The king awoke to the sound of a knock on the door. The sound of it told him that it was Harn. King August sat up and made sure he was decent enough to receive a visitor, then said, "Enter."

The massive dwarf entered and gave a short bow, then announced, "The headmaster and a student by the name of Crassus de Mortegard the Third are here. They've got something that you'll want to hear."

Surprised but intrigued, the king quickly dressed. It was perhaps two hours past midnight, but the dwarf's tone implied that this was important enough not to wait until morning. He was halfway to being dressed when he realized why that name sounded so familiar. Crassus was the one who had bullied Lily Arvensdaughter the most over the past six months.

Curiouser and curiouser. What would the common girl's chief tormenter have to say that was so important that even the king's chief spymaster felt it was worth waking up a monarch at two in the morning?

Dressed, the king followed Harn to the headmaster's office. He was surprised to see both the royal court wizard and his daughter Betany present, as well as a clerk with quill and ink at the ready. "I thought they all might want to hear this, your majesty, and we'll want this in writing," the spymaster explained.

Betany still had her glamour on, so she looked as perfect as always, and Corfax looked as fine as he always did, long used to late nights and sudden awakenings. The headmaster looked tired, but the expression on his face made it clear that he felt that this was more important than a good night's sleep. The lad looked like he'd not slept at all tonight, and the redness of his eyes implied that he'd either been crying or close to it for quite some time.

Taking a seat at the headmaster's desk, he folded his hands in front of him. His expression stony, the king said, "I'll dispense with the formalities since it is so damned early in the morning that it's still yesterday. Tell me what this is all about."

The headmaster spoke to Crassus, and said, "Alright lad, tell them what you told me."

The lad looked like someone about to have to eat dung, but nodded and started speaking.

He spoke about how he'd taken offense to how Lily Arvensdaughter attending the academy, despite it being the king's order, and what he'd done to the young woman in response. He spoke of how he'd struck her without warning or restraint. He spoke of the verbal abuse and how he'd tormented her, laughing at her ineffective attempts to protect herself or stop him. He spoke of how his fellow nobles among the student body had egged him on and supported him, either overtly or in secret. He spoke of the teachers ignoring the young man's actions, and how some had even supported him. He spoke of times he'd intentionally broken the young woman's fingers, then stepped on them for good measure. He spoke of every dirty deed that he'd done, who'd helped him, and why.

It took the young nobleman nearly an hour to list out the full measure of his six months of mistreatment and abuse of the young woman.

Corfax's reaction was merely stony silence, but disapproval was etched into his features before the lad had even finished his fifth sentence. Princess Betany's was one of shock, horror, and revulsion. She might have been leaning on the conservative side of things, but there was a difference between being on the side of people like this and agreeing with their methods, the king supposed.

After all, this was all being done to a young girl who, Princess Betany herself had admitted after meeting Lily, was a sweet young lady who honestly didn't deserve anything bad happening to her. It had struck the king as surprising to hear that from his daughter's lips, but he supposed that there was a difference to her between commoners as a concept or a group, and commoners as individuals.

Hopefully, having met a common girl that she liked would help put Betany on a better path, but only time would tell. Regardless, her obvious disgust at how a defenseless girl had been treated was a sign that there was hope for the princess yet.

After the young man had finished confessing his misdeeds, the king remained silent, glaring at the young man. Crassus had the decency to look ashamed of himself. After a moment, King August turned towards Harn and asked, "Does this fit with the reports you've received?"

The spymaster chuckled, then admitted, "Absolutely. He's checked off all the boxes. If he's left out anything, we didn't know about it."

Turning back towards the surprised Crassus, the king asked, "Will you sign a confession to these acts, young man?"

The young noble hesitated, then nodded. Immediately, the clerk brought over his transcription of the lad's statements and instructed the boy where to sign. After quickly looking it over to confirm it was all correct, Crassus signed it and handed it back to the clerk, who nodded to the king and returned to his seat.

Looking over the lad, King August stated, "As you've no doubt guessed, we were well aware of your actions over the last six months and we did not approve of them. However, in all honesty, we never expected that you would admit guilt, even if evidence of your misdeeds was brought before you. Instead, you've come here and confessed to the wrongdoings of your own volition. Would you mind explaining yourself?"

