Behind Dwayne, the Club erupted in protests.

  “Of course, he does!”

  “Who the hell are you?”

  “Let me go!” Torben tried to free himself from Keith and Chloe’s grasp. “I’ll show him worthy.”

  That was heartening. “No, stay back,” said Dwayne. “I’ll handle this.”

  Magdala caught his hand. “You don’t have to.”

  “Just like you didn’t have to chase Huan?” Dwayne squeezed her hand. “I’ll be fine.”

  Letting go, he joined Colin in Sanford’s courtyard, the rest of the Club spilling in after him despite his order, Torben, Chloe, and Magdala taking up positions behind him. Standing proud at the head of the sneering, jeering mob, Colin crossed his arms, apparently certain of his victory.

  Holding in a wince, Dwayne brought himself up to his full height. “What did you expect, Mr. Fletcher? A speech?”

  “What we expect, young Kalan,” said Colin, “is an explanation. Why should a Wesen savage like you take our Master’s Examination?”

  Behind him, the mob echoed the question.

  “Yeah, why should we?”

  “Go back to where you came from!”

  Dwayne waited until the furor died down before asking, “Why not?”

  “Are you really answering a question with another question?” Colin rolled his eyes. “That’s for the feeble-minded.”

  “I’ll concede that,” because it was a good point, “but I will pick at your phrasing. It’s not just ‘your’ Master’s Examination. It’s the Qe Master’s Examination.”

  “There’s no difference.”

  “Yes, there is. Let me try this.” Dwayne put both hands behind his back and began to pace. “I’ll describe someone then let you decide they should take the Examination. This person has, every day, for years, traveled on the winds, delivered hundreds messages in this fair city, carried their friends and family’s precious packages hundreds of prinwirs all around the queendom. You’re not feeble-minded, Mr. Fletcher, so give me a straight answer: are they or are they not a Qe mage?”

  Colin frowned. “You just described a windsong. Of course they are.”

  “What if I add just one more detail?” Dwayne walked alongside Colin, addressing him while keeping both eyes on the mob. “That were born in Vanuria.”

  “Then they’re Vanurian,” spat Colin.

  “But still Qe.”

  This caused a murmur in the mob, more than a few of whom had non-Souran heritage.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “I’ve been studying for it.” Dwayne turned to Colin. “The Qe Master’s Examination, I mean. To pass, I’ll have to answer many questions about magical theory as well as demonstrate my magical proficiency, but nowhere in the study materials does it ask me to prove I’m Souran. Is that because when your well is dry, when your boat is at sea, or when you have message waiting what you need isn’t a Souran mage, but a Qe mage?”

  Scowling, Colin pulled back. “Can you even pass the Exam? Weren’t you a slave not too long ago?”

  “I thought we weren’t to answer questions with questions.” As some in the mob chuckled, Dwayne waited for the anger work its way up Colin’s face before replying, “If I study hard enough, I’ll pass. You know what? You can help me. Ask me anything.”

  Colin’s eyes went wide. “What?”

  “You heard me.” Dwayne saw Colin’s shock mirrored on Magdala’s face, which probably meant that he was making a mistake, but he couldn’t back down, not now. “You there.” He pointed to a mage whose shawl jangled with icicles. “Ask me a question.”

  She blinked. “Oh, uh, what are the basic spells used in dousing?”

  “Qeakunutgrenke for the search. Qechinutsuddum for the pull. Easy. Too easy. You.” Dwayne picked out a man in an ordinary suit. “Ask me a question.”

  The man shook his head. “I’m not Qe.”

  “But you hire them, right?” Dwayne patted his chest. “You’ve hired me. What’s your task?”

  “Well,” the man raised his chin, “how would you find my wedding ring in a haystack?”

  “You’re being hypothetical, right? Because not even magic would save you from your spouse.” The resulting laughter gave Dwayne time to come up with a response. “Fast or clean?”

  “Clean.” The man chuckled. “My wife would kill us both otherwise.”

  Meaning brute force was out. It was too bad Ri magic was too since metal didn’t burn and hay did, but if he could target only the straw, then he could…

  “Cast qeiktendellaut on the straw, which would leave the ring behind.”

  The man’s mouth fell open. “You can do that?”

  Assumming Dwayne didn’t seize up mid-cast. “Yes.”

  “No, you can’t,” said Colin. “You can’t just target only the straw.”

  “Umm…yes, you can?” His sister emerged from the mass of the Club. “While doing it that way would take an enormous amount of focus and effort, it would work.”

  “You stay out of this!” Colin faced the mob and flung a finger at Dwayne. “He is a Wesen slave that just happened to get bought by a lonely, heirless noble, and now he wants to take the Qe Master’s Examination and become one of the most powerful mages in the queendom. Has he done the work? Has he shown unparalleled skill? No, he hasn’t. He’s just been lucky.”

  Dwayne’s hands, still behind his back, curled into fists. Colin wasn’t wrong.

  “But maybe we’re missing something.” Colin turned to back to Dwayne. “Maybe his lineage is worth all this.”

  Dwayne stared. “What are you talking about?”

  “Behind you stand Magdala Gallus, Francesca Lucchesi, and Chloe Gordon, all scions of Sage-producing lineages. Can you make that claim? That back in your village your father raised mountains or your mother split the seas?” Colin smirked. “No, of course not. So what do you really have to offer?”

  Rage licked at Dwayne, begging him to call on it and show Colin and this mob what he could do, but that would doom him and, more than likely, kill Colin.

  Colin turned back to mob. “It looks like you don’t have an answer. So I think we-”

  “I can’t remember my parents,” muttered Dwayne.

  “What?”

  Dwayne raised his voice, addressing the mob. “I can’t remember my parents, so I can’t say what they were capable of, but I do remember facing down a dragon, clawing my way out of Yumma, and holding the line against a horde of Vanurian Puppets. I admit,” he turned to the Club, “I haven’t done anything impressive since I got here - I’ve had a Royal Sorcerer to find, classes to attend, an office to run - but next week, you all will see something spectacular: me getting top marks on the Qe Master’s Examination.”

  “You cannot be serious,” said Colin.

  Dwayne grinned at him. “Watch me.”