“But you’re also well away from them,” Emily pointed out. “And Markus was disowned too.”
“Quite,” Melissa said. She met Emily’s eyes. “I don’t know how much help I can give you, Emily. I can offer advice, if you wish, but my involvement might just make matters worse.”
She shivered. “Fulvia hates me,” she added. “She won’t hesitate to act against me if she thinks I’m interfering.”
Emily nodded, fighting down a surge of memories - Melissa’s memories - that threatened to overwhelm her. Fulvia had been a very abusive great-grandmother. She’d never struck Melissa, but she hadn’t had to raise a finger to make the younger girl suffer. Magic provided all sorts of tools ... Emily felt sick as she pushed the memories out of her mind. They weren’t her memories. She still felt uncomfortable knowing they were there. It felt as though she’d invaded Melissa’s mind.
“You can ask Adana, if you like,” Melissa said. “But she’s too young for anyone to take her seriously.”
Old enough to marry, but not old enough to be taken seriously, Emily thought. Adana was seventeen. It wouldn’t be long before a match would be arranged with some suitable young man, one chosen by her family. Fulvia might pick the groom personally. Just how screwed up is this system?
“I’ll ask her,” Emily said. “If nothing else, she can take a message to your grandfather.”
“I wouldn’t expect him to go against Fulvia,” Melissa warned. “She’s dominated him since birth.”
Because he’s the key to House Ashworth, Emily thought. Fulvia had muddied the waters nicely, but Emily was fairly sure that Fulvia had married into House Ashworth, rather than being born into it. Technically, Fulvia shouldn’t have been the matriarch at all. And he won’t oppose her unless there’s no other choice.
“I’ll think about who else might listen to you,” Melissa added. “But you’d better be prepared to put forward a very good offer.”
Emily sighed and changed the subject. “Can you swear to Daze’s identity?”
“Of course,” Melissa said. A shadow crossed her face. “But that wouldn’t prove anything, Emily. It certainly wouldn’t prove that he was working for Fulvia when he died.”
“It’s a step forward,” Emily said. “If we can establish what Daze did, it might go some way towards proving that Frieda was manipulated.”
“Perhaps,” Melissa said. She reached up and ran her hand through red curls. “Emily, you have to understand that Fulvia will call in every single favor she is owed to secure a guilty verdict. She must, if she wants to remain matriarch. And she is owed a lot of favors. Gaius wasn’t the first person she tapped and promoted for a greater role. Your father might not be able to compete when it comes to a patronage network.”
Emily nodded, slowly. She’d never really had any sense that Void, her supposed father, had a patronage network. He’d always been a loner, as far as she could tell. Powerful and respected, admired and feared ... she didn’t think he had any clients, with the possible exception of Emily herself. He certainly hadn’t taken on many apprentices. The offer he’d made to her, hidden away at the bottom of her trunk, ran through her mind. She didn’t have to stay at Whitehall for her exams. Void had offered her an unconditional apprenticeship.
“You may have to bribe quite a few people,” Melissa added. “And they won’t want money.”
“I know,” Emily said. “They’ll want secrets.”
Melissa met her eyes. “Take Frieda and go,” she said. “Just vanish. Fake your death and go into hiding. Or fake her death.”
Emily considered it for a long moment. “Maybe,” she said, finally. “But I want to clear her name.”
“It might not be possible,” Melissa warned. “I told you. Fulvia will do everything in her power to secure a guilty verdict.”
And then she’ll use Frieda as leverage against me, Emily thought. Ice ran down her spine. Faking Frieda’s death wouldn’t be easy, not in Whitehall. Gordian probably wouldn’t help unless he too was offered a fairly considerable bribe. But if she were to appear dead, I might be able to get her out of here ...
A dozen possibilities ran through her head. But none of them would be easy. The healers wouldn’t help, whatever Gordian wanted. They had to keep their oaths. And then there was the Warden. Just getting Frieda out of the infirmary would be difficult. Faking her death would be far harder. But there were possibilities ...
