-The Third Year-

The day the princess of Altena turned fifteen, a lavish celebration had been planned to commemorate the official commencement of her magical training. While it wasn't an unusual occurrence for such a ceremony to take place, the timing of it came as something of a surprise to the people of the country.

The custom in Altena had been that training in magic should commence on a given person's sixteenth year. What was even more unusual about this was the fact the lessons would be conducted privately, only between Angela and her chosen mentor, one of the kingdom's most powerful wizards and the former headmaster of the Altenian Magical Academy.

Again, it wasn't unusual for a child of noble birth to receive preferential treatment in their studies, but for the crown princess to receive training a year early, and in secret, sent the imagination of the Queen's subjects soaring. The rumours and theories ranged from wild fantasies of the young princess being taught ancient and forbidden techniques to the much more likely opinion that she was being prepared to have an advantage over her classmates when she attended the magic academy at sixteen.

At this time, it was a closely guarded secret by those in the royal court, that the crown princess of the magic kingdom of Altena was unable to use magic. For the offspring of a wizard as powerful as the Queen of Reason to not receive the gift of magic was unheard of, and if such information were to leak to the general public it would certainly be an embarrassment not only for the queen but every court noble that relied on the legacy of their heritage to maintain individual power and authority.

And thus it had been decided, in order to protect the interests of the kingdom, the princess would be tutored privately by the best magician in the country.

Guren had all but forgotten his ordeal at the magic academy, and had been working hard to make himself useful to the palace staff. After performing a lot of graft, and relentlessly applying himself to the mundane tasks of the castle servants, he had finally been granted a place among them to provide service for the nobles and dignitaries at the princess' celebration.

That evening amongst the snow had been the foremost thing on his mind ever since the princess lips had touched him, briefly and ever so gently. And beside a few glimpses stolen in the corridors of the palace, tonight would be the first opportunity he would have to lock eyes with her in almost a year.

Despite her obvious disdain for the life she was leading, it was surprising how busy she could be. Whether or not she was still sneaking out of the palace was unknown to Guren, since he had made it his business to be inside it as much as possible, it was the only way he knew of being as close to her, and as close to the life he had dreamed of, as possible. Though he would never have the opportunity to join the court as a wizard, this could perhaps be enough to at least partially satisfy that wish... Perhaps.

Already the palace ballroom was awash with guests from all divisions of the country's infrastructure. Merchants with their quirky sense of fashion and desire to establish connections drifted from place to place, seeking to introduce themselves to as many people as possible. Officers and their aides from the Altenian army generally grouped together wishing largely to avoid contact with the aggressive merchants and bothersome nobles.

The nobles themselves were perhaps the most difficult to deal with of all those present for the festivities. While the majority of merchants respected the hard work and difficulties facing the servile staff of the palace, and those in the army preferred to keep to themselves and take care of their own business, the nobles were the ones that required the most attention, in particular the noble born children.

The ballroom itself seemed alive with varying hues of glowing golden light, cast throughout the room by magically powered lamps. Cream white drapes covered the windows and captured the dancing lamplight, causing every stitch and pattern on the heavy cloth to be drawn out beautifully for every eye to see. Along the arched ceiling, a row of ornate, enormous chandeliers dominated the room, a shining spectacle of crystal white halos atop the soft stream of gold. At the far end of the cavernous area were the stairs leading to the platform where the Queen of Reason and her daughter would be sitting and taking well wishes, and brief audiences from the nobles and high ranking court officials.

When he though about the nobles standing next to the Queen on the raised platform, Guren remembered he had been warned on his appointment to be as accommodating as humanly possible, even if the things requested of him seemed somewhat unreasonable. He had been told that if one of the nobles decided they didn't like you, it was almost a certainty that your career on the palace staff would come to a sudden end sooner or later. The noble born children especially, in particularly those who had just crossed into adulthood, could be unusually cruel to the serving staff, especially those closer to their own age. With that in mind it had been suggested to him to remain in the kitchens, and leave the maintenance of the ballroom itself to those were less likely to draw the ire of the immature. Guren had insisted however, he must be in the ballroom no matter what.

