《Defensive Magic》


 Intro to Magic

    FALL TERM - DAY 1


    I¡¯m not much for keeping a diary, though I¡¯m told for this year - my first year at the Midnight Court - it would be a useful exercise. So I must, at least, endeavor to try.


    Where to begin? I am Zephyr Ashbourne, only son of Sylvaris and Petra Ashbourne, the long-time advisors to Lord Hart of The Stag¡¯s Court. Though none of that matters much now that I¡¯m half a world away. Here in Mesym, most people have never heard of Nizari, let alone The Stag¡¯s Court, and fewer still could find either on a map. Even then, the minute anyone realizes both of those places are in Caburh, they stand a little straighter, breathe a little shallower, conversations end abruptly. Caburh is a strange black stain on my reputation. Even after I¡¯ve left it.


    To some extent, I understand. I¡¯ve been in Mesym for less than a fortnight and I¡¯m still just learning how to catch my breath. It¡¯s evening now, and night skies here are bright - the fat, triple moons, a spattering of stars. Marblebrook told me that the founders of the Midnight Court cast enchantments over the grounds and school to make the night sky more vibrant. It¡¯s useful for teaching new mages, sure. But more than that, it¡¯s ever more the reminder I¡¯m no longer in Caburh. In Caburh, the cloud cover never burns away, the shadows never fully lift. It¡¯s hard to explain it to anyone who¡¯s never been there. I¡¯m in a place with bright skies and no vampires. How strange.


    No bloodthirsty noblemen. No fanged princesses in bloodstained gowns. None of that. At all.


    That alone will take some time to get used to.


    It¡¯s hard to say what kind of things I¡¯m even supposed to write about here. What¡¯s meant to be significant? This whole thing - the journaling - was initially brought up by my coven leader, Mistress Elandria Marblebrook. She¡¯s head of the Vodalysa coven, one of the four covens that comprise the Midnight Court. And I¡¯ve been told that I have a place in her coven so long as I am training to become a mage.


    Have I ever practiced magic? No.


    Have I ever thought about practicing magic? Also, no.


    But, I¡¯m here. I haven¡¯t the faintest clue if I¡¯ll be any good. But I was told to keep a journal, and so I am.


    Today was the first day I¡¯ve ever attempted practicing magic. While most of my courses were lectures with reading-intensive syllabi, my assigned combat lesson was ever the exception. The professor, Master Garion Blackclaw, is very much the kind of aging war veteran who can¡¯t go half a lecture without bringing up his oh-so-important role in the War of Nightmares. The war ended over a decade ago, but given the role Caburh played in the conflict, I can¡¯t help but wonder if my presence in the class reignited something for him.


    ¡°Another bigot. Good. Like we don¡¯t remember who won the war¡­¡± I hadn¡¯t really been paying much attention to my classmates, but he¡¯d caught my ear. Until then, I¡¯d mostly tried to focus on the lecture over the incessant tapping of his gold signet ring against his desk. This was how I met Aries de la Fel.


    ¡°Are you even old enough to know anything about it?¡± I shot back. I could hardly remember the war, though admittedly, it was more due to my situation than age. For one thing, it was fought on Mesym¡¯s shores all the way over here. And also, it wasn¡¯t exactly the makings of polite conversation, so whatever did happen, wasn¡¯t exactly my concern. And he, like many of my classmates, had to have been at least a few years younger than I was. How old would he have been? Eight? Nine? I figured that might at least shut him up. But then, on second thought, moments after I¡¯d spoken, I realized what he¡¯d said. He was from Caburh. Or at least, he¡¯d implied as much.


    I hadn¡¯t met anyone from home since I¡¯d arrived. I wasn¡¯t even really sure the Midnight Court accepted applications from Caburh. I¡¯d only been offered a spot as a personal favor to my mother. If I felt a twinge of homesickness then, I¡¯d deny it.


    My desk mate was slumped over his desk with his head against the wood grain. I suspected he was trying to look bored instead of actually being bored. I knew the type. He wanted more attention than he was currently getting. He had short fair hair, and a stocky build. He wasn¡¯t anything like the fine-boned royals of The Stag¡¯s Court. I couldn¡¯t imagine he was from anywhere near Nizari. Had to have been from down south. He had square features - a square jaw, a pronounced chin, and a snub nose.


    He could only hold his tongue so long before snapping back, ¡°I probably remember it about as well as you do. I¡¯m not that young.¡±


    I ignored him. Blackclaw at the front of the lecture hall was moving through the motions for casting a simple shield spell ¡ª something we all were expected to be able to do on our own by the end of the class. I was paying attention. But I can admit too, I noticed it when Aries was back to tapping his fingers against the edge of his desk. The ring on his hand was annoying, but also, it bore his family crest. I was no expert in heraldry, but I didn¡¯t need to be to recognize it. A wolf beneath a blazing sun. The sign of Alden de la Fel.


    You didn¡¯t need to know the nuanced ins and outs of Caburhian politics to know his story. Alden of Fel was a wild card general in the War of Nightmares who returned to Caburh and appointed himself king. The previous king of Fel had apparently perished in the war. Honestly, I couldn¡¯t tell you much about that king, only that he most notably had been a werewolf ¡ª like every king of Fel, stretching as far back as Caburh¡¯s own history, and something Alden, most notably, was not.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Alden of Fel was a kind of caricature in The Stag¡¯s Court - he was less of a war hero turned king and more of a charismatic nobody who failed upwards into politics. There was always a joke in there somewhere about werewolves being too oblivious to notice their own king doesn¡¯t turn at the full moon. But regardless, I knew a little about Alden. He was a popular leader among werewolves. He had made a somewhat laughable statement a few years back publicly announcing that he would be switching out all his silver jewelry to gold. And lastly, that he had several sons¡ª the princes, all named something beginning with the letter A.


    Of course the only other student from Caburh would be one of them.


    I refocused on the lesson. Hand gestures to conjure a shield. That was all it was. It seemed that was all magic was, so long as you had a method to access it. Obviously there¡¯s more to it than that, but sometimes it really is that simple. I did my best to mimic Blackclaw¡¯s motions. On my second attempt, I felt a shift in the air around me, a strange static charge, but it dropped away before it could take shape.


    Any doubt I¡¯d had that I could cast magic suddenly fell away. How long had this been something I could do? But I knew the answer to that already - it¡¯s been two months. The dark brand on my bicep was a vivid enough reminder of that.


    But anyway, I was casting magic. Or almost casting magic. I had yet to actually conjure the shield but I could feel the rough shape of what that might be.


    I was ecstatic. Though to anyone else, I imagine it didn¡¯t look like much. Aries had yet to attempt casting anything yet. I could feel him watching from the other side of the table. Though when he did finally say something, he said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with your eyes?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but bristle. Ignorant brat. I dropped my hands and felt the force of the spell fall away. ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with my eyes. I¡¯m drakari.¡± My eyes are red - not bloodshot, but the irises. The same color as my mother¡¯s. Though I knew well enough why he was asking. Vampires too have red eyes.


    Aries snorted. ¡°You sure about that?¡±


    I knew what he was thinking. Most drakari were significantly more draconic in appearance. I had a few gray scales around my eyes and down my spine, but in reality they more so had the texture of rough skin, a sign of draconic features that never fully materialized. I had my mother¡¯s horns - a partial crest atop my head. My hair hid most of it, but for the two most prominent horns. But beyond that, I was dreadfully human. My mother blamed years of genetic inbreeding. Every generation was a dice roll and I was the one that rolled poorly. She herself didn¡¯t even have a tail or wings, though given her distinctly reptilian face, no one ever questioned her race. My father also looked more draconic, though he too had more humans in his lineage than he cared to admit. All the Drakari in Caburh did. That¡¯s what happened when you lived in a nation cut off from the rest of the world for far too long. Most of the world no longer considered us Drakari, and I suppose we weren¡¯t in the traditional sense. A people with scales no vampire fangs could pierce. The Snakes of Caburh. Or at least supposedly. I didn¡¯t actually have enough scales to protect myself.


    ¡±I¡¯m not a vampire, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re getting at. For one thing, it¡¯s ten ¡®til noon on a clear, autumn day and I¡¯m not burnt to a crisp.¡±


    His eyes darted away, suddenly sheepish. I tried to get back to casting, but I could feel him watching me still, stealing glances. It was one of those rare instances that I wished I was actually a vampire. One quick flash of my fangs and he might leave me alone. But I didn¡¯t have fangs. I didn¡¯t even know of anyone in my family tree that had the kind of sharp teeth distinct to Drakari. The worst I could manage was a pointed glare.


    We might have shared a homeland, but that didn¡¯t mean we had to be friends. I mimicked Blackclaw¡¯s casting gesture a few more times and slowly felt my way through it as the magic took shape. It was hardly visible, but the magic formed a protective barrier around me, shimmering slightly in the afternoon sun.


    Aries beside me was having less success with the spell it seemed. I only saw him attempt it once or twice, but having seen Blackclaw cast it only moments ago, I could tell it was wrong. He wasn¡¯t the only one of course who struggled, but he was definitely the only one who grabbed a skull displayed on the sideboard and chucked it at my conjured shield.


    The bone shattered against the magic barrier, to both of our amazement. I hadn¡¯t quite anticipated it being quite that effective this quickly. And apparently, neither had Aries. Our eyes locked momentarily, a little dumbfounded.


    ¡±Hey!¡± Blackclaw shouted.


    My shield dropped away.


    ¡°We don¡¯t practice magic on artifacts. Another stunt like that and you¡¯re out of this class. Both of you.¡±


    I opened my mouth as though to argue, but I knew well enough it wasn¡¯t going to help the situation. Blackclaw didn¡¯t care who threw it, only that it was broken. Aries and I were asked to stay after class to clean up the shards of bone. Aries only leaned back in his chair to watch like the royal brat he was. Blackclaw handed me a broom.


    I can count the number of times I¡¯ve used a broom in my life on one hand, but with that said, I almost didn¡¯t mind. Aries was no less a prick in my eyes, but at least I had a chance to better see what my magic had done. The skull, a short-nosed Bristleback skull, had been shafted to pieces, splintered like a fine china vase. There was even a fine dust of powdered bone where it first collided with the barrier.


    I¡¯d been a mage for one day and already this. I could do this.


    In a momentary flash I imagined what it might do to a living person. It wasn¡¯t a good thought exactly, but it still sent a shiver down my spine. Maybe I wanted to be a mage after all.

 Silver

    <em style="font-family: georgia, palatino">FALL TERM - DAY 3


    I¡¯m not here to make friends, but there¡¯s a fair chance I made one anyway. And no, it¡¯s not Aries. In my magical weapon tutorial class - one of the dozen sample lessons we attend in the first week at the Court, I met Aisling Warren. She¡¯s young for a mage, by any standard, only nineteen. New students aren¡¯t even allowed to apply until their eighteenth year, and given the number of years it takes some races to reach maturity, even then eighteen is supposedly more of a guideline than it is a rule. I¡¯ve learned most elves attending are in their mid-fifties, not that they look it. I¡¯ve yet to really connect more than superficially with any of the elves. At the Midnight Court a lot of the races tend to stick to themselves, despite how racially diverse it¡¯s always claimed to be. Elves with elves, dwarves with dwarves, and so on. There¡¯s a group of dracari I spotted in flight the other day, but something tells me, I won¡¯t exactly mesh with them either, not that I¡¯m particularly miffed about it.


    Caburh has made me a different beast altogether, for better or worse. I made up my mind from my first day here that I¡¯m here to study magic and nothing else matters. It¡¯s easier to pretend I¡¯m immune to loneliness than admit that maybe I wasn¡¯t exactly totally above all of it. Having friends.


    And then came Aisling.


    I was late to the magical weapons tutorial and took the first open seat - the one next to her. The instructor, Master Orion Lighthammer, carried on with his lesson talking through different alchemical properties of metals and how magic might change their usage, when eventually I noticed just why the seat beside her had been left open.


    The girl sitting there - a waif with a mop of short auburn hair - had a mouth full of needle-sharp teeth. Amid the lecture we exchanged one long, pointed look. She wasn¡¯t the strangest thing I¡¯d seen, and certainly not the most terrifying. I went back to taking notes on the lecture after that as though it had never happened. I was new enough here, I wasn¡¯t exactly sure that it was strange. Better to be polite than abide by social norms. Especially given I was in Mesym now, what did I know of their social norms?


    It wasn¡¯t until halfway through the lecture that her lips covered over her needle teeth and the next time she looked my way, she grinned. There was a gap between her two front teeth. The many rows of needle-points were gone. Her smile was utterly human and ordinary.


    How had she¡­? The answer had to be magic. It was magic. I¡¯d never seen anything like it.


    ¡°You don¡¯t scare easy, do you?¡± she whispered.


    This isn¡¯t what made us friends, but it is the reason I liked her immediately. We could spend all day psychoanalyzing the problems with that, but I think it boils down to how a strange and dangerous piece of me recognized the same kind of strange and dangerous thing in her. Either that or I really can never turn away from a terrifying woman.


    The magical weapons tutorial carried on. This whole week of classes was especially introductory. Lighthammer came in with the assumption that none of us knew the difference between a magical weapon and an ordinary one - which was kind of a relief, because I too hadn¡¯t the faintest idea what the difference was. I assumed magic but it wasn¡¯t as though every magical weapon looked any different from the outset. Lighthammer explained that magic be brought into the weaponsmithing process at any step in its creation and it would be considered a magical weapon. This meant that if a mage cast the right enchantment on an ordinary table knife, it would be, under Mesym¡¯s law, a magical weapon, just as much as a weapon crafted from ore imbuing it with magical properties from the outset.


    ¡°So, tell me,¡± Lighthammer asked the class. ¡°Does anyone know any examples of ores with magical properties?¡±


    A few voices called out from around the room. Kalispar. Antimony. Temporium. Cobalt.


    I joined in. ¡°Silver.¡±


    ¡°Actually, silver isn¡¯t one of them,¡± Lighthammer said. ¡°Too soft for most weapons. But I can see why you got confused.¡±


    I instantly regretted speaking up at all. There were too many eyes on me.


    ¡°Silver isn¡¯t inherently magical, but as you know I¡¯m sure, it has a particularly profound effect on certain creatures of the night. It can be enchanted, but it doesn¡¯t hold onto magic in the same way that other ores do.¡± Lighthammer went on, but I¡¯d already stopped listening. Somehow, yet again, I¡¯d found a way to announce to a room full of strangers that I was from Caburh.


    Eventually, I was able to get over myself and go back to listening to the lesson just as Lighthammer had begun explaining how sentient weapons fit into categorization - the short answer is, with magic much too complicated for students in their first term. It¡¯s sufficient to say, whatever it is I missed, there will be a detailed lecture on it later.


    ¡°So can you not touch silver at all, vampire?¡± Aisling asked me the minute the lesson ended.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a vampire,¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh. Not even half?¡± she asked. I should have hated her for it. I hated Aries just for implying I might be a vampire. But when Aisling asked, it sounded like curiosity, not judgement.


    I almost laughed. ¡°No, not even half. Vampires are sterile. They can¡¯t have children.¡±


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m half fae. But I can touch iron. Iron¡¯s like silver for fae. I thought it would cool to meet a vampire. You know, you dress like one, right?¡±


    What? ¡°No, I don¡¯t,¡± I shot back automatically. I was dressed more or less how I always dressed - a white cotton shirt and tan waistcoat. It was warm in Mesym this time of year, so I¡¯d forgone my normal blazer, but still wore a cravat. I dressed in more muted colors than any vampire would wear, but it wasn¡¯t as if anyone here knew that.


    ¡°You look like a vampire from a storybook,¡± she teased.


    I rolled my eyes. ¡°I guess it doesn¡¯t take a genius to figure out I¡¯m not from Mesym.¡±


    ¡°Obviously you¡¯re not from Mesym. Most mages here aren¡¯t and still, no one mistakes them for vampires. It¡¯s the necktie, I think.¡±


    My cravat? I mean, I was aware no one else seemed to be wearing one, but other kinds of neckties seemed more than common enough.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to take it off. It¡¯s kind of neat to look different.¡± And with that as though to prove her point, Aisling blinked and her eyes changed from brown to violet.


    I was still thinking about my cravat. I¡¯d worn one pretty much every day for as long as I can remember. No one left their throats exposed in the Stag¡¯s Court. It was seen as something of an invitation. But again, no vampires. Not here. I didn¡¯t even realize my hands at my neck were already pulling at the knot.


