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Reguna still listened, but had covered his face. He wasn't confused, no, he understood perfectly. Rakil was…okay with this. He looked back up at her, his violet eyes looking into her green ones.

"You…don't want to change back? Rakil…" He shook his head. It was hard enough to accept that Rakil was now a woman…but that he wanted to stay that way sounded absurd. "I know being a knight means having a lot of…responsibilities, but you can't possibly tell me that want to give it up. Have you no pride?" He asked.

He then looked to the fire, immediately regretting his words. He bit his lip before daring to give a glimpse back up at her. "I'll…I'll help you undo this drought if you really think you can end it…but after that…I'll find a way to change you back."

Was he uncomfortable with Rakil being a woman? Why? Rakil had every right to be who he wanted to be, so why would Reguna care? But…He looked to Rakil now and had to look away. A woman. He rubbed his jaw, his eyes cast down. Was it still called brotherhood? Reguna didn't know their relationship could be considered the same, with what Rakil having a…bodice and sorts.

Reguna didn't know that he felt this way. He certainly didn't voice it. Reguna always thought that Rakil wanted to be a knight, but to know that Rakil felt differently…Reguna was hurt that Rakil did not feel the need to him of his discomfort. Was he not his close friend? Did he think Reguna would not care? Or was too much of a prince to tell him of his inconveniences?

He noticed Rakil staring at him. Now he decided to be honest. Reguna shook his head and looked back to the door to think over his thoughts. Reguna was embarrassed to hear Rakil's dislike for not being a slave. If only had Rakil said something of his unhappiness to Reguna…maybe he would've have had such difficulties, maybe he wouldn't have felt so alone.

Alas, Reguna look at him. "If you please, Rakil, then I don't really have a choice in your orientation. I have the same fear, when I am finally able to see you again even though you are…a woman." He nodded, now sure of his decision. "And I will aid you any way I can," he stated, though with an almost solemn tone. He would try to be understanding.

Although it seemed like nothing had changed, like that of three years ago, Reguna was reminded of the smallness of Rakil's hands. It unnerved him, though he said nothing about it besides his face making a slightly odd expression.

"I can make that happen," Reguna murmured quietly, in a low voice. He looked to her now, his eyes downcast. "But again, the majority of reports of magic users that the government knows of are dead. The rest are imprisoned or unknown; magic users and the government don't necessarily go hand in hand. The best we could do is find the location of a magic user's base and see what we could find. But even then, we would only be left with whatever was left behind at the time. We had soldiers sweep through those locations and get rid of anything that seemed harmful or taboo and had those materials burned."

He paused before getting up from his seat. Reguna looked down at Rakil. "But that red hair will be problematic. It's easily recognizable. After all, the first time I met you…as a woman, I thought of you." Reguna slipped off a ring from his middle finger as he said this. The ring was of a dark stone, an enchanted item that he had picked up from one of his little explorations of the market. It had nearly cost him a fortune, but it made sneaking out for his outings a lot easier. His hair, which was once a dark sable, seemed to melt away, returning into a light gold. It shimmered, as it usually did and gave him a certain radiance that ensured his blood as royalty. It was a little long, since Reguna had kept away from cutting it, and had been tied back by a plain blue ribbon. It was probably just as eye catching as Rakil's red hair, but Reguna would rely on the cloak he had brought with him. He often used a cloak to sneak out before he had obtained the ring itself. So he didn't mind lending out the ring temporarily.

His long flaxen lashes hugged at his cheeks as he blinked; Reguna was certainly as beautiful as he was when he was younger. Besides his hair being a bit longer, and a bit of age and tiredness to his face, he hadn't changed much. Reguna looked at Rakil softly, offering the ring to Rakil in the palm of his hand. "You can use this. It's useless besides the fact that it turns your hair black. I don't think anyone will recognize you like that," he suggested.

