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"Saito" -Talking

'Louise' -Thinking/ Human-Human Telepathy

"Explosion!" -Spell

:Master: -Master/Familiar Telepathy

Chapter 14: Wrath of the Heavy Wind

Days Later

Dining Room, Chateau de Vallière

Karin de Vallière daintily dabbed her mouth with a napkin as she finished a light breakfast with her husband and older daughters. She was all set for another day of managing the de Vallière financial empire, while her husband continued his investigation into the people who had bought arquebuses from his machinists.

A slight frown crossed her face at that thought. Thus far, several lesser nobles had been noted to have bought arquebuses from him…as well as several men claiming to represent other prominent nobles, but had in fact forged their papers and writs, it was now discovered.

'Someone it building an army equipped with firearms.' she thought as she gracefully stood up and headed to her study, 'And whoever they are, do not wish the Crown -or the de Vallière family for that matter- any blessings.'

A member of royalty had not been assassinated in over a thousand years, not since the reign of Louis the Mad in Gallia. The penalties for committing regicide or murder of any royal off the battlefield were very, very severe, especially if you were a Mage, yet someone had ordered the death of the only uncontested heir to the throne of Tristain.

This did not bode well, she knew. The peace and stability of the five kingdoms was cemented in the fact that all of the royal families were descended from the Founder's children and ultimately the Founder Himself. The only exception was Romalia, which had been founded by Brimir's apprentice.

Sitting down behind her desk, she was reaching for a quill when a knock at the door gave her pause. The servants had orders not to disturb her while she was in her study unless a message from the royal family arrived.

"Enter." she ordered.

The door opened and the head butler of the estate, Jacques, opened the door.

"Begging your pardon, Your Grace, but a messenger from the capital has arrived bearing a letter from Her Highness." the dapper man stated with a bow.

"See them in." Karin ordered briskly. In mere seconds, Agnès, Henrietta's Guard Captain, strode into the room, the perpetually serious expression on her face as ever. The chevalier carried a vellum envelope with a red wax seal bearing the emblem of the Heir Primus and Apparent of Tristain.

"Your Grace." the blond musketeer bowed her head slightly.

"Chevalier de Milan." the pinkette nodded back, "To what to I owe the pleasure?"

"I bear a summons for you, written by the Princess' own hand." Agnès replied and held the letter out to her without much ado.

Karin quirked an eyebrow and opened it with a solid silver letter opener. Unfolding the letter, she scanned it quickly. A very abrupt and terse letter, it ordered her to come to the capital at her convenience.

"And the reason?" the Duchess de Vallière asked simply.

"A few days ago, Fouquet of the Crumbling Dirt attacked the Tristain Academy of Magic." the knight replied, "Professor Saito held her off, but was struck from behind by Viscount Wardes, who is apparently Fouquet's accomplice. The next day, he and Professor Colbert went out and captured both of them. Wardes is currently in the Tower of Isolation, awaiting your judgement."

A feral expression appeared on Karin's face. Wardes. The man she had engaged Louise to. The man who had turned his magic on her precious youngest daughter and bound her magic. The man who had betrayed his country if this latest tale was to be believed.

"I shall don my armour, then I shall be with you." she said quietly, "Then that worm will answer to me for what he did to my daughter!"

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Louise and Saito's Suite, Tristain Academy of Magic

"So what's your mother likely to do to Wardes?" Saito asked his Master/Apprentice as she practiced her kanji.

He was sitting and attempting to learn the Tristainian language as he spoke. Largely, it was similar to French from his own world, but subtly different.

"She'll shout at him for a while, then challenge him to a duel." the pinkette said confidently as her brush moved across the paper with some confidence.

"A duel?" Saito asked in surprise, "Why?"

"So she can beat the snot out of him." Louise stated in a very matter-of-fact tone of voice, "It's one reason why nobody has ever dared cheat my family since she married into it. The consequences of being found out by my mother are that she will find you, shout at you and then pummel you into the ground in front of the largest crowd she can find. In a fair and honest duel, of course."

