Kendrite naturally absorbs light that can be tapped into for later use. However, a mage can increase the rate and total amount of absorption by meditating with the kendrite.

Mallory didn't know what to do. Chad and his friends seemed nice enough, but the rumors about them were getting worse and worse, and she didn't want to get involved with bad company. The latest rumor that said that a couple of weeks ago Chad, Jet, and Quartz had attempted to mug a relative of the Prince, only for the Prince himself to arrive and put a stop to it. It was said that afterwards, the Prince sent everyone present away and personally punished the trio. The rumors differed greatly on what kind of punishment they had received, but they all agreed that as a result of the event, the trio were assigned an escort for all non-class times. The unlucky escort, as the rumors put it, was none other than Selena Yellowborn, who was chosen for her part in stopping the trio during the incident that happened over the fall equinox. There were many words of sympathy spoken about “poor Selena” in the telling of the rumors, but no one seemed to actually care all that much.

Mallory had heard about the incident with the Prince from Chad and Jet themselves shortly after the event had occurred. She had eaten several meals with them, Quartz, and Selena over the last couple of weeks when her schedule didn't allow her to eat with her friends Hillary and Marcel. Hillary and Marcel who had come to the Academy at the same time as her and had also just become apprentices that quarter. According to Chad and Jet, Jet had been the one who was attacked by Lord Stanley Lesterly. Chad had stepped in to help and together they had overcome the attackers. The Prince had made his appearance then and rebuked Lord Lesterly. Then, afterwards, the Prince took Chad and Jet aside and said “nice to meet you, have a good day,” and that was it.

Now, it was pretty obvious that Selena didn't just spend time with the trio because she had been assigned to. She really seemed to enjoy herself around them. So, that part of the rumors was definitely false. However, there was the issue of the Prince taking them aside to talk to them. Mallory couldn't believe that the Prince would pull aside two nobodies just to say hello. She was sure that Chad and Jet had left something out; she just didn't know what. So now she didn't know what to do. Should she keep on spending time with them? She was trying very hard to just be a good student and not stand out too much. Also, they were significantly older than she was. On the other hand, they were fun to be around. Even though she knew that they hadn't known each other for very long, the natural way that they talked and laughed together was very appealing. To make things even more complicated, her friend Hillary wanted to meet them.

Hillary always knew the latest rumors and wanted to get involved with the subjects of those rumors. Until this latest rumor about Chad, she had been going on and on about who the Princess might be. She was constantly reporting to Mallory and Marcel who the most likely candidates were. The speculation started with almost every girl under 17 who became an apprentice that quarter. The last that Hillary had reported, it was down to four probable candidates; three had become apprentices that quarter and one was from the Summer quarter. They were all rich young women of mostly unknown origins. Their flaunting of wealth is what made the four “Princesses” stand out as the most likely candidates. However, to Hillary, that was old news. She had now moved on to Chad and his friends, and Mallory knew them.

“Please, please, please, please, pleeeeaaaaase!” Hillary was saying while scrunching up her face in what Mallory assumed was an attempt to make puppy eyes. “Please can you introduce me to them? I have always wanted to meet miscreants!”

“No, you haven't,” cut in Marcel with an exasperated sigh. “You have always wanted to meet somebody famous. You just don't care what made them famous.”

“Well, even if you say that, if you look at it from a certain point of view, I have always wanted to meet a miscreant, as long as they are a famous miscreant. Ha!” replied Hillary. “So, when can I meet them?” she added, turning back to Mallory.

“Hill, you might have always wanted to meet famous people, but I have been trying very hard NOT to get into any sort of trouble or have my name associated with people who have.” replied Mallory. “I wasn't even sure if I was going to continue meeting up with them.”

“Oooh, but she is this close to finally meeting one of her idols,” said Marcel as he held up his forefinger and thumb, almost touching them together.

“Shut up, Marc!” said Hillary. “It's not like you don't want to meet them yourself. After all, their escort is Selena Yellowborn.” She emphasized the last two words in a sing-song manner.

“That is irrelevant,” said Marcel, giving Hillary the cold shoulder. This put his bright, red face right where Mallory could see it.

“Then why are you blushing?” asked Mallory. This brought about a roar of laughter from Hillary.

“Besides,” added Hillary when she was done laughing, “wouldn't it be rude to stop showing up all of a sudden without telling them why?”

