Chapter 40: To Be Feared.

I stood where the Arbiter had been. Crystal shards glittered around my bare feet. The air still hummed. A hum that almost matched the thing burning inside me. I had broken something again.

The silence was filled by something I knew well. There was one expression people had always made when I’d showed them what I was. Humans. Elves. Dwarves. Beastkin. Lizardfolk. They had always borne the same expression, one that cut across their differences. It was a mix of fear and awe. The fear came from seeing something dangerous, almost beyond comprehension. The awe came from finding the beauty in it anyway.

I had seen it a thousand times before. Ten thousand. A hundred thousand. It had long since stopped being interesting. These expressions stared back at me now, and I noticed them as I rarely had before. My hands clenched tight. Too tight. A Demon Queen was supposed to revel in these gazes. I wanted them to look at anything else.

The Inker recovered first. He rose from the floor where the shockwave had put him, brushing crystal dust from his robes with trembling hands. His face twisted when he found me. “What did you do, half-demon?” He stared at the empty space where the pillar had stood. His voice cracked as it rose, and in the silence, it filled the hall. “Clearly this measurement is compromised. The Arbiter must have been-“

“In forty-one years,” the Archon said, “I have seen only one Arbiter ever crack.” The old man had not raised his voice. He stood at the rear with his hands clasped. “I had thought that was as far as they could go.” He said, slowly approaching. “I never imagined I would see one shatter entirely. It will need to be inspected. This one has been here since the founding of this Academy, perhaps age has worn away at it. But for now, well done.”

The Inker’s mouth opened and closed. He slowly nodded to himself. “That’s right…it was just…old. Had to be…no way a half-”

The Archon did not look at him. “Lysanthia,” the Archon said. “Follow me. I wish to speak with you privately.”

Ash stepped forward before I could move. She was already between me and the hall, and now she’d taken one step towards the Archon. “She is not going alone.”

The Archon regarded her. His face didn’t so much as twitch. “I only wish to speak with her.”

Ash’s jaw set. “It is no sin to be beyond measurement. I will not let you-“

“You misunderstand, child.” His voice was gentle. “She is not in any trouble. I simply wish to speak with her. That is all. You have my word that nothing will happen to her.”

Ash looked back at me. I held her gaze for a moment, then nodded. “I will be fine.” I said, though I did not believe it. Ash looked stricken. Slowly, she stepped out of the way. Perhaps she wasn’t entirely a fool.

I moved toward the door. It was still quiet. Every face in the hall turned as I passed. I had seen those eyes before. My gaze found the demonbloods, the dozen or so I saw. They were easy to pick out. They looked terrified. Something in my chest ached. I did not examine it.

Ren stood near the main door. I had seen her seated last. When she had stepped here, I did not know. I moved past her. “Why the hell do you look like that?” Ren asked. Her voice was quiet, which might have been the first time I had heard it so low.

I stopped and looked at her. “You wanted me to prove myself, did you not?”

The words came out with something in them that did not match. Ren opened her mouth. I did not wait for what followed. I stepped through the door and into the corridoor, where the Archon was already walking

The walk was silent. The Archon moved at a measured pace, his hands clasped behind his back. I followed two steps behind and let my mind do what it had always done. In my head, I ran through two scenarios. The two likely outcomes. The first: this man was going to kill me. He had the power. I had just revealed myself as a threat that could not be measured. Eliminating threats before they grew was a simple and effective strategy. I would have done it myself.

The second: he was going to bind me, in some fashion. This Consecration had always been a leash with a long lead. Now that he had seen what I could do, the leash would tighten.

Either option seemed likely and both were familiar. Isabelle’s voice found me unbidden. The payment will come. It always comes. It was a good thing that my face hadn’t betrayed me in front of Ash.

Occasionally we would walk past students. There were many of them -people who obviously hadn’t been there at the measuring. They glanced at me, glanced at the Archon, and then were the picture of civility. They had not looked at me so when I had been on my own.

We arrived in that familiar hallway. The Archon opened the door to his study and stepped inside. I followed. The room was as I remembered it. A room too small for the power this old man so obviously had. I waited. The Archon moved around his desk. He opened a drawer. He came back to me. This was it. It was going to be some device that-

He had a pair of bracers. Mirrors to the one I already wore, if I was not mistaken. He held them out. I stared at them. Stared at him. “Have you not looked at your own hands?” he asked.

I looked down. My marks were flickering, slowly. Black and white bled through the red and green disguise, surfacing and retreating and surfacing again. I had not looked.

“My apologies for the haste,” the Archon said. “I wished to remove you from that hall before anyone else noticed. I do not believe they did. Your display was a rather…apt distraction, even if it did overwhelm the first pair. For now, it seems your secret holds.”

I took off the old bracers. It was as simple as drawing all the power away from my arms, and then they fell away. I took the new bracers and fitted them. Red and green once again perfectly hid Black and White. “Is this why you brought me here?” I asked.

The Archon looked at me. Then he shook his head. I braced myself. “The bracers were meant to be enough,” he said, slowly. He moved to the window, clasping his hands behind his back. “I had expected you to be extraordinary, with two Sovereigns. That was the purpose of Consecration. I had expected a result that would impress, perhaps shock. Something that justified my investment.”

He looked out at the Academy grounds below. Students crossed the yard in their grey uniforms. “I had not expected what you showed me.” He turned back. There was something in his expression I had not seen on this man’s face before. It was neither fear nor anything else I could have named. Only that it was a strange expression on someone with power.

“I will try to contain what happened today within these walls,” he said. “I will spread word that the Arbiter was malfunctioning and overdue for replacement. I will say that your result was excellent, but the crystal was already compromised.” He paused. “I am afraid it will not hold for long. There are people who will hear of this. People even I will have trouble dealing with.”

“Do you truly believe that story will do anything?” I asked. Why was he making this nonsensical offer at all?

“Perhaps not. But at the very least, it may buy you time.”

“Time for what?”

“To grow stronger. You should have had years. After that…I fear even a year may be optimistic. You may only have months. Use them wisely.” He looked at me. “There is a resonance chamber, one that only the Crests are allowed to use. One that I use myself. Being a resonance chamber is perhaps just…a small part of what it is, but it is a good training ground. You may use it. I believe you might be able to handle the strain. You may bring your friend. When you wish to use it, come to me. Before that, you should try the classes we offer. Perhaps those will be enough to get to Sigil.” He looked at me with an intensity that might have made someone else squirm. “Your goal should be to advance to the Crest, and quickly. It is…asking for much, but it might be possible. For you.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

I studied him. Every instinct I possessed told me this was the moment the price was named. I knew I should not ask. I should not tell the hunter that the prey knew it was being stalked. I asked anyway. “Just what do you want from me in return?” I demanded. “Unless you are giving all of this out of the goodness of your heart.”

“No,” the Archon said. “I am not.” He said it quickly, as if it required no thought at all.

“What, then?”