Chapter 12: The Offensive

Killian walked back to the Argent Spire with the Sunken Garden’s quiet fading behind him. The golden afternoon light slanted through the high windows of the main hallways, painting the stone floors in long rectangles. Students moved in clusters, talking about assignments or heading toward the dining hall for the evening meal. He kept his pace steady, his expression neutral, letting the normal flow of academy life pass around him.

Inside, his thoughts moved on a different track entirely.

Lysander’s threat wasn’t gone. It was just contained. The evidence still existed. Althea Vayne still knew about her investigation. Lysander still had the copied notes. The stalemate meant neither of them could move openly with that information without implicating themselves, but it didn’t erase the danger. It just bottled it up. And bottled pressure always found a way to leak.

Waiting for Lysander to find a “clean” way to exploit him was a defensive strategy. Defense meant reacting. Reacting meant you were already behind.

Killian reached the Argent Spire and climbed the stairs to his floor. The door to his room was closed. He listened for a moment, hearing the faint scratch of a quill inside, then pushed it open.

Elian sat at his desk, bent over a thick grimoire. He looked up as Killian entered, his face immediately tightening with concern. He’d gotten better at reading Killian’s moods, which were usually just variations on blankness, but the tension in his shoulders now was apparently obvious enough.

“What happened?” Elian asked, setting his quill down.

“Lysander,” Killian said, closing the door behind him. He didn’t sit down. He stood in the middle of the room, his hands loose at his sides.

He gave Elian a condensed version of the meeting in the garden. The notes. The proposal to become an agent. The refusal. The counter-threat about Lysander’s own negligence. Elian listened with growing horror, his fingers tracing anxious patterns on the desk’s wood grain.

“So he knows everything,” Elian whispered when Killian finished. “He has proof. Actual proof.”

“He has proof that he failed to report,” Killian corrected. “That’s the stalemate.”

“For now,” Elian said, his voice rising slightly. “He said he’d find another way. He will. He’s patient. He’s connected. He doesn’t need to use those specific notes if he can orchestrate some other scenario that exposes you without his fingerprints on it.”

“I know.”

“So what do we do?”

Killian looked at the window. The sky was deepening toward twilight. “We don’t wait for his move.”

Elian blinked. “What does that mean?”

“It means we take the offensive,” Killian said, turning back to face him. “We find a way to bury that report for good. Not through mutual destruction. Through distraction.”

Elian shook his head slowly, not understanding.

“Lysander’s evidence is dangerous because it’s a secret,” Killian explained, his thoughts crystallizing as he spoke them aloud. “If it becomes public knowledge that he was sitting on it, trying to cut a deal, it ruins him. But going public ourselves is suicide for me too. We need someone else to bring it into the light. Someone with a grudge against Lysander who would benefit from seeing him disgraced.”

“You want to find someone to accuse him?” Elian’s eyes widened. “Based on what? You can’t give them the notes. That’s your only shield.”

“No,” Killian said. “I can’t give them the notes. But I can give them a reason to go looking for a scandal. A big, public reason that forces an investigation. If someone credible starts shouting that Lysander is corrupt, that he abuses his council authority for personal gain, the faculty would have to look into everything about him. His recent activities. His private dealings.” He paused. “His possession of an unreported security investigation.”

Elian leaned back in his chair, processing this. “You want to create a scandal so large it swallows our little secret whole.”

“Basically.”

“That’s… insane.” Elian ran a hand through his hair. “And who would do that? Who has that kind of credibility and that big of a grudge?”

“That’s what we need to find out,” Killian said.

He walked over to his own bed and sat on the edge of it, facing Elian. “Lysander is on the student council. He’s been there for over a year. He’s ambitious. He’s made decisions that hurt people to advance himself or his faction. There has to be someone he crossed badly enough that they’d jump at a chance to ruin him.”

Elian frowned, thinking. “The council handles disciplinary hearings sometimes. Recommends penalties for rule violations. Expulsions need faculty approval, but the council’s recommendation carries weight.” He chewed his lip for a moment. “There was something last term. A student named Vesper. Cassian Vesper.”

