Lady Katheris summoned us two hours before dawn. Not to the council chambers where we'd expected. To her private study, a room I'd never been invited to before.

The space was smaller than I'd imagined. Lined with books that looked older than the academy itself. A single window overlooked the eastern approach where we'd nearly died yesterday.

"Sit," she said without preamble, gesturing to chairs arranged before her desk.

We sat. Darius on my right, Caleb standing near the door at Katheris's ...