An unpleasant reality about healing magic is that, while it can fix an injured ankle promptly, the mind does not accept reality quite so swiftly. The mortal mind is built to expect injuries to last for quite some time, so despite the injury no longer existing, it would subconsciously cause a person to behave as though they were still injured for a few hours afterward. So, while Lily felt no pain as she walked, she kept noticing a slight limp as she made her way down the hallway towards where she was supposed to meet this special guest that wanted to meet her. Annoyingly, the king's messenger had not announced the name of this individual, the person in question apparently wanting to keep it a surprise.
Thankfully, it was not too far away, one of the small, private gardens that dotted the academy campus, although admittedly a grander one than those that Lily and Madeline had used for their private meetings. This one was often reserved for the use of visiting guests, nobility, and royalty, sending a clear message that this person was extremely important.
She turned a corner and saw the door to the garden ahead at the end of a long hallway, and spotted someone leaning against the wall next to the door. Upon seeing her, and apparently noticing the limp, whoever it was quickly stepped forward and strode down the long hallway towards her. As he came closer, she was able to get a better look at him.
A young man, perhaps the same age as Lily, if well over a foot taller, with chestnut hair and brown eyes. He might have been considered handsome, were it not for the vicious scar that cut across his face diagonally, from the upper left corner of his face to the lower right. It was clearly an old scar and had long healed. However, it had likely healed naturally as at one point it had apparently festered and as such was far more disfiguring than it might have been otherwise. The young man was clad in half-plate armor with chainmail protecting his arms, legs, and stomach, with gauntlets and greaves protecting his hands and feet, respectively. He lacked a tabard, with only a brown and green half-cape across his left shoulder going down to his waist, marking him as a squire, not a knight, but he moved with confidence, seemingly unconcerned with the weight of his equipment. More unusually, he carried a long metal pole in his right hand for a weapon instead of the sword that is standard for most members of a chivalric order.
From all of this, Lily was able to deduce something: Whoever it was that wanted to meet her was likely either a knight or at the least had a squire assigned to them as an armsman for their rite of ascension. Admittedly, the latter was rare these days, but not unheard of. While it was fairly common for a squire to be given a quest to recover a lost relic or slay a dangerous beast as their task to prove they were worthy to ascend to knighthood, such things were not always available. Instead, a squire would be given the duty of protecting an important member of the nobility for a given length of time. This was rarely a boring or easy assignment since if the king was assigning a squire to guard someone, it meant that his majesty was expecting trouble and that trouble was beyond what the noble was expected to be able to deal with on their own.
That reminded Lily that, as a soon-to-be countess, she had the right to hire armsmen to protect herself and her family. Admittedly, she had no actual estate of her own and barring the amount of money she'd get from her 'discoveries' in the labyrinth, she had no means of income. Still, she made a note to look into hiring someone, or several someones, to watch over her family. As a countess, she could have up to two hundred armsmen at any one time, but unless she had an estate to guard or needed to march off to war, she couldn't even house that man, let alone expect to feed and pay them while attending classes in the academy.
Some distant part at the back of her mind collated several pieces of information and tried to make itself heard, but wasn't quite loud enough to get the attention of the rest of her brain.
The young squire finally reached her, and in a voice thick with the accent common on the streets of the kingdom's cities, asked politely, "You need any help, lass?" He had a pleasant enough voice, she supposed.
She considered immediately turning him down, but decided against it. She nodded, then took his extended arm, leaning against him as they moved down the hallway.
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"I'm sorry," she apologized, slightly frustrated. "I injured my ankle a little while ago, and even after healing it..."
The squire surprised her with a laugh as he said, "Oh, I know how that goes. I'm familiar with phantom injuries. Half a year ago, I was half-gutted by a beast in the labyrinth and only survived because I'd found a high-grade healing potion while I was down there. It mended me quick as quick, but I still often caught myself with a hand on my belly like I was trying to hold in my guts for three days after that."
Lily nodded in understanding. She might have made further conversation, but they reached the door quickly with the squire setting them at a brisk pace. The young squire opened the door and quickly ushered her through, where a single table with two chairs sat in the middle of the private garden. There sat a gentleman, pouring tea into a pair of cups on the table in front of him. He was tall, even sitting down, and his noble apparel did little to hide the size of the muscles beneath the sleeves.
While by no means young, he was still undeniably handsome with an impeccably-kept mustache, a fashion common for knights across the kingdom, but was otherwise cleanshaven. His close-cropped hair was pure silver, another standard for knights across the realm due to more practical concerns. As she approached the table, she caught sight of the signet ring on the middle finger of his left hand, displaying the emblem of a winking jester's face.
At the sight of that ring, that distant part of her mind that had tried to get her attention before started screaming at the top of its lungs and put everything together for her. Before her sat one of the most important and famous men in the kingdom, Sir Horatio de Ivenmar, the legendary Laughing Knight. He held many titles, including royal fool, knight-commander of no less than three chivalric orders, and one of the three archdukes within the kingdom, despite being of common birth.
As the royal fool, he was one of the king's chief advisors and one of the few men who could contradict both nobles and the king without fear of reprisal and was often referred to as the king's sword hand due to his reputation as the most skillful armsmaster within the realm. He had served three generations of royalty, serving both king and kingdom for decades. He was also one of the major voices within the liberal faction of the kingdom, championing the cause of the rights of the commonfolk and social reform.
Which meant that the scarred young man beside her was his squire, Bertrand, infamously referred to as the Madlad due to his reckless exploits throughout the five years he had served alongside his mentor. The king most likely had decided to assign said squire to bodyguard Lily as a means of protection for her, as well as possibly a means of keeping an eye on her.
"Please, young lady," the knight said calmly, gently sliding a teacup across the table towards her, "have a seat. We have a great deal to discuss."
As she made her way to the table, she received a message from Rine.
*Lily, there's been an unusual development.*
No kidding, she thought to herself. Telepathically, Lily asked,
*When one of the competitors in the tournament was about to lose the match, they let out a 'distress signal'.*
Struggling to keep from outwardly showing any sign of surprise, she replied,
*My surprise mirrors yours,* Rine quipped. *It was nowhere near as powerful as your own, and I doubt I would have felt it if I wasn't right here watching. It would never pierce the veil of reality, but other than being far weaker, it was identical to the one you were letting out over the last six months.*
Calmly picking up the cup and taking a sip of tea, Lily sent back an inquiry, asking,
*I don't know,* the lich admitted, sounding surprisingly frustrated. *I may have a few theories thanks to this new information, but nothing concrete. I'll need to make some observations before I start sharing ideas as to what may be going on.*
*I expected they'd do this, sooner or later. I'll let you know if anything else strange happens. In the meantime, enjoy your tea.*