> [ Sense Link ] - 3th circle spell.

>

> Element: none/universal.

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> Type: Mind.

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> Classification: Enhancement. Information. Familiar.

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> Target: Caster's own familiar.

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> Links the senses of the caster and familiar, allowing them to share their perceptions. Caster does not lose access to own senses, but the double input may be confusing.

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Pearl was losing all hope for the knight corps of Yutis. Or just despairing at their lack of luck. She glanced at Aidan's hand, a bubbly wine she was about to drink jinxed with a trap spell. A Viscountess down on the ground bleeding from some shallow glass wounds. And a knight captain bent on taking the glass flute and destroying evidence. Or something equally stupid.

Yeah, it should be probably their luck.

She looked at Aidan and saw a confident grin on his face.

"Help is coming right now. Hold on, Pearl."

"What?"

Bugles sang that very moment. The royal crier dropped his line right after the music fanfare died.

"Princess Lumina of Yutis."

Fortunately, the ingrained training of the knight-captain spoke louder and he stopped to look at the guest of honor of the night making her entrance.

Aidan seized the moment of distraction to whisper to the elf.

"Cythrel, get me an empty glass flute."

Moments later, as Dawn descended the stairs leading to the ballroom Aidan had a completely different flute. The magic one was hidden in Cythrel's dress. The spell was on the flute, not the liquid. He quietly and slowly charged the flute with raw mana.

Aidan stealthily used a spell.

"Sense Link."

Dawn locked her gaze on the knight-captain. She lifted the hem of her skirt and walked graciously in his direction. Several guests tried to get her attention, but they gave up when they saw her enraged face. They knew better than to stand in her way when she was like that. Lumina's tantrums were legendary.

She approached, graceful like a swan, raging like an arson. "Captain, what is this commotion about?"

"Your Highness. This troublemaker is accusing Viscountess Damara of attempting to poison Her Royal Highness Princess Pearl." The captain pointed at Aidan.

"You got it wrong. I accused no one. I just asked a few questions." Aidan nonchalantly defended himself, sloshing the bubbly wine in the flute.

"We shall see. I am upset with you, Lord Aidan. You better have proof." Dawn approached the viscountess. "Damara, my dear Damara. I am so sorry that you have to go through this humiliation in my welcome party. Let me help you up. Oh, poor thing! You are wounded!"

"Healing Light"

She overcharged the spell to make up for her lack of affinity. The viscountess only had some scratches and shallow wounds, they all healed. The pieces of glass were pushed out by the healing flesh.

"Oh, thank you, your Highness. Princess Lumina is too kind!"

"Please go upstairs and ask the maids to get your attire fixed." Dawn turned to Aidan. "You!" She shouted, the very image of wrath.

"Me. What is up?" He asked, disdainful.

She looked the young man in the eyes and scoffed followed by a long exhalation. "Make your case, Lord Aidan. What is wrong?"

"The flute of bubble wine Pearl was about to drink was tampered with. I just intercepted it and was asking questions." He presented the flute.

"How dare you! Impudent fool! To raise suspicion against my esteemed guests, it is unthinkable!"

"Your Highness, think for a while, I have evidence!" He showed the glass flute.

"This? Do you call this evidence? Such rubbish. I am done with you. This is what I think of your so-called evidence." She snatched the flute and tossed it at the wall. The glass shattered and caused a shower of shards and a burst of raw mana released. To almost any mage watching this, it felt like the spells broke.

"No!" Aidan shouted with despair.

Dawn looked at Aidan and at a flabbergasted Pearl. She opened up a wicked smile, a toothy grin with a sense of superiority and wiped her hands. "Anything else, Lord Aidan?"

Right now Aidan was using all his mental strength to cope with this little thespian charade and with scanning the entire ballroom. He knew the culprit most probably was in the room, and he knew that as the theatrical play staged by his two halves progressed, they would react if they thought they were not being watched. They just needed to provoke the reactions and watch the audience inconspicuously.

It was easy enough to evade the sight of one person. But the sight of a person that could see through three sets of eyes at the same time? One of them with a birds' eye view of the entire ballroom? Very hard. Aidan already knew whom to look for, he only needed to narrow down the list.

Hidden in the chandelier and camouflaged as crystals, Skippy was slowly tilting his head, surveying the entire ballroom with his draconic sight. His senses were being conveyed to Aidan. The boy was already used to juggling two sets of sensory inputs, a third one was a burden but a bearable one.

"Princess Lumina, wait. I've seen the mana signature of the would-be assassin, if I see it again I'll know for sure."

Shock and wild comments abounded through the room. In a balcony, Aidan could see Claire, Astromelicus and King Helios watching the scene unfold.

"Absurd. I will not submit my guests to such disparage."

"Afraid, Lumina? I don't think someone innocent would hide behind pretending to be insulted. Unless you are..." Pearl left the accusation hanging. It implied that Lumina was involved. From anyone else, it would be a death sentence, but Pearl outranked Lumina by a little.