    ¡°I have horns already. I think I¡¯m well past standing out.¡±


    Aisling nodded thoughtfully. ¡°You do¡­ Maybe I¡¯ll wear horns tomorrow. We can match. Would you like to join me for lunch in the courtyard?¡±


    I was a little preoccupied stuffing my cravat into my satchel. The invitation caught me off guard. I didn¡¯t know what to say. So, I said, ¡°Sure.¡±


    It¡¯s hard to say we¡¯re friends exactly after one lunch, but I like her. She belongs to a different coven at the Court, and lives in one of the newer student dormitories next to the greenhouses. She has a roommate, Shen Yinou, who seems nice enough, but they don¡¯t exactly click.


    Yinou apparently thought Aisling was mocking her when Aisling decided on the first day of classes that she wanted to have dove white wings that sprouted up from her back to look just like Yinou. Yinou had already forgiven her, but Aisling said the awkwardness still lingered on.


    If you couldn¡¯t guess, I listened more than I spoke. Aisling didn¡¯t seem to mind and filled the silences with pretty much anything that came to mind. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ve already mentioned that she¡¯s beautiful, but in case I haven¡¯t, she is. I mention it here if only because it also feels like an afterthought. Her features changed as quickly as her mood. I couldn¡¯t tell you if I would have accepted her invitation if I didn¡¯t think she was pretty, but I can tell you that by the end of our lunch, I only wondered if this was at all like having a kid sister.


    We wrapped up lunch just before the sun dipped behind the clocktower and cast the courtyard over in shadow. We both had other classes anyway.


    ¡°Same time tomorrow?¡± she asked. There was just enough of a quiver in her voice that told me she wasn¡¯t used to asking for this kind of thing.


    ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to it,¡± I said earnestly.


    Of course, my next class that day was combat lessons with Blackclaw and of course, Aries de la Fel. I was trying not to let Aries bother me. We hadn¡¯t gotten off on the right foot, but well, there was no reason we had to be friends. It¡¯d been one class. I took the initiative of picking a new seat in a different section of the classroom. All he had to do was sit quite literally anywhere else.


    Aries didn¡¯t take the hint. Or maybe, he intentionally ignored it. He dropped a heavy tome down on the desk beside me. The sound was loud enough I think he expected me to flinch. I didn¡¯t flinch when Lord Hart tore open the throat of a visiting preacher from Erwick. Aisling had been right about one thing, I don¡¯t scare easy.


    ¡°Look at you now, showing some skin,¡± Aries said. ¡°Is that a hint of collar bone?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not wearing a cravat. So what?¡±


    Aries snickered. Any response at all would have been enough to let on how he was getting under my skin.


    I wanted to hit him.


    He sat down in the open chair next to me and flipped open a blank notebook for class. Any optimism I¡¯d had for Blackclaw¡¯s combat lessons only moments before was already gone. I just had to grit my teeth and get through it.


    Blackclaw¡¯s class had started off relatively exciting - it was still the only place I¡¯d yet to practice magic - the thrill was already waning. Half of the class was still learning how to cast a shield spell, Aries included. The other half, the half I was a part of, had figured out how to cast shield two days ago and were still waiting for everyone else to catch up. Today at least, Blackclaw let those of us who could pick through a short list of new spells to attempt on our own. I chose conjured frost from our textbook, and luckily, given I was so new to all this, the textbook came with casting gesture diagrams.


    This spell wasn¡¯t as quick to learn as shield. The gesture included an additional sequence. It took several tries going through the motions before I could even begin to feel that this was a spell, and even then, it wasn¡¯t much to look at. I could feel the flow of magic through my hands, until one wrong movement killed it.


    I was ignoring Aries, but that didn¡¯t mean I wasn¡¯t aware of him. He¡¯d attempted shield a few more times. I could see what was off in a few attempts, but helping him could have given him the wrong idea. At some point, he gave up trying and just waited for Blackclaw to finally come around to help him individually.


    I was reshaping my hands over the diagram in my textbook when I suddenly felt a hand at my throat.


    I went completely still. Frozen.


    I don¡¯t think I could even breathe. A shiver ran down the back of my neck. I felt overexposed. The hand had only just grazed my bare skin and suddenly I was tugged forward. Not yanked exactly, but slowly drawn.


    I raised my eyes to meet Aries¡¯s own. I realized then that he wasn¡¯t touching me anymore, but had one hand on the silver chain around my neck.


    ¡°Did you always wear this?¡± he asked.


    I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°Come on, it¡¯s nice. It¡¯s actually pretty clever.¡± He rolled the silver chain over his knuckles to examine it in the light.


    ¡°It was my mother¡¯s idea,¡± I said. I don¡¯t know why I told him that. Maybe if only because it was something of her. She¡¯s the clever one, not me.


    ¡°I bet it keeps away the vampires better than an ascot too.¡± Aries¡¯s hand fell away, though I could still feel his eyes on me. I almost wondered if he wasn¡¯t actively trying to be a jerk.


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯ve got no idea,¡± I said.


    He watched me as though he expected me to go on, but why would I? With him of all people?


    ¡°I¡¯d like to get back to my casting now, so I suggest you move unless you want to be hit with ice.¡±

 Lessons on Dueling

    FALL TERM - DAY 7


    Aries de la Fel was running his mouth again and this time, there were consequences. Namely, that Blackclaw picked me to go first to duel against his teaching assistant. Did I mention that I hate this class?


    I¡¯m here because I wasn¡¯t left with much of a choice. Considering I¡¯m here to learn how to practice magic, I figured all of my classes would include spellcasting. Not so. So far, it¡¯s been a lot of lectures, a lot of assigned reading, and then a sliver of spellwork wedged into Blackclaw¡¯s combat lessons, and only Blackclaw¡¯s combat lessons. Unfortunately for me, that meant I had to enroll in this class for the rest of term. I¡¯ll be stuck with Aries for ten more weeks.


    Because of course he signed up too.


    So, Aries was running his mouth. ¡°Don¡¯t go easy on me, Noodle. I can take a hit.¡±


    If I looked up, hoping I might see someone sock him in the gut, could you blame me? But no, he was talking to a yellow-furred dogfolk boy, Noodle, who sat in the row behind us. His pink tongue was sticking out and his fluffy tail thumped against the wood back of his chair. He wasn¡¯t really the type to hit anyone.


    ¡°I had a personal trainer that said half of fighting is learning how to fall. He was a werewolf, by the way, and you better believe he didn¡¯t pull punches.¡±


    I snickered to myself. Only Aries would brag about being good at taking a beating.


    Over the last few days, I realized Aries mostly just left me be if he saw me reading a textbook before class. He was still too loud and sometimes he pulled one of my horns to the side as he slipped past the back of my chair to his seat. But like I said, mostly left me alone. But right then, he¡¯d noticed me looking on. Which might as well have been a written invitation to engage.


    His lips twisted up into a smirk. ¡°You ready to duel with us today, Zeph?¡±


    Zeph? What the hell? I couldn¡¯t help myself. ¡°You want to duel? You don¡¯t know how to cast anything yet. Don¡¯t be ridiculous.¡±


    Aries tossed his head back melodramatically, showing off the long pale line of his neck. ¡°Okay, yeah. I¡¯m not exactly a reliable caster yet, but I¡¯ve got to start sometime. It¡¯s on the syllabus for today, and besides, it¡¯s not like I knew how to wrestle a werewolf before trying it myself. I¡¯ve got to learn somehow.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that applies to casting spells,¡± Noodle said.


    I stifled a laugh only to hear another, deeper chuckle from over my shoulder.


    ¡°Only one way to find out,¡± Blackclaw said as he strode past our desk and up to the front of the room. ¡°Clear your desks, everyone. Today, we¡¯re getting into dueling. And we¡¯ve already got our first volunteer. Isn¡¯t that right, Mister Ashbourne?¡±


    Right then, in front of everyone I didn¡¯t see a way to politely correct him, which just as well could have been Blackclaw¡¯s plan all along. And even if I could, it seemed criminal to volunteer Aries. He was truly defenseless, despite his insistence that it would be ¨C what was it again? A learning experience?


    I said nothing. It made it all the worse that Blackclaw seemed especially giddy. Maybe he really did just want to watch me get my ass kicked.


    We took the next few minutes to reorganize the room. Now that the introductory tutorials had ended, every class had been cut down to roughly half a dozen students. There were eight of us enrolled in combat lessons, just enough of a margin of difference from other class sizes you might call it ¡°popular.¡± To put it in context, Sigils with Mistress Kelyn Marblebrook had been whittled down to a class of four. There were more desks than needed and Blackclaw had us push as many as we could out of the center of the room to make space for dueling. Blackclaw explained that starting next term we would have a designated practice field outdoors, but given how new we were and that there was only so much damage we were capable of, best spare the trip and just practice here.


    We hovered around the edges of the newly cleared space as Blackclaw stalked forward into lecture.


    ¡°We will be focused on dueling for the rest of term for a few reasons. First, so that you may learn the Mages¡¯ Code of Conduct. And second, because it is illegal in Mesym to practice magic with intent to harm another person outside of a formal duel.


    ¡°The Mages¡¯ Code of Conduct extends beyond Mesym¡¯s law to all magic users, regardless of nation. It is our ruleset for legally sanctioned acts of violence, such as dueling, but also, war.


    ¡°With that said, I¡¯m not here to train soldiers. I¡¯m here to train new mages. I don¡¯t expect you to go out into the wider world and have to duel with any regularity. Our emphasis will be on defensive magic and magic safety. If you can protect yourself from fire in a duel, you can protect yourself from fire in an alchemical accident. A strong dueler can think quickly and cast accurately under stress. Both are skills that should help you more broadly in the years to come.¡±


    ¡°So¡­¡± Blackclaw clasped his hands together. ¡°Let¡¯s get to it. Mister Ashbourne will be going first. Step on up.¡±


    Aries¡¯s hands were on my shoulders, urging me on. ¡°Show ¡®em what you¡¯ve got, Zeph.¡±


    ¡°Today, we have Miss Sims from my advanced class joining us as my assistant to play adversary.¡± Blackclaw gestured to his teaching assistant who joined the circle.


    Allegra Sims was a petite woman in a plaid skirt and tight sweater. She had neat dark hair, tied back with ribbon. She was tiny enough that my first instinct told me that it was wrong to duel against her. In Caburh, men didn¡¯t generally duel against women. It wasn¡¯t always just about gender - any physical mismatch in a duel was something of a faux pas. To provide some context here, I¡¯m about six feet tall, which is short for most dracari, but tall for humans. I¡¯m not particularly muscular, but I am lean and my size alone makes a difference when it comes to physical strength.


    Stolen story; please report.


    But physical strength didn¡¯t really matter here. It doesn¡¯t really factor in when fighting with magic. It occurred to me quickly that refusing to duel against her would have been more of a misstep. I held my tongue.


    Aries was still playing the role of unnecessary hype man next to me. He was a little too excited by the idea of dueling, even if he himself wasn¡¯t the one thrust into it.


    ¡°Come on, tough guy.¡± He really never does shut up.


    ¡°In any duel, you need a second,¡± Blackclaw said. Aries¡¯s eyes momentarily lit up, unabashedly hopeful. If Blackclaw noticed, he made no mention. ¡°For today I¡¯ll be playing the role of second for both of you. In a duel between mages, each side has a second, who will set the rules for the specific duel, ensuring it will be as fair as possible. The rule we¡¯ll be working with today to level the playing field is that you may only use spells that you have learned in this class. Some of you have more of a background in magic than others, and for at least the first few weeks, any spell cast at another classmate will only be something you¡¯ve learned under my supervision. Miss Sims has been given your syllabus and knows what she¡¯s up against. So, let¡¯s get to it!¡±


    Blackclaw took a few minutes to talk me through where to stand. Allegra was already waiting a dozen paces opposite me, hands clasped in front of her. ¡°In magical duels, you start with your hands together and in full view of your opponent. Then, your second counts down to start. Given you both would have seconds, which one counts off is decided by a coin flip, or more traditionally, whichever party initiated the duel.¡± Blackclaw looked to me first. ¡°Are you ready?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I said quickly.


    He and Allegra exchanged a look. She nodded. And the countdown began. Three. Two. One.


    Allegra was quicker to cast than I was, sending a blast of something in my direction. I didn¡¯t even think to cast shield, only avoided the hit by dodging out of the way.


    ¡°Use your spells, Ashbourne!¡± Blackclaw called out.


    Easier said than done. I had just started the gestures for conjured frost when I had to switch abruptly to shield to avoid the blast of Allegra¡¯s next spell. This wasn¡¯t a duel I was expected to win, but knowing that and feeling that are two different things.


    I felt a prickle of sweat on the back of my neck and my hands were trying to remember the motions for the one combative spell I knew. Conjured frost.


    My casting was interrupted again by another spell from Allegra. I managed to switch to shield again.


    ¡°We know you can block, let¡¯s see you cast something, Ashborne,¡± Blackclaw said.


    As though I¡¯m not trying. I finally managed to make it through the casting for conjured frost.


    The spell hit lower than I¡¯d intended and Allegra conjured a shield to avoid the blast. She was in the middle of casting another spell when she suddenly slipped forward and was down.


    I automatically started trying to cast conjured frost again. When suddenly I was hit with another spell I hadn¡¯t seen coming.


    My whole body tensed and suddenly I couldn¡¯t move.


    ¡°Whoa! Hang on,¡± Blackclaw shouted. Whatever spell kept me immobilized had clearly come from him. I didn¡¯t like it. Its magic was wrapping around me, like a thin sheet pulled taut against my skin.


    Blackclaw went over to Allegra to help her to her feet. It was hard to say if she was hurt. Her eyes were wide and uncertain. She rubbed her knee with her hand. ¡°I¡¯m okay, really. Just a little surprised, I think.¡±


    Blackclaw turned back to me, suddenly very serious. ¡°What was that? Ashbourne, what did you cast?¡±


    The spell keeping me frozen dropped away. I felt the pressure constricting around my body suddenly dissipate.


    I didn¡¯t understand why Blackclaw was angry. ¡°I cast conjured frost. The spell I¡¯ve been working on in class all week.¡±


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t one of the optional spells I¡¯d assigned you. I understand some of you may have taken this week to read ahead in the textbook, but that wasn¡¯t something understood as allowed in this duel. The duel¡¯s over.¡±


    I was confused. I hadn¡¯t read ahead in the textbook. I wasn¡¯t exactly good at spellcasting. I could manage to do it but considering I was in a university for mages, that didn¡¯t seem like a particularly high bar. I knew a total of two spells - shield and conjured frost. I tried explaining as much to Blackclaw, but he cut me off abruptly saying, ¡°We can speak more on this after class.¡±


    I was ushered off into the sidelines as Blackclaw tried to resume the lesson, starting over with a different student - this time one of the prissy high elves who probably did know a few extra spells before arriving at the Court.


    ¡°I think he¡¯s just bitter that you won,¡± Aries muttered to me.


    I didn¡¯t think this was winning. I felt a slight twinge of pain on my bicep. The dark mark of Orendel, still hidden under my shirtsleeves, seemed to agree. I half-watched the next few duels trying to figure out just what had gone wrong. It wasn¡¯t a mystery. It was obvious by the third duel just what was different. No one else cast conjured frost or even anything like it. No elemental magic. Over the course of the next hour, I caught a few names of spells ¨C be still, slow, silence. It seemed Blackclaw and Allegra hadn¡¯t exactly anticipated me using any kind of physical attack spell. But then, why assign it?


    After class, I flipped through the textbook, checking against the page numbers he¡¯d given us. Be still, slow, and silence. Those had always been the spells he¡¯d assigned. But then how did I get conjured frost? When I finally found conjured frost it was several sections ahead in the textbook. No wonder it¡¯d been so hard to cast.


    But more than that, this wasn¡¯t Blackclaw¡¯s fault, but mine. He probably thought I was just being an ass and showing off a harder spell. It was one thing if he didn¡¯t like the fact that I was from Caburh, but another all together for something I¡¯d done unintentionally. I spoke first before he could have a chance to say anything else. ¡°I apologize for casting conjured frost. I genuinely practiced it believing it was one of the assigned spells this week. I don¡¯t know what happened.¡±


    Blackclaw remained expressionless as ever. ¡°Don¡¯t let it happen again, Ashbourne. And if it¡¯s true that you have only been working on this spell all week, you¡¯re already behind. I¡¯m holding a remedial lesson this afternoon. Be there.¡±

 Flowers

    FALL TERM - DAY 7 (Continued)


    It was one of those early autumn afternoons where the sun burned hot but the breeze was cool. I knew that days like this existed more from books than lived experience.


