~ Guilty ~
I hardly slept that night. Any sleep I did get was the restless sort, only making me feel worse every time I woke up. When I finally fell into a real sleep, it felt like I only blinked before Harmony was shaking my arm because my con was bubbling and it wasn’t enough to wake me up. My head throbbed as I pulled it out from somewhere under my blanket.
“Headmaster wants us in the dining hall,” Harmony told me as it opened.
“Good morning,” Connie said. “Headmaster requires the presence of every student in the dining hall immediately. Tobias Veziamo will be making a very important announcement shortly and won’t be waiting for late-comers.”
“Come on, girls—Up, up, up,” Miss Tripside came calling from the end of the room. “Out of bed and downstairs. You can shower and get dressed later. Come on, let’s go.”
Harmony helped me get out of bed and kept a hold on my arm as I stumbled down the stairs.
I forced my mind to wake up enough to search the room for Luke when we got there. Nothing. My stomach churned as I took my seat.
We sat nervously in our usual spot for a few minutes before Luke’s headmaster walked into the room and went to stand behind the teachers’ table, where our headmaster already sat. The noise died completely, as did any hope I had for Luke. The look on his headmaster’s face was far more dangerous than usual, something I wouldn’t have even thought possible.
“Your minds may be put at ease in knowing we have discovered the young man guilty of attacking North Havener Rose Jennings, attempting to murder Cinder Titus, and destroying the North Haven girls’ quarters last night,” he began. “While these things are not uncommon for a Cinder and usually would not be cause for such drastic measures, he has broken a sacred trust between schools and nearly destroyed our greatest tradition, the Winter Competitions. There is no greater crime and there is no forgiveness. Cinder Knight will be expelled from this school tomorrow.”
I gasped and put my hands over my mouth. Warm tears began their descent. This couldn’t be happening.
“He will be taken somewhere far from here and left to fend for himself. Unfortunately, he should have no trouble with this. That is all.”
“No, it’s not,” I said, rising from my seat as he took his. I trembled with fear as I made my way to him and stared across the table into his hellish eyes. “Luke Knight is innocent. Didn’t you check the evidence for fingerprints or hair or something?”
Tobias gave me his most hateful look as he rose to his feet and leaned against the table. “This is not America, and its laws do not apply here. When I say one of my students is guilty, he is. End of story.”
“But what about the cameras you put up everywhere? Did you even bother to check out the footage?”
“I don’t have to; Knight’s guilty.”
“That’s not fair—Where is he?”
“That is none of your concern.”
“Tell me!”
“No. Leave this table or I will have you removed.”
The desperation that had been rising since the night before pushed me to breaking as I realized I might never see Luke again. “Please—I have to see him. This can’t happen again. You can send me away instead—please.”
The Cinder headmaster looked past me. “Hanghard, Ripper, take this North Haven child away.”
“Good gracious, Tobias,” my headmaster said, letting the red liquid he was drinking spill out all over his clothes. “I can take care of her myself.” He wiped at his shirt as he stood up and came around the table.
That’s it, I realized. My headmaster can rescue Luke.
I hadn’t realized until Headmaster put his arm around me and began walking me to his office that the room was still deathly quiet. Every single occupant was now wide awake and staring at me.
The second his door closed behind him, I said, “Can you help him?”
“I’m sorry, Miss Fayre, there’s nothing I can do for Luke Knight.”
“But he’s innocent.”
Headmaster sat behind his desk and pressed his aged index fingers together under his chin. “Innocent or not, he isn’t my student. His fate does not lie in my hands.”
I dropped into a chair. How could this be happening? Luke was such a good guy, deep down. He was the one who saved Rose’s life, for goodness’ sake. In the midst of the abysmal darkness, I had a tremendously bright idea. “Couldn’t you adopt him into North Haven? He didn’t attack Rose. He saved her. And he saved me from Roman when he attacked me.”
He pointed to me with both fingers as he leaned forward. “Roman attacked you?”
“He hit me the night I broke up with him—and he would have done more if Knight hadn’t been there.”
“Why haven’t you informed me of this before?”
“Because I thought it was over after the break up.”
“I will certainly have a serious discussion with Mr. Armstrong, but I need for you to understand that there is nothing I, or anyone else, can do for Knight. You’re going to have to let him go.”
