As they approached the exit to the Archives, Hatsune’s ears twitched slightly, her steps quiing as if she was eager to leave the building for the campus outside. For his part, Krion couldn’t bme her. As much as he enjoyed being surrounded by books and the quiet, and the fact there was so muowledge here that he had access to that no one from Earth even ked, he also khat he was running against a clock that started from the moment he arrived on campus. And he didn’t know how much time was left on it before the attempt on his life.

  Krion quied his pace, eager to reach The Hearth & Ember. The warm tavern offered more than good food — it would offer a ce to sit undisturbed for a while and dive into the book he had purchased on House Bcksword’s history. As thick as the book was, he hoped it would finally help him uncover enough about his House’s history to let him uand how he had beeed on campus and, especially, why so many other ss seemed to have a desire to kill him. Pieg together that information might even give him an edge in the challenges ahead. It also might give him a better uanding of what he o talk with Valdre and Redrek about ohey arrived at the tavern.

  They had almost made it to the door when he heard her.

  “S Bcksword,” a voice called, lilting and melodic, like the song of a forest wind dang through arees. The ethereal quality of the voice that he reized from a few days ago pelled him to pause mid-stride. Krion turned, searg for who had called out for him.

  Standing partially obscured by the t shelves off to the side of where they had just passed through was the same woman who had called out to him as he had goh his css to the Hall of Bonds. She stepped fully into view, and his eyes again traced down the elegant ahat curled above her head like the branches of an a oak. As his eyes came down to her face, he saw that she once again had her amber eyes locked onto his, and for a moment, the world seemed to narrow the space between them.

  Dizzy for a moment, Krion shook his head, and the feeling was gone. Looking back at the woman, he saw behiood a bodyguard, a massive figure that had an appearance simir to that of a bear in humanoid form. An imposing figure, he towered over his charge. His muscur frame was covered in dense, dark-brown fur, and his bear-like features included a pronounced snout, sharp brown eyes, and rounded ears. Powerful cws extended from his massive hands, though what seized Krion’s attention most was the long scar that ran across his left shoulder. With how deep and wide it was, it looked almost as if someone had taken a massive axe to him, like trying to fell a tree. Given that he was still standing here, whoever had struck the blow probably hadn’t gotten the ce to deliver another. He almost seemed to radiate an aura of restrained menace, his haing idly he hilt of his bde.

  Krion adjusted his grip on his books, his puarded but curious. Hatsune, however, stiffened immediately beside him as she stopped to see what had caught his attention. Her long ears tilted forward, and her soft features hardened, betraying her readio act at the slightest hint of danger.

  “ I help you?” Krion asked, his tone polite but wary.

  The woman’s lips curved into a faint smile, though her sharp, angur features maintained a regal air. “Allow me to introduce myself properly,” she began, ining her head slightly, a gesture both deferential and anding. “I am Yoh, s of the Ducal House Veyrith.”

  She said her name as if it carried some weight, though because he did not know all the intricacies of the Houses that had ss attending the Academy, he was unsure how to react to her introdu. That being said, a Ducal House was just oep below the five Archducal Houses from the ceremony he had gohrough. That bined with the posure she presented and the authority running through her voice pushed him to be polite and cautious. Not that he had been anything else with every noble he had met so far.

  “It is a pleasure to meet you, Yona,” Krion responded politely, his hand lightly tapping the spine of one of the books as if grounding himself in the moment. “Since you already know who I am, may I assume you wished to talk with me about something?”

  “Indeed,” Yona replied, her melodic voice dipping with i. “House Bcksword… It carries with it an iing legacy, does it not? A legacy I find quite fasating, given my current situation.”

  Hatsune’s eyes narrowed, and she took a subtle step closer to Krion, her presence protective without being overbearing. “What’s your i in my lord?” Hatsune pressed, her voice sharper than her usual soft-spoken tone.

  Yona’s eyes shifted to Hatsune, whom she regarded cooly, though not unkindly. “I appreciate yince, bodyguard, but this is a versation for ss,” she said smoothly before her gaze returo Krion, dismissing her. “I’ll admit, it’s not every day one enters a s of your background who has already mao defy expectations as you have.”

  “What do you mean?” Krion asked trying to keep the nervousness from his tone. He had assumed that Chadwick, Hector, and the others who had attempted to kill him by f him into the Dungeon would have wished to keep their attempt quiet to avoid attrag attention or sure. If they were freely spreading what happened around, he was less safe thahought.

  “I would advise that you rex,” Yona said, pig up on the panic that was starting to bubble up within him. “Word of your ret as has traveled swiftly, but they are still known to only a few, and even fewer care to get themselves involved.” Her amber eyes glinted. “For what it’s worth, just as you have tio earn the enmity of Chadwick Copperhand, you have also earned my admiration.”

  Krion’s jaw reflexly ched at the mention of Chadwick, but he was able to keep his expression mostly trolled. “What exactly do you want, S Veyrith?”

  “Please, Krion, I would prefer if you called me Yona,” she said as she took a graceful step closer. The weight of her presence seemed to press against the air in some way. As she walked, he was able to get a better look at her uniform.

  She was a third-year s.

  “I would simply like to speak with you,” Yona said when she came to a halt an arms-length away. Hatsune ractically vibrating at his side with the o step in front of him. “If you spare a few minutes of your time, I believe our versation could prove mutually enlightening.”

  Hatsune’s hand twitched near her side, and Kriohe tension radiating from her increase further. He reached his free hand down to touch her arm gently in silent reassurance, and she froze. “All right,” he said to Yona. “But let’s keep it brief.”

