Dedication

To my mother, who told me to do whatever I wanted, so long as it was my passion.

Chapter 1

Aldric suspected that he’d been set up.

If he’d looked, all the signs would have been there. Zasia was getting invited to a professorship at a prestigious magic academy suddenly, one that was run by their old friend Kedrin. She also ended up convincing Aldric that he needed to pack up and come with her to the city of Nevis, the academy’s location, since he was almost totally reliant upon her. The very sudden and surprise nature of their move gave Aldric little opportunity to refuse. And of course, being summoned to a meeting with Headmaster Kedrin Elmaris the moment they made it to the front gates of the academy was the cherry on top.

The real giveaway, though, was the messenger Kedrin had sent. He’d addressed both of them as “Professor”.

Aldric had felt something like a noose slowly tightening around his neck as he was led further into the immaculate and prestigious magic academy. Long, expansive marble hallways were filled to the brim with students and teachers alike. The school year must have just started for it to be this busy. They all had looked at Zasia with curious interest and Aldric with barely suppressed skepticism. He couldn’t blame them. He didn’t think he belonged in a place full of noble brats and snooty “experts” either.

Aldric had kept his head down and done his best not to stand out. Did his friends forget how important it was that he not be recognized?

After being dragged into the depths of the campus and escorted to the headmaster’s office, Aldric was now seated across from the two perpetrators of this plot. They were both positioned behind Kedrin’s rather large desk, like they were using it as a barricade against him. Kedrin pushed his oversized glasses further up his nose, brushing his dark brown bangs out of his eyes as he adjusted his seat nervously. Aldric’s longtime friend had aged since he’d last seen him, but still kept the air of boyish youth he remembered him for. He couldn’t be any older than Aldric himself, early thirties at most, but his headmaster’s robes seemed to suit him well despite that. His ever-present smile was firmly in place, though it looked forced today.

Speaking of aging well, Zasia was still the second most gorgeous woman Aldric had ever laid eyes on, even after all the years he’d known her. Luxurious blonde hair and radiant green eyes framed a flawless face that would have been perfect if she didn’t frown so much. Well, she often frowned at him, anyway. She was messing with Kedrin’s bookshelves while pointedly not looking at Aldric, toying with her ponytail and running an absent hand over her fine red dress in a show of bored innocence.

Apparently, Aldric’s two oldest and closest friends thought he was an idiot. Maybe he was, since they’d already tricked him into coming all the way here, but it was Kedrin’s most recent proposition that convinced Aldric that his two friends had lost their minds.

“...you want me to teach here?” Aldric asked. He didn’t bother to hide his disbelieving tone. His two friends flicked a glance toward each other and conducted some sort of unspoken conversation, then both turned to him and nodded.

Yeah, they’d planned this.

Aldric could understand Zasia getting a job here. She was one of the preeminent conjurers of their time, being ludicrously talented and gifted with control of all four unique elements of conjuration magic. Kedrin’s friendship was the only thing that kept her from being snatched up by some other institution. She certainly had the wealth to match her prestige, and that didn’t even count the wealth her noble family possessed.

Kedrin was no slouch either, being one of the leading experts in both the theory and practice of the healing magic arts, and headmaster of one of the largest and most prestigious academies on the continent. Both of them had glowing resumes longer than they were tall. Potential employers would give an arm and a leg to have either of these two on their staff. Why wouldn’t they have prominent positions at this academy?

And then there was Aldric. In stark contrast to his friends, he was a washed up has been, almost perpetually drunk, and lived only by the good graces of Zasia for the nearly seven years she had housed and fed him. Not exactly a shining example of academic excellence.

“There would be benefits as well, of course!” Kedrin suddenly blurted into the awkward silence, as if a lack of job perks was what had confused Aldric. “We provide room and board for all of our professors, and bonuses depending on student performance.”

“What about the fact that I have zero experience?” Aldric asked, still not quite believing these two were being serious.

“We’ve set up a much smaller general studies class for you, just to ease you into the position,” Zasia added, coming to Kedrin’s rescue but still facing his shelves. “It will be entirely up to you what you teach, and you will only be beholden to Kedrin and myself about how you conduct your lessons. We will also periodically check in on your students’ progress and offer help as needed.”

