Page 14 of House of Mages and Raven

I nodded. “Copy that, Lady Headmistress.” I bit into the spam musubi and talked with my mouth full. “I ain’t so special that anyone shall wait for me.”

“You aren’t special at all. Close your mouth while you eat,” Headmistress Ethel said in distaste. “I don’t understand why we even admitted you to my school in the first place.”

I turned to grin at her while following the sentinels. Actually, they rounded me up to prevent me from escaping. “Prince Louis tried to get me a tutor on manners, but I said no thanks, since education is too expensive. Then Prince Killian forced me to be enrolled in Shades Academy. He took it more seriously than youand wouldn’t let me drop the class. I’m not made for organized study, you know. So, if you’ll talk to His Highness about kicking me out, I’d be forever in your debt.”

Some sentinels were trying hard not to chuckle, and some students who had heard my statement snickered.

“Silence!” the headmistress barked at me, her face darkening in anger. “Whenever you open your mouth, something distasteful comes right out.”

“Pardon.” I turned to her and huffed for good measure, my hot breath hitting her in the face. She happened to walk near me, probably not thinking straight, or probably wanting to make sure I wouldn’t have the chance for any shenanigans. “It’s the garlic. The chef added too much raw garlic to the spam. It’s not authentic anymore. Maybe you should go to the kitchen to scold her when you have a chance? No rush, though. Or I can have a talk with her after the trial, if it goes well.” I crossed my left fingers, since my right hand still held the milkshake. “Wish me luck.”

I was now worried sick about the trial. It only proved that we lived in uncertain times.

Headmistress Ethel pursed her lips tight, dashing away from me before I could send her another strong huff. As a group, we passed by Grace. She and I stared at each other for two long seconds. This close, I could confirm that she was my carbon copy. Yet I couldn’t feel her magical signature. She was veiled by another power. Before I could study her further, the academy team whisked me past impatiently. I also had more urgent matters at hand than dwelling on my doppelgänger.

I stepped through the door amid the ranks of sentinels that stood too thick to prevent me from fleeing. They were serious, but I wasn’t going to flee. I decided to see through the trial. I wanted to see Killian in court and look into his eyes when he told lies to my face.

I glanced over my shoulder. Bea still trailed after me outside the group, her face pale, her eyes full of worry, and her blue hair flapping in the wind. I used a firm expression to tell her to stay back.

Then Pucker popped up in his phantom form beside me.

I’m going with you, Barbie,he said.

It’s not a game,I said.They’re going to put me on trial. We might meet some of the most dangerous supernaturals in the court, and I don’t want them to see you.

Don’t worry,he said, grinning.They won’t see me. Where you go, I go. That’s what a familiar is for. I’m your backup.

Thanks, I feel so much better now,I said.But I’d prefer you to stay behind and keep watching the Veil. I don’t want any Shriekers to sneak in while you aren’t there to guard it.

Now you see how important I am, don’t you?he asked in contentment.Well, here comes the cavalry.

A team of warriors from the House of Chaos headed to intercept us, Cassius and Rock in the lead. The two groups met in the middle, and I jerked to a stop as well.

“Lord Cassius,” Headmistress Ethel greeted him. “We’re on official business.”

No one had told me that Cassius, a.k.a. the Silent Blade, was a lord.

“As are we, Lady Ethel,” he said without emotion, his icy blue eyes swiftly inspecting me as if to check if I were wounded, and I winced to show him that my face hurt from anxiety. “I’m taking Miss Barbie from your hands.”

I suddenly got why Cassius had lagged behind instead of accompanying Killian to the court. While Rock was formidable, he couldn’t pull rank with the headmistress—but Lord Cassius could.

“Free me, Sir Werewolf and Lord Silent Blade!” I shouted their call signs to pump fear into Headmistress Ethel’s grayheart so she’d let me go. Who didn’t fear Silent Blade, even though no one dared to call him that to his face? And if I really wanted to escape, no one could stop me, except Killian. But I’d learned that it was better to play their system than fight alone with blunt force. Mist of Cinder was home now. “They’re dragging poor me to trial before I could even eat my breakfast, even though I haven’t done anything wrong.”

The sentinels had taken my plate and milkshake away. I was now empty-handed.

“We’ll take it from here, Lady Ethel,” Rock growled. He always had a soft spot for me and hated to see me suffer.

“I must bring Barbie to face their Majesties and the Council for her crime.” Headmistress Ethel thinned her lips. “She has to answer for murdering Princess Medea in cold blood.”

“The accusation is baseless, Lady Ethel,” Cassius said, and I nodded my agreement. “You aren’t in the clear either as the traitor druid’s associate.” The headmistress’s face paled. “But I’m not going to debate it with you now. I’ll escort Barbie to the court of Kingdom of Chaos. The king and queen will see her.”

My heart sank. I still had to go through a trial, and the queen was Medea’s mother.

“It’s unnecessary to change hands, since I’m bringing Barbie to the court of Kingdom of Chaos as well,” Headmistress Ethel said. “Barbie is a student of Shades Academy, after all.”

“She’s a member of the House of Chaos and a subject of Kingdom of Chaos first,” Cassius said coldly. “It’s our right to bring her to the court, as King Vasiliy ordered.”

Menace rolled off the Silent Blade, so potent that the temperature dropped around us. Ethel stumbled back.

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