Chapter 10 — Faris Novidus

“Faris, I know you find these sorts of gatherings uncomfortable, particularly when you already deal with Iori and Rienne’s friends visiting almost daily.” Mother gave him an understanding smile. “But do your best, okay?”

Faris reluctantly nodded.

“What are you saying, Mother?” Iori laughed, her curled black locks swaying at the side of her head. “A boy his age could only dream of being surrounded by pretty young ladies all the time, right?”

“Yeah, Mother,” Rienne joined in with a ready chuckle of her own and ruffled his hair. “Faris should consider himself lucky to have two popular and lovely older sisters.”

Mother gave both girls exasperated looks, and Faris ran his fingers through his unruly hair in an attempt to make it presentable again. He and his siblings had all inherited their father’s curly hair, but only he was blond like Father.

“In any case, it would do you well to befriend your cousin and her friends,” Mother advised. “My influence can only protect you so much, and having others your age to count on will prove valuable, not just now, but also long into the future.”

“Yes, Mother.”

There wasn’t much he could do about it anyway... other than hope that Cousin Keira wasn’t a malicious condescending bully and that they could get along. Having to be inconspicuous whenever Cousin Presius was around was already troublesome enough.

“So, Mother, do you think Cousin Keira will bring anyone interesting?” Rienne asked and reached forward to sample a taste of one of the sweet biscuits in the tray before her.

“Yeah, Mother,” Iori agreed. “I’m curious as well. They’ll be our cute juniors at the academy this year after all!”

Mother laughed. “I did also invite your grandfather’s regional sponsorship student. A foreign girl from the frontier will surely be interesting don’t you think?”

“Oooh, how rare! I can’t wait!” Iori clapped her silk-gloved hands with excitement.

Rienne leaned over and half-covered her mouth as if to say something scandalous. “Ah, but my dear sister... you’ll have to wait, you know.”

“Ah! You’re right…” Iori admitted then smirked and a large crystal ball appeared in her hands. “But what if I brought the front fountain’s scrying orb?”

Mother rolled her eyes at both her daughters’ pleading expressions. “Go on then.”

“Yay!” the girls cheered, and a scene of a horse-drawn carriage arriving at the fountain’s roundabout appeared.

The scene zoomed in on a vaguely familiar and chubby blond girl being assisted down by her maid.

“Is that Cousin Keira?” Iori asked.

“Most likely,” Mother answered. “She has Brother Aredan and Lady Etrina’s features.”

“Dear Cousin is going to get treated poorly by the girls in her year if she doesn’t lighten her meals…,” Rienne observed.

“Now, now, Rienne. Even if true, that’s not a nice thing to say aloud,” Mother chided. “And if careful, she’ll be fine once her growth spurt happens. But I’m sure your cousin will appreciate if you put in some effort to tamp down any rumors or meanness that get out of hand and would cause her to be viewed in a negative light.”

Rienne contritely lowered her head. “Yes, Mother.”

Next Iori focused the view on a lightly sun-bronzed foreign girl who was boggling at their estate and had to be reminded by Cousin Keira to step down from the carriage. A rather common looking dog followed her out of the carriage.

Faris wasn’t particularly impressed. Though the girl had expressive eyes and a nice nose, she was somewhat plain even with her hair arranged and wearing a party dress.

“That must be young Ria from Shadewood,” Mother noted with a musing tone.

“Is it usual for foreigners to choose common animals for familiars?” Rienne asked.

“Hmm, I’m not sure,” Mother considered. “There are advantages and disadvantages to such an approach, and you know, even with such a common-seeming animal as a familiar, she received a commendation from the High Council for ‘heroism in defense of Crysellia’ the other day.”

“She did?” Iori asked in surprise.

Faris had learned about the commendation of the ‘Witch of Vorshan’s Hills’ by overhearing Cousin Presius complaining to Cousin Duelleres and passed the information along to Cousin Hulle, but seeing the girl, he also found it hard to believe that she was a war hero.

“...wait.” Iori’s brows scrunched together. “Could it be the rumor from yesterday about a foreign first-year shadow mage defeating a Ravelle second-year in an unsanctioned duel...?”

Seriously? A first-year shadow mage defeating a lightning mage? Surely, it was exaggerated or the second-year was overconfident and took a stupid handicap. Or Bianca was feeding Iori goofy gossip again. Iori’s friend was a nice-enough girl, but diviners tended to believe all sorts of crazy things.

