"Hello, little brother."
Adam looked at Alex, floating amidst the debris in the sky. He frowned. "What did you just say? ’Little brother’? We came out at the same time. Not a single second passed, you insufferable kid." He snorted, crossing his arms.
Alex grinned, settling onto the air as if it were a solid bench. "Come on, you know it’s biologically impossible for twins to be born at the exact same second. Dad told us that story to stop us from fighting over who was older."
"Whatever lie you need to tell yourself to sleep at night, brother," Adam shot back, but a reluctant smirk tugged at his lips. He looked around at the shattered towers, the cracked grounds, the half-vanished library wing. "Look at the mess you made of the place."
"Me? You’re the one who erased the Forbidden Wing!"
"You solidified the air around my head! I could’ve suffocated!"
"You’d just un-exist the air, you dramatic bastard."
Down below, the entire academy—students, instructors, guards—stood in a state of collective shock, staring up at the two brothers casually bickering in the sky as if they hadn’t just nearly unmade the campus.
The Academy Head finally broke from his stupor. His face was pale with a mixture of terror and fury. She turned and marched toward Princess Elizabeth, who was standing beside Rebecca amidst the rubble.
"Your Highness," the Head began, his voice tight with controlled panic. "An explanation is required. That... that individual who arrived with you. Who is he? And his... relation to our Apex Overseer?" She gestured weakly toward the sky.
Rebecca shifted, stepping subtly between Elizabeth and the Head. Her movement was smooth, but her presence was a wall. "She doesn’t know," Rebecca said, her voice flat and final.
The Head blinked. "Pardon?"
"She doesn’t know who Adam is. Not in any way that matters to you. And you will not investigate him. You will not question him. You will not even look at him for too long if you value the rest of your academy." Rebecca’s eyes, cold and ancient, held the Head’s gaze. "Your concern is misplaced."
"Misplaced? Half the central campus is in ruins! The Forbidden Wing is gone!"
"And it can be rebuilt," Rebecca said, unmoved. "Your real problem is still here, and you’re ignoring it." She tilted her head slightly. "The Princess was attacked today. In your gardens. By a professional assassin from the Guild."
The blood drained from the Academy Head’s face. "What? That’s... that’s impossible. Our wards..."
"Are useless against a paid professional with a high-rank concealment talent," Rebecca interrupted. "The assassin is gone. We let her go to send a message. But she won’t be the last. The contract on the Princess’s life is still active. The Guild never abandons a paid contract unless the client calls it off, or the target becomes... too hot to handle."
She let the implication hang in the air. Elizabeth, standing behind her, wrapped her arms around herself, the reality of the situation settling deeper than the physical destruction around them.
The Headmaster’s professional instincts finally overrode his shock. The safety of a royal heir on her grounds was a catastrophic liability. "You are certain?"
"I held a poison-tipped arrow meant for her heart in my hand," Adam’s voice said. He and Alex had descended silently, landing a few feet away. Adam dusted off his simple tunic. "So, yeah. We’re certain."
The Head flinched at his sudden proximity but held his ground. He looked at Alex, her masked overseer, her voice laced with betrayal. "Overseer... you knew of this threat?"
Alex’s face, so like Adam’s but etched with a weary authority, was calm. "I suspected. The political currents in the capital have been... turbulent. An attempt was inevitable. I did not expect it so soon, or so brazen." He glanced at Adam. "I also didn’t expect my brother’s arrival to coincide with it. That complicates the assassin’s report considerably."
"The point is," Adam said, clapping his hands together, making the Head jump, "your security is a joke. You’re worried about broken walls? Worry about the people sneaking over them. The Princess is a target. That makes this whole place a target."
The Academy Head straightened, his administrative mind clicking into gear. "We will implement an immediate lockdown. No one enters or leaves without dual verification from the Crown Guard and my office. All students will be confined to their division dormitories. The Apex and Prime Divisions will be moved to the inner citadel towers—they have the oldest, strongest wards."
"Good start," Alex nodded. "Triple the patrols on the mana barrier generators. The Guild uses phase-talents. Physical walls are less of an obstacle than weakened magical ones."
"I’ll inform the Emperor’s guard at once," the Head said, already turning to bark orders at a cluster of stunned instructors.
"Wait," Rebecca said.
The Head paused.
"Don’t inform the Emperor’s guard."
A heavy silence fell over their small group.
Elizabeth looked at Rebecca, confused. "What? Why not? My father needs to know."
"Because the contract likely came from within the palace," Adam said, his voice losing its playful edge. "Your uncle, the famed ’Lionhead,’ is back. The money for the hit came from northern bullion. The timing isn’t a coincidence, Princess. Telling your dad might just be telling the man who wants you dead that his first shot missed."
Elizabeth’s face went ashen. The idea of her father being involved was unthinkable. But an uncle she’d never met? A man with a familiar, terrifying name? That was a different kind of fear.
The Academy Head looked horrified. "You are suggesting we withhold an assassination attempt on the Imperial heir from the Throne?"
"I’m suggesting we don’t walk the Princess into the lion’s den," Rebecca stated. "She stays here. Under our protection. The lockdown isn’t just to keep assassins out. It’s to keep her in. Safe."
"And how long do you propose this... secrecy?" the Head asked, aghast.
"Until we find out who really gave the order," Alex said, his voice quiet but leaving no room for argument. "The Guildmaster owes me a favor. I will... inquire. Discreetly."
The Head looked between the two brothers—one a void she couldn’t comprehend, the other his own mysterious overseer—and the legendary, deadly Avatar of the Death God. He was in over his head. He gave a stiff, reluctant nod. "The lockdown will be for ’structural repairs’ following the... incident. It will buy a few days, no more. The Convocation begins tomorrow. Her absence will be noted."
"Let it be noted," Adam shrugged. "Better noted than dead."
As the Head hurried away to begin the frantic lockdown, Elizabeth turned to Rebecca, her voice small. "You really think my uncle...?"
"I think a man we knew in another life is here, with the same name, the same tactics, and is suddenly moving against the royal family," Rebecca said, her gaze distant. "I don’t believe in that many coincidences."
Alex placed a hand on Adam’s shoulder. "We need to talk. Now. My quarters are still standing. Mostly."
Adam nodded. He looked at Rebecca. "Keep her close."
"I always do."
As Adam and Alex moved away, heading for the less-damaged Apex wing, Elizabeth watched them go, the twin sets of shoulders identical from behind.
"He has a brother," she murmured, still trying to process it all.
"Still hard to process myself."