The next day Magdala woke up and discovered that she didn't have any new bruises from sleeping on the ground in a tent. Her old ones were still there, but they hadn't kept her up all night so that was a win. After taking a long hot bath, she walked downstairs to the dining room where she ate a breakfast consisting of a fried egg placed on a bed of fruits and greens, all products of the local market. While she ate, Galkin informed her that her lord uncle and his apprentice had woken up hours earlier and disappeared into the study. He hadn't mentioned Mei, who, Magdala guessed, chose to eat down at the garrison with her brother, and so she ate alone, uninterrupted by Mei's dressing of her latest kill, Dwayne's constant questions on magic or her lord uncle's unhelpful lectures. She even missed Huan's snide comments but only for a moment.

When she was done with breakfast, Magdala returned to her room where a house maid was ready with a set of brushes and a standing mirror, but Magdala took one look at the maid's hair, which was done up in two side buns, and sent her away. After half an hour of painful plaiting, the best she could say was that her hair was under control. Good thing her mother wasn't around to see it.

She judged the effect in the mirror. "Practice makes perfect." Deciding to be satisfied, Magdala opened the closet and found that it had been filled with select outfits during her absence. She vaguely recalled her friend Francesca stating that green was her color, but she wanted her lord uncle to take her seriously, and so she pulled down a dark blue dress with long puffy sleeves and put it on. It was both freeing and alarming to be out of pants. Her legs could really breathe now, but the thought of fleeing dragons or giant otters in it made her want to pull back on her traveling clothes. She stepped past the mirror, keeping her eyes from her reflection, and sat down at the desk, which now sported ink, pens and paper. Galkin was anticipating her needs.

She picked up the pen. "'Make a study plan,' he says.",

Spell preparation had been the last thing she'd studied at the academy. It comprised of invoking a spell then holding it in one's mind before casting it, which allowed one to combine multiple spells and create more complex effects. Using this technique, Lady Pol had rubbed air together and created lightning, and Magdala's mother had created life-like statues out of water. If Magdala wanted to receive her aluminum ring from the Magisterium, she needed to learn the technique, and so she pulled On the Pre-preparation of Magic, 2nd Ed off the bookshelf and opened it to the first chapter.

“Start with a clear mind. A clear mind can hold more in it than one focused on frivolities.

“Now, start invoking your spells, leaving the endings off of each of them so that you do not cast them. As you invoke each spell, its idea will fill the clear space in your mind. You will feel a heavy sensation, which will make you want to tighten your hold on the spell. Resist this. The harder you try to hold on to the spell the less mental space you will have for more.

“When you have finished invoking, their weight will pull at the back of your mind, ready to be cast. With practice you will be able to hold spells for hours, but it is preferable to prepare and cast spells throughout the day.

“When you are ready to cast, simply invoke an ending syllable, and let the spells flow out. Be aware that if you lose concentration during casting, the spell will snap in the middle and fail, and, depending on the complexity of the spell, result in catastrophe.”

Magdala snorted. “Comforting.” The last time she'd attempted this technique she had tried to combine a basic transformation spell with a new fusion spell and had knocked out her entire class, which had resulted in her suspension from the academy and her exile to Soura's frontier. Or, she smiled, to put it another way, failing to grasp this technique had led her to Dwayne and Mei.

Regardless, she wrote “Spell Preparation” at the top of her study plan and continued going through the books on the shelf. In addition to that technique, she had to review and master more alchemical formulas, preferably ones that didn't result in explosions. As for the non-magical school topics, she was behind on history, foggy on math, and her etiquette was nonexistent after weeks of traveling with her lord uncle, who did not understand the purpose of a simple fork. The only subject she wasn't behind in was Yani language study since she'd been reading a text she'd found in the ruins at Yumma to Mei every night for the past week. She sagged in her seat. That had been fun. Was she going to have to leave that all behind?

Forcing herself to sit up straight, Magdala looked down at the full sheet of paper. With all of those subjects, it was going to take weeks to review everything. Probably longer since her lord uncle couldn't teach a rock to fall. So she'd have to do it alone without her teachers, her lord uncle, or her old study group. Francesca had probably-

Someone knocked on the door.

Magdala's eyebrows lifted. “Come in."

Dwayne stepped into her room. "Good morning."

Magdala scrambled to her feet. "Good morning." She smoothed her dress and took the opportunity to look him over. For the first time since she'd met him, Dwayne wasn't wearing armor or traveling clothes, just a white open necked tunic, pale brown leggings and his trusty brown leather boots. Her eyes met his and held. This was the first time they'd been alone together since the tavern in Anders.

