Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “It was mortifying. They all were staring at me as I walked away.” Harmony screamed into the pillow she’d been sleeping on for dramatic effect as she re-told the events to Ambrosia. “My masquerade outfit was shredded when I exged it for my armor. Bates pulled me aside to assure me the royal’s presence was temporary but that there would be sequences after the break. I’m lucky I still have the wo days off.”

  “Most of the staff appreciates you standing up for them. Jimmy dropped his tray when he sneezed and is grateful you’re drawing all the attention. Sheets have beey positive so far too.”

  The neancer masked her widening eyes with the pillow. How could she fet about the news sheets? She’d been so focused on her co-workers and employer. There would always be eyes and ears in big events like this, in the crowd if not offers to buy news after.

  “Sheets?”

  “The Midnight Letter was so quick to try to get some kind of news first out they thought you were a guest with your fanew armor. Rival news clubs were quick to poun them. News Delvers and The Paper Association released their rep of the events hours ter, mbasting their opposing newsgroup more than opinions on you being a maid w the masquerade. Then The Bridgepress has you defending the local lord’s honor, while the Gym Circur talks about you being a viridian badge holder, and this was you standing up for the lower levels. Is it true you have a badge?”

  “It’s nothing. Mike from The Dig Boys gave it to me before. Probably just a gift made before he left the capitol.”

  Ambrosia s that. “The bigger news sheets are gathering information for their afternooion. Rumor is they wanted several pages c the royal’s arrival before the little bit of excitement. Bate’s has thrown two reporters off the manrounds already. Because you have a rogue css doesn’t mean your stealth will get past him.”

  “They’re going to ae when I leave.”

  “Like I haven’t figured out that Hyath whisk you away without others notig. Though, he is looking a little less inky this m.”

  The toad let out a pained croak.

  Harmony remembered him disappearing as soon as they returo the bunks.

  “As much as I wish to stay and listen to you both moan. My birdies need a walk, and I have big pns for tomorrow evening. Expee of what you owe to be called in, as I’m making you my date.”

  “What?”

  The beast tamer only smiled and waved goodbye as she left.

  “Ambrosia, what do you have pnned? Ambrosia!” Harmony called after her best friend to no avail.

  “I guess it’s just you and me.” She told Hyath. The women’s staff dorm was empty. She’d waited for it to clear out befriping at Ambrosia. Not that it took much, as no one wao stick around if they weren’t w. Fel always liked to spend the night with one of her boyfriends.

  “Grrack!” The shadow toad croaked with distent.

  “What’s up with you?”

  The neancer’s familiar projected the image of half a dozen mangy strays fighting in a cage inside his stomabsp;

  “Overindulged, I see. You up fetti of here? I have an idea of who to sult about my pet problem.”

  “I open the door. You go yourself.” Hyath projected words into her head.

  “You do that?”

  “One way.” The Shadow toad’s body started to rumble and shake. “Grek. Grek.” He retched. Out rolled a mottled e hairball roughly the size of a rge cat.

  “Fi might be better if you stay here and take care of yourself. Let me ge first.”

  With the reporter types trying to use her to grind out higher profession levels, Harmony abandoned her pn to wear a spring dress and opted for her practical pants and shirt bination. Not that she felt like she could fake being a boy, but they’d have to gwice to put it together.

  Hyath limped more than hopped to the shadowy er of the room. Instead of the usual quick transport, the shadows in the er rippled, and the neancer followed her familiar’s implied dires and stepped into them.

  The trip wasn’t a quick transport like usual. Harmony checked her heartbeat to make sure ostasis wasn’t ag up. The bess shifted to shadows within shadows taking the shapes of trees, bushes, and eyes. Large eyes watg her.

  “Ah, the tadpole’s little friend.” Something deep an old spoke. The force of that voice pushed her away back to the dark.

  Then she was out of those shadows and bato the normal ones of the city. Looking out, the city stretched below her, a busy yet less colorful view tha time she stood high on this building not too long ago, but long enough that it felt like a season or year ago. Her eyes traced where the funeral procession had been, where she’d e up with her grand pn as she stood in the m light at the top of the sun temple.

  She resolved to talk to her familiar about the being from the shadows ter, but right now, she o tackle a new challeairs. The high vantage poi an excess of stairs which her short legs detested. Traveling through shadows with her familiar had been a blessing whe to skip them. The location wasn’t ideal either. Temples readily accepted most magic-based csses for training. Neancer was not one of them.

