We found refuge in Darius's study, one of the few rooms in the academy with stone walls thick enough to muffle sound. He'd barely closed the door before his fist slammed into the wooden desk hard enough to crack it.

"They set us up." His voice was raw. "From the moment we walked into that hall, it was a trap."

"I know." I sank into a chair, exhaustion finally catching up. "Mordain orchestrated the whole thing. The vote, the deadlock, all of it."

"And now we have thirty days under ...