Author's Note: Mmm. Swiss Rolls. Taaasty.
((()))
Time began to pass, for Louise, in a glacially slow manner. Time passed in two primary phases for her over the next few weeks. There was the day, which would begin with one of the healers would look her over, then one of the castle staff would be summoned to help her continue her studies. Sometimes they would fetch books, sometimes food, they always needed to write for her, as her dominant hand was now too malformed for fine manipulation. After the first week, she began requesting Siesta, the maid from Tarbes, regularly, as she was the only competently literate member of the castle staff not already involved in duties requiring their literacy.
It was also this phase that inevitably involved a visit from Kirche. Louise did not really understand why the over-endowed redhead insisted on visiting her every day. At first, she had clearly been sniffing around for signs of Louise's Familiar, no doubt intending to add him to her list of conquests, but he was never around during the day. At least, not that Louise could see. But even after it became clear that her Familiar was not going to appear, Kirche's visits continued, occasionally with her silent little friend, Tabitha in tow. All combined, these activities occupied perhaps twelve hours in a day, and privacy screens would then be erected around Louise's bed in the infirmary, warded for silence, and she would turn to sleep before the sun had even set.
Eight hours later, she would be gently awakened by her Familiar, who always somehow entered the infirmary without anyone else noticing. It was then, and only then, that he would rescind what he would stress every day as the single most important rule to her surviving whatever strange transformation his and her magic mixing together was working in her:
No Magic. For any reason, at any time, in any amount.
None.
When he visited her at night though, and could supervise her, he would direct her in specific magical exercises, in which he would emphasize control over force, and emotional calm. The calm was related to the second most important rule of her survival; no losing her temper. Joshua stressed calm in general to her, that any degree of excessive emotion could be dangerous, but anger above all. This was also why he waited until the dead of night, and early morning, to work with her, when nothing to upset her had happened yet, and it was easier to maintain emotional equilibrium while exercising her magic.
And the exercises he put her through were strange, to say the very least. Absolutely none of it involved gathering, focusing, and shaping her will into spells, as she had been learning in her customary classes, or casting the spells onto objects to be moved, changed, or destroyed. Instead, he taught her to gather her magical energies, and focus them, in as small a quantity as she could manage, within her body, then moving the energy about into various different portions of her body. Every part of her body, as a matter of fact, except for her head.
When Louise asked him about that, he informed her that the brain was the most delicate organ in the body, and that any damage there could cripple her ability to function. Which would get her killed. It was one of many things he informed her of that could get her killed. If she lost control of her emotions? It would get her killed. If she used magic in a way she shouldn't? It would get her killed. If she lost control of her magic? It would get her killed.
Louise asked him how he knew it was so dangerous one morning, shortly before the sun rose, he had told her a story about his cousin, that she would never, ever, ever forget.
((()))
"I was ten years old when Eliza, one of my cousins on my mother's side, turned fifteen. Do you celebrate birthday anniversaries in Tristain?
"Well, we did in the fleet, though the particular customs are probably different. Anyways, in my nation, sixteen is the age of majority, so fifteen is the last birthday one has before they are allowed a license for powered flight, to purchase alcohol for oneself, and such other liberties. It usually also takes place during a student's first year of entirely specialized education, and Eliza was training as a sensor technician, do you know what that means?
"Didn't think so; well it's a bit like a scout, but staying in one place, and using tools like telescopes to detect vehicles, people, or attacks from far off. It requires a very sharp mind and senses, and competition can be very strong amongst trainees, as they only accept the very best for such a critical role. One of the other girls in the program started a rather bitter rivalry with her, and deliberately planned, and executed, a social coup by which she seduced Eliza's romantic interest away from her, and arrived at her birthday celebration with him, holding hands, and then kissing.
