All Chapters of The Ironsmith's Mandate: Chapter 21 - Chapter 24

Passing 7.2***One week ago…***The front gate clicked open like a small, polite announcement as the first of the Maestro’s relatives arrived in a pleasant trickle: with them were neighbors carrying covered dishes, a pair of cousins in sensible coats, someone from Manila who brought a fruitcake that tried very hard to look traditional. I met them at the door because that is what hosts do; Salve had given me a list in the kitchen and a look that said: distribute, divert, and no talk of legal bullshit anywhere. I kept the Maestro’s will on the back burner with the rest of the winter stew: simmering, necessary, but not to be boiled over tonight.“Welcome,” I said to each face as they came in, saying names like small blessings. I took coats, found places for hands to rest, put someone beside the tray of fried lumpia, and performed the brief choreography of hospitality: move thi

Passing 7.4***The first day of school after Christmas break always feels like stepping into a place that forgot you briefly. The air around Southern Cross High still carried that odd blend of new notebooks, disinfectant, and sunlight striking wet pavement: a combination that made you feel both refreshed and uneasy, as though the halls had been reset while you weren’t looking.Jaric swaggered beside me, as if the weeks away from classes had only polished his confidence instead of taming it. His bag hung off one shoulder like a prop, his grin already set to “default mischief.” The morning light caught the faint tan he’d earned from afternoons of pretending to “rehabilitate” his arm while actually flirting at basketball courts across San Vicente.“Ah, I’ve missed this smell,” he declared, spreading his arms as if greeting old friends. “School’s back, my man. New semester, new rules, same cafeteria food.”“So much for New Year’s reso