A heavy, suffocating silence descended over the academy field the instant Mr. Asher’s cold voice sliced through the morning air like a sharpened blade.
"Except the Red Dorm."
My stomach plumted instantly, a sickening free-fall that left hollow.
Oh, what in all the hells had we done this ti?
The thought echoed through my mind, slow and heavy like a stone sinking into dark, murky water, inescapable and dragging dread along with it.
Around us, the atmosphere shifted in the blink of an eye. Students who had already begun drifting toward the promise of breakfast froze mid-step, then slowly turned back. Whispers erupted like wildfire racing through dry grass, spreading fast and rciless.
"Red Dorm again..."
"They’re always causing trouble."
"So troubleso. When will they learn?"
I could feel the weight of their collective stares pressing down on us. It wasn’t re curiosity anymore. It was judgnt. Anticipation. A quiet hunger for spectacle, as though they were waiting for us to finally shatter in so entertaining, irreversible way.
We stood frozen together in a tight, defensive cluster, shoulders brushing, breaths held. No one dared move first.
Theo leaned slightly toward , his voice a barely audible whisper. "Did they find out we stole from the kitchen?"
I turned my head slowly, giving him a flat look. "You and Kaden stole from the kitchen. It has nothing to do with ," I replied lightly, though my throat still burned from the night before.
He blinked once, caught off guard, then realization dawned on his face.
"Don’t be like that," he whispered back, eyes wide with betrayal. "You ate it too."
"And that," I muttered under my breath, "is exactly why I’m about to be punished right alongside you, glutton."
Before he could protest, Ysara’s sharp voice cut through the growing murmurs like a whip.
"You all went to the kitchen and stole food last night."
Kaden imdiately raised a finger, his expression one of exaggerated innocence. "Correction, not all of us. Just two people." He paused strategically, refusing to na nas even as several heads turned in his direction.
"And," Elion added casually, flashing one of his signature charming yet defiant smiles, "we were starving. One of our teammates was literally dying of hunger. What kind of team would we be if we let that happen?"
That earned a few muffled, nervous laughs from our side as we all looked at Theo who glared at us.
All except Thorne, who stood slightly apart from the group, arms folded across his broad chest, his expression unreadable and distant. He looked almost bored, as if the entire situation was far beneath his notice, or perhaps simply didn’t exist in whatever shadowed world he inhabited. Too calm. Too detached. Too annoyingly composed.
Mr. Asher spoke next, his voice cold, absolute, and devoid of any warmth. "The food you attempted to take was originally allocated for you."
Selene followed seamlessly, her tone smooth as silk over steel. "But you still took it without permission. That requires punishnt."
I stared at the Arbiters for a long mont, blinking slowly. Why did it feel like they were all sharing one single brain cell and passing it around like a rehearsed script?
"Your punishnt is simple," Ysara continued. "Thieves are not tolerated in Altheris."
I raised a hand slightly.
"I beg your pardon, ma’am."
Her eyes flicked to imdiately.
"We didn’t steal it," I continued, voice firm despite the absurdity of my situation. "We just took what was already ant for us. You were just... taking too long to serve it."
Behind , my teammates nodded like I had just delivered a philosophical truth instead of nonsense.
"That’s still stealing...," Ysara continued, her gaze sweeping over us like a judge delivering final sentencing. "You will all report to the western grounds and cut the grass by hand."
I paused, genuinely stunned.
"...I’m sorry?"
Grass cutting? We stole food... well, technically took what was ant for us... and now we were being turned into glorified gardeners?
I exhaled slowly, trying to keep my voice steady. "You’re telling that your official punishnt for hunger is landscaping duty?"
Thorne finally spoke, his deep voice calm but edged with clear disbelief. "So we’re gardeners now because you can’t hire proper staff?"
"That is disrespectful, Thorne," Mr. Asher said imdiately, his tone sharpening.
"He is just being honest," Elion replied smoothly, ever the diplomat when it suited him.
Ysara lifted a hand, her patience visibly thinning. "Enough. All of you. Leave. Now."
The Sentinels moved instantly.
No discussion. No delay. Just silent, armored authority closing in around us like a living wall of shadow and steel.
And just like that, we obeyed.
Because everyone at Altheris knew the sa unbreakable rule: You don’t win against Sentinels. Not ever.
We began the long walk toward the western grounds, each of us shadowed by one of the masked figures. They moved in perfect synchronization, silent and unrelenting. Mine walked just behind , so close I could feel the chill of its armored presence brushing against my back with every step, like a blade hovering at my spine.
We didn’t even make it halfway.
One mont I was walking beside my teammates, boots crunching against the gravel path. The next...
Reality itself blinked.
There was no sound. No flash of light. No warning. Just a deep, nauseating shift in the fabric of the world, as though soone had torn a page from existence and rewritten it.
Suddenly, I was standing alone.
Right in front of the Arbiters.
My teammates had vanished completely, not scattered, not hiding, gone. The field around felt unnaturally empty, the air thicker, heavier, charged with sothing ancient and unforgiving.
And beside stood Irene.
