The preparations took an inordinately long time, so much so that the lunch happened before the examinations. Maria spent that being shown around by enthusiastic but not always intelligible children. None seemed older than 9, with the youngest barely 5, and all looked like they needed more blood in their veins, so thin were they. Despite this they seemed to have plenty of stamina, if the amount of time they could keep running and yelling were any indication. They had a most distressing habit of trying to climb trees though, which Maria watched with worry. It was well known that outside of beasts, falling from tall places was the leading cause of death to new hunters, and even old hunters. She had once watched one of her compatriots, who had learned their lessons well and could slay beasts as easily as walking across the street to light the incense lamps, die of something as simple as accidentally rolling off a cliff and into the waters below.
Such a senseless death.
They also seemed insistent on climbing her, for some reason, which was a bit safer since she was no longer so very tall, but why did they have to keep trying to wear her hat? Really, one or the other on her shoulders would always try to take her hat, and she would have to put down the ones she was carrying in her arms so she could chastise them. Still, she attended them with patience, for they were children, and it was much easier than her previous experiences carrying for invalids since they didn't keep asking her if she could taste the color of birdsong or had to hold their hand as they screamed of the phantasms in their skull.
Still, she had needed to impose some order, if only to give herself a respite, and so she had asked them to arrange themselves by height (resulting in only one scuffle between a boy and a girl over who was taller and if hair counted for height), and then had them introduce themselves from shortest to tallest. She gravely accepted their introductions, kneeling down so as not to strain her neck. Most could not remember their family name, or even if they ever had one. A few were clearly of foreign descent, having features from far-off Ashina or dark skin from Gerudo. There were 12 all in all, which she could keep straight well enough.
When lunch was called, they pulled her along eagerly, and when she got close enough she had to admit it did smell appetizing. Bread, stew and what appeared to be fruits preserved in honeyed water, which she recognized from a container the Prince had brought with them. Despite the lack of manners the children were exhibiting and the surprisingly gentle attempts of the three women who seemed to be the children's full-time caretakers, the princes seemed perfectly at their ease eating the food with them, smiling at the children and playing the role of an indulgent if often absent uncle.
After this came the actual examinations.
Maria had them sit one at a time on a chair, and ask them simple questions like whether they had suddenly woken up from a long bought of sleep despite not having felt sleep, or if they heard any voices to do things, or if they ever saw black smoke coming from people or things. The prince had given her authorization to use Dark Magic only in aid of answering those questions, so see if they would see the smoke.
The questioning took some time, since the children, despite what was clearly a heavy meal for them, where still energetic. Some of them she had to sit on her lap and rock them on her knee to get them to settle down and answer as she snuggled on the arm she used to support them. She had to parse their answers, since some of them seemed confused by the strangeness of the question and kept asking her if she would be staying, but Maria was patient and had dealt with less coherent people before. The Choir had been full of academics, after all.
None of the children had the touch of Dark Magic on them, nor seemingly the ability to use it. That did not mean there were no surprises.
"I can do that too," the one the children, a small girl with brown hair by the name of Shana, said shyly as Maria touched the girl's forehead that, to her eyes, glowed with eldritch light.
"Do what, child?" Maria said, a bit distracted as she focused the light on the girl, letting it clear any trace of Dark Magic to subtle or weak to detect and incidentally any injuries or ailments they didn't know about.
"That," the child said, holding up one hand and twisting her face in a cute rictus of concentration.
The hand began to glow with eldritch light.
Maria did not do anything silly, like suddenly stand up or accidentally hurt the girl. Instead, she nodded. "How very impressive."
The girl smiled. "You believe me! No one ever believes me when I say I can do it. They just laugh at me and call me a liar." She seemed to slump slightly, and Maria resisted the temptation to reach into the girl with her abyssal darkness and enflame her cheer to banish this sudden gloom. She did not want to make more trouble for herself.
"They can't see it," Maria said. "I can. I know you're not a liar."
The girl smiled a happy, guileless smile and suddenly hugged Maria. "You believe me," she sniffed. Maria almost panicked. Had she said something wrong? She hadn't meant to make the girl cry!
