Takuya hated to admit it, but he was lonely. Terribly, terribly lonely. And creeped out.

On his return to the castle, King Elbert had informed him that the rooms belonging to the Goodwinson had been finally cleared, and that Takuya was now expected to take up his post as court mage. Takuya's first thought had been to arrange for the workroom of the apartments to be converted into another bedroom, so that the twins could stay with him, but they had been swept away in a flurry of activity by Tomoko. So he was stuck with four almost empty rooms, separated from his friends, and unable to contact either Tomoki or Izumi. Junpei had merely complained that he was too busy with his work to talk with Takuya, but had told Takuya where he could find the weaponsmaster for a new scabbard.

The room was hideously bare, and the lack of wall hangings made Takuya's voice echo. The workroom, now completely empty and with its contents in storage somewhere within the castle walls, still felt strange whenever Takuya entered it. The strange static feel of another's magic had faded somewhat, but it still wasn't a comfortable place for him to enter.

Takuya was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. He moved timidly towards it, hoping that it was Kouji, sneaking away from his mother for a while. Unfortunately opening the door revealed not Kouji or Kouichi, but Izumi, with a maid trailing behind, carrying a red bundle.

Izumi curtsied slightly, the maid bobbing slightly. "I hope I find you well, Master Kanbara. The king requested that I give you aid as we know each other somewhat."

Takuya grinned, and made a clumsy bow. "You honour me, Lady Izumi. I'd invite you in, but I don't know if I've enough furniture for you and…" He turned questioningly to the maid.

Izumi laughed. "This is one of the castle seamstresses. The king has had a gift made for you, which he expects to be worn at the banquet tomorrow, when he officially announces his departure to the fief at Whitefords."

Takuya looked confused. "So… what am I to do?"

The seamstress smiled shyly. "If you'd be so kind to let me enter, sir, I just need you to try this on so I can fix the hem."

Takuya backed away from the door, gesturing for them both to enter his mostly bare reception room. "Well you can both come in, if you'll excuse the lack of anything."

Izumi swept into the room, and looked around distastefully. "Didn't they leave anything?"

Takuya shook his head. "And I don't have enough money to refurbish yet. I just about could afford some clothes and the hanging to damp the sound. The rest I had to beg from stores."

Izumi sniffed slightly. "It shows where you come from, Takuya. Farmers live, but they don't live well."

"But we were happy," said Takuya, before turning his attention to the seamstress. "So how can I help you then, miss?"

She ducked her head, blushing, and sorted through the bundle. "Shirt and britches, all which will fit. We're used to boys needing clothes here." She passed him a pair of red britches and a white shirt, both made of finer material than Takuya was used to seeing, let alone wearing. "And this is the main gift that the king wished to make." She unfolded what looked like a long robe of the type Goodwinson had worn, but instead of being red with silver embroidery it started as red at the shoulders, and faded to a deep orange as it trailed to the ground.

Takuya touched the material hesitantly, and was surprised to find it made of a light velvet material. "That looks amazing. You must be really good at your job." He smiled encouragingly at her.

She smiled back a little. "Do you have a chair or stool, Master Kanbara? I need you to stand off the ground."

Takuya did as he was told, and found a battered chair to stand on, shrugging on the robe, fastening it. "Guess this is usual to you Izumi."

She nodded. "Be glad you only have to have it done to the outer robe. You look pretty respectable like this, you know. If you got your hair to behave, it'd be perfect."

Takuya watched the seamstress move around him with pins, moving up the hem so that the robe was slightly shorter than he was. "So what's with this banquet? And why do I have to attend?"

Izumi looked around, and made a face before sitting on the battered couch, smoothing out her skirts. "You now hold an official position, Takuya, like the councillors, or the Barons. The king may come to you for advice on magical matters. Also, all the nobility will attend, to see what replacement has been found for Goodwinson. You should try to make a good impression." She smiled. "And there is to be another announcement to the court that day. King Elbert will decide who is to rule here while he is absent, because he cannot rule the capital when he is two days by messenger away."

Takuya chewed his lip slightly. "Is it going to be an older statesman? Someone that he will trust my secret with? Because I don't…" He looked down at the seamstress, who seemed to be trying to give the impression that she was still working, without much success. He sighed and changed the subject. "So, at this banquet, what else am I to wear? Jewels and scents? Weaponry?"

Izumi shrugged slightly. "Well the knights are allowed to wear dress swords, and some of the elder lords do. In your case, you fall outside my knowledge of what would be correct. But since Goodwinson always carried that staff of his to these events, I would think that you'd be allowed to."

Takuya tried not to blush as he asked the harder question. "What about a partner? Am I expected to have one of those?"

Izumi shook her head. "Men do not. Women are expected to go to these events only on the arm of a man, although it can be a relative rather than a lover. Else they can come if chaperoned by a spinster. That's how I used to get to these events, either with my parents or Lady Tomoko taking me, as no man ever asked me on a date."

Takuya smiled. "Think you've got one this time?"

Izumi blushed. "I'd like it if Kouichi would take me. I've not been to many where I was allowed to act as I wished. One of those was Midsummer, and that's where I met Junpei." She sighed. "But he cannot attend, and even if he could, my plan of fitting in would be ruined by dancing with him. He's a good friend, he understands this."

