With Maron occupied with a lecture, Finneas was left to work on his own. Maron had always made a point of inviting him to attend any lectures he’d like, but they were already guarded enough that his presence as a protector wasn’t necessary. With the amount of mounting paperwork for the day, though, it would be better to finish that than to follow his prince to a talk on something that only mildly interested him.

Finneas’s office was a small room, not nearly as ornate as Maron’s, but comfortable nonetheless. He hummed, looking over the letters that spanned across his desk. With Maron’s birthday coming, there were dozens of responses to invitations and plenty of preparations to go over for the ensuing ball. While there had been a handful of celebrations in the palace in the past fifteen years, none of them had been for Maron. Potential suitors were excited to see the man and get him alone for a dance; politicians and nobles would be intent on pulling him aside to make a quick attempt to sway his attention.

A knock came at Finneas’s door and he glanced toward the clock on the wall. Maron shouldn’t be out for a while, but if things had ended early, he supposed he might come here immediately. “Come in,” he said, setting his pen down on the desk.

A small figure appeared in the doorway, dressed in fine silk and a bright smile. Finneas rose from his seat, bowing his head. It wasn’t often that the princess appeared at his door, but it was a welcome reprieve from the papers at hand. “Your Highness,” he said. “How are you?”

The girl sighed, trotting quickly toward the chair on the opposite side of Finneas’s desk. Princess Nadia always seemed to bound toward things instead of simply walking, her black eyes vibrant and full of light. She sat, placing her elbow on the table and propping up her head. It wasn’t very proper, but she had never been one to care about that in the privacy of an office. “Do you have any free time today, Finny?” she asked. “I won’t stay if you’re busy, but you seem like the right person to talk to about what’s going on in Henderson.”

Ah. If it was to do with Henderson, he could make the time. “Of course, Your Highness.”

Nadia, the second in line to the throne, had always been an excitable girl, ready to lead and more than happy to give her people everything she had in order to help them. She was the picture of a perfect princess. Even if she wasn’t meant to take the throne, she was a good leader, and was expected to take control over Henderson within the next few years. While Finneas wasn’t a member of her council, she had come to him plenty of times to ask his opinion, which he appreciated quite a bit. It was never about his position when she asked, but rather about his opinions as a citizen of the area.

“I was hoping to get your thoughts on something I’d like to do. I don’t really know if it’s appropriate to do a real royal tour right now, since the area hasn’t recovered fully from the war and I don’t want to come off as if I’m just there to show off that I’m a princess and I’m there, you know? But I’d really like to make a visit.” She placed her hands delicately upon Finneas’s desk, avoiding landing on any of the papers. She fixed her eyes on her nails. “I haven’t been able to go in two years because the fighting was so bad for so long, and then it was so unstable that we were worried about safety.” She bit her lip. “I feel bad not going.”

Finneas nodded, listening. It had been some time. He and Maron had made a trip at the end of the war as a gesture of peace with Eteria. Making an appearance at a border town with officials from both nations had been a quiet affair for the most part, and it had felt a bit empty when Finneas looked to the citizens in attendance, the struggle written on their faces. Nadia was right–simply being there and being royal was not enough for a service to gain the support of a people in need of real aid. “I think you’re approaching it from a good angle already,” he said. “That you’re aware enough of the optics to think it through more is already a good thing.”

Nadia frowned. “It’s less about optics and more about the impact. I want to go because I’m the person who’s supposed to help. And I don’t want to show up without something tangible to offer.”

“That’s good. I don’t think anyone would assume the worst if you went only to raise morale, but I agree it would be better if you could do something more. What would you like to do?” he asked.

She sighed, looking up. “That’s where I’m stuck. I haven’t been able to go, so it’s hard to see firsthand what’s needed. I have contact with the nobility in the area, but the nobility in the area isn’t there, though.”

