They did not return to the surface corridors after that, since Selene needed to make everything clear, but deep within the girl's mind, she was already thinking of her next step, which was to unlock more abilities.
Selene dismissed the projection with a sharp gesture, the image of the containment layers dissolving into stone as if it had never existed, yet the weight of it lingered between them, heavy and irrevocable. The chamber felt smaller now, as though the walls themselves had leaned in to listen.
"You will not speak of what you saw here," Selene said, her voice measured but leaving no space for interpretation. "Not to the knights, not to the clerks, not even to me unless I ask. Knowledge is a liability when it spreads faster than control."
She nodded once. It was not obedience born of fear but of understanding. Secrets here were not hidden only to protect people, but they were also hidden to keep the city standing.
Selene turned and moved toward the door, then paused, her back still to her. "And for the record," she added, "if you had refused the limiter, you would not be dead right now. You would be asleep, very deeply, until the council decided what parts of you were worth keeping."
Her head snapped up when she heard that and she blinked. That was not reassurance. It was honesty, even if it cut sharper than a blade.
The wards peeled back again, and this time the corridor beyond was different. Brighter. Wider. Less ancient, yet no less controlled. As they walked, she became acutely aware of how the limiter settled into her presence, not as an external object, but as something that had synchronized with her core, dampening the sharp edges of her awareness without dulling it completely. The whisper beneath the city did not vanish, but it retreated, as if watching through narrowed eyes.
The female knight from earlier waited at the junction ahead, her posture straight but her gaze flicking toward her with something unreadable, not suspicion, not warmth, but vigilance mixed with curiosity.
"She's clear to move," Selene said. "But not to wander without me knowing."
"Yes, Magistrate," the knight replied immediately, then hesitated. "Where should I take her?"
Selene considered the question longer than necessary. "Not back to the temporary quarters. That room has already been logged, scanned, and marked. Anyone clever enough will know she slept there."
Her eyes shifted to the girl. "You will be staying in the eastern wing, third level. Knight-adjacent housing, my room is not far from it, try leaving and I will keep you in my room, maybe tied."
The knight's brows lifted in surprise and the girl's eyes widened before the knight could stop herself. "That's… close."
"Exactly," Selene said. "If something goes wrong, I want witnesses, not rumors, and I want her close; I do not make empty threats."
She looked back at the girl, their gazes locking again, suspicion still present but now threaded with something else, a reluctant investment neither of them was willing to name. "Rest today. Eat. Do not train, do not provoke anything else here, and do not attempt to test the limiter. Tomorrow, everything changes."
"With training?" she asked.
"With exposure," Selene replied. "Training comes after you survive being seen by the true powerhouses of this city."
Before the girl could ask anything else, Selene turned and walked away, her steps unhurried, leaving behind the faint sense that she had just stepped onto a much larger board and moved a piece that could not be returned to its original place.
The knight gestured for her to follow, leading her through a series of stairways and corridors that buzzed with restrained activity. Knights passed them in pairs or trios, some glancing at her openly, others pretending not to notice, but every single one of them felt her presence, even with the limiter in place. She was not invisible here. She was contained, cataloged, and quietly assessed.
The room she was brought to was not luxurious, but it was unmistakably lived-in. A single bed, a reinforced desk, weapon racks mounted neatly along one wall, and a narrow balcony overlooking an inner training court where steel rang against steel in rhythmic bursts.
This was not a guest room, it was a similar room to the previous one and a place for people who are expected to fight.
"You'll be sharing the wing," the knight said, leaning casually against the doorframe. "Separate room, obviously. But close enough that if you scream, someone competent will hear it and the magistrate will be at ease. I have never seen her this ficxiated and that too on a girl she barely knows, but I will not question it."
"That's… reassuring," she replied flatly.
The knight smirked. "It's meant to be."
Her gaze lingered again, more openly this time, drifting from her face to the faint outline of her ears beneath her hair, then to where her tail would have been if not carefully controlled. There was interest there, but no hunger, no cruelty. Just curiosity which the knight seemed to be desperately trying to hide behind discipline.
"I'm Kael," the knight said finally. "I know it sounds like a boy name, but hey, I am a bit of a tomboy, if you need something, you ask me or you don't ask at all. Those are your safest options."
"I'll remember that. Nice to meet you, tomboy Kael," she replied.
Kael chuckled as she pushed off the wall and paused before leaving. "One more thing. Whatever you heard this morning, whatever spoke to you, whatever Selene said to you, it didn't just brush against you and it is not just a warning, Selene is being gentle."
She stilled at that, then turned to look at the girl with her brows furrowed.
"It woke something," Kael said quietly. "Not just beneath the city."
The door closed behind her before she could respond.
Alone again, she stepped into the room and let the silence settle. Her core thrummed faintly beneath the limiter, restrained but not silenced, and beneath that, deeper still, something answered, slow and patient.
"Not now," the whisper echoed again, clearer this time. "Soon."
She moved to the balcony and watched the knights train below, their movements precise, lethal, and controlled. This was a place where power was shaped deliberately, where instinct was honed rather than feared.
If she was going to survive, she would have to learn to do the same.
Because whatever she had become, whatever had noticed her beneath the city, it was no longer content to sleep.
And neither, she realized, was she. Her eyes glowed, and behind her, she sensed the presence of a woman, someone strong, a shadow.
"Get stronger, and I will lead you to me, my mistress..." The warm voice whispered in her ear as a cold finger brushed the side of her neck before disappearing.
Her tail emerged, energy flaring, and her eyes narrowed. This was something she would figure out on her own. She couldn't just tell anyone; speaking might complicate things or even hide the truth. She was going to play this her way, and even if she had to become something she wasn't, she would not cower.
She jumped down from the balcony and looked out toward the city as the sun shone brightly. Her gaze lingered on the darker corners, a place as grim as it was, yet possibly brimming with information.