I scowled as I put on my robe, a white, silken thing with elaborate metallic frills that chimed when I moved. It was a gift from a lady I had courted once, a memento of easier times when I had fewer responsibilities. A glance at the mirror in my room showed me that I looked as weary as I felt. The efforts of the past week had taken a toll, and I had only today to see to a number of things before I prepared to travel.

I sighed as I took one last sip of wine from the goblet and turned to head downstairs. There, I would be holding court. Something I had no desire to do.

I would much rather finish reading the tome Baron Froom had provided me detailing what he learned of the planes. The spellcraft to create portals of quartz was described in a way I could easily replicate, yet his notes also indicated the lack of land to settle on in the territory he had claimed. Lack of arable soil as well. It was an interesting problem that he presented. Even if we could move the citizens of Sena through, how would they live?

That wasn’t all I would rather be doing. New possible experiments excited me. The [Petrify] spell was much more interesting than I realized when I first cast it. I had found an inner doorway that led to the spellform that would reverse the hex, and now had several stone animals in my laboratory.

They didn’t age while petrified, and if I figured out why, that could lead to the answer I needed for my longevity research. That I only found the time to study it for a few hours felt like a glass of wine just outside of my reach.

But I had other responsibilities that needed attention, despite my lack of enthusiasm. So it was with a feeling of dull acceptance that I proceeded down to my first floor.

There, on either side of my stairwell, stood my two new assistants. Both were dressed in shimmering yellow robes with white sashes around their midriff, a new uniform my brilliant seneschal had selected. The fashionable, uniformed garb was very much how I desired to see my assistants clothed.

Mage Orwell stood to the left of the stairs. He was a third-tier [Hydromancer], a worn-looking man in his forties. Leather skin and a balding head told the tale of his harsh life lived as an adventurer. On the other side stood Mage Drina, a rare [Aeromancer]. She was a younger woman, in her mid-twenties, who had served in Sena’s Mage Corp until she chose a tier advancement they didn’t agree with. The reduced combat potential of low-tier [Aeromancers] was a notable detractor on the field of battle, given the high mana costs for most of their available spells.

Her dismissal from the military didn’t hurt her attitude, though, as she was more than eager to learn. The enthusiasm for magic that she displayed was incredibly refreshing to me in a way I didn’t know that I needed. If only all my future students possessed the same drive.

Lilly’s decision to not pursue magic had bothered me more than I had known myself. That she took off without a word to anyone two days later was even more troublesome. I had been tempted to track her down myself, or send someone to look after her, but I consoled myself with the knowledge that she was an adult. Between the magics she learned from me and her brother, she was more than capable of defending herself. Whatever charm magics she may have learned from Rhaela the Red would only make her travels that much easier. If she chose to return, I would welcome her with open arms.

I feigned a smile and a nod of greetings to the council that stood around my table. Kine, in his finest robe, was speaking with the sister of Elora, Shaelra. Loralie stood nearby, though a few feet away, as she listened to their conversation but didn’t participate. With a reserved step, I made my way to stand beside my chair. It worked well enough as a signal, and soon the three others stood in a similar manner. Our guest today was royalty, and some formalities were required. I gave the nod to Fentworth to bring in our guest, and he slipped quietly out the front door.

It was then that I saw Philipe peeking his head around the corner from the stairwell that led into the bowels of my tower. He had a worried expression on his face, and his eyes darted around as if he were unsure if he should participate. With a small gesture, I called him forth. The man, now also dressed in a yellow robe with a white sash, hustled around the edges of the room until he stood a little behind me.

Despite breathing hard, he leaned in and whispered, “Master, there’s a problem in the dungeon.”

I was immediately alarmed. A problem could mean anything, and right before our guest’s arrival was the worst time that something like this could happen. With the amount of magic power situated in the mana crystals and dungeon core, a small problem could cause an explosion of mighty proportions.

“Go on,” I said through clenched teeth, keeping my face still.

“The, uh, the mushroom men are fighting, master. With each other,” Philipe’s worried tone was flush with uncertainty. He’d been the one I assigned to monitor the dungeon this week, so no doubt he feared he had done something wrong. Perhaps he had. Though, more likely, whatever was happening downstairs was a natural progression of their society.

I nodded, “Very well. We’ll see to it when we are finished here. Now stand back against the wall, between those two windows there.”