Aldric sat in dumbfounded silence, not sure how to feel or respond. Zasia peeked to the side at Aldric to gauge his reaction, but snapped her gaze to Kedrin’s desk when she saw that he’d noticed her. She busied herself fiddling with random papers and putting on a show of being productive.

“And it’s not like we expect you to just dive in and get everything from the beginning!” Kedrin added, his nerves growing more obvious as he rambled. “We have a very large teaching staff that is more than willing to assist with questions! All academy resources are at your disposal! I’m sure our library has books that even you haven’t—”

Kedrin was still rambling about job benefits when Aldric cut him off. “You really thought I’d go for this?”

The question came out sharper than he’d intended, and Kedrin’s mouth snapped shut at the anger in his voice. Zasia finally looked Aldric in the eye, wearing a glare to match his own.

“It’s not like we’re interrupting a busy time in your life, Aldric,” she answered curtly. “You can’t just spend the rest of you days wallowing in regret and self-pity. It’s time to grow up and actually live for once. This will be good for you and give you something to work towards.”

Aldric didn’t like the haughty and domineering tone she was using, like this was all already decided for him and he just needed to get with the program. “Since when has it been up to the two of you how I should live my life?”

“Since you became entirely reliant on me for finances.” Zasia’s facade of a polite noblewoman was slipping in the wake of her obvious frustration. “Aldric, I’ve been remarkably patient with you, but you’ve become little better than a vagrant. I’ve given you seven years to pull yourself together, doing absolutely everything in my power to help you get there, and yet you still refuse to change for the better. Now I’m going to make you. Either you can take a job here at the academy as a professor, or you can find someone else to coddle you. Good luck finding someone more patient than I am!”

“Zasia, maybe that’s a bit—” Kedrin began, but Zasia talked over him, finally losing her composure. This had obviously been building up in her for a long time.

“No, Kedrin, I’m done making excuses for him! Aldric, every night you come home stumbling drunk or covered in bruises from some stupid brawl you got into, and that’s on the nights that you come home at all! If I had a gold piece for every night I spent up late, waiting and worrying and wondering if you had died in a ditch somewhere, I’d own the entire Rhagian empire! Do you really expect me to just watch you wither away into nothing? Do you think I took care of you all this time just to let you become a degenerate with no future?”

Zasia had fully lost her cool now, ignoring Kedrin’s attempts to get her to calm down. Aldric felt his own anger spiking in response. “Like I said, that’s not up to you, Zasia! If I want to piss my life down the drain, that’s for me to decide!”

“Are you so selfish that you think your life doesn’t have any effect on anyone else? Gods above know that you have no problem roping others into your misery as well! Need I remind you what happened with the blacksmith’s daughter?”

“Oh, of course, this again!”

“Yes, because you never seem to hear me when—!”

“ENOUGH!”

Both of them flinched at Kedrin’s shout, like someone had doused them with cold water. Shouting wasn’t something their placid and good-natured friend often did.

“Yelling at each other accomplishes nothing,” he said tiredly, rubbing his temples in exasperation. “Both of you, calm down and take a breath. I believe it’s my turn to talk, yes?”

Zasia let out a noise that was somewhere between a huff and a growl as she stormed to the other end of the room. She prepared herself a cup of tea from an expensive-looking tea set, albeit with more clangs and clinks than was strictly necessary. Aldric just crossed his arms and stared out the large window behind Kedrin’s desk, a scowl set firmly on his face. It was the same argument they’d been having for years now. They’d argue, both of them would get worked up, and Aldric would run out to burn off some steam, only to be yelled at once again in the morning for being late. Rinse and repeat.

Kedrin looked back at Aldric and smiled sadly. “While she may be harsh, she has a point. It has been a very long time since I’ve last seen you, my friend, and I can tell that you are not the same man I knew all those years ago. Or if you are, I have a hard time seeing him now. The two of you butted heads constantly before, but you were never furious with each other like you are now.”

Zasia mirrored Aldric’s snort of derision at almost the same time. Kedrin just sighed again.

“I remember a young man who possessed an excitement for magic and learning that rivaled even those who claimed to be experts in their field.” Kedrin continued. “A young man who never ceased to amaze me with the things he could come up with, and the delight he took in shattering the preconceptions of what mages thought was possible. Which is why it tears our hearts to pieces to see what has become of him. Ever since—”

“Don’t.”