"She got angry, very angry. Then her rival, and former love interest, both mocked her, and she lost control. My grandmother hurled Eliza out of an open window before she went critical, but unfortunately, she fell directly onto a nearby, smaller vessel of the fleet, a research ship, and when she died, the magical detonation crippled that ship. Over a dozen people were injured by the blast, and if my grandmother had been a few seconds slower, every friend of Eliza in attendance of her party, and all of her siblings, would probably have died. The rival was convicted of accessory to murder, and required to pay for the damages to the research ship. On top of all of that, it will be decades before she is ever placed into a position of trust again; not many tasks aboard ship are still done by hand in the fleet, and they're generally pretty crappy ones. She'll be earning money to pay off her debt with menial tasks for thirty years. The boy wasn't charged with anything, since what he did was not done out of malicious intent, but he's unlikely to work in positions of importance any time soon either.
"For all that her harassers were punished, however, it was still ultimately Eliza who lost control, which is why the girl was only charged with accessory. When one of us loses control before the change is finished, the magic in your body attempts to convert the substance of your body to whatever elements your body has affinity for, and that is always messy, and if you don't regain control, always fatal. Not only to you, but often those around you. The reason I'm not around during the day, is that I'm preparing a secure location away from the academy to take you to once you are in a more real danger of such a thing happening."
((()))
Between the first-hand account, and the fact that her Familiar thought her dying was not only possible, but was actively preparing for it happening in a very messy and final way, lent a very real note of legitimacy to his rules about how to survive what was happening. And so, even though she found the woman infuriating, Louise tolerated Kirche's visits well enough to not lose her temper.
So, time passed, and she waited for word from her family in response to the message that had been sent describing her predicament. She was surprised when the first week passed without a response; her mother was an extremely prompt woman. Louise spent a day or two worrying about the lack of her mother's presence, before her thoughts were turned to another matter.
Louise's body began to feel… different in the places where she was focusing her magical energies. It was like a cross between an itch and pins and needles, sometimes with a bit of a cramp or muscle burn thrown in. And she felt it everywhere, not just in joints or muscles that were supposed to be able to cramp.
When asked about it, Joshua told her it was to be expected, and she should focus on reducing the amount of power she was focusing as much as possible, in order to slow the process. Thus Louise passed her second week, attempting to channel her willpower into the most miniscule portions of magical energy possible. It was a grueling task, but grueling was something Louise was both familiar with, and actually found comforting. Discipline in her mother's house had always been strict, and she had always pushed herself as hard as she could manage in her studies at the Academy, if for no other reason than to balance out her utter inability to accomplish anything with applied magic.
It also helped her maintain her calm during Kirche's visits, knowing that while the floozy was off wasting her time with boys, she was hard at work, building more discipline and control than the red-head would ever have. Even if Louise herself would only have it until she died.
It was shortly after Louise's second week in the infirmary, that something significant happened to interrupt her new habits of living.
((()))
Siesta entered the infirmary, and crossed to Louise's slightly sequestered portion, carrying the textbooks Louise would be studying from that day, as per usual. What was not as per usual, was her rather miserable failure at trying to hide the tears in her eyes. Louise noticed the moment the girl entered her field of vision, and immediately stood from the chair beside her bed she'd been spending most of her time in lately.
"Siesta?" She asked, "What's wrong?"
"It isn't my place to speak of it, milady," Siesta said, placing Louise's schoolbooks on the bed, then turning away, face burning with shame.
Louise eyed the girl up and down, taking in her fearful body-posture, and rumpled clothing. Louise had been aware, ever since the first time she had seen the girl while not half out of her mind with pain, that Siesta was a very attractive young woman, with assets to rival Kirche's. Siesta, however, unlike Kirche, dressed down as much as she possibly could within the uniform requirements of Tristain academy, rather than flaunting her body. It was something that Louise, altogether too aware that she was almost guaranteed to remain very small, in more than one sense, for her entire life, was quietly grateful for.
What she saw of the girl now, however, she very muchly did not like, and it had nothing to do with the girl flaunting her far more developed body, because Siesta wasn't.