  If she had ls, she’d take the stairs two at a time to get out. As it was, she dashed dowairs with as much speed and grace as her physical skills allowed. Not unusual as a way to train skills, but she saw what had to be acolytes, priests, and cleri the stairs. The looks they gave her as she passed them showed that they felt it was disrespectful.

  “What are you doing, boy! Slow down and behave!” Yelled an older man as she spun past him.

  The hook of a skill sunk into her. A dangerous thing when speeding dowairs. A miss-step caused by hesitation could send you tumbling down. Harmony broke it without stopping. She hadn’t expected someoo be quite so btant or risky. Whoever said educators were a noble profession hadn’t met those who abused their skills.

  The rest of the neancer’s close calls were dirty looks and coarse words as she exited the temple, grateful the stairs were he exit.

  Ever-busy crowds went about their m. Those in a rush used skills to speed up or scoot by obstacles. News sheet criers had their ers, often yelling and peting for sales. Harmony typically igheir calls, but that was when they weren’t about her.

  “Maid defies Duke. U between the levels!”

  “Princess’s honor defended. Lovers who dive together stay together!”

  “Zombie prince speaks out! Mur-Gurgh Ahhg!”

  Harmony trusted things would die down as the sdals as happened. She resolved to focus on problems that were in her trol.

  Hazeldown Uy sat on the edge of the temple district. Which meant that Hyath’s portal had taken her in the right dire. Harmony had once dreamed of making enough tuition to attend. That was until she fully realized how poor the school’s reputation was. That didn’t mean it didn’t have information that was useful, though you o be a student to access it. As the only institute of higher learning, it was still sidered an advanced education for everyone who didn’t want to leave the city or evolve their css and basic education for the aristocrats who chose to get their early levels in the dungeon before moving on.

  “Do you know which house Len is in? He’s a wizard.”

  Calling any of the buildings that represeudent housing a house was generous. Cheap ramshackle buildings, half patched up from skill use damage. Eae housed between four and two dozen students. Aristocrats had their own pces, as did citizens who took only a css or two out of i. The people who lived here would be schorship or charity cases, teag assistants, and those unlucky or uninformed enough to have this as their only real choibsp;

  The student who Harmony had asked the question stood there like he’d been hit by a stun skill. With dark hair and pierg greehe boy looked young. Harmony assumed he was a student because he had a rge green book in his arms that shimmered like it was made of gss or crystal. “The teag assistants stay at the Bown house. He’s in the room at the back. Join the masses pestering him. He deserves it after failing me in wardcrafting over my grammar, of all things. Me!”

  The book seemed to wiggle and move in his arm, but she’d seen strahings these past few days. “Thanks.”

  She moved past the irate student, wrestling with his book like it was alive.

  Turned out Brown house wasn’t actually brown. It had a pque h T. Barnabas Brown above the door. The Teag Assistant rooms all had names on them and a bck piece of ste where the times were written that they accepted students to advise. Len’s, however, read NO VISITORS in big blocky text.

  Well, she helped save his life, so he could tell that to her face if he was having an issue. She khat and he’d ied her.

  The door swung open ah of the way with enough force that Harmony instinctively dodged away. A spout of fme shot out. “I said no more questions! I don’t know when the gods made the journalistic profession equivalent to that of a shit shoveler, but you’re making that true. I have finals!” Len yelled from out the cracked door.

  “Len, it’s me.”

  Ihe wizard’s familiar squawked.

  “Harmony?” He popped his head out and looked more exhausted than he did at the end of the dungeon run, where she helped stitch his two halves together. From there, he looked arouo either side. “e in. e in quickly.”

  The maid slipped inside.

  The wizard’s single room was a mess, but a fastidious mess of half-filled crates everywhere, making it clear the man was in the process of pag or unpag. Many of the boxes were piled up on a bed. The only other furniture in the room, a writing desk, iled with stacks anized papers that Len’s familiar stood in the middle of without disturbing them.

  Harmony eyed the are objects, crafting materials, and books with i.

  “Len, what’s going on?”

  “So many things.” He started moving crates off the bed. “You were right. Talking to Farthington was the right thing. I had to threaten to pluck his feathers. Damned fool hoped I would learn on my own.”

  “Caw!” the Raven yelled from the desk.

  “That garbage theory about direg my evolution stalled me because not advang skills I deemed unimportant stalled my leveling. I pushed my skills up and finally hit fifteen.”

