Lupos's POV

The morning after killing Mervyn, Lupos awoke to a loud knock on the door. He told all his spirits, except Fenrir and Sleipnir, to hide in mindspeak. Arranging his hair over his eyes to keep then hidden, Lupos slowly stumbled towards the door and the now impatient knocker. Opening the door Lupos was met face to face by a man dressed in black, the same ensemble he now knew to be the clothing of the Emperor's assassins.

Feigning a surprised face Lupos moved away from the door. "Who are you and why are you here?!?" The spy gave a small bow. "I apologise for surprising you, you may address me, for the meanwhile, as Three, as I do not have a name. I am here on behalf of the Emperor with regards to the incident that occurred last night."

Lupos lowered his guard and put on a face of naïve trust before looking at Three in confusion.

"What incident? Did something happen?" Three gave a grave nod. "I am sorry to tell you that last night, Mervyn Oakshield, headmaster of the first academy of magic was found murdered in the school hall."

Lupos' face paled. "The headmasters dead? That can't be! He was too powerful for that, he had four spirits! He can't be dead. Who the hell was powerful enough to kill him?!?" Lupos watched as the spy noted with satisfaction that Lupos hadn't picked up on the wrong detail of the murder being in the hall.

The spy nodded slowly. "That's what I am trying to find out." Lupos paused for a minute, before taking this in. "Does that mean I'm a suspect?" he asked worriedly before Three burst into laughter. "No, you alone would not be powerful enough to kill him." the laughter in Three's voice disappeared. "But, you may be an accomplice. There's also the possibility you know something. First of all do you have an alibi?"

Lupos stared at the spy in confusion while carefully maintaining a grieving expression. "I don't know, what time last night was the headmaster....killed." The spy paused for a second thinking. "Somewhere between four in the evening and seven at night." Lupos paused as if trying to remember. "I was here all evening but I don't have any witnesses."

Three nodded. "Thank you for your help, now last question - do you know who might have been targeting the headmaster?" Lupos paused for a moment, as if reluctant to say before speaking. "Well, rather than just the headmaster, whoever it was, might have been after Lucio as well....." Lupos trailed off as the spy nodded in interest.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," said Lupos, "as you may know the headmaster's niece was attacked but that affected Lucio too, because they seemed to be engaged....Not only that, but the original attack was at Lucio during our summoning lesson. The attackers never touched me or Wing. The headmasters also warned us to be careful of nobles..."

Lupos once again trailed off as Three went silent in consideration. "Do you know if lessons are still on?" asked Lupos sounding visibly shaken. "I'd like something to take my mind off....well you know." The spy nodded once. "I'm not certain, but I believe they are cancelled." Lupos nodded and the spy gave another small bow before disappearing, leaving Lupos alone with his still hidden spirits.

"You guys can come out now." said Lupos in mindspeak as he grinned openly. "Fenrir and Sleipnir, today I'm gonna need both of you obviously by my side. We need to be careful so that no one suspects me. Because I hid my eyes, the Emperor's spies are not likely to associate me to the boy with black hair and blue eyes they were searching for, but just in case we can't slip up."

Fenrir and Sleipnir nodded. Lupos turned to look at Jormugand, Hugin and Munin. "Jormugand did you plant the information indicating the Yulg families involvement?" Jormugand grinned.

"Yesssss Luposssss everything issss in place." Lupos smiled and nodded "Good job, now that that's done, I want you three to leave to Darius' house. The school will probably close soon, while they try to figure out Mervyn's death, no point running extra risk of you guys being discovered."

Without another word Hugin, Munin and Jormugand exited the room through the window employing whatever stealth means necessary. "Right," said Lupos still in mindspeak. "Time to play the part of a grieving student." Walking out the door with Fenrir and Sleipnir in tow, Lupos made his way towards Wings room and knocked on the door.

Wing opened the door instantly, his face sad and tear stained. "No need to ask you if you've heard the news then." Said Lupos a sad undertone in his voice. Wing let out a tight smile. "No need at all, you coming in?" Lupos nodded.

"You okay? I didn't know you were that fond of Mervyn." Wing smiled ruefully. "That's the worst part, I'm not that fond of him, the reason for my tears is because I've just lost the only way I had of getting me and my family out of poverty."

Lupos nodded, but felt some genuine sadness at the predicament his actions had put his friend in. His friend.....Lupos noted with a start that he actually thought of Wing as a friend not just another human. "It'll be ok," said Lupos soothingly. "You use a powerful variant magic, there's no way that you won't be able to find a way to help your family."

Wing paused for a moment, looking downcast, before he turned to Lupos. "Gale I'm going to tell you the truth about my family and I want you to listen. If you don't want to be friends afterwards I understand." Lupos nodded confused, Wing carried on a desperate look appearing on his face.

"Although I told you we were commoners, in truth, my families' situation is worse than that. We're currently seriously in debt to the Yulg family. The only reason I was able to come to this school was because the family head paid for it. I was meant to report back if I saw Mervyn getting closer to any of the other noble families. I'm worried that my past reporting about Mervyn may have got him killed, this may put my family in danger."

Wing paused as if fighting an internal battle. "I know this is a lot to ask, but I remember your family are hunters is there any way you could maybe help me smuggle my family into a safer area of the magical beast forest?"

Lupos felt his blood run cold. the fact that Mervyn's death had been framed on the Yulg family, the family that his friend just happened to be spying for, may mean the death penalty for Wing and his family, but helping may result in Lupos's death. There was only one option. "Wing first of all I am going to tell you a story, when it's done you can decide if you still want to remain my friend and if you still want my help."

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Author's note

Hi guys sorry for the late chapter and I'm sorry for the atrocious spelling the last couple weeks as my proofreaders on holiday still I hope you enjoyed the chapter :)