After a few minutes, a plain carriage rolled up the street and came to a stop in front of us. There was no carriage footman or coachman, so I opened the door and pulled the little stairs down myself. I helped Mage Ridge enter the carriage and she embraced her husband.

“Hello, my darling.” The man said as he hugged his wife and then she sat beside him. “I assume this is the boy you've been talking about?”

I stiffened at the dismissive tone in his voice and the emphasis on the word 'boy'. I gave my teacher an intense look and she blushed from embarrassment.

“He's not a boy, Darrel. He's twenty and will be twenty-one in the spring.” Mage Ridge said.

The man didn't even glance at his wife or acknowledged her words. “Hurry up and climb aboard. These carriages aren't free, you know.”

I thought about refusing until I saw Mage Ridge's pleading look. I held in my sigh and climbed on, pulled up the little stair, and closed the door. I held my luggage bag on my lap and I sat back on the seat opposite my teacher as the carriage pulled away. I also noticed that her husband wasn't dressed as nicely as we were.

“So, how are you enjoying the free ride at the academy?” Darrel asked. “I would kill to get the authority to send someone through to become a mage without having to do any work.”

I ignored him and looked out the window.

“Hey, I'm talking to you.” Darrel said, his voice a little loud for the small space.

“Darrel, he doesn't want to answer.” Mage Ridge said.

“It's only polite to respond to a genuine question.” Darrel said.

I turned my head to look at him. “If most of the teachers, students, and staff weren't just as bigoted and judgmental as you, if the food I was forced to eat at lunch wasn't the dregs that the other students wouldn't bother to spit on when given the chance, and if the living quarters provided to me weren't a death trap, my current school experience would be absolutely delightful.”

Both Mage Ridge and her husband had shocked faces, then the man's face became angry.

“How dare you insult my wife like that!” Darrel spat.

“I didn't. I said 'most' teachers. Your wife is one of the exceptions.” I said. “If they were all as nice and decent as her, I would have nothing to complain about.”

The man's anger receded slightly. “I won't have you calling my school down, either.”

“I'm not allowed to accept duels until I graduate. As soon as my duel with the Director of the Academy is over, I'll be happy to duel you next.”

“D-David!” Mage Ridge gasped.

“What? He asked, didn't he?” I responded.

“You are the instigator here, boy.” Darrel said.

I shot my left hand out and backhanded him in the face. “That's twice you've insulted me on purpose.”

Darrel put a hand up to cover the spot, despite me using Grand Mage Henrietta's amount of force and I hadn't hit him with any strength. That wasn't the point.

“You are the one to start antagonizing me. I am clearly not a boy because you know that students need to be seventeen to attend the academy, making any student there legal age.” I turned my head to look back out the window. “You should be more mindful of whom you are speaking to.”

Neither of them spoke during the long drive to the outskirts of the city. I thought about trying to find a map of the city the next time I was in the library, that way I could mark off the places I had been.

The carriage came to a stop at a moderate estate that was about half the size of mine. The mansion was about the same size and the guard at the front door opened it for us. I opened the carriage door and put the stair down, then stepped out with my bag in my hand and walked away towards the mansion's door.

Mage Ridge let out a sigh as her husband hissed a curse at me for not knowing my place. I ignored him and went to the guard. I saw him standing at attention and recognized the discipline from the army. I gave him a quick salute.

“The lord and lady of the house?” I asked.

“In the parlour.” The guard said and returned the salute. “It's nice to finally meet you in person, sir.”

“Directions?” I asked.

“Inside to the right. Second door. The maid should be there to greet you and announce you.”

“Thank you.” I said and entered the house. I heard Mage Ridge's husband curse me again as I went to the right place. A very pretty maid stood in front of the door and her eyes widened as she saw me.

“M-my l-lord.” The maid stammered and gave me a curtsy. “Please wait for the other guests.”

“Why?” I asked.

“They... outrank... you.” The maid said, hesitantly.

“So?” I asked and stepped by her and opened the door to the parlour.

