Lucky Rabbit

While they waited for Matilda, Pandy turned to Augustus. “Do you have the paper? The one with all of the pictures on it?” When he handed it to her, she spread it out on the table in front of them. Even Professor Beeswick paused in his publication probe to peer at the page.

Touching one face, Pandy said, “This boy, Elias, was in Gacha Love. He was a Dark mage, but he was one of the first to die when… when people started doing that sort of thing.” She grimaced and hurried on, tapping another youthful portrait. “Cora is one of the bullies on Dorian’s path. She absolutely adores him, to the point of signing up for all the same classes, even though she’s a terrible Ice mage. She can barely make things cold, which makes sense if she’s actually a Dark mage.”

She didn’t ask how that worked. Obviously the librarian knew the girl was Dark, but did the rest of the teachers and staff, or was it something Professor Beeswick knew as a dragon and kept to himself until it became relevant?

“But I don’t remember this boy at all, and I would,” she said, moving on to the delicate, pretty profile of someone she would have guessed was a girl if Beeswick hadn’t called him a boy. There were a lot of good-looking people in Gacha Love – which was only to be expected of an otome game – but this boy really was very pretty, with dark, wavy hair and thick lashes framing pale eyes. “So something has to happen between now and when the boo- ga- story starts, so he’s not at school with the others.”

Heat flooded her cheeks as Augustus’s gray eyes crinkled at the corners when she stumbled, still a bit embarrassed to admit she’d spent so much time playing a romance game. Still, it was nice to see him relax a bit, so she just moved on to the last of the faces she recognized.

“This one… There are several of what we call, um, mid-bosses in the story. People who come in, cause trouble for a while, and then are defeated and never seen again. I can’t be sure, because the enemy mages wear hoods and masks, but I think this might be DeVille. He’s a Dark mage who Clara and her, uh, partner catch attacking people several times. They finally manage to defeat him, and there’s just a second when his mask is removed. We only see one side of his face, but this boy looks right.” She turned to Professor Beeswick, who was studying the page as well, his book held loosely in one hand. “Does he have red hair, do you know?”

The professor nodded. “Him and his sister.”

Pandy paused. “I guess DeVille could be the sister, then, if she looks a lot like him. The cloak kind of covers things up, so it’s hard to tell. A few of the enemies do turn out to be girls, when the masks come off.”

“Are those the only ones you recognize?” Augustus asked, glancing at the other portraits.

Pandy grimaced. “Yes. I’m sorry. And I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you last night, or this morning, or, um-”

He chuckled. “It’s all right. We still need to talk to all of them, though I believe this will change how we handle those particular students.”

“I’ll assign a few more Skyrils to watch Miller, and see if I can figure out what happened to little Bertha. She was bullied during her single year here, and her family didn’t have enough influence to make it worthwhile for Lord Findlay to do anything about it. I just assumed they kept her home after that,” Professor Beeswick said, eyes glittering and lips tight.

Augustus nodded. “I assume you’re also trying to find out who Percy Farrell was?”

The dragon nodded, lifting his book. “If the family is well enough off for one of their children to become friends with a Kirkham, then the death should have been announced in the paper. That will let us lock the timeline down.”

They all turned as the door to the library slowly opened, and a head of glossy golden curls poked in. Matilda’s eyes widened as she took in both Pandy and the chancellor, so Pandy guessed Suzanne hadn’t warned her, which was good for Pandy. The girl’s bright smile faltered, then returned, broader than ever.

“Good morning Chancellor, Professor, um, Ms… Wellington?” A note of uncertainty edged in at the end, but she bobbed a perfect little curtsey nonetheless.

Augustus stood, giving a small bow. “Good morning to you, Matilda. Would you have a seat?”

There was no offer to allow her to remain standing, as there had been for Suzanne, and Pandy wondered why. She hadn’t even had time to explain why she wanted to talk to Matilda, so Augustus and Professor Beeswick were as much in the dark as the girl herself.

As if he’d heard her thought, Augustus turned and raised a brow in Pandy’s direction. “Would you like to begin, Ms. Wellington?”

No, but it wasn’t like she had a choice. Pandy sighed and opened her mouth, but before she could speak, Matilda yelped, and yanked her hand back up above the table. A white powder spilled across the table as she did so, and a thin line of red began to ooze down her pale skin. Miss Cupcakes jumped up onto the table, sneezing sharply as she got a whiff of the powder, then began licking one of her front paws. The kitten looked distinctly pleased with herself.

