Rather than riding Sylphid (who might have been wearied by carrying five of us such a distance) or individual horses (the stables were understandably reluctant to provide horses to Louise and by extension myself as only one of the horses we had borrowed had returned so far) the little expedition had been provided with a carriage. Lest you think this was one of the elaborate coaches found in Westerns or period dramas, this was rather more along the lines of a cart with some wooden planks fitted as chairs. Tristain had apparently not discovered suspension at this time and the ride was more than a touch hard on the rear end.

For lack of anyone else with experience handling a team of horses, Miss Longueville had taken the reins. Kirche, by virtue of getting there first had claimed the place beside the secretary and we had barely trundled out of the gate before she started pestering the young woman. "This type of job could be done by a commoner, why do you have to do it yourself?"

"It's all right," Longueville told her. "I'm not a noble anyway."

"But you're Headmaster Osman's secretary?"

"Yes, that's true. But Old Osman isn't someone who worries about a person's status when he looks for help. It doesn't bother him if someone is a noble or a commoner."

Kirche looked fascinated. "Would you mind telling me the details of how you lost your noble status?"

Her response was a serene smile from Longeuville, although I suspected that the question was on the nature of 'what precisely were the crimes that led your parents to have their first meeting in adjacent prison cells?'

"Just tell me, please, even if it's just a little," Kirche begged, leaning closely towards the secretary. Unlike Kirche's usualy targets, gratuitious exposure to her cleavage didn't seem to be having a persuasive effect upon Longueville. "It's not for me, it's for the benefit of Louise the Zero when she gets disowned for not having any magic..."

Only the fact that I had 'accidentally' put my foot on Louise's cloak, tangling her arm and thus blocking her from drawing her wand stopped my master from making what would have probably been highly effective magic based at blasting Kirche off the cart and quite possibly all the way back to the Academy. "Miss Zerbst," I reminded her politely. "I think you saw yesterday that my master has considerable proficiency with certain forms of magic and is no danger whatsoever of being disowned or sent away to a foreign country." Alright, the last part was probably gratuitous but I didn't see any especial reason not to get a stab or two in.

"That's right!" Louise agreed. "Stop raking up someone's past."

"But I'm bored, I need someone to talk to."

In fairness, Kirche's closest companion was Tabitha, who wasn't verbose at the best of times and was in fact curled up at the back of the cart with a book open and entirely obscuring her face from the rest of us.

"Didn't you volunteer to come?"

"Only because you did first. It's your impetuousness that got me into this mess, Louise. Capturing Fouquet..."

"As preparation perhaps you could tell me about this Fouquet?" I suggested in a rather transparent change of subject. "Is the giant golem typical of his approach?"

Louise sighed and sat back against the side of the cart. "Not always. No one knows much about him but he's stolen treasures from nobles in every corner of the country. Sometimes he strikes by stealth and sometimes he just smashes in with a golem. The only things that are certain are that he - or she - must be an Earth Mage of at least triangle class, that he leaves insulting notes on the scene of his crimes, and that he prefers to take items of great magical power."

I nodded. "So what you're saying is that this Fouquet takes prominent targets and boasts about it. Sounds every supervillain I've ever heard of."

"Supervillain?" asked Longueville, looking back for a moment. I suppose that it's not as dangerous to do so driving a cart as it is when driving a car.

"A term from my homeland. It's used to describe magic users and others with power that use those talents not only to benefit themselves - which is understandable enough - but also to do so at the expense of others. Thieves, murderers, kidnappers... criminals whose talents place them beyond the reach of most authorities."

Kirche shook her head. "But surely someone must do something about them!"

"Well of course. There are of course those who use their own talents to oppose supervillains. Typically they group together into motley bands of individals with complementary capabilities... a fire mage, a wind mage, an exploder mage and her familiar for an example." I gestured the four of us. "And... what is your element, Miss Longueville?"

"I'm an Earth Mage," she told me. "Perhaps your homeland isn't so very dfferent from Tristain."

"Well I think there are one or two differences." I didn't elaborate anymore and after Kirche started fretting a little more she decided to enliven the journey by singing a song. I would like to assure you that there is no prejudice behind my judgement: her singing voice is not what draws boys towards her.

"That was terrible!" Louise asserted once we managed to shut Kirche up.

"It's a traditional Germainian song," she protested.

"Sung mostly in taverns no doubt," Louise objected.

"I'd like to hear you do better."

Unsurprisingly, my master took up the gauntlet. I was surprised to find out that not only did she have a decent voice but she didn't select some romantic ballad but instead a song glorifying what seemed like some kind of military unit: the Silver Gryphons.

~" It's time to make a stand, it's time to pay the cost.

The Reaper's scythe is sweeping in.

Amazed and desperate, the day is all but lost.

There's just one chance you have to win.

Send in the Silver Gryphons! "~

"Nice song," I congratulated her when she came to the end. "Who are the these Silver Gryphons?"

"It's a common name for the Gryphon Order of Knights," Louise said with a slight blush at the compliment. "My fiancé is their captain."

"Eh? You're engaged?" I exclaimed in surprise. It was the first that I had heard of her being in a relationship with anyone.

"It's been arranged for years." Louise must have seen my unvoiced response on my face because she added, "It's expected for nobles to settles such matters quite early. I suppose commoners can afford to wait until they're older since there is less at stake."

"It's political then?"

"Obviously." She gave me a curious look. "You aren't engaged then?"

"I'm not even dating." I rubbed the back of my head. "I think mum and dad would kill me if I got engaged this young. And my brothers would kill the guy on general principle."

