As Cassandra had feared, Rosalind was very popular with the other Tears. It was a wonder she had yet to choose an apprentice. Then again, she didn’t seem to be enjoying her conversations with the others. Should she wait to greet her? No, a future princess could not hesitate due to shyness and uncertainty. However, before she could make a move, someone called out to her.
“Cassandra,” Ophelia called out, “I have been looking forward to talking to you ever since I heard your introduction. Would you care to chat?”
“Of course,” Cassandra replied. She had the whole night, and it would definitely hurt her more now to ignore the first princess just because she already had an apprentice. Instead, she should take this opportunity to get some of the offered advice.
Ophelia guided her to a sitting area away from the crowd and had her take a seat. “I love seeing promising talents like you,” she began, “so I thought I should give you some advice before you charge blindly forward and lose your glow.”
Lose her glow? It was nice that she thought she was glowing, but Cassandra was concerned about why she seemed so confident she would lose it. “Has it happened before?” she asked.
“It has,” the first princess confirmed, “Many new Tears are full of passion, but they are desperation as well. They take the first apprenticeship that comes their way without considering what it means.”
“Isn’t apprenticeship an opportunity to learn to take on the position of the one you are apprenticed to?” Cassandra asked, “Do they not care what position they train for?”
Ophelia nodded in approval. “At least you have some sense. That is certainly part of it, but even after the apprenticeship is over, climbing higher is possible. However, there is something else that is even more dangerous. It is the reason the pillars rarely take apprentices and the reason you must be even more careful.”
Cassandra felt a chill as Ophelia’s voice grew even more serious. What was it? Had she missed something important again? “What is that reason?” she asked.
“Their agendas,” Ophelia replied, and sighed when Cassandra frowned, “We cannot pretend to live in a perfect world where they don’t exist. Every princess has their own agenda, whether they show it or not. Every queen, king, and headmaster does as well. When they take an apprentice, they will choose someone they believe they can mold to suit their agendas. This includes myself, of course.”
“I understand why that is important, but why would you tell me this?” Cassandra asked, “It is not as if they will just tell me their agendas if I ask them to.”
“True, but you can tell them yours,” Ophelia advised, “You can wait, watch, and slowly decide who best suits your agenda. It is not just the princesses and shadows who choose the Tears. The Tears choose who they are apprenticed to as well. That being said, I can see you already have your eyes on someone.”
Cassandra could not stop herself from glancing in Rosalind’s direction, drawing a warm smile from Ophelia. “So you are saying, if I tell her my agenda and she rejects me, I am better off giving up?” she clarified.
“That depends on her reason for rejecting you,” Ophelia corrected, “Don’t let anyone deny your dream. That dream got you this far, and it is what needs to carry you forward from here.”
It made sense once Cassandra had a moment to think about it. There was a reason that Tethia’s system worked the way it did. It was to prevent corruption caused by ideals being passed down through bloodlines. It would be for naught if those same ideals were passed down through apprenticeships instead.
“Thank you,” Cassandra told Ophelia with a smile of her own.
“Good luck. Rosalind will be a tough one to win over, but your love of magic might be just the thing that can charm her,” the first princess wished as Cassandra got up to leave.
Cassandra thanked her again before stepping back into motion. If apprenticeships really took so long to confirm, the sooner she began, the better. Before Cassandra was able to get to Rosalie, she met the fifth princess who was already openly trying to convince her of the dangers of magic running free amongst the populace. Her agenda was plenty clear, and it was not one Cassandra had any interest in.
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The second princess also came to speak with Cassandra. She thought magic was far too constrained. Magic was what gave Tethia its strength despite being such a small kingdom. Banning dangerous magic could endanger someone in a critical moment when they had to choose between breaking the law or death. That was a fair point, but dangerous magic was considered dangerous for a reason. There were other magics that could be used in such situations.
As Cassandra was also not interested in such extremism she finally made her way to Rosalind. By this point, the others had given up. Rather than her agenda or whatever she intended to say first, Cassandra ended up blurting out her true feelings instead.
“Your husband is so cool,” she told Rosalind with a sparkle in her eyes, “I met him at the final stage of the entrance exam, and stoic appearance was perfect! I couldn’t tell what he was thinking at all… Sorry.”
Rather than being offended by her sudden ramble about the archmage, Rosalind let out a smile and small chuckle. “Reginald told me about you,” she replied, “He said you had the oddest reaction to his magic during the test and it really threw him off.”
“It did?” Cassandra asked, recalling the test, “I couldn’t tell at all.”
