Chapter 24: The Silent Court
The invitation appeared on Evan's pillow that night—a single slip of black parchment, its edges burned as if pulled from a fire. The handwriting was elegant, unfamiliar, the ink a deep crimson that shimmered when tilted toward the guttering candlelight:
Midnight. The old observatory. Come alone.
Evan turned the note over, but there was no signature, no further explanation. Just those six words and the lingering scent of smoke clinging to the paper. He pressed it to his nose and inhaled—charred oak and something bitter, like crushed nightshade berries.
He shouldn't go.
Every instinct screamed it was a trap.
Evan tucked the note into his boot anyway.
The observatory stood at the academy's eastern edge, its domed roof cracked open like a broken eggshell. Moonlight streamed through the fractures, painting the dusty marble floor in jagged silver stripes. Evan moved like a shadow between them, his breath fogging in the chill air. The cold here was unnatural—the kind that seeped into bones and lingered, the kind that made teeth ache and fingers stiffen around dagger hilts.
Voices drifted from the central chamber—low, rhythmic, almost chanting. Evan pressed himself against the curved wall, easing closer until he could peer through the half-open iron door. His heart stuttered.
A circle of thirteen hooded figures stood around a raised obsidian platform, their faces hidden in shadow. The torchlight caught the edges of embroidered robes—faculty members Evan recognized despite the disguises: Professor Halric's distinctive limp, the way Mistress Darrow always stood with her weight on her right hip. At their center knelt three students—first-years by their slight builds, their hands bound behind them with glowing crimson cords. Their mouths moved frantically, but no sound came out, as if the very air had been stolen from their lungs.
Headmaster Caine stepped forward, his pale eyes gleaming like chips of ice in the torchlight. The others fell silent.
"You have been found guilty of rebellion," Caine intoned, his voice echoing oddly in the silent room. "Of spreading dissent among the student body. Of questioning the sacred rites of this institution."
One of the students—a girl with dark braids now coming undone—shook her head violently, her lips forming words Evan couldn't hear. Tears cut clean tracks through the dirt on her face.
Caine smiled. It didn't reach his eyes. "The sentence is binding."
He snapped his fingers.
The students' backs arched as one, their mouths stretching in silent screams. Thin tendrils of light—no, not light, magic—pulled from their chests, coiling like living smoke toward Caine's outstretched hand. The girl's braids lashed like whips as she convulsed, her eyes rolling back until only the whites showed. The cords around their wrists glowed brighter, pulsing in time with the stolen magic flowing into Caine's palm.
Evan's stomach turned. He took an involuntary step back—
A hand clamped over his mouth from behind, yanking him into the deeper shadows between bookshelves.
"Quiet," Selene breathed in his ear, her grip iron. Her silver eyes burned in the dark, brighter than he'd ever seen them. "Unless you want to join them."
Evan wrenched free, his back hitting the shelves hard enough to dislodge a cascade of star charts. Selene caught them before they could hit the floor, her movements eerily silent.
"What the hell is this?" Evan hissed, gesturing toward the horrific scene.
Selene's gaze flickered to the ritual, then back to Evan. In their depths, he saw something that terrified him more than anything in that room—genuine fear.
"The Silent Court," she whispered. "Where Caine deals with problems."
The students collapsed as one, their bodies limp as rag dolls. Caine closed his fist around the stolen magic, his lips moving in some incantation Evan couldn't hear. The crimson cords dissolved into mist.
"By stealing their magic?" Evan's voice cracked.
"By binding them." Selene turned away, her fingers brushing the spine of an ancient tome. The leather blackened slightly at her touch. "Those students will wake tomorrow remembering nothing. Their magic will answer to him now."
Evan's hands clenched. The scar on his chest throbbed in time with his racing heart. "And you knew about this?"
"Of course I knew." Selene's voice was sharp as broken glass. She grabbed his wrist, her fingers colder than the observatory stones. "I've been trying to stop it."
The admission hung between them, heavy with unspoken truths. Evan exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. It came away damp with sweat despite the chill. "Mira said you weren't telling me everything."
Selene went very still. "When did you speak to Mira?"
"Tonight. She offered me a book of forbidden spells."
For the first time, something like panic flickered across Selene's face. Her grip tightened. "You didn't take it."
It wasn't a question.
"No." Evan stepped closer, lowering his voice further as the hooded figures began filing out. "But I'm tired of secrets, Selene. If we're going to fight this, I need to know what we're up against."
The moonlight caught the curve of her throat as she swallowed. "You already saw part of it. The Vessel. The binding. But it's worse than that." She hesitated, then reached into her sleeve, withdrawing a small silver pendant—a crescent moon cradling a single star. The metal gleamed unnaturally in the dim light. "This was my mother's. The last headmistress before Caine."
Evan frowned. "I thought Lucian—"
"Killed her?" Selene's smile was bitter. She pressed the pendant into Evan's palm. It burned against his skin. "Oh, he did. But not before she bound him. Not before she bound me to watch over this place." Her fingers tightened around his. "I've been fighting this war longer than you've been alive, Evan. And I'm losing."
The raw honesty in her voice cracked something open in Evan's chest. Without thinking, he reached for her other hand. "Then let me help."
Selene looked down at their joined hands, then up at him. The silver in her eyes had softened, the light less harsh. "Why?"
"Because someone has to." He squeezed her fingers, ignoring the way the pendant seared his palm. "And because I trust you."
For a heartbeat, neither of them moved. Then Selene leaned in, her lips brushing his in a kiss as light as the moonlight around them. It was over almost before it began, but the warmth of it lingered, searing itself into Evan's memory.
When she pulled back, her voice was barely a whisper. "Then we fight together."
Behind them, the last torch guttered out, plunging the observatory into darkness. And for the first time in weeks, Evan felt something like hope flicker to life in his chest.