10
Mabyn and Jenifry Redclover, the spriggan and the human headmistress, eyed one another with bristling hostility. ‘Must you bring threats?’ said Jenifry. ‘The school has never offered you the smallest harm.’
‘I bring warning, not a threat,’ said Mabyn, though she looked nonplussed. ‘How do you know me? I do not think we have met.’
‘Your portrait still hangs in the heritage gallery.’
Mabyn looked pleased. ‘I thought they would have taken that down by now.’
Jay coughed. ‘You’ve an official portrait?’
‘She is a former headmistress,’ said Jenifry. ‘That makes her a part of our history, whatever her subsequent choices may have been.’
‘I made them for good reason,’ said Mabyn.
Jenifry looked unimpressed. ‘I am sure you did. At any rate, I must get to the bottom of this.’ She straighten
