Cyrus clears his throat. “Ms. Byrke, you mentioned that Coach Carrick had assigned you to partner with Luther. Where was he during this incident?”
Church answers before I can. “He had been called away by another student for an emergency and was not present at the time of Ms. Byrke and Mr. Falke’s confrontation.”
“And is that how your faculty usually conducts themselves, Headmaster? Abandoning students during class?”
“No, Junior Councilman Falke. Coach Carrick made an error in judgement, as I have informed Ms. Byrke already when I extended her an apology on behalf of the school.”
“That’s all well and good, but someone under your care nearly died as a result of your employee’s negligence. I have to wonder whether the severity of this lapse in judgement warrants taking action regarding his current employment status.” Church bristles at Cyrus’s arrogant tone, and I don’t blame him.
What a dick.
“Did you have a question, Junior Councilman?”
Cyrus sighs, and looks to his father. “Nothing further. I yield my remaining time to Councilman Falke.”
“Thank you, Junior Councilman.” Marcus nods, and turns to me. “Ms, Byrke, to echo my son, allow me to extend my apologies on behalf of House Aeris for the pain and suffering you experienced during this incident.” He pauses expectantly, waiting for me to thank him, but I let the silence stretch awkwardly until he shuffles some papers in front of him and clears his throat. Briefly, I catch the faintest twitch of Thane’s lips.
“Grandmaster Brandt, since Ms. Byrke’s epiphaneia, what have you observed about her abilities?”
“Nothing.” Brandt answers.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Ms. Byrke’s abilities have not manifested since her epiphaneia.”
“That is quite unusual, is it not?”
“Yes. Newly-awakened wielders often have difficulty controlling how their powers connect and manipulate their respective affinity until receiving further training.”
“From your own observation during the time Ms. Byrke claims she has no memory of, what can you tell us about the nature of her power?”
“There was no point in which her power actively sought or attempted to cause harm. The act of shattering the wards was not malicious, but self-defensive. Not at all surprising given the triggering event that caused her powers to awaken in the first place.”
“Do you believe Ms. Byrke able to exert control over a power of that magnitude?”
“She already has.”
“I thought you said her powers have not manifested since then?”
“Correct. It’s quite incredible, really. Despite being in a dissociative state brought on by the trauma of her encounter with Mr. Falke, she recalled her power with little effort before it could cause any permanent damage. It won’t take long for her to learn how to do it consciously.”
“Thank you, Ms. Byrke, Grandmaster Brandt. I yield my time,” he addresses Renard, who motions for Soren to speak next. Thane stiffens behind him, but I don’t think anyone but Roth and Killian notice it too.
“Ms. Byrke, as the bearer of this rare and, according to Grandmaster Brandt, truly incredible power, my question to you is, how do you intend to use it?” Thane frowns as Brandt stiffens beside me. Okay, so Soren wants to know if I’ll do what I’m told, got it. When I was a kid, whenever someone tried to makeme look stupid, playing the part and asking them to explain whatever their point was worked like a charm to deflect it. More often than not, they’d rather leave than risk being the butt of their own shitty joke.
Gotta step your game up, Soren, this is middle school shit.
“Use it to do what?” I ask, quirking my head.
“From what I’ve read, anything you wanted to, really.”
“Such as?” He narrows his eyes. Good. Ask stupid questions, get stupid answers.
“If, for example, the Council called on you to perform magic in the interest of serving our community’s interests. Would you use your power as requested?”
“What kind of magic?”
“This is merely hyperbolic, Ms. Byrke,” he says through a strained smile.
