Having assigned detentions, sanctioned the fifth year prefect and threatened Tegan with expulsion after she'd been at the school for barely an hour. Ma White sweeps back off into her office leaving Tegan with hundreds of questions and several punished girls that might want a pound of Tegan's flesh.

Rachel said a phrase that included mention to unbind all locks and seals. She then turned to me. “Miss Lesley, are you willing to let me show you the location of the Seagull dormitory and floor bathroom?”

“I would like that Miss Swanson.” I mean I know they told me to be rude, but I had an upper sixth year just defer in whether I planned to allow her to do what the headmistress had recommended she should do. The headmistress had been polite to Rachel too.

Then please follow me, Miss Lesley.” She turned and after mumbling something about scour and expunge the spilled lives’ flow. The bloody mess covering the stairs seemed to vanish as we passed by. Rachel continued to climb the stairs. I followed but got distracted at the mid flight landing by how much higher the view from the window was when stood on the landing verses when stood lower or looking up at it from outside the manor house. I could see the whole stackyard and surrounding buildings and seemed to be looking down from about twenty or more feet up, not the ten or less feet of height I’d actually climbed.

The stackyard was a walled in cobble stone courtyard contained by two carriage houses and the stables on the far north side and the east and west wings, that were classrooms. “Come on Miss Lesley, three more half flights to go.” Rachel chivied me to stop looking through the flimsy net that covered the glass window.

Four half flights climbed had us arriving on the main landing of the second floor, a narrow staircase continued to the gables where the first and second year girls’ attic dormitories were located. Also, apparently the punishment rooms for those girls that were being ‘Sanctioned’ which would now be where Beatrice was located. Would she be alright not being healed? What was the whole deal of being allowed to return to the hallowed, and queen’s champion about to?

“This is the bathroom for third through fifth year girls.” Beatrice opened a door to the left of the stairs we had just come up and I found six sinks with mirrors running down the left-hand side then five cubicles with loos before a bubbled glass window with pale pink curtains. Running back on the other side the five cubicles provided two more loos, and three showers. There were then two bath alcoves with the old iron footed bath tubs, each alcove opposite three wash basin sinks.

“The two front dorms are for the third years. The dorms have a staircase in the middle of them that is a fire-escape if the main stairs are blocked. In one flight they open into the tennis pavilion. Obviously, they can only be used during emergencies.” She looked at me as if she thought I would be using one as soon as her back was turned. “That door is the fifth year prefect’s bathroom. The Triumvirate also use it. I will not be happy if I must step in to fix any power play is the only warning I’m giving. That, and I’m not impressed with your act downstairs.”

Rachel glared at me, waiting on me to say something. Did she expect me to say it was now my private bathroom or something? “There’s an external fire-escape outside the fourth years ‘Fame’ dorm. And those two rooms are for two of the matrons. Lastly here is your dorm.” It would be on the rear of the second floor like the prefect’s bathroom, and Fame dorm.

Rachel finally gave up on waiting me to say something and continued. “After you’ve finished getting changed, knock on my room’s door. It is one flight below you and will be the second corridor on your right after you come down the main staircase. It’s the third door on the left of that corridor. I will then show you the laundry room and the dining hall.”

“Thanks, I will be with you quickly.”

“Make your bed, first as with having detention after dinner you won’t have time to do that before lights out.” Rachel countered then promptly left me on the landing. I decided to use the regular floor bathroom. I’d looked in the prefect’s bathroom and seen it had one large bath, two showers and loos and four wash basins. There were also four medicine cabinets beside each sink. It looked like it was setup perfectly for four girls. Assuming ‘Triumvirate’ meant three girls then I guess Rachel is expecting some war over which four girls use this bathroom. Well I aimed to disappoint her.

Having finished dressing myself in the way too girly outfit my Grandma had provided me I looked around the dorm. There were four bunk beds alternating with four windows overlooking the sixth-form terrace on one side, and four more bunk beds with four dressers on the interior of the dorm. Under each window was a dresser. Due to the mirrors only the four top bunks had an unobstructed view out the window and as all four were available, I chose one of the top bunks that was in a corner. It was both beside a window and also against a second wall.

