"I had a visitor today."

Ressa frowned. "Aeloria?"

"Nope. Warden Anso and Agur Stanis. They just stopped by to tell me how pleased they were with how far I'd come. That they weren't overly happy with the relationship I'd apparently formed with Aeloria Besas, and also that they are watching carefully. They're also not happy that I'm using the Cloak of Silence when I train. So we need to stop."

"Scandalous!" Torma shouted. "There's no way we can do your strength training without it. We'd have to go outside, but curfew prohibits it."

I was still watching Ressa as her expression moved from outrage to confusion and finally to suspicion.

"How could they know?" She looked around the room. "I'm sensitive to scrying magic, and Torma's sensitive to enchantments, and we've not detected any invasion on our privacy. Have we?" she said, turning to the Grunir.

He shook his bushy head. "No. Unless they've done something to Adam, there's no way they've been listening in on the room."

He frowned and turned to me. "Did they say they've been listening?"

"Not specifically. I mean, if they had, they would've known about our conversations. I doubt they'd have let what we've discussed slide."

He wrinkled his nose as if the thought produced a bad smell. "True, which means they must have done something to you directly."

Ressa nodded. "Did they give you anything? Items or a mark perhaps?"

"Shit," I slapped my head as a surge of memory hit. I started fumbling at the buttons of my jacket. "When they first bought me, I was disoriented and barely thinking straight. It feels like a dream now, but just before they left me in the Ennochamber for two weeks, Augur Stanis put his hand on my back and burned something there."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

With jacket off, I next pulled the shirt from my back to show them the mark. I looked over my shoulder as Ressa hissed at the sight of it, and Torma slapped a bare hand on my back.

"Aye, lad. That'd be a Sigil of Dominion. It's got binding runes that'll allow them to track your movements and monitor your status. If you're affected by magical influences, such as Ressa's silence spell, it'll alert the one who put it on you."

"Bastards. Is there anything I can do about it?"

"Mana drain might temporarily disable it, but they'd know. This is pretty high-level magic."

"Overwriting might work," Ressa suggested.

"What's that?" I asked, feeling violated and desperately wanting to know what my options were.

"It's where additional runes are burned into or around the brand to mask or distort its function."

"I could just cut it off for you," Ellaazi suggested.

Ressa shook her head. "I've seen sigils like this regenerate, even after mutilation."

I got dressed again as they thrashed it out, but ultimately, there was nothing we could do immediately that wouldn't alert Stanis.

"As long as we're aware of it and we have a plan to suppress it when we make our move, it can stay as it is for now. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Torma said. "I'll look into runes for you to alter its purpose between now and then."

"Thank you, Torma. And you're sure it can't hear what I'm saying?"

The Grunir laughed. "Definitely not."

I relaxed a little at that, and then remembered the Titan Strain enchantment. "They also gave me this," I said, heading over to my bed and pulling the item from the bedside table.

Torma snatched the grips, studied them, no doubt looking at the description. Then muttering to himself, he studied the runes like a starving man devouring his first meal for a month.

"I don't actually know many of these runes by sight. This is some bit of kit, Adam. Must cost a small fortune."

"It was made clear it was given as a loan only."

"Still. It's a hell of a gift."

"So much for them not valuing you," Ellaazi remarked.

"Oh, they definitely value him," Torma added, shaking the grips. "I wouldn't mind studying them a little if that's all right by you?"

I shrugged. "They didn't say you couldn't look at them. Only that they were attuned to me and me only."

Torma tapped one of the runes and smiled. "No. They're attuned to your mark. Clever bastards." Then he wandered off to his bed to inspect them more closely.

I sighed, stretched, and decided I needed to get out of the room for a bit. "I'm gonna go for a run. Anyone fancy it? I found a nice route through the park and around the outer edge of the academy."

"Sounds good to me," Resa said with a smile. "I'll just slip into some gym clothes."

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