“Matilda, what is this?” Augustus sounded completely calm, but when Pandy looked at him, he had switched from the kind, albeit slightly aggravating man she had come to know to the cold-eyed warrior who gave orders to Knights of the Royal Eagle.

Matilda, for her part, was desperately trying to cover the powder with her arms, which only succeeded in getting it all over herself. She had a streak down one cheek, and the ends of her ringlets were coated in white.

“I… It’s… nothing!” the girl tried. “Sugar! I… took some extra from breakfast. I like to… to eat it during the day. When I get tired.” She pressed a fingertip against a small pile of it, and lifted it toward her mouth with a wobbly smile.

“Don’t eat that,” Augustus snapped, leaning forward to grasp Matilda’s slender wrist, pulling it back down. More gently, he said, “Some of those powders contain ingredients which are safe enough to breathe, but dangerous to ingest.”

Matilda paled, looking down at herself. She really was covered in the powder, even though it had initially seemed like a very small amount. It was incredibly fine, seeming to lift into the air without the slightest breeze to disturb it.

“I’m… sorry,” she whispered. “I thought… I thought you were going to…”

“Expel you?” Augustus asked, reaching into his magic pocket to remove a handkerchief and a small flask. He poured some of whatever was in the flask – it was deep violet, and definitely not water – onto the handkerchief and handed it to Matilda, with a motion indicating she should use it to clean herself up.

“Yes,” Matilda whispered, her eyes on her sleeves as she dabbed at them.

Augustus leaned back, sighing. “So you are aware of the consequences of using magic against the students, staff, or teachers of Falconet?”

The girl’s chin jerked up. “Technically, I wasn’t using magic on anyone. I used it on the powder, and the powder-”

“Who told you to use that argument if you were caught?” Professor Beeswick asked. This time, he’d set his book down somewhere, and his wings were half-spread, as if his anger couldn’t be contained within his human-like façade. Oddly, Matilda didn’t seem to notice, her look pleading instead of fearful as she turned to the dragon.

“My… my father,” Matilda said. “He said you couldn’t expel me, because there’s a… a hole in the rules?”

“Your father is quite wrong, my dear,” Professor Beeswick said. He snapped his fingers, talons clicking together in a sharp secondary sound, and the loose dust swirled up into a ball, which then swooped into an open vial he held out. Bending to it, he drew in a deep sniff, and when he looked up again, his pupils were enormous, leaving the silver-blue of his irises as a thin, metallic ring.

“Sweet Lovage, mixed with powder from the wings of a Lunate Moth. A fairly mild mix designed to increase affection and trust,” he told Augustus.

The chancellor sighed, raising his glasses briefly so he could rub his eyes. When he looked back at Matilda, however, he was as stern as ever, though not quite so cold, Pandy thought. “Is this the only powder you’ve used here at school, Matilda?”

Matilda nodded, at first vigorously, then with slightly less certainty. “It always looks and smells the same,” she said finally, as a tear managed to escape her tight control and run down her face. She struck it away with the back of her hand, then looked horrified as she realized that she might well have just rubbed remnants of the powder on her face.

“Where do you get it?” Pandy asked, hoping to distract the men, especially Professor Beeswick, whose eyes still hadn’t returned to normal.

At this, however, the girl sank backwards, mouth closing as she seemed to become aware that she might be in serious trouble. “I want to talk to my father,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Augustus’s lips pressed together, but he nodded. “As you wish. Just so you know, however, once your parents are involved, I’ll have to start the expulsion process.”

Matilda froze. “You… aren’t going to expel me now?”

He shrugged. “Not necessarily. There will be consequences, of course, but it’s a first offense.”

Well, this was the first time the girl had been caught, but Pandy was certain it was far from the first time she’d done something like this. She remembered how odd she herself had felt when she first met Matilda, and how she’d almost gone to the girl, in spite of the fact that she’d had every intention of going to Suzanne instead. Then there was the way everyone seemed to like Matilda, in spite of her sometimes insulting behavior, and, perhaps more tellingly, her friendship with a Dark mage. Still, Pandy was sure Augustus knew exactly what he was doing.

The chancellor leaned forward. “You know that the simple possession of those powders is not illegal, do you not?” he asked gently. “It’s only the use of them without letting people know you’re doing so that’s really problematic. So, can you tell us where you get them? Unless your source is a student, they won’t be in trouble.”

