June 22nd - Afternoon - Confirmation

Fifteen minute later Kane and I stood before a familiar black walnut counter. The stale scent of must filled my nose as I gazed at the elderly dragon behind the counter. As usual the Archivist was translating an ancient tome. Today the book appeared to be the Nevacoraplus. I cannot be certain of course but the age of the book and the subject both lean towards it being that one.

Ordinarily, I would wait for acknowledgment, however today I was impatient.

"Sir," I said breaking our established protocol. The Archivist blinked up at me. "Sir, I am not certain, but I believe at least two of this season's participants are demons."

The Archivist's face immediately darkened, "Which ones and what is your evidence?" He asked quickly.

I flinched, "Lord Alecai and Lady Vivian, those are the two that I think are demons. I'm not one hundred percent sure though, there haven't been many signs. It's just-" I broke off and worried my lip for a moment trying to think of how to phrase my suspicions. "Well, last night, it appears that most of the male participants had the same dream about Lady Vivian. These dreams were sexual in nature and left the males feeling extremely tired when they woke. It was like their energy had been drained." The Archivist's expression darkened even farther. "I'm sorry to suspect them. I know they must be relatives of yours-"

"Why would they be my relatives?" the Archivist asked coldly.

I blanched at his tone, "Prince Pharon introduced them as his cousins, so that means they must be your relatives as well."

The Archivist's hand tightened into a fist as it rested on the countertop, "Do you have any other reasons to suspect them other than this dream?"

I nodded slowly, "They arrived only last week, but everyone seems to think they've been here since the beginning of the Mating Season. That indicates a palace-wide memory modification spell that only the mages on the council would be able to pull off. If you didn't do it, that means they must be as powerful as a mage on the council."

"You keep saying they, but there has only been one dream about this Lady Vivian, correct?" the Archivist pressed.

I was about to nod my head again but then I remembered the dream that I had about Lord Alecai. Slowly, I shook my head.

"I- I had a dream about Lord Alecai as well. According to Prince Pharon he became rather interested in me after the dream. Which couldn't have happened if it were not a shared dream. Also, It had seemed unusual because if I were to dream about a male I-" I blushed realizing I was about to say I'd be dreaming about Kane when he was standing right beside me. I didn't dare to look at him, but I could feel his body temperature had risen several degrees. I risked a glance up from the counter to gaze at the Archivist.

His gaze slowly fell on Kane, "And who is this?" he asked.

Hastily, I wrapped my hand around Kane's and squeezed it reassuringly, "This is Kane Essenvir. He is a good friend of mine."

The Archivist arched an eyebrow at my words, "So this is the new Duke of the Burning Plains?" The Archivist looked Kane up and down. "However, I'm surprised that you would call him your good friend, Kylara, after what his family did to your own?"

I flinched again and my hand started to loosen around Kane's. His hand tightened on my holding onto me, "I had nothing to do with that incident. That was my family's decision. I was, at the time, only a branch family member. I had no real power. However, if I could go back in time and do things differently, I would." Kane said. "I also have to agree with Kylara's assessment about Lord Alecai and Lady Vivian. I recently became partnered with a fire spirit and he believes that those two participants are Eccubae. The female actually tried to use her magic on me."

The Archivist smiled coolly at Kane, "Congratulations on gaining a partner. May I ask who your partner is?"

"His partner is ishmel ." I said "He is a-"

The Archivist lifted a hand forestalling me, "I know very well who Ishmael is. I must say I am also surprised that he would join up with an Essenvir. Nonetheless, he would certainly know an Eccubae when he saw one." The Archivist then sighed heavily. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will handle it."

I nodded and recognizing a dismissal, dragged Kane away.