The days pass with little incident for the following fortnight. Annaliese visits Zorander often and tries to be as helpful as she can. One evening, she is standing staring at his bookshelf, lost in thought as he tinkers with an experimental potion for the King.

"Are you looking for something, Princess?"

She gives a small start. "Oh! Oh, no sorry I was just thinking."

"You could probably continue thinking NOT in front of the bookshelf, yes?" Annaliese notices he is very close and eyeing the books as well.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Zorander." She backs away to allow him access to his books. He chooses a dusty hardback and carries it back to his table across the room.

She stares after him for a moment and then starts, "I was just thinking my birthday is next week and Ashlyn is planning this grand party and she wants to invite a lot of new people she has been meeting since she started courting Prince Dominick and..." She trails off. Where in the world would she go with this? She sees his hands stop moving and his body tense slightly. In his usual smarmy tone, "Yes, yes and you're telling me this because..."

"I was just thinking there will be a lot of people there I don't know and it would just be nice to know I have friends there too..." Her cheeks feel hot and she knows she is absolutely pink. She turns back to the books and pretends to casually flip through them.

"Then you should invite friends of your own. Really, Princess Annaliese, you are a bright girl. You didn't need MY advice for that..."

"No I know it's just since Claire started dating this prince from Castillia and Edeline is really more Ashlyn's friend than mine. My circle of friends isn't that vast..." She is droning and she knows it. She hears herself keep talking as she continues to study absolutely nothing about the books.

She finally finds her conclusion and spits it out, "... so I was hoping you would come as my guest because really you're kind of my favorite friend!" She bites her lip and her eyes squint closed.

The silence is deafening.

Across the room, Zorander is still turned away from the girl. He turns his head and starts to quip one of his usual remarks. I'm not your friend, I'm the Royal Sorcerer. I'm sure I will HAVE to attend your little party to do parlor tricks anyway. If you insist, afterall I just live to please the royal family...

Except when he turns his head all the way around. Still turned away, she has glanced over her shoulder. Her lips slightly parted and her eyes soft as a doe. The pink blush in her cheek deepens when he looks her direction.

He turns back and picks up a vial as casually as he can manage, "Of course, Princess Annaliese. I wouldn't miss it."

Annaliese turns away again and picks up a book. Any book. It doesn't matter. "Thank you, Mr. Zorander, it will be much more fun with you there."

The grin remains on her face for a full day.

The party to celebrate the birth of Princess Annaliese of Dulcinea is to be a huge affair. This event in particular, making her 16 and acceptable for courtship and offers of marriage, is much more than the typical party held in her honor. This is more about the kingdom, and to an extent, surrounding kingdoms, than it is about the princess.

Annaliese on the other hand, is far less concerned about the evening than the departure of her sorcerer. It weighs on her mind and with each day the moment draws closer. She was still attending to her royal classes and keeping other social engagements. But every other moment is spend with her sorcerer. Occasionally she convinces him to venture to the gardens to gather herbs, flowers, and other potion ingredients. But mostly they stay in his tower. They speak more as the days wear on. Zorander opens up when he begins to discuss magic and what he will soon embark upon with the council. Annaliese asks a great many questions, hungry for more information about magic in general because she loves it, but also desperate to know more about Zorander and how he will spend his days once he is gone.

When the afternoon of her birthday arrives she is where she usually spends her afternoons. She notices the sun starting to dip behind the tower.

"I guess I should head back to my room to change. The party is starting soon and guests will begin to arrive."

Remembering the party, the feeling of anxiety roils inside him. "Oh yes very well I will..." He pauses and swallows a little. "..I will see you at the party then."

Annaliese smiles as she removes her robe and places it back on the wall. "You shouldn't wear your robe tonight either."

He glances at her, "Why ever not?"

"Because you're coming as my friend, not the Royal Sorcerer. You are officially off duty when you walk into the ballroom."

The thought of this type of event with a lot of trumped up royals tends to bring back that old bitterness. He mutters, "yes well wouldn't want anyone to think I am there for their amusement."

"Except mine of course." She grins a slightly devilish grin. It feels delicious to tease him. With that she turns and leaves.

The comment alone might have passed over his head but that mischevious look... that was unmistakable.

Be careful, Zorander. Her little girl crush is a good way to end up in the gallows. He thinks to himself, having picked up on some of her flirtation over the past days. She might be "of age" to the Kingdom but never for a servant of the realm.

Still she had been very pleasant company. It's hard to know what lonely is until you have someone come and sweep it away. He did not relish the looming fact that he would be leaving his only companion very soon and, if she is courted and if someone won her hand in the coming years, this might be his last few weeks to enjoy the life she brings to his dark tower.