    ¡°It gets like this in Hyhill sometimes,¡± Aisling said. We were sitting out on a sunlit courtyard on the wide ledge of a dry central fountain. I was still flipping through my combat class textbook, trying to figure out just how I could have gotten the chapters so mixed up.


    Aisling had learned a new spell today that she was using to coax wildflowers into sprouting up through the cracks in the pavement so she could weave them into a flower crown.


    ¡°Did you ever have weather like this in Caburh?¡± she asked.


    I was momentarily so fixated on the text in front of me, I nearly missed her question. ¡°No¡­ we didn¡¯t. Not a lot of sunny days in Caburh.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Aisling nodded. ¡°With the vampires. Silly me.¡± She went back to fiddling with her flower crown. ¡°I heard it¡¯s going to get cold here soon. Hot summers, cold winters. Can you imagine that?¡±


    I was still only half listening. I had the casting diagrams for be still laid open in front of me. ¡°You don¡¯t have that in Hyhill?¡± I asked. I wasn¡¯t trying to ignore her, but I also didn¡¯t want to show up unprepared for Blackclaw¡¯s remedial lesson. Already a week in and I¡¯d managed to stick myself in remedial lessons. It would be a much smaller class and it didn¡¯t take a genius to guess who else would be there. I couldn¡¯t make this a habit.


    Aisling shrugged. ¡°I hear it¡¯s different. But¡­ we don¡¯t have to talk if you¡¯re busy. You look busy. And you¡¯re making that face.¡±


    ¡°What face?¡±


    Aisling scowled and her eyebrows turned thicker and dark, more like my own, and twisted into a furrowed glare. On her it looked absurd. I laughed if only because I couldn¡¯t help it. And that made her laugh too. Her face morphed back to her usual features.


    ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s not you. It¡¯s just something from Blackclaw¡¯s lessons. I somehow studied a spell from a chapter weeks ahead in the syllabus, instead of the spells for this week. I¡¯m still trying to figure out how that happened.¡±


    Somewhere in my mind¡¯s eye, I could see the toothy grin of a skeletal beast, and I knew why, or at least, I had my suspicions.


    ¡°You know how it happened,¡± Aisling said quickly. ¡°That look! You remembered something.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t know that,¡± I said.


    ¡°But I already do! Come on, what is it? What did you remember?¡±


    I shifted uneasily where my back rested against the lip of the fountain. ¡°I don¡¯t know, it¡¯s kind of unbelievable.¡±


    ¡°Gah, would you stop with the doubting? I¡¯m unbelievable. You¡¯re talking to a girl who was born in a different realm and can change her face at will! Just spit it out.¡±


    Aisling was still one of the only people at the Midnight Court that I¡¯d actually liked. She was a friend and for that alone I felt I owed her something. An answer at least.


    ¡°Have you ever heard of Orendell?¡±


    ¡°Is that a place?¡± So, that was a no.


    ¡°He¡¯s kind of a deity, I guess. I don¡¯t know really all that much about his pantheon. But anyway, I have this strange feeling that¡ª¡° what was I meant to say? That a werewolf god made me study the wrong spell? It was a bridge too far. So I said something instead that felt more measured. ¡°I get the feeling that he¡¯s laughing at me for ending up in Blackclaw¡¯s remedial lesson.¡±


    Aisling remained unphased. ¡°Some deities have a strange sense of humor.¡±


    She took her flower crown and tossed it onto my head. In one swift movement, I could tell she¡¯d managed to get it over my horns.


    ¡°Before you say anything, it was just my practice crown, I¡¯m making one for myself next.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t a way to say I really didn¡¯t want to show up to Blackclaw¡¯s lesson with flowers in my hair without sounding rude. Another part of me was touched that she¡¯d taken the time to make a flower crown for me at all. Uncomfortable to have it on, uncomfortable to take it off. It¡¯s strange to say, but I think she knew this and found it amusing.


    ¡°I think the flowers soften you a bit. It¡¯s hard to say though. You always look so grumpy.¡±


    I cocked my head, felt a dozen little flowers jostle against my horns. ¡°I¡¯m not grumpy.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a bad thing,¡± she said. ¡°Like now that I know you, I know it¡¯s not personal. You just are always kind of like that.¡±


    I was still thinking about this on my way to Blackclaw¡¯s remedial lesson. No one at The Stag¡¯s Court would have called me grumpy. But also that was assuming anyone called me anything at all. I was a minor courtier who¡¯d existed so much in the background there. It had been a place that fed on a looming sense of dread and fashionable ennui. I neither loved it nor hated it. At the end of the day, it was still home.


    I got the feeling that this was more a feature of the Stag¡¯s Court than all of Caburh. I don¡¯t think anyone would have called Aries grumpy, even if he also lived most of his life in a sunless nation.


    And speak of the devil, who else would have been there in Blackclaw¡¯s remedial lesson but him. It was somewhat of a relief that it wasn¡¯t just the two of us. When I arrived, Aries was already there in mid-conversation with another one of our classmates, Noodle. I got the feeling the golden-furred dogfolk boy didn¡¯t expressly dislike anyone, even if Aries was particularly annoying.


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    Aries¡¯s eyes shot to me instantly. ¡°Hey, Zeph! What are you doing here?¡± Again with the nickname.


    ¡°Blackclaw told me that learning the wrong spell means I¡¯m already behind.¡± I kept my answer matter-of-fact. If there was an underlying tone of don¡¯t expect that I¡¯ll be back, it was only the truth.


    ¡°Well, that just means we¡¯ve got all the Vodalysa boys in here today,¡± Aries said, nudging me with his elbow in a way that was a little too chummy for my liking.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s something Professor Marblebrook would want us bragging about,¡± I said. I¡¯d been here over a week and this was the first anyone had so much as mentioned my coven. At this point, it really didn¡¯t feel as though it would factor into my day to day at the Midnight Court, but for an indication of where my living quarters were. Noodle had a room with a roommate down the hall from me and Aries had his own suite just past there. I only knew this because despite the fact that my room was spacious and well-lit, it happened to be in an older part of the Court where all of the Vodalysa mages still had to use the same shared bathrooms. Needless to say, the first time I stepped out of the shower in only a towel and ran into Aries in a cotton robe, it wasn¡¯t exactly a pleasant surprise.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s with the flowers in your hair?¡± Aries asked. He wasn¡¯t short exactly, but he did stand up on his toes to look at them. His blond head bobbed at the level of my eyes. ¡°You get kidnapped by satyrs or something?¡±


    ¡°Just Aisling,¡± I said. ¡°Though she¡¯d probably love to hear that you thought satyrs were behind it.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± A shadow crossed over Aries¡¯s face. ¡°Aisling. Is she like, your girlfriend or something?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a friend,¡± I said. It was the first time I¡¯d ever admitted that out loud and that alone made it more real. Just saying it made me feel a little warm and soft. To my surprise, I really didn¡¯t hate it.


    ¡°Well, I like the flowers,¡± Noodle said. ¡°They¡¯re pretty.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll probably fall out though when I duel against you,¡± Aries said.


    I snorted. ¡°I¡¯d like to see you try.¡± I hadn¡¯t intended on sounding mean, but looking back, it might have been.


    Aries¡¯s hands moved to cast, but whatever he¡¯d had planned, the magic never materialized and the spell fell flat.


    ¡°We don¡¯t cast spells at each other outside of a duel, Mr. de la Fel,¡± Blackclaw shouted. He¡¯d only just arrived and was striding up to take his spot at the front of the room.


    ¡°That¡¯s only the case with spells meant to cause harm. I don¡¯t intend to cause harm so much as prove a point,¡± Aries muttered. He¡¯d kept his voice low enough Blackclaw wouldn¡¯t have heard. He was really only talking to me.


    ¡°What spell was that even anyway?¡± I asked. ¡°Your casting¡¯s so ham-fisted it¡¯s impossible to tell.¡±


    Aries¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Real bold coming from you. After all, we¡¯re both in remedial lessons.¡± He quickly elbowed me in the gut, hard enough I felt myself lurch forward and steady myself against the desk.


    Now I know I should have let it go. But I couldn¡¯t. ¡°You want to duel? Give me a time and place. We¡¯ll duel.¡± I didn¡¯t even care that he was a shit mage. It didn¡¯t matter that he was the worst caster in our class. Maybe I also just wanted to prove a point.


    His eyes only sharpened on me. Aries quickly returned to casting though it was still more of the same - no magic.


    This time Blackclaw stepped in. ¡°Focus on the shape of your hands¡­¡± It didn¡¯t even really matter where he¡¯d intended on casting the spell. He had the magical know-how of a hamster.


    I realized quickly this wasn¡¯t a structured class but a supervised casting practice. Noodle was also working on casting something - maybe shield? It was still hard to tell.


    At least this I could do. I¡¯d managed to teach myself conjured frost. Be still in comparison was easy. The gesture was only a little more complicated than shield. It could be cast fairly quickly and seemed effective. I¡¯d originally assumed be still was the spell Blackclaw had cast on me earlier. I could still vividly recall the taut feeling of the magic around my muscles, how it forced me still. But no, that couldn¡¯t have been it. On closer review, while this spell was certainly similar, it seemed considerably less restrictive. Be still when cast upon an individual forced them into a complete freeze for the span of three heartbeats. A person under stress might not even notice the freeze - their heartbeat fast enough that it would only slow them down. A footnote on the spell suggested most people who have it cast upon them are never even aware of it. It wasn¡¯t the same frozen state Blackclaw had confined me in. It was significantly more temporary. I didn¡¯t hate it.


    I wove my hands through the textbook¡¯s detailed choreography. Magic shot up through my fingertips. I didn¡¯t have to have a target to know this was going to work. But there was no good reason for me to be in remedial lessons. I could do this.


    When Blackclaw finished guiding Aries through his casting, he came to me next.


    ¡°Did you pick a spell from this week¡¯s syllabus?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Be still,¡± I said. I quickly worked my way through the casting gesture. The magic came quickly. I hadn¡¯t needed days of practice for this one. If anything, looking back, the amount of time I¡¯d needed to get conjured frost under my belt should have been sign enough I¡¯d been missing something. While this spell was harder than shield, it was a challenge by a half-step, not a mile.


    ¡°Good, good,¡± Blackclaw muttered. ¡°You¡¯re caught up. Now for next time, stick to the syllabus.¡±


    ¡°I plan to,¡± I said. He was harsher than he needed to be. Blackclaw truly looked as though he didn¡¯t want to be there.


    ¡°Because after next week, I stop offering remedial lessons. Anyone too far behind is pulled from the class and won¡¯t have another shot until next term.¡±  I had to have expected that much. He was still going to be a jerk in the moments he could. ¡°You¡¯re dismissed, Ashbourne.¡±


    Blackclaw¡¯s dismissal was its own relief. I wasn¡¯t inadequate or behind the rest of the class. I might not have been ahead exactly, but I was doing what was expected. I was acting as a mage. That was all I needed to be to ensure I had a place here, and as of now, I really didn¡¯t have a contingency plan for if that was no longer possible. To some extent, I didn¡¯t think this was a real possibility I needed to consider just yet, given Aries and Noodle still struggled to cast even the most basic of spells.  Outside of combat class, I gathered, they weren¡¯t the only ones. It wasn¡¯t easy for all mages at first to access magic. Very few were born with the ability. Many relied on magical artifacts to tap into magic at all. And then, there were the odd ones out, like me, neither born with magic, nor requiring an artifact. My magic was tied entirely to Orendell¡¯s wicked brand. The mark in my bicep was what made me a mage and I¡¯d continue to be one as long as he saw fit. I tried not to overthink the stipulations attached to our bargain. It didn¡¯t matter. I was here now.


    I was just packing up my things to leave Blackclaw¡¯s remedial lesson when Aries managed to fire off a quick spell in my direction. His aim had been off, so whatever it was only fizzled into nothing on the classroom¡¯s hardwood floor in front of me.


    ¡°What was that even meant to be? Don¡¯t tell me silence, because I don¡¯t think it worked.¡±


    Aries grit his teeth and groaned. It had to be so terribly frustrating to be this bad at magic. If I was having a laugh about it, it was only because I¡¯d earned it. ¡°You¡¯re just leaving? Just like that?!¡±


    I had set my hand on the door handle. ¡°Dismissed for the rest of the lesson. I¡¯m all caught up.¡±


    ¡°But you were hardly even here!¡±


    And wasn¡¯t that delightful? ¡°What can I say? It wasn¡¯t that hard for me to get back up to speed.¡± It was true after all.


    I saw him start to cast something again, but halfway through he gave up and rushed over to me. I flexed my core, half expecting him to hit me, but instead Aries only reached up and ripped the flower crown from my horns.


    ¡°Would you at least take this off? It doesn¡¯t suit you.¡±


    The flower crown was already crumbling to pieces in his hands. He didn¡¯t resist when I took it from him and stormed off.


    It didn¡¯t suit me? The hell? That really wasn¡¯t his to decide.


    I later tried my best to piece it back together before meeting Aisling for dinner that night, but the flower crown only fell more to pieces the more I¡¯d tried. If she was going to ask about it, I¡¯d blame Aries, because of course I would. It was his fault. But then, come dinner, I met with her sans flower crown, and she didn¡¯t even mention it. That felt all the worse

 Nightmare

    FALL TERM - DAY 9


    I¡¯ve been able to go this long without mentioning Lady Ianthe Hart, but I should have known it was only a matter of time before she¡¯d worm her way back into my life. She appeared in my dreams last night and made me think for a moment that I¡¯d never left the Stag¡¯s Court. We were in her parlor. A nervous minstrel was strumming something delicate on the harpsichord. The poor man was sweating already. That didn¡¯t bode well for him this early in the evening.


    But Ianthe hardly noticed. Her head was on my lap. Her long white hair poured down across my knee. It was long enough it nearly fell to the glassy black marble floor.


    It was a dream, yes, but this was really her. She was there, dreamwalking. I know this because of the feeling. The air is always heavier than normal dreams. There¡¯s a strange static. I can tell it¡¯s manufactured. I hate it when she¡¯s in my head.


    The other thing - I can never quite remember what I¡¯ve said or haven¡¯t said. What I did, or didn''t do.


    We were at the Stag¡¯s Court because we could only be at the Stag¡¯s Court - Ianthe can only make me dream of places she has already been.


    She held a goblet of blood loosely in one hand. A stain darkened her lips.


    ¡°Where did you go, love?¡± Her voice echoed inside of my head, melodic as a songbird. ¡°Won¡¯t you tell me?¡±  Words don¡¯t always make sense in a dream. They can be hard to remember, especially my own. I don¡¯t know if I answered her.


    That¡¯s the part that¡¯s dangerous. This was the way she¡¯d managed to ferret out what few secrets I¡¯d had over the years. It was its own terror to think there was nothing about me she couldn¡¯t already know.


    ¡°I thought for a moment we might have had something real. Apparently, I¡¯d thought wrong¡­¡± I felt her hand graze my cheek - it should have been undead cold but this was a dream. Her hand was neither warm nor cold. It was only the memory of touch.


    Then, she dabbed her lips clean on my shirt collar. I was speaking again, though what I said came out garbled. She didn¡¯t want me to remember this part. It was one of the few tricks she could manage - minor memory manipulation.


    The minstrel in the corner had stumbled through a few wrong notes. It was enough to catch my ear. Part of me knew that he was sweating too hard. He wasn¡¯t really here. Not now. He was a memory of Ianthe¡¯s. Though I imagine she¡¯d chosen this one for a reason.


    ¡°Zephyr, my sweet. You¡¯re sounding pathetic. Stop. I can still forgive and forget. And all you¡¯ll have to do is come back to me. Come home. And when you do, come groveling on your hands and knees and I¡¯ll know just how much you mean it. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, there¡¯s a better way I might enjoy our musician.¡±


    I woke before I saw what happened to the minstrel, but what happened was never a secret. His presence at all was only a reminder of who she really was. A beautiful monster. I could be sure her next offer would not be quite so lenient. Return to the Stag¡¯s Court now and things might go back to how they were.


    At least for a while.


    How long a while might last was still highly precarious. I was aware of that, though some idiot part of my brain still lingered over the woman with her hair draped across my lap.


    It hadn¡¯t been real. That version of Ianthe that was sweet to me was hardly ever real to begin with. I knew that. It was manipulative. I told myself that. She was sweet at first. A long time ago, but she¡¯s long since dropped the act and now, she was mostly just terrifying. Of course she was, she was a vampire.


    I¡¯d been younger and stupider and full of myself when I first met her. Ianthe might have looked like she was twenty-two, but she¡¯d been twenty-two for over thirty years. Even if she¡¯d played the role of Lord Hart¡¯s doe-eyed ingenue, she was nothing of the sort. She had sharp teeth and a quick temper, and I¡¯d seen her sour on enough acquaintances over the years, it was only a matter of time before she soured on me too.


