"Um� miss?" a messenger boy asked, his voice trembling.

"Yes?" she asked shortly, pursing her lips in annoyance.

"The emperor requests your presence. The Tortallan delegation is here." The boy was terrified that she'd do something to him. Astrosa was the most famed mage in Carthak, for both her magic and her temper. It struck him as odd suddenly. Though she was famed, her voice was still that of a child. When she stood, he realized that she was shorter than him by a full inch.

Astrosa rose, and turned to the boy. "Tell the emperor to wait," she ordered impatiently. The boy stared in horror. No-one told the emperor to wait. Finally, Astrosa sighed. "Very well. I'll come now."

Astrosa walked into the room for banquets, eyes aloof. Astrosa felt a strange pang in her heart, seeing those Tortallans. It especially hurt to see Numair Salmalin, since he had been the one to discover her almost three years ago.

Kaddar nodded to Astrosa as she took her seat across from an older girl with brown hair. "This is Astrosa of Cont�, our head war mage."

"A little girl is the head war mage of Carthak?" Lord Martin asked disbelievingly.

"Yes," Astrosa said coolly, feeling her blood boil. "A little girl is the head war mage of Carthak. Do you doubt the emperor's choice?"

Just as she'd expected, he muttered a diplomatic response, and said nothing more. Changing the topic, Kaddar began to answer questions about the building. Thoroughly bored, Astrosa nibbled at her food. She had never really developed a liking for Carthaki cooking, and ate around dishes that were too different for her palate.

"You've grown quite a bit magically," commented Numair casually, almost making Astrosa spit out a sip of water. "I didn't even recognize your magic from those� incidents," he finished carefully, making sure the emperor didn't hear him uttering the word "attack."

"Good to know," Astrosa said nonchalantly, feeling very nervous. She had a sore spot for memories, and it wouldn't do to kill a Tortallan delegate.

"It's a shame to see such talent wasted here," he said, eyes staring into her.

"If it suits you, Mister Salmalin, I'll decide for myself where to spend my talent."

"Of course," he answered, sensing the clipped steel of her voice meant she wanted to drop the topic. Numair didn't want to push too far, but it was so confusing to him why such a strong-willed girl would bend to power. His friend Harailt had said Astrosa had been settling in nicely and that her timing seemed so random. She'd just graduated early with honors and she had acquired quite a few friends, including Nealan of Queenscove. Baird had said that Neal had been crushed by her treachery. He believed it was a driving force in convincing Neal to become a page, and give up his magic training.

Getting an idea, Numair turned to Alanna, "Baird and Neal are still going at it," he said, carefully looking at Astrosa. He saw her eyes spark with interest, although she schooled her face to one of a bored conversationalist.

"Nealan of Queenscove?" she said, pretending she didn�t know well who was being spoken about.

Numair nodded, a look of polite surprise on his face. "How would you have heard about such a minor student in Tortall?"

"You silly thing," Alanna said, guessing Numair's ploy. "How many healers do you know who decide to become pages, and fourteen year old ones at that. It's big enough that the gossip could have reached here."

At that, Astrosa really did spit, spraying water on her plate. Blushing, she wiped it off quickly. "A page?" she asked, barely controlling her facial expressions.

"Yes, he asked to be switched last month," Gareth of Naxen the Younger said. "And you can bet it involved quite a bit of paper shuffling."

Destiny. The word still spun in her head. "Funny," she mused absently, still lost in the fuzzy mess that was her brain at the moment. "He always said that healing was in his blood, his destiny."

"Maybe Neal has grown a bit, and realized what destiny really is. Something you choose to do with your life, nothing to do with blood." Numair said calmly.

Ignoring Kaddar's confused looks, Astrosa got up. "Tell his imperial highness that I have business to attend to tonight." Astrosa had to think.