"What's dating?" asked Kirche, intrigued now that the opposite gender had become a topic of conversation.

I sighed. What was I, a sociologist? "It's a boy and a girl getting to know each other in a romantic setting. Possibly you'd call it courting? Assuming it goes well of course. Boys and romance don't often go well together if the other girls from my old school are to be believed."

"But surely you must have had some boys interested in you," Kirche suggested. "Why after myself you are one of the prettier girls at the Academy."

"It may be my imagination but I don't think boys particularly like girls who can throw them around a room without breaking a sweat," I told her and then looked down at my chest. I know it had only been a week since my burnout but I was almost certain that I'd continued to grow since that little episode, albeit at a less drastic rate. "And I'm a bit of a late developer."

"Pff." Kirche waved these obstacles. "Boys from your homeland must be puny weaklings. I will introduce you to some sturdy Germainian boys who will open your heart to ardor. I'm sure some of them are still talking to me."

"That won't be necessary."

"Oh?" Kirche looked me up and down and then nodded understandingly. "I understand."

Something told me that she didn't.

"It's obvious now! The way you share Louise's bed, the maid you're always following around..."

"No!" I'd pretty much guessed where she was going at this point.

"It's obvious that your passions are those that you dare not speak of!"

Louise gasped. "Ellen! What is she talking about?"

"She's raving mad!" I exclaimed.

"Come to my bosom, I will not judge you!" Kirche tried to drag my face down into her cleavage and while I was able to resist that quite effectively, in doing so she overbalanced and spilled herself onto Louise.

There was a whistling crack and we looked up to see Miss Longueville had cracked the whip above the horses. "I hope I don't have to turn around and take you back to the Academy with your mission unfulfilled because you were too busy squabbling," she observed mildly.

"No Miss Longueville," Kirche and Louise chorused, straightening themselves out.

"And Miss Vallière, your familiar's feelings for other women are not unusual for a girl her age so please be considerate of them." And then she had the nerve to giggle.

"It's not true!" I wailed.

.oOo.

Although the sun was high in the sky as we entered the forest, once we were under the trees shadows shrouded us in darkness. This more or less matched my mood since I had been the butt of jokes about my alleged sexuality for almost an hour and had twice had to remind myself firmly that experimenting with tapping into natural sources of quintessence in order to start casting explosions on my companions in the manner of Louise would probably not be a good idea. However tempting Kirche made it.

I've made enough bad decisions lately and I'd really rather that something went right for a change.

Miss Longueville brought the cart to a halt. "We'll have to walk from here," she told us and climbed down. The rest of us followed her, first Kirche then Tabitha and Louise and I at the back.

Louise waited until the other three were all looking forwards and then gave me a significant look before quickly pointing at her temple, whipping her hand down before Kirche casually glanced left and might have seen her out of the corner of her eye. I couldn't see anything on her forehead so I presumed that she wanted me to enter into telepathic communication with her. I wasn't enthused about the idea as it meant lowering my clairvoyance, which was currently keeping me alert to anything moving around us - anyone trying to sneak up behind us would be in for a rude surprise.

When she received no indication that I had complied, Louise tried to elbow me below the ribs. I blocked with my hand, diverting the blow and leaving her slightly off balance. She glared and I sighed inwardly. Clearly she wasn't going to give up and so, with a nervous glance over my shoulder, I switched to telepathy.

'No,' I shot irritably into her mind once I saw the uppermost question in her mind. I suppose I could make protestations of having no prejudices against homosexuals and intellectually I don't. However as far as I know I've never even met one and being accused of it when I've hardly even had a relationship with a boy had definitely stirred up some emotions that I would definitely like to keep packed away in a quiet corner of my mind.

'T-that's not what I wanted,' she protested quickly. 'It was about Fouquet's golem.'

'What about it?'

Louise's question was hesitant. 'Do you really think I destroyed it?'

'It's possible, although I hasten to add that I see no reason he couldn't create another one. But it's also possible that as you'd done some damage and given time I think could have broken it up completely that Fouquet decided to abandon it and let it collapse in order to cover for his escape.'

She lowered her head. 'Then again I was a failure. A zero.'

I took her hand comfortingly (after checking that the others weren't looking back). 'You did more than anyone. And now you are rested and well prepared to show your full power.'

That perked her up although it did raise another question in her mind. Or rather, the same question as before.

"Yes, dammit I am sure," I snapped taking my hand away.

"What was that?" Kirche asked, glancing back.

Longueville held her hand up for silence. "Shush, we're almost there." We clustered up behind her, peeking around a bush to look at the house. It was quite small and sat in a clearing about the size of one of the courts at Tristain Academy. If it was typical of commoner dwellings then I have to admit that the primitive conditions I had experienced so far really were the lap of luxury in comparison.

"From my information, that should be the place," Longueville told us.

"I don't see movement." Kirche squinted. "Nor any light. Is Fouquet really inside?"

"Someone will look inside," Tabitha decided. She used her staff to scratch out a quick map of the clearing - not much more than a rough circle with a square to represent the house, marked for the door and the one window that we could see. "Other doors?"

"I'll look around," I suggested and moved off. I'm not exactly good at woodscraft - what do you expect? I've always lived in towns and cities! - but I at least had some idea of how to move without making too much noise, something that didn't seem to concern the other girls much.

When I got back to confirm there were no other doors or windows it had been democratically decided that I would be the best person to check the house while the rest of them stood back, ready to cast spells at Fouquet if this provoked him to come out in search of enough earth to raise up his trademark golem. I suppose I could have complained about being sent away during the decision-making if it wasn't already clear that I wouldn't have a vote anyway...