Her cold hand was wrapped tightly around mine, fingers like ice forged into a shackle. Controlled. Possessive. As if she had been waiting for this exact mont to claim .
I yanked my hand away with violent force, heart hamring. "What the hell is going on?" I snapped, voice raw and furious.
"Nyx," Ysara said calmly, as though nothing unusual had occurred, "your teammates have been temporarily taken away. We don’t want this escalating into unnecessary violence."
My head snapped toward her. "What is happening?" I demanded again, sharper this ti, fear and anger twisting together in my chest.
Ysara didn’t flinch. "We received credible information that you touched a sacred relic of Altheris last night."
My stomach dropped through the floor. "What?" I shook my head imdiately, disbelief flooding . "I didn’t touch anything. This is ridiculous."
"I know you will deny it," Ysara replied evenly, almost pityingly. "But Irene witnessed you."
Slowly, I turned toward the vampire.
Oh.
So this was her ga.
A quiet, deliberate, perfectly orchestrated setup.
She wasn’t rely accusing . She was placing inside an accusation that had already been written, sealed, and delivered.
"I didn’t touch anything," I said firmly, refusing to let my voice waver. "Stop lying about ."
"Speak properly," Irene corrected lightly, sounding almost bored, as though this were beneath her.
My jaw tightened until it ached. "Did you go into the forest last night?" Selene asked.
"Yes."
"Why?" Mr. Evander pressed.
"Because I couldn’t sleep after Morvalis. I went for a walk. I didn’t realize how far I had wandered until I was deep inside the trees."
"And you saw nothing?" Ysara pressed, her eyes narrowing.
"I saw things," I answered carefully, choosing my words like stepping through a minefield. "Because my eyes work perfectly fine."
A few Arbiters shifted uncomfortably at my tone.
Then Ysara delivered the blow. "Irene says you touched the Veil Mirror."
The words landed heavier than expected. The air itself seed to tighten around them, growing colder and more oppressive.
"The Veil Mirror?" I repeated slowly, the na sending an uneasy shiver down my spine. "That’s impossible. I didn’t touch any mirror. I didn’t even know anything of sort exist"
"This is becoming repetitive, Nyx," Ysara said flatly and continue. "Irene clearly saw you touch it. She has no reason to lie."
A quiet, humorless laugh escaped before I could stop it. "She has every reason to lie."
Every gaze sharpened dangerously.
I straightened my spine. "This is happening because I saw sothing I wasn’t supposed to see. She’s trying to bury to protect herself."
Silence stretched, thick and tense.
Then Mr. Asher spoke, calm and controlled, his voice asuring like a blade testing flesh. "And what exactly did you see?"
My throat tightened painfully. I knew, no matter how I phrased it... it wouldn’t sound believable. Still, I forced the words out.
"I saw Irene having sex with so Sentinels."
The silence that followed was imdiate. Dense. Almost suffocating.
Then...
"How many Sentinels?" Irene asked.
Not shocked. Not defensive. Just... precise. Like she was correcting a minor clerical error in an official report.
"Four," I said quietly.
A visible ripple of disappointnt moved through the Arbiters. Not disbelief, sothing worse. Pity. As though I had failed so test they had already expected to fail.
Ysara exhaled slowly. "Nyx... all Sentinels are castrated."
My mind stuttered to a halt. "...What?"
No. That couldn’t be right. I had seen it. Clearly. Undeniably.
But the mory flickered at the edges now, distorted and uncertain, as if soone had already begun rewriting it.
Selene tilted her head slightly. "That’s unfortunate," she murmured softly.
Irene spoke again, calm and controlled. "If that is true, then explain why I was trying to stop you from touching the Veil Mirror."
My pulse spiked wildly. Lies upon lies.
"I didn’t touch it," I repeated.
And then sothing deep inside finally snapped.
"If I’m being accused of sothing this serious," I added sharply, voice rising, "then call Ashriel Tavien. He is my witness. He saw Irene trying to strangle last night."
At that na, the air itself shifted noticeably.
A pause. A recalibration.
Like even the Arbiters had to adjust their stance.
"I was not trying to kill her," Irene said smoothly. "I was stopping her from touching sothing dangerous. Ashriel is my witness."
My fists clenched until my nails bit into my palms. How dare she twist this.
"Bring Ashriel," Mr. Asher ordered.
And so we waited.
The silence stretched unbearably long, thick with tension and unspoken power.
Then...
He arrived.
Everything changed the mont Ashriel Tavien stepped onto the field.
Not with fanfare or drama. Just pure, cold inevitability.
Tall. Composed. Unreadable. His dark eyes swept over the scene like a winter storm.
My chest tightened painfully against my will.
"Did you see Nyx Vaeloria touch the Veil Mirror?" Mr. Asher asked.
The question wasn’t really a question. It was a sentence waiting for confirmation...
Like they all knew the answer just waiting for to hear it myself.
Ashriel’s gaze flicked to . Just once. Brief. Impersonal.
Then away.
"Yes," he said, his voice steady and certain. "I saw her touch it."
The world didn’t explode.
It simply... just stopped.
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