Dwayne looked away first, stammering, "You look nice."

Magdala's face grew hot, and she looked away. "Yes, well, we're back in civilization so I can finally look respectable." She coughed. “What do you want?”

Dwayne rubbed the back of his head. “I was wondering if you could help me with something. Lord Gallus is your father, correct?”

Magdala gave him a look. “Yes, he is. Is that what you came here to ask?”

Dwayne smiled. Or maybe he winced. “He’s coming here. He’s currently inspecting the wall and that means he’s coming here.”

Magdala's head swam, and she sat to catch the room. “O-oh. He’ll report back to my mother. I have to get all of this done. If I don't, I'll be stuck out here.” She waved at the piece of paper on her desk.

"Is that the study plan Lord Kalan told you to make?" Bringing the scent of smoked wood with him, Dwayne strode up to the desk, but instead of the study plan, he picked up the spell preparation textbook. "I found an older edition of this in the study. I tried to understand it, but it's almost nonsense."

Magdala gave a weak smile. “It is an intermediate technique, and you've been studying under my lord uncle."

Dwayne's eyes met hers again. “Can you teach me?”

Her smile disappeared, and a glare replaced it. “My father is coming to judge me on my progress as a mage and you want me to tutor you?”

Dwayne looked down, his left arm crossing in front of him. “Right.” He laid the book back on the table, picked up Magdala's study plan, and frowned. "What is this?"

"It's a study plan."

"No, this is a list."

"Every plan is a list when you get down to it."

"There's no order to any of this, no flow. You’ll just burn yourself out trying to study all of this.”

“What do you know? You’re just a-” Magdala bit down on the next word, but the damage was done.

Dwayne dropped her study plan on the desk and stepped back.

Magdala's stomach tried to turn inside out. “I’m sorry for... I just... I thought I had more time.”

Dwayne took a deep shuddering breath and nodded. “So did I. I have a party to arrange. Excuse me.” He swept out of the room.

Massaging her stomach, Magdala turned back to her review. First, she opened a book, and stared at the words contained within. After rereading the first paragraph five times and absorbing nothing, she closed the book, placed it on her desk, and, after find her cloak. fled the room.

***

“Again!”

Mei looked up from cleaning her rifle.

Saundra, the last member of the squad Marcus had put together, was training another soldier, a boy who was barely younger than herself. Nodding, the boy raised his wooden sword, wiped sweat off his face, and took up the same stance Mei had tried with Nathan, one foot forward, the other back, sword slanted upwards. Then he was in motion, letting the tip of his sword drop as he took two steps forward and thrust as if driving his wooden sword through a stone block. He grinned, but then his legs gave out, and he slumped to the ground.

Saundra knelt over him. "Good job. You finally figured out how to put power behind it."

The boy's grin widened. "Thanks, Swordbreaker."

"Don't call me that." Saundra pretended to punch the boy in the face and they both laughed.

Saundra stood. "Take a shower and get some breakfast."

While the boy pulled himself to his feet and headed for the mess hall, Saundra tossed her wooden training sword back into the box, and then plopped down next to Mei. “New recruits. They don't have muscles in the right places whether they're farmhands or blacksmith's kids.” Her eyes looked over the pieces of Mei's weapon. "What's all this?"

Mei picked up the trigger and peered at it. It didn't have any rust, and it was only a little worn. She oiled it, put it down, and then picked up the barrel. “Rifled hand cannon."

Saundra looked askance at Mei. “Rifled? What's that?”

Mei held the barrel up so that Saundra could see into it. "The grooves make the bullet spin. The spin makes the bullet fly far and straight.”

Saundra shook her head. “That sounds like a bunch of hooha. What does spinning have to do with distance?”

Mei shrugged, picked up a long wiry brush, and slid it into the barrel, continuing with her task. She’d almost finished when Saundra elbowed her in the side.

“By the cup, do you see that girl?”

Mei followed Saundra's outstretched finger. Clean faced, relaxed, and with her wild red hair tamed into a single plait, Maggie strode onto the training grounds, her eyes taking in everything. When Mei waved, Maggie grinned and headed straight towards them.

Saundra's jaw dropped. “You know her?” She slapped her forehead. “Right, you came into Walton with her.”

“She’s my friend,” said Mei.

When Maggie reached them, Mei pulled the brush out of her rifle barrel and got to her feet. Saundra stood to attention.

Maggie looked between them, grinning. “Good morning, Mei. What are you doing with Corporal Taylor?”

