by Chloe Garner
“Or you could just ask the one who instigated all of it,” Alan said, tipping his head. “Didn’t you?”
“Not all of it,” Valerie said. “You know. Just…”
“Most of it?” Alan asked, and she nodded, looking at the floor.
It wasn’t that she was ashamed.
She was actually really proud of how things had gone, all in all. It was that she wasn’t supposed to be proud of it. She wasn’t even supposed to be involved.
And yet, here she was, middle of the night…
“Just a clue,” Alan said as Mrs. Reynolds went by, giving Valerie a suspicious glance that was wholly friendly and going on her way.
It couldn’t hurt anything, could it?
Mr. Jamison had been her most consistent ally from the very beginning.
“They’re talking about breaking away from the Council and becoming an independent school,” Valerie said. “Or something like that. I could be wrong. They talk like there are all of these rules I don’t know about. But… Yeah. I think.”
Mr. Jamison looked at his wife, who pressed her lips.
Fear?
Was Lady Harrington going to get a bunch of people who weren’t willing to go along with her because they were afraid of the Council? And the Pure, probably, too?
“About time,” Cathy murmured, and Alan grinned.
“This is going to be a rodeo,” he said. “Let’s go sit.”
“Don’t tell them I told you,” Valerie said, and he winked.
“I’m good at secrets,” he said and nodded. He and Cathy started back down the hallway toward the cafeteria, and Valerie sat again.
A few minutes later, Ethan came in, sitting down next to her.
“I assume we’re banished?” he asked, and she nodded, leaning her head on his shoulder.
“How do you feel?” she asked.
“I’m actually okay,” he said. “Everything still kind of hurts when I move… Sasha said I broke something in my back, which… you know, that’s kind of scary to hear, but I can walk and it’s just, when I do that,” he said, rolling his shoulder forward, “or walk on my right leg that it hurts.”
“So you should just hop on the other one,” Valerie said, and she heard him grin.
“This is happening,” he said. “We’re actually talking about seceding.”
“Yeah,” Valerie answered softly. “No one telling us what to do.”
“Everyone telling us what to do,” he answered, a smile still in his voice. “Your mom is… Just, wow.”
“Yeah,” Valerie said. “Lady Harrington, too.”
She thought of the braid in her hair, the locks of hair that weren’t hers… It meant a lot of things and she didn’t understand any of them.
She had so much stuff to try, and she didn’t even know where to begin.
As though she’d summoned him, Dr. Finn walked back out of the cafeteria and put his hands out in front of him, forming a box with his fingers like he was framing a picture of her. He spread his hands up and down in a dramatic motion, speaking words that sizzled around Valerie, then he formed a spread box with the same fingers over her head and dropped his hands to the floor.
Ethan scooted away, not sure what was going on.
“All right,” Dr. Finn said. “As long as you stay quiet, no one is going to notice you’re there.”
“My mom will know I’m there,” Valerie said flatly, and Dr. Finn grinned, his ears lifting a good inch.
“That’s part of the fun,” he said. “See if I can beat her.”
Valerie shook her head.
“I’ll be in trouble,” she said.
“Did you or did you not break into a Pure facility and blow the entire place up?” Dr. Finn asked. Valerie pressed her back against the wall.
“How did you know that?” she asked.
“Scientists talk,” he answered. “And your mother isn’t the only one with a network worth using. I know your work when I hear it.”
Valerie bit her lower lip, unable to contain her glee at how delighted he was. He ticked his head to the side.
“Come on. I want to see if I can best Susan Blake, and you deserve to have a seat at the table, even if you don’t get a vote.”
“How old do I have to be to get a vote?” Valerie asked. “Twenty-two?”
He looked back at her with his eyebrows down.
“No, you have to work for the school. You think this is an election?”
He drew his head back dismissively, then turned to go back into the cafeteria. Valerie followed, expecting at any moment for someone to bust her, but Dr. Finn led the way to a pair of chairs in the back, where Valerie sat down next to him and just… waited. Someone went to sit at Dr. Finn’s other side - one of the upperclass teachers - and a woman Valerie hadn’t seen before sat down next to Valerie, but no one spoke to her and no one tried to sit on her. Whatever Dr. Finn had done, they were accepting it.
Lady Harrington stood.
“Good evening,” she said.
“Good morning,” someone commented, and Lady Harrington shot him a sharp look. Valerie liked seeing the woman direct that look at someone other than Valerie.
“As you may have noticed, Ethan Trent and Valerie Blake are back among us, if only for the night. Things have been happening quickly outside of our walls, and it’s time for us to come together as a faculty and make a decision as to what we believe and how far we’re willing to go to support those beliefs.”
There was a stir and Lady Harrington held the room with a steady gaze.
“Merck Trent and the rest of the Council have been telling us what to do, what we can teach, who we may not accept, who we must accept, for many years, now. Decades. And while we usually avoid politics here because we have a common goal that does not concern itself with politics, I’m afraid I must engage them. There simply isn’t any avoiding it.