    Obviously, I couldn¡¯t go back. I had to hope I hadn¡¯t mentioned Mesym. There really wasn¡¯t any way of knowing. And even if I had told her I¡¯d escaped to Mesym, what was she going to do? Travel all the way here and drag me back? I doubted it.


    It took her three weeks to figure out I¡¯d left the Stag¡¯s Court. That was fairly quick for a vampire. Lord Hart had an especially loose perception of time. I don¡¯t even know if my father ever even was formerly named his advisor, only that he took over the role one day from his father, who took the job from his father. Lord Hart referred to them all by the same moniker Vitore, which was either the name of a long-dead ancestor or a title. No one remembered which.


    Ianthe was not her father though. Even if time moved a little funny at the Stag¡¯s Court, I knew her ignorance wouldn''t last forever. I still at least had a few secrets left. She probably didn¡¯t know I was at the Midnight Court. Wouldn¡¯t know I was a mage. And then there was the whole deal with Orendell. She would have acted a lot differently had she known about that.


    I tried to carry on with my day and put her out of my mind. She wasn¡¯t really here, even if I had seen her.


    I took a nap during the lunch hour on a bench in the courtyard where the sun shone on my face. Aisling said she didn¡¯t mind and when I woke, she was gone, but I found a sketch of my sleeping likeness pinned to my bag. On the back, in her looping hand was written: Grumpy even in sleep.


    I was groggy for combat lessons, though luckily, I could get away with doing less. I didn¡¯t need to waste my energy casting today. We¡¯d practiced our way through a few additional spells - conjured frost was on the list for next week and Blackclaw had the last few students who hadn¡¯t had the opportunity to duel go up against his teaching assistant. Allegra hadn¡¯t returned for this lesson, instead we got a new volunteer, Caelum Malgath, a scrawny upperclassman who might have only been as old as I was. He struck me immediately as bookish and awkward.


    ¡°Looks like some formidable competition,¡± I muttered to Aries. He was up last to duel after Noodle, now that he technically knew enough spells to give it a try. Aries laughed a little awkwardly, attempted to say something but got tongue tied and trailed off. It seemed that even my mild teasing might have actually hit way harder than I¡¯d meant it.


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    With all the remedial lessons, he was casting more accurately, but from what I could tell, he still just wasn¡¯t quite getting it. Blackclaw had decided he was ready though, so maybe he¡¯d gotten a little better?


    No. He really hadn¡¯t.


    In lieu of pestering me throughout class, Aries busied himself practicing the casting gestures under the desk. He was working on slow. He¡¯d managed to get his hands into the right positions - he clearly had studied the diagrams well. But the motions between the two positions - the essence of the gesture - was disjointed and clumsy.


    This was a practice duel that disallowed combat spells. Aries had wanted a learning experience, I could have held my tongue and watched it happen. The worst that could happen was that Aries would be hit by silence or slow, advantage would go to Caelum and Blackclaw would declare Caelum winner. End of story. This was how all of the duels after mine went. We weren¡¯t supposed to win.


    But as I watched him red-in-face, trying to make this spell work that just clearly wasn¡¯t going to. This was a duel that the rest of the class will have forgotten about by dinner. He was staring so intently at his hands he nearly went cross-eyed. And it was still wrong. Can¡¯t you feel it when a spell stops working?


    At the front of the room Blackclaw was trying to get Noodle ready to begin. ¡°Dueling is serious, even in practice, you really can¡¯t be wagging your tail.¡±


    I grabbed one of Aries¡¯s hands under the desk. He attempted to pull away, until I leaned closer to whisper, ¡°Just let me show you. Alright?¡±


    From the way we were sitting, I couldn¡¯t see his face, but stopped resisting. Instead he shuffled on the desk bench and leaned into me. It might have been a little awkward, but both his hands were in mine. I could at least see what he was doing.


    He was too warm already. Sweating palms. The heat of his shoulder against my chest. His thigh on the bench pressed against my own. His breath hitched, but before he could back out, I ducked my head to whisper, ¡°You were mostly there. I think you just got lost somewhere in the middle. It¡¯s a motion, not a pose.¡±


    It was easier to focus on just the casting. I walked him through the gesture three times over. Each time, I let him take more and more control of the movement. I could feel the start of the spell ¨C something like static, or potential. I think Aries could feel it too, because he suddenly pulled his hands away. He bumped against me awkwardly, trying to make space between us.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t want to cast just yet¡­¡± he said. ¡°Thanks though.¡±


    ¡°If I¡¯m going to duel you, I at least want a fair fight.¡±


    Aries laughed. ¡°That¡¯s your excuse for helping me?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not an excuse.¡± He was still the same brat that had destroyed Aisling¡¯s flower crown the other day, but that didn¡¯t mean I wanted to watch him flunk out, annoying as he was.


    He¡¯d at least stopped practicing his spellwork, just in time for us to see Noodle block a spell from Caelum. Duels when we were this green were usually over pretty quick. Noodle actually managed to get shot back at Caelum - be still? It was hard to tell. Noodle¡¯s casting was almost as bad as Aries¡¯s, though somehow the spell still worked.


    Caelum blocked it, of course, but quickly returned with another attack. Noodle leapt forward to avoid the blast, but then, didn¡¯t stop. Noodle was in motion. He lunged.


    Blackclaw shouted over the match. He froze Noodle in the hold spell before any of us could really tell what had happened.


    Caelum shrieked. ¡°He almost bit me!¡±


    Noodle was still in mid-air, jaw locked in place, still open. I didn¡¯t like the feeling of this spell just standing in place, Noodle¡¯s position had to be far worse. Though, looking at it, he probably could have gotten his teeth on Caelum¡¯s arm if Blackclaw had been a moment slower.


    Aries almost laughed. He clasped a hand to cover it, then coughed. I ducked my head and held my breath. It was the wrong time to laugh. Caelum was still near hysteric. ¡°I could have lost an arm!¡±


    Blackclaw was focused on Noodle, letting him drop from the hold spell. ¡°Mages do not use their teeth! Not in a duel, Noodle.¡± Noodle collapsed onto the hardwood floor. He rubbed his snout with his hands while Blackclaw went to go deal with Caelum.


    ¡°I¡¯d bite someone in a duel,¡± Aries muttered to me. ¡°If the opportunity presented itself.¡±


    I laughed - I thought he was kidding, but his brown eyes narrowed on me, fully serious.


    ¡°Mages die in duels. If I can¡¯t get a spell to work, I¡¯d do it,¡± he said.


    Even serious, it was still kind of funny. ¡°Yeah, I bet you would. Let¡¯s hope it doesn¡¯t come to that.¡±


    Aries grinned to himself and let the conversation die.


    Blackclaw and Caelum had disappeared out into the hall. He wasn¡¯t coming back to duel against Aries. That much was a given. He¡¯d have at least until next class to get the rest of his spells prepared. Noodle was already picking himself up. He might have been looking a little sorry but he perked up when he looked my way. He had to have heard Aries.


    But Aries had already moved on. He was looking at something spread on the desk. I didn¡¯t recognize it right away. Just the looping script, Grumpy even in sleep.


    Aisling¡¯s sketch.


    ¡°Shit. Wait. That¡¯s mine, Aries. I¡¯m way too tired for this right now.¡±


    Maybe it was a mistake to try to help him¡­ He dangled the page out in front of me.


    ¡°Your girlfriend kept you up?¡±


    I shuddered. In a flash, I was back at The Stag¡¯s Court with Ianthe again. I could almost hear her voice still ringing in my ear.


    Aries noticed none of this. He was still prodding at the sketch. ¡°She really took so much time to get the details right.¡±


    He means Aisling. That alone was enough to pull me back to the moment. ¡°She¡¯s not my girlfriend. She¡¯s my friend. And I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be sad to know that everything she¡¯s ever given me gets immediately destroyed by some ass in my combat lessons.¡±


    ¡°How many friends watch you sleep, dude?¡±


    I rolled my eyes. ¡°I took a nap in the courtyard. I really didn¡¯t sleep last night. So just give it.¡± I snatched it back, even if one corner of the page tore in his grip. I got most of it. The part that mattered.


    ¡°So why didn¡¯t you sleep?¡± he asked.


    ¡°You don¡¯t get to make assumptions and then get a real answer.¡± I folded the page and tucked it away between the pages of my textbook.


    ¡°Give me one anyway?¡± he asked. He shot me a way too cocky grin. I had to remember he was a prince in Fel. Stupid tricks like this probably worked.


    ¡°No.¡±

 The Sanctum

    FALL TERM - DAY 12


    It was the night of the new moon. With three moons above, I hadn¡¯t noticed when one had gone dark. Though to be fair, I probably could have. It was Luna, the largest of the three. And now this is a thing I know because apparently the Vodalysa coven meets every new moon and full moon of Luna¡¯s calendar. It turns out that ¡°coven¡± wasn¡¯t just some kind of honorary title, but a function of the Midnight Court. As you might have guessed, I almost missed the first meeting.


    It was a normal evening. I¡¯d spent a few hours after dinner alone in the library trying to get through some of the required reading for Divination. My head was still spinning from flipping between star charts and as it was I could hardly tell you the difference between a trine and a sextile. I¡¯d only dipped out for a moment to grab a coffee from the dining hall when I noticed the odd silence.


    The dining hall was a ghost town.


    Normally at this hour, I¡¯d expect a few mages still hanging around, chatting or reading. It was the only place at the Court I knew of that had a kitchen. Instead, there was only Blackclaw scrutinizing a heavily picked over tray of biscotti. We exchanged a strange look, but the gruff war veteran was hard to read on the best of days.


    I tried to remember then if I¡¯d seen anyone since leaving the library, only to realize I hadn¡¯t. Where was everyone?  I almost said something to Blackclaw but he¡¯d stuffed two biscotti into his mouth when I glanced over at him. It was awkward, so I got my coffee and decided I could figure it out on my own.


    I took a different route on my way back to the library, hoping that I¡¯d see someone I could ask about all of this. I didn¡¯t pass anyone in the halls. Whatever was going on, there was no one out. Though there was a light on in one open doorway.


    I poked my head in.


    My sigils class instructor, Professor Kelyn Marblebrook was at the desk, grading papers in the low light. She was a curvy half-elf woman with long silver hair she wore pulled up into a messy bun. Tonight, she wore red-framed glasses and a loose-knit sweater. A steaming mug of tea at her side was enough to conjure up quiet peace that I was very much then intruding on.


    ¡°Hey Professor Marblebrook.¡±


    She looked up. ¡°Oh, Zephyr! Come in. Didn¡¯t realize you¡¯d been waiting. And please, it¡¯s Kelyn. I was never one for formality. It gets too confusing with all the Marblebrook and Marblebrook. And besides, it suits Elandria better.¡± I¡¯d gotten so used to seeing Kelyn Marblebrook for sigils class, sometimes I forgot her wife was technically my coven leader, Mistress Elandria Marblebrook.


    ¡°Speaking of, I¡¯d bet she¡¯s looking for you about now¡­¡± Kelyn said.


    I picked up a throw blanket on one of the chairs across from her and set it aside to take a seat. ¡°Am I missing something?¡±


    Kelyn chuckled lightly. She cast something in a flurry. Her violet painted nails flashed in the low light. ¡°Elandriaaa! I¡¯ve got your guy here. Any chance you¡¯re missing one of your flock?¡±


    I¡¯d heard mages could cast quick messages like that across distances, but until now I had yet to see anyone do it. Was it really that simple? Kelyn cocked her head, ear raised to listen for something I couldn¡¯t hear. ¡°Yeah, yeah. I figured as much.¡±


    She turned back to me. ¡°Elandria will be over in a few. She¡¯s just a little behind schedule.¡±


    ¡°For what exactly?¡±


    Kelyn bopped her head, considering. ¡°I think she¡¯d say it¡¯s a surprise.¡± Though she was grinning in a way that made me think this was likely the kind of surprise that was more fun for her than it was for me.


    There was a moment of quiet and then Kelyn glanced back down at her desk and returned to her work. I fidgeted in my seat. I was still holding a cup of coffee from the dining hall and no longer knew what to do with it.


    ¡°You know, Elandria always kept photos of you from your mother. You were such a little thing. Hard to believe you¡¯re all grown up already.¡±


    I didn¡¯t really know what to say. My mother was the type to keep secrets. There wasn¡¯t a polite way to say I didn¡¯t know anything about her friendship with Elandria Marblebrook. But I also didn¡¯t know she¡¯d kept in touch with anyone from outside of Caburh.


    So, I sipped my coffee.


    Then, Marblebrook - Elandria Marblebrook - arrived. She was a tall woman in dark heeled boots. She had a stern expression, a sharp-edged jaw, and a long neat braid running down her back. She¡¯d been the one to meet me at the wharf the day I arrived in Mesym. Even then, I recognized her immediately. She had the same tight-lipped poise my mother had. This was exactly the kind of woman she would have trusted.


    And like my mother too, she was matter-of-fact. We¡¯d spent an afternoon when I first arrived together and not once did I get the impression that she was glad I was one of the new mages to join her coven. She wasn¡¯t bitter, only serious. Not that I¡¯d minded. I was still worn from the trip and more than a little wary of what I¡¯d just done. Leaving the Stag¡¯s Court. Leaving Ianthe.


    ¡°Oh, you didn¡¯t have to drag the rest of them, Elle!¡± Kelyn said. Just behind Marblebrook came Noodle, panting hard, and Aries just behind him. Aries was pale. A few strands of his blond hair looked wet where they clung against his forehead. ¡°That one¡¯s looking a little green.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only intradimensional travel, Kelyn. They¡¯ll be fine. They¡¯ll have to get used to it tonight anyway.¡±


    ¡°Make sure to give them plenty of water,¡± Kelyn called out just as Marblebrook set her hand on my shoulder and Kelyn¡¯s office fell away.


    I was ripped through a portal, like being disassembled and reassembled in a single instant. The feeling didn¡¯t hurt exactly, but it did make my insides go cold and quiver. We were no longer in Kelyn¡¯s cozy tower office, but instead a stone, windowless room lit by faint glowing sigils across the floor.


    The cup of coffee I¡¯d been holding, I was still somehow holding. A few drops had sloshed over the rim and onto my hand, but otherwise, it was relatively unphased. The same could not be said for Noodle and Aries. Aries slumped forward, crashing first into Noodle. Noodle yelped. ¡°No, no, no. You¡¯re too heavy, Aries!¡±


    I managed to help catch Aries before he completely took Noodle down. My coffee splashed on the stone floor.


    ¡°Another fainter,¡± Marblebrook muttered. She¡¯d managed to deftly step out of the way of all of this - even the spilled coffee. ¡°Help him up. It always hits worse when your body isn¡¯t used to magic. I¡¯ll get him some water. You¡¯ll get ten minutes to catch your breath and then we¡¯ll have to get started.¡±


    ¡°Start what exactly?¡± I asked. Aries was on the floor blinking up at me. His fall had brought me to my knees. Noodle was on the ground too, still breathing hard and prising tufts of his long gold hair out from under Aries. I can only imagine how the three of us looked to Marblebrook.


    ¡°Our coven meeting,¡± she said. ¡°And we¡¯re late.¡± She turned down a dark passage and out of sight. The sharp click of her boots on the stone floor was the only sign of where she¡¯d gone.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing you¡¯re tall. I could have hurt myself falling on your horns.¡± Aries wasn¡¯t fully with it, but at least he was talking. But then again, when wasn¡¯t he talking? It was a good sign. But also, he was woozy from magic, not blood loss. Plenty of people fainted at the Stag¡¯s Court, and even then, most still lived.


    ¡°You hurt yourself plenty falling on Noodle,¡± I said. My coffee mug was empty so I set it down on the floor and used both hands to heave him up. Aries was solid, and certainly heavier than he looked. My eyes adjusted to the low light enough to make out a tasseled ottoman, so I crashed him down there.


    I had a strange feeling that we were somewhere underground. Maybe under the Court. There were no windows and under all the incense, perhaps a hint of musk, or maybe standing water?


    ¡°Did she say I fainted because I¡¯m bad at magic?¡±


    ¡°She only said that your body¡¯s not used to it. She didn¡¯t say you were bad at magic.¡± Even if it was true. Marblebrook was specific with her words, but I wasn¡¯t sure what the difference was.


    Aries sighed and put his head in his hands. He rocked forward just enough that I worried he was about to collapse again.


