A hand touched Ruby’s shoulder.

  Not hard.

  Not gently either.

  Just firmly enough to make it clear this was not a suggestion.

  “Miss Suncleanser,” the High Archmage of Light said.

  Her voice was calm, but there was nothing warm in it. It carried the sort of authority that made the entire arena seem to lean in her direction.

  “You will follow me.”

  The silence in the stands deepened.

  Ruby swallowed.

  Every student was watching.

  Cassian was still on the ground against the far wall, smoke rising from his uniform while medics and instructors hurried down toward him. Lena stood frozen near the railing, wide-eyed and pale, one hand still half-raised like she hadn’t fully decided whether to run down into the arena or not.

  Ruby nodded stiffly.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  The High Archmage of Light turned without another word.

  Ruby followed.

  It was deeply awkward.

  There was no other word for it.

  She could feel the eyes of the entire arena drilling into her back as she climbed the stone steps and crossed the gap behind the Archmage’s flowing white-and-gold robes. Students parted for them in silence. No one whispered now. No one ughed. No one even seemed to breathe very loudly.

  Ruby kept her face as neutral as she could.

  Inside, her stomach had dropped somewhere into her boots.

  They left the arena grounds and entered one of the inner corridors of the academy. The farther they walked from the noise, the more oppressive the quiet became. The Archmage never looked back to see if Ruby was still following. She simply moved forward with perfect certainty, as if the entire school belonged to her.

  Maybe it did.

  At least part of it.

  Eventually they stopped before a heavy oak door bound with silver metalwork. The Archmage opened it with a flick of her fingers. Light ran across the etched symbols in the frame, unlocking the room.

  “Wait here,” she said.

  Then she stepped out and shut the door behind her.

  Ruby stood still for several seconds.

  The room was circur, elegant, and obviously reserved for important meetings. Shelves lined one wall, filled with old books and scroll cases. A polished table of dark wood sat in the center beneath a hanging crystal mp that gave off soft pale light without fme. Tall windows overlooked an inner courtyard, but the gss was thick and faintly enchanted, muting both sound and gre. The air smelled faintly of ink, cedar, and old paper.

  Ruby did not sit.

  Sitting felt too casual.

  So she stood there like an idiot in the middle of the room and tried not to think about expulsion.

  Or imprisonment.

  Or execution.

  Would they execute a student on the first day?

  Probably not.

  Hopefully not.

  The door opened again.

  Ruby looked up.

  The High Archmage of Light entered first.

  And behind her came the headmaster.

  Ruby had seen him on the stage. He had looked old and powerful then.

  Up close, he looked worse.

  Or better.

  Or something harder to describe.

  Because to everyone else, they probably looked like two important mages entering a quiet room.

  To Ruby, the room suddenly became almost unbearable.

  Power flooded it.

  The High Archmage of Light radiated a brilliant, searing gold that rolled off her body in waves like controlled sunlight. It wasn’t just around her. It pressed outward in yered pulses, bright enough that Ruby’s eyes almost hurt trying to look directly at her.

  The headmaster was different.

  His aura was blue-white, vast and cold and deep, less like sunlight and more like moonlight reflected across a frozen sea. It wasn’t harsh the way the Archmage’s was. It was immense. The sort of magical presence that made Ruby feel like she had accidentally wandered into the territory of something ancient.

  She forgot to breathe.

  The Archmage was already speaking.

  “…the safety of the students must come first,” she said sharply. “Her intentions in the arena were obvious.”

  The headmaster lifted a hand slightly.

  “Let me see her first.”

  They both fully entered the room.

  The door shut behind them.

  Ruby tried to say something.

  Nothing came out.

  The pressure of their magic was making her skin prickle. The tiny hairs on her arms stood up. Her heartbeat felt too loud in her own ears.

  The High Archmage of Light noticed first.

  Her eyes narrowed.

  The headmaster, however, simply studied Ruby for a moment with mild curiosity.

  “Miss Suncleanser,” he said.

  His voice was calm. Older than the mountains. Not literally, but it felt that way.

  Ruby opened her mouth.

  Nothing.

  The Archmage folded her arms.

  “You see?” she said. “She nearly killed someone, Headmaster. She showed no regard for the students watching, no regard for containment safety, and no regard for the academy itself. The runes were close to rupture. If I had not intervened, it would have been a catastrophe.”

  Ruby tried again to speak.

  Still nothing.

  The headmaster watched her for one more second, then something in his expression shifted from assessment to understanding.

  As Ruby finally forced air into her lungs, the words that came out were not the ones she expected.

  “You too have a very prominent aura, sir.”

  The room went quiet.

  The High Archmage of Light stared at her.

  The headmaster blinked once.

  Ruby realized what she had said and immediately wanted to evaporate.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” she said quickly, pressing a hand to her chest because it somehow felt polite. “It’s just… hard.”

  She swallowed and tried to gather herself.

