CHAPTER 62: THE INTERROGATION...

Charis

After my first two classes, I was finally starting to feel like I might survive Ravenshore.

Just before break time, a Sentinel appeared in the doorway of our classroom. He didn’t say a word, just scanned the room until his eyes found me, then jerked his head toward the hallway in a clear command.

My stomach dropped. This couldn’t be good.

I nodded and gathered my things, acutely aware of every pair of eyes following my movement as I left the classroom. The whispers started before I’d even cleared the doorway—speculation about what kind of trouble the new bastard boy had already managed to get himself into.

The walk to Headmistress Vale’s office felt like a death march. Each step echoed in the empty corridors, and I found myself trying to remember if I’d done anything in the past few hours that could have warranted this summons.

The last time we’d spoken, she told me she’d think of what she wanted me to do for her in return, and she’d keep my secret. Was this what this meeting was all about? For her to finally tell me what she wanted me to do?

When we reached the office, I could see Headmistress Vale silhouetted against the large window in her office, sipping tea with an air of casual elegance that somehow made her more threatening. The Sentinel gestured for me to enter, and once I stepped inside, she dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

"Leave us," she commanded without turning around.

The door closed behind me with a soft click that sounded like the doors back at Crestborne whenever my father wanted to beat me. For more than ten minutes, I stood there in silence, wondering what she wanted in return.

Finally, I couldn’t take the tension anymore. I cleared my throat quietly and said, "You wanted to see me?"

Headmistress Vale turned from the window and crossed the room, and before I could even process what was happening, she slapped me.

The slap was so unexpected that for a moment I couldn’t hear anything but the ringing in my ears. My cheek burned like fire, and I could taste blood where my teeth had cut the inside of my mouth.

"Where are you staying?" she demanded, "Didn’t you tell me you were staying with Slater?"

I stared at her in complete shock, my hand instinctively moving to cover my stinging cheek. The rage in her eyes was terrifying. This wasn’t the composed woman who had interviewed me just days ago. This was someone on the edge of violence.

"Am I not talking to you?" she shouted when I didn’t respond immediately. "Answer me, goddammit!"

I forced myself to compose my expression, to push down the fear and pain threatening to overwhelm me. "Yes," I managed to say, my voice steadier than I felt. "I fought with Slater and decided to stay with Kael instead."

She laughed dryly, throwing her head backwards like she was possessed. Before I could react again, she grabbed my collar and hauled me closer, tightening her grip against my throat.

"Who do you think you are?" she screamed, showering my face with her spittle. "Why are you causing me so much trouble? Why are you treating this school like it’s your damn playground, like you can do whatever you want? You think you can change rooms whenever the mood strikes you? Are you completely mad?"

Tears gathered in my eyes despite my efforts to remain strong. The combination of physical pain, humiliation, and sheer terror was overwhelming, but I blinked them back furiously. In my experience, crying would only make things worse.

"I’m sorry," I whispered.

She gritted her teeth so hard I could hear them grinding. Then she released my collar with a violent shove and stalked across the room to the wine bar. She grabbed a bottle of wine, twisted off the cork, and gulped down the liquid like it was water.

After a long minute, she returned to stand directly in front of me, wine still dripping from her lips. The alcohol seemed to have made her even more unpredictable.

"You promised you’d be truthful to me, right?" she asked. She seemed calmer now.

I managed to glance up at her and nod, not trusting my voice.

"Great. Then I want you to tell me the truth." She grabbed my hands painfully and dragged me around to the other side of her desk, pushing me roughly into her chair before turning on her computer.

I gasped in shock when a video started playing on the screen. It was me—unmistakably me—from that day at the summer camp. The camera had captured everything: me pouring my drink onto the grass, throwing away my cake towards the catering bar and then acting like I’d drunk it.

Before I could even begin to formulate an explanation, her hand connected with my other cheek in another stinging slap. I held both burning cheeks as she crossed the room again, returning with something that made my breath catch in my throat.

A whip.

She began rolling up her sleeves, holding my gaze, and when she spoke, her voice was filled with satisfaction.

"Now I understand why your dear daddy whips you. You’re so fucking annoying." Her laughter echoed manically in her office. "You’ve only been here for a few days, but everyone seems to be so fucking interested in you. Even Marcus Webb, that piece of shit, was commanding me to have you transferred to his room."

The mention of Marcus made my skin crawl, but I forced myself to remain still.

"You belong to me, Charis," she continued, and hearing my real name from her lips made me flinch. "I am the reason you’re still here. You answer me. I am your god."

She raised the whip, and I couldn’t suppress the fearful tremors that ran through my entire body.

"Now tell me, who told you to spill your drink and throw away that cake? Tell me this instant. Why did you do that?"

I maintained the most stoic expression I could manage, drawing on years of practice hiding my emotions from my father’s rages. "No one," I said quietly.

The whip cracked across my arm, and I bit down hard on my tongue to keep from crying out.

"Tell me the truth!" she demanded.

I scrambled for an explanation that wouldn’t implicate Kael or reveal how much I understood about what had happened that day.

"I didn’t take the alcohol because even a little amount makes me drowsy," I said quietly. "I have a low tolerance. And the cake, I wasn’t allowed to eat things like that back at home. My father would go into a frenzy if he saw me snacking. He said they were unhealthy and didn’t want me ever to be fat. I suppose my body was reacting to past experiences. I’m sorry."

It was a weak excuse, but it was the best I could manage without revealing the truth. I couldn’t tell her it was Kael who had warned me. I couldn’t admit that I’d understood exactly what kind of danger I was in that night.

She stared at me for a few seconds before pausing the video, and my heart stopped as the screen froze on an image; it was the moment when Kael had kissed me in the hot tub.

"Can you unpack what happened here?" she asked quietly. "Why did he suddenly pull you into the tub?"

The question hung in the air. How could I possibly explain that moment without revealing everything? From the alertness in Kael’s eyes and mine, and the fact that he’d only dragged me into the pool when we saw them, it was suspicious.

I stared at the frozen image on the screen, my mind racing for an answer that might save us both, knowing that whatever I said next could determine not just my fate, but Kael’s as well.

"Well?" she sneered. "Ran out of lies already?"

She turned my chair to face her directly, then reached out to hold my jaw,

"I don’t want to hurt you, precious," she said softly. "I don’t want to give you back to your father because I gave you my word, but I am not a patient person either. Tell me the truth."

I swallowed hard.

"Kael had tried to make advances at me in the tent before this hot tub incident," I began, hating myself for every word but knowing I had no choice. "If you noticed in the video, he came close to me and was forcing me to come into the tub. When I saw that you and the orientation professor had arrived, I was thankful that Kael wouldn’t be able to disturb me further, but he dragged me into the tub anyway."

The words tasted like ashes in my mouth, but I forced myself to continue, adding details that would make the lie more convincing.

"Earlier today, he tried to make out with me again," I added. "I think he likes me too, same with Marcus, the student president. He already asked me to..." I trailed off, then said in a whisper. "To date him."

Vale studied my face intently, "And do you remember anything else from that night?" she asked.

I shook my head firmly. "No, nothing. I can’t even remember this," I pointed to the computer.

Vale sighed deeply, finally releasing my jaw. She moved away from me and grabbed the wine bottle again, taking a long sip before turning back to face me.

"It’s time for you to fulfil your promise," she said, her voice taking on a gentler tone. "I’m going to need you tomorrow to be a girl."