Mei held up the rifle barrel. “Cleaning,”

Saundra's eyes focused on a point just above Maggie's head. “Training, milady. I, uh, just got done. Let me wash up."

Maggie gave the corporal a sidelong smile. “You’re fine as you are. I'm just taking a break.”

Saundra's mouth twitched. “From what, milady?”

“Everything.” Maggie looked between them. “So, you two know each other?”

“We’ve both been assigned to Sir Marcus Pollum’s unit as of this morning, milady,” answered Saundra.

“Oh? That makes you practically a squire.” Maggie looked Saundra up and down. “I wonder what makes you so special?”

Saundra’s tanned face turned pink.

Mei answered the question. “She knows how to fight.” She sat down, reassembled her rifle, and slipped it back into its leather case. She looked up and saw that Maggie was waiting for her. “What?”

Maggie bit her lip. “Can I talk to you real quick? Sorry, Corporal, it’s something personal.”

Saundra shrugged. “No problem. I’ll just be doing, uh, exercises right over there.” She stepped into the ring and began a training regime, a flurry of punches and kicks.

Maggie watched each move, fascinated. Mei poked her in the side.

“Oww!”

“What is it?” asked Mei.

Maggie's eyes didn't leave Saundra. “I’m worried. My father is coming here, and he’ll want to know if I’m ready to go back to the Magisterium academy.”

“Do you want to go back?” Mei wondered what an "academy" was, but she guessed she'd find out for herself.

Maggie's eyes twinkled. “Yes, it’s wonderful there. There’s so much to learn and the coursework is really engaging and my best friend is there. I think you two would get along splendidly.”

New word: "coursework". Mei tapped her fingers on her rifle case. “Why are you worried?”

“There’s you and Dwayne I guess...”

Mei frowned. "Dwayne and I are making you worried?"

Maggie finally tore her eyes off Saundra and faced Mei. “I just- Dwayne said I’m not going to be able to complete my study plan, and I need to complete it, and it’s not like he’s had a normal education. What does he know about studying? He's my crazy lord uncle's apprentice!”

“He does know a lot about magic. He reads a lot."

Saundra was now moving at a frenetic pace.

Maggie sighed. “He does, but I need to do this on my own.” Her eyes drifted back to Saundra's routine. “My mother would expect nothing less.” She frowned. “By the cup, what is she doing? Stop! Stop!”

Saundra stopped her routine, sweat pouring down her face and arms. “What, milady?”

“Are you actually shadow fighting or just waving that thing around?” Maggie asked. “You're not practicing, you're showing off, and you won’t learn anything showing off. Where’s your sparring partner?”

Saundra shrugged. “Right now, there’s no one around good enough." She raised an eyebrow. "Unless you’ve got your father’s moves, milady.”

“Ha, no, I have a better opponent in mind. Mei?”

Mei shook her head. “Rifle isn’t for practice.”

“Just spar her with a sword.”

Mei glanced at the box that still stood at the edge of the circle. Her interrupted match with Nathan was still fresh in her mind, but she steadied her hands, stood up, and pulled out a wooden sword. Stepping into the ring, she took a stance.

“No, that won’t work.” Maggie took the sword from Mei and threw it back into the box. “With your height, you’ll need something smaller. My father says a weapon that isn’t matched to you is worse than useless.” She rummaged through the box and pulled out a small wooden axe. “This is better. It's one handed so you can wield it and your rifle at the same time.” She handed it to Mei.

Saundra scoffed. “No one trains with those, milady. They’re just for weight training.”

“Well, then you should be able to take her down.” Maggie's grin was devious. “I’ll referee.”

After Maggie left the ring, Mei swung the axe. It felt just right. Unlike the sword, it felt like she was swinging an extension of her arm instead of a tree trunk.

At the other end of the ring, Saundra took on the same stance both Mei and the other soldier had taken, one foot forward, one foot back, sword pointed at the sky. “Shall we?”

Mei nodded.

“Let’s keep it honorable,” said Maggie. “No blows to the neck or head, but if you have an opening take it. Ring outs count.”

Saundra's eyes stayed on Mei. “Milady, I’m surprised you know so much about fighting.”

When Mei shifted weight, Saundra shifted with her, and a tingle went up Mei's spine. Where masked Huan was all fury and reckless abandon, Saundra knew her battlefield and kept her eyes on the goal.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Start!”

