Two

Ninos wondered idly what they would do if he said no, but he banished the stray thought and pulled the door open wider. "Of course, come in, please. I assume this is about Professor Brandor?" He motioned them to sit, though there wasn't really much space for it, as the room was intended for a student, not social gatherings.

One of them sat at his desk chair, leaving Ninos the sofa. One remained by the door, hands folded in front of him, arms straight. The last prowled around the room, poking and prodding at his plants especially, which irritated him beyond measure.

"How can I help you?"

"You were under Professor Brandor's tutelage for quite some time, yes? The Headmaster said you've had him as an advisor longer than anyone."

"I think I'm his only student graduating this year, so I suppose, but I'm hardly the one person he's tutored through the entirety of their academic career. He keeps—" He pinched his eyes shut and took a deep breath. "Kept in touch with many of them. I often helped with his correspondence, did other things around his office, to earn extra income."

The man at the desk nodded, jotting things down in his little notebook. "Where were you last night and this morning, say between the hours of twenty-four to three?"

"Asleep, though I didn't actually crawl into bed until just after twenty-four. I was in the woods working on my project, and got lost briefly, so I was late getting back. Perils of working late at night, but part of my final project is night-blooming, so I don't have a choice. I signed in with the back gate."

The guard nodded. "Did you see or hear anything strange when you got back last night? Did you see anyone else?"

"No, I didn't. Not even shouting or…uh, other activities, which isn't unusual. It was quiet. But I was also completely exhausted. I'm not sure I would have noticed if someone ran by me naked, to be honest."

"Have any students you're aware of complained a great deal about Professor Brandor?"

"Not more than usual. Everyone who gets bad grades tends to complain about whichever professor did the grading. No one stood out, not to me. Do you think a student killed him?"

"We're investigating all possibilities at this time," the guard said, which obviously, they weren't going to go blabbing about their investigation to a random student, especially one who might be a suspect. Part of him bristled at the nerve of anyone thinking he could ever hurt Brandor, but the more reasonable part of him understood they had to ask everyone.

"Tell me about your day, from when you woke up until you were sent back to your room after the Headmaster's announcement."

Ninos blinked. "Uh. It was just like any ordinary day. I had dinner with Brandor the night before, left his house at seven, hiked out to my project in the woods from there, and stayed out way, way too late. I was exhausted by the time I got back here, but I actually managed to stay awake just long enough when I got back to shower. Woke up late, just barely missed breakfast. Hurried to my morning class with Professor Sela, and after that I went to the library until my afternoon class with Professor Brandor. About thirty minutes before it was to start, Kina found me in the library and told me that his office hours and classes had been canceled for the week. We went into town for lunch at Tally's, stopped for ice cream on our way back, and arrived just in time for the announcement. I came here to my room and haven't left it since."

"You were with Professor Brandor the night he died?" The man's frown deepened.

"Yes, from about five until seven, maybe slightly after, I remember. I signed back into school briefly to drop off my things, signed out again at the back gate, and went into the woods. I didn't—" He pinched his eyes shut, hands clenching. "I didn't know that was the last time I'd ever see him. We talked about graduation, he kept saying I shouldn't go straight home, but should do some travelling first, see the world like I'd never been able to being shut away at school my whole life." He forced his eyes open. "Nothing seemed strange or out of place. It was a completely normal night. We planned to have breakfast the morning of graduation."

"I see. Thank you, that clarifies many things."

Ninos was a bit surprised they didn't arrest him on the spot, as surely it made him super suspicious to be the last one to see Brandor alive? But the man asking questions said nothing, only shared looks with the others.

The guard at the desk made more of his stupid little notes. Biting his tongue against questions they wouldn't answer, he unclenched his hands from the fabric of his pants and twined his fingers together.

It was the prowling guards who spoke next. "All these plants are poisonous. Did you know that?"

"Poison is a matter of perspective and dosage," Ninos replied. He was a sylvan mage days from graduating, of course he knew what they all were and what they could do. "That one you're standing by is spiderwart. A measured pinch, about an eighth of a dip, will ease pain. A quarter dip will make your average adult lethargic and dulled to pain sufficiently for otherwise painful procedures, like the removal of teeth. A half dip will kill most adults and is frequently used to bring final rest to those who would otherwise die slowly and painfully from illness or infection. Is that poison?

"That one in the corner, with the long red and pink leaves hanging nearly to the ground, is belle of the ball. A measured pinch will soothe aching muscles, a quarter dip will ease the more severe pains of recovery from serious injury, like broken legs or torn muscles. Is that poison?

"I can list off the medicinal and other practical uses of every plant in this room. Yes, all of them can cause harm, but so can water if it's hot enough or deep enough, but nobody calls water poison. Students often come to harm, and on incredibly rare occasion die, from drinking too much tea in too short a span, because it contains components that can be deadly in too high a dose. Yet nobody calls tea poison."