.oOo.

Prudently I elected to approach the house from one of the sides that lacked window or door. It was possible that someone could simply look out through a crack in the walls or something, but they would have to notice me first which was less probable this way. If Fouquet was really there then I wanted to be as close possible, since I'd need to get in arm's reach before he could bring his wand to bear. I might be able to dodge a spell now that I was more familiar with how mages worked their magic in this world but I'd rather not count on that.

Creeping along the wooden walls of the house I peeked through the window. There didn't seem to be any internal walls so it only took a moment to take in the whole house and there wasn't enough furniture to hide anyone behind. A table and a chair, both covered in dust. A small stack of firewood in one corner... and on the table, a bottle of wine that didn't seem dusty at all. No sign of an occupant though.

There was something wrong there... even if Fouquet was incredibly tolerant of the dust he would surely have disturbed it at some point and the chair was the most likely place for that to take place. If it wasn't for the bottle I would have said that no one had been here for months, maybe years. Obviously someone had been here recently, but I doubted that this was a hideout.

I turned and ran directly away from the house as fast as I could, reinforcing my shields. "It's a trap!" I shouted to warn the girls. I wasn't sure about that, but it felt right and I'd rather the embarassment of a false warning than see the one of them hurt because I ignored my instincts.

Of course, Kirche responded to the warning by lobbing a fireball at the door, apparently believing that Fouquet must be hot on my heels. And since I was running directly at them I had to dive to the ground to avoid taking the hit - okay, it probably wouldn't have hurt me, but I'm not in the habit of taking hits I can avoid. Fortunately Tabitha and Louse were more reserved and I was able to scramble back to my feet and rejoin them without further incident.

"What happened?" Louise exclaimed. "Was he there?"

"No one's there. There's only a bottle of wine to say anyone has been there for days, and thick dust everywhere. This isn't a hideout!"

Louise turned around. "Are you sure this is the right... Miss Longueville? Miss Longueville?"

I looked around and there was no sign of the secretary.

"Fouquet must have got her!" Kirche was standing back to back with Tabitha, a reaction I applauded although I didn't entirely agree with her conclusion.

I pushed Louise towards the other two mages, who stepped out to include her in their formation. "Perhaps not." I crouched so as not to obscure their line of sight and lowered my shields.

Clairvoyance didn't reveal anything - wherever she was, Longueville was out of line of sight and I only have 360 degree vision, not remote viewing. I hadn't expected any better. But there was another method of finding her: my telepathy. I couldn't pinpoint a direction from that, but there was a good chance her thoughts would tell me what she was doing and where.

"What are you talking about?" Louise hissed.

"Maybe she's working with Fouquet," I suggested. "For that matter, maybe she is Fouquet: she's an Earth mage after all. I'll see if I can find out."

"What are you talking about?" asked Kirche, "You're just squatting there..."

"Trust Ellen, she knows what she's doing." That was Louise. I appreciated her confidence although it was misplaced. I'd never tried this before.

Telepathy is usually either active, peering into someone's mind, or coercive where you directly affect someone's thinking. But there is a third type, common to almost all telepaths and almost always ignored as soon as a telepath manages to turn it off: passive telepathy where instead of focusing on one person you just open yourself up the thoughts of those around you. Involuntarily it was a nuisance, but for something like this.

The first thoughts I 'heard' were those of the other three girls. Trepedation on the part of Louise and to a lesser extent Kirche and Tabitha. Kirche was excited (and in ways I could have done without knowing about) whereas Tabitha was controlled (and oddly, there was a sense of liberation there). And my master really did feel that I would pull something out of my hat to salvage the situation.

Then I reached further out. The forest was deserted, leading me to belatedly wonder what commoners would have been around to tell Longueville about the house. No, this was a set up, I was sure about it.

And there she was. Most of her attention was upon her spellcasting, but I could feel no sense that she was afraid. More irritated... and filled with a bitter, bitter hatred for the nobility of Tristain and of the neighbouring nations. Bitter enough that I withdrew and raised my shields reflexively. I could have gone deeper, probably, without arousing her suspicions, but I really didn't want to.

"Ladies, please consider Miss Longueville to be exceedingly hostile," I warned as I stood. "And we're about to be attacked, may I suggest we provide a moving target?"

"What do you mean," asked Kirche.

Tabitha pulled lightly on her sleeve. "Run," she advised succinctly and then matched action to words, running out into the clearing, whistling piercingly - something that seemed to be bothering me more than it did either of the others.

Kirche broke into a run but Louise hesitated. "We can't just run away."

I scooped her up bridal fashion and chased after Tabitha. "It's a strategic withdrawal - we need some distance to reassess the situation."

With a shriek of what sounded almost like laughter, Sylphid swooped down, shadow sweeping briefly across us before she landed next to Tabitha. The blue-haired girl scrambled up to sit upon the dragon's shoulders and held out a hand to help Kirche up.

Then there was a rumble as the earth moved between us, seperating Louise and I from our companions. I ran aside and Louise, peering back over my shoulder squealed in dismay. "It's the golem!"

I switched to clairvoyance for a moment, surprised by how little impact it had on my ability to carry a girl almost my own size (here's to a healthy exercise regieme!) and she was right. Fortunately Tabitha had urged Sylphid into the sky at the first sign of danger. Pity we weren't aboard, but not her fault and it's not as if she was heading for the horizon. "Can you cast while I carry you?"

"No!"

"Then we have a problem!"

"What?"