Saundra advanced, maintaining her balance with each step. Mei leaned right, but Saundra ignored her feint and circled left. Mei tried again, this time leaning left, but Saundra kept advancing, pushing Mei back with each step. Suddenly, the ring was suffocating, its edges closing in, and because of Saundra’s long arms and long sword, Mei couldn’t see any way to escape to the center of the ring.

“Aren't you going to strike?” asked Saundra. “I won’t make you look bad.”

When the soldier stepped forward, Mei backed away, still searching for a way to attack. Saundra was reading how Mei distributed her weight, taking advantage of every opening, and kept advancing like death. This was no hunt. It was a fight. Mei's soul buzzed with excitement.

“This is fun," she said.

Throwing away every plan, Mei charged. When Saundra's sword came down, Mei blocked, the impact nearly knocking her off her feet and out of the ring. Taking advantage of her greater height and weight, Saundra tried to push Mei out of the ring, sneaking a glance at Maggie. Now Mei understood what was happening. For Saundra, this was a performance, and, while she wanted to win, she also didn’t want to hurt Maggie’s friend, and a ring out would achieve a bloodless victory. However, Mei wasn't going to let Saundra have her way. She twisted and pushed Saundra back just enough for her to break free. Saundra moved to block Mei from making for the center of the ring, but instead Mei charged, and kicked the soldier in the gut. After staggering back, Saundra brought her sword back down on Mei, who was forced to block. Again finding herself carrying her opponent's full weight, Mei slid under Saundra and threw the soldier over her shoulder. By the time Saundra got back to her feet, they'd switched positions. Mei was now in the center, and Saundra was on the edge. They were both winded.

Magdala clapped. “Amazing!”

Saundra wiped sweat from her forehead. “You’re stronger than you look. Where’d you learn to fight like that?”

Mei cocked her head in confusion. “I-"

Ringing bells cut her off.

***

Huan entered Walcrest's central courtyard at a run, vaulted over a table set up in the shadow of the Southern Line, and rolled beneath it. Sitting at the table on a bench, Dwayne continued his experiments, their haunting smell of magic wafting down to Huan. What is he working on now?

Dwayne's head appeared below the table. "What are you doing?"

"Shh!"

They both listened to the sounds of the yard, hammers banging, workers shouting, oxen grunting. When nothing else happened, Dwayne raised an eyebrow in question.

Huan shrugged. "I'm escaping forced labor." When Dwayne's lips pursed, Huan coughed. "It was punishment for something I did last night. Allegedly." He checked that his sword was still at his hip, which he'd had to steal back from the armory.

"I heard." Dwayne's face disappeared back above the table. "It sounds like you brought a Vanurian seeing skull onto the base. Sir Marcus told Lord Kalan about it this morning before breakfast."

Huan's stomach grumbled. He'd skipped breakfast to avoid punishment. "Is one small mistake worth cleaning the entire commissary all by myself?"

"You were also out past curfew."

"Two little mistakes. I can't deal with this. This is suffocating." Huan rolled out from underneath the table and joined Dwayne on his bench, putting his hand on the Wesen mage's shoulder. "You have got to get me out of this contract. I'm sure that Lord Kalan will listen to you."

Dwayne shook Huan's hand off his shoulder and kept working. "How did you get that impression?" He dropped a golden feather into a vial filled with a clear blue liquid. "There we go." He carefully placed the vial next to three others like it.

Huan made a show of inspecting the vials, his eyebrows up, his eyes focused. "He listens when you tell him to wake up in the morning."

"No, he responds to my threats to report him to his sister." Dwayne wiped his hands on a rag.

"Same thing."

Dwayne snorted. "And it only works when he's groggy."

"Then tell him to let me and Mei go when he's just about to wake up."

"If he did that, you would be arrested, put in chains, and repatriated to Tuqu." Dwayne pulled a notebook and pen towards him and took notes. "If I recall correctly, you don't want to go back there."

"We could go to Vanuria and-"

Dwayne's hand tightened around the pen, but he put it down before he broke it. He turned to Huan. "I will not help you 'escape' to Vanuria. If you want to enter a place so vile that-"

"People like Odette can do well and prosper?"

Dwayne's empty hand tightened into a fist. "You'd be helping slavers and liars."

Huan's hands became fists too. "All countries have those. I've seen the markets. I've heard the stories. The Ri needs goods that only Souran merchants can sell, but they don't have anything but other Wesen to sell so they do. Meanwhile Soura doesn't need slaves, but it does need that." He pointed to the clear liquid in the vials. "So they trade slaves for that and sell any extra to Tuqu who makes goods that both the Ri and the Soura need. No matter where we go, no matter what we do, we'll be supporting that trade." Huan pulled out his passport and dropped the metal plate on the table. "This is just another set of chains."

