Lucky Rabbit

Since Pandy was incapable of responding – which was a relief, actually, because she didn’t know what to say – Augustus very politely carried her back to the room she shared with Thaniel, Isidor, and Tempest, at which point Pandy remembered the huge mess she’d left behind that morning. The chancellor noticed her flattened ears and dejected posture, and she would have sworn he was laughing internally as he opened the door, though his lips never moved.

The room was immaculate. Better, in fact, than it had been, because Thaniel’s bed was made as neatly as Isidor’s. All of the broken furniture had been replaced or repaired, and clothes had presumably been returned to the wardrobe. Pandy had no doubt that Isidor would still blame her when he noticed that things weren’t exactly where he left them, but at least it wouldn’t be as bad as finding his underwear on the lamp. Unless he was the one who’d cleaned up? But he hadn’t seemed angry when they met earlier – not any angrier than usual, anyway.

Augustus set her down next to Thaniel’s bed, raising a brow as he reached into that magic pocket of his and pulled out…Pandy’s list of Gacha Love skills and spells. He held it up so she could see the spidery writing, then placed it beside her.

“Zephra let me know there was an…incident, this morning,” he said. “I informed the staff, and they came in and took care of it. I would, however, suggest finding a better place to practice. I do not have an infinite supply of replacement furniture.”

It wasn’t like she’d destroyed the room intentionally, and she would have fixed it herself if she’d just had a little more time. Also a hammer, nails, wood glue, and the skills necessary to use any of those things. Well, more skill than two-and-a-half shifts at Home Despot had given her. She still felt awful about what happened with the foam sealant and the garden gnomes, but at least they finally got the toilet down from the ceiling, so it hadn’t been that bad.

Embarrassed by both her memories and the present situation, she nodded, then thought of something and perked back up. How to ask, though? Quickly, Pandy hopped over to Thaniel’s bag, where it hung on the back of his desk chair. Nosing her way up beneath the flap, she used her teeth to carefully pluck out a piece of paper, then a pencil, which tasted faintly of a cherry glaze that must have been on something the boy hadn’t seen fit to share with his rabbit.

Augustus had been heading for the door, but paused and watched as she performed the acrobatics necessary to retrieve paper and pencil. His eyebrows kept creeping higher, however, especially when she grasped the pencil in her mouth and wrote a very shaky letter Z. This was followed by something that might have been an ‘e’, but she was actually rather proud of the ‘p’. The ‘hra’ just kept going downhill, however, and when she finished and hopped backwards so she could read it, she wondered if there was any way he’d figure out what she was trying to ask.

But the chancellor crouched down beside her, frowning as he tried to make sense of what she’d written. He tapped the paper, looked up at her, and said, “Zephra?” Pandy nodded enthusiastically, and he paused, eyeing her thoughtfully before saying, “You’ll have to tell me how you know something happened to her. Another elemental chased her from Lanthorne Court, but she was able to get away and make it back to me. Sometimes wild elementals will attack those with a contractor, so I thought there was at least a possibility that it was simply a coincidence, but it seems not. She’s tired, but she’ll be fine.”

He stood, still with that contemplative expression on his face, and Pandy noticed again how exhausted he looked. Had Zephra’s fatigue caused his, the way Tempest’s weakness had led to Isidor passing out? Not that Pandy was entirely certain that was what had happened. She really needed to figure out how closely Gacha Love’s game mechanics parallelled the way this world worked. She’d started out assuming she knew everything, but the more time she spent here, the more she questioned how much was reality, and how much was Keros’ magic.

Opening his mouth, Augustus looked like he would say something else, but seemed to think better of it. Instead, he gave her an impressively elegant bow, then departed, though he didn’t quite close the door behind him. Obviously, he was leaving it up to her if she wanted to stay there, or go find Thaniel. And, honestly, as she listened to his firm steps fading into the distance, she wasn’t sure. There was nothing to do here, and it wasn’t like she could sleep, but she didn’t really want to wander randomly around campus, either.