“What about the others?” Rienne urged. “I want to see the others before they move out of range.”

There were two other girls in party dresses, and when Iori shifted the view back and zoomed in on a beautiful girl with long black hair, silvery-pale eyes, and an odd wood-sprite seated on her shoulder, Faris sucked in a breath of surprise along with his two sisters.

Mother instructed a maid to see to his hair. For once, he didn’t complain.

“Wow, she’s so pretty…” Rienne mumbled with some jealousy.

“She is,” Iori agreed but leaned forward and zoomed the view onto the girl’s hand, eliciting another round of gasps. “A mind mage’s brand…”

“Oh, that should meet your criteria for interesting, I would think,” Mother observed dryly.

The view quickly moved to the remaining girl, but other than a nice dress there didn’t seem much of interest to be found.

It wasn’t long after mother’s maid fixed his hair that their guests arrived in the garden.

“Welcome, my niece! And new friends!” Mother stood and greeted the new arrivals, holding her arms open to receive a hug from Cousin Keira. When Keira stepped back after her obligatory hug, Mother motioned to the foreign girl’s dog and the sprite. “Your familiars will likely find our chatting to be boring. They are welcome to explore the gardens if they like.”

“Stay with Ranger and don’t cause trouble, okay Malleron?” the beautiful girl coaxed, but when the sprite seemed to rudely refuse, she grimaced and added, “Don’t be like that. I’ll give you a nice reward when we get back.”

Though audibly grumbling the sprite acquiesced, and after hopping down he motioned for the gray dog to follow—an act that elicited a snort from the dog.

“Have fun, Ranger,” the foreign girl encouraged, sending off her familiar with a bright smile.

Faris reconsidered his earlier impression about the foreign girl. She was a bit pretty when she smiled. There was something about her though…

He risked a quick scan of the four girls while Iori and Rienne were introducing themselves and was shocked by the depths of the foreign girl’s power—enough to compare with Ophesia and Nielle Vesali who were considered geniuses and almost as much as Cousin Presius who was a third-year! Did she really duel a second-year on her first day?

Thankfully, Cousin Keira and the beautiful girl, Iselyn, were about as strong as he would have expected for first-years from established mage families. The fourth girl, it turned out, was only there to make a connection with Mother because she was attending the same school Mother graduated from, Astacio School of Beneficial Planning and Governance.

Mother found that interesting and encouraged the girl by suggesting that she was always in need of talented and loyal deputies that wouldn’t be swayed by corruption and influence. Faris wasn’t particularly interested though. Diluting his bloodline further was pointless, and as a non-mage, the girl wouldn’t be able to help him at the academy.

When his mother introduced him, Faris properly performed his greetings, and the girls took the prepared seats with the servants filling their tea. Cousin Keira’s maid stayed back and seemed content to let their house maids handle Cousin Keira’s service.

“Please help yourself to the biscuits and sandwiches,” Mother offered and asked, “How was your trip to the capital?”

“After all the trouble during the winter, it was surprisingly uneventful,” Cousin Keira volunteered as she sipped her tea and motioned for one of the maids to fill her plate. “Thank you for asking, Aunt Asara.”

“I understand that I have a certain hero to thank for preventing my birth home from falling to Skyreach barbarians,” Mother offered with a grateful nod while motioning with her teacup in the foreign girl’s direction.

The foreign girl, Ria, choked on the biscuit she was sampling and swallowed before laughing nervously and waving her hand in denial. “It was only thanks to the sacrifices of the Guardsmen and militia, and Master Rigure, Lord Vorshan, Keira’s mom and dad, the adventurers, everyone fighting hard together that I was able to help... I just did what I could to help my new home.”

“You’re being much too modest, Ria,” Mother chided. “The official report says you discovered a surprise night-time raid by the Skyreach chieftain and led the resistance that defeated him, likely saving the entire village.”

The girl shook her head. “It was Ranger that noticed the attack.”

“A familiar’s accomplishments are a mage’s accomplishments,” Mother pointed out.

“You really defeated a barbarian chieftain?!” Iori excitedly asked.

The foreign girl grimaced. “Jarrel—the swordsman who took me in—and his father, Orlan, the village butcher; and Oscar, the butcher’s apprentice; Tarkin, the leatherworker; and Leon, the baker’s son, were with Ranger and me. The chieftain was trying to break through the manor’s barrier when we found them and killed his shamans with enchanted arrows.