“I’ve never seen him flustered like that before,” Rosalind confirmed, “I would like to invite you over to surprise him sometime.”
She would like to meet again? Cassandra felt a thrill of excitement go through her. “I would love to!” she agreed, “I want to know more about you as well. How did you meet? Did he charm you with his magic skills or was it his cool personality?”
There was no reason to kill the mood of such an exciting conversation by bringing up apprenticeships. Instead, Cassandra had another goal. She did not need to be Rosalind’s apprentice if she could befriend her instead. After all, she could always aim straight for the queen instead.
However, it seemed Rosalind had other ideas. “You know, it might be easier to visit my home if you were my apprentice,” she offered.
Cassandra froze. “But you know so little about me and my ideals,” she replied.
“I think I know what is most important,” Rosalind replied, “I saw you interact with the others. You gave Ophelia your time even though she already has an apprentice. You avoided the fifth and second princesses who were purposely fishing for extremists. You also love magic to the point that it threw my husband’s own magic in a direction he did not expect. Even when you approached me, you didn’t push your own agendas.”
“Can I have some time to think about it?” Cassandra asked, unable to argue with Rosalind’s words, “I want to take Ophelia’s advice and take my time to decide carefully.”
“Of course,” Rosalind replied, “I doubt I will find someone who I like as much as you, so take all the time you need. I will be waiting.”
==========
Maximus was already exhausted even though it was his second time attending his first Feast of Guardians. This time he needed to be sure not to repeat the mistakes of his past. He had once been the apprentice of the First Commander of the Royal Guard, and he had been good at it. However, he had been blinded to the truth and become a pawn rather than a person before Wayde had saved him.
Wayde sat beside him with a calm sort of confidence of someone more used to these kinds of situations. At times it was hard to believe that Wayde had once been the king of Tethia and Tethia had fallen. But that was the past, or perhaps another future. Maximus might have even mistaken it for a dream if Wayde had not recalled the same things he did.
The feast itself ended quickly, with Maximus barely able to stomach anything at all. The connections he made today would decide everything. This time, rather than aiming to be a guard, Maximus had announced his intentions to protect the kingdom and those he loved from a more royal position. Perhaps he had spoken his intention a bit too boldly as he caught many of the princes murmuring at his words.
Dalton, the king of Tethia and a handsome lion beastkin, put a stop to the murmurs and merely watched Maximus for his next move. Perhaps that was why all of the princes avoided Maximus in the room set aside for mingling. Wayde, on the other hand, was very popular. He knew how to draw them in and he had his choice of the best of them.
“Feeling lonely?” Nero, the ninth prince asked him.
“Prince Nero,” Maximus greeted quickly, “I think I have messed everything up already. Everyone is avoiding me now.”
“Not everyone,” Nero corrected, “I am right here.”
For the first time, Maximus took the time to really look at Prince Nero. Perhaps he had been too hasty to dismiss him as the ninth and youngest prince. The tenth prince had long been an apprentice and had plenty of experience, but Nero came out of nowhere. Maximus couldn’t even remember for sure if he had been a prince in the other future.
Prince Nero had black hair and dark eyes that had a hint of blue. He stood with a sort of relaxed regality that reminded Maximus of the king Wayde had become, but there was a sharpness to it that Wayde had lacked. That prince was the one who was making him an offer now.
“Why would you approach me even after I made such a big mistake?” Maximus asked.
“Mistakes are expected from a student,” Nero pointed out, “Besides, I like your guts, and your honesty. Honesty is harder to find around here than you might think. Besides, you have the perfect appearance to be royalty and stand before a crowd.”
Maximus couldn’t tell if that last bit was a jab or a compliment. Or perhaps it was an insult for those who put value on appearances in the first place. “You are handsome too,” Maximus told him. No, that wasn’t what he meant.
“If you become my apprentice, the first thing we will need to work on is how to think before you speak. While I appreciate your honesty, there are some times when the truth is best hidden,” Nero told him, “Think about my offer.”
Was there even a point in thinking about it? He doubted a chance like this would come again. “Wait,” he told Prince Nero, who was about to leave, “I accept. I will become your apprentice.”
Nero stared him down for a few moments before a smile slowly formed on his lips. “Wonderful. I will contact you later with the official contract of apprenticeship,” he told him, “I could use some help on some of my projects as soon as possible. You are still free for the rest of the month before school, right?”
A strange pressure came off of Nero now, and Maximus found himself already regretting his decision. Had he made the wrong choice yet again?