By the time the trial actually happened, rumors and public opinion toward UNLV was at an all-time low. Considering that the college had only existed in the Capital for a little over a month, two weeks of which Dom and I had been systematically dismantling its reputation, that wasn’t as satisfying to me as maybe having found a single reporter in Vegas who would have taken on the college with my real story.
“Order!” the king’s scepter smacked the marble floor at the foot of his throne, grabbing the crowd’s attention. The real Alma Greyn knelt beside me on that very hard marble floor twenty feet from the throne. I, of course, sported my swirling facial features, but Alma’s clothes had been a little worse for wear until I’d cast a clean and repair on them. Now she looked like the haughty bitch she was with her flowing nightgown outfit that left little to the imagination. It had been what she was wearing that night, so it was what she wore now.
Disguise +1
Mischief +1
Exp +20 (5,790/788,209)
The crowd quieted under the king’s stern gaze.
“We are here to hear testimony from these two women and any witnesses that are willing to come forward on the case of the stolen familiars, stolen identity, kidnapping, and illegal magic use,” the king proclaimed. “Alma Greyn, come forward and state your case.”
“Yes, sire,” I made to rise just as Alma surged to her feet.
“That is not Alma Greyn,” Alma shouted above the confusion. “I am Alma Greyn and I will speak for myself.”
I did my job. I flinched away from the woman’s flinging arms, turning my face so that the crowd could see the grotesque image. Crowd sees woman with a healthy face terrorize a whimpering one. Check.
Acting +1
Exp +10 (5,800/788,209)
“We are here to determine just which one of you is the real Alma,” the king reprimanded the standing woman, whose face turned red and splotched.
“Ask my colleagues,” she waved her hand at the handful of UNLV staff who had come for the show. “They know me. This is me.”
“Is that alright with you?” the king asked my cowering form in a soft, kind voice.
I nodded mutely and timidly, clutching my fingers in my lap and fitfully twisting the soiled garments I’d been wearing when chained to the wall.
Acting +1
Exp +10 (5,810/788,209)
“Are there any mages who would stand and discern the differences in these women?” the king called into the gallery. The official throne room was huge with row after row of padded benches that were packed with local nobles. The lower ranks, including Dom, who was leaning casually against a pillar near the front, were squished into every other open space. If there had been a fire, we’d have all died, the fire code limit of people that would have been in our old world more than tripled with this crowd. It looked like a mosh pit more than a courtroom crowd, but that worked in my favor.
Two professors stood at once, spent a moment graciously offering the other first say, and then resulted in a man I knew to be a close friend of Alma’s in the old world. I really didn’t know how all this would play out. I’d done it totally differently the first time. Deals had been made in private chambers after mass destruction had left the nobility with little choice but to replace the college staff with my handpicked minions. But why dominate the same way twice? One, that would be boring, but also, I’d learned I couldn’t count on that sort of thing. The king’s reaction to me and Dom had taught me that I couldn’t rely on my knowledge of a previous loop to discern what might happen this time around. So I’d stacked the deck in a different scenario, but had I stacked it enough?
Luck +1
“Would you say that you know the real Alma Greyn well enough to discern her from a fake?” the king asked the man.
“I am Dr. Hurlfurl, a professor of symbolic logic at the Universal Neophyte Leveling Venue,” the old coot was one step from get-off-my-lawn-ville, which is to say that he ran his symbolic logic class with dogmatic forward movement and was about to retire so he didn’t care if anyone liked him or not. “I know Alma Greyn as well as any of us, I suppose.”
“Russ, thank God,” Alma turned to the stern face, and I only flinched slightly at the invocation she didn’t realize she’d made. “Tell these people the truth.”
“The truth, dear woman, shall reveal itself,” the stern Dr. Hurlfurl stated without emotion. The chosen professors were meant to unravel my lies, and I could feel Fizzbarren’s hand in the professors that sat as witnesses. Could Fizzbarren use up some mana and destroy the whole plot? Perhaps, but Fizzbarren arrogantly believed in his machine’s ability to write a story, not just humiliate me. As long as my antics provided that story, I was hoping Fizzbarren would opt for allowing the story to unfold.
“What?” the shock on Alma Greyn’s face almost made me snicker, but even if I did, the twisted facial features wouldn’t reveal any intended expression. My nose was hanging out near where my eyebrows would have met, which might be close but it was upside down.
Acting +1
Exp +10 (5,820/788,209)
“I have prepared a list of questions that the true Alma Greyn should be able to answer quite easily,” Hurlfurl addressed the king rather than Alma, pulling out a scroll that probably contained his list.