The young nobleman stared down at his hands for a long moment, before answering. "I've... for a very long time, your majesty, I've only been able to do two spells. I used to be able to do more, but for reasons I couldn't fathom, the more I practiced, the less I could do. I'd asked some of the best experts in the kingdom, in secret of course, about what was happening and why. Nobody knew. Tonight, I was trying and failing again to cast new spells at the training yard, when Lily walked in. She offered to tell me why and how to fix it."

Surprised, the king asked, "And what did she want in return?"

Giving a weak little laugh, Crassus answered, "Nothing."

His expression stony, the king raised an eyebrow and asked, "So, you expect me to believe that she decided to help you out of the goodness of her heart?"

The young nobleman laughed a little harder, then said, "No. She threw everything I'd done to her in my face, all the horrible things I'd done, and then asked me what I could give her to make up for it. I... I couldn't think of anything I could offer her that she'd want from me, so I told her nothing. So, she gave it to me without asking for anything in return. No, better to say that she gave it to me because if our places were reversed, I'd have never helped her for free... and gods damn me, she was right! She helped me because she didn't want to be like me. She said that, despite meeting literal murderers and thieves, I was one of the worst people she'd ever met. She said the only thing worse than me is being me. Gods, how right she is!"

He began to laugh harder, before breaking down into sobs, admitting, "How fucked up is that, that she only helped me for free was because of how much she hates me?! All this time, I thought she didn't deserve to be here because she was a commoner. Truth is, I don't deserve to be here, because I'm a piece of fucking shit!"

The king said nothing. No one said anything, they simply let the lad cry it out. When he finally regained his composure, Crassus said, "So... go ahead and expel me. Banish me. Throw me in prison. I don't care. I deserve it. I've earned whatever you do to me."

King August Vi Rilmgar looked down at the young man, a boy who had thought that he'd known better than his king and had disobeyed a royal decree. Such a person deserved severe punishment, perhaps even execution.

He looked down at the son and heir of the de Mortegard line, a man who had risked setting off a revolution just because he despised commoners. Such a person deserved to be disowned from his noble line and banished from the kingdom, before being thrown into a dungeon.

He looked down at a student of the academy who had tormented a fellow student for no other reason than because he could get away with it. Such a person deserved to be expelled and barred from ever attending another school again.

However, King August was a firm believer in the teachings of the wise sage Pratch, and one of those teachings was that evil often begins by treating people like things.

The king looked in the eyes of Crassus de Mortegard the Third, and saw a young man who'd been made to face his misdeeds, then judge himself only to be found guilty. A young man who had gone before his king and confessed his misdeeds despite knowing that the punishment for them would be harsh beyond words, but had done so anyway because he knew he deserved it. A young man who had discovered, to his horror, that he did indeed have a conscience, and that it now demanded absolution for his crimes.

August Vi Rilmgar the king said that regardless of all that, Crassus deserved to be punished for what he'd done. August Vi Rilmgar the progressive liberal demanded that such punishment be as severe as possible to set an example for all the other nobles out there who might think this kind of behavior was acceptable. However, August Vi Rilmgar the man shoved them both out of the way, shouted for the other two to shut the fuck up and sit the hell down because he was going to handle this his way.

Turning his head towards Harn, the king asked, "Would you mind fetching the letter I'd asked you to hold onto?"

Grinning the dwarf pulled it out from his pocket, handed it over, and said, "I had it ready, just in case you needed it." Sometimes, the royal spymaster knew his king better than he knew himself. King August supposed it must come with the job.

Turning back towards Crassus, the king said, "I hold in my hands a letter I had planned to deliver to your father in the morning. As you likely already gathered, my spymaster had already briefed me on everything you'd done, and this letter contains a full list of all of your actions over the last six months, as well as the punishment I had decided you would deserve for everything you'd done."

Turning the letter in his hands, the king stated, "I had intended to have you stripped of your noble title and all rights to your inheritance, with your younger brother being named heir in your place. You were also to be expelled from the academy, then banished, with you only allowed to take with you no greater a sum than twenty-five silver. Banished to where hardly mattered, just so long as you were no longer within the borders of the kingdom." He looked Crassus in the eyes for a moment, then turned to the royal court mage and said, "Corfax, would you please burn this letter for me?"

The wizard nodded, then took the letter in hand and burned it to ash.

At the young lad's dumbstruck expression, King August smiled slightly, then said, "If you'd not come here tonight, I'd not have shown any leniency, no matter how much you begged me for forgiveness tomorrow. You've committed grave transgressions, and I would have believed the only reason you would have been showing any regret was that you were caught."

