The second he stepped out of Tyze’s office, Basque’s composure completely vanished. He punched the air, then sank down into a squat. His fists trembled. His face contorted as his mouth opened in a silent scream.

  Leaning forward, he put his fists on the ground. He couldn’t understand why those things kept happening to Reianna. Those things shouldn’t be happening at all, but it wasn’t fair that the world seemed to be dumping everything on that one girl.

  Basque pushed himself off the floor. He’d tried. He’d given Daymein a chance. He’d thought the boy would have been too vain or soft to cut his hand off to remove the bracelet.

  Was attacking Reianna revenge on Basque? Basque didn’t know, nor did he care. The boy was too deranged to have the powers that he had. It wasn’t Basque’s fault that the boy had never learned to fight properly. If he couldn’t be a hunter without his mage abilities, he could become a gardener or professional paper airplane folder for all Basque cared.

  The halls were deserted as Basque stalked off to the third-years’ dorm. When he made it up to Class C’s hall, he pounded on the door. Bleary-eyed, Frankyl opened it.

  “Master Basque? What brings you here at this hour?”

  “It’s not that late.”

  “I beg to differ.”

  “Whatever. Where’s Daymein?”

  Frankyl stood up straighter. “The master is out for the evening.”

  Basque tightened his fist. It took all his willpower to stop himself from punching the wall. He’d been naive. He’d overlooked Daymein’s abusive behavior because he was still a child. He had wanted Daymein to be able to grow and overcome this part of him. Frankyl’s mind-washed condition was Basque’s fault.

  Shoving the door open, Basque barged past the teacher. He ripped open the door to Frankyl’s room, the room Daymein had stolen from his teacher, and stormed inside.

  The boy wasn’t in it.

  “What are you doing in my room?” Frankyl asked.

  “Looking for the juvenile murderer.”

  “Murderer?!”

  Basque sighed. “Daymein!”

  “The Master is not a murderer!”

  Basque shoved his way past the man again. “Where is he?!”

  Frankyl pushed his way back in front of Basque. “He’s not here!”

  Standing in the middle of the hallway, Basque ground his teeth. What was he going to do? Was he going to be like Krill and burst into every room and inspect every closet? He was just one person, and with the size of the school, including the servants’ corridors, there was no way he could find the boy that way.

  Basque glared at Frankyl. “I have words for him.”

  “I’ll let him know.”

  After nodding assent, Basque left the dorm hall. Assuming Frankyl wasn’t lying meant that Daymein still had to be out and about somewhere.

  Both Reianna and Banca had told Basque that Daymein fell from the roof of the barn. Quite a bit of time had passed since then, but there could be a chance that the boy was still passed out in the bushes next to the barn.

  Basque dashed out into the cold night air and sprinted to the barn. After making several circuits and checking every bush, Basque gave up. The boy wasn’t there either. Maybe an infirmary?

  Leaving the barn behind, Basque sprinted back to the main building. A pretty girl with fuchsia hair, wearing a third-year’s uniform, stood in the middle of the training grounds. Basque slowed to a walk and approached her.

  When he got a certain distance away, she held up her hand and said, “Don’t come any closer!”

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m a humble servant of the great master, Daymein.” She bowed her head to Basque.

  Heat burned Basque’s insides. He’d been too soft on Daymein. “Where is he?”

  “My master wants to let you know that he’s sorry.”

  “Yani shit.”

  “He thought killing Banca would be what Miss Reianna wanted.”

  “So he cut off Reianna’s arm?!”

  The girl played with the hem of her coat. “That was an accident.”

  “Trying to kill her as she left was an accident?! If Banca hadn’t pushed her out of the way, Reianna would be dead! ‘Accident’,” Basque spat the word out. “Worst word ever invented by man.”

  “He was angry when she refused to join us.”

  “I’m angry now. So, if I find him and kill him, do I get to call it an accident, too?”

  “No!” she screamed. “Please! Don’t kill him! I love him!”

  The terror and longing in her face softened Basque’s heart. He took a step towards her, and she took a step back.

  “He said not to let you get near me.”

  “Then why did he send you here?”

  “To tell you he’s sorry and he didn’t mean to!”

  Basque sprinted forward, closing the distance between them. The girl turned to run, but Basque grabbed her wrist and slapped an inhibitor bracelet on her. The girl collapsed in his arms.

  Cradling her, he carried her inside. She needed to raise her INT. All the students in the school needed to. That meant she needed the inhibitor on until she raised it high enough so she wouldn’t be affected by Daymein. Everyone could use them, but he didn’t have enough inhibitors. He’d only brought three with him, counting the one Daymein had already broken.

