Chapter 37: A Suitable Punishment

Song recommendation: Demons (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw1tCJ1y34o)

Clover's eyes widened. The wizard released his magic. The magic surrounding Ace dissipated. He immediately began to fall. Both Clover and Bird ran to the window. Bird held out his hand.

A whoosh of air dampened the fall. Ace hovered a few inches from the ground. The force of the fall slammed him with enough pressure to make his nose bleed. Bird breathed heavily as sweat dripped down his forehead from the strain. He still hadn't recovered from the wizard's blow and the magic made his arm tremble. He gently released Ace to the ground then fell back breathlessly.

Clover darted to the door but stopped abruptly. They stared down angrily at the necklace and let out a scream. The demon lord turned back suddenly on their heels and grabbed the wizard by the collar.

"Release me right now!" Clover exclaimed.

The wizard averted his eyes and then in a subdued voice replied, "I can't do that,"

Clover's eyes dropped to Bird who was still slumped over breathlessly. The demon lord yanked Bird from the floor. He came up startled by the sudden blade by his throat. His eyes widened and they came up to meet the wizard fearfully.

"Where did you get that..." the wizard started, staring at the blade. He paused thoughtfully.

"Let me go out or I'll kill him," Clover warned, "You know I'm not going to go far. Let me just see he's alright,"

"I can't just release the magic like that, it would take time. I can only temporarily disable it,"

"Do it," Clover enjoined

The wizard's jaw clenched. He raised a hand. The necklace fell to the ground. Clover raced down the stairs. They found Ace still sitting in the courtyard. He cupped his face as blood pooled out. Clover's hands moved instinctively to heal the wound.

"I'm fine," Ace coughed. His eyes widened as he realised it was Clover beside him.

"Lord Clover?" he said dumbfounded.

Other students were gathering in the courtyard who had heard the crash. Clover leaned in to inspect the injury. To their surprise, it was Ace who held up a hand repelling them. Before Clover could say anything, a swath of royal knights circled them. A murderous glint came into Clovers eyes.

"Clover don't!" Ace cried.

It was too late. The demon lord held up a hand and a blast of earth jetted out of the ground. They were sent flying back. The students began to scream as huge chunks of the earth divided the court in half.

Bird hurried out into the courtyard. "Erect a barrier!" he instructed.

The senior students and tutors began to mount a defence. On the other side of the barrier, the royal knight's launched another attack. The demon lord's magic rained down on them. They were pelted with demonic magic. A cloud of dust dispersed through the courtyard. There was silence in between the students' whimpers.

Bird took a deep breath. He walked slowly through the barrier.

"Ace?" he called, but there was no response.

He continued walking. He could barely see anything through the filter of dust. He transcended the jagged and uneven terrain. The royal knights were scattered on the ground and passed out.

"Clover?" he said hesitantly.

Finally, the smoke began to clear. He spotted Ace and Clover under a concave of earth. It surrounded them like a shield. He approached them slowly. It was Ace who saw him first. However, within a moment of meeting Bird's eyes, Clover turned to face him as well. As Clover raised their hand, Ace threw himself forward.

"Please don't," his voice faltered.

A strange expression came over Clover's face. They lowered their hand. Bird crept down beside Ace and whispered:

"Are you okay?"

Ace swallowed hard and nodded, "You saved my life, Bird,"

Bird smiled a little but another emotion quickly overtook as he haltingly met the Demon Lord's gaze. The eyes were a ruthless blood red. He trembled and averted his eyes.

"It's okay, Bird," Ace laid a hand on him.

He and Clover locked eyes. Before anyone could say anything, more royal knights came rushing towards them. They encircled the demon lord with their sword drawn. Then a familiar figure stepped forward. The crowd's anxiety subsided into relieved cries.

"Don't make this any more difficult than it has to be Clover," Albaric said flatly

Clover glanced around. The guards had them surrounded. They could already feel their power waning. The Demon Lord threw up their hands without a fight. The knights grabbed the Demon Dord by the wrist and pushed them to the ground while they threw shackles on their wrists. Ace and Bird watched as Clover was dragged away.

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Ace breathlessly arrived outside the doors of the court. However, as he reached them, the doors swung open and the members of the court piled out. He waited impatiently for Albaric to emerge. Finally, Albaric came out. He raised an eyebrow in surprise upon seeing Ace's red face.

"What have they decided?" Ace breathed.

Ace had been waiting for over three days for the verdict to come. Now he would finally find out what they had decided? Would Clover be killed this time?

Albaric glanced around at the suspicious eyes of the court.

"Come, let's go somewhere more private to talk," Albaric replied, leading the way.

They took off into the palace courtyard and reached the gardens. The stark trees were equally as formidable during the day. They passed through the maze of hedges and came to an isolated spot. Albaric took one more look around before speaking.

"They're taking the wizards' title away. He's going to be expelled from the tower."

"What?" Ace shook his head in shock, "Why would they do that?"

"What do you mean?" Albaric raised an eyebrow, "You've seen how he's been acting,"

"I know...I just mean he's always like that. Why was this any different?"

"Well, apparently, this incident was just the tip of the iceberg. The Grand wizard has been on thin ice for some time. He has been brought to task on how he treats the students. Many of the students are from elite families - some of them are children of the royal court. They expected him to treat the upper classes differently but you've seen how he is. He never makes concessions for anyone. Now, they're saying this time he put their lives at risk." Albaric said thoughtfully, "I think the real reason they're getting rid of him is so they can bring someone more submissive in,"

"What about all the work we've been doing?"

"I don't know what's going to happen," Albaric sighed.

"And lord Clover?"