“DAVID!” Donna yelled when she saw me. She hopped up from the couch that she had been on and strode over to me. She limped with each second step and I could see her form fitting dress had odd depressions on her thigh and one of her arms was wrapped in cloth. It was the same color as the dress, so it didn't stand out too much. Her face was another story because the acid scars were quite prominent.

“Hi, Donna.” I said as she took me into a hug. I dropped my bag to put my arms carefully around her and my hands found several small depressions.

“You look wonderful!” Donna exclaimed as she eased her hold on me and looked at my face. “In fact, you... you...” Her voice trailed off and she let me go to rub her hands over my face. Her fingers poked the spot where the snake venom hole used to be.

“Mage Ridge and Mage Ridge.” The maid announced as my teacher and her husband came in.

“Donna, it's so nice to...” Mage Ridge stopped talking when she saw Donna's hands run over my face and then she reached inside my stylish suit to feel around.

“What are you doing?” Mage Ridge's husband Darrel asked.

“She's seeing if he's real.” Alex said with a laugh.

“You need to check these, too.” I said and lifted my hands to show Donna. She gasped and grabbed them as she felt my pinkie fingers.

“How are you, Alex?” Mage Ridge asked as she went over to the couch beside the one Alex was propped up on. Her husband sat beside her.

“I almost rolled out of bed and fell on the floor this morning when I forgot that I didn't have a whole arm to catch myself.” Alex said and waved the stump. “Thankfully, Donna's luscious body managed to stop me before I embarrassed myself.”

“Alex!” Donna gasped, her inspection of me finished. “They didn't need to know that!”

“Ha ha! We had fun.” Alex said with a teasing smile as he looked at me. “It's nice to see you again, David.”

“I want to say the same.” I looked at his leg cut off at the thigh and his arm cut off above the elbow. “You look like crap.”

Alex laughed. “I know, right?” He asked and pat the couch beside him. “Sit, sit!”

Donna took my hand as I bent down to grab my bag, then she led me over to the couch and we sat on either side of him. Donna took the good side with his still intact arm and leg, so she could hold his hand.

“I want you to tell me all about your experiences since the last time I saw you.” Alex said.

“What about breakfast?” Darrel asked, impatiently.

“It'll be served at the normal time.” Donna said, a bit icily, probably because he had interrupted me. Mage Ridge let out a little sigh and did her best to silently apologize with the expressions on her face.

“Go ahead, David. Tell us everything.” Alex prompted.

“No.” I said and he looked surprised. “Mage Ridge's husband isn't trustworthy and I won't give him information to use against me.”

Mage Ridge sighed loudly this time and her husband cursed under his breath.

Donna gave them both a stern look. “Vicki, explain what he means.”

“That arrogant boy...” Darrel started to say.

“Quiet!” Donna snapped in her command voice and he clamped his mouth shut before he realized what had happened. “Perhaps I don't need much of an explanation after all.” She looked at her cousin. “Speak the truth.”

Mage Ridge glanced at her fuming husband and then told Donna what had happened in the carriage. It wasn't word for word; but, it was close enough. Needless to say, the mood in the room dropped considerably.

Donna walked over to the door of the parlour and left for a moment, then she and a different maid came in.

“Mage Ridge and Mage Ridge, if you would come this way? Breakfast will be served early.”

“Finally.” Darrel said and stood up.

Mage Ridge stood as well and she looked at her cousin with a sad face, then followed the maid and her husband out of the room.

Donna came back over to us and sat down beside me instead of Alex. “Now that we have them out of the way, please tell us everything that happened after we were discharged.” She said and took my hand. She looked sincere and I glanced at Alex. He nodded, so I told them all about everything that happened after they were incapacitated from the dragon attack. It took a while.

They listened intensely and asked pointed questions when they wanted more details. My time at the front was of keen interest for them, since they had missed everything, despite their contacts in the army that had funnelled them information. They had missed a lot more than they thought they did as I filled them in on everything.

I skimmed over healing myself and moved on to being discharged, taking the colonel's arm after she robbed me, and then going home with Helena. That was another long story with her brother's antics, then the Grand Mage forcing me to attend the academy. Both Donna and Alex were quite upset when I told them I had a Bronze card for the cafeteria.

