She's already in the library when he steps in a good hour early before their scheduled appointment. She would have preferred that he hadn't, arrived so early that is. And she would have definitely preferred that he had a better sense of timing at the very least; seeing as a healer is currently working on changing the bandages on her arms and hands, and she has yet to get through the past three dressing changings without tearing up or making pathetic, sickly shocked noises throughout the entire process. She's also blatantly refused anything stronger than numbing ointment and a low-grade over-the-counter product that she'd normally use for menstrual pains. So much is happening around her all at once that she doesn't dare inhibit herself to such a degree.

She had wanted some time alone before she talked to him as well. Her personal views about the Headmaster have always been confused and shaky, and her interactions with the man have never been cordial or pleasant, always dissolving into a battle of wills over who was right, and seeing how long, how many stiff, stinging words it would take for one of them to flinch. Raven had never wanted to see the horrid man again if she could get away with it personally… but this wasn't about her, and this was important, and having her father here, doing this instead would get them nowhere (seeing as how much he gleefully enjoyed riling the older man up).

If anyone was capable of getting through this with some semblance of accomplishment, it would either be Raven or nobody at all. A hex if she did, hex, if she didn't, sort of thing. She was the King now, it was her responsibility, her duty, to inform the stubborn man that if he was not going to comply with the changes happening, regardless of his influence (which there wasn't much of at the moment) or his input (for which there would be none), then he can just go and stuff himself and sod off!

But politely, because she was still a lady, a Lady King to be more precise.

He had apparently been surprised to see her as well since the first words out of his mouth when he barged into the door had been: "Now see here my good sir, I do not take kindly to being kept in the dar- oh Miss- er, your highness… King of Hearts."

"You're early." Raven observed blandly. "I was expecting to meet with you about an hour from now Headmaster."

He'd looked between her, the glaring healer, and her exposed arms, head swiveling about comically. For once absolutely speechless.

"Why don't you sit down." Raven suggested tiredly, if he was going to barge in before she was ready then she was just going to have to finish this quickly, like ripping off a bandage. "After Healer Bones is finished we can start and get this all over with. Tea? Or would you prefer something stronger?"

He'd declined any refreshment, looking a little lost while the healer finished up- staring dumbly down at Raven's sore hands as if it were the oddest thing he's ever seen- leaving them behind with a comforting pat on Raven's shoulder, and a severe glare in the Headmaster's direction.

"I lent my power out." Raven awkwardly indicates after a long, tense silence.

"I'm surprised, given your past history, that you didn't rush out there all on your own." He admits, looking just as unsure about this meeting as she feels.

"I couldn't." Raven shook her head. "I wanted to, I really, really did. But they would have stopped in in an instant, and… I can't keep doing that anyway, the whole…" She gestures, searching for the best way to get this out. "You know, the whole thing we'd did at school where something bad would happen and both myself and Apple would have to make it all better again. I'm a monarch, not a soldier. I need to be kept alive for the sake of the stability of my country."

"Hmph." The man harrumphs. "And you are the last heir in the line, your mother is hardly able to bear any more children for quite a good long while young lady. I'm glad that you've finally taken to stop scaring everyone with your harebrained stunts in toeing the line between mortality and the afterlife. Goodness knows how many times your father has called me in regards to your safety while at school."

Raven gaped at him for a good moment. The nerve! He had been worried about my safety because you weren't doing anything to ensure it! "You know most normal people would just stick to simply being happy that there were enough trained professionals around, actually doing their jobs, so that any personal interference on my, or any of my court's part would be minimal." She speaks pointedly, tactfully deciding not to mention Maddie's brief adventure into the center of the battlefield. "And I never actually had much of a choice in a lot of the stuff that happened at school, if you will recall. Most of it just… happened! Like the time that dragon escaped and nearly incinerated me."

"You did on Legacy Day." The man points out, unfazed. As if all the monumental changes in the past few months and the near eradication of the entire White family, by their own matriarch's hand, and the lives lost during the battle were of little consequence.

