Chapter 124 — The Crown Wants Answers

Chapter 124: Chapter 124 — The Crown Wants Answers

~ Raven ~

Raven stared at the ceiling as a drawer closed across the room. Tessa turned a page, and Brielle set her cup on the desk, but neither spoke.

With her thoughts about the Dreamwalker going nowhere, Raven found herself listening to them instead. She almost asked what Tessa was reading, then stopped. The last time she had asked an innocent question, Brielle had accused her of avoiding the argument.

Her back still ached where it had struck the bedpost.

She wasn’t ready to speak to her yet.

Three knocks broke the silence. Raven lifted her head as Tessa opened the door to an older Hale student.

"Raven Rivers?"

"That’ll be me," Raven said from her bed.

The girl looked past Tessa toward her.

"The Headmaster has summoned you. I’m to bring you straight to her office."

Raven sat up. "Now?"

"Yes."

What the hell have I done now?

Her roommates were watching her. Raven kept her eyes on her jacket as she picked it up, then followed the girl into the corridor without a word.

~~~

"Do you know what this is about?" Raven asked.

"No."

"Did she say anything else?"

"Only that I should bring you."

The girl stayed slightly ahead, glancing back at the stairs to check that Raven was following. Raven thought little of it until she slowed in the next corridor and the girl immediately matched her pace.

"Were you told to make sure I don’t run off?"

"I was told to bring you straight to the office and keep you in sight until we arrived."

"How reassuring."

The girl didn’t answer. Raven glanced at her badge, noting a Court standing well below her own despite the older-year trim on her uniform.

She remembered Bellringer talking about the students who had supported her, then looked at the girl’s tight expression.

You watched it too, didn’t you?

Near the common room, several students stopped talking as they approached. Raven felt their eyes follow her, and barely passed them before the whispers resumed.

"—First Circle—"

"—didn’t take her long—"

Her hands curled at her sides.

Farther down the hall, she recognised a girl who usually greeted her. Their eyes met, but before Raven could nod, the girl turned away.

Raven kept walking, her jaw tightening. These were the same corridors where students had smiled at her and called her over to their tables. Now they seemed content to watch her pass and discuss her once they thought she couldn’t hear.

Not one of them asked what had happened.

Outside Hale Wing, the whispers became less discreet.

"Seventh Seat," someone said near the archway. "Guess that changes things."

Two girls looked at her badge and exchanged a glance. Raven kept her chin up, refusing to quicken her pace.

Her nails caught against the sore skin beneath her wraps, and she forced her hands to relax. Someone laughed behind her.

She wanted to turn around, but she hadn’t heard what they said. Demanding an explanation would only give them another reason to stare.

Her escort glanced back at the next turn, and Raven followed without speaking.

~~~

There were fewer students near the administrative building, but Raven noticed several unfamiliar adults in the entrance hall. Two passed in heavy coats bearing insignia she didn’t recognise, while another spoke quietly to a Warden near the stairs.

More Wardens stood at the bottom of the staircase, with another pair on the landing. Her escort straightened as they approached, and Raven began to doubt this had anything to do with Bellringer.

The Headmaster had said the Hunt investigation was still active. Someone had deliberately compromised the Founders’ Ward, and the academy was reviewing the security checks that had failed to catch it.

Perhaps that explained the visitors. It still didn’t explain why she had to be escorted here.

The Hale student stopped outside the Headmaster’s office and knocked.

"Come in."

Raven followed her inside, slowing when she saw who was waiting.

The Headmaster sat behind her desk. Four strangers were with her: a woman beside the window holding an open file, a man near a cabinet and two others seated facing the desk. Their clothing bore unfamiliar insignia like those she had seen in the corridor, and all four turned to look at her.

The Headmaster rose.

"Thank you," she told the Hale student. "You may return to your Wing."

The girl nodded and left, closing the door behind her.

"Please sit, Miss Rivers."

Raven took the empty chair in front of the desk, watching the strangers as the Headmaster settled back into her own.

"These are senior investigators from the Alpha Crown. They have been dispatched under the High King’s authority to investigate the attack on the Founders’ Hunt."

Raven sat a little straighter.

The High King?

She had expected questions from the Headmaster, perhaps another instructor. What did the Crown want from her?

"They are examining the sabotage of the Founders’ Ward, how the alterations escaped detection, and the Moonless Court’s entry into the Hunt," the Headmaster continued. "That includes the deaths and injuries caused by the attack, as well as the death of the operative we captured alive."

Raven’s attention returned to her.

The Headmaster hadn’t mentioned the prisoner during the announcement in Central Hall. She had spoken about the attack and the security review without explaining how he had died.

"He was being held in a secured cell and died before he could be properly questioned. The Crown considers the circumstances suspicious."

The woman by the window turned a page. Raven caught sight of her own name at the top and tried to see more, but the woman lowered the file before she could read anything else.

The man near the cabinet was still studying her.

Can I help you?

She kept the question to herself and looked back at the Headmaster.

"The Moonless Court’s return makes this particularly urgent. They had effectively disappeared from public view following the incident two years ago. Now they have resurfaced inside Valerius."

Raven thought of Rowan’s account. Seven members of House Arden had died, and Nikolai, the only survivor, had given his full statement to the Headmaster. It had been sealed afterwards.

Had these investigators read it?

They might know what had happened to the Ardens, and why nobody else had been allowed to hear Nikolai’s account. For the first time since leaving her room, Raven felt some interest in being here. Perhaps she would get a chance to ask.

"But their return is only part of what concerns us," the Headmaster continued. "We also need to establish why they were looking for you."

Raven went still.

"The surviving feeds, witness accounts and the attackers’ movements all point to the same conclusion. The Moonless Court entered the Hunt looking for you, Miss Rivers."

The woman closed the file. Raven kept her eyes on the Headmaster, though she could feel the others watching her.

She remembered the hooded figures and tightened her hands on her knees. She had questions of her own about what they had wanted, but hearing the Headmaster say it in front of four Crown investigators made her wonder what answers they expected her to have.

Brielle and the whispers in the halls suddenly felt very far away.

"They remained hidden for two years before resurfacing here," the Headmaster said. "The High King’s investigators have come to answer one question."

She held Raven’s gaze.

"Why did they come back for you?"