"Um, Lady Erica, what did you wish to speak with me about?" Elincia asked as she and Erica sat around a table, eating a small snack. Behind the raven-haired sorceress was her faithful knight, Derek. Tiffania sat next to Erica, trying to mimic the sorceress's refined movements as she drank tea.

"Why, I thought that would be obvious, my dear," Erica said, smiling benignly. "I'd like to ask about your relationship with Caspie, of course."

Elincia squeaked. "M-my relationship?!"

"Indeed." Erica took a sip of her tea before continuing. "I was quite surprised to discover that you and he were acquainted, and I was even more surprised to learn that you are his childhood friend. It must have been quite the shock to see him after all this time. I bet he's grown up quite a bit since you last saw him."

"T-that is true." Elincia tried to cover her embarrassment by taking a sip of her tea. "He's become... very handsome, and strong, and confident." As she pulled the cup from her mouth, a smile tugged at her lips. "But he's still the same Caspian that I remember."

Erica's expression, the upward curve of her lips and the crinkling of her eyes, made Elincia feel self-conscious. This woman's beauty seemed to defy all natural laws. Elincia had never been the most confident person in her appearance, but just sitting next to Erica made what confidence she did have plumet.

"So, then, just what is your relationship with Caspie?" Erica asked. "Is he really just a childhood friend, or is he something more? It is all right. You can tell me."

"W-well," Elincia started, placing her hands in her lap and twiddling her fingers, "th-the truth is... I've always loved Caspian, ever since he and I first became friends."

"Ho? So, it was love at first sight?"

"U-um, no, not quite." Elincia struggled to find the words to adequately describe her feelings. "When we were younger, Caspian was introduced to me after I... left my home due to family issues. I had no one who really accepted me, and Lady Sylvia has always been somewhat impersonal. D-don't get me wrong. Lady Sylvia is very nice, but she didn't spend much time with me because she was always working. It was... lonely."

Erica stared at her, and Elincia suddenly felt very uncomfortable for some reason.

"A-anyway, Caspian was the one who took all that loneliness away. He was introduced to me about two months after I moved in with Lady Sylvia. I—during the time we spent together, I really grew to love him."

"So I see." Erica leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms. Tiffania, seeing this, also leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms. "I suppose love would blossom quite easily under those circumstances, and Caspie is quite the naive cutie. He definitely seems like the type of person someone such as yourself would become enamored with. However, let me give you some advice. It may be best if you don't allow yourself to fall in love with Caspian."

"W-what?" Elincia gawked at the woman.

"Now, do not get me wrong," Erica said, raising her hand to forestall any argument. "I am not saying this to be cruel. I am merely saying this because I know what lies at the end of this road. Love seems like a wonderful thing at first, but you must remember that Caspian doesn't have your lifespan. Even if he's not fully human, he's still not going to live even half as long as you. Falling in love with someone, only to watch as they wither and die, is a terrible fate that I would not wish upon anyone. That is why I am warning you right now: do not let yourself fall in love with him anymore. For a sorceress, love can only lead to heartache."

"You... have been in love before?" Elincia asked.

Erica's bitter smile made her regret asking. "I have been in love several times. The first time I fell in love, I watched as my knight, the man I had wished to one day marry, withered away like ashes disappearing on the wind. The second time, the person I fell in love with was killed during one of the dwarven rebellions. The third man I fell in love with died from a plague."

"I-I'm sorry," Elincia murmured. She felt awful for asking such a personal question. Guilt welled up in the pit of her stomach like a bad case of indigestion.

"Oh, please, dear, there is no need to feel bad." Erica waved off her concern. "All this happened a long time ago, and I've learned my lesson since then. In either event, I am telling you this to keep you from making my mistakes. There are few things I agree with Sylvia on. However, her decision to never become romantically entangled with anyone is the one instance where I believe she has the right idea. Trust me on this, sweetie, you'll save yourself a lot of heartbreak if you forget about becoming romantically involved with him."

Elincia wondered why this woman was saying this. Sure, Caspian wasn't a full-blooded elf, but he still had elven blood in him. When she and Caspian underwent the ritual together, it would bind their lives together for eternity, so he should...

She doesn't know that I'm an elf!

That's right. No one but Lady Sylvia knew of her status as a full-blooded elf. While the Sorceress Council had all been made aware of Caspian's half-elf status, Lady Sylvia had made sure to keep Elincia's status as a pureblood secret.

Elincia wanted to correct this woman's misunderstanding, but she dared not say anything. Lady Sylvia had been most adamant about keeping her origins a secret from everyone.

I wish I didn't have to lie to everyone. I feel like I'm doing them a disservice.