Dwayne's jaw worked for a moment, but he said nothing. Instead, he pushed the notebook to the far side of the table, picked up the vial with the golden feather, and pointed a finger at the notebook. "Qemimaem!"

The vial flashed blue and gold, and the notebook fluttered into Dwayne's hand on a gust of wind.

"I'm not going to help you." Dwayne put the notebook back on the table. "If you want to leave, tell Lord Kalan yourself."

Huan glared. "Fine, I will. It's not like-"

Something barreled into both of them, knocking both boys out of their seats. Huan was up first, his hand already on his mask. The thing that had knocked them down was clambering up the manor's walls, its gray fingers deftly finding nooks and cracks to hoist itself up.

"Ri'mwe'ut!"

Dwayne's fireball missed, and the thing smashed a second floor window and slipped into the manor.

Dwayne got to his feet, another spell on his lips, but it was too late. "Damn it." He turned to Huan. "You chase it, and I'll go raise the alarm."

Huan put a hand on his chest. "What's in it for me?"

Dwayne's fists tightened, and then he took a deep breath. "I'll help you with the contract."

Huan smirked. "That's the least you can-"

"Go!"

Huan rolled his eyes. "Fine."

While the Wesen mage hurried away, Huan slipped on Tiger's mask. His first sniff was filled with the scents of scratchy grass, sweet flowers, and Dwayne's smoky magic. His second sniff pushed past all that to sulfur, dirt and- Emperor's tits, pickles?

Target acquired, Huan dashed to the wall, ran up it, and caught the second floor windowsill. With barely a grunt, he pulled himself up and climbed through the smashed window. Again, he sniffed. The smell of pickles led to the right. Grinning, Huan followed the thing, sprinting down the halls and passing door after kicked open door. The thing was searching for something. No, someone. Huan spared a glance into a couple of the rooms, which were all untouched. The thing wasn't spending any time looking for something that could be hidden in a drawer or stored in a wardrobe, but the search still slowed it down, and so Huan caught up to it when it reached the foyer. "Hey!"

The thing about faced and snarled.

Huan froze. The thing's yellow teeth, gray skin, and pale eyes glaring madly from under stringy black hair combined with the smell of dirt and magic told him he was not looking at a natural creature.

Not alive.

Before Tiger's instincts could pull Huan back from the thing, her hand blurred, and a black handled and wickedly edged knife flew at Huan's throat. He bent to the left and the knife zipped by him. Straightening up, Huan put his hand on his sword, but she'd already escaped, running along the bannisters straight towards an ornate set of golden doors.

"Huan!"

Huan looked down.

Dwayne had run into the foyer to the accompaniment of bells.

Huan pointed. "It's over there!"

"Ri'mwe'ut!"

The thing flipped over Dwayne's fireball, threw one knife each at Huan and Dwayne, and landed in front of the golden doors. It kicked them open and entered the room. Huan, who had dodged the knife, drew his sword and raced into the room, where the thing was stalking Lord Kalan.

"Who are you?" The noble mage peered at the thing's visage and paled. "No, get back!" He slammed his hand on the stone desk. "Qeit!"

The desk split, and six stone blocks hurled themselves at the thing, which ducked, weaved, and closed with Lord Kalan. Huan, on the other hand, dove for cover, allowing the blocks to fly past him and onwards to the stairs behind him. His mouth went dry. Dwayne had been coming up those stairs. Concerned, Huan turned to see what had happened to the Wesen apprentice and found Dwayne still charging up the staircase. Letting out a soft laugh, Huan got to his feet and turned back to the battle behind the golden doors.

Lord Kalan was not winning. His face was ruddy and awash with sweat, and when he tried to use magic, it had a weak effect on the books and furniture in the room. Already, the thing's knife blades had laid open his arms and chest.

I can't afford that. With a roar, Huan closed the distance and slashed at the creature, drawing blood, but the thing jumped back and threw a knife, and when Huan bent left to dodge, the thing grabbed him by the collar and threw him over her shoulder into the bookshelves. While Huan sprawled under a deluge of books, the thing turned back to Lord Kalan, another knife already in its hand.

Rubbing his head, Huan pulled himself to his feet. How many knives does it have? He'd only counted four knives in the thing's belt, three black handled ones and one red handled one. It had thrown four already, and there wasn't any space for more.

"Ri'mwe'ut!"