The door opened. Emily looked up, sharply, as Jacqui stepped into the room. “Emily,” she said, with poisonous sweetness. Her arms were folded under her breasts. “And Melissa. How nice to see you here.”
“Get lost,” Melissa snapped.
Jacqui lowered her arms. A golden badge glinted just above her left breast. “Insulting the Head Girl and Year Head? That’s worthy of a visit to the Warden, would you not say?”
Emily stared. “You’re the Head Girl?”
“The Grandmaster gave me the badge himself,” Jacqui said. “You must admit that I have worked hard to deserve it.”
“Hah,” Emily muttered.
“Hah indeed.” Jacqui cocked her head. “Or do you think this is a joke?”
“I’m sure you’ll be a credit to the family,” Melissa said. The bitterness in her voice was palatable. “Emily, I’ll see you later.”
“Later,” Emily agreed.
Chapter Six
“I TOLD YOU THAT YOU SHOULD choose your friends more carefully,” Jacqui said, as soon as the door had closed. “Now look what’s happened to you.”
Emily eyed her, feeling magic starting to bubble under her skin. Jacqui wasn’t weak, by any definition of the word, but she’d never been in a real fight. Emily could take her; she was sure she could. But there would be consequences, none of them pleasant. She had too many other problems right now.
“You were too soft,” Jacqui added. Her lips thinned until they were almost invisible. “How many problems did you let slip by because you were focused on your friend?”
“I’m sure you will have fun dealing with them,” Emily said. It was easy to criticize from the sidelines. Emily was sure that Jacqui would find being Head Girl a bit harder than she expected. “Just remember that everyone will come to you with their problems now.”
“Sometimes you just have to learn to turn them away,” Jacqui said. “How many times did you tell someone to go find the answers in the library?”
Her eyes narrowed. “You do realize that I’m the Year Head as well as Head Girl?”
Emily felt her temper begin to fray. “Of course not,” she said, mockingly. “You insisted that I didn’t do my job, didn’t you?”
Jacqui’s face flushed. “I have problems to clean up because you didn’t pay attention to your work,” she snapped. “I will be keeping a very close eye on you. If you slip up, even once, I will punish you. Do you understand me?”
Emily felt a sudden urge to giggle. She’d faced Shadye, Mother Holly and Dua Kepala; she’d faced down coup plotters and magical aristocracy ... did Jacqui think she could scare her? Emily had seen too much to be cowed by Jacqui’s threats. The other girl was just a distraction, not a real problem. It was hard to take her seriously.
Although plenty of people didn’t take me seriously either, she reminded herself. Jacqui might have a surprise or two up her sleeves too.
She put the thought out of her mind. “I understand you,” she said. Gordian had warned her that the next Head Pupil would try to establish her authority as soon as possible, after all. “I hope you enjoy the post as much as I did.”
Jacqui eyed her for a long moment, then nodded. “Very good. I believe you have some files to show me?”
“They’re in the office,” Emily said. Jacqui would have the suite now, wouldn’t she? No doubt she’d already moved her possessions into the chambers. “We can look at them now, if you like.”
“Of course,” Jacqui said. She turned to the door. “Come.”
Emily sighed and followed Jacqui along the corridor and up the stairs. J
acqui walked like an aristocratic woman, as if she commanded respect and attention simply by existing. She flashed the badge at everyone she saw, just to make it clear she was Head Girl now. A trio of chattering girls were given lines to write, a pair of rowdy boys were sent to the Warden ... she was stamping her authority on the school. Emily wondered, absently, if Jacqui would find herself the target of all sorts of practical jokes and pranks before too long. But then, compared to some of the horror stories in the records, Jacqui might turn out to be a very mild-mannered Head Girl indeed.
“You didn’t make them respect you,” Jacqui said, after telling off a firstie for running in the corridors. “I’m going to have to work hard to make them listen to me.”
