The temporary meeting room of the Educational Consortium within the academy wasn't particularly large or impressive.

Polished white stone walls. A few high windows allowing natural light to filter through in pale, dusty shafts. A long table with straight-backed chairs that actively discouraged comfort. Everything designed with deliberate intent to be functional, neutral, stripped of the specific ostentation that characterized any of the noble houses.

A space where, in theory, decisions were made by merit and not by influence.

In theory.

Selphira Ashenway entered with steady steps. No rush, but with purpose. Her presence filled the space immediately, not through fanfare but through simple inevitability.

Like when a storm approaches and the air pressure changes.

They were all already there.

Aldric Galehart had positioned himself near the left end of the table, his posture relaxed but with that penetrating attention that never left him. The pegasus markings on his skin were almost invisible today. He had dark circles under his eyes that hadn't been there a few months ago.

'Interesting,' Selphira thought, 'The exam results affected him more than I expected.'

Lady Morgain occupied the opposite side. She sat so upright it seemed someone had inserted a steel rod through her spine. Her face was a poor mask of aristocratic composure, Selphira noted the tension in her jaw. The tension that probably came from months of careful planning that had ended collapsing spectacularly before her eyes.

Baelthon, of course, had seated himself in the center as if he were presiding over the meeting. Because that's how Baelthon was: a man who entered spaces belonging to others with the confidence of someone who believed all spaces would eventually belong to him. His smile was kind, his manners impeccable, and every word he spoke carried some hidden meaning beneath the surface.

Selphira had found him distasteful for decades. She knew exactly what kind of vermin he was.

Lady Daphina was also present, representative of another house that had been "collaborating" lately with the opportunists. She'd always been ambitious but cautious. The type of noble who waited to see which way the wind blew before committing completely.

Like all the other vermin here.

Today, Daphina avoided direct eye contact with Selphira. Her perfectly manicured hands toyed with a ring on her index finger, twisting it back and forth in a nervous rhythm.

Nervous, then…

Good.

Beside Baelthon, as if his political shadow could protect them, sat the representatives of the Starweaver Night faction. Two men who shared some undeserved features of Luna but with far more 'ugly expressions' etched into their faces.

Lord Dorian and Lord Magnus Starweaver.

Luna's uncles. The ones who had spent the last months trying to wrest control of the northern territory from their "disappeared" brother. Who had used every opportunity to undermine Luna's legitimacy as heir.

Selphira had tolerated them because the situation with the mutant beasts required certain... political flexibility.

"Lady Ashenway," Baelthon was the first to speak, his voice carrying that false warmth he'd perfected during decades of manipulation. He rose slightly, a gesture of courtesy that didn't reach his eyes. "What a... unexpected surprise. We didn't know you would be personally attending this tutor committee meeting."

"No?" Selphira arched an eyebrow, stopping at the end of the table without sitting. She preferred the height advantage and had no back pain or fatigue even at her age. "How strange. Considering this meeting is about irregularities in tutor assignments, I thought your allies, the ones around you that I personally collected would have told you already."

Silence fell.

The uncomfortable kind where everyone knew exactly what she was referring to but no one wanted to be the first to admit it.

Aldric cleared his throat, breaking the tension with forced casualness. "If you brought us here about this trimester's assignments, I assure you everything was done following the Consortium's established protocols. Each tutor was paired with students based on availability and..."

"Availability?" Selphira interrupted, her tone still soft but with an edge that made Aldric stop mid-word. "Or was it based on how much certain nobles were willing to pay to 'ensure' their 'interests' were protected?"

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.

Frost forming even on the words.

"Those are serious accusations," Morgain said, her voice so mechanical that each syllable sounded rehearsed. Performed. "I hope you have evidence before..."

"Evidence?" Selphira pulled some signed and sealed papers from her robes, slamming them onto the table with a dry sound that resonated like thunder. The impact made several of them flinch. "Do you mean the records of mana crystal transfers between Lord Baelthon and three members of the assignment committee? Or would you prefer to discuss the letters Lady Morgain sent offering 'donations' in exchange for the tutor position with Luna Starweaver?"

