Chapter 28: Discussion [1]
The infirmary was quiet.
Soft healing magic moved over Claire in slow pulses while healers worked around her bed without speaking. Her breathing was steady.
Outside in the corridor, the quiet was a different kind.
Darius stood with his hands folded behind his back. To anyone passing by, he looked the same as always. But the people who knew him well enough could see it. Something around the eyes, something in the set of his jaw that wasn’t usually there.
Students moved through the corridor in clusters, voices low.
"I still can’t believe it was Senior Claire... Do you think she actually caused all of this?"
"What kind of punishment do you give someone like her? She’s the Headmaster’s granddaughter—"
"The Headmaster himself would have to decide, wouldn’t he..."
Their voices faded as they moved on.
Alden sat outside the infirmary door and listened to all of it.
’Rumors move faster than facts.’ He leaned his head back against the wall. ’Always have.’
The Student Council had gathered nearby. They’d been quiet for a while before Nicholas finally broke it.
"Senior Seris," He looked at her directly. "Do you have the Helion Core?"
"No."
Nicholas frowned. "You don’t? But you defeated the Core Bearer."
"We did." Leon cut in before Seris could continue. "But the Helion Core wasn’t there. Not on Claire. Not anywhere in the chamber."
Nathan folded his arms. "That doesn’t make sense. If Claire was carrying it—"
"Then where did it go?" Leon finished for him. "Because we ourselves want to know where it just vanished."
No one had an answer.
Roselle stayed quiet, which was unusual.
Augustus leaned against the far wall with his arms crossed, listening without adding anything.
Alden was lost in his thoughts.
’Since the story has already changed, is the character who’s going to be useful going to end up leaving the academy? No, I can’t let that happen. I need her for too many things in the future.’
He stood up, and walked to Darius without saying anything first, stopping in front of him and waiting until the headmaster’s eyes met his.
"Gramps."
Darius said nothing.
"I have a request." Alden kept his voice level. "When Claire wakes up, I want to speak with her first. Before anything else happens." He held the headmaster’s gaze.
"Don’t give any punishment or judgement. Not until I’ve talked to her. Please, just wait."
The corridor went quiet around them.
Nicholas and Leon exchanged a glance. Roselle looked at Alden with her eyes slightly narrowed, like she was reading something in his face that she wasn’t sure she was reading correctly.
Darius studied him for several seconds.
Then: "...Okay."
______
The council meeting room had become a courtroom nobody had officially called.
Every council member was present. Students who’d been directly involved in the battle stood around the edges as witnesses.
"Why are we waiting?" A student near the back didn’t bother keeping the irritation out of his voice. "Claire was found unconscious inside the Helion Core. She’s connected to everything that happened. Why is nothing being done? Is it because her grandfather runs this academy?"
"Exactly! The academy can’t just ignore this!"
"Students were injured because of her! Dozens of them! If the Headmaster can’t judge his own granddaughter, he should step down!"
The room erupted.
Nathan raised his hand and waited until the noise dropped enough for his voice to carry. "I understand the anger. I’m angry too. But we don’t have the full picture yet. Until Claire wakes up and tells us what happened herself, we can’t declare her guilty and hand down punishment."
"That’s not justice! that’s delay!"
"We all saw what happened!"
"Enough."
Nicholas’s voice wasn’t loud, but the room quieted.
"Arguing about this doesn’t move us forward. The Headmaster didn’t cause this incident, so turning it into a case against him makes no sense. Right now we need to understand what actually happened to Claire. That comes before anything else."
The students settled, though several of them looked like settling took real effort.
Augustus sat in his chair with his chin resting on one hand, eyes moving across the room without landing anywhere specific.
Seris sat nearby. She hadn’t said a word since the meeting started. Her crimson eyes moved from person to person.
"What exactly is going on here?"
Every head turned toward the entrance.
Alden stood in the doorway.
The temperature of the room shifted immediately. Several students stiffened.
Alden walked straight to the council table and stopped.
"Why is this meeting happening, President?" He looked at Augustus first. "I made it clear in front of everyone that nobody was making decisions about Claire until I’d spoken with her."
Augustus rubbed his ear with his little finger. "I know, I know. I’m just sitting here. Innocent bystander."
Nathan turned toward Alden with a frown. "What are you doing in here Alden? This is a council meeting. Leave."
"Aren’t you forgetting something, Nathan?" Seris spoke without looking up from the table in front of her.
Nathan turned toward her.
"Alden identified the Helion Core’s bearer." Her voice stayed even and unhurried. "He was also in the chamber when the dragon was defeated and the bearer was separated from the Core. He was directly involved in resolving this incident." Her crimson eyes lifted to Nathan’s face. "Considering all of that, I believe he has more than enough reason to be present."
Nathan went quiet.
Seris leaned back slightly in her chair. "Unless you think the person who helped save this academy has no right to know what happens next."
The room had nothing to add to that.
Alden glanced at her sideways.
’She’s really good at shutting people up.’
Nathan pressed his elbow into the table and propped his cheek against his fist. His eyes on Alden had a specific coldness in them that wasn’t quite accusation and wasn’t quite trust.
"Fine," he said. "But you clearly didn’t come here just to remind us about the meeting. You have something to say. So say it."
Everyone’s attention shifted.
Alden was quiet for a moment.
"I already talked to Claire."
The room went very still.
"She woke up a few minutes ago."
"She woke up already?"
"When?"
Voices overlapped. Nicholas leaned forward. "What did she say?"
Alden looked around the room, the council members, the student witnesses, Nathan’s flat stare, Augustus still resting his chin on his hand, Seris watching him with her usual unreadable patience.
"After hearing her out," he said. "I can say that she’s innocent."
Nathan’s eyes narrowed immediately.
"How so?" The sharpness in his voice was back, no pretense of patience behind it. "Explain it in a way everyone in this room can actually follow."