22. Chapter 22 The Hallway #2
"He's going to the headmistress's office," Renvaya said, turning to Valt. "Immediately."
"You can't do that," Valt said. His voice had lost the volume. What replaced it was smaller and uglier. "My father is a trade commissioner. He funds half the projects on this campus. You don't get to drag me to the headmistress like a child."
"You attacked a familiar with a combat spell in a hallway full of witnesses. While I was standing between you. You put me in danger." Her amber eyes hadn't moved from his face. "You are going. The only question is whether you go with your dignity or without it."
"My father will hear about this. He will."
A voice cut through from the edge of the crowd.
"Shut your mouth, Valt."
Calith Krenning stood at the edge of the gathered students, taller than most of them, dark hair falling straight past her shoulders.
Her pale blue eyes were locked on her brother with an expression that had moved past embarrassment into something colder.
Her fourth-year uniform was fitted and clean, the crest on her collar stitched in thread that matched the fabric.
"You've done enough," she said.
"She doesn't speak for me,” he protested, face reddening with outrage. “Father will make you all regret this, every one of you, every single..."
Renvaya's hand moved. The words cut off mid-sentence. Valt's mouth kept working but nothing came out, the sound reduced to a shapeless mumble that didn't carry past his own teeth.
Renvaya raised her hand and Valt left the ground.
He rose two feet, then three, his frozen body lifting in the restraint until his boots cleared the floor.
His eyes were wide above the silencing spell and his face had gone the color of old parchment.
Renvaya turned and walked toward the far end of the corridor with the measured pace of a woman who had done this before.
Valt floated behind her with his arms pinned and his legs locked straight, muffled sounds dying against the spell, drifting down the corridor like a body pulled on a string.
Students pressed against the walls as they passed.
As Valt drifted past, Lucien spoke.
"Soon." He said the word as a statement, matter-of-fact, without raising his voice.
Renvaya stopped walking. She turned her head and looked at Lucien over her shoulder.
"There will not be a 'soon,' Mr. Margrave." Her amber eyes held on him. "This stops. All of it. Today."
She turned back and kept walking. Valt floated behind her, silent and rigid, and they disappeared around the bend in the corridor.
The hallway held still for a few seconds after they were gone. Then the sound came back in pieces, students shifting their weight and finding their voices in low clusters.
Liora came to him. She lowered her hands from her mouth and searched his face. The mark on her left forearm caught the light as she reached for his arm.
"You looked like you were going to kill him," she said. She sounded steady but her hands were not. "What made you stop?"
"She asked me to."
Liora held his gaze. Her hand stayed on his arm, her grip tightening once before she let it ease.
Lucien turned to Tesslyn.
She knelt on the floor with Corvath against her chest, both hands holding him steady, the green-white light gone from her fingers. Her notebook pages lay scattered around her. She looked up when he crossed to her.
"That was incredible," Lucien said. He crouched in front of her. "Healing a broken bone from raw channeling with no construct and no preparation is extraordinary for a first-year."
"I can't believe I did it," she said quietly, her eyes bright. "I put my hand on it and the mana moved on its own. It knew where to go."
"That's what a healing affinity looks like." He looked at Corvath in her arms, whole and breathing, his leg straight. "You must really care for him."
Color rose in her cheeks, slow and visible against the fine elven skin, and she looked down at the cat she was holding. Her hand moved to the back of Corvath's neck and she rubbed there, gently, the way she'd done in the study hall.
Corvath lifted his head from her collarbone and looked at Tesslyn.
"Thank you," he said. Then the corner of his mouth turned up. "Though I should point out that the bone-popping portion was deeply unpleasant. A warning next time would be appreciated."
Tesslyn laughed. It came out wet and she wiped her eyes with the back of one hand and held him tighter with the other. "I hope there won’t be a next time."
Footsteps approached from behind.
Calith Krenning stopped five feet from the group. She stood with her hands clasped in front of her, her gaze moving across the scene: the cat in Tesslyn's arms, the scattered pages, Liora with her hand on Lucien's arm.
"I'm sorry," she said. "For my brother."
Lucien straightened. "You keep apologizing for things you didn't do."
"Someone in the family has to." She spoke without self-pity. "Is your familiar all right?"
"He is now."
Calith's gaze moved to Tesslyn. "That was remarkable healing. I've seen fourth-year restoration students who couldn't do that."
"Thank you," Tesslyn said.
"I'll make sure my brother stays away from you," Calith said, looking back at Lucien. "All of you. I mean that."
"I believe you," Lucien said.
Something registered behind her eyes, the brief pause of someone who'd expected resistance and received none. She looked at the group again, at Tesslyn holding the cat and Liora standing close to Lucien with the mark visible on her forearm. She nodded once.
"I'm sorry about your day," she said.
"Not your fault," Lucien said.
"No. But I'm sorry about it anyway. I’m going to the headmistress’s office to see what is going to happen with my brother.
He not only broke the bones of an innocent animal but also put a professor in harm’s way.
There’s no telling what he would have done had the professor not restrained him.
I’ve never seen him that angry and irrational.
He looked absolutely mad." She shook her head, turned, and walked back toward the far corridor, her stride even, dark hair catching the light from the high windows.
Liora looked after her. Her tail tapped Lucien's hip once.
"She seems genuine," Lucien said.
"Maybe. However I’m not convinced," Liora said. It came out softer than it would have an hour ago.
Tesslyn got to her feet with Corvath still in her arms. He didn't ask her to put him down. She didn't offer. Corvath’s eyes were closed as he laid his head against her chest…purring.
The hallway was emptying, students drifting back into the traffic of between-classes movement. The spot where Corvath had hit the wall was unmarked, stone that had taken the impact without a chip, and the only evidence was a clump of black fur on the floor where he'd lain.
Lucien bent down and collected Tesslyn's scattered notebook pages from the floor, stacking them and sliding them back into her bag. One of the pages had a half-finished sketch in the margin, a window with careful cross-hatching.
"Thank you, but I could have done that," Tesslyn said.
"You dropped everything and ran to heal my friend. I can pick up some papers."
She held Corvath against her chest tightly. He settled there, tail hanging loose, gold eyes half-closed.