Morgain paled.

Only a little. Barely perceptible to most. But Selphira caught it. That minute draining of color, that fraction of a second where the mask slipped and revealed the panic beneath. She didn't even need to read the mana…

"That's..." Morgain began, scrambling for words.

"Bribery?" Selphira completed, her voice carrying the certainty of undeniable truth. "Yes. That's exactly what it is."

Baelthon laughed. The sound was light, friendly, as if they were discussing something amusing over wine. "Come now, Lady Ashenway. 'Bribery' is such an... ugly word. In noble circles, we prefer to call it 'securing the best educational opportunities for young talents.' Donations to the Consortium are investments in the future of..."

"Call it whatever you want," Selphira cut him off, her patience visibly thinning now. Her mana began filtering out slightly, pressing against the air in the room. Making it heavier. Harder to breathe. "But the facts are clear. You manipulated the assignments. You placed incompetent or malicious tutors with specific students. All to try sabotaging those who didn't align with your interests."

The pressure increased. Not dramatically. Just enough to remind everyone present exactly who held more power in this room.

But Dorian Starweaver still stood abruptly, his face flushing red. "And what if we did? We already have the two stars. Luna is too young and has no right to..."

"Sit down."

Selphira's voice wasn't a shout. It wasn't even particularly loud…

But it carried such weight of absolute authority, such implicit promise of devastating consequences, that Dorian sat immediately. His body obeyed before his mind could process the command.

Like his legs had stopped listening to him and only responded to her.

Magnus placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, his eyes never leaving Selphira. "With all respect, Lady Ashenway, our interests in Starweaver territory are..."

"Irrelevant to this discussion," Selphira said without looking at him. Her gaze swept the room, touching each face. Weighing. Judging. "This meeting is about corruption in the educational system, not about your pathetic power struggles."

She moved around the table slowly. Deliberately.

"Let me be very clear," she continued, her voice lowering but somehow filling more of the space.

"Galehart." Selphira looked at him directly. Those ancient eyes boring into him. "I know exactly what you did. I know you accepted the assignment as Ren Patinder's tutor with the intention of giving him incomplete information. Of subtly sabotaging his preparation for the exams."

She paused, letting the words sink in…

"And I know you failed spectacularly."

For the first time in his political life, Aldric had no immediate response. His mouth opened. Closed. The words wouldn't come. His famous silver tongue turned to lead in his mouth.

"And you?" Selphira turned toward Morgain. "Three months teaching Luna obsolete protocols, hoping she'd make a fool of herself before the evaluators."

Morgain clasped her hands in her lap. "Students sometimes need... additional challenges to..."

"If you think you can find a valid excuse, you overestimate yourself. Don't look for intelligence in that small head of yours… There is none." Selphira interrupted.

"We all know exactly what you were doing. The question now is: what am I going to do about it?"

The silence that followed was absolute. No one dared breathe too loudly.

Selphira let it stretch. She counted 5 seconds in her mind, letting the tension build.

But Baelthon leaned forward, his fingers drumming on the table in steady rhythm. The casual gesture of someone who still believed they had cards to play. Who thought they could negotiate their way out.

"Lady Ashenway, let's be reasonable. Yes, there were... irregularities. But removing tutors from their positions now, in the middle of the academic year, would cause a bigger scandal. It would affect innocent students. It would damage the Consortium's reputation more than..."

"I already thought of that," Selphira interrupted, her voice carrying a note of satisfaction. As if he'd walked right into her trap. "And you're right. Removing them would cause more problems than it would solve. That's why I'm not going to do it."

She saw relief appear on faces around the table. Small sighs. Shoulders that relaxed slightly. Tension bleeding out in visible waves.

Idiots.

All of them.

"Instead," Selphira continued, her voice acquiring an almost pleasant tone that was somehow far more menacing than her previous fury, "you're going to continue in your positions. You're going to keep being tutors. And you're going to pay fines so large that your houses will lose half their servants for years."

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