184 - Reward and Punishment (Patreon)

Maus heard the knock on his door and instantly shut his eyes, hoping that whoever was there would assume he was asleep and go away. 

People had been walking into the room all morning, checking in on him, asking if he needed anything, wanting to heal him or wanting information from him. 

Perhaps at another time he would have been grateful for the attention, but not right now. He was still raw from the fight, and still not ready to do anything but lie here and try to control his breathing. 

He would have gone home, but the healer recommended he stay here for observation, and he didn’t even want to go home anyway. He didn’t know if the news had reached the Order of the Dutiful Mole, but if he did go home, he would have to explain the bruises on his body to his mother, and that would be worse than dealing with it on his own. 

He very much did not want to talk about anything that happened over the night. He wished he could stop thinking about it too. 

It still wasn’t sinking in that the fight was over. 

Every now and then his muscles would twitch and clench with the need to run. He still had his wand in hand, unable to convince himself to put it away because he expected a snarling demon to pop out of the air at any moment, and he would have to fight it. 

That was also why he couldn’t sleep, even though the healer recommended bed rest and gave him a draft to help. He hadn't taken it. Just in case a demon showed up. 

Nevertheless, he pretended like he was asleep when the door opened, because he didn’t want anyone fussing over him right now. 

Yet, despite his efforts, he still heard the footsteps walking up to his bed and heard them stop. 

He kept his eyes closed until he heard, “It’s me.”

He opened his eyes. 

Lyra was standing beside him, looking just as worn and exhausted as he did. Her damp blonde hair no longer had streaks of blood, and she was wearing different clothes than she'd worn last night. Yet there was still obvious evidence of the strain. Her skin was pale, her cheeks blotchy, eyes red.  

She also looked as haunted as he did. 

He sighed and sat up. “Can’t sleep, either?” 

She shook her head and sat on the bed beside him. “I can’t believe…” She stared out at the pink sky, pretty despite the devastation on the ground. “I can’t believe it’s over.”

He nodded.  He felt the same way.

“At some point, I really thought we were going to die out there,” Lyra continued. “There were so many of them, Maus. So many. And they were all big and...” Her voice shook, and tears appeared in her eyes again. “I thought we were all going to die and I would never see my mother or my brothers again. I thought that was it.”

“I know,” Maus said. He reached over and squeezed her hand briefly. “But we didn’t die."

“Yeah, but a lot of people did. A lot of people will never see their family again. Someone died in front of me and…I don’t know how to handle that.”

Maus didn’t have answers for her. 

He didn’t know how to handle it either. He was happy he was alive, but he felt guilty at the same time. 

So much of his living had to do with luck.

If he’d not been assigned to Archmage Lenore’s group.

If he hadn’t learned that [Stall] Spell. 

If Archmage Vittoria’s soul clone hadn’t arrived at the right time. 

He may very well have been one of several bodies that littered the ground. 

The image of Edward’s aide’s chest exploding outwards invaded his mind, and he shut his eyes.

There had been so much blood. 

It had also happened so fast. One second, he was jumping in to defend Edward, and the next second, a demon was ripping his heart out. 

And the look on Edward’s face…he could never forget it. 

“What are we supposed to do now?” Lyra asked quietly. 

“I don’t know,” Maus admitted, clearing his throat that was suddenly hoarse. "Carry on, I guess. Try to forget." School was resuming in just a little over a week, so at least there would be that to occupy his mind. And he had so many chores waiting for him back home. 

But all that seemed trivial now. It was impossible to even imagine that there was a world where he had to go to school and do chores. 

He was scared that even if he left this place physically, it would be impossible to get away from last night 

“Let’s go for a walk,” Lyra suggested. “They’ve cleaned up a lot of the estate. Maybe if we see it again in a new light...it will help us come to terms with it.”

Maus didn’t really want to do it, but Lyra seemed like she needed it, so he got up anyway. 

They went over to open the door, only to find Montfort in the doorway, his hand raised to knock.

Both sides experienced a brief pause before Montfort bowed. 

“Forgive my intrusion," he said. "But Lord Wesley would like to see you, if you're available, young sir."

