The Skyhome Academy

Rose, Emma, and Simon made their way across the courtyard to join in the first extra combat practice of the new semester. Only about forty cadets were waiting in the usual place, in contrast to the hundreds who had attended the weekend before the exams. Among them, Rose could see Prince Robert and Margas.

“Looks like everyone who was panicked about their combat exams is skipping again,” Simon noted.

“What’s wrong with them?” Rose complained to him.

“It’s more like what’s wrong with us. We’re a bunch of try-hards.”

“But this isn’t some nothing class—combat is life or death! …⁠I’m starting to get Mage Isabel’s bad attitude.”

The trio were soon waiting not far from the rest of the cadets. “What’s the latest with Mei?” Simon asked.

“I think she’s still in the infirmary,” Rose answered. “I don’t know if she’s already signed the serf contract—I just hope she’s grateful, after how hard it was to get my dad to go along.”

“Please be patient with her,” Emma said. “She’s been through so much.”

“It’s traumatic enough when a penniless citizen has to become a serf to survive,” Simon reminded her. “Mei was royalty.”

“And she’s lost her family…” Emma added sadly.

Rose sighed. “You’re right. It’s just going to be tough to ignore how haughty she’s been.”

“At least we’ve got Emma to inspire us in the forgiveness department,” Simon said. “It’s amazing how quick you were to help her—even putting aside any hard feelings, I would’ve been too afraid to say anything.”

The healer nodded gratefully. “It was scary to speak up—but what might have happened if I hadn’t scared me a lot more.”

“And you even agreed to be her friend—I know I don’t have the bravery to take that bolt,” Rose joked.

“Looks like you’ll have the opportunity to play nice with Mei sooner than you realized,” Simon said to Emma before nodding past the girls. They turned to see the former princess approaching. She now wore the peasant field uniform instead of the noble version. The Spellshield herald had replaced the Middle Kingdom flag, and the name patch was absent. Her hair was worn up in a simpler style than usual.

Emma spoke as she arrived. “Mei, I’m so glad to see you. …⁠Are you really okay to be back so soon?”

“There aren’t enough distractions in the infirmary,” the former princess said uncomfortably. But she continued in a prideful tone that sounded forced. “And if I were to miss any assignments, it wouldn’t be possible to overtake you in class rank before the end of the year.”

“I wouldn’t want to lose my best competition,” Emma said encouragingly. “…⁠But I just want to say, I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“It’s terrible,” Simon agreed.

“We’re all here for you,” Rose said to the new serf, who nodded slightly. “…⁠Oh, I think we need an introduction. Mei, this is Simon Exeter.”

“I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot,” he offered.

“Is that so? I’ll try to remember your name then.”

Rose shared an incredulous glance with Simon before once more addressing Mei. “So you were able to reach an agreement with my father?”

“Yes. In addition to the appalling standard contract, I’ve agreed to disavow my family’s dynasty. And accept exile from the Middle Kingdom. …⁠That should convince the new government not to bother sending assassins after me. In return, Mage William will sponsor my asylum request and education.”

“For you it’s ‘Lord Spellshield,’” Rose corrected gently. “He’s the head of your noble family now.”

Mei sighed extravagantly. “The only unresolved detail is my surname.” She looked to Emma. “What are the naming conventions in your land?”

“Most peasants stay in one close-knit community their entire lives, so we don’t bother with family names day-to-day. When we do leave, we often use the names of our home towns or city neighborhoods.”

“The ‘neighborhood’ I was born in was the Imperial Palace. That would make for a strange name,” Mei complained.

“It could be shortened to ‘Imperial’ or ‘Palace.’ Sometimes nicknames are used instead, especially locally. …⁠The other children in my village gave me an awful one when I was younger.”

“Why would the other peasants single you out?”

“They were jealous of my work. Being a handmaiden is easier than most other jobs, and you get to live in a manor.”

