Apparently, Councillor Alistair had started a trend. Within four years of his resignation, Councillor Geisha decided she too, was going to step down and marry an old sweetheart from Foxfire. And so, election proceedings began, but this time, Oralie was much calmer. She got to be on the choosing side, not the option side.

Unlike the previous time, the scribe was ineligible for the job. Oralie's replacement had been a Mysterium citizen- who had a wife and three kids.

Frankly, Oralie didn't know any of the candidates. One was an ancient, one was a Foxfire mentor, and another was a recent graduate from the Elite levels. Councillor Velia had commented about the ancient being grumpy, and so Oralie knew that would be no good. One Bronte per council was enough. The Foxfire mentor in multi-spectral studies was a popular choice, but she wasn't anything outstanding, at least, according to Councillor Darek. And so, Councillor Terik was insistent on the youngest candidate.

"I've met him a couple times. Like Oralie, he was the top of his class. He's very popular with the masses. Quite friendly. And need I remind you, I took a descrying and-"

"Yes, we know, he had an incredible amount of good potential. But that does not excuse the fact he would be joining the council straight out of Foxfire." Bronte crossed his arms, looking irritated, as always.

"The Elite levels." Councillor Emery corrected. "He's not stupid. And he's a telepath."

"Well we know he has your vote then," Bronte mumbled.

"And who would have your vote?" Councillor Zarina prompted. "Are any of them worthy of such a thing."

Bronte scowled at the derisiveness in her tone, but responded coolly. "Elise Ravens would have my vote."

"But she's not the ancient." Terik reminded Bronte.

"The 'ancient' and I do not get along. He may be intelligent, but he can be very difficult."

"So Elise Ravens, then?" asked Councillor Liora. "She's fine and all, but I can't picture her on the council. She wouldn't really bring anything to the table if you understand what I mean."

"I still say Kenric Fathdon is a better choice." Emery restated. "He's popular with the people. They won't be afraid to come to him with concerns for the council."

"That is an important aspect to consider," Councillor Clarette said. "After all, we are servants to the people. We want them to be able to approach us."

Oralie nodded her agreement, along with several others.

Bronte sighed and leaned forward. "I feel as if I'm already being outvoted. For the sake of time, how many of you have already decided to vote for the young Mr. Fathdon?"

Emery and Terik raised their hands first, but then everyone else did as well, including Oralie. It would be nice to have someone on the council less experienced than herself. Constantly being the youngest got tiring.

Bronte just shook his head.

"The decision must be unanimous. But, to spare your frustration, I will amend my vote in the hope Mr. Fathdon will exceed my expectations." Bronte sat back in his chair as if to say, 'Yes, I was nice, you're welcome.' Oralie found herself smiling. In the four years she'd been on the council they'd taken many votes, but none if them had felt as important as the decision to add someone else to their group.

"Well, we'll make the official announcement then." Emery said, looking excited about having another telepath on the council. "I'm sure the people will be surprised we came to such a quick decision."

"We're having the celebration tonight then, correct?" Councillor Ramira asked.

"Yes. Meaning we better change," Clarette said, fingering her elegant gown. Oralie still wasn't used to the level of finery the council wore. After all, she considered the clothes they were all in now to be formal. But to the rest of the councillors, the clothes were probably just casual attire.

"Well then, council dismissed." Emery stood from the table and everyone copied his example. Oralie wondered if Kenric would be excited to be on the council. She hoped she'd made a good choice in voting for him.

•••

The announcement went out and the councillors met with Kenric before the start of the celebration. He was tall and lean with broad shoulders and unruly red hair, and though he tried to keep a serious face, Oralie could see the wide smile in his eyes.

"Welcome to the council, Mr. Fathdon." Emery said, inclining his head toward Kenric. "Or I should say, Councillor Kenric."

"Thank you all. I am overwhelmed by this honor." He gave them a small bow and his grin leaked across his face- a big toothy grin that reassured Oralie they had made a good choice in electing him. No one that cheerful and friendly-looking could be evil.

Terik and Emery kept a conversation going with Kenric for most of the evening, so Oralie didn't get a chance to speak with him. The following day, however, she got to talk with Kenric all day- since the other councillors suggested she should be the one to bring him up to speed- being the newest herself.

Kenric was certainly friendly. He paid attention to what she said and though he seemed to take his position seriously, he had a light, almost carefree manner about him. He chatted socially and made jokes and laughed at the few minisculely humorous comments Oralie made. Her cheeks were sore from smiling by the end of the day. She couldn't remember the last time she had so much fun at work. Not that she didn't love being on the Council. It was the best thing to ever happen to her. But it normally was serious and sometimes even grueling. She hoped Kenric's arrival would somewhat change that.

