Her Heroes

Chapter Nineteen

Matthieu's hand remained steady as he marched me through the halls and to Hercule's office. He opened the door, without knocking, and guided me in. I was surprised; no one was in the room. My brother guided me to a chair, forcing me to sit, before backing away. 

"I'm going to get everyone. Don't move." My head nodded numbly and my gaze fell to my lap. Tapping my fingers, I tried to decipher what they were going to do to me. Would it be a beating? A night of torture? A burn? It could be anything. My fingers tapped quicker, keeping pace with my ever-rising heartbeat. 

The sound of approaching footsteps made me want to run but I held my position. If they wanted to yell at me, so be it. All I did was protect my friend; what was so wrong with that?

My thoughts were interrupted as the doorknob turned. Keeping my head bowed, I strained to hear anything but all was silent as my brothers filed into the room.

"It seems you've had an eventful day Nadia, or so I've heard." Looking up through my shield of hair, I peered at Hercule. He was sitting behind his desk with his hands propped under his chin, his piercing eyes seemed to see right through everything. I gulped and nodded slowly. "I expect you to look at me when I'm talking to you." His voice was calm, deadly so. It was the worst type of calm - the one where you know how mad the person is yet they don't even bat an eye.

Lifting my head an inch I looked back at my eldest brother. "Better." He nodded his head and leaned back an inch, his muscles flexing beneath his tight dress shirt. I bet he could do a number to me if he tried, or even if he didn't try. Any of them probably could.

"I guess you think it's okay to assault students then?" My eyes snapped to his. How could he think that about me? I was just protecting my friend, and maybe releasing a teeny bit of pent-up anger. My head shook negatively and he snorted. "So why'd you do it then? You knew you'd get in trouble, why decide to get in a one-sided fight with an innocent student?" How could he think that it was one-sided and that Juliette Thomas was innocent? If anything she was the guilty one; if she hadn't been making fun of Audrey I wouldn't have even looked at her. 

Hercule slid a sheet of paper to me. Pulling it towards me, I grabbed a pen from one of his pen cups and wrote my response before sliding it back to him.

"Really, you were protecting a friend? That's not what Madame Clermont had to say; she said that you insighted a fight amongst her top student during lunch." My blood was boiling and my mask was slipping. Of course, he would trust the principal that had a weird obsession with Armel over me. "And not only that; she also alerted me to the fact that you currently are failing French?" My head drooped. It wasn't my fault that I was mute. "Honestly Nadia, aren't you even trying anymore? First, you instigate a fight and if that weren't enough, you had to fail your first French assignment. What has gotten into you lately?"

Pulling the paper back to myself, I pushed the pen harshly into the paper. My writing was sloppy, I could barely hold in my anger.

"'No one knew I was mute.'  Do you think I will believe your lies? Madame Clermont told me all about the extra precautions she went through to support her only mute student, yet this is how you repay her? And not only her, how you repay us? I expected more from you, Nadia." I was seeing red. How could he not believe me, yet believe that scum who called herself the principal? For goodness sake, I was his sister. That should be enough for him to take my word over hers.

"Now, the punishment." What would it be? I could take it. I had dealt with enough that one more scar, one more bit of pain wouldn't affect me. "I want your phone before dinner and for the entirety of your suspension, you are to be studying in here, with me. It seems that you can't be trusted on your own anymore."