In the middle of the dorm between the two rows of bunk beds in addition to several chests of drawers there were two studying tables each with eight chairs around them. Piles of blankets, duvets and sheets were stacked on the two desks and the top of the drawers. Finding my sheets, well they were Thomas’s ones before half-term, on one of the study tables. I made up the top bunk I’d chosen. One of the matrons must have unpicked the name label that was on the sheets as I found they’d been labeled, ‘Tegan A. L. Wehl’ now.

I ignored the blankets but popped one of the duvets over the top sheet and grabbed my bag from the wardrobe I’d hung it in. It now had my uniform I needed to wash inside. Time to let Rachel show me two rooms I was already familiar with. I tugged the hem of the short pale pink skirt trying to get it to cover more of my legs. I Pulled my wet hair into a ponytail to stop it clinging to the lilac crop top, and tried to brush the water spots away. I then looked at my black school shoes. They so didn’t go with my outfit. What the hell did I care about bloody matching shoes? Popping them on I forced myself to not think such stupid thoughts. They were shoes, they fit, and did their job. Nothing else was important. The pink ankle socks with a white net frill looked perfectly fine in the plain black shoes.

The floor below housed some members of staff, both lower and upper sixth, and three large dorms for the primary girls. It was these last three dorms which caused the first floor to be far noisier than the second floor had been. One little girl chasing a few others stopped as I stepped into the landing. The girl was tiny and likely only eight years old. Her large brown eyes stared with fear at me. She kept glancing at my navel piercing. I smiled in order to hopefully put her at ease. I wasn’t too keen over a young girl thinking me to be some evil witch.

A gasp from beyond had me concentrate on three of the girls she’d been chasing. They were scrambling to open a dorm door that others had ducked into. If I had to guess someone inside was holding the door closed as a prank. “You three step away from the door, I’ll find out who’s playing with the door in a moment.” It was a gut feeling, but I felt I needed to look into what they were doing. They were definitely older than the one in front of me and I wanted to work out why something had got me interested. “All of you can fall in closer for a moment.”

Well being told to ‘fall in’ must mean something different than I meant as after several intakes of breath, some from beyond the dorm door that had been cracked due to curiosity. All three stepped toward me then dropped into the curtsey Beatrice had made when sanctioned. The girl before me likely a year younger than the other three, stepped back to be behind the three and clumsily copied her ‘friends’, while mumbling about being sorry. She was shaking and tears were running down her face.

I squatted and lifted her head so we could look straight at each other. I was feeling terrible that by just standing before her, I made her terrified. She was shaking in absolute terror and tears were free running as she tried not to sniffle. “Hey, it’s okay. My names Tegan, What’s yours?”

“L… l… lou… ise, Miss Lesley. P… please don’t sanction me. I’m sorry I was running. I won’t do it again.”

“Louise, you’re not in trouble, running is good. You probably should do it outside though. Why aren’t you running outside with your friends?”

“They have…

“She’s not our friend. She’s only first form!” Interrupted one of the three girls. I turned to look at her. She was standing back up and was holding a doll in one hand. It was odd. Then I realized what was odd.She was holding the doll wrong. Instead of the way you’d hold a doll you cared about, she had it hanging face down by its neck, while her arm swung.

“Give me the doll.” I heard Louise beside be hitch a breath, making me more positive I was right in believing this doll was hers. She probably now thought the evil witch was going to curse it or something. After getting the doll from the girl, she looked at me as if she was measuring my worth. “Do you think you should be standing up?” I asked at her and swept my eyes over the other girls that were still stooped. Well the other two older girls had quickly re-dipped their heads after they’d previously been glancing toward me. The one I’d dubbed the ring leader fell back into the curtsey and finally looked unsure. “Louise is this doll yours?”

“Yes, Miss Lesley. Please don’t hurt Rebecca.”

“I won’t hurt Rebecca, and I have always liked the name Rebecca.”

“Did you call your doll, Rebecca too?”

Well there was a question I never thought I’d be asked. “Louise stand up and here is Rebecca. She’s been missing you.”

“Thanks, Miss Lesley.”

“Why don’t you go to your dorm while I talk to these three.” I waited while the door to her dorm closed.

“Now you three. You will not steal from children younger than you or I will sanction you. I know there are other kids that were in on this bullying and if they were unable to hear clearly through the cracked dorm door, you will tell them I have zero tolerance on bullies.”

“Why do you care? She’s your enemy’s younger sister, and you bullied too. So, like you will punish and even sanction us for bullying, but you can bully.”

