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Isaac clasps Julia’s hand in his own and leads her out her bedroom window.“Brother,” she sings as a tease. “How you spoil me so,” and both of them drop down giggling into the early dawn. Along the battlements, on the opposite side of the castle where prince and princess are forbidden from going for safety’s sake, the Guard Captain shouts commands to a line of knights. Some of them choose swords or lances as weapons, others use magic. There is no distinction here for what weapon a knight chooses. All of them will fight in the same battle, and all of them must learn to wield their weapons accordingly. “Hmm,” Julia hums, resting her chin in her hand over the stone wall. She eyes the mage knights. Being a magician herself lends her to a fascination with them. “Do you think Captain Oskar will kick that young magician who hasn’t been able to conjure a thing from his fingertips up till now?”“I doubt it,” Isaac responds, hands folded behind his back. “If he hasn’t already. That young man is useless, but he has too much magical potential for our armies to not at least try to pry it out of him.”“It’s been months,” Julia sighs, as if the predicament is a great source of despair for her. But their conversation is for conversation’s sake. Isaac and Julia are the closest of the king’s adopted children, perhaps due to their bond by blood. They enjoy watching the knights train in silence.One of them had caught Julia’s eye when she had first joined their ranks months ago. She was young, a prodigy by all means, clearly. Julia didn’t need the Guard Captain to sing her praise, when it was quite obvious by the way she wielded her magic that she caught the jealous eye of many of her peers, even some of her seniors.Julia stares.“Her name is Sypha.”Julia startles slightly. She should have been used to Adrian sneaking up on her. He had always been like a shadow, creeping up on his adopted siblings and pulling pranks. Julia had always been the most immune to his antics, but she had been so engrossed in the young magician below and felt herself blushing so deeply, she had genuinely been startled.Adrian seems to know all this and smiles smugly.“Adrian. It seems mother’s lessons in etiquette still haven’t sunk into your skull.” Julia tries to blow it off.“On the contrary, I have every bit of mother’s etiquette lessons memorized,” Adrian responds, tilting his head mischievously. “I just choose to ignore them. Besides,” he adds, leaning over Julia’s shoulder. “Why should I waste precious time with my sister on manners when I could tease her endlessly for her newfound crush?”Julia blushes deeply again and is spared only by Isaac’s interjection.“Now, Adrian, let’s not be so quick to judge.” His voice is light, teasing. “After all, at least she’s not hopelessly in love with the rugged, crass warrior she found locked in the stable a week ago.”Adrian protests over both their snickers. “How dare you accuse me of such a thing?”“Accuse?” Julia repeats, pressing a hand to her lips. “Then what do you call clinging to a man’s old handkerchief doused in his perfume?”Adrian turns bright red, and Isaac and Julia dissolve into fits of laughter.After a moment, Adrian folds his arms and smiles suddenly. “You laugh now, dear sister, but I shall have my revenge at the ball tonight.”“And pray tell, how will you get this so-called revenge?”“Sypha will be there.”Adrian smile only widens when Julia’s face falls. “What? I-I…Oh, no.” Julia could feel herself blushing again. But Adrian’s teasing ends there, because Julia doesn’t seem able to comprehend anything after that. He leaves the two of them, giving Julia a small pat on the shoulder.“What would she be wearing?” Julia asks Isaac after a few moments of gaping. “A-a dress? Or a suit?”“Most of the knights wear suits regardless of gender,” Isaac answers calmly. He doesn’t smile, but Julia can sense the amusement in his voice. “Although some of them wear dresses. What are you fantasizing her in?”“Fantasize?” Julia exclaims loudly. “I’m not fantasizing!” she insists in a tone that makes it clear she’s fantasizing.