"He's a prisoner, though." Saito pointed out, "Doesn't that prevent someone from issuing challenges to him?"

"It might stop other people, but not Karin of the Heavy Wind." the third daughter of said woman replied simply, "It's one reason she's so feared, her magic, tactical and strategic abilities to one side. She is absolutely ruthless if someone crosses her. Once her ire is raised, she will barrel through anything and everything in her path to get to the person she seeks. A little thing like laws isn't going to stop her."

"Yikes…!" Saito muttered with a sweatdrop running down his head, "Your mother is…hardcore, to say the least."

"Hard…core?" Louise looked up from her practice with a frown.

"Slang for 'very intense,' Louise." the onmyōji translated before inserting a piece of paper into his book as a reminder what page he was on. "I'd better go. It's time for Kirche and Tabitha's detention."

Louise scowled. The two girls had been punished by Old Osmond for running off without permission…by having them be taught combat by Saito. This, needless to say, did not sit well with Louise.

"Do not let von Zerbst seduce you!" she ordered him.

The Japanese boy just looked at her for a moment. "Do you seriously think she'd try and seduce me with Tabitha present?" he asked incredulously.

This pulled Louise up short for a moment before she rallied. "Of course! She's a shameless hussy!"

"Don't let your dislike of her get the better of you, Louise." Saito warned her, "I get the impression Kirche has a lot of pride, too much to be seen in flagrante delicto by someone, even one of her friends."

With that, he left, leaving Louise to fume.

Classroom

Kirche von Zerbst pouted as she sat in her seat next to Tabitha as they both waited for Professor Saito to arrive. The bluenette was busy reading a book to pass the time.

'This was supposed to be a good opportunity to seduce Saito!' she wailed to herself, 'But we haven't been doing anything but go over tactics to eliminate golems!'

This wasn't what she had envisioned when this whole punishment had been dreamed up. Obviously, that brat Louise had warned him about her, which was mildly irritating. There again, it might be what she deserved, considering what she had done to the de Vallière scion.

She hadn't known that someone had illegally bound the pinkette's magic. She hadn't even considered it to be a possibility. Who would have the nerve to carry out such a dastardly act on one of the daughters of Karin the Heavy Wind, someone even Kirche's own mother feared the wrath of?

'I have some heavy penance to perform.' the fire-haired Mage sighed.

Tabitha, by contrast, was both greatly relieved and despondent in equal parts. On one hand, she could now confirm that Saito's magical ability was at least equal to that of a Square-rank Mage in power alone, quite possibly higher if that odd wooden golem he had created was any indication.

On the other hand, she was in despair that, should King Joseph of Gallia discover Saito's talent and magic and the orders came to capture him, this would be the first mission she couldn't accomplish. The consequences for her poor mother in that eventuality were sub-optimal, to put it mildly.

'I wish that a hero would come to my aid…like the main character in this book does for the heroine.' she thought sadly.

The two girls were drawn from their thoughts as Saito walked into the room.

"Hello, you two." Saito greeted them cheerfully, "Looking forward to our time together today?"

"Professor, can we please actually cast magic today?" Kirche pouted prettily at him, "Sitting around writing isn't any fun at all!"

"Well…" the onmyōji said with a smirk, "That is actually the plan for today. We are taking a field trip to a nearby abandoned quarry, so you can understand the true destructive nature of your spells. Go and have three horses prepared for us, would you?"

'Yes! No more writing! No more having to over think everything!' the redhead cheered internally as she ran from the room.

Saito and Tabitha blinked as they looked at the door.

"She must really hate thinking about stuff." Saito remarked.

"Prefers to be direct." Tabitha corrected, "Can think about solemn topics, but prefers not to."

"Huh…as good a way to live as any, I suppose." the Japanese boy mused, "What about you?"

"…getting involved is troublesome." the hidden princess replied shortly before walking out of the room.