“I didn’t say you could talk.” I said trying to nip this in the bud. Did the school think Beatrice was my enemy? Sure I could see a bit of a similarity between Louise and Beatrice, now I thought about it. Their eyes were a different colour, but so were mine to my sisters. I laughed realizing they still were a different colour to my sisters as that was one of the few things unchanged. Thanks to the peddler I looked less like my sister even though my body had become more feminine.

The laugh seemed to have finally put ‘her leadership’ firmly into the realm of fear. I guess crazy works against crazy. “I have no enemies at Belmare Moor regardless of what erroneous rumors you might have heard. However, I’ll tell you a sure fire way to become my enemy. See I despise and loathe bullies. I will destroy them. Is that clear enough or are you so dumb that I have put your nose in shit like training a puppy to not shit inside.”

“What… what about what you did to Miss Myles?” I guess she still felt she could talk back. She sounded fairly unsure and was no longer confident though. “You called her a dreg and pushed her around. Is that not bullying?”

“Myles was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I won’t be going out of my way to interact with her. If she’d stayed out of my business, none of that would have happened. I was in the middle of something important and time sensitive and she interrupted me. Actually, it was sort of like what you are doing now. Though you are far more obnoxious, and I think you can go to a punishment cell in the attic ‘till bedtime. You don’t look like missing a meal will do you any harm.”

“You can’t sanction me…

“But I can, and I think the punishment is just. Further, I accept Miss Lesley’s offer to be my defender of the little sprouts, so she has the right to issue punishments and detentions. Get going Chivers.” Rachel interrupted coming out of the second corridor I would have been heading for. “Stone and Rivers, after Miss Lesley ends her ‘Fall-in’ you will inform the primary third and fourth forms that you’re all on warning. Ensure everyone knows that you don’t pick on the younger girls, and that goes double for little Miss Walker.”

The two girls bowed back again as soon as Rachel mentioned that I had requested it of them, which wasn’t completely true. Miss Chivers, who was sullenly climbing the stairs, stopped startled and looked at me in pure fear. I waved her to carry on, and she got back to climbing again.

Rachel looked at me and when I didn’t say anything she continued. “As Miss Lesley has made a point to single out defending little Miss Walker you can see the rumors that Miss Walker and Miss Lesley are enemies are false.”

Once more she turned to me. What did Rachel want me to do? Let’s see she gave them a task to do after I ended the ‘Fall-in’. How did Ma White end her parade calling again, and did they end differently’? “As you were young… girls.” I said changing it from young ladies as it didn’t seem right to refer them that way. I was getting a bit frustrated as I picked up yet more questions.

The two girls scurried into a dorm. Rachel smiled at me and asked. “Ready to wash your uniform, Miss Lesley?”

“Yes please, Miss Swanson, and thank you.” I replied following her down to the ground floor. My thanking her had really confused her. What the hell had Rachel done, and how bad was it that I’d been made defender of the little girls. We exited into the stack yard that was starting to get busy as more kids were back and had made their beds, unpacked and got changed. The buses with most of the kids hadn’t arrived yet but would in the next five to ten minutes as dinner was barely thirty minutes away.

“You should remember to state you are starting a parade calling next time if you aren’t planning on sanctioning everyone that a request to ‘Fall-in’ means. I’m glad you want to be the little sprouts defender through your next trials.” Once more the odd look that went from an initial smirk to one that was confused and worried when I made no show of concern, and instead smiled at her. I wasn’t going to let her know she’d upset me, but I would have to find out in detention what was bad with the situation I’d got myself in. For something bad had happened. My uncaring smile though seemed to have unsettled her.

“I was observing to see what you would do. I was ready to stop you if you’d picked on Louise.” Rachel paused and stopped walking causing me to have to stop too. I could have carried on to the laundry room, but I shouldn’t know where it is and the door would be locked and I didn’t know a handy unlocking spell. “You surprised me, Miss Lesley.” Rachel finally said.

Rachel kept looking at me expecting me to say something, but I wasn’t going to put my foot in it and give away that I was clueless with what was going on. Sure I could say I did what I thought was right, but it was better to say nothing. What was that saying ‘wise men stay silent while fools speak’ well I might not be wise, but I definitely didn’t want to be thought a fool. Also though I was happy I’d helped Louise I was getting a nagging feeling I’d stepped into a trap of Rachel’s.

