Maeve scowled at the deception. She picked her letter up off the desk and followed Rowan silently down the stairs of The Wings. They didn’t walk towards the Headmasters Quarters.
Rowan slipped down a back corridor and opened the door to an old and unused classroom. She followed him inside, against her better judgment, and on her father’s. Her lux charm barely lit the room. It was covered in cobwebs and dusk and filled with old versions of textbooks.
The door snapped shut and Rowan cast a silencing charm around them, ensuring their discussion was private. He pulled a small letter from his pocket and handed it to her.
“When did he send this?” Asked Maeve, clutching the brief letter from her father.
“Before everything went to shit,” replied Rowan.
Maeve looked down at the quickly scribbled words from her father. It read:
Something of otherworldly proportions is going to happen at any second. Hang tight. Stick to Malachite. I’ll be fine. You’ll be fine.
Maeve felt like his last sentence had more been written to reassure himself than anything else.
“What is going on?” Asked Maeve.
“I don’t think I’m at liberty to say,” said Rowan.
“That’s ridiculous and you know it,” retorted Maeve.
Rowan gave her a reproachful look. “The Orator-”
“Fuck the Double O,” said Maeve, a quiver in her voice. “And fuck whatever organization has surely double crossed us at this point.”
Rowan’s eyes darted around the room nervously. “Be careful.”
“And fuck you too if you’re on their side,” she seethed.
Rowan almost looked pleased at her tenacity. “Do you trust your father, Maeve?”
“More than anyone,” she said.
“Then trust me. As he does.”
Maeve shook her head. “This isn’t fair.”
“The Orator will be here within the hour to speak-”
“So he can come and go, but we are stuck here?”
“The Orator has special and authorized means of travel to and from this realm. We cannot simply move hundreds of you-
“Why can’t you just-”
“You ask too much at times,” snapped Rowan. “You are too bold.”
Maeve ran her hands across her face and looked back down at his letter. He hadn’t even bothered to sign it. Not as the Premier, not as her father. Like there wasn’t time.
“Where are the Magical Militia?” She asked quietly.
“They are securing the grounds,” he answered. “You should go find your boyfriend and do your duty as Head Girl.”
Maeve glared. “He’s not my-”
Rowan yanked the door open and disappeared into the darkness without another word.
Maeve walked silently back to the Great Hall, relying on other’s lights to guide her way.
