against each other while some people just practiced on their own.

One of them was a woman with shoulder long, wavy brown hair, which was tied to a loose ponytail in her neck. The whole weight of her fit body rested on her hands which didn't tremble a bit. Breathing out slowly she put her feet down to the ground and stretched her arms a bit as she stood straight. With a sigh she wiped the dust from her invisible gloves, which were a custom made only for her. They covered her palms and left her fingers free and were by far more comfortable than normal gloves because it felt like she didn't wear any.

Just as she wanted to continue practicing, she noticed that the other soldiers in the near of her stopped practicing. They bowed in front of the woman, which replied each bow with a gentle smile. Her confident appearance earned admiring glances from the male soldiers. The young woman bowed as well but the council woman raised her hand. “Really, Sora, you don't have to be so formal towards me,” said Yuri amused. “Didn't we grow up together?”

That was right, Yuri and Sora grew up together and the two were like sisters more than anything else. Nevertheless, Sora always tried to keep a certain distance when they were in public.

“Walk with me. I want to introduce you to someone.”

A bit surprised but not appalled by Yuri's request, Sora grabbed her her jacket, which hung on a pole and followed her immediately. “Can I ask you who do you mean?” Sora asked, her tone still very polite. Yuri rolled her eyes because she knew that Sora wouldn't stop being so polite to her, unless they were alone. “Secret. You will find it out in a few minutes anyways.”

They passed the surrounding parks over the main path, which led to the palace, where Yuri lead her into one of the conference rooms of the council. The person who waited for them was someone Sora didn't expect at all. “Yun- I mean, council member!”
Again, Sora bowed her head politely while Yunho broke out in laughter. “Sora, please. You really don't have to be so formal, especially when we are alone.”

It was a known secret that Sora knew Yunho and Yuri privately and many people envied her because of the close connection she had towards the two council members. Other people probably would have tried to take advantage of that connection to gain power, but not Sora. She never had any interest to obtain any kind of political powers.

“I still prefer to stick to formalities,” Sora admitted, her voice sounding a little bit shy in front of Yunho, who only let out a sigh, before his smile disappeared and a serious expression appeared on his face. “I want to introduce someone to you. Kai, please come in.”

Another door opened and a tall, handsome young man. Sora had seen him before but never up close... and she knew that she didn't like him at all. The arrogant shine in his dark eyes and the cold expression were so unappealing and unpleasant to look at. He was a lot taller than Sora herself and she needed to raise her head to look him into the eyes. He stared at Sora, glanced at Yunho, looked at Sora again, before he decided to sit down on a chair.

“Kai, this is Sora. Sora, Kai.”

There was no reaction c