I side-step a group of first-years on the stairs, then step down onto the dirt path, heading for the Whim so I can clear my thoughts.
As I walk, I reach up to touch my lips, remembering how Aric kissed me, how the whole world fell away as soon as his lips touched mine. I still can scarcely believe it. Even now, sometimes I wonder if I imagined the whole thing and my brain just convinced me it was real. But regardless, that kiss made me feel strong, courageous. While he kissed me, I felt like... like I could do anything.
Now, I lean into that feeling, holding on to the memory of that bravery as my anxious thoughts try to steal my focus.
It’s just a little trip to Faunwood, I tell myself, taking another big breath of the chill air and rolling my shoulders back as I walk.It’s no big deal. I can handle it.
Chapter 21
Poppy
I’M NEARLY OUT OF BREATH by the time I reach room NT33 after my last class of the day. Raelan isn’t around—which is rare—and I can hear Lyra’s boisterous laughter drifting out into the hallway before I even push the door fully open.
Inside, Alina is sitting cross-legged on one of the couches, a book open in her lap, while Lyra lounges on the floor, sharing a plate of cookies with Juniper. Maeve is at the desk beneath the window, quill scratching across parchment as she works on what looks like an essay.
“There you are!” Lyra says, looking up with a grin, her curls puffing out around her in a red halo. “You ready to go to dinner?”
With Lyra, foodalwayscomes first.
I close the door behind me and lean against it for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts. “I need to askyou all something.”
Maeve sets her quill down and swivels in her chair to face me. Alina marks her page and closes her book, and even Lyra sits up straighter, the half-finished plate of cookies forgotten on the floor beside her.
“What’s wrong?” Alina asks, concern flickering across her face. Even her spirit companion, Yuki, blinks up at me from over the back of the couch, looking worried.
“Nothing’s wrong. It’s just...” I take a breath and push away from the door, then peel off my loafers and set them beside the other shoes before going to sit on the couch across from Alina. “Professor Silvermoon asked me to do something for her. She needs me to go to Faunwood this weekend to pick something up from her sister for the ball.”
“Faunwood?” Lyra’s eyes light up. “Oh, I’ve heard it’s nice there. Cairn mentioned wanting to take a trip.”
“It’s a beautiful little village,” Alina agrees.
I twist my fingers together in my lap. “But... I’d be going alone. And I’ve never traveled alone. So I was wondering if... if maybe one of you would want to come with me? We’d leave Friday evening and be back Sunday afternoon. Professor Silvermoon is arranging everything—the carriage, the inn...”
Lyra’s face falls immediately. “Sorry, but Cairn has a couple days off from the conservatory, and he’s coming to Wysteria this weekend. We already made plans.” She reaches out to touch my knee. “Any other weekend, I’d absolutely go with you.”
“That’s okay,” I say quickly, even though my stomach sinks a little. “Iunderstand.”
“I can’t either,” Alina says, and there’s a note of regret in her voice. “Raelan and I are going to the cottage for the weekend. There’s still so much to do before winter sets in.”
Lyra perks up. “Are you finally putting in those new windows?”
“Yeah, and repairing the chimney,” Alina says, her eyes brightening. She always gets so excited when she talks about the cottage she and Raelan are fixing up. They found it abandoned in the woods when we were first-years, and they’ve been working on it ever since. “We’re hoping to have it weatherproofed before the first snow. Which reminds me...” She gets a faraway look in her eyes, like she’s mentally adding to the cottage’s to-do list—or maybe Raelan’s to-do list, but I don’t think he minds one bit.
“That sounds wonderful,” I say quickly, waving my hands. “Please don’t feel bad. I know how important that project is to you both.”
Alina gives me an apologetic smile. “Any other weekend, I’d absolutely come with you. But we’ve had this planned for weeks, and the glass is finally ready for the windows.”
“No, really, I understand,” I assure her.
Which leaves Maeve.
I turn to look at her hopefully, but she’s already shaking her head, and my heart sinks further. “I’m sorry, Pops. I promised my mom I’d come home this weekend. She’s been asking for weeks, and I keep putting it off.” She grimaces. “If I cancel again, she’s going to show up here and drag me back herself.”
“It’s fine,” I say, trying to keep the disappointment out of my voice, though I’m not so sure it works. “Really. I’ll just... go alone. It’ll be fine.”
But even as I say it, my stomach twists with nerves. A whole weekend in a strange village, by myself, staying at an inn I’ve never been to, meeting people I don’t know...
I immediately start picking at my nails again.
