Jonah's win left a strange silence. The crowd clapped, but it was weak and confused. His win wasn't a triumph. It was a message. As he walked out, he felt whispers follow him, a tide of confusion and guesses.
He didn't have to wait long to feel the political troubles. The Headmaster's guard was waiting for him at the exit.
Back in the familiar, quiet study, the Headmaster was not smiling. His face looked grimly satisfied, like a general who had just won a necessary but costly battle.
"You followed your orders perfectly, Jonah," he said. "Perhaps too perfectly."
Jonah frowned. "I don't understand. I did what you asked. I won without revealing my full strength."
"Precisely," the Headmaster said, turning to look out his high window. "And in doing so, you have deeply unsettled some very powerful people. The Bureau loyalists who remain in the government, the old-guard military commanders… they understand power. They understand a monster that rages."
