Lady Caspen slid closer to her husband and placed a gentle hand on his knee. “I know that our finances have certainly benefited from me having a proper education on how to handle such matters. It leaves the husband free to work his profession without worrying about a steward who is unrelated. Isn’t that right darling?”
“Quite right,” Lord Caspen said. The greedy dog was almost salivating.
Even with the charm spell over the room, it took several minutes for Janik and Feberik to agree to the terms. In the end it was Janik, and not Feberik, who finalized the arrangement.
“I’m sure it will not be a problem.” Janik smiled and rose to his feet, thanking Lady Caspen for the tea and Lord Caspen for the hospitality. “We will send the portion of the dowry that is meant for Kyra upon our return home, including the titles and deeds to the land.”
Lord Caspen stood and nodded his head with a slight bow of his back. Lady Caspen remained seated and smiled as she nodded farewell. She watched her husband slowly show them to the door, accommodating Janik’s terrible limp. She couldn’t help but feel pleased with herself, for Lord Higbee’s offer was one of the largest dowries that had ever been negotiated in all of the Middle Kingdom. As much as Lady Caspen hated the thought, she knew that a beautiful young girl with magical abilities was a rare find among the nobility. The fact that she managed to not only double the monetary gain but include the lands she had lost when she married Lord Caspen made the negotiation very successful indeed.
Lady Caspen smiled wide and finished her tea, congratulating herself on Kyra’s behalf.
*****
Kyra stepped out from the coach and waved goodbye to Lucas, her family coach master. She turned a longing eye to the inside of the coach and wished that her mother had come with her. Kyra had never envisioned going to Kuldiga Academy alone. Her mother had assured her that her inability to attend the first day with her was due to events beyond her control. She had said there was business and matters of the utmost importance she had to tend to, but she hadn’t explained beyond that.
A pair of porters grabbed Kyra’s luggage and whisked the bags off to some place through a side entrance in the great, stone building before her.
She looked around and saw scores of young apprentices rushing about. Some with their parents, and others obviously returning to the academy after summer holiday and fully aware of where they were going.
The sea of students might have swallowed her if Feberik had not found her.
“I have been waiting for you,” he said with a warm smile.
Kyra returned the greeting with a forced smile. The man was huge. Each of his arms was larger around than her waist. Without warning or reason, the image of her being crushed under him on their wedding night exploded into her mind and caused her stomach to flip. She must have frowned or grimaced, because Feberik was there in a second, putting his arm around her.
“Are you alright?”
Kyra nodded and slid out from his embrace. “I am fine,” she said. “Just a bit tired from the road.” Feberik nodded empathetically and motioned to the large, open doorway.
“Come, I will show you into the auditorium. The headmaster will give the formal welcome soon.” He placed his massive hand on her back, covering far more of her back with his giant paw than allowed her to feel comfortable. “I won’t be able to stay long. I have some matters I need to attend to, but I should be back in the morning to check on you and make sure you are settling in alright.”
Kyra maintained a stoic expression on her face, but inside she was screaming for air. Couldn’t he wait until after she graduated to smother her? Was she to be watched and guarded for the next four years to ensure she was safely delivered up to the altar?
At least he stopped talking. He finished guiding her to the auditorium in silence and then bade farewell after showing her to a seat in the very front row, staying with her just long enough that she was more than certain everyone coming into the auditorium saw it. It was all she could do to look at the podium a few yards in front of her and pretend as though she were somewhere else.
She didn’t bother listening to, or even looking at the headmaster during his welcome. He wasn’t really saying anything she didn’t already know anyway. He started by explaining that Kuldiga Academy was founded to train a corps of wizards to fight necromancers and shadowfiends many centuries ago. It was then expanded to train scholars, healers, swordsmen, and archers as well. Every child in the Middle Kingdom knew that. It was the subject of many bedtime tales and ingrained in every noble. Kyra slumped forward and leaned her head onto her hands and waited for it to end. She was probably as well versed in the history of Kuldiga Academy as the headmaster himself, maybe even more so. Her mother had always made it a point to recite the training program to Kyra ever since she had shown aptitude for magic.
