“Have I ever knowingly covered up or impeded the investigation of a crime against the Empire or one of it’s duly swore representatives? Why no, of course not. What a ridiculous concept. Is it not clear that I am pledged, body and soul to this great Empire and the Empress in whose divine name we all labor so diligently? I would expect centuries of service would have made that clear.

Well, yes, my labors of late have been a trifle less than diligent. And yes, it has been a number of decades since the Empire has needed my services in a military capacity. Really though, what is a decade or so of being at loose ends and left to one’s own devices? I mean, you know what they say, ‘with no power, comes no responsibility’. 

Oh, the covering up of crimes, right. A dreadful topic, but we should get back to it. You say you found the assassin who relieved the world of the burden of the former Baron of Ropeturn and she was hiding in my house? Well of course she was there. I mean, I was the one who hired her, it seemed a reasonable part of her compensation package to provide free food and lodging while we looked for a suitable dress for her coronation as the new Baron.”

– Xindir Harshek Doxle of the First Flame, moments before presenting a mountain of evidence confirming the former-Baron Ropeturn’s treachery against the Empress, the Empire in general, and the Imperial treasury in particular.

I’d always assumed that Doxle, being a demon, was touched by more than his fair share of madness. He’d made a pact with me after all and so far that had caused him nothing but trouble. To offer praise for what I’d done though? That suggested he probably didn’t know what I’d actually been up to. At least part of me hoped he didn’t since he might feel very differently about me if he knew the kinds of things I was really capable of.

“You’re proud of me?” I asked, because he’d had been nice so far and he deserved a chance to take back what he said before either of us regretted it..

“Inestimably so. To be perfectly honest I thought it would take far longer to convince you to act so openly against your Imperial overseers. I’d, quite foolishly it appears, had the niggling worry that your desire to be admitted to the Academy included some hopes towards getting a ‘proper Imperial education’. Always depressing when the societal conditioning takes hold, and quite the nuisance to scrub out of a promising mind.”

I followed most of that, but also didn’t.

“Don’t you work for the Empire though?” I asked.

“Once? Of a certainty. Once I was the very embodiment of faith in the nobility of our righteous society and the Most Divine Empresses Holy Rule. Well, I suppose there are those who would argue about that point, but they, sadly, are not here to contradict me.”

“Something happened though?” I asked, guessing that part easily enough, but without a clue as to what Doxle’s history might be like.

“Yes. I met her. The Empress.”

“And?” Why people gave obviously incomplete explanations of things was complete a mystery to me. 

I am aware that my tendency to give no answer at all is equally annoying, but I’ve been pretending to be a human for so long that some degree of hypocrisy seems an unavoidable side effect.

“And she knocked those silly ideas right out of my head.”

“Why?” I could have asked a better, more insightful question, but I’d been a puddle a few minutes prior and I still hadn’t been fed.

“Because she knew what the Empire was really like, and she decided to be kind to me for some unfathomable reason,” Doxle said. “What’s amazing is that you seem to have arrived at the same place without such aid.”

“I don’t know where I am.” I didn’t mean to disagree with him, but he seemed so happy and excited I didn’t want to leave him disappointed when I turned out not to be what he thought I was.

“As an expert observer of the phenomena, I would say that you on the edge of collapse,” Doxle said. “The wrong side of the edge in fact, unless I miss my guess.”

“Maybe,” I admitted. “I’m okay now though.”

“You are surviving. Never mistake that for being a sufficient state for life to leave you in. You deserve more. Everyone does.”

“It’s the best I seem to be able to manage at the moment,” I said. If I was expected to work to do better than that I was pretty sure I’d fall apart completely.

“And your best is remarkable,” Doxle said. “But let’s see if we can’t make things a little easier for you, no?”

I had no idea what he was talking about until I felt strength flowing back into me.

The phantom agonies that were still resonating in my arms and body were washed away by the rejuvenating tide that swept through me.

In between one blink and the next, the dark clouds rolled back from my vision and the room came into clear focus.

The surge of energy and strength was so profound I felt like I was going to explode but the moment I was back at full power, it shut off.

“There, that should help complete the deception I would think,” Doxle said, sitting back in his chair.

Before I’d only heard the smile he was wearing, but seeing it on his face was somehow still surprising. He really did seem to be happy? With me?

“Deception?” I asked.

“You have but ten minutes till your next Evaluations begins,” he said. “If you were to show up as bedraggled as you were even the least observant of your instructors would stand a decent chance to connecting you with the disappearance of their precious Reaving Beasts.”

Which meant he did know what I’d done.

That was both comforting and disturbing, and I resolved to think about neither aspect of it unless I absolutely had to.

“If I show up hungry they’ll wonder too won’t they?” I asked, my stomach chiming in with a timely rumble.