"This thing's just about as fast as me, and if I stop so you can cast then we're going to be flattened!" The golem didn't move its legs all that fast, but it the strides were long enough that it didn't really matter.

"Can't you fight it?"

"Oddly, none of my martial arts training centred on defeating hundred foot tall earth golems. It's a bit of a lapse really!" I squinted at the sky and started angling towards where Sylphid was circling. Fire and wind blazed down at the Golem but I couldn't see that they were having any more effect than yesterday. "We need to get you up there where you can cast un-obstructed."

Louise nodded assent. "But how?"

"Tabitha and Kirche can both levitate someone the way Montmorency did, right?"

"Well, yes. All magi can." Except, of course, Louise.

"Excellent." I shifted my grip on my master and then screamed as loudly as I could: "TABITHA! CATCH!"

In the distance I could see Tabitha's head turning, light reflecting off her spectacles. Unceremoniously I hurled Louise up into the air. Not the most graceful fastball special ever, but this wasn't exactly a comicbook and her shriek of fright would ensure she was readily detectable by the airborne half of our little bad. Sure enough, Tabitha waved her staff and Louise was slowed and then lifted up to sit behind Kirche.

Okay, Louise was in a position to provide effective ranged support (something Kirche wasn't managing, which should be good for my master's ego) and since I had my hands free now I might be able do something about the Golem. Turning on my heel I ran directly at the golem. Fulfilling every stereotype of something that size, it proved unable to alter its direction in a hurry and was still in the process of slowing down as I closed in and leapt up to slam a spinning kick against one knee.

It felt like kicking a brick wall... well it felt like me kicking a brick wall, which fortunately for me is a touch different than the normal experience or I'd have had several broken bones in my foot. The leg cracked for almost half its width and a good much of the earth involved fell away in chunks the size soccer balls as I bounded away behind it, landing in a roll to soak up my momentum before turning to have another go.

There was a sharp detonation as I turned and I saw smoke billowing up from the damaged knee. Evidently Louise had made an excellent choice of target because although she hadn't destroyed the remainder of the joint entirely, between us we'd done enough damage that it wasn't supporting the tremendous mass of the golem. It lurched to one side and as it fell to the ground I saw the lower leg simply break away and crumble to dirt.

However, unlike yesterday when the golem had entirely collapsed, most of the giant remained intact and the magical construct pulled itself upright, more earth swelling from the ground to meet with the broken leg, reforming it.

"Oh that's just cheating," I grumbled.

There was a disconcertingly amused response from behind me. "I see that the familiar is the brains of this little band."

I kept part of my attention on the golem turning towards me as I moved aside, turning to see Longueville at the edge of the trees, her wand in hand. "Miss Longueville... or Fouquet should I say?" Risking the moment I resorted to telepathy again. "Although that's also a pseudonym, isn't it?" Sure enough another name, one that didn't ring any bells for me, popped into her thoughts.

She nodded slightly, having let her hair down and removed her glasses. "Well of course. Don't those 'supervillains' of yours adopt a suitable sobriquet for their exploits?"

"Indeed." Another explosion punctuated my reply as Louise had another go, this time blasting a chunk out of the golem's chest. It didn't slow down appreciably as it walked towards me. "I don't suppose you'd return the Staff of Destruction if I ask you nicely, would you?"

"After I went to all the trouble of charming the foolish Mr. Colbert into revealing the secrets of its security? Do be serious."

I backpedalled away from the Golem. "Not even a hint as to its location? Be more sporting, after all you had the entertainment of watching the nobles flap around like headless chickens earlier."

Fouquet chuckled. "That was rather satisfying, but I'm a professional, you see."

Not professional enough to keep the staff's hiding place from flashing though her mind, although I kept the momentary elation from my mind, instead quietly reaching out to Louise's mind. 'Louise, the Staff of Destruction is in a chest inside the house. I'll see if I can draw the golem away so you can recover it.' "I have to wonder then, why you're still here. You had the staff, you could surely have made an entirely clean escape. But instead you came and lured a search party after you. The... logic escapes me."

"Hmm... I suppose I can at least explain that if it will allow you to rest in peace." Fouquet smiled coquettishly in unpleasent contrast to her words. I didn't have much trouble imagining how she'd gotten secrets out of Colbert's loose lips. "I had taken the Staff of Destruction but what I then discovered was that I lacked the knowledge to use it."

"Odd, you rather strike me as the knowledgeable type." I kept backing away, Fouquet moving to keep the Golem between her and the flying dragon. It didn't seem that the Golem had any vulnerable spots, or if it did Louise's determined efforts to find it by sheer random pummeling with explosions hadn't found it.

"Oh you'll make me blush." Fouquet laughed into her hand. "Are you sure that you aren't..."

I'm sure my eyebrow twitched. "Is that a confession on your part?"

"You're a capable young woman and I'm open to new experiences. I think I could find room for a canny young assistant."

"Something tells me that even if I was interested, you're too professional to leave me alive."

"Alas for what might have been," she sighed mockingly. "In any event, no matter how I waved the staff or applied my magic on it, there was no response at all. That frustrated me. After all, if I do not know how to use it, it would be just as useful as a decorative item, wouldn't it."

I nodded, seeing Sylphid swooping down towards the house. "That would rather reduce the market value, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, that's why I'm letting your master and her friends retrieve it now."

Well crap.

"Don't feel so bad," she said as the golem reached down and scooped her up. "Really, I can't imagine why Osman thought a handful of children would be able to stop Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt." She braced herself on one finger of the giant hand as the golem started to turn. "I do wonder how those girls worked out its location though." And she stabbed out with her wand towards me.

