“Please,” Kate whispered. I wasn’t sure who she was talking to. “Please ...”
I took the bottle and blanched. Shallot Homebrew. I’d tasted it once, during a midnight feast that had ended with us all in detention. Cheap, nasty, and alcoholic. Very alcoholic. And ... I frowned as I mentally counted the pennies. Cheap for me, perhaps, but Kate? She shouldn’t have been able to afford it, unless she’d somehow earned herself a stipend. I doubted it. She shouldn’t have been buying it at all, let alone bringing it into the school. She was in very hot water indeed.
“Thank you, Skullion,” I said, flatly. I dispelled the charm holding Kate in place with a flick of my finger. “Kate, come with me.”
Kate didn’t move until I touched her shoulder. She jerked under my touch, then followed me like a lost puppy. I tried not to show any trace of my feelings as we walked back into school - thankfully, the corridors were mostly empty - and up the stairs to my office. There was no sign of Alana, for better or worse. She should have been in class. My lips twitched. For once, Alana was the one who was honouring the rules.
I put the bottle on the desk and sat down. “Why did you try to smuggle that into school?”
Kate looked away, unwilling to meet my gaze. I was starting to have a very nasty feeling that I knew the answer already. Penny. Penny had to have told her to buy the alcohol ... I swallowed hard, feeling a surge of raw anger. Kate was twelve. She shouldn’t even be leaving the grounds without permission, although I knew some firsties were happy to try sneaking in and out of the school from the very first day. And she certainly shouldn’t be buying alcohol. She could have gotten expelled.
She still might, I reminded myself. And ...
I cleared my throat. “Why?”
Kate’s voice stammered. “I ... I wanted to drink it.”
“I know you’re lying,” I said. I couldn’t help feeling pity, pity and anger. “Kate, I need you to tell me the truth.”
Kate shook her head. I cursed under my breath, cursing her and Penny and the system itself. Kate should have been free to come to me - or Alana - and tell us what was happening, but ... she couldn’t, not without being branded a sneak. And then her life wouldn’t be worth living. No one would like her, no one would trust her ... even though she’d done the right thing. Perhaps Louise had a point. Perhaps the system needed to be changed.
I closed my eyes as I wove a spell. “Kate, tell me what happened.”
Kate’s eyes jerked open wide as words spilled from her mouth. “Penny told me to buy the alcohol for her or she’d hex me to death. I had to do it, but I couldn’t pay for it; I had to take money from Emma and Fiona to pay for it and then slip out of the school and ...”
She started to panic. “What ... what did you do to me?”
“A light compulsion spell,” I told her. “No one can possibly blame you for telling me everything, not now.”
“Penny will,” Kate said. Her legs buckled under her. “She’ll kill me.”
“No.”
I shook my head. Father was going to kill me. Or the Castellan. Casting compulsion spells on one’s peers was perfectly fine, but casting them on a firstie - someone who didn’t have a hope of resisting - was borderline bullying. No, it was bullying. Father had ordered Cousin Bertram whipped, once, for casting such spells on the maids. I wondered, sourly, if he’d order that for me too. I deserved no less, even though I’d meant well. And the Castellan might take my badge. I probably deserved that too.
My heart sank as I thought through the implications. Penny could not be allowed to get away with this. It was ... it was so far beyond acceptable that it would be a major scandal if it got out. And it would get out. One of the girls would talk, eventually. And then ...
I reached for a sheet of paper. “I’m writing you an excuse note,” I told her. “I want you to go to the study down the hall, the one normally reserved for upperclassmen, and stay there. If anyone tries to kick you out, show them the note. They should leave you in peace.”
“Thanks.” Kate sounded bitter. “But what ...?”
“I’ll deal with it,” I promised. The only way to avert a scandal would be to deal with it myself, as quickly and decisively as I could. “Go. Don’t leave the study until I come back.”
I watched her go, then cast a vapour message into the air. Penny would report to me at once - or I’d know the reason why. She probably wasn’t in class, not if she expected Kate to return with a bottle of cheap wine ... I felt my blood boil as I realised just how badly Penny had treated Kate. How could she? If Kate had been caught by anyone else than Skullion, she would have been expelled - or worse. No one would go to bat for a commoner girl with no close friends. Penny had probably seen to it that Kate had no close friends.
And if Cat hadn’t been so close to Rose, I thought as I waited, Rose would have been expelled in her first year too.
The door opened, without knocking. Penny stepped into the room, looking surprisingly calm and composed. Was she that confident she could talk her way out of trouble? Or had she not realised she was in trouble? Kate wasn’t that late, not yet. I wondered how she’d intended Kate to explain her absence to her teachers. There wasn’t much that could draw their attention, but a firstie skipping class definitely would. Perhaps she’d had a plan ... or perhaps she simply hadn’t cared. I didn’t know. Really, I didn’t care.
