ShadowBound: The Need For Power

Liam and Edith moved toward the empty table and sat across from each other, setting their trays down. The dining hall continued roaring around them, but the side table gave them just enough distance from the nearest groups to speak without being easily overheard.

Edith sat with her back straight, one hand resting near the edge of her tray, her attention fixed on Liam rather than the food. Liam looked no more tense than usual, though she noticed he had chosen a seat that allowed him to see most of the hall.

That did not surprise her.

"What did you want to talk about?" Edith asked.

Liam picked up his cup, took a sip, and set it down. "Nothing too serious."

Edith’s brows lifted faintly. "That does not make me less suspicious."

"I want to know how you feel about Sheila’s position as ranked one and leader right now."

Edith stared at him.

The question was not what she expected. In fact, it was strange enough that for a moment she did not answer at all. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she studied him across the table, trying to understand why Liam would ask something like that out of nowhere. It was not a casual topic. Sheila’s leadership had become one of the more important changes among the second-years since Nalim, and while most students had opinions about it, not many asked for them directly unless they had a stake in the answer.

’Is he salty about dropping from rank one?’ Edith thought.

The idea appeared quickly, then almost immediately collapsed under its own weakness.

No. That did not fit Liam. Edith had been in two group assessments with him, had seen enough of his behavior to know he was not the type to cling emotionally to titles just because others cared about them. If anything, Liam had seemed more relieved than offended when attention shifted away from him. He did not like being placed at the center of people’s expectations.

’Then why ask?’ she thought.

The question lingered too strongly to ignore.

So she asked it aloud.

"Why are you asking?"

Liam’s answer came without hesitation. "I just want to know."

Edith looked at him for a long moment.

That was not an answer.

It was the shape of an answer, dressed in Liam’s voice, but it revealed nothing. After being in two group tests with him, Edith had learned there was usually more behind what Liam said than he allowed on the surface. He did not lie often in casual matters, but he omitted with ruthless convenience.

If he said he "just wanted to know," then either the reason was not something he intended to explain yet, or he believed the explanation would distract from the answer he wanted.

Her best option was to answer honestly and see where the conversation moved.

"Sheila being ranked one has been good," Edith said after a moment. "Better than some expected, honestly. She has managed to unify most of our year in a way that did not exist before Nalim. Not completely, but enough for people to notice. Getting the trust of more than half of the hundred second-year students is not easy, especially in this academy."

Liam listened without interrupting.

Edith continued, choosing her words carefully but not softening them into flattery. "Some listen to her because of her rank. Some because of her royal status. Some because she has proven herself. But regardless of the reason, she has handled it well. She does not try to force people into obedience, which matters. She listens, she settles arguments before they grow, and she knows when to step back instead of making everything about authority." Edith paused, then added, "I think she suits the role of second-year leader."

Liam remained quiet for a moment.

Then he gave a faint hum. "I guess you’re right."

Edith’s eyes narrowed again. "You guess?"

"It sounded accurate."

"That is your version of agreeing?"

"Yes."

She decided not to waste energy on that.

Liam looked toward his tray briefly, then back at her. "Anyway, can you see yourself by Sheila’s side helping manage our peers?"

That time, Edith’s composure nearly slipped.

"What?"

Liam’s expression did not change. "Can you see yourself helping Sheila manage the second-years?"

"I heard you," Edith said slowly. "I’m asking what you mean by that."

"Last I checked," Liam said, "you were praised by the authorities as one of the best leadership figures among our year, right behind Sheila. So I’m asking if you think it makes sense for the two people known for leadership skill to be main and vice."

Edith paused.

For a moment, she only looked at him.

The annoying thing was that he was making sense. Liam did that often, which made arguing with him frustrating when he decided to be blunt.

Sheila and Edith had both been acknowledged for leadership qualities before. Sheila had the rank, status, strength, and growing trust of the second-years. Edith had steadiness, organization, and a less polarizing reputation. In terms of functionality, pairing them was not unreasonable.

But Edith was not ignorant.

She had been in Dark Knight Academy as long as Liam had. She knew how the academy worked, and she knew how rank influenced every visible structure among students. Merit mattered, but rank gave legitimacy, and legitimacy was often treated as the easiest answer even when it was not the best one.

"As much sense as that makes," Edith said slowly, "you know how this academy works better than most. There is no way they are going to skip the student ranked second and go to someone ranked ninth to make them vice leader. That would look ridiculous."

