ShadowBound: The Need For Power

The moment Lucian Kellor’s name left Liam’s mouth, Edith changed.

It was almost too subtle to notice. Almost. Her posture did not jerk, and her expression did not twist into anything openly revealing. She did not drop her fork, gasp, or give the kind of obvious reaction that would have drawn attention from nearby students. But her fingers tightened against the edge of her tray for the smallest instant, and her eyes shifted away from Liam with a sharpness that did not match the casual noise of the dining hall.

She looked to her left first, then past Liam’s shoulder, then toward the nearest table where a group of second-years were too busy arguing over exam predictions to pay attention. The motion was quick enough that anyone else might have dismissed it as ordinary awareness.

Liam caught all of it while taking a bite of his food.

He chewed once, slowly, his eyes remaining on Edith as if he had not noticed anything at all. The reaction confirmed more than her words could have. Lucian’s name meant something to her. Not in the vague way a classmate’s name might. There was alertness there, caution, and something protective buried beneath the restraint. Whatever existed between Edith and Lucian, it was not merely the shallow familiarity of two students who had once shared a group during an assessment.

Edith looked back at him. "What do you mean by that?"

Her voice had lowered.

That interested Liam more than the question itself. Edith was not a careless speaker. If she lowered her voice, it meant she did not want the name, the topic, or her reaction carrying too far. The dining hall remained loud around them, filled with clattering trays, overlapping conversations, and students laughing too loudly over things that probably were not worth the volume. Even then, Edith treated the question as something that needed guarding.

Liam studied her for a moment, then leaned back slightly in his seat and sighed through his nose.

"I will go straight to the point," he said. "We do not have much time anyway."

Edith did not interrupt.

"You and Lucian knew each other before this academy," Liam said plainly. "Probably friends, or something close enough to it. There is no use denying it. I remember how both of you interacted during the Vlardia assessment."

Edith’s face remained composed, but the silence that followed was answer enough.

Liam continued, his tone even. "For the question I asked, I do not care much about his full background. I only need a few things."

Edith’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Why are you suddenly interested in Lucian?"

"I need something from him," Liam said. "And I need leverage. I believe you have what I need."

The word leverage made Edith’s expression shift.

It was faint, but the frown appeared before she could stop it. Her brows drew by the smallest degree, and her mouth pressed into a line that carried more feeling than she likely intended to reveal. Liam watched it and felt the conclusion settle fully.

Edith cared about Lucian. Whether it was friendship, old loyalty, guilt, affection, or some complicated history that had turned awkward over time did not matter. There was something there. Something real enough that the idea of Liam using Lucian unsettled her.

He did not particularly care what the connection was.

He only cared that it existed.

That was the part he needed.

After a moment, Liam set his utensil down and spoke before her caution could harden into refusal. "You do not need to worry. I am not planning to do anything to Lucian."

Edith looked unconvinced. "That is not a comforting sentence coming from you."

"It should be."

"It really is not."

"I need him to tell me something," Liam said. "That is all. I believe the only way to get through to him is to know something useful enough to make him speak. Nothing more."

Edith kept looking at him with measured caution, as if weighing not only his words but the parts he was choosing not to say. Liam met her gaze without impatience at first. He had expected resistance. People rarely handed over information tied to someone they cared about just because they were asked politely. But he also did not have the time or interest to spend the rest of lunch convincing Edith that his intentions were clean enough to satisfy her.

They were not clean.

They were practical.

After a few seconds, Liam sighed again and began to shift his tray aside. "If you are not willing to tell me anything, I do not mind."

Edith’s eyes sharpened.

Liam pushed his chair back slightly, preparing to stand. "I can find another way to get through to Lucian. I do not have time to convince you of anything." He gave her a small, almost formal nod. "Enjoy the rest of your lunch."

Edith went still.

The words were simple, but the implication behind them spread through her mind faster than she wanted. Another way. Liam had said it calmly, with no threat in his voice, but that was exactly what made the thought difficult to dismiss.

Another way could mean many things with someone like him. Pressure. Manipulation. Exposure. A trap. A confrontation carefully designed to corner Lucian before he even realized the walls had moved.

She could not prove Liam intended to damage Lucian.

She could not even be certain he would go that far.

But she knew enough.

Liam was in Tactical Espionage, one of the smallest and most selective second-year classes in the academy. Barely seven students from their year were there, and even with how little the rest of the academy truly knew about the lessons, Edith knew what that path represented.

Assassin Knights were not trained like ordinary knights. Knights were built around discipline, honor, direct combat, and battlefield order. Assassin Knights were taught to move through the places where honor became inconvenient. They learned how to gather information, pressure people, exploit weaknesses, and discard morality when the task demanded results.

And Liam was likely the best second-year in that class.

That thought made her decision for her.

If he went to Lucian without anything from her, he might choose something far more dangerous to force the answer he wanted. If she spoke now, she could at least shape what Liam knew. She could give him enough to avoid making things worse, but not enough to strip Lucian bare.

Before Liam could fully stand, Edith spoke.

"Wait."

Her voice was soft, low enough that it barely reached beyond their table.

Liam paused.

Edith looked down briefly at her tray, then back at him. "I can tell you what you want to know."

Liam’s eyes remained on her.

’Got her,’ he thought.

He did not smile. He did not show triumph. He simply sat back down, drew his chair closer to the table again, and placed both hands loosely near his tray as though the conversation had only paused for a second rather than shifted exactly where he wanted it to go.

"Okay," he said. "Go on."

Edith held his gaze for a moment, still cautious. "I can only tell you a little."

"That is all I need."

The dining hall continued around them, loud and careless, while the conversation between Liam and Edith lowered into something too quiet for the surrounding tables to catch. Students passed with trays in hand, friends called to one another from across the hall, and somewhere in the distance, Asher’s sharp voice rose in irritation at something Dylan had almost certainly said. None of it reached the table in any meaningful way. For the next few minutes, Edith spoke, and Liam listened.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!