Dwayne's fireball hit the thing in the back, and it dove to the ground, wailing and rolling. Huan leapt at it, but its rolling had put out the fire, and it double kicked him in the chest, knocking him into one of the sofas. After somersaulting to its feet, it dashed for the door.

"Ri'mwe'ut!"

The creature slid underneath Dwayne's final fireball and disappeared down the stairs.

With a barely swallowed snarl, Huan extricated himself from the sofa. "What the hell was that?"

"That was a creature of Fo." Lord Kalan leaned against the wall, pale and breathing hard. "This is much worse than I..." He collapsed.

"Sir!" Dwayne ran to Lord Kalan.

"What happened?" Sir Marcus and another soldier stomped into the room with Magdala, Mei, and a servant Huan didn't recognize close behind. The knight went to his friend. "Bart, talk to me."

Huan sheathed his sword and put his hands in his pockets. His legs went weak for a moment, and he patted his pockets to make sure. Ignoring Mei's questioning gaze, he exited the room and retraced his steps through the estate, stalking through the halls, climbing down the wall, and returning to Dwayne's work table in the yard. He searched the tabletop and the ground beneath it. Nothing.

"Damn it."

His passport was gone.

***

Her head swimming, Magdala sank down to her knees and reached out to her lord uncle, whose breathing was becoming more labored by the second.

"What. Happened?" asked Sir Marcus.

Magdala looked up.

Sir Marcus had lifted Dwayne up by his collar with one arm.

Dwayne tried to break free. "He was attacked!"

Galkin grabbed Sir Marcus's arm. "Put him down, Sir Pollum."

The knight heard Galkin's emphasis on his title and let Dwayne drop to the floor. Stepping back from the Wesen mage, he took several deep breaths then glared at the steward. "How did that thing get past security?"

Magdala pressed her fingers against her lord uncle's wrist and found a fading pulse. "No, you can't die. I- Mother will kill you if you die."

Galkin knelt next to her and examined Lord Kalan's wounds. "I recognize this." Worry creased his face. "It's nish root poisoning. Look here." He pointed to the edges of Lord Kalan's knife wounds, which had turned a deep bruised purple.

Magdala chilled. "What is that?"

"The poison killing the blood, my lady, and it will kill the man if we do not stop it."

Magdala shook her head. "That... I..."

"Lady Gallus."

"He can't die!"

Galkin grabbed Magdala's elbow. "Lady Gallus, listen. You need to synthesize a solution. I will get the necessary ingredients. Young Master Dwayne?"

Magdala glanced at the Wesen mage, who was staring at Lord Kalan, possibly not breathing. "Dwayne?"

Dwayne sucked in a breath. "Yes? How can I help?"

"Keep Lord Kalan warm, my lord." Galkin released Magdala and stood up. "Get a fire going."

The Wesen mage nodded, knelt next to Lord Kalan, and held his hand out over him.

Magdala's mouth fell open. Was he really going to do that now?

The steward frowned. "Master Dwayne, what are you-?"

"Ri'a'tha." A warm orange flame appeared over Lord Kalan's chest, its light illuminating Galkin's shock.

"You're a Ri mage." Galkin's voice shook. "A male Ri mage."

Magdala nudged the steward. "You were getting something?"

The steward shook himself, nodded, and stood up. "Watch his breathing, my lady." He ran out of the study.

Watching her lord uncle's breathing get more and more labored failed to keep Magdala's mind from racing. If her lord uncle died now, there'd be no one to take up his position here at Walcrest, and, since Dwayne hadn't been confirmed as his apprentice, he'd be deported, and Mei and her brother would be too since their passports would be revoked, and Magdala would never get to read to Mei, or feel Dwayne's warm magic ever again. The flame flickered. Magdala looked up. Even in the warm light, Dwayne's expression looked grave and resigned. Magdala wanted to say something, anything, to comfort him, but no words came out.

The study doors slammed open. "What is going on?" A woman clad in gleaming Souran steel, instead of the reds and browns of the Southern Line Garrison, marched into the room. When both Sir Marcus and Corporal Taylor saluted, Magdala peered closely at the wall and pyramid insignia that was embroidered onto the woman's sleeve. This was the commander of the Southern Line Garrison.

Sir Marcus answered the question. "Ma'am, there's been an attack."

The commander scowled. "And you're letting a foreigner do who knows what to him?" She marched forward and grabbed Dwayne's shoulder. "Get away from him, boy!"

She pulled, but Dwayne didn't budge, his eyes focused on the orange flame. Magdala bit her lip.