The first part of her comment flies over his head of course, she didn't-… she couldn't see why she'd think differently; it's all about fairytales with the Headmaster, and he has yet to forgo an opportunity to argue about it since Legacy Day. Despite the urgency for more obvious issues needing to be addressed.

Maybe it's the last shred of comfort the man has? Maybe that's why he's starting up this old and tired argument again, like he's unable to process what's just happened.

He could be in shock Raven supposes, after all everybody is in shock right now, even the people from the Monster Dimensions are gaping at the news feeds and most of them barely speak the same languages, let alone understand why fairytales exist at all really. She was not looking forward to the fallout on that particular cultural difference, since the locals at least understood that tradition carried heavy weights in this world… aaand the monsters, the ones who lived for several millennia at least, were used to changing times and going with the flow. Fairytales mystified them just as much as it offended their equal-rites sensibilities between "normies" and "ghouls".

But back to the Headmaster, there had to be a way for him to not… well do that thing he did whenever he ignored the obvious. Especially now, when she needed his cooperation the most.

"Headmaster… I spent months researching the origins of fairytales, read countless books of the violent history of our ancestors. I know from the historical accounts that the Book was created to keep peace between our varied realms. I knew what I was getting into, and I understand that it is very important to keep the ruling class from going to war, and that's why I Rebelled: because it wasn't working anymore! Don't you see? Snow White kept rallying people up to make herself more popular sure, but she was also bringing her people to the brink of declaring war with mine!" The witch insists, for once speaking the complete truth of her most basic fear towards the White family and their influence.

For a long moment the man just… stares at her, as though he's been given a clue that will solve the puzzle to life's greatest puzzle, and in the moment Raven's chest swells with hope-

"Well no wonder you've driven yourself to rebellion!" The Headmaster exclaimed suddenly, as if he'd just solved one of the biggest mysteries of the century. "With all that nonsense in those pages, it was little wonder you rebelled! You must have been utterly petrified by all of those lies!"

What made Raven pause was not the audacity of the man's words, nor the fact that he had the nerve to even say them in front of her, after everything she had gone through, and everything that had happened in the last forty-eight hours. No, what made her pause was… the fact that he sounded so-… genuine, so sure of himself. As if his every word spoke of a belief held so true in his heart that he needed no deception to deny the reality of their whole situation; he didn't need to deny anything, his wholehearted belief that fairytales and the gentry would see through was so great… that everything else, including relevant evidence, just did not compute with him.

"You really mean that, don't you." Raven realized bewilderedly. The shock running through her like a live current. "About all that stuff with tradition, the magic, and the monarchy upholding their "better" status… I bet that you took one look at all of those history texts that used to occupy the school library, about the wars in the bad old days, and how they theorize that the Book of Legends was created by our ancestors in order to better control the warring monarchs, and made them all disappear because they were so damaging towards the reputation of the school's alumni and towards fairytale traditions."

"And for good reason don't you see?" The man gestured with such confidence and belief that it left the witch absolutely stunned. "None of this would have happened if everything had been followed according to tradition!"

"Because tradition is there for a reason, and its relationship with our Ancestor's descendants is what keeps our society continuing on as normal." Raven spoke near timidly, gingerly trying to feel around for any cracks or lies that the man may be hiding.

"Exactly! Now You're finally getting it!" He cheered brightly. "Your Ancestors in particular had been an instrumental part of the original Grimm Brother's quest to save our world from un-gentrified chaos! There were revolutions being raged by the common peasants at the time don't you know? It was dangerous what they were doing! Taking out the monarchy can only lead to barbarianism and chaos! That's why fairytales are so important!"

For the first time in their acquaintance, he smiled at her, with pride shining in his eyes. And it was in that moment that Raven realized exactly what she had been dealing with this entire time in regards to the Headmaster's behavior towards her and the Rebels.