In the end, indecision became a decision in itself when the bell rang, telling everyone it was time to get ready for dinner . Only a few minutes later, the door swung wide, revealing Thaniel, who froze in surprise as he saw Pandy. Rushing forward, he picked her up, but rather than snuggling her to his chest, he held her away from him, face twisted in worry and disgust. Pandy was aware that she was crusty and filthy, but for a boy who gleefully jumped in ponds and played with frogs to have that look on his face, she must be in worse shape than she’d thought. Why hadn’t Augustus said something?

“You need a bath,” Thaniel stated, turning for the door with Pandy still dangling by her armpits. He almost ran into Isidor, who was already standing there, eyes narrowed as he looked around the room.

“What happened here?” Isidor said, looking from Pandy to Thaniel’s neatly-made bed.

Thaniel blinked, then shrugged. “I dunno. I’m going to wash her before dinner, though.”

Dark eyes lingering on Pandy, Isidor nodded. “Good idea. I’ll…look around here.”

Thaniel still looked confused, no doubt completely unaware that things weren’t as he’d left them that morning. But Isidor moved out of the way, Thaniel carried Pandy to the bathroom, and eventually the cleansing was complete. Of course, Thaniel got thoroughly soaked and dirty in the process, so then he had to wash up and change as well, which resulted in them very nearly being late for dinner.

Abbington, the girls, and – to Pandy’s relief – both Winston and Miss Cupcakes were already present when Thaniel, Pandy, Isidor, and Tempest arrived. Augustus wasn’t there, but Ms. Davenport sat in the place of honor, her thin face boasting a pale smile, though that faded as she gave their little group a look of disapproval. For a moment, it seemed that she might reprimand them in front of everyone, but at that moment the double doors opened, and carts full of food began pouring into the room.

The server brought around something he called ‘crown sausages’, which looked like what Pandy knew as cocktail wieners, except these were wrapped in puff pastry and arranged in a crown shape, with a bowl of dipping sauce in the center. Whatever they were, Abbington and Geraldine tore into them with a will. Eleanor, Isidor, and Matilda daintily cut theirs apart with fork and knife, which left Thaniel and Suzanne poking at them with expressions of doubt on their faces.

“What is it?” Thaniel whispered to his fellow sufferer, and Suzanne shrugged.

“I don’t know, but you should at least try it. Chancellor Blackwood doesn’t care if you don’t, but Ms. Davenport will assign you kitchen duty for a week if she thinks you’re ‘disrespecting the hard work of the staff’.” Suzanne’s tone made it clear this was a direct quote, and Thaniel grimaced.

“I’m glad she’s not the chancellor, then,” he muttered, using the side of his fork to separate a wienie, rather than his knife. This breach of manners prompted Matilda to give a small, disapproving cough before correctly applying her utensils to her own meal in an exaggerated manner. Thaniel ignored her until she finished chewing her mouthful and spoke.

“Ms. Davenport very nearly was the chancellor, though,” Matilda said, tossing her heavy curls back over her shoulder with a flip of her head. Lowering her voice, she added, “The old chancellor retired last year, and several of the teachers applied for his job. Father supported Ms. Davenport for the position, but in the end, it went to Mr. Blackwood, who no one had even heard of before that.”

Both Thaniel and Geraldine stopped eating, mouths hanging open as they stared at Matilda. Thaniel hadn’t quite managed to swallow first, so the older girl grimaced and covered her own mouth with her napkin in another futile attempt to teach him proper manners.

Suzanne addressed her plate, knife and fork moving in slow, reluctant motions. “Ms. Davenport is all right, but I like Mr. Blackwood better. I was just glad when Lord Chancellor Findlay said he was leaving.”

Her voice was distracted, and at first she didn’t even seem aware that she’d spoken out loud. Then she dropped her utensils with a clatter, hands going to her mouth as she gasped, “Not that Lord Findlay wasn’t a perfectly…perfectly adequate chancellor! It’s just that he was-” She bit down hard on her lip, and Matilda scowled.

“He only liked the students from the old families,” she said bluntly. “The rule about not telling anyone who you really are has been around as long as the school, but Lord Findlay didn’t care. He let the nobles come in whenever they wanted, and noble students never had chores, even though they were supposed to. Ms. Davenport would have followed all of the rules, no matter what family the students were from. That’s why Father liked her.”

