Circe had only managed to free her mouth when a bright flash of white light brought a small flying creature in front of her, but her eyes were covered in shock and fear and she bled from her nose and mouth as she strained to break apart the ice imprisoning her body.

She barely noticed the dragon looking at her, and after it was bored with her struggles, the dragon yawned before flying towards Suriel, after a few tentative movements to touch the Angel, he settled on his shoulders and growled softly in enjoyment as the heat from the Angel’s wings and body penetrated his scales and he fell asleep, the trauma from changing his body still made Vraegar weary.

With this move, Rowan had gathered all his interests in one place, just as he intended.

Circe was not a fool, growing up with Nana had been one of the best periods of her life but also one of its most challenging. She drove her towards setting higher standards for herself and pushing her to continue striving to develop her powers, even after she fell from grace as a genius not seen in ten thousand years, the only way she went through that patch of darkness was with the aid of Nana.

Her father was from a relatively average family, far from the circles of the powerful members of the Boreas family, he was a modest and kind man who married early and served under Nana as a Medical Officer. Circe had no memories of him. He died from an ambush by Demons, and when her mother heard the news, she went into shock and died a short while later. She was three months pregnant when she died. Circe had no memories of her either.

Circe was a stillbirth and her potential was cut short because of this event, but even with such a harsh birthing circumstance she was already at the Incarnation State, and her story shook the Boreas Family for a short while. If only she had been allowed to develop for the 23 months that was normal for Royal Children, she may have emerged in the second circle. Circe would have become a genius that would shake the Empire.

She was not properly supervised and that led to an attack by assassins, where she was grievously injured, and her heart was torn away from her young chest.

The man who was assigned to take care of the budding genius was Myrcelle Boreas and when he took the news to the lord overseeing her care at that time which was Rico, he was devastated, and at great cost to himself he sacrificed his heart to save her life, she had always been grateful for that gift.

Nana took her in when she was seventeen after years of neglect and abuse by her Family, taught her everything she knew and made Circe a leader, when Nana became injured, she retired under Rico and took Circe with her, and she had been serving Rico as the manager of this land all this time.

The loss of both of these pillars was driving her towards the edge of despair.

Rico’s choice to leave the convoy when there were clear indication that it was an unwise decision was his own to make, Circe had spent all her life repaying the favor Rico did for her, and she would give up her life for his sake, and she felt intense guilt that Nana was the one to take her place in search for him instead. Why would she do that? If anyone could survive this cataclysm, it would be Rico, he was at the second Great Circle.

If they were both going to die, then she would join them, as she had no one else, and life without Nana was not something she was willing to continue, besides the planet was done for, her commission would be scrapped, and a weakened Dominator like herself would be shopped into the grindstone of war.

She pushed so hard against the ice that her collar bone snapped, and she screamed in frustration. But then her fingers touched a series of rough spots inside the ice, and when she paused and investigated closely, she realized that they were words.

The writings were familiar, it was Nana, she must have carved them into the ice when she was sealing Circe. With each word, she read, Circe began crying, and when the ice melted away, and she collapsed and curled up on the floor and a bright light flooded the entire convoy, she still wept.

Nana’s voice seemed to narrate the words she wrote again and again inside her head.

“My dear girl, forgive me for the actions I am taking, they may seem confusing to you at this time, but remember the tenets I lived by and what I taught you. There are many things I cannot tell you now, but I want you to know that I love you with all my heart, and my absence from your side is the expression of that love.

No matter how much it hurt to leave your side, I could not bear to remain when a chance came for me to do the right thing. I should have done this a long time ago.

There is so much I want to tell you and so much I would like to show you, but my cowardice was a shackle over my soul, but I shall do what needs to be done.

You have earned your right to a justice long denied.

I know you are a practical woman who would dig till the ends of the earth until you get answers, so do not worry, I have those answers in a Safety Box on the Planet Beorryn.

Go to Namorra Inn, and ask for Mydas, she would give you the Safety Box and all your answers would be found within.

Trust no one Circe, even your family, and if you see me again… Do not trust me.

I love you, my sweet girl. Forgive me, I was afraid for too long.”