Emily shrugged, resisting the urge to point out that Jacqui was making enemies. Policing the school was one thing, even if it meant enforcing rules not everyone understood. But being a bitch to all and sundry was quite another. A firstie running in the corridors was hardly a threat to law and order, unless the poor student tripped and fell down the stairs. If Jacqui went on a power trip, and it looked as though she was going to do just that, she was going to have the entire school out for her blood. There were plenty of ways for the student body to express its disapproval, after all.
“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Emily lied. “Why did the Grandmaster select you?”
“I’m sure he felt I would be a good choice,” Jacqui said. “And I will make him proud.”
She motioned for Emily to stay back as they reached her office. The notice board was still hanging there, covered in scraps of paper and parchment. Emily glanced at them, concealing her amusement as Jacqui undid the wards and opened the door. A couple of the papers still insisted Emily was Head Girl. She was surprised Jacqui hadn’t torn them down by now, or simply had them rewritten. Even Cirroc’s announcement that the dueling club would now meet three times a week included a claim that Emily was still in the chain of command.
That can be toned down anyway, Emily thought, with a flicker of relief. The dueling club had been a headache from start to finish, the dueling competition even more so. Cirroc could have the club, if he wanted it. He can handle everything himself now.
“Come in,” Jacqui ordered. “Stand in front of the desk.”
Emily rolled her eyes as she followed Jacqui into her former office. Jacqui had clearly been busy. Half the filing cabinets were open, their contents strewn on the desk or two tables that someone had moved into the office. A pair of paintings had been fixed to the wall, one looking as if it was on the verge of falling down. Jacqui clearly hadn’t realized - yet - that the protective wards surrounding the room were interfering with her sticking charms.
She stood in front of the desk and waited, hands clasped behind her back. Jacqui sat at the desk, shuffling through a set of papers. Emily resisted the urge to laugh - or sneer - at the crude power game. Jacqui was clearly more insecure than she wanted Emily to believe. A person with true power, Lady Barb had said years ago, wouldn’t bother to waste time with dominance games. They already knew they were in charge.
And besides, it gives me time to think, Emily considered. A mistake on her part, perhaps.
“I read through your files,” Jacqui said, without looking up. “According to your notes, you rarely patrolled the school for troublemakers. Indeed, you didn’t even supervise the Dorm Monitors.”
“I believe they are normally supervised by the housemothers,” Emily said, flatly. She had never been a Dorm Monitor. Alassa had, but the post hadn’t lasted. “And patrolling the school is unnecessary.”
“That’s the attitude that got you into trouble,” Jacqui said, curtly. She held up a piece of paper. “Are you aware that the number of disciplinary incidents rose over the last two months? Your failure to patrol the corridors - and appoint others to assist in that task - ensured that a number of incidents got out of hand.”
“I was alerted when something happened,” Emily said. “And other students came to me ...”
“Not good enough,” Jacqui said. “I expect ...”
Emily cut her off. “The post is yours now,” she said, sharply. Her temper flared, blazing into hot anger. “Congratulations. I hope you and it are very happy together. And now you have the post, you can handle it as you see fit. Good luck.”
“I am pointing out what you did wrong,” Jacqui said. “And ...”
“And now you have the chance to do a better job,” Emily said. She controlled her temper with an effort. “Like I said, good luck.”
Jacqui glared at her. “I’ll be arranging for you and the other older students to assist me in patrolling the corridors,” she added. “There have been too many incidents for us to ignore.”
“I’m sure you’ll be able to keep them down,” Emily said, snidely. Baiting Jacqui wasn’t wise, but she was too tired to care. It didn’t feel like late morning. “Is there anything serious you want to discuss? Or are you just trying to waste my time? Or yours? You could be out there disciplining students who cough without permission slips signed by a minimum of five different tutors.”
Emily made eye contact and held it, daring Jacqui to look away. “Every student in Sixth Year is preparing desperately for their exams,” she added. “Do you want to force them to patrol the corridors when they could be studying?”
“Of course not,” Jacqui said. Her voice was icy cold. “But do I have a choice?”
She went on before Emily could think of an answer. “Three weeks ago, you sat down with a pair of girls and helped them to sort out their charms homework,” she said. “Why didn’t you send them to their tutor?”