"Please don't cry," Maria said. "I'm sorry I made you cry."
The girl kept crying though, and all Maria could do was awkwardly rock her, as she'd sometimes used to do with some of her charges…
Leaving had been tearful. The children all clung to her, begging her not to go until she, with some prompting from the Third Prince, had promised she would return for another visit the following week. Apparently she had underestimated his dedication to his duties, since the prince had apparently been visiting with the children every Sar, despite it cutting into his possible time with Lady Claes…
Dark thoughts about what a man with several children in his care and who lusted after a young woman with the mind of a child could be up to came to mind. Almost against herself, Maria pushed those suppositions down. After her mistaken assumptions regarding Lady Claes' overtures to her person, it would be foolish of her to repeat such a mistake. Besides, if she accompanied him again next week, she could easily ascertain or dismiss such implications.
And if it turned out to be correct, she could always castrate him and summon the abyssal darkness to have him think he'd had an unfortunate accident.
Now, as they traveled back towards the Academy, Lady Fitts having finished her own interviews with the children, Maria finally managed to speak of what she had found.
"Light Magic?" the Third Prince said flatly.
"Light Magic," Maria said, equally flatly.
"Seriously, Light Magic?" Alan said incredulously.
"Seriously, Light Magic," Maria said, still flat.
"I thought that stuff was supposed to be rare?" Alan exclaimed.
"New evidence suggests that commoners possess a heretofore unrealized monopoly on the subject," Maria said.
Alan snorted in amused acknowledgement, while his brother titled his head, an eyebrow raised before nodding in agreement at the point, hyperbole as it was.
"Which one?" the Third Prince asked.
"To what point and purpose?" Maria retorted.
The prince frowned. "To begin getting them ready to attend the Academy, of course," he said, as if it were obvious.
"You wish to send a traumatized, orphaned commoner wielding Light Magic to attend the Academy," Maria said blandly. "Was not the intention to protect these children from further harm and pain?"
"I'm sure you'll be able to teach them to break arms by the time they get there," the Third Prince said, equally bland.
Maria tilted her head. "Such an education will take time," she said. "And require bodily conditioning they do not yet possess."
"While you will likely be busy for the rest of the year," the prince agreed, "How does the year after look?"
"Accounted for," Maria said. "With little time to deviate."
"Planning to get married?" Alan said dryly.
"We all have matters outside the school," Maria said, most definitely not glaring at him. "As a commoner, I do not have extensive funds. After I cease receiving my stipend I must find a means to support myself. That will take time."
"Maybe if you'd gotten a large amount of money, perhaps as some sort of reward, that would have been less of an issue," the Third Prince said, returning to flatness.
Maria nodded in agreement. "Perhaps. However, as I have not had an opportunity to qualify for such, the issue is moot." There was a pause. "Your highness, do you have a headache? Do you wish me to use Light Magic to alleviate it?"
The third prince stopped rubbing his forehead. "I'm fine, Miss Campbell," he said, clearly not. Prince Alan had come down with sudden tiredness, as his face had fallen into his hands. His shoulders were shaking as well. "Setting that aside for now, as you obviously intend to withhold the name of the child until I can satisfy you as to their wellbeing, what would it take for you to consider them protected?"
"The backing of a powerful noble," Maria said. "I mean no offense, your highness, but while you are caring for these children now, you are unlikely to strongly associate your name with them. They might be used against you, as they are officially merely Wards of the Kingdom, and thus of little political consequence but of personal significance. Which would be quite the opposite of protection. For such protection, they would need to be adopted, with the adopting House doing so with the intention of protecting them, rather than using them as a pawn for possessing Light Magic."
"Are you sure you're a commoner, Campbell?" Prince Alan said. "Because you sure don't talk or think like one."
"There is a high probability I am a noble bastard, you highness, as shown by my possession of magic in the first place, but as I have not been claimed or legitimized, I am for all purposes merely a commoner," Maria said. "And having passed through what that child will, I shall endeavor to spare her what I may."