“Stand.” I pointed to the space in front of my desk, then the bottle. “Explain.”
Penny blanched, almost losing her balance. “I ... it’s a bottle of wine.”
“Yes.” I met and held her eyes. “I confiscated it from Kate, when she was caught sneaking back into the school. She refused to tell me why she had it, why she’d left the grounds to buy it, until I cast a spell to make her talkative. And would you like to know what she told me?”
“She’s lying,” Penny said, immediately. “She’s ...”
I glared. “Do you think a little firstie girl could shrug off a spell cast by an upperclassman?”
Penny swallowed, hard. I wondered if she was going to try to make that argument, crediting Kate with a level of skill that neither I nor Isabella nor Alana - or Penny herself - had possessed when we were firsties. We’d had the benefit of years of training, both direct and indirect. Kate hadn’t cast many spells - if any - before she’d been given a scholarship to attend Jude’s. My heart sank still further. If Kate was expelled, her family would be on the hook for her school fees. And they’d be unable to pay ...
“She misunderstood,” Penny said. “I was joking ...”
My temper snapped. “You sent a firstie girl, one who hadn’t even seen a big city before she came here, out to buy alcohol for you. A firstie! How did she even know where to go? She could have been arrested or” - I shuddered, remembering whispered horror stories about things that happened to the unwary in Water Shallot - “she could have been expelled.”
“It was for a midnight feast,” Penny whined. “I ...”
“You should have gone and bought the wine yourself,” I snapped. “You should have taken the risk yourself. You’re an upperclassman! They might have looked the other way if they’d seen you smuggling alcohol into the school. Yes, they might! But Kate? What were you thinking?”
“I wanted to show her where she stood.” Penny tried to gather herself. “Akin, she’s an arrogant little ...”
“No, she isn’t.” Arrogant was not a word I’d apply to Kate. “And even if she was, you should have been giving her lines. Not ... assignments that could land her in very hot water indeed. What next? Did you order her to steal from her fellow students? Raid classrooms for answer sheets? Pay you for the privilege of sleeping in her own bed, in her own form? Ancients! What were you thinking?”
Penny dropped to her knees. “Akin, I ...”
“Get up,” I snarled. I had no time for false humility. “You’ve gone too far.”
Penny looked up at me. “Akin, if you tell everyone ...”
I laughed. “Penny, do you t
hink you can keep this a secret forever?”
“The family name will be dragged through the mud, again,” Penny said. “Just like Isabella ...”
“Be silent.” I wanted to reach out and strangle her with my bare hands. How dare she? How dare she? “Penny, how many of your charges know what you’re doing? How many of them are likely to keep their mouths shut, forever? How many of them won’t tell their parents or older siblings what you’ve been doing? And how many of them have connections who will take full advantage of what they’ve been told?”
“I can silence them,” Penny pleaded. “I can ...”
I made a rude sound. “Kate got caught, Penny. Don’t you think there’ll be an investigation? Don’t you think they’ll ask her questions, under truth spells a thousand times more powerful than the one I used? They will force her to talk and she’ll finger you. She won’t be able to help herself.”
“Please,” Penny said. She was still on her knees. “I ...”
“No.” I took a long breath. “You will go to the Castellan. You will confess to everything - and I mean everything. He will give you your punishment and, whatever it is, you will take it without a fight. And, afterwards, you will take whatever punishment the family deems fit to hand out too.”
Penny glared. “But ... the family name ...”
“Will be redeemed by us punishing you for your crimes,” I told her, curtly. I hoped that was true. “We discovered there was a problem and we moved to fix it.”
I met her eyes. “If you don’t go, I’ll make sure everyone knows. I’ll tell the Castellan myself. I’ll go to Father and tell him. I’ll even go to your father and make sure he punishes you. Or do you think he won’t listen, if the Heir Primus tells him what to do?
“... No,” Penny said. “I ... mercy. Please.”
“I don’t understand it,” I said. “How did kindly old Uncle Malachi raise a daughter like you?”
Penny glared. “You leave my father out of this.”
“I didn’t involve him,” I reminded her. “You did. You involved him - you involved everyone - when you crossed the line. You were given a responsibility, a sacred trust. And you broke it. You should have been Kate’s big sister, not ... a bully.”
“She’s a commoner,” Penny muttered. “I don’t see what the big deal is ...”
I stood. “She’s a little girl. An innocent little girl. A defenceless little girl, without family or friends to hold you to account. And you ... you should have been there for her, not ... Ancients, Penny! What were you thinking?”
“She’s not innocent,” Penny mumbled. “I ...”
“Be quiet,” I snapped. “What’s it to be? Are you going to go to the Castellan yourself? Or do I have to drag you there, kicking and screaming? Because if I do ...”
“I’ll go,” Penny said, quickly. “I’ll go and ... I’ll go.”