“I'll kill them.” Alex spat, clearly very angry. “Imagine the gall! Serving a student that garbage! UGH!”

“Easy, my love.” Donna reached across me to pat his thigh. “You know there's nothing we can do about it.”

“Not us, no.” Alex said as he swallowed his anger. “I know some people...”

Donna chuckled and gave me an amused smile. “He means his father.”

“And my uncle.” Alex said to defend himself. “They have connections.”

“Well, try to not hurt yourself as you write them a message.” Donna laughed. “He fell off the stool last week.”

“I told you that I had to scratch my nose and lost my balance.” Alex said with a huff and she laughed again.

“You must have looked like a flopping fish out of water.” I commented and they both laughed.

“Yes! That's exactly what he looked like!” Donna said and put an arm around my shoulders to hug me. “We're both very glad to see that you're okay.”

“I'm sad that you're both still so hurt.” I responded and the laughter faded from their faces.

“Yes, even the best healers could only mitigate the damage.” Alex said and looked at his wife. “They had this crazy idea to cut the scarred flesh off and then tried to heal it.”

“It worked... kind of. It was much worse than this.” Donna said as her fingers stroked the side of her face. “The damage was too extensive underneath and now I can't feel anything from my eye to my chin.”

We sat there and didn't say anything for a few minutes.

“What if I said I could fix it; but, it would take ten days of excruciating pain to work?” I asked.

“David, you... you shouldn't tell me such hopeless things.” Donna whispered and a tear came to her eye.

I didn't say anything and took off my fancy shoe and my sock. My normal foot was out for them to see and I wiggled my toes. Donna and Alex stared at my restored foot, that they both knew I had lost, and my full set of toes.

“It works and you will get your missing parts back. The downside is it's a week and a half of torture and you might die from the stress.” I cautioned them.

“I'll take it.” Alex said immediately.

“Alex!” Donna gasped.

“You know I hate being half a man.” Alex said. “The only time I feel normal is when you joke about it and we can laugh together.”

“Alex... you... you could die.”

“Oh, we're not going to die.” Alex said, his voice full of confidence. “I'll have two healers here and the rest of the house staff to look after us.”

Donna sighed. “I don't think I can stand here and let you... wait, did you say we?”

Alex nodded. “We're doing this together.”

“No, I... you can't...” Donna turned away from him.

“If it was just me, you would be beside yourself listening to me screaming in pain, right?” Alex asked and she nodded. “So would I. If we do it together, neither of us has to live through hearing the other suffer.”

“You can suffer together and share the experience.” I said and Alex nodded while Donna looked unsure.

“What do we have to do and how much is it going to cost?” Alex asked.

“You'll need to prep a room to stay in for two weeks, get those healers and the staff ready to take care of you, and drink the potion.” I said.

“That's it?” Donna asked. “What about the cost?”

“You can name your first born child after me.” I said and they both jumped slightly.

“How... how did you know we want a child?” Donna asked, surprised.

“Because of what Alex said about you two having fun this morning.” I dug into my bandoleer and took out the full potion and the three-quarters full one. “This is the regeneration potion that took a lot of work to make right.”

“You carry it around with you?!?” Alex gasped.

“It's the only real safe place, besides a personal vault.” I said and he had to agree with that. I held the three-quarters full vial out to Donna and gave the full one to Alex. “Don't mix them up. Alex needs the full one to get his limbs back.”

The two of them stared at the brightly colored liquid in the vial for several moments before the door to the parlour opened.

“My lord, my lady, Mr. Drake.” The very pretty maid said. “Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes.”

“Donna, can I borrow a maid to assist me in changing?” I asked and stood with my luggage bag.

“Of course.” Donna nodded to the pretty maid. “Show him to the guest room and help him change.”

“Yes, my lady.” The maid said and stepped back to allow me to pass, then she led me to the guest room to help me change. Hopefully, breakfast was going to be a normal one, now that Mage Ridge and her husband had already eaten.