“I would have handled it nearly the same way. Well the week’s detention I would have given Chivers would be worse than one evening’s sanctioning, seen as the evening is almost over. Eventually you’ll have made Chivers stronger. It’s rare for a primary fourth form to get a sanctioning so being a third form and sanctioned will give her something to boast about. Well after she’s recovered anyway.” Rachel twisted the door knob while the word ‘disenthrall’ was spoken? Well not spoken. I was sure I could unlock the door if I spoke that word though. I was wool gathering over my new spell as Rachel continued to open the laundry room and turned on the lights. “So what do you say to now knowing your punishment will help Chivers?”

Being a direct question, I had to answer, but decided to say something that would make it look I had intended what Rachel said would happen. “I think all punishment should be a means to teach and improve the person.” I was also a bit peeved that she felt I would be upset that I’d made Miss outspoken-bully, stronger. I would be fine if by her being stronger she didn’t torment those that were younger than herself. Also having been given the punishment once of having to write four sides of A4 paper on the inside of a ping pong ball, I was rather annoyed over petty daft punishments that didn’t aid the one doing them. Well I guess it had developed my creativity a bit?

Rachel broke into my pondering with telling me. “You don’t have time to run a wash let alone two. So, hand wash your skirt and blouse. They need to be in a dryer before dinner as you have detention right after. You’ll need to get up early tomorrow to sew the buttons back on you blouse. Find out in your detention how to get your uniform from the dryer.” Rachel pointed to a sink and while I ran both hot and cold water into it and started on scrubbing the blood on my blouse she handed me a box of laundry detergent and a bottle of colour safe bleach. “Use this small dryer, and the laundry door will lock if you pull it closed. Turn the light off first, before you leave. Oh, and look, do you see that door across the stack yard.” She pointed at the entrance to the dining room. “The dining room’s through there, be there after the bell, or miss dinner.”

She then left me to it, closing the door after leaving. I was cleaning the skirt before I wondered if there was a spell to do this. Possibly hand washing my uniform was considered a punishment too. If it was it was a boon for me. Of course, the Headmistress would know this and so this and my ‘detentions’ with her were actually not punishment. She’d told me I was going to get detention so she could teach me the magic I should already know.

“Miss Lesley, right?” I jumped away from the laundry door I’d just shut and turned to find two girls standing behind me. “I am Miss Cooper, and this is Miss Wright.” The one I knew as Ashley carried on. They were both fifth form girls, though I hadn’t known Miss Wright’s name. I wondered if they were going to seek vengeance for what had happened to Beatrice. I jumped again as the dinner bell rang.

“Don’t worry, that’s just the dinner bell. Come you’ve not been in the dining hall yet, have you?” Ashley said hooking her arm into mine and drawing me toward the dining room. Miss Wright swung in on my other side. I suddenly wondered if she was Amanda’s older sister. Did she want payback for the six days of detention I’d caused her younger sister to get?

Due to worrying about possible hazing or worse I was already sat between the two of them at the top of the fifth form girls’ table before realizing I probably should be sat at the third forms’ table. Across from me sat Susan MacLeod, the chair Beatrice usually sat in was empty beside her.

Ashley stood and made a hand wave around the table that had fourteen girls sitting at including myself. Well counting Ashley there were fifteen of us. Just as I had heard Rachel’s unspoken word when she unlocked the laundry room door, I felt Ashley’s ‘Bridle Acoustics’ unspoken words that accompanied her gesture. I could also see a shimmering, wall? Bubble? Whichever of those or if something else, it was a couple of feet or so beyond our table and encircling it in a rounded rectangle that curved together about fifteen feet above the center of the table. Blinking I could shift my vision to not see it once more, and another set of blinks and it was there again.

“Right the Triumvirate has an announcement. Miss Lesley is a championed queen by our missing fifth year prefect. Miss Lesley has accepted the role of defender of the primary first two years. She has already sanctioned a primary third form girl that was bullying Miss Walker’s little sister, and placed two forms on warning. This shows the rumors are not true of a division in the fifth form. Mis Lesley states that she despises and loathes bullies, and that punishments should benefit the one being punished.These ideals align perfectly with the Triumvirate. Any questions?”

