CHAPTER 29: Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Once I could move again, I stood up and tried to feel out my stiff muscles, then making sure no one was watching, I took the time to stand and test out my new stats that Kalia had withheld from me while I was passed out.

Congratulations on earning points in the following stats: one Luck, two Dexterity, and one Might.

I grinned and opened my stats.

Name: Saemus Thorn

Race: Elven

Level: 18*

Statistics: Measurement

Might: 4

Dexterity: 8

Constitution: 2

Mind: 10

Magic: 10

Charm: 2

Luck: 4

Skills: Master Flow (dual handed), Master Core Insight

Skill points available: 7*

What could I do with those extra points? It was really too bad that there wasn’t a way to just buy more skills to become proficient with.

But such was life. I blinked. Did I sound different inside my own head? I opened Frix’s tome and read, Yes, you do. Your Mind stat took the time you were unconscious and the time you were thinking to us to really flesh out. You’ll be smarter now, for sure.

Well that’s good then. I stared at my surroundings and decided that the med bay was far too open for my liking with this needing to be done. With that in mind, I put the tome away and walked back to my room.

I walked in and found the room torn apart, my bed clothes thrown all over and my drawers opened and left that way. Whatever they were looking for wasn’t here and I was even more furious that I had been violated this way.

“Who did this, Frix?” I opened the book and saw that my suspicions were correct and it had been the healer Cleepnir and someone I hadn’t been expecting. “The Marki’s servant?”

I can’t tell you what they have going on here, just that they were looking for anything you might have that could be of value, or damning evidence against you.

I growled and stared around the room, then began to pick up the mess and found that everything of real value except the parchment I used to speak to Lolth was on my person. I hadn’t forgotten something, and now I never would. I used it to send her a word or two that tonight wouldn’t be a good night for her to come back over due to studying and she wished me well. Though a little backhandedly.

You did well fighting us with that armor on, just maybe next time, try not to need so many breaks? Study hard.

-Lolth.

I grunted and put the parchment and quill into my Hollow Flower before turning to find Aren. She was in the windowsill, munching on something that resembled a dragonfly.

Good, she was safe at least. Turning the other way, I headed into the lounge to check on Xanile.

She was there with food on the table waiting, but when I walked in, Winfred appeared as if out of nowhere, “There you are! I went to find you and bring you back to your room when Instructor Cleepnir said you would be well enough to move again. What are you doing out of bed so soon? You should be resting.”

“I feel fine.” I grunted and moved around her, to look over Xanile. She seemed fine and my vision flickered. She had all of the Beast Cores on her person. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, “Are you?”

“No.” She frowned and I motioned for Winfred to sit so that I could pace without worrying about her trying to grab me and make me sit when I needed to move. “Cleepnir and the Marki’s are working together to try and get us expelled from the academy, it seems. And the healer also has it out for Lialarn for some reason as well. I don’t know what it is, but we have to at least try and stop them so that we aren’t outed before the duels.”

“You’re talking too fast, tell us what happened.” Winfred said and I did as she asked.

It took some time, because I thought to make sure I remembered the words right, but the effect was the same. Either the creep thought the Marki children would win, or there was going to be another way that they tried to get rid of us.

Winfred nodded, though her cheeks and neck were red, “How dare they invade your room?!” She stood up and there was a crash and a shriek from Xanile’s room. Hissing and growling began, followed by someone shrieking more.

“What would you wager that’s the same two culprits?” Xanile stood up with a frown and motioned for the two of us to stay put while she went to her door and opened it to find Treat on top of Cleepnir and the Marki manservant.

“Call off this vile beast!” One of them shouted, just as the badger loosed a feral snarl. “Now!”

“Seems like I am under no obligation to.” Xanile pulled out something diminutive from her pocket and read aloud, “‘Under no circumstances unless by written approval of the headmaster himself, is anyone but house staff to enter the private lodgings of any student, and in such cases as it is approved, the student must be present to see that nothing is taken or placed therein that could be considered incriminating or contraband.’”

She snapped the book shut and leaned forward, “I fail to see how my not being in the room constitutes a legal search, instructor, servant.” She stood up and crossed her arms, as she tilted her head to the side, “Especially considering that someone has already besmirched the good will of my house by searching Cadet Thorn’s room without his presence or permission.”

“He is bedridden and cannot be he—” Treat swiped at the instructor as he tried to push her away, drawing lines of red down his forearm. “Call off this best or I shall kill it!”

“Does that not sound like a threat to you, Winfred? Saemus?” Xanile’s voice was carefully cold, but deliberately loud enough that it called attention to the fact that there were others present as witnesses. How this had played directly into our hands, I wasn’t sure, but this was too good to be true.

“It sure did, my lady.” I answered and stepped closer to her, close enough that I knew they could see me. “Winfred, what do you think? Should we summon the headmaster?”

“I think we should, Saemus.” Winfred grinned savagely and headed for the door.

“We have written consent to be here!” This time I could tell that it was the healer.

“But you went about it wrong.” I stated, Xanile throwing me a confused look, almost as if she weren’t sure I was speaking right now. “You had the right, but you didn’t allow us a chance to be present. So you were worried that your crusade would be proven wrong.”

That I was challenging an instructor was not normal for Xanile and she growled at me low so that the others wouldn’t hear her, “What is going on with you?”

“I’m tired of being afraid of people who are doing things wrong.” I stated simply. “If an instructor is so willing to ignore the rules, why would I respect them?”

“Because I’m better than scum like you!” The healer snarled and kicked at Treat the badger who slid back a few feet. Allowing him to at least sit up so that he could glare at us. “I will see you both expelled for this.”