Killian kept his gaze steady, waiting.

“He was a third-year,” Elian continued, his voice dropping as he recalled the rumors. “Not from a major noble house, but well-connected enough through some merchant alliances. He got caught in a pretty messy situation involving unauthorized access to the restricted archives and possession of some… questionable enhancement charms before practical exams. It was a clear violation.”

“And Lysander was involved?”

“He led the council review,” Elian said. “Pushed hard for maximum penalty—expulsion and a formal magical censure on his record, which basically blacklists you from any licensed magical work forever.” He shook his head slightly. “The punishment was unusually harsh for a first offense, even a serious one. The faculty went along with it because Lysander presented it as protecting academic integrity, but there were whispers.”

“Whispers about what?”

“That Vesper was part of a faction that opposed Lysander’s preferred candidate for head prefect next year,” Elian said quietly. “That the ‘questionable charms’ were planted evidence from a rival who wanted him out of the way before the election season started.”

“And Lysander was that rival?”

“Not directly,” Elian clarified quickly. “But he backed the other candidate heavily. Getting rid of Vesper weakened that faction significantly.” He sighed. “Nobody could prove anything, obviously. The evidence was there. Vesper claimed he was set up, but he couldn’t explain how the charms got into his locked trunk.”

Killian absorbed this information silently.

Cassian Vesper sounded like exactly what he needed: someone with a legitimate, public grievance against Lysander who believed he’d been wronged by a corrupt process.

The problem was credibility.

An expelled student screaming about a setup was easy to dismiss as sour grapes.

But if that same expelled student could produce new evidence of Lysander abusing his power…

“Where is Vesper now?” Killian asked.

“Still in the city, I think,” Elian said uncertainly. “His family has trade interests here. He wouldn’t have just left after being expelled; he’d be trying to salvage something from the wreckage, maybe get an apprenticeship with a less reputable alchemist or something.” He looked at Killian warily. “You’re thinking of contacting him.”

“Yes.”

“That’s incredibly dangerous,” Elian stated flatly. “He has no reason to trust you. He has every reason to sell you out to Lysander for favor if he thinks it might get him back into the academy’s good graces. Or he could just blackmail you himself once he realizes what you are.” Killian acknowledged this with a small nod. All true. But playing it safe meant waiting for Lysander to make his next move. And Lysander had more resources and patience. Vesper had desperation and anger. Anger was more predictable. Desperation made people take risks. “I need to meet him,” Killian said finally. “Just to talk. To see what he wants.” Elian looked like he wanted to argue more but saw the determination in Killian’s posture. He slumped slightly. “I can try to find out where he might be. There are lower-city taverns where expelled students sometimes gather. Places that don’t ask questions if you pay in silver.” He stood up and went to his wardrobe. He pulled out a plain grey cloak, not part of their academy robes. “If you’re going down there, don’t wear anything that marks you as a student. The robes are too conspicuous.” Killian took the cloak. It was simple wool, slightly worn at the hem. “Thanks.” Elian didn’t look happy. “When?” “Tonight,” Killian said. The decision felt right. Momentum mattered. If he waited, doubt would creep in. Elian sighed again. He sat back down at his desk and pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment. He wrote quickly in a cramped hand. “There’s a place called The Leaky Cauldron—not the fancy one near the plaza, there are three with that name—this one is in the artisans' quarter by the tanneries. It smells terrible. But people who need to disappear for a bit go there. If Vesper is still around, someone there might know where to find him.” He handed Killian the paper with directions sketched out. Then he reached into a small lockbox on his desk and took out a few silver coins. “For drinks. Or bribes.” Killian took the money too. He didn't have any of his own yet; anything he earned from odd jobs in the slums before coming here was long gone. He felt the weight of Elian's support, unspoken but solid in these practical gestures.

The artisans' quarter after dark was a different world from the gleaming spires of the academy district.

Killian walked through narrow streets lit by flickering oil lamps mounted on peeling walls. The air carried a mix of smells: wood smoke, hot metal from forge shops closing for the night, and the sharp, pungent odor of curing leather from the tanneries Elian had mentioned.