  “gratutions. That doesn’t expin the sign, your state, or fire through the door.”

  Len winced. “Sorry about that. Take a seat. You’ve been in my mind when it hasn’t been forced full of other stuff. If anyone is going to appreciate the problems I’ve been fag, it’s you.”

  Taking the cleared-off spot, Harmoally ran through the flow of information around her [Poise and Bearing] skill to allow her to more easily smile and look attentive.

  “I’m pretty sure the school’s professors arranged for me to stall my progression to keep my professional skills close at hand. You get it. You’re smart, skilled, and useful. Lord Tyler probably keeps you on a short leash. He, Sir Maxwell, and even Rose, well Princess Rose, are well educated in using the likes of us.”

  The bitterness in the wizard’s voice wasn’t there before, but he hadn’t looked as burned out and dead on his feet. Harmony had feared this would be a romantic overture but found herself rexing at the familiar signs of aowards employers.

  “What is your profession?”

  “I’m aor. Those teachers might have evolved into professors, but they ’t spell a lick, and their grammar is atrocious. I see more solid skills in freshmen, but those tenured bastards know they sp shit together and give it to me to fix. Now they refuse to let me graduate without jumping through their fming hoops. They’ve assigned me finals tomorrow, where if I don’t pass, I’ll have to stay for a remedial year. They know I ’t apply to the uy at the capitol with an inplete record here.”

  “I suppose you ’t ask your familiar for advice here. Did you stay up te studying for your test?”

  “I did, but not unreasonably so. But as soon as I went to bed, the first knoy door came. I thought it was a udent, but it was one of those newsmongers w for sheets. Wao ask about Rose. They btantly used skills to pull information from me. If I wasn’t half asleep, I could have fought them off. It was so vioting. Then they asked if I knew she rincess. Do you think she’ll hate me for spilling all the team secrets?” The frantic distress in his voice shot up.

  “I’m sure she’ll uand. If she’s royalty, I ’t imagine she hasn’t had someone pull information out of a friend.”

  “Thearted asking about you.” The wizard crumpled onto the crowded bed beside her, shrinking in on himself. “I’m so sorry. I told them everything. I’d locked the door, and the damn rogues broke in and ered me. I’ve been pting seeking you out to apologize.”

  Harmo a frown crack her skill-formed mask. She’d heard of Len through Tyler, but the tutor had never visited the manor. Tyler took all his tut out. The first time she’d met the man was in the dungeon club. There were some awkward moments during the events, but it’s not like he knew her.

  “We had one dungeon dive together, and as unique an experiehat one was, I doubt you’re telling them anything they ’t find out elsewhere.”

  Len looked at her but refused to meet her gaze. “I’ve tutored Tyler for a few years and been on his dunge team the lo. While he’s anything but an idiot. He tends to be g around girls, Rose being the exception. So when it became clear Alison would level and leave soon, he began talking you up to me as wiarted. Some lower leveled-girl who would require help, a maid. I’m a wizard. I took it upon myself to research you.”

  Tyler phis? No, she got the scroll and decided to use Tyler to meet the requirements. Her mind fshed ba giftihe scroll as thanks for helping him with his experiments. He wasn’t a neancer, so it was useless to him, though much of his colle was useless for his css. How could he know she’d want to use it? And Len. He researched her? The neancer’s mind raced through the possibilities. Only wheiced that Len was not moving and didn’t seem to be breathing did she realize ostasis kicked in with her state of stress.

  This gave the maid time to collect herself. As she rexed, so did her stats’s power. This was all before her misadventure around the prince, so how much could Len have dug up on her?

  “What did you tell the journalists?”

  “It was on your employment tract. I gave them your mom’s name.”

  Harmony’s chest tightened because Len clearly khe significe of that. Not that she’s seen her mother since she refused to have a dirty neancer in her house. What’s the worst that they’re going to do, interview her? That woman would spend the whole time talking about herself and not let out one crumb of information about her unimportant daughter.

  “If it wasn’t you. They’d have found out somewhere else. There has to be an archive of old sheets with an article about the actress Kelly White’s disgraceful child. But if you really want to make amends, I was w if you knew of any way to release a pet bond or if they have information at the library?”

  “Whe dies.”

  That doesn’t help at all. The maid avoided asking Ambrosia because her friend would smack her around with a broom for even asking the question. ’t she just leave the back gate open a adorable little Adric loose oreet to find a new home without having a pesky e to her soul?

