Chapter 26: The Teacher's Concern, Secrets in the Shadows

  Malcolm’s voice, controlled but firm. “Young master. We have a visitor.”

  Cassian didn’t look away from Aldric.

  But something shifted in the air.

  A subtle weight pressed down on him, something familiar, like the thrum of a storm on the horizon. The tension was palpable, coiling around them both.

  Something inevitable.

  Cassian exhaled slowly, rolling his shoulders as if to shrug off the sudden heaviness. He forced his voice to remain light, even as his gaze sharpened. "Well."

  The words escaped with a practiced smoothness, but his eyes never left Aldric’s. "Let’s see what else fate has in store."

  Without waiting for a response, he turned toward the door, stepping out of the room and into the long hallway.

  The sound of his boots clicking against the marble floor echoed as he moved, the weight of his steps somehow in sync with the rising unease gnawing at him. He barely registered Malcolm’s quiet footsteps behind him.

  As they entered the main hall, Cassian’s gaze immediately caught on the man sitting on the plush couch.

  The man was older than him, around thirty-five by Cassian’s guess. His features were sharp, his jawline set in firm lines, but there was a softness in his expression that didn't quite match the intensity of his presence. His hair was dark brown, neatly combed, and his eyes—eyes as blue as a sky before a storm—were trained on him.

  Cassian’s mind worked quickly, dissecting the details of the man’s appearance—the suit, the eyes, the posture.

  Professor Ashen.

  The thought clicked like a lock snapping shut. The homeroom professor for Cassian Starfall's class. The one who had been so involved in the administration of the school, so concerned with the ‘perfect’ image of his students.

  He had to be here because Cassian had been missing. Because no one knew Cassian Starfall had died. No one could know.

  Cassian straightened slightly, masking the slight unease that stirred within him. He forced his expression to remain neutral as he addressed the man, though the question hung heavily in the air.

  "Professor Ashen, what brings you here?"

  The professor’s eyes met his with an almost too-genuine concern, his lips curving downward just slightly.

  "My student," Ashen said, his voice smooth but carrying an edge of frustration, "you’ve been missing classes lately. As your professor, I was concerned. So I came to check on you."

  Cassian felt a quiet flicker of irritation stir in his chest. His mouth tugged into a faint, almost imperceptible smile.

  “Oh?” His voice was cool, casual. “Concerned?”

  Ashen nodded, sitting up straighter in the chair, his hands folding in front of him on the armrest. “Of course. It’s not like you to fall behind, especially given your position. You’ve always been so diligent.”

  Cassian let the compliment roll over him like water, brushing off the underlying layer of suspicion. Diligent.

  That was the mask he wore. The perfect, devoted student.

  His smile widened ever so slightly, thin and calculated. "I suppose I’ve just had...other matters to attend to." He didn’t elaborate, letting the silence stretch for just a moment, before adding with a certain nonchalance, “Things are...complicated.”

  The professor’s gaze flickered for the briefest moment, the faintest trace of doubt slipping through his otherwise composed exterior. Then, as if he’d willed the hesitation away, Ashen straightened again, clasping his hands in front of him.

  "I understand," Ashen said. "But you must understand, Cassian..." He paused, his tone deepening, darkening just slightly. "You’re a student here. You’re expected to uphold certain standards. And when those standards aren’t met—" He looked Cassian directly in the eye, the intensity in his blue gaze never wavering. "It concerns the entire faculty."

  Cassian’s eyes narrowed, but the tension in his body was subtle, only a slight shift in his posture. He studied Ashen closely, gauging every word, every motion.

  Something isn’t right.

  Ashen’s sudden concern, the way he worded his statements—there was something off about it.

  Cassian chose his next words carefully. “And what do you suggest I do about it, Professor?”

  Ashen’s lips twitched into a half-smile, the edges of his mouth lifting in a way that seemed both too warm and too predatory. "Attend your classes. Return to your duties. That’s all. You’re a star pupil, Cassian. The expectations are high."

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Cassian’s fingers twitched at his side, his mind already calculating his next move.

  What do you know, Ashen?

  The professor’s words were too measured. Too rehearsed.

  Cassian had been trained to see past the surface, to read the cracks between the carefully constructed facades people wore. And Ashen’s was slipping.

  “I see,” Cassian replied, his voice as calm and controlled as ever, though inside, the wheels of his mind were turning at full speed. “Well, Professor... I’ll consider your advice.”

  He turned his gaze toward the door, as if signaling the conversation to an end. But Ashen didn’t move.

  “I’ll be watching, Cassian,” Ashen said softly, his voice laced with an unspoken warning. “We all are.”

  Cassian’s pulse quickened, but he didn’t let it show.

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  With one last glance at Ashen, he turned, signaling Malcolm to follow him as he walked toward the staircase. His mind, however, was already far ahead, piecing together the fragments of information Ashen had unwittingly left behind.