"Maybe he only seems to," said Takuya, shrugging out of the robe, with the seamstresses help. "When I visited him today, he said he was too busy to help me and Kouji and Kouichi, with all his work, but the furnaces were cold, and he had little soot on him. He may just feel that not only do you and Tomoki look down on him a little, for being a merchant's son, but that as I've gained status, and the twins titles, we're no longer suitable friends."

Izumi sighed, watching the seamstress curtsy to first Takuya then herself, before scurrying out. "The problem is that there are two classes. Much as I try to act that the barrier isn't there in private, in public I'm forced to see it, and Junpei probably had to get quite some mocking for even trying to break out of the established form." She relaxed as the door shut behind the seamstress. "And to change the subject almost totally, things were as you expected at the temple?"

Takuya nodded. "Some more, some less. You wouldn't want to hear, or even understand the details, but I got what I went for. I told the king who I was, else how could he trust me? But I don't want people to know. I'm already treated with fear for my magic, what would happen if they knew I was a warrior long foretold? And…" He sighed and dropped to sit in the chair. "If Prince Joshua really is plotting something, maybe it's with the darkness that I'm supposed to fight. I can't let the darkness hear that I'm aware of who I truly am."

Izumi shook her head. "Then how sure can you be about King Elbert, or Tomoki, or Junpei, or even me?"

"Kouichi." Takuya smiled. "He's got a thing for darkness, and he'd be able to see it in you if it were there. He trusts you, so I trust you."

Izumi smiled back. "That's nice to know. So what happens now? You leave here in a few days, and I just carry on trying to find my way into Joshua's confidence."

Takuya nodded. "And maybe you should find a way to talk to Junpei. Think he's feeling very left out. He has a place, and it's not in the same circles that I find myself in."

Izumi nodded slowly. "And you don't know how long you'll be gone on the negotiation, else you'd talk to him."

"Yeah." Takuya sighed and stretched slowly. "Always seem to be on my way somewhere these days. Maybe one day, I'll get there."

.......................................................

Takuya smoothed his new shirt down carefully, noting again the quality of the cloth. His new clothes seemed to fit quite well, but clearly had enough room for him to grow. Izumi had given him a gift of a pair of dark red boots, and with his sword secured to his hip, Takuya felt ready to face the court at the banquet, even without the twins at his side. Thankfully the long robe and battered scabbard hid most of the details of the sword, making it seem less a holy artefact, and more the usual battered fare that a farmer's son would own.

Takuya rested a hand on the hilt, and felt the familiar warmth inside the sword that was more to do with magic than with the metal. Think we're gonna be okay, Puppy. Not like anyone would want to hurt someone like me anyway. He felt the puppy shy away, back inside himself slightly. Puppy?

A sharp knock on the door interrupted Takuya's focus on his magic. He shrugged and opened the door, only to feel his magic almost whimper as he looked up at Joshua.

"Master Kanbara." Joshua swept into the room without waiting to be invited. Like Takuya he was dressed in his finest for the banquet, with gems mounted in jewellery around his neck and fingers. His whole manner spoke of how much higher his position was than that of Takuya, but also how sorry he was on that fact. "I see you have settled into your new role as mage. I'm glad that the post has gone to a more worthy person than that charlatan."

Takuya bowed hesitantly, trying to calm himself. "You do me much honour, your highness. I'd like to think that the king has some faith in me as a free agent, not aligned to one of the Great Temples."

Joshua looked around, taking in the bare rooms. "And where do your alliances lie, if not with a temple?"

"To the king," replied Takuya quickly. "And to the people of the kingdom, to my family and friends. Maybe even to the gods." He shrugged. "Couldn't say what order that they would be in though."

"I see." Joshua faced him. "You're really just an insecure little boy, aren't you? Promoted before you've shown any real worth. Just some freak that happened to end up in the right place and time to end up in a better position." He advanced slowly. "Do you know what the court still calls you?" He smirked. "To them, you're still 'That fire-demon'. Some even believe that you're the one who hurt my poor brother." He turned away, looking upset. "So that's why I wanted to ask you, did you cause the fire?"

Takuya swallowed back his automatic response on the grounds that it was undiplomatic. "No, your highness. Back then, I didn't understand my magic enough to be able to cause anything of that scale. It was only by the grace of the Goddess that I managed to bring it back under control and extinguish it." Takuya placed a hand over the heavy clay marker under his shirt, and felt a stab of imaginary pain on the now healed wound on his chest that his old metal marker had caused. "Even in revenge I'd never turn my magic on a person."

Joshua nodded slowly. "If you say so, Master Kanbara." He paused. "It must be an awesome burden to carry, magic that no temple will recognise, the mark of a demon outcast. If you find the world you were born into too much of a trap, then please, come to me. I understand what it is to be born into a role that you would not have chosen for yourself." He met Takuya's gaze, causing a shudder to pass through Takuya's shoulders. "And if you find that you no longer wish the role the fates have chosen for you, then come to me. I know of ways to escape the hateful path that the gods have plotted." He smiled, and his whole appearance lightened back to his more carefree appearance. "So please, if you ever wish to talk, consider me your friend. I'll listen when no one else will." He swept out, leaving a very worried Takuya behind.