The Quantum Wanderer

The two professors thrown out receive some treatment and then continue with the other exams. Somehow, I have a feeling that they are way more brutal now than with the students before my girls. One of the students managed to take a hit between the legs.

Once the exams are over, the day is already coming to an end. The girls come over to meet us. They have bright smiles on them. I can’t help but be proud.

“The whole thing was absolutely fantastic! How did you have the idea to do it like that?”

Aquamarine was the one to answer.

“It was a team work, my lord. Sister Opal had the idea that one of us could actually fake not being here, to get them with some stealth. Sister Ruby was the obvious choice. We just had to keep their attention on us.”

Edward, close to us, was shaking his head in disbelief.

“It is the first time ever I see students faking an absence for this.” He laughs. “Congratulations! You just made history!”

We stay close to the exam, while Edward goes around, talking to parents of students. Some that failed, some that passed.

Each girl gives me a peck on the lips.

“You were all exceptional. I am very proud of all of you!”

The girls all turn beet red. Ruby passes her tongue around her mouth, but Opal interjects.

“Not here, sister. Just a little patience.”

Ruby pouts a little bit. Our group is receiving a death stare from the knight professors. Those guys are really pissed. It just makes the whole thing that funnier.

Edward gestures us to follow him. When we get near, he explains.

“The testing for the day is done. I am going to be leaving in a little bit, I will have another carriage set for you as well.”

“Thank you.”

He turns to the girls.

“Your tactics where impressive. Congratulations! I can’t say this enough!”

Opal is the one to answer.

“We couldn’t let our lord look bad.”

Edward looks at me.

“You are very lucky, sir Marcelo. Very lucky indeed.”

I smile.

“I know!”

We start moving our way, following the people around us back to the schools. There are two carriages with Edward’s crest on the door. One of them has the same driver and helper that gave us a ride in the morning. The helper gets on the ground, and opens the door for us.

The ride is a little tight, so Cecilia and Ruby decide to ride on each of my legs.

The dinner is a celebratory one. We serve a lot of liquor. I lower my resistance to  alcohol, we drink with the food. After dinner, the maids enter the room. Roberta is leading, two maids behind her is carrying this huge cake. The cake is a dark one, with letters written in white. It spelled “Congratulations!”

“Thanks, Roberta!”

“Of course, sir.”

I feel a little mischievious. I turn to Roberta.

“Roberta, what would you have done if they had failed the exam?”

She looks at me an snorts. She doesn’t even answer. Cecilia and Aquamarine laugh her reaction.

She places the cake in middle of us. Of course, we are only using part of the dinner table. She cuts pieces and serves us. She starts serving the girls. Opal, Aquamarine, Ruby, Shandon, Cecilia. Then me. Then Charles and Lucille.

The cake is, obviously, wonderful.

Charles stands up, with his glass of liquor in his hand.

“Being a farmer, I don’t know much about knighthood or magic. That being said, I want to congratulate everyone here. Cecilia, your mother and I are really proud of you. You were, very obviously, the best mage out there. And ladies, I am impressed with your exam as well.”

Cecilia was embarassed, Aquamarine appreciative. The other girls were, in their own way, appreciating what was the obvious result in their mind being stated. I raise my glass, and I drink a gulp. Now it is my time.

“I am going to use the chronological order. First you Cecs. Congratulations. I know that it was an easy kill if you compare that to the hundreds of termites and ants you killed in the past, but the execution was perfect. And it took a lot of work to get here. A lot of work, even if it was concentrated in a small amount of time. Studying, suffering the pain to evolve. Sure, you were given chances, but you grabbed them. I can show a door, but I can’t force you to open it. I am always proud of you. I am happy that the rest of the world got to see just a fraction of what you are capable of.

“Now you, girls. I know that you were never weak, but your current level of power makes you feel like you live in world made of cardboard. I know that my ask for you to fake a common knight’s strength was not an easy feat. It is like me trying to pretend to fight a new born chick, and trying to make it look like the winner. But you excelled.

