Alistair paced back and forth in the waiting area while one of Felix’s Baronblades looked on.

Ghost: I don’t know. I honestly don’t know why Lysander is here, of all fucking people, but as I’ve told you before, we will deal with him when the time comes.

Alistair: Haven’t we done enough already, ruining his career?

Ghost: If you ask me, we haven’t ruined enough yet. And if he is here, and that means all this goes much deeper than we thought. You are being watched. Don’t forget that, Alistair. Relax. Sit on the couch. Act nonchalant. Close your eyes and pretend to take a nap.

Alistair sat. He wasn’t afraid of Lysander, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that what he had done with the Card of Rumors had somehow been discovered. He also was still reliving what happened back at the platform, how sudden and violent it had been.

As he remained seated, he tried to think of this in the way that Ghost would think of it. How could Lysander have discovered his treachery in the first place? That part was easy to consider. There was a lot that he didn’t know about resonant mana. Like the manapool that it changed the nature of his face, perhaps using the Card of Rumors had some residual effect that Lysander was able to track down.

But wouldn’t this simply impress Felix?

Alistair didn’t trust Kanda’s creepy uncle, but he had seen enough of the man to know that starting a malicious rumor about a professor may actually excite the troubled asshole. Not quite to his credit, but to his credit enough, Felix didn’t seem to share the same disdain for orphans. Another thing: the documents that Kanda and Alistair had discovered didn’t have anything to do with Felix, but they did have something to do with the Undergast family.

Alistair let out a deep sigh. He looked over at the short Baronblade man standing guard. “How much longer?”

“You will know when it is time.”

“Why are you here?”

“Guarding you, sir. It is something Mr. Bancroft extends to all his honored guests.” The Baronblade bowed to him.

“How am I an honored guest? I’m just a kid at a magic academy.”

“I do not make these decisions.”

To test the man, Alistair kicked his feet up onto the table. This didn’t seem to bother him.

Ghost: Antagonizing him is certainly a strategy, but it isn’t a strategy that’s necessary in our current setting. He is being honest with you. Felix often has his little army accompany his guests. It is for your protection and an intimidation tactic. Felix meets with people that others want to kill.

Alistair: Are you suggesting someone wants to kill me?

Ghost: I’m certain there are few people by now.

Later, after about thirty minutes, a pair of Baronblades came to receive Alistair. They didn’t say anything as they led him down a hallway and out into a large garden, where a long table had been set up. Cleverly placed lanterns had been strung from the trees above, creating a cozy atmosphere, one shattered by Felix, who sat at the end of the table, as he often did. Next to him was Senka, and beside her, an empty place, Goran nowhere to be found.

“Ah, Blackstar, please.” Felix motioned to the chair beside Senka.

As soon as he was in his seat, Professor Lysander and whom Alistair assumed was Dario Undergast, were escorted to the table.

Dario resembled an aged version of Laertes and his older brother. He was hunched over, his thin blonde hair and combed back, his nose large and crooked. The more Alistair took him in, the more he realized just how truly ugly the man was, but that was nothing compared to the way he looked at Alistair. The sheer disdain in his eyes was something Alistair couldn’t remember seeing in a person, such hatred.

“Good,” Felix said as a pig on a platter was brought to the table. A pair of waiters in leather Baronblade masks cut portions of the pig and distributed them while another waitress continued bringing more dishes to be passed around.

Stuffed in the pig’s mouth was an apple, one that Alastair couldn’t look away from.

“This is very good,” Felix said, the man loving the tension at the table.

It was tangible by this point, which was one reason Alistair kept staring at the apple. He didn’t know why he was there, but he could feel the harsh gaze of the two men sitting across from him boring a hole through his forehead.

Did they know what he had done with the card? He would find out soon enough.

Ghost: Act casual.

There it was, the voice in his head, the one that he knew would actually help in a situation like this.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Alistair tried to breathe, to relax.

Ghost: They can’t do anything to you, not now. Senka wouldn’t allow it. How do I know that she is on our side? I don’t, and she isn’t. But this would be a stupid way to kill you if they wanted to do something like that. Always think logically in a situation like this. What would be the point? Do you see what I’m saying here? There would be no point. You’re not worth it.

Alistair: What?

Ghost: I don’t mean that in a mean way. If they wanted you dead, Senka would have done something back at the Academy. Why bring you all the way here? This is about something else. This is about one of those two men. So your best option will be to keep quiet, to let them do all the talking, and to be respectful. Gather information. Remember, that’s why we are here.

Alistair: Got it.

Ghost: I notice that you have been arguing less with me. Well, slightly. Smart on your part.

Alistair: there’s no point when you’re right.

“Blackstar,” Lysander said, “not at all what I was expecting when you said there’d be a surprise guest.”

Felix took over from there. “Since you are under investigation at the Academy for your work in preventing orphans from joining next year, Professor, I thought it would be important for both of you and Dario to meet one of these orphans.”