  “I’m sorry. I get carried away sometimes when someone purposely taunts and belittles me so in a fight with someone like that I tend to lose control. I know I went overboard and I am ready to receive whatever punishment you see fit.”

  Silence.

  The High Archmage of Light looked astonished for an entirely different reason now.

  The headmaster remained still for a long moment.

  Then, to Ruby’s shock, the blue-white pressure filling the room faded.

  Not completely.

  But almost.

  It vanished so thoroughly that if she had seen him walking through the academy courtyard now, she might never have realized he was one of the most powerful mages in the kingdom.

  The shift was instant relief.

  Ruby took a deeper breath without meaning to.

  The headmaster’s mouth curved into a faint, almost amused smile.

  “Is that better, my dear?”

  Ruby blinked.

  “Yes, sir. Thank you.”

  The High Archmage of Light did not follow his example.

  Her aura still burned through the room, but without the headmaster’s presence pressing against it, it became manageable.

  Barely.

  The headmaster csped his hands behind his back and regarded Ruby with renewed interest.

  “You can perceive magical aura that clearly?”

  Ruby hesitated.

  “…yes, sir.”

  “How unusual.”

  The High Archmage of Light looked immediately displeased.

  “Unusual or not, it changes nothing. She is dangerous.”

  Ruby’s gaze flicked toward her.

  Dangerous.

  Yes.

  That sounded about right.

  The headmaster turned slightly to his associate.

  “You said she nearly killed someone.”

  “I did.”

  “And she did so with no regard for the arena’s limits.”

  “She lost herself in combat,” the Archmage said. “That is not some minor fw in a student. It is exactly the sort of fw that gets other students killed. Today it was Mr. Yulhart. Tomorrow it may be her dormmates. Or her cssmates. If she uses decay magic haphazardly there could be monstrous consequences.”

  The words hit harder than Ruby expected.

  Because she knew that kind of thing could happen.

  She had seen what happened in the forest when panic, grief, and power mixed too quickly.

  Trees dying around her.

  The sudden silent rot that followed her crying breakdown…

  Decay.

  The word came to her immediately now that someone had said it in another form.

  That magic had a name.

  Decay.

  Astute name.

  The headmaster was still watching her.

  The High Archmage of Light continued.

  “What if she uses decay magic accidentally? What if she kills fellow students in her dorm or element because she loses her temper? You heard her yourself. She gets carried away.”

  Ruby winced.

  Saying it honestly had felt mature five seconds ago.

  Now it mostly felt stupid.

  The headmaster turned back toward Ruby.

  “Tell me, Miss Suncleanser. Do you bear any of the students or faculty here ill will?”

  The question was so blunt that Ruby almost frowned.

  But she answered honestly.

  “No, sir. I just wish to learn as much as I can here.”

  The headmaster nodded.

  “I believe her.”

  The High Archmage of Light made an exasperated sound.

  “Ugh, you are impossible. What about other students’ lives?”

  “I believe she bears no ill intentions, but I see your point,” the headmaster said mildly.

  Then he looked at Ruby again.

  “While I trust your words, I cannot say I trust your control one hundred percent. Since, as you said, you do lose control a bit in combat.”

  Ruby lowered her eyes.

  That was fair.

  More than fair.

  The headmaster continued.

  “I think it best that I agree, in part, with Archmage Seraphelle.”

  So that was her name.

  Seraphelle.

  It suited her.

  Ruby’s stomach dropped.

  No.

  No, the words were coming.

  She could feel them.

  “You are hereby expelled from Ignis Wing.”

  The world lurched under her feet.

  No.

  Her heart fell so fast it almost hurt physically.

  Expelled.

  She stared at him.

  Then he continued.

  “And will now become the proprietor, head, and sole member of Obscura Hall.”

  Ruby blinked.

  Her thoughts stopped so abruptly it felt like tripping.

  “…what?”

  Even Seraphelle looked thrown for half a second.

  The headmaster folded his hands again, almost pleasantly.

  “There is no Obscura Hall,” Ruby said before she could stop herself.

  “Not official, technically it'salready under consteuction,” he replied.

  The High Archmage of Light stared at him.

  “You cannot be serious.”

  “Oh, I am.”

  He moved toward the window as he spoke, not dramatically, just thoughtfully, like he had been turning this over for longer than anyone realized.

  “Dark magic has not been outwed in forty years. Unreguted in many pces, hated in most, certainly, but not outwed. And yet the academy still behaves as though the very existence of infernal or shadow-based magic is some scandalous impossibility.”

  Seraphelle’s face hardened.

  “It is a scandal when it nearly kills students.”

  “It is a problem when it is untrained,” the headmaster corrected.

  He turned back to them both.

  “More and more mages have begun demonstrating dark affinities since the ws changed. Quietly. Inconsistently. Most hide it because they know exactly how they will be treated.”

  Ruby said nothing.

  Because, yes.

  Exactly that.

  The headmaster continued.

