Final Verification

  “You’ve been taking good care of this,” Ty mumbled flatly, examining the weighty sword in her hands. “You got Darius to enhance it with physical magic as discussed.”

  Alex nodded enthusiastically, her hazel eyes shining as Ty continued inspecting her equipment.

  “Standard clothing, boots are slightly worse for wear, but it’ll do. Clips are fine, make sure they’re fastened…they’ll improve your magic output.” She paused. “Gloves?”

  Watching Alex pull her gloves out of her pocket from the corner of her eye, Ty placed the sword on the counter behind her. “Good. Those are fine. Tome?”

  The duelist unlatched her tome from its harness beside her and handed it to Ty, who frowned before even taking it. “Why is your harness on your side? You’ve got a weapon—keep it on your back.”

  “Oh! It’s not—wait!” exclaimed Alex, fidgeting with her harness. “Oh goodness, I put it on wrong. Guh, it’s so hard knowing where…”

  While she figured that out, Ty swiveled around in her spot and placed the book on the counter. Most spells had ten to fifteen authorizations on them, which was more than enough considering that Alex was not expected to do much casting. “Authorizations are good,” she mumbled, cross-checking the spells with the mandatory ones on her list before handing it back to her duelist. “You’re all set. You may leave.”

  Ty surveyed the three other students in the room. Verifying equipment before a mission was not something she was too accustomed to so far, and it was mundane work. But she knew it was important, so she resisted the urge to sigh and called up the next person on her list. “Okay, Elias, your turn.”

  With his head resting on the table, slouched over the counter on the opposite side of Ty, Elias nodded to a spear and sword in front of him. “Mrgh.”

  She was having none of his nonsense. “Get up and come here so I can make sure your equipment is correct.”

  With another annoyed groan, Elias got up from his seat, taking his two weapons with him. He sheathed his sword in its place on his belt and held his spear, which doubled as a walking stick as he approached Ty.

  Trying her best to make it quick, she didn’t go through the usual verbal confirmation and instead physically inspected his equipment before giving him a final go-ahead. “Well-prepared for battle as always. No harness for your spear?”

  Elias shrugged coolly. “Think my strap will do. Harnesses are annoying, and I’ll probably put it on wrong, too.”

  Ty nodded. “Well, if anything changes, let Darius know. Other than that, you’re good. You may leave.”

  “Nice,” breathed the class’s second duelist, thanking Darius behind him as he promptly left, as if afraid of having to stay any longer.

  Of the two remaining people in the room, her gaze landed on one. “Darius, do I need to conduct a verification with you?”

  He grinned. “No, Sister. I am ready.”

  She returned a soft smile before filling in a comment beside Darius’s name in her notebook. “Okay, then you’re set. You can go back to the dorms and rest early for tomorrow.”

  “Okay. You, too, Ty,” he replied curtly as he walked out from behind his counter and bowed slightly to her and the other remaining person in the room. “I see you both tomorrow.”

  Watching Darius leave, getting hit with a familiar sense of déjà vu, Ty inhaled deeply before addressing the last person.

  “You really want to bring it? It’s a long trip.”

  “Yeah. I’m certain.”

  “Okay, bring it over.”

  Placed in her palm was a spear with a single light blue ribbon wrapped around its grip. She stared at it and tried to swallow the words she wanted to say from her heart, feeling them come up anyway. “It’s Elias, isn’t it?”

  The feeling of an icy blade tearing through her chest. A deaf apology.

  “I…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” replied Callie in a small voice, eyes glued to the floor.

  “Never mind,” she sighed, eyes briefly catching the shadow of Elias leaning on the workshop wall outside before returning to the weapon. “The durability of this is not good—though you probably already know.”

  The class’s support nodded sheepishly. “I’ve been casting Object Veils on it whenever I need to use it, and sometimes I get Darius to fix it up.”

  Ty tried to be empathetic despite them both being in a workshop full of at least two brand-new, battle-ready spears. “It’s special to you?”

  “Mhm.”

  She inspected the tip of the spear. It was an inherent problem with this type of practice spear, and exactly why they were only issued for practice. “I’d tell you to take care of it, but I’m sure you will.” Then, taking a cursory glance at Callie’s equipment, knowing that she was always well-equipped, she quickly filled in another box on her checklist. “Equipment’s good. Support tome?”

  Taking her weapon back from Ty and slipping it into the harness on her back, Callie quietly handed her tome over.

  Doing the same with her support’s tome as she had with Alex’s, the tactician completed half of her checklist before noticing that an entire set of spells was missing. “Can I check your other tome?”

  “Oh, um, okay.”

  Ty turned around and watched Callie nervously holding it out barely an inch away from herself. “What’s wrong?”

  Callie turned her head to the side, her voice barely audible. “I…I think you should look at it first.”

  Taking the worn, leather-bound book, Ty swiveled around in her seat and placed it on the counter. She flipped open the cover and, before she could even check for the correct spells, she noticed the remaining authorizations—or lack thereof.

