“Who would choose uneasy dreams to don a crown when all the kingly sway can be enjoyed without?”

- Sophocles, Oedipus Rex

The day after the attack in the study of Magister Illimen.

Magister Illimen leaned on his desk with both arms, his grey hair fell past his tired face. “Calvin?”

“Yes?”

“Did you get Jamila at least?”

“No.”

“For lack of trying?”

“No. I did not have the time. She was with the Nordmarks and I had to keep the undead in check. There were some pretty competent necromancers on the enemy side.”

“And that is a perfectly valid excuse.” Illimen sighed. “I really would have liked to have this problem solved and buried at least. Now it's highly likely that she will avail herself of the coming amnesty and we will have this viper still buried in our fine academy.”

Calvin at least had the grace to look aside.

“No matter. How are the students? Did we have casualties?”

“Yes, sadly there were several students caught in the fighting who probably thought themselves better prepared than they were. We have seven dead and more than three-score wounded.”

“And the teachers?”

“Better. There haven’t been any casualties but we have several wounded staff.”

“I will make time in the afternoon to visit the infirmary. How is the situation with the void mana corruption?”

“Difficult. Because of all the death and void-magic use the contamination became a whole lot worse. We had to set up cleansing rituals around the infirmary to make healing the wounded safe.”

“How long until it disperses?”

“I spoke to Carmen just an hour ago and she said it might take one or two months.”

Illimen tilted his head and looked incredulous. “You did not misspeak? Months?!”

“Yes, that’s what she said. I asked twice to be sure.” He coughed, “She was quite irritated with me.”

“That is a problem. The situation is unstable as it is. If we have any void-related accidents in the Academy we will face serious opposition from disgruntled nobles. And the princess and her aunt don’t need more problems.”

Calvin coughed into his hand.

“What is it? Out with it!”

Calvin looked conflicted, “As you know we have not had field training in months…”

“Field training? Now?”

“Let me finish.” Calvin spoke firmly, “The annual field training is normally done in autumn but because of the bad weather we postponed it. We could simply say we planned to do it after the Exhibition- to keep the students in good shape for the public displays. And now that the Exhibition will be prematurely ended we simply carry on with business as usual.”

“And avoid the whole void contamination.” Illimen tapped his fingers against his chin. “But the weather has turned worse and the usual areas are in the north near Hundred-Streams.”

“It can count as one of the hazards we are training for. And secondly, the winter weather will cause rarely seen magical monstrosities to appear.” His eyes brightened at this prospect.

Magister Illimen looked a bit taken aback at that, “And that is a reason- for- going?”

“Mh.”

“I can see your point. Normally the weather would have warmed by now and the only places where you get to see frost wraiths or cold-adapted magical beasts are far to the north.”

“Mh.”

“If you answer in monosyllables one more time I will make you part of the clean-up detail.”

Calvin coughed, “Please don’t. My earth and water magic are quite far beneath the required standard.”

“So we plan this excursion as soon as the less injured students have been discharged from the infirmary?”

“I think that would be best.” Calvin nodded.

“What will you be doing?”

“I will apply for leave. I will have a look at the Nordmark lands. This whole fiasco would not have been possible without their help and they would never simply hand power to the prince without some safeguards. I would really like to know what cards they still have up their sleeves.”

“Mh. Take care. They might be busy reducing the damage they suffered but that does not mean they won’t be vigilant.”

“I know. I have some experience in that regard. So don’t worry.” He grinned at Illimen.

The next day in the palace.

Lieseleta looked at the small hand mirror and then decisively turned it face-down on the table. Her eyes were still slightly red and puffy, even with healing magic and the pallor of her skin was thinly disguised with expensive make-up. She sat beside Heloise in the small audience hall and waited for the next noble to enter. They had decided to enforce the swearing-in of the nobles who had been present for the aborted rebellion as part of the amnesty.

She was still not officially crowned but there was precedent- On the battlefield at least. Lieseleta could not suppress a wry smile. And as some of the nobles that had stood on Carl’s side had quietly slipped away towards their holdings time was of the essence. Now she had the option to enforce an oath they would take pains to avoid in better times.

Heloise patted her hand and raised an eyebrow. Lieseleta understood and composed herself.

“Baron Elbrian von Zugbrück-Rucktal.” The herald slammed the reinforced haft of his staff on the specially prepared tile- no one wanted to exchange expensive marble tiles once per audience.

“Enter please.” Lieseleta gestured for the older man to come forward. He sported a small paunch but had clearly once been a warrior and still maintained a well-muscled physique. His hair was cropped short and he wore a large grey-blond mustache.

