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Chapter 56: A Private Word
A servant dressed in Academy gray waited in the corridor, hands folded and face unreadable.“Master Dunmoor. Instructor Vane requests you in his office. Now, if you please.”Aeris echoed back, “Now,” sounding almost bored, his best Corin impression. He’d practiced that boredom for nine days, but it felt stretched thin, like a thread about to snap.He’d spent the last hour pacing in the cramped room assigned to new arrivals in the lower hall, straining to hear Alba’s footsteps in the corridor. They never came. After her assessment, two attendants led her away to the infirmary, to “observe her,” as they put it. The phrase sounded gentle, but meant nothing. Aeris tried to follow, but a door closed quietly in his face, polite but firm.The servant guided him through the west cloister. Rain had started, cold and fine, smacking against the stone arches. On a bench, Liora Ashvale sat with a book open on her knees, not reading, just staring after Aeris as he passed. Their eyes met. She didn’t
Chapter 55: What the Assessment Found
By the time the third bell chimed, the lower hall looked nothing like it had that morning. The desks were gone, replaced by a single raised dais in the center, its surface encircled by runes that gave off a pale, unsteady glow. The faint humming seemed to seep straight into Aeris’s bones, the same runic script, he realized with a prickle of dread, that he’d seen in Ossin’s fortress. Chairs lined the walls now, with students nervously waiting their turn, the whole room crackling with an invisible energy that caught at Aeris’s skin every time he moved.“Controlled resonance field,” Rask had said, back at the inn. Aeris had cornered her, almost desperate to know what to expect after seeing the notice. “Big academies use smaller versions to measure aptitude, safely. It draws out whatever magic a student can produce, only for a moment, just strong enough for a teacher to see what’s what. It won’t do anything to suppression ink the way daily life hasn’t already.”That “won’t” barely passed
Chapter 54: What the Instructor Saw
Vane locked eyes with Aeris for a solid three seconds, and let me tell you, those seconds stretched long enough for every instinct Aeris had sharpened in Stonevale to scream at him, move, brace, don’t just stand there under that calm, measuring glare. He suddenly pictured Ossin, watching the old courtyard with that same patient resolve, and wondered if every dangerous man he met carried a piece of cruel stillness taught by someone like Ossin.Still, he didn’t budge. Corin Dunmoor had nothing to fear from a teacher’s gaze, at least not outwardly.“You,” Vane said, pointing with absolute certainty. “Stand.”Aeris got up slowly, slipping into Corin’s practiced, invisible posture, even though his heart was beating like a drum in his chest. Alba stiffened beside him; Wren lifted his eyes just enough to watch.Vane didn’t say much..just, “Name.”“Corin Dunmoor, sir.”Vane repeated “Dunmoor,” rolling the name like it was a strange, foreign word. “I don’t recognize the house.”“A minor branch
Chapter 53: Wardhaven
“Corin and Wren Dunmoor,” the woman said, barely looking up from her papers, her voice flat, like she’d already decided none of this mattered. “Sponsored by Lady Essa Dunmoor. Late admission, special dispensation requested…,” she stopped to squint at the page, “delayed travel due to road conditions in the eastern provinces.”“Yes, ma’am,” Aeris replied, careful, steady, not rushing his words. That voice had taken nine days to practice. He offered the apology she’d expect, but he knew she wouldn’t care.Everyone apologized. That’s just how these things went. The officer cut through his words without blinking. “Everyone expects an exception,” she said, flipping the page, and Aeris felt his heart rate pick up, despite his best efforts, his face stayed still. He could almost hear his pulse booming in his ears, and honestly, if the demon’s heartbeat was syncing with his nerves, he wouldn’t be surprised.She tapped at the record. “Your aunt’s letter says your parents died from fever, twelve
Chapter 52: House of Ash
Rask stumbled on the answer three days later, crouched over a single, grimy page she’d torn out of Belt’s old ledger. The look on her face wasn’t triumph. Honestly, she seemed almost let down by it, like some part of her wanted the solution to be further away, not already creeping in the margins.“Suppression script,” she announced, dropping the page in front of Aeris. “Same kind of ward Thorne’s men slapped on you near Aldric Cross. This one’s just smaller. Tighter. It works more like a jeweler’s trick, not some big sweeping spell, muting a little glow, not blacking out the whole room.”Aeris bent over the page, eyeing the tangled script. “Would that actually hide the mark?”“It’ll blur it, a bit. That’s all.” Rask traced the lines, patient. “Ink it straight onto your skin, keep it fresh every week or so, and anyone who glances at you just sees an old scar. That’s the best it does. It won’t hold up to a close investigation. If Halric Vane ever decides to really look at you, you’ll ge
Chapter 51: The Only Door Left
Aeris came to just before dawn, his sister’s fingers still laced through his, and for a moment, he couldn’t bring himself to let go. Three heartbeats passed, his mind circling that simple touch. It was easier, somehow, to hang on to her hand than face what waited.They’d stopped in a dry gully, two rough days since they slipped from Ossin’s fortress. Far enough that Rhea had allowed real flames, some actual warmth for the first time in ages. The others were already awake, Rask rummaged through the dwindling stockpile, Renner squinted over another torn strap, his stitches so tidy you’d think he was half his age. Rhea stood above, posted at the rim, her bow hanging ready on one shoulder. Smoke drifted from their fire, thin and stubborn, curling up toward a sky that still wore the last lonely stars.Alba blinked up at him, her voice still scratchy from sleep. “You slept,” she said. “Actual sleep. I checked. Twice.”Aeris managed a smile. “Yeah, I noticed,” he replied, and that old, dog-e
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