Fortunately, that much I had been anticipating: in her role as Osman's secretary Fouquet could hardly have been unaware of how the duel against Montmorency had played out. She knew that leaving me suspended in mid-air would neutralise me neatly and I didn't think she was daft enough to leave me at her back while she took on my friends. Of course, I had been giving thought as to how I might counter just such an attack and so, as threads of magic formed around me, I seized hold of the flows with my left hand and stabbed towards the thief with my right hand.

Quintessence flowed through me, draining her spell and then empowering my own use of that same magic upon my opponent. Fouquet shouted in dismay as she was yanked from her perch and then I released the spell, dropping her to fall fifty feet towards the ground. With inches to spare she managed to halt her fall, bringing herself to a hover right in place to be doubled up when I hurled myself forwards in a flying kick.

Her wand went flying and the golem finished its turn and halted, waiting further commands. Those commands would not be coming from Fouquet however, for I pinned her to the ground in a choke that cut off the blood to her brain just long enough to reduce her to unconciousness.

.oOo.

"Is that it?" Louise had found the chest and inside it... well it wasn't what I'd expected.

"Unmistakeably. I saw it once during my tour of the tour vault," Kirche told her. "Funny looking thing isn't it?"

No kidding. For the first time in about a week I was looking at something made of plastic and modern metals that wasn't my personal property. Not much more than two feet long it had obviously been machined, which wasn't something I'd come to expect in Tristain.

"Could I have a look at that?"

She handed it over and I turned the 'staff' over in my hands. 'Made in the USA'? And this was no staff, more like some sort of military one-shot rocket launcher. An M-72, whatever that signified. I could see how it would unfold, all very logical and by local standards quite destructive when used.

"Er, Louise? Does your familiar's hand glow like that often?"

Glow? Sure enough, there was light coming from the back of my left hand. Holding the Staff of Destruction carefully in my other hand, I stared at it. It was the runes carved there that were glowing. "Is this... normal?"

Louise shook her head. "No, it isn't."

"Two mysteries for the price of one," I commented and handed the staff back to Kirche. The moment that it left my hand, the runes ceased to glow. "No, I tell a lie. Hand that back would you?"

Hmm, holding the weapon lit my hand up as if the runes were marked with flourescent paint. Releasing it... nope, light was gone again. "One mystery. I've not seen one before but I believe that this comes from my homeland. They don't usually light someone's hand up though."

"What does it do then?"

"Well if Fouquet had had it to begin with then she could probably have broken open the tower without using her golem."

Louise's eyes went wide. "But that's been fortified by generations of magi!"

"It didn't slow her down very much, did it?" I pointed out. "Maybe you and Kirche should take this back to the school now, Tabitha. Louise and I can take Fouquet back in the cart and I'd feel happier being away from it until I know why it makes these marks glow."

"Why are you giving orders?" Louise asked peevishly. "You're a familiar: we'll make the decision."

Thank you for the reminder, I thought irritably. "A thousand apologies, o illustrious master."

She flushed slightly at the evident mockery. "We'll do it your way?"

"Are you sure you'll be okay with her?" Kirche asked. "She's a triangle mage, you know."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." I pulled Fouquet's wand out of the back pocket of my jeans. "Guess I'd better not turn my back on her then. Or will she be casting magic without this?"

"You did." Tabitha cut to the point.

"That's true, you said you couldn't use magic." Kirche seized on that point. "But you used it to drag her away from the Golem, didn't you?"

"I turned her spell back on her," I said shortly. "I figured out the basic idea yesterday, although as you noticed it's not the safest of tricks."

"But you used magic, didn't you? So you are a noble."

"Any idiot can use magic, Kirche. Which is probably a good thing, considering some of your classmates. The catch is to have magic to use in the first place, which most people don't. That's about as far as my grasp of magical theory goes so you'll have to figure out how it affects your little social ladder for yourself." Did I sound bitter? Hmm, possibly. Maybe Fouquet's feelings were affecting me more than I should allow them to. Or maybe after the last couple of days I was feeling a bit stressed. Take your choice.

"Just go away, Kirche," Louise insisted. She grabbed Fouquet by the hair and tried to drag her off towards the cart. She actually made it a couple of inches before the hair started to come away.

"Please don't do that," I told her. "Ripping her hair out might sound theraputic but the teachers probably wouldn't understand." I lifted Fouquet and put her over my shoulder in a fireman's carry, handing her wand over to Louise for safekeeping: it wouldn't be very smart to leave it in ready reach of the thief once she woke.

Kirche huffed and walked away. "I'll figure out your secrets," she called back over her shoulder. "You see if I don't." If she did figure out any then I'd be only to pleased to have the answers: there was too much going on that I didn't understand.

A moment later Sylphid was in the air and flapping lazily in the direction of of the Academy while Louise and I walked back under the trees. We walked in silence for a long moment before Louise turned to me. "You shouldn't have mocked me in front of the others."

"Woof."

"What?"

"Treat me like a dog and I assure you I'll be quite the bitch."

"I..." She broke off and thought back. "I'm sorry. I was hoping to prove myself, but I didn't do anything useful. That wasn't your fault."

"Apology accepted. I'm a bit on edge after reading Fouquet's mind."

Louise nodded. "I suppose she's a noble who lost her title. Such people often turn to crime."

"I didn't exactly get chapter and verse, but it sounds about right. Her name's Mathilda and her father was a duke somewhere called... Saxe-Gotha? Sounds sort of Germainian."