“Fine,” Alma’s chin rose, and her lips pursed. “I can answer anything on there.”
“We had lunch recently,” Hurlfurl’s raised eyebrows reminded me of flapping pigeon wings. “What day was it and what did we eat?”
“We ate lunch together at the alumni picnic on Wednesday where I ate an egg sandwich, and I believe you had pastrami,” Alma nearly crowed, sure she’d cleared herself.
“And you, young lady?” Hurlfurl directed the question at me. “Is she correct?”
“I wouldn’t know,” I admitted in a small voice and there were gasps that I had to let die down before I continued. “I was chained up in my basement for the past four weeks by this woman who looks like I used to look.”
Acting +2
Exp +20 (5,840/788,209)
The clamor that pulsed through the gallery was nothing compared to the very flummoxed look on Hurlfurl’s face. Of course, none of his questions dated to a time before four weeks because they hadn’t been in this world before then. Their carefully prepared exposé was useless.
“Do you have any questions from before that time?” the king asked Hurlfurl and the question hung in the air like a bomb as people poked at the spell in their minds.
Perception +1
“I know that Dr. Hurlfurl had a dog when he was younger,” I spoke up. “His son was in the military during the war and his knee still ails him once in a while when the weather is wet.”
Don’t ask how I knew these things about my old professors. Let’s just say that I was easy to talk to. We could also say that Dom paid well for information about them. Between the two, we knew more than enough personal details to pass this test of theirs. We’d just had to discard the details from the past four weeks.
“I also know that Dr. Shamsky and her assistant Brian Taverpi are having an affair,” I blurted out. “All the staff knows about it but won’t admit it. Brian filed a harassment suit, but it was dismissed and Dr. Shamsky was promoted to the head of her department. How could I know that if I wasn’t staff?”
Acting +1
Exp +10 (5,850/788,209)
A half dozen shocked pairs of eyes were glued to my swirling face. This was only one secret that the staff didn’t think got leaked to the students. People talk. I tended to blend into the woodwork when my face didn’t make me look like a total freak. I could see their minds whirl. Dr. Shamsky wasn’t one of those in attendance and Brian had never come over to this world, having been dismissed for downsizing reasons, but I could tell I’d hit a nerve.
Perception +1
Luck +1
“Dr. Surgio and lab coordinator Joshua Dunes have doctored student exams, covering for each other to try to flunk students they don’t like,” I started, causing Josh Dunes to surge to his feet.
“We are convinced,” Dr. Surgio pushed her way toward the front, trying to get Dunes to sit back down as she did it. “The true Alma Greyn is on her knees and has suffered enough at the hands of this imposter.”
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Are these claims of tampering true?” the king turned his attention to Dr. Surgio.
“Of course not,” Dr. Surgio claimed, smiling her most subduing expression.
“Then this is not the correct Alma?” the king pointed to me.
“No!” came Dunes' denial, even as several of his colleagues shushed him.
“I am the real Alma,” Alma asserted into the chaos. “I would never expose potentially scandalous college business in such a public forum.”
“You are saying that these claims of test tampering are true?” the king pressed, acting very confused.
“No,” came several denials from UNLV staff, who were more apparent now that they were cooperatively protesting. There were more than twenty different tones, so many of the college had shown up.
Luck +1
“These are internal matters,” Hurlfurl tried to break in with logic. “I assure you that the college will look into these claims and apply the appropriate punishment to those involved.”
I searched the crowd for Burnt or Hammock. I needed them involved in this.
“I’m not sure these are internal matters,” the king insisted as I found Burnt sitting behind Dunes with his hand on the young man’s shoulder, whispering in his ear.
Perception +1
Luck +1
“I’m sorry, sire,” I got clumsily to my bare feet that were newly encrusted with what little vile sewage grime we could find after several clean quests. “I should not have told college secrets, but,” and I turned my plea directly to Burnt, “surely you must know me now, Dr. Burnt. You told me to keep my mouth shut but I didn’t think anyone would believe me.”
Acting +2
Exp +20 (5,870/788,209)
“I would have kept my mouth shut,” the real Alma tossed into the confusion, but almost no one heard her.
“I didn’t tell them about you being in the basement with us, but I will if you don’t clear this up!” I wailed at both Burnt and Hammock who was two rows further back with her arms crossed. “I swear I’ll tell them all about you and Hammock and the dark rituals!”
Acting +3
Exp +30 (5,900/788,209)
Hammock took the bait, surging to her feet, hands on her hips. “That is quite enough. I won’t be made a fool of by what is probably some failed student who doesn’t like the grades she’s gotten from a professor.”
