Idelle and Cecilia continued onwards in a more companionable silence from there and soon came into view of a hulking stone keep squatting near the center of the city. Cecilia confidently led the way through a pair of massive wooden doors, Idelle awkwardly nodding at the guards who saluted them as they passed. A thought occurred to her as the princess led her up a flight of stairs lined with simple tapestries. “Why didn’t you just bring this gift over to the barracks, anyway? Is it too heavy to carry or something?”

“Um.” Cecilia looked uncharacteristically embarrassed at the question. “Not really, I actually just forgot to bring it until I was already there.”

Idelle stared at her, her surprise only half faked. “Woah. You can forget stuff too? And I thought princesses must be immune to that kind of thing.”

Cecilia raised an unperturbed eyebrow. “I think you’re just applying your poor standards for what’s normal to forget to the rest of us.”

“Hey! What have I forgotten?”

She tried not to grimace as the irony of her words struck her, but the other girl didn’t seem to notice her reaction. “Oh? Then what day of the week is it?”

Idelle opened her mouth, then closed it. “The day after Ivar’s advanced swordsmanship class.”

“Which is?”

She narrowed her eyes. “If you’re trying to trick me into revealing it because you’ve forgotten, it isn’t working.”

Cecilia giggled at her and Idelle begrudgingly smiled back. The other girl’s laugh was just too pretty not to, even if half the time she sounded like she was laughing at some embarrassing secret of yours that you didn’t realize she knew. Idelle supposed the word “charm” also referred to simple magic for a good reason.

A moment later Idelle was distracted as they walked through a tall doorway and she gasped, despite herself. The room was an armory. Ornate ceremonial weapons were mounted on the walls, drawing her eyes with beautifully engraved patterns and even the sparkles of gemstones. But the real impressive sight was the sheer quantity of arms contained in the room, racks upon racks of carefully maintained swords, spears, halberds, axes, maces — she could even spot some more esoteric weapons dotted here and there among the clutter of violent tools. Was that an oversized farmer’s scythe?

Cecilia grinned at her reaction. “Impressive, isn’t it? Duke Wyrlet insists that all unattached weapons be kept in his armory.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “The old man is probably just afraid of a revolution if you ask me. He should try being a beautiful young woman instead, make himself too popular to overthrow. ”

Idelle let out a huff of laughter at the joke, then eagerly turned back to Cecilia. “What are we here for, then?”

The princess beckoned and led the way around the mess of stands to the far side of the room. She pointed, and Idelle stared.

Leaning on the rack was a work of art. Part of her felt like she should regret thinking of it that way, but it was true. The sword was so straight that she almost stood up straighter to match it, a shimmering length of steel that only seemed slender by virtue of its almost excessive length. She stepped forward, seeing the reflections shift on the polished blade. It was taller than she was, she realized, with an elongated hilt and a small pair of hooks protruding from the blade a little ways above the crossguard. The end of the hilt was capped by a symbol she didn’t recognize, a white circle cupped inside a crescent.

“Is this for me?” Idelle asked in a soft voice.

Cecilia smiled at her. “Ivar said you were good with a sword, I figured you could use one. Large enough to kill monsters alone, given how strong you are.”

Idelle shook her head. “Isn’t it too valuable? I haven’t done anything to deserve this, have I?”

“Let’s just say you owe me one, then.”

She hesitated, looking over at Cecilia. “Are you sure?”

The princess met her eyes with an almost somber expression. “What, do you not want it? Or are you unwilling to owe me a favor?”

“It’s not that. You’ve just done a lot for me already, I guess. It seems like too cheap a price.”

“You can call it a friendship price if it makes you feel better.” Cecilia’s piercing gaze didn’t budge, and Idelle found herself starting to flush. Did she have to say that in such a serious tone?

“I....” She stared at Cici for a moment longer, then nodded. “All right. I won’t forget it.”

Cecilia finally broke their mutual gaze, turning back to the sword. “I’m sure you won’t. Here, pick it up, it’s yours now.”

Idelle tentatively stepped up to the sword and carefully lifted it from the rack. It felt heavy, for a sword, just light enough that she could conceivably swing it with one hand if it came down to it. The balance was towards the long hilt; she guessed it was meant more for cuts and quick defense than thrusts. Perfect for fending off something with more reach than her until she could close.

She touched the circle and crescent symbol and looked at Cecilia questioningly. “This is…?”

“My crest, actually. Based on the moon.” Idelle tilted her head, and the other girl continued. “Haven’t you ever heard the children’s rhyme? ‘She wanders ‘cross the sky, and sometimes hides away, but in the end returns again to dance another day.’” Cecilia shrugged sardonically. “I guess my father had a sense of humor about some things when he chose it.”

Idelle didn’t quite know what to say to that. “Um, is it okay for me to have a sword with your crest on it?”

“What, afraid someone will bully you for it? Tell them to complain to my face instead.”

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Cecilia gave her a familiar smirk, but it felt forced to Idelle and she hesitated, still unsure how to respond. “...All right, I’ll do that. Is there anything else I should know about the sword? Is it secretly cursed, or something?”

Idelle was relieved to see the other girl snort at her bad joke. “Nah, no curses. Just the usual for proper weapons, the steel is alloyed with powder from magic beast bones to protect it against rust and a degree of wear. Helps it hold a perfect edge, too.”

She looked down at the sword and back up at Cecilia. “...Are you sure it isn’t too expensive for me?”

“It’s fine, I’m a princess, remember? Expensive gifts are my bread and butter.”

Idelle narrowed her eyes. “So it is expensive?”

Cecilia mirrored her expression. “Just tell me if you don’t like the sword, Idy.”