“The Council are driving a wedge down the center of the magic community, forcing people to take sides, and it’s driving people who would otherwise remain unaligned and uncommitted into the arms of the Superiors. While no one in this room thinks that the Superiors should be ignored or placated, there must be a third path that also does not hand over control of your life to the Council.
“Tonight, we are going to vote on making this school the spearhead of a third path. Allowing people to not align, or to resist the Superiors without supporting the Council, it avoids strengthening the Superiors and also not hand our future over to Merck Trent and whoever comes after him. Questions?”
“Why now?” Mr. Tannis asked.
“Because it’s the right time,” Susan said, stepping forward. “We… You all know me, and you know my husband. And you may not entirely trust us because we haven’t ever been all that reliable for the Council, and I’m kind of known for having… opinions. But we had a major victory today. If there is ever going to be a moment when the Council can afford a setback of this magnitude without losing the war outright, this is it. As soon as they have leeway, they’re going to take in slack, forcing people to make commitments with the full knowledge that some of those people are going to switch sides instead. We can’t let them take in the gains that we made today. We need to take them for ourselves. The Pure are disorganized and adrift in their main goals…”
“The Pure are a myth,” one of Valerie’s teachers said. “Don’t come in here selling us boogeymen and ask us to cut ties with the strongest chance we have of winning this war.”
Susan looked at Lady Harrington, who put her hands up as if dismissing the entire crowd.
“Say your piece. That’s why we have a full assembly.”
“The Council knows that a swift and decisive victory is against their best interests. They are more interested in shaping the future of magic, because they think it’s more important. So when Grant and I go out into the field, they want us gathering intelligence and bringing it back. Last war, we were much more active, at the beginning, and then through the middle, as Merck and Isabella were
taking over, they pulled us back dramatically. Those days, I thought we were going to fail and the Pure were going to manage to find a way to eliminate magic from the world except for the select few that they chose to entrust it to. We very nearly did lose, and I lost friends who should still be here today, if they’d ended it in the moments when we could have. I’m asking you to take control away from the Council. Fight the Pure, yes. Someone has to. Grant and I won’t stop until it’s done, this time. But my daughter went out and struck a decisive blow today, and we have a window. Tonight.
“We can deliver a message to the Council that we are our own people, not their puppets, and we’re going to fight both sides.”
“This is about your daughter,” Mrs. Reynolds said, standing. Valerie stiffened, shocked that Mrs. Reynolds would make an accusation like that, but Dr. Finn put his arm out, just a physical signal to hold off for a minute.
“It’s not just about my daughter,” Susan said. “This is the time…”
Mrs. Reynolds put up a hand and Susan Blake fell silent.
Valerie had never seen anything like it.
Mrs. Reynolds stepped forward, looking at the teachers.
“We’re teachers,” she said. “We avoid politics because they aren’t in the best interests of our students. We do what’s in the best interests of our students. But the Council came in here and they seized a student, they took her to interrogation and, if the stories are true, they attempted to take custody of her so that they would not have to return her here. We all know why, as much as we don’t like to think about it. This is one of our students, a promising young woman with a big heart and a strong sense of right and wrong. A credit to her parents, and a woman who should be a credit to her institution. Instead, the Council plucked her from under our noses while we told each other there was nothing we could do about it. And when she turned up here again, looking for help, who did she turn to? We all know. She came and she got students. Teenagers. And she went toe-to-toe with genocidal maniacs. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves, to let our hands be tied like that, such that one of our own would rely on students rather than ourselves when lives were on the line.”
Dr. Finn smiled, sitting back in his chair and nodding.
“Debbie Reynolds,” he murmured. “Everyone underestimates her.”
Valerie looked at him and then back at Mrs. Reynolds.
“We don’t actually know what happened at the Council interview,” someone else said. “All we’ve heard is rumors, and then we saw students leave campus without permission. You’re filling in a lot of gaps.”
“That’s your cue,” Dr. Finn said, crossing his arms and looking quite pleased with himself.
Valerie looked at him and nodded, standing.
“She got it right,” Valerie said, and Susan Blake shook her head, giving Dr. Finn a dark look. “They put my aunt in danger, and they told me that my parents had abandoned me and that they were going to take custody of me and put me somewhere safe. I only got out because Ethan Trent knew what was going on and he got me away before they could take me.”
“This after Elvis Trent was the reason that they could make a claim that students were not safe here,” Mr. Tannis said.
“Everything that happens, they will manipulate it to gain advantage,” Susan said. “None of us should be surprised by this, at this point.”
“No one is,” Mr. Benson said. “It’s just not wrong to question the prudence of going against the enemy of our enemy, as it were.”
“For a community that literally interacts with demons, we are awfully naive about chasing after the lesser of two evils,” Susan said. “When there is no third option, certainly, you accept the allies you have. And this is the option we present to every magic family in the country. We have a responsibility to give them a third choice that is actually good.”
“It’s only good if we can hold off both the Council and the Superiors at the same time,” Dr. Finn said, and Valerie looked back at him. He lifted a shoulder.