“When he stabbed Jarrel with his spear... I used my lightning wand on all of them until it turned to dust in my hand, then... he stabbed Ranger who was trying to keep him distracted and I… fire.” A hint of terrifying pressure suddenly pressed down on Faris as the girl’s eyes became unfocused and golden veins began to replace the blue of her irises. “I wrapped him in chains of fire and burned... burned him until he stopped screaming and the lightning left his spear and his eyes.”

Iselyn, with her eyes like reflected moonlight, was staring at the foreign girl, teacup frozen mid-motion. The ordinary girl, Aeri, actually looked like she might be trembling and had to put her cup down. Cousin Keira touched the foreign girl’s arm and her eyes turned back to summer-sky blue. A faint smell of molten metal lingered in the air before being carried away by a mild breeze.

Too scary! Was her bloodline not fully awakened yet? ...and she was already this strong?! She could become another Thentis Hammerfell or Jeria Emberflow!

Mother's brow creased with clear concern, and Faris thought she would say something but the foreign girl began to speak again.

“When I woke after expending all my energy, Tina and Burtan, B-rank adventurers, had driven back the attackers and collapsed the tunnel. But many people were hurt and killed by the barbarians rampaging through the village trying to distract from the attack on the manor and the assault on the wall… and if Lord Hammerfell hadn’t arrived then, the outer wall would have fallen.”

“Even so, you acted courageously to protect my family in Vorshan’s Hills,” Mother stated unequivocally. “If there’s ever anything I or my office can do to assist in the future…”

The foreign girl looked surprised then bobbed her head before meeting Mother’s eyes with determination. “Thank you, Administrator Asara. I’m sure there will be many things that I will need help with in the future. I’d be grateful for any assistance when the time comes.”

Ah… did she just demand multiple favors?! Mother didn’t seem offended though. But for the situation to have been that perilous… he had no idea living on the frontier was so dangerous.

“But, aren’t you a shadow mage, Ria?” Iori tentatively asked into the awkward silence. “Bianca said you only used shadow magic when dueling the Ravelle second-year… was that someone else?”

“Ah, that… No, I’m a generalist.” Ria glanced at Cousin Keira who gave a resigned motion for her to proceed. “I’m not good enough with the lightning transformation, so I used shadow magic to absorb his lightning and send it back at him. After that using my daggers to inject shadow magic was the most effective way to disrupt his light-based barrier.”

“I see… wow. You really defeated a Ravelle second-year,” Iori mumbled, impressed. “To be that capable as a first-year, you must have an amazing master.”

The girl nodded excitedly. “Master Marlow is very knowledgeable about spellcraft! I studied under him for modern magic, same as Keira, but I’m still not as good as Keira at energy control and spell construction. Master Rigure was a big help with my shamanic magic and enchanting, too.”

“It’s only natural that I would be better,” Cousin Keira interjected defensively. “You’ve only been learning magic for less than a year!”

Less than a year?! Shamanic magic? Enchanting? Wasn’t Cousin Duelleres saying that he just missed out on ‘recruiting’ an even more promising talent when he found that necromancer girl?

“Only a year…” Rienne breathed out. Even Mother had an eyebrow raised.

“Does that mean Cousin Keira fought too?” Iori asked, wide-eyed.

“Of course!” Cousin Keira puffed up. “I used wands and helped power the artillery. I also learned a healing magic to help the wounded.”

“Living on the frontier really is different,” Faris commented, surprised at how even his soft-seeming cousin had participated in the war.

Both his sisters nodded in wide-eyed agreement.

“It is important to remember where your family comes from and the price paid by those who made your current life possible,” Mother lectured. “Be mindful when you look down on the hardworking commoners at the academy and slack in your effort because your bloodline assures you a prosperous future.”

The two commoner guests nodded agreement with Mother’s words.

Cousin Keira added, “Humility is a virtue that saves one from straying into excess—Grandfather’s favorite saying.”

Mother smiled. “Indeed it is.”

After giving the table’s occupants time to reflect and better enjoy the refreshments, Mother spoke up again, “Expressing my thanks to Ria was only one of the reasons that I invited you girls here today. Now that you are here in the capital, we should discuss your debuts. In particular, I will be hosting a party for Faris’ debut on the evening of the Spring Moon Festival, and there’s no reason why he can’t share the event with others.”

