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I scowl. “It’s inappropriate.”

“It’s flattering.”

“It’s distracting.”

“It’s only distracting because you’re thinking about it.”

That stops me cold.

Julie raises a brow, too smug by half.

“I’m not,” I mutter.

“Sure you’re not.”

She walks off, ponytail swinging like she knows exactly what she just did.

And maybe she does.

The problem is, the rumors get into my head.

They wedge in like burrs in a boot: annoying at first, then maddening once you realize they’ve been there for hours. Because the thing is… it’s not a bad idea. Julie’s smart. She’skind. She cares about Lillian. She’s made this camp stronger, lighter.

She makes me want to be better. That should be terrifying.

Instead, it just feels inevitable.

I find myself wandering through the village market a few days later.

It’s an errand run—basic supplies, updated spell scrolls, new boots for Lillian because she outgrew the old ones overnight again.

But then I pass Old Noma’s cart.

She sells baubles. Trinkets. Bits of jewelry made from river glass and sunstone and iron melted from meteorites.

And there, in the middle of a velvet-lined tray, is a ring.

Simple. Forged from darksteel with a knotwork inlay. Sturdy. Unfussy. Beautiful in a way that reminds me of Julie.

I don’t touch it.

Not yet.

But I ask the price.

And I walk away with a small box in my pocket and my heart pounding like I just leapt from a dragon’s spine. Lillian is the first one who notices.

Not the box. I’m not that careless. But she senses something. Kids are good like that. Better than adults, even.

We’re sitting under the canopy outside the mess hall, sharing a plate of overly seasoned root chips she insists taste like “peppery dragons,” when she squints at me and says, “You’re being weird.”

I grunt. “I’m always weird.”

“No, you’re being the quiet kind of weird. Like when you’re trying not to yell about plumbing leaks.”

I glance sideways. “Maybe I’m just enjoying the moment.”

She narrows her eyes like a tiny, suspicious warlock. “You never enjoy root chips without a reason. What happened?”