Chapter 20 Repercussions #2
I nudged his arm. “Ignore them. Graham’s gone. That’s all I care about.”
That was even mostly true.
I still couldn’t quite believe he was gone, honestly, and I’d seen him led off campus with my own eyes. And yes, people were right to blame me. I was one hundred percent the reason he’d been expelled.
I’d always intended to report Strangemore for what he’d done, well before Bones made it a non-negotiable part of our new arrangement, so I couldn’t even blame him.
Only a few hours after I’d woken up in Bones’s bed, and less than an hour after I’d taken a shower in his shower, and while still wearing some of Bones’s magically-transformed clothes, I’d filed a formal complaint with Forsooth, as our year’s faculty head.
Forsooth took my statement in full, then brought me to the main offices to file a second complaint with the school’s administration.
As a part of the evidence-gathering process for that one, I allowed them to look at my memories, after Forsooth assured me they could only legally look at the exact timeframe I gave them.
Which was a good thing, really, since the timeframe I used had been supplied to me by Bones.
Given my own mental state that night, I hardly could’ve pinned that down on my own, not with any precision, and Bones gave me exact times for the events he witnessed, up until the moment he directly intervened.
He adamantly refused to be included in any part of the complaint, himself. Since he didn’t want me mentioning him, access to my memories ended a few seconds before he’d arrived.
I had to fictionalize how I’d gotten away.
Honestly, I left it fairly vague whether I’d gotten away at all.
If Forsooth or any of the administrators noticed that, or if it concerned them, they didn’t say. I suspected at least some thought Strangemore had successfully raped me, and that I hadn’t wanted to admit that, which is possibly why they left it alone.
Regardless, the school’s Oracle had enough to support my complaint. When they checked my memories against Strangemore’s for the same timeframe, Graham’s fate was sealed, with the university, at least.
The swiftness of the process shocked me, and made me wonder how Graham thought he would ever have gotten away with it.
He must’ve had some plan for that, something he would have done to my memory or threats he could have made.
I’d worried that without Bones there to back up my story, they wouldn’t do much, or even believe me, given who I was.
But once the Oracle declared everything in my complaint verified and truthful, it was all over.
Also, as it turned out, Bones had been right to stay out of it.
The school’s complete inability to keep any aspect of the incident quiet grew apparent within hours.
My name must’ve circulated pretty much immediately following my report, because by that first night, the entire school knew.
As soon as word got out that Graham would be expelled, and handed over to the authorities on charges of criminal assault, the entire campus exploded in rage, most of it aimed at me.
As for Graham himself, he got escorted off campus before supper on Sunday evening.
That part happened right in the courtyard of Valarian, as he’d been returning from his last Skyhunt practice as a member of the Malcroix Skulls.
So far, at least, I’d heard no mention of Bones in connection to that night.
I didn’t know if that was because Graham had kept his mouth shut, or because of something Bones had done to him, but I strongly suspected the latter.
I could think of absolutely no reason why Strangemore wouldn’t tell anyone who’d listen that I’d left with Bones, if only because it would twist the attention off himself.
I strongly suspected Strangemore didn’t even remember Bones was there.
Not like having Bones involved would have helped me in the slightest. If the school knew Bones got between me and Strangemore, it only would’ve cemented their opinions of me even more.
I’d be accused of being a slag for sleeping with Bones after rejecting Strangemore, and most of them would probably assume I’d shagged both of them, anyway.
No, Bones couldn’t have helped me, even if he’d been willing to.
It was me, “the hybrid,” who got everyone’s favorite Skyhunt player expelled.
Which meant everyone knew exactly who to blame if the Skulls lost their first big match of the year the following Sunday.
I’d been trying to keep a low profile all weekend.
As soon as I returned to classes Monday, that was no longer an option.
“Shadow!” Quicksilver clicked his fingers at me the instant I entered the torchlit shed. “Front and center.” When I hesitated, his voice hardened, along with his eyes. “Now.”
I walked to my professor warily, wearing loose, dark trousers and a tank top over what amounted to a sports bra.
Even though we fought primarily with magic in these practicals, now that we were in our second year, I was expected to start incorporating physical moves into my sparring.
That included both attack and defense, and misdirection to aid my magic.
Quicksilver made it clear I was utterly terrible at all of these things, even though I’d spent far too much of my school years fighting in Overworld, defending either my brother or myself.
The martial arts they used here, the moves used by mages and witches who’d trained in it, sometimes since they were very young, were completely foreign to me.