“Your highness.” The man bowed according to his rank and Lieseleta gave him a small smile. Some of his peers had tried to express subtle disrespect by not giving her – just- what was customary.

Heloise spoke at this moment, “Elbrian. I think we can dispense with unneeded ceremony seeing that it's you. Swear to Lieseleta and the crown.”

Grey eyes fixed on her golden ones before the man nodded and got on one knee clasping both hands over his chest.

“I swear before the good gods, led by Gesserach in his just wisdom…”

The oath was long and thorough and as he finished he waited still kneeling.

Lieseleta rose and spoke the answering oath, “As your liege in the eyes of the pantheon I swear to honor you as my vassal. To protect and nurture you in times of surplus and in need…”

And then the ceremony was finished and Lieseleta said, “Rise mine vassal and bring prosperity to Margrinar and us both.”

Heloise looked at the baron as he rose from his kneeling position and saw the small wince as he put weight on his left knee. “Elbrian?”

“Yes, regent?”

“Heloise- when we are not in public. How come you were on the side of the Nordmarks.”

“I did not choose a side. My fiefdom is, as you know, the furthest to the northwest and near the springs feeding into Hundred-Streams. I had petitioned the court repeatedly for military aid- Without results. The raids by the tribes living in the mountains have intensified. They are displaced by the growing might of Ulsolm and seek food and shelter. Which I understand but cannot condone at the expense of my people. So I found another ally.”

“The Nordmarks.”

“Exactly.”

“Why did you not ask me for help?”

“I did not want to presume.”

“Do you have to leave for your lands soon?”

“I can make some time, but no more than a week. If the weather gets worse I cannot return to my hall and that would be disgraceful with things as they are.”

“So it is. Please await my summons.” Heloise leaned back and waved in dismissal.

“Your Highness.” He bowed towards Lieseleta who had remained silent throughout the exchange, “Regent.” He bowed towards Heloise who smiled wryly and then left the hall.

The curtains shifted with his passing and some light played over Heloise’s face reflecting from her metallic eyes.

“What was that about, aunt?”

“He was a friend from my academy days.” She grinned. “Sometimes I think the Academy is more about forging connections like this than studying.”

“A good friend?”

“Why ask?”

“Only a whim.”

Heloise closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, “He might have wanted more at the time but I was never interested. Satisfied?”

Lieseleta blushed and looked down.

Her aunt shrugged helplessly, “You cannot be that innocent, can you? Let us continue. In the afternoon you will have a short while to rest and recuperate. You invited Alea von Graufurt? A good choice. Her display of light-magic as well as her pedigree- not too high and not too low- are simply perfect. Perhaps when she finishes the academy she can be one of your court magicians.”

The princess nodded with a complicated expression.

Heloise gestured towards the herald to continue.

“Viscount Ottokar von Hundredstreams…”

In a coach on the way to the palace

After having helped the day before the girls had gone to bed early and slept late the coming day. The afternoon arrived swiftly and Alea and her two friends had come to the palace driven by Adam who had bitterly regretted remaining in the townhouse on that fateful day. He had wanted to be available for the use of Adelaide, Alea’s grandmother.

Before the palace crowds of people had assembled and the atmosphere was tense and unfriendly. Rumors abounded in the city about the unchecked threat to the northwest. Undead roaming the streets at night and a government headed by those only driven by self-interest. The noble prince, a hero, killed by his sister while trying to save the people.

There were voices of reason too but the lurid portrayals of treachery appealed to the masses still frightened by the attacks. So the rumors flourished even as the official heralds decried the lies told by the agitators and the patrols rounded up the worst offenders.

“Did you hear the drivel they are spouting?” Mireille looked disgusted. “They paint black as white and sell it as a holy revelation.”

Alyssa looked at her and hugged her arm. “Don’t get angry over it. Lieseleta will put a stop to that and she has Heloise to help her.”

“Mh, yes.” Mireille shivered. “That woman frightens me. She always looks like she would bite my head off.”

“Perhaps because you are always goofing off when she is looking.” Alyssa admonished.

Adam exchanged a few words with a royal guard and showed them some papers. A female blonde guard walked up to the coach and looked inside comparing their appearance with the writ of passage. She then knocked on the side of the cabin and called, “Everything seems to be in order you can enter. There will be a more thorough inspection when you reach the palace proper.”

The coach rocked a bit as the horses began to pull forward again and soon they reached the royal stables with a side door used for less important guests...or if you wanted to avoid the limelight.

Alyssa helped Alea out of the coach as Adam looked after the horses. Mireille rubbed her arms and walked back and forth briskly. “Brr. Coooold. Let's go inside, please!”

