Chapter 48

Despite Ozelius and Montgomery being missing, and the Night Coven being a real threat, life at Emberstone still went on.

Annual exams fell in late March and always had as long as anyone could remember. The lower-year teachers usually had an easier time of it. Their curriculum never changed and their young students couldn’t really cheat on the basic building-block spells that typically showed up at exam time. They were either capable of performing the magic or they weren’t. The more advanced faculty had to write new exams every year to keep students from sharing or purchasing access to the questions and gaining an edge.

Starting in the second week of March, the faculty kitchens were full late into the night as the teachers developed this year’s set of tests. Alastair was lucky enough not to have that responsibility, though he often worked there in solidarity when he wasn’t at House Primordium.

Eloise swore one windy night as she struggled to prep the sixth-year Summoning assessment. The elementals had kept the tables stocked with food and snacks, and she nibbled on a brownie while slowly working through her problem.

“What’s wrong?” Alastair snagged a piece of plain toast and slathered thick, yellow butter on it. Emberstone butter was the best: fresh, fluffy, and lightly salted. He’d never had the like anywhere else—not even Glimmerglass, despite their proximity to such prime farmland.

“I’m out of fire elementals safe for sixteen-year-olds,” she groaned. “They need to stay below a precise power level, just in case things get out of control. The low-level ones will only show up once a year. We have an arrangement.”

Sebastian looked up from his mind-bendingly complex book of numbers. “You could just force them to show up.”

“I want to maintain a healthy working relationship. They don’t always like being dragged into the warding circle by a half-trained kid.”

“So? They don’t have to like it.”

“If a student messes up their warding, I’d rather not have a very angry ball of fire loose in the room. Which is what we’ll get if I don’t stick to my side of the bargain.”

“You could try a salamander,” Sebastian offered. “Still Fire Magic, but they tend to be more reserved. I doubt they’d do anything dangerous even without the warding.”

“Oh,” she said, picking off a piece of her brownie and holding it thoughtfully against her lips. “You know, that could work. And those guys don’t care about anything. They’re not picky. I like the way you think, Sebastian.”

She started scribbling notes, and Sebastian went back to his numbers, smiling.

Meanwhile, Alastair penned yet another letter to one of seemingly endless upset parents.

We fully understand your decision to withdraw young…

He couldn’t remember this student’s name. “Who’s the first-year with the pigtails?”

“Half of them have pigtails,” Eloise said without looking up from her paper. “Can you be more specific?”

“Red hair. Freckles.”

“Amy.”

“That’s it.”

…your decision to withdraw young Amy from Emberstone. While we’re disappointed, we know you’re making the choice that’s right for you and your daughter. It’s been a pleasure having her in school, and we wish you both all the best going forward.

He stopped and knuckled his eyes. How many of these was he going to have to write? He’d thought they’d finally reached the end of the withdrawals a few weeks earlier, but they kept coming. At this rate, he truly was worried for Emberstone’s future. The school had costs to run, and if they didn’t bring in the proper tuition, they couldn’t keep the lights on. Proverbially speaking, of course. The lights within Emberstone were all magical.

“Does this always happen?” he asked, setting his quill down. “People pulling their kids out halfway through the year?”

Maybe it was a normal thing. Emberstone parents could be high-strung and uppity.

Eloise gave him a look. “I mean, there aren’t usually riots in Watermere. So no, not really. If you’re thinking we might be in trouble—well, we probably are.”

Sebastian leaned over to see what Alastair had been writing. “That sounds like you’re phoning it in.”

Alastair sighed.

Amaryllis bent over his shoulder. A euphoric shudder traveled the length of his spine when her breath hit his neck. Then, it was immediately dispelled when he heard her words.

“You’re doing what’s best…?” Her voice was harsh. “You know that’s not true.”

“I’ve done my best to keep them,” Alastair argued.

“Then why write this?” Amaryllis grabbed the letter and crumpled it. “We don’t need to encourage them. They made their choice. Now let them see how much worse anywhere else is compared to Emberstone.”

He started to argue, to tell her that Glimmerglass was a fine establishment… Maybe she was right. His students had been over the moon about Emberstone, and they’d just been at Glimmerglass. Perhaps he was remembering the northern school through rose-colored spectacles.

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“Let’s just focus on exams for now,” Sebastian said with a yawn. “There’s nothing we can do about these parents. All we can control is how we react to them.”

Alastair watched Amaryllis as she circled the table and sat down beside Eloise. Her eyes never left his either, though there was no anger there. Maybe pity.

“Can you explain what you’re doing there with the Alchemy exam?” Alastair said, looking over at Sebastian’s notebook with interest. Alchemy was never a favored subject of his, but egads, he was tired of writing these tedious letters.

“Uh—no. Not really. Not unless you know a lot about Alchemy. Do you?”

“I haven’t done much since school, but as headmaster at Glimmerglass—”

“It’s going to be hard to explain,” Sebastian said, leaning his head on one fist, looking utterly exhausted. Dark circles lined his eyes and his hair was a mess. “If you’re not a current Alchemy student.”

“Sorry. I just needed a change of subject.”

“So you chose something twice as boring?” Eloise asked with a chuckle. “Sorry, Sebastian. Just joking.”

“Yeah, well, someone has to do it,” Sebastian said. “And honestly, I need to get back to it.”

Alastair took the hint. All steam had been stolen from him through writing letters, so he just sat in the quiet, listening to quills scratching parchment. He stole a piece of Eloise’s brownies. She pretended to be annoyed about it but didn’t move the plate away, and they spent most of the night in companionable silence.

“Oh,” Amaryllis said, as if suddenly noticing something. “Are those brownies up for grabs?”

“Take it,” Eloise said. “Everyone else has been.”

Amaryllis grabbed three pieces and stuffed them into her mouth. Then she started unpacking a bagful of miscellaneous Scrying gear: crystals large and small, shards of glass wrapped in clear tape, packets of herbs, and bottles of charmed water.

“I’ve been out gathering supplies,” she said, still chewing. “Got a little ambitious with the fifth-year Scrying exam. I’m sending them out in the northern field. Set up a little shop for them to buy items. Placed some things they might want to use at stations throughout the castle. They’ll love it, but gods, is it a lot of work.”