"Hmm…" the Third Prince hmm'ed, deep in thought. Maria found that startling. The prince never seemed to have to result to overt thought, his natural intelligence seeming able to handle any issue instantly. "Tell you what, Campbell. If I swear to find a noble willing to protect that child–"
"All of them," Maria said.
The prince paused, fixing Maria with an intent gaze, and Maria feared she had overstepped fatally. Then the prince grinned.
"If I swear to find a noble willing to protect ALL the children," the prince agreed, "will you be willing to tell me the name of the child in question so we can get started on teaching them everything they need to know to not just survive but thrive in the Academy?"
"Thrive?" Maria said, raising an eyebrow.
"While their patron will have the choice to continue it or not," the prince said, "While they're in my care I intend to see they get the best. By the time they get to the Academy, they'll be the second coming of Mary Hunt."
"Not Lady Claes?" Maria said.
The prince snorted indelicately. "I can perform minor miracles. Impossibilities are still impossible." Alan nodded even as he let out a bark of laughter.
Maria nodded. "Fair enough. In writing?"
"Of course. I wouldn't want you to wriggle out of it." This with a smug grin. "The name?"
Maria took a moment to make a final considered, then slowly nodded. "The girl, Shana. I believe named after the mythical Queen Shanalotte. As Prince Alan knows, Light Magic produces no light, but its wielders can see its eldritch glow. I saw her use it. The others accuse her of being a liar."
The Prince nodded. "I'll see to it the situation is explained."
"Find something the other kids can be good at too," Prince Alan said suddenly. "They're less likely to be jealous if they know there's something only they can do."
For some reason, the two princes shared a smile over this.
"Rosabeth is unlikely to be jealous, as a wielder of Fire Magic," Maria said.
There was a pause.
"May I ask why you didn't mention that sooner?" the Third Prince said.
"So you would not know what was at stake," Maria said calmly. "May I suggest a less wooden building? There's probably time. They have managed not to set anything on fire yet."
"Noted," the Third Prince said.
Mary Hunt looked at her fiancée and her fiancée's brother, who both looked chagrined at having to be there. "Why me?" she demanded.
"My smartass brother said he was going to teach the kid to be, and I quote, 'the second coming of Mary Hunt'," Prince Alan said. "I figured it'll be faster to ask you how you managed to get good at everything the first time."
Wanting to impress Katarina so she falls in love with me, Mary didn't say.
"It was either that or have Campbell teach them how to break arms," the smartass brother said.
Mary shuddered. "Fine!" she said. "I'll see what I can do about designing a training course!" No way was she letting there be TWO of Campbell if she could do something about it!
"Don't you mean a lesson plan?" Alan said.
Mary sniffed. "Did you think becoming me was easy?" she practically sneered, spreading her arms wide as if presenting herself in all her glory to some invisible audience. "I'm Mary Hunt!"
By the time she was done, the girl would be so noble she'd never be able to look at pie again, much less put decent people in one!
Keith looked at The ADVERSARY And Enemy Of The Alliance, also known as Katarina's Fiancé, suspiciously. "You want me to ask my father what?"
Nicol's expression didn't change much, but anyone who knew him could tell he was intrigued. "Interesting," he said. "Very well, I shall pass it on to my father."
In the school library, Sophia glared at her most ancient nemesis.
Books that had been shelved way too high. Damn it, there were short people in the world too! Everyone wasn't the same height!
As always, she pointed angrily at the offending verticality as if she was challenging it to a duel. Then she pointed to the place it should belong: the ground, under her feet.
That done, she went to fetch a ladder.
Sar became Sul became Mol, and once more the Student Council met to see to the business of keeping the paperwork flowing.
The Third Prince stared at his pile of paperwork. It was at least three times bigger than the others. Possibly four.
"Have I offended you in some way, Miss President?" he said.
"Not at all, your highness," Maira said, not looking up from her work. "Merely acknowledging your ability to get more work done than those less talented than you. I'm sure you can manage. Cookies, Lady Claes?"
"Yay!"
If he hadn't already had plans to get back at her for all the trouble she'd caused them, he'd probably make plans to get back at her for this.
Grumbling, the prince went back to work, counting the weeks until his plans came to fruition.