Fists of Justice (Schooled in Magic #12)

“I feel like a ghost,” Emily muttered. “I’ll get better.”

Frieda dressed quickly, then tied her hair into a pair of pigtails. “How do I look?”

Emily examined her, critically. “Ready to go,” she said, grabbing her shoes. “Shall we?”

She could hear the bell tolling as she walked down the stairs and into the living room. Sienna, Karan and Marian waited for her, all wearing the same black robes. Sienna’s face was hidden behind a black veil that made her look sinister, while both of Casper’s sisters were bareheaded. They’d left their hair completely untied.

“Very good,” Sienna said, after a quick inspection. “Come.”

The bell tolled louder as they made their way to the door. It hung above the porch, sounding again and again…Emily resisted the urge to cover her ears as she walked underneath the bell. No one was touching it, she saw. Sienna must have charmed the bell to sound constantly.

Outside, a small crowd had already gathered. They were a diverse collection: guildmasters, priests, sorcerers and even commoners. Most of them wore black, although only a handful wore formal robes. The coffin itself stood at the center of the road, with General Pollack, Caleb and Croce standing behind it. Emily tried to catch Caleb’s eye, but he was staring at the coffin. Perhaps he hadn’t really grasped that his brother was dead until the funeral had begun.

Sienna stepped forward. Silence fell.

“My son fell in battle,” she said. Her voice echoed on the air. “Today, we lay him to rest.”

She lifted a hand, pointing at the coffin. Emily felt the spell a moment before the coffin rose into the air, then started to glide down the street. Frieda pulled her into position beside the coffin as they walked beside, Sienna and her husband taking the lead. The streets were lined with people, all present to bid Casper farewell. Emily couldn’t help wondering how many of them were there because they’d known Casper, and how many of them had come just to be seen. Whatever he’d been in life, in death Casper had become the city’s favorite son.

The crowd was silent as the coffin went past them. Emily couldn’t hear anything, even a cough. She reached out with her senses, picking up the edges of a powerful silencing spell. It was an impressive piece of work, blanketing the coffin and surrounding crowds. She wasn’t sure she could have cast anything like it herself. Sienna was a very skilled magician.

No wonder Casper was so determined to prove himself, she thought. He wanted to impress both of his parents.

She glanced at Caleb. His head was bowed. What little she could see of his face was somber. Casper had been his brother, for better or worse. She knew the two boys hadn’t been close, but still…they were family. No, they’d been family. They wouldn’t see each other again. Unless, of course, there really was life after death…

The Temple of War rose up in front of them, standing amidst the other temples. It was a massive building, made from white stone and covered in hundreds of statues. There were men – all men – holding weapons, ranging from clubs and swords to crossbows and even muskets. The latter statues looked new, she thought. They would have to be. There hadn’t been any guns on the Nameless World until she’d introduced them.

She followed the coffin into the temple, careful to keep an eye on Karan. When the younger girl stepped to the side, Emily walked after her. Frieda moved up beside her, touching Emily’s hand lightly, as Caleb walked to the other side. General Pollack and Sienna followed the coffin into the exact center of the building, moving to each side as the coffin drifted down onto a stone altar. Emily glanced around, taking in the decorations. The interior of the temple was covered in carvings, each one showing a single man standing against overwhelming odds. Most showed humans or orcs as the enemy, but one showed a single amorphous creature and another showed no enemy at all. And yet, the Old Script written around the carving suggested there should be something there…

Silence fell. A single man, wearing a golden suit of armor, clanked his way to the coffin and turned to face the crowd. He was the priest, she realized. Every square inch of him was covered in armor, save for his dark face. His voice, when he spoke, was so full of gravitas that Emily found herself paying close attention. There was no magic in his words. Merely…presence.

“A man who goes to war goes to prove himself,” he rumbled. “He may stand firm against the enemies of all…or he may break and run. He may prove himself a man or he may run like a woman. War…proves him.”

Emily concealed her amusement. She didn’t know anyone who would dare suggest Lady Barb or Sienna hadn’t proven themselves in war. Hell, she’d been in the war too. But she understood what the priest meant. Sergeant Harkin had said much the same, when she’d been pushed into his class. War was the ultimate expression of masculinity, he’d said. A woman who wanted to succeed had to act like a man.

And there are very few female non-magicians who fight in wars, she recalled. Lady Barb had made no bones about that, either. Even a trained woman can be dangerously outmatched if she meets a skilled opponent.

“Casper of House Waterfall went to war,” the priest continued. “And while he fell, he fell in battle. He fell in honorable combat. He did not run. He did not hide. He stood up to the enemy and died in glorious battle.”

Emily shivered, fighting down a flicker of anger. It hadn’t been glorious. She’d had half a plan, a plan that had threatened to go off the rails even before they’d discovered the necromancer’s secret. She knew she’d been scared, when she walked into Heart’s Eye. Casper, she was sure, had felt scared too.

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