Mallory looked at her skeptically and asked, “Are you saying that because that is what you actually think or are you just looking for an excuse to meet them?”

“Both?” replied Hillary.

“You're probably right,” said Mallory. “Okay, I will introduce you to them if they are at the dining commons when we go to dinner tonight. But please remember that they aren't how the rumors make them out to be. They are just normal people... mostly.” She said the last word under her breath.

“Oh look! Mallory brought little friends for you.” Jet said to Quartz, when she saw Mallory, Hillary, and Marcel approaching them. “Finally some nice young people so my baby brother has somebody his own age to play with.” Mallory didn't think this was the best way to start off this introduction.

“What do you mean baby brother!?” returned Quartz. “I am 16!”

“Yes, and I am 20 and Chad and Selena are 19. It's about time you had friends your own age,” Jet jeered back at him with a mischievous smile.

“Oh, so does that make you an old hag? Well...”

“Hello, I'm Chad. It's nice to meet you.” Chad said, extending his hand to Marcel and Hillary, ignoring the continued discourse between Jet and Quartz.

“These are Marcel and Hillary, you can call them Marc and Hill.” said Mallory. “We were wondering if we could join you all for dinner tonight.”

“Of course,” said Selena, “The more the merrier! It's a pleasure to meet you Hill and Marc. I'm Selena and those two jabber bags,” indicating Jet and Quartz, who were still arguing, “are Jet and Quartz. Feel free to ignore them whenever they get like this.”

During the whole of the introductions, Hillary and Marcel had been staring open-mouthed, alternating between the siblings and Chad and Selena. When the introductions were finished, they gave Mallory a look that she interpreted as “what did we get ourselves into?”

Early in the morning on the next day off, Princess Magnolia was making her first regular visit of the quarter home to the castle to see her family. She was leaving before dawn and would be returning after dusk. She had been making at least three of these visits a quarter since she had started at the Academy. In the past it was much easier for her to come and go when she wanted to, but with all the rumors about her this quarter, she had been worried she wasn't going to be able to go home for awhile, maybe not even at all this quarter. However, now that Chad Lawrenceson had taken the spotlight from her, she was risking leaving the Academy to see her family and hopefully ask her cousin, Prince Lance, about the incident with Chad Lawrenceson.

There were only three people at the Academy who knew who she was: the Overseer, Prince Lance, and the Prince's bodyguard Lord Curtis, Baron of Past. While the Prince and Baron didn't actually live at the Academy, the Princess kept them on the list of people who knew her identity because they were there daily and the Prince had a teaching position within the Academy. Because she didn't want anybody else finding out about her secret, she always got help from the Baron whenever she came into and went out of the Academy. In the past, she usually met him outside the Academy gates, but this morning she didn't want the Academy guards to see her leave, even in her regular Academy disguise.

At the appointed time, there was a tap on her third floor dormitory window. She opened the window and stepped out. She had already locked the door. Her foot came in contact with an invisible ward which lowered her gently to the ground. When she reached the ground, Lord Past seemingly appeared out of the shadow of a nearby tree.

“Good morning, Curtis!” said Magnolia.

All that she got in return was a brief nod accompanied by “your highness,” which was then followed by “come.”

Magnolia liked Lord Past, but she often wished he spoke more. She didn't push the matter this time though, because she knew that he was using kendrite to cast the wards that were keeping them hidden from view and the sooner they got to the castle, the less time he would have to spend re-energizing it.

Lord Past wasn't officially a mage. The only color of light he could tap into was indigo, so he was never accepted into the Academy. However, Magnolia considered him a wizard. When it came to wards, he was amazing. If you could think of a use for wards, he had a spell for that, from fist-sized spherical wards used for offense, to wards of concealment like the one he was using now.

They were able to get to the castle without anyone noticing them. Upon their arrival, Magnolia headed straight for Prince Lance's chambers. Lance informed her about the results of the equinox event, which she had missed because she had gone straight to the Academy to try and avoid arousing suspicion, which hadn’t worked anyways. This naturally led to Chad Lawrenceson's involvement and his later meeting with the Prince.

When they were done talking, it was time for breakfast, with almost a whole day left before she had to return to the Academy. However, Magnolia wasn't able to enjoy it as much as usual because she spent the whole day thinking that she needed to be friends with Chad and wondering how she could make that happen.