“How can you possibly have such a lackluster reaction to hearing that you just assaulted someone from the Linwick family? You’re not immune to their rules just because you’re part of them! If anything, they’ll enforce them more strictly, won’t they?”

“Technically, I had no idea who it was that I was punching.” Noah held a finger up. “And he quite literally asked me to teach him. He was taught. I don’t see what I did wrong.”

Isabel gave him a flat stare. “You realize there’s no way that anybody is going to believe that, right?”

“I’ll figure something out.” Noah shrugged. “What did you want me to do? Sit around and watch him assault you? It’s literally my job description to protect you from monsters.”

Actually, I’ve got no clue what my job description is, but that seems like a reasonable enough conclusion. Can’t exactly train people to fight monsters if you just toss ‘em out and hope for the best.

“You’re going to argue that Edward was a monster? That might just dig the hole even deeper.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m honestly more bothered about losing that book. Did you happen to see if there was a second?”

“Why would someone make two copies of a lineage? It’s not like this is a Linwick stronghold.” Isabel shook her head and glanced over her shoulder like she was expecting to find an army of Linwick men behind her with torches and pitchforks. “It’s still Arbitage’s property, though. Linwick or not, he’s going to need to return it eventually.”

Noah pursed his lips. “Ah. In that case, do you care to tell me why you were trying to look my family up?”

Isabel averted her gaze. “Because of the exam. A bunch of noble houses came to watch their students do the exam. I overheard that the Linwicks were one of them, so I went to the library to find out who they were.”

“Wait, you’re telling me you just found out Edward was a Linwick a few minutes before I did? You sounded so affronted when I smacked him, like he was some minor celebrity or something.”

“What? I have no idea who he is. I just saw his name and picture in the lineage book. I thought you’d know him because he was in your family.”

“Do you know everyone in your family?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Well, I don’t.”

“Evidently,” Isabel grumbled. “You shouldn’t have stuck your neck out for me like that. There was no reason to.”

Noah crossed his arms and gave Isabel a sharp look. “Are we going to get stuck in a loop here? I’ve already told you, it’s my job.”

Isabel raised her hands in surrender, turning her face to hide the smile that flickered across her lips. “Okay, okay. Thank you.”

“There we go. You’re welcome. Now, I think it might be a good idea to get out of here before anyone shows up looking for us. Just because I don’t think I did anything wrong doesn’t mean others would agree, and I’d much rather deal with them on my terms rather than theirs.”

Noah and Isabel beat a hasty retreat from the library. It was just as deserted outside as it had been before, and there was no sign of Edward when they emerged into the daylight once more.

“Where the heck is everyone anyway?” Noah asked.

“They’re all sucking up to the noble houses, trying to get in,” Isabel replied, a bitter note in her voice.

“Ah. That would explain a lot, actually. Why aren’t you?”

“My family is blacklisted.” Isabel’s eyes were cold, as if challenging Noah to press the question. He took the hint and let the subject drop.

“Do you have somewhere safe you can go?”

“Yeah. I’m not the one they’re going to be mad at,” Isabel said. She paused for a moment. “I hope. You should still be more concerned about yourself.”

“I’m a big boy. I’ll be fine.” Noah gave her a dismissive wave. “Shoo. I’m not meant to be teaching class today, remember? I expect to see you tomorrow at our normal time in the classroom. Don’t be late.”

“You’re the one that’s always late!”

Noah strode away, raising his hand in farewell. As soon as Isabel was out of sight, he grabbed his flying sword and jumped onto it, tearing across the streets for his room. Despite his words, he had absolutely no idea how seriously the Linwicks would take the affront, especially since he no longer had a good way to learn about them.

That left just one option. Hopefully, she was still home.

***

“Seriously?” Moxie demanded, crossing her arms and glaring at Noah. “I’m going to complain about harassment at this point. What do you want from me?”

