There was silence in the chamber, the marum walls glowing faintly, books lay in their shelves, various devices whose purposes could only be guessed at were strewn about, and a mess of papers on a desk—left as they were when Azorin left. And then, a communication crystal began to blink, it wasn’t long before it caught the attention of Zofiar. He relayed this to Ieros who went to investigate, descending the levels of the Tower to the study and entered.

He answered the crystal which promptly issued out its message.

“His Majesty the King has cordially invited Sir Mage Ieros to tea tomorrow directly at noon. Please be sure to dress properly for the occasion. That is all.”

The crystal dimmed as Ieros made a mental note of that, yawning as he returned to the upper levels.

Tea? Zofiar snorted, What do you wear to tea?

Atarum said, I would guess more formal attire, speaking of which, you really need more robes Ieros.

Ieros let out another yawn.

“What do you mean?”

Atarum said, You’ll be going outside a lot more now, you can hardly go out dressed in the same robes every day.

Zofiar snorted.

And what’s wrong with that? I did that back in my day and no one ever said a thing.

Atarum retorted, You mean that the Tower doesn’t have a memory of it. I’m sure outside there have been some opinions on your choice of attire.

Well, what do you know of fashion? Zofiar inquired, In case you haven’t noticed, you too are limited by what the Tower remembers.

Atarum replied, Well that’s strange, the Tower seems to remember an abundance of robes in my closet, and I changed regularly, which must mean I was doing it to forge better opinions.

Zofiar snorted.

And that’s why you were the inferior Headmaster, too busy caring about what others thought rather than magic.

Atarum retorted.

And you were a senile old man who holed himself up in the Tower and never bothered to watch over the Academy you built!

The soft click of the elevator door closing temporarily put a stop to their argument as Ieros returned to the upper levels. He took a seat at his desk, picked up a pen, and stared at the notebook before him. Minutes passed as he just studied it before he dropped the pen as he leaned back in his chair. A few more minutes passed and then he sighed, sitting up straight as he pulled his notebook closer to him. His hand fumbled for the pen as his eyes reread his writing, found it, and brought it to the page where he began writing once again.

And so time passed like this, with intermittent breaks of nothing, which Zofiar and Atarum knew by now not to disturb. They just kept watch as Ieros did his work through the rest of the day and throughout the night, occasionally offering pieces of advice here and there.

Then morning came and passed, and soon enough, noon approached. Zofiar interrupted Ieros’s brooding to remind him of the schedule, forcing Ieros to relinquish his pen as he went to prepare for tea with the King. He dressed in his ceremonial robes once again, smoothing it with some wind magic and finally, pulling on his hood. With a goodbye to his two mentors, he left the Tower, his heart beating slightly faster at the prospect of heading out.

And once again, he found himself in the main building, following a path which he had grown accustomed to, although it was a bit strange to walk it with so many others around. Their eyes followed him but Ieros did his best to ignore them. Some even bowed, which made Ieros a little embarrassed but once again, he ignored them.

He longed to run but stopped himself, forcing himself to walk at a moderate pace, acutely aware of each and every step he took. He only relaxed once he was outside, taking a breath before he ignited his blood, letting his mana permeate the surrounding air before willing it to lift him up into the sky.

Once again, eyes followed him but this time, Ieros did not need to hold back, purposefully using more mana to propel himself faster than he normally flew, soon leaving the Academy behind as he sped towards the Palace. In a few minutes, he arrived at the Palace, slowing to a stop before he began to descend, alighting before two incredulous guards.

One of them managed to muster up the courage to demand his business, to which Ieros replied, “I was invited to have tea with his Majesty the King.”

“Excuse me sir mage but I am required to ask, do you have proof of invitation?” the guard inquired.

Ieros shook his head, saying, “No I-”

Suddenly, a voice shouted, “Oh it’s quite alright, he’s with me!”

They all turned to face the source of the voice, a youth dressed in princely attire, with a rather imposing Knight following close behind. The two guards immediately saluted.

“Your Highness!”

He just nodded, his blue eyes focused on Ieros.

“Sorry about all that, the guards really should know better than to stop you of all people, I’ll be sure to have them punished.”