“You didn’t just excel in my selfish ask, but you also excelled in strategy. You changed the rules. You solved a puzzle, using pieces outside the box. And what you had never been accomplished before. Edward had told me, before your exam, that students never had managed to win before. I am proud of you on several levels.

“And to all of you, there is something in common. It is an honor for me to have such talented, inteligent and beautiful girls as my wiv-“

I suffer an attack from Ruby, that has me thrown to the ground, with her on top of me. I laugh it off. I stand up with her still attached. The other girls come over, and we do a group hug.

Charles, Lucille, Muninn, Huginn are laughing. Roberta is hiding her laughter behind her hand. Rudolph and the maids that brought out the cake are smiling.

After a moment, I gesture the girls to sit back around the table.

***

Edward’s POV

I get home in a good mood. I was really worried about what could happen today. It was the best result possible.

Addrianna comes to the door to meet me. She knows that some situations are riskier of a sneeze than others.

“How were the exams, dear?”

“They were great! It couldn’t have been better if I share with the gods what I wanted to happen.”

“Oh…? Can I assume that all the girls passed the exam, then?”

“They not only passed, they excelled. Let me get in, I will share the information with you.”

“Unfortunately, you will not.”

She hands me a letter with my cousin’s crest. I open it.

“Once you arrive from the exams, come report to me at once.  A.”

I shrug. I kiss Addrianna on the forehead.

“I have to go, then.”

“Of course, dear.”

I cross the house, I go to Anthon’s palace through the hidden path way in the back of my house. I am saluted by several guards on the way. At one point, two of them escort me to a study, where I wait for him to come. I sit on the couch, thinking about the day.

A maid comes in, she provides me some liquor. I ask her for something fruity, it is more of a celebratory thing. It is the kind of news I will be happy to share, as opposed to be worried about something.

After some wait, Anthon enters the study an sits in front of me. A maid places a drink in front of him. He waits for the maid to leave, we cast a silence spell around us.

“You seem to be in a good mood, cousin. This is good.” Anthon starts the conversation.

“I didn’t know you paid so much attention to my mood, your highness,” I joke.

“After an encounter with Marcelo? I learned to do that… So tell me, how were the exams? I didn’t receive any news yet, so I am assuming that his girls didn’t kill anyone?”

I laugh. I laugh a lot.

“Just the pride.” I laugh some more.

“Hey, out with it, you are getting me curious.”

“Well, first the spoiler, “ I say, “the girls all passed with flying colors.”

I can see that he relaxes on the sofa. We receive a lot of heat when some noble’s kid fail the test. It doesn’t change anything, it sometimes we have to hear the complaints. I wouldn’t change that even it were Anthon’s or mine’s kids, but we still have to hear a lot. I don’t think Marcelo or the girls would complain if they failed the exam, but I am very glad that I will not have to check the theory.

“Cecilia passed with flying colors. She stood very close to the wild pig. The funny thing was that even though it had actually managed to win in the previous round, when the gate opened the pig was somehow slow… In the previous engagement, that same pig just went for the mage, and it managed to take a bite out of the mage’s hand. The pig was going for the throat when we intervened, the pig was berserk when we placed it back in the cell.

“Cecilia got in front of it, it somehow became kind of drunk. When the gate opened, I saw the strongest stone bullet I have ever seen in my life. At least, I am assuming it was a stone bullet. There was a noise of explosion with it, so it’s hard to say. It doesn’t look like there was fire involved, though. The pig had no chance, it’s head exploded on impact.”

I give Anthon some time to digest the information. We drink the liquor.

“How strong was the spell?”

“I don’t think the court mages are able to replicate.”

“Did anyone else notice these details?”

“I don’t think so. Of course, people are going to know she is strong, she killed the wild pig promptly, she is definitely top of the class. But I don’t think anyone else has any idea on the levels.”

Anthon is looking at the distance.

“Good, this is a very good result. No one can question her being top of the class, then.”

“Yes.” I laugh about it.

“What?”