"You've been harassed," Louise said bluntly, and Siesta flinched at the word, "This is not acceptable. Give me his name, and I'll see he's put in his place."
Siesta began to tremble, curling in on herself as her body language reflected her rising fear, and it took a few moments for her to manage to speak, still facing away from Louise.
"P-please, milady Valliere," Siesta said, "You needn't trouble yourself on my behalf."
Louise frowned at the escalating degree of formality in Siesta's mode of dress. Siesta had come to customarily address her as 'Miss Louise,' which was as close to informal as a commoner was permitted to become with a noble, unless they were a personal retainer, and Louise found she did not like the distance the formality emplaced between them. The girl was the closest thing to a friend she'd had since coming to the academy, even if she was a commoner.
"You have rendered me good service," Louise said firmly, "As a noble, honor demands that I protect and look after the interests of those in my service."
Louise frowned again, before nodding.
"I suppose this is as good a time as any to give you the opportunity to enter my service as my personal retainer," Louise said, "You've done little else in the last few weeks, and I find both that your service is exemplary, and your company is pleasant. Are you interested in being my handmaiden?"
Siesta started slightly, then turned to look at Louise, shock on her tear-stained face. She was quite well aware that there were fewer positions that offered more protection for a commoner than to be in the personal service of a noble, so long as the noble they were in service to was not the threat. And even if Siesta had not been effectively working for Louise already over the last two weeks, from the position she was in now, service to any noblewoman would be better than the position she'd found herself in now with one of the nobleman.
That the Valliere family was second in Tristain only to the Royal family in power and wealth, was simply a side benefit. So long as Louise was trustworthy, there literally was nothing else, short of service to the princess herself, that could better protect her, or her family for that matter. Which really only left one concern.
"Lady Louise," Siesta said hesitantly, "I first came to work at the Tristain Academy because it was the most well-paying job I could hope to get. I have a large family in Tarbes, and they need the money I send them every month.
"My family is quite wealthy, Siesta," Louise said, her eyes widening slightly, "I can assure you, being in my personal service will pay at least as well as working for the Academy."
Siesta smiled, and began carefully wiping the tears from her face.
"I would be happy to accept, Miss Louise," Siesta said, "Thank you for your consideration. Shall we begin the day's studies?"
"Yes," Louise said succinctly, and seated herself again.
From that point, the day continued much as previous ones had, save that there was a more personal bond, a connection between the two young women that both were aware of, even if neither spoke of it. That, and Siesta smiled more, and there was something in her eyes, which caused Louise to smile more. It left Louise with a smile and a warm feeling in her chest when the studies ended for the day, something that not even Kirche's daily visit and verbal sparring match could rid her of.
That evening, she fell asleep with a smile on her face for the first time since she had last seen her elder sister, Cattleya.
((()))
The next morning, Louise's usual set of magical exercises was interrupted by an unusual question.
"You were upset yesterday morning," Joshua said, looking her in the eye from his position in the chair beside her bed, "Not long after I left, about the same time Siesta usually shows up."
Louise, still in her bed, as was customary for their training sessions, was slightly startled by his question, and took a moment to respond.
"Yes," She said, "Someone had been harassing Siesta. I…"
She trailed off as Joshua became very, very tense.
"Please continue," He said after a moment, his tone of voice so carefully calm Louise would have been able to tell he was anything but even without physical cues.
"She didn't want to speak about it," Louise said, "I could tell though. Her clothes were rumpled," Louise broke off and blushed, "Like my mother's would be sometimes when she had been alone with my father. That's beside the point though, she did not wish to speak of it, so I decided to resolve the situation by offering her employment as my personal attendant. It is simply not done for a noble to take liberties with another's personal retainers. She accepted."
Joshua was silent for a moment, one hand idly moving up to touch the shaggy hair that covered most of his forehead.
"I'll look into it," He said eventually, and not another word was said of it before he left later that morning.
