Veximarl watched the courtyard from the infirmary window. Basil and Ivy were sitting on infirmary beds. He was reading a book and Ivy was pretending to be asleep. She couldn’t sleep without her stuffed dog but didn’t want the others to know that.

The air was tense. Blu had stepped out of the room to talk to Evan, while Tish had gone into the private room. They only had a few minutes before they had to leave and let the patients rest. Tish wanted to spend as much time as she could comforting Chester.

Chester was still feeling like shit. “The surges of magic started near the end of winter, but I was convinced it had to do with the miasma,” the mage muttered. “I thought they would go away in spring… Not only have they gotten worse, but my head has been killing me since last night. I don’t know what happened.”

Tish pouted. “You should have told me or Evan. We would've helped.”

“You were busy managing the first year schedule and with helping Lady Marjoram go over the new squire applications. When you weren't doing that, you were forcing yourself to be a therapist for the rest of our class in order to keep distracted from how much you missed Tuton... Evan wouldn't have understood. I thought I could hold out until tonight, when I could talk to Sir Pegasus about it.”

Something about the adrenaline rush he felt when he was injured had set him off. His mind had gone blank and suddenly there was power surging through him. It took everything he had not to succumb to it and yet he wasn’t strong enough to keep it from happening.

“I'm sorry. This is all my fault.” Tish's hands tightened about the fabric of her skirt. “My squad should always come first... I should've never let you feel so isolated, but at the same time, you should have gone to Miss Sarya if you were feeling that ill! You have a responsibility to take care of yourself, Chester! When you need help, find a way to speak up! Plenty of people care about you around here and you shouldn't have kept silent!”

Chester grimaced and laid back down on the bed. He lifted up his arm and stared at the bracer that Chickadee had put on him. It made a part of him feel numb, as though a portion of him was suddenly missing. The sensation was uncomfortable.

“... Sorry to make you worry, captain. I swear that Pegasus’ claims are false. I didn't take anything or attempt a ritual on myself. My magic just suddenly became stronger than I was able to handle.” He draped his arm over his face.

“I believe you, and so does Vexi, and Evan, and everyone else. No one thinks ill of you except for that ignorant mage knight and I don't want you to care about his opinion one bit! None of us are going to if he's going to treat you like this! I also know that Chi didn’t want to bind your powers. I firmly believed he only did this so you could have a chance to stay at the barracks.”

He let out a pained laugh. “I know all that already. Don’t worry. I don’t feel any anger towards any of you.” He then paused. “Sorry, Captain. I'm feeling a bit tired.”

Tish frowned to herself and stood up. “I'll leave you to rest. First thing in the morning, right after chores, I'm going to sneak in some sweets for you to share with Basil.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.” He let out a sigh. “Do me a favor... Hurry up and repair whatever mess is going on between you and Evan. I liked it better when we all got along.”

“I did too.” She knelt down and gave a motherly kiss to his forehead. He weakly pushed her away and wiped at the spot she had touched. “See you tomorrow.”

Veximarl waved at Tish as she closed the door behind herself. They then headed to the mess hall together. Tish hesitated at the door without saying anything. She was feeling embarrassed. Embarrassed at her own failures, at running away instead of participating in practice, of not noticing what was happening with Chester.

Without a word, Veximarl disappeared inside and came back out with a basket of food. They spent the next hour sitting on the edge of the rampart and eating bread rolls stuffed with ham and roasted turnips. Veximarl enjoyed talking with Tish. She was light hearted, frequently made jokes jokes, and wasn't afraid to smile. Despite their physical interactions, he enjoyed having her as a friend.

“I'm not sure if I can go back to my room tonight,” she said. “Not if it's just me and Evan...”

“I'm certain you could wedge your way into Baron's room if you-” Veximarl paused for a moment as she grabbed onto his sleeve. “Why don't we move to the second floor? It's not to far into spring and I'm starting to feel a chill.”

Tish reluctantly agreed and they moved into the dorms. She didn't feel like talking anymore. Exhaustion had taken over, and Veximarl soon found her asleep against his chest. This suddenly became awkward. Veximarl didn't want to wake her, but he also didn't want to be spotted by anyone.

Especially not by Gwyn as she walked up the stairs. She stopped and blinked at the sight of them on the couch together, far less surprised than the first time she had seen it happen... A brief shake of the head was given before she began to climb up the stairs again.

“... Ah!” Veximarl quickly blurted out as she turned away. He didn't know why he did that. Now that she was looking at him, he didn't know what he was supposed to say. “... Thank you for dueling Cress,” he managed to squeak out.

“...” Gwyn shook her head again. He didn't need to thank her for it. “Inform Captain Maplehammer that I have been promoted as captain of my squad. Remi has given me permission to do so in Vincent's absence.”

Veximarl nodded. “I will do so. Congratulations, even if it's a temporary position. I am certain that you will be able to fulfill your role admirably.”

“...” She stared at him for a moment. It was a cold and harsh stare that made Veximarl feel highly uncomfortable. “Please continue to look after me in the future. You and Vincent were close… I may need advice from time to time when it comes to fulfilling my duties.” She did half a bow towards him before looking down the stairs. Stonetoe was stepping up behind her.