“Immigrants usually keep their names,” Rose added, “but obviously that’s impossible for you. You could also come up with a name based on some particular accomplishment. Though that’s more common for peasants who become nobles, like my grandfather.”

“The last option is taking a name based on your profession,” Simon added. “Smith, Fisher, Caster—names like that. Back home I’m sometimes called ‘Simon Alchemist’ because it’s our family trade. But I thought it would be premature to call myself that when I’m not an actual alchemist yet.”

Mei paused before answering. “I don’t have any unique accomplishments yet, and I’m sure any nickname I receive will just call out my ancestry. …⁠Is ‘Caster’ a name for spellcasters?” Emma nodded to her. “I can live with ‘Mei Caster.’”

“Sounds good to me,” Rose said.

“I’m not concerned with your opinion.”

Rose rolled her eyes at Mei. “I realize this is going to be difficult for you. And I’m not going to make you address me as ‘My Lady’ or play handmaiden when it’s just the four of us. But in front of anyone else, you’re going to have to at least pretend to respect me. Otherwise, you’ll get in trouble.”

“I will learn to tolerate that state of affairs, as well as every other injustice. Even the academy chores that I’m to begin tomorrow. …⁠To think that I should be treated in such a peasant-like fashion.”

“It’s not ‘peasant-like’ if you’re actually a peasant,” the noble pointed out dryly.

“Rose!” Emma whispered in shock. “We should be nice.”

“Shouldn’t we try to get things back to normal though? If she’s going to mess with me, I have to throw it back at her.”

Mei smiled. “I think I’d prefer that. …⁠If I were coddled by someone possessed of such desolate intellect, I think that I might die of embarrassment.”

“This clearly isn’t going to get tiresome,” Simon observed. Rose could not help but laugh.

Meanwhile, Emma stepped closer to Mei. “You shouldn’t worry about the academy chores. I’ll be there to help you through them.” The former royal nodded, and Rose was surprised to see gratitude in her expression.

By this time, the crowd of cadets had grown to over fifty. Rose noticed the approach of her father, Mages Isabel and Charles, and Professor Akintola. They carried with them their boxes of spare wands and limiters. With the regular instructors was Baron Tessel.

The cadets stood at attention, and Mage Isabel addressed them from her usual perch at the base of a statue. “We have a treat for those of you who’ve had enough sense to keep coming to practice after the exams. Baron Tessel has agreed to have a contest against my colleagues.”

“As you were,” the baron said. “So nice to see you all outside the confines of my office. …⁠Staying out of trouble, Cadet Spellshield?”

Rose hoped that she was not blushing. “Yes, Sir.” There were a few scattered laughs.

“It’s an honor to have a magical contest against an archmage, My Lord,” Professor Akintola told the baron.

“Let’s not make a fuss over a little practice,” he answered with a chuckle.

“You should all note the advantages that mastery of multiple forms of magic can confer,” Mage Charles lectured. “Those who master telekinetics can move extremely fast—but only those who also master arcana can use their shields to avoid the strain on the body caused by rapid acceleration. This is of course more evidence that arcana is the most important discipline…as if that was not already proven when the arcane shield replaced the elemental shields,” he added with a sly glance at Professor Akintola.

“Of course, the baron is not so painfully boring that he’d focus on only one form of magic,” the elemental instructor told the cadets. “I’m sure you’ll see some interesting elemental combinations.”

After having attended so many practices, Rose was used to the professors’ rivalry. Her father ignored their exchange and drew four limiters from one of the boxes. He gave one of them to Baron Tessel. “Shall we begin, Sir?”

“By all means.”

The four combatants put on the bracelets and walked clear of the cadets. Everyone cast their shields. Mage Isabel then adjusted her position to more easily watch the mock battle. Rose thought that she looked displeased—more so than usual. She must resent not being able to participate.

“Begin!” Mage Isabel called out.

