Silence descended as I slowed to a walk, shoes clicking mercilessly on the wooden floor.
Vanya wasn’t there, but Rush was.
He stood near the window at the end of the hall, leaning against the wall, hair perfectly slicked back and tie knotted neatly at his throat. I shook my head in disbelief, then caught sight of Scarlett. She stood in front of him, and a pain pricked my chest as Rush never once looked up.
Voices approaching in the hall behind us saved me from having to say anything. I spun as Vanya marched forward, beside Headmaster Vaughan. Beside them strode Professor Enplencourt, a wild look of fury on her face.
“But, sir,” Vanya begged. “You can’t just let this sort of thing go. I will tell my father…” Her voice trailed off when she spotted me. “Oh!” She broke away from the headmaster and ran toward me, crushing me in a hug.
Enplencourt flicked her wrist, and the students parted to let her through. Her eyes scanned the crowd with ferocity, as if appalled by the loitering students in the hall.
“I can’t believe what they did!” Vanya began, taking my hands. “It’s the most…it’s so…”
Headmaster Vaughan cleared his throat, cutting off Vanya’s words. “I must speak with you,” he said.
Gut sinking, I peeled down the hall with the headmaster. At the end of the hall, I tossed one more glance over my shoulder at my classmates filing into the history room. Rush was already inside the room, but Vanya stood there with fists at her sides.
The headmaster’s office was situated at the end of a short hallway at the top of the grand steps leading from the main foyer. Wood-paneled walls lined the hall, and a small chandelier lit the way. No rug softened the sound of our shoes on the hardwood, and I imagined them like executioner’s drums.
His door had a brass knocker, like an external door, shaped to look like a dragon curled into a circle. I followed Vaughan inside, my gaze traveling around the room quickly—bookshelves and a massive globe standing by a floor-to-ceiling window near a heavy wooden desk facing two leather chairs.
He stopped several paces away from his desk, his hands clasped at his waist. “Please sit.”
I did.
“Miss Miro, or should I say Mireaux,” he began, staring out the window at an uninterrupted view of Gray Mountain. My shoulders sagged. “It has been brought to my attention that you are a resident of 232 Twickenshire Road. Is that correct?”
My eyes fell to his desk, where a pile of letters rested. On top, I recognized a letter I’d posted to Evie a few days ago. It had my home address on it, and inside was proof that I had a sister living at that address.
Saints. I should have been more careful with my letters, mailing them from outside the school. But I’d never once thought of writing letters to Evie as a threat. Scarlett was more clever than I’d given her credit for.
“Yes, sir.”
“And is it also true that you are not, in fact, related to Merlon Fairfax at all?” He turned tired eyes on me.
“Yes, sir. But I am bonded to a dragon, like every?—”
He held up a hand. “That is precisely why I am allowing you to remain here.”
My spine straightened. “Sir?”
Slowly, he moved to his desk and sat. “Merlon received my telegram, and I expect him to be arriving by train this evening.” His forehead tipped forward onto his fingers. “I also must inform you that word of this has spread to all the families rather more quickly than I’d intended.” He peered up at me. “There is clamor for you and your dragon to be removed.”
Violent heartbeats rattled my entire body as I tried to find something to say, some words that would convince him to protect Myth. I’d done what I came to do—prove a bottomsider could bond. Now that the news was out, the wolves were coming.
I’d expected this.
We’d planned for this.
We’d only hoped it would happen when we chose. After the year-end race.
Asset or assassin, Rush had told me. So much for rising to glory as a racer if I was expelled from the school. Even in my wildest dreams, I doubted they’d let me keep Myth.
“Sir,” I said, voice small and raspy from the night’s events. “What will happen to Myth?”
His throat bobbed. “I have many people telling me they will withdraw their students if you are not removed, as well as your dragon, which they view as a threat to their sons and daughters.” He held up a hand when he sensed my rebuttal rising. “They of course cannot believe that a person of your birth can bond at all, thus they believe your dragon to be unbonded. Which would be potentially dangerous for your fellow students and the other dragons. Unbonded young dragons, if not properly trained, can act in unpredictable ways, as I’m sure you’ve learned by now.” He waited until I nodded in agreement. “But I have assured them that you are in fact bonded. I know Merlon is unorthodox, but he would never endanger an entire school of young people. So I am willing to believe we’ve simply made a mistake in some area. I’ve ordered an investigation of our public records to see if there is perhaps a hidden bit of nobility in your blood somewhere. That would assuage the fears of the other families,” he said in response to my scoff. “Also, as a compromise, the duke agreed to come this afternoon and take Myth to a safe place until things can be sorted out. If he deems it necessary, you will be required to participate in what is called a bond test.”
As if the floor had crumbled away beneath me, I tipped forward, elbows pressed to my knees.
