STRINGS BETWEEN US

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE OF TACTICS, COURTROOMS, AND THE COST OF SILENCE

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE:  OF TACTICS, COURTROOMS, AND THE COST OF SILENCE

Xythe's POV

Celestine Ardent Academy | Ardent Court's War Room 

The trial footage looped again.

No sound. Just images.

Slap.
Pause.
Slap again.
Shove.
Fall.

And silence.

That silence—that heavy, choking kind—seeped into my lungs, steady and suffocating. No grand speeches. No dramatic cries. Just raw, undeniable fact.

Watching it, I couldn't help but feel a cold fury coil inside. They thought they could rewrite the story with silence and carefully choreographed scenes. But the truth never lies.

I shifted my gaze to my friends, watching their reactions.

"She staged the fall," Alexie said quietly, arms crossed, jaw set. "She made sure no one else was in the room. Every step calculated."

I clenched my jaw. Bianchi's games weren't petty anymore. This was a full-on political chess match, and she was playing hard.

"Classic Vice President strategy," Saichel added, voice low. "Always the show. Khaizer Dylan didn't even flinch."

Keryn's sharp tone cut through. "He couldn't. Not with that many eyes. Not in a room like that."

"He let her bleed," Tofer muttered bitterly, eyes fixed on the screen. "Again."

I stayed silent, heart pounding beneath my calm exterior. I wanted to shout—tell them this wasn't just some school drama. This was war. And I was right in the middle of it.

Thres stood behind me, a rock, unmovable.

Seb's voice broke the tension. "This isn't petty. It's a political strategy."

Lyle's gaze was sharp, calculating.

"And we treat it as such."

The room grew heavy with resolve.

Keryn leaned forward. "Then we crush this narrative before it spreads."

"I've bypassed the admin firewalls," Tofer said, fingers flying across his keyboard. "Pulled all camera loops from every hallway near the council room."

Seb nodded. "Cross-referencing timestamps. The footage shows Bianchi dragging Riyee in. That's the smoking gun."

Saichel asked, lazy but dangerous: "Leak it?"

I shook my head. "Not yet. We give it to the President first. Let's see how much fire he's willing to burn."

Alexie's eyes searched mine. "And if he does nothing?"

"Then we light the fire for him," Keryn said coolly.

A pause hung in the air. Then Tofer asked the question everyone wanted to know.

"So when do you leave, Xythe?" Tofer asked, eyes sharp.

I lifted my gaze from the paused screen—Ari standing alone, the High Chamber frozen around her.

"In two weeks," I answered.

Keryn blinked, surprised. "That far?"

"Celestine is making it difficult to release his transfer papers," Seb explained, pulling up the official documents. "Bureaucracy, politics... they're trying to slow us down."