"Sherlock first," Bella says. "In the event - I think it's an unlikely one, but not an impossible one - that I can't help out with producing you a royal grandchild, they think Tony will have an easier time finding a more traditional sort of spouse."

"I think they're right," says her majesty. "Very sensible."

"But since I probably can work out a spell for it - it may already have been invented, although I'd need to do a bit of a research project to find it - and since I'm going to marry Sherlock anyway, I was wondering if it would be a good idea for me to take some sort of politics lessons? The topic interests me but I haven't done a lot of investigation into it as I never expected to have a chance to apply it."

"Also very sensible," she says approvingly.

"Is there something like that available already, or that can be easily set up, or should I just investigate your library and talk to key staff members...?"

"I think the most instructive method would be if I taught you myself," she says. "Although you're free to browse the library as much as you want."

"That does sound very instructive, and I'd appreciate it," says Bella brightly. "What sort of schedule works for you?"

"That depends," she says. "Will you be staying in the castle for the forseeable future?"

"I will need to go to my house to collect my belongings and my cat, in the next week or so, and possibly again to sell the place. This will be pretty quick if I get a carpet to enchant and fly there and back instead of having to hike, though."

"Good, then I can keep you plenty busy," the queen says with a smile.

"I like to be busy!" Bella says approvingly. "Where are we going to start?"

"I know a fair amount about the magic works, considering that I'm not personally a wizard or related to one," Bella replies. "And some incidental facts about the Society and not very much about their history."

"Wizards," says Queen Marianne, "are apparently very relevant all of a sudden."

"We met some on our way here," Bella says. "I checked, and they weren't - at the time I looked - stealing any magic in active use."

"Good for them," the queen says dryly. "Any interest in looking again?"

"I can, yes, although if you want me to look more thoroughly instead of just again I'll need prep time to add a new lens to my spectacles or research some other sort of divination."

"About how long would that take? I'm thinking of sending you with the delegation. Practical experience," she says.

"Oh! Um, I'm about halfway through figuring out how to wrestle a dwarf spell into a lens, and given the gorgeous design on the armor Tony made I bet she can help me and shave a week off the time. If I just do that and don't make myself new moccasins so I can walk without tripping, or a flying carpet, I can probably have it done in a couple of days. Help from one of the princesses, or maybe you, could get me up to version two on the item-reading lens that uses fire-witch principles, but I haven't been actively looking into that recently so it'd take a little longer. And I've been meaning to add a lens or two enchanted with dragon spells but I've been putting it off in the hopes that I could get my friend Kexan to introduce me to King Kazul so I could ask for a look at the King's Crystal, which has yet to happen. Non-lens-based divinations, it depends on what exactly you want me to look for."

"We can probably wait for the dwarf lens," says the queen. "I don't have a specific notion of what you should be looking for, but I like information and I like more information better."

"I also," Bella adds, snapping her fingers in sudden memory, "now have an intact wizard staff that's not a discard to play with - did Sherlock mention this? - and I haven't started inspecting it yet, but there could be some kind of divination wrapped up in there that I can apply to myself or to a new lens, and it would probably be ideal for checking out what wizards are up to if I can make the adaptation."

"That sounds like a longer-term project to me," says the queen. "But I'd be interested to see what you could dig up with it."

"It could take a very long time," Bella admits, "mostly because there might not be anything like what I'd be looking for in the staff, but I've had staff fragments pass through my possession before and sometimes things rise to the surface right away. It's probably at least worth an hour checking that out before I start working on the dwarf lens full time. ...Should it be full time, are we in enough of a hurry that I should skip the moccasins and the carpet?"

"The official delegation will be going sometime this week," says the queen. "I'd rather you were able to accompany it without falling over."

"Okay. I've already asked for the material I need to make them. It won't take long, since I've done it before and I have all the beads and my sewing kit. I can get started on a preliminary check of the staff and talking to Tony about dwarf magic before the imitation leather arrives."