"Me?" Maus pointed at his chest.

Montfort nodded. 

Maus shared a look with Lyra, who nodded and said, "I'll wait here for you to get back."

"Um...okay." He wasn't sure what this was about, but it wasn't like he could say no to the lord after all. 

He followed Montfort out onto the field, and as they passed by, he confirmed that a lot of the debris had been cleared. The damage in the central building was all but completely fixed. No more stains on the grass, though the lawn was not to its former luster. 

Amazing how much they'd managed to get done in such a short time. The acrid scent of corruption still stained the air though. 

A group of geomancers stood around the statue that Arielle had been staring at yesterday afternoon. 

Gosh, it was strange that not even twenty four hours had passed since then. It felt like a lifetime ago. 

He dragged his eyes away from it and back to Montfort, noticing that despite being freshly cleaned, he walked with an altered gait that suggested injury. 

“They don’t let you rest, huh,” Maus joked without thinking, and Montfort glanced at him. 

For a second the butler didn’t respond, and Maus instantly regretted the question. 

It seemed in one night he’d forgotten his place here and the fact that he really was only a guest that had been invited out of his proximity to Arielle. 

“S-sorry.” He rushed to apologize. "I didn’t mean to overstep–”

“You are not overstepping,” the man said kindly. “I simply was thinking about how to respond adequately. The truth is that the lord did offer all of the servants the afternoon off, and there are those who have been contracted to take their place. But I did not take the offer."

"Why not?"

"There’s nothing else for me to do," he admitted. "And I'm hoping the routine helps me…adjust."

Maus understood fundamentally what the other man meant. Maybe he should head back home. Maybe the routine there would help him too. 

They both walked to the main building in silence, and Montfort led him up five flights of staircase while Maus wondered what this meeting was about. He assumed it was Arielle. Elric had been searching for her earlier, so maybe they found her and wanted to let him know he was okay. Or maybe she was with Lord Wesley right now and wanted to check in on Maus. 

Or maybe she was hurt...

No. Arielle wouldn't be hurt. His mind wouldn't accept that. 

"Please wait here," Montfort said when they arrived in the waiting area, outside the Lord's study. "You may sit, and I will get you a beverage of choice."

"I'm okay, thank you."

Montfort hesitated, and said, "I will get you some water to drink."

Maus realized after he said it that he was indeed parched. How did the other man know?

Probably his dry lips and excessive swallowing.

"Thank you," he said, as Montfort bowed and stepped away. 

Maus sat and waited. 

He didn't have to wait long.

The door opened, and Wulfric walked out, pausing when he saw Maus. 

"Hey," he said. 

"Hey," Maus responded.

"Are you okay?"

Maus didn't know how to respond to that, so he simply shrugged.  "You?"

Wulfric gave him an almost identical shrug, and both smiled weakly. 

"You haven't seen Arielle, have you?"

Maus shook his head. 

"Did you know..." Wulfric trailed off. 

Maus blinked. "Know what?"

Wulfric shook his head. "Never mind. You can go in, by the way. And...thank you."

"For what?"

"You helped me save my father," he said. "What happened on the battlefield was pretty much a blur, but I remember you casting that spell that delayed the titan. It was pretty heroic."

Once more, Maus didn't know what to say. It was a blur for him too. He didn't recall feeling heroic. He recalled being terrified and desperate and throwing out as many spells as he could as fast as he could. 

He swallowed thickly, as his heart raced at the memory. Then Wulfric did something odd. 

He bowed to him before he left. 

Maus sat there in blinking shock before he recalled that he was invited by the Lord. 

He tentatively approached the tall, ornate door, which opened automatically.

The study, like most other rooms in this manor, was large enough to fit his house. A lengthy gold framed window silhouetted the master, with spirit lanterns casting a glow on rows of books on shelves beside him. 

Lord Wesley had been staring out the window, but he turned around when Maus walked in, and sat at his polished desk. 

"Maus Jaybalm." The master gestured to a white leather chair opposite him. "Please. Have a seat."