  Cassian had never been one to trust easily. And now, he had more reason than ever to be wary.

  Cassian’s heart beat a little faster as Ashen’s words lingered in the air, echoing against the walls of the main hall. The professor had left, but the weight of his parting remark stuck to Cassian like a shroud. I’ll be watching, Cassian. We all are.

  What did that mean? Was it a warning? A promise?

  Cassian hadn’t missed the subtle tension in the professor’s gaze, the way his words had wrapped around him like a trap. We all are.

  Who was we?

  Cassian's gaze lingered on the door as it clicked shut behind Professor Ashen. Without turning around, he spoke, his voice calm yet commanding.

  “Aldric, I have a task for you. Are you up for it?”

  Hiding in the shadows near the corner of the hall, Aldric stiffened. He had followed Cassian in absolute silence, his presence masked to perfection—yet somehow, Cassian had still noticed him. For a brief moment, surprise flickered in his mind, but he quickly buried it beneath a mask of indifference. Stepping forward, he bowed his head slightly.

  “Yes, master.”

  By the time he reached his room, Cassian’s mind was a storm, thoughts churning and twisting as he closed the door behind him with a soft click.

  Inside, Sky was sitting on the edge of the bed, legs crossed, eyes wide with curiosity. The sight of him, so innocently unaware, almost made Cassian’s stomach twist in frustration.

  Sky immediately looked up, his expression shifting from innocent joy to a subtle concern. "What happened? Did anyone find out? About your act, brother?"

  Cassian paused, his hand still on the doorknob.

  Sky...

  Sky had trusted him from the start, believed him when no one else had. Cassian couldn't tell if it was just childlike na?veté or something deeper, something far more dangerous that lay hidden behind the boy’s innocent eyes.

  “No," Cassian replied, his voice steady, betraying none of the turmoil inside. "Everything is under control." He glanced over at Sky, trying to maintain his composed fa?ade. But something about the boy’s gaze, sharp and almost knowing, made his words falter.

  But Cassian couldn’t help but ask, his voice nonchalant. “But I still don’t get you, Sky. How can you trust a me? You don’t know anything. What makes you so certain I’m who I say I am?”

  Sky’s eyes brightened, and his smile returned with ease, as if the question had never unsettled him. He shrugged, nonchalant in that way that only children could be. "No, no, I know. I know." His voice became more thoughtful, eyes narrowing as he crossed his arms.

  "You’re Cassian Drayven, the one with a bounty on his head. Around fifty thousand gold coins, I think?" He paused, as if weighing the figure for a moment before continuing. "The man Raiden Nightshade is searching for, as the government requested him to, because you stole the crown of the missing crown prince."

  The words hit Cassian like a punch to the gut.

  His body went rigid, his hand still on the doorknob, his breath frozen for a heartbeat.

  Sky knew.

  Cassian’s mind raced with questions. 'How did he know? Or did he know more than he was letting on? '

  As the weight of the truth settled in. Sky had been aware of his past—the real Cassian Drayven, the thief, the murderer, the wanted criminal. But to know about Raiden Nightshade... to know about the crown prince and that past—

  Cassian took a step into the room, moving slowly, his eyes narrowing as he studied the boy. "Sky..." His voice was low, a dangerous edge creeping into his tone. "How much do you know about me, exactly?"

  Sky tilted his head slightly, eyes never leaving Cassian. "Not much. Just what I hear, what I feel..." He trailed off, looking thoughtful. "But you can’t hide everything forever, can you?" He grinned, his teeth sharp in the dim light of the room.

  Cassian’s pulse quickened. The innocent look on Sky’s face had turned unsettling, like a predator playing at being a harmless child.

  The boy knew something—knew something far darker than Cassian had anticipated.

  Sky leaned forward, his gaze piercing, as if testing Cassian’s reaction. “I know you’re not him. The other Cassian, my dear brother, the one who... vanished.” His voice dropped lower, and Cassian could feel the tension in the room grow thick. “But you are him in some way. You just wear a different mask.”

  Cassian clenched his jaw, stepping forward slowly. His body felt like it was moving on instinct, a cold rage building inside him as Sky spoke those words.

  "You’re right." Cassian’s voice was barely above a whisper, yet it held a sharpness to it. “I’m not him. But that doesn’t make me any less dangerous.”

  Sky didn’t flinch, didn’t seem disturbed by the threatening edge to Cassian’s words. Instead, he seemed intrigued, as if he’d been waiting for this moment all along.

  “I don’t care,” Sky said, his voice soft and sure. “You’re still my brother.”

  Cassian’s throat tightened, a strange mixture of dread and something else—something unfamiliar—settling deep within him. The boy’s devotion was real, yet so incredibly misplaced. Or was it?

  Cassian couldn’t tell.

  Couldn’t trust.