"Oh, Pearl. Mingling with the rabble? How much have you fallen. I'll let you have my leftovers, I found Lord Aidan quite unsuitable for this great me."

"Are you really going that path? To cover up for assassination, it is low even for the Queen of Slander."

"I'll entertain you, Pearl." Dawn raised her voice so everyone could hear. "Attention, honorable guests. Those that have nothing to hide and want to show Gohar how we of Yutis keep to our word, please step forward and show a mote of your mana. I shall begin."

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Dawn gathered mana of the Light, Wind and Water elements and mixed them. Mana signatures are very particular to a mage and cannot be faked. But the elements can. One can always downgrade their elements and show a portion of them. She opened her hand, disguising her ad hoc mix as a dramatic pause. A glowing orb of golden light shimmered on her palm. To make up for the low affinity, she overcharged the raw mana.

"The Sky element!"

"Marvelous!"

"Praise the real Princess!"

Given the extensive amount of wounds Lumina suffered during the attack, there was an ongoing rumor that Helios found a girl that looked like Lumina and placed her in the princess' place. She stayed a year and a half away from sight and grew a little during this time, her figure becoming more feminine as she went from late fourteen to a solid sixteen years old.

It was not an absurd allegation to think that the girl in front of them was an imposter. However, to find a girl that not only looked like Lumina but also wielded the same element as she did? Impossible. She displayed Light magic when she healed the Viscountess, but this was Lumina in all her glory.

Dawn gloated. She laughed and allowed the ball of mana to float and spin, casting rays of light over the entire ballroom. It then burst in a shower of harmless sparks.

"Pearl, tell your escort to stop gawking and close his mouth. My mana is not edible." She turned to the young man. "Satisfied, Lord Aidan? Burn the impression upon your eyes, for this is the last time you see it."

The babbling of the nobles was on fire. What Dawn said could be interpreted as Aidan's death being close by.

"Gaudy just like you, I'm afraid." Pearl quipped.

"Suit yourself with your delusions. Gentlefolk, if you will, display your prowess to Lord Aidan. Do not feel pressured into coming forth. We shall respect your wishes for privacy."

And then a long, long line of magically enabled nobles came into being. They passed by Aidan, showing their magic elements and signature. Aidan was sure some of them were not showing their full element selection, but to his magic sight, he only needed the signatures. It was a given that the real culprits would not submit themselves to the line-up. In fact, less than half the mage nobles present agreed to the magic show. However, by comparing the group that was in the judgment to the group that refused to show their magic allowed them to narrow the list greatly. Aidan was now eyeing only five suspects with Skippy's eyes.

Both he and Dawn were avoiding to look straight at those five people or even keeping them in their line of sight to give them a false sense of security.

A long time later, the last noble displayed his magic. Aidan was almost defeated.

"Satisfied, milord? Does any of these match your alleged killer? No? I thought so. You got nothing!" Dawn crowed.

"Well, I knew your temper, Lumina. That is why I switched the glasses. You broke the wrong one." Aidan smiled victoriously. "I still have the right one with the mana signature of the culprit!"

Shock. Through Skippy's eyes, Aidan could see the reactions of the five suspects. He had strapped them into an emotional rollercoaster and he knew the real villain would react the most to these ups and downs. Every comeback was planned ahead by him. Not yet.

"Cythrel, please give me the right flute," Aidan asked his elf companion.

"Right on, milord." Cythrel took the flute from her skirt and ran to give it to him, hands outstretched.

As the glass came into view, the shock increased. Aidan had upstaged Lumina! How would this end?

The little elf girl ran and tripped. The audience held their breath.

The glass flute flew from her hands and to everyone it felt like time had slowed down.

The flute spun, rose, fell, and...

Clattered on the ground, unharmed. It was still enchanted to be as hard and tenacious as steel. Aidan was quick to pick it up.

"And as I said, here it is. The spell on the glass is still unharmed." He showed Dawn the flute. She even raised a hand to grab it but Aidan clutched it. "Fool me once, shame on me, your Highness."

"It proves nothing. Nothing!" Dawn pouted. "You have nothing!"

Cythrel was sitting on the ground, crying. "Sorry, milord!"

"I can find the assassin. I believe they are still in this room." Aidan pondered.

"You dare raise a false accusation and you will pay dearly!"

With Cythrel's stunt, Aidan narrowed it down to two suspects.

"I will test only two people. Is that fine?"

"Preposterous. I will not force any noble of my court to submit to such humiliation. But we do not shy away from the call to prove ourselves. Point out your rotten finger, Lord Aidan."

Aidan walked around the room, looking at people left and right. Dawn was right behind him. Nobles stiffed as they passed and relaxed. It was natural. He then passed near the first of the two he singled out but purposefully missed him. Neither Dawn looked in his direction.

They moved near the second one. This guy was sweating buckets. A middle-aged noble, probably a Count or a Viscount. Aidan passed, Dawn passed. And they stopped.

"Well, your Highness, you are right. I will dare not raise a false accusation. I'm sorry."

"Ha! You better be! I'll have you grilled for that. Move along, there is nothing here for you."