The guards paled but did not lose their composure. They instead turned to Ieros and bowed their heads, apologizing for their behavior. Somewhat confused by this sudden turn of events, ieros just said,

“I don’t think there’s any need to punish them.”

The Prince blinked.

“But they disrespected you, to do that to any mage, much less the greatest mage of our generation is to ask for punishment.”

Ieros, after a moment, said, “Well, I did not feel disrespected.”

The Prince nodded and then turned to the guards.

“Be grateful that the generous Sir Mage has decided to spare you two.”

The two guards bowed even deeper this time, thanking Ieros who just nodded in return.

With that done, the Prince gestured that Ieros follow him, saying, “Anyway, you’re here to meet my father right? Come with me.”

With no other choice, Ieros went to follow, intending to follow behind but the Prince insisted on walking side by side so he accepted that too.

As they walked, the Prince asked, “So how did it feel?”

Ieros paused and then turned his head curiously. The prince explained,

“Well you know, what does it feel like to fly?”

“Oh,” Ieros took some time to think, slowing down his pace—the Prince matching it, “Well, very free, I guess. It’s... kinda hard to explain but, there’s nothing that anchors me up there, nothing that chains me down.”

The Prince mulled that over, as they walked.

“I would very much like to experience that. As powerful as I am down here, it just comes with so much responsibility.”

“Then is it hard to be a Prince?” Ieros ventured.

The Prince shrugged.

“It has its ups and downs, I enjoy wealth and great food, entertainment too. But I also have to prepare to be King, I must learn our history, be educated in many subjects, learn the strategies of war, and so on and so forth. A much different life to yours, I imagine.”

Ieros nodded.

“Yes, mostly I devote myself to my research. I don’t really have to do a lot of other things, other than the time I participated in the Magus Tournament.”

“It was a very impressive display,” the Prince said, “You certainly caught everyone’s attention I’d say, especially in that final match. Tell me, what was the purpose of that circle?”

“Oh, that?” Ieros replied, “Well it was a spell circle designed to gather ambient mana so I could use it.”

The Prince blinked.

“But I thought you had an abundance of mana already?”

“I do,” Ieros admitted, “But I wasn’t confident enough to win with just that against five. I guess that having lived with so much mana, I never really thought about being careful in using it. Since I couldn’t fix that in a week, I decided to look for a way to get more mana, which I did.”

“Simply ingenious,” the Prince said, “Although, I suppose such a solution is only available to you.”

Ieros nodded.

“Unfortunately, yes, and even for me, it takes a lot of mana to prepare. That’s why I’ve been researching how to make a more efficient spell circle, although work on that has been slow since there is already just so little information out there.”

“Ah, so that you can have more mana to use in a fight, impressive.” the Prince admired.

Ieros shook his head.

“Well, I guess that is one reason but, I just want to do it. I want to find a way to make it better, for the sake of making it better.”

The Prince blinked.

“For the sake of making it better, truly, you are a strange person Ieros.”

It was Ieros’s turn to blink, although his hood’s shadow gave no such indication.

“I beg your pardon?”

The Prince explained, “Well, it’s just that everyone I have met so far has always done things for their own personal gain, that was their primary reason for doing almost anything. But you? You just do it for the sake of doing. Not even Azorin—”

He paused as they reached their destination, the tea room. Two servants opened the doors and the Prince walked in, the Knight taking his position by the door as the Prince took a seat at the table.

Ieros joined him, the Prince asking, “What type of tea would you like?”

Ieros said, “Well, I don’t really know a lot of teas so I’m fine with anything. But I thought I was going to drink tea with his Majesty?”

The Prince waved his hand dismissively.

“My Father is busy with a meeting, took longer than he expected so he sent me to welcome you.”

He then looked away and called, “Two silverleaf teas and some pastries.”

A maid nodded and went to carry out the request, as the Prince turned back to face Ieros.

“I see, when will he be finished?” Ieros asked.

The Prince shrugged.

“I don’t know, shouldn’t be for too long. But, as I was saying, not even Azorin does things without first considering his own benefits.”

“Oh,” Ieros then explained, “Well I do that too, I even did that with your father when he asked for a favor. But, when it comes to things I enjoy doing, I do not consider the objective benefits.”

