CHAPTER TEN: Allies Are Chosen, Not Given
835 Words
Seraphina didn’t look for allies.
She let them find her.
That was the first lesson she’d learned from watching the Ivory Circle move—those who searched openly were marked as desperate. Those who waited became valuable.
The knock came just after curfew.
Three taps. Too precise to be accidental.
She didn’t answer immediately.
The Blackwood wing was quiet, but not empty. Silence here carried intent. Seraphina slipped the encrypted phone from beneath her pillow and typed a single word before opening the door.
Listening.
The reply came almost instantly.
Always.
Lucien.
She exhaled slowly and opened the door.
The girl standing there didn’t wear fear like most students did. Her posture was composed, her expression carefully neutral, dark hair pulled back in a way that suggested discipline rather than fashion.
“Seraphina Vale,” she said softly. “My name is Isla Merrow.”
Seraphina recognized it immediately.
Merrow. One of the lesser bloodlines. Old money without influence. Observers, not rulers.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Seraphina replied calmly.
Isla nodded. “Neither should you.”
That was enough.
Seraphina stepped aside.
⸻
Isla didn’t waste time.
“They’re watching you,” she said the moment the door closed. “Not to destroy you. To learn from you.”
Seraphina leaned against the desk. “And you?”
“I’m tired,” Isla replied simply. “Of pretending neutrality is safety.”
Seraphina studied her carefully. “You know what aligning with me costs.”
“Yes.”
“And you still knocked.”
Isla met her gaze steadily. “Because Cassian’s suspension wasn’t meant to last.”
Seraphina straightened. “Explain.”
“The Circle is divided,” Isla continued. “Lucien’s authority rattled them. Some believe he’s consolidating power too quickly. Others think he’s compromised.”
Seraphina’s chest tightened. “Because of me.”
“Because of attachment,” Isla corrected. “They’re preparing to test it.”
Seraphina absorbed that quietly. “And you came to warn me.”
“I came to help you,” Isla said. “But help is never free.”
Seraphina smiled faintly. “Good. I don’t trust anything that is.”
⸻
Lucien received the news an hour later.
He read Isla’s name once, then looked up sharply. “She shouldn’t be involved.”
“She already is,” Seraphina replied calmly.
“You’re building a network.”
“I’m surviving.”
He paced the length of the room, tension visible now—no longer perfectly contained. “This accelerates everything.”
“That’s the point.”
Lucien stopped in front of her. “You don’t understand what they’ll do if they decide you’re more than a variable.”
Seraphina held his gaze. “Then stop thinking of me as one.”
Something unreadable passed between them.
“You’re changing the way I have to move,” he said quietly.
She tilted her head. “Good. You were predictable.”
His mouth curved despite himself.
⸻
The secret meeting took place beneath the academy.
A forgotten lecture chamber sealed behind layers of locked doors and unregistered passages. Isla led the way with practiced confidence.
“You’ve been here before,” Seraphina noted.
“I listen,” Isla replied. “That’s how lesser houses survive.”
They weren’t alone.
Two others waited in the shadows.
A boy from the archives.
A girl from the medical wing.
Neither powerful. Both observant.
“We don’t want your protection,” Isla said quietly. “We want your direction.”
Seraphina felt the weight of it settle into her bones.
“This isn’t rebellion,” she said. “It’s preparation.”
The others nodded.
“Then listen carefully,” Seraphina continued. “Because if you follow me, you don’t get to pretend ignorance later.”
Isla smiled faintly. “None of us have that luxury anymore.”
⸻
Lucien felt the fracture the next morning.
A council request—urgent. Unscheduled.
Inside, the atmosphere was wrong.
“You’re being questioned,” Marcus said evenly.
Lucien leaned back in his chair. “About?”
“Influence,” Elijah added. “And judgment.”
Lucien’s gaze hardened. “Be precise.”
Marcus folded his hands. “Your proximity to the vow has altered your priorities.”
Lucien smiled coldly. “My priorities have always been clear.”
“Not anymore,” Cassian said from the corner, his presence like rot beneath polish.
Lucien’s jaw tightened.
“You overstepped,” Cassian continued. “And now she’s building alliances.”
Lucien rose slowly. “If you touch her—”
Marcus raised a hand. “No one said anything about touching.”
Lucien’s voice dropped. “Then don’t imply it.”
The silence that followed was brittle.
Outside the chamber, Seraphina stood unaware of the full storm gathering—but she felt it coming.
Allies were moving.
Lines were being drawn.
And Lucien Blackwood was standing at the center of a war he hadn’t planned.
But Seraphina had.
— End of Chapter Ten
- Writer