“Because they’d messed up the spellwork beyond repair,” Emily said. She recalled the incident clearly. “They hadn’t mastered the basics for that section, so I showed them how to work through it from the start.”
Jacqui smiled. “And you don’t think Professor Lombardi needed to know they hadn’t mastered the basics?”
“I think he probably already knew,” Emily said, tartly. It was very difficult, almost impossible, to fake competence at Whitehall. A person who didn’t understand the basics couldn’t craft advanced spells. Professor Lombardi might just have been waiting for the girls to admit defeat and come to him for advice. “He’s not a fool.”
“No,” Jacqui agreed. She rustled the papers, meaningfully. “A few days after that, you caught a trio of boys sneaking back to their dorms, after having raided the kitchen for a midnight feast. You told them off, but let them keep the food. Why?”
“They did manage to liberate the food,” Emily pointed out. Midnight feasts were an old tradition and, assuming the students managed to get to and from the kitchen without being detected, the staff would turn a blind eye. “I figured there was nothing to be gained by confiscating it.”
“They were caught,” Jacqui pointed out. “You had a duty to confiscate the food and arrange for them to be caned, if you weren’t prepared to do it yourself. They were caught!”
“They did get to the kitchen and back,” Emily snapped. “They deserved some success ...”
Jacqui scowled. “Your problem, Emily, is that you are far too sentimental. I warned you about this, didn’t I? You care too much about people who will drag you down. And, because of this, you didn’t do your job. You should have curbed Frieda’s behavior long ago.”
Emily took a long breath. “Is there anything else you want to discuss or can I go now?”
“Cirroc is still in charge of the dueling club,” Jacqui said. “Do you think I should take it from him?”
“You’re the Head Girl,” Emily reminded her. “The choice is yours.”
She kept her face expressionless. Cirroc would not be pleased if Jacqui tried to push him out of his position. He might even challenge her for the post - or worse. There were plenty of ways the other Sixth Years could sabotage Jacqui’s position if she tried to bully them into compliance. Emily had the sneaking suspicion she’d been lucky. Jacqui might get into real trouble if she wasn’t careful.
Jacqui snorted. “You don’t have any advice?”
Emily shook her head. Jacqui would be smart to leave the dueling club alone. It wasn’t as if it needed the Head Girl’s supervision, not now. Cirroc would do a great job. And if he didn’t, for whatever reason, he’d take the blame. But then, Jacqui was technically one of his assistants ... maybe she’d just resign. No one would judge her. Being Head Girl would consume all of her free time.
“Fine.” Jacqui gave a heavy sigh. “The Grandmaster insisted that you were to have plenty of time to assist your friend with her defense. I won’t put you on any patrol routes unless I need a spot covered urgently. In that case, I expect you to behave yourself and do it without complaining.”
“Of course,” Emily said. She felt a flicker of relief. Gordian didn’t seem to be trying to make matters any harder than strictly necessary. “If you need cover, I should be able to do it.”
Jacqui shrugged. “You’re off the rest of your former duties, anyway. Homework supervision, detention supervision ... mentor supervision.” Her eyes narrowed. “I notice you didn’t do much of that, did you?”
“I believed the mentors could handle such matters without interference,” Emily said. “I told them to approach me if they ran into problems, but otherwise ...”
She took a breath. The mentoring program hadn’t worked badly, thankfully. There had been some minor issues, as the kinks were worked out over the first couple of weeks, but afterwards everything had run reasonably smoothly. By now, some of the mentees would be thinking they didn’t need the mentors any longer. Emily had told the mentors to be prepared to back off, if necessary ... she shook her head, wryly. That was Jacqui’s problem now.
“You need to address the mentors,” Emily said. The nasty part of her mind was tempted to let Jacqui fail and fall, but she wasn’t the person at risk. “Just make sure they know you’re in charge now, then see if they have any problems. I had a couple of issues that needed to be handled discreetly.”
Graduation Day (Schooled in Magic Book 14) Page 6