"I'll see you tomorrow", Cale announced as he said goodbye to Grischa and closed the door behind him. He didn't dare look at the time, so engrossed had he been in the conversation with his friend.

The banquet had been over for hours. Aletta, along with her father, had left the hall first, briefly explaining to Caleb that she would probably talk to him for a while before coming back to the apartment. William and his brother Edward had talked shortly after a surprisingly heartfelt hug, until they both disappeared from the hall. William had given him a quick look, but what he was trying to say, Cale couldn't tell.

Quietly, he walked down the hall to his own apartment. Grischa and he had been one of the last to leave and had continued their discussion of various creatures in his apartment. It was a strange feeling for him to gradually watch his friend theorize one thing after another about individual creatures, of which Caleb knew exactly what their strengths and weaknesses were. Grischa chided him for taking his statement clearly from the Chronicles of Creatures lore of Zod Adenia, but Cale only smiled at this.

He sighed as he descended the stairs and began to open his coat. Why he had even put it on for the short distance was not so clear to himself. Probably because he had been standing in the door for half an hour and was about to leave, but had been kept talking to Grischa. Not that he was bothered by that.

While Cale was getting closer to his apartment, he felt that Aletta's and William's beds were empty, to his surprise a moment later he noticed two figures sleeping on the sofa in the entrance hall. Briefly he was puzzled as to why the two were not in their beds before realizing that the two figures were men by stature. He subsequently spotted two people outside his door, which only made it stranger.

A soldier from Sylve and a mage from the Magistrat. Cale had a rough idea of what he was about to encounter. As Cale reached the hallway, the two guards also spotted him, both of whom bowed politely to Cale.

"I can hardly believe they left you standing here half the night. You two can go, I'll take care of the rest myself. That should be all right, shouldn't it?", Cale quietly spoke up, turning his eyes to the soldier from Sylve for the second part of his question. For a moment, the latter hesitated, as if considering whether it was a good idea to leave his protector alone. But because of the fact that Cale was a High-Magician, he decided to turn the matter over to him.

"Thank you very much. I will inform Sir Venlan of this", he replied, and with another bow, the two took their leave of Cale. Cautiously, Cale opened the door and let some mana flow into the light crystal to his left. The unknown man abruptly awoke and looked in surprise at Cale, who gazed with mixed emotions into the blue eyes of the visitor.

Crown Prince Edward of Sylve.

Wordlessly, Cale stood next to the open door and glanced at the sleeping person on the second couch, William. That must have been what William was trying to tell him. He had invited his brother to Cale's apartment. It took Cale a moment before he could compose himself and bow to the crown prince.

"Good evening, Your Majesty."

"High-Magician Caleb Leuen?", the latter chimed in. Quietly, the mage closed the door behind him, giving the prince time to realize where he was. It was half sitting, half lying on one of the three chaise longues in Caleb's entryway, holding the blanket over him with one hand in wonder before spotting William on the other side.

"You must have both been quite exhausted", Cale politely admitted as he took off his coat completely and approached Edward.

"May I ask what you are doing here?", replied Edward formally before straightening up and attempting to correct his rumpled uniform. He didn't really correct anything about his outward appearance in the process, however.

"Well...this is my place."

Edward paused in surprise, staring at the mage, and the next moment he jerked upright.

"Oh, by the gods... I must apologize. I wasn't aware of that."

"Never mind, never mind", Cale interjected with amusement, thus interrupting Edward, who was about to bow. "Prince William must have invited you, didn't he? Make yourself fell at home."

Cale could well observe how the prince visibly relaxed. Without any comment he laid his coat on the back of William's couch and stood in front of him, while the crown prince somewhat sheepishly picked up the blanket and laid it neatly on the couch.

"Will, hey William", Cale gave out in an attempt to wake the sleeping boy.

No response.

Cale shook him gently and called his name again, this time there was only a sluggish response. Cale remembered how William had confessed that morning that he hadn't slept very much because of his nervousness. They hadn't seen each other again until the evening, so Cale wondered how exhausted he must have been.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"If you lie here, you're just going to get a backache", Cale gave out, raising William's arm in the air. The swordsman glared at him briefly before simply ignoring him and going back to sleep.

Cale sighed.

He rolled up his sleeves as he turned to Edward. Silently, the crown prince watched the whole endeavor that he had never been able to experience like this before.

"I should also go back to my room", Edward gave after a moment.

"Please wait a moment, I will accompany you."

"No need."

"I must insist. I just sent your escort back, so you would be alone."

"You sent them... sent them back?"

"It is rather late, Prince Edward. They also need to sleep. Had I known you were staying here, I would have returned sooner", Cale explained calmly. Crown Prince Edward was silent as he returned Cale's bold gaze. He was not accustomed to not have any of his soldiers standing guard, but he could understand the two men's thought process. Caleb was in a similar position in rank to Edward himself, how could they resist the orders of a High-Magician, even more so in front of his own home? Presumably they would have granted themselves if Caleb were not a High-Magician, or if they had not seen that William and Benjamin of Freigoud were also here.

