I pulled the dregs of mana within my core out, sending it through my head in a simple, almost unconscious loop. It was a weak bit of magic, effectively a strengthening spell not dissimilar to my Arcane body, but fragile and unstable. That, however, was a purposeful choice.

  After hours of reading and thinking and theorizing, I had realized that creating any real defense against mental magic was impossible. I didn't know enough, nor did I have the time to master any such tricks. Besides, stopping an Archmagus was about as feasible as plucking the moon from the sky.

  However, that same research had led me to a few realizations. Mind magic was a subtle thing, working best on unaware targets, and it used mana the same as any other kind of spellcraft. Therefore, the best strategy wasn't to stop it, but to sense it.

  The instant I had my still-unnamed spell in place, I felt something. The sensation was feather-soft, as though someone had brushed their fingers against the spell. I narrowed my eyes at the touch, taking a step away from the woman and towards the door.

  Then, strangely, the woman laughed.

  "A shield? No, not a shield. It's too weak for that. A..." she trailed off, then snapped her fingers. "A screen! Yes, that's what I'll call it. A mental screen. Quite the novel trick."

  The touch pulled away from my mind, and the woman stepped out from the balcony and into the light, still laughing under her breath. As she did so, additional lights blossomed around the small room, allowing me to finally get a good look at her.

  She was an older woman, around fifty if I didn't miss my mark, with a tall, slim build. Her curled blonde hair, shot through with gray, hung long and loose, and faint lines marked her face, though I couldn't tell if they came from age or smiling.

  Her attire was simple, consisting of layered robes of blue, and she wore a few rings on her fingers and bracelets around both wrists. Each piece looked flawless, but none of them struck me as particularly impressive. Moreover, not one of them had even a hint of mana.

  Even more strange, her mana signature felt strong, but not that strong. I didn't have a great sense for the liquid stages yet, but I wouldn't have placed her higher than a Pool, the second of the five. Maybe a Lake if I were generous, but nothing higher.

  Altogether, she struck me as a master of middling renown at most. Hardly what I'd expect from an Archmagus. She was also familiar in ways I couldn't quite put my finger on yet.

  "I feel I must apologize for the intrusion. Sensing emotions and broad intentions of others has become a habit," the woman said, inclining her head towards me. "But a rude one. I won't repeat it again."

  I wondered if she would have such manners had I not caught her red-handed, but there was no way of knowing and no point in asking. So, I accepted the apology and replied, "Not a problem. I don't believe we've met, though."

  The woman laughed. "No, but you know who I am."

  It wasn't a question, but still I nodded. "You're Archmagus Alexandria, the Winds of Dessolation. The current head of the Academy, the strongest wind mage alive, and the greatest master of mind magic in history."

  "And you are Vayne Sion, adopted son of a Duke and former student of the same Academy I now head. Now that we've gotten the obvious out of the way, why did you want to speak with me?" she asked, sitting in her lounge chair and resting her chin on one hand.

  "How did you—"

  "Know? Your brother was hardly subtle in his questions. I knew within ten minutes of your arrival that Flynn Sion, if no one else, wished to meet. It didn't take much thinking to assume that little show of yours was part of the same goal."

  Again, not really a question, but I felt the need to explain myself.

  "I wasn't sure how best to draw your eye. The quickest way seemed to be defeating as many of your students as possible."

  "And how did you know I would respond?"

  I paused for a few seconds before replying, "I didn't. But I knew Flynn had asked for special access to texts on mental magic, and I suspected you'd be aware that two Sions were in Volaris. Those, combined with causing a scene, might catch your attention. At least, that was my plan."

  "A clumsy scheme," Alexandria remarked. "Hardly a guarantee of anything."

  "I only had a few minutes to think it up. Truthfully, we had thought you'd be at the banquet."

  "I was, and I had planned to return to it. Unfortunately, I had other obligations to attend to and stepped out for a moment. Imagine my surprise when I found that Duke Sion's sons had decided to put on a show."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  She glanced at the balcony. "An informative one, too."

  I blinked. "I don't follow."

  Alexandria waved a hand. "The Academy teaches mages, not children. Too many of our students become inflexible, unable to adapt to changing circumstances and uncertain battles. Garrick Deepvale, the earth mage you fought, and Amelia managed it, but the rest? I'm hoping this serves as a reminder to them."

  Her eyes returned to me. "Which is the only reason I haven't seen fit to repay your 'lesson' with one of my own."

  Suddenly, a weight crashed into me, not some kind of mind magic but a palpable pressure that nearly drove me to the ground. I hunched, taking a few shallow breaths as I struggled not to fall over.

  I managed to remain upright, but it was a close thing. Slowly, I straightened, forcing myself to meet the Archmagus's eyes as I folded my arms behind my back.

  "All due respect, Lady Archmagus," I said, my voice coming out short and half-strangled. "But if you were going to do that, I doubt you would've plucked me from that field and brought me here. You could've crushed me with a single spell or simply banished me from the Academy grounds and been done with it."

  She stared at me, eyes lidded and cold as a winter night. Then, she let out something halfway between a sigh and a laugh, the pressure vanished even as her mood shifted.

  "Julian would be proud. He told me about you once, you know. Said you were, and I quote, 'crazy, but in the right way for a mage.'"

  "I'm not sure that is a compliment. Insanity is hardly a positive trait."

  "You'd be horrified by how often great advancements come from a place of desperate mania. Now, I have an idea why you wished to meet, but I'd like to hear them from you."

