I ignored her, leaning toward Sera to whisper. “We need to leave as soon as this speech is over.”
Sera blinked at me. “What, why?”
“Message indicated that we are in significant danger.”
“Like, right now? What sort of danger?”
“Don’t know, but it sounded bad. Like, we can’t deal with it bad. We need to get the others and go.”
Someone at a table nearby told us to be quiet. We ignored them.
“Okay, sure. I’ll tell Marissa.” She leaned over to whisper to Marissa.
“…You should all be proud to have conquered your first year, but the greater challenges await…” the chancellor continued.
I was next to Patrick, so I relayed the message to him.
“What? Really? It was just getting good! And I haven’t, uh, had a chance to dance with anyone yet…”
“Patrick.” I narrowed my eyes, trying to look as serious as possible. “We. Are. Leaving.”
He nodded. “Got it. At least you finally got to see Cecily, eh?”
I didn’t have a response to that, so I just quieted to listen to the end of the speech.
“For everyone here that supported our graduating class — parents, professors, and our sponsors — I’d like to give you our sincerest thanks. You’ve helped ensure that our graduates will be the shield that protects this country for generations to come.”
“It’s funny that you talk about protecting your country,” came a voice from the student section. “When you stand with the very people who sold it out.”
The voice was loud enough that I could hear it clearly, likely amplified by magic like the chancellor’s own speech.
I didn’t see the speaker until she stepped out from the tables and onto the floor in the center of the room, facing the chancellor.
The woman with long purple hair.
I had a very bad feeling about where this was going.
“Change of plans. Leaving immediately. Everyone grab onto me.” I said it just loud enough that the people at my table to could hear.
And apparently the table behind us, because they complained about the noise again.
I stuck my hand toward the center of the table.
Cecily grabbed my hand immediately. The others leaned forward a moment later, including Vanniv.
The chancellor turned toward the woman. “Who are you, and what are you talking about, young lady?”
“Young.” The purple-haired woman laughed. “That’s a faulty assumption, but nowhere near as large of a mistake as the ones that led you to this day. You should ask the councilors next to you about the deal that they just made.”
An older woman — the owner of the estate, Archduchess Lanoy, I realized — stepped forward next to Chancellor Wallace. “You will be silent, young lady. How dare you speak to us this way? The chancellor was in the middle of a—”
The purple-haired woman waved a hand.
Archduchess Lanoy collapsed unceremoniously to the floor.
At the distance, I couldn’t see what had happened. I just heard the screams.
I didn’t wait a moment longer. “Return.”
The circlet on my head flashed.
Nothing else happened.
“Anti-teleport runes,” Cecily said, releasing her grip. “They’re all over the walls.”
Resh, I saw those earlier.
And so did the purple-haired woman.
“What have you done?” A man’s voice demanded.
I couldn’t see him over the crowd of people that were starting to stand up.
My friends let go of me, turning to move. Sera began to mutter the words of a spell.
There was a crash, followed by a burst of light, then more screaming.
“Now,” came the purple-haired woman’s voice again, “You will all sit still and be silent.”
I felt the weight of her words slam down on my mind like a hammer.
I shuddered. Grips on my arm tightened.
All around me, hundreds of panicked students were sitting down.
Once everyone was seated, it was easier to see what had happened.
The purple-haired woman was standing in the center of the room.
She was the only one still standing in that area.
Most of the others, including Chancellor Wallace, were lying flat on the ground. I couldn’t see clearly, but they looked to be covered with burns.
Councilor Lanoy was sitting, rather than lying on the floor, and he was visibly trembling with effort. I remembered that he had been powerful — he was one of the people who had confronted Keras, along with my mother.
But, as much as he was clearly struggling, he failed to force himself to stand.
There were a handful of others who were still seated on the central stage, rather than lying prone.
With a moment of shock, I realized that one of them was Lord Teft.
I need to move.
I started to convert my mana into mental mana, cycling it to try to rid my body of the spell’s effect. But this was powerful mind magic. It was probably a hair weaker than what Saffron had hit me with, but it wasn’t just working on one person — it had hit everyone in the room. Thousands of people.
And even slightly weaker than Saffron’s magic was still far stronger than anything I could manage.
I’d stored the Ring of Derek Controlling in the Jaden Box. If I could have reached it, I might have been able to use it to free myself. Unfortunately, the purple-haired woman’s command was stricter than what Saffron had used, and it prevented me from moving at all. I couldn’t reach for the box or speak to retrieve items.
The purple-haired woman walked over to the podium where Chancellor Wallace had once stood, kicked Chancellor Wallace’s body off the stage, and leaned forward.
“That’s better.” She grinned brightly.
It was hard to tell from a distance, but it looked almost like she had fangs.
“I’d like to welcome the final graduating class of Lorian Heights University.” She clapped her hands together. “Isn’t that exciting? To be one of the very last?” She sighed dramatically. “I suppose it would be more exciting if you had a few minutes left to celebrate. But alas, that’s not to be.”
One of the people on the stage — an older man in a military uniform — managed to struggle to his feet. “You will cease this at once.”
The purple-haired woman turned. “My, that was quick. You’re a strong one, for a human. Be a wise man as well and sit down, will you?”
The older man took a step forward. “You will not intimidate me, young lady. I’ve faced worse—”
“I sincerely doubt that.” The woman waved a hand again.
The older man dropped to his knees, clutching his throat.
The purple-haired woman turned back to the podium. “Now, where was I? Ah, yes. I’d like you all to understand that this is not your fault. Referring to the students, that is. This is their fault.” She pointed a hand backward, toward the people struggling on the stage. “For compromising everything this nation once stood for.”
I glanced toward the guest section. There were a handful of people who looked like they were beginning to break free from the spell and whisper to one another, but they weren’t standing. They probably didn’t want to draw this woman’s attention.
“You see,” the woman continued, “I don’t get out much. Out of the spire, that is. And when I do? It’s usually because someone did something terribly wrong. A few noblemen who need to be taught a lesson in Edria. A handful of conspirators working to research forbidden magic. The nation of Lavia, preparing to invade a spire. That sort of thing.”