Contents
Chapter Twenty-Four. Mocks
Overview
Walden and Todd methodically search the thaumic engines for a ward breach but find nothing, highlighting strain and aging infrastructure. Mark checks in, confirming no major threats and revealing their ongoing, strictly casual entanglement. At supper, Ebele reveals Nikki’s Oxford offer—and her plan to decline—and tasks Walden with intervening.
Summary
On Monday, Walden finishes marking sixth-form mocks and returns to the thaumic engine room to continue auditing the school wardings. Todd, exhausted after starting before dawn, still hasn’t found the breach he senses via the Great Key. Walden, unable to detect anomalies even with the Phoenix’s awareness, urges Todd to rest.
Mark arrives from patrol with no sign of a major incursion, easing immediate fears. His flirtation underscores that he and Walden are maintaining a strictly practical, private arrangement. He toys with the Great Key until Walden sharply rebukes him, then departs promising a drink, while Walden resumes the tedious diagnostics.
Later, seeking sustenance, Walden grabs a heavy boarding-school supper. Ebele joins her and shares that Nikki has received an Oxford offer from Wadham but is considering turning it down. Ebele tried to talk to Nikki, but the foster-mother/matron dynamic backfired, and she asks Walden to step in.
Walden, who knows Nikki’s exceptional potential and has mentored her academically, is dismayed by the idea of Nikki declining. Despite doubting her own pastoral aptitude, Walden accepts Ebele’s request to speak with Nikki, committing to support the student at a delicate moment amid the ongoing engine audit.
Who Appears
- Dr Saffron WaldenLeads the engine audit; manages Todd; rebuffs Mark’s flirting; agrees to counsel Nikki about her Oxford offer.
- ToddCaretaker of the engines and Great Key; senses a ward breach; works to exhaustion before taking a break.
- Mark DauberyReturns from patrol with no major threats; continues a private, casual sexual arrangement with Walden; briefly mishandles the Key.
- EbeleMatron and Nikki’s foster mother; informs Walden of Nikki’s Oxford offer and requests Walden’s pastoral intervention.
- Nikki ConwayStar student with an Oxford offer from Wadham; considering turning it down, prompting concern and planned guidance.
- The PhoenixResides in Walden’s mind, offering quiet analytical support during engine diagnostics.