The Nine Bishops

Mika was relieved to see Tink as soon as she emerged from the barrier. She’d felt terribly alone through this ordeal and was comforted to see his panicked face.

“Mika!” He seemed about to throw his arms around her but quickly restrained himself because they were in public. She could see he was overcome with emotion and did her best to smile as if nothing had happened, to show she was fine.

She was surprised to see him, because she’d explicitly told Tink and Zaya not to accompany her. She didn’t want to see them worried.

Tink was visibly shaking, though recovering as he realized Mika was still standing in front of him, alive.

“Where is Zaya?” Mika asked. Since Tink didn’t listen to me, Zaya must not have as well, she thought as she looked around.

Tink’s sudden happiness turned sour. He shook his head regretfully.

“She’s having a rough time with everything that has happened.”

Mika wondered what he was talking about. So much could have occurred in the three days missing from her consciousness.

“Tell me what happened! I have no idea!”

Tink paused for a moment, letting it sink in that Mika herself was unaware of her strange behavior for the past few days.

“Well, actually, we didn’t know what hit you. You told us you needed to rest, but after you woke up, you weren’t the same person. At first you were just quiet, but then you started talking to yourself. You didn’t acknowledge anything anyone said to you, so we had Doc look at you. Even he had no idea what your condition was. The only speculation was that you had some sort of post-traumatic stress from your fight with Tobias. The only thing you talked about was the tournament.”

Mika felt terrible that her behavior had worried her guildmates and friends. Now she was anxious to know what had occurred with Zaya. Mika and Tink were still surrounded by boisterous crowds, cheering and congratulating Mika’s accomplishment, but all she wanted was to get out of the spotlight. She and Tink ducked into a nearby alley, as she had after the first round, and finally found a bit of peace. I need to know what happened.

Mika glanced up to look at the tournament bracket broadcast in the sky. The first thing she noticed was her own name, verifying she’d made it to the third round. The name next to hers made her nervous all over again: Master Beng was to be her next opponent. She had no idea how he had won his second round, but there was no doubt in her mind that he would be a more than formidable opponent.

However, on the other side of the bracket, Mika saw something strange. Lancel Beng’s name was already slotted for the semifinal round, meaning he’d skipped his second round entirely. She had no idea how Lancel’s first round had gone, since all his rounds were after Mika’s first round. It was clear now that he was victorious from the last round. His opponent had been Alfred Mandrake, Zaya’s master. Mika wondered how that fight had ended, certain that it had something to do with Zaya’s emotional state.

Lancel Beng was supposed to have gone up against Randall Farly in the second round. Mika did not know exactly when his round was supposed to take place, but it would have been slated after her own fight with Jazmine. Randall Farly had apparently defeated Bishop Static’s nominee, based on the tournament bracket. His fight was a day after Mika’s fight with Tobias, but his name was now crossed out, like all the other defeated candidates. That made no sense to Mika, because his fight could not have happened yet. Had someone broken the rules?

Vixin Tamrie and Bishop Wild’s nominee still needed to fight to determine who would face Lancel on the other side of the bracket. Mika wanted to see how the last fight would play out before it was her turn to fight again.

Once Mika and Tink had escaped the crowds, she began to explain to Tink what had happened to her. She still didn’t fully understand how she had escaped Jazmine’s magic. She needed time to analyze it.

She couldn’t afford to fall victim again to magic like that, which, she reasoned, was most likely some form of Manipulation or Incantation. She’d need to be more prepared to face magic that wasn’t physical, since she had so easily been attacked without even being aware of it.

When they walked through the guild doors, everyone in her guild was there, waiting. Mika noticed even Master Beng was there, standing in the back of the room behind the others, watching as she came in. Surprisingly, the first to speak was Pudge.

“Mika, are you finally you?” he asked. She noticed there were crumbs all over his face.

“Everyone was watching the fight,” Doc interjected. “After the past couple of days, we thought you were completely lost.”

“You had everyone worried, Mika. We tried everything we could to help you,” Roxanne added. “We wanted to keep you from going, but Lawrence ordered us to let you go.”

Manard stood there silently, but looking on with same concerned expression as the others. Mika looked at Master Beng to see that he was silent and expressionless. He made me go because he knew that I would die if I didn’t, Mika realized.

He’s just returned from his fight with Bishop Tempest’s candidate. He doesn’t even look slightly fazed, Mika thought.

Mika thought back to the signs she’d noticed at the gambling booths on their walk back. Master Beng and Lancel were now being given the same odds for the next round, ninety-nine percent chance of victory. That indicated that Master Beng had also won his last round decisively. Even after her second victory, Mika wasn’t even close to being the favorite. She hadn’t seen either one of them fight, so she was left to speculate on why both were such favorites.

