by Dylan Steel
“Does it hurt?”
“Bokja?”
Alira nodded, eyes wide.
Sage saw a terror in her eyes that reminded her of her own uncertainties when she’d first come to the Institution several years earlier. “Barely,” she scoffed. “I mean, if you’re tough enough to handle that—” she nodded at her chin, “then you’re definitely tough enough to handle Bokja. No problem.”
A small smile tugged at the corners of the girl’s mouth.
“You’re all set.” Nurse Candice patted Alira’s shoulder and turned to Sage. “Now, you.”
“You may need to check my tongue,” Sage said clumsily, opening her mouth as wide as she could muster. “Felt like I nearly bit it off at the time.”
The nurse shone a light into her mouth and crinkled her nose. “Mmm, yeah, that’s definitely swollen. Here.” She poked a canister at Sage’s mouth and sprayed something all over her tongue.
Sage’s face screwed up in disgust. The spray’s flavor was a strange mixture of sickeningly sweet and extremely bitter, but it began numbing away the pain almost instantly.
“I never promised it’d taste good,” Nurse Candice retorted. “Just be glad you got the cherry flavor. You almost got plain. I’m almost out of half my supplies, and they haven’t filled my req forms for a week.” She snorted. “Some lame excuse about opening the gates too often. I’ll tell you—the headmaster’s never been so uptight in all my years here.”
Sage felt Alira’s curious eyes on her. She wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball and disappear. Again. Even a Level Five made her feel bad for allowing herself to be taken. Everything was different now—even things she never would have guessed.
“Alright. You’re done now too.” The nurse put away the ointment and sprays and brushed her hands off on her pants. “I was told I’m to escort you to the dormitory as well.” She rolled her eyes and then looked at Sage, clearly irritated. “Ordinarily, just Alira here would need an escort, given her age, and I’d think you’d be capable of it, but you’re apparently a unique case,” she said sarcastically. “Whatever. Let’s go.”
“Do I—” Sage stopped abruptly. The numbing spray had worked a little too well. She felt like she was trying to talk around a mouthful of food. “Dooobn’t I… neeebeed to tawblk to lah heabmastuhwr?”
“The headmaster? No, not tonight. It’s way too late by now.” Nurse Candice shook her head. “Some people get to sleep around here,” she muttered under her breath. She raised her voice so they could hear her. “I’m sure he’ll talk to you in the morning. C’mon, ladies.”
The two girls got to their feet and shuffled out the door after the nurse.
Sage’s stomach was twisted in knots. She knew she’d have to explain herself soon—and that was if she was lucky and had the chance to defend herself before being immediately shunned.
9. DISCIPLINARY ACTION
Streaks of morning light scratched across the small office, leaving the room lit in a dim mixture of the overhead buzzing and the cracks of sunlight that managed to sneak through the edges of the shuttered window.
“You just don’t seem to be able to stay out of trouble, do you Miss Indarra?”
The headmaster leaned back in his chair as he glared over the top of his databook, then decided to change intimidation tactics as he pushed himself to his full height just above his student’s head.
Sage stared at her feet as she kicked her toe against the ground, barely missing the edge of the headmaster’s desk. She clenched her jaw. The sound of his voice grated on her already-frayed nerves.
“It’s impolite not to look at someone when they’re speaking to you,” the headmaster rumbled.
Her eyes snapped upward in an icy glare. He took a half step backward in surprise, nearly falling back into his seat.
“Well, then,” he said loftily in an attempt to mask his discomfort at her defiant stare, “what do you have to say for yourself?”
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said reproachfully. “Carnabel hit me. I was just standing there.” She ground her teeth. “I didn’t even hit her back.” Not that I didn’t want to, she thought.