“You’re right,” Susan said. “And it means that there hasn’t been another time that this was a plausible strategy. Maybe we can’t. But there hasn’t been a moment before, and I doubt there will be a moment again where this is more possible. And this school. You have a better chance, here, than even Light School. Because we aren’t interested in mounting an offense. We need to bunker in and form a refuge where families can send their children, perhaps even where they can come themselves, and avoid the machinations of either the Council or the Pure. We declare independence and we put up walls. That’s what the School of Magic Survival is all about.”
Dr. Finn looked at Valerie with mischievous eyes and nodded.
It had been a softball question.
Valerie looked at her mother, standing there next to Lady Harrington, and she stepped away from Dr. Finn, going to stand at the front of the room next to her mother and her grandmother.
“We need Shadow School,” Valerie said.
Lady Harrington raised her chin.
“There is risk,” she said. “And regardless of what we agree on tonight, I won’t hold anyone here who doesn’t want to remain, student or faculty. But I believe firmly that this is our best path, and I also believe quite firmly that this faculty holds the values requisite to stay fast in the face of immense opposition.” She paused, taking in the room as Mrs. Reynolds went to sit down again. “I would normally give you twenty-four hours to discuss this, but as you can clearly understand, we must act or let the moment pass. It’s time for our vote.”
“So,” Ethan said.
“So,” Valerie echoed.
The sun was coming up outside, casting long streaks of gold light along the hallway in front of them. Valerie was exhausted, but there was no way she could sleep, right now.
“Wow,” Ethan said.
“I know,” Valerie answered.
The assembly was going on in the cafeteria, but neither Ethan nor Valerie had wanted to stay for it.
Susan Blake was gone, and the papers assigning guardianship of Valerie to her grandmother were signed.
Ethan reached over to take her hand.
“It’s…” he said.
“I know,” she answered.
Susan would go back to the house in North Carolina and get the rest of the Shadows and bring them here. It was possible Gemma would stay.
She needed protection as much as anyone Valerie knew, with the number of secrets she carried.
There were the sounds of voices, excited and anxious and loud, and Valerie nodded.
“I guess it’s done,” she said.
“How many of them do you think will stay?” Ethan asked, and she shook her head.
“You’d have a better guess than I do,” she told him. “I don’t know if any of them will stay, but if they all leave, I bet a bunch of new students come.”
“Lady Harrington has to have enough money to run the school,” he said. “The teachers make a huge amount, and the ingredients we consume aren’t cheap, either. Then there’s all the warding…”
“Somebody else’s problem,” Valerie said with a sigh. “We’re just kids.”
He laughed.
Shifted to put his arm around her.
“I know. I’ve just heard my dad talk about it so much. The Council makes sure that the schools have enough money to run. At the end of the year, sometimes, they run out. Especially Light School.”
She shrugged.
“Somebody else’s problem.”
“Shadow School,” he said.
“I know.”
“I think you and I ought to be in charge,” he said. “We’re the ones who brought the Shadows back.”
“By that logic, my mom should be in charge,” Valerie said. “But she isn’t going to stay. And I don’t want to be in charge. I just… I don’t want the Council overshadowing everything.”
“You got your wish,” Ethan said softly, sitting up as he heard footsteps.
Milton was walking down the hallway towar
d them.
“So,” Milton said, pausing. “I’m not staying. Lady Harrington said we were free to go if we wanted. I’m going to go tell my dad what happened.”
Ethan nodded.
“I’m sorry you’re leaving,” he said, and Milton shook his head.
“No you aren’t. You knew I would have been a spy, and you guys just declared war. But, because we’re friends, I wanted to tell you that I’m not the only one. There are other kids here who are sending information back to the Council, one way or another. Some of them would surprise you. So watch your back, okay? I’d prefer it if you guys came to your senses and called the whole thing off before the Council comes in and wipes you out.”
Ethan stood, offering Milton a handshake, then Milton nodded to Valerie and turned to go out the door, shifting a backpack up higher on his back.
Valerie looked at Ethan with alarm.
“You think that’s true?” she asked, and he shrugged.
“What if it is?” he asked. “I mean, did you really think it wouldn’t be?”
“I don’t want to be the totalitarian who won’t let people talk to their parents without someone opening their mail,” Valerie said, and Ethan sat back down next to her.
“Two things,” he said. “First, that’s what you get when you declare war on your own people. And second, it’s someone else’s problem.”
She closed her eyes and put her face against his chest.
There was a moment of stark awareness of how comfortable she was with him, and how natural it felt to sit there in the hallway, just the two of them.
“It isn’t over,” she finally said, and he sighed.
“No. But we put a big dent in them,” he said. “And if your mom and dad are right - and I think they are - we’ll put a big dent in the Council pretty quickly, too. A lot of their support is coerced. Boy do I know about that.”
“What about your parents?” Valerie asked. “Your mom, at least?”
“She can come see me here at the visitor cottages, I expect,” he said. “Or Lady Harrington can say no. But…” He sighed, putting his face against her hair. “I don’t know when I’ll go home again.”