Epilogue (Book 1)

Finally, it was time to go.

Alastair whistled for his steamer trunk, and the two set out together into the warm spring day. The students had already left for the summer, and he’d had a lazy morning lingering over breakfast, talking with the faculty and having one last gentle amble through the Natural Gardens.

“I thought I’d find you out here,” a sweet voice said from behind a row of overgrown hedges.

“Amaryllis… I—”

“Wasn’t even going to say goodbye?”

“Of course I was,” Alastair said, defensive. “I just…”

“Didn’t know how. I know. I’ve been dreading this myself.”

“I have to go, you know.”

“Do you?”

“Ozelius is back. This is his school. We all knew this was temporary.”

Amaryllis bit her lip. “I can’t go with you. To Glimmerglass. You know that, right?”

Alastair nodded. “I could never expect you to. Emberstone, right? This is the dream for someone with ambitions like yours. You’re doing a great job with the students and—hey! I heard Robyn Helix will be joining you next year!”

Amaryllis smiled. “Along with a few other Glimmerglass students. Sorry to take such bright minds.”

“They deserve to be here, getting the best education they could from you.”

Amaryllis blushed. “I’m going to miss you.”

“And I, you.”

She stepped closer. Alastair’s heart skipped a beat. She leaned in and gave him a gentle peck on the cheek. “Don’t change a thing.”

“Goodbye, Ms. Shadow.”

“Goodbye, Headmaster.”

* * *

At the castle gate was an unexpected figure.

“Sebastian?”

He was rail-thin and leaning on a cane, but he was up. The bandages were off his head, and in its place he wore a black cloth patch over one eye.

“I know,” he said, smiling wryly. “I’m alive. Didn’t get much Alchemy done while I was in the infirmary, though. A waste. I had so much time.”

“Did you—”

“Yeah, I lost an eye. They say I was lucky that was the worst of it. The curse came close to my brain. I could have been left a walking zombie, or worse.”

He said all this matter-of-factly, as if it didn’t affect him at all.

“Well,” Alastair said, not sure how to respond, “I’m glad you’re alright. And if you need anything—”

“I’m fine. Now that I’m up and about, I should go visit Mom. She’s got to be worried sick. Well, sicker. I just wanted to see you off. Let you know I didn’t die, is all.”

“Good.” Alastair nodded once. “I see that.”

They stood in silence for a while. Sebastian fiddled with his eyepatch.

“You know,” he said finally, “I was thinking. Now that I’ve got some time off, I think I should go to rescue old Montgomery.”

Alastair gaped at him. “What?”

“The ice will be melted now. It’s summer—even there. No classes. Gods know what’ll become of my Alchemy students next year. I know no one was able to teach the end of my courses. Fall’s going to be busy getting them caught up. But I have time now.”

“Sebastian, you almost died. You can barely walk.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“I’m walking much better than I did a week ago,” he said defensively.

“A week ago when you couldn’t walk at all because you were in a coma?”

“Exactly. A huge improvement. And I’ll give it a few weeks. Get my strength up.”

“No,” Alastair said. “I’m sorry, but I can’t allow it.”

Sebastian smirked. “Well lucky for me, you’re not headmaster anymore.”

“Okay, true—”

“And even if you were, the headmaster doesn’t have jurisdiction over the faculty between terms. So as long as I’m not doing anything illegal, you really can’t stop me.”

“Wait—”

“See, the difference between you and me, Meade,” he said smugly, “is that I actually read the rulebooks, and you just wing it.”

“I do not wing it!”

Okay, I kind of do.