The trumpets sounded like a warning.
Elias stood by a window in the Library's forbidden section. He wasn't supposed to be here—this floor was reserved for seniors and faculty—but the he'd been restless since last night. He'd barely had any sleep since this cursed school.
Down in the courtyard, the King's procession was a sea of gray and silver. There were no bright banners for King Alaric Thalorin. Efficiency didn't require color.
Elias watched as the King dismounted. From his carriage. It carried the colors of the royal family— gold and red. The king was small in size and he also had the white hair and red eyes that signified royal blood. The way the space moved around him made him look twice his size.
Even from three stories up, Elias could feel the pressure.
Beside the King stood Cassian and Zayne, on his left and right side respectively.
From this distance, they looked like perfect, identical bookends. Cassian was a statue of ice, Zayne was… bright. Unnaturally so.
Elias so focused on them both, saw the slight, almost invisible tremor in Cassian's left hand—the hand that wasn't visible to the King.
'Stay still.' Elias thought, his fingers digging into the stone. Just stay still, Cassian.
He watched them enter through the main doors of the school.
He needed to get back to his dorm. Fast.
The next place they were headed was probably the school's board room. Which was the hallway next to this one. He didn't want to be in proximity with them at all.
Elias moved quickly down the back spiral staircase, his boots making no sound on the stone. He planned to cut through the Transition Hall—a wide, marble corridor that connected the Library to the student housing. It was usually empty during the arrival ceremonies. Besides the royals would pass the actual main hallway.
He reached the three way arch that led to the library,—where he was coming from—the council chamber back way and the hallway that led to the main one.
He froze mid step.
Coming from the left were the royals. The King walked in the center, his heavy boots echoing with a rhythmic thud. Cassian walked a half-step behind his father's right shoulder, and Zayne walked to the left.
Elias couldn't retreat. If he turned around now they would surely spot him. The only other two paths lead to the council chambers and they one they were currently coming from.
He was caught in the open.
He ducked behind a massive pillar, pressing his back against the cold stone, praying his moss-green hair would blend into the shadows. He slowed his breathing, using that mental petting trick he used on the plants to steady his own heart.
The footsteps grew louder.
As they passed his pillar, Elias felt his magic flare trying to go towards Cassian. Which obviously meant Cassian was suffering a bit more than Elias had guessed. He had to bite his lip to keep from crying out with the way his own magic was responding.
Through the narrow gap between the pillar and the wall, he saw them.
The King stopped.
"The Academy seems... sluggish, Cassian." the King said. His voice was deep, devoid of emotion, like a stone dropping into a well.
"The start of the new term is always…complex, Father" Cassian replied. His voice was perfect. Not a single crack.
Elias watched Cassian's face. The Prince's eyes were fixed straight ahead, but for a split second, his gaze shifted. It didn't land on the pillar. It landed on the floor near the pillar—where the shadow of Elias's boot was just barely visible.
He quickly took it in.
Cassian didn't react. But his hand, hidden by his cloak, clenched into a fist.
Then, Zayne moved.
The second prince tilted his head, his red eyes dancing with a playful, dangerous light. He looked directly at the pillar Elias was hiding behind.
He knew.
He definitely knew.
Zayne's lips curled into a tiny, secret smirk before he looked back at his father.
"Perhaps Cassian is just tired, Father," Zayne said smoothly. "He's been spending so much time in the greenhouses lately. Botany is a taxing subject, isn't it, brother?"
The King didn't look at Zayne. He looked around as if searching for something. "Botany is for the commoners who tends dirt. A King tends the harvest. Move."
The three royals moved on, leaving Elias trembling in the shadows. He had just been in the same ten feet of space as the man who likely killed his parents, and the two brothers who held his life in their hands.
Elias waited until the footsteps faded before he dared to move. But after heading for the dorms, he realized he was trapped. A group of guards had locked down the main exit for the King's Efficiency Sweep.
All students, nobles and high socialites alike, were to stay in their dorms till tomorrow morning.
He went back to the archway. And into the hallway that led to the council chambers.
He had to go through the Council Chamber's side vent—a small, decorative balcony that overlooked the private meeting room. It was used for pruning the hanging ivy that decorated the high ceilings. He knew this parts of the school very well thanks to Mina and her adventures.
He climbed the maintenance ladder and crawled onto the ledge, staying flat on his stomach. He just needed to wait to be sure the room he was above, was clear before he moved on.
The heavy doors below groaned open.
"I told you to wait outside, Zayne."
It was the King's voice.
Elias froze.
They weren't supposed to be here. They supposed supposed to be in the main hall of the chambers… unless…
He was staring down through the leaves of the hanging ivy, looking directly at the top of the King's head.
"I thought you would want to discuss the 'Thornbloom problem' privately," Zayne's voice followed.
Elias's heart stopped.
"There is no Thornbloom problem." the King said. Elias heard the sound of a chair being pulled back. "The bloodline was neutralized five years ago. The boy is a non-entity. He has no magic of note. My scouts confirmed his 'neutrality' months ago."
"And yet," Zayne's voice was closer now, "he bloomed a White Transcendence. With Cassian. I saw the records, Father. Cassian's magic levels are stabilizing. He hasn't had a real breakdown in three days. Unlike before."
There was a pause.
"If Cassian is using the boy to hide his condition," the King said, his voice dropping to a growl, "then Cassian is more of a fool than I thought. The Gilded Ivy is a death sentence. I will not have a cursed king on the throne."
"So you knew?" Zayne asked. He sounded genuinely surprised. "You knew Cassian was poisoned?"
"I allowed the poison to reach him." the King stated.
Elias felt the world tilt. He had to dig his fingernails into the stone to keep from falling.
The King... had allowed his own son to be cursed? By his other son?
"Cassian was becoming too popular with the southern lords," the King continued.
"He needed a reminder of his mortality. A Prince who relies on a gardener to survive is a Prince who can be controlled. But if the boy is actually curing him... if the Thornbloom gift is stronger than we estimated... then the boy needs to be… moved."
"Moved?" Zayne asked.
"To the Black Cells," the King said. "We will find out if his blood can stabilize the Crown's own reserves. If he dies during the extraction, it is no loss. He is the last of them. His existence is an inefficiency I have tolerated for too long."
The doors opened again. "Your Highness, the Headmaster is ready."
The King and Zayne walked out.
Elias lay on the ledge, his face pressed against the cold stone. His parents hadn't died in an accident. Had they been used to fill the crown's reserve? What kind of reserve? And now, he wasn't just Cassian's secret healer.
He had to get to the greenhouse. As he looked down at the empty room, Elias realized the truth: Cassian's father knew about the curse and who cursed him.
Poor boy was trying to please a man that wanted him dead.
Elias was now the only thing standing between the Crown Prince and his early grave.