Liam said nothing.

Edith continued, holding his gaze. "I am aware Asher Hawthorne does not check all the boxes of being a good vice. He is powerful, yes, and he is dependable in certain situations, but he is not exactly patient. Still, the academy is not likely to jump to me because of that. You are ranked third, Liam. That makes you a better choice than me by their standards, and you know it."

By the time she finished, Liam was staring at her with a skeptical, judgmental look that made her feel as if she had said something personally offensive to logic itself.

Edith frowned. "I am just saying the truth, and you know it."

"The only thing I know," Liam said calmly, "is that you are trying very hard to sound like some of our air-wasting fossils for peers."

Edith blinked.

The insult landed so smoothly that for half a second, she almost missed how severe it was.

"Excuse me?" she said.

Liam did not look even slightly apologetic. "You’re smart enough to know why me leading will not help everyone, even if it can help in some ways. You have been my leader twice already. You know how I contribute best, and it is not by standing around with some leadership nonsense attached to my name."

He said the word leadership with such faint distaste that it might as well have been something rotten he had been forced to taste.

Edith stared at him, half-offended and half-aware that he was not finished.

"On top of that," Liam continued, "you know the academy has done things outside what students usually expect. Making you vice is not outrageous. It is not ridiculous either. If the practical exam requires proper cooperation, usefulness should matter more than a rank number."

Edith’s mouth closed.

The dining hall noise continued around them, distant but steady. Somewhere behind Liam, Dylan’s voice rose in laughter, followed by Maxwell telling him to lower his volume before Ariana died of embarrassment by association. Edith barely heard it.

Liam was right.

That was irritating.

She did know better than what she had said. Her argument about academy structure was not false, but it was incomplete.

The academy had changed expectations before. It had placed students in situations that ignored comfort, assumption, and social neatness whenever it suited a larger lesson. If the instructors believed Sheila needed a vice based on leadership ability rather than rank, Edith being selected was not impossible.

Still, impossible and likely were not the same thing.

"I understand your point," Edith said. "But I am still not certain the academy will see it that way."

"They might not."

"That is not reassuring."

"It was not meant to be."

"Of course it wasn’t."

Liam leaned slightly back in his seat. "With the practical exams in two weeks, there is a good chance it will involve full-year cooperation. If that happens, Sheila will need someone beside her who can actually help manage people. You are the best one to do that."

Edith studied him more closely.

There was no praise in his tone, not in the normal sense. Liam did not speak as though trying to encourage her or flatter her into agreement. He sounded like he was placing a tool where it belonged. Yet that was somehow more convincing than empty reassurance would have been.

"Did Sheila send you to me?" Edith asked.

"No."

"Then this is your idea?"

"Partly."

Edith waited.

Liam took another sip from his cup, then set it down. "I am actually here for something else. All this leadership nonsense is just a favor I am doing for you and Sheila."

Edith looked genuinely confused now. "What does that mean?"

"It means there is a high chance Sheila might talk to you sooner or later," Liam said. "I am saving both of you the trouble of getting too deep into something this simple."

Edith stared at him.

Then, slowly, understanding began to form.

’No,’ she thought. ’This is more for him than for us.’

The more she considered it, the clearer it became. Liam was not only trying to help Sheila. He was trying to make sure Sheila and Edith got on the same page quickly so he would not be dragged deeper into the leadership structure himself. He saw the problem forming, recognized Edith as the better fit for vice, and decided to push the arrangement forward before anyone could place the role on him. It was practical, useful, and completely self-serving in the most Liam way possible.

It also revealed something she had known generally but now understood more sharply.

Liam Hunter did not merely dislike leadership roles.

He despised them.

Not because he lacked the ability, but because he hated what they attached to him. Expectations. Visibility. Responsibility for people who might not deserve it. Emotional noise disguised as unity. The need to stand in front of others and become a symbol when he clearly preferred being a blade kept at the side until needed.

Edith’s lips curved into a small smirk.

"I should probably thank you then," she said.

Liam’s response came immediately. "The best way to thank me is to give me some intel."

Edith’s smirk faded.

She should have expected that. With Liam, every favor had weight, even if he pretended otherwise. The entire leadership discussion had been useful, perhaps even considerate in his own blunt way, but he had not approached her at lunch only to discuss Sheila.

She hesitated. "What do you want this time?"

Liam’s gaze remained steady across the table.

"How well do you know Lucian Kellor?"

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