    ¡°Hey, look me in the eye,¡± I said, lowering myself down to eye level. ¡°Just for a second.¡±


    His eyes shot up. They gleamed with the low light of the sigils on the floor. For a second, he looked incredibly vulnerable. But I couldn¡¯t focus on that right now. I followed his eyes. Tried to make sure he could hold his focus.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    He was watching me intently. ¡°Weren¡¯t you going say something?¡± His voice cracked. I noticed even as he tried to hide it with a cough.


    I blinked. I didn¡¯t know what he wanted me to say. ¡°Like what?¡±


    ¡°You asked me to look at you!¡±


    ¡°I was checking your eyes. You¡¯re going to be fine. I didn¡¯t think you hit your head on the way down, but better still to check.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± He looked down at his sweater. The cream cable knit pullover probably got more of my coffee than the floor had. But Aries didn¡¯t mention it.


    Marblebrook returned right about then with a silver goblet and passed it to me. I held it to Aries and watched him slowly sip. It was an overly ornate chalice that glowed violet in the dark purple light. Something told me that wherever we were, this wasn¡¯t some place mages regularly needed to go find a glass for water.


    ¡°So, now that you¡¯re all feeling better, let¡¯s get on with it. Welcome to the Sanctum.¡±


    Marblebrook went on, ¡°As Vodalysa mages, you¡¯ll be required to join us for every new moon and full moon in Luna¡¯s calendar at eight in the evening for a coven meeting. It should be easy enough to remember - all the covens do something. Luna has a particularly strong tie to magic and is good to work with in ritual casting. We¡¯ll probably wait until the next new moon though to try anything given the way tonight went.¡±


    ¡°Are we in a dungeon?¡± Noodle asked.


    Marblebrook snorted. ¡°Of course not! I mean, there¡¯s no door. No windows. All the stonework¡­ It¡¯s not a dungeon. You may come and go anytime you¡¯d like once you learn how. Which actually, is what we¡¯ll be working on tonight.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve noticed yet, but not every class has much in the way of spells. Your classes alone won¡¯t teach everything. This is where your coven matters most. Covens keep their own grimoires. Here, you¡¯ll have access to new spells and will have to come together to further your education. At some point, it¡¯ll be up to you to start crafting grimoires of your own, with the spells that have worked for you and spells collected both from here and from other mages you¡¯ve met and collaborated with. And maybe one day you¡¯ll want your grimoire donated back to the Midnight Court where it¡¯ll join the rest of the Vodalysa collection.¡±


    So, this was where we learned how to use magic. What was even the point of all the classes then? I wanted to ask, but a quiet voice in the back of my head reminded me that I chose these classes and most of them I kind of even liked. I won¡¯t be taking Divination next term, but the rest? There was plenty still I wanted to learn here.


    ¡°And you¡¯ll be learning your first Vodalysa spell tonight - it¡¯s called shadow step. It¡¯s the only way you can come and go from the Sanctum on your own. So you¡¯ll learn it tonight, practice it, and once you¡¯re able to do it on your own, you can move on to using our beginner¡¯s grimoire.¡±


    Marblebrook took a few minutes to explain exactly how the spell worked, assuring us all that it was much easier physically when you cast it yourself than it is when relying on another caster. She said too, it¡¯s much easier to cast it in the dark, hence the low lighting. The next time she cast it, I got a much better sense of what it was. I watched the darkest shadows of the room lengthen and wrap themselves around her until she vanished and reappeared on the other side of the room.


    ¡°You have to learn to lean into the shadows. Let them take you to where you want to go. Don¡¯t resist,¡± Marblebrook said. She slowly walked us through the casting gestures a few times over.


    I mimed her movements to the best of my abilities until suddenly I felt the dark of the room slip over me and block out my vision.


    ¡°That was it, Zephyr,¡± she said. ¡°Next time, focus on where you want to go.¡±


    It took more than a few attempts to even get that far again. Noodle, too, was showing some progress. Aries, to no one¡¯s surprise, was mostly just going through the motions. This time, I didn¡¯t blame him. The first time I was able to shadow step across the room, I felt my stomach lurch and choked back a mouthful of bile.


    Noodle wasn¡¯t feeling great either - he¡¯d taken up Aries¡¯s water goblet, lapping up what little was left, and leaving a line of drool down one of its sides.


    At some point, Marblebrook crossed the room and set a hand on Aries¡¯s shoulder. ¡°There¡¯s no need to force yourself to get it tonight. It¡¯s why you¡¯re a part of a coven. You¡¯ll have each other to lean on. If you still haven¡¯t gotten it by the full moon, ask someone to bring you along. There¡¯s more to being a mage than just casting spells.¡±


    I know Marblebrook had meant for that to be reassuring, but when Aries glanced over at me, I felt only a hard pang of something like pity. He forced a smile.


    When we followed Marblebrook through the winding chamber of the Sanctum, he muttered, ¡°You might be waiting awhile for that duel, Zeph.¡±


    ¡°If the alternative is you biting me the minute your spell fails, then yeah, I¡¯ll wait,¡± I said, thinking a joke might lighten the mood. But it didn¡¯t.


    We were meeting the rest of the coven ¨C or rather, they were meeting us. Marblebrook explained it as we walked through dark passageways. ¡°One of our favorite Court traditions is a ball held at the end of term - the Masquerade. You¡¯ll have a mask made for it. You¡¯ll wear it the first time the night of the ball, and then for every coven meeting that follows after. With time, you¡¯ll know each other even if disguised. Until then, they¡¯ll be getting to know you without a mask.¡±


    The dark halls opened up into a well-lit space with high ceilings. Three hearths with soft green flames burned at three corners of the room. The walls were lined with bookshelves. The ceiling instead of stone, was ornately decorated with painted glass, not open to sky - it couldn¡¯t have been given the hour, but backlit, by some unseen lightsource. Low-backed violet couches and plush purple ottomans filled the rest of the space.


    The rest of the coven was waiting. It was a smaller group than I¡¯d expected. Maybe only two dozen mages? Even still, there were whispers.


    ¡°Are there really only three this year?¡±


    ¡°There were nine last year. You can¡¯t expect to always have a class that size¡­¡±


    And then, their masks - each distinct and ornate. There wasn¡¯t any kind of distinguishable theme or link between the masks, only that they seemed to be made by the same deft artisan. There was a hare with long leather ears, an autumnal leaf, a black swan with a long pointed beak, a swirling nebula with metallic bursts of starlight at her temples. When Marblebrook joined them, she slipped on her own mask - a coiled red serpent wound across the upper half of her face. And then, the meeting began.


    There is nothing I can say of the meeting or our rituals. Only that Noodle, Aries, and I are still too new to magic to really do anything meaningful. It¡¯s clear enough that we¡¯ll be expected to watch more than participate for most of this term, and likely next as well.


    The meeting concluded with Marblebrook sending a few upperclassmen to help the three of us shadow step back to our dormitories for the night. It was late, and I was thoroughly exhausted from the exertion of trying to learn shadow step, but I held off on leaving the Sanctum just yet.


    I knew it was late, but I was sure that come morning, I¡¯d overthink it and never ask. ¡°Marblebrook, do you have a moment? There was something about Orendell -¡±


    Marblebrook hushed me. ¡°There are some things best kept between you and me. We can discuss this in private.¡±


    There was no warning this time either. Marblebrook took my wrist and the room went dark.


    I know I yelped because she laughed. My coven leader was laughing at me. But suddenly we were in a cluttered office, definitely above ground, standing just before a wide picture window looking out over the sea.


    ¡°I know it¡¯s terrible at first. But I do mean it when I say you¡¯ll adjust. The rest of the coven doesn¡¯t feel it. You just need to get your sea legs. Or shadow legs, if you will.¡± It wasn¡¯t an apology, but Marblebrook also didn¡¯t seem to be the type to offer one without cause.


    ¡°Is that what Aries needs?¡± I asked.


    Marblebrook sighed. ¡°Him more than most. Kelyn¡¯s going to be pissed when she hears he fainted. She always thinks I¡¯m too hard on students. But that¡¯s not why you¡¯re here. You wanted to talk about Orendell.¡±


    I did. And I didn¡¯t. It was going to sound ridiculous. ¡°I still don¡¯t remember it all exactly. Making the deal. What I agreed to.¡±


    ¡°I hear that¡¯s normal. Just know that whatever it was, at some point you agreed to it. Whoever you were at the time of the deal thought it was worth taking.¡±


    ¡°Should that be reassuring?¡±


    Marblebrook raised an eyebrow. ¡°In your case, probably not. What¡¯s he done now?¡±


    ¡°Can he make me misremember things? Change my memory? That kind of thing?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound like the kind of thing Orendell would do. What happened?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to sound ridiculous, but I studied the wrong lesson for Blackclaw¡¯s class. I was certain it was correct. I spent days trying to teach myself conjured frost only to learn we¡¯re still weeks away from learning any attack spells.¡±


    Marblebrook paused. It was late, and I was tired. I¡¯d been expecting her to wave me off. Agree that I was worried over nothing, but no. Instead, she said, ¡°Orendell¡¯s impatient. I don¡¯t know how exactly he would have done that, but I can believe it. Can he speak to you?¡±


    I shook my head. If he had a voice I don¡¯t remember ever hearing it. ¡°He¡¯s not unintelligent, but he¡¯s a lot more wolf than person.¡±


    ¡°He started out as a mage, so that¡¯s not surprising. It was a curse that made him the first werewolf. If you talk to him, he¡¯ll understand, if he¡¯s listening. He¡¯s a deity, he might not be.¡±


    I shut my eyes and saw the snickering canine face glaring back at me. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s him, but I can see a wolf in my mind. He¡¯s there more often than he¡¯s not.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not Orendell, Zephyr,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re one of his chosen. He¡¯s had many. A thing like him doesn¡¯t focus so closely on the day to day of a person like you. It might sound callous, but it¡¯s the truth.¡±


    I wanted to believe her. We were still standing in the dark of her office, in front of the window, high enough above the ocean that there were no waves, only a flat dark expanse under the light of the two remaining moons.


    ¡°My best guess - if you think Orendell¡¯s behind it, assume he is. The wolf you¡¯re seeing wouldn¡¯t be him, but I wouldn¡¯t put it past him if your deal came with a few clauses. Keep an eye on those. Orendell isn¡¯t exactly known for his kindness.¡±


    There was more I wanted to ask. More we could have discussed. But it was already late. We were both tired. It was hard to spell out what I really wanted to know. It came down to this ¨C I already had Ianthe¡¯s dreamwalking to contend with, would Orendell be another monster in my head? It was a stupid question.


    But I had my answer.


    He already was.

 Picnic

    FALL TERM - DAY 16


    I¡¯m not entirely sure what is considered important enough to record here. In the week since the coven meeting on the new moon, I got the hang of shadow step. Using it more than twice in a single day might still make me queasy, but Marblebrook was right. I¡¯m adjusting. I read six chapters of a textbook called Paper Magic: The Basics of Ink-Drawn Sigils and forty pages of The Soul of Steel: The Unabridged History of Keikurian Blacksmithing. I¡¯ve yet to even touch the book I need to finish for Divination next week, but none of this feels particularly important. And there¡¯s one thing I just need to vent about - Aries has been crashing my lunches in the courtyard with Aisling.


    The first time it happened ¡ª a few days ago ¡ªI can believe it was unplanned.


    Aisling had been going on and on about how we should make this a proper picnic while the weather was still good for it. She brought a quilt to set out in the shade of a magnolia tree. I told her not to expect this to be a regular thing, but I¡¯d gone into town that morning to the market and picked up a baguette, a few wedges of cheese, and three different types of jam.


    ¡°Did you know they keep dogs here? There¡¯s a kennel. It¡¯s like a whole doggy prison under the Court.¡± Aisling was going to talk and I was going to sit there with my Divination book and not read a word of it and that was exactly how I¡¯d wanted the day to go.


    Aisling went on, ¡°I know the dogs go out during the day and run through the woods to scare off pixies who wander too close to the campus, but then they get locked up - every night. Can you imagine? I was talking to the groundskeeper, Brian, who was actually kind of cute in a way-¡±


    ¡°And he¡¯s probably twice your age,¡± I muttered.


    ¡°Not the point!¡± Aisling¡¯s eyes flared bright green, before quickly fading back to hazel. ¡°But Brian¡¯s the one that has the keys to the kennels. So I was thinking-¡±


    There was a yelp from the otherside of the courtyard - high, strained, and distinctly canine. My mind was more on the hounds than anything else, so I hadn¡¯t expected it when Aries and Noodle came racing around the fountain.


    Noodle jumped up on the fountain lip and started to cast. A flash erupted from his fingertips, hitting Aries in the back. Aries shrieked as it hit and writhed until Noodle withdrew. Aries rolled on the pavement, his screams fading quickly to laughter.


    I suddenly didn¡¯t want to explain to Aisling that those two idiots were in my coven. But there was no avoiding it. Noodle jumped off the fountain, nudged Aries, who was still on the ground, with his foot.


    Aries lurched up, hands prepared for casting, but then his eyes locked onto mine.


    ¡°Zeph?¡±


    I closed my Divination book and set it aside on the picnic blanket.


    ¡°Hey, Zeph!¡± Aries scrambled up. There was no pretending I hadn¡¯t just watched him get electrocuted by Noodle. It had been hard to miss. ¡°You¡¯ve got to see this. Noodle and I learned a new spell. And it works.¡±


    ¡°All spells work, Aries,¡± I muttered.


    ¡°Ugh, you know what I mean. Zeph! I can cast it. Like every single time!¡± He waved through the gesture again and before I could even think to block, I felt the shock zap through my shoulder. My whole body tensed and jolted through the pain.


    But then, it was gone just as quickly. There wasn¡¯t even a mark on my shirtsleeve where Aries had hit me.


    ¡°Cool, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t. But Aisling threw her head back and laughed as I rubbed at the spot Aries¡¯s spell had hit. It still stung a little, but certainly wasn¡¯t as bad as I¡¯d expected.


    ¡°What do you want me to say, Aries?¡± I asked.


    Aries was breathing hard from all his casting, but was doing his best to keep from looking too winded. His cheeks were red - one might have scraped from where he¡¯d collapsed a few minutes ago but his eyes were bright and eager. ¡°How about ¡®Let¡¯s duel already.¡¯ Come on, Zeph!¡±


    ¡°Maybe after you apologize for attacking me in the middle of my picnic.¡±


    Aisling took that particular moment to reach forward and grabbed an unopened jar of blackberry jam, digging in with a spoon. ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t even want a picnic, Zeph.¡±


    ¡°Not you too with the nickname¡­¡± I groaned.


    Aries looked to Aisling then as though for the first time. Maybe he hadn¡¯t actually noticed her at all until then. ¡°Oh, right. Sorry. Didn¡¯t mean to interrupt your um¡­ date or whatever.¡±


    Aisling took another spoonful of jam and stuck it into her mouth. ¡°It¡¯s a picnic, not a date. We¡¯re having lunch. Don¡¯t make it weird.¡±


    At that point, Noodle sidled up behind Aries with his head cocked. He looked between me and Aries and Aisling, but only briefly before staring directly at our lunch spread.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to invite your friends to join?¡± Aisling asked.


    There wasn¡¯t a way to say they weren¡¯t my friends, but just the question was enough for Noodle to plop down and tear off a corner of my baguette.


    ¡°I love a picnic,¡± Noodle mumbled.


    Aries was a little more uneasy. He still hovered at the edge of the picnic blanket looking as though he couldn¡¯t decide whether to stand or sit.


    Aisling filled the silence. ¡°So I was saying, Brian is actually kind of cute.¡±


    ¡°The groundskeeper?¡±


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°The dog prison guard,¡± she said.


    ¡°He works at the kennel,¡± I clarified as Noodle¡¯s ears perked up. ¡°And you only like him because he spends time with dogs.¡±


    ¡°Is he the one with the salt-and-pepper hair? A little scruffy?¡± Aries asked with sudden interest. He hovered a little closer to the picnic blanket and slowly eased into the corner between me and Noodle.  ¡°He¡¯s a little older, sure. But I kinda see it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t encourage her,¡± I chided, before catching him. ¡°Wait, are you into guys?¡±


    ¡±That¡¯s an understatement,¡± Noodle said. ¡°Aries never shuts up about all the guys he thinks are hot.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Aries shoved Noodle, knocking him on his side and narrowly avoiding a plate of sliced summer sausage. I was caught on that a little more than I should have been - Aries likes guys. There was nothing wrong with that. I like guys. And girls. But I also spent my life in a vampire court where that wasn¡¯t especially uncommon. Vampires celebrated bisexuality more than most - bisexuality, polygamy, really any kind of relationship that flouted the sanctimonious monogamous coupling werewolves championed. With that said, I¡¯d never been far enough south to see any of the werewolf strongholds. I can admit my assumption that they¡¯d be homophobic came more from a gut feeling than any real facts. But, as Aries was wrestling Noodle, it wasn¡¯t really a good moment to ask Aries about any of that.