Luck +1
“This is hardly the forum for a prank gone very very wrong,” Burnt stood to lend his weight to the arguments being wildly thrown around. Jackpot. “Can I suggest, sire, that we retire to somewhere more private where we can mete out an appropriate punishment or maybe some counseling for what is obviously a very sick young person.”
Luck +2
I broke down in sobs. “I can’t believe you’re leaving me to the dogs!”
Acting +3
Exp +30 (5,930/788,209)
“I’m very disturbed by all this,” the king said, sitting back in his throne as if unsure how to proceed. I was pretty sure that his shoulders were shaking with repressed laughter. “Imposters and stolen familiars is looking more and more like the tip of the iceberg than the actual problem. I’m not inclined to try to hide such behavior in what is supposed to be a place instilling morals on young minds.”
“This is all smoke and mirrors, sire,” Burnt insisted, his arms spreading wide. “It is meant to cause doubt on our fine institution. Let us retire to privacy before this reckless damage goes too far.”
“Stealing and kidnapping are hardly reckless accusations,” the king pointed out, not falling for Burnt’s twisted wording.
Luck +1
“You can’t steal someone’s familiar anyway,” Hammock inserted. “It is only those who are uneducated in magic who would believe such a thing.” Get them to insult the king. Check.
Luck +1
“That’s what I thought when they stormed my house, sire,” and my comment stilled more than half the room while enraging the other half. They’d all been waiting for this explanation.
“Absurd,” Burnt scoffed at us, but the king rapped his scepter on the floor to stop the interrupters.
“Please explain,” the king said kindly to me, then sent a warning glare at the rest of the room. “I’ll hear the words from the mouth of the woman that you all admitted is the real Alma Greyn.” Have it accepted as fact that I was the true Alma Greyn. Check.
Luck +1
“I don’t admit that at all,” Hammock dared to speak. Half-checked? Good enough, we’d just railroad the rest of that point home next.
“I’ll send the next interrupter to the dungeon for the night,” the king pointed his staff-like scepter at Hammock, who sat down in a huff. “Go ahead,” he said to me. Check.
Luck +1
“Two mages that I thought I knew and trusted came to my house for dinner supposedly to discuss what classes I would be doing this term,” I explained to the hushed room. I shook from the nerves of so many eyes on me, but it only added to my aura of brokenness, so I didn’t shut it down. “The moment I’d let them into my house, they wrested my spell book from me and bound my magic like I was some errant student. I was furious, but my magic just wouldn’t work so I couldn’t defend myself.
“I called my familiar to me, but they just laughed and shoved my beloved dog into a cage. I had thought it was impossible, but they used my familiar to make it look like she was me,” I insisted over Alma’s muttering that she didn’t even have a familiar.
Acting +4
Exp +40 (5,970/788,209)
“Who did?” the king asked.
“I’m afraid to say, sire,” I trembled on cue.
Acting +2
Exp +20 (5,990/788,209)
“As long as you tell me their names, I can protect you,” he insisted.
I shook my head mutely, darting fearful glances back at Hammock and Burnt. Check.
Acting +1
Exp +10 (6,000/788,209)
“Tell me the rest then,” the king’s tone became more stern as he too leveled his gaze at the two we all knew I was targeting. People sitting next to Hammock slid an inch away from her, but she rolled her eyes at them. Remember how they’d made up whatever story they wanted to make me come to heel at the old world’s college? Remember how they’d trumped up charges against me for years? Good.
“They chained me to the basement wall and closed it up so no one would find me,” I warmed up to my tale and tried to tell it carefully. “They painted demon symbols on the floor, which the guards saw when they found me.”
Acting +1
Exp +10 (6,010/788,209)
“Are those guards here?” the king asked, just as my two saviors stepped forward with affirming nods. “Go on.”
Luck +1
“They tried to talk me into joining them that first night, but when I refused, they said they’d just steal my magic and do it anyway. They intended to summon a demon to attack the church and take it over so that they would be the only power in the kingdom. They stole the familiars to suck the magic from their owners and feed it into the summoning circle. They were so close. Once the demon took over the church, they were going to de-de-de-throne you and take over the kingdom with them as the new leaders of both the church and college.”
Acting +3
Exp +30 (6,040/788,209)
I broke down into tears. “You don’t know the horrible things they did to me. Every night, my sweet familiar would escape their cages and go out to our yard. I could hear him barking and barking all night long. She would kick him and drag him back in only for him to escape again and bark for help.”
