∞
Rowena's eyes flickered between us, while Grisbane impatiently whispered in her ear, glancing down towards the hallway. My knives were all sheathed and covered under my clothing, except for the one in my hand.
"What are you doing in here?" She asked us, while the professors behind us nudged her. Irah, the schools Combat Master, was behind her. He watched us weary eyes, refusing to interject a single word. He was the head of Paris' tract, yet watched us with utmost detachment. We were done for.
"I- We-" I began, scrambling for an answer, but quickly cut myself off. I had no reasonable justification on why Paris and I were here. How could I explain why were in a closet, knives drawn, in the restricted section of the castle? Maybe Paris was sleepwalking, while fully geared in weaponry? Or we heard a noise, and came to investigate, despite being prohibited from coming down here? It made no sense.
"I-" I began again, before suddenly being cut off by Paris.
"I brought Eulalia here to be with her. Carnally" He proclaimed. If I were drinking something at the moment, I would have spat it all out into Rowena's face. It would be the appropriate response. A similar look of disbelief warped Rowena's own, dignified features. She glanced between us again, staring at the arm that was still, for some reason, wrapped around my waist. I quickly pushed Paris off, stepping away a measurable distance. If I went any further, I would fall through the wall.
I looked at Paris frantically. Mother have mercy. Mother have mercy. I was dead. I was dead. She would bind me, I wouldn't be able to feed Beastly because of it, and Sir Beastly would eat every student in this school. And then I was dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.
"What?" She asked us, her voice deadly quiet. I turned to Paris expectantly.
"Yeah, what she said. What?" I hissed, looking up at him. Paris gave me a sheepish, embarrassed smile. His cheeks tinged pink as he stared between us.
"I learned that this Wing would be empty tonight. And, well, I thought it would be so much easier bringing her here, besides trying to smuggle her into my room" Paris justified. I watched the shock wear off Rowena's pale face, into outrage. My own eyes widened, stepping back. Dead. We were dead. Paris, as if sensing the change of reaction, quickly added on,
"I've been so upset since the death of Aline" He wiped the smile off of his face, sniffling, "I knew doing this was bad. I know. I was just so lonely. There's this emptiness in my heart. And I thought being with someone- I thought it would help"
He sniffled again. I watched as his eyes watered, the moonlight catching in the way they glossed over. He didn't dare look in my direction, instead directing the full intensity of his puppy-dog eyes at Rowena. I could swear on the Mother herself, that he began pouting.
"We don't have time for this" Grisbane hissed from behind Rowena. The corners of Rowena's mouth had turned downwards, but the furrow in her eye brows had softened in pity. It was an effort to keep my own mouth shut; my jaw was ready to fall off my face in shock. No way was she actually believing his act. No. way.
Rowena whispered something inaudible to her colleagues, before gesturing for the other three to go on without her. They promptly sped off in the direction of the Chudovische, not sparing the teenagers in the cupboard a second glance. Though the farewell expression Grisbane gave me, her eyes ink black, made me know her classroom would be spotless for the next few weeks.
"I don't have time for this tonight" Rowena said impatiently, hurrying us out of the closet and up towards where her office was. She rushed us down the hallway, speeding through the castle at a pace that I had trouble keeping up with. I didn't dare comment though. After several moments of prolonged silence, only the sounds of footsteps heard in the empty castle, Rowena stopped us infront of the double doors of her office.
She demanded that we wait here till we were called in, before quietly slipping inside. The second that the double doors closed, enacting the silencing runes, I turned on Paris.
"What is wrong with you?!" I hissed at him. His eyes widened at my sudden assault.
"I-" He began but I cut him off, too angry to hear him out.
"This is your fault, Paris Arobynn. This is your bloody fault. If you had just ran, like you were supposed to!" I seethed through my teeth, "You are the one responsible for this, so you will get us out of this. Sex?! Sex?! THAT WAS YOUR EXCUSE?!"
The door opened, before he could interject anything. I dug my shadow claws to dig into his bicep, using my phantom nails to avoid actual contact, "Don't you dare say anything, you moron. Do not even open your mouth. I will lie our way out of this" I hissed at him.
We quickly stepped in, but didn't sit down opposite of Rowena. We remained standing, our hands closed behind our backs. I began popping my knuckles, unable to bear the silence.
"Tell me what happened. And don't you dare lie" Rowena said, her voice low. There was menace hidden under her words, and the thought of mother being called into school nearly reduced me to tears. I was done for. Done. I opened my mouth to spew a lie, but Paris quickly interjected.
"I told you. I brought Eulalia out here because I was lonely" Paris announced. I visibly cringed, my shoulder flinching as if I were struck. I wanted to cry.
"You had knives on your person" Rowena pointed out.
