Ferdinand 2nd Year Royal Academy

Again, this year father called me to his rooms after the awards ceremony. Once the tea was poured and both Sylvester and I were sitting comfortably he dismissed his attendants. He waited until he was sure we were alone before once again offering his praise and a hug.

"Good job, Ferdinand. Ehrenfest could not ask for a better archduke candidate. You are my pride and joy." The rush of warmth came raging back like it had last time. This time I was more prepared for it and was able to control the burning itch around my eyes.

"Thank you, Father. I worked to be worthy of your praise." My words did not wobble as they had last year, but I noticed a strange look passed across my father's eyes. Guilt? It was gone before I could be certain.

"Well, you are certainly worthy of all the praise we could give brother. First in class in all your classes for the second time." Sylvester beamed from where he reclined in his chair. One of his legs pulled up to his chest and foot balanced on the edge of the seat. Perhaps Lady Minerva's manners were contagious.

"Thank you Lor- brother." He wore a shameless grin when I called him that. My insides squirmed with more warmth at the sight of Sylvester beaming. Shameless.

"How was your year, Ferdinand?" Father asked.

Sylvester grinned in way that tested my noble smile. What was he planning. "Get invited to any more Dunkelfelger tea parties?" I wanted to growl in frustration. Of course, someone had told him. When I found his informant, I would endeavor to make them hesitate before playing Ordoschnell and Anhaltung for my brother again.

"Yes, Lady Magdalena invited me. While her sister was racing high beasts against the Klassenberg archduke candidate who graduates this year."

Sylvester and my father were both staring at me. Father was dignified, but curious. While Sylvester's mouth was shamelessly wide open in shock. "She must have been disappointed to lose so early into her time at the academy. But that is to be expected from a twin and a l-." Something about my expression must have given it away. "She won? How?"

I shrugged. "Won even after his guards attacked hers causing them to fall. She came back carrying both Heisshitze and Peter. Then she blasted all of the Klassenbergs out of the sky using only her highbeast." Which reminded me of an idea for a weapon. It would take some adapting, because as Heisshitze and I demonstrated, one could easily ignore sound alone. "I thought the same as you. It was the only reason I was willing to bet against her sister. I was certain Lord Victor would have a major advantage."

Father chuckled, "So the bet was not an impulsive action."

I felt color touch my cheeks and mildly mortified he would believe I would act on impulse. "No father. I thought the sisters would be inclined to act similarly and I would be able to get rare materials. I was half right on that front, I just miscalculated their strength."

A smile lurked at the corner of my father's noble mask. As if he thought my attempt at manipulating Lady Magdalena was amusing. "There is a reason the women of Dunkelfelger have long since been considered the true power of their duchy. They play their men like you play your harspiel. So, if I may be Anhaltung this once my son, tread carefully. Ewigeliebe's ice is slippery and it can hide more than Geduldh underneath its surface." I agreed with him for the most part. Lady Magdalena showed she was more than capable of deceit. Lady Minerva on the other hand left her emotions largely out for all to see. It was why Dimitri sought her to take a step up in power. Of the twins she would be the most easily manipulated. Too bad for Dimitri, he lacked the strength to bend her to his will.

Sylvester waved off father's warning. "But what did she want? Magdalena? Why invite you to the tea party? I thought her sister was the one who-." My glare was enough that he did not finish that sentence.

"I don't know." Sure, she had apologized for her sister, but that wasn't why she had called me to the tea party, much less called me early. But why?

"I think that's the first time I've heard you didn't know something."

I gave him a withering look.

Father chuckled. "What did you talk about?"

I mentally ran through the conversations again. "She apologized for her sister's rudeness." It was the first time I had ever seen or felt someone use the crushing weight of mana. And it hadn't even been directed at me. "We talked about the music that Minerva created. Then magic circles." Magdalena had been truly an engaging conversationalist on this front. She clearly studied magic circles in her free time. And I hadn't failed to notice Peter was also especially attentive during those conversations. How many of those ideas would be incorporated into his lady's defense, I wondered.

"That's it?" Sylvester sounded incredulous then he looked disappointed. Not that I blamed him for the former, but I was wary of the latter response.

"That was it."