“You do realize that the group is the most absent group in the school, right? Basically, they go to classes whenever they want. Her being number one is just funny. I can see the number 2 and 3 getting pissed, though.”

We laugh a little. I continue.

“And that wasn’t even the top of the day. I mean, she did ok, of course, first place in class and all that, but the other girls…”

“You mean the dragonesses?”

“Yes!”

“What happened?”

“Do you remember the test from knight school? We both had to go through it, right?”

“Yes. The students have to try to take over a stronghold. 4 students, 2 professors. It was fun. On my time, we tried to split up. Each of us in the group tried to climb a different wall. It didn’t work, though. The old man-at-arms shot me an arrow on the ribs. It hurt.”

“Yes. And your achievements were actually recorded. You did well in your exam. But…”

“But…?”

“Marcelo’s wives came out with something that made your strategy look dumb…” I laugh again. Anthon is now at the tip of the couch. He is very obviously anxious to hear.

“I had placed a couple of professors to watch over them. So that nothing weird would happen… Again…”

“Yes?”

“Only 3 of them showed up for the exam. They said that the red head, Ruby, was sick with a bad case of flu.”

“Flu? Can they even get sick?”

I laugh my ass off.

“So that information is passed to the professors that are applying the exam. The whole thing starts. The three girls are in front of the stronghold, receiving fire on their shields while getting close to the stronghold. They are a tight unit.

“When the professor with bow hears something and turns to the side, it is too late. Ruby is there, and pushes him over the wall. Using fighting techniques, not her overwhelming strength. The other one had a crossbow. He didn’t have time to arm it before she placed the sword on his neck.”

We laugh. Anthon is imagining the scene. He laughs out loud. The professors are seasoned knights, high level humans that took part in the war with the demons. They were the top of what humanity had to offer. And they fell for it.

We laugh until my belly is hurting. Anthon comments.

“Those guys must be in a really bad mood!”

“The groups following them suffered for it…” I laugh some more. Then I turn serious.

“Now, do you realize what this means?”

Anthon looks at me, with an inquiring expression.

“What do you mean?”

“When you hear the expression, ‘a dragon in human form is going to take over a stronghold’, what do you expect to happen?”

“Something like Elator’s wars…”

“Exactly! A breath that razes everything to the ground, or some overwhelming strength. Perhaps using one professor to beat the other one up…”

“Shit! And yet…”

“Cunning! Strategy! IT WAS FUCKING AWESOME!”

I start laughing. This time, I am laughing alone. Apparently Anthon doesn’t see this as funny as I do. He is scratching his chin.

After some time, longer than normal, he relaxes. He sits back on the sofa.

“Well, it is what it is. Do you think Marcelo instructed on the strategy?”

“I can picture him asking them to not use excess strength. Specially to avoid killing someone by accident. But telling them a strategy to follow? I don’t know.” I laugh some more. “The first ones to ever take over the stronghold. By using cunning and information intelligence…”

I laugh some more. Anthon finally relaxes and laughs a little bit as well. I continue.

“Well, that was my day. How are things with you?”

Anthon sighs.

“Well, some not so good news. The Holy Kingdom’s ambassador has been in the court this week.”

“Really? What did he want?”

Anthon goes to his desk, he picks a letter on a top drawer. He comes back, hands it to me. I look at him, he gestures me to read it.

The letter starts with some condolescences. This feels weird because the funneral for Anthon’s late wife and son has already happened. Then the letter goes about the relationship between the two countries. How some ties were untimely cut because of Nergal’s need of good people around his table.

And it ends up with some marriage proposals, that would start as engagements. The first one would be Cesar with the third princess of Arthuria. The second one, Anthon to the first daughter of the pope. And the last one of Sophia to the hero.

I look at the tone of the letter. The text itself talk of friendship and offers, of opportunities. But there is a tone. It is not friendly, it is not optional. After I am done reading, I hand the letter back.

“Did you provide any answer yet?”