Acting +2
Exp +20 (6,060/788,209)
“We have been called to the residence many times for a disturbance,” the guard admitted when called forward by the king, his partner nodding in assent. “We just thought the woman had a loud dog. We asked her to keep him under control, but she would just shout at us that she was a powerful mage and could do as she pleased.”
“We’d gotten some intel that it was maybe more than the issue of a dog out of control,” the second guard told the king. “That was why we went there that night. The dog in question was collapsed in a heap on the floor and we worried that maybe it was dead when we heard more animal noises coming from the basement.”
“We investigated and found this demon circle and more than thirty animals in cages,” the first took over the story. “This brave woman was in chains and clearly had been beaten near to death. She directed us to where this other woman had the key to her chains, and we released her.”
“You didn’t think it might be dangerous to release this woman?” the king asked, pointing at me.
“No, sire,” the first guard chuckled at the thought. “She was barely alive, and slumped almost helplessly into our arms when we released her. She still found the courage and strength to grab a nearby rag and scrub at the markings on the floor.”
“What happened next?” the king asked the second guard to continue.
“The animals in the cages disappeared,” the second guard complied.
“They returned to their magic-users,” I explained. “The familiars were trapped by the very spell that was summoning the demon. The strength of those familiars as well as their magic-users were being drained into the summoning circle, but the magic-users must have summoned them at some point to try to retrieve them.”
Acting +1
Exp +10 (6,070788,209)
“We saw posters of missing familiars going up all over the neighborhood,” the first guard shrugged. “We kept an eye out for them, but we didn’t see any pets around that neighborhood except for that woman’s loud dog.”
“We’re really sorry that we didn’t investigate further, sooner,” the second guard directed the comment at me.
“I’m just glad that you caught all this in time,” I rushed to reassure him. “I’ve seen summoning circles like this but only in our deepest archives. That demon would have done far more damage than they had bargained for. It was sheer hubris for them to think they could control it enough to make it do their bidding. I’m ashamed of them for trying.”
Acting +3
Exp +30 (6,100/788,209)
“This is beyond ridiculous, sire!” Hammock burst out, only to be summarily taken to the dungeon for the rest of the trial. Check. I got one of them.
Luck +2
“These are serious claims,” the king stated over the crowd as it came to order again. “Is there any further proof that you can give us?”
“I can summon my familiar,” I offered after feigning some deep thought. “Then you’d know that it was my dog that was making all the racket in an effort to warn us of the plot against the throne.”
“Where is the dog now?” the king asked the nearby guards.
“We had it healed up and then housed it in the royal kennels,” the guard remarked. The dog wasn’t there anymore, but let me assure you that it is happy and healthy in a good home much closer to Siff than the capital. I’m not a monster.
“Why haven’t you summoned it before now?” Alma tried to poke the hole in my story. “If it’s your familiar, you could have summoned it at any time.”
Luck +1
“Because you have my spell book,” I stated, glad that she’d set it up so perfectly.
The shock on her face did some wonderful things to my heart.
“Hand over the spell book,” the king commanded Alma, who only had her own spell book.
“It’s my spell book, not hers,” Alma protested, fear finally entering her eyes.
“Then she shouldn’t be able to use it,” Hurlfurl pointed out what they all believed.
“I’ll be helpless without it,” Alma sputtered.
“Like I was?” I challenged her.
Acting +1
Subtlety +1
Exp +20 (6,120/788,209)
Alma reluctantly handed her spell book to Hurlfurl who then handed it to me. The real Alma turned furious eyes on all of her colleagues, betrayal being a new feeling for the woman. I took the spell book and you know how I’d recently learned to cast two different spells at the same time? I used that. Remember when they tried to block my spells by taking my spell book and casting a binding spell on me? I learned that and used it too. What goes around comes around.
Duel Spell Wielding +2
Exp +20 (6,140/788,209)
Terra appeared beside me just as every spell was erased from Alma’s spell book. Terra didn’t look like Terra. Terra looked like a slightly misshapen collie complete with a high-pitched yip that actually came from nearby Spite because Terra had never managed to imitate it as well as Dom’s crows.
“Alma Greyn,” the king pronounced, standing to add weight to the proclamation, “I hereby convict you of crimes against the crown.”
Luck +2
The announcement was met with a clamor that nearly shook the marble tiles out of the floor. In the confusion of a lot of noise that was amplified by Dom’s most trusted men and their familiars, the real Alma Greyn disappeared into our clutches. Obtain the real Alma Greyn’s body. Almost check.