The provost stood with her, and the two left for the front door, conferring together for a few moments before the professor took her leave. The Provost came back into the kitchen after closing the front door firmly, and said nothing as she cleared away the teapot and cups and put the kettle on to boil again.
“Thank goddess you decided to visit. Professor Ludwig is a genius when it comes to curses, but she is not a good conversationalist, as you have witnessed.” She smiled at them and indicated that they should all take seats. Nick stood at the doorway, his arms folded across his chest, leaving the last chair for the provost who nodded her thanks. “Now, what exactly did bring you all here,” her eyes scanned them, “minus Dean?”
They all turned to Nick, but he kept his mouth shut and in turn looked at Asher. The wolf was taken back for a moment, before sitting straighter and clearing his throat.
“Ah yes, of course, Asher. I imagine that you would want answers. Well, that explains the tugging at the bonds earlier. You came very close to breaking your word, Nick,” she chided.
“My apologies, Provost, I was trying to ameliorate a difficult situation, in the end, we knew we had to bother you with this.”
She nodded and poured them all cups of dark liquid. Milk and sugar were placed on the table, along with two large packets of biscuits. Nick could smell tea in some cups, coffee in others. It seemed that the provost had excellent skills in making beverages, for all of them had been poured from the one pot.
“Well, Asher, much of what we know about Melody is conjecture based on the little that she has been able to tell us and what we have witnessed ourselves in our dealings with her. You were a little hasty in your challenge of her, I would have liked the opportunity to welcome you to the academy and speak privately with you before you accosted her, but what was done, is done.” She paused and took a sip of tea.
Asher’s face darkened at her use of language. Of course the asshat would take offence, but he had pushed his own agenda forward, so he only had himself to blame.
“Melody’s mother died when she was four. From what we surmise, her mother was murdered by her aunt who is the current coven mistress. This is, of course, conjecture only. Before she died, her mother passed on the coven’s matriarchal power to Melody, even though her own sister was alive and Melody was far too young to receive it.” the provost sipped again, watching Asher carefully.
Asher cursed under his breath as he absorbed some of the implications of what was being said.
“Melody is bound by many geasen. We have deduced three, loyalty to her coven, bonding the Apex shifters, and not revealing that she has geasen upon her. Her aunt was a horrible young woman when she attended here, and it seems that she has only become worse with age. The marks on Melody’s back are a result of the geasen being triggered. Breaking your bond triggered the one that is forcing Melody to bond as many strong shifters as she could.” She paused for Asher to ask questions, but he just waited.
“I suspect, although I cannot confirm this, that Melody actually has many geasen laid upon her. If they started when she was first granted the matriarchal power, then she would have been too young to resist them or to break them. We know that the more geasen that are laid upon a witch, the harder it is to break even the weakest one. So, I suspect the number constraining her to be in the hundreds.”
All of them gasped at that. Nick knew that there had to be many, but he hadn’t thought that it would be so bad.
“She has been conditioned from a young age to serve her coven in whatever capacity they deemed fit for her. Judging from the copious amounts of scarring on her body, it wasn’t just magic that was used to abuse her. There is a distinct belt buckle mark on her right hip, and a jagged cut that looks like it was made with a knife, on her left thigh.” She sighed again and drank some more tea, as though the heat of it gave her strength to continue.
“Georgia, her aunt, is a power hungry witch. The coven changed direction under her leadership, going from strength to strength, but gaining a bad reputation for poor shifter care as they did. They’ve had hundreds of shifters come to them to be bonded, as they are the strongest beast tamers in the country, but once bonded, the shifters are never heard from again.”
“Surprise inspections by the American Council and the World Council have revealed no infractions, but there were also a surprisingly small number of shifters living there, given the large amounts that passed through their doors. The coven claimed that the shifters were released to return to their packs, but the packs report they never arrived.”
Nick leant forward.
“Yes, Nick?”
“Provost, she told me just before she bonded Asher, that she’d had hundreds of shifters, and that she was unable to save them. When she talked about it, it was like she was dead, I could almost smell the pain rolling off her, and it wasn’t her injuries. Whatever happened there, she wasn’t a willing participant.”
“No,” said the provost, “I imagine she wasn’t. Melody is a kind and caring woman, she goes out of her way to help others, is accepting of everyone, and protects the weak. She also doesn’t suffer fools gladly. But for all her strength and bravado, I believe that she has been enslaved by her aunt, and that her aunt intends to take any and all of her bonded shifters from her. I suspect that is what has been happening at her
