A/N: For some strange reason, reviews for the previous chapter aren't showing up, even though I'm getting the notifications for them, and I'm sure you all remember writing them. Weird.
"I heard she saved a town from an entire gang of bandits!"
"I heard she killed the La Sable army!"
"I heard she protected a town from a pack of rabid wolves!"
"I heard she killed the ancient dragon made of blood and ash that lives under the Aldaironkeng mountains in a pool of molten stone!"
"No, King Thomas the Jesting Flame did that, keep your myths straight."
The school year had begun, and rumors were flying, brought in by the students new and old coming in from all over the country. They were whispered before, after, and sometimes during classes, out in the halls or over meals. Some very strange rumors at that, about some disturbed lunatic who thought they were a questing knight errant, saving villages, fighting monsters and performing miracles. Honestly, why were they all so silly? How could one person assault a castle full of armsmen and kill them all, then burn the castle to the ground? Besides, wasn't that a crime? And no one could bring a dead man back to life! The Healing Church had tried, even injecting them with blood just resulted in shambling corpses hungering for the blood and flesh of the living.
That had been a boring day in the Choir.
Thankfully, the student council had little work to do so early in the year. Which was good because Lady Claes was busy with her 'garden' (it was a farm!), which meant that trying to get people to do work would probably have involved clubbing them over the head and trying to use Dark Magic to remove their memories of Lady Claes, which given some of their personalities would likely have made them terrible people. And was criminal. Maria spent all that free time doing laundry, as she had run out of her special detergent during her travels, so most of her clothes had been smoky and bloody.
The princes missed the first two days of school. No one reprimanded them, because they WERE the princes, but once more Maria felt gravely concerned for the future of the country.
Her expression must not have been discrete enough when she though that, because the two had glared at her as they passed her in the hallway.
The next day, she was called back to the Ministry.
"Maria," Rafael said, looking tired, relieved, tired, annoyed, tired and sleepy.
"Rafael," Maria said, smiling. Ah, it had been so long, it made her cheeks hurt. No matter. It was a good pain. Still, did she need to practice this so her muscles wouldn't ache at having to make the expression? She hadn't had to practice her smiles since she'd been a child and her mother was teaching her how to attract the attention of a fool to manipulate.
For some reason, Rafael swayed, blinking as if he'd been slammed to the ground and thrown off a ledge by beast. He started to smile back. "I missed you."
"And I you," Maria said, reaching to take his hand…
"Ahem," Lady Dahl said, and Rafael seemed to jerk awake as he realized he was standing in the Ministry outside of one of the small meeting rooms rather than somewhere more private. "Mister Smith, you're tired. Get some sleep. That's an order. Your girl will still be here when you wake up."
Rafael looked pained, but nodded. Still, he walked backwards as he left, as trying to look at Maria for as long as possible. A passing Ministry worker helpfully stopped him before he fell down a flight of stairs.
"Inside, Miss Campbell," Lady Dahl said. "The princes await."
Maria nodded, and entered the room, resisting the urge to glance at where Rafael had gone again.
"We lost our semester break because of you," The Third Prince said, looking impeccable as always save for a twitching eyebrow. "I hope you realize that, as you begin to comprehend the magnitude of what you have done."
Maria nodded. "Yes, your highness. Losing track of the Dark Magic wielder was a grave failure on my part. In future, I shall be better so as not to allow her to set an inn full of sleeping people on fire to distract me while she made her escape."
"Oh, that was you too?" the Fourth Prince said tiredly. "I suppose I better add that to the list, then."
Maria bowed her head. Once, when she'd been a hunter, she had felt shame whenever their prey had gotten away and had to be deal with by someone else. Now, she merely felt resigned to the fact that it was something that sometimes happened. Still, she let none of it show on her face. It was shameful, after all. Best to at least act like it. "In my defense, I would still have managed to catch her, but she pushed a woman down a well, and no one else knew how to swim."
"Your feeble defense is noted," the Third Prince said as Alan wrote something down.
"If I may inquire, your highnesses?" Maria asked. "What of the children?"
"They're fine," Alan said, for some reason smirking sideways at his brother. "They love their new Uncle Prince."
"I shouldn't have explained what a Ward of the Kingdom was," the Third Prince said, glaring at Maria for some reason. "No, I should have made you do it, Alan! You trying to explain to them the intricacies of their rights and privileges as wards would have been hilarious!"
"I told you to just tell them the kingdom would be taking care of them now. But no, you had to be through. This is on you," Alan said.
Maria sighed and made a single, decisive knock on the table in front of her, making the tow break off arguing and instinictively bend down to pretend they were still doing paperwork, then glared at her as they remembered they weren't in the student council room. Lady Dahl looked mildly amused and impressed.
"Anyway!" the Third Prince said. "Maria Campbell, you are aware that unauthorized use of Dark Magic is a crime. You notifying us that it was your intention to do so makes it worse, as it lends premeditation to the act, rather than making it something that happened in the heat of the moment.
"Yes, your highness."