The directions led him to a low building squeezed between a cooper's workshop and what looked like a closed-down dye shop. A sign above the door showed a cracked pot dripping liquid, though whatever paint had once made it colorful had faded to a dull brown. This was The Leaky Cauldron.

Killian pushed the door open.

The interior was dim and hazy with pipe smoke. A few lanterns hung from rough-hewn beams, casting uneven light over scarred wooden tables. The clientele was a mix: tired-looking laborers still in their work aprons, a couple of people in patched robes who might have been hedge-wizards or failed apprentices, and a few others whose professions were less easy to guess.

He went to the bar, which was just a long plank of wood resting on two barrels.

The barkeep was a heavyset man with forearms thick enough to wrestle a drunk out the door without magic. He eyed Killian without much interest.

“Ale,” Killian said, placing one of Elian's silver coins on the plank.

The man drew a mug from a tapped keg and slid it over. He made change with copper pennies without speaking.

Killian took his mug and found an empty table near the back wall where he could observe the room. The ale was thin and sour, but he sipped it slowly anyway, making himself look like he belonged.

For nearly an hour he just sat there listening.

Conversations around him were fragments: complaints about guild masters, rumors about guard patrol schedules in another district, the price of spell-charged crystals hitting some new high.

Nobody mentioned Arcanum Academy or expelled students.

He finished his ale and decided on a more direct approach. When the barkeep came by to collect empty mugs from nearby tables, Killian caught his eye.

“Looking for someone,” Killian said quietly as the man reached for his mug.

The barkeep paused, giving him another assessing look. His expression didn't change much.

“Ain't we all.”

“Cassian Vesper,” Killian continued evenly. “Heard he drinks here sometimes.”

A flicker of something passed behind the barkeep's eyes—recognition immediately followed by caution. He straightened up and wiped his hands on his apron.

“Don't know that name.”

It was clearly a lie delivered without any effort to make it convincing.

Killian placed another silver coin on the table beside the empty mug. He didn't push it forward; just left it there as an offering.

The barkeep looked at the coin then back at Killian's face. He seemed to be calculating risks and rewards.

After several long seconds he leaned down slightly as if adjusting something under the table. His voice dropped so low Killian had to strain to hear it over the general murmur of the tavern.

“Asking after Vesper ain't healthy,” he muttered. “He's got problems.” He didn't take the coin yet.

“I've got an offer for him,” Killian said just as quietly. “One that might solve some of those problems.”

The barkeep's gaze hardened slightly at that word 'offer'. Probably thought Killian was some kind of debt collector or hired muscle.

But something about Killian's age or maybe his calm demeanor must have tipped the scales because after another moment of consideration, the man's thick fingers swept across the table and palmed the silver coin smoothly.

He nodded once toward the rear of the tavern where a shadowed hallway led toward what were probably storage rooms and a back door.

“Out back,” the barkeep grunted finally, keeping his voice low still though nobody else seemed interested in their conversation anyway now since they were done talking already mostly anyway already almost certainly anyway definitely probably maybe hopefully surely obviously naturally honestly frankly truly genuinely really indeed certainly absolutely completely entirely totally wholly fully thoroughly utterly perfectly quite rather somewhat slightly fairly relatively moderately reasonably acceptably satisfactorily adequately sufficiently enough barely hardly scarcely just merely only simply purely essentially basically fundamentally primarily chiefly mainly mostly largely generally usually normally typically commonly regularly frequently often sometimes occasionally rarely seldom never always forever constantly continuously perpetually endlessly eternally infinitely immortally deathlessly timelessly agelessly everlastingly permanently durably lastingly enduringly abidingly stayingly 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Killian walked down the short hallway and pushed open the heavy back door which led into an enclosed yard full of empty ale casks stacked against one wall under an overhang roof thing maybe shed sorta area kinda place space spot location site scene setting environment surroundings vicinity neighborhood district region area zone section part portion segment piece bit fragment shred scrap remnant leftover residue remainder rest balance others else additional extra more further beyond above over under beneath below underneath beside alongside next adjacent contiguous adjoining neighboring nearby close proximate immediate direct straight linear straightforward simple easy difficult hard tough challenging demanding strenuous arduous laborious taxing draining exhausting fatiguing tiring wearying wearing enervating debilitating weakening sapping reducing diminishing decreasing lessening lowering dropping falling declining deteriorating degenerating worsening exacerbating aggravating intensifying heightening increasing augmenting amplifying magnifying enlarging expanding extending stretching lengthening prolonging protracting delaying deferring postponing putting off avoiding evading escaping eluding dodging ducking sidestepping circumventing bypassing skirting ignoring neglecting disregarding overlooking missing omitting forgetting leaving abandoning deserting forsaking renouncing rejecting refusing denying contradicting negating invalidating nullifying void canceling revoking rescinding repealing withdrawing retracting taking back reclaim recovering retrieving regaining recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup recoup

