When William and I exited the throne room, we were leaning upon each other for support. Meeting the King had shaken us both, and for a brief moment I felt like we understood one another.

  The rest of the introductions had gone according to tradition: each girl and her chaperone had approached the king, been inspected by him, and then returned to the line. Nobody else had received the scrutiny that William and I had.

  At the end of it all, the nobles in attendance hailed the king and toasted the anniversary of the kingdom. After basking in this praise, the king had stepped out, leaving the Queen to stay behind. She had come down from the steps, meeting us where we stood, to smile at us girls and officially invite those of us who did not have our own private debuts to do so at the Queen's ball.

  Her eyes once again met mine as she explained this, both warm and commanding, as if to say "you will be attending, won't you?"

  Until then, we were free to stroll and mingle among our peers in her gardens, which had been opened to us for the day.

  ---

  The moment that William was no longer required by custom to escort me, his arm dropped away from mine to rest nervously on the hilt of his ceremonial sword. His eyes looked me over again, appraising me, before he slowly regained his composure.

  After a pause, he said, in a calm, even tone, "You are free to do as you like until the Queen's ball. If an opportunity presents itself, seize that opportunity, and secure a promise to dance from Lord Hiems."

  He looked me straight in the eyes, a grave look upon his face. "It is the command of the Duke that you do so. Do not fail him."

  Instructions given, he walked off briskly into the garden to be alone, leaving me standing rather awkwardly at the edge of a dispersing wave of garden viewing nobles.

  William's instructions were unnecessary, however, as I saw Adrian approaching at a brisk pace with long, cheerful strides from across the garden the moment William had left me unattended.

  I closed my eyes and breathed in, deeply, to center myself for this reunion, when a familiar voice rang out from much closer.

  "Greetings, Lady Sophia."

  I choked up almost immediately, biting my lip to keep my emotions in check as tears threatened to well up unbidden. When I knew that I had myself under control, I turned to look at Charlotte.

  "Greetings, Lady Charlotte."

  She was standing in Adrian's way, her back to him as if to disregard his very existence, as she held onto Jerem's arm. Adrian looked absolutely livid for a few moments, making a face as if to snarl, but we were still too public for him to make a scene and so he wandered off, prowling at the edge of the socially acceptable distance so as to not interrupt our conversation.

  I looked into Charlotte's eyes, still as beautiful a hazel color as I remembered, blinking away the urge to cry as I struggled to find the words. When, finally, I started to speak, she interrupted.

  "Please don't apologize, Sophie."

  She looked down and to the side.

  "I know that it hurt you, too. Maybe even more than it hurt me. But some things shouldn't be forgiven, even if I want to."

  She took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, as my own breath caught in my throat.

  "So please don't tempt me to try. I still think kindly of you, but I don't want you to trick me into thinking fondly of you again."

  She closed her eyes, trembling a bit. Jerem pulled on her arm. "Come on, Char. You did great. Let's go."

  The two of them walked off, before I could think of anything to say that could fix the situation.

  But, I supposed, some things couldn't be fixed with words. Not after so long.

  "Stupid... why didn't I at least try sending a letter or... anything. I could have looked harder for her. Erika could have found her. Why didn't I even try?"

  I wanted to be alone, to try to think of what I could do. Was there anything that I could do, now, that I was failing to do? Would following her be too dangerous? Too frightening to her?

  I wanted an opportunity to understand, but I wouldn't get one: Adrian was closing in.

  But strangely, once again, Adrian was cut off. This time, by a man in a brilliant white cape that covered a white and gold set of coat and breeches. He was blond, with silver eyes. "Just like the queen."

  And he smelled of magic. Raw sulphur, smoldering coals, and a tinge of ash. Immediately, Adrian recoiled, stepping further back to give this man a wide berth.

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  "Greetings, Lady Printemps. I am Prince Caesar Lombardi, and I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

  I immediately fell to the ground, kneeling deeply, when he caught me by the hand to prevent my knees from hitting the dirt and staining my dress.

  As I looked up at him, nearly prostrate, he held my hand up to kiss the back of my hand gently, pulling me to my feet in the selfsame motion.

  "My aunt, the Queen, would like to speak with you before the ball. May we have the pleasure of your attendance?"

  There was only one answer I could give.

  "It would be my pleasure, Your Highness."

  ---

  The walk to the gardens towards the Queen's palace was thankfully quite quiet. Propriety required that I not speak to someone of higher rank unless spoken to by them, and so I was allowed some time to think about Charlotte before we reached the palace doors.