Mother paused and smirked at the looks of surprise from all four girls.

“I’m assuming from your reactions that preparations haven’t been made?” Mother inquired, and with four sets of swaying locks from the girls giving wide-eyed headshakes, Mother directly addressed the Jayre girl, “My apologies for my assumption, young Iselyn, if House Jayre or House Benathi intend to make arrangements.”

Iselyn gracefully pressed a hand against her chest to give herself courage. “I would be greatly appreciative for your assistance, Administrator Asara. I was expected to arrange my own debut and wouldn’t know where to even begin.”

“That’s terrible!” Iori exclaimed, aghast.

Rienne nodded agreement. “To expect such a beautiful girl to debut without a sponsor is cruel!”

“Now, now, girls. It’s not good to judge. Every house has their circumstances,” Mother chided. “But Rienne is right. Such a lovely girl debuting without a sponsor to mediate over-enthusiastic offers is asking for trouble. Of course, I would be happy to assist my niece’s friend with her debut.”

Mother didn’t need to say that Iselyn’s brand was the cause for her circumstances. What else could it be?

“Thank you, Administrator Asara.” Iselyn looked down and tugged slightly on her hat like she was trying to hide her face then, realizing she would make a mess of her hair-arrangement, carefully placed her hands in her lap. Faris couldn’t help feeling that the girl’s reaction was endearing, and he could relate with the way everyone stared at him whenever he left the estate.

“Thank you, Aunt Asara!” Keira cheered and turned to her friend, “Isn’t that great, Iselyn?”

Iselyn nodded.

“You two are most welcome.” Mother gave them both a smile then turned to the two other girls, and upon confirming that they also wanted her to sponsor them, continued, “That just leaves, Master Rigure’s grandson, Arthur, was it?”

“Yes, Aunt Asara. I tried to invite him, but he had other commitments with his Order,” Keira reported then added, “That’s what he said anyway.”

“He’s surprisingly skilled at being slippery when it comes to such commitments, isn’t he?” the foreign girl snidely accused.

“Ria! You can’t say that!” Aeri complained, and when everyone turned to look, the commoner girl became flustered and her cheeks imitated an amusing shade of red. “I mean, it’s not fair… since Arthur is working really hard to join Master Mathelli’s workshop.”

“Oh.” Ria covered her surprised mouth and seemed to come to a realization. “So, that’s why he didn’t want to go shopping with us yesterday.”

Aeri not seeming to want to confirm or deny was kind of hilarious. No sane guy wants to go shopping with a bunch of girls! Faris chuckled to himself. He was surely an expert on that. This Arthur guy sounded like someone he should try to befriend once classes started. The guy might be someone he could commiserate with.

“Well, can’t be helped then,” Mother said with a laugh. “So, now that business is out of the way. What do you four think of our fine city?”

The mood immediately relaxed at the signaling of pleasantries, and each of the girls had questions and stories about the things they encountered since arriving.

For some reason, Ria kept trying to involve him in the conversation, efforts which Mother seemed to approve of and actively assist with. How many embarrassing stories had the manipulative woman saved up all these years?

Mother’s purpose was obvious enough. Faris was sure Grandfather Vorshan wanted to tie the foreign girl to House Vorshan, and though he was technically a Novidus, he was likely viewed as a possible means to that end. Her strong bloodline would certainly improve his own disappointingly weak one, but even if her brash and clumsy personality weren’t opposite his, he was observant enough to know the girl was heading for greater things.

The beautiful mind mage… now, she was more his pace. Normally, he would consider a girl like her out of reach, but with her being branded, he might have a chance. He did worry about being interested in a girl that had already misused her mind-affecting magic, but… she seemed nice enough. He would have to do more research about her crime before bringing his interest to mother’s attention—just in case.

Thankfully, a maid brought Mother a note that was doubtlessly from one of her aides, and she promptly wrapped the party up, thanking the guests and announcing that she would invite them out again to finalize their debut preparations in time for the upcoming event.

After seeing the guests off, Faris was surprised when Mother didn’t hurry off to take care of the urgent business in the note.

“So, Iselyn of House Jayre drew your interest, did she, Faris?” Mother queried with a knowing smirk.

Faris couldn’t help cringing at being found out so easily.

