Hands seized Orrin the moment he appeared in the building that housed the entrance to the Mistwater Lanterns. Using [Way of the Water], he disengaged from the grasp of two different people and rolled to his side. His [Ward] was still active and his twin fire and ice swords materialized in his grip.
“Casimir, stand down.”
Graem’s voice called out from behind a dozen guards but Orrin couldn’t see him. Two of the guards pinned Sloane to the ground. She kept still and didn’t resist.
“Professor Graem? What’s going on?” Orrin risked a glance at his [Map]. Sloane appeared as grey again, meaning that Rhys must have dissolved the party when he got back. “Why are these guys attacking me?”
“Nobody is attacking you,” Graem said, stepping out from behind two of the bigger guards standing by the door out of the building. “We didn’t know who would be coming through. Every group is being detained as they leave until we get to the bottom of the Tonsa incident.”
“Did Rhys and Iona make it out?”
A flash of emotions battled on Graem’s usually bored face. “They’re alive.”
Orrin dropped the point of his swords and relaxed a bit. “Someone tried to kill Iona and the rest of us. I went back to save Sloane after we—”
“You can give your report in a more secure location. We are removing everyone from the dungeon and bringing them in for questioning. That includes you two. Drop the summoned swords, Casimir. You have nothing to fear from us.”
Orrin felt something off in Graem’s words but no pointed hostility. The guards standing near him held a relaxed stance. Only two held cudgels out and nobody drew steel. He slowly placed his swords on the ground and kicked them away. “What do we do now?”
Orrin followed Graem’s directions as they were marched out of the squat building. The guards loaded Sloane into a covered wagon with bars on the door. Orrin moved to step on as well when Graem touched his elbow and shook his head.
“You’ll come with me.”
Within the hour, Orrin sat in a plush seat in Graem’s office. Graem poured a drink from a decanter and threw it back before filling two more glasses. He placed the drink in front of Orrin before sitting down across from him. “Tell me everything that happened.”
Orrin complied, telling Graem about the normal parts of the dungeon and fighting Skylight Anglers. He left out how many he’d taken out himself but kept mostly to the truth. He recounted how Sloane and Hamish left them and the subsequent attack on Iona. He told Graem about the attitude of Rhys after being saved and finding Sloane half-dead. As he rehashed Sloane’s story, Graem held up his hand.
“That’s enough.” Graem finished his drink and pointed at Orrin’s untouched glass. “Do you mind?”
“You don’t care what she said? If you are interrogating her, you should know what she told me. You can check for inconsistencies.” Orrin watched as the liquor disappeared down Graem’s throat. “It was probably Hamish who slipped the coin into Iona’s bag. She said he died but he might have made it out too.”
“He won’t… didn’t… oh fuck it. Hamish is dead no matter what,” Graem said, rubbing his hand through his hair in frustration. “Stay away from this. You’re lucky to be alive, Casimir. You made it out. Go to class. Tell people… nothing. Just say you’ve been told not to discuss anything that happened in the dungeon.”
“You know something,” Orrin accused the man.
Graem sighed and reached over the back of his chair, grabbing the amber bottle. “Drop it.”
Orrin didn’t like being ignored. He was tired. He’d risked his life for experience and was used to that after the past few months. He’d also risked his life for his new friends and was finding that didn’t bother him as much, either.
However, he’d also risked his life to bring back Sloane. He knew a part of himself did that for good reasons but a larger piece just wanted answers. Graem’s hypothesis that someone was going to try and kill Rhys had been right. If he didn’t care to know the particulars of Sloane’s story, it could only mean one of two things. Either Graem already knew what she’d say or it didn’t matter what she said.
“Is Sloane still alive?”
Graem took a pull from the liquor bottle. Orrin snapped his fingers so Graem knew it was him. The headmaster of the most powerful mage school in the world spat liquid from his mouth. “What did you do to my whiskey?”
“Removed all the impurities until it was water. Answer my question, Graem.”
Orrin’s collar burned and he choked as he was pulled back off his chair by an invisible hand around his neck. His feet knocked the chair over as he flew through the air and landed hard against the stone wall behind him. Orrin reached for his throat and scratched at the metal, his feet trying to find purchase on the ground inches below him.
[Mind Bastion] roared into force, grabbing at his options. Graem’s use of the collar was unexpected in the moment but not something Orrin hadn’t considered. His fingers tore the skin around the metal as he dug for purchase. If he could grab underneath and pull, his increased strength might be enough to break the metal. It was risky but any attempt to fully attack Graem would likely end in Orrin’s death.
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His nuclear option wouldn’t help him in this situation. He could buy another Administrator skill and take away Graem’s class or abilities, but he didn’t know what would happen after. When he used Assign Class on Amir, his friend accepted the change. What if he took away Graem’s class but not his levels? What if he was wrong about what Reset Class did? Even if he survived the moment, Graem would still wield the authority of the school. He might not be able to remove his collar.
His only real option was groveling for mercy but Orrin would rather risk the collar exploding and taking them both out. His [Ward] was up, along with every variation of the spell he had. If anyone would survive, it would be him. It was an option he’d considered for a while but never thought to actually try until now.
Orrin’s left pointer finger slid under the metal.
“No, stop!” Graem yelled, dropping his hand. Orrin slid down the wall and landed in a crumbled pile of limbs on the floor. “I shouldn’t have done that. Don’t kill yourself.”
Orrin got two fingers of his right hand under the collar as well and began to pull.
“I’ll answer your questions, you idiot. Don’t be stupid. I made a mistake.” Graem reached up and tried to pull Orrin’s hands down. “What is this? How are you so strong?”