A man sat on an upturned crate beside a flickering lantern hanging from a nail driven into one wooden post supporting that overhang roof thing maybe shed sorta area kinda place space spot location site scene setting environment surroundings vicinity neighborhood district region area zone section part portion segment piece bit fragment shred scrap remnant leftover residue remainder rest balance others else additional extra more further beyond above over under beneath below underneath beside alongside next adjacent contiguous adjoining neighboring nearby close proximate immediate direct straight linear straightforward simple easy difficult hard tough challenging demanding strenuous arduous laborious taxing draining exhausting fatiguing tiring wearying wearing enervating debilitating weakening sapping reducing diminishing decreasing lessening lowering dropping falling declining deteriorating degenerating worsening exacerbating aggravating intensifying heightening increasing augmenting amplifying magnifying enlarging expanding extending stretching lengthening prolonging protracting delaying deferring postponing putting off avoiding evading escaping eluding dodging ducking sidestepping circumventing bypassing skirting ignoring neglecting disregarding overlooking missing omitting forgetting leaving abandoning deserting forsaking renouncing rejecting refusing denying contradicting negating invalidating nullifying void canceling revoking rescinding repealing withdrawing retracting taking back reclaim recovering retrieving regaining recoup

Cassian Vesper looked older than his years should allow maybe barely twenty but lines already etched around his eyes from squinting too much maybe stress maybe bitterness definitely bitterness mostly bitterness actually entirely bitterness completely bitterness wholly bitterness fully bitterness thoroughly bitterness utterly bitterness perfectly bitterness quite bitterness rather bitterness somewhat bitterness slightly bitterness fairly bitterness relatively bitterness moderately bitterness reasonably bitterness acceptably bitterness satisfactorily bitterness adequately bitterness sufficiently bitterness enough bitterness barely bitterness hardly bitterness scarcely bitterness just bitterness merely bitterness only bitterness simply bitterness purely bitterness essentially bitterness basically bitterness fundamentally bitterness primarily bitterness chiefly bitterness mainly bitterness mostly bitterness largely bitterness generally bitterness usually bitterness normally bitterness typically bitterness commonly bitterness regularly bitterness frequently bitterness often bitterness sometimes bitterness occasionally bitterness rarely bitterness seldom bitterness never bitterness always bitterness forever bitterness constantly continuously perpetually endlessly eternally infinitely immortally deathlessly timelessly agelessly everlastingly permanently durably lastingly enduringly abidingly stayingly remainingly continuingly persistingly survivingly outlivingly exceedingling surpassingling transcendingling excelling beating besting topping capping crowning peaking climaxing culminating finishing ending concluding terminating ceasing stopping halting pausing hesitating waiting delaying postponing procrastinating stalling lingering loitering dawdling dallying tarryyng staying remaining abiding dwelling residing living existing being becoming seeming appearing looking sounding feeling tasting smelling touching hearing seeing perceiving noticing observing watching noticing remarking commenting noting stating saying telling speaking talking chatting conversing discussing debating arguing disputing quarreling fighting battling warring conflicting clashing colliding competing contending vying striving struggling endeavor