Raven knew because had met people like the Headmaster before, people who were not born into royalty or the fairytale families, but into the families that served them. The cooks, and butlers, and dressmakers, the people who did all the grunt work and did it with a smile, because they were special working so close to society's elite, they were important, it was their heart and soul to look after their betters. Because it was… it was because of them that their betters were able to rule absolutely and with divine grace. People like the Headmaster were faithful to the literal definitions of their jobs.

The Headmaster wasn't some brilliant mastermind, who just wanted to heroically control the ruling class in order to keep them from squabbling in each other's blood, and the blood of the working class… he wasn't the clever man who played both sides like a game of chess, working to harden the villains into supreme warlord-like entities in order to make the good characters appear purer in comparison, and in return gaining ill-gotten favors like a corrupt dog breeder.

No, the Headmaster was just loyal, stubbornly, stupidly, loyal to being the servant tasked with the important duty of turning the lot of them into proper young gentleman and ladies before establishing them into their proper places as his betters.

Raven didn't know whether to pity the man or to slap him.

"The fairytale magic did end up all odd between my mother and Snow White." Raven pushed, testing to see just how well the man's faith would hold up. "Cupid has not been able to contain herself with certain… delicate information in regards towards who the real "Prince Charming" was in their ah… story…" She gives him a look, daring him to deny the truth that the magic had no discrimination what-so-ever on the gender of princes.

The Headmaster sighs sadly, shaking his head. "An unprecedented twist to the narrative, I must admit… however; destiny should have never been denied once it had been spoken." He stares mournfully at his hands. "Not even I would have objected to such a union. Clearly if True Love were obeyed then we would not be in this mess."

Well never mind about the pity, Raven really wanted to slap him now.

Raven breathed in a careful measure of calming breath. Smothering all the angry words she'd like to speak to the man about his avocations for an unhealthy abusive relationship. She had a job to do, and news to break; she could not lose her head to a pointless match of wills.

"If you are willing to accept that much… then please try to listen to what I am… attempting to put into words. It has not been… easy you understand. More consequences have transpired than a story between two people… with a True Love bond who were denied to rise to their full potential. Like I said before; I did not want to give up my heritage- not the heritage that she had tried to enforce against my family to make herself look better mind you… but my real heritage, the one that was passed down to me from the Queen line, and should have been mine as was my birthright."

Raven kept her eyes level with the Headmaster's willing him to not barge in with a fight, to for once in his life, look at things from a different perspective. "She took away my heritage Headmaster. Evil Queens are supposed to be respected for the powerful witches that they are, not feared or disrespected for the curs that Snow White had made others believe of us. And more importantly: the very future of my kingdom was in jeopardy! I literally had no hope of inheriting the throne because just existing put in too much of a risk for-"

"Yes but you could have overcome that." He interrupted with sincere assurance. Arrogant, was the word that came to the forefront of Raven's mind since, no, she could not have overcome that all by herself thank-you-for-absolutely-nothing! "If you would have just…" He hesitates.

"She had plans for me Headmaster." Raven says quietly because the thought still scares her.

"I know." He sighs. Defeated. Actually acknowledging this part of the truth (Huzzah, she internally sneered).

"She had a tower all set up. With enchanted strangling ivy and power-limiting potions to keep my magic in check. She was going to have me end up worse than-…"

"I know." He sighs again, miserably breaking formality by covering his face.

It's not how she had expected this conversation to go; she had envisioned shouting, glares, accusations… not this. It was as if their roles were reversed somehow, and while she had come in here with the intent to yell at him and tell him off for his blatant abuse of his authority, of how he had treated her and her mother, and how it had crossed a very distinct, thick line, that was painted with glowing paint and had all sorts of warning signs all around it! She had wanted satisfaction in telling him that she'd never forgive him for playing favorites instead of doing his job, and that it was his fault for not stepping in, and just look at where that had led!

And then she'd tell him about how she was making sure that he'd keep his precious job, under strict supervision, and only until she could find a valid replacement, afterwards he could take his retirement and bugger off!

