“The Starsong Festival is a day in which the elves of the Adnonar celebrate their connection to the world around them at the beginning of Spring. A day of feasting, song, dance, and much merriment commences at the first crack of dawn and is rumoured the last the entirety of the day. The last occasion is always a heartfelt dedication to the stars, to the Goddess that keeps them safe and prosperous for the year to come.  ”


    - Esther Verne, Life Across Cyndralia, “Chapter 15: Elven Festivals and Celebrated Occasions”


    <hr><hr>


    “My name is Cladius Salvius. As you might be able to guess from my name alone, I come from Traxia and once served as the legatus of the Eighteenth Legion. But that is only my history and a reassurance to you all of my qualifications in this post. What matters here and now are my duties as your instructor and the course work I will judge you on. Think not of the ongoing war, nor expect any favouritism even if you come from my homeland.” The imposing figure shot a quick look at the fast shrinking Princess Lucinia Trax, “For I am here to ensure all of you learn the basics of management, campaigning, and the challenges of warfare. Perform to the best of your abilities and you should be fine. Any questions?” He barked.


    Sophie didn’t know if anyone else had questions, but she knew that she didn’t dare to speak up. Knowing that she was alone in class and the inherent Traxian dislike for those of the elven persuasion, she was further annoyed by the presence of the princess and her posse also being here. Lady Olivia waved at her, that worried her. At least the princess had the decency to be outright disrespectful. Lady Olivia was an enigma, a dangerous one.


    “Fantastic. Now before we begin. I always like knowing whether anyone has any experience in the field of strategy or combat in general. No need to give me your full history, but a brief summary will do.” Instructor Salvius announced, “I’ll pass out some papers, please write your name, anything interesting, anything related to the class that you might have done, and what you are expecting to learn from me. For those of you who think you have nothing, don’t worry, that’s why I’m here.” He handed blank papers out to the class, “Just write casually. We should take no longer than five minutes.”


    Sophie tapped her pencil on the paper, her mind coming to a blank as soon as she finished writing down her name. What do I list out? What… what hobbies do I still have? Reading? That’s it? She scribbled it down regardless. Then battle experiences… hells, I feel like a madman if I write everything down. Do they even matter? None of them were really from a planner''s perspective.


    Her doubts continued right up until the instructor called for the class to stop, then did the second most unpleasant thing for her day. She was paired with a student behind her, an annoyed looking maujurrin who just grunted at her. The pairs were then paired with a group from across the classroom. As fate annoyed her so this particular day, Sophie once again somehow sat opposite Lady Lucinia and Olivia, the former glaring at her in disbelief, the latter far too amused.


    “Alright. Now that everyone is in position, introduce yourselves to each other, then introduce one person from your group to the class with something you learned about then. Shouldn’t be too difficult. Get to it.” He spoke softly, still somehow retaining his commanding tone.


    Spurred on by the rather direct teaching methods, the maujurrin broke first. The brownish orange feline beastfolk lazily laid a paw on her table, grabbing the other three’s attention.


    “Kyrie Moutar, just call me Kyrie.” She purred, “I’m from the Mountainstar clan.” She nodded.


    Sophie noticed the feline eyeing the Traxians warily. Right, their people also don’t have the best history. Actually, who can the Traxian’s actually call allies?


    “Fine, if the two of you are going to just stare at each other, I’ll be next. Lady Olivia Amata, call me Livy. From Traxia, obviously.” She giggled, “Funny enough, the three of us have met before.” She gestured towards Sophie and Lucinia.


    Kyrie raised an eyebrow, but opted not to comment. With Lucinia tight lipped, Sophie moved to speak.


    “Sophie Kastiane, wanderer and knight. You can call me Sophie.” Sophie dipped her head respectfully.


    “Hold on.” The princess snapped, “Since when did you get a last name? Thought last time you had none.”


    “I didn’t but I was informed of it during my travels.”


    “What? That’s bullshit. You just found out in the… what? The month that we had a break?”


    “That’s correct.”


    “Bull-”


    “Lucia!” Livy chided.


    The princess rolled her eyes and just huffed in discontentment. “I’ve got my eye on you leafblood. You might fool the others, but you can’t fool me.”


    “Fool them for what?” Sophie let out an exasperated sigh.


    “You…”


    “Lucia, introduce yourself.” Livy quipped.


