The day was too beautiful to end. Warm sun, no wind, pretty greenery in the vast garden of the estate, the pleasant scents of spring, and the profound sight of Joel’s stunning jaw, and cute dimples, and dashing brown hair, and —

Noelle giggled.

“What?” Joel asked with a grin.

Heat rushed to Nelle’s cheeks. She covered her mouth as she said: “Nothing.”

Joel giggled somewhat girlishly. He also covered his mouth. “Apologies,” he said. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”

“Don’t apologize,” Noelle said. “I like it.”

She didn’t know what exactly she was talking about, but she liked just about everything about Joel right now, so it wasn’t a lie.

“Thanks,” Joel said, then cleared his throat, about to speak.

Noelle read excitement on his face, which made her all kinds of giddy with butterflies in her stomach and ants under her skin and butter for legs and everything else and all and more.

Joel extended a hand over the table to cup hers. “Should we take a walk in the garden?” he said. “I hear your father’s hedge maze is a work of art.”

Noelle bobbed her head as hard and fast as she could without messing up the bun of wavy black hair on her head. “Yes. Yes!”

Someone else cleared their throat off to Nelle’s right.

“Excuse me, miss,” a tall figure a few feet from Noelle said.

It was Binco, one of the servants. When did he come? Noelle wondered. How’d I not see him?

“Your presence is required at the tower,” Binco said.

Noelle deflated in her chair. She’d not realized she was leaning halfway over the table until now. The tower. She sighed. “Can it wait?”

Binco’s lower lip twitched. “I’m afraid master — “

“Yeah, yeah, the old — “ she almost said ‘bastard,’ but stopped herself. It was a bad word, and triply so in Joel’s presence. “Master Wizard rarely waits. When it comes to me anyway.”

“It’s alright,” Joel said. “We can do this tomorrow.” His smile had fallen at the news, but he put it back on. “I’m a guest at your generous father’s estate for a few days, remember?”

Noelle bit her lips. Tomorrow was one day later, but the god damned old fart never did learn in his too-many years any patience.

“Of course,” Noelle said.

She composed herself and pushed the chair back as she stood, hands tracing her dress to make sure it hadn’t caught on anything.

Binco bowed as Noelle raised. He was no doubt told to escort her to the tower, which was an embarrassment Noelle was not going to suffer in front of Joel.

“Binco,” she said. “Please, show our guest the hospitality of House Criennzk and give him a tour of the estate.”

The servant’s muscles stiffened. “But miss — “

“And please be so kind as to not dismiss the requests of a young lady,” she said. “Such would be a poor show of manners and risks grievous offense.”

A drop of sweat rolled down the side of Binco’s face. He opened his mouth but nothing came out.

“I assure you I am well equipped to manage the short walk to the tower by myself,” Noelle said. “Provided it hasn’t moved?” She arched an eyebrow at the terrified servant.

“Uh, n-no, young miss,” he said. “It hasn’t.”

Noelle flashed a condescending smile as she said: “Good,” then turned to the paved pathway going around the estate and eventually to the tower on the other side. “I’ll be on my way then.”

###

Noelle slammed the door of Ishtaan’s study, inconveniently located at the top of the tower. She was out of breath from the winding stairs, her heels in her hands and her hair sticking out of the once-tight bun, long stray strings scattered all around. She tucked the one going down the center of her face behind her left ear and dropped into one of the poorly crafted, uncomfortable wooden chairs beside one of the many tables. She let her shoes fall on the floor, took a few more moments to catch her breath, then crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“What?” she half inquired, half demanded.

The long walk and the numerous stairs expended most of the energy she had gathered from being angry at the wizard. Besides, he was still Ishtaan.

Ishtaan sat at the other end of the study over a giant book, reading without paying attention to Noelle’s dramatic entrance. The whole demanding her presence then ignoring her when she was finally here was quite pretentious, she thought. The man’s saggy, wrinkly face shifted from one page to the next. How could a man have such an old face and yet a head full of long, brown hair and bushy, equally brown beard was beyond Noelle. Magic, perhaps?

“You’re late,” Ishtaan said.

“I arrived as soon as my presence was requested.”

“Your lesson started an hour ago,” Ishtaan said. “As it does every day.”

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“Every other day,” Noelle corrected him. “Joel is here today.”

Ishtaan looked up from the book and pinned his stern hazel eyes on Noelle. “Discipline,” he said. “Is every day, young lady.”

Noelle groaned her dissatisfaction. “What’s the point of this anyway?” she asked. “I can’t magic even if my life depends on it. It’s been years, why do we have to keep going?”

“Because there are benefits to knowledge besides magical powers,” the wizard said. “Now, I believe I left you with an equation to solve yesterday.”

Noelle stared daggers at him. He held her gaze without relenting for what felt to Noelle an uncomfortable amount of time. She bit her lips and rolled her eyes away.

“Yes,” she said through gritted teeth. “You did.”

###

The skies had gone dark hours ago, and yet Ishtaan still kept Noelle in the prison of his study. She’d untied her hair about an hour ago while drawing runes because it was easier to subconsciously pull her hair as she was losing her mind over the task. Earlier still, she’d unlaced her girdle to help breathing in more air for longer sighs. Currently, she looked positively deprived with her head resting on the open history book — hair spilled over the table and hands to the side. She stared out the window at the starry sky and wondered what Joel was doing.

Sweet, beautiful, gallant Joel.

“Well?” Ishtaan asked.

“Seven,” Noelle said.

“The eldest son of King Roderick was called Seven?”

