Sometimes words hurt worse than any physical wound, especially when they're twisted versions of the truth.
The rumors started less than twelve hours after Darius and I had our heart-to-heart on the observation deck. They spread through the academy like wildfire—too organized, too coordinated to be regular gossip.
People were saying I was compromised. Emotionally unstable. That my bond with Darius had crossed some line from professional partnership into something personal that clouded my judgment. They claimed the consciousness network during the battle had almost killed us both, and that it proved I was making desperate, reckless decisions. The big question everyone kept asking: could someone so emotionally involved make rational choices when it really mattered?
I didn't hear any of this directly. It came through Finn, through worried faculty members, through students who thought I deserved to know what people were saying in the dorms and dining hall.
