Page 5

“Is this required?” I ask, twisting slightly in the beadle’s grip. “We’re going. You’ve made your feelings plain.”

“Orders,” he mutters, tightening his hold.

We’re given barely enough time to strip our rooms. Under the beadles’ watchful eyes, we snatch up only what matters most, knowing anything left behind will be claimed by other hands or tossed out as rubbish before the week is out.

Then we’re marched through the corridor, past portraits of men who have shaped the college across decades. Students lingering in doorways pull back as we pass, watching with wide, curious eyes but saying nothing. Word will outrun us before we ever reach the courtyard.

A beadle shoves the door open, and the cold air hits us all at once. I stumble as I’m pushed outside. James catches his balance only because Alex grabs the back of his coat. The door slams behind us, cutting off the muffled sound of voices inside.

For a moment, the three of us stand there in the open yard, breath fogging in the early light, each of us trying to absorb what’s happened. Trinity’s stone buildings loom around us, familiar and suddenly foreign.

James lets out a sharp breath and drags a hand through his hair. “Well, I’m finished,” he says, his voice cracking at the edges. “Trinity. Gone. Just like that. My da’s gonna—” He cuts himself off with a groan. “This is a bloody disaster.”

Alex shifts beside him. “Well, we aren’t technically fully removed yet⁠—”

“No,” I cut in, sharper than I mean to. “On paper, you’ll be shown as ‘withdrawn.’ That’s all. Letters will be sent home, likely on the day of proceedings. But you’ll never set foot in that building as students again, and you need to face that reality. They’ve closed that door on you as firmly as they have on me. We’ll find another one—but that one’s gone.”

James’s shoulders sag, and even Alex’s grin falters for a moment.

Then Alex nudges James with his elbow. “Look on the bright side,” he says, a wry twist to his mouth. “At least we don’t have morning lectures anymore.”

James turns on him, eyes narrowed. “Too soon.”

Alex lifts both hands. “Fair.”

Silence creeps back in; James’s gaze drops to the cobbles, and Alex’s smile slips at the edges. I swallow, the words rough in my throat.

“I’m sorry,” I say quietly. “You shouldn’t have been pulled into this. If I’d kept my distance, kept my mouth shut⁠—”

“Dinnae start,” James cuts in, shaking his head. “I’m not standin’ out here because ye dragged me anywhere. I’m here because I believe the same bloody things you do.”

Alex nods. “Aye. If I’d wanted a quiet life, I’d have chosen different companions. I want what you want, Robert. Hell, I came here thinking this place cared about learning and principle, remember? Turns out they were selling us a lie. If the price of staying is biting my tongue and blessing their cowardice, I’m better off outside those walls.”

James huffs out something almost like a laugh, though it sounds tired. “I wouldn’t take it back,” he admits. “I’ll enjoy the next few weeks aside the pair of you—before my father finds out I ‘withdrew’ from Trinity and kills me himself.”

Alex snorts. “If he does, I’ll give a rousing speech at your funeral.”

“Ye’re enjoyin’ yerself far too much,” James says, more life in his voice now.

Alex grins, entirely unapologetic. “Aye. I truly am.”

I draw a breath, the decision settling as I make it. “For now, you’ll both come to my parents’ house,” I say. “We’ll cram in where we can and keep our heads down. Only until Clare’s finished his grand visitation and the worst of this blows past.”

James’s gaze lifts to mine, something like relief flickering through the worry. “Aye, and after that, we’re gone from Dublin,” he says. “Gone—to my home.”

He squares his shoulders. “Best thing we can do is get out of here before someone tries to make an example of us. You both ken ye’re welcome in Keiss. Kin, as far as the Sinclairs are concerned.”

I don’t answer at once. The word kin settles between us, heavier than anything else that’s been said.

I give a single nod. “We’ll stay with my parents until the visitation’s done. After that, we leave.”

Alex lets out a low breath of relief. “Better than sleeping in the street, wandering Dublin with no plan, and being recognisable as the college’s newest disgrace. Better company, too.”

I weigh his offer only for a moment. “I’ll need somewhere quiet. I’m the one they’ll be watching. I’d rather not draw eyes to either of you.”

“Exactly,” James says, his voice settling now that there’s finally a plan to hold onto. “You need to lie low, and Alex—well, ye’ve already got the soul of a drifter. I dinnae imagine ye’ll complain much.”

Alex cracks a grin. “I prefer ‘unclaimed treasure.’”