The man at the desk smiled, looking at the other man, who was bristling, with amusement. "Fair enough. It wasn't poison that killed Brandor anyway."

"But—"

"Enough," the man at the desk said sharply. "Thank you for being so cooperative and forthcoming, Master Ninos. Be assured that our investigation should not impede your graduation or familiar conjuring. At worst, it might be delayed a few days. My impression is that you and Professor Brandor were unusually close, even for such a long student-teacher relationship."

"He was like a father to me," Ninos said, voice cracking slightly. "I haven't seen my own parents in years, and he knew me better than they do."

"I'm sorry for your loss. We will keep you apprised of matters as we're able. Be well, as much as you can, anyway."

"Thank you," Ninos said, and was relieved when the man waved him to remain sitting as they departed.

The silence in the aftermath was painfully loud. How long were they going to be confined to their rooms? This was absolute agony. There was no way they just expected everyone to sit in their rooms all day; people would start to go mad from boredom and start doing stupid things.

A soft, familiar knock came at his door.

Stupid things like leave their room to come see him.

Sighing, Ninos opened the door, because Kina would just keep knocking and knocking until he gave in, and he was not in the mood for some stupid, pointless standoff. "You aren't supposed to be here," he said by way of greeting.

Kina pushed by him into his room and promptly threw himself across the sofa where Ninos had just been sitting.

"You're supposed to be in your room."

"I was bored, and I wanted to see if those stupid peace guards had asked you a million nosy questions too."

"Stupid? They seemed pretty inoffensive as peace guards go, and they are trying to solve a murder. They asked a lot about my plants."

Kina laughed. "Because you're surrounded by five hundred ways to kill people? Yeah, I'd ask too. But rumor is—"

"How could you possibly know the rumors when we've all been confined to our rooms precisely to prevent that?"

"Please," Kina said with a scoff. "You're the only one staying in your room."

"Because a man I saw as a second father is dead!" Ninos snarled. "How can you sit there being so cavalier? He was your advisor too! You were going to see him when this happened, or are you forgetting that because gods forbid you be bored for a couple of days?"

A heavy silence fell, and Ninos stormed off to his bedchamber and slammed the door shut. Normally he liked how acerbic Kina could be, how flippant he was about so much of life, like nothing was ever too serious a matter to stop him. It was an admirable trait, in many ways, when Ninos had literally spent his whole life shaping himself to accommodate the needs of others. He wasn't sorry; he enjoyed his magic and all it offered, but sometimes he wondered how his life might have gone if someone had just once asked a small child what they wanted.

He got to enjoy about five minutes of peace before his bedroom opened. "I don't think you realize you were the only one he was nice to. He was a regular thorn apple to the rest of us."

"You like thorn apples," Ninos retorted.

"Not when they're grading my work. Come on, do you want to hear all my gossip or not?"

Ninos grumbled, but got up, because that was as close to an apology as he was getting. "Not really, no. I'd rather go back to sitting here alone in miserable silence than hear all the grisly speculations on how he died."

"Someone overheard the piss guards talking. Apparently, he was beaten up pretty badly, and someone used that stupid bust on his bookcase to—"

"Stop," Ninos said, voice cracking, tears filling his eyes. "I told you I didn't want to hear it, why are you always such a jerk? Go back to your room if you're just going to keep purposely hurting me. Why are you doing this?"

Kina's face clouded, but before he could speak, another knock came at the door. "Hide," Ninos hissed before striding over to the door. Once Kina was out of sight, he pulled it open —and stopped short to see Errok, the hall master. "Can I help you?"

"Headmaster wants to speak with you, I'm to escort you to him."

Ninos motioned him inside. "Let me get dressed."

"While you're in there changing," Errok drawled, "tell Kina to get back to his own room."

Laughing faintly, Ninos obeyed, and after a cranky Kina had departed, he and Errok headed off as well, his door locked and magically sealed once more, a bit of paranoia he'd taken up rapidly after so many horror stories of rooms being broken into and stuff stolen. He'd had enough of that in his younger years, no thank you.

The walk was long despite not actually being long at all, and the silence was miserable, but he didn't see any point in asking questions, no matter how many of them he had.

"Good luck," Errok said as they reached the Headmaster's office.

"Thanks," Ninos muttered in his wake, and knocked on the door. It was opened immediately, and he was ushered inside by Wintry's assistant, Anyo. There were countless rumors about their relationship—simply coworkers, friends, lovers, married—and normally Ninos was happy to look for clues and speculate privately, because it was harmless enough in his own head, but right then he barely nodded in thanks before Anyo left him and Wintry alone.

"Have a seat," Wintry said gruffly, motioning him to the little seating area by a bank of windows that overlooked the faculty garden. "How are you doing?"

"I'm surviving."

"I am sorry for your loss. I know how close you and Brandor were; he spoke of you like a son. That is why I brought you here. We've been going through his things, including his will, and he has left the entirety of his estate to you, minus a few personal belongings and some small bits of money going to a few friends."