Right. Most of the noble families in and around Henderson had left during the war. If they still had homes there, they were mostly unoccupied. More than that, nobility wasn’t going to interact with common people enough to know what they actually needed. “Princess, would it help if I put you in contact with my family? I know we’re not nobility anymore, but my parents are still influential in the area.” It was strange to talk about his family–he hadn’t lived with them since he was ten, and he was, at this point, more familiar with the palace than his childhood home.

“Would that be alright?” she asked, her eyes aglow.

“Of course. I can give you their information. My mother and father are in Henderson, as well as my cousin. She’s about your age,” he said. His elder sister had long since left, but Divya had moved in with them shortly after the ban and had acted like a third child in the home. She would know plenty about the goings on of the people. Finneas retrieved a piece of paper, writing out his parents’ address and number.

“Thank you, Finny!” She pulled the paper from him, eyes moving over the words as if they were something precious. “I think it would be really nice to get to know your family. If I get to meet with them, would you go with me? I know you’re probably busy with Maron, but…” Her words trailed off.

“It would be difficult to find time,” he agreed. He hadn’t actually seen his parents in about three years, aside from one short trip they’d made to the palace to do a demonstration with the royal guard, and even that had been mostly business. “But I’ll talk with him. After His Highness’s birthday, we shouldn’t be as busy.”

Nadia smiled. “You don’t have to call him that around me, you know. And you don’t have to call me by a title, either.”

This was an argument they’d had plenty of times. Perhaps argument was too strong a word. They had, however, never come to a proper agreement on this. With Maron, it was easier. He almost never referred to him by name alone. If he got into the habit and slipped up in front of the wrong person, it would be a mess. It was better not to let the problem form, and Maron didn’t question the choice. Nadia, however, always insisted.

“Maybe Your Highness is a nickname,” Finneas mused, leaning back in his seat.

“You should get better at nicknames,” she said, crossing her arms. “And get different ones for me and Maron. Like my nickname could be Nadia. And his could be…still Your Highness, I suppose. Only one of us would need to change.”

Finneas shook his head, but couldn’t help the smile that formed on his lips. “I’ll think about it, Princess Nadia.”

She sighed, but she also grinned, and that was good enough. A moment of quiet passed, and she spoke again. “Finny, can I ask you something personal?” She didn’t look at him when she spoke, instead focusing again on her hands. A finger tapped at her wrist absently, nail tracing over the skin.

“Go ahead,” he said, though he wasn’t sure how prepared he was to answer.

“Is it hard being a magician?”

He almost laughed. It was an odd question. Sure, everyone had something to ask about it, but that particular phrasing was new. “I suppose so,” he said. “I miss being able to access my magic, but it’s really just other people’s reaction that can be difficult.” His inability to conjure fire hadn’t often been too relevant in day to day life at the palace. Aside from when he’d worked briefly in the kitchen or as a guest attendant lighting fireplaces in winter, it hadn’t been anything he thought to use often. “Please don’t worry yourself about it, Princess.” It wasn’t as though she had or would ever really have the power to change the laws unless something terrible happened to Maron.

“What if you didn’t have the cuffs? And no one knew? Are the powers themselves hard to deal with?”

Finneas furrowed his brow, considering. “It’s hard to say, I think. My family was really well prepared to show me how to use mine when they began presenting. I only really had two years with them, but I was in control of it pretty quickly.” He paused, and almost asked what had brought about the question. However, looking at the way her eyes stared straight down and her nails dug into her wrist, the stress was already evident. The last thing she needed was for someone to pry. “Is that helpful at all?” he asked instead.

She nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, it is actually.” Her expression softened a bit, and she clutched the paper in her hands. “Thank you for everything, Finny.” She rose, and her face returned to its natural state, eyes bright and smile brighter. “I’ll let you get back to planning the ball, but I’ll talk to you again soon, okay?”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

Author's Note

Hello! Thank you for reading! I'm changing the upload schedule around, so there will now be two updates each month, and the Patron bonus stories will be coming on Thursdays instead of Fridays. Thank you for all your support! I hope you'll continue to enjoy the story!