Maus was reluctant. He had cleaned himself after everything, but he’d been too dazed to do a thorough job, and he didn't want to dirty the leather. 

But Lord Wesley didn't seem to give him a choice, even as he smiled. "Please. I want you to be comfortable."

Maus swallowed and obeyed, wondering what this was about. 

That was the first genuine smile he’d gotten from the Lord since his arrival. Up until this point, Lord Wesley had regarded him with bemused confusion, like he didn't know quite what to do with him.  It was clear that Maus wasn't the type of person that Lord Wesley expected Arielle to show up with, and perhaps a part of him even resented that she had.

However, Lord Wesley was never unkind to him, and as far as people of his status went, he was at least fair, and somewhat considerate.

But now there was a different warmth that exuded from him. 

“Hope you’re resting well," Lord Wesley said. 

"As well as I can," Maus responded.  

Understanding appeared in his eyes. “Do not push yourself. It will take time for you to truly heal so don’t feel you have to rush it. I can’t imagine what it’s like being so young and undergoing something like this. I'm much older than you, and it's hard for me even.”

A knot formed in his throat. He hoped this wasn't a type of psychiatric evaluation. He didn't need that right now, especially not from Lord Wesley. 

“I'm f-f-fine," he said. "I wasn't the only one to go through it, and I was lucky enough to survive."

“Of course, yet it doesn’t alleviate the horror, and the pain does it?”

Maus said nothing. He didn't want to address horror or pain or anything he'd gone through. He gripped the sides of his chair and wondered how much longer this would go on. 

“In any case," Lord Wesley said. "I didn’t want to let time pass without letting you know how grateful I am. My sons told me what you did. Edward noted that you had helped protect others with Archmage Lenore, and Wulfric mentioned that it was your spell that stopped the titan in time for him to take me away. Hence, I owe you my life.”

Maus dropped his gaze to his hands, his finger absently running over the material of the seat. The gratitude made him uncomfortable, because he hadn't even really been thinking about saving the Lord at the time. 

He’d simply been surrounded and casting spells as fast as he could, helping anyone he could. He’d decided that if he was going to die, then that would be how he did it, by giving humans a fighting chance against the monsters. At least then his death would have meaning.

It had been a selfish choice, but everyone was framing it as something thoughtful and courageous. He didn't know how to react to that.  

“Thank you, Maus,” Lord Wesley said. “I will admit that I misjudged you terribly when you came here. I thought you were a well-meaning young man, kind but completely out of your depth.”

Maus flinched. Of course, he’d assumed that Wesley thought those things but that didn’t make it any better to hear.

“Though I could tell you cared for each other, I assumed that your friendship with Arielle would die its natural death as the two of you grew and diverged in completely different directions,” Lord Wesley said. “Because I judged you, without ever getting to know you. For that, I truly apologize. You have proven this foolish old man wrong, first with your actions at the ball, and during the attack. I understand now why Arielle found you worthy of friendship, and perhaps more."

Maus blushed. "Ah, no, there's no more. We're just friends."

Lord Wesley’s lip ticked up.

Maus felt his cheeks heating up, unsure where this conversation was going. It was a little strange to hear Lord Wesley apologize in such a manner. He never seemed like the type to do so. Men like him, even when well-meaning, tended to trample over the world without a care, and, in his view, they were largely insulated from things like shame and regret. 

He never thought he would hear an apology from him. 

Was this a trick?

A bid for him to stay away from Arielle? Or was he trying to use Maus to get to Arielle?

The Lord clearly wanted Arielle to be with one of his sons, so maybe he was trying to use Maus to convince her. If that was the case, it rubbed Maus the wrong way, not just because it offended him to be used in such a way, but because of the way that Lord Wesley was presumably making decisions without considering what Arielle wanted.

"I don't want to be rude," Maus started. "But there is something I must say."

The Lord cocked an eyebrow. "By all means."

"Arielle is my best friend,” he said. “And yes, she can be naive sometimes, but she’s not stupid. She will not appreciate people trying to force themselves into her life, nor make decisions for her future. If that's what you're trying to do, I think you should consider another course."

