Chapter 26 #2
"Is it that important?" Sonia cut in, her composure cracking slightly. "You were approached. That’s the truth, isn’t it?"
"But I didn't take the deal," Cassara said slowly, watching Sonia's face. "So why accuse me?"
"Because I saw your beast." Sonia's voice hardened. "That ridiculous little creature. I saw what you bonded with and I knew—"
She stopped abruptly, realizing she'd said too much.
Cassara went very still. "You saw Flicker. Before the reveal. When?”
“Does it matter when? I saw him and—”
“What? Thought that I'd be desperate enough to cheat?"
"You should have been desperate!" Sonia said, her careful mask finally cracking. "Anyone with half a brain would have taken that deal. You could have had something actually useful, something that wouldn't make you a laughingstock. You turned down a fire drake—"
"How do you know what he offered?" Cassara interrupted quietly.
"Because I gave him the perfect opportunity!" Sonia exploded, throwing the books down into the chest. "I saw your pathetic excuse for a beast and I thought, 'here's a chance.' I arranged it. I made sure he'd approach you with something good enough that you couldn't possibly refuse—"
"You hired him," Cassara breathed.
"So what if I did?" Sonia's face flushed with anger. "You were supposed to take it! But no, precious Cassara Allencourt is too noble, too principled—"
"You tried to frame me."
"I tried to expose you for what you are!" Sonia stepped forward, all pretense gone now. "You get everything! The rankings, the attention, Julian—and you act like you don't even want it! Like it's all such a burden!"
There it was.
Cassara stared at her, disbelief cutting through the anger. "This is about Julian?"
"He's obsessed with you," Sonia spat, stepping closer, her voice rising. "Follows you around like a lovesick fool and you can't even be bothered to appreciate it! You have everything I've ever wanted handed to you on a silver platter and you just—"
She jabbed a finger toward Cassara's chest.
"You don't deserve any of it," Sonia hissed. "Not him. Not your ranking. Not the attention. Nothing."
Cassara's hand shot out and knocked the items from Sonia's other hand. Personal effects scattered across the floor—a jewelry box, a framed portrait, bottles of perfume that rolled under beds.
The sharp crack of breaking glass punctuated the silence.
"You want Julian?" Cassara's voice was ice. "Take him. He's yours."
Sonia's expression twisted. "You don't mean that."
"I mean every word." Cassara held her gaze. "You think he's some prize? You're welcome to him."
"Liar," Sonia hissed. "You're just saying that because you know he'd never choose me over you—"
"I'm saying it because I don't want him." Cassara stepped closer. "I never did. Whatever fantasy you've built in your head about him, about me—it's just that. A fantasy."
"You're so smug," Sonia said, her voice shaking with fury. "So convinced you're better than everyone else. Well look at you now. Obsidian. Bottom of the rankings. And it's exactly where you deserve to be."
Cassara's hands curled into fists at her sides. It would be so easy to hit her.
One punch. Just one.
"You hired someone to destroy my future because you're jealous of something I don't even want," she said quietly. "That's pathetic, Sonia."
"At least I'm honest about what I want!" Sonia shot back. "At least I don't pretend to be above it all while manipulating everyone around me—"
The door opened behind them. Liri stood there, eyes wide, Evie just behind her. They took in the scene—the scattered belongings, the two girls standing too close, the tension in the air.
"What's going on?" Liri asked carefully.
Sonia stepped back, her chest heaving. For a moment, Cassara thought she might say something else.
Instead, she crouched and began gathering her scattered things with jerky, angry movements.
"Nothing," Sonia said coldly. "I was just leaving."
She shoved the last of her belongings into the trunk with more force than necessary, then hauled it toward the door. Liri and Evie pressed against the wall to let her pass.
Sonia paused in the doorway, glancing back.
"For what it's worth," she said, voice flat, "I don't regret it. You deserved everything you got."
Then she was gone.
The silence that followed felt suffocating.
"Cass?" Liri's voice was gentle. She stepped forward, hand reaching out. "What happened? What was she talking about?"
Cassara stared at the space where Sonia had been, at the empty corner that would soon belong to someone else.
"She hired the poacher," Cassara said, her voice hollow. "The whole thing. She set me up."
"What?" Evie's voice cracked. "But—why?"
"Because she's jealous." The words tasted bitter. "Because she wants things I don't even want and can't stand that I have them."
