“Imagine you have eight apples”, I said, “You’re sitting in the garden with both of your parents and your big sister. How many apples does everyone get?”

Medea furrowed her brows. In front of her were eight shadowy blobs in the approximate shape of apples. I had a tiny tendril connected to each one from my talons.

“That’s one for me, then one for Mama, then one for Dad, then one for Lira, then… one for Fio!”

“I don’t eat apples. Skip me.”

“Right. Umm, one for me again?”

This time she glanced at her usual teacher. The elderly woman nodded.

“Okay. One more for Mama, one more for Dad and the last one for Lira. Done!”

“And how many apples does everyone have now?”, I asked.

She glanced over the table, her well-sorted shadow apples lying in an orderly arch.

“Two!”

“Correct. Never forget the question you were asked while you are looking for the answer.”

“Oooh!”

The teacher nodded.

“Those are wise words, Miss Fio. May I ask where an owl learned mathematics?”

I turned my head.

“In school. Of course.”

“Can I go to the same school?”, the princess asked.

“No, Medea. That school is impossible to get to. Even I can’t go back.”

“But… how did you come here?”

“With my wings. But I still can’t go back. It’s complicated.”

“Explain!”

“I would like to hear that story as well”, the [Queen] said.

I glanced at the three people sharing the room with me. Gregor had given up on keeping an eye on me and went to inform the [King] of his changed opinion.

“Well…”, I said, “It’s… not really something I like to talk about.”

“Why not?”, Medea asked.

“Because there are some bad memories. But if you promise me to keep it a secret, I can tell you about it.”

“I promise.”

She pumped her fists.

I looked at the [Queen] and the teacher.

“What?”, Morrigan asked.

“You have to promise, too.”

The two women shared a glance. Then, the [Queen] nodded.

“Very well. I promise I will keep your secret.”

“So do I”, the teacher added.

“Good. So… the school I went to was for humans. Because I was human. But then I died and woke up in this world. That’s why you can’t go there, Medea. It’s impossible to do while you’re alive.”

“But how?”, she asked, “You’re alive, so how can you die?”

I clicked my tongue.

“In my old world, there was a saying. My people believed that when humans died they were reborn as owls. And when they died again as frogs. So owls and frogs were sacred animals. They might be your ancestor, after all.”

“Will I also become an owl?”

“I don’t know. It’s not impossible but the chance is very low. A friend that knows more about those things told me I was very lucky to keep my memories.”

The [Queen] shook her head.

“That seems rather implausible. I truly do not understand.”

“I don’t really get it either”, I said, “It’s just what happened.”

“And you have a friend that knows about death that intimately?”

“Yup. Here, let me show you something.”

I dove into my Core and activated [Eldritch Shift]. Metallum, vitreus and ordo pushed into my body and within ten seconds I had turned into my metal self.

“Amazing!”, Medea clapped.

“Is that… thaumium?”, the [Queen] asked.

I nodded.

“I see. I can not say I fully believe you. Be that as it may, I will keep your secret to myself.”

“Let’s continue the lesson?”, I suggested.

The teacher nodded eagerly. Her face had gone white.

I made sure to shift back. We continued for another few minutes making Medea more comfortable with handling numbers. Then, the door opened and Alex walked in, her mask back on. Hera and Circe were right behind her and a castle maid was holding the door.

“Fio!”, Circe called out.

My friend ran up to me and gave me a quick hug.

“This was so cool! We met the [King]! Can you believe it?”

I clicked my tongue and looked at Morrigan. The woman had to wipe the smirk from her face.

“Yes, Circe, I can. That was the plan, after all. Let me introduce you to my new friends. This is Medea, the second princess. That’s her teacher. And that is her majesty [Queen] Morrigan Eterios.”

Circe blinked. Medea was pouting at her.

“You’re hugging my friend. Fio doesn’t like hugs!”

“Eh?”

Circe took half a step back.

“I know? That’s why it was only a short hug!”

“Mm. If you know, it’s good.”

Alex stepped up and inclined her head at the [Queen].

“Greetings, your majesty. I’m Alexandra, a visitor from the Dwarven Hills.”

“Welcome to Eterios, Miss Alexandra. I hope you have a pleasant time.”

My friend glanced at her maid.

“It’s been a little mixed if I’m honest. Ran into an ambush shortly after leaving Trade Town.”

“I see. I am glad you made it out alive.”

“Thank you.”

Medea was blinking at the living fortress.

“You’re cool!”, she said.

“Your Highness”, the teacher said, “Please use the proper language so we can understand what you want to tell us.”

The girl turned around and slapped her hand together in an apology.

“I’m sorry. What I wanted to say is, you are amazing. Is your skin the same as Fio’s was?”

Alex looked at me.