“Well.” Isaac places an appeasing hand over her cheek. “I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough.” He pats her cheek a few times and then turns to leave.Julia sighs. Julia’s a coward. And a killjoy. And a boring old oaf trapped in a young woman’s body, her siblings would tease her. She did her proper greetings at the beginning of the ball, held hands with gentleman and encouraged them for the impending battle, but the minute that young magician had walked into the hall, she had lost all her nerve, and ran out practically screaming into the castle gardens.It’s quiet here. A few young couples walk in the dark, chattering excitedly when they don’t revel in the silence. Julia sits on a bench, swallowing her old childish desire to go digging into the bushes for all the frogs croaking in the night.She sits on a bench, feeling stupid and not at all like a princess.“Psst!” Something rustles in the bush behind her, and Julia swivels around in her seat. “Check out this huge frog, Trevor!” She almost faints in shock when she sees—of all people—that magician she had been avoiding. Sypha.Although, the sight of her is far less imposing with twigs and leaves in her hair and a huge toad between her hands.“You’re not Trevor.”“Most assuredly I am not,” Julia says with a giggle.Something dawns over Sypha’s face, and she stands up straight immediately. “Oh, I’m so sorry, my lady! I didn’t realize you were nobility! Please forgive my manners!”All of Julia’s inhibitions melt away at the earnestness in this young woman’s voice. And then die and disappear into a void Julia would never consult again when Sypha hurriedly trips over the bush face first onto the garden floor in her haste to bow.The toad in her arms croaks in protest as she squishes it in her fall.Julia bursts into laughter. Before Sypha can embarrass herself further or apologize again, Julia smiles into her words, “I’m Lady Julia, if it would please you to know my name.”“Oh, please! A lady shouldn’t introduce herself first, I’m—”Julia only interrupts her for fear of Sypha sweating herself into a coma. “I know who you are. Sypha, that lovely magician I’ve been spying over the battlements.”It’s Julia’s turn to blush when she realizes what she’s just admitted.“Only—only today!” she bursts out, which only serves to further her embarrassment. Sypha has a smug grin over her face now.“I don’t blame you, my lady. Not to brag, but I am the best magician among all my peers. It’s only natural I’d catch your eye.” The self-assured tone combined with the suit she’s wearing leave Julia mute. She seems to glow in the moonlight, and of all people in this palace, Julia can’t think of anyone else she’d rather have by her side. The thought is fleeting but so childish that she blushes to herself.“That’s a toad, not a frog,” Julia corrects in some attempt to save face.Sypha’s smug grin is wiped off her face only out of curiosity. “Hm?” she asks.“What you have in your hands,” Julia repeats. “That’s a toad, not a frog.”“Oh. I didn’t realize. I should probably let it go.” They then share a moment of comfortable quiet as Sypha lets the toad hop out of her arms and into the bushes.“Who’s Trevor?” Julia asks accusingly.“Trevor?” Sypha’s voice is even, at least. It’s a good sign he’s no one important. “Oh, he’s one of my friends.”But Julia’s not convinced. “What kind of friend?”Her siblings had always teased her for being unnecessarily nosy at times, but she couldn’t help herself. She wouldn’t lose herself in a fantasy with this magician if she was already taken.Sypha quickly blushes when she realizes what Julia’s asking. “N-nothing like that, my lady! I…I don’t take to men at all, actually.”Julia’s first thought is that she’s attracted to women, which means theoretically there’s a chance for her. She turns deep red.Sypha notices her silence and grins smugly again. “Why do you ask?”Julia crosses her arms and turns her head to the side, eyes closed. “No particular reason.”There’s nothing then but the muted rustles of the night. Sypha sits at Julia’s feet, arms over the stone bench Julia is seated over, and only once Julia musters the courage to look at her again does she realize Sypha is staring.When Julia stares back, Sypha realizes it, too and blinks, blushing again.“I’m sorry,” she says quickly. “You must think me rude, my lady.”“Not at all,” and Julia is smiling like an idiot girl in love at her. She can’t stop smiling and feels ridiculous. She wants to ask her so many things about herself, she tries to decide where to begin, but her galloping, wild heart is interrupted by a shout in the distance.