Well I had a whole bucket of them but didn’t want to draw any more attention to myself. It seemed Rachel had shared the information of me with this mystical Triumvirate that had informed Ashley. I’m wondering who the Triumvirate is. Also, when we can eat dinner as I’m quite hungry. That is likely a first for me, since changing. Prior to tonight I’d found myself not as interested in food as I’d been before. Perhaps the stress over what had happened caused me to loose my appetite. I nearly laughed when I realized I’d implied I was no longer stressed, when I kept becoming more stressed each time I thought I was pegged at max stress.

“Fine as there are no questions I turn it over to one of my fellow members of the Triumvirate, Miss MacLeod.” Ashley sat down and Susan stood up. “Than you Miss Cooper. I am glad to see that the fifth form is behind us, your Triumvirate, our fifth year prefect, and the new member of Belmare Moor, Miss Lesley.” As Susan looked around the table I was wondering if I needed to speak up about my name and all the other things they’d assumed wrong.

“Often a new member arriving in the senior years causes chaos and warring that is damaging to the hallowed to the point of being like a second culling. Thankfully that will not be the case this time, as you can consider the five of us a Pentumvirate all together standing as one.” I really had to stop myself laughing to that. First, wouldn’t it be a Quintumvirate? Second, if there were four girls joined in power does it get called a Rectumvirate?

However, both my Grandma and Misses White had told me to not volunteer any information and speak as little as possible so I stayed quite. I’d let her know in my detention tonight and find out how I should handle this. Now I wanted to get to my detention before anything weirder occurred, but I also wanted to eat some food. Even with my stomach now trying out for the Olympic sport of somersaults, I wanted some food. My stomach growled loudly and several of the girls laughed.

“As some of you are hungry I will wrap up without more of a to do, to allow all of you a chance to eat. I welcome the new royalty to our table. Miss Lesley, you are seated where you belong as part of the new Pentumvirate that is united behind each other. I’m Susan MacLeod of the coven Zephyr and would be honored if you called me Susan. May I address my fellow member of the Pentumvirate as Tegan?” Susan MacCleod held out her hand and I found myself shaking hands. This was followed by two more handshakes while being invited to call Miss Wright as Valerie, and Miss Cooper as Ashley.

“You’re a member of the Royal family,Miss Lesley?” Sara, sitting next to Valerie asked.

“She passed Magna Cum Laude third year trials at Gwithial Ylt.” Valerie answered before I’d been able to say no.

“How do you know that?” Rebecca asked Valerie, while Sara asked me what the school was like.

Valerie thankfully jumped in again before I’d formatted what to say. “Sara, Tegan is unable to answer you. She can only discuss the place with other alumni, so that’s Misses White and Miss Hodges whom passed seventh years trials and Misses Fitzpatrick and Dame Martin that passed third years trials like Tegan.”

Susan added. “They all often wear their alumni pendant on a necklace or bracelet. Tegan’s got hers with a navel piercing.” Of course, the other girls came around the table if on the opposite side or just pushed in closer if already on this side. All looked at my navel ring. I tried to nonchalantly pour and then sip my tea to downplay the spectacle I was in. I also grabbed a couple of scones to stave off my rumbling stomach.

“Incoming fifth and sixth year drones.” Ashley stated and then dropped the privacy bubble. Well I assumed it was a privacy bubble.

“Hi John, how was you half term?” Rebecca asked, grabbing his hand as she tried to take him with her around the table to her side. When he shrugged her arm off and continued toward me, she glared at me. Didn’t she know I wished she took the whole bloody lot of the incoming boys with her. They were all unfortunately zeroed in on me. Damn but it’s bad to feel like you’re a new piece of fresh meat.

“I’m Mark, lower sixth and according to Michael and John you’re the reason we don’t have our delectable Beatrice Walker dining with us.”

“I’m fairly sure Beatrice wouldn’t like you talking of her in such a possessive way. Now if you could return to your table I really need to eat as I’ve an important meeting with the headmistress right after dinner.” As I turned back to my scone, I was thinking of all the idiotic things to say. Only I knew it wasn’t a real detention.

“An important meeting? I heard she gave you three weeks detention with her.” Mark swung back and I had a way to fix my goof.

“Po Tay Toe, Po Tah Toe. You say detention, I say an additional chance to learn something.”

“Then what do you call your fight with Beatrice over your fiancée, her ex-boyfriend?” Michael chimed in. Since when had I been Beatrice’s boyfriend? I wondered. Let’s not even worry about being engaged to myself.

