Charis
After my first two classes, I was finally starting to feel like I might survive Ravenshore.
Just before break ti, a Sentinel appeared in the doorway of our classroom. He didn’t say a word, just scanned the room until his eyes found , then jerked his head toward the hallway in a clear command.
My stomach dropped. This couldn’t be good.
I nodded and gathered my things, acutely aware of every pair of eyes following my movent as I left the classroom. The whispers started before I’d even cleared the doorway—speculation about what kind of trouble the new bastard boy had already managed to get himself into.
The walk to Headmistress Vale’s office felt like a death march. Each step echoed in the empty corridors, and I found myself trying to rember if I’d done anything in the past few hours that could have warranted this summons.
The last ti we’d spoken, she told she’d think of what she wanted to do for her in return, and she’d keep my secret. Was this what this eting was all about? For her to finally tell what she wanted to do?
When we reached the office, I could see Headmistress Vale silhouetted against the large window in her office, sipping tea with an air of casual elegance that sohow made her more threatening. The Sentinel gestured for to enter, and once I stepped inside, she dismissed him with a wave of her hand.
"Leave us," she commanded without turning around.
The door closed behind with a soft click that sounded like the doors back at Crestborne whenever my father wanted to beat . For more than ten minutes, I stood there in silence, wondering what she wanted in return.
Finally, I couldn’t take the tension anymore. I cleared my throat quietly and said, "You wanted to see ?"
Headmistress Vale turned from the window and crossed the room, and before I could even process what was happening, she slapped .
The slap was so unexpected that for a mont I couldn’t hear anything but the ringing in my ears. My cheek burned like fire, and I could taste blood where my teeth had cut the inside of my mouth.
"Where are you staying?" she demanded, "Didn’t you tell you were staying with Slater?"
I stared at her in complete shock, my hand instinctively moving to cover my stinging cheek. The rage in her eyes was terrifying. This wasn’t the composed woman who had interviewed just days ago. This was soone on the edge of violence.
"Am I not talking to you?" she shouted when I didn’t respond imdiately. "Answer , goddammit!"
I forced myself to compose my expression, to push down the fear and pain threatening to overwhelm . "Yes," I managed to say, my voice steadier than I felt. "I fought with Slater and decided to stay with Kael instead."
She laughed dryly, throwing her head backwards like she was possessed. Before I could react again, she grabbed my collar and hauled closer, tightening her grip against my throat.
"Who do you think you are?" she scread, showering my face with her spittle. "Why are you causing so much trouble? Why are you treating this school like it’s your damn playground, like you can do whatever you want? You think you can change rooms whenever the mood strikes you? Are you completely mad?"
Tears gathered in my eyes despite my efforts to remain strong. The combination of physical pain, humiliation, and sheer terror was overwhelming, but I blinked them back furiously. In my experience, crying would only make things worse.
"I’m sorry," I whispered.
She gritted her teeth so hard I could hear them grinding. Then she released my collar with a violent shove and stalked across the room to the wine bar. She grabbed a bottle of wine, twisted off the cork, and gulped down the liquid like it was water.
After a long minute, she returned to stand directly in front of , wine still dripping from her lips. The alcohol seed to have made her even more unpredictable.
"You promised you’d be truthful to , right?" she asked. She seed calr now.
I managed to glance up at her and nod, not trusting my voice.
"Great. Then I want you to tell the truth." She grabbed my hands painfully and dragged around to the other side of her desk, pushing roughly into her chair before turning on her computer.
I gasped in shock when a video started playing on the screen. It was —unmistakably —from that day at the sumr camp. The cara had captured everything: pouring my drink onto the grass, throwing away my cake towards the catering bar and then acting like I’d drunk it.
Before I could even begin to formulate an explanation, her hand connected with my other cheek in another stinging slap. I held both burning cheeks as she crossed the room again, returning with sothing that made my breath catch in my throat.
A whip.
She began rolling up her sleeves, holding my gaze, and when she spoke, her voice was filled with satisfaction.
"Now I understand why your dear daddy whips you. You’re so fucking annoying." Her laughter echoed manically in her office. "You’ve only been here for a few days, but everyone seems to be so fucking interested in you. Even Marcus Webb, that piece of shit, was commanding to have you transferred to his room."
The ntion of Marcus made my skin crawl, but I forced myself to remain still.
"You belong to , Charis," she continued, and hearing my real na from her lips made flinch. "I am the reason you’re still here. You answer . I am your god."
She raised the whip, and I couldn’t suppress the fearful tremors that ran through my entire body.
"Now tell , who told you to spill your drink and throw away that cake? Tell this instant. Why did you do that?"
I maintained the most stoic expression I could manage, drawing on years of practice hiding my emotions from my father’s rages. "No one," I said quietly.
The whip cracked across my arm, and I bit down hard on my tongue to keep from crying out.
"Tell the truth!" she demanded.
I scrambled for an explanation that wouldn’t implicate Kael or reveal how much I understood about what had happened that day.
"I didn’t take the alcohol because even a little amount makes drowsy," I said quietly. "I have a low tolerance. And the cake, I wasn’t allowed to eat things like that back at ho. My father would go into a frenzy if he saw snacking. He said they were unhealthy and didn’t want ever to be fat. I suppose my body was reacting to past experiences. I’m sorry."
It was a weak excuse, but it was the best I could manage without revealing the truth. I couldn’t tell her it was Kael who had warned . I couldn’t admit that I’d understood exactly what kind of danger I was in that night.
She stared at for a few seconds before pausing the video, and my heart stopped as the screen froze on an image; it was the mont when Kael had kissed in the hot tub.
"Can you unpack what happened here?" she asked quietly. "Why did he suddenly pull you into the tub?"
The question hung in the air. How could I possibly explain that mont without revealing everything? From the alertness in Kael’s eyes and mine, and the fact that he’d only dragged into the pool when we saw them, it was suspicious.
I stared at the frozen image on the screen, my mind racing for an answer that might save us both, knowing that whatever I said next could determine not just my fate, but Kael’s as well.
"Well?" she sneered. "Ran out of lies already?"
She turned my chair to face her directly, then reached out to hold my jaw,
"I don’t want to hurt you, precious," she said softly. "I don’t want to give you back to your father because I gave you my word, but I am not a patient person either. Tell the truth."
I swallowed hard.
"Kael had tried to make advances at in the tent before this hot tub incident," I began, hating myself for every word but knowing I had no choice. "If you noticed in the video, he ca close to and was forcing to co into the tub. When I saw that you and the orientation professor had arrived, I was thankful that Kael wouldn’t be able to disturb further, but he dragged into the tub anyway."
The words tasted like ashes in my mouth, but I forced myself to continue, adding details that would make the lie more convincing.
"Earlier today, he tried to make out with again," I added. "I think he likes too, sa with Marcus, the student president. He already asked to..." I trailed off, then said in a whisper. "To date him."
Vale studied my face intently, "And do you rember anything else from that night?" she asked.
I shook my head firmly. "No, nothing. I can’t even rember this," I pointed to the computer.
Vale sighed deeply, finally releasing my jaw. She moved away from and grabbed the wine bottle again, taking a long sip before turning back to face .
"It’s ti for you to fulfil your promise," she said, her voice taking on a gentler tone. "I’m going to need you tomorrow to be a girl."
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