    I turned to Aisling- she¡¯d been thinking about Brian, the groundskeeper, so I switched gears, ¡°For all you know, he could be married with kids.¡±


    Aisling ignored me in favor of turning to Aries. ¡°So who do you have your eye on then?¡±


    That got Aries to lift his head. Noodle barked out a laugh, still sprawled where he¡¯d fallen on his side.


    Aries hesitated a moment too long to play off the question casually. It also didn¡¯t help that he was turning a little pink again and this time it obviously wasn¡¯t from casting. When he did finally speak up, after swatting at Noodle again, he said, ¡°Would you stop? It¡¯s not like it¡¯s that big a deal or anything. I don¡¯t think he likes me all that much.¡±


    Real surprise there¡­ ¡°You could try being, I don¡¯t know¡­ nice? That might help,¡± I suggested. Though even that might be a far cry from helpful at this point.


    Aries shut his eyes, teeth gritted. Noodle heaved himself up and went in for more cheese and said, ¡°Yeah, what a thought! He might not like it that you hit people.¡±


    ¡°Or maybe he¡¯s into it,¡± Aisling suggested. ¡°You¡¯re not going to know though unless you ask.¡±


    And with that comment, I decided it was high time to talk about quite literally anything else. I brought up the Sanctum, how it was kind of a relief that there were grimoires with spells we could learn somewhere on campus. I hadn¡¯t actually gone back since the new moon, but now that I had shadow step a bit more under control, I was planning to go for a few hours this coming weekend.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the only way to learn spells though,¡± Noodle said. ¡°Like we learned fulgare-¡° Noodle didn¡¯t pass up the opportunity to cast the annoying zapping spell, taking aim not at any person in particular but up into the air above the picnic spread. ¡°Just watching one of the upperclassmen doing it. Or a few doing it. Kind of a lot. It¡¯s not that hard though.¡±


    ¡°Well, Noodle learned it just by watching¡­ But he still taught me and I¡¯ve been able to do it too.¡± Ha! That made a lot more sense. Aries could hardly learn by watching Blackclaw mime the same spell a dozen times. I don¡¯t even want to know how long it took Noodle to help him get it down.


    ¡°We¡¯re also encouraged to try to learn by talking with others outside of our coven,¡± Aisling said. She clearly must have gotten the same speech from her own coven leader. ¡°So, you¡¯re here. You¡¯re at my picnic. Are you going to teach me or not?¡±


    Aries rubbed the back of his head. It was probably not the moment for it, but Noodle was helping himself to another piece of the baguette with cheese.


    ¡°You heard her,¡± I said. ¡°Noodle? Show her how you cast it.¡±


    ¡°We just learned it,¡± Aries groaned.


    ¡°And you said it yourself, you can cast it every time. You crashed our picnic. Consider it the price of admission.¡±


    Noodle cast it first again. I attempted to mime his movements, but his hands were really more paws, so Aries¡¯s gestures were a lot more helpful. The gesture was relatively simple, nearly as quick as shield, and not significantly more complicated. It was easy to see why they¡¯d picked it up so quickly. Aisling got it first, quickly zapping me in the process.  She¡¯d hit me in the back of the neck so that I felt every hair stand on end.


    I was about to get her back, already casting it, when suddenly, Aries reached out and grabbed my hands. ¡°Wait! You can¡¯t learn this just yet. You won¡¯t duel against me if you do.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a little late, for that Aries.¡± I could feel the magic of the spell at the ready in my fingertips but his hands only tightened around mine. I could feel myself losing my control on the spell. Trying to push him off me, he pulled me forward.


    I crashed into him and felt the shockwave of the spell burn through us both.


    It felt a little worse this time than when Aries had cast it at me previously. I tried to breathe through the pain as Aries yelped, stuck beneath me. I felt us roll on the grass just off the picnic blanket. I felt his elbows, his knees. The pain was inescapable.


    And then it was over. As quickly as it had come, it was gone. I caught myself breathing hard, head pressed to Aries¡¯s chest. His heart beat rabbit-quick. There was a small cut on his chin that could have been from one of my horns or maybe one of the metal buttons on my vest. It was impossible to know. His eyes were on me, wide and panicked. He was back to being that same vulnerable boy who asked me if he was bad at magic.


    I didn¡¯t want that for him, especially as I was growing aware of just how much of his body I could currently feel under my own.


    So, I did the only thing I could think to do¨C  I slowly raised myself up from his chest, caught my breath as best I could, and said, ¡°It¡¯ll be at least another week or two before I¡¯m ready to go through that again. We can duel after, alright?¡±


    Aries didn¡¯t move from the ground right away. I don¡¯t know if he was aware of just how closely Aisling and Noodle were still watching us, but they were, as were several others around the courtyard. Unable to just leave him there, I extended a hand to him to pull him to his feet. The cut on his chin had started to drip.


    It didn¡¯t seem like he was really thinking about the duel at all when he muttered, ¡°Yeah, alright. ¡®Til then.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t thinking then, but I reached out and touched his jaw. I drew his gaze back squarely on me. His breath hitched. I swiped the blood on his chin away with my hand. The cut was superficial, but was going to be a mess.


    ¡°You¡¯re bleeding, Aries,¡± Noodle pointed out the obvious.


    Aries looked at my hand. Touched his chin. ¡°Shit.¡± He backed away. Noodle rose quickly and stepped in to help.


    ¡°Thanks for the picnic,¡± I heard Noodle say.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got to clean this up,¡± Aries hissed. He pressed a hand against the cut, but it was still oozing. Aries rushed off with Noodle in tow, leaving Aisling and I behind, alone again. I knew well enough I¡¯d see them the next morning in combat lessons, or likely enough, in passing in the Vodalysa dormitories. There was really no escape for me, but Aisling didn¡¯t see it that way.


    ¡°I like your friends, Zeph. They¡¯re kind of weird.¡±


    I had a spot of Aries¡¯s blood still on my hand. Thoughtlessly, I raised my hand to my mouth and licked it clean.


    I hadn¡¯t even realized what I¡¯d done until Aisling¡¯s stare flicked from hazel eyes to vampire red. ¡°Come to think of it, you¡¯re really no better.¡±


    I really didn¡¯t have anything to say about that. I was at a loss for words too when Aisling invited Aries and Noodle to lunch every day that followed.

 The Stag and the Wolf

    FALL TERM - DAY 20


    Marblebrook had warned me that the deal I¡¯d struck with Orendell likely came with a few clauses. I can do magic, yes. That was a given. But, today I felt his influence crop up again. The wolf in my mind¡¯s eye is always there, and today he showed his face.


    Marblebrook said the wolf isn¡¯t Orendell. I believe her for two reasons. First, because she¡¯s seen how deals with deities like him tend to go, despite how rare they are. And second, because she said the wolf wasn¡¯t Orendell, and now I know with absolute certainty that he is not.


    It had happened a few months ago- the Night of the Crimson Haze. It¡¯s something to do with the three moons during the summer solstice¨C the sky turns red and the deities of the broken pantheons are able to cross into this realm for a few short hours. Or at least that was the version of it I grew up with. It was the kind of thing that only ever happened every half-century or so. Rare enough to be storied, but frequent enough most vampires had lived through a few of them already.


    That night, the Stag¡¯s Court was aflutter. Lord Hart had donned a new crown of interlocking antlers adorned with gold leaf for the occasion. Ianthe wore a new circlet with blood red garnet stones.


    It was the Crimson Ball - vampires were always throwing balls. Most of them had names, stupid, forgettable names, but this one I remember. It was held in honor of Orzoq - the first vampire. In my mind, Orzoq was more a myth than a real historical figure, but I suppose the same could have been said of Orendell, and he¡¯s already proved that¡¯s very much not the case. The story I knew went something like this:


    Orzoq was an elven king, known first for his beauty, and second for his magic. He, like so many heroes of stories like these, was born with magic, and its gifts came naturally to him. With his magic, his subjects never wanted for anything. His people were wealthy, well-fed, and generally happy.


    Until one day, Orzoq looked into the mirror and noticed the first signs of age taking hold of his features. He tried to return his youth with magic, but it failed. As he continued to try, the more he noticed the start of wrinkles. Then, the first strands of gray gleaming through his silken locks.


    He didn¡¯t know then what we know now - that magic has a cost. And for him, it was his youth. (A quick aside - all the stories say that magic has a cost. I¡¯ve always assumed it was true. Different things for different people but now that I¡¯m at the Midnight Court, training to be a mage, is it true? If it is, no one¡¯s mentioned it. What does magic cost a mage? But anyway, back to the story¡­)


    The more magic Orzoq cast the quicker he aged. He needed his magic for his kingdom, to keep it as it was, perfect. But day after day, the price was wearing on him. Orzoq was vain - we all have our character flaws, and this was his. He didn¡¯t want to grow old. He couldn¡¯t give up his magic either, so something needed to change.


    One day, while trying to find an answer, Orzoq went out with his hunting party. Amidst the hunt, he locked eyes with a great stag. His bow string had snapped earlier in the day, so he was without his weapon. He gestured to his men, but they didn¡¯t see it. But Orzoq refused to let it get away. So, he used a spell to slay the beast. As its blood spilled, Orzoq felt for the first time no more years were taken from him. His sacrifice had been taken from the stag instead.


    So, he made the stag the sign of his kingdom, in honor of its sacrifice, but the sacrifices did not stop there. Orzoq was a vain king. He found many ways to use blood for magic until eventually it made him something no longer mortal.


    You can imagine why Lord Hart loved this story, as magicless as he was. It wasn¡¯t something he ever would have said, but it wasn¡¯t a secret the old buffoon was waiting for Orzoq to emerge from the Crimson Haze one day and offer him the ability to do magic of his own. With that said, deities didn¡¯t just give away magic. I imagine some probably don¡¯t even have magic to give, but in stories like these, deals are struck and the thing everyone always wants is the ability to use magic. And in any event, that happens to be what happened to me. I might be a living clich¨¦, but well, it¡¯s my life.


    But I hadn¡¯t been expecting Orendell.


    So, the Crimson Ball - Ianthe dressed all in red. I wore white coattails and a cravat with a ruby pin. There was dancing because there was always dancing.


    It was a good night because Ianthe asked me to dance with her while it was still early. I preferred not getting blood on my white jacket whenever possible. Bleaching it was a pain. And after a few turns around the dancefloor, inevitably some victim would catch her eye and I could count on having some time to myself for the night. This was what happened. I don¡¯t even remember who she disappeared with. The faces really all blur together.


    I was mostly just glad it was the shortest night of the year. The first red light of dawn seeped up over the horizon the earliest it ever would. Lord Hart, feeling sentimental, had grabbed Ianthe and the two of them swayed strangely in the middle of the floor. She had dried blood around one corner of her mouth. Her dress was the same deep maroon that it was hard to distinguish spilt blood from the swirling damask print.


    Lord Hart was still swaying, holding Ianthe¡¯s head to his shoulder when he announced to his guests that there would be a surprise. Generally speaking, surprises at The Stag¡¯s Court were not good surprises. Lord Hart¡¯s strange mood didn¡¯t exactly set me at ease either. My ears weren¡¯t the only ones that perked up.


    He waved the arm that wasn¡¯t keeping Ianthe trapped to his side and in was brought a large red stag. The beast bucked its head, nearly goring an attendant with wide arching antlers. Admittedly, I don¡¯t have much of a reference when it comes to deer - I¡¯m a courtier, not a hunter, but this deer looked strong. Its antlers alone were larger than any I¡¯d seen displayed around the Stag¡¯s Court - and there were many. I couldn¡¯t imagine where Lord Hart had gotten the thing and where he¡¯d kept it.


    The other half of the surprise was a nervous-looking priestess brought in to summon Orzoq. She was sweating enough to make her ceremonial makeup drip and stain her face. Had I known what I was in for, I might have paid closer attention to what was happening, what she¡¯d done. But at that moment, at the ball, I¡¯d already written her off as one of the visitors of The Stag¡¯s Court who wouldn¡¯t survive the night. She didn¡¯t.


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    Neither did the stag.


    But from the minute Lord Hart had had the stag paraded into the ballroom, that was already a forgone conclusion. I looked on as its throat was slit and could only think, better him than me.


    The summoning failed, all of us looking on had expected it would. Orzoq had always only been a story, a myth. It wouldn¡¯t matter how much blood was offered up in his name. He wasn¡¯t coming.


    It was an especially short night, and one where I¡¯d gone home alone. I still wonder if any of this would have happened had I decided to stay a little longer, if I¡¯d found someone to leave with. In the end, it¡¯s a useless hypothetical. I returned to my flat, threw off my coat and slacks - still blessedly clean - and threw myself down on the couch where I¡¯d ended up falling asleep.


    It¡¯s this next part I don¡¯t trust -


    Something prodded my shoulder, like a heavy limb, blunt, wet, and cold.


    I opened my eyes to a creature hovering too close to my face. It snorted. Its large nostrils hovered just above my head.


    I scrambled back on the couch. Had it been an animal, it would have been startled by my movement, but it stood stone-still, large black eyes following me in the dark.


    It was the stag. It stretched its neck and knocked its antler against the crystals on the overhead chandelier. I didn¡¯t doubt it was the same deer, its fur was matted black where the priestess had slashed.


    The stag¡¯s mouth twisted in a way its bones shouldn¡¯t have allowed. Its teeth turned jagged and its dark eyes pitched forward on me. Whatever it was, it was most definitely no longer a deer. It was something evil. Unnatural.


    ¡°Are you Orzoq?¡± I asked. There was a quiver in my voice. If I could hear it, so could he. I had to steady myself. I was trying to steady my breath. I couldn¡¯t let myself look afraid, even if I was sitting on a couch in my underwear in front of a god.


    The creature laughed - or at least, I think it was a laugh. It was a particularly nonhuman sound. No, he was not Orzoq. As if to shed any confusion of that, the deer thing reared up onto its hind legs and contorted. Bones snapped, hide tore. Its features reshuffled beneath the deer fur becoming something distinctly not-deer.


    It had been so jarring to watch that it took me several minutes to figure out exactly what I was seeing. Part of me had mentally braced for the thing to attack. I didn¡¯t flinch - it wasn¡¯t because I wasn¡¯t afraid. I was terrified. But when it raised its great head again, its face in the red dawn light was now that of a wolf¡¯s. A wolf with antlers - those had remained. To call it a wolf even might still be a stretch. Its teeth were jagged, broken bone shards. Its eyes wet and black.  Its fur was patchy, clumped.  There were still places where it looked like deer hide. Other places where the fur had worn away completely, showing bone. I knew then, this could be no living creature. Not even the undead of Caburh could do a thing like that.


    I¡¯d been afraid to look at it head on. I didn¡¯t flinch or scream or anything else that would betray my true feelings but this. The wolf saw it anyway. He came closer to the couch, crowding in around me. I had the briefest thought, if this is how I die, so be it. Better this than by Ianthe''s hand.


    The creature¡¯s eyes found mine. His fur gently brushed against my face.


    In a flash, I saw my own face through the eyes of the stag, just before the priestess cut its throat. I saw myself around the ballroom in a dozen quick flashes. He showed me how he¡¯d followed me home.


    I was there with the wolf creature, in my flat, for what felt like a long time, locked in a wordless conversation. I don¡¯t remember all of it. I can¡¯t. It¡¯s like how Ianthe twists my memories, but worse - like they aren¡¯t there at all.


    I¡¯d only just come around to the thought that maybe this thing didn¡¯t want to kill me when the wolf lurched forward and caught my arm in its jaw. I know I screamed, or at least, I tried to. My mouth was open, but no sound would come.


    The pain of it seared. The cracked bone teeth bit deeper. Blood rushed up.


    I saw red.


    And then I startled awake.


    It was a dream but not a dream. Not a dream, because the spot on my bicep where the wolf had bit me was still burning. I saw the wolf again every time I shut my eyes. It was not here, but had never left.


    I assumed I¡¯d meet the wolf in my dreams again, but no. It was during the Crimson Haze and never again.


    The mark still burned into the next day. I wrapped it in bandages and made excuses to avoid Ianthe until I could talk to the one person I trusted enough to show this to openly, my mother Petra. I told her about the dream, the stag-wolf-creature, and showed her the mark it¡¯d left. She listened stone-faced and serious. I wasn¡¯t the type to make up stories.