"However, instead you've seen the error of your ways. You've confessed your crimes of your own free will and admitted that you were the one in the wrong. Perhaps most importantly, the person most wronged by your actions deemed that you were still worth helping. I suppose that, given such an endorsement, I can hardly just throw you out of the kingdom or into the dungeons."

The lad said nothing as the king continued, stating, "Your misdeeds are not being forgiven, nor will they be forgotten. You've done nothing yet to deserve it. Also, I imagine your father will not be pleased, and while I suppose I can have a word with him to ensure that he won't be too harsh on you, I fully expect you to take any punishment he decides to give you without complaint, even if it means your brother becomes the heir instead of you."

"You've been an arrogant pissant and a traitorous piece of shit, and you'll stand trial for those crimes the rest of your life. However, if you want to make up for your past misdeeds, don't come looking to me to punish you. If you feel guilty for what you've done, it isn't my job to help you get over it. I'm your king, not your father, your god, or your priest. Instead, all I can do is command you to strive to be a better person in the future, so you can prove that giving you this second chance wasn't wasted effort." Pointing to the door, he commanded, "Now go to bed, young man."

----------------------------------

After Crassus and the headmaster left, the spymaster admitted, "Well, I'll admit, that was unexpected."

The king took a long pull from a cigar, chuckling to himself, then saying, "Lily Arvensdaughter is full of surprises, isn't she? She's made peace with one tormenter and turned the other into an emotional wreck throughout a single weekend."

Wrinkling her nose in disgust at the smell, Princess Betany admitted, "Yes. We need to start keeping a closer eye on her. Who knows what she might end up doing next?"

Thinking for a bit, the king decided, "Agreed. With summer coming up, we can't rely on the usual means of keeping her under observation. Outside of the academy, she'll be free to roam wherever she pleases and might end up getting into trouble with her newfound fame long before we hear of it."

"However, if she's going to become a noble and a wealthy one at that, the crown must provide her with a measure of protection. I can assign her a personal armsman to guard over her. It would give us a means of keeping an eye on her and keeping her out of trouble when not attending classes."

Harn Clanless, nodding in appreciation of the idea, said, "I know that Sir Ivenmars is among those here to observe the tournament, and his squire has been ready to undertake his proving for months now, lacking only a task to be given. If you were to announce that his rite of ascension was to act as her armsman and watch over her until she came of age, I expect he'd jump at the opportunity."

The princess almost snorted in laughter, asking, "Seriously? You're thinking of assigning the Madlad?"

"He's not a typical knight, or prospective knight I should say," Harn admitted, "but she's not a typical noble. Any other squire would probably be offended, being asked to watch over someone commonborn even if it meant an easy path to knighthood. I doubt the... 'Madlad' would object, being of common stock himself."

King August admitted, "It's not ideal, but it's the best way to get a pair of eyes on her without it seeming suspicious. I suppose it's our best option."

--------------------------------

As Crassus and Headmaster John de Ironford walked down the hall towards the dorms, the pair remained silent for a time. After several minutes, Crassus finally asked, "What am I supposed to do now?"

The headmaster said, bluntly, "Well, that's up to you, same as it always has been." At the young lad's surprised expression, John said, "Well, lad, have you ever heard the parable of the scorpion and the turtle?"

Crassus nodded. Scowling, the headmaster stated, "I hate that tale. It excuses the worst and most terrible behavior because it's 'In Our Nature' and that we have no means of stopping ourselves. It implies that we're not capable of changing ourselves and that we are incapable of making choices. You chose to do wrong, now you need to choose to do right." He paused, then asked, "So where do you want to go from here?"

"I don't know," came Crassus' immediate reply.

"Probably the wrong question to ask a sixteen-year-old boy who just had an emotional breakdown," Headmaster de Ironford admitted. "Well, let me ask you this: Do you want to be a better man?"

Nodding, the young nobleman admitted, "Yes."

"Then you have a compass," the headmaster said, "so even if you don't have a map or a set destination yet, you still have a sense of where you need to be headed. You're a young man still. You have plenty of time to work things out, and no one is asking you to figure it all out tonight."

As they reached Crassus' dorm the headmaster said, "Now, get some rest. I imagine tomorrow is going to be busy." He reached out to close the door, then paused and added, "And if you ever need any help or guidance, remember that so long as I'm headmaster, my door is always open."