Philipe quickly took his position, and just in time, too. The doorway to my tower opened, and my seneschal entered in a stiff, formal walk.

Following him was a young man of maybe thirteen years. His fine silken attire was adorned with gemstones and gold that left no doubt to who he was. Though, if it had, then his royal unibrow would have resolved the question. A burly royal guard, and a servant in finer clothes than any servant I had seen followed behind him to stand at his left and right.

“Now presenting his highness, Grethrus Sena, Sixteenth Prince of Sena,” Fentworth announced to the room.

Yet before any could respond, the prince's head darted to my seneschal. His servant, a woman with finely curled hair and a powdered face, stepped in and whispered into Fentworth’s ear.

Fentworth, disciplined as he was, made no outward expression before he bowed. First to the prince, and then to me, “My vast apologies. His highness is currently the Fourteenth Prince of Sena. Please forgive this humble servant his error.”

The prince sniffed in disdain and lifted his nose as if he were too important to say a word. It was an impressive amount of arrogance contained in such a small gesture.

I gave a wan smile and interrupted before the child decided to demand my servant’s head, “Greetings, Prince of Sena. What brings such an important figure to my small holding?” I doubted it was truly anything important. I doubted the king would send children for important work.

The prince looked my way with an irritated expression, and then proceeded to walk around my first floor.

His gaze took in my assistants, the council, and then spent an overly long time looking at the geometric shapes I had patterned into the room. He even bent forward to inspect the firepit and the elemental lizard within.

“It is a nice building you have here,” he finally said. His voice was plagued with the annoying crack that came with puberty, but he didn’t seem to care at all. “If it were placed in Sena City, I would purchase it outright. Perhaps I will have one made in its likeness when I return.”

I wanted to sigh. I truly did. His statement was a compliment and an insult wrapped in one, and it took a surprising amount of willpower not to simply dismiss the child. Yet, I didn’t.

I wasn’t certain of the reason for his visit. If the royal family were aware of his personality, then it could be that they wanted to provoke my ire to have reason to move against me. While I didn’t fear assassins or armies, I did fear an interruption in trade. Having full stocks of wine was important. So, I waited, with a smile on my face.

“You know, when my uncle, the King, spoke of a mad wizard in court, it intrigued me. The way he described it, I pictured in my mind a mighty wizard hopping about and screaming of snakes in the ground. I laughed at the thought. Yet, here I stand and you aren’t as funny.”

My desire to sigh had been replaced with a desire to scold, and I felt my tolerance decreasing with each word he spoke. It wasn’t necessarily his words, though those were belittling. It was the sound of his voice that grated on me. The mixture of a child’s maturing voice and arrogant tone made it painful to my sensitive half-elven ears. I tried to console myself that he didn’t have control over it, but that made it worse.

So instead, I began to consider the various projects I wanted to complete. I had two additional Authorities that I could choose from, but I feared that choosing one now might lead to limitations in the future.

“—I did enjoy the view of the waters around your tower—"

The gains from choosing Earth were already apparent. I could easily choose another field that would have a direct impact on the Hydra that were coming. Yet what would happen when the Age passed? Would the immediate choice of something to fight the Pestilence limit my future options? It seemed likely.

“—The leaping waters and the shimmering fish. What kind of fish were those? I didn’t recognize them, but I’m sure I could arrange them to be caught—”

The worst conundrum was my longevity research. I didn’t even know what field of magic that spell would fall under when it was complete. Nature? Life? Yet, isn’t life magic in the realm of the gods? Wouldn’t they object? I certainly didn’t want that kind of attention.

“—The flower whores were a bit excessive, yet the novelty of them is unique, more than I have seen even in my uncle’s menagerie.” He kept talking while he investigated the etching in the stools and table.

I found my patience worn thin. While possibly accurate, calling my nature elementals ‘flower whores’ was wildly crass. While I kept the irritation from my voice and face, I did interrupt him, “Prince, what is the purpose of your visit?”

I watched as his face twisted in anger at the interruption, but the child managed to get it under control. He turned to me and straightened his back. Light from the firepit caught on the rings on his finger as he lifted and pointed it at me. He tilted his chin up so that he could look down his nose at me, and then he spoke.

“Wizard, I am bored. Entertain me.”