"Sylvester, don't tease Ferdiand so." Father gently cut off whatever Sylvester had been about to say. My brother's response was to pout in a very unnoble like fashion. I did notice father was thoughtful as he considered me. "What do you think of the twins Ferdinand?"

I thought my answer over carefully. All to aware that the wrong words here could potentially have father believe that I was aiming for the Aub seat. That would only incite her. "They are a lot like Sylvester and I." Father frowned at that. Apparently, that was not the answer he was expecting. He gestured for me to explain. "They trust each other. Going as far as even allowing each other to work on others protections. It creates a prefect balance that allows them to tackle problems that might otherwise be above one of them. They make up for each other's faults and strengthen each other's best qualities." I could only hope Sylvester and I could work half as well as them. No, we would. Then Ehrenfest could thrive the way father wanted it to. "I want to be able to support Sylvester like that when he becomes Aub."

A strange expression lit father's eyes. Regret? Guilt? Sadness? Why? Had I said something wrong? No, I was certain that helping me Sylvester was his wish. Father wanted us to work together to strengthen Ehrenfest. He cleared his throat. "I'm glad you have such an honorable wish. I'm sure Sylvester will be more than grateful for your support." Indeed, brother looked almost teary eyed. "Just make sure you do something for yourself once in a while. An impulsive act every now and then is a good."

Now Sylvester grinned a wicked grin at me. "I don't think little brother knows how to be impulsive father."

That elicited another chuckle from father. "You could both stand to learn something from each other." Father took a sip of his tea to regain his composure. "Speaking of learning. Did you learn anything interesting this year, Ferdinand?"

I told him about the circles I was researching with Hirschur. As well as the basic idea for a recording tool that would allow one to view events that they could not personally view. A small part of me wanted it to be used to record of my accomplishments to show father. Aub Ehrenfest asked questions while Sylvester pretended to understand what I was saying. Then I described the knife fighting I had learned from Heisshitze and Peter. That got my brother's interest.

"Wait, wait," Sylvester held up his hand as I moved to describing a method that would allow someone to swiftly disarm a swordsman of his weapon using only a knife. "I thought Peter was a scholar."

I nodded confirming that was in fact true.

"And he's the best knife fighter of the Dunkelfelger students?"

"Yes." I remembered vividly Peter coming back from delivering the flowers to Lady Minerva; the ones from Klassenberg that he had wrecked. I should have known something was wrong with how smug Heisshitze had been when he pushed me to try what I had learned on Peter. The scholar had merely looked amused. Mere seconds later I was laid out on my back with a knife pressed to my throat. Somehow, he had even managed not to set off any of my protections either. He then proceeded to prove he had not won by chance by repeatedly disarming Heisshitze until the apprentice knight was rubbing his sore shoulders and wrists. 'I am Lady Minerva's left hand,' Peter had informed when I asked why he wasn't a guard. As if that was answer enough.

"Hmm, I wonder if that's just a Dunkelfelger thing. All of them want to be knights."

I shrugged. Though I admitted Sylvester was definitely right that the Dunkelfelger students tended towards more knightly qualities. With exception of Lady Magdalena.

"Lady Magdalena doesn't seem as enamored with knighthood as the others." The moment the words left my mouth I regretted them. Sylvester had a sly grin across his face as he leaned across the table slightly.

"Do my ears deceive me, or does Bluanfa dance for my dear little brother and one of Dunkelfelger's princesses?" I felt my face flush and flatly denied the accusation. I had no such feelings. Lady Magdalena was simply far more interesting than any other lady had proven to be thus far. Her sister's face flashed before my eyes and instantly shoved that thought away. Nor was she vexing unlike her twin. Sylvester seemed to catch my distracted state and only escalated his teasing to unbearable levels.

Finally, I snapped back, "I'll tell Florencia all the bad poetry you wrote about her."

Sylvester looked absolutely horrified. "You swore! You swore you'd never tell!"

I grinned; power was back in my hands. "You should have never forced me to listen to hours of you pining." Especially after he said I looked like a little princess. Soft laughter distracted us from our back and forth. Our father was actually laughing into his tea cup. The man who had barely ever let his noble mask slip was laughing freely at us. He saw us staring and quickly composed himself. Though there was still mirth in his eyes and occasionally his chest seemed to heave with effort.

