Page 11

Alina

TRUE TO HIS WORD, RAELAN has backed off.

Kind of.

A little bit.

But it’s something, at least. And I think he likes it better this way as well. He’s still uptight, like all the guards I’ve ever known, but he doesn’t look quite so rigid anymore—or maybe I’m just imagining it because I don’t feel quite so rigid anymore. I didn’t realize how crazy it was making me, being followed around so closely, feeling like my every move was being watched. And they were. They still are. But at least now I can almost pretend like he’s not watching me. And for that, I’m incredibly grateful to Raelan.

So long as neither of us tells Grandfather, this arrangement should work out just fine.

“I don’t get this,” Lyra says, sitting back from the big table in the library with a sigh. Half of her bright red hair is pulled up into a curly bun on top of her head and is speared through with a hair stick.

Poppy looks up from her textbook on magical ethics and adjusts her round glasses. “Get what?”

“This rune translation. I’ve never needed to read a rune in my life. This is a waste of my talents.” Lyra groans.

“It’s not so difficult.” Poppy shrugs one shoulder.

Lyra arches a brow at her. “Maybe not for you. Nothing’s difficult for you.”

“Well, I don’t know about that ,” Poppy says, light brown cheeks starting to go red. “Would you like some help?”

“Yes. Please .”

I smile and turn the page in my textbook. This week in my potions class, we’re learning a basic calming elixir, which I’m already thinking Lyra could use.

Just last week, she accidentally set fire to her bed curtains, and I was so startled that I didn’t even get a chance to react with my frost magic before Maeve put out the fire with a pitcher of water, soaking Lyra in the process.

Only later did Raelan ask me why I smelled slightly of smoke—which was odd in and of itself, considering I thought I’d washed the smell from my hair.

I dip my quill into my inkwell and begin taking notes, trying to memorize all the ingredients needed for the calming elixir: lavender, chamomile, lemon balm, passionflower, ro—

“Maeve! Over here!”

I look up at Lyra’s exclamation.

Maeve is crossing the library toward us, and the eyes of most of the guys in the library follow her, tracking her long-legged strides. But she doesn’t even seem to notice. She walks right to our table, leans back against it, and arches an eyebrow at me while pushing her straight violet-black hair over her shoulder.

“Why’s your knight standing in the hallway? Doesn’t he usually want an eye on you at all times?”

“She convinced him to give her some space,” Poppy says without looking up from Lyra’s runes homework. “Remember?”

“Of course I remember.” Maeve rolls her eyes, which are vivid purple, like the storm clouds she can summon at will. “But I didn’t realize he was giving you this much space. He usually lurks whenever we study here.” She pushes off the table and sinks into the chair next to mine, crossing her legs.

“I convinced him,” I say, giving up on taking notes. We all have a break period on Fridays, and this is where we gather when the weather isn’t nice enough to sit outside. Right now, another fall storm is brewing, tossing bright yellow and red leaves around the campus and striking the windows with vengeance.

“Not like it was hard,” Lyra says.

My gaze snaps to her. “What do you mean?”

Even Poppy looks up from her book, and my three roommates exchange glances.

“What?” I cap my inkwell and arch a brow, then lean back in my chair and cross my arms over my chest. “Tell me.”

“You could probably convince that man to breathe fire for you,” Lyra mumbles, her voice a bit muffled as she opens her robe to pet Juniper, who’s once again perched in the inside pocket .

“That’s ridiculous,” I say. “Raelan barely listens to me. I think the only reason he agreed is because it’s easier for him too.”

Poppy goes back to the rune translation, but Maeve cants her head at me. “Do you not see the way he looks at you?” she asks.

“Of course I do.” With a huff, I put my inkwell and potions textbook away in my shoulder bag. “Like I’m a job. An irritant. A child to be monitored. I don’t think he even wanted this job. But Grandfather forced him.”

Lyra scoffs, and Maeve’s plum lips quirk up on one side. Poppy is too invested in the runes she’s translating to react at all.

“Alina, are you serious?” Lyra asks after tucking Juniper back into her robe pocket. “Or are you being blissfully ignorant?”

I narrow my eyes at her sharply. “Ignorant?”

Of all the girls, Lyra dropped the whole “princess” act the quickest, almost immediately regarding me as she would anyone else. And though she has a brashness I’m not quite accustomed to yet, I kind of enjoy it—I feel like I can depend on her to always tell me the truth, my lineage be damned.

Lyra holds up her hands. “I don’t mean it in a bad way. I just mean... Well, it’s so obvious . Isn’t it obvious?” She looks at Maeve for affirmation, and she nods.