"I thank you for the advice, Lady Erica," Elincia started, knowing that she needed to tread carefully. "However, my feelings for Caspian already exist, and I don't think they're going to disappear any time soon."

"Is that so? Well, then, I guess there's nothing more that I can do. I've given my advice." Erica leaned back and sighed. "It's too bad. Cassidy is going to be quite upset."

"Cassidy?"

Wasn't that Lady Erica's maid? What did she have to do with this?

"Never mind," Erica said. "In either event, I can do nothing but wish you the best. I hope your relationship doesn't end in tragedy like all of mine have."

"Um." Elincia had no idea what to say to that. "Thank you?"

"You're welcome, dear."

As Lady Erica leaned down to wipe muffin crumbs off of Tiffania's face, Elincia thought about everything she'd been told.

Caspian had already told her a lot about Lady Erica. He'd mentioned his time with the woman, and how he was sure that she had lost people she loved, and how her inability to produce children had likely made her quite bitter. It was all just speculation on his part, of course, but listening to the woman speak, Elincia wondered if perhaps her friend hadn't been correct.

"There you two are," an imperious voice, filled with power and authority, spoke in a calm monotone.

Elincia froze. She craned her neck slowly, as if it had been rusted over, to stare at the two figures who stood naught two meters from her and Erica.

"Oh, my. If it isn't Sylvia, and I see you've brought your knight." Erica said, smiling. D'artagnan stood behind Sylvia, silent, his face appearing as if hewn from stone. "It has been far too long since we last spoke. How are you doing?"

"I am doing fine, thank you," Sylvia said in an even voice. "I would be doing better if you'd stop corrupting my Protégé."

Elincia sensed an argument brewing. She wanted to say something, but her tongue had become tied.

"Corrupting?" Erica's eyebrows shot up, as if surprised by the statement. "That is a bold statement to make. I would never corrupt such an innocent young woman. I was simply offering her my advice as her senior."

"Then please refrain from giving her further advice," Sylvia said. Elincia shivered. Even though the words were not directed at her, their coldness chilled her to the bone. "Now, then, you two must come with me. The others are waiting."

Erica sighed but stood up, lifting Tiffania and carrying the girl like a mother would her child. "Oh, very well. I suppose it would be rude not to grace them with my magnificent presence."

Elincia couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw Lady Sylvia twitch.

"Others?" Elincia asked as she also stood up.

"Indeed, the other sorceresses have arrived and are waiting for the meeting to begin. By the way, Elincia, you and I will be talking about how you ran off on your own without so much as a word of warning later."

"Eep!"

"Also, Erica..." Sylvia eyed the little girl who was now sitting on Erica's shoulders. "You need to leave the child here."

Tiffania seemed to understand that she was being addressed, because her next words were ones of protest. "But I wanna go with Big Sis Erica!"

Sylvia twitched.

"Hm, well, it would be awfully boring for her if she were to attend this meeting with me," Erica hummed. "Very well, then. Derek, please be a dear and take Tiffa shopping."

"As you command, My Lady Erica!"

"W-what?" Tiffania whined. "But I wanna stay with you, Big Sis!"

Erica lifted Tiffania off her shoulders and set her on the ground. Then she leaned down and placed a kiss on the half-elf girl's forehead. "Now, now, Tiffa, Big Sis is going to be stuck in a meeting filled with stuffy old hags. It's gonna be very boring, and I won't be able to play with you. Trust me, it will be much more fun to go with Derek. Plus, he can buy you some cotton candy."

The words were like magic. Tiffania's entire face lit up like millions of stars twinkling on a moonless night. "Really?"

"Really."

"Kay! I'll go with Armor Man!"

They left Tiffania with Derek, who let the girl ride on his shoulders as he wandered off to Axium. The last Elincia saw of the pair, Tiffania was tugging on Derek's hair as she laughed in childish delight.

***

They reached the place where the Sorceress Council was to meet.

Elincia followed Erica and Sylvia down several halls, taking numerous twists and turns, until they reached a small door. D'artagnan opened the door, and all three of them entered the room.

It was a circular room, not at all like the standard classrooms that littered Arcadia's Knight Academy. A round table sat in the center of the room. There were already several people present; two dark-skinned women with white hair and red eyes who looked like twins, a female who's porcelain skin was mostly hidden by a yukata, a woman who looked childish compared to the others, and red-haired woman wearing carpenter clothes that were covered in grease. Standing behind each woman was a man, a knight, and their appearance was as varied as the sorceresses.

"Well, now," one of the dark-skinned women purred, "look at who is here. I did not expect to see you, Erica Demonica de Angelo."

