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"Present in twenty-one cases."

His jaw tightens. "Near every Academy incident?" Professor Neris looks toward him. "Yes."

The word lands heavily.

Aldric presses his uninjured hand against his knee. "Am I in danger?"

Professor Neris turns to him. "I don't know."

He absorbs it. "Could it happen again?"

"I don't know." The same answer. Every time. More frightening because she refuses to disguise it.

Cassian leans slightly toward Aldric. Not touching. Present. Professor Neris notices. Her expression softens by a fraction. "You will remain under observation," she says. "Discreetly. You will attend classes. You will sleep in your residence. You will not leave Academy grounds without authorization."

Aldric looks uneasy. "Am I being confined?"

"No." She replies.

"You just said—" Aldric starts.

"You are being protected while we determine whether the effect repeats." Professor Neris stops him.

"Will my Wing know?"

"Only your Chief and assigned healer."

Aldric glances toward Rhyven. "Dax."

Professor Neris nods. "He will be informed."

That does not seem to comfort him. It may be the seriousness more than Dax himself.

Rhyven picks up another report. The dragon-bond interruption. "Why didn't I receive this?" He asks.

"Because it did not occur within your Wing." Professor Neris explains.

"I'm a Chief Wing Officer." Rhvyen states.

"You are a student officer."

His eyes harden. "I'm responsible for at least forty people."

"And the Council is responsible for kingdoms." Neris replies without blinking.

"Then they're doing a poor job."

The words fall heavily. Cassian looks toward him. Aldric becomes extremely interested in the floor. Professor Neris does not take offense. Perhaps because part of her agrees.

"Information has been restricted to the Headmaster, senior faculty, Council representatives and specific field authorities."

I frown. "Why?"

She looks at me. "Because panic has killed kingdoms before monsters ever arrived." Rhyven says nothing. Professor Neris continues. "If every ward fluctuation is declared an attack, citizens abandon protected settlements. If every interrupted manifestation becomes evidence of invasion, students begin forcing their magic to prove it still belongs to them."

I look toward the report describing the burned students. "Someone already did,"

"Yes." Her voice becomes colder. "And three people paid for that fear." No one argues after that.