I’m losing interest in talking about this. For some reason, whenever the girls’ conversations turn to Raelan, my skin starts to crawl. Ever since Lyra asked me if she could have him, I’ve felt odd, like maybe they’ll all pay less attention to him if I pay less attention to him, pretend like he’s not there .

Thus far, it’s not been successful.

“I’m just saying, he watches you like he wants to eat you,” Lyra says. She twists a curl around her finger. “I’m pretty jealous, to be honest.”

Maeve lets out a short burst of laughter, which warrants a sharp look from the librarian nearby. Poppy’s cheeks go red, and she puts a hand over her mouth to hide her smile.

“Now you’re just being silly,” I say dismissively, avoiding Lyra’s eyes as I gather up the last of my belongings and stand from the table. “I’m a job to him. That’s it.”

Lyra gives me a sideways smile and tips her head at me. “If you say so.”

“I do.” I heft my bag onto my shoulder with a grunt, then push my hair back over my shoulder. “See you girls for dinner?”

They all nod and wave as I step back from the table and start across the library. My last class on Fridays is archery—by far my favorite class of the week. First-years only get to pick one elective, and when I came across archery in the Coven Crest class pamphlet, it was an easy choice.

But our range is outside, and with the way the wind is blowing, I have a feeling we might get rained on. I’ll need to return to my dormitory and switch into my boots just in case.

The librarian smiles as I pass her by, and then I push through one of the big double doors and ease into the hallway. It’s a bit drafty today, and the candles are struggling to battle the darkness from the thick cloud cover.

Raelan stands across the hall, dressed in black and draped in a thick cloak. His gaze is trained out the window, and he hasn’t yet turned to look at me, so I’m given a rare moment to observe him without his awareness.

He’s clean-shaven, like all the guards in the King’s Royal Army, but there’s a bit of a shadow along his cheeks and jaw, dark like his short hair and thick brows. His eyes are narrowed, focused. I wonder what he’s looking for in the clouds. In these long moments of quiet, when all he does is stand around and wait for me, I wonder what he thinks about.

I still barely know him despite how much time we’re now forced to spend together. But maybe that’s a good thing—professional boundaries and all.

The library door opens behind me, another student passing through, and a draft sends my hair and robe fluttering. Raelan draws a breath, and his dark eyes snap toward me. As soon as he sees me, he straightens up, his typical cold demeanor and mask falling into place.

Looking at him now, I have no idea what Lyra and Maeve were going on about. He looks at me like I’m a slight annoyance, something to be withstood rather than enjoyed.

Enjoyed?

Is that what I want? For him to enjoy me? Enjoy my presence?

My chest tightens up a bit at the thought, and I quickly turn away, striding down the hallway along with the other students moving between classes or on their rest period.

Despite Raelan’s size, he moves quietly, and I can scarcely hear his boots on the stone as he follows behind me, enough paces back now that I don’t feel like he’s breathing down my neck at every waking moment.

I reach the stairs to the north tower and start up them. A few students pass by me, smiling and nodding as they go, but soon, it’s just me and Raelan on the stairs, climbing higher and higher as the wind outside taps on the stained glass windows.

I’m breathing hard by the time we make it to NT33—no matter how many times I climb this tower, I still get out of breath. Raelan doesn’t even break a sweat.

I pull my key out of my robe pocket, force it into the heavy lock, and push the door open.

The scent of sage drifts out—Maeve lights a stick every morning before her daily meditation—immediately calming me. Yuki yips a hello from where he’s sprawled on one of the couches in front of the fire. Behind me, Raelan pauses, his boots falling silent on the stone.

Whenever I’m in my dorm room, he waits out here in the hall—unless it’s nighttime, then he retires to his room, which is just a short distance up the staircase from mine. He never comes inside, just stands here silently, waiting for me to go to my next class or to the dining hall. And he never complains, even if he often looks like he wants to.

“Would you... like to come in?” I ask, shocking even myself with the offer. “I could make us a cup of tea before archery. It’ll probably be cold on the range today.”

Surprise crosses briefly over his face, and his gaze flicks over my shoulder, to the room beyond. He draws a breath, and I think he’s going to take me up on my offer. But then he gives a sharp shake of his head and steps back, putting another foot of distance between us.

“No. I’ll wait for you here. ”

Though I don’t understand why, his rejection feels like a slap to the face.

And I’m reminded that I’m just a job to him, a salary, a duty he does for his kingdom.

Foolishly, I let Maeve and Lyra get to me. But they’re wrong. Just like I told them.

“Very well,” I say, then step into the room and close the door without even glancing back. When it clicks closed, putting a physical barrier between us, I let my shoulders sag.

And I think, on the other side of the door, I hear Raelan sigh.