Edward grunted and jerked back in surprise and pain when 'Jack' punched him, then staggered when she punched his face again. He backed away, one hand going to his face, his expression stunned that she had struck. The other to upper years, Spencer and Jarred, grabbed Audrey's upper arms and clouted her a few times around the head, open-fisted but rough, dizzying blows that wouldn't leave marks.<br/><br/>"Strike me, would you?" hissed Edward with a gleeful venom in his tone. "Little country runt, you'll never regret doing anything so much in your life!" His hands moved and his lips twitched, and the air before him wavered and distorted like a heat mirage - but before anything more could happen, one of the boys holding her leg go with a breathless curse and slashed his own hand with a snarled phrase that sounded complex and exotic. The spell Edward had been weaving rushed outwards and all five of them swayed at the sudden push of air. Edward glared at the other boy with the same boiling rage, but Jarred - or was it Spencer? - spoke fast.<br/><br/>"Don't throw away your life to teach a bonebrained squire manners, Teddy. You know how strict they are about<em>that</em>."<br/><br/>There was a heavy silence and Edward rolled his shoulders and jerked his chin and agreement. "Let him go. Come, Grimrunt, let's have at it your way!" Edward lifted his fists before him like a ring boxer, his confidence not diminished even by the sluggish crawl of blood that was running from one nostril.