“Wait a second. There was another inspection coming?” Alyssa looked around and saw Kettra walking toward them.

Alyssa waved at the knight and grinned who returned the greeting with a lazy wave of her own.

“What are you standing around here for? Come inside or you will freeze fast.”

“My thoughts exactly!” Mireille enthusiastically agreed.

Entering the palace through the side entrance they saw a large barren corridor with utilitarian stone paving and a perfunctory attempt at ornamentation on the walls. The ceiling was nearly four meters high and it was still cold if no longer freezing. Cyrus- too big for her shoulder- was accompanying them by walking- some hopping and gliding were also involved- and was quite quick about it.

“Good to see you.” Kettra smiled good-naturedly. “Jera bade me get you. If the queen-to-be wants to see you it would be a disgrace if you ended up waiting a few hours while everyone checked you thoroughly. There were some words about possible problematic augmentations? Her gaze brushed over Alyssa’s arm and face as she said that.”

Self-consciously Alyssa pulled the sleeve of her shirt to better cover the crystal embedded in her forearm and looked a bit nervous.

“Don’t fret about it. Many of the more prosperous or successful knights have some ‘edge’ be it alchemical, magical or even part construct.” Kettra shrugged. “You fought on and for the right side. Lieseleta and Jera trust you. So I do too.” She grinned.

They reached more richly appointed areas and soon the spartan décor gave way to columns adorned with leaf of gold and colorful paintings. Vases and statues stood in tastefully arranged nooks and crannies. Servants in expensive uniforms and maids in frilled dresses walked by with a brisk purpose.

Finally, they came to a corridor ending in a wooden door before which stood two royal guards. Jera nodded a greeting and then knocked. After receiving an acknowledgment she opened the door and gestured for the girls- and one wyvern- to go inside. “I have my duties so sadly it's goodbye for now. Until we meet again.” She smiled and closed the door behind them.

Pale wintery light fell through two big windows facing a secluded garden covered in snow. Statues stood between hedges and evergreen bushes. A covered walkway surrounded the central area.

The floor was covered by a thick carpet that was soft enough that their feet sank to the middle of their shoes. A table dominated the middle portion with several upholstered chairs. Paintings showing pastoral scenes of shepherds and small farming villages gave the chamber a gentle air.

A steaming pot of tea with several cups besides cookies and some cake completed the picture.

Lieseleta was leaning her face on her left hand while clasping a cup of tea with the other and looked outside as they entered. Alerted by Jera who had let them in she stood up in a hurry and a bright if a bit tired smile lit up her features. “Alea!” She walked quickly around the table and then, while bending down, hugged the petite girl.

Alea was a bit flustered but with the training in such matters that Alyssa and Mireille especially had put her through returned the hug and softly patted Liseleta’s back. The older girl seemed exhausted and in poor spirits.

“Lieseleta, good to see you safe,” Alea whispered.

“Hello! I am so glad to see you have all your limbs intact.” Mireille grinned.

Both Alea and Lieseleta flinched a bit at that.

“Sorry for that!” Alyssa grabbed Mireille and pulled her to her side. “We thank you for the invitation.”

Jera looked on wryly and said, “I remember that her highness allowed you to call her by her first name but she is the uncrowned queen and as such please be careful how you address her in the future. Especially in public, I might add.”

“Jera!” Lieseleta pouted, “Please don’t spoil this for me. We can be as formal as you want in public but this here isn’t.”

“I know your highness but they might not realize that a younger princess and the queen of the nation are a completely different matter. I apologize if I overstepped.”

“We can talk about that later.” She hugged Alea tightly before letting go. “Do you want some tea? Some apple juice? Cider? There are also cake and cookies.” Her smile looked wan but heartfelt.

“Yes please.” Mireille looked at the cake and cookies eliciting a laugh from Alyssa and a grin from the more sedate Alea.

“Sit down, all of you.” Lieseleta gestured before walking to her seat and sitting down herself.

The room was pleasantly warm, courtesy of a small roundish copper contraption that emitted waves of heat and was festooned with dials and levers.

Alea looked at the machine with interest.

“Oh, you like the elemental heater? It’s not a new thing but you cannot only use it for heating it also cools in the summer too. Quite a practical appliance.” The princess answered the unspoken question. “If you like I can send one to you as a gift.”

“That would be too much.” Alea shook her head.

“Nonsense, if I can’t enrich my friends- at least a little- what am I the queen for? I insist!”

“Mh. Then I will thank you.”

“Is it rude to eat a cookie before the princess eats one?” Mireille pondered a serious question.