"I pray you two are always like this. No matter what, I hope you two remain close just like this." If it had been Sylvester who had said that after we had just finished arguing I would have told him he was being a fool. But as it was father, I merely nodded my head in agreement. The warmth from earlier came rushing back.

Sylvester looked down at his tea, letting his one leg that had been on his chair slide to the floor. "Speaking of close." He fidgeted in his seat nervously. "Ferdiand, my star binding will be coming up. It will be the day before students start to leave for the academy." Ah, so that's what this was about. Yes, that made sense, it usually takes a person a little over a year to move to another duchy. So, Florencia would be joining hands with my brother so soon. It was almost strange to think of my brother as a married man. "Will you come?" He finally looked up at me. The blatant pleading in his eyes would have been disgraceful if we hadn't been alone. I resisted for a while making him squirm in his seat. In truth I would probably be required to attend. The fact that he was asking here meant he wanted me to go not because I was forced to, but because I wanted to. I sighed then grinned at him.

"I might be convinced," Already excitement and joy lit his expression in equal measures. "If, I can be allowed copies of all your knights and scholars' notes on ditter."

"Done!" Sylvester didn't even question why I wanted them. Father on the other hand was far shrewder than brother.

"Ferdinand, why do you want notes on ditter?"

I laid out my request. "Next year I want to take the knight, scholar, and archduke candidate courses. Justus told me it was possible and that he planned to take both attendant and scholar courses. I believe doing so will allow me to better assist Ehrenfest in the future and I would be able to pull up our rank if I pull first in class in all three courses."

Silence greeted me. Father looked thoughtful, while Sylvester's eyes were as wide as Hirschur's magic tool. The silence began to stretch into an uncomfortable length leaving me to wonder if father would reject my request. It was rare that archduke candidates took the knights course in full. Too risky, but for me it would be a sign I planned to serve. Or at least I hoped father would see it that way.

"Alright, I will allow it, but." I sat up straighter when he said 'but', "Once you start this, there is no going back or giving up. Do you understand?" His eyes were gravely serious, but I nodded. I had made up my mind.

"I will ensure you're proud of me, father."

He smiled, but somehow it looked like it was tinged with sorrow. "I trust you."

From there conversation wound down, and regretfully I eventually returned to my chambers. Justus offered to help me dress in my night shirt, but I waved him off. I wouldn't sleep for a while and I wanted to finish reading the notes that Hirschur had given me. After being dismissed Justus told me just to ring the magic tool bell by my bed when I needed him. Absorbed as I was in my notes, I barely heard the door click when he exited. I'm not sure how long I had been reading when something distracted me. A glance out the window behind my desk showed nothing other than starlight covered grounds. Then I noticed something in the sky. A dark shape glided slowly across the night sky. The stars winking out briefly as it passed only come back as the shadow passed. I stared trying to make out what it was. It wasn't until the watery light of the moon peaked out from the clouds that I was able to recognize the shape.

A long serpentine shape with leathery wings. Her.

I stood up, not quite sure what I was doing. But then I heard father and brother's voices. 'An impulsive act every now and then is a good.' 'I don't think little brother knows how to be impulsive father.' That steeled my resolve. I grabbed my highbeast stone, feystone armor, and my cloak. After I snuck out of the dorm and made my way outside, I summoned my winged lion and directed it toward the drifting shape. The air was frigid, especially high above the academy. Slowly I approached her remembering all too clearly how she had ambushed me last year. But there was no way to approach quietly even with her so absorbed in her singing. I knew she heard me approach, but she did not even bother to look my direction, much less stop signing. What if I had been someone from a higher ranked duchy? I decided it was no use pondering this insane woman's thoughts and instead listened to her soft song.

It took a moment to realize, but I recognized neither tune nor words of the song. The very language was completely unfamiliar to me. Yet I still tried to catch the meaning of the sad song. It felt like a prayer almost or pleading in a song form. Despite there being no instruments to accompany her it was still beautiful, in its own way. Far too soon the song came to an end and Lady Minerva looked over at me from where she was reclined against the back of her highbeast's neck. Impressive considering the spines.

