Evince and Teferi wore plain white tunics and over that they wore black vests. The left side of their vests had a four pointed star encompassed by a corona, all embroidered in varying shades of silver. The needlework on the right side was of the star mage’s protective star or constellation. Teferi’s constellation was Messa while Evince had the constellation of Zyne. Both men wore lightweight brown pants as well considering the almost summer weather.
        "I didn’t know that this was a special meeting, Teferi." Icefall was wearing a plain work tunic that had been dyed a rich purple and black pants that had a tiny bit of purple needle work around the cuffs to match. The only indication that she was a star mage was a small silver pin in the shape of a four-pointed star that she wore over her heart.
        "The dress code isn’t that big of a deal although this is an important meeting."
        "So what is going on here then?" Icefall surveyed the faces of those around her. Everyone kept blank expressions except for Raen, who kept glancing over at Icefall and scowling.
        "The light solar mages have asked us, the star mages, to help create a council with them."
        The female star mage frowned slightly, "Why? The war is over, isn’t it?"
        "The war is over, but there is still cleaning up to do and so forth. We think that it is in everyone’s best interest to work together."
        "A peace council of sorts you mean?"
        "Yes, that the general idea."
        "And who will be part of this council?" Icefall still frowned.
        "The people in this tent right now would be."
        Icefall’s frown deepened, "And why am I here?"
        "We’d like you to be part of the council representing the star mages."
        Icefall heard Raen mutter a sound of annoyance but kept her eyes on Teferi. "So you want everyone in this room as part of a peace council?"
        "That’s correct," Teferi tried to look cheerful but failed under the star mage’s heated glare. Nalyr, still perched on Icefall’s arm, began to move about worriedly and gave a few hoots.
        "So the peace council will be led by the exact same members of the war council?"
        "Well yes, but..."
        "I told you she wouldn’t like it, Teferi." Raen said smugly, "I’d rather she wasn’t here anyways."
        Icefall ignored Raen’s words and the rest of the room except for Teferi. "I would think you’d have better sense than this, Teferi. What kind of peace do you have in mind?"
        "We need defenses in case of future attacks."
        "If we won the war, why are we in need of defense?"
        "Please try to understand..."
        Nalyr nuzzled Icefall’s neck and tried to calm her down.
        "So the war isn’t over then, is it?" The harsh tone in her voice dropped some.
        "For now it’s over, but they may return in the future or another enemy may show their face. We need to be ready."
        Icefall spoke as she pushed aside a strand of long hair that had gotten in her face, "Teferi, this was never our war, it was between the two factions of solar mages. We only agreed to help as a favor to our brother and sister mages and that favor has been paid. Keeping peace by war has never worked." The anger in her eyes and voice began to slowly quiet.
        "We can do other things during peace time, you know."
        "What use do you have with me?"
        "Your talent for creating new spells and using new methods would be of great use. Just the way you created Lost Light was incredible..."
        Fire returned to the silver eyes as she stood up, "Lost Light is one spell that I never want to see used in my lifetime or anyone else’s. I am not proud of developing it. It was an ancient and unfinished spell when I found it and it should have stayed just that -- ancient and unfinished."
        "Your abilities to create powerful spells could be used in other ways, Icefall."
        Icefall continued on, not paying attention to the elder adept, "Lost Light is a hypothetical spell, Teferi. That’s why it was a last resort. Thank the stars that we didn’t have to use it. There isn’t any guarantee that Lost Light will even move the sun as it’s supposed to. For all we know, it could move the planet and leave the spell casters in place so they would die in space. It could backlash and destroy us, the planet, or the sun. Then there are the repercussions of if the spell actually worked since then we’d have no sun. The spell is hypothetical for a reason. If someone had used it before now, we’d notice it." The young adept pushed back her chair as she stood up and stepped back from the table. "I would rather not be part of this council. I hope you understand."
        "Didn’t want you here anyways," Raen grumbled with irritation.
        Icefall again ignored the female solar mage as she nodded to the group once before exiting the tent. The long silence that followed was finally broken by Jered.
        "Should we go after her?"
        Teferi shook his head, "Let her go for now. It looks like we may have to find someone else."

************
        It had been a couple of hours since Icefall had left the strategy tent and the sun was well behind the trees as it neared sunset. Teferi had told the council to let Icefall go, but he eventually went out to find her himself. It didn’t take long for him to find her.
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