25

Eva walks through the halls of Sagax’s student dormitory. For a brief moment, she is separated from Scima. Although he was remiss to leave her alone, she had refused to come watch him handily defeat another challenger, and he had no choice but to leave her to her own devices. The other students in the dormitory greet her happily when they see her, and more specifically, when they do not see Scima. Although Scima is deeply hated by the vast majority of other students, many of them have also quickly come to like Eva independent of him. Their struggle to reach out to her is twofold, not only are they scared of Scima, a fierce defender who rarely leaves her side, but many are also intimidated by her poise, and the confidence with which she holds herself.

A well dressed butler, slightly too old to be a student, approaches her in the hall. He gives a small bow as he hands Eva an envelope.

“Your Highness, my master, Lord Ager Vicus, wishes to invite you to a gathering this evening. Included in this envelope is any information pertaining to the event that he believes you may find yourself in need of. If there is no message you need me to relay to my master, I shall be on my way.”

Eva takes the envelope to her temporary room in the dormitory. She sits at the small desk and takes out the invitation inside the envelope. Eva skims over the invitation, only bothering with the most essential information contained within. Near the bottom of the page Eva learns that the gathering will take place on academy grounds. It would be no bother for her to attend, but she has yet to figure out if she has any desire to. She returns to the rest of the invitation. The gathering seems to be a way for the upper class at Sagax to meet each other in a more formal, and therefore in a more familiar, setting. Eva presumes from how the invitation speaks of it that Ager had simply sent out an invitation to every student who held a noble or royal title. For lower nobility, this may offer a chance to become acquainted with those above them, meanwhile Eva is one of the ones they would be attempting to meet. She supposes that it would be good for Dracabana if she could forge a relationship with foreign nobles, even if it may bother her, and continues reading the invitation. A more startling part of the invitation is a stipulation made. The invitation specifies that nobody is allowed to bring an attendant, with Ager, as the host, providing appropriate staff in return.

Eva decides it would be better for her to go than for her not to, leaving her to have to handle Scima. Scima is overprotective and paranoid when it comes to Eva, even more so now that they’ve been forced to hide away for their safety. There are only two royals Scima respects, Eva and King Rihtwis, and he assumes that the rest of them are snakes. At the current moment especially, Scima would do everything in his power to stop Eva from attending this gathering. Eva knows that she would be able to simply order him to stand down and he would do so, but she can far too easily imagine things going poorly if she cannot sufficiently convince Scima. Scima’s impulsiveness and his disdain for nobles and slights has already gotten him into trouble. Eva can far too easily imagine that it might explode out again, and wind up even worse now if there’s nobody strong enough to stop him. She believes in his strength, so she knows he’ll fight anything in his path and he’ll likely win in the end. And if he loses, he’d easily fight until he dies. Even Eva can’t predict what he might end up doing. Scima’s willfulness makes him a wild element in the least opportune situations. As Eva attempts to formulate a sound argument that might work on Scima, she hears a knock on her door.

“Lady Eva, can I come in?”

“Of course, Scima.”

Scima enters the small dorm showing not a single sign of wear. He has a slight smile on his face.

“Did you win, Scima?”

“In a single strike. If I’m the villain anyway, then I’ll at least make them fear us. I won’t shame Dracabana.” Eva holds out the invitation to Scima.

“Scima, I’ll be attending this gathering this evening.” Scima quickly looks over the details.

“Lady Eva, are you sure? Is it really safe to be unattended like this? They’ve already tried to bomb the academy, and they would’ve gotten away with it if it wasn’t for the headmaster. Don’t you think it’s suspicious they’re making you come alone? Don’t you think this might well be a trap for you?”

“I understand your worries, but I doubt it will be so dire. For one thing, Ager Vicus is a real student from a real noble house, and I doubt the academy would allow an imposter to walk around the dormitory using his name. The staff have all been very vigilant since the attack, so I doubt they would even try something as foolish as laying a trap on academy grounds.”

“But Ager Vicus could just as easily be in bed with the enemy. You never know with his sort whether they have anything they truly stand for or if they throw around unearned authority with impunity. The only people you can trust are the ones you see with your own eyes, not the ones inviting you out in the night without a single person who you can be sure will defend you.”

“And on that point, so long as we remain on academy grounds, I don’t think I need anyone to defend me. I feel I’m plenty strong enough to defend myself, at the very least until somebody more suited can arrive.”

“Lady Eva, your life is too valuable to risk on strangers happening to act as you need when you need them to. I’m the only one I can trust to protect your life.” Eva sighs, realizing that Scima really won’t be swayed.

“Scima, I will be attending, for the good of the nation. You will let me, and you will not follow me nor do anything rash and impulsive. That is a direct order.” Scima grimaces.

“Alright. Be safe.”