Using hand signals and occasional shouts due to the lack of a telepath, Rose’s father directed the professors to close in on Baron Tessel. All three members of the team used telekinetics to enhance their running speed as they moved from cover to cover among the statues. The two mages used arcane bolts, while Akintola favored fireballs. Due to his limiter, the fire spells were reduced to only tiny puffs of flame. The team took turns in their use of suppressive fire.

However, the intendent proved impossible to pin down. Any time he moved to new cover, he was so quick he became a blur. He was not even running, Rose realized—the baron simply raised himself off the ground with telekinetics and shot toward his destination.

The velocity of his offensive spells was equally impressive—by the time she could see any sign of them, they had already arrived on target. And he had still more tricks up his sleeve. In addition to arcane bolts, he sometimes attacked with small chunks of ice that exploded into tiny bits at the desired range. Rose knew this to be a combination of ice and explosive fire magic—without the limiter, the pieces of ice would have been lethal shards. This attack reduced the advantage of cover.

Soon Rose, Simon, and many other cadets were cheering in excitement. While Mei was not one of them, she was watching the battle intently. Emma occasionally gasped in amazement at the baron’s decisive attacks.

Another creative form of offense came into play when Mage Charles and Professor Akintola came too close together. Tessel suddenly flanked them with his telekinetic speed and sprayed magical water over both of them. This was followed by a bolt of lightning, which hit the arcana professor’s shield before arcing through the water and also striking the elemental instructor. The magical electricity lingered, though both targets of the attack were quick to move out of the dangerous water.

Rose’s father was careful to keep his team apart after this, but the situation still deteriorated for them. Most of Baron Tessel’s attacks were directed at Mage Charles, and due to his age and weight he was less easily able to dodge. The arcana professor was soon enervated. “I yield!” he called out. After Baron Tessel accepted, he sat down near Mage Isabel and caught his breath.

Rose’s father and Professor Akintola put up a better fight, and prevented the baron from focusing on only one of them by having whomever was attacked more retreat to a safer distance. But ultimately both men were enervated, with the professor preceding the mage. Both signaled their surrender. The baron accepted, and the three combatants returned to the spectators. Everyone allowed their shields to lapse.

Mage Charles stood, and all four participants in the battle bowed to each other. The cadets applauded. “A well-fought victory, Baron,” Rose’s father said. The rest of the defeated team nodded in agreement.

“Thank you. You all did well.” Baron Tessel then briefly arched his back and put a hand on it. “Well enough that I’ll be feeling this contest tomorrow, I’m sure,” he added ruefully.

Rose’s father gathered the limiters and put them away, while the baron addressed the cadets. “I commend you all for diligently attending these practices. Please keep up your fine work.” He then departed in the direction of the spire.

“Not that all of you have been diligent,” Mage Isabel soon added. “A few of you failed combat classes last semester, or you delayed starting them until now. For your benefit, we’ll have a less advanced demonstration. Let’s see…” she surveyed the gathering. “Cadet Fairfax, Cadet Exeter. Come forward.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” both cadets answered.

That’s not good. Rose watched in concern as Simon and Prince Robert stepped forward and accepted their limiters from Mage Charles. She did not want the grudge between the two cadets to grow worse—but they were already glaring at each other.

Prince Robert drew his wand—while he normally carried an advanced model, during practices he used the standard version. “I’ll try to not embarrass you too badly.”

“How generous of you, Prince of Wands,” Simon answered with mock formality. Like the majority of the cadets gathered today, he no longer used a wand during combat practice.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just that some of us don’t need toys to please our Lady Mage.” Some of the cadets laughed, while others gasped. Rose felt herself blush. And not surprisingly, Prince Robert looked furious.

“Good job, Exeter,” Mage Isabel said sarcastically. “You certainly won that round of juvenile male posturing. And I’m sure we’re all very impressed by the size of your⁠—”

“Mage Isabel!” Mage Charles cried in alarm.

“—ego,” she finished. “Now both you, please shut up and get on with the contest.” Rose noticed both her father and Professor Akintola trying to hide their amusement.