“Sypha!”Sypha turns behind her. It’s a man. Julia’s not sure whether to be pleased or displeased. She generally doesn’t like men, at least the ones who aren’t her brothers, but a man is harmless to her relationship with Sypha.Sypha glances apologetically at Julia, standing.“Forgive me, my lady.” There’s a sudden air of regality about her, and Julia’s heart lodges itself in her throat. She feels it stop altogether when Sypha bends down, takes Julia’s hand in hers and lays a chaste kiss over the back of it.“I have to leave now, but we should speak again. If you plan to dance at any point tonight, I would be greatly pleased to have your company.”Julia says nothing in return, watching in mute adoration as Sypha takes her leave with a curt bow. She follows the man into the dark, and Julia is left alone with her racing heart. “Julia, dear sister, I almost feared you a coward.”She returns to their guests and to Adrian, who’s smiling mischievously. Julia didn’t particularly mind balls, but she hates that she can’t kick him into submission in public. He looks positively elegant, graceful, everything a prince should be. A pity his viper tongue immediately soiled that image.“I would be hesitant to call Julia the coward.” Julia feels a hand on her shoulder and turns to see Isaac, his other hand folded behind his back and his smile easy. “Are you going to ask me to hide you from that Belmont fellow again?”Adrian flits his eyes up in some sort of gesture in annoyance.“One day I will stake you, Isaac.”“Oh, you would go through all that trouble just for me? I’m flattered. Though, the gesture might inspire Julia to actually initiate a relationship for once.”“It’s like you two are competing over me,” Julia sniffs, irritated. “To see who gets to bully me the most.”“What else are brothers for?” Isaac asks, leaning into her with another mischievous smile.“Isaac is only full of quips because no one’s stolen his heart, yet.”The siblings turn to the sight of their last and least social brother. Hector. He dresses somewhere in between Adrian’s flamboyant display and Isaac’s simple regality, arms akimbo and with a huge smile on his face. He sticks to his animals, mostly, but sometimes spares a cheerful note with his siblings.“No one can steal something I don’t have, Hector,” Isaac responds easily.“Oh, how dark and tragic,” Adrian cries out mockingly. “Everyone at the ball will be tripping over themselves to melt that ice cold exterior.”“Tell me you’re through, beloved Adrian, so I can finally watch you and Julia disintegrate from the inside out on the ballroom floor.”“As if I would give you that satisfaction,” Adrian snaps playfully. “I will be chivalrous purely out of spite.”And as if staged, the center of the room begins to clear, the magicians in the room dim the torches lining the hall. The music creeps from a gentle background note to a crescendo in full swing. As the music swells, so does Julia’s heart, and she can feel herself heat from sudden anticipation. The thought of dancing with Sypha sends her heart fluttering and her cheeks heating and all her nerves come alive.But she’s nowhere to be found. Hector finds a young docile lady, similar to his nature to dance with. Adrian has found his beloved soulmate from the stable—the same man, she realizes, who had called Sypha to him. If Trevor was here, then where was Sypha? Isaac stands beside his sister, and rubs her shoulder when she looks on in disappointment.“The evening has only just started,” he assures. Julia reaches over and squeezes her brother’s hand.The first song begins and ends with Julia in the corner. Adrian looks so ridiculously handsome with his partner and Julia wants to kick him. He and his siblings had been all teases about his shyness, but when it came to it, he was genuinely charming around other men. Julia would probably just embarrass herself even if Sypha did come.Halfway through the second song, Julia’s heart leaps. At the entrance of the hall stands Sypha, picking at the button on her suit coat and looking around anxiously for someone. Julia hopes it’s her.Isaac must have seen the way Julia reacted to Sypha and gently shoves her. “Go,” he says, and his smile is wide.Julia bunches up her skirts just slightly enough so that she can walk easily. Her movement catches Sypha’s eye, and, to Julia’s pleasure, she perks up and smiles.