Chapter 110 - 111
"And that’s how he was burned?"
As Anice nodded meekly, Lessa added, "Duke Daniel noticed the scar during breakfast and asked what had happened. We told him and he struck Edmun in front of everyone. He refused to heal the wound as punishment for—"
"Mind your mouth, girl," spat the boy in question. "You can’t say whatever you want just because we were being friendly with you. Don’t forget that you’re just a baron’s daughter, and that your father’s only a baron in name. He doesn’t even have his own territory, or at least doesn’t run it himself."
Calum gave a malicious nod, one of his cheeks red where a small hand had recently struck it. "We’ve suffered enough humiliation in your presence, so we’re no longer interested in keeping you company."
"If that’s the case, then I’ll bring them elsewhere so that we can stop bothering the two of you."
Alistar grabbed both girls by the hand and then turned to leave, though he hadn’t dragged them far when he sensed a small amount of magical energy approaching his back at a rapid pace. He immediately understood that one of the brothers had just launched some sort of spell at him, which surprised him greatly. Magic wasn’t something to be thrown around lightly, and it could easily take someone’s life under the right circumstances.
Pushing the girls aside, he turned around just in time to see a head-sized ball of fire heading straight toward his chest. Acting on instinct, he cloaked his right hand in swordsman’s aura and dispersed the fireball with a well-timed swat. His cousin’s spell had been poorly executed, the amalgamation of flames having barely kept itself together by the time that Alistar had targeted its most unstable area.
Both of his cousins stared at him in silent disbelief, their stupefied expressions making Alistar lose what little respect he had left for them. Not only had they clearly intended on leaving him with excessive injuries, they had truly believed that such a weak spell could have put him out of commission. They had both bragged countless times about how they were in the midst of training to become arcanites, and yet Calum’s offensive spell had hardly been different from the one that Alistar used to light candles.
"Are you crazy?" yelled Lessa, whose earlier timidity had been replaced with a rare look of rage. "What’s wrong with you? You could have killed him!"