Cassia, niece of Lord Sandridge, sits drinking her wine. She savors the fruity texture of the alcohol, but there isn’t enough alcohol in the entire manse to save this event. The last few weeks have been nothing but blunders, and the nobility of the earldom has grown restless.

  Cassia isn’t a spy master, not that it would take any social finesse to realize the frustration of the noble vassals of the estate, but she has a few ‘friends’ who regularly inform her of events within the estate. Often, when her father, a prominent advisor to the Baron of House Sandridge, had news from Lord Sandridge, she was already aware.

  When she heard that Olivia had returned, she had been ecstatic. Peace and stability would finally return to the realm after weeks of uncertainty. It galled her that they were both the same age, but the young heir had flown in the face of all responsibility for a mere dungeon run. Cassia knew better than to trapse around the kingdom on some flight of fancy.

  She knew about familial responsibilities and how her actions affected her house. When Olivia left on her spontaneous outing, she had risked not only her own life but the lives of all who live under the Heartbran banner. Every time Cassia thought about it, she grew infuriated at Lady Olivia’s irresponsibility.

  Cassia dreads the day Olivia will inherit the earldom if this is what the nobles of the earldom can look forward to. Still, she’s happy that there will be a measure of stability -at least for now.

  To her excitement, there’s also a measure of chaos, the fun kind, that returned with Olivia. Cassia had to make a few bribes, but she learned that a rogue mage had returned Olivia.

  Imagine that! The heir leaves and finds an unaffiliated mage who literally drags the brat back. Every time she thought about it, she wanted to giggle. Cassia looks across the gulf between their tables, eying the mystery mage. She wants to get her hands on him so she can draw the secrets from him. What happened on their trip? Who was he?

  Unaligned magi aren’t unheard of. Plenty of roaming magi act as adventurers or mercenaries for the houses. He could be a mercenary, but she doubted it. She had ‘found’ a copy of a report from one of the knights who returned. Half of what is in the report is utter garbage; events are always exaggerated when hearing them second hand. Though if half of what is in that report is true, then he would be an interesting man to keep her eye on.

  “Oh, has a handsome knight caught your eye?” Cassia’s mother, Hazel, probes. Cassia blushes.

  “No, I was just lost in thought.”

  “Marrying a knight might be taboo, but there is no harm in looking.”

  “Mother! I am not oogling the knights. What kind of a lady do you take me to be?”

  “What? You are a grown woman. You have eyes.”

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “What has the women of my life so excited?” Cassia’s father, Ezra, asks.

  “Oh, just commenting on how fetching the décor looks,” Hazel says while throwing Cassia a wink. Cassia fights the burning in her cheeks, turning away so she doesn’t see the success of her teasing.

  In the center of the room, Lord Heartbran stands, “Vassals of House Heartbran, I come to you tonight in celebration. My daughter, heir to the House, has had her first successful dungeon excursion. Truly, this is a momentous occasion that shows the bright future ahead of House Heartbran.”

  Cassia had enough practice composing herself not to scoff. The heir had to be dragged back from her ‘successful’ excursion. Cassia’s eyes flick over the table, catching the faces of Baron Ashmore, Baron Sandridge, Baron Razorleaf, and Baron Brighteye. Each of the barons has contrasting reactions to the dinner and the speech. Not surprising.

  House Sandridge stood firmly with their liege, but the missing heir had shifted the political undercurrents. It’s not only adversaries outside the estate that made moves while Olivia galivanted. Cassia listens to the speech, dissecting what Lord Heartbran is conveying under all the ritual and pomp.

  The way Lord Heartbran phrases the recent accomplishments of House Ashmore to undercut them. How he tries to appease House Sandridge while admonishing them for ever doubting Olivia’s return. Comments on Razorleaf’s past glory and a gentle reminder that they depend on House Heartbran for their continued survival. He threatens House Brighteye while also hinting at possible support to grow. As House Brighteye consists of only the Baron, he is the least important, but who knows what the future holds?

  She looks across the tables at Jason, who knows what the future holds indeed.

  As the speech winds down, she catches a guard approaching Jason and the altercation that breaks out. She sees the guard put a hand on a mage and can read from the body language how the knight is clearly trying to strong-arm this Jason. This time, she doesn’t contain her exasperation, sighing loudly. Her mother gives her a warning look.

  They’re trying to bind the Houses together and then publicly put on display a knight bullying a mage, a guest of the house, no less. Cassia expects Jason to make a public statement or require recompense, but instead, he squares up against the knight.

  No one is allowed to use magic in the main estate, and key rings are given only to the Barons as a sign of respect. So Cassia knows this wandering mage has no way of using his magic, but despite being unarmed, he looks ready to fight. The situation is ridiculous, but seeing the determination on the mystery mage’s face, she can’t help but think he would win even with all the handicaps. Apparently, the knight feels so too because he makes the blunder of grabbing his sword.

  Cassia tenses. This party, the speech, and the feast were all messages to the nobles. Messages couched in finery so the Earl and Earless could speak to the nobles while not scaring or offending them. Jason has none of the protection of a house, so in a way, he is an unrestrained view of how the Earl and Earless wish to deal with other magi in their domain.

  Coercing and manipulating are expected. Openly, sending a knight to attack a mage… She glances to the right and sees the stony faces of all four Barons taking in the scene. Earless Heartbran doesn’t miss their gaze either.

  “Take your hand off your sword. He is a guest of House Heartbran.” A knight barks.

  Not a guest, an honored guest. A guest who has supposedly done the House a great service. She wonders if this is a play by Jason. If he had come to harm, House Heartbran would fall. Not today or tomorrow, but the sight of a mage and a guest being harmed would have spelled their downfall. Was this a reminder to House Heartbran that they owed him? He must have orchestrated it; there is no way the Heartbran estate would give such a foolish order.

  “I think I am quite tired and will retire for the night,” Jason says as though it was his plan all along to leave. What an interesting man, she would have to keep an eye on him.