“You’re late!” Julia chides before jerking Sypha’s hand to her hip. Sypha blushes from the contact, and Julia, despite feeling a sudden wave of embarrassment for her forwardness, continues on undeterred. She would not let her siblings judge her while they watched.“I’m sorry,” Sypha apologizes and takes Julia’s hand with ease. They glide onto the dance floor, and while Julia has had many skilled dance partners, this is the first time she feels almost weightless in someone’s arms. “I just had business to attend to.”Sypha is shorter than Julia but takes the lead, twirling her around the dance floor. Julia watches the spiral of colors around her, all the other couples dancing and spinning in a haze of elation. She feels overjoyed in Sypha’s arms, like a little girl running through the fields without a care in the world.Julia leans into Sypha’s ear.“You’re a good dancer,” she says.“Trevor says I’m a good dancer.” As if that’s relevant to the conversation. Julia pouts.“Trevor this! Trevor that! Stop talking about Trevor!”Instead of being admonished, however, Sypha grins wide and tilts her head. “You’re irritable for someone who gets to dance with the prettiest magician in the kingdom.”“And you’re mouthy for someone who gets to dance with the most beautiful princess in the world.”Only then does Sypha stutter, almost stepping on Julia’s foot in the process. “What?”“Oh, didn’t you know?” Julia’s suddenly filled with an almost uncharacteristic smugness. Sypha’s rubbing off on her, she supposes.“I didn’t—” Julia has to lead at this point, because apparently Sypha’s mind has been so thoroughly addled by the revelation that she can hardly keep up. “I didn’t know you were a princess!”“Hush, or do you want everyone to stare?”That statement hardly does anything to appease either of their anxieties. It seems as if everyone’s already staring, and now both of them are cognizant of it. All the faces around her are a whirlwind of blurs as Sypha and her twirl around, but their gazes are unsettling.Julia feels herself faltering. The urge to run away overrides everything else and she’s suddenly out of Sypha’s arms and at the doorway of the balcony before she can stop herself.“Princess!”Sypha follows her outside and to the edge of the railing, where Julia leans over and steadies herself. The night air is cool, relieves her anxious lungs and the stillness of it all compels her to listen and look back at Sypha.“Just call me Julia,” she corrects before Sypha can continue on. She doesn’t want appeasements or superficial regalities from her just because she’s royalty. She suddenly regrets disclosing her status as princess.But Sypha, to her surprise, does not continue with anything but earnestness. “Are you all right?” she asks.“I’m fine. I just got nervous.” She wants to stick her nose haughtily in the air again, make light of it.“Did I do something wrong?”“No!” Julia cries out. Her heart melts at the wounded note in Sypha’s voice. Before she can stop herself, Julia grasps Sypha’s face between both her hands. She jerks Sypha closer, an inch from her face, and she can’t help but look into her eyes. Bright, blue, so alive and innocent, like the sky on a warm summer’s day. Not at all like Julia’s: dark, cold, reserved, like all her guests would say. It scared the men away.“You have the warmest eyes,” Sypha says, cheeks cupped between Julia’s hands.Julia’s hands slip down to Sypha’s shoulders and her eyes falter. She lets out a sound that’s half a chuckle and half a sob. She’s not really sure what it is. Or what she’s feeling.“Oh,” she says before breaking out of Sypha’s grasp and turning away, suddenly ashamed.“What’s wrong?”“I don’t know!” Julia has to physically stop herself from tugging on her hair in frustration. “I just…” Her voice lowers a note. “I’ve found men and women pretty before…but you…” She turns, at a loss for words. “I think I’m in love with you. But I’ve never been in love before.”Sypha takes Julia’s shaking, shivering arms in her hands and steadies her. “You need to calm down,” she says, ignoring Julia’s offended look. “You’re just in love. It’s happened to me plenty of times before.”Julia feels her heart sink at the thought. So was there someone else? “And who do you love besides me?”