((()))
Joshua was not a Knight particularly noted for his skills with stealth or subtlety, even amongst those who knew him well. This state of affairs was something he found preferable; being thought unstealthy only lent one an edge at being exactly that. He was about exactly as unsubtle as his reputation suggested though, at least once he opened his mouth or entered combat.
Certain other abilities he possessed made stealth vastly easier as he followed Siesta through the castle. Without being detected by her, or as it turned out when she moved through one of the courtyards, her would-be paramour. Joshua didn't know the young nobleman's name, nor did he particularly care to, the way Siesta's body language shifted to a mixture between defensive and fearful when she caught sight of him was all the identification he needed.
"Why hello there Siesta!" The slightly pudgy blond wearing the cloak of a third-year student greeted, from one of the doors that connected the inner castle to the courtyard "How are you this fine morning?"
"Quite well, Lord Sothos," Siesta said, smiling nervously, and continuing on past Sothos towards the far side of the courtyard, "Just attending to my duties."
"Why don't you take a moment to appreciate this fine morning with me?" Sothos said, moving out of the doorway to intercept her, smiling just a little too broadly.
"I really shouldn't," Siesta said, shying away from Sothos, "I've just entered the employ of Lady Valliere, and it would not do to be late on my first day."
"Oh, I'm sure she wouldn't begrudge you a few minutes," Sothos said, gesturing with his wand to form a crude barrier of win in front of Siesta, forcing the young woman to stop.
"It really has been my impression that she values promptness," Siesta said nervously, trying to maneuver around the barrier of air, but ending up simply backing directly away from Sothos as he closed with her.
"Don't worry about it," Sothos said dismissively, some impatience showing in his tone now as he continued forward.
"She took me into her employ as her personal handmaiden," Siesta said, outright fear edging into her voice now as she continued to retreat before Sothos advance, "I really think she would not consider tardiness on my first day acceptable in such a position."
For a moment, Sothos hesitated, and doubt flashed across his face. Then he continued his advance, and Joshua prepared himself to act.
"I'm not quite sure maiden," He said, looking Siesta's body up and down, "Would quite be an appropriate term. With a body like that," Having finally closed to within arm's reach of her, he reached out towards her with his free hand, "You can't have-"
"She's clearly not interested," Joshua said abruptly, his armored left hand on Sothos arm stopping the smaller man cold, "Back off."
Sothos sneered, and it made his face into an ugly, ugly thing.
"Who do you think you are?" Sothos demanded, looking Joshua up and down, noting his well-fitted armor, sword, and lack of a wand.
"Joshua N'bara," Joshua said, signaling with his right hand, out of sight, for Siesta to leave, "Knight Errant, and currently Familiar to Louise Valliere."
Sothos stepped back, Joshua releasing his arm and allowing the smaller man to retreat, and raised another wind barrier; blocking Siesta's departure, and showing more situational awareness than Joshua would have expected.
"You've no business interfering with a Nobleman," Sothos said, and Joshua could hear the capital letter in 'Nobleman,' "Now get lost, Knight," Sothos stressed the last word in a manner clearly intended to emphasize Joshua's inferior social rank.
The muscles in Joshua's jaw began to bulge.
"And it is the business of no man to push his attentions on a woman who does not want them," He said, glaring at the smaller man.
Sothos rolled his eyes.
"She's just playing coy," Sothos said, "There's a reason only the prettiest ones get jobs here at the academy, she'll learn to love a nobleman's touch, just like the others."
Siesta was sure she hadn't seen Joshua's arm move, but his hand was now on the hilt of his sword, and his entire body screamed menace.
"Others, you say," Joshua said, quiet lethality lacing the tone of his voice, "What others?"
"Do you really think Siesta is the only pretty maid here?" Sothos sneering, his tone of voice inferring the 'special' uses that all pretty maids were for.
