Forest of Illusions (The Broken Prism) (31 page)

“Are…are you sure you want to do this?” he had no idea why he asked that question, since his insides were screaming,
Yes! Finally! We’ve won!

Tess pursed her lips and said, “Of course. Unless you don’t
really
like me…”

His grip on her hand tightened reflexively.

“No, that isn’t it at all. It’s just that I hate hearing the horrible things people say to you just because you’re my friend. It’s bound to get worse now that you’re…well, now that we’re…” for some reason he was still unable to say the word.

Tess shrugged, looking supremely unconcerned.

“I don’t care what people say. It just means they’re jealous, or that the problem is them, not me.”

“Jealous?” Hayden asked incredulously, glancing up as he felt Bonk settle down onto his shoulder. “Why would anyone be jealous that you’re with me?”

Tess gave him a wry smile and said, “Haven’t you heard? You’re a big war hero now.”

18

The Rising Star

A few days later they returned to Mizzenwald, and it wasn’t until they entered the grounds that Hayden realized he had been worried about never seeing the place again. He smiled as the obstacle courses came into view, followed by the weapons arena, the cherry and pear-blossom trees, and the castle itself.

The Masters had cleaned up and donned nicer clothing for the occasion, though they lacked Mastery robes since they’d been left behind at the school. A few of them looked even more relieved than Hayden to be back at Mizzenwald.

It was mid-day when they returned, and some students were milling about on the lawns with their familiars, though even more of them were working on homework or research assignments in the courtyards with their heads bowed over their papers. When they first caught sight of the approaching group, a shout of joy w
ent up throughout the crowd, which brought even more people came running from the school.

“Always nice to be missed,” Asher said cheerfully, tucking his hands into his pockets and staring up at the colossal white castle
as some of the older students who were traveling with them ran off to greet their friends.

“I think after
spending months with the Fias in charge, they’d miss anyone,” Master Reede put in, though he also looked glad to be back.

Students hurried over to greet them and welcome them back, or to complain
unabashedly about the Fias. Everyone was talking over each other so it was impossible to make out individual conversations, and for the most part the Masters just called out a few greetings and continued to walk through the crowd towards the main entrance. Hayden was surprised when he and his friends got hugs and pats on the back from people he hardly even knew, who obviously credited them with the safe return of their teachers and friends.

They’d nearly made it to the front doors when the
Fias emerged, looking mildly disappointed to see them all alive and well. Master Sark stood to one side of them, and for the briefest moment his naturally dour expression flickered when his eyes rested on Hayden. He gave Hayden the tiniest nod of acknowledgement, as though to say,
Good job, Frost,
but then he looked away and his normal sour glare was back.

For the first time in a long time, Hayden thought back to the night that they had run away from Mizzenwald, when Master Sark had plainly seen him in the front lawns and had lied
about it to let him escape.

Maybe he wasn’t hoping I’d die after all…maybe he was hoping I’d succeed and bring back his colleagues.

Hayden smiled to himself as Fia Eldridge stepped forward to approach the group.

“Masters of Mizzenwald, it is so good to have you back,” he greeted with false warmth, flashing a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “You can have no idea the relief we felt upon hearing that the war was won and that you would be returning to your posts.”

Master Willow stepped forward and said, “That’s very kind of you. It is good to be back at school,” in his most politically-correct voice. “Shall we step inside and arrange for the turnover of the school back into our care?”

Fia
Valay’s eyes settled on Hayden and he said, “I’m afraid you must not be aware of the situation at hand. You are harboring a fugitive of the law, who is wanted for a number of crimes he committed while at Mizzenwald before fleeing the school earlier this year.”

“Crimes?”
Master Reede turned to look at Hayden like he’d just noticed he was traveling with them. “You all must not have received the High Mayor’s most recent edict…” he said delicately. “It turns out that was all just a big misunderstanding. Hayden was acting under our orders, along with his friends.”

“What orders?”
Eldridge spat in disbelief.

“They were to come render assistance if they didn’t hear from us
within a set period of time, which they did. I understand that they were impeded by you and your colleagues in the attempt, though of course it was simply a misunderstanding, so a formal apology won’t be necessary.”

Hayden tried to keep his expression neutral while the
Fias looked like their faces were filled with boiling water. They made outraged noises as Eldridge tried to compose himself enough to speak articulately.

“That’s preposterous!” he snapped. “This boy is wanted for theft—”

“Hayden was required to remove some magical items from the school in order to fulfill his obligation to us,” Master Willow interrupted. “On our orders, of course.”

“Destruction of school property—”

Master Laurren intervened next. “My fault, I’m afraid. I asked him to fetch me that Absorber, and I didn’t properly warn him of the dangers of handling such a volatile object. He couldn’t have known it would explode upon contact with a solid surface.”

“Attempted
murder
—” Fia Eldridge emphasized loudly, nearly incoherent with rage by now.

“It can hardly be attempted murder if Hayden had no idea that the Absorber he was holding was dangerous to begin with,”
Laurren continued mildly. “Attempted murder suggests intent, and clearly in this case there was no ill intent.”

Eldridge drew himself up to full height and said, “What about striking me in the face? Are you going to tell me
that
was all a misunderstanding as well?”

Master Asher looked astonished by this new piece of information—though he had known about all of the charges for weeks—and turned to Hayden.

“Hayden, did you strike Fia Eldridge in the face?”

Measuring the look on his face, Hayden opened his mouth and said, “No, sir, I
would never do something so disrespectful to a prominent member of society.”

Eldridge looked like he was about to hit
Hayden
in the face as he sputtered furiously.

“You
lie, boy! Admit it!”

“Is there anyone who can attest to this event?” Master Willow put
in mildly. “Any witnesses?”