“Yes, I’m very aware that the other young lady was involved. I’ve already spoken separately with her.” He held up a hand to stop her protest. “But I think you’re missing the point, Ms. Indarra. You are already walking a fine line being back with your classmates, and you were involved in an altercation last night—”
“—that’s not my fault! They have this stupid bet that—”
“—I’d thank you for not interrupting me again.” He cleared his throat while Sage clenched her jaw. “As I was saying, you were involved in an altercation last night, and that does not reflect well upon you or Eprah, not to mention the Institution and myself.” His nostrils flared. “And at this point, I don’t really care what kind of deal you struck with Mr. Gaztok. Your behavior is out of control. There’s really only one solution that I’m aware of, and I’m quite certain even he would be quite understanding of the predicament you’ve placed me in. Your actions, what you’ve done, it’s simply not acceptable from a student in any level, let alone a student on a probationary basis. And if—”
“But I didn’t do anything,” Sage insisted. Her heart was pounding wildly, but she tried to keep her speech even. “Don’t you have any witnesses? They’ll tell you what really happened. They’ll—”
“I told you not to interrupt me again!” he bellowed.
“So you’d rather I just let you shun me for no good reason?” She raised her voice. “That’s not fair!”
“Discipline at this Institution has nothing to do with fair!”
Her nose twitched. “Not fair to Eprah,” she said quietly but firmly, looking him straight in the eye. “Eprah deserves the best me it can get, and shunning me is not the best for Eprah.”
The two glared at each other for a moment. Sage felt her chest heaving in anger, and she could see the headmaster was having trouble keeping his own emotions in check. It was no surprise. He’d wanted her to be shunned the moment she’d gotten back. He’d never really cared at all that she’d been rescued—he’d only cared that she’d been gone.
A knock on the door interrupted them.
“What!” he shouted.
The door cracked open, revealing a flustered assistant.
“So sorry, sir, but—”
Kai Abeldra appeared just behind the woman, pushing his way past her into the office.
“We need to talk,” he said in almost a growl. “About last night’s events.” He dropped his gaze to Sage before looking back at the headmaster expectantly. “Now.”
“O-Of course.” The headmaster waved his hand to dismiss his assistant, and his eyes were wide when he turned to Sage. “Wait outside.”
She crossed her arms, her chin jutting forward. “Shouldn’t I be here? I mean, this involves me, doesn’t it? Unless something else happened last night.” If her fate was to be decided, she wanted to at least be able to defend herself.
Kai turned to her. “The headmaster asked you to wait outside,” he said icily. “I see you’re still having trouble showing others respect.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Not when they deserve it,” she said under her breath.
Headmaster Alexander shot a questioning look between her and Kai, clearly uncertain of what she’d said.
Kai, on the other hand, heard her perfectly. His jaw twitched. “Then let me make this unmistakable for you. This is a private meeting. Get. Out.”
Without another word, Sage stomped out of the room. Kai slammed the door closed behind her. Thanks to their volume, the men’s voices were easily heard through the door, but Sage couldn’t quite understand what they were saying. It was infuriatingly frustrating. She needed to know if they were deciding her fate.
The headmaster’s assistant still looked ruffled by the unannounced intrusion. A risky idea popped into Sage’s mind as she stared back at the woman.
“
They asked for refreshments before they sent me out of the room,” she lied.
“Oh!” The woman stared at the door in bewilderment, then looked back at Sage. “Ok,” she said, as much to herself as to Sage, “I’ll grab a tray from next door…”
“No!” Sage grimaced. It’d slipped out before she’d had a chance to think.
“No? But you just said—”
“I just meant… He asked for something special.” She scrambled for an excuse. “You know, probably from the cafeteria or something. For a special guest. Mr. Abeldra’s not just anyone, you know. He’s Mr. Gaztok’s assistant.” It was true, but she nearly choked on those last few words.
The assistant nodded. “Good point.” She hurried out the door.
Sage breathed a sigh of relief as the assistant disappeared from view. She knew she’d probably be caught in the lie, but she couldn’t stand not knowing what they were saying. She pressed her ear to the door.