“She is very, very pretty,” Iori enthused.

“Teasing such a shy girl with hugs would be pretty fun,” Rienne added. “Mother, bring us a cute little sister!”

“You’re not worried about your little brother getting charmed?” Mother queried, her eyes crinkling in amusement.

Iori shook her head and laughed. “I can’t see Iselyn as the kind of girl that would do something like that.”

“Me either,” Rienne agreed.

“Hmm, well if you two are that enthusiastic, I can make some inquiries. Contracting a nature spirit as a familiar certainly speaks well of her future potential. So, I can’t say I have any complaints,” Mother decided then looked down at him. “Are you against it, Faris?”

Faris let out a long sigh. Living with two older sisters and a scheming mother, he’d long since learned that his pride was less important that getting the result he wanted. “Do as you like.”

Mother pulled him into a hug against her side. “I won’t force you if you’re against it, Faris. Let's start out small. How about we arrange for you to be Iselyn’s escort for her debut?”

“Okay.”

Ria had to put up with Keira’s endless critique of all her etiquette failings the entire carriage ride to the Academy. The tea party had gone well, hadn’t it? That defense turned out to be another mistake, as it wound Keira up even more. Her blond-haired friend was only mollified by a promise to at least sign up for etiquette lessons at Whitestone Hall and to preferably add an etiquette class to her schedule as she and Iselyn exited the carriage with Ranger and Malleron.

Once they were past the mages guarding the gates and on their way to Parthanex tower, Ria mumbled to Iselyn, “I thought it went well.”

Iselyn nodded. “Administrator Asara didn’t seem offended.” Her familiar said something rude which made Iselyn nod agreement as well.

Ria grimaced. ...that way of agreeing, and such a low measure for success! Surely, she hadn’t done that poorly?!

That aside, Administrator Asara’s son, Faris, was a total cutey and might be seriously dreamy when he grew up a bit. Were all Novidus men so easy on the eyes? And his sisters were fun. Shame marrying into the family would mean being related to Duelleres... or she might actually be interested.

Though, maybe it wasn’t just the Novidus men that were hunks? Might that be the same for the men of all the Greater Houses? The more she thought about it, the Ravelle boy wasn’t bad looking either even if picking on a first-year made him a jerk...

Ria wracked her brain trying to picture the faces of any other boys from the previous day. Tensly was too stupid for her to even pay attention to his face. The other boys from the Special Student Services room didn’t make much of an impression and probably weren’t from the Greater Houses judging by how much they wanted to avoid being around Hulle... though maybe that was just Hulle.

Aldri... there was something about his face she found annoying. Jax? Ria scrunched her brow in concentration but could picture the details of his face—were they roguish, maybe?

As she and Iselyn walked in silence lost in their own thoughts, Ria eventually decided that if any of the boys had been as eye-catching as Hulle and Faris, then she would have remembered, but she would hold off on drawing a conclusion until she had a chance to meet more boys from the other Greater Houses.

“Thanks for today, Ria,” Iselyn suddenly offered and, at Ria’s confused expression, added, “Because of you, I was able to make connections with House Novidus and House Vorshan.”

Ria nodded and was about to tell Iselyn that it was the least she could do for a friend, when she was stopped in her tracks by the sight of their destination. Before them, a vine-choked tower rose into the sky, patches of lichen and moss growing out of the mortar gaps between the stones that formed its construction. The tower looked… shoddy. And something about the view made her tilt her head—was it actually… leaning??

An explosion sounded out, and Ria barely had enough time to form an air shield to protect herself and Iselyn from a rain of gravel.

“Whoohoo! Now that’s the kind of view I’m talking about!” a red-headed girl with her long hair done up in twin-tails cheered as she leaned out from a wide hole in the tower’s wall about five floors up.

Iselyn’s expression was just as incredulous as Ria imagined her own to be, and she could only stare at the absurdity. Ranger and Malleron were under no such incredulity and loudly voiced their annoyance, which drew the older girl’s attention, and the crazy upperclassman seemed to become even happier when she spotted them below.

“Oh hey! Are you the fresh victims?” the maniacally-grinning girl called down and enthusiastically jerked a thumb back toward the tower interior. “I hear the glasses slave-driver is waiting for you two on the third floor.”

“There’s still time left in the day to regret my meddling,” Ria advised Iselyn in a deadpanned voice.