Page 119 of The Holy Academy of Witches

On reaching the building, I looked up to see a light coming from our living room window. Hopefully that was Sage and not the others. It was startling how things had shifted. I had spent my entire life surrounded by people like my parents, my room mates, Silva… the elite of witch & warlock society. The women: preoccupied with their looks, their houses, how many bullshit balls for bullshit “charities” they would attend this year. Whether Susan from early morning dance yoga had used dark magic or had cosmetic surgery to keep herself looking so young. No one in society was worth talking about if they’d made actual achievements, no one actually cared about the purpose of the fundraisers they attended or hosted. I had put up with it for so long, grown accustomed to the feeling of wanting to stab my own eyes out with a fish knife. Had it not been for Cillian I quite possibly may have just succumbed to the inevitability of it all.

Yet here I stood outside a dorm building I had sauntered into countless times before, hoping to see an American girl with big blue eyes and wild blonde curls, who challenged me intellectually, made me laugh despite my often bad moods and actually cared about me. An actual friend; no false pretences or clamouring for approval to climb a social ladder I was unwillingly at the top of. At the same time, I also stood here with a broken heart at the hands of her brother. Which, despite the pain it caused me, actually meant I was feelingsomething,for once.

* * *

I was sitting on the sofa with a mug of hot chocolate in one hand and a pen in the other, watching the news, when Sage walked through the door. She tried to hide her smile as she entered but I caught the look in her eyes. The date had gone well. I made a mental note to ring Cillian and ask if my suggestion of the small French restaurant had been a good one. Judging by the twinkle in her eyes and the slight flush of her cheeks (likely due to Cillian’s bike), it had been.

“You’re back.”

“I am.” She replied warily, taking off her jacket.

“Did you have any success with…” she looked around before whispering, “the statue.”

“I did. Follow me.” I instructed. Walking into my room, I cast a silencing charm with a wave of my hand. Sage looked around with wide eyes as I clicked the door shut behind her. “What is it?”

“Oh, n… nothing. I’ve never been in your room before.”

“Oh, that’s normal. No one comes into my room.”

“But… I’m in it.”

“Yes, I suppose you are.” I replied, contemplating what she would take from that. “Anyway, I need to talk to you.”

“Oo, okay!” She settled herself down on the edge of my bed but jumped straight back up nervously at the look I gave her. She instead chose to sit in the perfectly acceptable chair by my desk.

“Firstly, how did your… outing go?” I asked as I smoothed a hand over my bedding.

“Um well… I…”

“That good, huh?”

A flush crept up her neck as she stumbled for words, “No… Well, yes… he… I…” she sighed in frustration, “He’s… confusing.”

I barked a laugh, “yes, very.” I wondered when she would admit to herself that she liked him. Deciding that was a topic for another day, I brought us back to the issue at hand. “I believe I’ve figured out the riddle.”

“Oh?” Her eyes lit up with both intrigue and relief at my change of subject.

“Yes, dying light is obviously a waning moon. Given the importance of the lunar phase in the last riddle that seems likely. ‘Maiden full’… the Saint Elizabeth statue is pregnant. I would surmise she is very full… so, my thoughts were another pregnant figure. Kins own sight… Well, you were an absolute genius with focusing on the direction of her gaze. I plotted the co-ordinates and it lined up beautifully with the boys academy, not only that but with a particular part of the building which predates the school itself by hundreds of years. I’m positive that’s the place we need to look.”

“What about the kin bit?”

“Well this is the exciting part. I was wracking my brain trying to consider the kin of Saint Elizabeth and considering the line of thought of it being someone who is pregnant… I think it’s Mary, as in the mother of Christ. And given the line regarding a blessing, I’m fairly certain. It is thought that Saint Elizabeth was Mary’s cousin, although the gospel of Luke portrays her as Mary’s aunt so that’s debatable… but I digress…”

“How is that exciting?”

“Knowledge is always exciting, Sage. What do you think?”

“I think that’s the riddle solved… but you know what this means?”

“What?” I answered warily.

“We need to go to the boys academy…” she looked nervously at me.

“Yes well, I was thinking about that and I think we should ask-“

“Theo!” Sage clapped her hands together.

“Absolutely not, I was going to say Cillian.”

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