“… about what you saw on your view, but ours says you have no proof that she did anything one way or another. Or do you have some sort of secondary recording that we don’t have access to?”
“Of course not, Kai. Don’t be—”
“Mr. Abeldra.”
“Sorry?”
“It’s Mr. Abeldra. I’m not your student anymore.” The derisive tone in his voice made Sage shudder. She almost wished she could see the headmaster squirming, but she wasn’t exactly cheering for Kai anymore.
“Sorry. Yes, of course, K—Mr. Abeldra.”
“So no secondary record. No way to confirm what happened one way or another.”
“Don’t you find it curious? That there would be another glitch during—”
“There have always been periodic glitches in our systems. It’s the nature of the beast. Tech is only so reliable.”
“But it—”
“I don’t concern myself with solitary coincidences, Headmaster, and I suggest you don’t either. It tends to be a fruitless exercise, and I’d much rather work with known facts than hypothetical meanderings. Not to mention that the lapse only benefits the other girl if Ms. Indarra is telling the truth. Surely you aren’t suggesting she would be either so capable as to disrupt our advanced systems or so stupid as to prevent her own exoneration if she possessed such skills.”
“I-I… But with no way to verify her story one way or another—”
“There’s no need. Mr. Gaztok made an agreement with the girl. She’s continued delivering on her end of the deal and, in his opinion, hasn’t done anything to compromise that agreement. She stays in her level unless Ms. Verdan determines otherwise. That’s all the verification we need, and quite obviously, that’s all we’re going to be able to get anyways.”
“But—”
“Mr. Gaztok’s decision is final. It’s not up for negotiation. The only question I have for you now is whether or not you need me to waste any more of my time sitting in on a meeting with a fourteen-year-old girl while you apologize for dragging her out of her classes for no apparent reason.”
Sage strained to hear the headmaster’s response, but she couldn’t quite make out what he said. She heard Kai’s voice again.
“You know why. You know what’s at stake. It may be hard to believe, but this is bigger than your ego. Don’t make me come back down here for anything like this again. You know where he stands. He’s not the kind of person you play games with, and neither am I.”
Heavy footsteps started falling. Heart pounding, Sage scrambled toward a chair on the opposite wall, diving into it just as the door opened. She mustered up her best bored expression as Kai stepped out and walked past her and out of the room without so much as a cursory glance.
“Miss Indarra, you may come back in now.”
Sage tried to steady her breathing. “Yes, Headmaster?” she said innocently as she closed the door behind her.
He cleared his throat. “After much deliberation, Kai and I decided it would be more beneficial for you to remain with your classmates.”
She fought back a smile at hearing the headmaster call him Kai instead of Mr. Abeldra. A small act of defiance. For once, she could relate.
“Perhaps your fellow students will be a good influence on you yet. Eprah knows, you need a great degree of training in social restraint. You may still be at the Institution, but you won’t be a student for that much longer, Ms. Indarra, and I’m afraid the rest of the world will not be as forgiving as I am.”
She stifled a snort. Forgiving. Hardly.
“Uh-huh,” she said dully. She wasn’t about to tell him that she’d listened in and knew the truth—that Mr. Gaztok was the one making all the decisions. But she wasn’t about to act grateful either.
“You can get back to your class now. Ms. Firth can escort you.” He waved his hand in dismissal as he took his seat.
Sage backed out of the room, closing the door behind her. A quick glance around the room told her that the assistant wasn’t back yet. She didn’t want to wait any longer for another pointless escort, especially since her class was just at the end of the hallway.
Pushing her way out the door, she strolled out of the office nonchalantly. Just then, the headmaster’s assistant rushed up the stairs, brushing past Sage with a tray piled high with delicacies.
“Oh, Ms. Firth,” Sage said hurriedly, placing a hand on her arm. “I wouldn’t bother taking those in. His guest already left… it might just make him more upset since you weren’t back soon enough.”
The woman’s eyes grew wide as she nodded. “Thanks,” she whispered.
