The Headmaster’s office was designed to intimidate.

  The ceiling was impossibly high, lost in magical shadow. At the far end of the room, sitting behind a massive desk, sat Headmaster Andrade.

  She didn't look up immediately. She finished signing a document, the scratch of her quill loud in the silence.

  Finally, she set the quill down and looked up. Her eyes, sharp and intelligent, scanned them.

  She looked at Ray who was calm. She looked at Svane who was dutiful. She looked at Kaelen, and her eyes narrowed.

  Andrade recognized the student.

  Kaelen Thorne.

  She said internally.

  It confirmed her suspicion she had about where Ray had disappeared to.

  Ray saw Andrade's reaction in real-time.

  Detective: “She just did the math. Iron-Wake burns, and a couple of days later, the Thorne girl walks into her office standing next to her missing ‘Special Research Fellow.’ The deduction is instant.”

  The Gritty Detective provided his insight.

  "Captain,"

  Andrade said, her voice cool and commanding.

  "Report on the 'Field Exercise'."

  Svane opened his mouth to recite the cover story he had prepared, a lie about hunting wild beasts in the northern woods.

  "Let's skip the theater, Headmaster,"

  Ray interrupted.

  Svane’s jaw clicked shut. Andrade’s eyes snapped to Ray.

  "We were in Iron-Wake Domain. You know it. I know it. Let's not waste time pretending like I was hunting rabbits."

  Ray said, stepping forward.

  The air in the room grew heavy. But instead of getting angry at the interruption, Andrade leaned back in her chair, steepling her fingers. A cold, mirthless smile touched her lips, a look she reserved for peers, not students.

  "Efficiency, I do like that about you, Novice Croft. But tell me... did it really take you only a week to burn down a major industrial district?"

  Andrade mused.

  "We didn't light the match, the Argent Hand did. They liquidated House Thorne to cover their tracks. And if you aren't careful, the Academy could be next on their list."

  Ray countered, his voice steady.

  Andrade’s expression hardened. The faint amusement vanished.

  "Be very careful, Ray, you have earned a certain amount of leeway in this office, but fear-mongering is a dangerous game. The Academy is a fortress. We are impenetrable."

  She said softly, calling him by his first name and dropping the 'Novice' title.

  "We both know that isn't true, 'K' walked right into your beloved academy. He kidnapped Kaelen, tortured and almost killed her. K also nearly captured me. Then he walked out without tripping a single alarm. He treated your 'fortress' like a public library."

  Ray shot back, holding her gaze. He gestured to the girl standing behind him.

  Andrade flinched slightly. That was a sore spot, a failure she couldn't deny.

  Ray leaned in slightly, his tone shifting from accuser to ally.

  "But I didn't come here to critique your security, Headmaster. I came to help you patch them."

  He smiled, a dry, confident expression.

  "I brought you a souvenir from Iron-Wake. A little present."

  "A present?"

  Andrade asked warily.

  "I found the security breach and the leak, Headmaster."

  Ray said.

  "Do you want to know about it?"

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  The words ‘security breach’ and ‘leak’ hit the room like a physical spell.

  Andrade stood up. Her mana flared, a terrifying pressure that rattled the windows. She wasn't an educator in that moment; she was an 6th-Circle Master MAge protecting her domain.

  She looked at Svane.

  "Captain,"

  Andrade barked.

  "Wait outside. Secure the door. No one enters. No one leaves."

  Svane hesitated. For a fraction of a second, his eyes flicked to Ray. The bond forged in the tunnels of Iron-Wake pulled at him. But the conditioning of a lifetime of service was stronger.

  "Yes, Headmaster."

  Svane rumbled.

  He turned, opened the door, and stepped out, pulling it shut with a heavy thud. The magical locks engaged instantly.

  Ray and Kaelen were alone with the Headmaster.

  Ray took a half-step back. He physically ceded the floor to Kaelen.

  Using the Understudy Protocol’s Resonant Link Communication he conveyed a message to Kaelen.

  Now, Kaelen, we got her attention. She is agitated. You can use that to your advantage. Breathe.

  Ray’s voice echoed in her mind.

  Kaelen was trembling. The pressure of Andrade’s mana was suffocating. She felt like a mouse standing before a dragon.

  Using the World Weary Healer’s ‘Calming Presence’ skill, Ray sent a wave of calm energy via the Resonant Link to Kaelen.

  A wave of warmth washed over Kaelen through the link. It grounded her, slowing her heart rate, stabilizing her breathing. The fear didn't vanish, but it became manageable. It became fuel.

  You got this.

  Ray sent a final encouraging message.

  Kaelen stepped forward. She smoothed her robe. She looked small in front of the Master Mage, but when she looked up, her eyes were clear.

  "Headmaster,"

  Kaelen began, skipping the formalities. "A couple of months ago, I broke into the Spire of Sages. I bypassed the wards on Ray’s suite."

