Keegan came to my side without being asked. I didn’t look at him immediately, but I felt him there, solid and steady, his presence anchoring the floor beneath my feet.
“They just arrived,” I said quietly. “They’ve barely had time to unpack. I’m sure they’re unsettled, and a bit of resentment isn’t out of line. They got pushed from their homes.”
“They’re not unpacking anything,” Caleb replied. “They’re pacing. They’re distrustful. They’re watching our every move.”
Okay. That was worse.
Stella set her tray down on the nearest table with deliberate care. “Pacing leads to bad decisions, at least for me.”
Caleb stepped fully inside, and I watched the students instinctively move aside.
“What exactly is going on?” I asked as Keegan stepped closer to both of us.
“They’ve doubled their watch on the ridge. They’ve got their weapons out. It’s obviously not ceremonial.” He glanced over Keegan’s shoulder and lowered his voice even more. “They’re talking about going home.”
“There is no home to go to. If they leave here, they’ll fall into the Priestess’s hands.”
“They are always going to want home,” Ardetia said calmly. “It’s our job to explain that it’s going to take time. The Priestess depleted their resources, and she’s still playing the game.”
“True. It can’t be fixed overnight.” I nodded.
“They don’t think temporary anymore,” Caleb said. “They think trapped.”
That word landed heavier than it should have.
The orcs had come under an agreement. Neutral ground. Temporary alliance. A shared understanding that dealing with the Priestess and the fractures between realms would take time.
Time wasn’t something orcs valued when their swamps called.
I finally looked at Keegan.
His jaw had set, and his hazel eyes had gone thoughtful in the way that meant he was calculating outcomes three steps ahead.
“They believe the perimeter is holding them,” he said.
Caleb gave a sharp nod. “They believewe’reholding them.”
A ripple of unease threaded through the foyer.
“That’s not true.” Ardetia shook her head.
“No,” Caleb agreed. “It isn’t. But truth and belief rarely travel together.”
Twobble cleared his throat loudly. “I would like to formally state that if anyone is being held against their will, it is me.”
Skonk chuckled and shook his head. “Cousin, you’ve spent decades trying to get into these walls. We all know you’re not leaving unless the Academy throws you out.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time.” Twobble waggled his brows. “But what I’m saying is that it’s all about perception.”
The Academy’s hum dipped lower, as if the stone agreed with him.
“They want to push the perimeter,” Caleb continued. “Test it. See if it pushes back.”
“That could weaken the Wards,” Nova said softly.
She’d set up some protection spells, but they weren’t fences, even if the orcs might take it that way.
“The Wards are already adjusting,” Ardetia added. “But we can’t afford a strain from two directions.”