“No. I am going to stall as long as possible…”

His answer is not what I was hoping for. I am not comfortable with the idea. There are some rumors around the hero’s personality that, quite frankly, make me feel uneasy. I try to not think about it. I focus on Anthon’s side.

“Do you have any information about what the third princess of Arthuria is like? What about the current pope’s daughter?”

“They are both very young. The pope’s daughter is unknown. She has not had many appearances in public, and there are not many balls to present her to others. I would not potentially risk intelligence gathering network for this kind of information. They are just so patriarchal that I can just impose my will. I will not allow her near any kids, though. I learned my lesson. The only information I have about her is that she is 13 years old.

“As for the third princess of Arthuria, she is 11 years old. The rumors around is that she beats her maids for any reason she sees fit. She is apparently very entitled. My situation is not as bad as yours, of course. That being said, I would not wish this little entitled brat on my son.”

We both contemplate in silence. I wonder if it is time to start praying to the Great Adventurer like the demons do.

I go home, there is a very delicate talk I have to have with Addrianna. I am lost in thought while I walk. I wanted the walk to last for a long time, but when I look up I am already  there. I go inside, the smell of the food is already everywhere. Addrianna is now with the kids. I wash my hands and we move on to dinner.

After we sit, the food starts coming. Addrianna sees that I am kind of silent.

“Your mood was so good. What happened?”

Sophia is playing with her food, looking at me. Caius is eating, but checking me out through a side-eye.

“Let’s talk about this after dinner.”

Sophia looks at me.

“No matter what happens, papa, we will support you. Rebirth will help.”

I giggle. The crow is on top of a bookcase, close to Sophia. I look at Sophia, then at the bird.

“Thanks, So-so. Thank you, Rebirth.”

My mood improves a little, and we have our dinner. After it, Addrianna puts the kids to read and then to sleep.

She comes later to find me in the study. She finds me taking a look at the numbers in our military. Even with big defeats that Arthuria has been suffering, the military forces of the Holy Kingdom and them united surpasses ours. By a lot. And I wasn’t even computing the hero. I cast a silence spell.

“Hi, love. What is the troublesome news?” Addrianna asks.

“Well, let’s make the cautery quick. Anthon has received a letter from the ambassador of the Holy Kingdom this week. In that letter, they basically say that there are some arranged marriages to take place. Anthon himself, Cesar and…”

“And?” I can see the color draining from Addrianna’s face.

“And Sophia.”

Addrianna falls on the sofa.

“You had told me that we would not have to give our kids away for political reasons!”

“I promised you that I would use all the power I had to prevent that from ever occurring. I don’t know if Anthon himself has the power to avoid that. Two of the three great powers united…”

“Who is she going to marry?”

“The hero.”

Addrianna’s breath is shallow. She is holding her emotions. She goes to the liquor cart in the study, she serves herself a big amount of a strong liquor. She drinks it. She pours some more in the glass. She sits by my side on the couch. I hug her. She stares in the distance.

“How is he? What kind of person is the new hero?”

“Well, we haven’t met him.”

She looks at me, deadly serious. She is pissed.

“Don’t you dare.”

“He is not something I would want as a husband for our daughter.”

She now sips from the glass. She turns her gaze back to the nothing in front of her.

“Isn’t there anything we can do? Do they know she has a scar on her body?”

“I don’t know yet.”

We both sit in silence. She drinks some more. Then some silent tears start flowing on her cheeks. She puts the glass on the table, I pull her to me. She hides her face in my shoulder. I pat the back of her head.

My brain is working at full speed. I am thinking about alternatives. Sending Sophia away. Running away with Sophia. I would get very complicated and very risky. I am contemplating some dark alternatives as well. The death do us part could come before the marriage. Easier said than done, though. The hero is always traveling with a very high leveled group of around 20 people. It is an army strength around himself. 20 people close to level 60. It is a force that has to be recognized.

I also think of putting on a favor. At least the problem is not immediate. I turn to my wife, crying on my shoulder.

“We are going to figure a way out. Don’t worry.” I am hoping this is a prophecy and not a lie.