For the man, it was like an anvil was lifted from his shoulder as they moved away, Aidan slumped. The noble even grinned.

"But on second thought!" Aidan stopped. Skippy locked on the man, they could see him skip a breath.

"What is it now? Aren't you done ruining my party?" Cried a hurt princess.

Aidan turned around and made a beeline to the man. "You!"

"Lord Aidan, mind your manners. Address your betters properly!" Dawn followed and chastised him.

"This man is the assassin. And I can prove!"

If the person in front of him weren't himself, they would scream at his cheesy acting. But Dawn was oblivious to her other half's faults.

"Milord, you are..." Dawn asked the man.

"Count Bentley, your Highness."

"Count Bentley. I will not ask or force you to prove your element or signature. Rest assured of that. Now, Lord Aidan, unless you have a trick up your sleeve, stop your charade now."

"I do, your Highness."

"What are you going to do, force the mana out of the man?"

"I won't use my magic. However, the Kingdom's greatest mana gourmand is present in this room. He will prove me right."

"Mana Gourmand? What in the name of the twelve gods are you talking about?"

Lacking any remarkable playwright, nobody could compare their ad hoc script with anything else. However, they failed to see beyond their acting for the dire fear of being accused.

Aidan looked at the chandelier and shouted.

"Skippy!"

With a sharp roar, the little dragon deactivated his camouflage and soared to Aidan's shoulder. The crowd cowered and gasped in awe. Aidan activated his mana sight and dropped Sense Link.

"Get me a mote of that man's mana."

The dragon pounced Count Bentley. The man waved his hands and by instinct cast a defensive spell.

"Venom Wall"

It was better than what Aidan expected. The signatures matched. He also fast-casted his spell.

"Spell Lock."

"Skippy, back."

The cascading wall of liquid venom became an illusion. The dragon crossed the now harmless illusion, banked, and landed on Dawn's shoulder. The girl was with her rapier already drawn.

"Butterfly Step."

She walked with uncanny grace and stopped next to the man,  blue blade pointed at his neck.

"Not a step, not a spell, Count Bentley," Dawn shouted without moving her head. "Call Archmage Astromelicus to me!"

Count Bentley looked at the blue metal, the budding fireball on the dragon and the mage that countered his spell with a snap of his fingers and gave up.

The grizzled archmage, family friend and headmaster soon was next to them.

"What is it that demands my presence, princess Lumina?"

It was Aidan that answered. "Headmaster, there is a spell of the Abyss element in this glass flute. I ask you to analyze it and see if the mana signature matches the venom wall Count Bentley used right now."

He willed both spell diagrams to become visible.  Astromelicus used a spell.

"Spell Analysis."

He looked at both constructs and with gravitas announced. "Count Bentley. The use of forbidden magic is regulated by the magi assembly. You are hereby expelled. I also accuse you of conspiracy to murder a royal and high treason."

"Guards!" Dawn shouted. Armored knights flooded the ballroom. "Escort Count Bentley to the stockades. Make sure he is unharmed. Skippy, go with him and eat his mana. I want the man alive."

The dragon leaped and latched his tail around Bentley's neck. He opened his mouth and mana poured out of the man into the dragon's throat. The knights escorted Count Bentley away.

Dawn sheathed her sword and Aidan extended a hand, smile in his face.

"Your Highness."

She took the hand, smile in her face.

"Lord Aidan."

He bowed. She curtsied. The nobles picked up their jaws from the floor. The couple walked and the mass of people parted. They stopped before Pearl.

"Thank you, Lumina." Aidan let go of her hand. The princess cupped both hands over her lap, a serene expression in her face.

"Pearl. In the name of King Helios and the whole nation of Yutis, we offer our apologies for the insufferable and unforgivable behavior of one of our nobles. Rest assured that he will be made an example of."

Dawn curtsied deep before her fellow princess.

"It is I that must thank you for hosting me, my dear friend." Pearl also curtsied. "Lord Aidan!"

Called out by Pearl, Aidan could only answer. "Yes, your Royal Highness."

Pearl produced an embroidered handkerchief with Gohar's royal insignia on it. She then kissed the cloth, leaving a lipstick mark. "You earned my favour tonight. Please accept this token of my esteem."

"I'm honored, Pearl." He took the handkerchief and kissed her hand. Some ladies swooned. He carefully folded and placed the handkerchief in his jacket's pocket.

Pearl took his arm and looked at Dawn. "But I am afraid I'll be the one to have the first dance with our hero tonight if you don't mind, Lumina."

Pearl beamed, victorious. Dawn smiled back, not an ounce of malice in her face. However, they needed to keep in equal terms.

"I'll have the King as my partner for the first dance. It is hard to make time... May I have the fourth one then, Lord Aidan? I'm afraid I'll only be available by then."

"It will be my pleasure, Lumina." Aidan replied to himself.

Dawn turned around. She looked at the royal balcony and extended a hand to the King. Helios bowed and descended.

"Music!" The princess called. The orchestra complied.