Chapter 21:
Cecilia McMarden
THE MORNING AFTER THE SUMMER BALL, September 1st, should have ushered in the first day of a new semester at Royal Academy. Alas.
“What is it about this year and first days getting ruined?” lamented Christopher.
“I almost feel bad for the academy,” Anna-Marie said. “They handled things fine in the game. Classes continued the day after the Spring Ball attack, and the second semester started right on time after the monster ambush.”
“Less paperwork and fewer worried parents to deal with in the digital world.” Christopher grunted. He and his partner in crime, Anna-Marie, were discussing events in his chambers.
“No Lord Maxwell today,” Anna-Marie said.
“Do you want to explain the concept of a video game to him?”
“Fair enough, although he is a big help. Regardless, let’s get the facts straight.”
The night before, Maxwell and a cohort of knights had come to the palace in a panic, causing no small amount of uproar in the process. Naturally, Prince Christopher and Anna-Marie had an inkling of what had happened. They’d heard the details in private.
“It was so late, I don’t really remember much of it, to be honest,” Christopher said.
“Me neither. It was a lot to take in. The written report will jog our memories.” Anna-Marie produced the documents Maxwell had prepared and got to reading.
“To think, the heroine role went to Luciana and Cecilia over Lady Celedia. She didn’t get jumped by any monsters, did she?” Christopher asked.
“No. And that’s accurate information. I had good people watching her,” Anna-Marie said.
“You have ‘people’ now? What’s next, you gonna turn crime lord on me?” Christopher asked.
“Would you relax? They’re just some old blightland explorers I hired through the Commerce Guild. They’ve got recon experience, so I use them as an extra set of eyes and ears sometimes.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Then what’s your problem?!”
“Anyway,” Christopher said, getting them back on topic, “so your ‘people’ say they saw no monsters near Lady Celedia, and nothing coming or going from the Great Vanargand Wood. How are they so sure? That place is enormous.”
“There’s a certain margin of error, granted, but there are only so many routes one could reasonably take that lead to the capital,” Anna-Marie said. “I had them watching every single one. I thought they’d find me some kind of lead instead of literally nothing.”
Christopher’s stomach dropped. “What if they can teleport?”
“Don’t even joke about that. We’re royally screwed if we have that kind of magic to contend with.”
“It’s totally a genre staple, though. Why wouldn’t the Dark One be able to teleport?”
“If it can, none of the lore I read mentioned that, but… Oh god.”
They shared a weighty sigh.
“That ‘Rook’ guy who showed up to help,” Christopher said. “Who’s he?”
“Luciana’s valet-in-training and guardsman, apparently. He can use magic too. Supposed to be a formidable fighter.”
“Didn’t have your people verify that?”
“Look, I’m not perfect, okay? They were focused on the Wood. I shouldn’t have relied so much on Lord Maxwell. Sorry I didn’t foresee every little thing.”
“I’m thinking we’re gonna need some more people before long.”
“On that, we agree. We’ve done nothing but react since April. When’s the last time we took the initiative?”
“Knowing who the Saint is sure would go a long way.”
“Speaking of, Lord Maxwell mentioned that at some point during the fight, everyone could suddenly hurt the monsters.”
“Right, yeah. Think it was her?”
“Hard to say.” Anna-Marie crossed her arms and frowned. “That’d mean the Saint is either Luciana or Cecilia, but neither of them meet the criteria.”
“How’s that?”
“At this point in the story, the Saint can’t use magic. Her powers haven’t awakened. In the game at least, only she has those powers. Her magic is unique. So it’s an all-or-nothing sort of thing. If she’s awakened, she can use her special Saint magic. If not, she can’t. And she has to have made an oath with someone—like one of the love interests—but neither Luciana nor Cecilia have much going on in that department.”
Aside from an oath a certain maid had pledged to her late mother, but Anna-Marie had not accounted for such a fringe case.
“Luciana can use water magic,” Christopher said. “And Cecilia cast Luce, according to the report. Nothing special there, aside from the part where she had ten lights up at once.”
