[ @unfcrtunatescn // for salem ]
Perhaps the most irksome consequence of Cinder’s inadequate handling of the operation at Haven Academy is that it’s left the strays she dragged home unmoored and rudderless. Salem cannot fathom why Hazel bothered to bring them back: it isn’t as if he trusts her to treat them well, and it’s not as though she wants them here, particularly.
They’re children.
Under ideal circumstances, she would ignore them entirely until Cinder returned to… deal with them. Present circumstances being decidedly less than ideal, however…
“Mercury,” Salem says, rather dismal, from the entrance to the empty hall the children have taken to sparring in of late. She lifts one eyebrow, sardonic. “I’m sure you do not have anything so important to do that you can’t spare a few minutes of your time.”
Is she asking? No. She turns on her heel.
“Come with me.”












