After his meeting with Ellenikke, Cassian quickly left the family’s house, eventually making his way to the barracks where branch family Crescents were stationed and given their duties. His time away from the House had scraped away his indoctrinated views of nobility and their incessant need to categorise and condescend people. Now that he had returned, the customs of noble society were rearing their ugly faces at him again.

  House Moon was one of the largest noble houses in the continent, mostly owing to the founder’s decision to absorb smaller clans and fallen houses into their fold. Doing so gave House Moon incomparable resources and manpower, allowing them to extend their control over not just military strength, but also governance, economic power and education. But to allow non-blood related outsiders into the House would threaten the purity of the House’s bloodline. To remedy this, a clear distinction was made between main line families descended from the original founder, and branch families absorbed into the House later on.

  This not only manifested in main line family members having an extra middle name to signify their status, but also in the general opportunities, or rather lack of them, given to the branch families. Crescents from branch families were often given tasks the main line Crescents deemed either too menial or too dangerous for themselves. They were even segregated to smaller barracks with less furnishing than the main line Crescents were afforded. This disparity in opportunities meant branch family members had a hard time climbing the ranks of the House, even those that were talented enough to be chosen as Starlings rarely made it past Crescent. The rift between main line families and branch families grew only further with time, and so did their resentment. Cassian filed this thought away, it would be useful to keep in mind for his future plans, but now he needed to focus on the task at hand, acquiring the Jade Fang.

  As Cassian approached the barrack’s yard, he saw a group of branch Crescents engaged in training. Their Adept-rank bodies slammed into each other like quaking planets, each hit bolstered heavily by their superhuman strength. Spells were rarely used if ever during sparring, while it was possible to pull a punch or a kick, Adept-rank mages still would not have such fine control of their spells yet, and risking permanent injury or death for a spar was not worth it. Regardless, the spars still looked horrifyingly harsh to non-mages, with even glancing blows sounding like warhammers clashing. Their Adept-rank bodies, strengthened by magic as they were, prevented these blows from doing any lasting damage however.

  Despite their family’s diminished statuses, these were still Adept-rank mages serving one of the most powerful noble houses in the continent, and their training certainly reflected that.

  “Kid, you can’t be in here,” said one of the Crescents as he spotted the wandering Cassian.

  This was the same brawny young man he’d fought in his reinstatement trial, Jacob. Without his uniform and gear, the Crescent looked somehow even more intimidating, with his muscles bulging out and veins snaking underneath his skin.

  The pair recognised each other at the same time and the young Crescent almost tripped over himself as he did.

  “Young Master Cassian. Congratulations on your reinstatement,” Jacob said as he composed himself. “What are you doing here? Are you interested in sparring with us?”

  Cassian raised an eyebrow at his invitation, letting the question sit in silence for a few seconds as he eyed the muscular young man and then his own, comparatively, frail body.

  “Thank you, but I’m here for something else. I want to join one of your missions as a tag-along, preferably within the next two weeks.”

  To ensure their Starling scions were as prepared for future trials as possible, main line families tended to send them along with Crescents on real missions to collect real world experience. This was, of course, strictly prohibited and was decreed so by the Elder Council. Starlings were often young teens or children, sending them on life-or-death missions tailored for Adept-rank mages was neither a sensible nor safe idea.

  Despite its outlawing however, sending young scions as tag-alongs often still happened, albeit secretly. Ironically, to keep this secret, the young scions would be sent along with branch family Crescents who themselves never had this opportunity as children. Given their diminished status, doing secret favors for main line families was one of the ways many low-ranked Crescents made their way up the ladder.

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  “No.”

  “No?”

  “No.”

  Cassian affected a calm demeanour, but he was still surprised by the unhesitating shutdown from Jacob’s side. More than that, he was beginning to grow annoyed with how quickly the House members wanted to turn him down before even hearing his propositions. First there was Ellenikke, and now he was being denied by a Crescent.

  “You haven’t heard what I can give you in return yet.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I cannot bring a child on a mission.”

  Jacob’s face was without anger or offense, simply one of blunt truth. Cassian realized now what kind of person he was dealing with. He’d seen Jacob’s type many times before, albeit usually not in noble houses. People like Jacob were righteous with an intense fervor, unflinching in their integrity and a shining beacon in whatever community they belonged to. There would be no use asking him to bend the rules for a haughty young scion, it would never work.

  Much to his fortune however, they were in a noble house, and righteousness did not rule here, this was a land rife with the tyranny of rank and power. Before Jacob could deny Cassian anymore fervently, another lanky Crescent had approached them. Owyn was the second Crescent Cassian had faced in his trials, and who he almost lost to. The young man was a creature of furrowed brows and piercing eyes, giving him an effortlessly serious demeanour. His clean shaven head only added more to the sentiment.

  “We have a mission in two days to escort a mining operation out of a mountain, there will be magic beasts along the way we’ll need to deal with,” said Owyn.

  “The Northern Mountain range?”

  “Yes. How did you know that?”

  “What are you telling him for, Owyn? We can’t bring him with us.”

  “Your integrity is your choice to make, Jacob, but integrity alone isn’t enough for me.”

  “I could easily report this to a Gibbous and have the whole thing stopped.”

  “You can. But you’ll have to live with what you’d be doing to me and my family.”

  Jacob went silent at that and after a moment, walked away from them in silence.

  Owyn continued talking without taking his eyes off Jacob. “My father made a grave mistake while working for one of the Elders, and now our entire family is at risk of exile. The only reason we haven’t been kicked to the curb yet is because of my service as a Crescent.”

  Cassian nodded along, this was a story he recognised. The margin of error branch nobles operated in were miniscule, it was why Cassian was so impressed with Ellenikke’s rise to the top.

  “But so long as I remain a branch Crescent, I will never be able to do enough to protect my family. Now you know what I want, can you provide it? Do you still have the support of the Eamons?”

  “No, that I do not have,” Owyn let out a disappointed sigh. “My parents won’t have me in their good graces now or anytime soon. But favour can be bought with more than just good will.”

  “I don’t follow.”

  “Your squad leader is Sylvan.”

  Owyn creased his brows.

  “What if I have unsavory news that he would rather keep under wraps?”

  “Squad Leader Sylvan’s scandalous behaviour is an open secret. This doesn't help me.”

  “And if I have something even more damning than what his reputation already suggests?”

  Cassian reached into his robe’s pockets and handed a piece of crumpled paper to him. Still skeptical, Owyn slowly unfurled the fist sized note and read it with increasing alarm.

  “How did you get this?”

  “Let’s say I obtained it during my time outside the House.”

  “How can I be sure it’s even real?”

  “That’s just a fraction of the truth. Tell Sylvan what you know now, and that you have even more hidden with a secret accomplice. Ask him to ensure protection for your family in exchange for keeping his secret. If he does that, you’ll know it’s real. Once the mission is over and I’m back safely, the rest of the secrets are yours.”

  “And if this is fake? I would be risking the ire of a mainline scion.”

  “Just float the idea around him. I imagine he’s crabby enough already having to keep something like this secret.”

  Owyn read the note one more time in disbelief then gave Cassian a silent nod.