The relaxed air was rapidly getting on Louise's nerves. First Kirche and Tabitha, and now KoKo too? It was like she and Botan were the only ones who were taking this matter seriously anymore. "Kirche!" Louise snapped bluntly, foot tapping the hardwood floor of the study. "My question."
    "That de'Martou guy?" Kirche asked as she sat up. "Yeah, we've been looking into him. But no luck finding his whereabouts so far."
    "Of course not." Louise muttered under her breath. She'd at least held out hope. "So I suppose we haven't gotten anywhere at all."
    Kirche kept a neutral face as she answered. "Now, now, I didn't say that."
    Louise narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the Germanian. "Oh really?"
    "What do you think me and Tabi were doing all last night?" Kirche asked.
    Louise noticed the bags under the other girl's eyes. It seemed she wasn't lying about being up all night. Louise gave a small snort, nevertheless, "With you, I should think some sort of heathen debauchery."
    Kirche smiled thinly. "Haha, very funny Valliere. But I'll have you know that after a long day of asking all over the Capital for your mystery man, we were up all night going through familial records at the archive."
    Familial? Louise grimaced. Were they trying to find some record of Terrance de'Martou? If so, then she could only have wished them good luck. Unlike the tax registry, which had good reason to be kept up to date, records chronicling the family lines of the low Nobility were rarely kept with any degree of consistency. It would be a nightmare to track someone down through that.
    "And? Did you find anything?" Louise asked.
    Tabitha held up a blue, leather bound book embosed with a chivalric crest. "de'Martou, three generations of Chevaliers. Served the Kingdom of Tristain with distinction in the War of the Rose and the Three Years War."
    "The Three Years War?" Louise shook her head. "But that was almost half a century ago!"
    Tabitha nodded. "Family died out." She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Or fell on hard times." She nodded again to signify satisfaction with her assessment.
    Meaning, Louise thought, that if there had been further de'Martous, they had not qualified to inherit any sort of title and had likely wondered off into obscurity like so many other families, great and small, before them.
    "So the trail went cold, again." She took a seat beside Kirche. Well, it had been a distant hope.
    A hand rustled her hair, and Louis looked up at KoKo. "Hey, don't get so glum, there's no guarantee that those de'Martous were related to the one we're looking for anyway."
    Kirche propped her elbows against her knees, holding her chin in her laced fingers. "While that's true, de'Martou wasn't really a common name in the records, and their former land holdings aren't far from the Capital. I'd be willing to bet the de'Martou we're looking for is a son or grandson of the last Chevalier de'Martou."
    "That estate wouldn't happen to still have people living on it, would it?" KoKo leaned back against the arm of the sofa. "I mean, if it does, maybe someone there would know the whereabouts of the person we're looking for."
    "That sounds like a good idea." Botan settled onto the table in front of Louise and Kirche. "If there are fewer people to ask, we might be able to get answers there."
    "Sylphid's out hunting." Tabitha said. "Plan to fly out this afternoon."
    "Then we should probably instruct someone to have those posters made in the mean time." Louise said, feeling a faint charge of energy. They weren't entirely stuck, they were still making progress, however slowly.
    "Posters?" Kirche quirked a brow and then listened to KoKo's explanation. It seemed like a good idea, and seeing the Zerbst agree gave Louise no small amount of satisfaction.
    Arranging for the posters turned out to be simpler than Louise had expected. A number of small print houses existed in the districts adjacent to the Royal Palace and were frequently called upon to mass print copies of Crown edicts and updates to the legal and tax codes for dissemination throughout the Kingdom.
    A simple flash of the document proving her credentials had been all that it had taken for Louise ensure that an order of five hundred fliers would be completed by the end of the day and sent on to the Palace for authentication and posting. That only left the matter of payment.
    Louise had left the haggling to an all too eager Kirche, watching with growing irritation as the Germanian used  every asset at her disposal to drive the cost of the order down to the price of the paper and ink and then some. They'd walked out of the printer's with KoKo congratulating the Zerbst on her mercantile prowess, an experience that left Louise feeling strangely ill tempered. Certainly she couldn't be jealous over Kirche flaunting her body!
    It was just shocking was all. Especially after having grown to see her as something other than the school harlot.
