The Lestilaut estate sat at the southern end of Dreslauth like it had always been there and had no plans of going anywhere.
Two towers curved inward at the top and met to form a single ring of stone that stretched over the whole property. Arthur stepped out of the carriage and looked up. The sun was already down and torches ran along the walls on either side. He tried to find the edge of the gate and couldn't.
Vexis's memory filled in what his eyes couldn't. The Lestilaut family sat at the top of the Mageia Order. His father held the rank of Grand ArchMagus. Second only to the Supreme Magus. One of three people in the country whose power didn't need to announce itself.
Arthur had read about them once. Background detail. A name that showed up to establish how the world was ordered and then got out of the way.
He was walking through their front gate.
He kept his breathing even and followed the path to the main door. It opened before he reached it.
Two rows of maids filled the entrance hall, heads down, hands folded. Butlers lined behind them. All of them spoke at once.
"Welcome home, Master Vexis."
The sound of it hit him wrong. Twenty voices, one syllable, perfectly together. He walked through without stopping.
This is so creepy what the hell.
A butler broke from the line and matched his pace. Tall. A scar ran all the way down the right side of his face. Gray hair, red eyes.
"The Patriarch is waiting," the butler said. "His office."
Arthur nodded and kept walking.
He knew the way. That didn't surprise him anymore.
What surprised him was his hand.
It was shaking. His right hand, just slightly, a low steady tremor he couldn't get to stop no matter how many times he told himself to calm down.
Seriously what the hell. Stop shaking. We are not doing this right now.
He grabbed his right wrist with his left hand and held it still.
The office door was already open. He walked through.
The room was large. Shelves packed with books on every wall. A Condensed Spellfrequency hummed in the far corner. The floor was white marble. In the center of the room a chair sat facing away from him.
Arthur stood and waited.
The chair turned.
What met him was a sun.
A gold glow that sat just under the skin. Eyes the same color. The kind of eyes that didn't ask for anything because they didn't need to.
The Patriarch looked at him the way you look at something that has let you down so many times the feeling has worn smooth.
Arthur's body bowed before he decided to.
"I humbly greet the Patriarch."
His voice. Quiet. It didn't feel like the mouth thing this time. It felt like the body knowing better than he did.
Silence.
"You."
One word and the room got smaller.
"I received a notice today. From the Almonth family."
Arthur kept his eyes down.
THAT BASTARD SNITCHED ON ME?! He went crying to his family and his family went straight here?
"You caused a scene." The Patriarch's voice didn't rise. "At the academy. In front of students and faculty both."
The pressure started slow.
It came from everywhere and nowhere, just a heaviness that hadn't been in the room a second ago. Arthur's knees bent before he told them to.
He lasted about two seconds standing.
Then the marble came up and met him.
Something warm ran down to his lip. He knew what it was before he touched it.
Blood from his nose, hitting the white floor.
What the— is he doing this with magic? Is he actually making me bleed right now?!
"Father— Patriarch, please—"
"Silence."
The pressure doubled. Both hands hit the floor. His arms shook trying to hold the rest of him up.
"Eighteen years old." The chair moved. The Patriarch stood and Arthur heard it and felt it without looking up. "Eighteen. And you still embarrass this family like it costs you nothing."
Arthur's teeth were locked together.
I'm not even Vexis! None of this was me! I literally just got here!
He said nothing.
"Your account is suspended. No funds. No crest access." A pause that had weight to it. "And you will be moved to Class F, effective tomorrow."
Class F.
Through the pressure and the blood and the cold marble under his palms, that landed clean.
Bottom of the academy. No standing, no resources, no anything. Thirteen days left and the Patriarch just cut everything useful out from under him in one sentence.
"Reflect on your behavior," the Patriarch said. "And keep this family's name out of other people's mouths."
"I understand."
The pressure left.
Arthur pulled in air. He didn't realize how little had been getting through until it came back all at once. His vision went white at the edges for a second and then came back.
He stayed on the floor. Hands flat. Blood still dripping.
"Remove him." The Patriarch turned away. "Looking at him irritates me."
Hands came under his arms. The scar-faced butler and someone else. They lifted him and walked him out and the door closed behind them.
After that the edges came off everything.
The hallway moved past him. Stairs. A room. He remembered the ceiling and the way the light moved across it. Something cold pressed against his nose. He was set down on something soft.
Then nothing.
-----
Hey.
Hey you.
Wake up.
Arthur lay still.
Wake up right now. I'm not repeating myself.
Something in the voice pulled him up. Not the volume. The strain behind it. The way it sounded like someone who had been trying for a while and was almost out of patience.
He opened his eyes.
Dark room. He was on his back. Stone ceiling. One candle to the left throwing just enough light to see by.
And above him, something hovered.
He could see the ceiling through it. A shape like a person but not solid. The edges of it didn't sit still.
Arthur stared at it.
Then he looked at the face.
Blonde hair, messy. Gold eyes. The exact same face he had been wearing.
Except this one was not calm. This one was furious in the way that only comes from being kept waiting somewhere with no way out.
WHO ARE YOU.
The voice didn't come through his ears. It landed directly inside his head.
WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME.
Arthur looked at the ghost of Vexis Lestilaut floating above his own body and didn't move.
AND WHY THE HELL ARE YOU INSIDE MY BODY YOU ABSOLUTE IMPOSTOR.