Chapter 92: _ Headmistress Maisie vs. Warden Clement

There was no other logical explanation for why my soul was currently screaming in agony for a prince who had done nothing but threaten me. A parasitic connection was humming between us, forcing his pain straight into my chest.

"Well, what the girl had just said is precisely what I want everyone to say." Headmistress Maisie’s voice broke my thoughts:

I snapped my head toward her.

Clement frowned, turning his stern gaze onto the Headmistress. "I beg your pardon, Headmistress?"

Maisie let out a bitter laugh, pacing toward the window. "How long are we going to allow High Rector Maddox to shield her worthless son, Commander? That boy belongs in a dark dungeon."

Clement’s eyes narrowed into hard slits. "Headmistress, Prince Raice is currently..."

"Prince Raice is a menace!" Maisie spat. "First, I heard rumors of the heinous crime he committed back in the Fae Academy... a crime his mother pulled strings to cover up! And now he has the audacity to break our regulations, walk into Last Bastion’s security block, and butcher our wardens and a prisoner?!"

She turned around and in her eyes, I saw the glow of ruthless political ambition. She was targeting High Rector Maddox; Raice was just a tool.

"I will not let this go. The Realms Council will hear of this immediately! This gross negligence will finally strip Maddox of her authority and remove her from her high seat!"

I stared at the Headmistress in absolute disgust.

She didn’t care about Tobin. She didn’t give a damn about the two dead wardens whose blood was still wet on the flagstones. She saw three corpses and a trapped prince, and her very first thought was how to use their dead bodies as a ladder to tear down her political rival, the High Rector. She was a vulture picking at fresh meat.

"Headmistress, Prince Raice maintains his innocence. While the physical evidence currently points to him because of his location, I intend to finish a thorough, unbiased investigation before making any formal declarations to the Realm Council."

"Don’t be naive, Silas!" Maisie scoffed, waving her hand dismissively. "The boy was caught standing over the bodies! Tell me, he is currently detained, isn’t he?"

"He is in the high-security holding block," Clement confirmed stiffly. "He is being kept there under heavy guard until High Rector Maddox arrives. He has been... cooperative."

"Good," Maisie purred. She turned her body, walking slowly toward the three of us.

She stopped right in front of Miriel, Bren, and me, leaning down slightly so her perfume filled my nose.

"Now, listen to me very carefully. You belong to the Dragon Academy. Your loyalty lies with this institution, not with foreign Fae royalty. When the High Rector arrives to defend her precious son, you will stand before the council."

My stomach turned to pure lead.

"And you will tell them," Headmistress Maisie instructed, a cruel smile curving her lips, "that back when the Sylven attacked you in the drainage sector... he explicitly told you that Prince Raice Ignis-Dominus was his leader and accomplice."

I stared at Headmistress Maisie in utter disbelief, the sickly-sweet scent of her jasmine perfume suffocating the office.

Lie to the Realm Council? Perjure ourselves against a Royal Prince of the Fae?

I stole a quick glance at my friends. Miriel’s eyes were wide with unadulterated terror as she looked toward the floor. Bren stood straight but her jaw locked so tightly that the muscles in her neck strained. Her eyes were darting toward Commander Clement for a sliver of intervention.

Commander Clement’s face remained unreadable but the subtle tightening around his eyes signaled his deep disapproval.

"Headmistress," Clement spoke up, stepping around his heavy desk. "Suborning testimony from first-year initiates before a formal investigation is completed violates standard security protocol. The initiates are currently under my jurisdiction as primary witnesses."

Maisie didn’t even turn around. She kept her eyes locked squarely on my face.

"Nonsense, Cross," Maisie said dismissively, waving a hand over her shoulder. "This is not subornation. It is simply aligning their memory with the greater good of Last Bastion. Foreign royalty cannot be allowed to walk into our academy and slaughter our personnel without consequence."

She stepped closer to me and let her fingernails gently lift my chin until I was forced to look directly into her cold eyes.

"You understand, don’t you, Initiate No-One? A markless commoner like you has no protection in this realm. No lineage. No noble house. But if you stand before the Council and deliver the testimony I require... I can personally guarantee your standing at Last Bastion. I can ensure you are protected, funded, and elevated."

The offer made me gulp.

It was the second time today a high-ranking official had tried to buy my integrity—first Master Eldritch with my merit marks, and now Headmistress Maisie with my very survival.

My mind raced back to Raice. I remembered his madness and arrogant nature... and yet, I remembered his touch too, the electrical sensation that had traveled through my body when I was wrapped in his arms and the invisible wire wrapped around my heart pulled tighter.

I will not be Maisie’s weapon.

"Headmistress, with all due respect... the Sylven never mentioned Prince Raice during the attack in the drainage sector. If I lied to the Realm Council, the High Rector’s truth-seers would unravel my testimony in seconds."

Maisie’s smile instantly vanished. The air in the room temperature abruptly dropped as her grip on my chin tightened just enough to bruise.

"Careful, girl," Maisie whispered. "In Last Bastion, uncooperative commoners tend to disappear into training accidents long before graduation."

"That is enough, Headmistress," Commander Clement’s voice boomed across the office.

He stepped directly between us, his broad frame cutting off Maisie’s sightline to me as he met the Headmistress’s furious glare without flinching.

"The initiates are dismissed to their quarters under security escort," Clement commanded. "I will handle their official statements under standard verification. You may take your concerns regarding High Rector Maddox to the council, but my precinct will not be used to stage political assassinations."

Headmistress Maisie’s eyes narrowed as she took a slow step toward him.

"You do not want to cross me, Commander Cross. I am the one who elevated you from the mud. I put you in that uniform, and I can just as easily strip it off your back and throw you into the dungeons alongside your high-born prince."