Looking around at all the people that seemed far more suited for this lifestyle than he ever could be, Guren couldn't help but wonder if he had made a mistake in pursuing the princess as far as this, nothing could come of it after all. He didn't know how she felt, and he knew for certain that a person with meagre skills like himself would never be allowed to court the crown princess in any fashion.

"But..." He thought to himself as his gaze swept again over the growing throng of guests. "Surely it couldn't hurt just to look."

Out of the corner of his eye, Guren spotted a group of three boys, dressed smartly in academy uniforms. He recognized them as three of the particularly snobbish students he had shared classes with during his ill fated stint as a student. The unsettling thing about this was that he could easily notice them glancing at him periodically while whispering among themselves, no doubt reminiscing about his dismal performance in all his studies.

Guren resisted the urge to turn his disapproving gaze on the boys, for fear of causing too much trouble for himself and the people that had trusted this job to him. He shuffled off to the side, toward a group of officers that were busily talking amongst themselves. Standing next to them was probably the safest place to be, nobody would dare speak out of turn, even to a servant, when the strict eyes of military commanders were nearby.

All those present in the room stopped what they were doing when a sudden fanfare rang throughout the magnificently prepared ballroom. Conversations ceased, drinking was postponed, and all those who were seated stood to face the thrones at the head of the room.

The Queen of Reason, her daughter, and their attendants almost seemed to effortlessly drift as they crossed the short distance from the wings of the hall to their assigned positions on the platform. The queen and her daughter wore rich, matching white robes, adorned with the same beautiful detail that was displayed across all things that were present in the room.

Guren's shining blue eyes lit up at the sight of the princess taking her seat next to her mother. She had matured so much in a single short year. The childish girl that had taken such pleasure in pelting him with snow had been replaced by a lady who was fast becoming supremely beautiful, perhaps even more beautiful than her mother. Although she had not gained in height since their last meeting, the growth in her body quickly became the foremost thought in the minds of all that were present.

After the gathered crowd acknowledged their queen and princess, it didn't take long for the festivities to resume with renewed enthusiasm. Guren's attention however, lingered on the princess to the exclusion of all else.

"Just a moment..." He thought, willing the princess' eyes to meet with his own.

He wasn't sure if she would recognize him, it would be the first time she had seen him without his bright travelling cloak to give him away, but all the same he kept his eyes fixed on her as she nodded and spoke to the people who were now lining up to kneel before her.

"Just look at me..." He whispered, almost inaudibly to be sure nobody would hear him.

But Angela didn't look at him. This night at least, their eyes wouldn't meet.

She was so far away it seemed, yet close enough for him to memorize every beautiful detail of her delicate face. He became so absorbed in watching her that he failed to notice the people passing him and making disgusted faces at the uncouth simpleton that dared to gawk stupidly at their beloved princess.

"Ah, Guren."

A voice startled him from behind, and Guren span to see the palace's head butler standing with a pleasant yet slightly sly expression on his squinting face. The man was short, and old, but he still held a full head of silvery grey hair that shone oddly in the soft light.

"Guren, we need another case of wine for the merchants." The head butler informed him, "Would you be so kind as to head to the cellar and ask for the best they have available?"

"Yes! Of course." Guren acknowledged, straightening himself and reluctantly giving up on keeping his eyes on the princess, for now at least.

"Good." The old butler smiled and nodded at him. "Hurry along now."

Guren bowed slightly in return and headed urgently out of the ballroom to the service hallway. The busy sound of the gathering faded further into the background with each archway that he passed by, until eventually it was little more than an echo resounding in the back of his mind. The service hallways were a dull grey compared to the grandeur of the ballroom he had left behind, plain oil lamps that the non-magically gifted servants could turn on and off at will took the place the golden magical lanterns that had bathed Angela in their revealing light.

Guren turned down a winding staircase into the palace's wine cellar, there wasn't much in there other than the obvious racks of bottles and large vats of fermenting wine. It was quiet and there didn't seem to be anybody around, Guren considered that odd since in the short time he had known the head butler he had never made the mistake of misplacing the location of one of his charges.

"Hello?" Guren called out, expecting to rouse someone who had decided to take a sneaky nap behind one of the wine racks.

There was a sudden rush of air and an arm curled around Guren's neck pull him violently backward. Guren's eyes widened and his hands sprang up instinctively to try and pull the arm free. The weight of the person holding him shifted, spinning him around to face the staircase back to the service hallways.