Joshua's entire body spasmed slightly, and a mass of air slammed into the back of Sothos head, knocking him unconscious.
"Who among the staff would know who else this bastard has attacked?" Joshua asked Siesta, catching Sothos body as he fell.
Siesta just stared in shock for long seconds, before Joshua cleared his throat, jolting her out of it.
"The chief cook, Marteau," Siesta said quickly, "He's the only member of the serving staff the nobles will not interfere with, and he tries to look after the rest of us as much as he can manage."
"I will go to him, please go and inform Louise what has happened," Joshua said, and Siesta nodded mutely, setting off towards the infirmary at a run.
((()))
Joshua dumped the unconscious Sothos on the floor of the kitchen.
"This man," He said to Marteau, "I caught him pushing himself on Siesta. Has he attempted, or succeeded in rape here before?"
Two of the scullery girls started at his words, then, after turning to see Sothos lying unconscious on the kitchen floor, shivered. N'bara did not miss this.
"That's at least two," He growled, glaring down at the unconscious noble, "Were there any others?"
"Three others," Marteau, a middle-aged man of strong build and features, said grimly, "They were forced to leave the academy though, as they became pregnant."
Joshua's teeth ground audibly as her glared down at the unconscious 'noble' man.
"As I recall," He said fiercely, "There are laws for formal duels in this country."
((()))
When Martel Sothos woke up, he found himself flat on his back in the same courtyard he had lost conscious in, with one of the male members of the castle staff gently shaking him awake.
"Lord Sothos," The man said, as Sothos sat up and then attempted to stop the world from spinning around him, "I was sent to awaken you, and give this to you, by Lady Valliere's familiar."
The servant left before Sothos had managed to fully gather his wits. The item the servant had left beside him was an envelope, with a simple message within:
Touch Siesta again and I will defend her with the sword.
-Knight N'bara.
Sothos ground his teeth. This could not be allowed to stand. No doubt the bitch had struck him from behind while the soldier had distracted him. There would be blood over this, and he would not be so kind with Siesta as he had been with the others when he brought her to bed.
((()))
Sothos arrived at the entrance to infirmary at the same time Louise did, though they were coming from opposite directions, he from the outside, her from the inside. Sothos arrived alone, Louise was flanked by her handmaiden and familiar.
"You," Sothos snarled, stepping forward, finger raised menacingly towards Siesta, "You-"
"She," Louise said harshly, cutting the man off and leveling her best glare at him, which was pretty impressive considering she was something like ten inches shorter than him, "Is my personal retainer, and as such, is under the protection of House Valliere. Unless you issue an immediate apology for your unbecoming conduct, I shall have to demand satisfaction."
Sothos gaped at Louise, unable to believe what he was hearing. He was a line mage, which was not terribly impressive overall, but it was certainly quite unusual amongst the student body, and that he had attained line mage status in his second year had earned him something of a reputation. The reputation of Louise Valliere, while actually far more significant amongst the student body than his own, was a reputation as being completely incompetent with magic, and 'summoning' a commoner swordsman as a familiar.
And she was leading up to a formal challenge for a duel. Was she insane?
Still, defeating her would give him more than enough social leeway to take Siesta from he, so who was he to turn her down?
"I find that I am the one who has been wronged, and I will demand satisfaction of you," Sothos replied, sneering.
Louise smiled triumphantly, something that a small part of Sothos screamed warning about, but his ego pushed it down and ignored it.
"As the Tristain Academy forbids dueling between students," Louise said, "My familiar will stand in for me instead."
Abruptly, it all came together for Sothos; Louise was displeased with her 'familiar,' and had decided to dispose of him. He probably was sleeping with the maid already, and she had simply taken it as an opportunity to get rid of him without losing too much face.
Well, Sothos would be happy to rid her of the swordsman in exchange for the 'services' of her handmaiden. He wouldn't even require her to dismiss the tart, that way she wouldn't be his responsibility if she got pregnant.
