Ellta stood at the edge of the courtyard when the messenger found her. The boy held out a folded letter, sealed with university wax, and didn't wait for her to take it before backing away. She broke the seal with her thumb. The petition inside bore forty-three signatures. She read it twice, standing beside a dead flower bed ringed with pale stone. The flowers had blackened two weeks ago, the morning after she'd sat there sketching patterns from her blood samples. Someone had noticed. Someone had connected her to the rot. The petition called her presence a contamination risk and requested her removal from all communal grounds. She folded the parchment and walked to the nearest academic hall. The doors were locked. A notice hung from the iron handle: temporary closure for maintenance. Three more buildings showed the same signs. They were closing her out before the university even responded. Ellta returned to her room and locked the door. She pulled her sleeve back and watched the black tendrils pulse beneath her skin. The curse had spread past her elbow since yesterday. She had maybe three months before the Empty took her. Geirax was her last door, and forty-three students were trying to shut it.