Jess was pleased to find that the headmaster was waiting for her when she was quietly led there by her guide. She was less pleased to find that he had an entourage but wasn’t entirely surprised. She wasn’t here to cause any problems, but they didn’t know how innocent her true intentions were.

The men were quite intimidating in their similar school garb. The two unfamiliar professors stood in robes that were similar to the headmaster’s shadowy attire. Black and rich looking, though Jess realised as she approached that theirs were stitched with pale thread that stood out crisply. The other teachers that she had witnessed during her tour had been wearing an assortment of colours. She wondered curiously whether it was part of a uniform or whether these two simply wished to emulate the headmaster’s strength.

The portly gent to the left caught Jess’s attention first. His beady eyes scowled disdainfully as she stopped before the trio. The thick white eyebrows above them seemed to be in a growing contest with the moustache below. Each bristled like frosted, unkept porcupines. His composure suggested that he considered himself a drill sergeant, ready to step into action, whereas his worryingly ruddy complexion suggested an undiagnosed heart condition. Perhaps due to the stress of shouting at too many students ‘for their own good’, she considered.

“I trust that Thomas has performed his duties well?” the headmaster enquired.

“He’s a credit to the academy,” Jess replied. She gave the boy a wink and he grinned broadly, his proud face beaming.

“Very good,” the headmaster replied, dismissing the boy with a curt nod. “Lady Belweather was rather vague about the purpose of your visit today, though there are rumours that there is to be a new school erected North of the city. Would I be correct in assuming that the two occurrences are related?”

“You are,” Jess admitted. No point in hiding that.

“I thought it prudent to include Master Horton, our resident House Master,” he said, gesturing to the portly bouncer beside him.

“Lovely to meet you,” Jess said through a polite smile. Master Horton looked as though she had offered to piss on his sandwich.

The headmaster then gestured to the soft-spoken gent on his right. “As well as our Head of Curriculum, Master Jefferson.”

Master Jefferson appeared spooked by the mention of his name, bobbing his head like a pigeon, cooing soft greetings before Jess had a chance to speak. “A pleasure. A pleasure.”

“If you’ll follow me,” the headmaster said, leading the way through the heavy wooden door to the spacious study beyond. To one side, there was a beautifully carved desk surrounded by thickly lined bookshelves. To Jess’s disappointment, she was ushered toward an opulent seating area. Generously stuffed leather sofas surrounded a low set table with a large crest carved in the centre.

A petite maid scurried over to Jess to make a polite enquiry. “Would ma’am like a drink?”

“Tea, please,” she said, eyeing the way that the three gentlemen lined themselves up on the seats opposite her. The fact that the maid was the only female member of staff that Jess had seen other than the woman teaching botany to a group of girls hit a nerve. The school seemed to have accepted plenty of female students, so why were there no female teachers to be seen? Suspicious.

As if by magic, the petite maid returned, this time with an even younger, smaller maid as entourage. The pair of them settled cups on saucers and poured tea. The gentle scent of camomile filled the room.

Instead of reaching immediately for the cup, Jess waited until the maids had retreated from the room. Master Horton and Master Jefferson appeared to be waiting for the headmaster to break the silence and Jess followed suit figuring that it was better to be safe than sorry. The last thing that she needed was to blunder some unknown niceties and bodge her whole request in the process.

He seemed in no rush, casually reaching for his own cup of tea, and taking a sip. Jess eyed him warily and did the same, though she dared to add a generous spoon of honey before enjoying her own.

The pair of them locked eyes, but the headmaster’s next words caught her off-guard.

“You’re unimpressed.”

The tea caught in her throat. The fact that she wasn’t the only surprised person in the room brought her little satisfaction.

Carefully, Jess leaned forward to gently return her cup to the table before taking a deep breath. She felt like an inspector from the Office for Standards in Education, and he was right. She wasn’t impressed.

“There’s no need to be coy, Miss Harper,” the headmaster continued. “Very little occurs in this school without me hearing about it. What I would like to ascertain though, if I may, is the reason why you are unimpressed.”

Jess’s eyes narrowed as she contemplated this. It felt tantamount to a declaration of war… and yet the way that he continued to study her as though she was a curiosity made her question his motives.

“Our homelands are very different,” she said with a note of caution, considering it best to avoid describing them as different worlds.

“Then I shall be sure not to take offence,” he said.

Master Horton, however, looked offended enough for all three of them.

“Just to make sure that I haven’t misunderstood anything, would it be alright if I asked for clarification of some of the key facts that I have observed today?” Jess asked in a polite, butter-wouldn’t-melt tone.

“Of course,” the headmaster agreed.

“Thank you,” Jess said. “Let’s start with what we call the ‘core subjects’ in my land. From what I understand, you thoroughly teach reading and language in relation to non-fiction books. What about literature relating to fiction?”

Master Horton visibly bristled. “Poppycock. Why in the heavens would we waste valuable learning time on fairy stories?”

Jess maintained a neutral expression. “The examples of mathematics seemed largely in line with my homeland, so I’ll move past that onto the sciences. I noticed that the alchemy class only contained boys whereas botany only contained girls. Is there a reason for this?”

The headmaster cleared his throat to quieten Master Horton who continued to puff like a poked badger. “Miss Harper, in our extensive experience, there has never been a girl in the school that has excelled in alchemy nor a boy that excelled at ‘botany’ as you call it. We have produced numerous skilled druidesses, in the same way that many great alchemists have graduated from our establishment. It would be unprofessional of us to set up our students for failure.”

“I see,” Jess replied frostily. “Moving onto the humanities then. Master Jefferson.”

Jefferson straightened nervously.

“Having seen both the teaching of history and geography in full flow, I was greatly impressed by the engagement of the students in the class. You seem to have quite a few budding historians among them.”

“Yes,” Jefferson peeped, before continuing in a rushed tone. “They really are a credit to themselves and the school.”

“I noticed that all of the reading material provided were from a human point of view,” Jess said, feeling a little guilty about putting the meek man on the spot. “What texts have been provided from a wood folk point of view? After all, it’s important as a historian to remain unbiased, is it not? History is written by the victors and all that.”

“Well… I… erm,” stammered Jefferson.

“It’s especially notable given the reservations of the elfs and how their students were retracted from the school on grounds of ‘poor service’,” Jess added pointedly.

The flustered Master Jefferson turned to the headmaster for aid but was ignored. The headmaster was, once again, locked in a staring match with Jess. She might have felt worried then had she been a younger teacher, but it felt at that point that she had fair more experience than the headmaster’s supporting cast when it came to nailing teacher conferences. The headmaster himself though… Now he was an enigma. Jess just couldn’t work out what his goal was.

Without warning, the headmaster suddenly dismissed the other two professors.

“Master Horton. Master Jefferson. I believe that Miss Harper and I can conclude this meeting ourselves. You have my gratitude, as always, for your continuing support.”

Looking positively apoplectic, Master Horton rose from his seat and wordlessly stormed out of the room. Jess couldn’t help but feel glad to see the back of the unpleasant man.

Master Jefferson offered a meek farewell before following. The quiet click of the door behind him seemed to echo around the room. It was unnerving, as was the unwavering studious look that the headmaster watched Jess with.

She was beginning to question whether it had been a good idea to come here after all.