Raven feels cheated (and disgusted). He had never treated her with a single modicum of respect while she was in school, and yet here he was, sitting before her and speaking to her as if she had magically transformed into someone worth listening to, someone worth talking to like an intelligent being! …Someone who was worth… something.

But then again that was before she became King, before she had a title that he could respect.

He wasn't playing by the rules, and for once she mentally cursed about how that break from tradition, his break from the traditional neutral Headmaster, just… it wasn't fair!

"I would have never felt I had needed to become a full Wonderlandian, or turn back from destiny if all of this had been handled properly." She says at last because she knows that this will mean more to him than anything else. Will hurt him more than it did her. All the other stuff about her people and her family being put into danger does not mean as much to people like him… as does the sanctity of a royal line and the grandness of a kingdom's pride.

Her words hit their mark, because he's the sort who is actually enchanted by the idea of the separate royal family lines making endless, predictable mating dances, and seeing that the ancient homelands keep their ancestral boundaries, going 'round and round conducting the same spiraling choices that is foisted upon them from the day a new heir is born. His entire frame visibly sags as if her words carry the news of a thousand casualties of innocent civilians.

"I know." He whispers brokenly, too tired to keep up his manners, and not slouch in front of a King and a Lady.

He's not nearly as smart, or resourceful, or as scary as you had made him out to be. Raven's mind speaks to herself with firm certainty. She could have built something off of smart, some form of foundation off of him doing the things he had done in the name of keeping the monarchy from stepping too far. She might have even eventually grown to have forgiven him… even like him if that were the case, since the monarchy scared her too most days. But with this, there was nothing for her to hold onto.

And because of that she's knows that she can never, ever, respect him ever again. It breaks her heart because that's all that she had left that was at least somewhat positive in her relationship with him. She may not have liked him, but she had at least respected him.

It's terrible, so she buries it deep into her mind so that she won't cry in front of him, but… she really does hates him now, like few people she's ever actually, genuinely hated, and it hurts! This man who was little more than a fanatic doing what fanatics did best; making life harder to live for everybody else aside from them!

So she focuses on the throbbing ach in her bandaged hands and arms, it's better than the ach located in her chest. Trying not to think about how this was somehow worse than her breaking up with Dexter for some… strange platonic reason. Like finding out that someone you looked up to, despite the arguments and being on opposite sides, wasn't who you thought they were, and that they had just let you down. Big time.

It was awful. He truly didn't care about them as people, just pretty things that needed to be molded into stylized perfection. Cared about the citizens of her country even less since they weren't of the proper breeding stock. A coward too petrified of the tides of time itself to look past the glitter and illusions to see the humans (and assorted other creatures) underneath…

"How long do I have?" He asks timidly.

"Hm?"

"My-… me being Headmaster. I assume that's why you've asked me to come in here. Your father did not mince his words when he ran into me a little earlier." There is a plaintive note in his voice, as if only his well-formed manners kept him from spitting as he cursed the Good King.

Raven raised both brows as she inhaled. "Actually I called you to inform you that I'm trying to make it so that you'd keep your job for a while longer."

"You-?" The rate he goes from depressed to floored is impressive.

"The school needs the illusion of a neutral party taking care of the heirs of the gentry." Raven reminded flatly. "For some reason people get…" She almost says; nervous about other countries having absolute control over the heirs, but the remembers whom she is speaking to. "…They like the consistency of certain traditions."

"I- uh- o-of course they do!" Ah. There is some of his bravado back, his shoulders returning to their upright positions. "It just wouldn't be right otherwise."

"Don't get too excited headmaster." Raven stares up at the ceiling, silently asking to be granted some patience. Somehow the lowercase in his title seems more appropriate inside her head. "I am trying to keep you at school for a few more years, I literally can't promise anything. Not with Wonderland having been denied a more satisfying defeat of their enemy, and their adrenaline still pumping for a fight at any rate."

"Well… yes. But you're the King! I'm sure that you'll have some influence in this situation!" He spoke with a growing confidence, and reverence that made her positively ill.

