Arcadia's Ignoble Knight: The Sorceress of Ashtown

Sylvia de Floresca

Erica stood before a mirror, intricately carved with stately designs that meandered around it; swirling runic symbols that represented the messenger Spirits, Hermes and Iris, carved into the varnished wood. Dragon Claws acted as feet, allowing the mirror to stand. Within the mirror's reflection, a woman other than herself stared back at her.

While she had been expecting this encounter to occur, that did not mean she was prepared for it. With everything that had happened in the past few days, and with her having only just arrived home, Erica was about as prepared for this meeting as Derek was close to getting his full strength back.

"I hear you've replaced Derek with another Knight," the woman on the other side of the mirror said calmly, her voice placid and even. A lesser woman might have missed it, but Erica heard the underlying current of disapproval beneath that peaceful facade.

"It is merely a temporary arrangement, I assure you," Erica spoke with nonchalance, even though she felt anything but. "Derek has not left this world. He merely needs some time to recover. I requested Arcadia's Knight Academy to loan me one of their Knights-in-training."

"So I've heard." Eyes the color of silver bore into her like stakes. "I also know who the academy sent you."

Ah, Erica barely contained her glee, I see where this is going.

"Oh, yes, Caspian Ignis del Sol... I must admit, he is quite the admirable young man. Strong. Skilled with a blade. Not to mention handsome. Why, if Derek wasn't currently my Knight, I might try taking this boy for myself."

And there it was. The twitch. It was just her left hand, but Erica could see it clear as day.

It looks like I struck a nerve.

"I suggest you not try anything with that boy, Erica Demonica de Angelo."

Oh my, she just used my full name. It took everything Erica had not to grin.

"You're awfully protective of this young man, though I suppose I can understand why. Are you worried that I might seduce him?" The woman on the other side shifted. Erica almost giggled like a teenage girl. "Worried that he might fall for my charms? That he'll desire comfort in my arms instead of your own?"

The woman frowned.

"You are making implications that I do not appreciate. Need I remind you that you are already on thin ice as it is?"

"Yes, yes," Erica waved the words away with the airiness of a woman who had naught a care in the world, "I am well aware that the council does not like me. That is why I was not given a seat, wasn't it? Because none of you approved of me."

"We do not approve of what you are doing to your Knights," the words were still spoken calmly, but Erica could sense the annoyance lacing them. "A Knight is a protector, a confidante, not a plaything to satiate your sexual desires with."

"Perhaps that is how you see your Knight," Erica's smile was diametrically opposed to the other Sorceress's frown, "but that is not how I see mine."

"Your habit of going through a Knight every decade is going to be the death of you."

"Perhaps I shall welcome death when it comes." Erica knew she had caught the woman off guard when the other Sorceress blinked. Her smile could not have been wider. "But you did not call to chastise me for my behavior, did you?"

"I came here to warn you," the woman on the other end snapped out of her stupor and got down to business.

"Oh?" Erica raised an eyebrow. "A warning, is it? Well then, I am all ears."