    She told me first, ¡°Tell Ianthe you have the flu. She can¡¯t see this.¡±


    ¡°Do you know what it is?¡±


    If she recognized the mark, her eyes gave nothing away. ¡°I will know,¡± she said instead.


    Within days, she had a name. ¡°Orendell.¡±


    I¡¯d never heard of him.


    ¡°He¡¯s Orzoq¡¯s brother,¡± my mother explained. ¡°Though, gods are only brothers the way vampires are brothers. They¡¯re not. But they¡¯re linked anyway. Orzoq and Orendell are bitter rivals. In legend, Orzoq was the first vampire, sharing his blood with a trusted few. And Orendell, the first werewolf, turning men into beasts indiscriminately with each full moon. This happened because of that priestess. She probably knew her trip to summon Orzoq was a one-way ticket and decided to try to take as many vampires out on her way. Though Orendell didn¡¯t do that. He stuck around and struck a deal with you.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t agree to anything,¡± I said. ¡°He couldn¡¯t even speak. How would I have agreed?¡±


    My mother only shook her head. ¡°Elandria said you wouldn¡¯t remember it at first. That mark on your arm is his seal. The sign of your contract. The memories will come back with time.¡±


    She sighed.


    It was only then that it hit me that this was actually something very bad. Lord Hart had tried to summon Orzoq and got Orzoq¡¯s nemesis Orendell instead. He¡¯d killed the priestess already, but against all odds, I still went out of my way to make a deal with Orendell. I didn¡¯t like my chances.


    No one could know about this.


    And no one would. My mother decided it was time for me to disappear. She had already contacted someone who could arrange my passage out of Caburh. She¡¯s said that Elandria knows about this kind of thing. I would be safe there. It was another few days before I learned it meant going away to a school for mages.


    It wasn¡¯t until I was already gone that I realized the full extent of what disappearing had meant. It meant not going home. It meant losing contact with my family and everyone I¡¯d known. But also, leaving Ianthe.


    From that point on, I was a dead man walking.

 Dueling Revisited

    FALL TERM - DAY 20 (Continued)


    But anyway, today wasn¡¯t about Orendell. It was about the deal I¡¯d struck with him. I didn¡¯t remember anything new exactly. That blank gap in my memory was no clearer, but I learned something. I learned that the wolf that came with my contract with Orendell has a mind of its own.


    I¡¯ve been attending the Midnight Court for nearly a month now. I¡¯d spent so much of this past weekend hunched over the single copy of the Vodalysa beginner¡¯s grimoire that I could feel it in my spine. I¡¯d practiced one spell for so many hours straight I still had a cramp in my hand. At least, I knew that it worked. I nearly lost a finger casting it, barely avoiding its invisible blade.


    There were only a handful of combat spells in the beginner¡¯s grimoire, but I didn¡¯t really see the use of learning anything else. Sure invisibility could have its uses - I¡¯d get to it eventually, but for now, there wasn¡¯t anything that could offer up a sense of security quite as well as a spell that was designed to hurt.


    Ianthe had visited twice more since the first dreamwalking incident. In both times since, she was weak, a figment in the back of my mind. She didn¡¯t stay long, but I knew well enough what she was doing. She wanted to keep me on edge, nervous. If I was nervous, I¡¯d make mistakes.  She¡¯d be counting on that.


    For now though, I had to assume she didn¡¯t know I was in Mesym, or that I was at the Midnight Court, or about the deal with Orendell. My mother would have come up with a cover story for all of that, though what excuse she¡¯d gone with I still didn¡¯t know.


    For today though, I was keeping up with Blackclaw¡¯s combat lessons. I wouldn¡¯t say I was the best mage in the class but I was far from the worst - that title still went to Aries.


    We were back to dueling practice. ¡°Today will be about setting expectations,¡± Blackclaw announced. ¡°Before I have you duel against each other, I need to get a better sense of your ability levels, how much prior education you¡¯ve come into this class with, and an idea of how much progress we can hope for in the coming weeks.


    ¡°Though it¡¯s unlikely any of you are secretly master spellcasters, as an added precaution, you¡¯ll be dueling against me directly instead of one of my advanced class volunteers. So, I encourage you to show me what you¡¯ve got. Don¡¯t hold back. We have a first aid supply fully stocked just in case.¡±


    I was mostly just relieved not to be going first this time. One of the elves volunteered instead.


    ¡°So¡­ I didn¡¯t see you in the courtyard much this weekend,¡± Aries said. ¡°And that girl, your friend -¡±


    ¡°Her name is Aisling. You know that,¡± I said.


    Aries huffed. ¡°Right. Umm, Aisling. She said she didn¡¯t really see you around anywhere either. Were you in the Sanctum?¡±


    The elf at the front of the room was still preparing to begin. Noodle had volunteered to act as second and give the count down.


    I nodded silently, expecting this to be the end of our conversation, even as Aries carried on. ¡°So you got to work with the grimoire. Did you learn anything good? Anything useful?¡±


    ¡°Once you get shadow step down, you¡¯ll get a chance with it too. Besides, there¡¯s only one beginner¡¯s grimoire anyway. Better not to have all three of us fighting over it.¡± I turned my head a little more to the side, away from Aries, hinting heavily that I was watching the duel. The elf, Llewelyn, was one of the stronger casters, from a family of mages in Erast, a coastal city just north of here. He¡¯d grown up around magic and it showed. He cast a wide arc of fire out in front of him at Blackclaw who parried it with an air elemental spell.


    ¡°Or we could share it?¡± Aries asked.


    ¡°Huh? Why would we do that? You didn¡¯t even want me learning your little static shock spell. Don¡¯t think I forgot.¡±


    ¡°You learned it anyway,¡± Aries groaned. ¡°But it¡¯s not too late to return the favor. Tonight? After dinner? I could come to your room.¡±


    ¡°How about you figure out shadow step first?¡± I said.


    Llewelyn blocked Blackclaw¡¯s attack and managed to cast another dramatic fire spell, this time curling the flames into a ball between his hands before hurling it towards Blackclaw. This time, instead of another air spell, Blackclaw cast something new. He moved one hand like a blade out into the path of the flames and the fireball was swallowed up into nothingness. Immediately after, Blackclaw managed to hit Llewelyn with slow abruptly ending the duel.


    ¡°Shadow step is hard.¡± Aries edged closer. His arm crept up over my shoulder. ¡°Come on, Zeph.¡± He was pouting in a way that I think he¡¯d intended to be cute but was really more of a turn off.


    I wasn¡¯t totally oblivious. I was aware that Aries liked me at least a little bit. According to Noodle, there were at least a dozen guys that had caught his eye. It wasn¡¯t a total stretch to guess that I might be one of them.


    I didn¡¯t think of myself as particularly attractive. Beauty¡¯s in the eye of the beholder and all that, but I had a collection of features that vaguely came together to resemble a certain popular archetype that some people were really into. Brooding and mysterious, Aisling had said the other day. Made me sound kind of charming. Ianthe only said I made sulking look like an art. In a room full of vampires, most of whom were expressly made into vampires for their otherworldly beauty, I really didn¡¯t stand out. At the Midnight Court though, I guess it just comes down to taste.


    Aries seemed like the kind of guy that still hadn¡¯t made up his mind on whether he wanted to hit me or kiss me, or maybe he had and just wanted to do both. I¡¯d be worried about it if he were bigger, but from him, it¡¯s kinda funny. He¡¯s a few inches shorter than me. His shoulders are a little broader than mine, but we¡¯re pretty much the same size. So what if he hit me? At least it gave me a reason to hit him back.


    At the front of the room, Noodle was dueling against Blackclaw. He got two spells in before he stumbled casting shield and got hit with slow.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t teach me shadow step, you¡¯ll be the one stuck taking me to and from the Sanctum next week for the meeting on the full moon.¡± A new heat had crept into his voice as though he¡¯d meant it as a threat.


    I snickered. ¡°Yeah, because Noodle doesn¡¯t want you fainting on him again.¡±


    ¡°Oh, fuck off.¡± Aries shoved off of me in a huff.


    When he glanced back at me next, I stuck my tongue out at him. It was maybe a little childish, but I like him better when he¡¯s angry.


    Aries only rolled his eyes.


    ¡°Ashbourne, you¡¯re up,¡± Blackclaw called out.


    Another duel against Blackclaw had already wrapped up since Noodle¡¯s. Clarissa Spectre. She was one of the more talented mages in the class. Must have messed up casting shield almost immediately. Happens to the best of us. She was still getting to her feet after slow had knocked her off balance.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what you¡¯ve got, Zeph.¡± A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of Aries¡¯s mouth, even if he was still bitter about how I¡¯d brushed him off. Yeah, he definitely likes me.


    I stepped up to the cleared space across from Blackclaw. Took a deep breath. The last duel hadn¡¯t gone great, but this time around, he¡¯d said it didn¡¯t matter what spells we used. I could redeem myself.


    ¡°Okay, Mr. Ashbourne. No restrictions on spells. Do your worst.¡± Blackclaw held out his hands, palms out in full view. If he sounded cocky, it¡¯s because he was. He wanted to get under my skin a little. And I can admit, it worked.


    Noodle counted us off. ¡°Three. Two. One.¡±


    I immediately fired off Aries¡¯s little zapping spell. It was such a quick gesture it almost caught Blackclaw off guard. He yelped, ducking down behind his shield. A narrow miss. But I wasn¡¯t going to wait for him to cast something else. Quickly as I could, I readied my next spell, frostbite.


    It probably wasn¡¯t the best choice for the next spell, but it¡¯d been the one I¡¯d spent half the night practicing. The gesture was still fresh in my head. This too worked in my favor. I think Blackclaw had expected another more showy spell. The sudden swell of deep cold was a lot less easy to block. His side of the room went cold. Ice crystals vined their way across the far window. Pale fog rose up around us where the cold spell hit the warm room air.


    I saw Blackclaw shiver. It made him laugh, his breath a thick plume of white.


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    I prepared to cast shield next. I¡¯d given Blackclaw an opening, but he didn¡¯t take it. There was an awkward beat of dead time. He waved me to go on, but the moment I started casting shrouded blade, he nearly blasted me with a wave of something - I suspected slow.


    I dropped shrouded blade and conjured shield to avoid it. He did this twice more before I realized he was toying with me.


    I knew there wasn¡¯t a world where I won this duel, but in the heat of the moment, I wanted to, if only to wipe that smug look off Blackclaw¡¯s face. He¡¯d already seen me attempt shrouded blade three times, but the gesture took too long. He would hit me with slow before I¡¯d gotten it off, so I switched tactics. When I lowered shield, I whipped through to zap him again with the shock spell. He blocked it, of course, but at least this time, he was distracted while I cast shrouded blade. The spell hit him dead on - or it should have at least. An invisible magic knife to the gut should hurt. But Blackclaw only blinked.


    ¡°Now I admit that was a good shot,¡± he said. Only his voice hadn¡¯t come from his mouth.


    Blackclaw, standing opposite me, suddenly vanished, fading like vapor into the fog.  His voice had come from just behind me. He was a dark shape hovering in my peripherals, there at the corner of my eye.


    He hit me with slow before I could even turn to face him.


    And that should have been that.


    I say should have been, because it wasn¡¯t. I know I was angry, stuck in the viscous ether of his spell. It hadn¡¯t been a fair duel, because it had never been a fair duel. It was why I was there to learn. But knowing that and feeling that are different things and the sudden heat of my rage was boiling up.


    I felt the brand of Orendell on my arm sting as though to spur on my fury. And the second slow dropped away, I was on my feet and casting again. My hands were moving through the motions for shrouded blade and this time I wanted him to feel it.


    Whatever Blackclaw cast next, it was faster than slow and about a dozen times stronger than the little zapping spell.


    An electric surge spread through my body. I couldn¡¯t tell you where he¡¯d hit. It was everywhere, like white hot fire burning through me, every nerve ablaze. My vision went black. I could taste iron.


    I couldn¡¯t tell you if the spell had lasted for a second or ten minutes. But when the initial pain subsided, my whole body ached. I was lying on the floor. I couldn¡¯t have gotten up if I wanted to.


    And I wanted to.


    I heard myself growl through gritted teeth. It was me, but wasn¡¯t me. I suddenly understood that this rage wasn¡¯t completely my own. The wolf in my mind¡¯s eye was growling out loud.


    Blackclaw walked over to me. His worn leather boots stopped inches from my face. When I heard him above me, he was talking loud enough I knew he had to be addressing the whole class and not just me.


    ¡°When the duel is over, the duel is over. No exceptions. You¡¯re learning dueling as a safety measure and part of practicing combat safely is obeying my rules to the letter. Those who break the rules will get spelled just as I have our own Mr. Ashbourne here.¡± There was the slightest lilt of a laugh in his voice that made my insides scream. The wolf was howling.


    ¡°And for those of you still tempted to experience it yourselves, know that I¡¯ve seen this spell drop a full-grown ogre mid-stride. It isn¡¯t for the faint of heart. You can ask Mr. Ashbourne to tell you all about it next class.¡±


    Blackclaw crouched down beside me. His knees cracked. ¡°Had I known your little secret earlier, I would have gone about this differently,¡± he whispered. He had to have been referring to Orendell, the wolf, the deal. But I still didn¡¯t know why any of it would have mattered.


    He took me by the arm and hauled me up. I still couldn¡¯t stand. My muscles jittered and my legs fell out from under me the moment I tried to hold my own weight.


    ¡°Relax already,¡± Blackclaw snapped. ¡°If I was still trying to hurt you, you¡¯d know.¡±  I was already hurting. I¡¯m not sure I believed a word of that.


    ¡°Alright, moving on. Is there someone from his coven here? He¡¯s going to need some help getting back to his coven leader. They can patch him up.¡±


    Aries rose from his seat before Blackclaw had even finished asking. ¡°I can take him,¡± he said.


    ¡°Sit down, Mr. de la Fel. You haven¡¯t dueled yet.¡±


    ¡°Like you don¡¯t already know I¡¯m a shit spellcaster,¡± Aries shot back.


    Blackclaw laughed. ¡°Have it your way then. Come and get him!¡±


    Aries rushed forward and took the arm Blackclaw had slung over his shoulder and heaved it onto his own. I heard him grunt under my weight, but I was only just beginning to feel sensation come back into my legs.


    ¡°You got him?¡± I heard Noodle¡¯s voice from somewhere out of my line of sight.


    Aries sighed. ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    Aries helped shuffle me out of the classroom. He was strong enough that he was carrying most of my body weight, but even then, I was heavy and knew there wasn¡¯t a chance he could do it for long. As it was, my cheek was pressed up against the side of his head. His short blond hair tickled my nose. I was more than a little loopy, more focused on the softness of his hair than my own two feet.


    ¡°I know Blackclaw can be a dick and all, but you have to admit that was stupid,¡± Aries said once we were far enough out of earshot. ¡°But us sons of Caburh have got to stick together, don¡¯t we?¡±


    We didn¡¯t quite make it as far as Marblebrook¡¯s office. Aries helped me down onto a stone bench a few hallways away, too worn to haul me any further. It didn¡¯t really matter though. I was starting to at least feel a bit more like myself again mentally, even as my body refused to cooperate.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know why I did that,¡± I muttered.


    ¡°It¡¯s called anger. We all do stupid shit when we¡¯re mad. It¡¯s what happens,¡± Aries said. His arms had given up, but sitting on the bench beside my head, he ran his fingers up through my hair. It felt nice and I knew if I said anything about it, he¡¯d probably stop.


    ¡°If I leave you here a minute to get Marblebrook, you¡¯ll be alright, won¡¯t you?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. I don¡¯t think I really need to get Marblebrook involved anyway. I¡¯m already feeling better.¡± It wasn¡¯t a lie exactly. Better was a relative term. More than anything, it had started to dawn on me that this was kind of embarrassing. I didn¡¯t want to tell Marblebrook I¡¯d attacked a professor. That was bad.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous, Zeph. You can hardly move -¡±


    Aries was interrupted by a loud gasp. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a sorry sight!¡± Kelyn Marblebrook was probably the next best person we could have found anyway. Honestly, I might have preferred her to her wife at the moment. ¡°Boys, what happened?¡±


    Aries did most of the talking. He helped me to sit up on the bench, slowly easing me off my back. Until his hand grazed the mark of Orendell on my bicep. I hissed. A new wave of pain gripped me.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Aries asked.


    My whole body shook.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get a look at that arm,¡± said Kelyn.


