In the end, I chose what I decided was the least irritating option, at least in the short term. Time, as it so often seemed to be, was my biggest foe here. I didn’t have time to sit beside Lea as she was cared for, nor search for less troublesome alternatives. The trail of whoever had done this was only growing colder, and it was never a good option to leave an enemy at your back. Caring for my precious Lea was the first priority. Making sure nothing like this would ever happen again was a close second.

I stopped outside the gates of Earthshadow mansion and took a moment to brush some specs of grime off my clothing. I would have much preferred to do this wearing something more formal, but I really didn’t have time to change, nor was I sufficiently confident in my ability to fabricate fine clothing with transmutation.

In my current garb, I looked rather out of place this deep into the noble district. The broad streets were lined with walled mansions set far back from the street and surrounded by expansive gardens and grounds. I was garnering some rather strange looks from passersby and the eyes of guards had followed me as I walked briskly down the wide footpath along the edge of the road. I imagined commoners, particularly ones dressed in such simple clothing, didn’t often go down this way.

I took a few more steps forward and one of the two guards flanking the manor’s gate stepped forward, raising a hand out towards me. “Halt,” he called out, “these are private grounds.”

I stopped and placed a hand over my chest. “Greetings. I am mage Orion, of Avalon. I have business with the heiress Earthshadow concerning a mutual friend of ours.”

The guard stared at me suspiciously for a moment. “The heiress is not in the habit of meeting unannounced strangers.”

“I’m confident she will see me,” I answered evenly.

The other guard stepped forward and whispered something to the first guard. After a moment, he frowned and answered curtly, “I can pass along a message, but there is no guarantee she is available.”

Annoying, but not unexpected. I opened my mouth, but before I could say anything the manor’s gates began to swing open from the inside and I felt a familiar mana signature pass through the thick veil formed by the wards around the mansion. “Ah, there she is now.”

A carriage pulled by two beautiful white pegasi emerged from behind the low wall surrounding the entire mansion, and I could feel Adonia sitting inside it through the enchantments on the elegantly carved wooden body. It seemed like I’d gotten here just in time.

“Adonia!” I called out loudly, a touch of magic amplifying my voice, “Someone attacked Leana at her home. She needs urgent medical attention.”

The carriage stopped abruptly, the two pegasi freezing nearly mid-step and enchantments on the body halting the rest of it in its tracks. The door closest to me swung open and a frazzled-looking Adonia leaned half way out through the opening. “Orion?” she asked, a look of surprise on her face, “what are you–”

“Leana needs help. She was badly beaten, tortured even, and needs a healer.”

That seemed to be enough to clear away whatever concerns she had. Her eyes sharpened and she sat up straight, “I just heard that her home was on fire. Do you know what happened? Where is she?”

I gestured to the ‘parcel’ under my arm. “I just got her from the guard center, they had her chained down to a cot! She’s under a stasis spell now, but her uncles are still back there.”

Adonia leapt out of the carriage and rushed over to me. I pulled back a corner of the blanket and Adonia almost staggered back as Lea’s battered face came into view for a moment before I covered her back up.

To her credit, she recovered quickly. “Arra,” she barked to the armed woman driving her carriage, “go retrieve Erwin and Estin from the guard center.” Her eyes scanned over the two guards still standing on either side of the gate, “Edric, go get Healer Loraline, she should still be in her office. Tell her to come to my room, it's urgent.” Finally she turned back to look at me, “Are you coming?”

I nodded.

“Follow me then. Thank you for bringing her.”

I hadn’t thought much of Adonia the first time I’d met her. She’d been an emotional wreck at the time, sobbing and blaming me for what had happened to my Lea. My opinion had not improved much since then, not with how bitter Lea was about their current relationship difficulties. Still, I could not deny that when the time came, she had proven herself more focused and level headed than I had honestly expected.

She was only momentarily stunned when I gently lay Lea’s brutalized, unmoving body down on the couch she’d directed me toward. Then her eyes hardened and her lips pulled into a tight line. I recognized the emotions that were all but wafting off her, radiating through her mana and into the air. It was the same icy rage I could feel clawing just under the surface of my self control.

“This cannot go unpunished,” she whispered through gritted teeth.

At that moment, I decided that maybe this girl really could be good for my Lea. Perhaps she would not require as thorough an attitude adjustment as I had initially suspected. “It won’t,” I said solemnly as I stepped up beside her.

She turned to look at me and for the first time since we’d met at the gate seemed to actually focus on who exactly I was. A look of instinctual derision flashed across her face as she took in my simple clothing, so very out of place in the well appointed sitting room with its embroidered curtains and gilded furniture. Then her eyes landed on the amulet I was still wearing, and a look of understanding replaced it.

“Ah,” she said quietly, “that explains a few things.”

“I can see how it would.”

“Then your story…” she trailed off, clearly unsure of how to ask her question.