“I call it you being so wrong you’re not even in the right country let alone within the city limits of the conversation. Beatrice and I just have a few things to discuss…

“Yes, the two of them and the three of us are all together and great friends.” Susan said while indicating the three of us sat in a line. Or she could have been just pointing to first Asley then Valerie that were sat on either side of me.

“So a rumor says you were always in detention at your old school. Were you expelled?” Mark asked.

“Oh, I like bad girls. Are you naughty?” Jordan asked.

“Cute piercing, where else is your body pierced?” John asked and grabbed my arm pulling me around part way. It looked like he was going to reach for my piercing. “Don’t you fucking touch me!” I said a lot louder than I intended while shoving his arm off me and the dining hall suddenly quieted as he stumbled and fell into the fourth year girls table. It would seem I was the centre of attention for the whole bloody school. Two members of staff were heading this way too.

“Boys return to your table.” Matron Bell said. “Young lady that language is not appropriate, you’re already in enough trouble. I think it best if you head to your detention now as you must have finished dinner if you have the time to play and swear.”

With my stomach growling in anger, I topped up my cup of tea and grabbed my uneaten scone in the other hand. I made a point of taking a bite of the scone as I walked by her and toasted her with my cup of tea. I walked around the third form girls and second form boys to avoid walking near the fourth through sixth form boys. It had the added benefit of enabling me to finish my scone and grab two sandwiches off the primary first and second form girls’ table. “Hey Louise, everything good with you?” I asked while pinching the sandwiches

“Y.. yes, thank you Miss Lesley.” She still looked a bit worried about me being beside her.

I scooted down so I was eye-level to her and smiled. “Hey I’m Tegan to you, remember.”

Finally a big smile was on her face. “Thanks Tegan.”

I noticed Matron Bell heading toward me. “Louise, could you open the door for me. My hands are kind of full.” Louise giggled and ran to open it. I walked quickly to leave before the Matron decided to take my sandwiches back.

“Bye Tegan.” Looks like Louise was finally confident and not worried to be around me. “Farewell Louise.” I offered to solidify I was protecting her. It was my fault her big sister wasn’t there to protect her and it looked like I’d caused her to become a target. The rules around how witches behaved seemed to be rather cruel and nasty.

I was glad I’d been able to grab some food too. Due to the whole dinner meeting the Triumvirate had shanghaied me to, no one from the fifth form table had grabbed the trays of sandwiches for our table. I guess I was lucky someone had at least grabbed the scones before the set up was poised for trapping me. It was another thing to find out how badly I’d done when I met with the headmistress.

What a bitch the matron was, kicking me out of the dining room before we even got dinner, and making it seem like I had asked for the bloody boys to come around me. I took a breath to calm myself. It looked like I was going to have as bad a relationship with Matron Bell as Thomas had done.

I arrived at the headmistresses’ office with two thirds of my tea left to drink and one sandwich still to eat. I was going to finish them before knocking on the door, but someone doesn’t like me as Ma White exited the staff room with a cup of tea and looked askance at me. “I told you to come for detention after you finished eating dinner.”

“Some older boys bothered me and Matron Bell told me to leave for my detention.” I replied and took a bite of my sandwich.

Misses White opened the door and indicated for me to follow into her office. The door had barely closed when she turned on me. “Tegan, somehow I don’t think that is the whole story. What am I going to do with you? You should have a clean slate with Matron Bell. She doesn’t know you were Thomas.” She sighs as if the whole debacle was my fault. “We’d planned a perfect method to sanction Beatrice and make her your defender after she attacks you. You just had to somehow beat her up instead. Weakening her too much especially when it’s found out you’re only a third year, and leaving the Triumvirate far too powerful.”

“You wanted me to get me into a fight and loose!” I angrily shot back.

“Look that’s not important. It didn’t happen…

“No, I think it is very important. From what I’ve seen so far witches are not playing with the same rules and I need information before I make the next goof. Instead of plotting how to manipulate the students by treating me as a blinkered horse staked out for the wolves, tell me what you expect them to do, due to how you need me to act. Allow me to improvise.”

“I will, but I had only one way forward to weaken those who would align against you after you lost gaining an assumed strong defender. Magic is based on three, five and thirteen. They are strong numbers where four is the weakest. Please tell me that before Matron Bell kicked you out of dinner that the Triumvirate has been weakened. The solid three weakened to four, after you have successfully been included in the Quadumvirate?”