He didn’t speak loudly or angrily, but Aldric’s single stern word stopped the conversation dead. Silence again filled the room while Aldric did his best to shove his past demons back into the pit he’d buried them in.

After the silence continued for what could have been hours or seconds, Zasia paused in her task long enough to peek at Aldric. The look of pity in her eyes hurt more than anything she could have said. He hated that look.

After letting the quiet linger for a moment longer, Kedrin continued in a soft voice. “... since then. I miss that young man. He was like a brother to me and Zasia. There is very little I wouldn’t try to get him back. You may think us crazy for trying such a thing as making you a teacher, but I am still the headmaster of this academy. As much as I care for you, if I did not think you would excel as an educator, I would never offer you the position. I genuinely believe that you will be an immeasurable source of knowledge for these students, as much as they will be an excellent influence on you. Maybe you’re right, maybe it won’t work, but it won’t be because we didn’t try our best for you.”

Kedrin let that sink in for a moment, then continued in a quieter voice. “There’s also the matter of your... well, your past circumstances. It's getting harder to hide you effectively. We had thought curiosity around you had abated somewhat, but it seems we were wrong.”

Aldric’s earlier anger was forgotten in the wake of his sudden spike of fear. “What do you mean?” he asked quickly.

“Zasia and I have been repeatedly approached regarding anything remaining of you,” Kedrin answered. “We were the closest to you before your ‘death’, so they assume you left something for us. It started out as only polite inquiry, but it has gotten more forceful. We went from politely dismissing messengers to fending off full blown nobility knocking on our doors. I don’t think they ever believed us, and it’s only a matter of time before they try to force our hands.”

Aldric was trying not to show how panicked he felt or how fast his heart was beating. Based on Kedrin’s sympathetic expression, he’d failed.

“We believe that bringing you into the academy as a professor will take attention away from you. Lady Zasia Glory housing an unknown stranger has already drawn attention. With any luck, bringing you into a large academy with abundant staff will help you blend in more.”

Aldric was annoyed that he didn’t have a good argument against that. Zasia had finished preparing her tea and had taken a seat next to Aldric in front of Kedrin’s desk. She slowly turned her face to Aldric, and he could tell that all her anger had bled out already. In its place was regret, fear, despair, sympathy, and the beginnings of hope. Aldric looked away and stared at Kedrin’s desk, unable to meet either of their eyes.

“So that is what I am going to ask you to do, Aldric. To try. All I ask is that you try just one class session. I really think that the best thing for you now is simply something to work towards. You might teach these students even more than I or Zasia could.”

Aldric opened his mouth to argue, but Kedrin beat him to it.

“I do not expect you to teach them everything you know, of course,” he added quickly. “And I agree it is probably best you keep those things to yourself for now.” Seeing Aldric close his mouth and resume his brooding, Kedrin continued. “But I certainly have no intention of making you do something that you don’t want to do. As nosy as you may think we are being, we are your friends, and will always be your friends.”

He leaned forward and steepled his fingers under his chin, giving Aldric an uncomfortable amount of eye contact.

“But this must be your choice, Aldric. If you can look me in the eye and honestly swear to me that all you need to have a fulfilled life is to get drunk, get into fights and pass out, only to do it all again the next day, then I will leave you to it.”

Aldric had nothing he could immediately say. He was usually better at coming up with witty responses than this, but their genuine concern gnawed at Aldric’s insides. Kedrin had always been the voice of reason, and that hadn’t changed in the almost decade they’d been apart. Zasia sipped her tea and waited with a rare look of nervousness on her face. As much as she could annoy him sometimes, he hated being the reason for the normally confident and self-assured woman to be so agitated.

Aldric slowly looked back and forth between his two best friends, careful to control his expression.

“Room and board?” Aldric asked quietly.

“Of course.”

“Salary included?”

“Naturally.”

“And if this fails horribly?”

“Then we try something else. We wouldn’t push for this if we didn’t think this was best for you. If it’s not, we find something else. You can live here at the academy for as long as you need to until we find you something better.”

“You really shouldn’t try this hard for me,” Aldric said, almost pleadingly. Why did he always drag them into his mess?

