Page 28

Raelan

AS I WATCH ALINA FROM across the crowded dining hall, I repeat a mantra to myself. I must keep her safe. This is the only way. I must keep her safe. This is the only way.

I know she cried when she returned to her room—I could hear it despite the stone walls and thick wooden door—and it felt like a sword being driven slowly into my chest, twisting at an excruciatingly slow pace as it inched through the gaps in my armor.

Never do I want to be the cause for her tears again. And that’s yet another reason why I must leave. If I stay, I’ll only hurt her further.

A scent brushes my awareness, and my gaze shifts slightly. Tristan just entered the dining hall, and he immediately makes note of Alina, then of me. I narrow my eyes at him. But he disregards me, going about heaping food from the buffets upon his plate, then crossing the hall again to approach Alina. They exchange words—I can’t hear them over the clamor of so many students eating and talking and laughing—and then he takes a seat beside her.

Alina turns toward him, smiling like she wasn’t crying an hour ago. She laughs at something he says. And then she reaches out and touches him.

And I can’t help but to feel she’s doing this just to get back at me, to hurt me in the way I hurt her. I want to storm across the dining hall and rip him away from her, want to announce to everyone in this room that she’s mine .

But I do no such thing. Instead, I curl my fingernails into my palms and repeat, I must keep her safe. This is the only way.

They’re still laughing and talking when footsteps approach from the arched doorway to my left.

“Sir Ashvale,” a voice says.

I turn slightly and find a familiar woman standing there, her long silver-blue hair coiled atop her head and stuck through with an emerald-studded hair stick.

“Headmistress.” I nod my head to her.

“There’s someone here to see you.” She beckons, the rings on her fingers flashing in the candlelight. “Come.”

My eyes flick back to Alina. My dragon is hesitant to leave her. But she’s surrounded by friends and faculty, laughing and smiling as though she has not a care in the world.

With a small sigh, I acquiesce, following the headmistress through the wide corridor. Our boots tap out a staccato rhythm on the stone floor as she leads me into the entrance hall. And I see at once why she fetched me.

Another knight stands in the center of the expansive space, his head tipped back to regard the elaborate artwork oiled across the soaring ceiling.

“I’ve been told he’s here to replace you as Miss Ravenscroft’s guard,” Headmistress Moonhart says. She tips her head, and her hair catches the moonlight streaming in through the high windows. “Is this true?”

The knight has snapped to attention and is watching us silently, awaiting my answer.

I bite down my feelings, trying to bury them even as my dragon writhes inside me. “Yes. This is correct. As of tonight, he’ll be taking my place. I’ll ensure he’s aware of our agreements and protocols.”

The headmistress glances between the two of us, then gives me a curt nod. “Very well. If you need me, sir,” she says, directing her attention to my fellow knight, “you can find me in my office.”

“Understood, Headmistress.” He bows his head, and then the headmistress departs, leaving us standing in the entrance hall.

The knight steps forward and offers me his hand. “Sir Ashvale, I was sent by His Majesty to relieve you of your post. I’m Sir Callahan.”

After a brief moment of hesitation, I meet him halfway, shoving my hand into his and giving it a firm shake. “Thank you for coming.”

My gaze flicks back the way I came, to where the dining hall is, to where Alina is. I thought I’d get a chance to say goodbye, but perhaps it’s better this way. It’s better if I go quietly.

I focus on Sir Callahan again, shoving my feelings down as deep as I can. “I’ll get you up to speed. We’ve much to discuss.”