In the bath the next morning, Jon sighed dreamily, then winced in embarassment. He had meant to sigh in exasperation, but even alone he was stuck playing the role of Allaria, dreaming about her prince on the way.
Yesterday had been a long day. Princess Lisosia had given Jon and Thenesra the grand tour of the castle grounds, then there had been another reception and a long banquet in Allaria's honor. It was only at the banquet that Jon learned that Karyn had been sent to check after the prince. That left him a little panicked, now that he was essentially alone, in a strange body, surrounded by fictional characters.
But Lisosia wasn't so bad, Jon decided. The small talk was forgettable, but she did know a lot about the castle's history, and that was at least a little interesting. And she was a looker: tall, dark-haired, and beautiful as a fantasy princess should be. Too bad she probably didn't go for elven maidens.
To hear Lisosia describe it, this kingdom must have known little but wars against evil sorcerers, one after the other. Jon learned a little about the Northern Ruins, too. They'd been the capital of a long-ago empire, which had collapsed for the usual fantasy reason: hubris, especially as regards the powerful magic it controlled. Now all that magic was buried in the ruins, and those who went in search of artifacts tended to get blown up, eaten, or transformed. That had Jon a little concerned for Karyn, but he tried to tell himself Dara was supposed to be one of this book's heroes. Surely getting killed on a precautionary rescue mission didn't fit with that.
Plus Karyn apparently had a wizard with her in Iroldu. Jon was a little surprised by the king's and Kagon's talk about elven wizards, since he hadn't seen any magic yet. But this was a fantasy novel, after all. Lisosia seemed especially interested in that. She had asked if Allaria knew any spells, and Jon, letting Allaria answer, learned that she was studying magic. But Thenesra, always present, discouraged any demonstrations. For Jon, that was even more frustrating than it must have been for Lisosia. What spells did Allaria know, and how could Jon figure it out?