  Flynn would've danced around it, trying to befriend Alexandria with his charm and confidence before broaching the real topic. I didn't see much point in such tactics. I had wanted her attention, gotten it, and now the only thing to do was speak plainly.

  "I want to learn how to create a mind palace. I've spent weeks trying to decipher the process myself, but my research has hit a dead end. By my understanding, you're the only mage alive who can teach us. Or at least, the only one known to me."

  "And by us, you mean you and your brother."

  I paused, then shook my head. "There might be a third."

  "Vesper Ollais," the Archmagus said, and I nodded once.

  "And you thought the best way to earn my teachings was to beat a dozen of my students in a contest?"

  "As I said, it was the only plan I could think of on short notice. My honest hope was that we'd discover the secrets on our own without meeting with you."

  "Because you're afraid I'll root in your mind? Or because you're terrified I already have?"

  I didn't respond, instead focusing on the screen flowing around my mind, and her smile returned even wider.

  "Relax. I don't need to read minds in order to guess your thoughts. Ever since I told others of my abilities, they've all had the same fears. It's natural to ask yourself the question. So, have I? Are your actions today the ones you'd have always taken, or have I changed some fundamental aspect of who you are as a person?"

  Again, I didn't respond. Alexandria's intense stare broke. She laughed, waving a hand as she leaned back.

  "I assure you, I have no interest in mucking about with the mind of a teenage Aether mage. Your thoughts are your own, for what little assurance that's worth."

  I still didn't respond, and she seemed almost intrigued.

  "You still don't believe me. Then, I'll give you a simple lesson in mind magic. Consider it repaying you for my earlier intrusions into your thoughts."

  Alexandria waved a hand. "Imagine a stick, flexible and strong. Pull on it a little, and it will bend. But pull too hard or too far, and the stick strains. Eventually, it breaks. I can peer into the thoughts and emotions of others. I can create fleeting impulses. Speak honestly or lie. Act in haste or hesitate. Transient, weak workings that those with a strong will might resist. But true changes, the types you fear? Those are workings that require many hours of exacting work."

  I had read similar accounts about mind magic, but they had done little to assuage my worries. Still, I found myself believing her for several reasons, not the least of which was a question I had turned over since the idea of a compulsion first occurred to me.

  Why?

  What possible benefit could an Archmagus gain from affecting my mind like that? Moreover, why would she even notice me in the first place? I couldn't think of any motives that made sense, which led me to a more unpleasant conclusion.

  Someone else had done this to me.

  Before I could focus on that much longer, Alexandria had begun speaking again.

  "So, you wish to learn to create a mind palace?" Alexandria mused. "I've only shown a handful of mages the process so far, each of them older and more skilled than you. That leads me to ask a simple question. Why? Why should I invest my time in a little mage who thought himself too good for this school?"

  I wondered for a few seconds what Flynn might say or do in my shoes. He'd assured me he had plans, but I'd assumed Alexandria would confront both of us. Never had I thought she'd summon me and leave my adopted brother behind.

  Finally, I met her eyes and replied, "To see what happens."

  She raised an eyebrow but remained silent, and I continued, "My brother and I aren't going to stop here. We plan to continue growing, using what you have discovered to climb higher than any mage has ever dreamed. I don't know you, but I know how I feel about magic. I've spent every day of the past three years thinking about it, and that curiosity? The drive to learn more? It hasn't faded one bit."

  Still, she didn't speak, and I pressed on, "Master Julian called me crazy, and maybe I am. But I don't think I'm alone. I think the sort of mage to use herself to test undiscovered magics, to gamble her sanity, is cut from the same cloth."

  I gestured towards myself, finding that my words came from a more sincere place than I had intended. "Magic has come far over the centuries, but not far enough. Help us see what comes next."

  Alexandria examined me, her face unreadable. Silence stretched between us, and I felt a trickle of sweat run down my spine. Finally, she laughed.

  "My son was right. You are the type of insane to make for a great mage. That, or die a remarkably early death. Still. All but insulting me by embarrassing my students, and then implying I share in your madness to try to extract training from me? The sheer audacity of it all!"

  Alexandria leaned back in her seat, shaking her head as her laughter died down. As she did, I grasped what she had said. Son? Did that mean—

  The Archmagus had begun speaking again, even as I turned over uneasy possibilities in my thoughts.

  "Training three young mages in creating a mind palace is hardly a small request, child. As I've said, I have only passed down the secrets to a select few, and this isn't out of some selfish desire to hoard power. Most aren't cut from the right cloth to handle it."

  "I am," I remarked without pause.

  "Everyone thinks that until they aren't." Alexandria tapped her fingers on the armrest of her seat. "But we're getting ahead of ourselves. If I am to train you, there must be a trade in turn."

  I felt a shiver run down my spine, excitement tracing its way through me as I replied, "I can speak with my brother and—"

  "I do not need the Sion family secrets. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they're invaluable, but I also know your father would never allow the real treasures to slip into my fingers. No, I want something much simpler."

  Alexandria leaned forward, her eyes locked onto mine. "You will do me a favor."

  My thoughts tumbled to a halt. "A...favor?"

  "Yes. A simple, unbounded favor of my choosing at the time of my choosing. Magically reinforced by an oath upon your core, of course."

  "What favor is that?"

  Alexandria's smile returned, wider than ever. "One that I will keep to myself for now."

  After saying that, she leaned back in her chair, gesturing towards me with one hand. "So, do we have an accord?"

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