    “Grah, fine. I’m Lady Lucinia Gaius Trax, of Traxian.” She stated curtly, “Sixth princess.”


    Sophie watched as the maujurrin flinched a little, clearly uncomfortable at whatever dispute was happening.


    “Err, right guys. Umm… nice to meet you all I guess.” Kyrie half heartedly mumbled.


    “Pleasure!” Livy beamed, easing in the poor feline a bit.


    “Right. Yeah.” Kyrie nodded, “Umm, we need to share something about ourselves and so I figured I’d start. I used to be part of the junior rangers for New Berenia, nothing major, but we did get to go on long range trips so I have some idea of how things are orgainized.”


    “Ohhh, an Ascaran native. How delightful to meet you.” Lady Livy spoke up next, “I hail from the Traxian heartland province of Amata, same as my last name.” She beamed, “I’ve occasionally attended meetings in the duchy in which strategy was discussed, but would not be willing to confidently state that I gleaned anything too useful from them.”


    Sophie hoped to go last, but the moment Livy finished, the noble stared expectantly at Sophie. Reluctantly, she aquiesced and just sighed again.


    “I’m a half elf and got knighted in Melton though I come from Carrador.” She began, even after everything, it’s still home in a way, “Fought during the fall of Eichafen, Melisgrad, and… I guess you could call it a goblin hunt in Ascalon near Sturmbreaker. I’ve uhh… I’ve also explored old ruins before and skirmished with the undead amongst other things. So I guess you could say I’m experienced in field work, heh.”


    Kyrie looked at her with a little more respect. Perhaps the maujurrin had heard of those events or simply respected people who have been in a scrap or two. Either way, Sophie was glad. She didn’t want any more trouble given that the princess was already proving to be a small headache. As if on cue, the princess moved to speak.


    “I’ve been in the royal court and attended war cabinet meetings when possible.” Lucina gritted her teeth, “Though I suppose, in the same vein as my compatriot Lady Livy, I will not purport to have gleaned too much from my time there. I have at least participated in wargames before when allowed to. Again, more of an observer instead of an active participant.”


    “Splendid! That’s all of us.” Lady Livy cheered, “See Lucia? That wasn’t so hard.”


    “Whatever.” The princess scoffed.


    Sensing that everyone had just about finished, Instructor Salvius simply stood in front of the class menacingly, his presence alone conveying the message and gathering everyone’s attention.


    “Alright. So I assume everyone is done, then let’s get started shall we? Group one, begin when ready.” Instructor Salvius ordered, looking directly at Sophie’s group.


    Without warning, Livy smugly stood up.


    “Hello everyone! I’m Olivia Amata, but I’ll save my introductions for the next person. I’m here to introduce Kyrie Moutar! She was or still is a junior ranger from New Berenia skilled in tracking and trekking.” Livy winked at Kyrie, the feline grimacing a little before a glint of understanding crossed her eyes.


    The class clapped as then Kyrie stood up.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    “I”m Kyrie, I’ll be introducing Lady Olivia. She’s from Traxia, the uhh, Amata duchy and has occasionally sat in strategic meetings.”


    That left Sophie the unenviable task of presenting the princess, though judging by Lucinia’s expression, the princess seemed even less enthused about this. Deciding that she’d rather appear to be the better person, Sophie stood up.


    “Hi everyone. I’m Sophie, I’m… I guess I’m here to introduce Lucinia Gaius Trax, she’s a princess and has experience sitting in royal war councils and wargames, though she claims to have been more of an observer than participant.” Sophie faithfully recounted the details.


    Lucinia seemed incensed that a half elf was the one who introduced her, giving Sophie the stink eye even as she straightened out her uniform. The princess seemed to be wondering how mischievous she should be when she bit her lip and scoffed at Sophie. Oh dear.


    “Greetings everyone. I am Lucinia. This is Sophie… Kastiane. She hails from Carrador but is well travelled. She’s a knight and has participated first hand in a number of fights. She also has experience ruin delving.” Lucinia stated matter of factly, her demeanour calm and her voice neutral.


    As the girl sat back down, Sophie regarded her with a little more appreciation. She can demean me all she wants outside of class or on her own time. But if she’s willing to focus when working and just get the job done… then I suppose I won’t have a problem with that.


    Sophie’s gaze lingered a moment too long and she got caught, Lucinia scowling at her, having comprehended her expression.


