Thirty days after entering the Institute, Aerys still had not seen the other Houses directly. Only traces of them lingered in the distance—thin columns of smoke rising along the horizon like dark scars carved into the mountains.
The cadets of House Solenar now patrolled openly along the western border of Celerion territory. Ever since Titos had withdrawn into the fortress, they moved without fear.
Fortress, No.
Aerys no longer thought of it that way.
It was a slum wrapped in stone.
One morning before dawn, he approached it with Callius. Fog coiled around the four towers so thickly that the walls seemed to emerge from nothingness itself, while weak morning light struggled to pierce the endless cloud cover hanging above the mountains.Voices echoed beyond the gates. Metal clanged,Chains rattled.
The sounds reminded Aerys of coins shaking inside a rusted tin box.
He recognized Titos's voice immediately. The boy was screaming at his followers again, forcing them awake. They answered with curses, exhausted complaints, and open insults. Someone loudly told him to go fuck himself.
Aerys was not surprised.
The beds inside the fortress were the only luxury the castle still possessed. Probably intentional. A temptation. A way to encourage laziness .
His own clan had no such comfort,They slept on bare earth beside hidden fires, wrapped tightly together for warmth like strays surviving winter. What he would have given for a real bed.
Silently, he and Callius climbed the dirt path leading toward the gatehouse. The fog was so dense that the walls only became visible when they were nearly standing beneath them.
Then came another sound.
Coughing,Groaning and Shuffling feet.The gate chains groaned as the doors slowly opened.Callius pulled Aerys off the road and into the mist beside the path.Figures emerged from the fortress.
Slaves,Pale beneath the dim morning light. Hollow-cheeked. Filthy. Their Symbols were half-buried beneath dirt and dried blood. Some limped heavily. Others stared blankly ahead like sleepwalkers.
One passed close enough for Aerys to smell him , Rot and Sweat.
Aerys stiffened instinctively, afraid the man would notice the scent of campfire clinging to his own clothes.
But the slave kept walking.
Beside him, Callius remained perfectly still , Yet Aerys could feel the anger radiating from him like heat from a furnace.
They followed the column down the slope until the slaves reached the edge of the forest. The sight waiting there barely resembled noble cadets anymore. They clawed through thorn bushes searching for berries. Dug through mud for roots. Fought over scraps like starving dogs , Others simply stood motionless, staring at the dirt with empty eyes.
Vixos watched over them carrying a long staff. The bruise around his throat—left there by Aerys weeks earlier—had darkened into an ugly violet stain.
The sun slowly climbed above the mountains, warming the fog. Then the screams began.
Aerys froze, The sound came from the main tower of House Celerion , Not screams of pain , ,Something worse.
Callius's jaw tightened violently.
"What Titos is doing to the girls…" he hissed later that evening as they retreated down the mountain trail. "He's an animal."
"We're at war," Aerys replied quietly.
Even to him, the words sounded hollow.
"This is the Academy!" Callius snapped. "And if he did the same to Léa? To Jinn?"
Aerys said nothing.
Callius answered for him.
"We'd kill him, Aerys. We'd kill him slowly."
Aerys grabbed his arm and pulled him farther down the trail.
At night, the fortress gates were sealed. Once again, he felt that familiar helplessness tightening around his ribs—the same helplessness he had felt when his mother had been taken from him.
But things were different now; His fists clenched, He was no longer weak.
As they reached the northern road leading back toward camp, a glow descended from the clouds overhead.Kael landed lightly before them, one hand pressed theatrically against his chest as he noticed their expressions.
"What have I done," he sighed dramatically, "to deserve such murderous looks from my dear students?"
"He treats them like animals," Callius spat. The tendons in his neck stood out sharply. "They're nobles of the Empire, and he treats them like dogs. Like servants."
Kael shrugged.
"If he treats them like whores, perhaps that is all they are worth in our little world. The same way whores are worth little in the greater one."
"You're joking."
Callius truly did not understand, He could not.
"They are nobles," he repeated coldly. "Titos is a monster."
"In that case," Kael replied lazily, "prove you're better and stop him. As long as he doesn't kill them one by one, it isn't my concern. Wounds heal. Even those."
"That's not true," Aerys said quietly.
Kael's eyes shifted toward him.
"Not everything disappears," Aerys continued. "Not everything heals."
His mother's death would never heal; The pain would remain until his own death.
"And we do nothing because he has more men," Callius growled bitterly.
Then something clicked inside Aerys's mind Cold, Sharp and Precise.
"We can do something," he said.
Callius turned toward him immediately. He had heard it in Aerys's voice—that same dangerous certainty burning inside himself, Their relationship was strange. Like fire and ice standing side by side.
Aerys still did not know which of them was which.
"You have a plan," Callius said.
Aerys nodded once.
Kael studied both of them for a long moment before smiling faintly.
"About time."