The commander pulled harder. "Didn't you hear me? Stop that infernal magic this instant!"

Magdala's breath caught when Dwayne's flame flickered and dimmed, but it did not go out.

Sir Marcus stepped forward. "Ma'am he's-"

"Sir Marcus, this does not require your input. Corporal, remove this slave from the room."

Grimacing, Taylor approached Dwayne, but Magdala stood up to block her.

"You will do no such thing, Corporal," she said. "This is Lord Bartholomew Kalan's apprentice, Dwayne."

The commander scoffed. "That is not possible. He's Wesen."

Sir Marcus saluted. "He is Lord Kalan's apprentice, ma'am. What's more he saved the life of my squ- young Rutters. He's one of the good ones, ma'am."

His show of deference worked, and the commander released Dwayne, her wrath refocusing on Magdala.

"Who are you?" she asked.

Behind her, Huan slipped back into the room.

Magdala put her hands on her hips just like she'd seen her mother do. "I am Lady Magdala Gallus, daughter of the Water Sage Iona Gallus and Lord Gerald Gallus. I vouch for him. Who are you?"

The commander's eyes widened, and she stood up straight. "Baron Charlotte Harvey, commander of the Southern LIne Garrison and a colonel in the Queen's Army."

Magdala looked Baron Harvey over. The title meant the commander had land somewhere, and the family name Harvey sounded northern. Baron, no, Colonel Harvey would have had to impress Magdala's father and his staff to get this post, but since Magdala had never heard of the Harveys before, the colonel wasn't from a magical family. Nevertheless, Magdala curtsied. "Apologies, Colonel."

As the commander's jaw fell open, Galkin rushed back into the study with a bunch of plants and tools in his arm. "Out of the way, my lady." He pushed Colonel Harvey aside and knelt next to Lord Kalan. He put a bowl, pestle and his ingredients down on the floor and directed Magdala to sit next to him. She complied.

Galkin pointed to a pile of flowers with blue tipped yellow petals. "This is heatherwort-" He pointed to another pile of bright pink petals. "-livid daisy petal-" He gestured to a faint green powder. "-and ilue. I will need you to fuse these together with a Qe spell."

Magdala shrank away from the ingredients. "I don't... I can't..." He was asking her to do the spell she'd failed at, the spell that had gotten her exiled to the frontier.

"My lady, Lord Kalan will die if you don't do this." He pushed the bowl and pestle closer to Magdala and then turned to Dwayne, whose eyes kept sliding to the door. "After the mixture is completely fused, it will need to be heated. Master Dwayne, please take care of that. You two can do this."

Magdala and Dwayne looked at each other. The Wesen mage looked nauseous, but he nodded.

Steeling herself, Magdala pushed herself back to the bowl and pestle. "Okay."

Taking a deep breath, she pushed the question as to how a mere steward knew so much about Qe magic aside, dropped the ingredients into the bowl, and began to mash them together using the pestle. While she worked, she whispered Nqeoum, her alchemical identification spell, over and over again. She winced. She was mixing the ingredients together but not fusing them, all while her lord uncle's shuddering breaths slowed. They had to hurry. Could she use Nqerm to force the ingredients together? No, that spell would transmute the ingredients into something else entirely. She had to use the last spell she'd casted at the academy, but if she failed this time, she'd lose her lord uncle and everything his presence held together.

As quiet as a whisper, Mei knelt next to Magdala and watched, her presence arming Magdala's fingers and silencing her doubts. Back in Yumma, she and Mei had fought for their lives, and the hunter had never once doubted Magdala. Closing her eyes, Magdala held the exact proportions of the ingredients in her mind and then said a single word. "Nqesiumut." The ingredients shivered and swirled in the bowl, but the proportions started to slip out of Magdala's grasp. Despite it all, she was going to fail.

Galkin's voice cut through her haze. "Master Dwayne, heat."

"Ri’u’po."

The bowl warmed, and the proportions reemerged and solidified. A slow double beat thrummed up from the bowl, up through the pestle into Magdala's fingers and synchronized with her own heartbeat. Opening her eyes, she saw that Dwayne's flame had turned a merry if strange jade color. She and Dwayne both smiled as the flame danced in front of them. Then the mixture was done, and Magdala had to release the spell. When she did, both she and Dwayne slumped, breathing hard.

"Very good, Lady Magdala, Master Dwayne." Galkin took the bowl out of Magdala's limp hand and applied the soft paste to Lord Kalan's wounds by the light of Dwayne's now orange flame. "Very good."

Magdala and Dwayne sat up. "What was that?" they asked Galkin.