"Safe for now I think. They'll probably want to make sure they can cross into the demon world before taking any other action against the demon lord,"

Ace breathed a sigh of relief. However, Albaric eyed him with a worried inspection.

"Are you sure you've recovered?" Albaric looked at Ace, "He almost killed you. You don't seem yourself,"

Ace shook his head stiffly, "I'm fine."

He didn't feel fine, but he was sick of making Albaric worry about him. The day had shocked him. The words kept ringing in his head. Moments before he plummeted from the sky, he heard Clover's words:

"Kill him,"

If it was just to get rid of the wizard, maybe this would be a good thing. Ace still hated him. Yet, why did Clover provoke him in the first place? What if Albaric was right? He had implicitly trusted that Clover would help them. What if that wasn't the case?

His mind was temporarily distracted from this thought when he met Bird on his way back to the tower. He found Bird coming down the stairs with a handful of books and luggage.

"Where are you going?" Ace asked at once.

Bird gave a sad smile, "I'm going to go with him,"

"With who? The wizard?"

Bird nodded.

"Why?" Ace protested, "You saw him yesterday! Why do you need to go? Just stay here. Are they making you go?" he continued flustered.

Bird shook his head, "It's not like that. They told me I could stay,"

"Then why?!" Ace exclaimed.

"What he did was wrong, Ace. I'm not defending that." Bird set the books down, "He deserves to be punished,"

"I don't understand. Then, why are you going with him?" Ace's head shook, "He treats you like everyone else. You said you hated the tower. Isn't that because of him?"

"No, Ace. You're wrong about that. He acts that way because he wants us to be ready. He never wanted this school to be for the military. He's the only thing that's been between the students and the front line. That's the real reason they're getting rid of him,"

"Even if that's true, you've done enough for him. You don't owe him anything."

Bird smiled somberly, "Actually, I owe him everything. When I came to the Empire I had nothing. He taught me magic. He gave me a place here. I know you hate him...but I can't abandon him. I'm sorry."

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The rest of the day was spent in a daze. Bird was really leaving. Everything was changing. Ace didn't want to admit it, he felt a mounting trepidation about what was to come. Even more so when later that evening, he found himself outside the dungeon cell.

"They said you wanted to see me," Ace said slowly.

Clover quickly rose from their position on the ground. A hand reached towards Ace but he stepped back.

"Are you still hurt?"Clover's brow furrowed.

"No...I'm fine," Ace faltered, " I heard they're deciding whether you can return to the tower. What are you going to do?"

"I don't need to do anything" Clover smirked, "What happened wasn't my fault. It's not my fate they're deciding,"

"What do you mean it's not your fault," Ace bit down on his lip unconsciously. "What makes you think they're not going to punish you?"

Clover smiled but didn't answer. Ace's eyes fell to the floor.

"You provoked him on purpose, didn't you?" he said, his voice barely a whisper.

"Come on, Ace." Clover soothed, "You wanted to be rid of the wizard just as much as I did. The others aren't here. You can be honest,"

This time, Clover's hand reached his cheek. The soft skin skimmed in his lips. It sent shivers down Ace's spine. He inhaled a sharp breath.

"Don't do that," he enjoined, his voice trembling, "I know you didn't do that just to get rid of the wizard. Are you planning something?"

The Demon Lord twisted Ace's face to theirs, "You're the one that told me you didn't like the human world. You're not like them with their shallow morality. What are you getting so upset about?"

Ace grabbed Clover's hand."Tell me what you're going to do,"

"Who knows? Maybe, I'll teach them a lesson for interfering with my business," Clover smiled darkly, "Oh don't make that face. You're my friend now. I treat my friends well. Nothing's going to happen to you,"

"You think I care about that?" Ace snapped. "What about Albaric? He risked everything to keep you alive. If you do this, Albaric's going to be punished! Bird's already been sent away."

Clover pulled their hand back abruptly. "That's your problem. You should have listened when I told you to stay out of it. I was happy to die. You wouldn't let me. How else will you learn if there are no consequences? "

"Wasn't what you did back there enough?" Ace frowned, "Can't you just leave it there?"

"You think that was enough?" Clover replied coldly, "I already bowed my head to the Emperor. They've shackled me like a dog. You think that little scratch was a suitable punishment?"

Ace flinched. The sudden change in Clover's demeanour left him speechless. Underneath their usual airy indifference was this what Clover had been thinking? Ace put his hand on theirs once more.

"Maybe I don't have the right to ask this but you were the one who said we were friends," Ace said at length, "Please don't do anything else,"

Clover turned their back to Ace, "Hmmm, I'll think about it,"

"Clover..."

"I said I'll think about it."

Clover disappeared into the shadowed cells. Ace ran out of the dungeons as fast as his legs could carry him. He didn't look back. His heart was racing. He felt afraid. From the shadows, a figure stepped into the obscure candlelit passageway.

"Are you sure you should have told him that?" the voice echoed softly through the dungeon.

"Did you do as I asked ?" Clover asked.

"Yes," Kalandra answered.

"Good." Clover sighed, "You can go,"

"Clover, I don't like this.." Kalandra began.

"Not now, Kal," Clover said shortly.

"Then when?" Kalandra breathed, "Why are we playing along with them? Let's just leave. "

"No. If we leave now, Ace will be executed in my place."

Kalandra's fist shook, "What does it matter?! Why are you going to such extremes for that boy? "

"I don't know. He reminds me of how I used to be..." Clover deliberated, " at any rate, he's not going to say anything."

"How can you be so sure?" Kalandra protested.

"You trust me, don't you?" Clover smiled, "My little Kali, you always worry too much. Just do as I say. It always works out in the end, doesn't it?"