“There is no Board of Directors for the College.” Charlotte said slowly her eyes glinting sharply. “If there was, my father would be on it. Is he in this group you can see, Eve?”
Eve realized she had applied her own understanding to a situation she didn’t fully grasp yet. Pulling the images from memory, she gave a short description of them as they sat in the room. It only took moments for the Praetor and Deputy’s expressions to turn even paler.
“Those sound like the High Council of Othuven.” Justin said with an expression of mild confusion. “Why would they be anywhere near the College? Isn’t that illegal?”
“It is even worse than that. One of those people resembles my father’s right hand, my third cousin, Luvec.” Charlotte asked as her eyes narrowed from the witch’s descriptions.
Eve raised an eyebrow as the two College leaders blanched, “Yes, there is now that I pay more attention to it, a faint resemblance to you Charlotte. How interesting!” Deputy Elandra looked like she was going to faint and Praetor Lohd appeared on the verge of a stroke. Eve suspected they were faking but the College leaders had exquisite body control.
“There is no legal way the High Council of Othuven would be involved in the College. After all this school is a fair and impartial educational effort, as put forth by the first Praetor over three thousand years ago. Strangely enough though, now my father’s representative appears to be attending a secret meeting inside the school.” Charlotte said vindictively. “I’m rather certain the school bylaws actually specifically state that interference by any of the ruling government is prohibited. I wonder, how could you have avoided triggering the golems that safeguard such things?”
“You know about the ancient golems?” Praetor Lohd said in a whisper.
“If you don’t want someone to see the golems then it would be best to keep them out of sight instead of lining the hallways like display pieces. Their mana circuits are absolutely fascinating.” Eve said adding fuel to the fire.
Charlotte clapped and said, “Ooooh! That’s rather a brilliant loophole. Projections were not recognized as legal entities when the College was first founded. Likely the defenses would still have removed Lohd and Elandra even then, but the fact that the High Council of Othuven aren’t actually in the College dodges that fireball with deft skill.” Charlotte’s face had passion absent in previous conversations. Eve suspected she was the type of person who lived for social combat. The younger girl had a delighted air about her as she looked avariciously at the two individuals with the most power in the College of Warlocks.
“We should really report something like this.” Eve said taking the literal side of a demon advocate. “It wouldn’t do to allow a fantastic institution like the College to be tarnished by the actions of a few.” Eve paused as Justin moved up to tug on her sleeve. Charlotte continued pressuring the College leaders with words allowing Eve to pay full attention to Justin.
“Is there an older individual, long beard, sharp eyes with glasses, and a crooked nose on the Council?” Justin said his breathing rapid though his voice was almost an inaudible whisper.
“There are two like that.” Eve whispered back. She couldn’t seal the space around them in an instant at Tier Three so their conversation was completely undetected. However, reducing sound was no great challenge for Witch’s Dust using Air.
“Does one of them have a circle with five stars on their clothing?” Justin said while his eyes grew distant. Eve noted his fingers twitched in tiny grasping motions.
“No, but there is a man that fits your description with six stars over his heart.” Eve said raising an eyebrow at the young boy. This didn’t look like something healthy at all from Justin’s pallor.
“I wish for the power to surpass him. I wish him to see how small the world is and crumble from it.” Justin said. Eve paused as it was clear the boy was trapped in a memory from the past. His skin had grown clammy and his eyes were fluttering as if asleep while awake. She paused as her mind thought of countless possibilities for entertainment.
“I can do as you wish, it will cost me, but the entertainment value is high. This is two of your three wishes; do you desire to reconsider?” Eve requested pitching her voice to a pleasant breezy tone that didn’t carry to the others. She decided that playing the genie required a set of rules. The rules from the blue guy in the lamp would work well enough for her purposes, now with minor alterations.
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“No.” Justin said as his eyes opened with firm resolution.
Eve shrugged reaching out through the Law of Contagion.
Something as powerful as a Law wasn’t shed merely by a change in the local mana field. It was an integral part of the fabric of reality lurking beneath it like a titanic fish in a deepwater pond. Akin to how her Shroud it operated, on principles that worked anywhere, unless there was deliberate structured genius repressing it, so did a Law. Eve took a moment to decide how to proceed before a silver light lit deep in her eyes.
Images were important in magic, and Eve had just the one.
My power is mine, born from my soul, sparked by the System, bound to my will. What is mine can be lent, if I so desire. Eve thought. She unfolded a small portion of her suppressed power, barely a seed in truth. The power flexed turning into a tiny silver mote filled with unbridled power that could take root in another. It floated before her eyes with a soft gentle light. Eve clenched her mouth in brief agony as she snipped the silver seed from her Soul causing a tiny trickle of blood from her mouth. Pulling the blood back in her body through her pores, she watched the seed flow into Justin following the memory imbued within. As per the contract with the children, in the event of their death everything they had would return to her. Lending a small fraction of her power would merely make it easier to retrieve later even if it grew. What’s mine is mine. Forever.
