“Professor Baxter–Zoe. I do not know what delusions you are operating under, but I am in no way advocating the ostracization of one of our students. Especially not young Miss Eva.”
“Oh no,” Zoe huffed, “you’re not advocating anything. You merely set up Eva so that all the students will be curious. They’ll dig until they find the answer. Then she’ll be ostracized on her own with no help from you.
“You could have simply said that she is a human that had limbs replaced as an experiment.”
“And lie to the rest of our students? I’m ashamed you’d think me so low.”
“It’s closer to the truth than the drivel you spouted.”
Martina quirked an eyebrow and found herself fighting another grin off of her face. Does she really not know?
“What’s done is done, Zoe. Rest assured I have no intention of seeing Miss Eva flee or be driven from our academy. Quite the opposite, in fact. I would very much like to see her stay at Brakket through her full schooling.”
Zoe’s lips pursed further into a thin line. “Why?”
“Miss Eva’s presence here sets a precedent. Even more so should her ‘heritage’ be discovered. All part of turning Brakket from its miserable state. Isn’t that a goal of yours?”
“Not if it involves ruining the lives of my students.”
“A transitional period. They will come to accept her for what she is and all will be the better for it. As we mentioned in our staff meeting: continue treating her like you have so far. The students will follow our lead.”
Zoe opened her mouth to say something, but appeared to change her mind. It snapped shut with an audible click of her teeth. She glared.
Martina didn’t mind so much, but she did have paperwork to get through. Fabricating histories and identities for several guards she intended to hire wouldn’t do itself, after all.
Dismissing Zoe with a wave of her hand, Martina pulled the first stack of papers in front of her.
Before she could put her pen to the paper, Zoe said, “why is Zagan a demon?”
“He is what he is,” Martina said without looking up. “Much like Eva is what she is, regardless of whether you accept her for that.”
“What I should have asked was, why is our combat instructor a demon?”
Martina glanced up with a smile. “Progress.”
Zoe’s frown turned into a scowl.
“And safety from big threats I suppose,” Martina said as she turned back to the papers. “The amount of humans who could actually match him in a fight can be counted on one hand. Of course, he can’t stay forever–far too volatile for that–hence hiring some new guards to deter threats.”
“I presume lone, rogue imps don’t count as big threats? I haven’t heard of any progress about that little incident.”
It was Martina’s turn to scowl. “Zagan has reported that no more demons have been summoned within the city since then. He has been fairly lackadaisical in actually investigating. Should anything threaten the academy itself, he will step in as per his contract.”
“It harmed a student of this academy.”
“Barely,” Martina half whispered as she signed off a form. The injured girl had been fixed up in only a few days under the care of Nurse Naranga.
She felt a sudden tinge of annoyance as she realized she had marked her signature in the wrong spot. “Do you not need to be getting to your class? It is the first class of the year. I would hate to have to fire one of the best theorists because she couldn’t teach properly.”
There was a small click of teeth again before a cold blast of air threatened to send a stack of papers to the floor. Martina held down the papers until the wind subsided.
Zoe was further into diablery than any other professor–Zagan aside for obvious reasons–but her temperament was far from a proper diabolist. Due to her connection with Eva, she’d dig further than any other professor as well into matters she should leave well enough alone. She’d need to come around or she would be replaced.
But, that could wait a while, Martina thought as she ran her fingers through her hair.
The new hires needed to come first.
— — —
Bradley Twillie paced in front of the zoo’s lecture room. He went on and on about mimics, seemingly ignoring the rest of the class.
Not a single person paid attention to him. If he cared, he didn’t show it. His lecture style hadn’t changed in the slightest since the previous year.
He didn’t glance overmuch in the direction of Eva, unlike everyone else.
Eva kept her head pointed at the front of the classroom. That didn’t stop her from being able to see everyone around her. Anytime she tilted her head in one direction or another, the students all faced forwards and did their best to make it look like they hadn’t been staring.
It was like November and December all over again, before the novelty of a blind girl able to move around without trouble had worn off. Rather than stare at Eva’s blindfold, their eyes were glued on her claws. Eva could only hope that the interest would wear off soon.
This time, the students weren’t looking on in curiosity. They had fear in their hearts–they beat faster whenever someone thought Eva might be glancing in their direction. The moment her head turned back towards the front of the classroom, the students’ gazes returned to her claws.
Claws that occasionally tapped against the desk in front of her. Each clack of her finger caused slight flinching in everyone around. Moving the claws through the air to grab a notebook out of her book bag caused anyone in the direction of motion to scoot even further away than they already sat.
At the very least, those reactions were amusing.
It was a strange feeling. Eva couldn’t help but feel naked. As her two roommates could attest to, she had no problem going without clothing. But without her gloves? Just being able to stretch her fingers to their fullest extent in front of others made her want to hide them beneath the desk.
Hiding was not an option.
If news that the blind girl had claws wasn’t already known to everyone, it would be by the day’s end. Hiding would only make people more afraid; they would end up with rampant speculation about what was under her gloves.
Hopefully they would find her claws to be less terrifying than whatever rumors would have gone around instead.
Eva jumped in her seat as Shalise poked her in the side. Her morose thoughts vanished as Bradley Twillie cleared his throat.
“I understand you have a lot to think about, Eva, but I would appreciate it if you would pay attention while in my class.”
“Sorry, Professor,” Eva said. She hung her head ever so slightly.
The professor pursed his lips before he said, “I asked: How would you identify a mimic from whatever object it is mimicking?”
A mimic would have blood flowing through it, Eva thought. That would be the first sign to her. Eva doubted that was the answer he was looking for. Bradley Twillie probably gave the answer at some point during his lecture.
Unfortunately, Eva had no idea what that answer was.
“Unless you already suspect a mimic to be around, it is unlikely you would be able to notice before you touched the object,” she said with a shrug. “The tedium of checking every single object you touch throughout your life for a mimic would lead to madness.
“Seelie fae are generally easy-going. It would be far more prudent to simply offer to channel some magic for the mimic to feed off of for a minute or two than worry over finding one.”
The professor scratched at his head under his hat before shaking his head in a somewhat disappointed manner. “That’s just asking for trouble,” he said with a shake of his head. “If you give a mouse a cookie,” he grumbled half under his breath.