Zara was sweating when they arrived at the top, and even Zack was slightly out of breath. A set of doors designed to be large and imposing stood beside a desk with a fit older woman sitting behind it.

“Do you have to climb those every day?” Zack asked after a moment to catch his breath.

“Oh, heavens no, I only do that climb about once a week to stay in shape. The rest of the time I take the elevator.” She pointed to a second set of doors across from her that they hadn’t noticed before. This revelation prompted Zara to kick him in the shin.

“Hey! What was that for? You didn’t know they had an elevator here either!” He hopped away from her, clutching at his freshly bruised leg.

The woman laughed lightly at their antics, shaking her head. “I assume the two of you are here to meet with the headmaster?”

The doors opened as they were about to answer. A young woman around Zack’s age stepped out, still talking to someone hidden inside the room beyond. “I’ll let you know what I decide before classes start.”

She turned to face them and stopped. She had deep red hair and clear hazel eyes that shifted between the green of her blouse and the red of her hair. Her gaze wandered over them, taking in their uniforms and the aged state of the bear in Zara’s arms. It was clear that she was confused as to their identities when she nodded politely and then walked over to the elevator.

“You two, get in here!” The headmaster shouted, seeing them through the slowly closing doors to his office.

They waved to the nice secretary lady and entered the room; the doors closing behind them with an ominous thud. A gigantic window took up most of the wall behind the headmaster, giving any who dared to look a view out across the academy grounds.

“I expected you here some time ago!” The headmaster grouched as they drew close enough to see him. He was a slightly pudgy man of indeterminate age, with a severe ‘V’ shaped widow’s peak extending to above his ears.

Zack shrugged and sat on a couch close to the window while Zara walked straight up to the glass, ignoring them both. “We had to eat breakfast first, and I didn’t get the message until I was done with my morning run, anyway.”

There was a slam as a meaty fist descended on the solid wood desk. “Don’t give me any of that lip, boy! I can have you kicked out here in a second-“

“Can you though?” Zack returned calmly, understanding that the pissing contest had already begun. “I was under the impression that the military, specifically Sergeant Grieves and his Major, were keeping an eye on me here. Imagine what they would say if you kicked me out, or better yet, imagine what they would do?”

A strangled cry burbled out of the impotent headmaster as his face flushed in anger. The man had no idea that the teen knew what he had been forced to do.

“You should know that your brother-in-law brought this upon himself. If he had just treated us with respect, or at the very least not reacted the way that he did in front of others. None of this would have ever happened. He is the one who blacklisted me in the community, and he is the one who stupidly let the local gangs know I had the potential to be a traveler. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the military brought him up on charges. You should know better than most how seriously they take anything related to the portals.”

It was a thinly veiled threat that Zack had no way of following through on, not that the headmaster would know that.

The reminder worked as the man paled and leaned back in his chair with a barely audible gulp. “Yes, that is true.” There was a hint of defeat coloring the words.

“Anyway,” Zack prompted, hoping to keep the conversation moving forward. “What did you want to talk to us about? I doubt that was all.”

The headmaster blinked as life came back into his eyes. “Right, yes, I did actually call you both here for a reason. Miss Rammore made a request the other day in regard to your sister.” They both glanced to where she was still looking out the window, ignoring them.

“I wasn’t aware she had requested anything related to Zara?”

“She wondered if it would be possible for the girl to either attend some of the regular classes or if that was impossible, be taught by herself?”

“And what have you decided?” Zack didn’t believe for a second the man would let her attend classes.

“She is not a student of this academy, and as such, is not allowed to attend any of the official classes. I cannot, however, stop Miss Rammore from spending her free time on frivolous activities.”

“So, this was all just a thin excuse to get us up here so you could flex your imagined authority?” Zack asked, standing from his place on the couch. “We didn’t need to come up here just to be told something obvious.”

The headmaster didn’t answer, instead clicking his tongue at the boy in annoyance.

Shaking his head, Zack didn’t believe that he could be any more disappointed in the people running the academy than at that moment. “You know, for a school with so much history and pride on the line. You and the students are awfully quick to drag its touted name through the mud. Come on Zara, we’re heading back. Apparently, we need to have a conversation with Edith about your schooling.”

The woman he assumed was the headmaster’s secretary looked at them curiously as they left his office and walked over to the elevator. Pushing in the button, they waited for the lift to arrive, listening as the large doors finally closed with a thud.

Zack nodded politely to the woman as they stepped into the small elevator and began their rapid descent.

“You did the exact same thing again. You antagonized him the same way you did the recruiter.” Zara said softly once they were alone.

He leaned against the back of the lift and ran a hand through his hair. “I know. I took it way too far, farther than I intended when we first went in. I was going to play it cool, and calmly remind him that we supposedly have the military on our side.”

She sighed and tucked her head into George’s back. “You realize that he is going to do everything he can to make sure our lives are difficult now, right? Before, he probably would have done something because of his brother-in-law, and now he’ll go all out.”

“I know,” He repeated, again. He had no good excuse to give her. It wasn’t as though he had gotten mad or overly emotional. He simply hadn’t stopped when he should have.

The rest of the ride down was filled with silence.

Edith was waiting for them when they stepped out of the elevator. “How did the meeting go?” Her worry from earlier had not dissipated in the slightest, and if anything had grown worse.

During the last week, she had gotten to know the two and was gradually coming to care for them in a way that was unsuited for a dorm matron The siblings were slow to trust anyone, including her. It had taken some time, but she had discovered enough to learn how hard their life had been up to that point.

Zara pulled her face from the stuffed bear’s back and tilted her head to the side. It was a cute mannerism that fit with a young girl holding a stuffed animal, if not one her exact age. “It could have gone better, or worse.”

Edith quirked an eyebrow and turned to Zack, looking for a better explanation.

“I… may have antagonized him a little bit,” He coughed and looked away. “A-anyway,” He stuttered. “The headmaster said that you are allowed to teach Zara if you want.”

Her lips pulled up at the corners, even while her eyes grew colder. “That is good news and just what I expected. However, let us go back to you and what you just said though. What do you mean you antagonized the headmaster?”

“Um,” He tried to think of a way out of the mess he had partially created, and then found himself in. “When we were up there, I just kept talking and pushing. It got a little out of hand is all.”

“Not. Good. Enough!” Each word was clipped and spoken with precision. Edith leaned closer to him, crossing her arms in disappointment. “I know there are things, many things, I don’t understand or know about the two of you. What I do know is that people from the military were involved with you being accepted and enrolled here with your sister. Maybe they have your back on something like this. I hope they do. But you need to remember that creating enemies needlessly or causing friction between you and the other staff is not a smart idea! You may have people backing you up, but so does almost every other person here. Teachers and the student nobles alike, they are all acquainted with someone who has power of their own.”

It was a message that Zack sorely needed to hear. He was not untouchable at the academy. The small amount of protection he had couldn’t protect him from everyone. He still needed to be careful.