Eve watched the boy as the silver seed took root in Justin’s heart, the magic choosing it as the most efficient location to grow. Hair thin tendrils began to weave through Justin’s body following the network of arteries and veins. His skin took a faint silver sheen which would make hiding in the darkness impossible. Thick brilliant white coloring spread across the hair on his scalp altering his natural color to the vivid sheen of fresh snow. The ruby shine of his eyes grew to magnetic proportions with the vivid hue of fresh blood.
The teenager’s change in appearance took several moments to be caught by the other people in the room. Charlotte gave a wide smile at his new appearance, which didn’t surprise Eve at all. If before the young male teenager had been a decent piece of work, now he was exquisitely exotic eye candy. Charlotte might have a calculating mind, but she wasn’t a cold fish dead to the world.
The two older adults in the room merely glanced at each other before the Praetor and Deputy shrugged. To them it wasn’t anything strange for a Demon to have the power to alter flesh. In fact, it was rather calming, and in a twisted way Eve understood their reaction. After all, she didn’t turn Justin into a mockery of humanity. Technically it wasn’t even her at all, the silver seed had taken steps to optimize Justin in alignment with his talent for blood. The fact that it had also made him much better in appearance gave the psychological impression she wasn’t that bad a Demon.
After all Mad Mitchell couldn’t have consorted only with bloodthirsty monsters, right? Eve thought watching the two adults regain their equilibrium in the break that Charlotte took giving Justin a once over. What man, able to summon demons, would only summon killing machines? Those succubus from earlier make that point clear enough.
Justin stepped up beside Charlotte as the young woman turned back to the Praetor and Deputy. Eve positioned herself behind them with an impassive poker face.
“So, what are you going to offer to cover this up?” Charlotte said turning back to the leadership of the College of Warlocks.
“When your siblings and their mother’s have the tragic accidents, you are no doubt planning for them I will personally swear that you didn’t do it.” Praetor Lohd said with a devious grin. For an old man he recovered fast. Eve was amused, but then the world of academia could be ruthless as the late Mr. Pell could attest to.
“How could you do something like that?” Charlotte asked the first flash of uncertainty Eve had ever witnessed from the girl. If she didn’t know better, it would almost appear genuine.
“Easy, I will claim, truthfully, that I have had an observation spell on you since you left the College. Your tutors in Air and Blood will also be able to serve as witnesses, tragic spies turned perfect witnesses.” Praetor Lohd said glancing at Eve.
Charlotte’s expression blanked as her mind moved into overdrive and Eve could see her considering thousands of possibilities before arriving at the one Eve had. “Mad Mitchell could kill so many because his demons were not considered signatories of the Oaths he had taken with his peers.”
“You were always a sharp little knife, the kind that guts.” Praetor Lohd said in a backhanded compliment.
“I’m losing a great deal of trust in the world, now.” Charlotte grumbled.
Both the older adults smirked before Deputy Elandra said, “That’s called growing up. Everyone has to do it eventually.”
Praetor Lohd pulled a book from his desk drawer before handing it over to Charlotte. “This will allow you access to the information in the library while you are travelling. The tutors will work with you for three months, or when you reach your father’s lands. In the same manner the book will be useless at the same point in time.”
“Thank you, Praetor.” Justin said politely.
Praetor Lohd gave a sharp glare and said, “I hope never to see you brats again.”
Charlotte gave a gentle smile before saying, “Good day, Praetor.”
“Good riddance.” Deputy Elandra said as Praetor Lohd grunted assent.
Eve followed the children out the door while looking into the Praetor’s study through a bit of Witch’s Dust she had left behind. The expression of the two top people in the College was no longer even remotely human. They looked like nothing more than calculating masterminds with the same thrilled expression, the one worn when a plot went particularly well.
“When she takes out her siblings the two Master’s following them pretending to be tutors will make sure the rest of the bloodline dies, including her.” Deputy Elandra said.
“The Marionette will be hard to handle, but the Church will take care of it.” Praetor Lohd with a cold tone.
“What about the boy, Justin?” Deputy Elandra said. “His appearance resembles those sickening monsters that consider themselves mages in Loften.”
“It is of no matter, even if he somehow gained the same level of talent in fire magic, we can deal with it easily. Pell’s little pets would easily be able to turn him into a husk.” Praetor Lohd said dismissively.
There was a short pause before both turned sharply to look at where she had left the dust. A sharp word from Praetor Lohd scattered the dust as he obliterated a basketball sized chunk of books. While it didn’t stop Eve’s ability to spy, she withdrew her presence turning it into a passive recording system.
It appears passive detection is the only type that doesn’t get spotted easily. Eve thought as she moved through the school’s corridors following her two sources of entertainment. At least the entertainment is well on the way to starting.