“This isn't what it looks like!” Veximarl exclaimed loudly at the sight of the knight. It was exactly what it looked like. He didn't know how else to explain it.

Stonetoe was tired. He looked between Tish and Veximarl, then over to Gwyn, who was still lingering on the stairs. “Let me give you some man to man advice, Tuton. The most important role for a knight is making sure girls don't have a reason to cry. A lot of can be overlooked for the sake of that.”

He shooed Gwyn up the stairs and proceeded to climb up to own room. Being pinned in place and not knowing where he could move Tish, Veximarl spent the night in an uncomfortable position. Stonetoe’s advice seemed odd to him. Veximarl could see the point though. The only one he was hurting by helping out Tish was himself. His own sake could be overlooked as long as she was happy.

The next morning, Macestar met up with Lady Blu. At Gwyn’s suggestion, Evan and Luca spent the afternoon setting a space for Luca within the Macestar room. Tish could now rest there with a sense of ease, even if she and Evan continued to have an odd tension between them.

Over the next few days, Basil and Chester were allowed to return to their squad rooms. Pegasus’ interrogations failed to bear fruit. All they could do was write to an expert in Grand Temple and wait for a response.

Until a response came, Chester was forbidden from participating in stressful activities. Chickadee was to check his magical bindings every day to ensure that they would continue to work. Basil and Ivy also had a few days off from physical training, as they needed time for their bones to finish healing.

It wasn't long until the next first year meeting. Instead of Tish, Gwyn stood up behind the lectern and gave half a wave. There was a stack of papers in front of her that she quickly flipped through before she chose to address everyone.

“Hello.” She gave a nod to everyone. “Kingspaw Squad should be returning sometime around Mart’s Feast day. We have that day off, so whatever. First year missions should be assigned shortly after that. There's going to be, I don't know, new first years or something showing up over the course of the month. They, like Miss Cully, have been accepted before exams and have been given permission to have an early start. I guess that makes us the second years and everyone else third years. I don't care. Figure it out on your own.

Moontear has an upcoming mission that they already know about. Atwater is a member of Macestar now. He's been like that for a few days now. I don't see why it says in the notes that I have to congratulate him about it.” Her notes had been written by Tish, who insisted that Gwyn lead the meeting today. “We already know most of this stuff. This is a waste of our time.”

Alton leaned towards Zaniyah. “This is going well,” he whispered.

“It's a lot faster than usual. I know it’s missing the flair that Tish would put behind it, but we might get a chance to get fresh pancakes if this ends quickly.” They both winced when Veximarl shushed them loudly.

Gwyn continued to speak, ignoring the others ass she did soo. “Before anyone complains, I will not take over the position as commander unless we can agree to it as a group. If we cannot agree on a single person, the position will continue to cycle between the current captains. Once we receive confirmation from Paladin Highland, we will either wait for him to return or elect a new commander.

Over the past few days, I have debated if I should ask you all if you would be willing to put your faith in me for that position. I made a stupid effort to look into some of your records to see what sort of people you were and if I was the most capable of being our leader. However, there is important news that I uncovered yesterday that we should probably discuss immediately. I’m uncertain how relevant it is, but I wished to bring it up regardless. Anyways, it’s about Mister Alton Toval.”

Glances were tossed Alton's way as he leaned back in his chair. He gave a shrug and put on a smug smile. “There's not much that I have to hide. My aunt is Duchess Elbellziara Aconite, and that would make the prince my cousin. I did file a marriage certificate in both Fogbloom and Carapace. Sybil and I are loosely married, as in we both retain the right to divorce if we no longer feel we are right for each other. I am also an excellent musician. What else is there to say about me?”

“You're part fish,” replied Zaniyah flatly.

“Stop telling people that!” Alton frowned at her. “I don't go around telling people you're the bastard daughter of Nicolas Arbutus!”

Zaniyah frowned harder back. “You have scales on your back and webbed toes!”

“We also didn't agree to get married,” replied Sybil. “You filed those certificates before I turned eighteen and then asked if it was okay to be my husband after it was all said and done.”

Chickadee raised a hand. “He promised to find me a boyfriend after he kissed me.”

“I've kissed you before, Chi, and I don't believe it was that big of a deal,” replied Veximarl.

“I’m still single,” retorted Chickadee.

“Stop ganging up on me!” Alton looked over to Veximarl and pouted. “Tell them to stop ganging up on me. The mean core kids are picking on the poor outlander again. It’s discrimination.”

There wasn't a shred of empathy that Veximarl felt for the man at that moment. “I believe that Gwyn should present her findings before we seek to either defend or reprimand ourselves.”

“Thank you,” replied Gwyn. She shuffled through her notes until she found the one she was looking for. “What I wish to discuss is a letter that arrived a few days ago. It was written by Duke Rubire and addressed to Lady Till.

Within it, he informs her that a committee has been put together to investigate the Toval family's involvement in starting a core uprising. He also requests the immediate expulsion of Alton Toval from Braytons. He has started negotiations of extradition with Duke Sickleson. Alton is to Carapace, where he will be put on trial for treason.”