All those years she had waited to share this moment with her mother, and now she was here alone. Except she wasn’t really alone, she had a giant fiancée chaperoning her around like some prized animal taken in a grand hunt.
This was not how it was supposed to be.
It wasn’t about to get any better for her either.
Over the first couple of days there, news of Feberik’s betrothal to her spread through Kuldiga Academy faster than a wildfire in dry brush. The apprentices who didn’t outright ignore her teased her mercilessly. It was more than difficult to maintain control over her anger. Kyra had always had a problem with her temper, but now she was finding it harder than ever to regulate. She kept thinking on her mother’s words that she had often repeated during Kyra’s early childhood. Even when she was able to put on a stoic expression and let the teasing roll off her back, she found herself imagining blasting the snobby brats into a wall.
She tried to tell Feberik about the others, but he seemed not to hear her complaints. She asked him to give her some space, but every morning he came with flowers to her room, and every night he came to make sure she had found her way to her dorm. His routine only served to fan the rumors of impropriety.
On the last day of her fourth week, she decided she was going to let Feberik have it. Once and for all she was going to end the rumors, and demand her space. She knew she was betrothed, but that didn’t mean she was shackled to him, not yet anyway.
Kyra paced back and forth in her dorm, mumbling to herself as she recited the words she was going to say. The other three girls in her room just watched her silently, sitting on their beds.
The door opened. Kyra spun around and pointed a finger at Feberik. Her face flushed with anger and her mouth opened to let out the barrage she had planned, but she stopped when she saw two other Masters standing with Feberik in the doorway. Behind them was the Headmaster. Each of them wore somber expressions and looked directly at her.
Without anyone saying a word, she knew something was wrong.
“Girls, out,” Master Lorry said. “We need to speak with Kyra alone.”
The other girls scrambled to exit the room. Kyra stood in the center of the floor and waited as the adults filtered in and closed the door behind them.
“Kyra, I am afraid we have some bad news,” Master Lorry said.
“You may want to sit down, child,” Master Fenn added.
Kyra looked to each of their faces and shook her head. “Just tell me,” she said.
Feberik sighed and his large head hung low as his shoulders drooped. In his hand was a letter. “Kyra, it’s about your mother,” he said softly.
Kyra’s heart stopped and her tongue caught in her throat as she tried to swallow down her fear. “My mother?” she squeaked.
Master Lorry moved in quickly and guided her to a bed and sat her down on it. He knelt in front of her as the others gathered around.
“This isn’t easy,” Master Fenn said.
Master Lorry nodded and looked up at Kyra with teary eyes. “Did you know that I was friends with your mother?” he asked. “We both graduated the same year from the academy.”
Kyra’s mouth
hung open and her brow drew together as water gathered at the corners of her eyes. “What do you mean you were friends with her?” The words barely left her mouth. It was almost as if some unknown force pushed them out for her.
Master Lorry reached for the letter and placed it in Kyra’s lap. “There was an intruder at your home, Kyra. Your mother was killed.”
Kyra’s world collapsed around her. Tears fell as the adults all swooped in to hug her and tell her everything was going to be alright. Her body was numb to their embraces, and her mind rejected their assurances. How could it be alright? Nothing was the way it should be. Kyra sat still, letting the adults take turns holding her and pulling her close to console her. She hardly noticed when they stepped away from her. The door opened and closed, but she couldn’t say who left first.
Feberik was the last to stay with her. He sat on the floor in front of her silently as she let the tears fall from her face. She glanced down to the letter and reached for it, but her fingers fumbled it and it fell to the floor. Feberik gently picked it up and held it out for her.
“Shall I read it for you?” he asked.