Saito sighed. "She's a confusing one."

Later

Abandoned Quarry, Tristan Woods

[Ka-boom!]

The face of the cliff exploded in flames as Kirche's spell struck it, flames blossoming from the point of impact.

"Very good." Saito said with a nod. He and Tabitha stood well back from the girl as she unleashed spell after spell at the wall of the quarry, "It is important to understand that your magic, while it can seem like a mere toy at times, can be used for highly destructive purposes. Especially those who have such a high affinity for fire like yourself, Miss Zerbst."

"It runs in the family." Kirche replied as she lowered her wand, "The von Zerbst family has always had an affinity for fire."

"I see. May I ask what rank of mage you are?" Saito asked.

"I'm just a Dot-class Mage." the redhead said with an airy gesture of one hand.

"Have you given any thought to what your next element will be?" he persisted.

"Not especially." the girl shrugged, "What were you thinking?"

"Do you recall the fire dragon construct that I used against Fouquet?" he asked.

"It's a bit hard to forget the fact that you used fire from one of my spells to create it, so yes." Kirche replied dryly.

"That was mostly fire magic, but it also used wind magic in order to stabilise and maintain the flames." the onmyōji explained, "Wind is a fairly common element to combine with fire magic to increase its power and range."

Kirche frowned. "My family…we don't, generally speaking, learn wind magic. That's seen as being an admission that our fire magic isn't strong enough on its own."

This made Saito blink in disbelief before he shook his head. "That isn't the most ridiculous tradition I've come across, but it comes pretty close. Deliberately excluding the most complementary discipline from your repertoire because of pride is foolishness that my teachers would be cursing up one side and down the other."

"Why?" Tabitha asked quietly.

"Remember that my people have been at war for a thousand years." Saito replied, "We had to adjust, when we lost Void Magic, to the new system we stole from another country and some people tried to pull this same stupid pride-before-practicality nonsense."

"What happened?" Kirche asked in concern.

"They were killed by opponents who didn't care about pride, only victory." Saito answered sombrely, "Beaten by being buried under water-and-earth created landslides, burnt to a crisp by wind-powered firestorms…the list goes on."

"Founder…!" Kirche muttered.

"Yeah, it was pretty bad." the black-haired boy agreed, "A lot of the overly proud idiots were from families similar to yours before Void Magic left us, scions of clans and families who had previously had a proud tradition of only using one element. Over half of them were either badly wounded or killed before the High Council put its foot down and told them to either retire or move with the times."

"For we nobles, our pride is one of our main driving forces." Kirche warned him, "I wouldn't voice your opinion in high society for that reason. Especially the de Vallière family in Tristain, they are one of the most prideful nobles in the five kingdoms."

Saito nodded slowly. "That…would explain a great deal. Louise is a highly proud individual, a great deal more so than I would have expected after being nigh powerless for the last one and a half years."

"A de Vallière, through and through." the redhead sighed.

"OK then. Miss Tabitha, if you would." Saito said, gesturing at the nearby rock face with one hand.

Nodding, the bespectacled girl walked forwards, raised her staff and chanted under her breath for a moment, conjuring an enormous spike of ice, at least the length of a pickup truck, overhead and sending it hurtling at the rock face with a gesture from her magic tool.

Reflexively, Saito raised a shield with some talismans in front of both himself and Kirche as the ice struck the rock with a loud breaking noise. The rock shattered like cheap pottery and all but a few inches of the ice was buried into the side of the quarry.

'Kami all above!' Saito thought in shock before he narrowed his eyes at Tabitha, 'She can't be just a regular noble. That was a well-practiced spell for combat. I'd better keep an eye on her.'

Noticing the onmyōji's suspicious gaze, Charlotte of Gallia smiled to herself.

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The Next Day

Throne Room, Tristan Royal Castle

Henrietta quietly seethed to herself as she watched with an impassive expression on her face as both Fouquet of the Crumbling Dirt and former-Viscount Wardes were dragged into the room in chains.

