Chapter 3: Meetings, Threats, and Mysterious Notes

  The next morning, I woke up to Max throwing a sock at my face.

  "Get up, intern boy!" he shouted, ughing. "Your queen awaits!"

  I groaned and rolled out of bed, nding on the cold floor.

  "Remind me," I muttered, "why I don’t kill you in your sleep."

  "Because I'm your only friend," Max said cheerfully, stuffing another sock into his bag. "And because you'd miss my beautiful singing voice."

  He started humming horribly as he got dressed.I threw his own shoe at him.

  After a quick, half-hearted breakfast (toast that tasted like cardboard and coffee that tasted like burnt sadness), I headed toward the Student Council Tower.

  The silver badge Zara had given me yesterday gleamed under my jacket.It felt heavy — heavier than it should.

  Like it was a weight chained to my future.

  When I reached the tower, the guards barely gnced at me.

  Badge power, baby.

  I made my way up the grand stairs to the top floor again.This time, I knocked.

  "Enter," came Zara’s cold voice.

  I stepped inside.

  The office looked even more intimidating by daylight.Tall bookshelves. Massive windows. A huge desk covered in neatly organized papers and maps.

  And behind that desk, Zara Hales — perfect as ever, looking at me like I was a cockroach that had learned to talk.

  "You're te," she said.

  "It's called fashionably dramatic entrance," I said. "Very in right now."

  She didn’t even blink.

  "From now on, you will report here every morning at seven sharp," she said briskly. "You will carry messages, file reports, and attend faction meetings as my observer."

  I saluted zily. "Aye aye, Captain Ice Queen."

  Her eye twitched. Progress.

  Before she could say anything else, the door opened again.

  Another student walked in — tall, sharp-faced, with slick bck hair and a sneer like he owned the pce.

  I recognized him instantly:Cassian Veylor.Vice President of the Council.Leader of the Azure Crown faction.Professional jerk.

  He gave me a bored gnce. "What's this? Zara, picking up strays now?"

  "Leonis is my new intern," Zara said coolly. "Get used to it."

  Cassian smirked. "Hope you don’t mind cleaning bloodstains, kid. Things are about to get messy."

  He tossed a folder onto Zara's desk.

  "New intelligence," he said. "Verdant Pact is arming up. I caught one of their envoys sneaking crates through the maintenance tunnels."

  Zara flipped open the folder without reacting.Her face stayed calm, but I saw her fingers tighten slightly.

  Bad news.

  Very bad news.

  If the Verdant Pact — normally the "peaceful" faction — was stockpiling weapons, it meant everyone was gearing up for real violence.

  "Thank you, Cassian," Zara said smoothly. "I’ll handle it."

  Cassian gave a zy bow and strolled out, whistling.

  The door clicked shut.

  For a moment, there was only silence.

  Then Zara looked up at me sharply.

  "You," she said. "Follow me."

  We moved fast, slipping through back corridors and hidden stairwells.

  Zara led me to a small meeting room — no windows, thick walls, soundproofed.

  Inside was a round table, already filled with folders, maps, and small bck devices.

  Zara sat and motioned for me to do the same.

  "This," she said quietly, "is your first real lesson."

  I leaned forward, trying to look serious.(Inside, I was panicking a little.)

  She tapped a map of the academy grounds.

  "The Verdant Pact is transporting weapons through these tunnels," she said, pointing to a maintenance section under the east wing. "If they succeed, they’ll have enough firepower to challenge the Crimson Bdes — and us."

  I frowned. "So we bust them?"

  Zara shook her head. "Not yet. If we move too soon, we’ll trigger the coup ourselves."

  I blinked."Wait. You’re saying... you’re not trying to stop the coup?"

  She gave a cold smile."I’m trying to control it."

  My brain scrambled to catch up.

  Zara didn’t want peace.She wanted power — but her version of it, not the bloody chaos others were pnning.

  I suddenly realized just how dangerous she really was.

  And how necessary it was that I stay close.

  "So," I said slowly, "what do you need me for?"

  Zara leaned back, studying me.

  "You," she said, "are invisible. No faction. No loyalty. Nobody important. Which makes you perfect for spying."

  "Spy?" I said. "Me? I'm way too handsome to blend in."

  She actually smiled — a real one, small and quick.

  Then it vanished.

  "You'll start tonight," she said. "Go to the east maintenance tunnels. Watch the Verdant Pact. Report back."

  I saluted again. "Operation Secret Janitor, ready for duty."

  That night, I sneaked through the academy grounds.

  Again.

  Seriously, one day I was gonna get arrested just for "looking suspicious."

  The east wing was dark and half-abandoned, filled with the smell of dust and old wiring.

  I found a maintenance hatch and slipped inside.

  The tunnels were narrow, damp, and endless.

  I moved quietly, every step echoing slightly.

  After maybe twenty minutes of crawling through the darkness, I heard voices.

  I froze.

  Carefully, I peered around a corner.

  Three students in green ties — Verdant Pact members — were unloading crates from a hidden compartment.

  They worked fast, nervous, whispering.

  "We have to move faster," one said. "If the Bdes find us, we're dead."

  Another cursed under his breath. "This is madness. We were supposed to be about peace, not guns."

  "But the Council’s colpsing," the first one said harshly. "We need to be ready."

  I strained my ears, trying to catch every word.

  That’s when I noticed something strange.

  One of the crates had a symbol on it.

  Not Verdant Pact.Not Crimson Bde.Not Azure Crown.

  Something else.

  A bck sun over broken chains.

  I stiffened.

  That was not a faction mark.

  It was something worse.

  Something old.

  Something forbidden.

  My mind raced.

  Who the hell was supplying them?

  Before I could think more, a soft ctter behind me made me jump.

  I spun.

  No one there.

  When I turned back—

  A hand cmped over my mouth.

  "Shh," a voice whispered.

  I struggled, but the grip was strong.

  "Rex, little lion," the voice said, amused. "We’re not your enemies. Yet."

  And before I could even process that, a small envelope was shoved into my jacket.

  Then — silence.

  The hand was gone.The presence was gone.

  I looked wildly around.

  Nothing.Just shadows.

  Heart hammering, I slipped back into the tunnels and ran.

  Back in my tiny dorm room, I locked the door and pulled out the envelope.

  No markings.No name.

  Hands shaking slightly, I opened it.

  Inside was a single piece of paper.

  Three words, written in dark red ink:

  "Trust no crowns."

  I stared at it.

  Felt the cold creep into my bones.

  Trust no crowns.

  No faction.No council.

  No queen.

  Including Zara.

  I swallowed hard.

  I had gotten into this to stop a coup.To protect the academy.Maybe even to save Zara.

  But now...

  Now I realized something terrifying.

  The real enemy wasn't just the coup.

  It was something hidden, ancient, and already moving in the shadows.

  Something even the mighty Zara Hales didn’t know about.

  I folded the paper carefully and tucked it into my jacket.

  Then I y back on my bed, staring up at the cracked ceiling again.

  The floating city shined above me.

  Below, the poisoned Surface waited.

  And all around me...

  The knives were already being drawn.