    “There’s a time, and place.” She hissed before turning back to face the instructor.


    Fair enough. As long as we get our work done in the future, we’ll have no problems. Sophie silently agreed.


    <hr><hr>


    Her first class ended with more introductions and a long overview of the syllabus. Princess Lucinia meanwhile, looked at her funny but didn’t give her much grief. It was about as much as she could ask for but Sophie couldn’t help but feel there was something bubbling beneath the princess’s eye whenever she looked at her. At some point she’ll flip out, I just hope I’m nowhere near.


    With the awkward stiff first class over, her second class stood in almost complete contrast to it. Mathematics had once again resurfaced though this time at a slightly more advanced level with more use of equations. It sounded like a dull affair if not for the returning faces of Aetomo, Tavaeia and Leon, the wolfkin and human quickly welcoming Sophie into their little group. There were a few more new faces in the classroom replacing those that took other classes instead. Thankfully, though the girl stumbled in a little late, Ary was not one of the casualties and gleefully took her seat beside Sophie.


    Sophie found it delightful how adorable Ary looked in her school uniform. So enamoured by the one beside her that she barely noticed when their instructor strode through the doorway. For an equally familiar red scaled professor now stood at the front of the class, one Professor Azkas Tarscrim. In a moment of utter deja vu for Sophie, the professor hadn’t even finished introducing himself when he handed out a small packet of worksheets for the class. Or ‘ungraded skill assessment’ as he called it.


    In a frustratingly similar scene to the first semester here, Ary wasted no time in blitzing through the material, once again finishing almost ten minutes ahead of anyone else. Sophie struggled, her mind having understood a handful of concepts but failing to interpret other equations. Either way, she almost became the last one to leave and only found solace in the fact that there were two others struggling even harder than she had been. Offering the two other students a look of support, she handed her assessment in and made her way back outside.


    “Sooophieee.” Ary’s sing song voice greeted her as she turned a corner.


    The two embraced and snuck in a quick kiss, now Sophie had permission to mope.


    “Aryyy.” She complained, “It was so hard.”


    “Which part?” Ary consoled her with a gentle head-pat. Her pats are more gentle than Eva’s, though I still can’t tell which version I prefer.


    Sophie let Ary ruffle her hair as she hummed pensively. Beyond ‘the whole thing was hard’ Sophie narrowed her woes down to the application of the algebraic equation. She understood the concepts on a bigger scale, but when it came down to using it, her brain would hit a wall and her comprehension dipped below zero.


    “Err, well I get the general ideas. I just don’t really get it when we put things into an equation. Umm, so if one equals ‘x’ minus four, then sure. I get that ‘x’ becomes five. But when we have to use x or y and then multiply or divide them by each other… it’s just tough.” Explaining this to her partner, she found the redhead looking a little perplexed, as if the girl couldn’t imagine someone simply not understanding.


    “Oh Sophie.” Ary cooed, “Let me think of another way to explain this. For now, lunch?”


    “Lunch.” Sophie agreed with a sigh.


    At least Ary quickly adopted a more sympathetic expression. Still, Sophie could feel an innate sense of frustration bubble up at her own lack of understanding these concepts. Ary had explained them all to her before, but when put into practice, her mind just muddled everything up.


    With Ary beside her, they left the building and headed back towards Pressel hall for lunch. There was a brief moment of anticipation within the both of them as they stepped out, and Sophie could feel Ary’s hand squeeze a little harder.


    Sophie suspected the reason why Ary felt nervous was much like her own, they had given Yana relatively free reign. Against Sophie’s wishes, Ary had argued and summarily decided that they would not simply sequester the faerie away during class hours, instead, allowing her to roam the campus freely, provided the faerie stayed away from people or trouble. Ary had argued that Yana would grow bored and that it wouldn’t feel good to stuff the faerie into her bag pocket for hous at a time.


    Ary looked around and Sophie joined her, eventually spotting the little dot darting across the sky. Ary let out a bird-like whistle, almost as if summoning a creature, and Yana’s small form zipped back down towards her, the faerie looking a little more chilled than when she had started the day.


    “This campus is massive, the buildings extensive.” Yana buzzed happily, “There are people aplenty, and the buildings aren’t empty.”


    “Well, I guess people just have different free periods.” Ary answered.