'You dared to hurt my friend.' she thought coldly, 'You DARED to pretend to be charming to her so she would grow to trust you. You even dared to bind her magic. Nobody hurts Louise and gets away with it.'

She was seated on the Heir's Throne; one-step down from the Monarch's Throne and Consort Throne. The former was empty, while her mother occupied the latter.

She had also not been pleased with what Wardes had done. She and Duchess Karin were good friends and saw Louise as something of an adopted daughter in her own right.

Henrietta straightened up as her mother tapped her finger on the side of her throne twice, a signal that meant she was ceding the proceedings to Henrietta.

"Viscount Wardes and the thief known as Fouquet the Sculptor." the Crown Princess said in a firm tone of voice once, "Your crimes are well known and need no further recitation. Do either of you have anything to say in your defence?"

"Screw…you…!" the verdette spat at her. While Tristain did not stoop to torturing its prisoners, noble or not, that didn't mean that being locked in the dungeons was a pleasant experience, and the woman looked worse for the wear.

"While I disagree with my companion's method of expressing it, I agree with her sentiments." Wardes noted.

"I see." Henrietta said softly. She raised one hand and the door s of the Throne Room swung open once more and a herald presented himself.

"Announcing Her Grace, Duchess Karin 'le Vent Fort' de Vallière!" he announced.

Wardes twisted his head around, face pasty as he saw Karin of the Heavy Wind stride into the room in full armour. Her gaze was not on the monarchs but on him instead.

"Oh no…!" he said.

"Oh yes,Wardes!" Karin snarled, "For the offences you have committed against my youngest daughter, her Familiar and the Kingdom of Tristain, I challenge you to trial by combat. May the Founder decide the victor by our clashing blades and magic!"

"Y…You can't be serious!" the disgraced noble gaped, "Princess, you cannot allow this!"

"Can I not?" Henrietta asked coolly, "I would be very careful about telling the Heir to the Throne what she can and cannot do in the seat of her own kingdom, Wardes. Your equipment will be returned to you, freshly washed, oiled and sharpened. This is not something that you are permitted to refuse."

"This…this is an outrage!" Wardes roared, "A blatant act of favouritism and a violation of the Noble's Code!"

Henrietta's cold voice cut through his bellow. "You have little ground to stand on, Wardes. Do you really think that all we did was imprison you these last few days? I dispatched loyal Crown Agents to your estates and hiding spots and had them ripped apart to locate any signs of treason. You are guilty of High Treason against the Crown and collusion with foreign anti-royalist rebels in Albion, on top of illegal use of magic on a child, assault on another Mage's Familiar and aiding a known criminal. Do not push me."

The man gulped as Henrietta leaned forward and stared him in the eyes unblinkingly as she continued, "Did you really think you would get off with a slap on the wrists? The de Vallière Family is a cadet branch of the Royal Family of Tristain. Louise was my childhood playmate and is still my very best friend. Thanks to your actions, she has been mocked and ridiculed by all and sundry for fifteen months. I find it ironic and fitting justice that her mother deals with you herself."

Sitting up straight, she ordered her guards, "Take this man away and return him to the Nobility cell he was in before. Ensure that anything he could use to end his own life is removed."

"Yes, your highness." the men said, backs ramrod straight as they dragged Wardes away, who started bellowing curses and struggling almost immediately.

"Duchess Karin, would you care to use the training facilities to get warmed up?" Henrietta asked.

"I thank you for the offer, but even without such an advantage, I am easily capable of dealing with Wardes." Karin replied, a steely look in her eyes, "I will take great pleasure in taking my displeasure out on his hide."

"I see." Henrietta nodded before turning her attention to Fouquet. "As for you. Who are you really? 'Fouquet' has to be a nom de plume."

The woman looked defiant for a moment before sagging. "My real name is Matilda. Matilda de Sachsen-Gotha."

Henrietta stiffened. "As in the Comte de Sachsen-Gotha? In Albion?"