  For a moment, she considered confronting Callie; there had been no drills or mock battles since the last authorization, when she had primed each spell in the book for thirty uses. They were rudimentary, used for simple incantations. And for them all to be gone? It was as if she had been using them instead of a practice tome, except she didn’t need the practice at all. There was only one classmate who really needed practice casting simple spells.

  “I see,” she enunciated measuredly, reaching into her cloak’s inner breast pocket to take out her authorization pen. There certainly wasn’t enough blood in it to charge every spell in the book, so she’d have to refill it right there.

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  Carefully squeezing her tactician’s ring on the middle finger of her left hand, she waited for a sharp sting before uncapping the back of her pen with her teeth and twisting the ring over to the next setting so her deep red blood could flow into the reservoir.

  “I’m worried about you.”

  Ty froze, pen cap in mouth as she stared at the slowly filling pen barrel.

  “The Spell Cleanse…are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Yeh.”

  “Is it…is whatever is in you…still there?”

  Oh dea—

  Shut up.

  “Yeh.”

  “It’s…never happened before…I couldn’t get rid of it…in the Spell Cleanse.”

  After twisting the ring back over to the embellishment setting and pulling the cap out of her mouth, Ty offered the only words she could. “I’ll deal with it.”

  Callie didn’t force a reply, silently watching the tactician screw the cap back on and uncap the writing end before processing the required authorizations.

  After no more than five minutes, Ty closed the book and turned around to hand it back to its owner. “Good luck,” she murmured as her eyes strayed to Elias’s shadow outside.

  “T-thank you,” the support nodded, bringing the book up to her chest.

  “Any other questions? Concerns?”

  “No, tactician.”

  “Good, you may leave.”

  * * *

  Notebook tucked underneath her arm, Ty pushed open the door to the class common room. Almost done…almost done, she repeated to herself painfully, feeling the blood loss bothering her more than it had in the past.

  “’Bout time,” spoke a feminine voice just as she walked in.

  “You’re done already? Take this, then.”

  She blinked and shook her aching head a bit to get rid of the stars. “How much have you done?”

  Theo, who was sitting at the dinner table with a bright-eyed healer beside him, held out a completed sheet. He wasn’t even looking at her—he was busy working on Cyril’s verification.

  The empty-headed Cyril watched Ty with an unmoving smile as she took an almost-completed sheet from the physician’s hands.

  Faris.

  She looked around. Nowhere to be seen, her caster.

  Sighing, rubbing her eyes in frustration for the umpteenth time that day, she walked over to Selene, who was the closest one to her.

  “Selene,” she called gently, taking her notebook and opening it to her botanist’s verification page.

  “Ty,” replied her classmate, who stood stiffly in the center of the room.

  “Tome, please.”

  With some difficulty, Selene reached under her cloak and hood and produced two small tomes.

  “You found the smaller botany tome I mentioned, huh?” the tactician mused to herself as she flipped the first book open to check its authorizations. That was going to greatly improve her speed and overall comfort, which was not only useful for this upcoming exam, but made sense for someone so small.

  The small royal nodded without a sound.

  Everything looked to be in order—there were more authorizations in the book than necessary, but she had prepared it that way during the last class meeting. This outing was going to be a long one, and it wouldn’t hurt to have extra botany spells on hand.

  “How’s your family’s situation?”

  Selene’s eyes darted from side to side a few times before looking up at Ty to answer. “Nothing’s changed. Mother is back at the palace. Kor’s mums got it sorted.”

  Ty nodded and handed back the tome, crouching down slightly to meet her level. “She’ll be in safe hands,” she said, taking on a more comforting tone than she had all day. “Can you take off your cloak for me so I can inspect your equipment?”

  Sel blushed but lowered her hood, undid her coat clasp, and let her beloved mantle fall onto the floor.

  Seeing her without her cloak on felt pitiful. It reminded her of how much the tiny botanist had changed since the upset at dinner—her light blond hair was tied up in a bun, and her fair skin paler than usual. She seemed to have put on a bit more weight, which was a pleasant surprise for one so small and frail.

  Her dress was standard non-combat wear, and she had on her archery gloves instead of her gathering ones because they were lighter. Her shoes were thin and comfortable, giving her incredible swiftness.

  “Royal family’s useless, anyway,” commented Kor from the couch, uncomfortable with the silence as she peeked her head over to watch the two. “Only there to look pretty and preserve some ancient-ass lineage. Make silly decisions. Can’t even pick a damn side ‘cause helping one of your own is suddenly a political decision. Pathetic.”

  “Do you have your bow and arrows?” Ty asked Sel instead of addressing Kor’s comments.

  Selene nodded and pointed to the table where Theo was. “They’re on the table. Theo checked them first.”

  “Ah, perfect,” smiled Ty as she knelt on the floor and set her notebook down, picking up Selene’s cloak and slowly getting up to wrap it over her. “Everything’s standard. You can put this back on.”