Almost immediately the words left his mouth, regret sank in, along with a bit of fear. 

Maus wondered if he'd lost his mind, if the attack had addled his brain and loosened his tongue. 

What did he just do?

What right did he have to say that to Lord Wesley, the wealthiest man in all the magical lands? A bona fide master. One of the council. 

The man could ruin his life as easily as he breathed. 

He should apologize immediately. 

But he didn't. The same madness that caused him to speak, prevented him from retracting his words. 

Lyra had told him once that Arielle's sister had tried to pay someone to be her friend, and the incident had truly hurt her and damaged her confidence in herself. It was likely part of the reason why Arielle was so picky about friendships.

This wasn't the exact same thing, but if Arielle thought that Wulfric was her friend, only to discover that it was the machinations of his father, trying to adopt her into their family for his own ambition, she would likely be hurt too, and offended at the pretenses. Maus wanted to protect her from that. 

Lord Wesley finally released a chuckle. 

"I see now how wrong about you I was when we first met," he said. "My wife always tells me to slow down in my judgment of people, but never has it been so apparent than now. Don’t worry. I’m well aware of how to navigate things with Arielle. None of that is why I called you here."

It wasn't? "Then why am I here, my Lord?" he asked. 

"Well, apart from expressing my gratitude, Maus, I wanted you to know that I like talented mages," he said. "But I also like brave ones. I feel like you might be both, and you will not only be an asset to Arielle, but to the world as well. As such, I would like to offer you an official sponsorship."

At first, Maus thought he'd heard wrong. "What?"

"A sponsorship," Lord Wesley repeated. "Do you know what that entails?"

He nodded slowly. A sponsorship was what wealthy, powerful families offered talented mages. It was what Lord Wesley probably offered Arielle too. It meant more than just financial support. It was a badge of honor, elevating a mage’s status. It meant they would be recognized as 'special persons' with attachments to that family, and they would receive stipends, a stamp and official family crest, as well as invites to important society events, and most importantly, training from the best masters. 

It meant that in an instant, his life had completely changed. 

"I would have offered you a Knighthood, but I believe you're too young for that, and I don't know if combat is something you want," Lord Wesley continued. "I'm not going to push you one way or another, but rest assured, whatever you do, you will have the Wesley family's full support as an honorary member."

Maus gaped. 

He didn't know what to say. He was speechless, even as Lord Wesley pulled the crest out of his drawer and set it on the table. 

***

All the relief Elric had felt at the thought of finding Arielle melted away gave way to a furious tension.  

The news of Arielle's reevaluation was his worst nightmare come fulfilled. 

"There has to be something we can do," Elric said, pacing at the edge of the bed. 

"There isn't," Gio said. "Your options are to deny the summons and try to run away with her, which is pointless because they will find her. Or accept the summons."

"And have them suppress her cores?"

"They'll only suppress her cores if they find evidence of wrongdoing," Gio said, raising his eyebrow. "Is there?" 

Elric and Arielle shared a look.

Giving a young Arielle that book of magic was bordering on illegal, but sharing magical artifacts with non-mages was a misdemeanor, and the fact that it was simply a beginner textbook he'd given to a child to entertain her rather than train her, meant he would likely get away with a simple fine. 

Nothing would have happened if Arielle didn't have the ability to see essences. And her having that ability wasn't her fault. She hadn't done anything special to attain it other than being born. 

If they had discovered it earlier, she likely would not have needed to hide it. On the other hand, it would have caught the Ascendant’s attention. 

However, so far, the only true crime that had been committed was hiding Ari’s talents and falsifying her results. Even then, that wasn't a generally suppressible crime. Lots of mages did it for their children anyway, except that it was usually in the other direction and not to the scale of forgery that Elric had asked. 

Then there was the time she’d ended up in the elven realm, but that was apparently not her fault either. 

However, everything with Arielle was so strange and unique he didn’t truly know how it would be dealt with by the system center. She was unchartered waters, and Elric could not guarantee that she would not be the first non-criminal to get a suppression there. 

It scared him. 

His major concern was the High Ascendant taking note of Arielle. He did not like the idea at all. 