"It's a town in Albion," Louise told me. "I think the duke was convicted of treason a few years ago and the region reverted to the crown after he was removed."

That sounded like a very bloodless description to me, but while I've read a great many of my brother's fantasy novels, most of them dwell more on the swords and the sorcery instead of the politics so I've no idea how that would work out.

.oOo.

It took us most of the afternoon to return to the Academy with Fouquet. She woke up before we had even reached the edge of the forest but after one abortive attempt to overpower me (which never had the remotest chance of succeeding) she had been sullenly uncommunicative for the whole journey.

The stablehands - visibly surprised to see Louise and I return with all the horses entrusted to us this time - took Fouquet into custody, or as close to it as could be managed with the resources at hand. And then, despite my stomach rumbling, we were guided up to the Headmaster's office where Kirche and Tabitha were waiting for us.

"A job well done for all of you," Osman told us. "You have returned the Staff of Destruction and captured Fouquet. I never would have suspected Miss Longueville of such a deception."

Kirche's face twitched as if torn over whether to say anything.

"Apparently her... womanly charms were applied to reveal information about the security around the vaults," I advised Colbert, who was standing at Osman's shoulder. He cleared his throat uneasily.

"That was also how she was hired," grumbled Kirche.

"Oh?"

"There's no need to dwell on that," Osman told us hastily. "What is done is done and now we must look to the future. Fouquet will be handed to the royal authorities for punishment and I have sent word asking that the title of Chevalier be awarded to you, Louise, and to you Kirche. Since you already hold that title, Tabitha, I have asked that you be presented with the Elven Medallion."

This announcement wiped the annoyance from Kirche's face and brightened Louise's expression as well. It was harder to judge Tabitha's expression but I thought I detected a slight smile there as well. Perhaps it was my imagination. "Really?" Kirche said, sounding delighted.

"Absolutely," confirmed the old man. "I have every confidence that these awards will be made. You have done more than enough to deserve the title, wouldn't you say?"

Louise looked at me and then back at the Headmaster. "Sir, we wouldn't have succeeded without Ellen."

He nodded. "It does you credit to say as much, Chevalier Vallière." (Louise blushed at the title) "Unfortunately and, I must admit, unjustly there will be no such award made for her. As your familiar, her actions are considered to be your own and thus too the rewards for those actions." He lowered his head slightly as he turned his gaze upon me. "For this you have my sincerest apologies, Miss Ellen."

"I think I can live without a title or a piece of metal," I answered resolutely, although in truth I did feel somewhat jealous.

It must have shown because Kirche spoke up. "If it's because a commoner, then she isn't really."

Osman looked up but it was Colbert who replied. "What do you mean by that, Kirche?"

"She used magic on Fouquet," Kirche explained. "So she has to at least be of noble blood."

Colbert looked fascinated but Osman raised his hand. "If the matter were merely Miss Ellen being a commoner, then I could at least offer her some financial reward, Kirche. The true obstacle to offering her proper recognition is her status as Louise's familiar. Now, before I forget, as the Staff of Destruction has been recovered I have decided that tonight's Ball of Frigg will resume as planned."

"Hurrah!" Kirche sang out. "Let's forget about Fouquet and dance all night long!" I hoped she would also forget about me, at least as a subject to her idea of humour.

He chuckled. "I would imagine that you young chevaliers will be the main attraction there. No doubt you will want to pretty yourselves up for the occasion...?"

The other girls bowed and headed out the room, no doubt already planning what they would wear for the occasion. I knew the feeling, but I already knew that I didn't have anything suitable. After all, the only dress I had was borrowed from Siesta. Rather than following them, I continued to look at the headmaster and Colbert, smiling as winsomely as I could manage. "Please gentlemen, may I ask a question of you?"

It must have had some effect because Colbert's cheeks went red. "O-of course you can, Ellen."

"Would you tell me where the Staff of Destruction came from?"

Old Osman nodded paternally. "Of course I will. The man who gave me the Staff of Destruction was my saviour." He stroked his beard and then nodded. "A most mysterious stranger I met thirty years ago. I was simply walking in the forest, minding my own business, when I was attacked by a two-headed dragon. For a mage alone, that is almost certain death, but at the last moment a man I had never met used a similar staff to slay the beast before collapsing from his own wounds."

He sighed mournfully. "I brought the poor fellow here, to the Academy, but there was nothing we could do for him. When we buried him I placed the staff he had used alongside him but the second staff I kept in a box in the vault, never daring to tamper with it for fear of unleashing its power upon myself."

I nodded. "You're sure it was thirty years ago?"

"Oh yes. Why do you ask?"

I looked him over and then looked at Colbert. Well, I had to trust someone. "I wasn't summoned from some other corner of this world. I am from another world entirely, one different from this one in many ways. What you call the Staff of Destruction is a weapon from my own world, and one that has been used for thirty or forty years, I don't know exactly. Since you encountered it so long ago, it is probable that time passes no more slowly or swiftly here than it does there, which is some comfort to me."

I still didn't know how to go home, but at least once I did manage it, I was unlikely to find that centuries had passed while I was here.

.oOo.

Above the high ceiling of the Alviss dining hall is a second hall, even grander than the one below. It didn't strike me as the wisest of arrangements but doubtless it had made sense to the architect. There were other differences than the decoration of course: while the hall below was for feasting, this one was plainly intended for purposes formal, ceremonial or - in this case - social.

It's another oddity: while the school uniform is relatively modern and the general level of technology is almost medieval, the formal garb of the nobility is apparently similar to that of the eighteenth century, right down to the knee breeches of the men while the ladies wore ball gowns and the lot of them gathered around tables filled with elaborately prepared food and chatted between the formal dances.