"We shall duel in the Vestri court," He declared.
((()))
Joshua was struggling mightily with himself not to enjoy the coming fight. He loved fighting, the struggle, the competition, the triumph and defeat, it breathed a fire into his veins that few other things could match. This time, however, he was going into a fight he had played a part in deliberately engineering, and he was doing so with the express intent of shedding blood.
This was not an appropriate thing to take pleasure in, even if he would allow himself some satisfaction at justice done. So instead, he mentally prepared himself for battle against a wind-mage of at least marginal competence, though no combat experience.
This was going to be almost painfully easy.
((()))
When they reached the Vestri court, they found Professor Colbert waiting for them, and every member of the castle staff that was not on duty waiting to watch.
"I'm simply here to ensure things do not get out of hand," Colbert said when Joshua directed an inquiring look his way, "I'd rather put a stop to this altogether, but the Headmaster ordered me to let you proceed."
Joshua nodded sharply, then moved out into the court a fair distance, before turning to face Sothos.
"Since you are here, Professor," Louise said, "You may as well serve as official as well as impartial observer."
Colbert nodded sharply, looking between the two duelists, and sizing them up.
"I don't suppose I can talk either of you out of this?" He asked gruffly.
Joshua shook his head. Sothos sneered.
"Very well then," Colbert said, "As neither I nor Osmond will tolerate dueling to the death on campus, this duel will be to first blood only. Failure to stop at first blood will result in expulsion, either for Lord Sothos, or for Lady Valliere if her familiar fails to stop."
"Understood," Joshua said.
Sothos scowled, but nodded.
"In that case," Colbert said, eyeing the distance between the two, and finding it to be acceptable, "Are you both ready?"
Joshua and Sothos both nodded.
"Then begin," Colbert said.
Twenty paces between them, Joshua drew his sword, and began striding purposefully towards Sothos.
"I am Lucien Delaga Sothos, also known as Lucien the Gust," The young nobleman declared, "And you, commoner, are about to learn the folly of crossing a noble, especially one who is a line mage."
Joshua's only response was in his harsh gaze, leveled at Sothos as he continued to cross the distance between them, sword in hand. Sothos was slightly disappointed that his opponent said nothing, but simply shrugged, and, after taking a moment to gather his willpower, cast a single spell with a sharp gesture from his wand. The spell evoked an intense, tightly focused blast of air, which whistled across the court, slamming into N'bara and blasting the Knight back into the castle wall with a crash.
Siesta gasped.
Louise stared, shocked.
Colbert frowned.
"Ah," Sothos said with the air of a man greatly put upon, "It is ever the duty of a noble to teach the commoners the folly of their ways."
"Really," Joshua said, standing from where he'd fallen to the courtyard floor, then turning to face Sothos again, "Do tell."
Then he began striding across the courtyard towards Sothos again, his pace and gait identical to when the duel had started.
Sothos stared.
Louise stared.
Colbert stared.
Siesta pressed a hand to her chest, over her heart.
One of the castle servants cheered.
"Admirable courage," Sothos snarled, "But this duel was to first blood, and I have clearly landed the first blow."
"First blood means blood, wretch," Joshua said, a hard edge of anger in his tone, "And I'm not leaking."
Sothos could think of no appropriate words of response, so instead cast another spell, this one with more force. This time, Joshua lowered his stance, leaned forward, and braced against the impact. The spell, another gust of air with moderately less focus, but vastly increased force, slammed into Joshua again, smashing him across the courtyard again. As it struck above his center of mass this time, it also knocked him down, and he skidded across the flagstones, his armor screeching as it ground against cut stone.
This time, Sothos was watching, he knew he saw his opponent's face smash into the flagstones at least twice. When Joshua stood and turned to face him, however, his face showed no sign of damage. The Knight simply began crossing the courtyard for the third time, his gait and speed unchanged, though there was a certain tension, a potential for violence, about him now.