  Andrade’s eyes narrowed, but she remained silent.

  "I didn't use brute force.”

  Kaelen continued.

  “I used a cipher provided by my father, Titus Thorne. He received it from a source inside your administration. A source that gave him the exact frequency of the surrounding security grid on Ray’s residence at that time."

  Kaelen paused, letting that sink in.

  "My father gave me the cipher because he needed to verify a report. A report stating that the Genesis Crystal didn't just stabilize... it was altered.”

  The silence that followed was absolute.

  The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees. Andrade didn't move. She didn't blink. She stared at Kaelen with a look that wasn't anger, it was calculation.

  If the method used in the Genesis Chamber is leaked…

  Andrade thought, her heart hammering against her ribs.

  The mere fact that we lied to an Auditor... that is Heresy. Death would be the best outcome, as Landa, the smiling guillotine would probably not let me off so easily by killing me.

  As Kaelen observed the headmaster, with the help of her new skill imparted by Ray, she didn't see a terrifying 6th-Circle Master Mage. She saw a woman standing on a cliff edge. She saw the slight twitch in Andrade’s finger. She saw the dilation of her pupils.

  Fear.

  It was pure, unadulterated fear.

  "You are wondering, if my father sent the information to the higher ups of the Argent Hand."

  Kaelen said softly, her voice gaining strength,

  Andrade stiffened. That was the question that would decide if she would take hostile action against her right now or listen.

  "Did he? Does the Hand know?"

  Andrade asked, her voice rasping slightly.

  "My father was a meticulous man, he never passed on unverified reports. He sent me to check. And before I could report back... The ‘K’ incident took place and then later on the Iron-Wake situation happened."

  Kaelen said smoothly as she took a step closer to the desk.

  "The report died with him, Headmaster. The Argent Hand knows there was something wrong with the Genesis Crystal but they were not able to confirm yet.”

  Andrade let out a breath she had been holding. The immediate danger was gone, but the sword was still hanging over her neck.

  "So, I have the name of the leak who gave my father the cipher. And other spies that the Hand had in place in the Academy. Lastly I have the silence of the Thorne family regarding your secrets."

  Kaelen looked at the Headmaster in the eye as she tapped the bag by her side.

  "I am wondering what the Headmaster is willing to pay for such comprehensive information?"

  Andrade looked at the girl. She looked at the bag Kaelen was tapping. She realized, with a dawning sense of horror and respect, that she had been checkmated by a teenager.

  She sat down slowly, the wind taken out of her sails. The terrifying 6th-Circle Master Mage vanished, replaced by a tired administrator who knew she had lost the high ground.

  "And what is the price for this... benevolence?"

  Andrade whispered, her voice rasping slightly,

  Kaelen withdrew her hand from the bag. She stood tall, her posture mimicking the confidence she had seen in Ray so many times.

  "Sanctuary for me. The House of Thorne is gone. I have nowhere else to go. I want the Academy’s full protection against the Argent Hand and any political fallout."

  Kaelen declared and paused, glancing briefly at Ray before looking back at the Headmaster.

  "And absolute protection for Ray Croft. No more inquiries into his methods. No more using him as a scapegoat."

  Ray, standing casually by the bookshelf, blinked. He was surprised by what Kaelen asked the Headmaster for. He felt a strange pang in his chest.

  She doesn't know, Andrade and I are already in the same boat. She’s wasting leverage to buy protection I already have.

  Ray thought.

  But he didn't correct her. He didn't say a word. He just watched, a faint, genuine smile touching his lips. It was a wasted move tactically, but personally? It meant everything.

  Andrade stared at Kaelen for a long moment, then flicked her eyes to Ray. She was thinking the same thing, that the boy didn't need her protection. But she wasn't going to give up a free concession.

  "Sanctuary, Is that all?"

  Andrade repeated, testing the word.

  "And the expulsion of the traitors, I want them gone. I want to sleep in a dorm that isn't infested with rats."

  Kaelen added, her voice hardening.

  Andrade let out a long, ragged sigh. She slumped back in her chair.

  "Show me the proof, give me the names."

  Andrade said.

  Kaelen reached into her bag. She didn't pull out the heavy, bound ledger. Instead, she retrieved a thin sheaf of papers, a specific extraction Ray had instructed her to prepare the night before via message.

  She placed the pages on the petrified wood desk.

  "This is the list of all faculty and students currently on the Argent Hand’s payroll, including the source of the cipher."

  Kaelen said.

  Andrade picked up the papers. Her eyes scanned the first page. Her face went pale, then red with suppressed rage as she recognized the names of people she had trusted.

  She looked up at Kaelen, her hand trembling slightly as she held the evidence of her own blindness.

  "Deal?"

  Kaelen asked.

  Andrade placed her hand flat on the papers, claiming them.

  "Deal."