"Only so much." She told him, sternly. "And even then it may not be enough to last long enough to find a proper neutral party for you to train to take over… that is unless you've got an heir or two that you've been hiding?"

He blushes bright red. Looking suspiciously shifty, and sheepish. "No, ah… Giles had always wanted children of his own, but… was never blessed with the capability to start a family. And I… was the eldest. My duty was solely to the school by tradition, getting married was out of the question."

Raven squints at him suspiciously. "I'm willing to back any bastard children should they turn up-"

"No need!" He somehow manages to blush even redder. "You'll have your hands full, I'm sure, with prevailing to the Wonderlandian masses. I'm certain that whomever you manage to find will be sufficient."

Suspicious… she'd look into it once she had the time.

"Yes… I'm confident that we can ensure that Giles remains untouched by all of this. People are less likely to turn on him in the wake of this mess."

"Thank you for that." He nods, actually sounding grateful.

"Then there is also the matter of your future retirement."

He blinks, suddenly nervous again. "Retirement, your grace?"

"Something my mother insisted upon. That you be taken well care of in the event you are unable to continue your duties, or if the heat of accusations becomes focused your way once again." She half-lies through her flat tone. Her mother had actually been sarcastic, but he needn't know that. "Cabin in the woods, townhouse in a minister's district, constant monthly allowance, and medical care. Whatever you want, within reason and my abilities. We'll look after Giles as well. Ensure he lives as long a good life as he can."

"Really?" The man looks floored again.

"It's a bribe headmaster. Not charity." Raven huffed looking away from his wide gaze. "In exchange with playing nice with the oversight committee that is already being formed. Don't ask me. I've been too busy to get a good look at what is being planned." She lies blatantly. "Finding a suitable recruit for the headmaster's desk is going to take a lot of time for me to do properly. I just need you to keep on their good side long enough for that to happen. It is going to take years, and I'm not even certain that I'll be able to succeed before they decide to elect someone of their own choosing, but I'll do my best."

"Oversight committee." The man narrows his eyes, not at her, unfortunately because that would have made her feel better, but out the window and at the closed door located across the fifth floor court-yard. "Preposterous! All for a maiden who turns evil? There was never any uprising when your mother was at her height in her career!"

"She also never directly killed anybody and turned their corpses into a burning skeletal army." The witch reminds as reasonably as she can. "People are scared. They need to feel like they're in control and safe."

"And the answer to this is some… unnecessary committee?" He bristles. Again, not at her, but at the door. She wonders if he knows that the door leads to the ruling offices, where her father would be at this time of day, with the other concerned parents, making conference calls to the Ever After government, and so forth. And if he does, then… how? Did her grandmother invite him over back when they had been dating?

Raven shrugs. "I'm just the messenger. honestly I've been too preoccupied with taking care of my mother and Apple to have had any proper look at what the others are doing in the aftermath of this whole thing."

The man lets out a frustrated huff, scratching his brow in thought. "Yes, of course your Grace, highly improper this… do you have any plans for this? You don't sound too fond of this… madness yourself."

She gives him a humorless smile, oh goody he thought that she was his friend now, her stomach positively roiled.

She speaks the truth. "If the feeling of safety is what this committee represents to them, then I'll simply have to find little ways to keep it from becoming too biased and overbearing… a checks and balances system if you will. Since it would be near impossible to get rid of the thing now that it has been mentioned for the whole of the alumni."

"The whole of the alumni-?" The man gapes. "They can't be all in on this!"

"They are frightened Headmaster." Raven reminds semi-sternly. "They need to feel as though they are in control of everything, so that people still have a place to send their heirs, and so that they can feel safer about seeing any potential Evil Snow Whites developing in their midst. They don't actually have to be in control as long as they've got the feeling of safe familiarity, and the illusion that they are being important."

It's sad that she's actually talking about him, even sadder that he buys her words without even questioning the fact that she never mentions the oversight committee even once, and is looking pointedly at him.

