Jordan shrugged. "He doesn't learn."
Blue remained silent, one hand still pressed against his ribs while he steadied himself against the wall. Something about the way the others watched him made the room feel smaller. None of them looked surprised to find him like this.
Simir stepped fully into the chamber. Unlike Jordan, he rarely raised his voice or lost control openly. That calmness made him harder to read and, in some ways, worse.
"We're done wasting time," Simir said.
Blue frowned slightly. "What are you talking about?"
Jordan folded his arms. "You really don't know?"
Blue's eyes moved between them while Simir reached into the folds of his robe and pulled out a rolled scroll sealed with dark wax. Even from several feet away, Blue recognized the insignia pressed into it.
Archibald's personal seal.
A quiet murmur spread among the others gathered near the doorway as Blue's expression hardened immediately. "Where did you get that?"
Simir ignored the question. "Archibald's personal technique disappeared from his quarters earlier tonight."
Jordan's smirk returned slowly. "Guess where they found it."
Blue stared at the scroll for a moment before looking back at them. Understanding came quickly after that. Someone had planned this long before the fight started.
"I didn't take anything," Blue said evenly.
Jordan barked out a laugh. "Of course you'd say that."
Simir finally stepped closer, stopping only a few feet away. "One of the servants saw you near the restricted halls earlier."
Blue's jaw tightened. He had passed through the outer corridor after training. Nothing more.
Simir noticed the reaction and pressed harder. "You were already warned not to wander near Archibald's chambers."
"And that means I stole from him?"
"No," Simir replied calmly. "The scroll found among your belongings means that."
One of the retainers behind him stepped forward carrying a bundle of folded clothes taken from Blue's quarters. Without hesitation, the man opened the bundle and produced a second scroll identical to the first.
The room fell quiet.
Even Jordan looked impressed by how convincing the setup appeared.
Blue stared at the scroll in silence, already understanding that denial would change nothing. The decision had been made long before any of them entered the room.
Jordan watched him carefully, waiting for anger, panic, or pleading, but Blue gave him none of it. That restraint seemed to irritate him more than resistance ever had.
"You should've just stayed invisible," Jordan said quietly. "People like you survive longer that way."
Blue lifted his eyes toward him. "Is that what you do?"
Jordan's expression darkened instantly.
Simir stepped between them before the argument could escalate again, his calm voice settling the room immediately. "Enough."
He raised the scroll slightly, making certain everyone present could see Archibald's seal clearly. "Archibald will decide what happens next."
One of the younger servants near the doorway shifted uneasily while another lowered his voice enough that only those closest could hear. "If he really stole that technique… he's finished."
Blue heard them anyway.
The judgment in their voices settled heavier than the bruises spreading through his body. Not one person questioned the accusation. The silence that followed stretched long enough for Blue to hear the faint crackling of the lantern near the door and the distant howl of wind outside the estate walls. His ribs ached with every breath, but the pressure building inside his chest had little to do with pain now.
This had never been about the scroll.
Jordan wanted him broken. Simir wanted Archibald's favor. And somewhere above all of it sat the man who had allowed this to happen in the first place.
The shadows near the corners of the room shifted faintly again as a soft whisper brushed the edge of Blue's hearing before vanishing into silence.
The room quieted before the door even opened. Servants near the entrance straightened instinctively while several of the younger boys lowered their voices altogether. A moment later the chamber doors swung inward, and Archibald Pruitt stepped inside with the measured calm of someone fully aware that every eye in the room would follow him the moment he entered.
Dark robes trimmed with silver rested neatly across his broad frame, their embroidered runes catching faint traces of torchlight as he moved. Though no taller than most men present, there was a weight to the way Archibald carried himself that made others instinctively give him space. Long black hair rested neatly behind his shoulders while hazel eyes swept across the chamber with quiet precision before settling on Blue. No anger showed on his face, and somehow that calmness made him worse.
His gaze lingered briefly on the bruises spreading across Blue's jaw before shifting toward the scroll still resting in Simir's hand. "So this," Archibald said at last, his voice even and controlled, "is the boy accused of stealing from me."
Blue forced himself upright despite the pain tearing through his ribs and met Archibald's gaze directly. "I didn't steal anything."
Several people near the doorway exchanged uneasy looks, but Archibald showed no visible reaction. He walked further into the chamber instead, his boots echoing softly against the floor while silence stretched around him.
"You deny the accusation," he said.
"Yes."
"And yet the technique was discovered among your belongings."
"It was planted there."
Jordan scoffed immediately, but Archibald silenced him with a slight raise of his hand before the interruption could grow. Blue noticed that immediately.
Archibald stopped only a few feet away now, studying him carefully enough that Blue could feel the attention pressing against his skin. "Do you understand what you're being accused of?"
"Yes."
"Then you also understand what this accusation does to my household."
The wording settled heavily across the room. Not what this does to you. What this does to my household.
Blue understood the distinction immediately.
Archibald turned away from him slowly, his attention shifting toward the others gathered in the chamber. "Trust," he said calmly, "is difficult to build and very easy to destroy. A single act of betrayal stains more than the person responsible for it."
Quiet murmurs spread among the onlookers while Blue's jaw tightened. Archibald was controlling the room now without ever raising his voice.
"You all understand the value of perception," Archibald continued. "Whether guilt is real or merely believed often matters very little once doubt begins to spread."
Blue felt the trap closing completely then. This was never about proving innocence. The outcome had already been decided before anyone entered the room.
Archibald allowed the silence to settle a few moments longer before looking back toward Blue again. "Still," he said, his tone carrying the practiced fairness of a man pretending to be reasonable, "I will not condemn someone without opportunity for defense."
Jordan's expression shifted faintly while satisfaction flickered briefly through Simir's eyes.
"A trial by combat will settle the matter," Archibald declared. "At first light tomorrow morning, Blue will face his accusers before witnesses. If he prevails, the accusation will be dismissed."
The room stirred immediately after the announcement. Some looked surprised while others exchanged knowing glances. A few of the younger servants even seemed relieved, mistaking the trial for mercy instead of recognizing it for what it truly was.
Blue saw it clearly.
This was never intended to give him a chance.
It was meant to make his downfall look justified.