He nodded. “You have completed your courses?”
“I have. I have emails, a voicemail, and a photo indicating that my course is complete and was complete before this evening.”
Hyl grinned. “Excellent. Well, I will take this young mage and have him up on charges of magic outside of scholastic purpose.”
Edgar’s eyes were wild. “It was an assignment.”
Hyl looked at him blandly. “It was stealth magic. What sounds stealthy to you about your actions this evening?”
Imara watched as her tutor left her hall with the officers trying to figure out how to get on the guild’s good side.
Bara started to scoop out the cookies, and she grinned over at Imara. “How was your family?”
“Half nice, half horrible. What kind of cookies?”
“Chocolate and peanut butter. I kept some of the dough without chocolate for Mr. E. He looks like he has been hard at work keeping you calm.”
Mr. E jumped on the table and perched up like a prairie dog. Bara made tiny balls of dough for him and set it out on a plate.
Reegar sighed. “You were right; he is after the demon codex.”
Mr. E paused and looked over at Reegar.
Imara moved forward and petted her familiar. “It is a book belonging to Reegar. Part of his collection, but I am fairly sure that Edgar would not bring it back after stealing it. That book in the hands of the Demiels is a nightmare.”
He calmed and continued consuming his treat.
A call brought Kitty over for a post-mortem of the evening and some cookies.
They all sat around the table while Reegar continued to work on the dents and dings his books had taken.
Kitty munched a cookie and smiled. “So. What is your general impression of your family?”
“They are half good, half bad, and not to be trusted. I think I will stick with my mom’s side. Her folk are broke, but they have character.” She looked at Bara. “I mean, aside from Luken. He’s great.”
Bara raised her cup of hot cocoa in a toast. “To Luken!”
Kitty and Imara followed suit. “To Luken.”
They all sipped hot cocoa and sat back at two in the morning.
“When do you go to your final class?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
Bara frowned. “You need to get some rest. You have had a stressful couple of days.”
“Yes, ma’am. See you in the morning.”
Mr. E ran ahead of her, up the stairs and into her room. Her wards were still in place against members of her own bloodline, and she dropped to her bed, trying to ignore all of the insults she had absorbed that night.
Don’t worry. You are still beloved by your family. Your true family and that gathering is expanding daily.
Thanks, little dude. Sorry you are saddled with me when I am all weepy.
I have had worse mages to deal with. I am truly enjoying myself for the first time in centuries. Keep doing what you are doing and get some sleep.
Imara did as she was told.
The tiny class was a sullen and sombre place. Professor McClairie looked them over. “I told you when this term began that stealth magic is a difficult skill to learn. It is nearly impossible to get the skills together in one short term. Out of the ten of you, only one student managed to exhibit the skills and technique necessary for a passing grade.”
Imara was shocked.
“This is not an unusual occurrence, but it was surprising that the student I thought least likely to succeed found the most success. And the object that was drawn was removed, presented and then returned. Unlike most of you, this student took the day of the event literally. The assignment was completed before dawn.”
Her classmates were looking like they had been struck with hammers. One asked, “You can do that?”
The professor nodded. “The day begins one minute after midnight.”
The professor had folders in his hand, and he went through the students and handed them out. Imara read her name, opened the folder, and her shoulders slumped in relief at the passing grade. Over ninety percent was nothing to sneer at.
Edgar was sitting at the far end of the room, and he got to his feet, stalking toward her. Mr. E hopped off her shoulder and landed on the folder.
He was nearly in front of her when the professor stepped in front of him. “You didn’t manage it, Edgar. Get over it. Enroll again next term, and if you display any emotional development, I will consider it. Right now, you are a pathetic rich brat.”
Edgar snarled and pulled his fist back. Imara blinked, she hadn’t thought that he was the bully in the family, but it seemed that the twins were both assholes.
The professor caught the fist, and he clenched his fingers. Edgar grunted and then began to whine as he was forced to his knees.
“I didn’t care for Desmond when he tried and failed this course, and I don’t care for you. I know you only took this course to attack your sister here, but it is a shortsighted plan. Get your own path in life. Following orders puts you in unpleasant situations and deprives you of self-sufficiency.”
Imara gathered her things and tried to leave, but they were blocking her exit.
Edgar looked over at her with anger in his expression. “She ruined everything.”
Imara piped up, “If you are referring to your mother, our mother, she was going to leave the moment that she fulfilled the contract. Desmond is an ass.”
“You grew up with her!”
She rolled her eyes. “Not this again. I grew up in a group home. I just met my mother, our mother, after I arrived here at college. The contract didn’t let her keep me. Read it if you don’t believe it. No issue of the Demiel line was to remain in her custody. So, she stuck me in a series of orphanages and homes run by her extended family. I grew up knowing that I was alone and that I was not allowed to be with my family. I tried to go and meet you all on your terms, and you tried to break into my fucking home while I was with your twin. He doesn’t know how you cock your head when you are getting mad, by the way. He can’t fake being you.”
He scowled. “I don’t believe you.”
“Ask her. She will take a call from you. Read the contract. It is available online at the mage contract archive.”
Edgar blinked, and she saw the abandoned toddler in his expression. He would have been two when Mirrin left.
“Or don’t. Just don’t consider me a threat. I won’t consider you at all.” She climbed on a desk and slithered behind her brother and the professor. She was out the door with her familiar and on her way home in seconds.
She slapped the folder on the table, and Reegar came by to take a look. “Excellent. That is one of the highest scores I have seen.”
“You have seen others?”
“Of course. Stealth magic is a hard skill to learn, but a few have an actual knack for it. The hardest part is the professor keeping track of all the temporal trackers that he has out. McClairie is a master at temporal magic.”
“Wait, there was a tracker on me?”
“Yes, it is in the notecard he gave that outlined your assignment. It tracked your every move, marked the acquisition of the artifact and, also, marked its return.”