Quickly shedding her training clothes, which had gone from navy blue to almost black from her sweat, Marie jumped into her shower.

“I never seem to have the time for a leisurely soak or bath these days, it seems like I am always training with Carline or attending one formal function or another.”

Marie smiled ruefully at the thought as she rinsed her hair.

Stepping out of the shower once she was done, she dried herself off with one of her fluffy black towels and slipped into her dark indigo robe. Walking out of the bathroom, she rang her rarely used bell and walked over to her wardrobe flinging it open. Within the span of a few minutes, Belinda was knocking on her door.

“Come in.”

Marie called, frowning at all of the gowns and dresses that she had never worn in which were in her wardrobe. Belinda’s mouth almost hit the ground when she saw Marie looking at her dresses and gowns voluntarily. She recovered quickly, but not fast enough to escape Marie’s notice.

Smirking slightly at her reaction, Marie thought,

“Well, I am about to crush her hopes of me becoming a “proper lady” as soon as I open my mouth. Belinda should know me better than that by now."

"We both know that I don’t have much patience for dresses Belinda, so you may as well just pick one for me. "She paused for a moment, "On second thought I suppose you ought to make it a damned gown."

Then Marie looked at the clock that was ticking away on the wall,

“You have only a few minutes to choose one, I will probably need your help getting into it properly and I have a meeting in the next half hour.”

“Of course, my Lady”

Belinda bobbed her head eagerly and practically dove into the wardrobe. Just 3 minutes later she emerged from the seemly endless space with a smile covering half of her face. One quick look at the gown that Belinda was holding up confirmed Marie’s worst fears about what might be found in her rarely used wardrobe.

The gown was a pretty color, with silk dyed a dark indigo color with white trim. However, the gown had so many layers, Marie feared she would never be able to get it on let alone off. Belinda however, was determined to ensure that Marie was “dressed as befitting a lady of her station” and so in the interest of keeping her happy, Marie acquiesced and let the head of the maids work her magic.

Looking in the mirror 20 minutes later, Marie had to admit that Belinda had done a remarkable job on both the selection of her gown and the jewelry she had said Marie should wear.

A simple pair of silver hoops hung from her earlobes and another phoenix pendant, this one silver with an amethyst stone for its eye, hung around her neck. Her mother’s ring was, of course, sitting snugly on her right ring finger, and Marie rubbed the simple ring quickly before letting out a deep breath and gracefully making her way into her living area. Marie sat down in her favorite green chair with perfect posture and, glancing up at the only light crystal in the room frowned. A moment later she sighed and said,

“High Sorceress Minerva you might as well come out, I know that you are watching me.”

to the seemingly empty room. There was a small noise in the left corner of the room, which was the furthest from Marie and then Minerva shimmered into view.

“How did you know that I was already in here Marie?”

Minerva asked seeming more surprised than angry.

Marie, who had not seemed surprised in the least when Minerva had appeared replied,

“I suspected you might try to show up early for one reason or another. Knowing that you are a High Sorceress I was on alert for any magic that I could see or sense you might have cast. One of the first magic-related lessons I learned when I was young was how to spot a magical spying device”

She nodded to the light crystal and a floating ball of light the same color as the crystal drifted down into Minerva’s outstretched hand. Minerva frowned, clearly not entirely at ease that she had been so easily predictable to Marie. Then seeming to snap out of it, she clapped her hands lightly and sat down in the chair opposite to her. Marie waited patiently for the High Sorceress to break the silence, not moving a single muscle. The silence stretched on and on until suddenly Minerva said,

“I see you are not quite as lacking in manners as you would have your father believe Marie.”

“I haven’t the faintest idea what you are talking about High Sorceress Minerva.”

Marie replied, her posture still ramrod straight and her face giving nothing away. Minerva muttered something under her breath and Marie tensed, almost imperceptibly, expecting the effects of another spell to come crashing down on her. When nothing happened, she decided that it was time to really get under Minerva’s skin.

“I was under the impression that you were here to teach me better manners, High Sorceress Minerva. I’ve always been told it’s rude to mutter.”

Rather than sighing in exasperation or getting angry with Marie for her response, however, Minerva laughed lightly, the tinkling sound putting Marie on edge.

“There’s that famous sharp tongue of yours! I was wondering how long it would take before you dropped your polite facade and let your true self shine.”

Marie said nothing, unimpressed by the High Sorceress’s reply.