Malevolence (A School for Good and Evil Fanfic)

Chapter 9

Agatha tried to talk her out of it. However, after several minutes of convincing fake coughing, she finally gave in, though she told Dot to 'be careful.' They had no room for 'careful' in a situation like this, but Dot promised she'd try before she turned into a spider and crawled off down the hall. She trailed Agatha when she left the room, the queen clad in the navy evening gown the baroness had left on her bed and picking at the black lace on the sleeves.

Her first glimpse of Lady Ashcroft was through the crack in the door to the dining hall. Of course, Dot had seen her when they had caught her in the master bedroom. But now, out of the shadows, her sharp visage was more clear, with her red hair slicked back and a permanent scowl on her face. She was wearing a black blouse that had pointed sleeves and a flared pair of dress pants, the former not dissimilar to the dresses that professors wore at the School for Evil. The baroness was already there as well, a smug smile on her face as if she'd won some sort of scheme, as well as a large man and a witch with round eyes who reminded Dot of an owl. When Agatha walked into the room, the owl witch looked at her like she was a curiosity, Lady Ashcroft like she was sizing up a potential threat (and seemed to find none), and the man with disinterest.

"Everyone, this is Agatha of Camelot," the baroness announced. "The queen of Camelot."

The owl witch took a step toward Agatha, craning her disturbingly flexible neck. "An Ever queen," she mused, "how curious. My dear, you don't quite look like an Ever."

Agatha grimaced. "So I've been told. Your baroness doesn't quite look like a Never either, so I suppose we're even."

"You've got me there," she said, then let out a giggle before returning to her seat.

Anadil and Hester arrived soon after that exchange, and though it was too quick to be seen by anyone who wasn't staring directly at the door, Dot noticed the split-second shift in Anadil's demeanor. When the door opened, she was speaking to Hester in urgent tones, their fingers intertwined, but when she saw the guests waiting for them, she dropped her hands stiff to her sides, fixing her posture and dropping all emotion from her face. Hester's expression seemed to fall somewhere between anxious and pissed, though it tipped more to the "pissed" side of the spectrum when she saw Lady Ashcroft standing beside the table.

Dot couldn't help but think, despite her mission looming, that her friends badly needed to figure some things out. They had spent years working for the greater good of the Woods, and still the both of them insisted on repressing their emotions like a couple of first year students who think that being a Never equates to being a ruthless killer. Not to mention the ridiculous infatuation with each other that had gone on long enough that it had Dot rolling her eyes on multiple occasions during their time traveling in the Woods.

Dot turned her mind away from that dilemma, planning to hold a group therapy session to solve it at a later date, and turned her focus back to Ashcroft. She was whispering to the muscular man who sat beside her, her sharp nails drumming on the table in front of her. He nodded, and when the table (rather, the baroness) erupted in laughter, the man got up and left.

Dot quickly followed, scurrying across the ceiling and barely managing to get through the door before he shut it. He walked down the hall, itching at something at his wrist, then turned the corner to the entrance foyer and left the building. Dot dropped to the ground and moved under the door. The man was standing at the edge of the bridge, as if he was waiting for something, or someone...

It didn't take long for it to be revealed who it was that he was waiting for. A small black carriage rolled out of the woods, stopping in front of the bridge. The man stepped out to greet it. Dot followed, scuttling up a tree for a better view. A cloaked figure stepped out of the carriage, a wrapped package in their arms.