"There is no try, there is failure and non-failure. Guess which one I am?"
***
Our carriage stopped at what could generously be called a side entrance.
Far from the crimson carpets and elaborate flower arrangements that greeted the important arrivals. While Leo got a red carpet and a small orchestra, I wasn't joking, actual musicians with actual instruments playing what I suspected was his house's ancestral anthem, we faced a simple stone archway marked by a bronze plaque.
"West Bastion - House Onyx."
The metal had oxidized to a dull green in places. Someone's maintenance budget clearly went elsewhere.
A single servant waited by the entrance. He looked like he'd drawn the short straw and was already calculating how quickly he could complete his duties and return to literally anywhere else.
Students streamed past. Their conversations were a murmur of gossip punctuated by cruel laughter. They didn't even bother to lower their voices.