  He could have the tinkerer try to make more, but he didn’t have the mage Yani stones, so there was no point. Rather than worrying about something he didn’t have nor could make, he needed to figure out what to do with the girl in his arms.

  Taking her back to Class C was out of the question, if she was even Class C. That would be just throwing her back into Daymein’s clutches. But he also couldn’t take her back to his class. Sophia’s snide remark about him collecting strays aside, she was a third-year and was still enrolled in school.

  Basque headed for the stairs in the teachers’ dorm, where Natt used to live. He had someone in mind, and he hoped he could trust her. Heading down the hall for the head teachers’ rooms, Basque stopped in front of Aevangelina’s.

  He knocked.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  It took several seconds for the third-year’s head teacher to open the door, wearing pajamas that sparkled and matched her platinum hair. When she saw Basque, she folded her arms across her chest, as if she were hiding herself.

  “Master Basque? Why are you here with Gwennifer? What happened to her?”

  “She’s back under Daymein’s control.”

  “I thought you stopped him from being able to do that.”

  “He freed himself.” Basque looked down at the girl in his arms, then back at Aevangelina. “Do you mind if I bring her in?”

  Aevangelina stepped back, and Basque went in. Unlike Natt’s room, which had been basically a bed and dresser, Aevangelina’s room was like Basque’s—a large audience room with the bedroom itself off through another door. Walking over to the couch, Basque laid Gwennifer on it.

  “What did you do to her?”

  He pointed at the bracelet on her arm. “It blocks mental spells.”

  “All mental spells?”

  He nodded. “Emitting or receiving. However, it’s best to cut off the emitter. Cutting her off like I did puts her in a feedback loop. The brain is forced to shut down. But as it wasn’t during a Yani attack, she’ll be fine.”

  “How are you all so advanced?”

  Basque shrugged. He wanted to make a snide comment about Hianbruns not killing each other, but they weren’t exactly peace-loving either; they just weren’t as bloodthirsty.

  Looking away from the sleeping girl, he turned to the head of the third-years. “You all need to learn to raise your INT.”

  “Our what?”

  “Resistance to mind magic.”

  “That’s even a thing?”

  Basque walked over to one of the armchairs. “Do you mind?”

  Aevangelina motioned for him to sit with her hand and sat in the opposite chair. Just as he’d done with his class, then again with Banca, Basque went through the steps of how to train the resistance.

  “All of your students do this every day?”

  “Yes.”

  “Even Saevi?”

  He paused before saying, “Yes…” The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. After the attack on his students, hearing another one named gave him a sense of dread.

  Aevangelina sat back in her chair. “To think a child of that pea-brain could manage that. I guess Trandice wasn’t wrong to send her here.”

  While he’d noted the resemblance between the two before, Basque had never seen them talk, nor even react to the other. “Do you have a relationship with Saevi?”

  “I’m her aunt.”

  “How come you’ve never come to visit her or talk to her?” He might be being overly sensitive, but he was in high alert mode and needed to make sure that Aevangelina wasn’t a threat to Saevi.

  Aevangelina shrugged. “My sister, one of my nine siblings, has eleven kids. I’m just glad I can name them.”

  “Tight family.” He’d gone from worried for Saevi’s safety to annoyed at how cold she was towards her niece.

  Aevangelina’s face darkened. “Don’t judge us. I support them within the law. I’m a lift, a fact I can get people to forget most of the time by doing things the way I do. Being all lovey-dovey with a commoner girl will do me no good. Will Gwennifer be okay?”

  Basque waved the girl off. “She’s just sleeping. It might not have done you good, but it could have been good for your niece.”

  “I was politely changing the topic, Gerenet-Sure, or whatever it is you have your students call you, but since you won’t give up on it, I don’t need you barging into my room and giving me lectures about how to live my life in some idealistic fantasy world.”

  Standing, Aevangelina walked to the door and opened it. “I’ll take care of Gwennifer and teach your meditation method to the other third-year teachers and have them teach their classes.”

  Basque stood as well. “You’ll have to teach Class C. Master Frankyl is under.”

  “Will this work on the girls who are under Daymein’s influence?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. Our mages aren’t psychotic like yours, and Yani don’t give us days and days to experiment to see if a controlled person can break free by raising their INT.” He sighed. “Sorry, that was rude of me. We’ll have to see. If it doesn’t, they’ll just have to share the bracelet.”

  Aevangelina nodded. “Thank you.”

  Pausing in the doorway, Basque said, “If you find Daymein, let me know. He attacked my class.”

  She hesitated before saying, “Okay. It’s not really my concern, but the boy is a menace. If you’re strong enough to deal with him…”

  “Thanks.” Basque left the teachers’ dorm and made his way through the academy building. Daymein knew Basque would be after him, and most likely, the boy had run away.

