Ellen didn't realize the frozen cream prices would be so high so I ended up paying for both of us with the promise that she would return the favour. A sound investment given Emily's tendency to raise prices.

We're still eating the cream as we enter the club room. Erika smiles upon seeing us, narrows her eyes at the cream, then forces another smile. "So, you decided to come after all. Good, that makes a quorum. You didn't respond to my message, so I wasn't sure."

"I only just decided," I say, glancing the room over and seeing two figures. The first is a boy I don't recognize, the second is… Ligryn? "I didn't expect you here."

Ligryn takes on a theatrical smile. "Again?" I blush at the reminder. "But why shouldn't I be. Did you think I wouldn't find the idea appealing? I don't think we know each other well enough for such judgments."

"Er no, I mean I thought this club was for mages."

"Ah!" She – still theatrical – places her hand on her chest as if distressed. "I've been found out! I'm a page, not a mage. Erika! You won't kick me out, will you!? It's just one letter wrong."

Erika gives an exasperated sigh, glaring at me for some reason. "Ligryn is here because the perspective of the knight's path might be helpful and – more importantly – we need her to make quorum. The school doesn't support clubs with less than five members."

I shake my head in a hopefully ameliorating manner. "I didn't mean why is she allowed to join. I meant why she should want to. What benefit do you get from joining us?"

"Benefit? Can't clubs just be interesting?" Ligryn asks.

"I don't know, maybe… I guess I was just curious."

"Curious? About me?"

"Well, in part. I guess I've realized I don't know what I want to do after graduating, and I get the sense I'm not the only one. These two seem to have a pretty concrete idea," I point to Erika and Ellen, "but I was wondering if that's normal. So, what do you want to do after you graduate?"

She smiles amusedly, clearly seeing through my attempted diversion but decides to fall for it anyways. "Isn't it obvious? I want to shake my homeland free of all foreign yokes."

Her tone is joking, but the joke isn't what she said, but the audacity of saying it. Or maybe not. Perhaps I'm just being overly hopeful; perhaps she thinks I'm like Riley and is poking fun at my presumed paranoid thinking. But I don't think so. I think there's truth in her words, even if she's passing it off as jest.

I should get close to her, and not because I think she'll be a good contact – she probably won't be. Coordinating rebellions would be nice, but fantastical. It would first require that she be able to convince her people to revolt, and it would require that I be able to do the same for Caethlon. I know the latter to be false, and I have no reason to assume that one of the many Rohdami nobles sent to learn in the empire might be able to effect the former.

Still, there might be some benefit to it, and it will likely be easier to foster Caethlian sympathies with her than most nobles here. More importantly though, it'll be nice to be around someone who feels the same as I do about the empire without having to measure devotions to my exact cause. Odd, since I hadn't realized that's something that I've wanted until now.

"I see, well, good luck with that," I say, a bit too sincerely.

She gives me a quizzical look, assuming sarcasm and not finding it. "Right, well, you too, with whatever you decide."

"Great!" Erika says loudly for some reason. "Well, with your futures all settled as being unsettled or unsettling, let's get started. Tim, why don't you start with the alchemical report?"

"Right," the fifth member says, walking up from the corner he was in. He's an average looking, skinny yet muscular boy with short cropped hair and a faint burn scar along a jaw. He has slight calluses on his hands indicating frequent but low intensity manual labour without the benefit of a god's healing to smooth the skin. A commoner, likely an artisan, contextually an alchemist. "The goal of this club is to expand the uses of magic in everyday life of ordinary people. As such, it seems reasonable to start with what is sometimes called 'the first magic' and 'the people's magic'. There are two approaches, first to make existing alchemy cheaper, and the second to innovate new formulas altogether. Either requires examining the methods already in use.

"The first method is increasing the durability of materials. The most common material enhanced being the alchemical steel which the army uses for armour and weapons. However, there are examples of material being created alchemically for structures. The most obvious one being of course the famous 'white spindle' looming ominously over the city. Whatever that material is though is far too expensive to be used for common buildings. As such, I believe a primary goal should be to create a cheap, easily produced material that is safe, durable and immune to fire to create larger buildings that can house the commons.

"The second area to examine is alchemical herbalism for use of medicine. There exist magical potions and lotions that can significantly increase health and healing, but are too expensive in most cases as…"

He pauses as the door opens behind us to admit two figures, a girl and a boy our age, in elaborate attire. "This is the Dialectical Magicalism club, correct?" the girl in front asks.

"It's whatever club you want it to be, Your Highness," Erika says while making a short bow which prompts us to do likewise as we recognize her from the entrance ceremony, "but yes, that was the name prior to your entrance." She's clearly shaken by the sudden entrance of royalty, but quickly regains composure.

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"Quite," the princep says with a smile that turns predatory as she turns to Ligryn. "Ligryn, what a pleasant surprise! How fortunate that my passing interest in… this club might lead me to you again," she clearly lies. For whatever reason, she's here for Ligryn and couldn't care less about the club.

Odd that. I thought Ligryn was just another Rohdami noble sent to make connections. Perhaps I have just cause to get close to her after all.

Ligryn feigns obliviousness to the lie with a demure smile. "That gladdens me, your highness, for I too am pleasantly surprised… at being pleasantly surprising."

The princep frowns slightly at what seems possibly an insult, but moves on, no doubt magnanimously, after failing to figure out exactly how. "Of course. But introductions. I believe you know Marquise Phillip?" She turns to the boy at her side with fabulous long and precisely wavy hair and a constant almost smile as if he's about to burst into laughter at all times from some private joke. He expresses his 'charmed' status to the room.

