Page 72 of Magical Mission
“There was no structural damage to the Academy,” Nova informed me.
“Good. Now the question is, did the Academy drop the chandelier, or did someone else in hopes of hurting students?” I asked.
“Or faculty,” Nova replied.
“When we get there, I don’t want this to feel like a confrontation,” I explained.
Nova snorted. “We brought Ardetia. That ship’s sailed.”
“I’m standing right here,” Ardetia murmured.
“She knows,” Nova replied.
I didn’t bother hiding my smile. “We’re not here to scare them.”
“We’re here to find out what they’re hiding,” Nova said. “If anything.”
I nodded. “But we’re going in as caretakers. Not guards.”
We turned the corner into one of the older halls, still bearing the deep oak trim and slightly uneven flagstones from the Academy’s earliest days. It had a lived-in feel where secrets gathered like dust in corners.
Krina and Mys weren’t in their assigned dorm tonight. They werehere, in a small study room just off the back alcove.
And that, in itself, was a decision worth noticing.
“They picked a quiet corner,” I said, pausing in front of the old wooden door. “No one walks this wing at night.”
Nova raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like someone who doesn’t want to be heard.”
Or someone who’s used to hiding, I thought.
I reached for the handle but paused, looking back at both of them.
“Let me go first.”
Nova looked like she wanted to protest. Ardetia said nothing, but I felt her gaze settle heavily on me.
“I need to do this asme,” I said. “Not as Headmistress. Not with backup.”
Nova crossed her arms. “We’re not going far.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to.”
With that, I turned the handle and slipped inside.
The door creaked open into a softly lit study. The smell of steeped rosemary and beeswax filled the space, and the glow of asingle lamp illuminated the two women seated at the old wooden table.
They looked up the moment I stepped in.
Krina, dark-haired, still as a lake before rain, watched me with wary eyes. Mys, braid over one shoulder and a half-bitten apple in hand, didn’t flinch but didn’t smile either.
I closed the door behind me.
“Good evening,” I said gently. “I’m Maeve.”
“We know who you are,” Mys said. Her voice was casual, but there was a flicker of tension under it.
Krina said nothing.
