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Chapter Forty-One

A few weeks later, we were exiting our lab room after Plant Adaptations when Professor Tenella raised her voice in the central vein.

“Botanists! Please gather in the tearoom. There is an announcement.”

My friends and I exchanged looks but joined our classmates in the tearoom, which was dimly lit by the wall sconces and the roaring fireplace instead of the sun that streamed through the wall of glass in other seasons.

It had been overcast all week, which matched the tone I was picking up on from the instructors.

Professor Sage and the Kitchen Botany rotation students were already there, doling out miniature pies that I suspected contained chamomile and citrus. What was going on?

Professor Tenella raised her voice. “We’ve had a declaration from the Board of Regents.

Starting after the winter solstice, all campus clubs will require board approval to continue operating.

All club hosts will be asked to submit evidence of scholarly contribution from their club, which will then be evaluated by the board. ”

Murmurs of discouragement ripped through the students around me. I glanced at Aurielle, whose lips were smashed together as she focused on Professor Tenella.

“We understand that this may come as a surprise, as Evergreen Academy has long had a tradition of social clubs organized by our trusted student body and allowed to self-manage. At this time, our options are to pause all clubs or allow them to continue while the hosts submit their reports. We prefer to let you all continue. If anyone needs support in generating their evidence for the board, please reach out to any of your instructors, and we will be happy to help.”

A first-year student walked by with a tray, and I took one of the steaming pies. The fragrance immediately took the edge off of the anxiety. Professor Sage was some kind of magician.

“Professor East is away, but you may direct concerns or inquires to him upon his return. The kitchen and hearth here will be open all night for those club members who would like to gather and discuss plans. Now, please get comfortable and enjoy your pies.”

With that, the announcement was over.

“Aurielle, do you think they’ll approve the cartography club?” Coral asked, obviously having the same question as me.

“I hope I can put together a strong case for it, but we’ve only been in place for a few months. I can submit the maps of the portions of campus we’ve evaluated so far, but that’s really it.”

Something stirred in me at her words. If Aurielle submitted her maps, it would contain the locations of the two known petal portals. Obviously, they wouldn’t be labeled as portals in her documentation, but would the distinctive fairy door markings mean something to the Board of Regents?

“How closely do you think they’ll even evaluate the ‘evidence’?” Coral asked, putting the last word in finger quotes. “They probably already know which clubs they want to stick around and which they don’t. This is getting ridiculous.”

“I’m sure you’ll put forward a great case,” Yasmin assured Aurielle. “Are your other club members here? Do you want to go talk to them?”

“Yeah, we’d better start preparing our game plan. I’ll catch up with you all later,” Aurielle said.

“I’m going to talk to Waylon,” Coral said. “He’s part of the Houseplant Curators Club.”

“I’d like to meet with the Apothecary Arts Club. I’ve made most of my makeup and skin care with them. Maybe they’ll need some help with their evidence,” Yasmin said.

My friends went their separate ways, and I finished my pie in a few quick bites then went straight toward the table where Callan was standing with some fellow tree affinities. He stepped away from them and nodded toward the glass door. I knew that signal. He wanted to meet in the treehouses.

I left first, and he joined me at our treehouse a few minutes after I arrived. “I invited the others,” he said.

“The rest of the Root and Vine Society?”

Callan nodded. “Some of them aren’t available as they are in other clubs and don’t want to raise suspicion. But Meadow, Ravenna, and Laurus should be out shortly. I asked them to stagger their arrival.”

Once the five of us were gathered in the treehouse, I heard the familiar whooshing sound of Callan putting up a wind sound barrier around us.

I didn’t waste any time with small talk. “What should we do about this? This is exactly the type of thing the Root and Vine Society would oppose, right?”

Meadow was the first to agree. “Total authoritarian overreach.”

“Why do they care what clubs we have anyway?” Ravenna asked.

“They want to ensure botanists are using their time effectively ,” Callan said. “It’s all part of the goal to get us into positions of more influence in society.”

“Not everyone wants to run a government department or be CEO of a scientific start-up,” Ravenna said.

“So, it’s back to Briar’s question,” Laurus said. “What should we do?”

“Is there a handbook for the school where we could point to the allowance of student-hosted clubs?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t letting on how ignorant I was of the structure of the school.

“Nothing in writing. The instructors have always been given wide latitude to approve clubs. Until now,” Meadow said.

“I have the Recipes for Deception book I acquired for initiation. Maybe we could influence whoever comes to review the evidence?” Laurus suggested.

“Not a bad idea, though it’s a temporary solution,” Ravenna said.

I could tell Callan was holding his opinion back, waiting to hear what the rest of us had to say. When all of us turned to him, he finally spoke. “We could try to fight this, and I’ll go along with whatever the group decides, but there could be some value in leaving it be.”

Meadow narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“This is clear evidence of overreach. It’s probably going to upset a lot of students, especially if their clubs aren’t approved.

Students will share their frustrations with their families.

This may spread awareness of what’s going on here and mobilize even more people against what the Board of Regents is doing. ”

We all sat silently for a moment, considering his words.

“You’re suggesting that we give the board a small win now so that when the time comes for a bigger fight, people will be primed for it?” I asked, piecing together what Callan was envisioning.

Callan nodded slowly. “An illusion of a win, at least. Hopefully, all the clubs will put together strong evidence and be allowed to continue. We can show our cards early, or we can hold out until we have even more power.” His eyes darted to me.

“The Vanished Compendium ?” Laurus asked .

We had filled in the rest of the Root and Vine Society about our idea to attempt to have me use the quill as a compass to the missing book.

Callan nodded again. “In fact, I have an update on that.”

The treehouse was completely silent except for the soft rushing of the wind outside and Laurus’s rolling of a pencil along his pant leg.

“I’ve been tracking the location of the quill that is said to be linked to the Vanished Compendium . It is currently part of a traveling exhibit. The display was in Australia most recently, but it is headed to the United States next.” Callan eyed me meaningfully.

So he had been waiting for the quill to come to us before making any further moves. That explained why things had been quiet since we’d discussed the theory about me being able to access the quill.

“Do you know where in the United States?” Laurus asked.

“Not yet, but it is scheduled to depart Australia before the end of the year. I should have more intel very soon.”

My heart was thundering. The end of the year was weeks away. Were we that close to making our attempt at getting the quill?

Meadow spoke up first. “Then I think we go with your plan, Rhodes. We leave this alone, for now, and keep our focus on getting the quill. If the quill works for Briar and can point us to the book, we’ll have much more leverage for whatever comes next.”

Each person in the group nodded in turn.

Callan rose. “Then we have a plan.”