Lucky Rabbit

Thaniel stormed out of the library, followed by a worried and angry-looking Augustus Blackwood. Stopping in the hallway, right in front of a pair of teachers and a maid, the boy shouted, “I hate this place! Half of my friends aren’t even here anymore, and now you’re not even gonna let me go home for winter break? I hate you!” He stomped his foot, face twisted in a mask of righteous fury.

Augustus stopped several feet away, crossing his arms. “You’ll do what you’re told, young man. You can’t go back to-” He broke off, flicking a glance toward the people who were trying to pretend they weren’t listening while also not vacating their prime eavesdropping spots. “You can’t go home, and you know it. Your brother is staying at school to study, and you can, too.” He lowered his voice, but not by much. “I’ve seen your grades, and you would do well to take any extra time you can. As it is, any true member of the nobility will see you as an ignoramus at best, and a fool at worst.”

Thaniel stared up at the chancellor, his mouth open and his face turning bright red as he noticed a few other students poking their heads out of classrooms down the hall. It was late afternoon on Sunday, and they had already had a few smaller, quieter confrontations over the last day and a half. It was time to step things up a bit before the schoolweek started.

“I hate you!” Thaniel shouted again, then swiped his sleeve across his eyes, trying to hide the fact that there were no actual tears on his face. Turning, he ran off down the hall, throwing open the door at the end so he could run into the damp dusk.

It was chilly and a little rainy outside, and as Pandy-Thaniel ran down the muddy path back toward the other end of the school, she was surprised to feel a shiver run through her body. Wrapping her arms around herself, she wondered if this had anything to do with the nine points of Life Force she now had. If so, now wasn’t the optimal time for her to edge slightly closer to un-undeath.

As she slogged along beside the school, the eaves protected her enough that it seemed realistic that an angry, upset boy might huddle against the wall, not quite willing to reenter the school just yet. They didn’t really expect anyone to approach her just yet, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t present an opportunity for someone to do so.

Pandy waited, counting to five hundred as she squatted next to the door that led back into the school. She had her head down, and made sure to give a deep sniffle every now and then. She’d gotten just wet enough that moisture was dripping down from her hair and off her nose, concealing the fact that she wasn’t actually crying. She’d tried mustering up some crocodile tears, but she just wasn’t that good an actress.

Finally, just as she was about to give in and end the scene, the door opened, and a head poked out. To Pandy’s surprise, it belonged to a student, not a member of the staff. They were almost certain that the spy must be someone who worked at the school, so this boy was probably some innocent bystander.

A frown of concern turned into a beaming smile as the boy swung the door wider, extending a hand to ‘Thaniel’. “Here now,” he said, urging Thaniel to come toward him. “You’ll freeze to death out here. Come on.” He stepped out a bit further, glancing around as if making sure no one else was around.

Pandy-Thaniel sniffled, ignoring the hand as she pushed herself upwards. The real Thaniel probably wouldn’t reject a literal helping hand, even from a stranger, but he also wouldn’t shout at Augustus and storm out of the building, so they were already counting on the fact that very few people really knew Thaniel as a person, and not just a child stuck in a difficult situation.

“I’m fine,” she muttered, this time wiping real liquid away from her face. Her sleeve was almost as wet as her hair, so it didn’t really help, but at least she was able to blink her eyes open and really take in her potential rescuer.

He was a tall boy, even taller than Abbington, and almost certainly a third-year. His pale blonde hair was perfectly cut and neatly combed, and his shirt-front or cuffs were completely lacking in the small stains that seemed to appear from nowhere on most of the students’ uniforms. Honestly, he looked like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth, which instantly set off alarm bells in Pandy’s head. She’d never met anyone who looked that perfect that wasn’t using a socially acceptable physical appearance to hide a dirty secret or unfortunate personality.

Catching hold of Pandy’s elbow, the stranger tried to draw her through the door. “Come on. Thaniel, is it? I hear you had a bit of a row with Mr. Blackwood, and everyone’s looking for you.”

Pandy grimaced, swiping at her face again. “They are? I didn’t mean to-” She couldn’t quite find the words for what she hadn’t meant to do – especially since she had in fact meant to do it all – so she just shook her head and allowed herself to be brought inside. A wash of warmth came from the open kitchen door, where they would be preparing dinner, and she felt a sharp pang of nostalgia for that too-short, peaceful bath with her capybara companion.