Liri moved closer, clearly wanting to comfort her. "Cass, I'm so sorry. We should tell someone, the headmistress—"
"No." Cassara cut her off. "It doesn't matter. She admitted it to me, not anyone who matters. It's my word against hers and we both know how that goes."
"But—"
"Liri." Cassara turned to face her friend, exhaustion settling into every bone. "I can't. Not right now."
"Okay," she said softly. "But we're here. When you're ready."
Cassara nodded once, unable to find words.
She sank onto her bed, still in her gala gown, the gold chains cold against her skin. Liri and Evie retreated to their own beds, giving her space.
Alone with her thoughts, Cassara stared at the ceiling.
She should feel something. Rage, maybe. The desire for revenge.
Instead, she just felt tired.
So impossibly tired.
Cassara walked onto the main training with her back straight and her chin lifted, every step confident. She could feel the eyes on her, curious, pitying, amused. Let them look. She’d given them plenty of reasons to.
Every first-year had been summoned. Dozens lined up in ranked order, backs stiff, uniforms neat, beasts pacing or perched nearby.
And above them all, the Crestboard loomed, alive with shifting glyphs and cold, unfeeling truth.
Names flickered like stars in a dying sky, each one stamped with a color-coded sigil. Platinum at the top and at the bottom…
Cassara’s breath caught.
Obsidian.
The sigil flared beside her name like a brand. She’d known her fall had cost her and that her performance in the Reveal had been a mess of pain and panic and shame. But Obsidian?
From top to bottom overnight.
The sight made her stomach twist. It didn’t matter that she’d survived a corrupted beast, or that she’d stood tall in front of the entire school after false accusations of cheating, it hadn’t been enough. Not for the board. Not for the academy. Not for the vultures waiting in the sidelines.
She heard the murmurs, knew they were watching. Wondering. Remembering the girl who had once walked with her chin high and now stood a failure.
Flicker nudged her leg.
He mimicked her stance like he didn’t quite understand why they were standing still. His eyes flicked up at her, trusting. As if the world hadn’t shifted under her feet.
Sonia caught her eye and smiled with false sympathy. The kind of smile that said how the mighty have fallen.
Cassara smiled back.
Sharp as glass.
“First-years.” Headmistress Kalisandra’s voice cut through the morning air, drawing every eye to the center of the field. She stood before the Crestboard, hands clasped behind her back.
“The Reveal has concluded. Your individual trials are over. From this point forward, your success, and your survival, depends not on personal achievement, but on your ability to function as a unit.”
Nervous whispers swept through the crowd. Cassara listened with the stillness of someone who’d already lost everything and had nothing left to fear.
“The top six ranked students will serve as unit captains,” Kalisandra continued.
“Each captain may select up to five additional members for their team. These units will train together, fight together, and be evaluated together. Your Prestige rankings will rise or fall based on individual and collective performance.”
Collective. The word tasted bitter in Cassara’s mouth. She’d spent her entire life being judged by her individual merit, or lack thereof. Now even that small comfort was being stripped away.
“Captains,” the headmistress said, “you have one hour to make your selections. Choose wisely. The students you recruit today will determine your fate for the remainder of your time at Vallemont.”
One by one, she called the names. Gideon Delvanir stepped forward first. Even from across the field, Cassara could see the tension in his shoulders, the way he held himself apart from the others. First place, but still an outsider.
Julian’s name came second. He moved with easy confidence, that familiar smile playing at his lips as he took his position. Several students immediately gravitated toward him, drawn by his ranking and his family’s influence.
The other four captains barely registered. Cassara watched the proceedings with detached interest, noting who approached whom, who was ignored, who tried too hard to seem valuable. It was fascinating, in a distant sort of way. Like watching ants reorganize after someone kicked their hill.
“The selection process begins now,” Kalisandra announced. “Captains, make your choices.”
And then the real show began.
Teams began forming with the efficiency of a market exchange. Julian’s squad filled quickly, ambitious students who saw his political connections as a path to advancement. Gideon moved more slowly, more deliberately, speaking quietly with potential recruits who approached him with careful respect.
Cassara remained where she was, arms crossed, watching.
Waiting.
The fury that had been building since she’d seen her ranking burned steady and cold in her chest. Not at Flicker, never at Flicker again. But at all of them.
The ones who whispered and laughed, who looked at her with pity or dismissal or vengeful satisfaction.