"All right", he finally relented, unobtrusively following Cale as he carefully lifted his sleeping brother with both hands. Reflexively, Edward took a step to the side, making it easier for Cale to pass.

"Can you handle this? May I help you?"

"Thanks for the offer, but Wil- Prince William isn't particularly heavy."

Prince Edward hadn't noticed that Cale was too tired for physical exertion, so he carried William mostly with the help of his magic. For a moment, Cale wanted to take his friend to the guest room, but he would inevitably wake Ben and Philippa. So, without further ado, he decided to take William to his own bedroom and headed for his study.

"Wait", Edward interjected quietly, hurrying to his side to open the door for him.

"Thank you."

Cale stepped carefully through the doorway and headed for the stairs. He could feel Prince Edward staring at the mass of books and coming to a halt. Carefully, Cale made his way up the stairs, scurrying past his shelves and gingerly placing William on his wide bed before sighing softly and tucking the sleeping man in.

As he made his way back down the stairs, he spotted the crown prince curiously examining some books more closely.

"Found something interesting?", Cale said softly, which made the prince flinch and look at him.

"My mistake, I had no intention of spying on you."

"That's all right. The books here are constantly being borrowed by my colleagues, you wouldn't even be able get to the rare and valuable stuff without my help."

"I see", the prince replied, following Cale's gesture into the other room. Silently, Cale reached for his coat, opened the door, and let the royal visitor exit first. Somewhat lost, the latter looked around the hallway before Cale stepped to his side and pointed the way.

"If you wish, you are welcome to come by and look at the books sometime during the day. Should you find a copy of interest, you're also welcome to borrow it."

"Very kind of you, thank you. I will be happy to take up on your offer, Sir Leuen."

"You are welcome to call me Caleb, I am not of noble birth", Cale quickly replied. It felt strange to be addressed that way by William's brother, not to mention that he generally disliked being called by his last name. Besides, he wanted to start a personal relationship with Edward rather than a political one.

"Then please call me Edward as well, Caleb."

"How could I? I..."

"I must insist", Prince Edward interrupted him, which made the magician smile, stop and offer his hand to the man.

"If you wish, Edward."

The prince cleared his throat in amusement and returned the greeting. The rooms for the guests were in another building and they were not connected. Normally, even high-ranking visitors did not stray into the Magistrat's private quarters. Both were walking through the fresh breeze across the courtyard to the other side of the square when Cale noticed the prince folding his arms.

"Cold?" he asked cautiously, checking his companion. Edward didn't let it show on his face, but his body showed it quite clearly.

"A little", the latter admitted. Wordlessly, Cale handed him his coat, which he had been carrying in one hand the whole time.

"It can get very cold here in Exarion at this time of year, with the winds reaching us from Frignez. Take it easy, not that you'll catch a cold."

"And you?"

"I'm used to weathering like this", Cale threw back. "To be honest, I think this is exactly the optimum temperature."

"If you say so", Edward replied, thanking him before reaching for his coat and pulling it on. Immediately, he felt himself getting warmer and lifted the collar in such a way as to keep the cold air from sticking to his neck. Surprisingly, the coat fit like a glove and went down to Edward's knees, so he wasn't restricted in his movement either.

"Do you know what room we stayed in?", Edward asked a little later when he recognized the building in front of them.

"Yes. We High-Magicians are always informed of your whereabouts. In case of emergency, one of our duties is to ensure the safety of our guests."

"You are prepared for anything, aren't you?"

"Inevitably, we must. If we are not organized, the lives of the residents of Altona are at stake", Cale replied politely, opening the large front door.

"Sounds kind of familiar."

Cale cleared his throat in amusement and felt the prince up the stairs to his room. They talked for a moment more about the importance of security before reaching their destination. There were quite a few soldiers in front of all the doors in the hallway, who looked at the two with skeptical looks and then bowed.

"Thank you for everything", Edward quietly spoke up as the staff opened the door.

"You're welcome", Cale replied hypocritically friendly. Actually, he just wanted to see how Edward would behave towards him. After all, he was a High-Magician and William's friend at that, two points whose relationship could become critical for the future. But he kept the thoughts to himself, smiling instead and replying something completely different. "I wish you a restful night."

"I wish you the same", Edward replied politely, as he watched Cale bow respectfully in farewell. He could now understand what his father and William saw in Cale. Surprisingly, he was a very honest and warm person who probably wouldn't hurt a fly if he didn't have to. But what Edward didn't notice was how the fake smile disappeared and Cale put on a serious expression before the door was even closed.

The coat of Cale, which was the property of the Magistrat, had been taken by Edward unintentionally.