"If it isn't Aakarshaka and Aakarshana Nueva," Erica said with what Elincia thought was almost mocking good cheer. "How long has it been since we last saw each other? Seven, eight decades? As I recall, the last time I saw you two was when your knights tried to seduce me."

"The only one who did any seducing was you, ya damn witch!" the other twin shouted.

Erica's smile was patently insincere. "Now, don't blame me for your... shortcomings," she said, eying the woman's chest, which was notoriously flat. "It is not my fault if your knight prefers my appearance over yours and, as you might recall, I denied your knight's advances. What's more, I have never betrayed one of my knights while they were still alive. Do not presume that I would seduce someone because they were hitting on me."

"Listen here, you! I won't have any of your—"

"Be at peace, sister," the other one said.

"But Aakarshaka—"

"Erica is correct in this instance," Aakarshaka told her sister, Aakarshana, her voice unwavering. "The fault lied with our knights. It is because the men we chose were lustful and did not take their duties seriously that we lost them."

Aakarshana looked like she might protest, but after a moment of silence, she sighed and reclaimed her seat. "Very well. I shall let your previous injustice slide this once. See to it that it does not happen again."

"Of course," Erica said, still smiling.

As Elincia was bade to sit down at one of the empty seats, she recalled all the information that she had on the two twins. Aakarshaka and Aakarshana Nueva were from Moksha, the kingdom to the east. Aakarshaka was known as the Queen of the Undying Flame, while her sister held the title of Ice Maker. They were well known for their talent invoking powerful fire and ice spells, respectively, without the use of long arias. Elincia had heard that they could summon powerful spells with Ifrit and Shiva that would normally take ten verses with only five. She didn't know if that was true, but she knew that they were the two most powerful users of fire and ice Spiritual Evocation.

Looking at the others, Elincia found that she knew of them all. There was Karen Hildegarde, the famous inventor from Helheim to the north; Akane Minamotsu, a sorceress well-known for her talent with wind Spiritual Evocation from Takama no Hara; and Cleopatra Alias, the mysterious leader of Elysium, of whom little was known. Elincia had heard that she was the youngest person to ever become a sorceress, which explained why she didn't look a day over nine years old. These five women, including Sylvia de Floresca, made up the Sorceress Council.

"I'm pleased to see that you have all made it here," Sylvia said from where she sat. While there was no "head of the table," seeing how this one was round, Elincia couldn't help but feel like Sylvia was sitting at the head.

"Yes, yes, we've all come in time for the festival to begin," Aakarshana said in a bored voice. "Do we really have to stand on ceremony like this? Seriously, I would like to hurry this up."

"I must agree with with my esteemed colleague," Karen said suddenly, pushing up her fringe of hair with a grease-covered hand. "I saw many inventions down at the festival that I would like to look at. They would really help with my current research project."

"Is that all you ever think about?" Aakarshana asked. "Research?"

Before Karen could respond, Sylvia said, "I understand. Then let us try to move this meeting along a little faster, so that we can adjourn quickly. Before we begin, may I present to all of you, Elincia, the newest sorceress to grace our presence, and the one who this tournament is held in honor of."

At the mention of her name, Elincia stood up too quickly. Sharp pain jolted her knees and made her yelp. As giggles and outright laughter filled the room, she felt her cheeks heating up.

"Um, my name is Elincia. I-it's a pleasure to meet you all."

"Heh... Elincia, huh?" Aakarshana asked. "No last name?"

"Ah, uh, n-no."

"'Tis a pleasure to meet you, Elincia-san," Akane said from the other side of the table. Her long black hair, tied behind her head in a ponytail, swayed as she bowed her head forward.

"Um, likewise," Elincia copied Akane's actions.

The others greeted her, but Karen only gave an absent wave, busy as she was with what appeared to be schematics of some kind, which were laid out on the table. Likewise, Cleopatra, whose childlike appearance was offset with long blond hair and blue eyes, said nothing and merely nodded once.

"I take it that your selected candidates for the tournament are also here?" Sylvia asked everyone as Elincia sat back down.

"Of course," Aakarshaka said as she lounged in her seat like an indulgent cat. "I suspect ours are currently wandering the streets right now, enjoying the festivities."

Sylvia nodded. "Then let us move onto the next matter: the Sorceress's Parade. Elincia?"

Elincia jerked in her seat. "Y-yes?"

"As this tournament is being held in your honor, you will stand at the head of the procession. I shall go over the details with you later."

"Of course, Lady Sylvia."

As the discussion turned over to issues that she knew nothing about, Elincia tried to dutifully listen, but she found her mind wandering. It wasn't that she didn't want to be interested. She just couldn't understand a single one of the subjects they were speaking of.

I wonder what Caspian is doing right now, she thought with an internal sigh.