  The golden hair disappeared under the cloak again, and so did the rest of Selene. “Thanks,” she mumbled, ignoring Kor like Ty was. “I’ll go now.”

  Kor, at a loss, stood up from the couch, watching Selene leave without a sound as Ty picked back up her notebook.

  “My turn?” the chemist asked with a loud, laborious sigh when she finally lost sight of her partner.

  Ty was already sizing up her equipment. “Won’t be long. Tome?”

  “Yeah, here.”

  She took the battered tome that was held out to her and inspected it like she did with everyone else’s.

  “You’re not gonna ask me why she’s being weird?”

  The answer was already clear to her. “No.”

  “Guess you saw the whole Alex thing go down.”

  The tactician penned a few notes and then handed Kor’s book back to her. “Potions?”

  Kor showed off the vials in their protective sheath on her satchel. “Batch of healing, anima recovery, two vials for curses, five standard elixirs for every ailment under the moon, two special elixirs, and that…crazy poison you asked me to prepare.”

  Ty nodded slowly, crossing off another item on her list. “Thank you. You’ve got Selene’s herbs?”

  “Yup. And first-aid stuff in case we need it.” She unzipped her bag and pulled out two organized containers.

  “Medicine?”

  Kor blinked and looked stunned for a moment before reaching into a back pocket and producing a small tin. “Right here. Wanna check what’s inside?”

  She shook her head, moving on to appraising Kor’s equipment. “No, you’re good.”

  “So, back to Sel being weird. Do you know what might cheer her up?”

  Ty palmed her pen and rubbed her eyes, genuinely contemplating the question. “I’m sure just being by her side will let her know you love her,” she suggested softly. “If it’s Selene, maybe words might not be the best thing.”

  Humming, Kor’s face was solemn as she absorbed the words. “I’ll remember that. Thanks, tact.”

  The tactician nodded before pointing to an out-of-place accessory in Kor’s hair. “So…what’s up with the bow?”

  She laughed in reply, unfastening a petite red bow from her bangs and holding it out for Ty to inspect. “Well, I was hoping to wear it to cheer up Sel, but don’t think it worked. It was one of the first things she gave me. Back when we were kids, and she tried to dress me up like a doll. Thought it’d be cute.”

  “No magical value?”

  Kor smiled wistfully, yet her words were full of pride. “As a matter of fact, it has more value and everything else I’m wearing right now.”

  Ty chuckled and wrote the item into her notebook, prompting Kor to clip it back into her hair. “Okay, you’re set. Anything for me?”

  The court chemist winked as she made her exit. “Same thing as always. Don’t blow it tomorrow and get some good sleep.”

  The class leader let out another small laugh, this one less forced. “Yeah. Got it. Thanks.”

  “Done with Kor?” piped up Theo, who started making his way toward her with Cyril just as Kor disappeared.

  She turned to the two boys. “Mhm.”

  Her healer held out his own paper to Ty, who took it and gave it a cursory glance. “Impeccable work as always, Theo,” she sighed with a knowing smile, tucking the paper away into her own notes and giving Cyril a swift once-over. “Are you doing alright?”

  He flashed her a silly grin. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  She shook her head, letting a fraction of her smile go. “Just making sure I wasn’t missing anything.”

  The heartache must have been plain to see on her face, because the next thing Cyril did was wrap his arms around her. “You’re not missing a thing. I’m here. All of me,” he whispered, giving her a tight squeeze.

  I’m going to miss you, she didn’t say as she hugged him back, listening only to the silence and his heartbeat. “Thank you, Cyril.”

  And then he let go and left, leaving one last person.

  Theo mirrored her sad smile. “Are you going to wait for him?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ll get him for you.”

  She nodded silently, eyes glued to the floor and following Theo’s feet as he returned to the dormitories like everyone else.

  Silence. A long, never-ending emptiness while she tried to hold in her tears as best she could.

  “Hey.”

  Her downcast eyes watched a new pair of shoes return from where Theo had gone. “Hey,” she replied shakily.

  The shoes stopped in front of her. “You need me?” they asked, their voice stony and unwavering.

  “Yeah.”

  “Verification?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re gonna do it looking at the floor?”

  Ty slowly raised her head and looked at Faris, spirit wavering just as much as her words. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “Not this again.”

  “Faris.”

  “I don’t want to hear it.”

  “Please, Faris.”

  “What?”

  She tried her best to swallow, but then the tears came. “I don’t want to leave us like this.”

  His gaze was unyielding, his demeanor as icy cold as the day they first met. Back when she was still learning how to fit in, back when he was just the same. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I miss you.”

  Silence.

  The tears fell. “Can you at least talk to me, tell me what I can do to fix this?”

  “I’m talking to you right now.”

  “Faris, please.” She reached out, stepping forward and trying to grab hold of him by the fabric of his coat.

  But he stepped back. “If you’ve got nothing to say, I’m leaving.”

  “Please don’t go,” she begged, retracting. “I’m sorry.”

  He turned on his heel and walked away.