“Indeed. I suggest you and your housemates take another half hour and show up for the Evaluation late. You won’t be the only slackers, but you may be the only ones who will be punished for it. As your instructors are doubtlessly looking for an excuse to punish you all anyways, this will be most agreeable to them and will play into their preconception that you have joined the Academy simply because I demanded it.”

“Why would they think that?” I asked.

“They’re under the impression that you are my pawn in a game to liberate a new avenue of funding as my usual ones are proving insufficient to cover the lifestyle I wish to lead,” Doxle said. “There were several disagreements on that count last night which have been settled with the bare minimum of blood loss by all the parties.”

It occurred to me that he’d shown up in my room reeking of blood, which suggested that the ‘bare minimum of blood loss’ was probably still a quantity which could be measure in buckets.

“None of that is for you to worry about though,” Doxle said. “I just wanted to encourage you in your endeavors and offer what aid I could.”

“What did you do? I feel fantastic now.”

“The bond between us allows me to drain magic from you. If you look to the equations which cover that particular bit of spellcraft though, it’s rather easy to discover how to reverse the process.”

“So you fed me magic rather than drawing it out of me?”

“It’s somewhat more complex that that. I had to translate the magic I held into a form which you would be compatible with. I wouldn’t recommend it as something for most people to attempt, but then I am not most people.”

“I thought all you had was the magic you took from me though?”

“That is the impression that most people have, and it is true for a number of Advisors, so I would appreciate it if I could rely on your discretion in this regards. I do drain your magic, it’s an inevitable part of the bond, but I also have my own reserves.”

“And that’s not common for an Imperial Advisor?” 

“Not common, no. Not generally considered possible in fact, so, again, do not mention it to anyone if you would be so kind.”

“And you’re really okay with my sending the prisoners back to their homes?” I asked.

“My dear, I am delighted that you…wait, you sent them back?” I didn’t think Doxle could look happier but I was wrong. “Oh, I missed that part. Really?” He got a faraway look in his eyes for a moment before continuing. “Well now I am proud and impressed. We’ll have quite a bit too talk about once you return home tonight, but for now go, enjoy the repast which awaits you, and should your instructors come up with a new Evaluation to replace the battles against the Reaving Beasts, I trust you will treat them with all the respect they are due.”

Grammy had used that phrase in, I was pretty sure, the exact same manner as Doxle intended me to take it, where the respect due those who were abusing their positions of authority was nonexistent or even negative value.

That wasn’t important though. What was important was that I was free to leave and get some of the delicious food that I could smell was being wolfed down as we spoke.

I turned when I got to the door, despite the pangs in my stomach and gave a glance back at Doxle who still had a look of profound surprise and happiness on his face.

“Thanks,” I said and left unstated whether that was for the rejuvenating boost of energy, his acceptance of what I’d done, or the encouragement he’d provided. It was, of course for all of those things and more.

Doxle shook off his reverie for a moment, met my gaze, and simply nodded before adding a gesture for me to go and eat.

Which I immediately did.

“You look like you’re feeling better!” Narla said as I plopped down beside Mellina and opposite her. 

Our seating arrangement seemed to have settled on Ilyan and Yarrin flanking Narla with Mellina and I on the opposite side of the table from them. I wondered if we should recruit someone else for balanced – the empty seat on my left felt like a placeholder waiting to be filled, but I had to admit that there probably wasn’t anyone who would have a reason to join House Riverbond at this point.

“Doxle had a healing spell for you?” Ilyan asked.

“I am back in perfect working order!” I said, providing as little detail as I could on how I’d arrived at that condition.

I then dug into the mound of food I’d collected before sitting down, in the hope that no one would try to grill me for information while I was filling my face.

“We’ll need to get to the evaluations in about five minutes,” Yarrin said.

“Doxle suggested we arrive late,” I said through a mouthful of food.

“Which will get us into the trouble we need to be sent on live assignments,” Mellina said. “He’s not what I expected in an Advisor.”

“He’s not like any of the Advisor’s I’ve ever met,” Ilyan said.

“That’s because he’s different from the others,” Yarrin said and then raised his hands as though he’d said something inappropriate. “I’m not giving away anything secret, he’s pretty well known for being unusual.”

“How is he unusual?” I asked.

“When the other Advisors were first summoned, each one was summoned by and pledged to the Empire itself, but they each had sponsors. One of the Great Houses would pay for the expense of the summoning with the understanding that the Advisor would be assigned to aid them. At least for a while, they’ve all moved around since. To start with though, I think the Advisors were usually summoned because there were casters that the Great Houses needed to bring under control for political reasons or marriages or whatever,” Yarrin said.

“Doxle said he’s only ever had one pact bond at a time though,” I said. “Was he brought over for someone specific?”

“I don’t think anyone knows,” Yarrin said. “What I heard was that the Empress summoned him personally and that it was the last thing she did before the Calamity that froze her in Eternal Ice.”