Suzanne nodded. “She’s harsh, but very fair,” she spoke just above a whisper. “But that’s exactly the reason the older families didn’t want her. Mr. Blackwood is somewhere in between the two. He follows the rules, but also…bends them, when necessary.” She prodded a beautifully glazed carrot with her fork.

Matilda nodded. “He didn’t let Matthias get away with copying Gillian’s paper last spring, even though Matthias is a Winstanley.” She looked at the blank expressions on Thaniel, Geraldine, and Abbington’s faces, then sighed, though the sparkle in her eyes said that she was actually enjoying being the source of such fascinating gossip. “Count Winstanley is the Queen’s first cousin once removed.”

Thaniel obviously had no idea how impressed he was supposed to be by this piece of information, so he said, “Last spring? I thought you said Mr. Blackwood was new this year?”

Abbington, who mostly ignored such conversations, actually seemed interested in this one. He pushed his glasses up his nose and said, “Does’na seem new t’me.”

Everyone stopped talking for a bit as the remains of the hotdog crowns were taken away, and a silver goblet full of something that smelled like macaroni and cheese was placed in front of each child. This was far more to Thaniel’s taste, and he ate with gusto, as did everyone else, and for a moment, it seemed as if the conversation would lapse, which was extremely disappointing to Pandy, who hadn’t taken a single bite of her carrots, so fascinated was she.

Fortunately, Matilda truly did enjoy being the center of attention, so as soon as her goblet was empty, she picked the thread up again. “Lord Findlay sent out an announcement at the very beginning of last year. After midwinter break, he allowed each of the three final candidates a week to ‘prove themselves’.” She puffed up her chest as she said the last two words, mimicking someone particularly pompous.

“The first one…Mr. Kahler? He didn’t even last the week before he decided he didn’t want to do it after all,” Suzanne said. She seemed quite satisfied with this outcome, and Matilda grimaced at the sound of the name.

“He was horrible,” Matilda agreed. “Just like Lord Findlay, but twenty years younger. And he didn’t want anyone with the Dark alignment to be allowed to go to school here at all. Not that many do, since everyone treats them so badly.” Her grimace deepened into a scowl, and Suzanne laid a hand over her friend’s balled-up fist.

“So it came down to Ms. Davenport and Mr. Blackwood,” Suzanne said in a quiet voice, carefully not looking up at the woman seated in the center of the teachers’ table. “And everyone thought that of course Ms. Davenport would be selected, but then suddenly Mr. Blackwood was being trained, and Ms. Davenport was just promoted to hall supervisor.”

“And Lord Findlay didn’t even seem to like Mr. Blackwood,” Matilda said, blue eyes gleaming. “But some people say the queen herself selected him, which-”

Eleanor had remained silent throughout this Very Interesting conversation, but now she flinched. She shot Matilda a glance, then looked at Isidor with something very like a pleading expression. Isidor, for his part, had remained deliberately bland and uninvolved, but now fumbled his fork, which fell to the ground with a startlingly loud clatter.

“Sorry,” he said, pushing his chair back with a screeching sound. As he leaned over to pick up the errant utensil, a sharp voice came from the head table.

“Isidor, I expect better of you,” Ms. Davenport said, and everyone else at the table fell silent, looking guilty. “You shall report to Miss Keswick for an additional etiquette lesson during chores on Monday.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Isidor said blandly, before setting his dirty fork off to the side.

Ms. Davenport nodded in approval and returned to her conversation with the teacher sitting next to her. After that, the children switched to the much safer topic of what they were going to do the following day. Suzanne reminded Matilda that they had homework to finish, and the expression on the blonde girl’s face made everyone else break into laughter, which, rather surprisingly, Matilda didn’t seem to mind.

Pandy, meanwhile, moved deeper under the table, no longer concerned with being able to watch the children while they spoke. No, her mind was turning over this new information. She knew who Findlay was now, but what had Augustus meant when he mentioned the former chancellor? Was it possible that this Lord Findlay was a missing piece of the puzzle, or was he just another red herring?