I'm immediately annoyed.

But a Marquise in his own right so young? I hadn't heard of any sudden inheritors of that rank, and Allan did make a point of familiarizing me with the dozen or so imperial Marquises at least by name and age. She didn't mention his family name so perhaps he's from one of the imperial client kingdoms? I can probably figure out which one later as it must be significant for a potential heir to the imperial throne to have him as a sole entourage. Though perhaps she's just fond of his looks and keeps him around as an art piece. He does seem fit and moves like a squire, so probably for security too… I suppose I could just ask Ligryn about him later.

Ligryn smiles politely with some hidden emotion at him. "Of course, so nice to meet you again." She turns back to the Princep. "If I may introduce your highness, Princep Cecilia Hallenhal to my clubmates. This is the club head, Erika Hanhal, this is Malichi Monhal, this is Ellen, and this is…"

"Aethelhal," Ellen interrupts, causing a concurrence of strange looks. Erika gives her a 'why did you say that?' look, Princep Cecilia gives her the same strange look the herbalist teacher hid, while Marquis Phillip and Ligryn gives her a 'why is everyone looking at you weirdly?' look.

"Aethelhal," Ligryn corrects, "and finally this is Tim."

Tim gives a hasty but correctly formal bow for one of his rank.

"Charmed, everyone." Princep Cecilia says and pointedly looks away from Ellen and to me. "I've heard your name. Where?"

"Perhaps your Highness heard of me from my breakthrough test? Others have recognized me from it."

She shakes her head. "No, that's not it. I didn't pay attention to that test. No… not that either… Ah! I know! You're the one who irritated my dear brother Vincent! Well done!"

"If… you say so, your highness?"

"I do, though I warn you: Stay away from my other brother. Anyone who has gained the interest of Vincent is sure to be a bad influence on my adored and impressionable Theodore."

"If you command, your highness?"

"I do."

"And if he should command otherwise?"

Her face twists into a scowl. "Don't give him a chance."

I'm tempted to mention that we share a class to see if she'll command me to change it. After all, the command of a princep might be sufficient to get out of class whose teacher specifically wants to kill me without suspicion. Though I suppose I do want to learn the subject despite the risk.

The princep turns to the rest of the club. "Now, don't let me interrupt. I believe the commoner was speaking when I arrived."

"Yes, Your Highness." Tim bows again, this time much more smoothly. "I was speaking of finding ways to apply alchemical medicine to the broader population. Presently alchemical medicine is too expensive to use in most cases as its cost outstrips the productivity gained by healing faster. Even those who can afford a potion will likely go to a mage instead due to be being faster and cheaper in most cases. My initial idea would be to switch to a preventative approach, producing large quantities of much less potent medicine and distributing it, likely through the water supply."

"And how do you know that such widespread distribution would be safe in the long term?" The princep asks.

Tim stammers. "Ah, well, I suppose the standard divinations should suffice. Test groups if not."

"I believe that's what some ancient archmage thought when they created the chimeric humans, and we're still living with that mistake."

"Ah, well… I suppose…" he stammers, likely not certain how to respond to her unusual plainness of calling the beastkin mistakes, though the attitude is common enough.

"Your Highness," Erika interrupts his stammering, "we're still in the initial stages of our club and are just forming ideas. Defending them won't be until next week." She gives Tim a 'do better' look, which reddens him in embarrassment.

The rest of the club presents in turn. Erika presents the idea of using her material shaping magic to sort of 'grow' buildings into pseudo organic structures for supposed benefits that rely on math that is too complicated for me to analyse casually. Ellen talks about using weight manipulation magic to create floating castles or something. I don't really see the point. I mean, I would obviously from a military perspective, but it just seems like a pain for civilian life.

"And what about you, Malichi?" Erika says, looking at me.

"Me?" I ask, surprised.

"Yes, I did invite you to this club over a week ago. I would have thought that sufficient time to form some useful thoughts." She's irritated for some reason. With me? More likely the placid response from the royalty in the room?

"Um, well, I suppose my plant growth spell is the obvious start. Though I'd have to learn more advanced spells to do anything in masse. Even then it could only produce a small amount. Probably more useful to produce medical herbs than food for anything but a very small territory. Even then, most herbs can be grown in greater quantities with our present agricultural system than what even a team of advanced mages could produce. The only likely use is for rare herbs that are difficult to grow as crops. Other than that, the only thing would be my animal communication spell which might allow greater use of our beast of burden or allow maybe improved grazing somehow. Though it probably won't be that much better than mundane methods."

"…Thankyou Malichi, that was very helpful," she says, very sarcastic, then turns to Ligryn.

"I pass," she smiles.

"She gets to pass?" I ask.

"I like her," Erika says pointedly. I suppose that answers the question of who she's cross with, though not why.

The marquis speaks. "I'm surprised you didn't suggest knights be used for manual labour."

Ligryn glares briefly at him. "Perhaps some."

"What an amusing notion," the princep says, then looks to Ligryn, "and an amusing club. You may consider me a patron," she turns to Erika "should you encounter any problems."

Is she… extorting us? Or rather, extorting Ligryn through us. Though why she would think Ligryn would care about a club she only just joined?

"Why, we'd be honoured your highness," Erika says, deliberately oblivious to the tone. "Should we expect you to come next week?"

"Hmm, perhaps if the fancy takes me. Now it has been diverting, but I must be going."

We all stand and bow at precisely correct angles. Erika turns to Ligryn a five count after they leave and mouths 'What was that about?'

She just shrugs.

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