“I’ve never been gladder to see you at home,” Noah said. He glanced over his shoulder, then waved his fingers at her. “Let me in.”

“No.”

“Please?”

“Why would I let you in? How is it that you’ve managed to come to the conclusion that I like you enough to want to speak with you, much less let you into my room?”

“Perhaps I was charmed by your caring and affectionate attitude.”

They stared at each other for a moment. Noah sighed.

“Right, that was a bit of a stretch. I don’t think anyone would ever get drawn in by anything about your attitude. I actually broke the nose of some little Linwick brat and I’m trying to figure out how big of an oopsie that was.”

Moxie tilted her head to the side and pressed her lips thin. “Your first lie was at least a little believable. Try again?”

“No, that was actually the truth.”

Moxie leaned forward slightly. Her eye twitched. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. Felt great, to be honest. Kid was a massive prick. He had it coming.”

“Who was it?”

“I think his name was Edward.”

Moxie took a step back. Noah took that as an invitation and stepped into her room, closing the door behind himself. Moxie had done a lot more to decorate her living quarters than he had.

Her bed sheets were mossy green, interwoven with a leafy pattern. A long tapestry hung above her desk, depicting a blue sun shining down on a beautiful forest stream. Her closet door hung askew, and a small pile of her clothes had been pushed into its corner beneath the uniforms on hangers.

Moxie swept past Noah and slammed the closet door shut.

“Get a good enough look yet?”

“No,” Noah replied. “I think your decorations are missing a large pile of papers on the floor to protect against any potential Skinwalkers.”

The corner of Moxie’s lips quirked up for an instant. She caught herself and scowled at Noah.

“Shut up. We agreed to not mention that.”

“I don’t see anyone else here.” Noah pulled her chair out. “Mind if I sit?”

Moxie sighed. “Go ahead.”

He spun it around and lowered himself into it. It had a cushion that was actually surprisingly comfortable.

“So, about my little teaching incident,” Noah said, clearing his throat. “In my defense, he started it.”

Moxie stalked over to her bed and leaned against it, raising an eyebrow at him. “You might as well tell me the story. Half the reason I let you in is because I can’t wait to revel in how screwed you are.”

“He was accosting one of my students. I told him to stop, and he told me to make him. I made him. Pretty simple, really.”

Moxie waited for a moment for Noah to add something, but he didn’t. Her smirk slowly fell away.

“You can’t tell me that’s it. Nothing else?”

“Nope. He went to kick one of my students. I interfered. He challenged me and told me I couldn’t hurt him when he had his Shield up.”

“You’re a Rank 1. Logically, you can’t. Edward is part of the Linwick’s main branch, and he’s considered somewhat competent. He’s got a Rank 2 Shield. You should know this, considering he’s your cousin. But how did you manage to hurt Edward if he had his shield?”

“It’s that pesky memory loss,” Noah said, tapping his head. “Whoopsie. And I punched him.”

“You what?”

“You know. Punch.” Noah mimed punching the air in front of him. “Like that.”

“I know what a punch is, idiot,” Moxie snapped. “But how did you punch him?”

Noah stared at Moxie. “Do you want a demonstration or something?”

Moxie rubbed the bridge of her nose. “You know what? Go ahead. Try to punch me. I won’t fight back.”

Noah stood up and walked around the chair. Moxie watched him, her expression unreadable but her body motionless. It didn’t take a genius to realize she was trying to make a point, but Noah obliged her.

He jabbed at Moxie’s face. A vine whipped out from one of her pockets, smacking his wrist to the side with just enough force to smart. Noah shook his hand off.

“Ouch. I thought you said you weren’t fighting back?”

“I wasn’t. That’s not even intentional,” Moxie said. “My Shield protects against mundane attacks too. All of them do, to varying degrees. Edward has a Rank 2 Shield, so his should have blocked a mere punch without any problem. It does take a little attention to activate the defensive functions, but unless you sucker punched him, there’s no way you would have landed the blow.”