Matilda’s gaze flicked between Augustus, Pandy, and the usually-genial librarian. “My… father. He didn’t tell me to use them!” she hurried on. “He just… didn’t tell me not to.”

Augustus leaned back, humming thoughtfully. “And is your father a pheromone wielder as well?”

Matilda shook her head. “I get it from my grandfather. Father’s father. He was a very successful merchant.” She sat up, chin lifting proudly. “He rose from a common worker to the head of one of the largest trading companies in West Altheric. My father was… not quite as successful, but he managed to become a noble, which is something his father never did.”

By marrying a woman who believed she was going to die a spinster, Pandy thought. And what had he – or his father – done to bring that about? It made her guts roil just thinking about it.

Augustus’s face had gone blank as Matilda spoke, and now he said, “That’s… very impressive. Thank you, Matilda. Now, as to your punishment-”

“You’ll be a library assistant for the rest of the year,” Professor Beeswick interrupted. Among bookworms, this was a highly coveted position, but Matilda looked aghast.

Seeing this, the corners of Augustus’s mouth twitched, and he nodded. “And while you’re here, you’ll also be doing research for a ten-page paper on the laws of West Altheric as they apply to pheromone wielders, as well as a woman named Lady Lucretia Conwyn. That is due to me personally by midwinter.”

Remembering the way Matilda and her father had interacted, Pandy added, “Do you feel comfortable telling your father you don’t want any more powder?”

Matilda blanched. “I’ll just throw it away.” She looked around, meeting each of their gazes. “I promise I will!”

Professor Beeswick’s eyes narrowed. His pupils were still slightly dilated, but not like they had been. “No, you’ll bring it to me so I can dispose of it properly,” he told her, and Matilda nodded. As a brief silence fell, she pushed back her chair, clearly hoping to escape before any further punishments were piled on her.

Pandy stepped forward. “One more question,” she said. “This morning, when Suzanne was called in, you looked frightened. Why? What did you think Suzanne might reveal?”

Matilda came to her feet, clutching her bag protectively against her chest. Unlike Suzanne, she’d set it beside her chair, probably so she could reach in and grab the powder. The flap was still open, and a piece of paper poked out.

Reaching out, Pandy plucked the page from the bag, looking down at it. It was fine paper, of a higher quality than the thick woodpulp pages used by the students. She unfolded the sheet and read it. “Invite your friend to dinner this Saturday,” she said, then looked up at Matilda, raising her brows.

“I didn’t do it,” Matilda whispered, looking like she wanted to grab the sheet back, but aware it was too late. “I always say she’s feeling ill, or already had plans. I haven’t had her over since-”

“Matilda, did someone try to hurt Suzanne when she was at your house?” Augustus said, also rising from the table.

Matilda shook her head, her curls bouncing. “It’s just… Father always invites some of his friends over at the same time, and they… I don’t like the way they act around her. She used to come over all the time, but one of them-” She swallowed hard. “He looked at her like he wanted to eat her.”

“Do you know their names?” Professor Beeswick asked.

“No,” Matilda said. “Father introduces them, but only by first name, and they always seem to have names like John or Thomas. Nothing I remember. And I’m sure I was just imagining it, but I just can’t bring myself to-”

Augustus smiled slightly, and his eyes were definitely back to normal, no longer icy gray shards. “Pheromone wielders can manipulate the feelings of others, but they’re also very good at picking up the hidden emotions of those around them. Without ever using things like this,” he held up the now-dry handkerchief, which was still smudged with white. “They make excellent diplomats, mind-healers, and, yes, businesspeople.”

Matilda’s eyes widened. “Really? So I don’t have to…?”

He shook his head. “You don’t have to,” he confirmed, and this time her smile was genuinely happy. “But,” Augustus went on, “you will likely find that some people who have sought out your company will cease to do so. You’ll have to figure out how to handle that without falling back into bad habits. Next time, we won’t be so easy on you, and you may be certain that when you reach Kestrel and Condor, their chancellors will already know about this.”

Matilda’s face fell, but she squared her shoulders and said, “I don’t need any of those people anyway. Father always wanted me to make as many noble friends as possible, but some of them are just silly. As long as Suzanne still likes me, it doesn’t matter.” The words were brave, but Matilda definitely didn’t look like she meant them, at least not entirely.

“And don’t invite Suzanne over to your house, no matter who tells you to,” Pandy said.

Matilda nodded, and this time she looked very sincere.