    Aries pulled my blazer off me, then my vest. The fabric brushing the mark alone was even too much. I might not have liked being stripped out of my shirt in the hallway, but I don¡¯t exactly blame either of them for it.


    ¡°Orendell,¡± I¡¯d said. ¡°It¡¯s Orendell.¡± I¡¯d known on some level I was meant to keep this a secret, but I didn¡¯t see a way to do that just then.


    Kelyn twisted my arm to get a better look at the mark. Aries too looked on with interest. Kelyn sighed. ¡°Now, I see.¡±  She pushed her thumb into the searing heart of the mark.


    I screamed. The wolf in my mind¡¯s eye laughed.


    The wolf¡¯s laugh faded into Kelyn¡¯s laugh. I hadn¡¯t pegged her for a sadist.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve really done it, haven¡¯t you?¡± she teased. ¡°I can bet Elandria knows all about this already. Nothing gets past her. But still, all the better you found me today. She¡¯d have been fine to let you suffer.¡±


    Kelyn set a hand on my shoulder. I only half realized Aries was still there, still watching. He too looked horrified. Kelyn turned to him, ¡°Aries, be a dear, would you? There¡¯s a bottle in the top drawer of my desk down the hall. Just the one. Go fetch it for me.¡±


    Aries bolted for the office. I saw him glance back once as he went.


    Kelyn waited until he was gone to say, ¡°Orendell¡¯s the kind of patron that doesn¡¯t mind pain. I¡¯ll give you something for it, but you¡¯re going to have to learn when not to use it. The full moon¡¯s a whole week away and he¡¯s already got you all riled up.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that got to do with anything?¡± I asked. I had suspicions, but I wanted to hear it.


    Aries was already running back, bottle in hand.


    Kelyn¡¯s eyes narrowed on me. ¡°You¡¯re smarter than that, Zephyr. You know.¡±


    Aries held out the bottle to Kelyn, but she only ordered me to drink it. She was busy instead pulling items from her coat pocket- an old ticket stub, a fountain pen. She set the ticket stub on the bench beside me and took a few notes on it.


    ¡°That brand is going to keep hurting. Treat it with aloe and wolfsbane. Mash them up, make a poultice. Wrap it up with a hot compress and that should take away the worst of it,¡± she said. ¡°And that potion should undo the work of whatever Blackclaw hit you with.¡±


    I was already drinking it down. The potion tasted terrible, but I could already feel strength returning to my limbs and the worst of the muscle aches subsiding. It was more than worth it.


    ¡°See? Already much better and I won¡¯t tell Elandria if you don¡¯t,¡± Kelyn said. ¡°Hexing a professor. Oh, she¡¯d be furious. But let¡¯s just blame it on the moon. Alright?¡±


    After Kelyn left, Aries still hovered near me on the bench in the hall. I was buttoning up my shirt. Aries had been a little overzealous in getting it off. A few of the buttons were missing. I hadn¡¯t expected it when he asked, ¡°Zeph, are you a werewolf?¡±


    If I shuddered, would you blame me? I¡¯d been thinking it already. Yet, Aries was the first to actually put it to words. ¡°Wolfsbane, the moon¡­ it doesn¡¯t take a genius to connect the dots.¡±


    ¡°No. I¡¯m not.¡± I focused on trying to roll my shirt sleeve, avoiding eye contact.


    ¡°There wouldn¡¯t be anything wrong if you were though. You know that, right?¡±


    ¡°Aries, please just drop it.¡±

 Wolfsbane

    FALL TERM - October 2nd - Weekend


    Aisling met up with me yesterday to show me around the greenhouses.


    The mark of Orendell on my arm burned hot to the touch through the night. The wolf in my head was baying, begging for something I didn¡¯t know how to give. I had the half-page ticket stub from Kelyn with the recipe for a poultice meant to soothe it and the question from Aries still ringing in my ear. Zeph, are you a werewolf?


    The answer was a horror I wasn¡¯t fully willing to consider right then. In every folktale magic came at a cost to the mage. I could use magic now, a reality only months ago I¡¯d never have imagined. This meant I was already running a tab. So what exactly had I agreed to pay?


    Aisling didn¡¯t mention the bags under my eyes when she saw me. She only asked if she might be able to read through the recipe for Kelyn¡¯s poultice herself. Kelyn¡¯s handwriting was a heavy dark scrawl, and over the ticket illustration of a winged pixie in flight for some kind of theatre performance. I probably would have struggled to decipher the ingredients had I not heard her name the ingredients as she wrote them down. Aloe and wolfsbane.


    ¡°Something to help you sleep?¡± she asked. At least werewolves weren¡¯t on her mind.


    ¡°That¡¯s definitely part of it,¡± I said.


    Aisling led the way. It wasn¡¯t so much that I had trouble finding the greenhouses, but navigating through them. The Court¡¯s greenhouses were a series of connected glass conservatories, with branching sunrooms, nurseries, and gardening sheds. It was a maze of lush plant life. ¡°The largest collection of herbs and rare plants in all of Mesym, according to Professor Fen,¡± Aisling explained. ¡°And probably the world, unless Caburh is hiding some kind of treasure trove of gardening.¡±


    ¡°Not likely,¡± I said. ¡°Not many sunny days, remember?¡±


    ¡°Ah right¡­¡± Aisling talked on, pointing me around. While she had only been here as long as I had, her coven leader, Professor Thistle Fen was a renowned botanist, and head of the Court¡¯s alchemy program, and Aisling¡¯s own dormitories were accessible only by a winding stairwell behind the vegetable patch. ¡°You¡¯d think it would be kind of fun for midnight snacks, but unless you¡¯re really craving a whole pumpkin, it¡¯s not much to write home about. The flowers are nice though. Some of the zucchini plants are still in bloom.¡±


    It didn¡¯t take us long to find aloe. Aisling checked the quantity and decided that a single large leaf should be enough per use.


    ¡°Is it for nightly use?¡± she asked.


    I nearly said no, but a quick count off of the days until the full moon made me change my answer. ¡°Not quite nightly, but best keep enough for five? Six days in a row?¡±


    Aisling narrowed her eyes on me. ¡°Are you sure this is the kind of thing that¡¯s safe to take that frequently?¡±


    I cocked my head. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it be?¡±


    ¡°Aloe¡¯s harmless enough, but the other one here, wolfsbane- or blue monkshood - that¡¯s in the poison gardens. It makes sense if it¡¯s for sleep, and you can say all that about it¡¯s the dose that makes the poison, but well, all the stuff in there even in the littler doses is still called poison for a reason.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± I mumbled. I hadn¡¯t actually expected that. ¡°I don¡¯t think Kelyn would have given me something dangerous.¡±


    Aisling shrugged. ¡°Yeah, probably not. Whatever. It¡¯s one of my favorite sections anyway. It¡¯s got foxglove, and deadly nightshade, and hemlock. And angel¡¯s trumpets, columbine, henbane, mandrake, and ragwort.¡±


    ¡°You know poisons?¡± I asked.


    Aisling shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s a hobby. Most plant poisons don¡¯t affect the fae. For me though, I¡¯d say it¡¯s 50/50. Call it a pet project. Testing them out. Besides, how else am I going to knock Brian out to swipe the keys for the kennel?¡±


    I shot her a look.


    ¡°I¡¯m kidding! I wouldn¡¯t.¡± Aisling raised her hands defensively. ¡°Professor Fen might have also mentioned they keep the ingredients for love potions over there too. And before you say a word, no, I haven¡¯t made one. I just like knowing my options! Nothing wrong with that.¡±


    She¡¯d said it so flippantly, I had to wonder if she wasn¡¯t serious. Love potions weren¡¯t especially common in Caburh - not many mages there to make them. But, on the rare occasion you did hear about someone using one, it was because they were infatuated with someone who would never love them in return or so particularly heinous it was hard to imagine anyone loving them for looks or personality. That wasn¡¯t Aisling though. She was strange, sure, but charming. And not to mention, gorgeous, and for plenty of people that alone would be more than enough. ¡°Why would you even think you¡¯d need a love potion?¡±


    Aisling grumbled. ¡°Not all of us just have cursed nation royalty lusting over us, now do we?¡±


    As though anything to do with Aries was in any way enviable. ¡°Apparently Brian and I have that in common. But, you¡¯re not serious, are you?¡±


    I was following close behind. Aisling was silent for a long moment before pausing just before the iron gates of the poison section. Her eyes were a little too wide and expressive to pretend as though I hadn¡¯t just prodded something tender.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t bother me that you don¡¯t like me that way. No one does. But I guess you don¡¯t really like anyone that way, do you?¡± Her hands curled up around the iron bars of the gate.


    ¡°Oh.¡± The question had caught me off guard. This wasn¡¯t meant to be about me. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that exactly.¡± I didn¡¯t know how to talk about any of this with her or anyone else for that matter. Her eyes were welling up and I could already see myself stumbling through this conversation and ruining everything. There was an answer she was angling for and I couldn¡¯t give her that either. This was all suddenly going so poorly.


    That¡¯s the only way I can explain what I said next.


    ¡°I recently got out of a kind of messy relationship.¡±


    Aisling didn¡¯t react. I realize now it probably sounded like an excuse. ¡°Figures you¡¯d have someone back home.¡±


    ¡°No, definitely not,¡± I said. ¡°Ianthe -¡± I didn¡¯t know how to talk about her, the grasp she¡¯d had on me for so many years, and whatever hold it was she still had. ¡°She¡¯s a vampire.¡±


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    ¡°Of course she is,¡± Aisling said coldly.


    ¡°We¡¯re not¡­ Do you know how hard it is to break up with a vampire? I learned the hard way that you just don¡¯t. I¡¯ve seen her driven to murder just because someone was annoying. Or she got a little peckish. It didn¡¯t really occur to me when we first got together that she didn¡¯t really have exes that were around. I just¡­ I was young and stupid. But that¡¯s just my shitty love life.¡± It wasn¡¯t a helpful answer, but it was more than I¡¯d ever told anyone about Ianthe, probably ever.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea, but I¡¯m not trying to start something with anyone right now. I¡¯d like us to be friends. With that said, I think you¡¯re beautiful and have to assume plenty of others would think the same.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯m so beautiful you had to have me as a friend¡­¡± Aisling said.


    Was it really so strange to think I could only want friendship? ¡°You¡¯re the only person I¡¯ve met in a long time that I actually enjoy spending time with. Please don¡¯t ruin it for me.¡±


    That actually got a laugh out of her. ¡°You really mean that, don¡¯t you?¡±


    She glanced my way with a smirk. We are friends.


    ¡°So, why Brian?¡± I asked. Aisling didn¡¯t actually want me that way, or I had to hope. She had gotten over tearing up and had moved on to poking through the rows of poisonous plants. She lifted a drooping stock of lily of the valley onto her palm to sniff its flowers.


    ¡°Why not? Isn¡¯t it nice to have a crush? Even just a silly one. It¡¯s not like I expect it to go anywhere. Do you think it would be weird if I asked him to come with me to the Masquerade?¡±


    ¡°Probably, yeah. He¡¯s still twice your age,¡± I said.


    ¡°And married,¡± Aisling said.


    ¡°Yeah, that too.¡±


    The first half of the weekend was lost to making a poultice for the mark of Orendell. Aisling had been right about wolfsbane being a poison. I didn¡¯t overdo it exactly, but late into the evening, when the searing brand on my bicep finally went numb, it had to have been the wolfsbane taking effect. Aisling had still been wary of the quantity. The warning posted under the little blue flowers in the poison garden suggested there was good reason to be. The poultice called for what looked like far beyond an advisable dose. But it worked, and that was all that really mattered at the moment.


    I should have spent the following day in the Sanctum, but that would have meant missing out on a clear and perfect day. I¡¯d been carrying around my Divination text for weeks without so much as cracking it open, so if I wasn¡¯t going to bother learning new spells, I might as well try to be somewhat productive and force myself to get through at least a few pages of it.


    Not that I did.


    I fell asleep on a stone bench in the sun about ten minutes in. For the first time in a while, I had no nightmares, no burning mark of Orendell to keep me up. I was content to lie back and feel the sun on my face.


    Until Aries found me.


    ¡°You were snoring, Zeph.¡±


    Aries¡¯s head hovered just above my own, temporarily blocking the sun from my eyes.


    ¡°Then let me snore, I was napping,¡± I groaned. I couldn¡¯t be sure when exactly Aries had gotten here,  but I didn¡¯t really care either. I still had my Divination book sitting open across my chest, cracked to the page I¡¯d left off reading, somewhere still within the first chapter.


    ¡°No, I want to duel with you. Come on.¡±


    I shut my eyes again. It was a ridiculous ask to begin with. Even more absurd to think I¡¯d humor him. ¡°Come back later, Aries.¡± Or better yet, not at all.


    ¡°Zeph,¡± Aries said.


    ¡°Fine, stay or whatever. Just let me sleep.¡± The stone bench was still sunwarm. My eyelids still heavy. I rolled onto my side, turning my back to him. And I¡¯d thought for a second he was actually about to listen- he took a few steps back. Gravel crunched beneath the heels of his loafers.


    I felt a sudden electric sting hit me in the ass.


    Aries¡­ I scrambled to my feet. I rubbed at my tailbone with the back of my hand. It¡¯d hurt.


    Aries stood a few paces away, his blond hair gleaming like a halo in the low afternoon sun. His face was cast in shadows, though I didn¡¯t need to see it to know he was laughing. ¡°So, you wanna fight me?¡±


    The mark of Orendell on my arm seared hot again. The wolf in my head growled. ¡°I really don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t buy it,¡± he said, casting another bolt. This one hit me in the gut. I lurched at the shock, clutching my abdomen. I hadn¡¯t expected it. When I lifted my head next, I heard the wolf growling through my own teeth.


    ¡°There you are.¡±


    I wanted to say something- tell him he didn¡¯t know what he was talking about- but the wolf in my head was howling at the door. I was afraid of what might come out if I said anything at all. Aries wanted a fight; I could give him a fight.


    I cast winter tempest his way. The spell was a mix of cloud, ice, wind, a half gesture difference from conjured frost that sounded more impressive than it was. Until just then I hadn¡¯t had the chance to see it in action. Aries didn¡¯t manage to block it and was swept off his feet with a blast of cold air. He tore the knee of his slacks when he stumbled, but was already gearing up to cast another fast electric shock the first moment he could.


    This time I cast shield and avoided the hit. The wolf was clawing at my insides, the mark of Orendell singeing up my arm.


    ¡°You need to stop, Aries.¡± My voice was little more than a breathy pant.


    Aries was winded too. ¡°Make me.¡± He was already casting.


    His spell zapped me across the chest this time. I saw it happen, but could hardly feel it. The pain was everywhere all at once. My consciousness was clouding. It wasn¡¯t exactly me holding the reins right then.


    There was no more casting. If I knew any spells at all, they wouldn¡¯t come. My hands were useless. Aries¡¯s expression changed, in a flash he went from cocky asshole to in way over his head. A look of shock and awe. His lips parted.


    I rushed him headlong. On impact, I caught him with my shoulder and grappled him down into the gravel. Aries rolled against me, trying to manhandle me as best he could. He caught one of my horns and shoved me face first into the gravel.


    I elbowed him in the ribs with enough force to make him gasp. My horn caught against his dress shirt and tore as I wriggled to free it. The duel was devolving quickly, though at least after the first few scrapes, I¡¯d begun to feel more like myself again. The wolf in my head had gone silent again. The mark of Orendell was no longer burning, only a fading ember.  I couldn¡¯t tell you what had changed, only that the moment Aries stopped trying to shove me, I no longer felt the need to hit him back.


    We were on the stone path in the middle of the courtyard, sprawled and breathless. I noticed my hands first, bleeding where my knuckles scraped over the gravel. Aries had a split lip and a bloody smear over one side of his face. I didn¡¯t feel particularly hurt and Aries was grinning like a madman.


    One of my horns had torn the pocket of his shirt and left a square of soft exposed skin, his chest, a smattering of light brown hair. He saw me staring.


    I felt a flutter of something not worth pressing into right then. I had blood on my hands, a hole in the knee of my trousers. My shirt was scuffed and a superficial scrape on my cheek had started to burn.


    Aries didn¡¯t look significantly better. He rose to his feet first, still too smug. He was a little shaky but still extended a hand to help me up.


    My gut told me to swat him away, but sometimes it was easier not to resist. I let him help me to my feet. I don¡¯t remember the last time I¡¯d been in a fist fight. Maybe I never had.


    ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t even have to resort to using my teeth,¡± he teased. I had nothing to say to him for the rest of the walk back to our dormitories.