"I saw your face strike the stone!" Sothos barked, for the first time since the duel began lowering himself into what could, with some imagination on Joshua's part, a great deal of imagination, be considered a combat stance, "What the hell are you?"
"As I told those present when I arrived," Joshua said, his voice tight with carefully controlled excitement, "I am Joshua N'bara, Dragon-blooded Knight Errant of House Gorge. Dragon-blooded means things, as Louise Valliere is discovering."
Louise subconsciously touched her bandaged left arm; the pain-blocking spell the healers cast would last for another hour or so, if past experience had held true, but painful experience had told her that Joshua was right; Dragon-blood meant things. For her, painful things.
Growling, Sothos focused, and began muttering an incantation under his breath; Joshua was nearly upon him by the time he cast his third spell, which was substantially different from his first two. This spell formed, in essence, a lance of air, something barely visible to the naked eye, and extremely demanding in focus and control to cast correctly. It struck Joshua just above his center of mass, slamming into one of the overlapping plates of armor that covered his chest, and knocking him off of his feet.
It also failed to penetrate his armor.
Joshua rolled back to his feet, more swiftly this time, and advanced on Sothos once more.
Sothos screamed in outrage, and began casting spells non-stop, gusts, lances, walls to hem Joshua in, any and everything he could think of to impede or injure his foe. Now, though, Joshua began to work against the young noble's blows, rather than simply take them straight to the chest. He sidestepped, ducked, braced; he did not move terribly swiftly, and was still knocked around the courtyard like a croquet ball, but he did not take the full force of any more of Sothos spells.
By now, a number of students had gathered to watch the spectacle, and every last one simply stared in shock; they had never seen a fight between a commoner and a mage before, and it was not going how they expected. The castle staff were every bit as shocked as the students, never having seen before someone take as much punishment as Joshua, much less without any apparent sign of injury.
Alone amongst all the observers in the Vestri court, Colbert frowned. Joshua was not moving as swiftly as he could, in fact, he was not even close; at the least he could put more pressure on Sothos, at the most, he could have ended the duel already. The only two conclusions Colbert could come up with, were that N'bara either was so confident in his durability that he saw no reason to make haste, or that he was concealing the full extent of his abilities. Neither of these conclusions were ones Colbert liked.
Sothos was drawing very different conclusions about the battle from his point of view, ones he liked even less than Colbert liked his, though he did not know it. Sothos was running out of willpower, and fast. Worse, the commoner was steadily working his way closer and closer to him. He had no frame of reference, no past experience to draw on, nothing to tell him what to do when a man carrying a sword was coming at him with fire in his eyes.
Sothos wasn't willing to admit it, even to himself, but fear was driving him into desperation.
Finally, after neatly side-stepping an air-lance, Joshua closed to within a dozen paces of Sothos for the first time. As he did so, he spoke a word in a tongue that no one in the Vestri Court was familiar with, and his blade burst into flames.
Sothos panicked, sudden terror locking his mind up and freezing his body in place.
Joshua rushed him, his combat boots pounding against the pavement as he broke into a sprint, albeit a slow one. Tossing his blade briefly into the air in front of him, Joshua caught it in a reverse grip, then just as he reached Sothos, stabbed down, directly between the nobleman's legs.
"-" Sothos screamed as the burning blade tore through the groin of his uniform, cutting and searing flesh in an arc, then slamming down into the courtyard's flagstone, biting inches deep.
The moment his follow-through was completed, Joshua stepped back, yanking his blade free from the stone and reversing his grip as he did so, raising the immolated sword high over the still-screaming Sothos.
Fight/flight instincts screamed 'threat' inside of Sothos' subconscious, and he simultaneously lashed out and hurled himself backwards, away from the threat. Driven by his panic, his blast of wind slammed into Joshua, who this time made no attempt to lessen the impact, and it sent him skipping across the ground, while Sothos fell to the ground, screaming.
