The summons arrived without ceremony.
No symbol flared. No hum surged. Just a thin envelope placed on Elias's desk at the start of first period, its seal marked with the Council's crest.
Mara saw it immediately.
"That's not good," she said.
"No," Elias replied calmly. "It was always coming."
The Council chamber felt smaller than Elias remembered.
The curved walls still held their old inscriptions, but several had dimmed, their meaning blurred by time and neglect. Five members sat in their usual places.
Only three met his eyes.
"You've disrupted the balance," Councilor Veyra said, wasting no time. "Entire sections of the school have been lost."
Elias kept his voice steady. "The school chose that."
"It chose because you refused to bind properly," another councilor snapped.
Rowan stood at the back of the chamber, silent but watchful.
"You were trained to stabilize," Veyra continued. "Not renegotiate."
"I was trained to disappear," Elias replied quietly. "I declined."
The room went still.
Councilor Halden leaned forward. "This is not about you anymore. Students are affected. Teachers are confused. We cannot allow sentiment to endanger the institution."
Mara stepped forward before Elias could stop her.
"This isn't sentiment," she said firmly. "It's adaptation."
Several councilors frowned.
"You should not be here," Halden said.
"I should," Mara replied. "Because I'm part of the system now whether you admit it or not."
The hum stirred, low and unmistakable.
Councilor Veyra's eyes narrowed. "You're anchoring him."
Mara didn't deny it.
"That role has never been sanctioned," Veyra continued. "Listeners stand alone for a reason."
"And they fail for the same one," Rowan said suddenly.
All eyes turned.
"You erased us when we broke," Rowan said calmly. "History didn't stop it repeated."
Silence stretched tight.
The vote was split.
Two councilors demanded Elias be forced into full binding.
Two argued for removal severing him entirely.
One abstained.
Deadlock.
"This is unsustainable," Veyra said sharply. "You're running out of time."
Elias nodded. "So is the school."
As Elias and Mara left the chamber, the air felt heavier charged with quiet hostility.
"They'll act," Mara said.
"Yes," Elias replied. "And not carefully."
The hum pulsed once low, warning.
The Council hadn't reached a decision.
But they had chosen a side.
And Elias was no longer on it.
*End of the chapter*