Page 82 of Fatality on the Field

Will the added security measures deter

dangerous bad actors?

How do you feel about the Bowl’s new sponsors?

Is it true that State U is considering a merger?

The rhythm of the real journalists is always the same — one question about policy, then a lazy fastball about the rumors, then something personal—all the time hoping for a slip or an off-the-cuff embarrassing quote. Morgana fields each question with an even cadence, and the only visible sign she’s not having a blast is the flash of her eyes. The gargoyle in her watches every mic’s movement like she’s playing chess four moves ahead to anticipate which outlet and what kind of question she’ll get.

Liam is at her right, smiling in the ultra-manufactured way he does when people are taking pictures. He never touches the podium, just stands with his chin at a neutral angle and his hands at his waist. To the cameras, he looks like a diplomat from an exotic land being beneficent to the regular folks. The prince is a living press release for inter-realm travel today, which will also make his father pleased. However, if you know what to look for, you can see every micro-expression flit over his features. My eyes track the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth when the local affiliate lobs a question about the ‘questionable foreign funding of Bowl events’, the tick in his jaw when a blogger leans in to ask if the ‘current Dean’s authority is a placeholder until the university finds a real one’, and even his teeth grinding when the questions veer to her past unnecessarily.

Liam’s court training is top-tier, and he won’t crack in front of them, but he will need some space afterward.

My friend can take a devastating emotional hit and not move so much as an eyelash. That costs him, though, so in a couple hours, he’ll spend time in nature to re-coup. He’ll reroute every flower bed on campus to passive-aggressively punish the three worst amateur question-askers by ensuring they trip over a camouflaged root every time they walk the grounds. Some Fae go for curses or mind games; Liam prefers making people inconvenience themselves, which is much funnier in the long run.

The press is in full feeding frenzy now, I note as three voices overlap as they ask about athletes and injuries. Two more join in on a different frequency, then another voice booms over all of them in a flat Midwestern drawl.

“Is it true you’re sleeping with the Daybreak Court envoy?” The entire scrum freezes. In the half-second vacuum, you could hear a mouse fart. “You two look awfully close up there.”

Morgana doesn’t flinch; she lets her lips part, half a smile and half the warning you see just before a viper strikes. “My personal life is no longer the press’s business,” she says, clear and dry, “and I’ll thank you not to speculate about any of the Faerie representatives in such a salacious manner. It sounds insulting to their courts when you suggest their goodwill is predicated on sexual favors.”

“Daybreak, in particular, is very proud to support the university where I am currently enrolled,” Li says with a tight smile. “Our charitable foundation is committed to continued collaboration with this fine institution, both as academic and cultural partners.” After he finishes, my old friend just stares the questioner down until the man averts his eyes, likely wondering if a Fae assassin is coming for him when he goes to sleep tonight.

I flick my eyes back to Des, checking in on our girl. The recalcitrant snake has moved maybe a quarter coil tighter, but there’s no change to her overall posture. This can only go on for a bit longer before Morgana hits mission critical, so I edge closer to the line of bystanders without making a show of it. Half of them are just campus randos hoping to get on TV, but three are undergrads running a livestream with a drone that’s now hovering right at the boundary of the quad’s drone-safe zone. I mark the pilot — a kid with heavy-rimmed glasses and a sweatshirt two sizes too large — and decide he’s probably not a threat. However, I make a note to have Liam re-landscape that corner of the quad with some very wild growth before the next event.

Harmless today is not always harmless tomorrow, especially when people get desperate.

I’m considering pulling Liam away so the entire group decides the time for questions is over. A woman in a pineapple-print blouse manages to get in a question about the university’s preparedness for further supernatural incidents and I squint to catch the logo of a local online rag. While Morgana answers with facts and figures with a flawless delivery, I catch the flicker of irritation in her left eyelid. She doesn’t like being reminded that last month’s attack went unpunished as yet.

Finally, Channing steps up, leaning into the microphone on the podium to pick five more people to ask whatever they have on deck. After that, she says that regretfully, the representatives all have other commitments to attend to. Luckily, she picked well, because the last five questions are about the Bowl.

If SU doesn’t win, will the Board find

someone else to run SU?

Will the fae athletes be allowed to use

performance enhancers like last year?

Liam’s mouth twitches again — he fucking hates that accusation as it’s far more likely shifters will be stacking than Fae players.

Will Morgana be attending the afterparty or will she

be attending something much fancier and exclusive?

Will the injured SU players affect the team

enough for them to be off their game?

Who is in charge of security for the game?

She says yes to the party, no to the performance-enhancers, and never lets her voice go above a conversational level, which means the press pool has to physically lean in to get the quote. It’s a power move, and they eat it up, none the wiser. I’m proud of her as she does so, and I think the other guys would be as well. I was worried I’d have to defend her from rioting jackwads or even shift to the dragon to prevent some sort of enemy bullshit. But I didn’t have to and that’s probably the best news of the week.

There’s a two-second delay as Morgana steps away from the podium, then pivots to Liam and says something I can’t hear, but her expression relaxes half a millimeter. Together, they lead the other donors and reps down the stairs and away from the cameras. I don’t relax, but I let my gaze soften as I scan the area one more time. I spot the Fae delegate from Reaping Court cutting across the grass with a bodyguard. I’d bet my left pinky toe we won’t see her or the other reps again until the game box. They’re going to find every public party, platform, and event in the city to be seen at, so their presence on campus will be sporadic at best.

Hanging back as the press disperses, I wait until they’re loading up before I step into the open. Slipping up to Li’s side, I get his attention and look at him with a knowing smile. He nods sharply and I lead him away from the dais toward the north edge of campus where I’ve seen good places for him to work out his frustration. The press didn’t act too badly during this, but it will only get worse with each day that passes and as more of them show up.

I’m going to need to do a flyover tonight to pick out more places for my friend to vent his fury when the idiots unavoidably cross his boundaries.