Jurgen rose from the table again, this time with a slow, knowing smile stretching across his face. “Good thinking. There’s more to you than meets the eye, commoner.”

  Sabrina answered before Todd could. “And you are exactly as you appear.”

  Jurgen let out his sharp, bark-like laugh. “What you think of me makes no matter, Longhorn. Now excuse me. I have to go practice hypnosis.”

  Priscilla pushed herself up so abruptly both Todd and Sabrina startled. “You will not master it before I do, Quiascendus.”

  Cassian rose more slowly. “Then the three of us should go together.”

  There was no formal agreement, yet they moved at once. Todd and Sabrina followed behind as Jurgen and Priscilla immediately began to compete for the lead, shoulders nearly colliding as they tried to edge one another out. What began as quick steps became a brisk pace. The brisk pace became a jog. By the time they reached the doors of the banquet hall, the five of them were in a full sprint, boots striking stone in uneven rhythm.

  They burst out into the corridor and nearly ran straight into her. Laney stood there as though she had been waiting all along.

  “It is a pleasure to see the three heirs together,” she said, dipping into a flawless curtsy.

  Priscilla and Cassian slowed first. Jurgen skidded a bit slower. Laney straightened gracefully, her expression mild, almost warm.

  “Though in truth,” Laney continued, her eyes settling past Jurgen and landing on Priscilla, “the one I most wished to see is you, Miss Virinterviros.”

  Cassian felt a flicker of relief. Then, immediately, shame.

  Are you so afraid of her? You coward! But it wasn’t just that, he had made a mistake being the victor of the special quest. Now he could never allow himself to lose, he could never lose. I he ever did…

  Priscilla stepped forward.

  “It is still the midday meal,” she said evenly.

  Laney inclined her head. “Indeed. But I believe the only restriction concerns dueling inside the banquet hall.”

  Priscilla inhaled slowly. “May I ask you a question?”

  “That is already one,” Laney replied pleasantly. “But you may ask another.”

  Priscilla’s gaze sharpened. “You said you would duel us next week. Which is to say, this week. You already dueled Jurgen today. And now you seek to duel me.”

  “Yes,” Laney answered without hesitation. “I said I would duel the three of you next week. I never specified I would not duel you all on the same day.”

  Panic began creeping into Cassian’s chest. She would give him no time. No preparation. No buffer. This was becoming desperate.

  “I see,” Priscilla said. “Then one final question. You chose Jurgen first. Now you choose me. Are you dueling us in order of… estimation?”

  Laney’s smile widened, subtle but unmistakable. “Very perceptive. Yes.”

  “Then you see me as second.”

  “Not by much,” Laney replied calmly. “But I cannot deny I was captivated by Mr. Viamnova’s performance during the special quest.”

  Cassian’s stomach tightened.

  “I see,” Priscilla said quietly. “Then I mean to make you regret that assessment. You should never think of me as second best to anyone.”

  Laney curtsied once more. “I sincerely hope you do make me regret.”

  Her wooden sword appeared in her hand in a single fluid motion.

  “Miss Virinterviros,” she said, voice clear as glass, “I challenge you to a duel.”

  Priscilla did not hesitate.

  “I will not waste my time on your illusions,” she said, and thrust her sword forward.

  Stone erupted from the corridor floor in a jagged slab and shot sideways toward the nearest wall. The impact shook the hallway. Dust burst outward in a violent cloud.

  Just before the stone struck, a figure peeled itself from the very surface of the wall. Laney, slipping free as if the stone had merely dislodged her from its skin, sprang away and dissolved as if made of mist. The stone crashed uselessly into bare masonry. Slow clapping echoed.

  The first Laney stood several paces away, composed, hands meeting in polite applause. “Impressive.”

  Priscilla did not look at her. The corridor shifted into a battlefield.

  Wind coiled around Priscilla’s waist. Water gathered in tight rings around her wrists. Shards of earth hovered at her back. She formed a perimeter, a living boundary of shifting elements. Nothing would cross it without being struck.

  Laney’s decoys came in waves. One stepped cleanly out of the stone opposite her and was shredded by a lance of wind before it could take three strides.

  Students were coming out of the banquet hall to watch.

  Another decoy dropped from above, hair flowing downward from the unseen ceiling. A water ring snapped upward and tore through it, scattering it into vapor. A third slipped from the floor behind her. A wall of earth slammed down between them and the illusion burst apart on contact. They came from walls, from corners, from shadowed recesses.