Kedrin’s gentle face gave way to a look of total resolve, one that was mirrored by Zasia. “There is nothing you could do to me or Zasia that would make us not look out for you, Aldric. Please, if not for yourself, do it for us?”

Well, how the hell was he supposed to say no when he put it like that with such a genuine face? Damn it all. Aldric could already tell he’d lost this fight. They were going to “fix” him, and he couldn’t stop them.

It made him feel strangely warm inside.

Aldric heaved a great sigh before he replied, “So? When do I start?”

Chapter 2

Nadrina was trying, and failing, to hide the nervousness wracking her body from the girl sitting next to her.

She had known that this academy was a prestigious one and was likely filled with noble children. She was even ready to be the only commoner that attended this school, even if the academy espoused educating all social classes. What she wasn’t ready for, however, was the sheer aura that these other kids gave off. Even just passing them in the halls or in the dorms, every one of them walked and talked with confidence and poise. They couldn’t have been any older than her, late teens at most, but she felt like a child playing at being an adult around them.

Nadrina had wisely opted to take a carriage ride to the school, since the city of Nevis was an unknowable maze of people, wagons, merchant stalls, and richly adorned buildings. The usual shacks and simple brick houses of her home village, complete with rolling fields of farmland, were far behind her now. It was the first time Nadrina’s overflowing excitement had been replaced by uncertain dread.

The sheer size and opulence of the Nevis Academy hadn't helped her anxiety. Nadrina had assumed it was a castle right up until the carriage driver had dropped her off by the front gate. The tightly clustered marble buildings gleamed in the sunlight as they all towered over the rest of the city. Nadrina’s neck started to hurt after staring at them all in wonder. Her dazzlement must have made her look new, because a member of the school staff had quickly found her and ushered her through the gate and into the massive complex.

After the series of confusing paperwork and being told her things would be dropped off for her in her dorm room, Nadrina had hoped that she would have a better time blending in once she got to class. Even that comfort wasn’t to be found, however. For whatever insane reason, they had singled her out to be part of a much smaller “experimental” class.

Only three other students were with her in the classroom right now. Maybe they were putting all the commoners into one class? The dark-haired boy resembled a commoner, wearing simple clothes under the yellow school robes of an enforcer class mage. The other boy dashed her hopes a bit, with finer features and neatly kempt blonde hair. His red robes marked him as a conjurer class mage, a class most nobles desired to fall into. Nadrina had still stubbornly held onto the hope that he was just an exceptionally well-dressed merchant’s son.

The beautiful girl that had sat next to her shattered her hopes like glass. If she wasn’t a noble, Nadrina would eat her shoes. Blonde hair so pale it looked white, electric blue eyes, and a perfect smile framed by an even more perfect face showed this girl had won the genetic lottery. The result of “noble breeding”, Nadrina guessed. She was wearing the red school robes of a conjurer class mage and was making the plain outfit look somehow amazing.

In contrast to what Nadrina expected from nobles, she had been friendly and polite. She inquired if the seat next to Nadrina was taken with a radiant smile, and Nadrina couldn’t bring herself to lie. As a result, not only did she have to deal with this new overwhelming presence, but the two boys were now gazing at the girl. Obviously, she was well known, and Nadrina was too much of a backwater village girl to know better.

The boys were also leveling puzzled looks at her, obviously wondering where she fit in with everything. Nadrina didn’t think herself ugly, but plain long black hair, brown eyes, and a normal face didn’t help her blend in among these inordinately beautiful people. Was there a spell to turn someone invisible? Maybe there was a class for that here. Nadrina could see herself needing it soon.

“Do you know when the lecture will start?”

The soft whisper startled Nadrina out of her brooding. She turned to see that the noble girl was actually addressing her, a concerned look on her face. “You were told about being in the focus class as well, right?”

Nadrina mutely nodded, still not quite believing this girl would talk to her, of all people.

“Hm...” The girl frowned prettily, looking at the front of the classroom. “Do you think that woman is our professor?”

Nadrina had wondered about that as well. The woman had been there the whole time, but she was sitting in a chair in the corner and didn’t look to be leaving it soon. Long, elegant blonde hair, perfect features, and startlingly green eyes made up the perfect image of a noble woman, even more so than the girl Nadrina was next to. Over an elaborate dress, she wore red robes with the gold trim of a professor.

Of course. Even the professors were physically immaculate.

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