    Sylphid had yet to return from her hunting expedition into the near forests, though Tabitha remained unworried. The Faeries had picked the region around the Capital clean of most of the dangerous mobs, leaving only the native wildlife, that which could survive in the face of the competing ALfheim Fauna, and a number of smaller mob species that could best be described as 'snacks' for something the size of a wind dragon.
    With little else to do, Kirche had suggested, and Louise had relented, to return to her practical studies.
    The Royal Palace was situated near the northern edge of the city, behind low, thick walls that could be easily fortified in times of war, such as now. From the air, the Palace seemed to consist of a large, central structure rising five floors with two, large, four floored wings stretching out to the East and West. A pair of shorter wings extended from the North side of the Palace, parallel and opposite to one another, partially enclosing a memorial garden for the late King.
    The two Northern wings terminated near a grove of cherry trees surrounding one of the many, smaller, isolated gardens that made up the Palace grounds. Botan had discovered this place after growing homesick and between its seclusion and the baffling provided by the surrounding trees, it had become the ideal practice grounds for Louise to work on her smaller spells.
    A familiar, black feathered formed, jumped and glided through the trees before diving down at Botan's commanding whistle.
    'Gyaaa!' Schwartz cried shrilly as his master patted soothingly at his nose and offered him a piece of jerky nearly as large as herself.
    Devouring the morsel hungrily, the black feathered dragon settled down to be groomed as Louise and the others made their way deep into the garden. KoKo stopped in mid stride, ears pivoting about as if possessed of a mind of their own.
    "What is it?" Louise asked.
    The Cait tilted her head, not worried, but a little more alert. "I think there's someone else here."
    Louise paused to listen, she thought she'd heard something, but maybe it was just the rustling of the leaves. "I don't hear anything."
    "Me neither." Kirche said.
    "No. Someone's there." Tabitha said softly. "I can hear them."
    "And I can smell them." Botan said, having risen from grooming her mount, the small Knight took her place cautiously at Louise's side. "Like sweat, and soap."
    Following the foot path through the the trees and shrubs, Louise got her first glimpse of the person who had intruded on her favored practice spot. And then it was her turn to pause. For one, she didn't think anyone could move that fast, a Faerie maybe, but not a human, at least, not without magic.
    Sword glinting, a blonde haired youth was in the midst of fighting an invisible enemy, or in fact, seemed to be fighting four of them at once. Guarding, countering, and spinning lightly on the balls of his feet, more like a dancer than a fighter, always perfectly balanced, every motion well timed and confident.
    Louise noted both Kirche and Tabitha nodding in approval. Even though she'd never touched a sword, Louise knew enough from seeing her mother practice to tell that such grace was a mark of true accomplishment.
    She had little time to observe beyond that. The swordsman had noticed them. Stopping his form in mid swing and swiftly re-sheathing his blade, he came to a stop as swiftly as he'd sprung into motion with hardly a breath to hint at his exertion.
    Still at last, Louise got her first good look of the man. Young, blond, garbed in dark pants and a white cotton shirt. A military style jacket was hung across a wooden bench beneath the shade offered by one of the cherry trees. His features were a mix of what she would have thought of as Gallian and Romalian, not unattractive, but the eyes were something different. Red and Blue, 'Moon Eyes', a rare trait, very rare.
    He was watching her. It couldn't have been for more than a second. It was those eyes. Blue and Red. They calmed and disquieted her at the same time. Like she was looking at a coin stood on edge, two halves a whole, mostly the same, but standing out all the more for their lone difference.

The Youth lowered his hand from his sword and bowed lightly. "Good day Madams. I hope my presence hasn't disturbed your walk."
    "Oh, not at all." Kirche purred like a predator that had just sensed blood.
    Louise rolled her eyes. "Actually, we came here to practice ourselves. It never occurred to me that someone else might favor this spot."
    The youth smiled. "Yes. It reminds me of a place back home. Though there, it is olive trees, and the weather by now would be a good deal more sweltering I should think." Blinking as if he had just realized he'd forgotten something, he smiled apologetically and bowed once more. "Forgive my manners, my name is Julio Chesare."
    "Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst. Charmed" Kirche said cheerfully. "Oh, and this here is Tabitha." She added on behalf of her silent friend.
    Kirche was braking out her full name, Louise noted, interesting. Wait, had he said Chesare?
    "Excuse me." Louise paused, "Ah, Louise de La Valliere." She introduced herself in short. "But Julio Chesare? Is that not the name of the representative the Holy Father?" Had she just barged in on the personal representative of the Pope?!
