“Lord Enchanter Clovicus?” She pulled Pegasus to a stop and patted hisneck.
“Unfortunately.” The Lord Enchanter ambled closer. The streaks of silver at his temple seemed to glow extra bright between the shining moonlight and the dark of his copperhair.
Angelique slid off Pegasus’ back, more than a little surprised at the unexpected run-in. “What brings you toVerglas?”
“My companions.” Clovicus’ upper lip curled in a very slight sneer, but he slung a friendly arm over Angelique’s shoulders and spun around so he could face the fire with her. “Students,” Clovicusstarted.
“So we’ve been promoted back to students, then?” a gangly boy brightly asked. “We were centipedes not an hourago.”
“Indeed,” Clovicus addressed the smiling youth. “Due to Hart’s efforts in healing Nami after her bout of stupidity that resulted in pink flames, you reclaimed the title. However, since you were bold enough to note the promotion, the group has now been lowered to the rank of fieldmice.”
“Field mouse? That doesn’t sound so bad,” said a tallgirl.
“By calling us field mice, he means we are the bottom of the food chain and easily picked off,” a girl with lovely dark hair and a dark complexion drylysaid.
“Exactly so, Hart. It’s a shame you cannot be graded separately from your peers, but then again, they are your friends, which is also a reflection ofyourtaste, so perhaps it’s not such a shame after all,” Clovicussaid.
The girl—Hart, apparently—merely raised an eyebrow, but the young man who had first interrupted Clovicus grumbled on herbehalf.
Angelique eyed the youths—for though she was tempted to call them children, she could see they were all in their early teens—counting four males and three females. “Who entrusted you with students?” she asked, realizing too late she had blurted her thoughts outloud.
Rather than being offended, Clovicus sighed. “I know—and I agree. I should be free of such little crawfish—it was a particular life goal of mine after Evariste made enchanter. But I suspect I’m being punished for all the times I barged in on the Council’s meetings with you—for Tristisim made the arrangement, though Crest tried to get me out of it. Good man, that Crest.” Clovicus stared at the students. “Obviously, he failed, so I was saddled with the responsibility of bringing the children on a learning exploration toVerglas.”
“I thought they wouldn’t let you make me your apprentice because they were resistant to the idea of you shaping young minds?” Angeliqueasked.
“I tried that line of reasoning as well. Tristisim told me he didn’t believe I could corrupt young minds during such a short trip.” Clovicus smirked. “He underestimates me, and I intend to see him pay forit.”
“It’s been very educational,” the tall girlsaid.
“For land’s sake,don’ttell your instructors that,” Clovicus said. “Or they’ll want me to do it again! Now, students, say your greetings to Angelique—an Enchantress-in-Training who is more useful than most senior Enchanters and certainly more useful than yourinstructors.”
“Are youtryingto get yourself hauled in for a lecture from the Council?” asked a small boy who had a surprisingly deep, boomingvoice.
“What I am trying to do is make sure I don’t have to repeat this experience again. And the fastest way to do that is to show Luxi-Domus that if they trust me with the minds of the future, I’ll turn you all into a bunch of mouthy deviants.” Clovicus jabbed a finger at Angelique. “Greetings.Now.”
The students all stood and bowed to Angelique, murmuring theirwelcomes.
The short boy with the deep voice frowned and kept his eyes on Angelique even when he bowed. “Angelique, the enchantress candidate with war magic? The one everyone says isdangerous?”
Clovicus sighed. “One moment,” he said to Angelique. He pointed to the boy—who still watched Angelique with suspicion—and a bubble of water formed above him and popped, drenching the student inwater.
The boy coughed and sputtered as frost started to form in his wet hair. “W-what?”
“Bad,” Clovicus said loudly, as if correcting a miscreant puppy. “Verybad.” He folded his arms across his chest and scowled at the boy. “Youonlymouth off to someone who deserves it, or it’s no longer edgy but acting like adunce.”
“You j-just…you,” the boy shivered in thecold.
“You deserved it,” Clovicus said. “Huddle close to the fire, and you’ll dry out in notime.”
The boy gave him a dirty look but did as he was told, the pink hue of the flames making his faceglow.
Angelique watched the exchange with a pained smile. “This makes me wonder how Evariste grew to have such polishedmanners.”
Clovicus rolled his neck and groaned. “He came to me partially trained in that area—he was just a twerp regarding magic and his own abilities. I thought that was bad enough, but I was terribly, terriblywrong.”
“Before we left, our instructor said to remind you if you are considering murdering one of us, that it’s only temporary, and you have less than five days remaining in the trip,” the boy with the bright smilesaid.
“Of that I amwellaware,” Clovicus said dryly. He lifted both of his eyebrows and looked down at the male student shivering by the fire. “Have you grown any goodsense?”