They were precise, circular, graceful, and totally unlike the paltry fighting skills I’d developed over the years, which I’d mostly worked out on my own.
Whenever I broke out of the forms Quicksilver had us practice and tried to defend myself the way I knew how, Quicksilver ended the fight at once.
He’d then order me into another part of the shed to practice by myself, or sometimes with dummies.
Once, when I happened to win a fight against another Magical that way, unofficially at least, he got even angrier, pointing out how easily I would’ve been taken down, had I been fighting anyone remotely competent.
Truthfully, though, I usually felt like Quicksilver was trying to help me.
In a strange way, him pushing on me felt almost like an expression of faith that I’d eventually get there, but maybe that was wishful thinking on my part.
I knew I’d frustrated him a lot this year.
He seemed to think I should have progressed more by now, and his annoyance with me had only gotten worse since my magical “incident” a few weeks previous.
Today, he snapped words at me before I’d even reached where he stood.
“You’re not in here anymore,” he said.
He didn’t look at me as he spoke.
He looked over my shoulder, to my right, and around at the other witches and mages in my Offensive and Defensive Magic practical, but not at me.
“You’re practicing in Experimental Magic Shed Four from now on, Shadow. Compartment One. Your hours and days will be changing as a function of your new assignment, so be sure and note that on your revised schedule.”
My mind tripped over that information, then I paled.
I knew exactly who that compartment belonged to.
“He won’t like that,” I blurted, unthinking.
Professor Quicksilver looked me straight in the eye for the first time.
“Mr. Bones didn’t get a vote in the matter,” he said, an overt warning in his voice. “Nor do you. Nor I, apparently. This was handed down by the school administration.”
His lip curled, and I found myself staring at him as it hit me he was actually angry, although it wasn’t clear if it was at me.
“…Given the two attacks on you, and what amounts to additional credible threats against your person,” he continued gruffly.
“It seems a consensus has formed that I am not able to bring you up to speed quickly enough in a group setting. You require one-on-one tutoring, and as I don’t have time to hand-hold you through that process, Mr. Bones was offered up as a substitute.
He holds a professional fighting certification and rank, so he’s one of the few on campus apart from me able to do it.
Your sessions are also going to be extended, although some of that will be according to his discretion.
They will also be increased from two to three days a week.
You will meet with Bones in his shed compartment on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays this term, at two o’clock.
You will not leave until he says you are dismissed.
Bones has already been made aware, and is expecting you. ”
Quicksilver rested his hands on his waist as his eyes met mine.
“I would not take this as a compliment, Ms. Shadow,” he warned.
“Since you are unable to defend yourself like a normal witch, and are therefore vulnerable to becoming a school liability with your incompetence, you will need to work twice as hard to remedy that. I recommend you do as Bones instructs, because I’ve also been told I’m to give him a free hand.
I wouldn’t give him an excuse to teach you the hard way, because you and I both know he will very happily take advantage of that license. ”
I nodded, but my hands were already wringing themselves together compulsively.
Unlike what Quicksilver likely believed, I wasn’t worried about Bones per se.
I didn’t think he would hurt me for kicks, nor did I think he would likely use this as an excuse to put me in my place whenever I annoyed him. After Saturday, it felt strangely like we were on civil terms again, and at least tenuous allies, if not exactly friends.
I was significantly more worried about the attention this arrangement would garner. Most everyone in the school already hated me because of Graham. They would see this as more proof that I didn’t belong here, and worse, that I was now being given special treatment.
Also, there was Bones himself.
While he wouldn’t hurt me to be sadistic (I didn’t think?) he might do it to save face.
He’d made it even more clear in our second negotiated “agreement” that absolutely no one could know we were working together.
How would he keep people from gossiping about us, if everyone knew we were spending hours together alone?
Then there was his father. Would Bones feel the need to blacken my eyes every few days just to keep Bones Senior from thinking his son had gone soft?
It was clear Quicksilver wasn’t happy about the arrangement.
Despite his scathing words about my lack of competence, I didn’t get the impression he blamed me for this exactly, either.
He was looking at me more like…
Gods, was he actually worried about me?
Did he think Caelum was going to use me as a punching bag? Because that didn’t bode well for how the royals would likely see it, or what they’d expect Bones to do to me behind closed doors, with the full blessing of the school.
I happened to glance to my left and saw Bella Chalmers, the witch who’d had her legs in Bones’s lap on the carriage ride to school, staring at me. The smug, gleeful look of triumph in her eyes was enough for me to know exactly what the royals would expect.