"Business," Holden repeated. "I had no idea teachers handed out side jobs."
Vespera didn't answer right away. She set her tablet down on the desk, screen first, like she didn't want him reading whatever was on it.
Then she reached up and undid the top button of her uniform collar.
Holden blinked. "Uh. Instructor, I think there's been a misunderstanding about what kind of business this is."
"Quiet," she said.
She pulled the collar aside, just enough to show a patch of skin near her collarbone. Underneath, a small crystal was glowing and beating like a heart. It was set deep in her skin as if it were part of her body. It flickered weakly and blue light was coming out through thin cracks that ran across its surface.
The glow went up and down in a strange way.
Holden's smirk faded. "What is that?"
"A star core," Vespera said, buttoning her collar back up. "Or what's left of one."
"I'm guessing you didn't get that at a market stall"
"I took a hit meant for someone else," she said. "Eleven years ago. A war you've never heard of, against an enemy you're better off not knowing existed. The core broke inside me instead of killing me outright."
"It's been cracking slowly ever since," she continued. "Every year, a little more. Every year, I get a little weaker than I should be at my rank."
Holden sat still. "So you're saying the scariest teacher in this academy is secretly dying."
"I'm saying I'm secretly inconvenienced. I'm not dying. To die, I'd have to give up control, and I don't plan on doing that."
That got a small laugh out of him before he could stop it.
"There's a plant," Vespera said. "The Ashen Lotus. It grows in one place in this entire kingdom. If I get my hands on it and process it correctly, it can seal the cracks in the core. Maybe even reverse some of the damage."
"Okay," Holden said. "So go get it."
"I can't."
"You're a Rank 4. I just got crushed by you while you were drinking tea. I don't think a flower is gonna stop you."
She almost smiled for a second, but then she straightened her mouth and looked cold again.
"The Lotus grows inside the Ruins of the Ashen King. There's a spatial rift that acts as the door. It's old and weak."
"And?"
"And if anyone above Rank 1 tries to walk through it, the door collapses. Permanently. Whoever's inside stays inside. Forever."
Holden raised an eyebrow. "So you're too strong to open your own front door."
"Basically."
"That's the dumbest restriction I've ever heard of."
"Welcome to my life," Vespera said dryly.
She leaned forward, her elbows on the desk.
"Even if I could enter, there's another problem. The Lotus gives off a toxic aura while it's alive. It's part of what makes it powerful. For most fighters, touching it would poison their inner energy and destroy their power permanently. Some die. Most just end up crippled."
"Cool," Holden said. "Love that for whoever has to grab it."
"You just broke into Rank 1, 5-Star, under conditions that should have broken your bones" Vespera said. "Your foundation isn't just strong. It's clean. I've trained recruits for fifteen years and never seen one this pure."
Holden went quiet for a second.
"You're saying I'm the only first year who could touch that thing and not turn into soup."
"I'm saying you're the only first year I'd trust to try. There's a difference."
"Feels like a small difference when soup is on the table."
Vespera didn't laugh, but something in her eyes loosened a bit.
"Here's the offer," she said. "You go in, get the Lotus and you bring it back to me."
"And in return?"
"Political protection," she said. "Full backing, under my name. Draven's family throws a lot of weight around this academy, but they don't throw it around me. If you're under my protection, nobody touches you. Nobody touches your sister."
Holden's jaw tightened slightly at the mention of Maeve, but he kept his face calm.
"Keep talking."
"I'll also open my private vault," Vespera said. "There's a Gold Chest in there. Senior instructor tier. Whatever's inside, it's well above anything a first year should have access to."
Holden leaned back in his chair. His heart was beating slower now, but his mind was moving fast.
The flower. The doorway. One mistake and he'd be trapped in a ruin no one could reach. His fingers twitched against the armrest. But none of that mattered as much as the word protection. Maeve's name sat in his chest like a hot coal. Draven and his crowd could get to her the moment Holden slipped up. This woman was offering to make that impossible.
Holden smiled.
"Where do I sign?"
Vespera studied him for a long moment, like she was checking to see if he understood exactly what he'd just agreed to.
Apparently satisfied, she reached into a drawer and pulled out a small data crystal, sliding it across the desk toward him.
"Read the briefing tonight," she said. "The mission starts tomorrow morning."