Aiden Crest was not supposed to follow villains into servant tunnels.
Heroes had cleaner architecture.
Golden bridges. Open courtyards. Stained-glass chapels where sunlight arrived on command. Places where courage could be seen from a distance and applauded before the blood dried.
This stairway offered none of that.
It dropped beneath the academy through a throat of black stone, narrow enough that Aiden's sword scraped the wall whenever he turned too quickly. Dust clung to his sleeves. Blood from his left temple ran past his jaw because he had wasted his last healing request on Niko. His boots slipped twice on damp steps no noble mason would admit designing.
Still, he stayed near the rear.
Not because the route demanded it.
Because I had told him to hold the door if the passage tried to split.
Aiden Crest had obeyed me.
The world hated that almost as much as I did.
Behind us, the gate we had entered through shuddered.
Something struck it from the other side.
Once.
Twice.