As to who was favored to win the whole tournament, there was almost a one-to-one split between the two Bengs. Mika wasn’t even a contender in comparison. Their magic must have been something truly incredible, Mika thought. But instead of being overwhelmed by that thought, she found herself more overwhelmed by the moment.

Surrounded by people who cared for her, she felt obligated to tell them everything that had happened. With a sigh, she began telling her story all over again, her guildmates listening attentively.

When she finished, Doc was the first to respond.

“It seems that this mage’s magic strain was some sort of emotion control.”

“That’s a good way of putting it, Larz. She definitely made Mika’s own doubt her enemy. Very interesting,” Roxanne said.

There was a moment of silence.

“All that matters is that she is okay, as I said she would be,” Master Beng said. The group turned as one to look at him, startled.

“Law! How long have you been standing there?” Roxanne said.

“We’ve been waiting for you to get back! What are you doing, just standing back there all quiet?” Doc said, equally surprised.

The attention given to Mika was instantly redirected at Master Beng. Apparently, only Mika and Tink had realized he was in the room, and his sudden appearance created quite a scene.

“You two literally have had us worried sick day and night! Mika is full of surprises, while you don’t seem to think anything abnormal is going on!” Roxanne started.

“Law, she’s got a point. Although she normally doesn’t,” Doc replied jokingly.

Mika and Tink couldn’t help but laugh.

Even Manard managed to smile. For the first time in a long time, all the guildmates were altogether. The last time Mika could remember this happening was at her induction, which felt like an awfully long time ago. Everyone was always busy taking on contracts and following their own routines. It gave her a warm feeling, tempered with the sad realization that she and Master Beng were now to be opponents.

Rather than linger on that thought, Mika whispered a question to Tink: Could they go see Zaya? He nodded, and the two slipped out amid the commotion.

They walked quietly for a moment.

“So, after you started to go nuts,” Tink started—to which Mika responded with a look that said be serious — “Zaya started to really worry about you.”

“Understandable, but your reaction when I asked about her made it seem much worse.”

“You are absolutely right. She was depressed about it, but she still had moments of optimism. At least until she watched her master’s fight with Lancel.”

“What happened?” Mika asked, feeling dread.

“The only way to put it is that the fight against Master Mandrake was a slaughter,” Tink answered grimly. “Lancel won the round instantly. He didn’t just win, I mean he obliterated him. I’m afraid to even tell you the rest,” Tink said with a shudder, his eyes focused on the ground. He was obviously feeling some trauma himself at witnessing the event.

“Tell me,” Mika demanded.

Tink had a hard time getting the words out and was avoiding eye contact.

“There is no easy way to say this. I wish I could unsee what I saw. As soon as the match started,” Tink said, pausing and taking a deep breath, “Master Mandrake’s skeleton was ripped outside of him.”

Mika shuddered. She knew Lancel had been making a statement. She didn’t really know Zaya’s master, but Zaya had only positive things to say about him. He had acted more like a father to her than her actual father.

Zaya, she imagined, was probably in a catastrophic state. Rather than press on for more details, Mika asked Tink about the aftermath.

“So, what happened to Zaya?”

“Zaya stood in silence for a long time, looking like the life had been sucked out of her. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t find the words. Finally, when I mustered the courage to say her name, she suddenly got angry at me and told me I had no right to say anything to her because I was a Filth. After that, she looked at you. You were always with us, even though you didn’t acknowledge us anymore. She saw that you were still talking to yourself and completely oblivious to what had happened.” Tink paused.

She must have been in terrible pain, and I wasn’t there to comfort her, Mika thought remorsefully.

“After I tried to speak to her and she couldn’t even talk to you, she started running. I tried to get her to stop, so I could try to calm her down, but she wouldn’t. She came back to the guild house the next day to see you, but she completely ignored me. As soon as she saw that you were worse, she just left without saying a word. I haven’t seen her since, but I know that she was in a lot of pain.”

Mika and Tink continued to talk about the ordeal as they took a canal boat to get to Zaya’s guild house. Everyone passing them stared, first at Mika, amazed to see her, and then at Tink. Their expressions turned angry at his easy familiarity with Mika.

Tink, focused on being her friend, was doing a remarkable job of ignoring their expressions, but Mika couldn’t help but notice. Eventually, they escaped the mean looks.

The Filth who worked at Zaya’s guild house opened the door as usual. By now the woman was familiar with Mika and knew exactly why she was there.

“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but Zaya is in her room and she has not left it in the past day. She is taking the loss of our master very hard,” the woman said somberly.

“Can I at least come in and see her?” Mika asked.

“Unfortunately, as you know that is against our guild’s policy without a mage escort. I’m sorry.”

“Vanessa, please,” Tink said, behind Mika. “This is her best friend. I’m sure after what the guild’s been through, the policies can be ignored just this once.”

