Alice spoke in reply to Settione's assertion, and fell into an academic tone ingrained into memory from long nights studying. "Magic does require accurate gestures and often incantations for mundane creatures like us, who often need even more help focusing energies with magical items like staffs and wands. Some creatures, like dragons, can throw spells off the cuff with no warning. That is conjecture, however Lady Jezebeth hasn't been accused of being a dragon. Demons are in their fibre and being magical, and a certain level of enchantment is always present with them. However, anything past their natural talent requires spellcasting like us humans. For example, a succubus will be able to weave seduction magics without uttering a syllable, but throwing a fireball would take a spell. The opposite can be said of a more destructive demon, however." content with her explanation, Alice went back to listening to various conversations while trying to remember what she had learned on the topic.

Did she believe Lady Jezebeth could possibly be a demon? Covered in demon blood would certainly point to her opposing them, but the true reason would likely elude the party for a while as the knight seemed in no fit state to give testimony. Alice had felt extremely sympathetic to her upon first greeting which might be a sign of manipulation, but that didn't seem too out of character for her, or at least she hoped not. The young wizard made a mental note to keep careful observation of Urasen and Lady Jezebeth, and to research demons at the earliest convenience. It was unknown to Alice whether demons could possess someone this late in life, as they tend to go for weaker souls. The alternative was almost crazy, that the cream of the Andred noble crop had been deceiving the entire country for her whole life. Both hypotheses pointed to an extremely powerful and subtle demon.

Alice shook and cleared her head, fixing her hair afterwards in a thought trance. [i]This is instantly assuming guilt,[/i] she pondered [i]The far more likely scenario is either the elves were wrong or Jezebeth was fighting demons[/i]... Though what if she was being manipulated to think things like that by the potential demon? [i]Damn all of this![/i] she angrily took a too large swig of mead and spluttered a bit, thinking not for the first time that she might have spent too much time around Dwarves, and that everything could do with a lot more clarity!