“It really was a coincidence. It was something of a shock to recognize her that day. It had been a… very long time.”

She smiled faintly as she echoed my own words back at me, “I can see how it would be.”

Despite the circumstances, I almost smiled back at her.

After a moment, her face returned the the strained, determined look she’d been wearing for most of the time since I’d arrived. “You know, they told us to avoid people like you.” I raised an eyebrow. “Avalon students, I mean,” she elaborated. “The headmaster implied you were all dangerous, unhinged lunatics and we should avoid you as much as possible.”

I clicked my tongue softly. “It’s good advice,” I admitted after a moment, “if a bit… lacking. Dangerous, definitely. The unhinged lunatics don’t tend to last very long though.”

“You agree?” she asked, sounding surprised. “I thought you would be more defensive.”

“No, no, your headmaster has the right of it. He was a former student, you know, though he dropped out when he had the chance. We don’t tend to be particularly nice people. If you ever see someone else wearing one of these, I’d suggest getting out of their way.”

“I can take care of myself,” she said sharply.

I looked down at her, gently wrapping my mana around her like a cloak as I felt for her magic. It was a tiny bit better than Lea’s, but only that. “No you can’t.”

She frowned unhappily, “I’m a third circle mage. All my teachers tell me I’m very talented for my age, a rising star.”

I scoffed loudly, “I’d give you even odds against a firsty. Probably. Maybe. You’re a third circle mage the same way Xethis is a world power.”

“What does that mean?” she asked, clearly not liking where this conversation was going.

“Exactly what I said. You’re a third circle mage on paper, but there’s no substance behind it. Its a fancy title that gives you confidence but not the strength to back it up. In a backwater like our homeland, you might be impressive, but ultimately you’re a small fish in a very large ocean.”

She didn’t like that one bit. “I’ll have you know–”

“Here,” I said loudly, cutting her off before she could get going. “This conversation is getting us nowhere. How about this, how long have you been studying at Lightcastle?”

“This will be my sixth year,” she said after a moment, “though I had some initial tutelage for a few years before that as well.” I had to suppress a shudder, it was even worse than I’d thought. More than six years of work, and she had barely anything to show for it.

“Okay. There’s a few second years that owe me some favors. Once this is all over, I’ll get them to come over and spar with you. We’ll see how you do.”

“Second year?” she asked, sounding outraged.

I clicked my tongue again, “Unfortunately, I don’t know any firsties particularly well.”

“That's not what I meant!”

Thankfully, our ‘argument’ was cut off when Healer Loraline finally arrived, shoving the door open and striding briskly into the room without bothering to knock. She was a short, stocky woman with her wirey grey hair pulled up into a tight bun, dressed in a light robe with a white smock over it. She was clearly a foreigner, maybe even with some dwarven blood in her recent ancestry, and I was rather curious how she’d ended up working for the Earthshadows, but for now I was much more interested in her qualifications.

Her mana was dense and tightly controlled and I could sense the echoes of a well formed core pulsing rhythmically at the center of her chest. She glanced around quickly, then focused her attention on her patient. Holding her hand just over Lea’s chest, her mana poured out and wrapped itself around the girl in a way I couldn’t quite make out. Then she turned away, fixing me with an intense stare.

“Boy!” she barked, “What sort of stasis is she under?”

“Archmage Nicohlis’, the third variation,'' I answered quickly. “Should I dispel it?”

She shook her head, “A good choice. Fast, versatile, and I know the appropriate counterspell. Anything else I should know before I start?”

I quickly rattled off what I’d learned from my diagnostic spells, along with some of my other observations, the healer listening silently except for a few clarifying questions. At the end, she nodded her head once, “You were right to freeze her when you did. I don’t know what those idiot guards were doing, moving someone in her state. Such reckless disregard for…” her voice fell in volume as she spoke until her final words were too quiet to make out.

Adonia, who had been growing paler and paler beside me as I described the extent of Lea’s injuries, visibly bristled. “I will make sure those guards are… sternly reprimanded for their stupidity,” she hissed, clearly wanting to use much harsher language but unwilling to do so in the current company.

“You do that,” said the healer, clearly not paying her employer any attention. “For now, I need space to work. Shoo!”

Adonia gave Lea one parting, desperate look, then obeyed. I followed after her, but stopped at the door and simply leaned against the wall.

“You need something, boy?” she asked sharply, not looking away from her work.

“I’ll stay out of your way,” I said simply, “don’t mind me.” I inhaled, and my mana rushed back into my body, my core spinning rapidly as I began to suppress my presence. A few breaths later, I was radiating barely more mana than was already present ambiently in the air around us.

The healer actually turned around then, if only for a moment. “Impressive. Fine, stay if you wish.”

I didn’t respond, already lost in thought even as my eyes didn’t waver from Lea’s frozen features. This was step one hopefully out of the way. What next…