"That is very… clever of you, your Grace." The man praises, sounding almost shocked that he's speaking the words aloud.

He stares at her as if he's only just seen her for the very first time in his life. And really, he looks very sad indeed as she continues to hold his stare. "You would have made an astonishingly brilliant Evil Queen. Such a shame you've never been able to use your full potential in the art of villainy."

She wants to kick him. And maybe she imagines slapping him again, because he's looking at her with hopeful eyes that speak volumes about how her mother got so messed up with all that fanatic villainy idiocy in the first place. It speaks of hope and the beginnings of ideas forming in his mind about how she can become a good little evil witch, and take back her family's villainy title and slowly integrate things back to normal.

That look is dangerous because people like him never learn their lessons completely, or at all most of the time. He probably doesn't even stop to think about how his views on what a good villain used to be, is what Snow White had used as a basis for her grab for power.

If Raven has learned anything from this, it's that stubborn idiots are resistant to change, and nothing makes them more dangerous than when they are given a cause, and a target to yell about where other people can hear.

Luckily this is one situation that Raven has always… sort of predicted would happen. It had taken her a long time to go through different scenarios with Maddie's help, but eventually she had taken some sage advice from her father and held a plan close in the event of an emergency.

"Is that what you think Headmaster?" Raven's eyes narrow in irritation. "That all this time I've foregone my entire heritage? Even after I have just revealed, with great reluctance mind you, that I never had wanted to give up my birthrights in the first place?"

After all, how can the man keep harassing her in the hopes that she can still someday become an Evil Queen… if he already thinks that she is one?

He furrows his brows in confusion. "What do you mean your Grace?" He looks at her doubtfully. "I've never witnessed you perform any true acts of villainy while at school. I would have known because it would have definitely have been something worth noting. And celebrating." He nods his head towards her, interest peaked.

Raven sighs numbly. "headmaster, who drove Snow White crazy because they got more popularity points than her daughter?"

His eyes fly open as wide as they can go.

"I hate maiden classes." She goes on to say before he can speak. "Maidenly duties such as cooking and sewing are useful skills to keep in practice, but nothing more. If you had noticed I never strayed outside my line of specially tailored Evil Queen clothing and regalia while in school, my magic was always appearing to "act up" in odd, embarrassingly endearing ways, I was never particularly good in my villain courses save for a few… select exceptions… along with a bunch of other things that I don't have time to mention." Or make up, she thinks to herself.

"You…?" His head weaves and bobs as if he's attempting to see something about her that he hadn't before. "You?"

Raven grinned grimly through sharp teeth, eyes, flashing, oh so very faintly, making herself appear as less human as possible for effect. "She took away a lot of things from me headmaster." She improvises to drive the point home. To make him believe. "She took away my family, my throne, my respect… my dignity. She abused and lied to my princess, her actions endangered my people, threatened the very core of my heritage, and the lives of myself and my adopted kin. She did it all and awaited eagerly for me to rear up and bite so that she could entrap me and use me like an animal in a circus attraction. So I resisted the only way I knew how."

"You turned your back on your destiny." The man breathed.

She glares at him severely. "It was not a decision that I made lightly, despite what I have fooled you, and everyone else into believing. Like I said before: I spent months researching every other available avenue I could alternatively take. There were none. No matter how desperately I searched. Finally, I took the chance that I would not end up disappearing if I did not sign the Book, and even if I did, all the old wives' tales had assured me that no one else would be harmed but myself, and a different villain family would assign their prodigy to take my place."

"You were willing to sacrifice yourself for this?" The man seemed horrified. After all, she was an only child, and the last heir to the Queen Lands.

"Mine wasn't the only family affected by her inappropriate slander." Raven's voice came close to snapping. "You know very well how many fairytales originate, and currently reside from my homeland, they are by rights my people. My mother's incarceration promoted me to the title of their Queen and sovereign. I may have scoffed at the notion that a mere lack of a signature could ever wind up erasing someone like me from existence without a fight, but both my pride and my duty refused to give her the satisfaction of me being too cautious, too complacent, not to do something! At the very least my untimely disappearance would have shattered all hopes of her having something to lord over my mother's head, and a villain family strong enough to fight back to deal with. But seeing as how skeptical I was about it, I held little worries with slipping out of existence."