The steward kept applying the paste. "You've made an ointment to counteract the poison. He will still need to go to the infirmary to rest, but his life is safe. Bravo."

Colonel Harvey's voice was low and heavy with relief. "Good. Corporal, go get some staff from the infirmary. Don't forget to bring a stretcher." When Taylor had disappeared down the staircase, the garrison commander turned back to Magdala and Sir Marcus. "If it wasn't him," said the colonel, gesturing to Dwayne, "then what happened here?"

Huan detached himself from the wall and stepped forward. "Some sort of dead thing attacked him. It got away."

Dwayne stood up with Sir Marcus's help and steadied himself against a sofa. Magdala pulled her cloak around her and shivered. The magic spell had taken more out of them than they expected.

Dwayne cleared his throat. "Lord Kalan mentioned a Fo creature."

Colonel Harvey's eyes tightened. "Vanurian sorcery. That foul stuff should be burned from this world."

"I do not disagree."

"Hmph." The garrison commander turned to Sir Marcus. "Lock down the city and expel the Vanurians to the other side of the Southern Line."

Magdala grabbed Mei's arm. The hunter frowned but didn't remove her hand.

Colonel Harvey didn't notice. "After that, perform a door to door search. That'll find the culprit."

Sir Marcus's eyes widened. "We don't have the numbers to do that, ma'am."

"Fine. Then call for reinforcements from the outposts."

"Ma'am, that will take time, and-"

"If Lord Gallus arrives and we've done nothing to find his brother-in-law's attacker, I will lose this post. He was already concerned about the attack two weeks ago, and if the Guardian of the Wall died under my watch too... I'm not taking any chances."

Recalling something she'd heard long ago, Magdala got to her feet, waving off Mei's attempt to help. "'An enemy deep behind unfriendly lines will be cautious, and haste will not catch a cautious enemy." She rubbed her arms to get feeling back into them.

Colonel Harvey's face turned red. "Excuse me?"

"That was a quote from my father." An idea was forming in Magdala's mind. Yes, Colonel Harvey's plan might find the culprit, but it would definitely drive away the trade and trust that Walton relied on. If they drove the Vanurians out of town, they might never come back. "We should try and catch the culprit without raising an alarm. If someone gathers more information about this attack, they could use it to catch the culprit."

Dwayne frowned. "The culprit will attack again. Possibly soon."

Colonel Harvey nodded but did not acknowledge Dwayne. "It's better to take quick, decisive action."

Magdala shook her head. "If this was the prelude to a major attack on the Southern Line, then reinforcements would only weaken our defenses elsewhere. We need to know more."

"This is stupid." Huan threw his hands up and walked to the door. "I'll find them myself." He left.

Sir Marcus cursed under his breath. "I'll get him." He followed the thief out the door.

Mei left too. Magdala understood that. Huan was her brother.

And Lord Kalan was her uncle. "I'll find the assassin," said Magdala.

Colonel Harvey's eyes goggled. "Excuse me?"

Magdala nodded to the steward. "Galkin, please give me a list of where someone could get the ingredients for nish root poison, and I'll look around town and see if we can track down the culprit. I'm a Magistrium trained nQe mage; I know more about the ingredients than any of your soldiers."

Colonel Harvey raised an eyebrow. "You plan to do this alone?"

"Who else can?"

"The Tuquese girl for one. I don't trust her brother even half as far as I can throw him, but she seems more than capable."

"I don't need-"

"And Corporal Taylor will serve as your bodyguard."

"What?"

"You are Lord and Lady Gallus's daughter. I am not letting you get hurt." The colonel stood to attention. "Lady Gallus, you will take the Tuquese girl and search for the assassin. Report to Sir Marcus with anything you find. You have three days. Understood?"

Magdala opened her mouth, fully intending to protest, but instead said, "Yes, ma'am."

The garrison commander nodded then swept out of the study. As medical staff started to bundle Lord Kalan up for transport to the infirmary, Magdala turned to Dwayne. "I can't believe I just volunteered to do that. I hope this turns out better than- Dwayne?"

The Wesen mage looked green.

"Dwayne, are you okay?"

Galkin patted Dwayne on the back. "Lord Gallus is arriving here in three days, my lady. I expect that Lord Kalan will not have fully recovered by then so..."

Magdala gasped. "Someone will have to receive them. Dwayne, I can do-"

"No, find the assassin." Dwayne still looked sick, but his voice was steady. "I'll prepare to receive one of the most powerful men in Soura. It's my duty after all."