Chapter 174 Mirrors

Chapter 174 Mirrors
Thalia POV
The deep, heavy silence of midnight had settled completely over the Citadel, casting long, dark shadows across the cold stone corridors of the student dormitories.
Inside my private room, I kept the brass oil lamps entirely unlit, allowing only the faint blue light of the autumn moon to filter through the narrow window pane and illuminate the small space. I stood at the absolute center of the wooden floorboards, holding my breath and listening intently to the rhythmic footsteps of the night watch guards patrolling the lower hallway.
"Guard rotation in three... two... one..." I whispered to myself, counting the beats of their heavy boots until the echoes faded completely down the main stone stairwell.
Once total silence returned to the corridor, I knelt quietly on the braided wool rug beside my narrow bed. I pulled back the frayed edge of the rug and pressed a concealed wooden pin hidden expertly within the floorboard joinery. A small section of the floor popped open with a faint, satisfying click. From the velvet-lined interior of the hidden compartment, I carefully extracted a small, silver-rimmed scrying mirror no larger than the palm of my right hand.
I ran my thumb along the intricate silver edge, whispering a short, complex incantation in the forbidden dialect of the northern mountain houses.
"Vaelis, unbind the veil and speak."
The smooth glass surface of the mirror shifted rapidly from reflective silver to a deep, swirling pool of dark purple smoke. Moments later, the smoke parted to reveal the sharp, aristocratic face of Lord Cassian. His dark eyes flickered with cold intellect behind the magical veil, his sharp features illuminated softly by the warm firelight of his private estate in the upper district of the city.
"Report your exact status, Thalia," Cassian commanded, his voice sounding thin and distinctly metallic through the magical spell-connection.
"The extraction in Oakhaven failed completely," I reported calmly, keeping my voice down to an absolute, controlled whisper. "The subject experienced a premature magical rupture before the containment team could properly secure his restraints. The local elemental awakening was far too large to hide from the regional garrison."
Cassian’s brow furrowed in sharp, immediate disapproval. "A rupture? How did an unawakened boy overwhelm a standardized nullification dosage?"
"His core was far more volatile than the scouts estimated," I explained quickly. "The compound triggered a massive defense mechanism instead of suppressing him."
"Did the boy survive the rupture, or did he burn himself out completely?"
"He survived the event intact," I continued, maintaining total outward composure as I delivered the tactical details. "Ilaria arrived with the Citadel response unit before the local guards could execute him. She used her unique dragon core to harmonize with the child's chaotic energy and collapsed the vortex safely into the ground."
"And the nullification residue on the boy?" Cassian asked, his dark eyes narrowing in the glass frame as he leaned closer to the mirror surface. "Was the chemical compound detected by the response team?"
"Ilaria discovered the discoloration on the boy's wrists immediately after the storm was quelled," I replied, choosing my exact words with absolute precision to avoid his wrath. "Her Truth-Sight was fixated entirely on the child's emotional state and the immediate physical danger of the magic. She did not perceive my deliberate three-second delay in answering the initial dispatch call, nor did she suspect my prior knowledge of the containment team's true location."
"Are you certain of that?" Cassian pressed, his metallic voice dropping an octave. "Caelum's daughter is not easily blinded, Thalia. If she catches even a whisper of suspicion, your position in her inner circle is forfeited."
"She suspects nothing regarding my involvement," I said firmly, though my heart pounded against my ribs. "She was thoroughly distracted by the boy's survival."
Cassian remained perfectly silent for several long, agonizing seconds, studying my face closely through the misty glass of the scrying mirror. The heavy silence stretched between us, thick with unspoken danger, suspicion, and lethal judgment.
"You have spent a great deal of time in the close company of Caelum's daughter over the past three years, Thalia," Cassian said softly, his tone dripping with quiet, calculated threat. "She considers you a trusted personal friend and a deeply reliable squad mate. Tell me the absolute truth. Are your personal feelings for Lady Ilaria beginning to interfere with your grand assignment?"
My heart gave a sudden, violent thud against my ribs, echoing loudly in my own ears. Out of sight beneath the edge of the open floorboard, my left hand began to tremble uncontrollably. My fingernails dug hard into my palm as a wave of cold, terrifying panic washed through my veins.
"My feelings are irrelevant to the outcome of this campaign, my Lord," I stated, forcing my voice to remain smooth and cold.
"I did not ask if they were relevant, Thalia," Cassian countered sharply. "I asked if they were interfering."
I forced my facial muscles to remain entirely motionless, keeping my eyes locked directly onto his cold gaze without displaying a single visible flicker of hesitation or weakness.
"My personal connections are merely useful tools to ensure our tactical positioning within the Citadel," I assured my master, my voice dropping into a cold, unyielding register. "Ilaria’s complete trust in me is our greatest single asset in this war. My loyalty to the Cabal and to the grand vision of the true lineage remains absolute and unbroken."
Cassian studied my expression for another terrible moment before offering a slow, satisfied nod of approval.
"Good," Cassian whispered, a cruel smile touching the corner of his mouth. "Because if I discover that your sentimentality has compromised our timeline, I will ensure you are disposed of alongside her family. The final Citadel examinations are approaching rapidly. The distraction in Oakhaven was merely the first move on the larger board. Prepare yourself completely for the next phase of the operation."
"Understood, my Lord," I replied.
The dark smoke swept back across the glass surface, dissolving the arcane connection and returning the mirror to plain, reflective silver. I carefully placed the forbidden object back into its velvet compartment, sealed the floorboard tight, and replaced the braided rug. Standing up in the pitch-black room, I pressed my cold, trembling hands against my face, breathing shakily as I closed my eyes tightly against the harsh, inescapable reality of the treason I was committing.