Any one of these options was considered highly desirable because these were the four streams that contributed most of the commonborns to the sealing ceremonies. If you won a position as a University student, future teacher, merchant apprentice, or palace trainee, you were almost certainly guaranteed a place at a future sealing ceremony.
“If Elsie is in the palace training program, why are you trying to sneak her into a sealing ceremony?” I asked. “How old are you, Elsie?”
“Sixteen.” She bit her lip and looked like she wanted to say more but instead glanced at Stellan and remained silent.
“If you’re sixteen, shouldn’t you have a place at that ceremony without any subterfuge required? I thought that was the age the participants were all sealed.”
“That’s how it’s supposed to be,” Stellan said. “But there have been so few ceremonies lately that there haven’t been enough places. So Elsie has had to compete for a place at the ceremony.” A miserable look descended over his face. “And she would have had a place—she should have one—but I destroyed everything for her.”
“No, don’t say that,” Elsie cried immediately. “Of course you haven’t destroyed everything.”
But his words made sudden sense of his strange behavior. Stellan had somehow been responsible for Elsie not being one of those chosen to be sealed, and his guilt was driving him to go to any lengths to fix the wrong.
“I talked her into slipping out of the palace for a whole day,” Stellan said. “It was supposed to be a day off, but then the head of the program ran a surprise testing exercise. Elsie missed the whole thing and went from the top of the group to the bottom. Given how the head feels about punctuality, you can imagine how he feels about being absent altogether.”
“That’s unfortunate,” I said, “but surely it’s better for Elsie to work her way back up to the top of the group and wait for the next ceremony.”
Stellan shook his head, his eyes frantic. “We can’t wait. There are no second chances. All those not chosen for sealing are being sent away later today.”
“Sent away? What do you mean?”
“There’s a lot of competition for the places at the ceremony,” Elsie said. “And I suppose they’re afraid of bad blood between those who succeeded and those of us who trained for two years and are now unable to pursue any of the career options we’d hoped for and worked toward. Instead we’re being sent out to positions in other towns or on mage estates—places where they can use the skills we’ve learned even though we’re not sealed.”
I nodded. It made a great deal of sense, actually, and also explained the fevered desperation driving Stellan. He had not only destroyed Elsie’s chances but was about to lose her in the process.
“You’re a prince, Stellan,” I said without thinking. “Surely you have enough influence to help Elsie without resorting to this terrible scheme.”
He gave me a significant look. “Yes, exactly, I’m a sixteen-year-old prince. How exactly do you think they’re going to react if I attempt to intervene on behalf of a commonborn servant as young and beautiful as Elsie?”
I winced. He was right, of course. If Stellan so much as mentioned Elsie’s name, it would ensure she was not only excluded from the ceremony but assigned to a position as far from Corrin as possible.
I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off.
“And don’t suggest I ask Mother and Father to help. I’m not willing to risk it.”
Once again I had to acknowledge his fears weren’t groundless. Our mother herself had been born a commonborn, so our parents didn’t have the prejudice against them that many mages still did. But our parents loved us and wanted the best for us. And they knew firsthand the difficulties of a match between a mage prince and a commonborn girl. And that was despite the fact that in their case, Mother had proven herself a powerful and unique mage before the court was asked to accept a romance between them. Elsie had no such claim to recommend her, and my parents would foresee the same difficulty and pain in their future as I did. It was entirely possible they would side against them—judging that a heartbreak now at sixteen was preferable to what might potentially come in the future.
I looked at the sofa and saw the two of them were holding hands, their faces a tragic mix of despair and hope. Recklessness filled me. Only two years stood between us, and I knew what it was to feel so deeply. I spoke without further thought.
“I’ll help Elsie in exchange for a promise from you, Stellan.”
Chapter 2
“You’ll help Elsie?” Stellan asked, a light springing into his eyes at the same moment as Elsie asked, “What promise?”
Seeing the way they both thought immediately of the other only confirmed my decision. If Stellan cared this much about this girl, then she must be special. And if our family was responsible for her change in fortunes, then I would do what I could to fix it. The fact that I would gain in the exchange was only a bonus.
“Stellan, you can’t request Elsie be included in the ceremony, but I can. I’m officially an adult now, and as a royal, I’m entitled to one personal servant who has been sealed. Someone I can trust to be in my rooms and around my compositions. I don’t have one yet, and if I request Elsie specifically, she’ll be included in the sealing ceremony.”
I looked at Elsie. “I can’t imagine being a maid is your dream, but it doesn’t have to be forever. Sealing, on the other hand, is. I have no possible reason to interfere with the palace’s training program, so this is the only way I can get you into that ceremony.”
Elsie looked at me with wide eyes. “Are you sure, Your Highness? Holding a position like that for one of the royal family is considered prestigious. No one wants to waste a sealed servant on menial tasks. It’s a respected position, usually overseeing junior servants to complete the more basic work.” She hesitated. “Personal servants often end up developing a relationship of trust and responsibility with the person they serve.”
I grimaced slightly, thinking of Ida at the Academy who cared for my rooms. In Kallorway they seemed to have no problem using sealed servants as basic maids. Hopefully that would start to change now that Darius was in power, but how long would it take for the Kallorwegian mages to see the wasted potential among their commonborns?
Elsie must have misinterpreted my expression because she looked away, biting her lip. “I understand if you want to change your mind,” she said. “Royals don’t usually have personal servants who are only sixteen. Just think of Leila.”
Mention of my mother’s friend made me grin. Leila had been the first commonborn my mother hired after she took up her official role as the Spoken Mage, and in the decades since, the woman had become a legend around the palace, wielding more authority than many mages. If Leila was who Elsie thought of when I offered the position as my personal servant, then it was no wonder she considered the role prestigious.
“I think you might be forgetting I’m only eighteen myself,” I said. “I’m still at the Academy which means there’s no team of junior servants. I’m afraid even after you’re sealed, there will be menial work. At least for the next two years.”