Noah rubbed his chin. “Well, I told him I was coming. I can demonstrate exactly what I did, if you think that would help.”

“Go ahead.” Moxie cocked an eyebrow.

Noah summoned his Wind magic, forming a swirling blade above his palm. He reared back and launched his hand forward, releasing the magic an instant before tucking his hand in and transitioning his motion to his other fist.

Moxie’s eyes widened in shock. Her vine shifted an instant too late to block the blow and she leaned back, narrowly avoiding the strike. She straightened back out, staring at Noah in disbelief. “What did you just do?”

“It’s a feint. Not really that groundbreaking. Why do you look so impressed?”

Moxie shook her head. “No. That’s not just a feint. I can’t describe it, but… gah, I can’t describe it. It was like every single part of you was focused on that spell, and I was too. Your fist just came out of nowhere. You didn’t change your stance at all.”

“You mean I would have hit you if you weren’t ready for it?”

Moxie ground her teeth together and inclined her head slightly. She stepped away from the bed and walked into her bathroom, coming back with a white ceramic pitcher of water and a matching cup. She poured herself a drink and drained it in one go.

“Yes, you would have. What’s up with you, Vermil? I know what you can do. I sparred you after–” Moxie’s face wrinkled in distaste. “You know. I crushed you, and you didn’t show a single sign of any skill. Now you’re getting into fights in your students’ sake.”

“A blow to the head can do wonderful things to a person. You should try it sometime.”

“Did you just come here to make wisecrack remarks, or did you want my help?”

“Sorry,” Noah said. “I swear it’s not normally this bad. Something about you makes me want to be a smartass. And I’m more hoping you could tell me if I need to start preparing for a bunch of angry idiots to attack me for disciplining their child.”

Moxie let out a snort of laughter. “You’re not going to get murdered by your own family. You haven’t betrayed them. They’re definitely going to try to make you pay, though. If I were Edward’s teacher, I’d challenge you to something and try to humiliate you. Nobody saw Edward get beat up other than your student, so it probably won’t be too bad.”

Ah. It’s a good thing I haven’t betrayed them. Heh. Better make sure they never find out about me sharing those Runes. Greedy pricks.

“Ah, that’s good to hear,” Noah said, letting out a relieved sigh. “I can handle that. You made it sound like the situation was way worse than it was.”

“I was hoping to be able to participate. It would have been the highlight of my week.”

“What’s stopping you?”

Moxie’s features hardened. “You were helping your student. Like a real teacher, not the pathetic worm I thought I knew. I can’t side against you in this situation, no matter how much I’d love to.”

Noah blinked. Moxie was regarding him with something close to respect. It wasn’t quite there, but it was the least annoyed expression he’d ever seen her direct at him.

“Thanks, I guess. Does this mean we’re friends now?”

“Maybe that hit to the head really did do you a favor,” Moxie said. “But don’t get any ideas. We aren’t friends, Vermil. I don’t like you, even if you made one slightly respectable decision out of a thousand disgusting ones.”

“Fair enough.” Noah shrugged. His hand brushed against the gourd at his side and he paused for a moment. She raised an eyebrow.

“What is it?”

“I was just trying to remember something.” Noah patted the gourd. “You… didn’t happen to give this to me, did you? I’ve been carrying it around as my good luck charm, but I can’t remember where I got it.”

“If you think for an instant that I would ever give you any sort of gift, especially a healing potion, you are sorely mistaken. Trust me, if I was going to give you a potion, it would be poisoned.”

Noah stared at Moxie for an instant, then laughed. She just shook her head.

“Now get out of my room. I’ve told you what you wanted to hear, and I might actually die of shame if anyone found out I’m speaking to you without putting your head through a wall first.”

“Thanks for the help, then. Be seeing you.”

That just about confirms it. I don’t think Moxie was the one that tried to poison me. So… who was?