“I can’t...I can’t go back.” He’d phrased it perfectly in that letter. This made me cry even harder.
“I’ll do everything I can to help you get through this, but you have to be more careful when you speak to my brother. The penalty for disrespectful behavior toward him is being locked in a giant oven and cooked alive. Hanghard and Ripper are his personal bodyguards. These are demons of men—the biggest, brawniest, most merciless ones he could find. They are men of no remorse. They’re always with him, hiding behind those suits of theirs. They were probably right behind you when he called on them, ready to take you away.”
It sounded absolutely, horrifically, inhuman. “He really kills his students when they’re disrespectful?”
“Yes, but he’s never tried to kill one of mine. I’ll have to speak with him about that. But you see, he cares nothing for anyone but himself. His only purpose in bringing youth to this school is to try and beat me in our competitions. It seems we were born this way, always having to be better than the other. I can’t explain it. But aside from everything I’ve said, my brother’s pride alone is enough to keep him from changing his mind. He declared Knight guilty and he won’t take it back. Even if someone else admits to all those misdeeds, he will never say otherwise. I’m sorry.”
“Can’t you at least tell me where he is, so I can see him?”
“I don’t know where he is. There are things my brother will only allow Cinders to know, and where he keeps prisoners is one of them. It’s against Cinder code to share certain things with anyone else, including the navigation of the unknown parts of their school. If you managed to convince one of them to reveal this to you and it was discovered, Tobias would let Ripper and Hanghard have them. I would strongly advise you against this.”
I pulled my knees to my chest to cry against them as utter hopelessness set in. “Headmaster—I can’t just do nothing. He’s all the family I have. What would you do if someone said you would never see your brother again?”
He took a deep breath. “Family does complicate things. That’s why those recruited have none whatsoever...I doubt I would be able to sit back if Tobias was being sent away, though. I just can’t tell you what to do here. I have no answers... Why don’t you go have a shower and think on it? It may clear your mind enough to help you find your own answers.”
I nodded and got up to leave, somehow managing to hold the tears back as I walked through the dining hall and girls’ quarters.
After grabbing some clothes and shower stuff, I headed for the bathrooms and stopped dead in front of one of the mirrors. I was a mess. I’d fallen asleep in my dirty dress, so I still had it on. And my hair and makeup were all over the place. A lot of kids had been forced to go downstairs with a bit of ‘bed-head’, but no one looked as torn up as I did.
“Oohhh,” I groaned as I climbed into a shower stall. My rigid muscles relaxed as the warm water washed over them and I tried to think straight, put all emotion aside and search logically for a way out of this.
Who could I turn to when there was nothing Headmaster could do? Luke. He was always the first one I went to about anything. I felt helpless without him. I’d gotten accustomed to him always looking out for and taking care of me. Of course that got me crying again. My friends can’t help me. No one can... “Connie!” I said out loud when an idea came to me.
I grabbed my towel as I climbed out of the shower and wrapped it around me. My con was lying on the bench with my other stuff, just on the other side of the curtain. I turned it on and waited impatiently.
“Good morning, Kristine,” Connie finally said. “What can I do for you?”
“I need to know where Luke Knight is being held.”
“Held?”
“Yes, I need to know where Cinders are kept when they’re in enough trouble to be expelled.”
Connie looked so human as she gave me a sympathetic look. “It isn’t in my database. Any part of Southland Cinder High School that I’m not aware of will only be known to a Cinder. Is there anything else I could help you with?”
“No...Kristine Con, return.” I set it down on the bench and climbed back into the shower.
So—only a Cinder could help me now, but I doubted any of them would risk their lives to help out a Havener. How could I convince them? Luke said that Cinders like to make deals, I remembered. So, if I could figure out what I could offer one of them...I closed my eyes and let the water rinse my shampoo and soap away as I pictured each of the Cinders I personally knew. Nothing came to mind until I got to Thorn. My eyes opened wide as it came to me, the shred of hope that all was not lost. I would let her win. If she would get me to Luke so he and I could figure something out, I would let her win the next race.
I breezed through the rest of my shower and pulled my clothes on just long enough to go grab my shadow suit.