Corps of Recovery: Part 7

For one tense moment, Rudi thought Axel might yell, that maybe he was mad. But he didn’t.

“Thank you for trusting me,” he said, before taking Rudi’s hand and leading him and Vinnia down the hall. They walked swiftly, Axel continuing to explain the situation along the way. “Now then, I know the Count said it was Alten extremists who murdered the fifth prince, but I have my own theories. My guess is that someone, most likely a Stadten noble, opposed the possible alliance with the Selim Empire.”

“Is that why Chem is here?” Rudi asked, panting to keep up as Axel dragged him along.

“Precisely, and this noble is probably one who recently acquired land in Altland, which would explain why we believed the attackers to be Alten terrorists. I know of one already, the Baron of Tessella, which is in the southern end of Altland. He visited last year as a knight, to participate in the drawing for squires, but since there were more knights than squires last year, they switched the drawing practice so knight’s names were drawn, rather than squires. Baron Tessella’s name was left undrawn.”

Vinnia snorted. “But that has nothing to do with this, Axel.”

“Ah, but I met the man. I’m rather afraid that he’ll pick me as a squire next year, but anyways, he hates the idea of having a trade agreement with the Selim. You see, Tessella has two of the biggest ports in Altland, and the money he gets from international trade taxes is astounding.”

Rudi figured out where this was going. “And if the Stadt forms an alliance with the Selim, then he won’t make as much money from trade taxes, right?”

“Exactly.” Grinning, Axel pulled the two first-years down a set of marble stairs. Based on the goat-like gargoyle in the stairwell ceiling, Rudi knew they were headed towards the fencing practice rooms. Yuck, did this mean he’d have to spend time in the rooms with the naked flying babies on the ceilings?

His question was soon answered by Count Stephan’s unpleased glare, though with all the black he wore, his attitude didn’t seem as dark by contrast. “You three didn’t actually bother to follow me,” he said accusingly, “I’m lucky Axel is so intuitive about people.” He pivoted about and left, calling, “I’d appreciate if you could find and speak with Simon for me.”

Axel sighed and let go of Vinnia and Rudi’s hands. He looked at Rudi, smiling, though Rudi was quite sure that the older boy was worried. “Rudi, I think you’ll be alright by yourself, but Vin, I’d prefer if you—wait! Vinnia!”

The girl had already begun strutting down the hall, playing casually with the ends of her ponytail as she did it. “What?” she yelled over her shoulder, “think I can’t look for someone by myself?”

“That’s not it, Vin.” Axel hurried after her, but already Vinnia was pulling open the door to a practice room halfway down the hall. She looked like she might hold it open for Axel, but as Rudi drew near as well, he saw her blank eyes widen. Then, Vinnia opened her mouth to scream, and her figure was yanked from the door. A huge boom flooded the hallway as the door slammed shut behind her.

Axel said something not very nice. “Drat it, Vinnia!” he shouted, banging on the door. He jiggled the handle and cursed again. “Oh, sorry, Rudi. I didn’t mean to let that slip out of my mouth. Don’t repeat that, alright?”

Rudi nodded, coming to stand next to Axel in front of the door. Why didn’t Axel open it? Rudi was fairly sure that the practice room doors didn’t lock, so what kept the older boy from going in? “Why aren’t we going in?” Rudi finally asked, having given up on a solution.

“You don’t know?” Axel asked. He placed a finger on his chin. “Did you try using your magic sight?”

Rudi did that now, closing his eyes and searching for whatever locked them out. Aha! The whole door glowed a bright, commanding red, the color of Simon’s magic. “Simon spelled it?” he asked, even though he was sure of himself.

“Yes,” Axel said, tracing the lines in the wood with his index finger, “but Simon’s a tad stronger than I am. Do you know any spell-breaking techniques yet? I seem to recall that the count teaches those early, and Vinnia has said you’re a ten on the Zauber scale.”

Shaking his head, Rudi said he didn’t know any.

“Well then, here’s what you’ll do. You see that the door is covered in Simon’s magic, yes? With something like this, simply hit it with your magic, and it will shatter, allowing us to go through.”

“How do I hit it?” Rudi asked. Count Stephan had only just begun this, and he’d only listed possible visualizations.

“Hmm… I suppose I’d do it by visualizing my magic into a weapon like a sword or mace, and then striking Simon’s barrier. It helps to close your eyes and try to remember what color you had on the count’s sheet.”

Rudi nodded and closed his eyes. There was the red door, a few inches in front of him, and to his right, Axel radiated a soft, earthy brass. He tried to recall his color; it had been a green, definitely. A dark green. Did he have to avoid Axel too when he did this? Deciding that a small hammer would be safest, Rudi tried to imagine one in front of him. It built itself into dark green existence, particles gathering together like bees to their hive. Being careful of Axel, he visualized the hammer swinging back, and then forward. Suddenly, Rudi heard a crack. It sounded like someone had dropped vase. He focused again on the wall before him, but found nothing but the black of magicless space.

