Father Marius watched them from his desk.
The look he had was the one he used for students he'd already scheduled a punishment for and was just deciding the size.
Oriel sniffled and pointed a finger at Lucian.
"They beat me up last night," he said. "Left me lying in the cold like a dog."
Lucian stood next to him with his arms loose and his eyes fixed on Marius. The posture of someone waiting for a cart to pass. Pure boredom.
"That's not true, Father," Lucian said. "We weren't together last night. Oriel is making it up."
Oriel's face went red. He spun toward Lucian, words coming without pause.
"But I heard you arguing! You were talking about something weird,like darkness and a prophecy!"
Marius raised one hand.
The room went quiet. Oriel's mouth closed.
"So," Marius said. "You're confirming that all three of you were out of bed after curfew."
Oriel went still. He'd just walked himself into it.
He opened his mouth.
"No excuses," Marius said. "All three of you will be punished. You are here to study and serve Zhalyr. Not to wander hallways looking for trouble."
He pressed two fingers to his temple.
"I expected better. Especially from you, Raziel. You usually have more sense than this."
They stood there and took it.
At the end of the line, Oriel had a small satisfied smile. He'd gone down too, but he'd brought both of them with him. For Oriel, that was a win.
Raziel noted it and said nothing.
***
The afternoon punishment was window duty.
Three stories of stained glass, years of candle grime, and the portrait of the Goddess Zhalyr staring down at all of them with the expression of divine patience that basically meant: you deserve this.
Lucian worked two windows over with the energy of a man doing penance for a crime he actually committed.
Oriel was at the far end of the hall, rag moving in slow circles, turning around every thirty seconds to check if they looked miserable.
Raziel kept his face miserable.
The bell struck mid-afternoon.
The smell of incense drifted from the eastern chapel.
Brother Thomas came through the corridor with his hands folded and his walk that never seemed to rush.
He stopped when he saw them.
"Ah," Thomas said. "Window duty."
"Father Marius has a gift for creative punishments," Lucian said, not looking up.
Thomas walked over and looked up at Raziel on the ladder. His face was the same as it always was, patient, a little tired, still interested.
"You have a lot on your mind," Thomas said.
"I always look like that, Brother Thomas."
Thomas made a sound that was almost a laugh. "Fair enough."
He looked at the portrait above Raziel's head. "The Goddess could stand to be a bit shinier."
"Working on it."
Thomas held his gaze another moment. "Whatever trouble found you and I'm not asking what it was don't let it close you off entirely. There's a difference between being careful and becoming stone."
He patted Raziel's shoulder and walked on.
Raziel watched him until he turned the corner.
Thomas was going to die in the Invasion.
He couldn't stop it without moving too fast, and moving too fast would get him killed before he reached the point where it mattered.
So he watched Thomas walk away and kept his mouth shut.
'Stay alive long enough for me to get there, old man.'
"Hey." Lucian was at the foot of the ladder, voice low. "You okay?"
"Yes."
"You had the face."
"What face."
"The one that means you're not."
Raziel climbed down a rung and took the bucket from him. Oriel was still watching from down the hall.
Blue text blinked at the edge of his vision.
[MASTERY INCREASED] Condition: Suppress emotion in front of an Ally. Skill [Acting]: Level 3 → Level 4.
He dismissed it without moving a muscle and went back to scrubbing.
Oriel thought he was winning.
He had no idea what game they were playing.