“I showed my [Eldritch Shift]. And I talked about my school.”

“I see. Yes and no. I am always thaumium. I can change it to feel like flesh and blood but it will never be.”

She removed a glove.

“See? Try touching my arm.”

The princess carefully approached. At first, she only put a finger on the metal but then she gathered her courage and placed her whole hand on Alex’s wrist. I could see the thaumium bent underneath her touch.

“So cool”, she said.

“Medea”, her teacher began.

“I know”, the princess said, “I wanted to say it’s cool. Oh. Now it’s getting warm.”

“I can adjust my temperature as needed”, Alex said, “But it takes vis to heat it up to what would be normal for a human.”

The girl stared and kept groping.

“I can not overlook this infatuation, Medea”, the [Queen] said, “What do you plan to do?”

She quickly retracted her hand.

“Can we adopt them?”, she asked.

Circe sputtered. Alex and I shared a look before laughing. Hera seemed a little miffed.

“No, Medea, that will not be possible.”

“But I want to play again!”

“Then you will have to find a solution.”

“I…”

The girl fidgeted with her dress while looking at the ground, deep in thought. It took almost five minutes before she looked up. A questioning expression was on her face which soon turned into a bright grin.

“I know! Fio, Alex… and Circe. I, Medea Eterios, hereby invite you to the royal palace to come play whenever you want!”

I heard a groan from the door which was pushed open just a moment later. Gregor stepped in.

“Are you serious, your highness?”, he asked.

“Yes. Absolutely!”

The man looked between our group.

“Your highness”, Alex said, “I can not accept that unless you invite Hera as well.”

The princess looked at the maid that was suddenly trying to hide behind her dress.

“Okay. Hera as well. But she is your maid? She is always with you?”

“She is her own person. Her Class may be best at serving me and we have a contract for her work but she can decide to do her own thing whenever she wants.”

“Oooh!”, the princess stared, “That’s so cool! Mama!”

“No, Medea. That is their decision. We will not change our policies.”

“Fine”, Gregor said, “If you would follow me?”

The group started down the corridor, the only one left behind the teacher grumbling about a lesson cut short. Gregor led us down into the basement where we passed through several bronze doors. All of them were loaded with vis. With every step through, the energy around us got more intense until we made it into a somewhat cramped cellar. A large node sat in front of us, held by a node stabilizer. It would easily let someone reach major enrichment and a Core or Affinity. The aspects were sensus, terra and aer.

There were a few relays spread out along the walls, energy flowing towards them. Complicated structures of brass and thaumium and even some greatwood guided the flow to create the wards covering the palace.

“Here we are”, Gregor said, “All of you, please line up there on the wall.”

He indicated five brass plates set into the ground with a slot for a vis crystal in front. I walked up and investigated. The plates looked to be designed to draw on the essence of anyone standing above. There was only a tiny bit of space for it to go where it would be sorted and stacked into a clear pattern. Then, the energy would be sent to the crystal slot.

Gregor placed a minor crystal in four of the plates and told us to stand on them. I observed how an imprint of my essence was copied onto the crystal and then sealed away. The process only took a few seconds. The [Spymaster] gave the crystals to the [Queen] who brought them to a panel in the opposite wall. She opened it up and placed our essence imprints in a row with several others. One part of the wards was connected to it.

“So this is your real security system”, I mused, “Quite interesting.”

“Correct”, Gregor said, “You four will be permitted to pass the outer barrier of the palace any time. You will not be able to let others through and you will not be able to enter the royal quarters without permission.”

Medea ran up and patted my wing.

“Now you can come to play all the time!”

“Thank you”, I said, “I’ll be travelling a lot, you know?”

The girl pouted.

“But I will make sure to come and play whenever I’m near.”

“Okay! You come too, Alex!”

The living fortress nodded.

“I will. But I’m much slower at travelling.”

“That’s fine”, the girl grinned, “I’ll come visit you when I grow up!”

“Do that. I’ll be waiting.”

We soon left the ward room and made our way back up into the palace proper. There was a bit of small talk while the [Queen] and Alex discussed the Dwarven Hills and where Medea would have to go if that visit was going to happen. It looked like there was some serious diplomatic interest so the chance was pretty high.

Eventually, we reached the entrance hall where Medea gave me a tearful goodbye. She hugged Alex and Hera, thoroughly confusing the [Fortress Maid], and even patted Circe’s shoulder. If I had known I would make another friend here, I would have prepared a farewell gift. Instead, I promised to visit again.

When we left the palace, it was starting to get dark.

“That took a lot longer than I expected”, Alex said.

“Yup”, I said, “Well, we made some new friends so it’s all good.”

Circe was lost in her thoughts and Hera was still confused. I laughed. It was a fun day.