“Good.” I met her eyes. “I will, of course, be writing a full report. And I’ll make sure Kate is interrogated too, along with any of her dormmates who might have been ... mistreated ... by you. You will have no space to hide anything, anything at all. And if you do ...”
“I get it,” Penny said. “I ...”
“Good,” I said. I allowed my voice to harden. “Because this is the sort of crap that starts vendettas. And that could really get out of hand. Go.”
I watched her go, then rested my head in my hands. Penny was right. The family name was going to take a beating, even though I’d handled it. And Kate ... I made a mental note to make sure that everyone knew I’d forced her to confess. I’d probably get in trouble for using such spells on a firstie, and it might cost me my badge, but no one would blame her for talking. She wouldn’t be branded a sneak.
And Penny will get her just desserts, I told myself, as I stood. I had to talk to Kate, then write a full report for the Castellan before I went back to the essays. She’ll get what’s coming to her ...
But I still didn’t understand. Uncle Malachi was a good man, a kind man. He’d always been there for us. How had he managed to raise such a daughter? How?
In truth, I didn’t want to know.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The following morning, we were called to the Great Hall.
It wasn’t common for upperclassmen to be summoned to the Great Hall, certainly not without ample prior warning. Schedules had to be changed, classes postponed ... I’d done a little work as a hall monitor, last year, and I knew how many problems could be caused simply by cancelling or rescheduling a class. I heard my classmates chatter as we walked into the hall, puzzling over what had happened. A couple of students I barely knew insisted that it had to be something to do with the Challenge, but I wasn’t so sure. Every upperclassman had been summoned, not just the ones taking part in the Challenge.
I looked around as I took my seat at the front of the room. Penny should have been with the other fifth-years, at the back of the hall, but there was no sign of her. I had no idea if that was good or bad. She could have been suspended last night, sent home or ... I really had no idea. Alana sat next to me, her face expressionless. I’d told her a little of what had happened, at least partly to make sure she kept an eye on things too. There was no way to know how Penny’s classmates would react.
The Castellan strode onto the stage. “Be quiet,” he ordered. The chatter, already muted, died away. “This won’t take long.”
My heart sank as his eyes swept the room. It wasn’t going to be good. I knew it.
“Yesterday, it was discovered that Penelope Rubén, a fifth-year dorm monitor, was abusing her position and mistreating the firsties who had been placed in her care. Her conduct was completely unacceptable. We acknowledge that mistakes can be made, and that it isn’t easy to switch from being a lowerclassman to an upperclassman, but we feel she went well beyond making mistakes. She was given a chance to plead her case, yet she was completely unable to justify her conduct.”
The room was so quiet that I could practically feel the silence, pulsing around me like a spell. I needed to know what else she’d done, but - at the same time - I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. It was enough to know that Penny was in trouble, that she was finally going to receive justice for her crimes. And they were crimes. Her conduct would have been unacceptable even if Kate had been the only victim.
“Accordingly, we have been forced to take steps.”
The Castellan paused, long enough for his words to sink in. “Penelope Rubén has been formally stripped of her status as both dorm monitor and upperclassman. She will continue to attend her regular classes, throughout the remainder of her time with us, but she may no longer comport herself as an upperclassman. She will be considered, for all intents and purposes, a lowerclassman. Her belongings have already been moved to Raven Dorm, where she will stay for the rest of the year. She will be right at the bottom of the dorm.”
I winced, despite myself. Penny might think she’d got off lightly, but that wouldn’t last. She might wind up wishing she had been expelled. In Raven Dorm, she would be treated as a firstie ... she’d have to go to bed at Lights Out, she’d be the last to use the showers or ... I shook my head, feeling a twinge of pity. Penny’s enemies in fifth-year wouldn’t hesitate to give her lines, meting out punishments that were normally given to firsties. The humiliation alone would be more than she could bear.
And Father won’t be pleased either, I mused. What will he say to her father?
“Penelope will also be spending the next two weeks in the stocks, after classes,” the Castellan continued. “I expect each and every one of you to look at her, at least once, and remember it could happen to you too. We grant you wide authority. We expect it not to be abused.”
“Hah,” Alana muttered.
I winced, again. Penny was in for a very rough two weeks. Students - particularly lowerclassmen - were going to be throwing everything from stinging hexes to rotten eggs at her. And she wouldn’t even be able to seek revenge. If they were careful, she would never even know who’
d struck her. She would definitely prefer to be expelled. I wondered, idly, if she’d pleaded to be kicked out, when she grasped the scope of her punishment. Or if she’d been too relieved to care.
And I’ll have to account for my own role, I mused. Father will not be happy with me either.
“Those of you who are taking part in the Challenge, remain behind.” The Castellan gazed at us for a long moment. “The rest of you, morning classes are cancelled. I suggest you spend your time wisely.”
(The Zero Enigma Book 6) The Family Pride Page 33