“I asked what happened here?” He repeated louder.
The room went silent. Maeve stood up and walked over to Henry. He was a Pureblood boy she had known her entire life. He had only been at Vaukore for a year, but he was considered one of Mal’s Sepentine boys.
“He’s drunk,” Maeve whispered to Mal.
“He used an illegal curse on Simon,” said a voice from the crowd.
Maeve and Mal turned their heads towards the source. It was a small, blonde-haired girl Maeve recognized from the Sorting Ceremony earlier that evening. She was freshly eighteen and held her composure with grace. An emerald green and silver tie hung loosely at her neck. Her accent was Russian.
“Is that true?” Asked Mal.
She nodded. Some of the others in the room murmured in agreement.
“And. . . broke her nose.” The girl’s gaze traveled to a brunette-haired girl sitting in a chair with her head bowed, and another girl rubbed her back soothingly.
“What provoked him?”
“Henry said something nasty about. . . her. . .” The girl referred to the brunette, who still didn’t lookup. “He said she didn’t deserve to be here. He said she had dirty blood. And that Kietel was killing dirty blooded Magicals like her every day.”
Maeve looked at the brunette with the broken nose. Human born.
The Serpentine girl continued, her voice unwavering. “And then pointed right at Leela, saying he’d just do it himself.”
Leela, the human born girl with a broken nose, looked up at Maeve for the first time. Her face was stained with blood, and her eyes were red to match. She looked horrified.
Her first night at Vaukore and this is what she was greeted with. Maeve turned quickly back towards Henry and opened her mouth. Mal’s eyes stopped her. The girl continued.
“He attacked her, and then Simon jumped between them, and the two started dueling one another.”
Maeve realized behind them was a long table full of contraband. Immortally Brewed Bourban, Dragon Wiskey, and Bubbling Brandy. The brandy was expensive, as she recognized a bottle from her father’s top-shelf.
“Where did you lot even get all this?” Asked Maeve.
No one answered.
Mal looked down at Henry Rowle with perfect composure, but Maeve was certain his insides were burning.
There was a loud commotion at the entrance to the Common Room, and all heads turned in that direction.
Professor Larliesl, Harquinton, Madam Kimmerance, and Headmaster Elgin stepped into the room.
Madam Kimmerance gasped upon seeing Leela’s blood-stained face and rushed towards the girl. Maeve averted her attention to the unconscious boy on the floor, which caused her to yelp and instruct two others to help her get Simon to the Healing Wing. Leela’s friend walked her behind them.
“You stay put,” Mal muttered to Rowle before he strolled over to the Headmaster. Mal explained the situation to them in a hushed voice.
Headmaster Elgin sent everyone to their dormitories, save for Rowle. She and Larliesl escorted Rowle gravely out of the common room.
Maeve and Mal walked silently down the grand staircase, heading back towards their dorms.
“What an idiot,” said Maeve.
Mal’s face was stoic. “I have taught him better than that. To use Dread Magic I gave him the privilege of learning. . .”
“I wonder if he’ll be expelled?”
Mal raised his eyebrows as they reached the sixth-floor landing and continued down. “Why wouldn’t he be?”
“His money. His parents give so much money to the school. To the Committee. The Orator’s Office.”