  In the end, I came to no solid conclusions. All I could do was, as Lady Ayda had said, understand the mistake I had made, and move on.

  As the palace guards closed the doors to the Queen's palace behind us, Prince Caesar finally addressed me.

  "Your magic is... quite interesting."

  I stepped back suddenly, as if his words had bitten me.

  "My magic, Your Highness?"

  "My apologies. You are doing an excellent job of keeping it hidden, but my aunt and I are archmages: the small amount of refinement you are still doing is perceptible to us."

  He reached out as if to hold my hand, and I allowed him to do so out of fear of offending him.

  Once held, he turned it over in his, inspecting it like how I used to inspect the bugs in the village back home.

  "Hm. Do you know your concept?"

  "Ah... my apologies Your Highness, but is that something that I am compelled to answer?"

  He laughed. "Here, I'll tell you mine first. Mine is 'I want to burn away the evil in the world'."

  And with a flick of his hand, a torrent of flame washed over us, causing me to scream.

  But I felt no heat. My heart was racing, and my own magic had instinctively flared up to shroud me in a deep, thick haze, but I was otherwise unharmed.

  He smiled at me, sickeningly warmly. "See? I suppose you must not be evil, then. Now, may I know yours?"

  But the girl had fully retreated into the safe corner in the back of her mind, for the moment, and she did not respond.

  He frowned. "Ah, I suppose that was quite scary, wasn't it? Take your time."

  He held a neutral, but friendly, expression as he looked around the entrance hall of the palace and whistled a merry tune.

  As I slowly regained my senses, I could still hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears. "He's insane. He's absolutely insane."

  Too fearful to lie, I simply said, "I believe it is, 'I don't want to get hurt.'"

  At this, he laughed again.

  "No no, that's not a wish, Sophia. People don't wish for what they don't want."

  But he seemed satisfied, and began to lead us on again.

  "Tell me when you figure it out. The scent of your magic is intoxicatingly strong. You might even be stronger than Auntie Aurelia one day."

  ***

  The place that Prince Caesar took me was not the Queen's throne, but her bedroom.

  A deep, heady scent filled the entire room, and I reeled with the feeling of a pure, unmoderated magical presence. Smelling strongly of something thick, deep, and vaguely floral, my own magic once again rose to shroud myself in a protective cloak, just barely able to push back against the ocean I had stumbled into.

  The Queen was lounging on her bed, surrounded by consorts of every kind: both men and women, and some who I couldn't say. They were brushing her hair, cleaning her nails, and massaging her legs and back in a presentation that felt completely overwhelming. She, herself, was smiling at me in a confident manner, holding no shame.

  Prince Caesar closed the door after me, and I knew that I was trapped.

  "Welcome in, Sophia. Please, rest."

  She motioned to the furskin blankets that lay before her bed with her hand, and I cautiously approached to kneel upon them.

  "I have an offer for you."

  With this, she picked up a long pipe, a trail of smoke arising from the end the moment she grasped it, and took a long, deep breath.

  "I'd like for you to marry my nephew. What do you think?"

  I completely froze, barely containing myself from absolute panic.

  She gave me plenty of time to calm down, and no amount of waiting seemed to disturb her. My eyes caught that of a young woman who was tantalizingly close to kissing the Queen during her attendance and she giggled at me to whisper in the Queen's ear.

  "Ah. The young Beatrice did warn me of this. Tsk tsk, quite a tattletale, that one."

  She tipped the ashes out of her pipe and into the young woman's mouth. "What!?"

  "Is the problem that he's a man, Sophia?"

  I remained frozen, unable to look away from... everything. Unable to grasp a single coherent thought, I realized that my magical defenses were failing me and more of that deep scent was creeping in.

  "Don't worry, Sophia. As long as you do your duty, we're allowed whatever dalliances we desire. Men. Women. Money... Pleasure? You could even find yourself right here, with me, if you wanted."

  She gripped the young woman by the neck and kissed her, in a deeply adult way that made me uncomfortable but helpless to resist watching.

  "I'll give you time to think about it. I can see you're not ready to answer me yet. But if you agree... Dance with him at the ball tonight. I hope to receive a pleasurable response."

  And with that, I was dismissed. One of her consorts slowly guided me to the door, still shocked, and the moment the door closed behind me I began to take back control of my senses.

  Shivering, frightened, and realizing I was alone in the hallway, I broke out into a full sprint.

  "What?!"