“No, I like it, I like it a lot!” She carefully hefted the sword, wishing the room had space to swing it. “I’ll shut up about it, sorry.” She tilted it, watching the light play on the blade, catching a hint of blue-black hair over pale eyes as her reflection flickered across it.

“I can tell, actually.” Cecilia sounded a little amused now, and Idelle found herself wearing a slight smile in response. “Come on then, we still have magic to work on. You can bring it with you if you like. It’s yours now, and you’re a soldier on paper so the Duke can’t complain.”

Idelle nodded obediently, hoisting the sword over her shoulder after a careful check behind her. It was much too big to be convenient indoors, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Let’s see any wolves get close enough to bite her now!

She realized Cecilia was already working her way back to the entrance to the armory, and carefully started after her. She looked at the princess. Cecilia still seemed smaller than usual, somehow, her dress looking lonely and out of place amongst all the steel and wood. Problems with her father, huh? Idelle mentally promised herself that if she could do something to help, she would.

A few turns and a hallway later, she followed Cecilia as the latter stepped into a small bedroom. Idelle looked around the room curiously. It was austere, reminding her of the room she’d been given in the barracks, actually. There were more simple drapes lining the stone walls, but it was mostly undecorated beyond that. There was what looked like an adjoining closet instead of a cabinet, a simple desk covered with papers, a few chairs, and a simple bed.

She wondered if a room for royalty shouldn’t be more opulent than this. But Cecilia plopped down on one of the chairs and spoke before she could figure out how to phrase the question. “Here, put your new toy over there, we should get back on topic. Did you have any magic questions for me today?”

Idelle winced at the subtle implication in Cecilia’s words as she leaned her sword up against the wall. Oops. She had been prying a lot today, hadn’t she? She thought back to her practice. “Yeah, actually. Are there names for the body enhancement spells that boost strength and speed? And are there spells to see further and things like that? Also, how does alchemy cause permanent effects if magic doesn’t?”

Cecilia paused, looking a little surprised that Idelle actually had so many. “Strength and speed are just the usual names, honestly. Kind of boring, I know. Some people say things like “Lion’s Strength” but they’re just trying to sound cool.” Idelle tried not to wince again at the words.

Cecilia continued her explanation. “Body enhancement spells for the senses exist as well, but most people can only cast them with multiple kinds of magic. For example, you mentioned improving vision? That requires both enhancing the eyes themselves and pulling more light into them. It’s too much work for most people to bother learning. As far as alchemy…”

She paused to collect her thoughts. “Well, most alchemy is just mundane memorization, learning what different things do when exposed to heat or mixed together. You’re probably talking about the types that use parts from magic beasts, though?”

Idelle nodded, and Cecilia continued again. “Actually, that’s more or less the same too. Something about the curse changes the bodies of beasts, granting their remains unusual properties. Like the bone alloyed into your sword. But alchemy is just experimenting on what those properties are, and how they change when exposed to other materials. If there’s a fundamental theory behind it, no one agrees on what it is, so using them boils down to more memorization.”

Idelle took a moment to process her words, her eyes wandering to the sword — her sword, she corrected herself — in the corner, but another thought struck her. “Wait, I know you said before that no one knows what causes magic beasts… But humans can’t become dire humans, can they?”

Cecilia didn’t answer. Idelle glanced back over at her quizzically. To her shock, the princess looked exhausted and on the verge of tears. She hadn’t said something personal again, had she?

Then Cecilia closed her eyes and shook her head, and the moment passed, her face smoothing back into her usual composure with only a hint of sarcasm in her words betraying her emotions. “Sorry about that. I’m really not myself today, huh?”

“It’s ok, you have nothing to apologize for.” Idelle said. She hoped she didn’t sound condescending or something, she really didn’t know how to deal with situations like this...

“Fair enough. Anyway. The answer is no, humans can’t be subjected to the curse, as far as everyone outside of a few crackpot theorists is concerned. Like I said before, it likely only occurs because beasts aren’t conscious like we are.” She said it casually, but something about her voice made Idelle uncomfortable asking further. Did the other girl know one of the people she called a crackpot theorist or something?

No, she’d already decided not to pry further, she reminded herself. She should just change the topic. “Makes sense. You’ve mentioned casting with multiple types of magic before, too. Is there a secret to that? Can you teach me?”

“There’s no secret, it’s just hard. And I already am teaching you, you need to master casting with single elements first, you know.”

“Come on, you must know some shortcut, right? Aren’t you a prodigy?”

Cecilia’s response was dry. “That’s true, have you tried being a prodigy too? It did speed things up for me, now that you mention it.”

“Oh! I’ll have to try that.” Idelle said. Cecilia cracked another smile at her words.

Idelle thought she must be overthinking the other girl’s bad mood, didn’t everyone have the occasional off day? Maybe Cecilia was just opening up to her finally. She probably had to keep up royal appearances, after all, maybe she didn’t have anyone she was comfortable showing her emotions around.

Cecilia spoke up again. “Anyway, let me know if you have any more questions. There’s not honestly that much more I can teach you, I’m not much of a theory expert and you generally don’t start on more advanced spells until you have months or even years of practice on the basic charms under your belt.”

Idelle’s face fell. “Oh. I guess that makes sense. Won’t you at least be able to give me a few tips, occasionally?”

Cecilia hesitated. “I don’t know that I will, honestly. I’ll be busy, coming up. Even busier, I mean.”

Idelle sighed. “Right. That makes sense too. Thanks for teaching me anyway.” She was almost surprised to find that she sincerely meant the words. Cecilia had really grown on her, despite their complicated first impressions of each other.

“Don’t make that face at me. I’ll make time until I absolutely can’t anymore. How’s that?”

Cecilia’s smile was genuine, albeit wistful, and Idelle once again couldn’t help but smile back. “All right. Really, thanks.”

“It’s been my pleasure” Cecilia replied.