"This isn't fair," Arielle spoke up as Elric still tried to wrap his mind around what to do. "Why am I getting punished for saving people?"

"It's not a punishment," Elric said.

"It feels like it," Arielle said. "It makes no sense. I thought I was simply getting a [Hidden Ability] marker."

"I thought so too," Elric said. 

"It was probably that your cores were far too abnormal for a simple hidden ability marker," Gio said. "It raised all sorts of alarms."

"How?"

"Who knows? I've never heard of someone getting summoned to the system center in such a way before. It's usually after they attempted something world-altering. The last person I heard of who had been summoned was a sorcerer–which is a word we use for those who experiment in illegal unregistered magic–who attempted to grow his core through very controversial means. He succeeded, I think, but got his cores suppressed."

"So getting summoned there means a suppression?" Arielle's panicked eyes met Elric's.

"Perhaps, but not necessarily," Gio said. "Most of the people summoned do end up with a suppression, but then again, most of them have broken laws and have committed large-scale atrocities to get where they are. I don't think you've done the same."

Elric didn't respond. He glanced at Arielle, and she blinked innocently back at him. 

Arielle had definitely broken laws. 

But were any of them atrocities? Were any of them truly obscene?

He didn’t want to take the chance. 

She bit her lip in abject worry, and Elric hated that his actions had inadvertently led here. 

If only he’d never given her that book this would never have happened. 

He couldn’t let it happen. He couldn’t let her go throught the agony of a suppressed core. 

"How long till I have to go there?" Arielle asked quietly. 

"You have a couple of days at most," Gio said, yawning. "If you wait too long, they'll assume you're an evildoer and send someone to find you. At that point, it will be a spectacle, which you probably don't want, at the very least for the sake of your family. You can allow a day to recover, but I wouldn't go later than two days from now."

"There has to be something else we can do," Elric said. His mind flitted in different directions, going far and wide. At this point, he was willing to do just about anything to save Arielle from this fate, but he didn't know what to do. Could Lord Earthbinder help? Vittoria?

He hadn't seen her when he'd gone to look for Arielle in the desert. The home had been trashed, and he'd met Inara with a stranger, who claimed that they'd been attacked by a demon that disappeared suddenly. He'd stayed there until he was sure they were both okay, and then he'd continued his search for Arielle.  

"I can do what I did last time," Arielle said. "Control my intake of essences to trick the system into thinking I’m just a beginner."

Elric thought about it, but he wasn't sure how well that would work. The system center had specialty equipment, beyond what the ministry had. They might catch on to what she was doing and that would make things worse. 

He truly did not want to take her there. 

But, as Gio pointed out, he had no choice, short of running to another realm, which he could not do without seeking permission from Queen Di Santinael or another Legendary. 

That would, however, essentially be marking Arielle and himself as fugitives, which was automatic core suppression for both.

Running had to be a last resort, only if the system center did plan to suppress her cores. But by then, wouldn't it be too late? That would mean breaking her out of a high-security prison, and could he truly do that? 

Probably not without help. 

His eyes travelled to Gio, who stared at him measuredly. A smile kicked up the corner of his lips as though he could tell exactly what Elric was thinking. 

"Before we go down that route," Gio said. "Might I make a suggestion?"

Elric swallowed. He knew he would regret it, but he had to ask, "Which is?"

Gio twirled a strand of hair that had fallen out of his bun. "Get ahead of things."

"What?"

"There's a council meeting later today. Bring Arielle in and tell everyone what she can do. What she did do at the ball. Request a reevaluation and trigger a council vote based on the results. She can become a master pretty quickly at her level. I'm told we have openings."

Elric jerked, and he was already shaking his head. "No."

"Why not?" Gio said. "At least this way, she's not hiding. No more having to think of a new lie to tell people. You can prove that she did nothing wrong to attain her skills and leave it up to the council to decide how to proceed."

"And if they decide wrong?"

"We deal with it then."

"We?"

Gio said nothing to that, but shrugged, yawning. "Think about it and bring me your answer later. But for now, both of you, get out."