“Yes,” Emily said. “I told her off and I sent her to the Warden. She was punished.”
She kept her thoughts to herself as the final days of half-term ticked away. She expected Gordian to say something about the incident, but he neither summoned her to his office nor ordered Frieda’s immediate expulsion. Emily puzzled over it, remembering the story of the dog that didn’t bark. Gordian knew—he had to know—about the whole affair. It wasn’t like him to just let it pass. If nothing else, he had to make sure that Frieda was warned never to do anything like it again.
She’d hoped that Sergeant Miles—or someone else she trusted to offer good advice—would have remained at Whitehall, but he’d taken his students out on a character-building forced march. She wrote him a note anyway, then a longer letter to Lady Barb, but there was no response. Lady Barb was out of touch, she was told. Emily wished, grimly, that she’d convinced the older woman to stay at Whitehall. She might have been sharp and sarcastic if the Head Girl came to her for advice, but she would have given Emily advice regardless.
Emily did keep an eye on Frieda as half-term came to an end. The younger girl had been caned—of course—and then wrote an essay managing to combine an odd understanding of what she’d done wrong with a strange—and defiant—insistence that she’d somehow done the right thing. Emily read it and shook her head, unable to escape the sense that she was watching helplessly as a runaway train raced down the track towards disaster. If Frieda had been influenced by an outside power, it would have been understandable. Instead ...
Instead, she was left wondering if she’d missed something. Or if she’d somehow failed Frieda.
It was almost a relief when classes restarted, even though most of her classes spent the first day reviewing material they’d covered in the previous term. Emily didn’t blame Professor Lombardi and Professor Armstrong for wanting to make sure that everyone was on the same page, but she couldn’t help thinking of it as yet another waste of her limited time before the exams. She hadn’t gone home for the holidays. None of the older students had left the school for more than a quick walk up the mountains or a trip to Dragon’s Den. And yet they had to review material before moving on. The only teacher who didn’t seem inclined to hold a review was Gordian and she wasn’t inclined to relax in his class. She still had no idea what he knew ...
“Emily, remain behind,” Gordian said, once his class finally came to an end. “Everyone else, dismissed.”
Emily groaned inwardly, keeping her face impassive as the classroom hastily emptied. She had the feeling she would have enjoyed Ethics of Magic and Politics if Gordian hadn’t been teaching it—the class did raise a number of interesting questions—but as it was she just wanted to sit at the back and not make waves. Gordian didn’t let her, of course. He asked her questions more than anyone else, even the students who didn’t seem to be paying attention. It was hard to escape the feeling that he had something up his sleeve ...
Maybe he just wants to embarrass me in front of the others, she thought. It would be petty, if that were the case, but Gordian would hardly be the first sorcerer to indulge in a little pettiness. Or maybe he thinks the Head Girl should be taking the lead.
She sighed as Gordian sat down, facing her. She’d waited for five days, expecting the hammer to fall at any moment. And yet ... it hadn’t. She couldn’t decide if Gordian was trying to outlast her or if he’d simply decided that she’d handled the matter in a suitable manner. Maybe he didn’t know she’d been down to the catacombs. She knew they hadn’t been caught.
“Lady Emily,” Gordian said. “Do you know why I asked you to remain behind?”
Emily could make a number of guesses. But half of them would be revealing.
“No, sir,” she said.
“A disturbing report reached my ears,” Gordian said. “Your young friend assaulted a far younger student.”
Reached your ears, Emily thought, sardonically. Gordian was connected to the wards. It would be hard for him to travel far from Whitehall without disconnecting himself and passing the wards to someone else. Doing that would be difficult, from what Gordian’s predecessor had said. You would have been alerted the moment the alarms went off.
She kept her mouth shut. Gordian presumably had something to say. The sooner she let him say it, the sooner she could deal with it. Or just leave.
“The healer reported that the damage was quite significant,” Gordian said, after a long moment. “Perhaps you could explain to me, young lady, why your friend should not be expelled?”
“She was punished,” Emily said, flatly.
“Perhaps the punishment was not sufficient,” Gordian said. “Perhaps it merits a far worse punishment.”
Emily took a breath. Thankfully, she’d anticipated that question.
“Five years ago, one student accidentally injured another student,” she said. “The wounded student had to spend several days in the infirmary. The student who cast the jumbled spells was caned, then forced to write an essay on the subject. I believe that is a suitable precedent for Frieda’s case.”
“You may be right.” Gordian cocked his head. “Do you think that everyone will agree?”
“The precedent has been set,” Emily said. It wasn’t perfect, of course. Frieda was three years older than Marian, rather than being the same age. “And I believed I should follow it.”
“I see,” Gordian said. “I could, of course, overturn your decision.”
“Not without calling my position into question,” Emily said. She had made sure to read the rules, after she’d been told she’d be Head Girl. “It was my duty to handle the situation and I handled it.”
“You were also quite soft on her,” Gordian said, his voice surprisingly quiet. “Remind me, Emily. Which year is Frieda in?”
“Fourth,” Emily said. “And Marian is a firstie. That does not change the fact that it was my task to handle the affair.”
“No, but it does call your judgement into question,” Gordian pointed out. “What would you have done if it had been someone else?”
“I think I would have done the same thing,” Emily lied. Gordian had a very good point, damn him. Frieda was a friend. She wouldn’t have been anything like so gentle with another student. “It was my call to make.”
“It was, yes.” Gordian met her eyes, evenly. “I don’t think I have to warn you that this situation is already too far out of control. If Frieda does not shape up in a hurry, you may bear the brunt of the blame for her antics. And she will be expelled.”
Because I didn’t convince her to stop, Emily thought, sourly. He has me whichever way I turn.
“I understand,” she said, tonelessly.