She cast him a knowing look. He at least had the decency to look somewhat chastised.

"And then there was the way she had been treating Apple, which I hope that you at least have some idea by now of what I am talking about. And how un-maidenly, not to mention inhumane, she could get with her own daughter." She squinted at him, as if daring the man to attempt to cobble together a reasonable excuse for Snow White's parenting style out of nothing but his own shattered dreams of a perfect monarch to rule them all. "As her roommate she could not hide just how… difficult things could get if Apple so much as stuck a toe outside of Snow White's plans, or dropped in popularity at school."

"Giles… has kept me informed since he's personally taken responsibility for her case…" the man hedges in a tone that indicates that Giles had actually a lot to say to his older brother about Snow White… and that it hadn't been at all flattering of the woman's character.

"She treated Apple like dirt." Raven states bluntly. Completely unapologetic. "Even if my family's honor was not on the line I still would have refused to poison Apple, not unless that shrew of a Snow White was kept as far away from the throne as possible once Apple stepped up. I lived with Apple, and she was my princess. Mine. I do not take kindly to anybody, not even the girl's own mother, encroaching on what is my birthright, my princess, in any form of evil capacity. Especially domestic abuse."

He looked at her oddly and for a moment Raven wondered if he would question her on why she was sounding more noble than evil.

"Yours?" He said instead, which only furthered her suspicions towards his selective hearing problems.

"You dated my grandmother. You'd know better than most how protective Queens get over their princesses." Raven narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"And you still consider her your princess? Even after becoming the King of Hearts?" he was looking a bit confused now.

"She's staying here for as long as she pleases isn't she?" Raven huffed moodily. "Honestly headmaster, just because I've been forced to reinvent my family's brand of villainy does not mean that I'll be willing to give up all of my former duties from my heritage… no matter how much circumstances have changed or how unrecognizable my life will have become from my Ancestor's path. I only regret that I had to sacrifice so much, including my role in the Snow White tale, before I was finally able to thwart her."

"Must you truly give up your role?" The man looked equal halves mournful and proud, actually reaching out and gingerly taking her injured hands in his own. Cradling them with the same care Apple had done a few days prior when Raven had recalled her side of what had happened the day of the battle. Suddenly Raven's brain seemed to notice that the headmaster had always seemed to smell of old books, coffee, and gin. Not a bad smell for sure but it seemed so out of place for a man who ran a school. The other teachers, for instance, smelled of chalk, coffee, and the air freshener that they perfumed the halls with.

Just how qualified was the man for his job?

Raven suppressed a wince, the man had no right to act as if they had ever been that close, like a mentor to a prodigy, or like an older relative to a younger one. The instinct to slap was very strong indeed.

Instead Raven squeezed his dry fingers lightly with her own, damaged ones, and used the pain shooting up her arms at the action to mask the fakeness of her own hurt expression.

"You know I can't. Too much damage has been wrought throughout the years for me to ever be able to go back. Even though I truly want to I cannot deny the responsibilities that I must see to now: What with untangling the messes that Snow White has left in her wake, restoring my kingdom back to its former glory, ruling as King over what is looking to become a Wonderlandian empire very soon, taking care of my family and Apple in the aftermath, ensuring that the school does not receive a new Headmaster or Headmistress anytime soon, and… I as well need to address the damage that… I myself have done… at the time I was so focused on keeping my family and kingdom safe that now… it really surprised me how many have followed me into rebellion, and are wanting to stick with it even after all has been said and done. To the point to where it cannot be fixed with me explaining everything, they've already made up their minds and with the committee… I dare say that nobody has ever mentioned how much of a headache the aftermath of a war can be, even after a cold one."