“Right. So realistically, all signs still point to Celedia.”
“But Luciana’s the one who got attacked.” The prince groaned. “Man, this is confusing. We might have to just be happy we made sure Maxwell was ready for anything. Take what we can get.”
“Maybe so.”
Another world-shattering sigh gusted through the room.
“On an unrelated note,” Anna-Marie said, “this part about Luciana ‘walloping’ the wolves with a harisen. What’s that about?”
“Don’t look at me.”
“It says she was ‘very fetching bathed in the magical light.’”
“Max did not write that!”
In this world born of fiction, sometimes reality proved even stranger. Much to the royal couple’s frustration.
“I know I said I wanted to meet again soon, but it’s hardly been half a day,” Lyzack said.
“My apologies, Brother,” Lect said.
“Please forgive our intrusion, Lord Froude,” Melody said.
Lyzack’s two visitors lowered their heads.
“Please, it’s no bother. I said you were welcome anytime, and I’m a man of my word.”
The viscount was staying in the capital for the ball. His brother and his brother’s (future) partner, Cecilia, arrived at the temporary residence for a visit. He led them to the parlor, where they could converse properly.
“Now,” Lyzack began, “I take it your coming here today is a sign of your interest in my proposal. You want to attend Royal Academy?”
“Yes, my lord,” Melody said. “I’ll subject myself to whatever examinations are required.”
Lyzack grunted. Cecilia hadn’t seemed particularly eager when he first suggested this to her at the Summer Ball, but he knew that earnest look on her face.
Quite the change of heart to have overnight, he thought. His younger brother kept shooting her nervous glances. Methinks it’s safe to say it wasn’t Lectias’s doing either.
Lyzack did not want for filial piety, but he could not deny that a certain member of House Froude sorely lacked spinal integrity, quite unlike the girl holding the viscount’s gaze. Lect very much needed a spirit like hers in his life, Lyzack thought.
“Might I be so bold as to ask what brought about the change of heart?” he asked.
“Of course, my lord. After our meeting, I spoke with Lady Luciana about the academy. She told me much. Being primarily self-taught has not caused me any inconveniences in my day-do-day life, but it dawned on me last night that a more formal education in the things I already know could be good for me.”
“Oh? You speak as if you’ve something in mind.”
“Arcane studies, my lord. I’d like to hone my skills and study the mechanisms of magic more closely.”
“Magic? So you’re a mage then.”
“Lamplight—Luce.” An orb of light sprang from Cecilia’s palm. Any spellcaster could have done likewise, but then she produced another. And another. And so on until ten orbs of light glowed around her.
“So you are, and not just any mage either,” Lyzack said.
“This is the only spell I can cast in tandem to this extent, I’m afraid.”
“It’s plenty to impress, I assure you. You’re a prodigy. That much is already evident.”
“I’m embarrassed to say I was blind to the significance of my abilities until very recently.”
“Yes, well, that is the hazard of being self-taught.” Lyzack took a moment to mourn all those hidden gems who lacked the proper teacher to polish them—and to praise himself for not letting this one slip through his fingers. “I thank you for being brave enough to share this with me. It will make endorsing you that much easier.”
“That’s a relief,” the girl sighed.
Lyzack turned to business, his demeanor sharpening. “Now, I proposed that you apply to enroll, but the truth is, I cannot pull any strings in order to make your case.”
“No?”
“You’ll need to meet with my lord, Count Leginbarth, to undergo an interview and entreat him directly before you can undergo a screening.”
“Your lord?”
“The vice-chancellor. In a list of names, you would sooner find his by counting back from His Majesty’s. A powerful man, to say the least. Impress him, and it should be simple enough to appeal to the academy thereafter.”
“This isn’t a frivolous matter for someone like him?”
“He may see it that way and refuse to see you, true. In that case, I’m afraid I won’t be able to do anything to help you, but I do think you stand a good chance.”
“But we’ve hardly spoken. How can you be so sure?”
“Madam, I am a very good judge of character, something you will no doubt prove when you meet with His Lordship.”
“I see. I’ll certainly do my best.”