"In addition, several of the men you have admitted using Dark Magic on, and were found to have Dark Magic on them, have been implicated in corruption and other crimes. However, the influence of Dark Magic means their testimony must be assumed to be faulty or otherwise tampered with by way of memory alteration or suppression," the third prince continued sternly. "This means a great deal of work must be done to find alternate testimony, lest they escape consequence. A great deal of work. Much of which I had to do. I hope you appreciate that. In future, I hope you remember that Dark Magic must be a last resort. You have excellent bone breaking skills, as I recall. You should have used that instead, as I doubt even experienced men would still be up after you've done that to them. And we wouldn't have to devote so much manpower to trying to clear which of the Dark Magic is your work and which is the alleged other female Dark Magic wielder. "
Maria nodded again, accepting the chastising. In the heat of the moment, she had foolishly prioritized saving the children rather than considering the possible consequences of her actions, and once more it seems disaster had resulted. Had her terrible actions and the dreadful suffering they had caused at the Fishing Hamlet taught her nothing?!
"That is not counting your rampage of hooliganism across Sorcier as you traveled to and from Noir," the Third Prince said, and his brother handed him something. "Can you read over this list and confirm that you are in fact the one responsible for these actions?"
Maria took the folder full of sheets, reading through them quickly. Then, she nodded. "Yes, your highnesses."
"You really killed that wild bear? Really?"
"I used oil to set it on fire, your highness. Then I drowned it."
"I would have thought that would make it mad."
"It is merely a beast, your highness. Such things can be killed."
"And the Storm Rays?"
"Still beasts, your highness, for all that they defy gravity."
"And draining the Feverthorn Swamp?"
"There was an accident with a sinkhole. I apologize for not returning to report it to the authorities, but they seemed to have been holding a festival when I left, even though I saw no sign of preparations for it when I stopped to rest the night before."
"Ah, yes, that was the town where you used Light Magic to heal all the children afflicted with fever and ague, I believe."
"Should I not have? It was no trouble at all."
Why was Lady Dahl resting her face in her hands? Was she tired?
The Third Prince sighed. "You realize these actions of yours will all have consequences, don't you?"
Maria nodded. "Yes, your highness. I am ready to accept the consequences of my actions, whatever they be. It might be presumptuous, and I likely overstepped, but at the time I assure you I was acting in good faith and with the best of intentions."
Now Prince Alan was resting his face in his hands. He must really be tired, as Maria knew he was used to keeping up with Lady Claes.
"I see," the Third Prince said. "Is that it? Have you nothing else to say regarding your actions?"
Maria shook her head. "No, your highness."
"Not even going to ask for a reward?"
Maria blinked. "Why?"
Lady Dahl was very tired, it seemed. She was using two hands now, and was shaking in exhaustion.
The Third Prince briefly looked towards the ceiling. Maria followed his gaze, but saw nothing of note, merely the "Not even reimbursement? You did spend a lot of money so those children can stay at an inn."
"That was money well spent in their care," Maria said. "I parted with it gladly."
The Third Prince nodded. "I see. Lady Dahl?"
Lady Dahl shook a little, then slowly straightened. "Miss Campbell, the Ministry requests and requires you to submit a complete report as to your activities in the last month. Not just on the events that took place in Noir, but everything. Please include those you interacted with who might remember you, even in passing. We shall interview them to corroborate your account, and, should we confirm they have not be manipulated with Dark Magic to act as witnesses, you will be placed on probation for your unauthorized use of Dark Magic. Please remember that you were trusted for your cooperation, Miss Campbell. And you have damaged that trust. We shall see if that damage is irrevocable. I expect that report within the week. I understand you have no pressing Student Council duties to distract you in the meantime, which is fortunate for you."
"The crown wants a copy as well," the Third Prince said.
Maria nodded. "Yes, your highness, Lady Dahl."
"In the meantime, your restriction to the Academy's grounds is continue for the foreseeable future, until a final ruling has been made as to what official action shall be taken," Lady Dahl continued. "Should you require anything from town, submit a request to the Ministry, and we will arrange for you to be accompanied. A visit home to your mother should be possible."
Maria almost frowned. There was no need for her to visit her mother, but with these restrictions, she would be hard-pressed to arrange for a smith. Unless… "I understand, Lady Dahl. I thank you for your generosity."
The three watched as Maria Campbell left.
"All the belts are loose," Alan said. "I haven't been this confused by a human being since I met Katarina."
"She is interesting, isn't she?" his brother said. His foot bumped the big bag of money under the table, a reimbursement for the money she'd used to let the children stay at an inn and then some. "I'm going to have to find some other way to get this to her. Perhaps the Principal will help me slip it into her stipend."
"Having her be escorted seemed a bit much though," Alan said, frowning at Lady Dahl and wondering not for the first time what her relation to their mother was. "Is that really necessary? Maria has shown she's not about to run away."
"Oh, I threw that in for young Mister Smith," the most senior Light Magic wielder said, using the assumed name Rafael was publically using. "Larna works him much too hard. He needs a break and some escort duty will be just the thing."
"I thought he was in another department?" Alan said. "The Magic Tool Laboratory?"
"Internal Ministry arrangement, your Prince Alan," Lady Dahl said. "I can requisition any Light Magic wielder I need. Larna can do her own paperwork for a while."
"Huh," Alan said. "I'm surprised Rafael has you on his side."
"Not at all. That girl invented a medical procedure that could save thousands of lives and change the way we care for people in the long-term," the head of the Medicinal Magic Department said. "Someone has proposed using it to save people who might die from bloodloss in traumatic accidents. So many injuries can be patched up, only for the person to die from loss of blood. Once we figure out what the ancient Friedonian texts mean by the 8 kinds of blood, it might even be possible. Medicine owes her a favor, and this is us paying it back. Who knows, she might be able to invent more things. I look forward to it."
In the future, Palin Dahl would look back on her words and consider their irony.