Villarosa. The magical queendom. The jewel of the Silver Continent. Heir to the lines of the Ashai, the spade-tipped ones, ruled by the House that shares the kingdom's name.
It is a time of growth and innovation in the Queendom. New techologies are bringing new powers to the fore; as magic is harnessed, even commoners can now possess simple artifacts such as sil'kan - what you or I might call a camera. As media is popularized through the new newspapers, social freedoms are gaining ground. Four decades ago, the House of Thorn, greatest duchy in the land, risked a marriage between two women in their line of inheritance - and the child of that union, a peerless Ashai beauty said to be part magic in the blood, now vies for the hand of the Princess herself.
The conservative faction at court, lead by the Duke of Bramble, has produced its own suitor to contest this liberal faction's claim; and the young Indigo Bramble, Duke Bramble's son, has proven to be both charming and valourous, performing many great deeds in the hopes of earning the Princess' hand.
Gloria Villarosa, princess of the realm, still has not committed one way or the other; and as she dithers, murmurs of discontent are rising from the court. She is expected to marry once she graduates from the Royal Academy at 21, and she is 20 now. The deadline looms.
Late in the evening, Gloria invites her Ashai suitoress to her private rooms - chaperoned, of course, by her mother the Queen's personal maid, a woman of peerless loyalty, integrity and dignity. It would not do if something untoward were to be rumoured.