It was evident the two knew each other, and Mika realized to her shame that she hadn’t even known the woman’s name. She was chagrined to realize she had been embracing mage ways without even noticing.

“Fine, but only this one time. But I can’t let you in, Tink.”

“I completely understand. Thank you,” Tink said gingerly. He looked at Mika and nodded, indicating that she should go in without him.

“I’ll be outside waiting,” he said, encouragingly.

“Follow me, ma’am.” Vanessa showed her in, while Tink remained behind.

The exterior looked exactly like a wolf’s den, but the interior of the guild house was entirely different. Though almost everything was made of stone, there was very elaborate masonry inside, with finely carved designs from floor to ceiling. As she passed through the candlelit halls, Mika appreciated the fine details of the building. Following Vanessa, she passed dozens of rooms, some of which had open doors.

Howling Moon mages in the corridor eyed Mika curiously as she was led through the halls, though no one stopped her or asked why she was there. The number of double takes she saw indicated that they recognized her from the tournament, something Zaya’s guild members never did when she visited the guild before.

Eventually, Vanessa stopped at one of the many heavy wooden doors, knocked, and called out, “Madam Zaya, someone is here to see you.”

“Tell whoever it is to go away,” Zaya’s muffled voice responded.

“Ma’am, she is actually here with me. If you would, please,” Vanessa started, as the door opened.

Zaya’s eyes were dry but extremely red. Through the crack of the door, Mika saw that Zaya looked a mess. Her clothes were rumpled and torn, her hair in a tangle. When she saw Mika, she seized her, hugging her hard without saying a word.

“I thought that I had lost you, too,” Zaya said, her voice choking. Vanessa walked away quickly, leaving the two alone.

“Come on, now, you shouldn’t worry about me. I’m here,” Mika said, trying to be reassuring.

“I didn’t even watch your last round. I couldn’t. After seeing how you were acting, I was so scared what might happen to you,” Zaya said, trembling.

“I’m sorry I made you worry. I have a lot to tell you, so can you just relax for a bit so we can talk?” Mika asked, still trapped in Zaya’s fierce embrace.

Zaya loosened her hug to look searchingly into Mika’s eyes, as though checking to see if she really was back to normal. After a brief silence, Zaya nodded. “Let’s talk in my room.”

Zaya’s room was also a mess. She’d never been the most organized person, but this was beyond a disaster. There were clothes everywhere, maps littering the floor, and Zaya’s mattress had been tossed on the floor, with the bed sheets crumbled up.

“Sorry about my room. I’ve kinda been a wreck with all that has happened.”

“All things considered, I think this is what your room looked like before everything happened,” Mika said jokingly, trying to be uplifting. It worked. Zaya laughed ruefully.

“Shut up!” Zaya said while rubbing her eyes. “Just … find a place to sit down, and start explaining.” She dropped to the mattress on the floor.

So, for the third time that day, Mika explained what had happened from her own perspective. This time, she was deliberate about all the details. Occasionally, Zaya stopped her to ask questions, which Mika did her best to answer as the story progressed. By the time Mika had finished, Zaya looked a lot better.

“Gosh, that explains so much,” she said. “I was so worried about you.”

“And how about you? I know how much your master meant to you,” Mika said sympathetically.

“This tournament … it’s my fault, really. I can’t believe it’s something I was excited for,” Zaya started.

“You know what, let’s just not talk about it. We can talk about it another time,” Mika suggested, hoping that changing the mood would ease Zaya’s grief.

“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea … How is Tink? I kind of left off on bad terms with him,” she added, regret in her voice.

Mika had been so engrossed in her conversation with Zaya that she had completely forgotten Tink was still outside.

“So, about that … I totally forgot that he is waiting outside. How about you just come back with me to the guild? You can stay over. We can hang out, talk about what has happened, drink some wine …”

“Mika, you really know the way to my heart,” Zaya said. “That sounds like a good idea. The last thing I want is to be alone right now.”

Zaya gathered some things, stuffed them in her bag, glanced in the mirror and fixed her appearance.

Then the pair hurried out of the guild house. But their friend was nowhere in sight.

“I thought you said Tink was outside,” Zaya said.

“Yeah, he said he would wait. Did we really talk for that long?” Mika said, scratching her head. As it was nearing dinner time, they decided he must have headed home to prepare supper.

On the way back, Mika and Zaya stopped at a popular winery and picked out a bottle of a red wine they were eager to try, which they carried with them as they walked back, talking. Mika noticed she was still being recognized, but without Tink’s presence, there were no mean looks, only looks of admiration.

Entering the guild house, they smelled a delicious aroma coming from the kitchen and went there eagerly to see what Tink was preparing. As they rounded the corner into the kitchen, Zaya gasped. Mika dropped the bottle she was carrying, spilling wine everywhere. Neither noticed, for their attention was on Tink’s bruised and swollen face.

He’d been beaten up, horribly.