After class, Maeve set out to find Mal. She knew he’d be leaving Charms class and waited for him in the main corridor. She spotted him rather quickly.
“Malachite,” said Maeve as she reached out and touched his arm to gather his attention. “May I have a short word?”
His eyes lingered on her hand. She dropped it at once and stepped away from him. His eyes found hers, and he nodded for them to move over.
They pushed through the swarm of students heading for their various dorms and rounded a corner out of the traffic.
“Firstly,” she began, “I just want to thank you for helping me with Alchemy, I know I was difficult at first.”
He attempted to hide a small smirk at her admitting her own arrogance, but Maeve knew he was all too pleased with himself regardless.
“Secondly, I’m going to London this weekend so I won’t be meeting to study.”
Students continued passing by them in the main hallway laughing loudly.
“Thank you for letting me know,” said Mal, his voice businesslike.
Maeve nodded and noticed his expression shift.
“Thirdly, good luck tonight,” said Maeve, backing away. “Not that you need it.”
Mal smiled softly in agreement. Maeve turned on her heel and headed to The Dining Hall.
Dinner was filled with whispers of bets for the duels. Betting was strictly illegal at Vaukore, though no Professor truly enforced this. Professor Larliesl, who sponsored The Dueling Club, usually pretended he had no idea the betting was even taking place.
Maeve ate her dinner alone, which was mostly how she preferred it. There was much more time to read and contemplate that way.
After much thought, Maeve decided she would make an uncommon appearance at the duel that night.
“Did you hear a first year boy challenged a fourth year? He’s got to be mental.” Maeve overheard a young Draconem student say as she made her way to the Dueling Hall.
The large stone room was in the dungeon. Its walls were covered in marks from various hexes and curses-a lingering reminder of the potential seriousness of a duel. There was a large, circular dueling stage in the center of the room, and surrounding it was plenty of seating, ancient tapestries and paintings stretched high onto its vaulted curves.
“Maeve!” Abraxas called from one corner of the room, motioning her over.
Maeve made her way through the large crowd of students, over to a group of Serpentine students she knew quite well.
“Hi, Maeve,” said Iris Astoria, a witch who was younger than Maeve.
The Astoria family, like the Sinclair family, was a bloodline of Sacred Seventeen. Six of the Sacred families had Pureblood Magicals in school at Vaukore with Maeve. They were among the seventeen families left with only Magicals in their lines and lineages. The Magical world on Earth was now a mixture of Humans, Elves, and Magicals. The Sacred Seventeen, however, did not marry or reproduce outside of those seventeen families, as was their duty designated by the Committee of the Sacred.
Maeve took a seat in an oversized armchair, crossing her legs.
“Would you like to place any bets?” Abraxas asked Maeve, in an affected voice.
“Absolutely,” said Maeve leaning over to look at the dueling sign up list.
“Fawley is fighting Kash?” She whispered, glancing over towards Fawley.
Hendrix Fawley was a senior at Vaukore, in his fourth year. He and Maeve were two of the few Sacred Seventeen members in history to be placed outside of Serpentine Court. A fact which they commiserated on many occasions. Fawley’s family didn’t take it as well as Maeve’s did. The morning after he was sorted his parents came bursting through the front gates of the school demanding to speak with Headmasters Elgin and Rowan.
“I’d put money on Kash, sadly,” laughed Thormund Prewett.
“I dunno,” said Mervyn Roswyn. “The stakes are high for Fawley.”
“But Mal’s really been laying into Kash lately, telling him he’s got to progress,” said Phineas.
“I’ll bet on Fawley,” said Maeve plainly.
