Page 33 of Legacy Ascended

He supports my arm at the angle Bergström showed us and fastens the sling without jarring my shoulder.

Sophia appears in the doorway with a mug in each hand and gets straight to business. "Right. What's the plan, because Declan has a spreadsheet."

"He doesn't."

"He has a list, and he wrote it on the back of an envelope, and that's basically a spreadsheet."

The list is annoyingly reasonable: somebody carries my bag, somebody gets my notes, I sit where there's space on my left, and if I'm still upright by three o'clock, I've exceeded expectations.

"I can carry a bag."

"You can carry a bag," Declan agrees from the corridor. "Then your shoulder goes and you're in the infirmary again and Bergström tells all of us off, and I'd rather be told off for something I enjoyed."

At eleven, Bergström removes the dressing, checks the open wound, and cleans it again. She says satisfactory, then signs a note saying I may attend classes as tolerated. No physical training. No shifting. Bergström decides when I'm cleared, not me.

"And the meeting with the Chancellor," she says, handing me the note. "Are you well enough for that this morning, or would you like me to say you aren't?"

"You'd do that?"

"I'd enjoy it," Bergström says.

Falken’s office has three chairs in front of the desk. Freya drags another one over by the door and opens her notebook, because I asked for a witness and she was standing in the corridor before I’d finished the sentence.

Jon is already there. He looks like he’s slept about as much as I have.

“I’ll keep this brief,” Falken says. “Professor Matthias came to me early this morning and formally disclosed that he believes you are his mate, although the bond between you remains unsealed.”

I look at Jon.

He meets my eyes.

“He also asked to be removed from every decision that could affect your standing here,” Falken continues. “I agreed.”

“You asked for this?”

“Yes,” Jon says.

No hesitation.

Falken slides a document across the desk. “As of this morning, Professor Matthias has no authority over your grades, evaluations, training, placement, housing, discipline, scholarship status, or continued enrollment.”

I pick up the document. Jon’s signature is already at the bottom.

“Those decisions pass to a rotating panel of three faculty members who don’t currently teach, supervise, house, or assess you,” Falken says. “Professor Matthias will not advise the panel, recommend an outcome, or have a quiet word with a colleague. If someone asks for his opinion, he will decline to give one.”

“Understood,” Jon says.

“Your next practical assessment will be set and marked by another instructor once the infirmary clears you,” Falken tells me. “The result goes directly to the panel. Professor Matthias will learn your score when the rest of the faculty does.”

“He’s still allowed to think I’m good at it.”

“He’s allowed to think whatever he likes. He isn’t allowed to write it anywhere that counts.”

Jon’s mouth moves slightly. Falken ignores it.

“This is not a judgment on Professor Matthias’s conduct,” Falken says. “The conflict exists whether he acts on it or not. Removing his authority protects your academic standing and prevents every favorable decision from becoming evidence against both of you.”

“And what doesn’t change?”