Her new friend chuckled. Pulling off his own coat, he draped it over Pandy’s shoulders, almost managing to hide the expression of distaste as the material immediately darkened with water. With a tight smile, he flicked his fingers free of moisture and cooties. With another glance around, he said, “Here, come back to my room. I’d just made a hot cup of tea when I heard the hubbub. I expect you don’t want to see anyone just yet, but we should get you warmed up. Don’t worry, I won’t ask any questions you’re not ready to answer.”

Was this ‘boy’ actually a forty-year-old man? What ten-year-old talked like that? Pandy adjusted her response from ‘politely reject a nice child who was just trying to be helpful’ to ‘find out more’. With a weak smile, she pulled the coat tighter around herself, inwardly enjoying the discomfort on the boy’s face as she did so. There was something about him that she just didn’t like, whether he turned out to be innocent or not.

“I guess that would be all right,” she said, then put out a hesitant hand. “I’m P-th-thaniel.” She stumbled over the name, but managed to turn it into a fairly credible shiver.

The boy chuckled again. “Oh, I know. You’ve not been here long, but after a few months everyone knows everyone else, and gossip travels like wildfire. I expect I knew your name and what was going on before you even reached the outer door.” He led the way toward the dining room, peering in before waving for Pandy-Thaniel to follow. A few pairs of eyes noticed them as they hurried through, but they were all older children, and once their gazes landed on Thaniel’s new friend, they just kept right on going as if they hadn’t seen a thing.

“I’m Matthias, by the way,” the boy said as they repeated this process on the way through the entrance hall. He didn’t offer any kind of nickname, but while the real Thaniel definitely would have asked if he could call him Matt, Pandy just followed along, remaining silent and letting Matthias talk.

The older boy’s room was at the end of the hall, near where the statue of Ismara was on the girls’ floor. He nodded to a few boys as they walked, while others ducked back into their rooms, and one particularly frightened-looking child slammed the bathroom door shut behind him. If Pandy had been playing Gacha Love, she would have said she’d just run into one of the villainesses who were going to bully Clara.

As Matt laid his hand on the doorknob to his bedroom, he flashed Pandy a conspiratorial grin, lowering his voice. “No one is supposed to know who belongs to which family, but another thing you’ll find out is that there are no secrets at Falconet. We all grew up together, so anyone we don’t know by the time we start school isn’t worth knowing.”

He backpedaled quickly, seeing the look on Pandy’s face. “Other than you, of course. It’s not your fault your father was… reclusive.” Quickly, he threw open the door, and Pandy immediately saw what he’d probably been leading up to. His room was half again as large as Thaniel’s, and there was only one bed, not two. There was even a door in the left-hand wall that looked suspiciously like it might lead to a private bathroom.

Somehow, this boy had swung what was probably the best room in the school. Unless all of the third-years had rooms like this? Somehow, Pandy doubted it. Matilda and Suzanne certainly hadn’t mentioned it.

A comfy-looking chair sat beside a wide window that overlooked the grassy sward on the north side of the school. On a highly polished table next to the chair sat a cup filled with some brown liquid, and Matthias gestured Pandy toward the seat. “Sit down. I’ll warm up the tea. It looks like it cooled off while I was helping look for you.”

Ushering Pandy before him, Matthias picked up the teacup, staring down at it with an intense look until steam began rising from the surface of the liquid. He swished it around a bit, then settled the cup back onto its saucer with a cocky grin. “Careful. I may have gone a little overboard. I just got my elemental during the Fall Festival, and I’m not used to its power yet.”

He sat down on the edge of the bed, crossing his legs neatly as he leaned back, trying to look casual. “It’s technically only tier two, but my family was able to find a particularly strong Ashling for me to contract.”

Ah, Pandy knew this one. The Gacha Love wiki mentioned Ashlings, though Edgar didn’t have one, or at least didn’t use one by the time the game started. Ashlings were supposedly strong, but almost mindless, obeying their master without any particular personality or independence. Of course, Apparitions were supposedly almost mindless as well, and while that seemed to be true of most of the Apparitions Pandy had run into, it certainly wasn’t for Nox and Nyssa. Pandy wouldn’t take it for granted that any elemental was a simple creature unless she’d verified it for herself.