"HE WHAT!" Ninos clapped his hands over his mouth, mortified. Dropping them, he said, "I apologize. Surprise is no excuse for shouting."

Wintry chuckled. "No need for that." His cat familiar jumped down from where she was draped over his shoulders and padded off to rub against Ninos's arm.

Smiling faintly, surprised but pleased by the gesture, Ninos pet her while his mind tossed and turned like laundry in a windstorm. When he trusted himself to speak, he asked, "Why would he leave me everything?"

"Like I said, he spoke of you like a father would a son. He didn't have many people in his life, and lost all his family, including wife and son, a long time ago. You were precious to him, so it makes sense he would leave everything to you. I've listed it all out here in detail," he set down a piece of paper, and then set a thick envelope beside it, "and this is all the paperwork. There is more you will have to sign in a few days when it's ready. But there is a house in Corlock, some significant money, and various possessions. I'm having everything brought here and will be going over it thoroughly for you to make certain nothing goes astray. What is already here on the premises I am having delivered to your rooms, but these are yours right now, as I did not want to let them out of my sight."

He held out a small box, and Ninos took it with a trembling hand. Opening it, he started crying at the contents: wedding rings, the one Brandor had never stopped wearing, and his wife's ring that he'd always worn around his neck. "Wouldn't he prefer t-to be b-buried with these?"

"He requested cremation, and his will was quite adamant about you receiving them. They're heirlooms after all."

"Yes," Ninos said quietly, tears running down his face. The rings had been in Brandor's family for six generations, from before his ancestors even immigrated to Renlo, where they'd lived in Corlock ever since. It had been a scandal, Brandor had told him, when he'd chosen to leave to be with his wife in her hometown and then later when he moved to take up permanently at the Academy. "Wait. Did you say a house ."

Wintry chuckled. "Yes, a house. Did he never tell you about it?"

"No, not really. I assumed when his sister died and her remaining family moved away, everything remaining in Corlock was sold. He never talked about it much, and obviously I wasn't going to push the matter, that would have been borderline cruel at best."

"One of the many reasons he liked you was your heart. The house was not sold, nor was the land it's on. Currently there is a groundskeeper maintaining everything, I will be in communication with him, letting him know all that has happened. Did you want to go see the house? You certainly have the funds for the journey now."

"I… I don't know. I was going to return home after graduation. I should probably still do that, since everyone is expecting me, but after that, yes, I might see the house, decide…"

Decide what he would do with it. What he'd do with himself now. Of course he still wanted to help his village, but an entire house and land? That wasn't the kind of gift to just throw away, especially since it only came to him out of tragedy.

Too much. It was all too much, and he didn't know what to do with it, and he still had to get through graduation and the conjuring and packing up and leaving a place that had been literally his entire world since he was a child. "I think… I think I need to go lie down."

"Of course. If you have any questions, you're free to come see me at any time. Staff have been notified you have free rein."

"Thank you, Headmaster. I'm sorry for your loss, I know you two were close friends. He should have left—"

"I have more than enough, and he left me some sentimental items. Houses, money, heirlooms… these things should be left to the young. There's no point in shuffling them around from old man to old man. Go on, get some rest. If you need to take a walk or anything later, you are free to do that as well. You have been thoroughly cleared by the peace guards."

He had? But he had no energy left for more words, so he only nodded, bid Wintry farewell and thank you again, and walked back to his room in a numb daze.

Inside his room, the first thing he saw were the boxes piled up next to his desk. Right, Wintry had said he was having things delivered. How had they gotten past his wards? But that was stupid, he'd probably sent along someone who could do that. He was only a sylvan mage, after all. He could set wards, but they were basic things. Real warding was a class of magic all its own, and one of the most difficult. His ward had been to hold back students looking to steal his notes or pour ink on his clothes. Not whatever advanced level caster had broken—and restored—his wards.

Ninos wished he was that powerful. Skill, he had, and would continue to acquire, but power was something you had or didn't, and he most definitely didn't.

The boxes stared at him, begging attention. There were perhaps ten of them, from large to small. What in the world could they hold? Anything academy related would be retained by the school. Clothes? He didn't have much use for them; Brandor had been significantly larger than him, though he supposed he could get some of them tailored to fit him. Maybe personal books and other stuff. The rest of his jewelry? He hadn't seen much of it, but he knew Brandor had extensive jewelry; he'd loved going to various parties and such around town.

Oh, gods, he was supposed to go to that engagement ball. His stomach churned at the idea. He just couldn't do it. There was no way he would be able to muster that kind of cheer and joy in the face of all this. But Kina would have no choice, and Ninos couldn't just abandon him…

Problem for later. Surely Kina would understand if he didn't want to go. He would have been a last-minute addition anyway, and he was pretty certain hosts hated that.

He stood there staring at the boxes. Part of him wanted to go through them, but really, he just wanted rest. He was tired of being conscious. It was all just too much.

So he kicked off his shoes, stripped off his clothes, and went to bed.