Mage Charles directed the combatants to different ends of the practice field. “Begin!”

In contrast to the excitement of the battle with the archmage, this contest was brief and straightforward. Both sides only used arcane bolts to attack, and they soon closed to short range. Simon’s skill with telekinetics allowed him to move more quickly, but Prince Robert had better accuracy and tactics.

Rose almost missed it, but Simon broke the academy’s combat rules at the end of the contest. He took a hit that enervated him—but rather than allow his shield to glow erratically and signal his defeat, he dismissed the spell. Rose only realized this because the arcane shield stopped glowing sooner than it would after a normal hit.

Simon then counter attacked, but without his mana reserve the bolt was noticeably darker. Still, the attack struck the prince’s shield and enervated him.

“I yield!” Prince Robert called out bitterly.

“I accept.”

Rose looked to Emma and Mei, and saw her own surprise reflected in their eyes. Why would Simon do that? Does he resent Prince Robert that much?

The prince dismissed his shield. The two combatants then approached each other, bowed, and returned to the academy staff. Rose thought that Simon looked tired—this was likely the result of his enervated casting.

Mage Isabel rose from her perch and floated over to the citizen, her features clouded with anger. “Did you think we didn’t see that, Cadet Exeter? Did you forget how dangerous casting while enervated is? You’d better hope the intendent is still feeling indulgent toward your little self-endangerment hobby!”

Professor Akintola looked to Mage Isabel. “My Lady, we’ve had incidents like this before—we don’t involve the intendent unless there’s a repeat offense. And it’s not as if casting a single spell while enervated is all that dangerous.”

Mage Isabel sighed in frustration. “Fine.” She then drifted closer to Simon and glared down at him. “If this happens even one more time, I’ll drag you to Baron Tessel’s office and beg him to expel you!”

“I’m sorry, Ma’am,” Simon said miserably.

“You owe the prince an apology as well,” Mage Charles added.

The citizen looked to the royal. “…⁠I apologize, My Lord.” While Simon managed to sound contrite, Rose doubted his sincerity. Prince Robert simply nodded in response, but his brow was furrowed in anger.

“I’ll take him to the infirmary as a precaution,” Rose’s father offered.

“Thank you, Sir,” Mage Isabel told him. He started to lead Simon away.

Rose then heard a barely audible utterance from Margas. “Trust a commoner to cheat.”

Her father and Simon both stopped, with the former appalled and the latter glaring at the high noble. But they continued away after Mage Isabel rapidly approached the foul-mouthed cadet. “What the hell did you say?!”

“Mage Isabel, I’ll handle this,” Mage Charles said as he also approached the high noble. “Cadet Margas, all year the academy staff have put up with your vindictive and insubordinate attitude. And this is the second time you’ve publicly used that slur!

“You are a disgrace to your family and this hallowed institution. And so I shall recommend to Baron Tessel that you be expelled. While I doubt he is willing to risk the political scandal of doing so, that is a pity—for we would all benefit from the absence of such a churlish miscreant!

“Report to the intendent’s office at once, Cadet.”

“Yes, Sir.” Margas looked as if he were trying to glare a hole through the mage. But he finally departed for the spire. His bodyguard followed.

Mage Isabel and Professor Akintola had both watched Margas’s dressing down with obvious pleasure. The reaction from the cadets was mixed—the peasants and some of the others appeared sympathetic to the high noble’s comeuppance. Thankfully Prince Robert was also in this group, as Rose would have been devastated if he had supported such revolting behavior. Even Mei looked satisfied—but then, she had to know that the slur now applied to her as well. Unfortunately, the remainder of the noble cadets looked to Mage Charles in resentment.

“I can’t believe you publicly insulted a cadet,” Mage Isabel said to him. “It was beautifully unprofessional of you—if I weren’t already married, I might get down on one stump and propose.”

Mage Charles actually blushed. Some of the cadets gave stifled laughs at this.