"He's dead. My family is gone." Matilda replied, sagging in her bonds.

"Why are you a thief?" the Dowager Queen asked.

"Because I want my title of nobility back!" the woman replied heatedly, "If I have to work with Reconquista to do that, so be it!"

"You work with the rebels in Albion." Karin stated in disgust, "Aren't they the ones who killed your family in the first place?"

"All I had left was my father and he killed himself rather than fight them." Matilda spat, "They offered me a deal; work for them for a few years and they'd restore my title. I'll be the comtesse of Sachsen-Gotha!"

"And you know that they will keep their word…how exactly?" Henrietta asked scathingly, "They are anti-royalists, after all."

Matilda laughed. "Oh they may dislike royalty, but nobility? They want the nobility to be in control and keep the commoners under their jackboot. You royals have allowed the middle class to thrive in the last couple of centuries, which many nobles hate with a passion. I am the last of a long and proud bloodline that has stood the test of time. They want me and need me."

"Foolishness." Karin stated coldly, "You are fool of the highest order."

"I agree." Henrietta shook her head, "Remove her to a nobility cell. A more permanent solution will be forthcoming at a later date."

Unlike Wardes, Matilda was biddable as she was lead away, a knowing smile on her face.

"Let us retire to my chambers." the Dowager Queen sighed, "This requires some discussion."

Once they had retired to the privacy of the Suite that the Queen had chosen, the Queen sagged into her seat with a sigh.

"Oh Marie…" Karin said sympathetically, laying a comforting hand on her sovereign's shoulder.

"How could a man my husband chose to be an Agent of the Crown turn traitor like this?" the Dowager Queen whispered, "I just…I don't understand…"

"Whoever Reconquista are, mother, they are good at recruiting people." Henrietta said grimly, "Matilda de Sachsen-Gotha was recruited by appealing to her desire to reclaim her lost title. Who knows what was used to tempt Wardes? Something he had to have, no doubt."

"Henrietta's right, Marie." Karin said softly, "What worries me more is how many other members of the nobility are in the service of the Reconquista. It could be any number of them."

"That's…true." Marie said, "But…what can we do? Start a witch hunt?"

"That isn't the way." Henrietta replied immediately, "If we start doing that, we'll have a revolt on our hands without the Reconquista lifting a finger. No, we have to be discrete and track down any agents they have in the nobility using what we discovered at former Viscount Wardes' estate. I have Agnès going over the information as we speak."

"And who can we trust to carry out the investigation?" Marie asked her daughter.

"Louise." Henrietta said firmly, "With her Familiar, Mr Saito, acting the part of a paid bodyguard, she could-"

"I am unwilling to put my daughter in such a precarious position with next to no offensive magic at her command." Karin interjected firmly.

"Duchess…" the Princess began.

"None of that formal stuff, Henrietta." the pinkette scolded her, "You're still the girl I bounced on my lap as a baby. Karin'll do fine."

"Karin, then." Henrietta smiled at the woman she considered an honorary aunt, "Louise is the one person my age I trust wholeheartedly. She loves me and my mother and she was the first person to swear fealty to me personally. Granted, that was when we were five, but we both consider the oath to merely be in abeyance until I ascend to the throne. Those that we trust to such an extent are rare and hard to come by, especially in the Nobility."

Karin smiled as she remembered that incident. Louise had sworn an oath of fealty to Henrietta during a play session and it had gotten them into trouble, right up until Louise had demonstrated she had known what she had done, even quoting the relevant laws.

"I know, but…" she trailed off, unable to finish.

"But you're a mother and you don't want to have your daughters put into danger." Marie said gently. Karin nodded.

"Éléonore and Cattleya are not warriors, so I have never had to worry about them." she confessed, "But Louise…her attitude is reminiscent of myself at her age. Combined with her loyalty to you, Henrietta, there's no doubt that she'd accept a mission from you. But she has already been attacked by Wardes and her magic isn't nearly powerful enough to let her protect herself."

