The Headmistress She Defied

Tassy Kellow has been a Wilder at Halvenmoor for two years: scholarship, no pack, no seat. She planned to keep her head down until graduation. Then the headmistress announced she'd been matched, in writing, to a cadet named Rhode Callow — and Rhode stood up in the refectory and refused her. Publicly. By name. Rejection like that is supposed to be permanent. It isn't. A Wilder's bond doesn't break cleanly; it splits. Two others feel it that same afternoon. Arlo, the stablehand who has been leaving apples on her bench for a year. Cadoc, the headmistress's nephew, sent to spy on her twice and done trying. And Rhode himself, who refused her to keep his family from buying her — and hasn't been able to explain it fast enough since. Four months to the end of term. The headmistress has one expulsion left in her. Tassy has a match file, a stolen original, and three names to replace the one she was given.