“No one. I only love you.”Sypha says it with such sincerity. And then she realizes what she’s said and blushes furiously.“I-I’m sorry!” she exclaims. “This is inappropriate! You’re a princess!”“So what?”Julia’s voice cuts through the dark strangely calm. Both their blushing and fumbling fade and there’s a sudden note of seriousness in the air.“So what?” Julia repeats as a whisper. She glances at Sypha’s lips and is overwhelmed by the desire to kiss them. So she does, leaning in slowly to ask for permission. Sypha obliges her, kissing her back. The kiss is soft, slow, not electric or passionate or otherworldly but like the gentle crackle of a hearth on a cold winter’s day, when Julia wanted nothing more to lay in her blankets and listen to her brothers argue over inconsequential things. Julia feels like she could fall asleep right there in Sypha’s arms.But at the same time, there’s an extra tinge of excitement. Julia’s kissed people before but never ones she’s been in love with, and she likes that feeling.When they break away, Julia’s overcome with all her apprehensions again and feels herself on the edge of rambling.“I just…” she starts. “I don’t know how to act around you. I feel like I just say and do things, and I don’t really know what’s me.”Sypha kisses her gently on the cheek and Julia tries to ignore the thrum in her heart. “Then we’ll figure it out together. You don’t have to be anyone right now, if you don’t want to.”All of Julia’s anxieties heighten. “You’re so kind to me and you hardly know anything about me.”“Well, I know you’re sweet.” Sypha’s sincere eyes suddenly flash with that curious look she’d had on her face when she was in deep thought. “I just don’t know what kind of sweetness.”“There are kinds of sweetness?” Julia laughs.“Of course! There’s cake which is soft and moist and has a subtle sweetness to it. And then candy which is sharper, like a burst of sweetness. And honey which is subtle too but not as elegant as cake. More homey—” Sypha cuts herself off and blushes when she realizes Julia’s staring and grinning.Julia takes her hands off Sypha’s shoulders only to cover her mouth and giggle.For a little while, there’s only cricketsong and the muted hum of music between them. Somewhere in between the silence, Sypha’s cradling Julia’s head on her shoulder.“Are you still anxious?” Sypha asks. Julia likes the way she sways back and forth, lulling her with an unspoken lullaby.“No.” Julia closes her eyes and breathes in the fresh air. Between the pine and fresh dew, she smells something different, like another species in the forest, and she realizes it’s Sypha’s smell. She smells like rain, like the drizzle on a sunny day.Julia doesn’t know how long they stay like that. Only that she wanted to stay longer.“Shall we finish our dance inside?”And despite Julia’s childish wish, Sypha has a point. The two of them should have been inside. Besides, Julia had some siblings to show off to. “I see you’ve gained a new look of self-confidence in the last hour.”It’s a wonder Adrian manages to carry his voice across the ballroom floor when he’s twirling around in someone’s arms. Julia shouldn’t have really been surprised. Adrian was a man of many talents.It’s just Sypha and Julia and Adrian and Trevor who make up the center of the hall now. The crowd had parted to let the four of them take the spotlight and to watch the couples dance in awe.“It’s a good look on you,” Adrian teases again.“Focus on your dancing instead of teasing me,” Julia snaps playfully.“Oh, I am. But unlike you, I can actually focus on dancing and poking fun at people.”Before Julia can quip back, Sypha smirks and says, “Well, if it’s a competition you want—” And drags Julia away, swinging her with more force and vigor than she had previously. Julia laughs in Sypha’s arms.