THE VOID BEAST

CHAPTER 9: THE WATCHER

The old man stopped in front of a heavy wooden door at the end of a narrow corridor. He pushed it open and stepped aside.

"This is it," he said. "D-rank dormitory."

I peered inside. The room was small, cramped, even with rows of narrow beds lining the walls. A few figures huddled in the shadows, their faces turned away. No one looked up as I entered.

I stepped inside. The door creaked shut behind me.

When I turned around, the old man was already walking away, his footsteps echoing down the corridor.

"Wait—" I called out. "I didn't get your name."

He paused. Looked back at me over his shoulder.

"Name's not important," he said. "Get some rest, boy. You'll need it."

Then he disappeared around the corner.

---

Elsewhere in Aurelian Spire...

The old man walked through the empty corridors, his lantern casting dancing shadows on the stone walls. He stopped in front of a door at the end of the third floor and knocked twice.

"Enter."

He pushed open the door.

The room beyond was modest but comfortable. A desk sat against the far wall, covered in papers and books. A single candle flickered on its surface. And by the window, silhouetted against the night sky, stood a woman.

She didn't turn around.

"Is he settled?" she asked.

"Yes, my lady. D-rank dormitory. Just as you instructed."

"And the beast?"

The old man hesitated. "She's... unusual, my lady. Small. Thin. Her eyes are cloudy, but I suspect that's not the whole truth."

The woman turned. Her face was sharp, elegant—noble features that had aged gracefully. Her eyes were the color of storm clouds.

"How so?"

"I watched her for a moment. She tracked my movements. When the boy moved his hand toward her face, she followed it. She's not blind."

The woman was silent for a long moment. Then, almost imperceptibly, her lips curved.

"I thought as much."

She walked to the window. The towers of Aurelian Spire rose against the star-scattered sky.

"I was in the library earlier," she said. "When that girl locked him in."

The old man nodded. "I know, my lady. I saw you leave."

"Something made me stop. Something about the boy—even curled up in the dark, I felt it." She paused. "I couldn't see his face. But when I saw his beast, I knew."

The old man waited.

"He carries her blood," she said quietly.

The old man's expression shifted. "Are you certain?"

"I would know that blood anywhere."

Silence stretched between them.

"And the beast?" the old man asked.

The woman's gaze hardened. "That's the greater danger."

"You know what it is?"

She turned toward the window. "I know what it could become."

"What do you want me to do, my lady?" the old man asked.

She walked to her desk, her fingers brushing the worn wood. "He cannot be seen receiving special treatment. The Vex family watches him closely."

"I want you to keep an eye on him. From the shadows. If he's in genuine danger, intervene. But do not make yourself known to him."

"And the others who torment him? His siblings?"

The woman's jaw tightened. "Let them test him. He needs to learn to stand on his own."

The old man nodded slowly. "And if he falters?"

"We watch. We catch him if he falls. But he must walk the path himself."

She walked to the window again.

"There's one more thing, my lady," the old man said quietly.

She glanced at him.

"The boy who spoke to him in the courtyard. Jace. He was kind to him. He offered him advice about training his beast."

The woman turned fully, her eyebrows lifting slightly.

"Jace? The son of the groundskeeper from the eastern district?"

"The same. He's enrolled as a C-rank student. But he hasn't been assigned a dorm yet."

A long pause.

The woman's gaze drifted toward the candle on her desk. "And is the C-rank dormitory full?"

"It could be, my lady. If you wanted it to be."

She was silent for a moment. Then she nodded slowly.

"He needs someone in this vast place. Someone who won't mock him for his beast or his blood."

She paused, her lips pressing together. She knew what she was doing. She knew the hypocrisy of saying "let it happen naturally" while arranging it behind the scenes. But she also knew this boy—her sister's boy—needed something, anything, to hold onto.

"Move him to the D-rank dormitory," she said. "Tell him the C-rank dorms are full."

The old man bowed. "As you wish, my lady."

He paused at the door. "One more thing, my lady."

She raised an eyebrow.

"The young master was carrying a book when I found him. How to Train a Rabbit. He'd found it in the library."

The woman's lips curved. "He found it himself?"

"Yes, my lady. His beast led him to it."

She walked back to the window, her hands clasped behind her back.

"Perhaps he's not as helpless as I feared. Perhaps there's more of his mother in him than I realized."

The old man bowed and left.

---

The woman stood alone in her study, the candle flickering beside her.

She reached into her robe and pulled out a small pendant—a silver charm shaped like a crescent moon. She pressed it between her palms and closed her eyes.

I'm sorry, Lyra, she thought. I couldn't save you. But I will do everything in my power to protect your son.

She opened her eyes.

Through the window, far below, she could see the D-rank dormitory. A single light flickered in one of its windows.

Will you become something great, she wondered, or will you vanish into the shadows of this world, like so many before you?

She didn't know the answer.

But for the first time in seventeen years, she felt something she'd thought was long dead.

Hope.

And you found a book on your own, she thought. A book about training your beast. Your mother would be proud.

She never gave up either.

She tucked the pendant back into her robe and turned from the window.

They don't know what your beast truly is.

And they don't know that I will be watching.

She extinguished the candle.

The room went dark.