A Werewolf's Promise (Scarwood Chronicles #1)

Chapter 19: Let's Raise! (The Stakes)

"Beatrix Nighblood, I would like to have a word with you."

The woman turned to face the man who had spoken to her.

"Mr Valentine. At least knock before you teleport into my office, will you?" she said with a scoff, "I presume Mrs Bones came running to complain?"

She looked the man up and down. He was draped in one of his usual long, ornate, cloaks, this one navy with gold trim, which obscured much of his body from view. His salt and pepper hair was neatly groomed, and he had on this attempt at a stern expression, which didn't exactly do a good job at it.

Mr David Valentine, the current head of the Scarwood School Board, and one of the most powerful witches in modern times, despite losing both his arms in the Mythica War. Beatrix respected him, a rare honour to be bestowed by her on a member of one of the old families. His battle prowess was nothing to sniff at. Even without arms, his sheer magical might still made him a formidable foe. Not to mention, in contrast to his older sister, he was a saint. After all, he fought, in front of the Grand Council, for Beatrix's ability to retain her magic after... what happened.

"Naturally, it is hardly a trivial matter. It is troubling to see that you have no qualms about running off on your own to make decisions without notifying any member of the School Board," Mr Valentine said, with one of his usual tired sighs. Beatrix could sympathise. She couldn't imagine having to deal with the school board every day. It was nothing short of a miracle that his sanity was still intact. And she knew that she probably contributed to his pain, to some degree.

But that didn't mean that she would yield.

"As Headmistress, I am supposed to field all applications fairly and properly, am I not?" she said with a sigh, "I simply treated his application the same way I would any other, just ignoring his species."

"And that is the crux of the issue." Valentine continued, "You have ignored the one characteristic that would determine if a potential applicant could pose a danger to the rest of the student body."

"I don't recall you ever being so bothered about species when Scarwood accepted a selkie..." Beatrix commented, "... oh right, your family wanted your sister to marry him, marry into his family."

Despite all the respect Beatrix had for him, David Valentine was just like any other member of the old, rich families. Always prioritising his own family name, and the status quo. It was a difficult cycle to get out of, sure, but she still felt it could be possible with someone like him. Especially after that one scandal.

"Come now, that has nothing to do with the current situation," Valentine said with a cough, "Besides, Heather is very happy with Krimson now."

"Happy, huh?" Beatrix scoffed under her breath.

Valentine seemed to catch this, and sent a frown her way before continuing with his speech.

"But, upon judgement and consideration of the information we obtained from the Peace Sorcerers, the board members have come to the conclusion that it is indeed impossible for that student to have done this. All signs point to an adult."

Beatrix turned in surprise. She had certainly not been expecting this kind of response. Maybe the board had changed since she became Headmistress. Maybe all her failures to reason with them before were truly just because she was a teacher.

"However," Valentine continued, "we also cannot rule out the possibility that this adult werewolf was attracted by this student, and is picking a fight based on territory. In short, he remains a liability."

Damn it, she knew this was too good to be true.

"Why should he have to pay for the actions of another, this is what I don't understand, Mr Valentine." she said, her calm demeanour slowly ebbing away, "Isn't that what you said for me? Why can't you defend him like you did me?"