  As he walked through the large halls, with hidden servant doors here and there, Basque once more noted the impossibility of finding Daymein on his own. Krill had had multiple squads of people, yet Banca had effectively hidden from him.

  The only real way to catch the kid was when he showed up to class. Basque trusted Aevangelina to help him catch the young mage, so it was only a matter of time. But that still left the question of what to do with the boy once he caught him.

  Daymein had already demonstrated a willingness to cut his own hand off just to regain his charm spell. No matter how Basque attached the inhibitor to the boy, he had to assume that Daymein would undergo any amount of pain to remove it.

  Walking into his dorm hall, Basque realized the only real choice he had was Billiam. If Billiam could shut off the interface of a Yani, he could deactivate spells for a homicidal delinquent.

  “Gerenet-Shr!” Fawna cried.

  Basque came out of his thoughts and looked at the blond girl in front of him. Several steps behind her, and on the opposite side of the hall, Banca stood with her hands clasped together.

  “Fawna?” he asked.

  “Where’s Reianna? Is what Banca said true?”

  Looking past Fawna at Banca, the lilac-haired girl just stared at him. “She’s with Tyze,” he said. “And yes, it’s true that Daymein attacked them.”

  “Will she be okay?”

  “Yes. She’ll be just fine. We’re just having her stay at Tyze’s office for the night.”

  The tension left Fawna, and she sagged with a sigh.

  “What about that Yani, Daymein?” Banca asked.

  Basque shook his head. “I couldn’t find him, but Madam Aevangelina will help me.”

  Banca’s eyes were still hard. “Are you going to kill him?”

  “We don’t kill people, Banca.”

  “He tried to kill us!” She took a step forward, and, for the first time, emotion appeared on her face as she snarled.

  “Yes, and I will give him an appropriate punishment.”

  “Death is the only thing acceptable!”

  “No. If your imagination is so small that that is all you can think of, you need to do a bit more growing.”

  “He’s a mage! What else could we do?”

  Basque glanced at Fawna, who just stood and watched the exchange. Her expression showed that she was more on Banca’s side than his.

  “Banca, were either of you charmed tonight?”

  “No.”

  “He tried to. You defeated his spell.”

  She didn’t answer.

  “I know it’ll take time for you all to beat a mage on your own, but I will get you all there.”

  “A lot of good that will do us when we’re dead.” Banca turned and walked away.

  “I trust you, Gerenet-Shr.”

  Basque turned his gaze back to Fawna. “She saved Reianna’s life at least twice tonight.”

  Fawna looked down. “I still hate her.”

  “That’s fine. I just wanted you to know.”

  Fawna nodded.

  “Now, off to bed.”

  “Understood, Gerenet-Shr. Good night.”

  “Good night.” Basque watched her head back into her room, then went into his. Natt was sleeping on the sofa in the audience chamber. He smiled at her.

  He’d been hoping to talk with her and ask her to get in touch with Billiam for him. If the royal mage wouldn’t help, Basque was going to have to come up with that “appropriate punishment” he’d promised Banca.

  Walking over to Natt, he bent down and scooped her up in his arms. The jostling woke her, and she smiled at him. “Welcome back,” she said and put her arm around his neck.

  “Sorry, I hoped I could move you without waking you.”

  “No, it’s fine. Did you find him?”

  Basque laid Natt down on their bed. “No.”

  She yawned. “I didn’t think you would.”

  “Can you get me in touch with Billiam?” he asked as he slid into bed next to her.

  “I know what you’re thinking. You’ll need Yasher’s permission before Billiam can do anything; otherwise, you’ll have the whole mage community out for you and Billiam.”

  She rolled over so that her back was to him, and he scooted over and spooned her.

  “This sounds like a massive headache.”

  “Mhmm. But if anyone can get it done, it’s you.”

  “Is that a vote of confidence, or are you just pushing it off onto me?”

  She laughed. “Why not both? Now, let me sleep.”

  Basque nuzzled his face into her hair and breathed in the floral scent of her shampoo. It didn’t take long for her breathing to deepen, and that light little occasional snore from her to start.

  Rolling away from her, Basque lay on his back and put a hand on his forehead. There was only a month left in the school year. More precisely, there was still a month left in the school year. He didn’t think he’d experienced a longer year in his entire life.

  And he still had four years left to go.

  MERRY XMAS!!!!

  will be hit up for tariffs if that's a deal breaker for you (sorry, nothing I can do about that). I will put it as a $2 value, but considering shipping will be like $30, it'll probably still be a couple of bucks for you to receive it. Just an FYI as I'd rather not spend $30 to mail it and have it come back because the receiver refused to pay the duties on it.