“Is this some kind of joke?” Lysander asked Felix. He turned to Dario. “You brought me here as a joke?”

“No, I brought you here because he asked me to bring you here.” Dario motioned to Felix.

“Please, everyone, let’s eat.” Felix made a point of cutting into his pork. He took a bite of it and nodded. “Very good, moist. I like the new chef around here. The old one just didn’t make the cut. Now, where were we? Continue, Lysander or Dario, I don’t care, tell us why you oppose the inclusion of orphans.” He swallowed. “Please, I’m all ears.”

Dario seemed nervous. Alistair picked up on this through the way the rich man kept glancing left and right. There was a power dynamic here that he didn’t fully understand, yet he recognized that Felix held a different kind of power over Dario, no matter how rich the man was.

Fear.

And rather than be scared of it, Alistair was fascinated by the way it seemed to control Dario’s gestures and demeanor as he sat there fidgeting in his seat. It was the opposite of Lysander, who scooped some scalloped potatoes onto his plate and started eating, confident, even though he should have been terrified.

“Right, this is supposed to be family-style,” Felix said. “Dario, hand me the potatoes. Senka, the carrots. Pass those around.”

The potatoes and carrots went around, followed by a baked oyster dish that was unlike any food Alistair had seen yet, the oysters with orange roe piled atop.

“Well?” Felix asked the two men seated to his right. “We have one of the orphans here, a strapping young lad if there ever was one. Tell us why he is not worthy of attending the Academy. Either of you will do. Do not make me ask again. Really, I’m curious.”

“Tradition is important,” Lysander said with a grunt. “The Lumina Battledeck Academy is one of the most prestigious in our kingdom. If we start letting in riffraff, the enemy will win. I have nothing against the boy, but he is not cut out to be a mage.”

“Did you say the enemy will win?” Felix drank a bit of wine. He shook his head and snapped his fingers. A waiter appeared with two bottles. Felix examined them carefully before selecting the one on the left. A glass was poured for him. He swirled the wine, smelled it, tasted it a little, swirled it again, smacked his lips, and nodded. “And who might that enemy be, Professor?”

“The Dracolich Empire.”

Felix finished his wine. “I don’t think I am out of line here when I say that you have bigger enemies than that, Professor.”

“What are you getting at?”

Felix grinned at the professor. “I’m always getting at something, aren’t I?”

Alistair dropped his fork as Goran stepped up behind Lysander. While Goran wore a Baronblade mask, it was clear who he was. Goran was the largest man that Alistair had ever seen before. He would recognize him anywhere.

By this point, the professor had started to laugh as Dario looked on nervously. “Really, Mr. Undergast. You bring me to a petty assassin’s home, to a dinner with a useless orphan, all to tell me we have a bigger enemy than the one on our border? Bullshit.” Lysander snorted. “This has to be some sort of joke. You are not serious people.”

Goran clapped his hands over Lysander’s ears. Mana flared up around Professor Lysander, but only for a moment as Goran squeezed the man’s head, his fingers poking into his eyes until blood ran down the professor’s face, followed by a cracking sound as Goran crushed the man’s face.

Goran stepped back and Lysander fell forward, landing in his food.

“Quite barbaric, but necessary,” Felix said as he took another bite of his pork. He followed this up with some potatoes, which he ate slowly as Alistair starred in abject horror at his dead professor, at the murder that had just taken place for his very eyes. Beside Lysander, Dario had his hands in a prayer position, prepared to die.

“Please, Mr. Bancroft, please—”

“Stop your worrying, Dario. If I wanted you dead, you would be dead by now. But I think my message is clear.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Is there anything else?” Goran asked Felix.

“Actually, there is take the body. But wait, wait just a moment…” Glowing cards formed above Lysander. Alister couldn’t make out what they were, but he knew they were high-powered. He had already learned that Attribute Cards died with a person, but Lysander had plenty of Imprint and Resonant Cards. “There they are,” Felix said. “Those will be worth something. Senka, if you will do the honors.”

The silent assassin stood and produced a small square box. She approached Lysander, quickly gathered the cards, stored them, and turned to the mansion.

“Now you may take the body, Goran, you big oaf.” Felix pointed his fork at Alistair. “Please, my boy, eat. Bask in what has happened here. I did this for you, and I did it for you, too,” he said as he pointed the same fork at Dario Undergast. “You see, I don’t want anyone bothering Alistair, especially because I think that he will become a fine battledeck mage. As a member of the Board of Regents—well, I own several members, including you, Dario, but you get my point—I would like any discussion about orphans to stop now. Lysander has been taken care of; he was always a piece of shit to begin with. I will sell his cards to the highest bidder.”

“Understood,” Dario said with a deep breath out.

Felix grinned at the two of them. “Please, eat. Don’t let a little dinner shenanigans ruin a perfectly good evening.” He returned his focus to Alistair. “Now, tell us about your week. How did it go?”