extradimensional space

[thaumobabble]

Here is a house.

It is pretty and trim and green-and-cream and really ought not to be able to hold itself up like that, and yet here it is, somehow defying the laws of architecture. It is surrounded by a neatly bordered garden of ornamental and useful plants of all sorts: here vegetables, there herbs, there spell components, there rows of flowers.

There is a sign out front. It says only: Magic. Not, Beware, Magic or Magic Emporium or anything like that. Just: Magic.

Sitting on top of this sign is a cream cat with smoke-dark points of color on each paw, his ears, and his face and tail.

All in all, you could be forgiven for thinking that a witch lives here.

Comments

[thaumobabble]

"What, don't you do things? You're a princess, I'm sure you get to do things - politics sounds fascinating, I'd probably move to one of those newfangled democracies and play with it if for some reason I couldn't be a magician," says Bella. "And even if that's not to your taste, you've been sent on a pretty open-ended quest, you could go just about anywhere and claim that you might find a husband while you were at it."

[calendarofcrime]

"If either of us liked politics, our mother would not be quite so desperate to marry at least one of us off to someone who did."

[thaumobabble]

"If the quest doesn't pan out are you at risk of being set up with some more or less disagreeable neighbor prince?" inquires Bella.

[calendarofcrime]

Sherlock smiles thinly.

"No."

[thaumobabble]

"Why not?"

[allthebrightest]

"Because if I have to marry somebody I don't actually like, I'll pull a Cimorene," says Tony, "and if Sherry does, she'll set him on fire."

[thaumobabble]

"Cimorene was - hang on, not a historian - Cimorene was queen alongside King Mendanbar, right? Did she run away at some point from someone? That's reasonable. Setting him on fire sounds extreme. He might be nothing worse than spineless or otherwise not equipped to run away himself, after all."

[allthebrightest]

"Cimorene got to King Mendanbar by running away from Linderwall, where her parents wanted to marry her to a disagreeable neighbouring prince, and being Kazul's princess for a while. Which is where the family friendship thing got started. I love Cimorene, she's my favourite ancestor."

[thaumobabble]

"I have no interesting ancestors. That must be nice to have some," says Bella. "Cimorene sounds like she must've been neat. Did you already scope out the neighboring princes yourselves?"

[allthebrightest]

"Yeah. And actually I'm pretty sure Mom wouldn't want me to marry any of 'em."

[thaumobabble]

"Why not? Are they bad at politics?"

[calendarofcrime]

"They are bad at most things that don't involve hitting one another with swords. And I am better than most of them at that."

[thaumobabble]

"I don't really understand why that's supposed to be a princely skill. Strategy maybe, if you expect to get into wars, but actual swordfighting? Why would anybody in line for the throne be on the front lines as a matter of course?"

[allthebrightest]

"Rescuing princesses?" suggests Tony.

[thaumobabble]

"If rescuing princesses is the principal use for a prince's ability to swordfight, then it should be a general royal offspring skill," says Bella, waving in Sherlock's direction, "which obviously it can be, just isn't most often. I suppose this is not the case if the rescuing is just courtship theater, but it's awfully stabby courtship theater and should probably be replaced with the board game version if that's the case."

[calendarofcrime]

"I fully agree."

[thaumobabble]

"Good. You should. Because I am right," says Bella. "How come you learned to swordfight, anyway? Planning on rescuing somebody?"

[calendarofcrime]

"It's fun."

[thaumobabble]

"Maybe I'd see the appeal if I didn't need enchanted moccasins just to walk five steps without falling on my face," laughs Bella.

[calendarofcrime]

"Clearly someone ought to build you some enchanted armour."

[thaumobabble]

"I don't think I can witchsleeve a gauntlet," says Bella. "Besides, remember how I'm woefully forced to specialize?"

[allthebrightest]

...Tony looks intrigued by this notion.

[thaumobabble]

"You really, really want to make armor for a clumsy magician?" inquires Bella archly.

[allthebrightest]

"Not necessarily armor," she says. "But something you could wear to make you less clumsy? Yes!"

[thaumobabble]

"On top of the moccasins? Because you'll notice I haven't fallen so far. Although admittedly they only do walking. I still knock things off counters and tables more than I like, and running's basically out of the question."