"That is what Saito is for." Henrietta said firmly, "I spoke with Osmond, Louise and Colbert myself when they escorted Wardes and de Sachsen-Gotha here. They all emphasised that the only reason it took a day to capture the two of them was that Wardes attacked Saito from behind with a powerful lightning spell. The robes he wore protected him from the worst of the effects and accelerated his healing apparently."

"This…Saito didn't speak on his own behalf?" Karin asked.

"He merely stated that he had been taken off guard by Wardes." the Princess replied, "From the few conversations I have had with him, it is the national character of his country to be humble and not exaggerate his own deeds. It fits in with what I have seen of him as well."

Karin still looked uneasy, making Henrietta sigh.

"Karin, one way or the other, Saito and Louise are going to get involved in this. Wardes has seen to it that it will become personal for Louise." she said at last, "I also do not want her hurt. I love her like a blood-sister. However, I also wish to ensure that Tristain remains a free country with my family at the reins. I could order it done, but I'd prefer it if you gave your blessing to the idea."

The Duchess closed her eyes for a long moment before opening them and giving her future queen a slow nod of acquiescence.

The Next Day

Royal Duelling Arena

Former Viscount Wardes meticulously checked his gear for the third time before deigning himself to be ready for combat with Karin of the Heavy Wind.

'Or as ready as one can be for battle with one of her prowess.' he thought dryly.

Karin of the Heavy Wind was the premier Mage-Warrior of her generation, Primus Inter Pares among her peers and even warriors older and more experienced than she was. A master swordswoman, tactician and strategist, on top of being a Square-class Mage with the most powerful affinity for Wind magic the world had ever seen. No one had been stupid enough to challenge her openly…at least not after the first time.

Wardes was a good fighter, no doubts about it, and his rare talent for lightning magic usually gave him an edge, but he was still hopelessly outmatched against his current opponent.

Standing across the arena from him, Karin stood in her armour. It was custom made and hindered her not at all. Sheathed at her side was her own swordwand, again custom made and forged from the best materials available.

His hand dropped to rest on the hilt of his own swordwand, one that had served him faithfully throughout the entirety of his career. It wasn't fancier than any other swordwand, but it was a comforting presence nonetheless.

He accepted his hat from the servant and placed it atop his head with a smirk. If he was going to be beaten to a bloody pulp, at least he'd be a snappily dressed bloody pulp.

"Duellists, take your positions!" the Princess called.

Wardes felt tempted to drag his feet, but brushed the idea aside as infantile. Besides, those armed musketeers standing nearby would likely take umbrage to him blatantly disrespecting their precious princess.

Strolling out to his designated spot, the disgraced nobleman couldn't help but shiver at the stare he was receiving from Karin as she assumed her own place on the duelling floor. Now he knew how a rodent felt with a bird of prey locking on to them as a target.

"Before we begin." the woman said coolly, "Tell me why you work for Reconquista. What did they use to make you betray your country?"

"I'm sorry, were you expecting a confession?" Wardes chuckled darkly, "I have indeed betrayed my country. Telling you why I did it would be unseemly and be viewed as either boasting or making excuses. No, I have done what you accuse me of. Let it rest at that. If you wish to talk further, talk with sword and sorcery!"

"I see." Karin actually seemed even more intimidating as she drew her swordwand, the rasp of metal on metal ringing across an entirely silent arena as the assembled crown of nobles held their collective breath.

"Well then…if it is the sword that you desire, so it shall be what you shall receive!" the former Captain of the Manticore Knights snarled as she raised her weapon, a tornado whipping up around the weapon.

'And this is why I never wanted to fight her.' Wardes grumbled as he drew his own swordwand. He favoured lightning magic, which was all but ineffective against wind magic, especially the amount of power that Karin could bring to bear.

He could also use Wind magic, but only a fool would fight the Heavy Wind with her own speciality. Fire was the logical element to turn to, but Karin would just suck the air out of the area of any fire he summoned, meaning he would have to expend more willpower to maintain any fire he called forth. A losing proposition for him.