“Well done,” Axel’s voice rang. Rudi felt a hand clap his back. “Now let’s make sure Simon hasn’t done something stupid.” For some reason, Axel sighed as he pushed the door open.

Inside the room, Rudi could only stand in shock. His jaw dropped further than it probably should, and something sharp poked into the soles of his shoes. He looked down; it was glass, part of a mirror to be exact. The normally light green tiles were stained with bits and pieces of red, though careful inspection showed that most of it was Simon’s. He stood panting in the far left corner, clearly shaken by something. Vinnia lay unconscious in front of him, her brown hair strewn around her.

“What is this?” Axel asked, his voice completely calm.

Simon turned his head to look at Axel. If Rudi had to describe his face it would be one of pure terror.

“You know, for a prince, you’ve got an awful way of handling your emotions. I thought Jens and I weaned you off this behavior last year. Do you know how much mirrors cost?” Axel said, gesturing around the room, “Not to mention how beat up you and Vinnia are. You’ll miss classes for a week, at least!”

Simon looked away, shame painting his face.

“You know, Simon, if you have to let off steam, please don’t do it in a fencing room. There’s a reason why we say ‘people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones’. Not only is it expensive to replace, but you’ve also managed to get scratched. Please tell me you and Vinnia haven’t gotten glass splinters too.”

Simon shrugged, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

“I’m not going to ask why you hurt Vinnia, not here,” Axel said sternly. He walked towards the now-ninth prince and grabbed his arm to drag him away. Towards Rudi, he said, “Make sure Vinnia’s alright, and get her to see Lady Fey, but don’t leave for a few minutes, got it?”

Rudi nodded, inching his way behind the two older boys to get to Vinnia. She looked so peaceful, lying in that corner. No blood, no bruises, just hair in every direction. Rudi closed his eyes and looked at Vinnia’s magic. The noose was still there. What would happen if he cut it off? No, no. He shouldn’t do that yet.

Carefully, to avoid having too much contact with a girl, Rudi tried to lift Vinnia off the ground. He couldn’t, but he didn’t want to let her touch the floor and the glass either. Simon’s cuts were more than enough. Puzzling over the situation, Rudi wondered if he could use magic to do something to her.

Suddenly, the fencing room door whooshed open, and Elizabeth and Bridget stood in the doorway. Elizabeth walked towards Rudi, an accusing look on her face.

“What?” she asked, “Picking on girls? I know your type, Axel did the exact same thing to me our first year. Come on, Bridget, let’s carry her to Lady Fey.”

Rudi watched helplessly as Bridget slid her arms under Vinnia’s, and Elizabeth picked up the youngest girl’s feet. They carried her out of the room, with Rudi holding the door open; Elizabeth had sternly and silently gestured for him to do that.

He followed their little procession through the hallways, wondering what exactly had happened between Simon and Vinnia. Did he try to hurt her? If he did, that would warrant the trap Vinnia had planned to set under his door, the one that would give him some awful disease. What if he didn’t, though? Then how had Vinnia gotten unconscious? It was all very mysterious.

As they neared Lady Fey’s classroom, Rudi heard Simon’s voice ringing through the lady’s open door. “I didn’t hurt her!” he cried, over and over again, “I don’t know what happened! I just touched her once, and suddenly she fell over!”

“Stop making things up,” Axel’s voice said, “I know you don’t want to be guilty, but owning up to your mistakes and opinions is the only way you’ll get respect.”

“But I didn’t do anything!”

Elizabeth and Bridget rounded the corner into Lady Fey’s room. It was a fascinating room to look at, what with its plants everywhere, and all the diagrams plastered on the walls, but Rudi could focus only on Simon and Vinnia.

“Oh goodness,” said Lady Fey, seeing the girls carry in Vinnia, “was this related to your fencing room explosion, Simon?”

Simon winced before speaking, as Axel had just pulled a glass splinter from his arm. “Sort of,” he said begrudgingly.

“According to Simon,” Axel said, concentrating on Simon’s arm, “he had just finished breaking another mirror when Vinnia burst into the room. Apparently this numbskull”—Lady Fey’s face stiffed at the name-calling—“was covered in blood, and she was about to scream. Simon rushed to pull her into the room, make sure she knew he wasn’t mad at the Altens of course, when she suddenly collapsed at his touch. He didn’t know what to do, so he locked Rudi and I out of the room and dragged Vin to a corner without too much glass to try solving the problem on his own.”

“That wasn’t a very good idea,” Lady Fey commented, leading the girls to a long, skinny table covered in white cloth. She gestured for the girls to set Vinnia atop it. Then, the lady peered intently at Vinnia. Rudi wondered if she was using her magic sight.

He never found out. Lady Fey gasped a moment later and stumbled backwards into some potted plants. They crashed to the floor as she glanced around the room at all the pages.

“You all need to get out of this room,” she said urgently, “Especially you, Simon.”

Rudi was about to ask why, or if it had anything to do with the magic noose around Vinnia’s neck, but all too soon he found Axel’s arms guiding him out of the door.