Six months in, he definitely changed something.

All twelve councillors had light-leaped to the edge of the woods near the Ruewens' property. One of their emissaries, Grady Ruewen, had reported a suspicion about a T-Rex stalking smaller creatures in the forest and for some reason, the council had felt it was necessary to check on the situation themselves. Oralie understood the importance of the matter- T-Rex's were very endangered, but it the weather could not have been more terrible.

Fog seeped up out of the trees chilling everyone to the bone. A misty-rain made the muddy T-Rex hunt into a comedy as everyone slipped and slid across the slushy ground in their elegant outfits. After a few hours, they hadn't seen much more than a few footprints, and Lord Ruewen nearly implored them to come back another day.

"I promise Edaline and I will keep our eyes open for it and successfully take it into rehabilitation, just as we always do. And don't worry, I'll notify you when that happens." Grady flicked his soggy blond hair out of his eyes and mumbled something under his breath about the council's impatience.

Oralie hoped for his sake that her companions gave up the T-Rex search. It was arguably one of the more brainless ideas the council had been a part of and Lord Ruewen just looked embarrassed- for their sake.

"Very well. I suggest we leave it up to the Ruewens and call it a day," said Emery. Everyone agreed within two seconds- the fastest consensus ever obtained. Oralie reached for her light-leaping crystal and then remembered she really wasn't that far from her parents' house. Wouldn't they get a laugh out of the T-Rex hunt!

Everyone else glittered away to their individual homes, anxious to get out of the wetness. At least, everyone except Kenric. He seemed to notice she was still searching for her light-leaping crystal.

"You all right, Oralie?" He called as Grady too, leaped out of the woods.

"Oh yes," she replied trying to hide her embarrassment at being noticeably slow. "I just decided to drop by Clearbrook instead of going home. Thought I should check in on my parents."

"Clearbrook. Cool. My grandmother lives there too."

"It's where I grew up. You're welcome to see it if you like." The words were out of Oralie's mouth before she realized she'd spoken them. What was wrong with her? She couldn't just invite a councillor over to her house? What would her parents think if Kenric stayed for dinner? Oralie had never had a problem with holding her tongue. But now she was thinking it was a skill she needed to work on.

"Really?" Kenric looked intrigued, and Oralie was just glad he wasn't an Empath- that he couldn't sense her panic. "That'd be neat!"

Of course you'd think that, Oralie mentally grumbled as she finally found her crystal and offered Kenric a polite hand so that he could leap with her.

"Don't worry, I won't intrude on you and your parents' catching up." He said as he squeezed her hand. Oralie began to wonder if he'd read her thoughts. But he couldn't do that- even she knew there were rules regarding his ability. Maybe she needed to work on displaying her outward emotions. "I'd just like to see the town again. It's been a while," he finished.

Oralie noticed him smiling out of the corner of her eye as they glittered away. She didn't have to be an Empath to know he was enjoying the spontaneous trip.

They reappeared outside her childhood home, with its large bay windows overlooking acres of green fields and of course, the famous brook for which the town was named. It was actually a simple estate compared to many of the nobility's, but it seemed to blend perfectly with the beautiful surroundings. Tonight though, the large windows were dark, and Oralie remembered with a slight pang that her parents were spending a week in Atlantis with friends.

"This is your home?" Kenric looked incredulous. "Just over that hill over there is my grandma's place. If you stand on the roof of her house, you can easily spy on your folks' place."

"Why does it sound like you have experience doing that?" Oralie asked as they started up the walk.

Kenric just grinned mischievously and she fought to roll her eyes.

They had almost reached the door when it apparently dawned on Kenric that it might be a little weird for him to be escorting Oralie home, and so he hesitated in place and mumbled something about her parents.

Oralie sighed and confessed that they weren't actually home. She must have sounded disappointed because Kenric volunteered himself as company. "Hey, this way you can actually give me a tour! Then I won't have to go to my grandma's roof to see the place."

Oralie laughed and headed inside, pausing though, when she realized she was dripping muddy water everywhere. Kenric was even worse.

"How about a new change of plans? We go change clothes and clean up, then we go on a tour."

"That sounds good and all, but I doubt even I could pull off your wardrobe."