"I drew my sword in an act of panic. Because of well...well...Aline's death. I've been jumpy lately" Paris stated, shooting sideways glance at me to Rowena, as if pointing out I was still in the room. Rowena's eyes flickered to me, and I mimicked an expression of complete confusion. He wanted to pretend I didn't know anything about the Chudovische? Fine. I didn't know. Hell, I didn't even what the Chudovische is, if they wanted to play that game. No clue. None.
"Eulalia had a dagger on her" Our Headmistress pointed out. Paris face blanched. There was no reasonable explanation on why I brought knives to a hook up. Well, there was one reason. A devilish idea popped into my mind.
"Yes, well, Paris finds pleasure in pain. I simply came prepared to fulfill his needs. I couldn't really have brought in the whips or chains though, so a simple knife had to do" I stated with a serious face. Paris froze, swiveling towards me. I mimicked the sheepish smile he originally gave me, after telling my most important mentor and professor that I was fucking him.
Rowena blinked, clearly not expecting that answer. Her eyes nearly popped out of her skull and rolled across the surface of her large, mahogany desk.
"I- You-" Rowena began, absolutely speechless, before clearing her throat, "So you two are claiming you're in a relationship? You were hiding in a closet, in the restricted section of the castle, knowing what punishment it would invoke, all because you two are in a relationship?"
She sounded dubious, and for obvious reasons. Instead, I inched towards Paris. I grabbed his hand and pulled it down towards my waist, so that he would hold me like he did in the closet. Only this time, after I let his hand go, he found it more appropriate to go further south. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt his hand on my rear end. I was going to kill him. He was dead. I was going to actually kill him.
To my credit, I did not cut his arm off, but simply dug my nails into his hand and repositioned it onto my waist. With grit teeth, I gave Rowena a closed-lipped smile. My jaw ticked as I refused to break eye contact. My waist would be bruised with the force I had relocated Paris' hand. I had meant it to hurt him, and now my back would be reaping the bruises for it. He was so dead.
"Yes" I said, my teeth clenched shut, "We are in a...relationship. We were hiding in the closet because of it"
Paris was nodding above me. Yes. Go ahead. Nod while you still can. His head would be on a fucking pike soon enough.
"I see" She said, crossing her hands over her desk and pressing them to her mouth, "Paris, though I understand your difficult circumstances, I am afraid I will have to punish you both for trespassing. You violated many rules tonight. I had assumed that you, of all people, would know better than to act so imprudently"
Paris visibly sagged in on himself, obviously not used to disappointment. Boy would he love my mother.
"I'm going to have to give you two months detention. I'm not going to bind you this time, but know that if you ever do something like this again, I will not be as easy on you" She told him solemnly. He nodded his head at her, staring at the floor. Great. He was sulking now.
"And you, Eulalia" Rowena told me, and I snapped my head in her direction, "Never did I ever expect something like this to come about from you. I prided in your intellect and sensibility, and you have disappointed me in such a disgraceful manner. You will miss your next four private lessons with me. Your shadow studies will be put off as punishment"
My jaw dropped open. No. She couldn't. She couldn't cancel my lessons.
"You- you can't!" I outraged, walking towards her, "Do you know by how much I'll be set back?! I've been waiting for these classes for years, Rowena!" I begged her. She couldn't make me miss the single most vital sessions I would have with her. She was purposefully crippling me, knowing how serious I took my studies.
"Would you rather I bind you and call in your mother, as I did with your elder sister not too long ago" She offered a counter-option, raising a thin, unamused eyebrow at me. I quickly shut my mouth.
"No, Headmistress" I ground out, my voice practically inaudible.
'At least you are not being bound' My shadows whispered to me, and it was all that held me back from crying and throwing a fit. If I lashed out and ruined her office, then I'd lose my magic all together. There was no room in the magical community, for nearly full-grown witches who couldn't control their powers. I clenched my jaw and kept my gaze leveled at the floor.
"I'm glad you understand. If I catch either of you outside your dorms again, there will be an instant expulsion. Do you understand? I cannot afford to have this happen again. Be thankful that you had caught me in a busy moment, or this talk would have been much longer and much more stern" Rowena informed us, but I was staring at her ugly shoes from under her desk. Disgusting, ugly, black leather shoes. Why did she wear such horrendous, clown attire, when she worked at such a prestigious position? Because she was a fool. Everyone in this blood academy was a fool. I was the only sane one around here.
"Good. I expect you both to learn from this situation, and understand that what you did was not okay. I understand that teenagers have certain..." She glanced at Paris wearily, attempting to conceal her disgust, "Urges, but you cannot go about violating rules because of it. You may be top students, but you are not exceptions"
I pursed my lips at the comment. At least one good thing came out of the night: Rowena now thought Paris was a masochist. How delightful...