“Sypha!” she squeals. But Sypha won’t have it, and it seems to have excited the crowd somewhat. So much so, that Adrian and Trevor have no choice but to follow suit and impress the audience with their own display.Julia thought before that Sypha had been a talented dancer. It came with the territory of working in the guard, but Julia truly only understands the extent of her skill when Sypha continues to twirl her around to the music, so quickly and dexterously that Julia can do nothing but slacken and let her lead. The crowd erupts into claps and laughter at them.But Trevor and Adrian are talented in their own right. And with both of them dancing expertly, the crowd’s attention shifts to them. Julia feels her heart sink at her own ineptitude. She did not want to fail Sypha just because she held her back.But Sypha’s not one for despair, apparently. She leans in close. “Hold on.” Julia obeys and then suddenly finds herself lifted into the air, laughing again, all her fears evaporated as Sypha swings her up and around and back to her feet. The audience cheers. Julia, through her periphery sees Adrian and Trevor contemplating the same.“Wait,” she hears her brother whisper briefly. “Who’s lifting wh—”The lapse in communication leads to the two of them smacking into each other and tumbling to the floor.Julia and Sypha’s laughs are drowned out by those of the crowd.Thankfully, it doesn’t take any sort of dark turn. The crowd is neither displeased nor offended by their mistake, and Trevor and Adrian brush it off with laughs of their own.Julia leans over and extends her hand to her brother.“You win this round, dear sister,” Adrian says, letting her help him up.“And many more to come,” she teases back.The four of them stand in a line then, letting the ball goers applaud for their efforts this evening. Adrian and Julia show the usual royal restraint, Trevor scratches his face, embarrassed, and Sypha is as flamboyant as she can always manage, bowing regally for the crowd.When she stands back up straight, Trevor admonishes her.“Show off,” he whispers, smacking her in the chest.Julia turns her attention back then to her brother. She would not let him off the hook so easily, not with this newfound confidence.“Don’t be ashamed,” she says to him, keeping her eyes on the crowd. “You provided entertainment for the whole kingdom. Perhaps you could take the role of court jester next year.” Laughter and giggles bounce off the walls of the castle corridors.Sypha snorts and lets Julia guide her for the first time this evening. The two of them are giddy, excited, laughing into each other’s shoulders at jokes Sypha wouldn’t have dared repeat in any other company. Julia drags her along back to her bed chamber and she can feel her anxiety heighten.She expects kisses maybe, sharing a bed or a blanket by the fire. Perhaps more. She feels dizzy at the thought.Julia’s bedchamber is larger than any room Sypha’s seen in her life. She expected, perhaps because of all the stories she’s heard, and the look of the rest of the castle, for it to be empty and simple. Instead the room is filled with curtains and carpets, warm and cozy. The fire by the hearth has just been lit, judging by the still cool temperature, but it’s a comfort all the same.Julia tears off her shoes and vaults onto the bed. Sypha thinks she might act coy, tease her into the bed with her or just be forward and demand kisses immediately.To Sypha’s surprise, Julia instead summons a bloom of fire over her palm and cackles menacingly, “Ghost stories!” Then laughs boorishly.Sypha stares at her, but she can’t be disappointed considering how giddy both of them are right now.“I thought we were going to have sex.” Regardless, Sypha slips into the bed with her and is pleased to find it warmed and comfortable.“Sex?” Julia says. “What’s that?”After a few minutes of eyebrows furrowed in disbelief, Julia dissolves into a snort of hysterical laughter and squeals, “I’m kidding! I’m kidding!” She leans into Sypha’s shoulder, and if Sypha hadn’t been watching her all night, she might have mistaken her for being drunk.Julia sits up and then eyes Sypha with one raised brow. “You want to have sex with me? Already? We just met.”“Yes, but…” Sypha automatically leans her head over on Julia’s shoulder. “I feel so comfortable with you.” She burrows her nose into her and wraps her arms around her waist. “I wouldn’t mind…just staying like this, though.”“Hmm,” Julia says, as if in agreement. But there’s no further discussion of that. Of sex or kisses or even ghost stories, because the two are so exhausted, they fall right to sleep curled up in each other’s arms. Sypha and Julia dream together of a seascape, of clouds and gentle things, and they smile with their hands clasped together. Tonight, they can dream.