“Yeah, they’re actually pretty good materials to use. I’ll be charging the runes with Arachne’s blood. They’ll last a lot longer before degrading than if we were to charge the runic array with magic directly.”
Arachne would be a capable defender, hopefully, in the incredibly unlikely event that dorm three-thirteen was indeed attacked again. Then again, she was a demon. Zoe wasn’t even sure that was something to get hung up about anymore. Arachne had proven herself to be, at the very least, not hostile towards the students and staff. Zoe doubted she would care half as much if Arachne were an elf or some other magical creature.
“Just,” Zoe said after a moments thought, “if this starts another riot, I’ll have all three of your hides.”
“Zoe Baxter,” Eva said, “was that a joke?”
“No.”
“I think that was a joke. It was, right?”
“Why my hide?” Juliana huffed. “I’ve got nothing to do with this.”
“You’re complicit by association,” Zoe said.
That got another huff of complaint, though Eva started laughing.
“I do want to know everything you add to this. I want to know when your defenses activate, why, and what they do. This cannot be a danger to innocents who may inadvertently wander into your room for whatever reason.”
“I’ve thought about that, and we will let you know.” Eva nodded. Her voice carried a more serious tone. “For a while, I considered setting up the full array of blood wards that I’ve got running at the prison. You know,” she smiled, “the ones that explode people who get too close.”
Zoe blinked and shook her head. “I’m glad you didn’t.”
“It would have been too much of a pain to key everyone in. Not to mention too revealing that I’ve got and use bloodstones if anyone makes the connection. I’m sure there is some suspicion going around due to the state of the room after I was attacked, but I’d like to keep it at suspicion level and not move to confirmation.”
“Understandable.” Zoe shook her head again. “Seeing as you’ve already damaged the door–”
“Improved,” Eva said.
“I will allow you to continue modifying.” Zoe looked over to Shalise and met the girl’s eyes. “So long as you write essays on why runes work, list out every rune you use and their uses, and stick to what I said earlier about the safety of your defenses.”
“Great. More homework.”
— — —
“School? What would I ever do at a school?”
“Learn something, I should hope,” her father said with a small smile.
“Daddy…” She stood up from their dinner table and ran to the other side. She gave her father a light peck on the cheek. “I’d much rather stay at home and play.”
He ruffled her blond hair. “Oh don’t you worry. There are a few months before you have to be at school. Even while you’re there, I’ll be around. We can have fun on weekends and after school.”
Des sighed. Her father seemed set on it. Once he got an idea in his head, he never let it go.
School had been a thing in their family once. It didn’t turn out well.
Des slunk back to her seat. She picked up her cheeseburger and took a chunk out of it.
“Now now, honey, no sulking.”
“I’m not, daddy. I’ll go.”
He smiled. “Good.” His own burger was already gone.
Her mind whirred as she tried to come up with excuses to get out of going. Nothing would work, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t try.
“What if it is like before? I don’t want to be freaky Desi again.”
“That was a regular school,” he sighed, “and a mistake. Don’t worry. This is a school for mages.”
“And they won’t think I’m weird?”
Her father chuckled. “Honey, everyone is a little weird. But in this case, I think they will be happy to have you.”
“They better,” Des said. She started towards her burger but stopped as a thought occurred to her. “It is a mage school? Can I even do magic?”
“Well, no,” he said. If she couldn’t do magic, she didn’t have to go to mage school. He waited just long enough for Des to start feeling happy. “But,” he said just to dash her hopes, “I’ve been working on a little something these past few months. It will be ready to install in the morning.”
She crossed her arms and gave her father a glare. Des hated the word ‘install’ especially when it came out of her father’s mouth. It never preceded anything but pain.
“Ah-ah. I said no sulking.” He ticked his finger back and forth. “If you’re a good girl, maybe we’ll see if Hugo wants to go with you. Now finish your food and maybe we’ll have time for a story before bed.”
Des lunged for her burger. She chomped the last half of it down in two bites.
“Remember to chew,” her father chided with a smile.
Des did. She always remembered. She shook her head.
Hello, thanks for reading.