Reguna made a face similar to a pout, ignoring her flirtation. Something about Rakil, his brotherly friend, flirting with him as a woman unnerved him. Reguna moved to the shielded door covered in light, looking at it with little thought. "I don't think anyone will recognize you. We'll have to be fast though, so as not to attract attention," he said. He then turned to the now raven-haired Rakil. He motioned for her to lower the barrier, pulling up his cloak around his head to cover his golden hair.

Magic was something new to Reguna. He had only seen it rarely, never conventionally either, so he was slightly uncomfortable with the idea. He hesitated to open the door, touching the knob lightly. It felt like a regular door to him and he felt silly for thinking differently. He opened it, holding the door for Rakil before leaving the library quickly. He kept his eye out, hugging the cloak to his person as he stepped out into the street.

He made sure Rakil was close behind before moving forward. He would take her through a back gate. It didn't attract as much attention, though it was still guarded. Everyone knew Reguna snuck out often, so his return never kicked up much of a fuss with the guards of the back gate. It was stopping Reguna from sneaking out that was the problem.

After taking a few side streets, the back gate loomed up ahead. Reguna beckoned Rakil to stay close to him. Surely, the young king bringing an unknown woman through the back gate would raise some brows, but there was a lot more at stake than just a few rumors. He took her arm, keeping her by his side as they passed. He lowered his cloak, revealing his hair and face. He gave the few guards a piercing glance. They bowed immediately, refusing to say a word about the young king's…companion.
Once inside, Reguna gave a relieved sigh. "We'll need to hurry, so as to not attract much attention." Rumors spread like wildfire in the palace. They were headed towards the palace library, which held the kingdom's archives and records.

Reguna was glad Rakil understood.

He moved along quickly, his cloak sweeping the floors of the hauntingly dark halls. Since the death of Reguna's father, the palace corridors became a place of shadows.

The library was empty. The librarian no longer tended to the place, having mysteriously disappeared after Reguna's father as well. Reguna could remember inquiring about the loss of their librarian. Many things had been lost after the old king's death. But for the librarian to have disappeared? Since then, the only people who entered were only the palace inhabits, the senate and other government members looking for something in particular, and, well, Reguna himself. He spent quite a deal in the aisles of books. He was a large fan of reading fables and legends and mythologies. They tended to lead him away from the busy days he couldn't else escape from.

He was surprised when Rakil took his hand, but let her take it willingly. He was then led to the back, towards the archive section of the library. And then to the records of magic users. Reguna loosened his hand from her grip once there, glancing up at the shelf of books. He looked to Rakil, who was looking through the records. Reguna turned back away, rubbing his chin as he thought.
Perhaps they were looking in the wrong place? Reguna moved to the other side of that section, aided by the candles that Rakil had lit with a mere wave of a hand. He took in a deep breath, dust and musk filling his nose.

Right. Reguna reached out towards the shelf, plucking a binder-looking book from the shelf. "Maybe we should start here? A dossier of all the magic users that were found before the death of my father. We shouldn't need recent reports, if we're presuming that this is all connected to the death of my father. And then we could get a better idea of who we should be looking for under the curses section."

Reguna looked through the book he had in hand, but found it not very useful. He would need to look into it about fifty years in the past. He figured that'd be a large enough allotment of time. He reached out for the next book. These records went by decade, so that would make about five books worth of names. He looked to Rakil for help as he flipped through names, their locations, the crimes they had committed, and for a general report of what was found.

Reguna was too bothered by reading the records to notice Rakil's findings. He leaned on the side of the desk, flipping past pages and dog-earing potential users. It wasn't until he noticed that Rakil had stopped moving and his breath had quieted did Reguna look up.

His eyes adjusted to the dark, and then they widened. An…assassin? Intruder? Thief? Reguna moved forward, reaching towards the sword at my side.

"Who goes there?" He asked with some authority. Reguna doubted they'd say anything, especially if they were aiming to kill them. He didn't draw his sword, but made it known that he was armed.