    “Can you imagine?” Sophie asked.


    “Hmm?”


    “Imagine a free period in the morning, ughhh. We could sleep in.”


    Sophie guessed that Ary tried to picture the possibility and evidently stumbled across something that made a wry smile appear on her lips.


    “Ary?” Sophie prodded, now curious.


    “Eheheh,” Ary chuckled, “I’d wake up half an hour later. Then spend the other half of the free time cuddling you.”


    “Wha- Ary!” Sophie’s cheeks flushed from being flustered at the unexpected response.


    “Bleh.” Yana feigned retching.


    “It’s a little late for that. You’ve already seen more than enough.” Sophie teased the fae.


    Yana looked mortified and angrily fluttered her wings at Sophie. The soft little gusts of air tickling Sophie’s brows. Sophie puffed out some air in return, finding amusement in how the fae’s entire form seemed to fight against it.


    “Sophie.” Ary chided, “Just because you’re frustrated doesn’t mean you should bully Yana.”


    “Ary!” Sophie exclaimed with a giggle.


    Yana stuck out her tongue, finally settling down upon Ary’s head once more.


    “Spoilsport, more pats.” Sophie grunted indignantly.


    Acquiescing, Ary ruffled Sophie’s hair some more and the duo sighed. There is a certain joy to life like this.


    <hr><hr>


    “Pass!” Ary demanded.


    Sophie chuckled and cut off a small slice of roast chicken. Ary smirked with delight and snapped up the piece in an instant, savoring the flavor and nodding approvingly, “Good choice.” She winked.


    “Trade.” Sophie stole a piece of steak. It was alright, if a bit too chewy. “Six out of ten.” She judged.


    “Ouch, harsh.” Ary laughed.


    Yana meanwhile was happily eating everything, back on her little mobile perch that Ary now carried around. Her disguise for those nonmagical users was made even easier as Ary’s textbooks gave a more than understandable excuse for a reading light. Noticing the attention on her, Yana looked expectantly at Sophie. Sophie almost snorted when the faerie held out her tiny hand, but followed through and provided her with a tiny piece of chicken. Now both of them watched Yana as she chewed, the faerie’s tiny little nod of approval making the duo giggle.


    “Sophie.” Ary summoned her attention.


    “Mmhmm?”


    “Your next class is with Alodie, right?”


    “Yup, yup. History of Cyndralia and the Age of Myths.” Sophie answered, “What’s up?”


    “Can you ask her if she wants… umm… to hang out this weekend? Since we didn’t get to see her when we got back to campus.” Ary let out a flustered huff.


    “Sophie! Awww, you’re so adorable. Of course, of course. She would’ve been so bewildered with everyone.” Sophie fawned over Ary.


    “Heheh, yeah. Honestly, I understand her though. It’s like walking into a room full of super powered heroes. If you weren’t there I think I would be a little freaked out too.”


    “And I’ll always be around.”


    “Eheheh.”


    The duo affectionately held hands, much to Yana’s dismay.


    “Yesh. Your flirting while amusing, to me is not bemusing.” Yana grumbled.


    “Aww, Yana. Can’t you feel the love?” Sophie teased.


    “You-” Yana grolwed but stopped, instead choosing to sigh and roll her eyes, “Whatever.”


    “Sophie.” Ary tutted.


    “Fine, fine. Sorry Yana.”


    The faerie scowled, stealing another bite of Sophie’s chicken.


    “I see whose meal she prefers though.” Sophie smirked.


    “You saying I have bad taste?” Ary eyed at her warily.


    “Of course.” Sophie flinched as Ary poked her sides, “You’re dating me, after all.”


    “Pfft. Not funny.” Ary tried to contain her grin.


    “You going to be fine in class?” Sophie changed the topic.


    “Eh? It’s just class?” Ary paused mid smile, her head tilting curiously.


    “Your myth and magic class. It’s run by mages at the mage’s guild right? Inside the mage’s tower?”


    “And?”


    “You know, Yana, magic and all.”


    “Oh! That’s fine! We have a plan, don’t we?” Ary beamed and looked over to the faerie. Oh no, Yana is smirking. Why do I have a bad feeling about this?


    “If Aryana I cannot follow, then with her partner I shall wallow.” Yana’s eyes narrowed mischievously.


    Sophie paled, oh stars above, help me.