  “It is time the academy gets with the times. The empire is already debating whether a formal dark magic advisor should be appointed to support the war effort and the border skirmishes with demonic incursions. Sooner or ter, the old traditions will break under the weight of necessity.”

  His eyes drifted to Ruby.

  “Who knows. This young dy may one day become the first High Archmage of Darkness.”

  Seraphelle looked positively furious.

  “That is absurd.”

  “Perhaps.”

  “But not impossible.”

  He looked back at Ruby again.

  “You are not suited to remain in Ignis Hall. That much my associate is correct about. Too many students. Too much heat. Too much proximity. Too much chance for another incident.”

  Ruby swallowed.

  Then quietly said, “Yes, sir.”

  The headmaster nodded once.

  “So. Obscura Hall.”

  Seraphelle closed her eyes for one long moment like she was praying for patience and not finding it.

  “You are building a hall for one student.”

  “For the first,” he corrected.

  Her eyes snapped back open.

  He continued without pause.

  “If the academy intends to survive the next few decades, it will need a pce for those whose magic no longer fits comfortably into the old six wings. She will not be the st.”

  That argument, unfortunately for Seraphelle, was very strong.

  Ruby could see it in the way the Archmage’s anger shifted into tight-lipped displeasure rather than outright refusal.

  And since it was the first day.

  And since the duel had been issued by a noble who, outside school grounds, she would have been socially expected to answer.

  And since expelling a magically gifted student over one nearly catastrophic duel would probably look terrible…

  Seraphelle had no clean way to stop it.

  She turned toward Ruby.

  “You are still a danger.”

  Ruby nodded.

  “I know.”

  That answer seemed to irritate her even more.

  The headmaster, however, looked amused again.

  “Yes,” he said softly. “I think you do.”

  By sunset, Ruby was carrying her things.

  Not many things.

  A trunk, a satchel, two folded bnkets, several books, and a pillow Mara had reluctantly shoved into her arms with the expression of someone who didn’t understand what was happening but disliked it on principle.

  The other fire students stared as she packed.

  Some looked nervous.

  A few looked almost impressed.

  Mara looked offended on her behalf.

  “This is stupid,” she said ftly.

  Ruby managed a weak smile.

  “It's for your safety.”

  "Sure. See you around I guess."

  Ruby left the room, that was suppose to be her dorm.

  Lena walked beside her as two silent attendants guided them through parts of the academy Ruby had not even known existed. Down narrow staircases behind warded doors. Along stone passages where the air grew cooler and the noise of the school faded with every step.

  By the time they reached the final gate, Ruby no longer felt like she was moving into another dorm.

  She felt like she was being buried.

  The st door opened with a low grinding sound.

  The attendants stepped aside.

  “Obscura Hall,” one of them said.

  Ruby stared.

  The hall stretched beneath the academy like a hidden manor built into a dungeon. The ceilings were lower than the main school but still high enough to feel deliberate rather than cramped. Dark stone walls had been polished smooth, and enchanted mps burned in iron sconces with pale blue light that never flickered. The corridors were wide, lined with bck wood doors trimmed in silver metalwork. Rich carpets ran the length of the central hall, dark enough to swallow footfalls. There were sitting rooms with velvet chairs no one had sat in. Shelves waiting for books no one had pced. A small dining chamber with a long table meant for a dozen people and set for none.

  It was furnished beautifully.

  And completely empty.

  No voices.

  No footsteps.

  No ughter bleeding through walls.

  No distant arguments between roommates.

  No sound of fire students yelling downstairs or wind students racing each other across balconies.

  Just silence.

  Ruby stepped forward slowly.

  Her boots echoed.

  That somehow made it worse.

  This wasn’t school life.

  This was isotion dressed up in expensive furniture.

  Lena stood in the doorway, looking around with open disbelief.

  “This is creepy.”

  Ruby let out one weak ugh.

  “Yeah.”

  At the center of the hidden hall was a circur common room with a domed ceiling painted midnight blue. Silver stars had been worked into the pster overhead, and the effect was almost beautiful enough to distract from how alone it all felt. At the far end stood a single set of private chambers that had clearly been prepared in a hurry. Fresh bedding. Writing desk. Wardrobe. Bath. Study alcove.

  A dorm built for exactly one person.

  Ruby set her trunk down in the middle of the room.

  The sound echoed.

  Then died.

  And the silence that followed settled over her like dust.

  Her earlier fear had burned out.

  So had most of the anger.

  Now she mostly just felt tired.

  She had wanted academy life.

  The closeness of it.

  The packed halls. The loud dorms. The feeling of being surrounded by other students her age.

  This…

  This felt like punishment with polished floors.

  Lena stepped farther in, then immediately looked back toward the open door as though instinct was telling her not to linger in a pce that quiet.

  Ruby stood there staring at the empty room.

  Obscura Hall.

  Her own hall and wing.

  Her exile.

  And for the first time since stepping into the academy, Ruby felt no excitement for the coming years.