Solange had spent all night making to-do lists in preparation for the retrial. The first thing on the list was, of course, to see if Daisy would even be willing to take her as her lawyer again. Amy wanting Solange to reprise her role didn’t guarantee that it would happen by any means. From there, some investigational steps were listed out, most of which involved tracking down Amy and Mary and seeing if anything new could be dug up from behind the scenes. If she could get a head start on the new evidence, that would undoubtedly be a boon to her case.

When she walked up to her office building, her attention was caught by a very large bird pecking at a crumpled-up wad of paper. Curiously, the bird was wearing a black and white bandana around its neck, which made her wonder if the owner wasn’t too far behind. Sure enough, there was a sharp whistle, the bird gave a piercing hawk cry that made her jump, and then flew off in the opposite direction, abandoning its paper wad discovery. What’s a hawk doing here of all places? Solange mused to herself, puzzled as who was allowed to keep a hawk in this city and how.

A low, firm voice cut through the air. “Radcliffe-dono.”

“Hmm?” Solange turned around to see Simon approaching with the hawk from before in tow. “Prosecutor Blackquill? What brings you here?” The temptation to use his first name was there, but she was on the job, and so official titles it was.

Once he got within range, Simon stopped to give the hawk some affectionate scritches. “This is Taka, my partner. He wanted some time outside, as did I. It seems something near your office caught his interest.”

“I see,” Solange said, her head tilted in mild confusion. “He was occupied by a piece of litter outside the door before you called. Must have been a food wrapper.”

“He spent seven years guarding certain important papers. It’s possible that he has developed an affinity for paper items in the meantime.” Simon gave a small chuckle, his head turned to the side. “Though I suppose the scent of meat helps.”

Solange made a thoughtful noise and let herself smile at Simon’s quip. Still, she didn’t feel satisfied with Simon’s answer. “But really, why are you here? Not that there’s a problem. I’m just wondering.”

Simon’s face went back to its usual solemn state. “I have some news for you. Do you know that your most recent client is receiving a retrial?”

“Yes, in fact, the new witness stopped by my office yesterday to inform me of this,” Solange said. “What are you getting at?”

“Hm. I see you cut right to the heart of the matter,” Simon said. “The original prosecutor for the case, that Off-Brand fellow, is unavailable. They needed a new one. I chose to take on the role. I hope you’re ready, Radcliffe-dono.”

“Off-Brand- oh. Him.” It took Solange a moment to make the wordplay connection, but when she did, she found she agreed with the assessment. Owen Brand was as generic as they came. “Don’t worry, Mr. Blackquill. I will be ready.”

Something menacing seemed to flash in Simon’s eyes, and a low growl entered his voice. “That’s not enough. You should be ready right now. You’ve heard the news. It’s time to steel yourself.”

“A-Absolutely,” Solange stammered, disappointed that her resolution was hampered by being startled.

Simon gave an ambivalent grunt. “Though I suppose you can take a moment and gather your resources. There is still a bit of time before the trial, and besides, there is something I would like to speak with you about.”

“Is that so?” Solange felt her smile twitch. Simon seemed to have something up his sleeve. “What is it?”

“To be more accurate, there’s something I would like to show you as well,” Simon said. “Follow me.” He barely waited before he started walking off.

“So commanding,” Solange murmured, following in Simon’s long strides. “Where are we going?”

“You’re asking too many questions,” Simon grumbled, not stopping for even a second. “Perhaps your problem is that you need to learn to just act instead of thinking endlessly.”

“Thanks for the analysis… but I guess you’re right.” The sarcasm seemed to wash in and out of Solange’s voice. “But am I really supposed to just follow you without any explanation?”

“You had the option to not follow me, you know.” Simon looked over his shoulder only briefly.

“I did?” Solange’s tone was half-joking. “You are very compelling, you know.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” As Simon spoke, Taka seemed to lose his patience, hopping off his master’s shoulder and flying ahead. “Now, silence. The walk will go faster if you focus.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” When Simon didn’t reply, Solange wasn’t sure whether to feel satisfied about getting the last word or not. As she followed the black-clad prosecutor, she noticed that the buildings were thinning out. Are we walking all the way out of the city? No wonder my feet hurt. Still, she was curious as to what Simon’s goal was, so she didn’t complain. Soon, the city sidewalk disappeared completely, replaced by green grass, and the urge to complain returned.

However, now Simon showed some mercy in stopping. “We have arrived,” he said. “Do you know where we are?”