"You should be in bed, Little Flower."

I ignored her use of that nickname. "So should you. You are alone at night." I didn't need point out the part where she was an unattended female. Surely, she knew people would talk when they saw her. A small smile pulled at her lips, but it didn't reach her tired eyes. She must do this every night if the dark smudges under her eyes were anything to go by.

"I am very rarely alone, but I thank you for your concern." Her gaze turned up to the display of the supreme couple's splendor. It was truly a breath-taking sight, but I noticed Lady Minerva gazed up at the endless beauty with such sadness. It was uncomfortable to see such emotions laid out so carelessly, so plainly. I glanced around remembering the last time she had said such things, but there was no convenient hall for Peter to hide down.

"What was that song about?"

"Hmm." She glanced back at me. Judging. Weighing. "I believe it was originally written as a call for help." She turned her gaze back to the stars. "Maybe if the Gods won't listen the stars will."

"Stars can't listen." Was she drunk? She was not normally one for fanciful child-. I stopped that thought in its tracks. No, that was exactly the kind of thing she would say.

"True." She heaved a deep sigh. Then spun herself in her saddle so she could properly face me. Her smile that I was most familiar with was back in place. "I've been stuck in my head for a little too long. But since you're here now, you've saved me the trouble of finding you later." She gestured for me to come closer. Instantly I felt my defenses rise. She chuckled. "I give you my word you will come to no harm by me or my actions, less Leidenschaft strike me down." Her ring glowed a soft blue. I don't think I had ever seen a ring react like that to a vow. Blessings, sure, but-. It would be fascinating if I could test how that worked. I shook those thoughts off and moved closer. I was now hovering right next to one of the dragon's wings. Lady Minerva stood in the saddle and swiftly walked across her highbeast's wing in order to be well within arm's reach of me. Not once did her steps hesitate or wobble. She sat down with her legs dangling above open air and leaned slightly forwarded with a wicked gleam in those silver eyes.

She reached across the short space and ruffled my hair, just like last year. "You did good, Little Flower. Congratulations on making first in class. I can't wait to see how well you do next year."

I swatted her hand away, careful not to actually knock her off her highbeast. "Why do you call me that?" Perhaps she didn't know that 'flowers' had a meaning that was less than decent for proper discussions. Especially those between men and women.

She chuckled. "That is a story for another time. When you aren't tempted to shove me into Ewigeliebe's waiting arms." Now I was really tempted to shove her. "Though if you are worried that I mean it like the offerings of flesh," My cheeks colored at hearing such words from a woman. "Don't. My words mean nothing of the sort." While relieving I was suddenly very uncomfortable with where this conversation had gone. "So, why have you left the warmth of your room and the safety of your attendants to join me in watching the stars?"

I stared into those silver eyes debating how best to answer. "Impulse."

She blinked at me. It seems like this was the first time since that first greeting that I surprised her. A smile curled up her lips. "Then let me return the impulsive gesture with one of my own. Keep your female scholar close to your knight guard when Dimitri is around." I watched her face suspiciously. But there was no sign of deceit. "Dimitri takes after his father, and it was long believed that he, compromised his second wife in order to force her family to allow their marriage. Likely to steal benefits she had for himself."

"Aub Dunkelfelger did nothing."

"Against rumors, what can one do?" There was fury lurking in Minerva's eyes. Barely contained.

"You are too forthright and honest."

She cackled, but it lacked the true amusement that was normal for her. "You can always trust a dishonest man to be dishonest. It is the honest man you have to watch out for." What utter foolishness. "You should return to your room Little Flower. My absence has been noticed and I am sure yours has too."

I glanced around, but saw nothing that indicated watchers. Lady Minerva used my distraction to walk back to her saddle. Once seated she called back, "Good night Little Flower." Before I could retort at her rudeness her highbeast folded its wings and dove towards the ground with blinding speed. She quickly disappeared between the buildings of the academy. I sighed to myself and made my way back to Ehrenfest dorm. Justus was waiting outside my door. His eyes instantly took in my attire and windswept hair.

"Late night stroll?" I could see all the questions behind his eyes and sighed. He was never going to let this go.

Note: In case anyone is wondering the song Minerva is singing is Human by Krewella.