Follows Wander Beyond Those Interior Walls


Water dripped from the point of his chin, the droplets hit the surface of the disturbed pool of water in the sink below. He'd almost docked points from Prefects in the corridor on his way back merely for sharing the same route, striding back wand in hand in this foul, black mood.

It had taken some self control to have acted so reasonably in the end with Tapendra. He had been hiding this all for so long. Hiding it not just from him as his colleague who had responsibility for the students in the castle during term, but hiding it from him as a good friend, and as Sasha's biological father.

He had been hiding it because he didn't want to involve people, because he feared what Ignan might do. He didn't trust Ignan in any capacity, professor, friend nor father, to act reasonably in the situation. But then he had almost asked him to act on his own means, aside of the law, to resolve matters.

What exactly was he? A father of convenience? Tapendra had assumed almost the whole role - from confidant in term time, to host at Christmas, whereas Ignan had suffered the indignities of sharing dinner with a gaggle of students, pretending that he was only there at Tapendra's invitation. He hadn't tolerated Winifred Oliver for that alone. Now the whole day felt bitter in his throat.

Why does this hurt? Ignan thought to himself, gaze unfocused at the water's surface, lost in his thoughts. This time last year they meant nothing to you. Tapendra was a new, shrinking colleague, Sasha, Georgiana and Cyhirae were just students in my classroom.

A lot had happened in a year. Family had got closer, too close. A whole life and role and significance had been forced upon him, and now just as he was adjusting to what that meant, they were asking him to stop, to go back.

"The past was always going to catch up." He uttered to his own reflection, ever more lined, and tonight greyer than he had felt in a long while. For all the raw emotion in the tower, alone and with a moment to breathe, he was already forming  plan. Only this time, Azorma wasn't there to tell him to rein in his neck, and no-one was left to take her place.