“We’re outside of the city,” Solange said, with a distinct feeling that she was missing something obvious. Taking a better look around revealed that she was in a grassy clearing, with a swath of trees somewhere to the northwest.

“You’re not wrong,” Simon said. “This is where I watched the launch of a certain rocket from. There was something liberating about standing in this empty space, with nothing but the wind and the sky.”

“I’d imagine, especially considering what had just happened,” Solange said. “You were finally freed.”

“That’s right. Having been within a cell for so long, I wanted to spend some time in the most open space I could find. I still come here to clear my mind.” At that moment, there was a hawk screech as Taka returned to Simon. “Taka appreciates the space as well.”

Solange nodded and made an affirmative noise. “I see. But why did you bring me here, then?”

“There’s something I wanted to try after seeing your demonstration for Wright and his colleagues yesterday,” Simon said. “I want to see the limits of one of your powers for myself. The limits of the other will be tested in court.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know you said your magic was best for special effects, but there is something I would like to see.” Simon reached into a pocket and pulled out a single feather. “Having been in the gallery for several of my cases, I am sure you have seen my iaijutsu, correct?” Without waiting for a response, he tossed the feather into the air, prompting Taka to fly off. After a deft motion that registered only as a blur, there was a sudden sound of cutting, and two feather pieces drifted to the ground. “There’s a refresher, just in case.”

“Incredible!” Solange clapped a little for Simon’s demonstration. “I was wondering how you did that, or how you could break out of your shackles over and over.”

Simon gave a low chuckle. “Consider it a trade secret.” His face became set in its usual scowl once again. “Now, my request is simple. I want you to add your effects to mine. Swords and sorcery have a storied history together, and if I could see them merge for myself… well.” He didn’t follow up with any further elaboration.

“Well, what?” It wasn’t that Solange didn’t feel like humoring Simon on this point, but his motive was eluding her.

“What about it? Is there something wrong with wanting to see something for curiosity’s sake?” Simon’s voice sharpened as he spoke.

“Of course not!” Solange reached to her hair bow and unclipped the compact from it. “Now that you mention it, I want to see this happen, too. But I can’t make any promises that I can make the intended effect.”

“Hm. At the very least, give it a try.” Simon pulled another feather out of his pocket, making Solange wonder if Taka was having some serious molting issues. “I’ll give you till the count of three, so you might as well focus now.”

“It’s not that easy! I have to have a super clear mental image, and even then-”

“One.” Simon tossed the feather into the air.

“Alright, fine, that’s how you’re going to play it-”

“Two.” Simon entered his iaijutsu stance.

Solange gave a frustrated grunt and tried to pull up a mental image of fire following the feather. As Simon said “three,” a conspicuous draft on a rather calm day blew the feather off to the side. “Whoops,” she mumbled, scratching her head with her free hand.

Simon chuckled. “You’d best not be sabotaging yourself, Radcliffe-dono. I’ll admit, your magic has a sense of timing.” He pulled another feather out. “It’s a good thing that I have a decent stash of these.”

“It really does, doesn’t it?” Solange felt herself relaxing a little, seeing that Simon was approaching the situation with a sense of humor. Prickly though he could be, it seemed that he could be prone to flights of fancy when he had a moment for himself. “All right, let’s try again. I’m ready this time.”

“Glad to hear it.” With that, Simon tossed the feather into the air. “One.” Solange tried once again to call upon a streak of fire. “Two.” Nothing was happening. “Three.” Simon did his iaijutsu finger slash, and a small boof noise could be heard. The sliced feather floated down to the ground, and Solange started coughing.

Much like what had happened in the courtroom that day, Solange had been on the receiving end of a puff of smoke. Wiping her face, she grumbled, “Clearly, the magic is feeling sassy today.”

“So it is,” Simon mumbled, giving Solange a look that she couldn’t quite parse out. It might have been concern mixed with with something she couldn’t identify. “Third time is a charm, I suppose.” A third feather came out of his pocket.

“I think we ought to try approaching this a bit differently,” Solange said, still trying to un-smudge her face. “How about this: I give one call to go for you to get ready, and then one when I’m ready. I’m thinking it will be easier for me to track your timing and my own power if we do everything at once.”

“Putting everything on your terms, are we?” Even as Simon gave Solange a measure of guff, he nodded his agreement. “Very well. I’ll get into position and wait for your cue.”

“Okay.” Solange sucked in a breath, clenching the compact in her hand. “Ready…” A streak of fire. That’s all I need. Follow Simon’s flow, add my effects to his. “Go!” Simon tossed the feather into the air and became a partial blur as he performed his iaijutsu. What happened next made Solange gasp out loud: a streak of water followed where Simon slashed.