I took all this in as Louise swept in through doors to the announcement: "The daughter of Duke Vallière, Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière arrives!"

Louise wore white, a low cut gown and high gloves, her hair bound high before spilling down her back in a ponytail. She'd wanted my help putting it up and while I've no experience of anything so complicated the task was done to her satisfaction.

I was wearing a loaner from her wardrobe that Siesta had demonstrated her talent for needlework on to adjust for my slightly larger frame. The dress was a rich yellow that I didn't think worked with my own darker colouring and that was more snug than I had expected, while the long skirts were a hindrance. Siesta claimed I looked adorable while Louise had humphed irritably.

As if they had planned it (and maybe they had) the musicans switched to a soothing music, realising that no one would be dancing until the new arrival had been welcomed. I looked around and spotted Kirche in a dress that it looked like she would fall out of any minute. It might have explained the number of boys surrounding her, although their heads were uniformly now turned in our directions. Tabitha was at one of the tables, digging into a sizeable slice of ham. I think it was the first time I'd seen her without a book in arms reach.

And then we were surrounded by well-wishers, almost of them male.

"May I have the honour of the next dance," Guiche and Malicorne asked breathlessly and in near unison.

I didn't fancy Malicorne's chances with Louise, to be honest. Then again, the augished wail of "Guiche!" from Montmorency strongly suggested that the boy asking me was burning bridges behind him.

"No thank you," I declined.

Beside me, Louise was presumably flustered by the sudden attention (either that or she'd had well concealed feelings for the fellow) since she had nodded and Malicorne now had her by the hand.

"Please, I insist," persisted Guiche. "Allow this humble rose to bloom for you."

I kept my voice low and very even. "I'm not interested in you, de Gramont. Nor in your games."

Then I moved past him, heading for Tabitha. That ham looked appetising. Unbelievably, four other boys asked me to dance as I crossed the floor. This morning they'd been about as likely to do that as they were to flirt with Montmorency's frog familiar. Something had changed, either rumour of the day's excitement or the fact that I was wearing a low cut dress.

Tabitha looked up as i took a seat opposite her. "You're not dancing?"

A more spritely tune had sprung up and now couples were moving through formal measures on the floor. "Firstly, I don't know the steps. Secondly, I'm hungry." She nodded and generously offered me a slice she'd just carved off the ham.

I'd just about managed to get a decent meal, meaning I could have stood to eat about as much again, when Kirche finally approached. "What's this I hear about you not dancing with anyone, Ellen?"

"I'm prioritising," I told her, not looking back as I scooped some mushrooms onto my plate next to a couple of pastries.

She tossed her hair and I could practically hear the silk of her dress stretching. "You realise you're just cementing my suspicion that you've no interest in boys." Then she shot Tabitha a sly look. "Or should I just cut to the chase and ask your intentions towards my best friend?"

I rested my face briefly in my hand. "You're not giving up on this, are you?"

Kirche laughed. "I suppose I can accept a change of subject for the moment, but you've not convinced me."

Another girl - it took me a moment to identify her as one of the first years - walked up behind Kirche. "What in the world happened to Louise? She's so different tonight!"

"Oh she looks the same to me, Katie." Kirche said carelessly. "A flatchested little Tristainian girl. Seen one and you've seen them all."

Katie - who I recognised as a first year - wasn't exactly stacked herself and she gave Kirche an annoyed look. I swallowed a mouthful of pastry (I'd have to congratulate the cooks next time I was in the kitchens) and waved a finger for her attention. "I think it might be how you look her that's changed rather than Louise herself."

Her brow furrowed as she looked at me. "I don't quite grasp your meaning... uh, I'm sorry, have we met?"

Okay, I didn't think the dress made me look all that different. "Once or twice. But my point is that for the first time in more than a year, you're looking at her and not her reputation. People are rarely as straighforward as they seem on the surface."

"I suppose... I've never really talked to her."

"I think," I said slowly, "That for very few of you ever did more than talk about her. And mostly for the purpose of teasing her." Louise had probably been very lonely, I thought.

"She's quite a good singer," Kirche offered.

"Kirche, compared to you everyone is a good singer."

"I'm a perfectly good singer," she told me rather huffily.

"It's sweet that you believe that," I told her. A point for my side - if she was going to keep ribbing me with her ridiculous theory then I would get a few shots in myself.

"I suppose you could do better?"

"I could." And I could see where this was going too so I reached for a pitcher of what I had figured was watered down wine. I was going to need to need keep my vocal chords lubricated. I'd had a suspicion back when she and Louise sang in the cart that it might get around to my turn and I'd thought a bit about what to sing.

And for the record I'm not that bad at singing. I have it on decent authority that I could have been in the school and the church choirs if I'd had time for practise and so forth. Given that I had afterschool activities three or four evenings a week (and let's just forget weekends) that simply wasn't happening. So I'm a decent amateur. Maybe a very good amateur.

Kirche stood up and gestured for the musicians to bring their current piece to an end. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a rare pleasure tonight! Louise Vallière's familiar will be singing for us."

I gave her an amused look and then stood up, sipped my wine and then gave the audience a slight bow.

~"You think if you set the price, they'll turn me in.

You think that when I'm up upon the pike you'll win.

They'll say that I was fighting,

For the spirit of the law.

What will they say about you,

When I'm gone?"~

I sipped from my glass and then whistled as much of the bridge as I could manage (the human throat can't reproduce instruments all that well - I'm good, but not that good). The room was silent enough that the thin whistle I substituted for a violin was clearly audible.