“I suppose that makes more sense, so it seems you are more human than I had thought.”

Before Ieros could ask, the maid returned, wheeling in a cart with the requested tea and snack. She first poured for the Prince, and then for Ieros, set the pastries and the teapot at the center of the table.

Once she finished, the Prince said, “Leave us, we are not to be disturbed.”

She bowed and wheeled the cart out, closing the door behind her. Ieros turned back to face the Prince but he was already drinking his tea, so Ieros too picked up his cup. From the depths of his hood, the faint glow of his silver irises broke through as he studied the amber liquid, somewhat surprised to find that the tea possessed concentrated mana.

He studied the faint amber liquid, brought it to his face, catching its faint scent. Intrigued, he brought his nose even closer as he savored the aroma. And then he finally took a sip, which, almost conversely to its slightly sweet odor was almost tasteless. But, he didn’t dislike it, there was something there, but it was just too vague for him to get a good grasp of it.

He took another sip, it grew stronger and then faded, another sip doing nothing to increase the flavor. He figured that he had to let his tongue “forget” the taste so he set it back down, for now, returning his attention to the Prince who had been staring at him.

“Is the tea to your liking?”

Ieros replied, “It wasn’t... unpleasant.”

The Prince chuckled, “You don’t have to spare my feelings if you didn’t like it.”

Ieros said, “Well I do not dislike it, it’s just that I don’t know how to describe what it was like.”

The Prince shrugged, taking another sip of tea.

“So, what did you speak with my father about?”

Ieros thought back to his meeting, saying, “Hmm, well he asked me if I liked anyone, to which I replied no. Then he asked how long I had studied at the Tower, which I told him, and then he spoke ill of Azorin. I asked him why Azorin hated him so much and he—”

“No not that,” the Prince shook his head, “I mean why did he bring you there, what was his reason?”

Ieros said, “Oh, it was to congratulate me on my victory, although after that he talked about the balance of power between himself, the nobles, and the Academy.”

The Prince sat back in his chair with a sigh.

“No doubt, he’s asked you for your help. Did you promise it to him?”

Ieros said, “I guess I did, but it wasn’t a full-fledged promise.”

After a pause, he added, “Azorin told me to be careful of making promises but I also didn’t want to outright refuse the King.”

The Prince frowned.

“What do you mean by ‘wasn’t a full-fledged promise?’”

Ieros explained, “I just said that I would consider what he wanted me to do, and if what he gave me in return was worth my help, I would give it.”

“Is the same offer applicable to me?” the Prince asked.

Ieros pondered it for a moment, finally saying, “I see no reason why it cannot be.”

The Prince clapped his hands.

“Excellent! Now, I don’t want to overstep so quickly but, I would like a favor.”

The Prince studied Ieros, noticing him shifting position in the chair before Ieros answered, “And what would that be, your Highness?”

The Prince directed his attention to his tea, musing over it for a few moments before he placed it back down again, the faint steam growing ever fainter.

“My father... is a clever man. It’s how he’s managed to become a good King. I admire him for it, but... I aim to be a great King. And to do that, I need powerful support. I haven’t had as much time as my father to build relations with powerful allies so I was wondering just what to do. That is, until the day Azorin revealed you to the world.”

The Prince then looked at Ieros, staring at where he thought Ieros’s eyes were, saying, “I would like to have you as my first powerful ally. In return for your help, I will promise what support I can give. As a Prince, no, as the Crown Prince, I am able to provide you much. For now, my father will be able to provide more, but he is old, I am young. In the long term, I am the more profitable investment.”

There was silence as the moments passed. Eventually, Ieros reached for his tea, which had cooled somewhat, the temperature having changed the tea’s flavor, or at least his perception of it. Very curious, but for now, an unimportant area of study. He placed it back down and turned to the Prince, hesitating for a moment.

Finally, speaking slowly and succinctly, he said, “So... Do you wish for me to serve you and only you?”

The Prince tilted his head as he thought on his answer, eventually replying, “Not precisely. What I want is an exclusive contract, in which you grant my favors and mine alone. Of course, should you have anything you want, I would be more than willing to grant it.”

He sat back.

“So, what is your answer?”