  “I mean, it’s not something Hazeldown Uy has information on. They sider it beh them, but the truth is they don’t have the resources or io keep that information. Hazeldown is where educatioo die. All the professors are stuck after evolving their teag profession and uo get over the hurdle to make it higher. Either they were too ambitious with their progression or cked the skill to go further. I was starting to get afraid I was cursed like they are.”

  Harmony checked her frustration. Here was Len, p his heart out about his issues to her and all she think about is her own issues. And whatever minor drama caused at the masquerade was clearly spilling onto him. He looked worse than she felt in tough ms.

  “May I perk you up a little?” She asked.

  “Um… okay.”

  She’d ried her m routine on someone else. The synergistibination of skills always fit easiest internally and had only improved as she gained skills. Theoretically, she k might work on someone else, aats allowed her to be more flexible with the rules from her experience. [Renew Spirit] was a kind of healing spell, so it wasn’t like she’d have that big of a risk of semi-turning him into bck goo like she did her old dress.

  She readied herself, accessing her skills and feeling the synergies they brought to this task. [Beauti] wao take charge. Len wasn’t un-handsome and had an ear bookworm look, but she reminded herself this was about making him feel better. Though it argued, what could make someone feel better than being fidently good looking. [Poise and Bearing] and [Style and Grace] huffed about his posture all wrong. Even [High Kick] got a bug up about the alig of his spine.

  “Fine.” She muttered, knowing her skills and brain wouldn’t shut up and allow her to do this properly until she got things right.

  She stood up and physically adjusted the poor, half-dead-looking wizard into a proper position. His spine popped a little as she did so, one hand raised up and pushing on the man’s chest and the other on his lower back to get it just right. He was either too stunned or too tired to objebsp;

  From there, she activated [Renew Spirit], which was reinforced through synergies with her other skills. She couldn’t make him behave internally the way she did to herself in the m, but she damried. [Dust] even swirled to life, peeling off a yer of excess dirt from his hair and clothes like a waterless shower. [Manipute Dead] fixed his chipped and uneven nails, helping style his hair into a fashio. Internally her [Beauti] skill seemed to smirk and wish for a better wardrobe.

  Doing her renewal set on someone else drained her enough to feel a brief wave of fatigue as her attempt ended.

  Len cleared his throat.

  Harmony realized she was still toug the wizard. Quickly removed her hands and stepped back. Calling the effects of her skill usage on him “much improved” would have been an uatement. Gone are the bags under his eyes. His skin looked smooth and vibrant, while his hair and nails looked like he always maintaihem. Even his posture projected fidence, which surprised Harmony because he didn’t slump bato his poor form. It immediately made her wonder how awful she looked before she went through her routine in the m. There were days she woke up feeling like an ogre’s chew toy.

  “How did you?”

  “I’m a full-service maid. Helping people be their best. It is only temporary and not a rept for rest and recovery.” As fortable as Len seemed with her, many people wouldn’t be with the fact that her neancy skills did the bulk of the work, as much as it felt like a bieam effort of her profession and css.

  “Still, in the brief time I’ve known you, you’ve stantly been pulli of one mess or another. I actually feel like I hahe finals ara work now. Sorry about the ck of knowledge of pets. Now that my mind is clearer, I think the school purged its information there and has baudents from havis on campus. Some nasty business about illegal pet battles. With the ission managi petitions, I think their headquarters has the rgest colle of pet information, but that’s in the capital.”

  There was no way she could make it to the capital and ba time to solve her current problem. Prince Adri take his pretty fad wait for this all to die down. She doubted he wao stay a pet if he managed un-influehoughts on it. It’s not like he voluntarily entered an agreement like Hyath or was fool enough to make an oath like Max.

  The door shook with a knobsp;

  Len summoned a ball of fire into his palm. “I’ll hahis.”

  “Maybe check before attempting to roast them first,” Harmony added.

  The wizard flushed with embarrassment. “Sorry about that.”

  He cracked the door. The fme in his hand sputtered a out, and the wizards stumbled back, leaving the door to swing open.

  “Professor Dunphy.” The wizard stammered with more than a little sho his voice. His Raven familiar squawked, flying up as high and aossible.

  The older man with long bushy white hair and a long white coat stepped inside as Len backed away to the far end of the room. The professave the room a sneer, his eyes alight with a little bit of wild madness. “The interview requests have been flooding in for you enough that I no lret your desire to depart. Call it ued, but your exit exam starts now.”