I Wanted the Best for You

Someone should have cracked a joke. Made a disarming comment. Anything to remove the heavy unease settled over the office.

But Robin Sanarsmark just watched Cerise, and the witch returned it in kind, while Ruben was only able to glance between the two, worrying about how the situation would escalate.

Cerise decided to go right for the kill. “Why are you trying to kill Lucy?”

Ruben swallowed heavily, heart heavy with its anxious beatings, but he didn’t defend the headmistress. This wasn’t an accusation his friend would make out of hand.

Even if Robin’s light laugh tried to make it seem so. “That’s an awful thing to accuse me of, Candlethumb. Why would you–”

“If there’s anyone else who can summon enough Spirits to swarm a Guard station, and control each and every one of them besides the single most learned person in this city, let me know,” Cerise cut through with a growl. “Not to mention the only one who was willing to keep my ancestry a secret. You made a big deal out of destroying those records.”

That got Ruben looking at Robin, mortified. “Headmistress, you did what?”

“It was a security measure, your highness,” the elderly woman calmly corrected. “Cerise here is a member of an extremely contentious family. I’ll admit to vandalizing University property but I put the safety of my students above paper records.”

“That night you did all that,” Cerise continued to insist, “you showed off your talents by calling up that crowd of bugs to keep an eye out. You basically admitted to knowing I was a Sant-Lumiere–”

“Cerise, you’re a what–”

“-- and knowing my mistress. Did you pick up a few pointers from her? Trade a few books? Learn what Breath-dosed plants get poisonous if you mix them right? Who else would know all these things?”

Cerise glanced over to the desk, with the open suitcase full of scavenged money, and the carpet bag that was ready for travel. “Right after the attack on the Guard Station is over, you’re suddenly deciding to travel in a hurry. Trying to run to Turmen? Got a nice house there to hide out in?”

The world itself was holding its breath as the two women stared each other down.

To the side, Ruben waited, before even he couldn’t hold out any longer, and gave one uncertain, warning word.

“Headmistress…”

Finally, Robin laughed for a moment, and shook her head. “Not Turmen, actually. If I did, I’d just become a bargaining chip to trade with Arnis. I’ll be roosting elsewhere.”

It was nearly an admission of guilt, but it only made Cerise turn a stare into a glare.

“Say it, Sanarsmark. Say that you tried to kill the princess.”

The old woman nodded agreeably. “I’ll admit it. Even if I didn’t, between you, Ruben, and the unfortunately living princess, there’ll be enough eyewitnesses and momentum to move on circumstantial evidence. After that, I’m sure you’d all discover that I’ve hired Turmenese mercenaries and where I’ve hidden what’s left of the Black Dog.”

Cerise turned around and shut the doors, before turning the latch to lock them. All the while the prince boggled at the leader of his school, who may as well have shed her skin and transfigured into a snarling beast with the way he regarded her with sickened horror.

“Headmistress…” He said, half-formed accusations falling out of his mouth without coherence, “…you’re one of the most respected… my father… all the students… why would you betray us?”

“I am one of the pillars of this nation, yes,” Robin agreed as she moved to sink heavily in her plush office chair. “That is why I am so clearly concerned about the future of Arnis. Aren’t you also worried about what would happen to this nation if Lucretia remained Queen Apparent? It doesn’t matter how able a stateswoman she is, her temperament is obvious – sooner or later she’d find some fool war to drag us into. If not Turmen, then someone else. The birth of the Arnis lineage as tyrants.”

“So that’s your excuse,” Cerise snorted from the back, while leaning heavily against the doors. “Turmen would be happy to have someone help them take down their competition, too, of course they’d help where they could. And you acted all friendly with Ruben so you’d get him ready to take the throne after his sister died.”

“Were you planning to insert yourself into my life from the moment I came here?” Ruben accused the old woman. “If I became king, was I going to spend the rest of my life wrapped around your finger so you’d whisper suggestions to me?”

“You could lead on your own without my help, your highness,” Robin answered kindly. “I had hoped you would be more understanding after her death. You told me that you hated her, after all.”

Cerise glanced slightly at her friend, and saw how he stepped back for a moment, mouth moving rapidly for a moment as he tried to answer, and only managed a weak: “I didn’t…”

“I won’t say you asked for her death,” the headmistress continued, “but you told me you felt sidelined by her when you both grew up. You’re here, writing essays, while Lucretia has your father’s ear and a say in the nation’s rule. And while she’s waiting for an excuse to go to war, you were just standing by, wondering if you could do a better job.”

Robin shook her head. “I had hoped for a convenient, accidental death. You’d mourn, and then lead us to an era where we won’t be spilling blood with neighbours. Surely you must understand the benefits. Arnis has killed tyrants before.”

“This is different,” Ruben whispered, more a weak denial than anything.

“Turmen seems more than happy to draw first blood,” Cerise snorted from behind Ruben.

“What they and I will spill will be nothing compared to what the Queen Apparent would permit. All she ever sees is enemies.”

Robin turned to look at Cerise meaningfully. “Would she ever treat you kindly?”

“You’re all heart,” the witch sneered. “I recall you tried to sting me to death.”

That line seemed to truly get under Sanarsmark’s skin, as her posture shrivelled and she turned her head down for a moment. So she could feel guilty, go figure.

“I didn’t think you’d stay so close to her. My Spirits… Well, insects aren’t too bright, after all. I can only give them basic orders, and with the two of you two so close together, they must have gotten confused. It was only after they noticed you throwing out all your potions that I dispersed them.”

It was just another answer – one supplied to a thousand other questions, more than Ruben and Cerise could manage to ask, while they felt their world fall out from under them.

This woman… from how long before? When did this all begin?

It was impossible to annunciate any real indictment, given the unreality of it all. But they couldn’t leave either. For another impossible period, all the three could do was occupy the little plush cell, while thinking of how to progress.

Cerise slowly spoke, uncertain, but still near growling.

“Why me?” She asked. “Why care about the Sant-Lumieres so much? I heard from Captain Teague that this whole thing is about getting Ruben and I to replace Lucy. Why go through so much effort?”

She was met with another sad, self-effacing grin.

“You wouldn’t remember me, but we actually met once, long ago. Along with your mistress. You were a child then.”

From the furrowed eyebrows, Robin knew the witch didn’t remember. But she did. The memory had faded at the edges, but the resonance still struck her, after all these years.