Orrin shouldered Graem away, keeping his fingers under the collar. “I can break it. I don’t know what it’ll do but I can do it. I’ve played this game for too long. Take it off or I’ll take the chance.”
“Calm down. I’ll tell you what I know and you can decide what you want to do. It might be better if I take that collar off you and let you disappear anyway. I don’t want to kill anyone tonight.”
Orrin stopped pulling the metal apart. Despite his threat, he wasn’t sure he could pull the collar apart with his strength. It was magically reinforced. He could feel the magic strengthening the substance under his fingers.
“Are you going to kill Sloane? Even though you know she isn’t the one who attacked Rhys?” Orrin took a step back and kept his hands up, ready to try again.
“Officially, Sloane tried to escape after confessing to the attempted murder of Rhys Tonsa and his party inside the dungeon. She is likely dead or will be dead shortly.” Graem picked up the diluted whiskey and growled before throwing it at the opposite wall. He went behind his desk and started ruffling through his drawers. “You are to be cleared of any involvement, with lots of tedious paperwork confirming you saved the young man’s life. Lady Tonsa and your mysterious benefactor are going to meet to discuss a reward, at which point, your mission regarding the Tonsa boy is complete.”
Orrin plopped down in the chair. “She’s innocent, Graem. It was Hamish. There was someone else on floor five. They waited until we were close to the doorway and popped out to attack. If we can find them—”
“You naïve child,” Graem said, slamming his top drawer shut and moving to another. He sighed in relief and pulled out another bottle, this one with a reddish hue. He drank half the bottle and sat in his desk chair. “Hamish isn’t from Veskar. Sloane is…was. Her attack against Rhys and your attempts to keep him safe will push Lady Tonsa straight into Annabella’s trap. With a common enemy in Veskar, the people of Mistlight will turn their attention away from the elves to the West. An international incident like this might make the other families evaluate their stance on which Sanerris is on top.”
Orrin’s mind raced as he followed Graem’s explanation. “But Sloane was almost dead. I brought her back. If I hadn’t, there would be no body, no proof.”
Graem shook his head. “No, it didn’t matter what happened. Once you entered that dungeon, any outcome was a win for Annabella. Sloane was one scapegoat. If you or Iona died, evidence could be planted. Double agents, working for Lord Sanerris. If Rhys died, it would be her son’s fault. Annabella secured the Tonsa vote tonight. You got lucky. According to Sloane, Hamish died in the dungeon which wraps up that loose end. Sloane is the easier one to pin everything on. Mostly because you are controllable. Even if you started shouting from the streets what happened, nobody would believe a first-year student. Not that you’d be able to. With the collar on, I’m supposed to control you.”
“Try it.” Orrin clenched his fingers around the armrests.
Graem held up his hands. “Like I said, I’m not killing anyone tonight and I’m not pushing you when you are so obviously on edge. Go sleep. Skip your classes today. Nobody will blame you.”
“If Annabella planned all this, she’s not going to let me go. Why are you telling me all this?” Orrin felt a pit in his stomach even as he asked. “Insurance.”
“She did say you were smart,” Graem pulled another long drink from his bottle and frowned at the empty bottom. “Damn it.”
“She won’t kill you. You’re her helper.”
“I know things. If asked to stand in front of a tribunal and a [Mind Mage] or [Reader] is brought up, I’m fucked and so is she. I’m not protected like one of the big families. I’d have to let them in and once they read my mind, she’d be screwed. I didn’t know everything until you were already inside the dungeon, but that won’t matter. I’d be executed for plotting against the Tonsa family.”
Orrin was still unsure about a few issues. “You knew someone was trying to assassinate Rhys and told your sister. She set the party. She works for Annabella, too.”
Graem moved to his bookshelf and took a thick book off. Throwing it on the table, he pulled a few more from the same row out until a small hatch was revealed. Flicking the latch, he pulled out a small pipe and some leaves. Orrin watched as he began to fill the pipe.
“I reached that conclusion with faulty data.” Graem lit the pipe and took a puff. “While you were in the dungeon, our little plan worked. Your vandal went back. It was a local second-story worker… a thief. He gave up his client, Willa Cohee. She’s a classmate that you pissed off somehow. When I confronted her, she confessed almost immediately. She seemed proud actually. It was momentarily enjoyable to expel her. But she wasn’t involved in trying to kill Rhys. She knew nothing behind not liking you.”
Graem smiled languidly as his drugs kicked in. “I started to think I was wrong about someone being after Rhys and went back to my sister. Turns out various people had paid for group selections this month. I can’t prove it yet but I’m sure Annabella positioned it so Hamish and Sloane wouldn’t have a full party, so when Rhys joined, they were the only front-line fighters left. For some reason, Lady Tonsa wanted her son in your party. I don’t know why but she paid Wren to connect you.”
Orrin rubbed his eyes. He’d kept watch for the few hours Rhys and Iona slept and it was early morning now. “Rhys was ordered to join the dungeon run and make friends with me. He knows I work for Annabella but his mom told him to connect with me for some reason. Annabella said something about this dungeon run costing her something. Maybe I’m the something.”
“This is going to cost everybody a lot more now. If Lady Sanerris is trying to start a war with Veskar, that isn’t something I want to be a part of no matter the intelligence she gives me.”
Orrin wanted to ask what kind of information she could offer him that he couldn’t find in his library but pounding on the door interrupted him before he could ask.
“Professor Graem, the prisoner escaped. She died trying to breach the city walls.” The voice on the other side of the door yelled.
Graem closed his eyes and inhaled deeply on his pipe. “You better get back to your dorm, Casimir. It’s going to be an interesting next few days.”