No, there hadn’t been. The
Fia had been taunting Hayden by himself when he’d been provoked into attacking. Hayden tried not to look smug as Eldridge stammered.

“Well, then, if there are no witnesses…it’s simply your word against Hayden’s.” Willow shrugged regretfully, as though he wished for nothing more than to hear the
Fia’s case if only Eldridge had been better prepared.

“And you mean to tell me that the word of a jumped-up little boy—the son of the most corrupted mage of the century—counts for more than the word of a prominent, well-respected member of the High Mayor’s council?”

“Hayden has a number of positive achievements to his name—perhaps you’ve heard how he and his friend saved the town of Calypso from being assaulted by dragons a few years ago?” Asher asked pleasantly. “Most recently, he’s been declared a war hero for his contributions to our success in the Forest of Illusions. I believe a medal is on its way from Kargath as we speak.”

The
Fias looked furious, but it was obvious that they’d been outmaneuvered. Hayden had no idea what kinds of favors his teachers must have called in to get the High Mayor on their side, or what sorts of pressure and blackmail they might have exerted, but it seemed to be enough to save him.

“There is still the issue of financial discrepancies at this school, which were uncovered during your lengthy absence…”
Fia Valay said in a dangerous voice.

Master Willow raised his eyebrows in interest and looked to Master Sark.

“Kirius, did they find any misappropriated funds while we were gone?”

“Not to my knowledge,” the Master
of Powders answered blandly.

Willow turned back to
Fia Valay.

“We may not have found where the money and materials went, but we know there is a discrepancy.”

“A simple accounting error, certainly.” Master Reede shrugged, looking unconcerned. “We’ll be happy to review the ledgers with you over the holiday, once we’ve reestablished ourselves here and have things running smoothly again.”

“After you’ve had time to cook the books?”
Fia Eldridge asked through his clenched jaw.

“So far you haven’t been able to prove that we’ve ‘cooked’ anything,” Reede answered lazily. “You’ll want to be careful leveling unfounded accusations against
prominent members of the magical community, or it could lead to charges against you yourself.”

Kilgore folded his arms in front of his chest and said, “What we’re trying to tell you is: get out of our school. We’ll deal with you when we have the time.”

For a moment Hayden thought it was going to come to a fight. The Masters had magic on their side, but were almost out of weaponry since they’d been on the move for weeks and hadn’t had time to properly resupply after the fighting in the Forest of Illusions. The Fias looked angry enough to spit poison, but they apparently decided that they were still outmatched, because after a few withering comments about future retribution, they went to collect their things and go.

“Goodbye!” Master Asher called out to their retreating backs a few minutes later, wavin
g cheerfully like he was seeing off his dearest friends. Master Kilgore smacked him in the back of the head for goading their enemies, nearly knocking the prism-circlet from his head in the process.

“Well,
Kirius, glad to see you alive and well after enduring the Fias for all those months,” Master Reede greeted his colleague pleasantly.

Sark snorted and said, “Next time I’d like to volunteer for the magical torture instead. One of you can stay behind and learn what true suffering feels like.” And with that he stalked off to grade some papers.

“Such a pleasant man,” Asher smiled at Hayden. “I’ve actually missed him these last few months, and the joy he brings to my life.”

Hayden chuckled and took Tess’s hand, following the Masters through the school while they commented on changes that were made and
watched Bonk ‘accidentally’ incinerate a large stack of Material Request Forms that they passed in one of the classrooms. They arrived at the back exit of the school to be greeted by the owners of the material shops, who were thrilled to have the normal regime back in power since they were losing money left-and-right on their wares in their absence.

It was about then that the Masters noticed the gaping hole in the back of the castle. In the daylight Hayden saw that it took out a large chunk of the wall, most of the Prism Master’s office, and the entirety of a girls’ bathroom. Asher’s office, which had previously been so full of stacks of papers that it was a fire hazard, was now almost completely empty, save for a couple loose leafs of paper fluttering around in the wind.

“Great ladies, Frost, you sort of undersold the amount of damage you did to our historic building in the telling,” Master Laurren whistled in appreciation. “This is going to take weeks to put back together, and possibly a stonemason.”

Master Willow sighed and said, “Best to write for one now. It’ll be hard getting anyone to travel here when the winter weather hits.”

“Think we can get Kargath to pay for it?” Reede suggested with a sly grin.

“Let’s not push our luck with the High Mayor right now,” Willow grumbled in return.

Master Asher had been eerily silent until this point, staring at the ruins of his office in awe. Hayden was terrified that the man was going to start shouting at him for destroying years of incredibly-important research that couldn’t be replaced unless he started from scratch. The others watched in silent worry as Asher seemed to glide into the ruins of his office, an arrested look on his face as he examined the empty floors and the missing wall.

Then, inexplicably, he began to laugh.

Once he started, he seemed unable to stop. He laughed so hard that he had to lean on the remnants of his worktable for support, clutching a stitch in his side as he cackled raucously. He thrust his hands into the air and began twirling in circles in the breeze that filtered in through the hole in the wall while they all watched in bewilderment.

“Well, it’s finally happened.” Master Kilgore sighed. “The man’s finally lost it.”

Reede snorted and muttered, “He lost it years ago. Don’t pretend like he’s ever been sane.”

Master Willow approached the Prism Master slowly and said, “I don’t see what can possibly be funny about this situation. You’ve lost years of research that you will likely never get back.”

Asher stopped spinning and gave his colleague a lopsided grin.

“You’ve been telling me to clean out my office for years, out of fear of me being buried under an avalanche of falling papers,” he said while laughing, gesturing wildly with his arms to present the room. “Well, it’s clean!”

Master Willow simply looked stunned.

“Absolutely mad,” Reede grumbled, turning and walking back into the castle.

Asher chuckled and came over to pat Hayden on the back.