~"You murdered and you stole. You mocked the home I gave.

Though I'd prefer a happy end, no man can cheat the grave.

I know what they'll remember,

In the words of every song.

What will they say about you,

When I'm gone?"~

Kirche looked positively stunned and I shot her a sweet smile. Louise looked conflicted: on the other hand, she probably hadn't expected me to have a passable singing voice either. On the plus side, she had managed to get away from Malicorne while he was distracted.

~"They'll say:

We stared into the wind that tore away our breath.

We left behind a message that cannot be claimed by death.

A hero lives forever,

For the ones that carry on.

What will they say?

What will they say?

About you, when I'm gone?"~

I bowed and drained my glass once more. There was a long moment of silence and then the nobles broke out in spontaneous applause. I was somewhat gratified, I didn't think I'd been that good. Then again they didn't have studio-recorded modern music to compare me to so it was a different standard. (It also subsquently occurred to me that the amazing thing about a dancing bear is that it dances at all.)

Before I could turn back to the table and resume my assault upon the various delicacies there, almost a dozen students were crowding around to congratulate me on my singing and in the the cases of the boys to press further invitations to dance.

I was tempted just to refuse. The food was tempting and the boys were being more than a little clumsy in hiding the fact that their eyes weren't settling on my face (the target was a bit lower). However, there were two very good reasons not to refuse. Firstly, the only real hope I had of convincing any of them to see me as more than a human-shaped animal who happened to have been summoned as Louise's familiar was to interact with them and to do so on a more or less equal basis. This ball was a rare opportunity to do so.

And secondly, I don't dislike dancing. Quite the reverse.

"One at a time, gentlemen." I accepted one of the proffered hands. "And I believe there are other girls here." Kirche was taken care of, but I saw Katie accept a hand with a smile to me so possibly I had the beginnings of a friendship there. "Tabitha?"

The blue-haired girl (I had to wonder why she had hair that unusual colour) looked hesitant but finally stood and joined in.

.oOo.

Louise caught my elbow between dances. "Walk with me please."

"Of course, master," I agreed with a regretful look at the buffet table I had been making an advance upon.

She led me out onto a balcony and closed the glass door behind us, cutting us off from the sounds of the ball for a moment. The air outside wasn't cold as such, but it was sufficiently colder that it was noticeable with my bare shoulders. "It won't last you know."

"Hmm?"

"Them treating you like one of them." Louise's expression was pensive. Under the light of the two moons she had an almost ethereal appearance. "I'm sorry if it spoils your evening but..."

"You mean this isn't a miraculous ballad where one impressive deed that no one actually sees will change their opinions of me?" I put my arm across Louise's shoulders and smiled. "I didn't think it was really going to be that easy."

"It never is," she said cynically. "In the morning it'll be back to that nickname."

"Maybe not quite so bad. I mean, you are a Chevalier now."

"That's right I suppose." Louise turned her head just far enough to see me out of the corner of her eyes. "I'm sorry you didn't get any sort of reward."

I nodded. "Confidentially, it is a bit annoying. But when I lost my belts, Mum taught me a little prayer: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference."

"It's a nice prayer although I don't see what it has to do with belts," she told me.

Somehow it didn't surprise me that the ranking system for oriental martial arts wasn't something well known in Tristain. Then again, I hadn't seen much in the way of organised martial arts in the brief time I'd been here. "The belts are symbolic in the martial arts schools I attended, indicating progression in studies. Sort of like the colour of your cloak, marking you as a second year student."

"So when you say lost your belts..."

"I was stripped of the status," I confirmed, trying to figure out how to diplomatically take my arm back.

To my surprise, Louise instead took my other arm and hugged me briefly. "Why did you lose them?" she asked after we broke apart.

"I've told you about mutants being different from most people," I explained. "We're not always well liked. And some of the schools were competitive. Since our laws don't allow mutants to compete against baselines - non-mutants - the teachers felt I was no longer entitled to the belts as I couldn't compete for them any more. I lost a few trophies as well because they thought I might have won because of being a mutant even though it was before my talents activated."

"That's not fair."

"There are occasional compensations." I walked forward to the balustrade and leant on it, looking down over the Academy grounds. "When I lost my belts, the compensation was my parents and elder brother visiting the teachers in question for some 'friendly' sparring. This time..."

Louise moved to stand next to me. "This time?"

"This time I got a little bit of hope. The Staff of Destruction is from my world. It means there has been contact before I was summoned and that there might be a way of returning. And judging by its age, time doesn't move any slower here than it does there."

"Why would it?"

"Didn't you ever hear the tales of people who went off under the hill or off with the fairies or something and came back to find out that a hundred years had passed in what had only been a single night for them?"

"Oh, so that's not happening?"

"Not as far as I can tell. Either time is a constant, or it's moving faster here. Either is better than the alternative."

"You're still planning to return home then?" She turned away from me.

"The key word is the one that you said," I pointed out. "'Home'. If the circumstances were reversed then wouldn't you move heaven and earth to return to your family?"

"Well yes."

"Admittedly, then I have to explain to my mother why I spent however long it turns out to take me to get home in another universe rather than attending the not-exactly-inexpensive boarding school that she sent me to. Imagine how your mother would feel in that position."

Louise shivered. "I think in that case I'd probably be safer for me to stay with you."

I chuckled and put my arm back around her. "Let's go inside where it's warm."

Naturally that was when Kirche burst through the balcony, demanding how long it was going to take us to kiss.