  Each one dissolved under Priscilla’s relentless barrage. The air grew heavy with dust and steam. Then the first illusion began running, a shimmering purple spiral engulfed in her palm.

  Priscilla’s jaw tightened. Cassian knew what she was thinking. Had that been the real one all along? She did not wait to consider.

  A concentrated jet of water snapped toward the spiral-bearing figure. This Laney twisted aside with unnatural fluidity and kept running forward. Unlike all the other ones, this one had made the effort to dodge. Priscilla’s eyes sharpened.

  She drove wind at her back and surged ahead, stone forming along her forearm as a brace for impact. From her blind side, the air tore open.

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  Another Laney stepped out of nothing. Not from wall. Not from the floor. Not from any physical thing. From empty space itself. Cassian’s breath caught. She can blend into the wind itself.

  Laney’s wooden blade cut toward Priscilla’s ribs. At the last instant, Priscilla pivoted, stone hardening fully along her arm. The blade struck with a crack that echoed down the corridor. She redirected the force, channeling wind outward in a burst that hurled Laney back several strides.

  Laney had blocked. She had found the need to block. Which meant she was solid, the real thing. Priscilla had found her.

  Not only that, she had unbalanced her. If she attacked now, she would win. Or so Cassian thought.

  The Laney who had taken the redirected blow shimmered suddenly. Her outline blurred. At the same time, the first Laney, the one bearing the prepared spiral, continued her charge.

  Priscilla’s eyes widened. Panic flickered there. Cassian turned toward the advancing figure, and then he noticed it.

  Pebbles littered the corridor floor from Priscilla’s earlier stone surge. Small fragments of rock scattered unevenly across the ground. The charging Laney did not disturb a single one. She was not interacting with them at all.

  It was exactly as Priscilla had suspected at the beginning. An illusion. Jurgen seemed to have noticed something too.

  “She’s lost,” he muttered.

  Priscilla stood there, frozen, not knowing which Laney to attack: the one that seemed to be dispersing or the advancing one. Then a massive boulder erupted into existence above her shoulder and hurtled forward in a crushing arc toward the charging figure.

  The impact never came. Laney vanished in a breath of mist. And in that same breath, the other Laney stood before Priscilla. Hand raised. Spiral formed. The spiral flared before Priscilla’s eyes. The spell was complete.

  Priscilla froze.

  Her stance remained upright, sword still lifted halfway in defense. But her gaze lost focus, pupils dilating as the spiral’s pattern reflected faintly across them.

  Laney adjusted the cuff of her sleeve and exhaled softly, as though mildly inconvenienced rather than having just subdued one of the strongest students in the year.

  “I must say,” she began evenly, “you did not make me reconsider my estimation of you. That is rather disappointing, Miss Virinterviros. Especially after such a strong opening.”

  Priscilla stood motionless before her, eyes unfocused.

  “You were correct. The first was an illusion. Though why you chose not to expend the effort to destroy it, I cannot fathom. Pride, perhaps.” Laney tilted her head slightly. “But that was not your greatest error.” She stepped to the side, studying her opponent like a specimen. “You had me. Your movement. Your precision. Outstanding. I barely blocked those strikes.” A small pause. “But a minor trick was enough to create hesitation. And hesitation is your true weakness.” Her eyes sharpened. “You overthink. That is why Mr. Quiascendus has defeated you so often.”

  Jurgen stiffened at the edge of the gathered students.

  “Mr. Quiascendus,” Laney continued, “would not have paused to discern which was real. He would have attacked both. Simultaneously. And he would have secured victory.”

  Jurgen looked away, jaw tight. Whether the anger was directed at her, at Priscilla, or at himself, even he might not know.

  “I suppose now is my chance to make this lesson stick.”

  Laney was preparing to use her hypnosis to control Priscilla's mind when a sudden whistle tore through the air. Laney’s head snapped to the side.

  The boulder Priscilla had launched earlier came hurtling back down the corridor at tremendous speed. Priscilla's spell had been made, so if the boulder didn't hit anything, it would recall itself at the same tremendous speed.

  Laney dropped low instantly. The boulder roared past her and slammed squarely into Priscilla’s abdomen. The impact broke the hypnosis at once.

  Priscilla stumbled backward, the spiral shattering as the force knocked breath from her lungs. She hit the stone floor hard, coughing, eyes blinking rapidly as awareness flooded back in. Gasps rippled through the corridor. Laney rose slowly from her crouch, delight clear in her face.