Kyra shook her head and took the paper from him. She opened it and her eyes traced the words on the page. She must have read the first line more than a dozen times, but she couldn’t comprehend it. None of the letters made any sense to her. After several minutes of trying unsuccessfully to focus on the letter, she dropped the paper to the floor and let herself fall onto her side on the bed.
Feberik rose up from the floor and placed the letter beside her.
“I will arrange to find you a private dorm, if you like,” he offered. “Usually they don’t do that until you are a fourth year and working on your own research, but I think we can make an exception.”
She didn’t respond.
“Is there anything I can do for you?”
Again, Kyra was silent. She closed her eyes and rolled away to face the wall. A moment later she heard footsteps followed by the sound of the door opening and closing.
She cried until her body had spent all of its strength, and then she gave in to sleep.
*****
Janik closed the door to his small room and began to unbutton his shirt. He stopped suddenly, now aware of the fact that he was not alone. He turned toward his bed and waited for the man sitting there to speak.
“Lady Caspen is dead,” Cyrus said in hushed tones.
Janik nodded. “My brother told me,” he said. “Was that your doing?”
Cyrus snapped his fingers and the candles on the nightstand burst into flame, their yellow light chasing the shadows away. The old wizard shook his head and tugged on his beard with his left hand. “I was there, but not until after it had already happened.”
Janik nodded, not sure if he believed Cyrus. “Who was it?” he pressed.
Cyrus turned a fierce eye on Janik and pointed a bony finger at him. “I want you to go to Kyra’s room and look for something,” Cyrus said, ignoring Janik’s question.
Janik sighed and nodded. “What am I looking for?” he asked.
“A dagger. You will know it by the three rubies set in the hilt.”
“A dagger?” Janik echoed. “What do you want with that?”
Cyrus rose slowly from the bed and moved close enough to Janik so that he could whisper. “That was the other item I sought when we fought the vampire. All this time I thought he had taken with him when he escaped from us, but now it appears he no longer has it.”
Janik narrowed his eyes on the old wizard. “How do you know that?”
Cyrus put a finger to his nose and sneered. “Because the vampire is dead. He was slain with the dagger for which I search. More than that, it seems that someone else is hunting the item as well.”
“If I find it?” Janik asked.
“Then bring it back to your room. I know where to find you,” Cyrus said.
“What is so special about this dagger?” Janik pressed once more.
Cyrus shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. Just bring it to me if you find it.”
Janik nodded reluctantly. “So the other person that is searching for the dagger thought that Lady Caspen had it?”
Cyrus smiled wickedly and laughed. “That would be the logical conclusion.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because I was there. I saw the marks of a ghoul in Lady Caspen’s study. There was likely another creature as well, as I can’t imagine she would have been defeated by a single ghoul, but nevertheless those are the only marks I saw in the room. Her desk was shattered, and books were strewn about. The rest of the house was undisturbed. They were looking for it.”
“Maybe they were looking for something else,” Janik said.
Cyrus shook his head. “There are scrying tools that help unravel the mysteries of the past.” The old wizard smiled. “I won’t bother you with the details, but I know she had it.”
“Are you sure the others didn’t find it?”
Cyrus shrugged. “Of that I am not certain, but I am optimistic. I know the man who is hunting it. Let’s just say that if he had it, I would know by now.” Cyrus turned and put the candle out with a flick of his finger. The room went dark again. “Search the girl’s room. If it is there, bring it here. If it is not there, then keep an eye on her. Watch her carefully. I have a feeling that the others will come for her next. If they do, you had better keep her alive until I get back.”
“Why not just take her and have her tell you where it is?” Janik asked.
“No, that would turn her against us. Your first priority is to make her an ally. When she is grown, we will need her strength on our side. We mustn’t jeopardize that, not even for the dagger.”