“Aha!” Simon grinned as he watched the water deform and fall to the ground. “There we go. Incredible.”

“I was aiming for fire, not water, but I suppose water is less likely to cause damage.” Something in that triumph made Solange feel emboldened. “Can I try again?”

“Certainly. I’ll give you three slashes to work with.” Simon assumed his stance. “On your cue.”

“Alright!” Solange gripped her compact tightly. “Ready…” Synchronization is key. I know this flow now. I’m ready. “Go!”

Slash-slash-slash, flow and splash. Three perfect streaks of water followed the arcs Simon made, rising from the bottom and then falling to the ground. “Excellent,” Simon said, folding his arms and giving a subtle grin.

“Amazing,” Solange said, her voice eager. “In all the years I’ve owned this compact, that has to be the most I’ve ever successfully used magic with it. This is really exciting!” Unable to help herself, she gave an enthusiastic bounce.

“Anyone could see that you’re passionate about this,” Simon mused aloud. “You must be in your element.”

“I suppose you could say that.” Solange tried to stuff down the feeling of invigoration going through her. If she let it out, she would probably do something embarrassing, like giving Simon a hug for helping her puzzle out her magic a little. Still, she did have a dorky smile on her face.

“Anyone could also see that you’re not as good at concealing your emotions as you would like to be,” Simon said. “Your smile alone reveals your true feelings, and your composed persona fell away long ago.”

“Uh.” Solange felt the heat rush to her face. “What are you getting at? In my position, I’m sure you’d be excited, too.”

Simon laughed, this one much heartier than his previous chuckles. “You are turning an interesting shade of pink.”

“What are you laughing about? Don’t tell me you set this whole thing up just to see me blush!” Solange’s free hand went to her face, which was indeed as warm as she thought it would be.

“No, not for that purpose,” Simon said, smirking and tilting his head. “I was merely curious about your abilities. Plus, I thought getting to experiment a little would be… fun.”

“Is that so?” Now it was Solange’s turn to giggle. “I never thought you had a playful streak.”

“Playful?” Simon looked away, his mouth partially open, as though he was searching for an answer and couldn’t find one.

“It makes sense, I guess. After what you’ve been through, you should be entitled to a little spontaneous playing around.” Solange clipped her compact back to her hair bow and rubbed at a soot smudge on her sleeve. “It’s something that we take for granted. I’m glad I could help you scratch that itch.”

Simon closed his eyes and nodded, humming affirmatively. “In turn, I’m glad that I could shed some light on how to use your abilities. Thank you for humoring my whims.”

“You’re welcome, Mr.-”

“No.” Simon cut Solange off very suddenly. “We are out of court and in an informal environment. You may call me Simon… Solange.”

“So that’s how it is,” Solange murmured. “You’re welcome, Simon.”

Simon gave a nod, pulling out one more feather from his pocket and putting the end in his mouth. “Though we have enjoyed each other’s company today, next time we meet, it will be as rivals in the courtroom. I will not go easy on you. Spend the next few days steeling your resolve, and enter that courtroom with your blade drawn.”

Solange nodded in turn. “You’ll see what I’m capable of. I’m looking forward to our… ‘match.’”

“That’s the spirit,” Simon said. “Are you ready to return to town, and to work?”

“Well…” Solange wavered. This side of Simon was intriguing, and she wanted to see more of it. Still, what was there left to do? She would have to think of an excuse to drag him out for another excursion sometime later.

“Well?” Simon folded his arms once more and shifted his weight.

“Alright. It would be nice to hang out a bit longer, but there is work to be done,” Solange said. “Maybe, when this trial is wrapped up, we can do something like this again.”

“I wouldn’t be averse to that,” Simon said. He gave a shrill whistle, and after a moment, Taka returned to his shoulder. “Where have you been this whole time?” he murmured to his avian partner. “At any rate, follow me. I will lead you back to town.”

“Will do.”

As Solange followed Simon back to the city, excitement continued to flutter in her heart. She had shared something of a moment with Simon, an interesting diversion before everything got serious. The experience had given her some new ideas about the function of her magic (was it, perhaps, linked to the concepts in mind at the time of conjuring?), and she had gotten to learn a bit more about her future opponent while she was at it. Though she had been ready after her conversation with Phoenix and company, she now felt an even stronger motivation to ensure that this trial was done right.

It was time to stay sharp, and cut away the chains of doubt and falsehood.