  A ripple of black mist unfurled behind Priscilla’s fallen form. From within it, a tall figure stepped forward as though emerging from a doorway no one else could see. It was Professor Rockwood from history class. The professor bent slightly and touched Priscilla once on the forehead.

  The effect was immediate. The lingering haze in her eyes vanished. Her breath steadied. In the span of a heartbeat, she stood upright again, whole and uninjured.

  “It was a brilliant duel,” the professor said mildly. “That final stratagem was clever, Miss Virinterviros. Regrettably, it did not achieve its intended outcome.” His gaze shifted. “Miss Perpetomundus, I must congratulate you on your-”

  “Do not congratulate me, Professor.”

  Laney had risen from her crouch, smoothing her sleeve as though nothing remarkable had happened.

  “This is Miss Virinterviros’ victory.”

  A murmur passed through the students.

  The professor’s brows lifted. “I observed no contact.”

  “You would not have,” Laney replied calmly. “It was minimal. The boulder grazed the crown of my head. Barely. But it was contact. Her stratagem succeeded. I lost.”

  Silence settled for a breath. Before the professor could respond, Priscilla’s voice cut through the corridor.

  “Do not give me any of that.”

  All eyes turned to her.

  Laney regarded her evenly. “I am stating a fact.”

  “You think I want a pity victory?” Priscilla snapped. “A graze at the top of your head? Do not insult me. I lost. I hesitated. I was outclassed. I will not accept anything else.”

  The professor studied them both for a long second. Then he clapped his hands once, sharply.

  “I must agree with Miss Virinterviros.” His eyes shifted to Laney. “The duel’s flow was decisively in your favor, Miss Perpetomundus. The victory stands.”

  A restrained round of applause followed. Not only for Laney’s display, but for Priscilla’s refusal to accept what she deemed charity. Laney inclined her head in acknowledgment. As the students began to disperse, she approached Priscilla once more. Jurgen, Sabrina, Todd, and Cassian closed in as well.

  “I must amend my assessment,” Laney said quietly. “You have surpassed part of my expectations. For performance alone, I would have awarded you five points. For your dignity and your heart, one more.” A faint smile touched her lips. “Six out of ten.”

  Priscilla scoffed. Then she turned and walked away.

  “And here I thought I had scored her high…” Laney sai,d and she too turned away.

  Jurgen tapped Cassian lightly on the shoulder.

  “Challenge her. Now,” he whispered.

  Cassian turned his eyes toward him. “Why would I do that?”

  “She’s weakened,” Jurgen insisted under his breath. “Whatever she pretends, that fight cost her. The professor cured Virinterviros, not her. This is your moment. She’ll feel it. She might even be easy.”

  Cassian followed Laney’s retreating figure with his gaze.

  It was true. The duel had taken something from her. Even if she stood straight, even if her breathing seemed steady, spells like that were not without cost. Hypnosis required focus, preparation. If he pressed her without pause, gave her no room to form the spiral, stayed relentless, physical… he might overwhelm her before she could respond.

  He knew where she was. So she could not use her decoy strategy. He knew her strongest weapon required time. He could win.

  But the thought curdled.

  It was one thing to observe. To learn. To gather information from watching her duel Jurgen and Priscilla. That was strategy. That was fair. This would be something else.

  It would be like sending Todd and Sabrina to provoke her first, to exhaust her for him. Like striking from behind when an opponent had just lowered their guard.

  Cowardly. Dishonorable. Unworthy.

  If his magic branded him inadequate, then so be it. He would not compound it with conduct beneath him. Not again. Not after the special quest.

  If I am unworthy by talent, I will not be unworthy by action.

  He gave a small shake of his head.

  Jurgen’s jaw tightened. Anger flared in his eyes, but he said nothing more. He turned and strode away, boots striking hard against stone.

  “You are very gallant, Mr. Viamnova.”

  Cassian stiffened. Laney had stopped several paces ahead. She had not turned her head, yet her voice carried clearly back to him. She had heard.

  “That would earn you additional points,” she continued lightly, “provided you are not utterly disappointing in our duel.”

  Then she glanced over her shoulder, offered another curtsy, and walked away.

  Cassian stood there with Todd and Sabrina, the corridor thinning as the last students dispersed. But something lingered in his mind. The duel with Priscilla had revealed something. A weakness of Laney that he intended to use to its full extent.