'Water it is then.' he decided. With a swish and flick of his weapon -coincidentally bringing the swordwand into the standard fencing position- Wardes brought forth a torrent of water that swirled and seethed around him.

Water was the natural element to complement lightning, acting as a conductor. It wasn't well known that Wardes had chosen water as his third element. This was mostly because he rarely needed to use more than his lightning magic to get the job done.

"Oh? Water, is it?" Karin asked in amusement, "An excellent choice."

"Lame à lame!" Henrietta announced.

Both duellists tensed as the blade-to-blade command rang out across the arena. Each person eyeing the other and shifting their stance accordingly, which caused the other to react accordingly.

'I have to keep her off balance as long as I can.' Wardes thought furiously, 'The more she is on the defensive, the more chance I have of figuring a way out of this mess.'

'Humph. He's still trying to figure out how to untangle himself from all of this.' Karin thought dismissively, 'Utterly pointless. He isn't inexperienced by any means, but against me, he may as well be a greenhorn.'

A feral smile rippled across Karin's face. She was currently one of the most dangerous creatures in existence; a mother protecting her young. Or avenging a wrong done to her young, in this case.

"Begin!" the Princess declared.

Wardes leapt to the attack, sending a hail of water javelins at Karin, who merely scoffed and raised a wind barrier that made them shatter into pieces. She then sent multiple wind blades rain down on the disgraced noble at a very rapid pace, Wardes barely being able to fend them off with a hastily erected dome of water.

Karin snarled and sent the tornado swirling on her sword shrieking at Wardes, sucking up the water surrounding him and turning into a waterspout.

"Well that's not fair." the bearded man drawled. He raised his swordwand and cut the new waterspout in half with his own wind magic.

The Duchess raised an eyebrow, slightly impressed. "Not bad. Now I can actually stop going easy on you!"

With that, she kicked it up a notch, using omnidirectional wind magic attacks to batter down Wardes' magical defences and then engaged him up close and personal and swordwand to swordwand.

"You really are too emotional about this." Wardes grunted as he held off his opponent.

"Oh, I'm perfectly in control of my emotions, Wardes." Karin replied, "What you should be worried about is if I do lose control…you might actually die!"

The contest of magic ceased as Karin pressed the former Crown Agent heavily in a sword duel. No matter what he tried, Wardes couldn't disengage long enough to cast any magic as he was pressed too hard by Karin to even begin to concentrate on any spells.

"It's…time…to…end…this!" Karin snarled and swiftly disarmed Wardes, the swordwand clattering to the stone floor with a clatter. The man, no fool, raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"I yield." he said faux-calmly.

"Let the mark of your betrayal mar your countenance for the remainder of your days." the Duchess de Vallière declared, swiping her swordwand diagonally across the man's face.

Wardes screamed in pain as blood spurted from the cut. He fell to his knees, cradling his face. Karin placed the tip of her swordwand under his chin and forcibly tilted his head up until he was looking her in the eyes.

"Never come near my daughter or my family ever again." she said with flames of rage in her eyes, "If you do not heed my warning, a little cut will be the least of your concerns Understood?"

"Ye…yes…" he choked out, fear engraved in his eyes.

"Good." Karin said softly, "Get this filth out of my sight."

She turned and sheathed her blade before walking off, self-assured arrogance in every step. Wardes was taken away by two guards, seemingly comatose with shock at his defeat and maiming, but his mind was ticking over furiously.

'Karin of the Heavy Wind…you shall pay for what you have done this day!' he vowed.

Standing in amongst the gallery, a man with his hat pulled down over his eyes sneered at the defeated man.

'Hah! Such primitive magicians actually think they are strong!' he scoffed, 'While this has been entertaining, I had better see about acquiring the item I came here for…the Royal Sceptre! Held by the lovely Princess Henrietta!'

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Next Chapter: Attack on the Castle

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