Chapter 27: Clipped wings

A few hours later and the Clades had been assembled in the living room. Their guest had just arrived in the neighborhood and were soon to be upon them. As a last-minute reminder Camille was very insistent that the boys behaved themselves, less they make fools out of themselves.

More importantly, today's mission was damage control. They had to bargain for the lowest possible punishment. No small task, considering the crew that was at their doorstep.

The academic party that was assigned to give out the punishment consisted of three members - Mrs. Elizabeth Parker, Fia Silverwing, and most important of all, the Academy's headmaster Alaric Grayhound.

If this was a few days prior, Ciaran would have found them unamusing, not because they were lacking in any way, but just because he technically committed a crime, and as such he was expecting a few Warriors to come and detain him.

'They would have been on the stronger side too, considering who my family is.' The boy mused.

With the knowledge he held now, he was even more pleased with his escort. His parents, for better or worse had decided to tell him exactly what he was dealing with.

"A Mage, a Grand Mage, and an Archmage walked into a merchant's home. Sounds like the beginning of a joke from someone who lacks a sense of humor." The boy said.

"And they all come for a boy, yet to even reach the age of seven. At least one of them might be into children, and not even the old man. An even duller punch line." His dad added.

"Ok get it out of your system, they are here." Camille scalded them playfully.

When their guests arrived at the living room, two of them were smiling and only Fia was in a bad mood.

'A bad sign considering she seemed to be on his side. But we can work with this if Grandpa Alaric is amused. It won't be pretty though, he likes to play even more than dad, and that's without using his magic.'

As one of the most important men in the whole Empire, of course, the principal and his dad knew each other. That was public knowledge. What was less known, was that he and The Colonel were friends since they were young boys. And that after Ciaran's birth, their relationship had only gotten better. His family's connections were the reason the boy held no fear. This one in particular was going to come in handy today.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Clades, today I was assigned the duty of delivering punishment for the actions of your son, young Ciaran Clades. Please note that the final judgment was shared between the Dean of the Academy and the Emireal Counsel. Here is the Imperial Notice signed by his royal Majesty himself." Said Mrs. Elizabeth Parker.

The Clades all frowned. This was a horrible beginning. First, the situation was escalated to the Imperial Counsel, meaning Ciaran was treated like a criminal, not like a bad student. Second even tho the headmaster was present, the one responsible for the punishment was Elizabeth Parker, and she held a grudge against the boy.

The good news was that it was a joint punishment, so at least that ruled out prison. And that, she was accompanied by two other teachers, not soldiers or guards. The most calming fact of all, however, was that she still looked like an old woman, meaning that the Empire considered the boy to be in the dark.

"Let's get straight to business then Mrs. Parker. Tell me what will my son's punishment be?" Camille asked and removed her dampener, prompting the staff and Liam to do the same.

They might be against Calamities, but right now Liam was worth almost as much as a Magus. They couldn't fight back, and even if they did, victory in the home of Clades would be challenging at best.

Elizabeth was startled. She always believed that Camille was the rational one. Coming to do her son harm and expecting a calm reaction from his mother was a big mistake. She was no noble, her reputation mean nothing if her boys would suffer.

"There would be no need for that Mrs. Clades. Let's be civil now, lest we make Rony's situation even worse." The headmaster pleaded.

Now, this irritated Elizabeth far more than the hostile reception she had reserved.

'This old swindler, he was biased towards the boy since the very beginning.' She thought.

"The minimal amount of punishment must be administered I am afraid, and you will not like it." He continued.

"Am I being expelled? Or let me guess, no access to the Library till Year three."

The old man looked at him amused. "Close."

"In your antics, you have shown that your greatest desire was to reach level two and start your economic studies. Commendable, if not so misguided. As such, you will be out of the competition to climb the Library until your Fourth Year."

When they heard that, Ciaran's frown worsened, while his parents showed a hint of a smile.

"The harsher part of the punishment is yet to be announced. It came to the Consul's observation that the boy had too many resources provided to him as a member of the Clades Family. As such, until he graduates, he is stripped of his family name, forbidden to make contact with its members."

"Yeah, that will not pass. If theConcel wants to take my son away from me, maybe I will have to make a few calls. And don't you worry Alaric, most of them will not be domestic." Liam said before his wife tried to murder their guests.

Most people thought she was the sensible partner in their relationship. Most people hadn't seen her skin a Barron for looking at one of her boys funny and dismembering a Duchess for calling the other a gold-digging orphan.

Liam knew he had less than a minute to de-escalate the situation before knives were drawn and magic started flying.

"I am sorry to tell you Liam, but the verdict has been passed. However, that is it. No more. And don't you worry; Ciaran would live in an Academy-owned dormitory. As for the rule of not seeing each other, no one actually believes you would follow that rule, not fully at least."

"As long as he doesn't get access to your wealth or any help from any of your family members or employees, then no rules are broken. Mrs. Clades I understand your anger but believe me when I tell you the alternative is worse." The old man said.

"They wanted to hang the boy. He shows a little bit of creative thinking and they want him gone." Fia grumbled.

"Don't worry kid. You will not get any access to the Library for four years, but in Year Three there is a forest scouting course, not the regular kind, the elite kind. It's not available to students usually, invite only. It is thought by me and I am inviting you now. I will teach you some cool stuff." She told him.

Fia didn't give a damn about the Clades, nor about the Council. She saw a potential Apprentice and was going to cultivate him into a Mage, whether her old bat of a friend liked it or not.

"Can I get a few private lessons before that, you know between friends?" He asked and winked. His fear of her had gone a long time ago.

"No, her absence in your life was one of the coleuses in the agreement," Elizabeth said coldly.

"So I am to continue being in your class, and you will still be my teacher, even though you clearly dislike me?"

"No, more accurately because I so clearly dislike you. I am one of the few teachers the Clades have no influence on. Neither positive nor negative, I will judge you objectively. And Ciaran, I dislike your disobedience, but I don't dislike you in general. I will not be unfair to you if that is your concern."

The Clades wanted to fight this but the one thing holding them back was the damn seal on the cursed document. It was one thing to protest and fight in court with a few power-hungry old men. Another to defy the Emperor. That was pure suicide, and there were far less painful ways to die.

"Can we at least spend the rest of the day together? Or are you going to drag our son away like a criminal?" Camille asked, her hands itching.

The principal was about to respond when Elizabeth shook her head.

"As Alaric already said, we won't be following the order strictly anyway, no harm done in giving you one last day with the boy." She said.

"Your 'I am not mad just disappointed' face truly makes it hard to gate you, you know," Ciaran said, out of the blue.

"Don't be mad at her mom, she wants to sound mean, so I don't feel like I am getting away with my actions. In fact, if I had to guess, she hates this more than Miss Fia does. My teacher is no home-wrecker and would not rip a kid from his home if she can help it."

"Hell, if I had to guess she demanded I be put in charge of toilet duty until my stay in the Academy was over. Probably didn't even want to restrict my access to the Library. How close am I to the truth, Liza?"

"Missed it by a mile kid. Also, I don't think you know what the phrase 'home wrecker' means." Fia said and shook her head.

The old headmaster just smiled.

As for the woman in question, she just deadpanned and gave him a lecture on how he should be more respectful of his elders. She hated the fact he nailed his assessment of her.

As for the parents, they were reluctantly watching this from the side.

His dad wanted to tease his teacher too, and his mother wanted to ask her to take care of her kid. Sadly, she couldn't bring herself to say it out loud. To admit to herself that one of her babies was not going to be around starting tomorrow.