Eva makes her way to a small hall near the dormitories. When she approaches the front entrance, she recognizes the butler at the door. Although it’s likely that invitations were meant to be checked at the door, the butler simply smiles and lets Eva pass. Inside is somewhere between ten and twenty people, smaller than the classes they’re in. However, for Eva, this is the largest number of nobles, around her own age or otherwise, she’s been around. With Dracabana being little more than a single city there simply aren’t ten or twenty nobles who might gather. It was more common that King Rihtwis would go out on trips himself with how shameful Dracabana’s current state is. And if a foreign noble did come to the castle themself, it was rare that they would bring a child along with them.

Among the people in the hall, Eva only recognizes Uro and Glenten. They’re standing away from the others, talking to each other, though they’re too far for Eva to make out what they’re saying. As she walks in, somebody approaches her. He has a sharp chin and long, flowing brown hair. He’s flanked on either side by a girl. He stretches out his hand in front of him. Eva shakes his hand as he begins to introduce himself.

“As you may have guessed, I am Ager Vicus, heir to the title of Duke Vicus. I presume you are Her Highness Lady Evangelina.” He bows and kisses the top of Eva’s hand.

“It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lord Ager. May I ask, do you host gatherings like this often?”

“You may, you may, Your Highness. If all goes well, I hope I can. I held these gatherings several times last year, and I hope to continue in this one. And I'll be sure to invite you especially to them, Your Highness.”

“Thank you kindly, Lord Ager. Tell me, did you decide upon these gatherings yourself?”

“Yes, indeed I did, Your Highness. You see, when I first enrolled here last year, I was confronted with the academy's policy of class parity. I take no issue with the policy itself, my Kingdom of Saturgranum having sent commoners along with me, but I felt that there was a social aspect that we nobles were in dire need of while we attend. It was then that I learned that among the students, I was the one of the highest rank, though I suppose that honor now belongs to you, Your Highness. So I took it upon myself to organize these gatherings.”

“My, that's quite impressive, Lord Ager.”

“Thank you for the praise, Your Highness.” He glances past Eva quickly. “Oh! I beg your pardon, Your Highness, but another guest has just arrived, and I would like it if I could speak to everyone directly, so…”

“Yes, of course, go right ahead, Lord Ager. Don't let me keep you.”

Ager parts from Eva, leaving her alone once more. She spots Uro and Glenten, in the same spot as before. She approaches them, intending only to give them a greeting out of courtesy before moving on. She curtsies when she calls out to them.

“Lord Uro, Lord Glenten, it's a pleasure to see you both tonight.” Uro answers her first.

“Yes, it truly is, Lady Evangelina.” Glenten seems somewhat shocked.

“My, Your Highness, have you known Lord Uro very long?” Eva answers without much emotion in her voice.

“Not very long, no, but we were acquainted before our matriculation.”

“I see. Lord Uro and I were just discussing Lord Ager, if you would like to join us.” Uro begins talking before Eva can say or do anything.

“He’s quite an impressive man. He was telling me that he's the only student who can match that… Linea.”

“He hadn't said anything of that sort to me, but that certainly would be impressive. I've met no small number of warriors with years of experience who might still struggle against her, if not lose outright.” Glenten continues the praise.

“That's not all. He's also the sort of gracious man who would host an event like this. He's a true nobleman. I truly believe we all ought to aspire to be like him.” Glenten seems to shift his attention more squarely to Eva. “Actually, that reminds me of something I've been wondering, if you won't mind me asking, Your Highness.” Glenten pauses to let Eva object, but she says nothing and lets him continue on. “Your party consists of your knight, Scima, Sion, and that girl I've often seen around him, correct? That's a brute, a peasant, and a merchant's daughter. Why, Your Highness, do you keep that sort of company?”

“The three of them are strong and competent. Even if they lack status or grievously misstep, I believe in their potential.”

“I suppose I can understand that for Scima and especially Sion, but that merchant girl, she hasn't shown even close to the kind of prowess they did.”

“I am quite sure of those I keep around me. Do you believe yourself to have superior judgement, Lord Glenten?”

Before Eva can continue, or attempt to find an opportunity to leave, the door bursts open. Linea walks inside, her presence silencing the room. She begins to talk with a commanding voice as she comes to a stop in the center of the gathering.

“Ager Vicus.” Ager sheepishly approaches her, obviously intimidated. “I've told you time and again that these night parties of yours are not only improper but also against student regulations. Cease at once.” Ager seems to gain some courage back as he hears the murmurs begin to pass through his guests.

“Come now, Linea, can't you allow even the slightest bit of fun. And beside that, you seem awfully confident… Flare Blossom!”

A small fire puffs out of Ager’s hand, but it dwindles out completely without having done anything. Linea hardly even glanced at it, her expression unchanged. She grabs the back of his collar and pulls down so that she might drag him behind her.

“Ager Vicus, you’re still one-thousand years too early to challenge me in a duel of magic.”

Ager Vicus’ event ends unceremoniously with its host dragged away.