Sage smiled at her sweetly and continued walking toward her class. Without an escort. She didn’t expect the headmaster to object after the conversation he’d just had.
10. FEELINGS
“Eprah’s name. I’ve gotta go. It’s time for my session.” Sage jabbed at her databook and tucked it under her arm as the screen flicked off.
Pippa raised an eyebrow, leaning back on the couch as she tossed her tablet on the vacated cushion in frustration. “They’re still making you do that?”
She nodded. “All year.”
“Bummer.”
Sage shrugged. “Beats the Tech Society, right?”
Pippa rolled her eyes. “Sure. Unless you don’t like the idea of actually getting a good assignment at graduation,” she retorted.
Sage flinched. It’s not like she didn’t already know that missing a couple years of Interest Society experiences was handicapping her chances of getting a good graduation assignment.
“Oh, sorry, Sage. I wasn’t thinking…”
“It’s fine,” she lied. Lying had become second nature before her time at the Bennick estate, but she’d been getting extra practice shrugging off comments all year.
“Well, at least you’re freakishly good at tech during classes.”
“Barely.” She brushed off the comment, not wanting to explain how she’d gotten so good so quickly. “Anyways, I’ll try to help you with the rest of the set later tonight if Nic doesn’t get a chance. But I gotta go.”
“Thanks.” Pippa barely glanced up. “Later.”
“Uh-huh.” Sage stood and crossed the room, coming to a stop in the doorway. She hoped her escort wouldn’t be late today, whoever it was. As a student, she wasn’t exactly in a position to scold instructors—even if they were the reason she was less than punctual lately.
Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long at all. Just moments after taking up her post outside the door of the Common Lounge, she heard the flat echo of footsteps rounding the corner. And this time, they belonged to Mr. Walsh.
“Miss Indarra,” he said formally, giving a slight bow.
Sage grinned impishly, stepping into the hall beside her old instructor.
“I see you got stuck with babysitting duty again, huh?”
“There are far worse things I could be doing with my time,” Mr. Walsh said, returning her smile.
“But they’d probably be more exciting.”
“Doubt
ful. I think you’re underestimating your own fascinating history, Miss Indarra.”
“Or purposefully blocking it from my mind.”
“I suppose that’s an entirely plausible scenario. Not that it matters for our purposes today.” He swept his hand in front of himself in invitation. “Shall we?”
She giggled, falling into step beside him.
“So what’s in store for you today? Facts or feelings?”
“Ms. Sterling,” Sage said. Fortunately, she’d been meeting with the trauma counselor more often than Ms. Verdan lately.
“That’s good.” He bobbed his head. “Although I’m sure you’ll have a fair share of questions to answer either way.”
“Yeah.” She nodded.
The rhythmic stomping of their feet through the corridors was the only sound that could be heard for an uncomfortable stretch of time. Her mind was spinning with dozens of questions she wanted answers to—questions she couldn’t ask under the watchful eye of the Institution and Mr. Gaztok.
Sage pressed her lips together tightly, glancing up at her old instructor. She felt like she was going to burst if she had to keep in these questions any longer. “Mr. Walsh?” Her voice shook, betraying her intentions.
“Yes?” Mr. Walsh looked down at her and frowned. “Sage…” His eyes darted around the hall as he stroked his bracelet nervously. He put his hand on her back, ushering her forward more quickly as he stooped over, lowering his voice.
“Be careful, Sage. I’ve been wanting to talk to you candidly for some time, but they’ve only just started relaxing your security—and not by much. The shorter this glitch appears, the better, so I don’t have time to answer all your questions. I really am sorry.”
Sage looked at him in surprise. “We can—we can actually talk?”
He nodded, hurrying them along the hall. “But not for long.”
“So will you tell—”
He shot her a reprimanding look. “No time for questions. There’s something I’ve wanted you to know for quite awhile now. I thought you might want to know what happened to the book you were carrying the day you were taken.”