“Oh,” Noelle said. “I thought you were asking how many kids he had.”

“He had three.”

“Must be misremembering then.”

There was a short pause.

“Geography next,” Ishtaan said.

Noelle threw her hands in the air and looked at the ceiling as if it would provide an answer. “Why?” she asked. “My brain has ceased all function for a while now. This isn’t doing anything.”

“On the contrary,” Ishtaan said. “Exhaustion is where you find one’s limits. Such is valuable knowledge.”

Noelle buried her head in the book again, hands going limp on the table. “I’m past my limits already.”

“Past exhaustion, maybe. Past limits, clearly not.”

“Would you like me to lay down and die?” Noelle lifted her head and looked at the old wizard. “Because I feel myself quite capable of that right now.”

“That is not what I am looking for.” Ishtaan smiled, but it didn’t reach the eyes. “I hope for both our sakes you won’t have to go that far.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Noelle asked. “I told you I’m not — “

Someone knocked on the door.

“Father is calling me for dinner,” Noelle said to no one in particular. “Please, let it be a word from father requiring my presence. Please!”

“Master Ishtaan?” a man’s voice asked behind the door. One Noelle didn’t recognize. “May I enter?”

Ishtaan stiffened visibly. “Introduce yourself.”

“Do you know him?” Noelle asked, but Ishtaan didn’t seem to have heard her. “Is something the matter?”

“It’s Daniel, Master Ishtaan,” the man said.

Daniel the butcher’s son? Noelle thought.

“From the College.”

Oh. Not the butcher’s son then.

Ishtaan’s eyes narrowed. “Daniel? What are you doing here?”

“I have news from the college,” Daniel said. “It’s... not good.”

“What college?” Noelle asked.

Her exhaustion evaporated at the sight of the old wizard worried. She’d never seen him express any emotion other than disappointment, and now Noelle was worried too, and she didn’t know why.

“What’s wrong, Daniel?” Ishtaan asked. “Speak plainly.”

“Alright, but...” Daniel said. “It’s a delicate matter.”

Ishtaan sighed as his body slumped into the chair. “Fine,” he said. “You may go, Noelle, and you may enter, Daniel.”

“What about the lesson?” Noelle asked. A moment ago she was dying to leave the study, but now that this Daniel showed up with some super secret presumably magic related stuff she wasn’t in such a hurry anymore. “We can pick up after your conversation with your guest.”

The door opened. On the other side was not just one person, but at least six that Noelle could see. A hooded figure at the front walked in, held the door open, and with a bow invited the rest. They were armed and armored, all of them. Grey padded leather, matching helmets, swords and shields. There was no crest of the shields, she noticed.

Ishtaan pulled an old leather bound book from somewhere below his desk as he jolted to his feet. “Daniel, what’s the meaning of this?” he demanded.

The hooded figure holding the door spoke. “As promised, mistress.” It was Daniel’s voice, but he was not addressing Ishtaan.

The armed men made way for a second hooded figure to enter, this time female. Daniel called her ‘mistress’ but they both wore the same light grey robes.

The book in Ishtaan’s hands flipped open. He placed his hand over it with an open palm and began chanting something in that strange language he’d been teaching Noelle. She didn’t recognize the words, but the effect of them was impossible to miss.

The air between his palm and the book blurred and turned faint blue. It gathered in the loose form of a ball in his hand, then dispersed with a soft wheeze. Ishtaan’s expression suggested this was not the intended result.

The woman’s hood had gone down, revealing her to be as old looking as Ishtaan with a number of red and amber colored jewels on her earrings and one on her nose. Her hair, unlike Ishtaan’s, was all white.

The woman’s hand was extended towards Ishtaan, fingers forming some sign whose meaning eluded Noelle.

“Don’t bother, Ishtaan,” she said, her voice raspy. “You’ve been away for too long.”

“What’s happening?” Noelle asked, but no one paid attention.

The armed men walked in a horizontal line, shields up and swords drawn.

“Ishtaan?” Noelle’s heart raced like never before. What was happening? Who were those people? What did they want?

Ishtaan clicked his teeth hard. It sounded like glass breaking.

“No, you fool!” the old woman cried.

A shockwave emitting from Ishtaan hit the room. Everything inside turned over — tables, chairs and books flew in the air, including the ones Noelle was using. Something hit her in the head mid air hard enough to make her dizzy. She landed sideways on a turned chair, sending a torrent of pain in her ribs, then flopped on the floor, hurting her arm.

Before her eyes could focus on what exactly was going on someone pulled her by the collar.

“Noelle, listen,” Ishtaan said. “You need to run. Don’t stop and don’t slow down for any reason.”

Noelle saw him now. A picture of nightmares — his eyes black and bleeding, his gums steaming from visible gashes pouring down blood over his once-white teeth, his skin specked brown-black.

“Ishtaan, what is — “

Ishtaan coughed blood, spraying Noelle’s face. A sword had just made its way through his abdomen.

“Oh, Gods,” Noelle uttered, head spinning.

“Find the Doll in Leppen,” Ishtaan said. “Tell her I sent you.”

“But — “

Still holding Noelle by the collar, Ishtaan shoved her back towards the wall. Except it wasn’t the wall. It was the window.

“Ishtaan!” she cried, but he’d already let go.

Time seemed to slow down as Noelle realized she was plummeting fifty meters to the ground. She didn’t breathe. Didn’t blink. Merely watched the skies, now darkened by the sudden gathering of black clouds, and waited for the thud that would signal her landing.

Would she even hear it before she died?

Thud.