Joshua, for the last time in this duel, rose to his feet, standing beside the wall that had halted his lateral motion. By the time he was on his feet, Colbert had already crossed the court to where Sothos lay, and had clubbed him unconscious. Joshua found Colbert's actions to be an ironically brutal mercy.
"You did that deliberately," Colbert barked, "Why?"
Joshua held sheathed his sword, then held up his hand, all fingers raised.
"That 'man' has raped five young women, and that's just at this academy," Joshua said fiercely, "I doubt there is a single member of the staff unaware of it, yet he was still being permitted to attempt a sixth. Amongst my people, three convictions of rape results in automatic emasculation for a man."
Joshua snarled before continuing, "Since your land is near-lawless, I have imposed some from my own."
Colbert stared down at the student in shock, he had heard nothing of this.
"You have proof?" He said sharply, looking back to the Knight.
"Ask the head chef where the three girls he got pregnant are," Joshua bit out, "That should be proof enough for you."
"You should have taken this to the headmaster," Colbert said sharply, "You did not need to resort to," He gestured towards Sothos crotch, which now featured a cauterized wound, and nothing else, "This."
"He issued the challenge, Colbert," Joshua said, glaring at the man, "I warned Osmond what would happen if I found tyrants here. If you or he didn't want this to happen, you should have been protecting the castle staff from scum like him!"
N'bara was outright shouting by the end.
Colbert looked away; he had no response to that.
"What did you think would happen in a society with such a legalized disparity of social power and rights?" Joshua shouted, storming across the courtyard towards Colbert, "That everything would be sunshine and roses, daises and daffodils? NO!"
The hilt of his sword abruptly burst into flame, and Joshua stopped moving, fists clenched, breathing harder from pent up emotion than he had from his exertions during the entire duel.
A long minute of painful silence passed in the Vestri court, students and staff watching silently as the Knight visibly struggled for control of his emotions.
"I'm sorry," Colbert eventually said quietly, though in the silent courtyard, everyone could hear him despite his low voice.
"Don't apologize to me," Joshua said harshly, "Apologize to the girls you failed to protect."
Colbert turned and faced, him, staring the younger man directly in the eyes.
"I will then," He said, "I will go and find Marteau."
And with that, he left, and the anger seemed to fade from Joshua, if only to be replaced by iron determination. Once Colbert had entered the castle, and moved out of his line of sight, Joshua turned his attention to the assembled students and staff, surveying them silently, his forceful gaze causing many to look away, rather than meet it.
"Know this," He declared loudly, sweeping his gaze back across the crowd as he did so, "What I have done here today, I will do for any woman, child, or even man, be they commoner or noble. Amongst my people, it is considered the duty of every man, and woman, to stand up to protect those who are in need."
He began stalking up and down the courtyard, his eyes seeking out those of any who would dare meet his.
"My people have declared war when a foreign nation would not prosecute one of their citizens who murdered one of my countrymen. One.
"I believe," He said, his voice rising with passion and conviction, "That every man, woman, or child, or any other form of sentient being, was created with equal worth, regardless of birth, ability, race, or any other distinguishing factor. We are all the Creator's Children, and any who prey upon one, will meet the firm hand of the law, be it through me, another Knight, or simply a farmer who will not tolerate injustice, and chooses to fight, even against the most impossible of odds."
He stopped moving as abruptly as he stopped speaking, surveying the crowd one last time with a baleful eye, before turning and storming off to the nearest gate out of the academy grounds.
Nobody in the courtyard said a single word until after the castle gate slammed shut behind him, and it was Kirche of the Zerbst who spoke first, clearly audible through the silence.
"Ohhh," She said dreamily, "I'm in love…"
((()))
AN: There'll probably be a couple more chapters of this at some point. All said and done, it'll probably end up about short story or novella length. I wrote the last portions of this today after two and a half hours of sleep; I'm curious as to whether or not that had any obvious effects on the story.