"Well well well." Said one of the boys that had been eyeing him earlier in the ballroom, a second grinning stupidly at his side, and third holding Guren fast in his fat fingered grip.

As usual, Princess Angela had defied all expectations of her and had left the platform to mingle freely among the guests on the floor. She didn't stop to speak with anyone in particular, though many tried to capture her attention. She was looking for one person in particular, and anyone fortunate enough to capture her in conversation was given the unanswerable question; "Have you seen a boy with blonde hair?"

Considering how many Altenians had blonde hair this wasn't an easy question to answer. Coupled with the fact that most of Angela's guests would not have considered the target of Angela's search 'a boy', as someone eighteen years of age would, for the most part, be considered a man.

Eventually, Angela was forced to give up the search of the crowd and was ushered back to the raised platform by her attendant and two guards who feared for her safety among a crowd so eager to seek her attentions.

Angela threw herself into the heavily cushioned throne and placed her head glumly between her hands, a posture certainly not befitting a princess on her birthday. She was sure she had seen him on her way in, she had caught a glimpse of that unkempt golden mop of hair set over those bottomless blue eyes, but now they were nowhere to be seen.

The lonely princess stared out into the busy sea of faces, hoping to catch sight of Guren's face again, but she couldn't see it.

"Where did you go?" She asked nobody in particular, and continued to stare. "The only reason I'm still here is because I wanted to dance with you, you know... Stupid."

"Just look at me!" The lead boy's voice dripped with poisonous sarcasm, and the three of them laughed cruelly as the second boy flung his fist into Guren's chest, sending the air rushing out of his lungs.

"That's pretty bold for a pleb that can't even use magic, you know?" The lead noble born continued, inching closer to the wheezing, helpless Guren. "Hahaha, what did you think was gonna happen? Did you think she'd run down from the throne and ask you to dance or something? Are you stupid as well as useless?"

The second boy hit Guren again as hard as he could, the three of them laughing as Guren tried to break away, if only to lay himself down and curl up in pain.

"Do you think the princess wants you looking at her with your dirty, common born eyes?" The lead boy snapped his fingers, and ignited a small ball of magical flame in his hand. "I should burn them out of your skull for her, she'd be so thankful." He grinned sadistically waving the crackling flame mere inches before Guren's snarling face.

"Hey, what do you think?" Said the second boy, now examining some of the wine racks. "Let's pour some of this down his throat, make a real mess out of him then leave him for the guards to find."

"Hahaha, good idea!" The third boy shouted, loud enough to cause a ringing in Guren's ear.

The lead boy back up from Guren a little and nodded to his cohort. "Bring it over the-"

Guren wasted no time in taking advantage of the leader's prone position and swung his foot high, knocking the flaming hand up and into the unsuspecting boy's delicate face. The boy howled and staggered as his face burned and his hair caught alight, his head quickly turning into a small fireball. He frantically pat his head with both hands trying to extinguish the flames, completely forgetting one of his hands was still the source of the fire licking across his face.

The remaining two boys stood temporarily paralysed with shock, while their leader flailed around trying to extinguish his face. Guren didn't stop there however, and his foot swung backwards as hard as he could manage, and crashed deep between the third boy's legs.

His eyes bulged in his chubby face, and he wailed like a hungry newborn baby as the pain spread out through his abdomen. The remaining assailant was already running by the time Guren had let him collapse to the to the stone floor, clutching his broken jewels as if his life depended on it.

The leader had finally remembered that he was able to cast magic to stop the burning sensation which was eating deep into his skin, and had finally managed to put out the fire enveloping his face. Like his partner, he was now curled up on the ground, cradling his blistering skin in hands lit up by a basic healing spell.

Guren was about to hurtle up the staircase in pursuit of the last fleeing coward, but was halted by the sound of three sets of footsteps clamouring down instead.

"Arrest him at once!" The head butler shrieked, pointing a bony finger at Guren.

The two guards that had accompanied the head butler grappled with Guren, who grunted and struggled while trying to explain himself.

"No! It wasn't me! They did it all! I-!"

One of the guards struck Guren hard across the side of the head with a sturdy baton, and Guren said nothing more as his world suddenly went black.

cool at all."