Oralie didn't think her cheeks had ever turned so red. "No,uh, um, you can wear my dad's clothes. Just ask the gnomes to find an outfit for you. The guest room and bath are upstairs to the right. We'll meet back down here in...thirty minutes?"

Kenric grinned, watching as her blush wore off. "Anything you say, Councillor Oralie."

Darn her rosy cheeks. She shook her head lightly. "Just call me Oralie."

She didn't meet his eyes as she escaped up the staircase, to the safety of her old bedroom. How was this even happening? What even was this? Was he flirting with her? Did he think she was flirting with him? They were adults, -Councillors at that! She shook her head and took the world's fastest shower, leaving time to debate about what she should change into. Was a gown too formal? Was a tunic too casual? Should she fix her hair, or would that seem like she was trying to impress Kenric?

Feeling slightly disgusted with herself for acting like a level two girl with a crush, Oralie ended up selecting the most formal pink tunic she owned- but it was still just a tunic, not a gown. That seemed to automatically make it slightly less regal. She fixed her hair, and settled for a little make-up, but not a lot. By the time she was finished, she had already made Kenric wait five minutes. She scampered downstairs and found him talking with one of the gnomes.

"Hi Oralie," he said as she arrived. "Soro here was just telling me about how the house was built."

Oralie nodded and tried to join in on the conversation, but she was far too distracted with focusing on keeping her blush away. Her father was tall and lean like Kenric, but he was more lanky...his shoulders were much narrower- which of course meant that the clothes were a bit too tight for Oralie's companion. She was torn between being embarrassed and thinking it was unreasonably funny.

"Well, should we go on a tour, now?" Oralie finally said when there was a lapse in conversation.

"Sure!" Kenric trailed behind her as they spent a good half hour walking through various rooms. They ended up in the large living room and Kenric quickly noticed the small box-television sitting behind a cabinet.

"This is a human device!"

Oralie blushed for the millionth time that night. "My dad was curious about them when I was little. He finally found one and we watched a couple movies, but they were very weird. I don't even know why we still have it in here." She folded her hands nervously and hoped Kenric would forget about it, but he was already studying the few movies stacked beside it looking fascinated.

"I've always wanted to watch a movie, but my family never really approved of the odd human stuff." He grew more serious. "I think that sometimes we underestimate the humans. Sure, a Technopath could build a TV. Easy. But the humans figured out how to do it without abilities. It's wrong that so many of our kind snub them."

"Yes. I agree," Oralie said quietly, feeling embarrassed for being embarrassed about the TV. Kenric was goofy- but his heart was in the right place. And suddenly her girlish awkwardness was replaced with a sort of quiet admiration.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" She heard herself say.

Kenric practically beamed at her. "I thought you'd never ask."

Twenty-minutes later, Oralie was cringing on the couch while Kenric sat across the room, muffling shocked laughter with his cape. They were ten minutes into Elf.

"I told you it was a disgrace to our people." Oralie mumbled. Kenric just shook his head and wiped his eyes.

"This is fantastic."

"Keep telling yourself that." Oralie could never keep up with human culture to understand all the jokes, but she knew enough to cringe every few minutes. Maybe if humans didn't make such ridiculous movies they would be better respected...

By the time the credits rolled, it was late. She and Kenric went into the kitchen for snacks and somehow he managed to get Oralie to admit she'd enjoyed the evening.

"Though still...that movie..."

Kenric laughed good-naturedly and thanked her. "I know I kind of invited myself over, so I apologize for that. It was the best evening I've had in years though."

"It...it was pretty great. You're good company." Oralie's face reddened as she spoke and she was glad it was dark. Maybe Empaths just blushed more than normal people...maybe it wasn't her fault, and definitely not Kenric's.

"I...I should go," Kenric cleared his throat and suddenly Oralie picked up on an emotion he seemed to be trying to hide...

Oh. No. Oralie had felt her friends' emotions back in school when they had been falling in love. Kenric's weren't strong- but he definitely had "those feelings." She couldn't let that happen.

"So, uh, you can stop by tomorrow and drop off my dad's clothes. Have a good evening!" She sounded phony and curt even to her own ears, so she wasn't surprised to sense Kenric's spark of disappointment.

Nevertheless, he bowed politely to her and pulled out his light-leaping crystal. "Goodnight, Oralie."

He vanished a moment later and she leaned against her kitchen counter for support. Up until that night, Kenric had only been a councillor, a platonic friend. Now though, he was something else. Something that could never be. And for once in her life, Oralie- the Empath, was terrified of her own emotions.