Shrugging a shoulder, as if what he was about to say was no big deal, Matthias said, “I’m a Winstanley, of course. My father is Queen Louisa’s first cousin. Don’t worry. Like I said, everyone knows who’s who, we just pretend not to for the chancellor’s sake. My father says he’ll learn in a year or two.”

Winstanley. That name rang a very vague bell in the back of Pandy’s mind, but she couldn’t chase it down right now. Instead, she tightened down her expression and focused on the cup sitting beside her. “The chancellor. If everyone knows who everyone else really is, does that mean you know-?”

“That he’s your guardian? Of course. If we didn’t know before, it would have come out when his aunts asked about his wards. Though I hear it’s not over yet, and someone else is trying to fill that position.” Matt leaned forward again, his nonchalance dropping away as he said too-casually, “The next Lord Forrest, in fact. Or so I hear. Honestly, no one really paid much attention to you and your little group of friends at first, but if you could be a ward of the Forrest family, well… That’s something to be proud of. Not like the Blackwoods. They haven’t been relevant in generations.”

His nose wrinkled delicately, as if he’d smelled something distasteful, and Pandy had to chomp down on her lip to avoid asking for more information about Augustus and his family. She knew he was a noble, of course, and that his family didn’t live in Knightmere, but other than that, they were a mystery, and one she had an intense interest in revealing. Not now, though. She didn’t trust a word that came from this boy’s mouth.

Trying not to look as uncomfortable as she felt, Pandy said, “Lord Forrest? The man who took us to the cemetery to clean that old tomb? He wasn’t very nice.” Too many people had seen Lord Forrest throw a fit when he returned to Falconet without Thaniel and Lian. There was no way to pretend Thaniel had any reason to like the man, so the best Pandy could do was show mild dislike.

Matthias’s expression turned sly, and he leaned toward Pandy, waving a dismissive hand. “All of the old houses are like that. They know their own importance, and don’t react well to disrespect. Believe me, if you have a choice, you should go with the Forrests. I’m certain Lord Forrest would be willing to let you go home for the holidays. Doesn’t he have land near your estate? He’d probably even go with you. He doesn’t have to stay here and work, like the chancellor.”

He said it as if work was something sticky he’d found on the bottom of his shoe after walking through a goose-infested park, and Pandy had to fight to keep her expression open and interested. If this boy really was a boy, he was the snootiest one Pandy had ever had the misfortune to meet.

She opened her mouth to say something, though she wasn’t sure where to take the conversation after that, but she was interrupted by a quick knock at the door. Two sharp raps were followed by a single louder one, and Matthias glanced at the untouched cup of tea, which was still sending up a thick cloud of steam.

Standing, Matthias walked to the door, opened it, peered into the hall, nodded, then turned back to Pandy. With a conspiratorial smile, he said, “They’ve got more people looking for you now. It sounds like they’re worried you ran away. It’s probably best if you go reassure your ‘guardian’ that you’re fine.”

Pandy stood, trying not to look as relieved as she felt. The whole conversation had felt a little surreal, and even though she knew the goal was for her to be kidnapped, she just wanted out of that room as quickly as possible. When Matthias opened the door and motioned for Pandy to exit, she did so with an alacrity that probably wasn’t true to the disaffected child she was trying to portray. Another boy waited in the hall, almost as if he was standing guard, and after exchanging glances with Matthias, he grabbed Pandy’s arm and started leading her away.

Matthias called after Pandy, “If you ever need someone to talk to, you’re more than welcome to visit. It was nice meeting you, Thaniel!”

She waved, entirely unable to return the sentiment, and then Mr. Musgrave was there, chastising Pandy-Thaniel for making a scene, running off, and generally being disrespectful. Pandy let the weaselly man’s words flow in one ear and out the other, all while trying to look properly abashed. Thaniel wasn’t going to be happy when he found out she’d made him look like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum, but fortunately his real friends knew the truth, and he wouldn’t actually have to write the paper Mr. Musgrave had just assigned him on proper respect for one’s elders.

But wait, if Thaniel didn’t have to do it, someone would still have to. Which meant Pandy. This time when her shoulders slumped, the feeling behind it was entirely genuine.

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