It hurts her cheeks to keep from grinning smugly, so she clutches his hands and lets the sharp stabs and the aching itch from aggravated wounds do the talking. It hurts, it aches so badly it makes the nerves in her pointed teeth scream, but if she does not keep down the triumphant bout of laughter it will be all for naught, this ruse. But oh, oh how wonderful it was! To finally have gained her freedom while losing nothing of who she was! Even gaining so much for her family and people that her heart is fit to burst with joy-

"There, there now my dear." The headmaster soothes gently maneuvering her clenching fingers and cupping them palms up in his larger ones. "You will only cause more damage to them if you upset yourself so."

"But you can see can't you?" Raven's voice pleads as the skin of her fingers throb from the abuse. "It was evil wasn't it? What I did to her? Used kindness and my refusal to play along to her games… I could not do evil normally you see? She would have nabbed me if I had so I-… I-I tried to go about it in a way that she'd never suspect or recognize! It's not… it's not something a hero would do would it? Doing what I did, using kindness to thwart her at every turn? It's still villainy if it's done out of malicious intention… right?"

"Of course! Of course!" He instantly assures, and Raven knows that she's got him. He believes her now. "While not ideal you did admirably given your situation… I suppose that it is a shame that very few might recognize it as such, but yes your highness; you did very well indeed for one so young."

"You don't think that I've lost myself to being a good guy?" Raven looks at her hands a bit miserably, oh dear now they're twitching, she really overdid it back there.

"Far from it. Granted, your particular technique needs to be refined before it can be taught to future generations of villains and a great deal of warnings and restrictions must be put into place to keep unfortunate complications like your situation from arising… but yes, as a young Evil Queen you've done very well." The man nodded to himself as if deciding on something. "I will help you refine and put it down onto paper this technique of yours."

"So that another Evil Snow White will be less likely to happen?" Raven looks up hopefully, if she can give him a project to focus on he just might be easier to handle… "Like a clear-cut honor code of sorts between hero, maiden, and villain. Oh! And an alternative practice for villains who struggle with more traditional concepts of villainy! It's going to need a lot of work and research for it to be near anything proper since I was just winging it most of the time… but it can be possible right? Just because I ended up having to assume the role of a different story doesn't mean that other villains should be forced to flee theirs if they are put in a similar situation!"

"We'll come up with something I'm sure." The headmaster sounded distracted, as if already thinking up possibilities. "You will find time in your busy schedule to detail the methods you used? Your reasoning's?"

"I will." Raven nodded studiously. "Just be sure to keep those documents out of the reach of the Wonderlandians and the Thorn clan. My Queen's people are already cross-analyzing my actions in school and looking to creating a form of political martial art out of it without my input, and the Thorns have been elected as one of the head families of the oversight committee, they have been most accommodating with advising my father, who is the intern head currently, on matters in relation to the committee. I do not know what they would do with that sort of information but I do know that it would not be beneficial to the school."

At that the headmaster seemed to shudder, brow twitching as if some previously unknown phobia has made its presence known.

"I will proceed with utmost caution. You can count on that your highness."

XXX

"He never once asked after you, or Apple, or anybody else who had been hurt by this." Briar murmured lowly sometime later, looking out at the flowering trees with unfocused eyes.

"Even by villain standards, that is pretty cold." Faybelle confirms, looking just as shocked, even a bit queasy, which spoke volumes on its own, and reassured Raven that she hadn't been the only one to be troubled by the headmaster's attitude.

"I'll crucify him." Briar swore fervently.

"At least pretend to give in when I make a show of giving demands." Raven pled, despite agreeing with the other full-heartedly. "He'll be easier to deal with if he behaves!"

Briar's evil grin was impressive. "Oh don't worry Raven, once I start in with him, he'll absolutely love you. I'll bet he'll forever regret treating you so badly in school with how wonderful you'll turn out to be in his eyes."

Raven shuttered. "Please, I'm trying to gain back enough appetite for lunch!"

"You are positively smexy when you are plotting!" Faybelle cooed in adoration.