Page 21 of The Misfit Mage and His Dashing Devil

This was mortifying. Facing every chancellor, the head of the regiments, for who knew what. Okay, I had a pretty good idea what.

On the opposite side of the Magi seat sat Chancellor Ambrose. An elderly woman and second longest sitting chancellor. The hammer and nail emblem hung proudly behind her, added with a bit of extra flourish than the other tapestries, highlighting how the artisan regiment handled all the creation and currency within the mage and Mythic world. It even had a brighter glow to it than the violet crown banner behind the empty Magi seat.

Next came the infiltration regiment responsible for keeping everything about the world of magic hidden from humanity. The misty indigo cloaked figure served as their emblem. Quite fitting considering Chancellor Strome wore a hood, hiding his face.

My lip quivered. I struggled to turn my eyes to face the final chancellor. I tugged at the cuffs which suddenly felt too tightly clasped around my wrists. The sapphire shield emblem held such haunting prestige. A regiment I was meant to join. A regiment my family had proudly served for countless generations. The pillars of protection, ensuring the safety of every mage, Mythic, and human from the dangers of magic.

My eyes landed on Chancellor Alden. Her scornful stare held more contempt than when I’d told her I wanted to change regiment majors. The wrinkles around her eyes had deepened more than when I’d told her I failed my first practitioner exam. The roll in her eyes held the same aloof indifference she’d shown at the last family dinner when I’d shared my plans for taking the practitioner exam for the fifteenth time. Her eyes studied me, seeking out every weakness. My mother’s disappointment was the most suffocating thing in this room.

My posture was wrong. I probably lacked a dignified stance at this podium. I scratched my wrist, trying to find relief from the cuffs, which she immediately scoffed at. Somehow, I even did shackles wrong.

“Walter Alden,” she said, no acknowledgement to the similarity in our names or the fact that she’d picked my name. Walter meant ‘commander of the army,’ but the only thing I commanded was failure and embarrassment for the Alden line. “You’ve been brought here today on accusations of treason, inciting insurgency, and assassinating Magus Remington and thirty-two serving sentinels.”

“What?” My throat tightened, voice cracking. “I had nothing to do—”

A cackle roared from behind me, bellowing throughout the Tribunal Courtroom. I ground my teeth. Bez.

Close to twenty vanguard and sentinel mages surrounded the chained devil they’d strapped to a dolly to wheel into the room. Magic permeated the air, keeping him confined. At least a dozen spells were at the ready, blades drawn, elements circulating, and the chains rattling. They didn’t shake from his resistance but the unhinged laughter he released since he didn’t put up a fight as they ushered him into the chamber.

“They think you’re behind the coup.” He panted, attempting and failing to stifle his laughter. “Too funny.”

I clenched my clammy fists. Why would they think I was behind this? Glaring at the annoying devil, it hit me. He did this. Some perverse attempt to turn the chancellors against me.

“You can’t believe a thing he says,” I pleaded. “I know it looks like I did a Diabolic binding, and I guess technically, I sort of did. Maybe subconsciously, though I’m not entirely sure how that’d work, but I had no part in his escape…except for the not being able to stop it part. But I tried! And I definitely didn’t have anything to do with what happened to Magus Remington or anyone else there.”

“This has nothing to do with your Diabolic binding,” Chancellor Alden said, clearing her throat in a way that meant my shutting up was overdue.

I slumped in defeat.

“Though I’d say it’s high on the list of charges we’ve compiled,” Chancellor Driscoll said, sneering at my mother, then at me.

He probably found her presence biased, which it was, but never in my favor.

“I’m telling you, whatever Beelzebub said—”

“I haven’t said anything about you, Worthless Walter,” Bez interjected, continuing his snickers. “Other than how pathetic and incompetent you are, naturally.”

Jerk.

Chancellor Driscoll slammed a fist, quelling Bez. “The evidence of your involvement in this attack has little to do with this devil.”

“Evidence?” My knees trembled. They had evidence? How? For what?

8

8

Beelzebub

They wheeled me to the opposite side of the room, every mage at the ready with what I assumed were their most effective assault and defensive spells. Irksome. Useless, too. Unless Walter invoked a command a second time. I couldn’t risk it. Not yet at least.

That little prick stood at the podium, queasy, like he was a moment from shitting his pants. It’d be funnier if I didn’t have to prioritize his safety. And if I wasn’t chained. The orb lacked sensation, but these shackles were heavy and cold, imbued with magic which kept tightening every time I flexed this body’s muscles.

The desire this vessel had to breathe didn’t help. An unnecessary sensor in the respiratory center of the brain, one I hadn’t had the opportunity to alter. I didn’t need oxygen. Didn’t need much of anything to exist. Part of why I loved mortal hosts. The Diabolic sensations were denser and hardly reacted in this bland reality. Everything was obscured and simplistic. The mortal lens allowed me to pick and choose which senses to favor, which flavors to delight in, and which habits I didn’t want to add to the humble routine of existing.

“Given the severity of Walter’s involvement in these crimes, I’d like to recuse myself,” the woman in front of the sentinel flag said. I didn’t know her name, any of their names. Didn’t want to. Their regiment was as close to understanding these old fools as I wanted to get.

She wasn’t as old as the one to her right with the artisan regiment flag. Lots of senior citizens close to Remington’s age sat at the highest level of authority in their mage structure. Bet they all came from the best families, too. Except the husky panacea chancellor. She looked quite young and ample.

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