"Bastian doesn't know everything." Serena's voice turns sharp, her perfect features hardening with barely suppressed anger. "There will be magical interference that will make the events completely dark. Empire's people won't know they can't watch until it's too late. The only thing people will learn afterward is how many died and what a failure Voss is as Rector."

"And you know this... how?" Ambrose asks, skepticism clear in his voice.

"Because Malakai told me after a conversation with our... benefactor." Her perfect composure slips for just a moment, revealing genuine revulsion before she schools her features back into careful neutrality. "Too many deaths, and Voss will be removed from his position. That's the plan."

"Why would someone go to such lengths to remove Voss?" Mireen asks, her water magic still swirling at her fingertips. "There must be simpler ways."

"This way creates a public spectacle. A failure so magnificent that the Council can justify immediate action without opposition."

I exchange glances with the others. The parts about Voss line up with what we’ve already learned. But what does it mean if Bastian is out of the loop, somehow?

I fold my arms. "So is this where you ask to join our team?"

She smiles without much humor. "No. Afraid not, Thorne. I still see all of you as traitors-in-waiting. Empire will be better if you all die before graduation. But I won't lower myself to this…" she gestures at the weapons. "I don't need help from the outside to deal with traitors. I don't need to stain my own honor to do things the right way. And I frankly don't give a shit if Voss stays or goes. So I'm here, and I'm telling you what I learned, which is that two members of the Windborne Division will be entering the Crucible. They're waiting on standby in the event that you and your people evade or kill us. Someone wants to make sure the Crucible is a bloodbath, and the windborne are the contingency plan."

"The windborne?" Ambrose whispers, face paling so quickly I fear he might faint. "Are you serious?"

Raith's reaction is more controlled, but through our tether, I feel a spike of genuine concern—sharp and cold like a blade of ice sliding between my ribs. "The Council's assassins," he murmurs, and there's a knowledge in his voice that feels personal, intimate.

"Who?" I ask.

"Elite air primals trained for elimination missions," Ambrose says.

"I thought the windborne were just stories," Mireen says, her water magic faltering slightly. "Boogeyman tales."

"They're very real," Serena replies, her voice dropping lower. "Just as real as the Earthshakers, Tidewalkers, and Flameheart Divisions. Each element has its special forces. I grew up hearing stories from my father. He served with the Flameheart for fifteen years, just like I will. When they hear what lengths I went to disposing of traitors like you, they'll almost certainly give me an audience after I graduate."