“You keep saying that, and yet you don’t tell me what it is we need her for, or even why she is so special compared to the other hundred sorcery apprentices in Kuldiga Academy. Is the daughter of a vampire truly so remarkable?” Janik asked. His words were met by silence. “Cyrus?” Janik whispered. Still no answer. He moved to the far side of the room and lit the candle. He was alone.
CHAPTER FIVE
For about a month, the other apprentices ceased teasing Kyra. They weren’t overly nice to her, but the rumors all but stopped and the mean pranks were abandoned. Still, she would have gladly had all of the bad treatment back, even doubled, if she could also have her mother returned to her. She still hadn’t been able to bring herself to read the letter that came on that horrible night. She placed it on top of her dresser in her dorm room, which she now shared with no one. She hardly spoke, and her studies suffered considerably. Feberik tried to cheer her up, but it didn’t help much.
Now she was more alone than ever before. In the few days immediately after the news had come, other professors would sit with her at lunch and offer their condolences for her mother’s sudden passing, but of late even they keep their distance.
As the time passed and Feberik continued to call upon Kyra both morning and night, the rumors began to flare up again. Another two weeks and the other apprentices fell right back into their old habits.
It was a particularly sunny Tuesday when everything came to a head.
Amelia, a tall blonde apprentice walked by Kyra’s desk and pretended to accidentally knock Kyra’s book to the floor. The skinny blonde put a hand to her mouth and made a gasp of feigned horror.
“Oh dearest me, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there.”
“Oh I’m sorry, were you talking to me? I can’t hear you with that frog in your throat,” Kyra replied.
Amelia’s eyes went wide and she dropped her books clutching both hands at a bulge in her throat. She opened her mouth, presumably to scream, but instead a large toad slipped out with trails of opaque slime clinging from it to Amelia’s lips. Amelia turned and fell to her knees dry heaving.
“Miss Caspen,” Lady Priscilla shouted. “We do not use our magic like that in here. Let me show you why.” Lady Priscilla drew out her wand in a flash and banished the toad that Kyra h
ad summoned. Next she turned to Kyra and glared at her. Kyra knew that it was common for instructors of magic to employ spells on the students as punishment, particularly if the students used magic to agitate each other, but Kyra was not about to back down. “Let us see how you like it.” Lady Priscilla narrowed her eyes on Kyra and it was obvious that Lady Priscilla was not going to chastise Amelia for her rude treatment of Kyra.
As far as Kyra was concerned, the instructor had thrown her lot in with those who teased her.
No more. No matter how many demerits it cost, Kyra was done silently bearing everyone else’s rudeness and contempt. Kyra was not going to accept any more harassment. Kyra held up her left hand and cast a ward spell of reflection. No sooner had Lady Priscilla finished her spell than her own neck bulged out in three different places. When the sorceress opened her mouth, not one, not two, but three green frogs leapt out from her mouth to rest upon her desk. Lady Priscilla’s watery eyes flashed red with anger. She glowered at Kyra as she raised her wand high over her head and prepared another spell. This time it was not to be frogs. A ball of sparks and fire gathered around Lady Priscilla’s wand.
Kyra felt an enormous wave of power rise up within her. It wasn’t just anger, she knew that much, but what it was she didn’t know precisely. She leapt up to her feet and gathered both of her hands in front of her. She sent a harmless, yet extremely powerful gust of air rushing toward Lady Priscilla. The tall woman was blasted into the wall behind her and fell to the floor. Her wand broke and her spell fizzled into smoke.
Not a single student spoke. Many of them glanced between Lady Priscilla and Kyra, but none of them uttered a single word. As Kyra met their gazes, each student jerked their head downwards to stare at their desk.
Kyra summoned one more spell. Not one to attack anybody with, but something to cover her escape. The thick fog appeared in the classroom around everyone’s ankles. Several of the young girls, including Amelia, screamed and clambered on top of their desks. A couple of the boys did to. The fog filled the room and then Kyra left. The young sorceress bolted down the hallway turning left at the first intersection and running straight for the southern exit.
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