The silence that followed Evangeline's declaration was thick and heavy with a gravity that bypassed the laws of the High Lords. Valerica remained in her bow while her breath hitched in the quiet of the room. Vane stood rooted to the spot. He stared at the woman who was essentially the god of Zenith Academy, trying to parse the motive behind such an outrageous offer.
"Personal apprentice?" Vane finally spoke, and the words tasted like ash. "You would bring a child, a fugitive of an Imperial project, into the most scrutinized spire on the continent? You just told us the nobles would turn her into a siege engine. How is the Academy any different for her?"
