Firebrand

Chapter 316: Mending Fences

Chapter 316: Mending Fences

Mending Fences

Martel made it back to the Lyceum in an almost reasonable fashion, but the events of the evening left their mark on him, keeping him from sleep. Meeting the Friar had been strange enough; stumbling upon Ruby fighting nuns had increased the bizarreness of it all by an order of magnitude. Martel presumed he had done right by helping her escape, but it nagged him that he did not know what had transpired. What had led to the fight? Something must have happened in the convent with Ruby while he spoke to the Friar. He would have to find her and ask, assuming she would tell him; Martel could not dismiss the troubling notion that he had somehow been taken advantage of.

Bleary-eyed, he dragged himself to the Circle of Fire in the morning. He assumed they would continue practising the flame wall spell, which fortunately he did not require much focus to do; even in his diminished state, he cast the spell far better than the other acolytes.

Yet as Moira arrived, she declared that they would practise duelling; Martel got the feeling that she had noticed his weary state and decided to punish him this way. Which was exactly what happened; paired against Harriet, Martel took several hits while offering less in return.

"You should consider tomorrow," his teacher remarked to him, though she did so quietly without the others hearing. "The punishment for a loss still applies to you."

In other words, he could expect another skirmish against the mageknights, and detention afterwards once the fire acolytes bit the dust. Sighing, Martel stretched his neck and did his best to concentrate as they began another round of duels.

***

Lunch offered a reprieve before the second lesson in fire magic, which Martel spent trying to figure out how to handle tomorrow's fight against the mageknights. A letter, written in a recognisable hand, interrupted his thoughts. As he opened the envelope and unfolded the letter, a gold coin fell into his hand.

Master Martel,

I thank you for your help last night. Due to the events that transpired, I suggest you remain at your home for the time being. Enclosed, you shall find the payment as promised. Should this be absent, you might want to inquire among the staff at your school, as I can assure you the money was enclosed when this letter was delivered.

Lady Pearl

Well, at least he had been paid. But this command, disguised as a suggestion, that he ought to keep his distance felt like confirmation that something had gone wrong last night. Martel did not intend to let this rest; yet for now, he had more pressing matters. He needed to figure something out, so he did not end up with detention after every single Malday for the rest of the year. Glancing around, Martel went off in search of Maximilian.

***

For the second lesson in fire magic, they resumed practising the flame wall. Apparently, Moira felt Martel had been sufficiently punished for his sleeping habits, or perhaps she figured he was sufficiently rested now that it would not work. Either way, when they were given a short break to recover their focus, Martel approached Harriet. "You're progressing nicely with the spell."

She narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?"

"Whatever differences we have, I think there's one thing we agree on."

"What's that?"

"That nobody works harder than us, and there's no better mages than us fire acolytes. But still we have to listen to arrogant mageknights brag and belittle us, all because the fights are tilted in their favour," Martel said.

"I guess. So what? They're not going to change how the practices work just because we think it's unfair."

"No." Martel looked at her straight in the eyes. "But tonight, we got a chance to prove them wrong."

***

After last bell had rung, the acolytes of the Lyceum gathered in the Chamber of Earth. Murmurs arose at seeing no less than two fire acolytes. Battlemages were a rare sight in the sparring club, after all. Immediately, several began speculating whether they would duel each other as they had last time.

"I usually don't bother," Harriet mumbled as she scowled in every direction at the talking acolytes. "We're not going to be fighting other mages on the battlefield anyway, so what's the point?"

"Generally true," Martel admitted, though he still felt lots could be learnt from fighting mages using different kinds of magic. "But tonight, we have been issued a challenge by some mouth-breathers who think they're better than us. Are you comfortable with our strategy?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Though I'm rather drained of spellpower after this morning's lesson. I'm only doing one fight."

Maximilian approached, handing them staves from the school's armoury. "You fire sprites ready?"

"Where's the two bastards?" Harriet asked.

A pair of mageknights stepped forward. Martel did not know either of them; they had only become acolytes this year, and he had no classes with them. "You better watch your mouth," one of them threatened while her companion raised his axe in a menacing manner.

"You know the best way to shut us up." Martel smiled, and the four mages about to duel took position opposite each other.

With a grin, Maximilian looked around, seeing everyone watching. "Fight!"

Both mageknights swung their weapons at the opponent in front of them. Both battlemages raised their shield to take the first blow while also releasing a fire bolt at the same target. Struck twice in a row, the female warrior fell to her knees in agony.

Suddenly alone and facing two battlemages, the remaining mageknight panicked and swung his weapon wildly. Harriet had no problem parrying with her staff while Martel released his fire bolts. Within a few moments, the fight was over.

Harriet looked as the two warriors got back on their feet with dejected expressions. "If you ever speak ill of us again, we'll be right back here. Remember how easy it was for us to take you down." She turned around and left the Chamber of Earth, Martel doing the same with a smile.

The female mageknight looked towards Maximilian. "What did she mean? We never said anything about them. You told us that the gangly fellow wanted to challenge us."

"Just words in the heat of the moment, I imagine. Now, who bet against the battlemages?"