Page 7

Rewina purses her lips, and I already have my answer. “The prince does not delight in speaking of Clan Hermit. So I would avoid it if Iwere you. And should you seek out information, I’d do it privately.” It’s part advice and part warning.

“Isn’t that what I’m doing by asking you?” I counter. I think I almost see a smile quirking her lips.

“Focus on what you must do to prepare for the Fire Festival.”

I grew up in the slums. I don’t know the first thing about being a noble, much less about Clan Hermit specifically, and least of all about how to be engaged to a prince. Especially if the ways of the clan are something that Kaelis isn’t going to give me much information on.

Rewina escorts me out of the same doors that Ravin smashed in no more than an hour ago.

They’ve already been magically repaired.

A sparsely decorated receiving room awaits me, with four doors and a central table with a variety of swords stabbed into its center as some odd, macabre art piece.

Kaelis and a Stellis knight talk at its side.

“…cannot keep letting him in,” Kaelis scolds, low and harsh. He’s talking about Ravin, I assume.

“Yes, your highness. We’ll find out who was stationed at the main entrance. And when the guards from Halazar arrive?”

“Stall them. The academy’s traditions come first, and the Fire Festival parade has already begun.”

The Stellis bows his feathered helmet and slips out the double doors opposite. I stare at where he just stood. All my life I was taught to fear the Stellis, and now I suddenly find myself surrounded by them.

Kaelis’s attention turns to me.

“You do not look pleased.” It’s hard to miss my scowl when my lips are painted blood red.

The deeper my displeasure, the more amused he becomes.

Kaelis’s voice drops—so the knights on the other side of the door don’t hear our conversation, I presume.

“If you’d like, I can put you back in your rags and return you to Halazar? ”

“That threat is already tired, highness. You have my full compliance.” I tug on the points of the sleeves that run over the backs of my hands.

As I walk, the open flaps of the coat below my waist shift, revealing skintight leggings stained oxblood and tucked into boots polished to a mirror-shine finish that match his.

More than a coincidence, I suspect. At least the red accents complement my carmine eyes.

“Then I suggest you tell your face as much.” Kaelis blocks my path, not that I have any idea where I would go.

The academy is a mazelike building that is constantly built and rebuilt by magic.

From what Arina told me, it’s a playground for the kingdom’s most talented Arcanists—the one place where their powers are allowed to run rampant, under only the loose oversight of the sinister headmaster, who’s standing right before me.

I force a smile for him and say, through clenched teeth, “Better?”

His arm snakes around my waist, and I fight a flinch as it glides over the wide belt that cinches all the heavy fabrics together.

The belt is detailed with silver embellishments that mirror the lacelike metal of the decorative pauldrons that cap my shoulders.

The pauldrons match similar shoulder detailing sewn onto Kaelis’s shirt and the clasps that run the length of his strong torso at perfect intervals.

Kaelis is a gilded shadow, and through his clothing alone he has communicated that I am now within his gloam.

“Mildly.” He’s honest about how my grimace is lacking. A fair critique. “You know, there are women who would kill to be engaged tome.”

The way he speaks almost has me wondering if he has ever organized such a challenge for would-be paramours. “Why haven’t you made one of them swoon, then?”

“Too easy. Boring.” With his fingers splayed over my hip possessively, he escorts me across the room.

I continue suppressing the urge to push him away in disgust. So far, Kaelis has been everything I imagined him to be—pompous, cruel, cunning. It’s hardly surprising to hear he would prefer a courtship with a less-eager partner over a ready and willing one.

Kaelis’s tone shifts, becoming serious. “I trust the little web of spiesyou were a part of gave you detailed information about the Fire Festival.”

“I know enough.” The Fire Festival is the annual opening ceremony of Arcana Academy—an extension of the summertime solstice tradition of lighting the lanterns in honor of the suit of Wands.

“Good, then you’re not going in blind.”

Kaelis pauses before the heavy oaken doors that the Stellis departed through. They, too, bear the sword sigil of the Oricalis family.

“So many royal motifs…Are you worried about forgetting what family you belong to?” I ask dryly.

Kaelis stiffens slightly. I would’ve missed it if our sides weren’t brushing together. If his hand weren’t heavy on my hip.

Interesting. He hardly seemed to get along with his brother. And the way he spoke of his father didn’t seem any warmer…I’m already wondering if, or how, I could use this information to my advantage.

“I’m more interested in ensuring no one else forgets.” His eyes dart to mine. “The rabble must remember who owns them.”

He’s speaking to me. Owns. Prince Kaelis oversees all the Arcanists of the realm, by the blessing of his father, the king.

I swallow down my pride and bring my gaze forward.

Play along, I instruct myself. He holds all the cards—all the power.

My clothing might be as sharp as a dagger, but looks alone can’t kill.

Until I’m in a position to fight back, I need to stand down. As bloody painful as that is.

Kaelis opens the door, and I am instantly greeted by the grandeur of Arcana Academy.

Silver moonlight drenches the colossal structure, and for a momentI am left breathless.

A long and narrow bridge connects the tower of Prince Kaelis’s apartments to the main structure.

The fortress of the academy is a titan even in silhouette, gleaming black against the last of the fading light.

Spires connected by arching bridges stretch up like the hand of a fallen god, reaching as if to spite the very sky.

My heart quickens, each fluttering beat sending waves of fear and thrill through me.

For years, I have stared up at this fortress from across the Farlum River. For years, this monolith was as much a legend as it was a ruin. A mystery. A danger. A pilgrimage site for Arcanists. An academy. Now I’m here. Privy to both the privilege and the peril of this illustrious institution.

Never step foot in the fortress. Never partake in the profane rituals that happen there, comes my mother’s cautioning from beyond the grave.

At the same time, Kaelis leans toward me, lips by my ear. He whispers, as if to drown out the warning, “Welcome to Arcana Academy.”