“No, please eat. I have already had my fill and quite enjoy my tea.” Lieseleta grinned. “It’s not been that long that I could talk to you all as often as I wanted and now I am kept like an exotic kind of bird. Not uncommon- I know- but the Academy was a veritable paradise of freedom in comparison.”

Jera cleared her throat. “And you were nearly killed.”

“At a birthday party, I would have attended even as a queen.”

“...with much better security.”

“Don’t always try to have the last word.” Lieseleta pouted in an overdone manner eliciting a grin from her taciturn guardian.

“No your highness, I will endeavor to leave at least some last words to you.”

“You did it again!”

Silence returned to the room as the girls poured tea and took some cake, cookies- or both- to eat on their plates.

Alea hesitated, looked closely at her friend, and then asked.“How are you...really?”

The princess-turned-queen looked at her. “You cannot be sad all the time. That I have learned from all of this. Mostly I immerse myself in work and all is well but then I walk down a corridor and see a painting of my brother, I sit at the dining table and forgetting myself want to ask about my father’s day and troubles. And then I cry for no reason, no reason at all.” Tears gathered in her blue eyes and with a hasty gesture, she dabbed at them with a handkerchief. “Please excuse me.” She looked to the side and a few tears dripped from her chin, her eyes hidden behind her golden curls.

Alea stood up walked around the table and put her hand on her shoulder squeezing softly.

Jera repressed a sigh.

Cyrus arched his long neck and looked at all of them before waddling over to the princess and lying his head on her lap.

Alyssa looked at Mireille who had a whole cookie stuffed in her cheeks making her look like a hamster. The redhead shrugged helplessly and hastily chewed and swallowed.

“I really looked forward to seeing you all today.” Lieseleta turned to them again stroking Cyrus and giving Alea a grateful look. “I will be even busier in the coming days so I can only see you about once a week for an hour or so. I hope not to trouble you with this.” She looked uncertain.

“Don’t be so polite with us.” Mireille gave a smile marred by a piece of chocolate stuck to her cheek. “You are our friend and if all you want from us is to talk and listen we will damn well do that!”

Jera choked a bit at the expletive.

Lieseleta grinned. “Thank you.”

“Do you need anything else from us?” Alyssa took the initiative to ask.

“You have to be careful. It is probably well known who was more closely acquainted with me so it stands to reason that some would try to benefit from your closeness with the queen-to-be and some could try to harm me by harming you. So I reiterate- Be careful and don’t believe too quickly if someone has a sudden change of heart. On the other hand, if you have an easier time fitting in because of our friendship I would not care too much to dispel such notions.” The last was said while looking at Alyssa.

Alea looked at the princess worriedly, “Do you get enough to eat? You look thinner than the last time I saw you.”

“I assure you the palace kitchen tries to make me fat to the best of their ability. I simply lack an appetite at the moment. It will come back in time I’m sure.”

“Should I come live in the palace with you?”

Lieseleta looked a bit conflicted for a moment as she heard that. “As much as I would love to have you, you should try to finish your education. I will have some tutors do the same for me, but I will have to drop out, and that does not mean you should do the same.”

“You will leave the Academy?” Mireille looked surprised by that.

“I have to. It's too dangerous. The academy cannot allow the same security measures that the palace employs to guarantee my safety so it is highly inadvisable to try.” She sighed again.

“Mh. Isn’t your regent responsible for the ruling and administration?” Alyssa asked.

“But one day I have to do it too, so it's best to learn as much as possible until the day I have to stand on my own two feet. Our roles were much different in the past and my brothers were more heavily schooled in warfare and politics. I had the leisure to look at the fine arts, logic, and philosophy. And this deficit will have to be resolved.”

“You have it bad.” Mireille looked at her with pity in her eyes. “It was such a good day when I no longer had to study spells I couldn’t use! Learning useless and boring things is useless and boring I say!”

Lieseleta laughed at that. “I fear that there is a use in the boring things I have to learn so they are merely boringly useful things.” She smiled.

The hour passed quickly and Lieseleta seemed to regain a bit of energy and cheer.

“I hope to see you again soon but it might be next week before I can make that happen.“ She looked regretful.

“That’s really too bad the cake was fantastic.” Mireille looked at the empty plate longingly.

“Other than the food it was good seeing and talking to you. Perhaps we can play some games the next time?” Alyssa tried to move on embarrassed by her friend's gluttonous comments.

Alea smiled and took the initiative to hug Lieseleta. “We will come back when you have time. We have more of that than you do at the moment. Be well and if you need something don’t hesitate to contact us!”

Leaving the palace the sky had taken a reddish hue and the sun stood close to the horizon. The days were growing shorter and as the carriage clattered over the cobbled stones a flight of griffin knights rose from the castle their wings shone red as if dipped in blood.