Page 79 of House Ignis

I turned before he could say anything else and continued up the stairs, my boots striking the stone with renewed purpose. His shadows followed me, not clinging or cloying, but just there—a second heartbeat at my back. We reached the towering double doors of the Headmaster's office, and I felt the old hesitation try to claw its way up my throat.

Asher didn't speak. He didn't need to. His shadows coiled lightly up my spine, cool and grounding, settling the tremor in my hands. And gods help me, since the first day I'd stepped into this Academy, I had never once told them to stop.

"You've got this, little one," Aether sent down the bond, steady and warm. Zya stood beside Asher, her silver eyes half-lidded and watchful, while Aether pressed against my side, his tail flicking in a protective, composed rhythm.

We were a united front. Asher gave me a single, sharp nod. I exhaled once, then pushed open the doors.

The Headmaster's office was pristine and commanding, flooded with golden light from the towering curved glass wall that overlooked the sprawling Academy grounds. Two men sat waiting: Silas, draped in flowing crimson robes, and my father.

King Solren Pyreson.

His posture was rigid, controlled, his green eyes locking onto me the second I stepped through the door. Silas rose immediately. "Princess Ava," he greeted warmly, sweeping forward to wrap me in a hug.

"I'm fine, really," I murmured into his robes, inhaling the familiar scent of cinnamon and old parchment.

Then I looked past him to my father. I saw it—the break in the mask. One single tear was trailing down his weathered cheek. It shattered something deep inside me.

"Father," I breathed.

He crossed the room in two long strides and pulled me into his arms. It was a fierce, crushing embrace, as if he were afraid I'd disappear if he loosened his grip by even a fraction.

"The thought of losing you too…" he whispered into my hair, his voice thick with a raw, jagged edge. "That is not a fear I am prepared to endure again."

"I'm okay," I said softly, leaning into his strength. "Truly."

He pulled back, his palm warm against my cheek as his thumb brushed beneath my eye. "You carry Jax's fire," he said, his voice regaining some of its regal weight. "I see it."

Then, his gaze shifted past me, the warmth vanishing as his expression hardened into the mask of a King.

"Is that the young male who intervened?"

I turned, my heart skipping a beat as I looked back at the shadow wielder standing in the doorway.

Asher stood tall, arms clasped behind his back, with Zya poised at his side like a silent sentinel. He was perfectly composed, perfectly still, a stark contrast to the volatile energy still humming in the room.

"Yes," Silas said, his voice steady but respectful. "Asher Maddox."

My father approached him slowly, his heavy boots sounding like a death knell on the polished floor. Aether stepped closer to me, his tail swishing once in a quiet, instinctual warning.

"You saved my daughter?" the King asked.

Asher inclined his head in a practiced, sharp gesture. "I did, Your Majesty. I regret that I was not faster."

A long, suffocating pause stretched between them. Then, my father nodded once. "You have my gratitude."

He turned back to me, and the warmth I'd felt moments ago vanished. His voice lowered into something iron-hard. "But Ava, you are returning home. Tonight."

The floor seemed to drop beneath me. "What? No—Father, I—"

"You are the heir to Zymarra," he cut in, each word deliberate and sharp as a blade. "And what occurred in that arena was not a duel. It was a breach."

Silas stepped forward carefully, hands raised in a placating gesture. "Your Majesty, Zorian has been expelled—"

"Expulsion is mercy," my father replied coldly, his green eyes burning with a sudden, fierce light. "Heightened magic is not bravery. It is a controlled overdraw. It is forcibly widening the elemental core beyond its natural limiter and dragging more power from the Containment Ring than the body was ever designed to channel."

The air in the office felt heavier, the pressure of his presence mounting.

"It strains the Monolith tether. It destabilizes the field. It risks a permanent core fracture." His gaze pinned mine, unforgiving. "And it is lethal when used recklessly."