  Yona ined her head again, a gesture of aowledgment. “Follow me,” she said before turning, leading them deeper into the maze-like shelves of this area of the Archive. Her bodyguard moved with her, his silent presence a stant reminder of the o be vigint. This seemed like an opportunity for more information, but giveor’s ret betrayal, it only made seo be more careful.

  Krion g Hatsune, who gave him a pointed look but followed without protest. As they walked, he couldn’t help but feel as though Yona’s presence carried with it yers of unspoken meaning, her every step deliberate, her movements almost too perfect. It was both impressive and uling. He wondered what her stats were. Probably high as she was a third-year from a Ducal House.

  Hatsune walked beside Krion, her ears twitg itently as she sed their surroundings with subtle tension. She hadn’t said anything since Yona had introduced herself, but her body nguage was enough to tell Krion she didn’t trust the elk-antlered s. He couldn’t bme her — he didn’t fully trust Yoher. Yet, something about her intrigued him, her words hinting at yers of ihat he couldn’t ignore.

  Finally, they reached an open area along the wall where the light of the Archives seemed a bit softer, more dim. Set into the wall were several doors, and Yohem to the one. A sigil engraved on the wood glowed faintly as she pced her palm against it. With a quiet hum, the door unlocked and spun open, revealing a cozy study room lit by floating orbs of soft blue light. Inside was a table surrounded by plush chairs, the air having the faint st of old books and pine. Krion smiled as the room was revealed. He kly where he would be studying iure.

  “I reserved this room earlier,” Yona said, stepping ier gesturing for them to enter behind her. “It’s warded for privao one will overhear us here.”

  Krioated for only a moment before stepping inside, Hatsune close behind him. Yona’s bodyguard followed st of all, pulling the door closed behind him. The door ked shut, and a sigil on its surface fred briefly. He remaianding by the door, arms crossed as he watched them.

  “Impressive,” Krion murmured, looking around the room before setting his books down oable to take a seat. Hatsune remaianding behind him, her arms crossed, her gaze fixed on Yona with suspi.

  Yona moved to the opposite side of the table, l herself gracefully into a chair. She leaned back, her antlers casting faint shadows on the wall as her eyes studied Krion. “Thank you freeing to this meeting. I realized my approach may have seemed… abrupt.”

  “‘Abrupt’ is one word for it,” Krion replied, but he couldn’t ceal his i. “So, what’s this about?”

  Yona’s expression shifted, being unreadable and he unsciously tensed. “I’ll not waste your time with pleasantries,” she began, her bodyguard at the door shifting i her tone. “I’m aware of your flict with Chadwid, by extension, Caspian Bright. I’d imagine you have been beginning to pn for how to deal with such a… precarious situation.”

  “Precarious would be one way to describe it,” Krion admitted. “But yes, I have been… thinking things over.”

  Her smile returned, faint but as far as he could tell, genuine. “A diplomatiswer. Yet, you’ve already demonstrated that you’re more than capable of handling yourself. Surviving that Dungeon, for one. And now, you’re delving into House Bcksword’s history. Expanding your knowledge on what might possibly lie ahead, perhaps?”

  Krion frowned slightly, unsure how much to reveal. Not that he had much to reveal yet. “Knowledge is power,” he said cautiously, opting to use one of the sayings his father had tried to drill into him growing up. “If I’m going to survive, it makes only sehat I o know what I’m up against.”

  “Wise,” Yona said approvingly. “House Veyrith shares a simir philosophy. Which is why I’m here, talking with you.” She gestured lightly toward him. “There’s a storm brewing in this sector of the Empire, S Bcksword. Ohat has been building for some decades now, and will likely bear down on us soon. And whether you io or not, you’ve pced yourself directly in its path.”

  Krion’s mind raced as he studied her, trying to dis her angle. “And you?” he asked. “Where do you stand iion to this storm?”

  Yona’s expressiohoughtful. “Let’s just say I prefer to observe, for now. But I see potential in you, Krion. Potential that could reshape the very foundations of this sector, the status quo of whiany have taken franted.”

  Her words hung heavy in the air, the significe of their weight pressing down on Krion. He exged a quice with Hatsune, who looked skeptical but remained silent. Perhaps still cowed from Yona’s words earlier.

  “I’ll admit I am unsure as to what you’re alluding to,” Krion said. “So what exactly are you suggesting?”

  “An alliance,” Yona replied simply. “Knowledge for knowledge. Insight for insight. Allies are scar the Empire, especially for someone in your position. I propose we help each other, even if only in small ways for now.”

  “And why could you be ied in me?” Krion pressed, his tone sharper than before. “After all, I am only in my first year here, while you are already in your third.”

  Yona’s gaze softened, and for the first time, there was something almost vulnerable in her expression. “Because I know what it’s like to carry the weight of a legacy,” she said quietly. “And because I’d rather see someone like you succeed than be crushed by the kinds of forces that care nothing for those they destroy on their path to power.”

  Krion’s eyes narrowed slightly, studying Yona’s face. Her words seemed genuine, and the vulnerability in her expression was disarming, but something about her tone — her careful choice of words — set off a faint arm in his mind.

  “Yona,” he said after a long moment of thought. “I appreciate that, but there’s something else you’re not telling me, isn’t there?”

  Yona straightened in her seat, the brief flicker of vulnerability retreating behind her usual poise. “What do you mean?” she asked, though the way her eyes traced along his face, it was clear she was examining him for some reason. Perhaps because he hadn’t taken her words at face value?

  “You didn’t approach me just out of altruism or shared experience,” Krion pressed, knowing he was on to something. “You said you wao succeed, but why?”

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