The Silver Knife

Chapter 3

The incident at the music section was, as usual, a big secret and now all three of them were standing in her office waiting for her to pass the punishment. Sansa looked at her shoes while Eden and Lilith were looking at the Dean who was bent over a pile of papers. 

The Dean's office was a spacious suite of rooms, with potted plants adorning the window sills. Sunlight filtered into the room through the stained glass windows forming multi-coloured patches of light on the floor. There were hanging lamps which lit up with purple flames once it was evening. The Dean sat on a high chair of carved oak, with red velvet cushions. Her hardwood table was covered with piles of paper, and an open book floated in front of her which hid her face from her students. The book never moved from her face. It was rumoured that no existing student of the Academy had ever seen the Dean. Neither did anyone know what was in the book that hid her face.

The Dean wore an embroidered shawl over her shoulders which covered her hair. She had jeweled rings on all her short, stubby fingers, which she kept tapping on the table.  Her table and seat were on a high platform, while her students stood below her so that the tallest of them all could barely peek over her desk. A strange looking bird with feathers sticking out in all directions and cruel, red eyes stared at them from it's perch from above the Dean's head. 

"So, I believe, you are Sansa Maignes?" The Dean said in an unexpectedly low, growling voice, that made Sansa twitch in fear. Eden and Lilith kept cursing the heavens in their heads and if it weren't for the fact that every happening in the Academy was known to the Dean, Lilith would have already drowned Sansa in the fountain. 

"Y-Ye-Yes....." Sansa said, her lips twitching in fear, too afraid to swallow the lump in her throat. The Dean hummed slightly as a page flipped on it's own in the book that hid the Dean's face. Everything in the room seemed to come to a pause, time itself seemed to stop, until the Dean rapped her fingers hard on the desk.

"A week of detention for Sansa Maignes with Professor Morningstar. Lilith Sapphirus and Eden Crestbreeze are to serve two days of detention with Professor Bloom in the greenhouses. The work to be done while serving detention will be according to the whims of the teacher." The Dean said with her grumbling voice. "You may take leave." She added after a while.

Sansa whirled on her heel and dashed down the hall trying to get away from the room she had been in. Lilith and Eden gave a short bow to the Dean and walked out as Eden closed the bronze doors behind him. The heavy metal doors once again locked their sole occupant in the room, hidden away from plain sight. It was evening, the torches lining the walls had lit up, the chandeliers hung from the ceiling had lit up, showering the hallway with the sparkling crystal light. The polished stone walls and floor glittered under the light from the flames of the torches and the chandeliers. 

The two of them walked down the hallway towards their dorm towers. They passed by the courtyard, where the fountain stood in the moonlight, glistening like flowing silver. The birds were gone, only a few moths flew around the torches on the outside wall of the courtyard, otherwise it was pretty much deserted. Sansa was nowhere to be seen, and they had to meet Professor Bloom for their detention.

Professor Bloom's office was in a separate building near the greenhouses. A cobblestone pathway lined by flower beds comprising of lilies and snapdragons led to his office where lights were burning. Stained glass seemed to be a common trend throughout the whole Academy and Professor Bloom's office was no exception. Two large pine wood doors guarded the entrance.

"Come in." Professor Bloom's friendly voice chimed at the subtle knock on the door. His office was filled with shelves holding bonsai trees, magical glowing plants, toadstools and books. His table was clean, very much unlike the Dean's. Only a chart holding names of the students and and inkwell with a phoenix feather quill dipped in it were kept on the polished wooden table. Professor Bloom wore a greyish green robe and had shoulder length hair with braids in it. His quick grey eyes looked at the two students in front of him and flashed a smile.