    The boy smiled genially. "Well, I don't care for such address, but that would be I."
    "Uhm. Holy Father?" KoKo asked. "Like as in the Church?"
    "Why yes." Julio took a rag from where he had left it to hang on a nearby tree branch and began to wipe away the sweat. "Specifically, a Holy Knight of Romalia. And you must be one of the Cait Syth. I mean no disrespect if I have that wrong."
    "KoKo." The Cait nodded politely. "And you're right on the money. It's a pleasure to meet you Chesare-san."
    Tilting his head, Julio had apparently noticed the smallest of their group. "And if I may be so forward as to assume that you are one of the Pixies I have heard mention of?"
    Nodding her head reluctantly, Botan rose to give a small courtesy and introduce herself. Louise wasn't sure if the mistrust was Botan's own, or something that the small Knight had picked up from Louise herself. In either case, it only fed her own sense of uncertainty.
    "I am Botan, a Knight of the Garden of Tarbes."
    "Well then, it is an honor to meet you Dame Botan." Julio's voice dripped with sincerity. "I had to abstain from the opportunity to accompany the Princess to meet with Lady Sakuya and your Sisters. But I hope to observe when your people are included in the settlement treaty. The Holy Father and myself pray only for harmony between our peoples."
    "On behalf of my Sisters and Mother Yggdrasil, I thank you." It was hardly an elegant reply, Louise appraised, but given that Botan was at her core a fighter above all else, it had been the picture of diplomatic grace.
    Julio nodded once more. "Again, forgive me for occupying your training area. Though I would think this place a little confined to practice magic." The young priest observed as if making conversation.
    "Oh it is!" Kirche agreed. "But we don't want Louise here to disturb anyone while she practices." The Germanian's smile could have illuminated Arrun. "She has a bit of an incendiary reputation."
    "Thank you Kirche." Louise muttered. One thing she could be thankful for. As long as Kirche was around, she would always get the worst out of the way at the very beginning.
    "Incendiary?" Julio looked perplexed.
    "You know. She casts something and," Kirche shrugged, "Boom."
    "Boom?" There was a hint of something oddly grave in Julio's voice as he parroted Kirche's monosyllabic reply. Understandable. He probably didn't want to be anyplace near her when she started casting. Though in her defense, she'd gotten much better at controlling the potency of her spells.
    "Explosions." Tabitha elaborated in a single word. "Always."
    "Really," Louise repeated, "Thank you so much, Kirche,  Tabitha ." The second was usually tolerable enough, which made her weighing in all the more a hurtful betrayal.
    Kirche slapped a hand against Louise's back. "Relax Valliere, being ashamed of your problem doesn't help you find a solution. Besides, you never know who might be able to help." She cast a meaningful look to Julio.
    Louise was actually quite surprised by his reply. He raised his hands in apology. "Sorry, but actually, I'm not a Mage."
    "Not a Mage?" Louise repeated, not sure if she believed it.
    If he were simply a priest like he had claimed, it would have been plausible enough. There were many commoner priests and even a handful of non-Mages of even higher rank within the hierarchy of the Church. The Church viewed such men as essential to properly understand the lives of its flocks. But a Knight was something else entirely.
    Especially a Holy Knight of Romalia. Romalia, the Kingdom of the Church of Brimir, swayed with words ten times more often than it did with the sword. Romalia had rarely involved itself in the wars that cropped up on the continent, preferring to act as a neutral arbiter. This had served the Church well over the centuries, and the Kingdom had accumulated tremendous wealth and influence while enjoying nearly uninterrupted peace.
    Thus, Romalia's army was a small, lavishly equipped, and highly professional.
    The Romalian Navy's ships were regarded as second only to Albion's ships of the line, with many built in the very same yards that were now held by Tristain's mortal enemy. Its small standing army was perhaps the only force in all of Halkegenia that could field formations containing a higher proportion of Mages than Tristain. Romalia's army also contained a much higher proportion of knights, holy soldiers of the Church, who were of equally higher caliber.
    To be without magic and yet able to achieve such distinction spoke incredibly highly of both Julio's natural ability, and the trust afforded in him by the Church.
    "It is just so." Julio lamented. "I fear the only aid I might offer in regards to magic are my prayers."
    "Well, we'll take those too." Kirche decided. "Believe me, Louise needs all the help she can get."