“We will see.” Xanile crossed her arms, then said, “If you wish to get off my floor, I will allow it. However, you will not be doing anything in my room until the headmaster arrives.”

Treat backed off a bit, but stayed close enough to act should they try anything. Cleepnir brushed himself off and went to come into the lounge, but Xanile shook her head, emphasized by Treat snarling and said, “I said that you could get off my floor, not enter my lounge. You are welcome to stand where you are.”

The instructor and his guest stood there, the latter uncomfortably, as we waited for the headmaster. Instructor Cleepnir grumbled the whole time, running his hand over the cuts on his arms and healing them, then turned to tend to the man with him, but he had no injuries on him other than wounded pride.

We waited for almost half an hour, but finally Winfred returned triumphantly with the headmaster in tow, a curious, but stoic mask on his face as he stepped into the lounge with Winfred.

Instructor Lialarn tagged along behind them, strangely enough and though she looked a bit haggard, she was hardly gone. Cleepnir looked shocked, “What is the meaning of this?”

“I could ask the same.” Headmaster Sahenlal returned and raised his eyebrows calmly. “I’ve been told that you are flouting my orders, Geventree, and that the students you said were aware of your searching would be present as I specifically ordered.”

“Thorn was in the medical bay and couldn’t be here, but I needed to be certain that my searching Cadet Doranda’s room wouldn’t make it so that her servant could go and clear out his room in advance of my coming. I know that they have things here that they aren’t supposed to.” He pointed at Xanile and Treat growled menacingly at the elf. “Her beast attacked us unprovoked, headmaster. I wish to see her gone.”

He remained still and raised a hand and Treat whined before sitting down and staring at him. Xanile and I both glanced wide eyed from the headmaster to the badger and back again.

“I will hear an explanation.” He growled, then took a breath, “Children, I would like to hear your side. Leave nothing out.”

So we told him everything, even so far as going to the start of the whole mess and our finding instructor Lialarn in the training forest. At that point, Cleepnir snarled, “Ha! I told you she had been there. She was probably trying to find a way to shirk her duties. Again.”

Lialarn rolled her eyes, but at the Headmaster’s wave, remained silent and he said, “Continue.” So we spoke on. After going through the whole tedious story, he sighed and said, “So this is merely a hunt to prove that Lialarn might be showing favoritism?”

“She is I’ve had reports of her coming and going from this room!” Cleepnir insisted and pointed at her accusingly.

“She has been.” The headmaster stated and the look of triumph returned to the healer’s face. “At my request, just like she was in the forest today fixing something that could have been catastrophic for the students.”

Cleepnir had nothing to say, and the headmaster pointed to the servant behind the other man, “And why is the Marki’ servant here in this room with you?”

The healer stood up straight, “I needed an impartial party to ensure that I didn’t overlook anything.”

“I just bet you did.” Lialarn snorted and rolled her eyes.

The headmaster cast an abysmal gaze toward both of them, then did something I hadn’t expected. He smiled.

“It seems I have been far too relaxed in my leadership style here at the school, and shall need to take actions to remedy this. Both of you? If you would follow me to my office, I will see that corrected. Go wait in the hall.”

There was no question of whether they would obey or not, they just left with their heads down. Once they were gone, he turned and addressed the Marki servant. “Anything you saw tonight, you are not to repeat to anyone under my strictest order. Swear it to me on your true name.”

The man spoke the words, but there was something about the way that he did it that I didn’t trust.

The headmaster stepped forward and touched the mans head, whispering something under his breath that made the man stiffen and go completely still, like he had been turned to a wooden statue. “I place this geas so that it remains written in your soul, bound by your true name so that you may feel the ache of my order in your very soul: you will tell no one of what you witnessed this evening, and you will never break another one of the academy’s rules again. This is my decree. This is your law. Go.”

The man came back to himself and fled the room so fast that I was surprised he had been able to open the door in time.

The headmaster turned to us and frowned. “I gave you both special privileges and training because your parents’ donations and your own power. I can do so no longer. After today, without my permission passed on by a member of my faculty or I, myself, you are no longer welcome in the training forest. Your lives were in mortal danger, and as I understand it, this isn’t the first time for one of you.”

He turned his gaze on me, “You’ve been an asset, and I like that my children like you. You’re powerful, likely more than you have the right to be. Stop being a dunderhead about it.” He sighed. “The duels will be starting soon. Train and grow stronger.”

He turned and walked away, then snapped his fingers, “Oh, and before I forget.” He turned to look at us, “I know that she planned to have you help her get into the inner circles of the forest and I didn’t care until you started to get all training happy, so don’t even think about going again. And the duels? Not sending anyone home. All of you are far too powerful for that—especially as you are all on the same side. Think of another reward if you win.”

And just like that, hopes of being Marki free were dashed on the rocks of the headmaster’s disapproval.

Once he was gone, Winfred, Xanile and I stood there in the silence of the lounge and contemplated what had just happened. None of it made sense and now everything was up in the air again.

I had made a choice to be more like what my mother had wanted—like I had wanted and now it was impossible to send them home. Granted, he would die, but still, at least then his unstable sister would be gone too.

At least Xanile was okay. And we knew that we would be staying here.

“Did you have plans for the Beast Cores in your pocket, Xanile?” I asked softly and she turned to stare at me. I thought quickly and added, “They’re bulging there.”

Winfred sighed, “I’ll make some tea.”

As she did that, I dwelled on the fact that I may have mad yet another enemy. Granted, he was one already, but that didn’t mean I had to make my disdain so readily noticeable.