I moved away from the door and started moving down the corridor again.
“I didn’t realize,” I muttered, moving past him, but he grabbed my arm.
His grip was painful, and I felt cold. A fierceness in his eyes sent a shiver through my body.
“I do not know who you are, but you had best remember your place, Initiate.”
He continued to glare at me after he released me. I stumbled and quickly put distance between us. Adept Corinya watched me, her expression stoic, but I didn’t pause to question what she was doing this late with Everson. I left the wing without looking back.
When I got to the dorm, I found Roslyn in the common room.
“Hey,” I said.
She smiled, holding a cup of tea in her hand.
“I was waiting for you,” she said, rising. “I looked into the recruit you mentioned the other day—Cody. I was unable to find a record of him. Perhaps it was misplaced, but that would be unlikely. Would you like to tell me what you can remember?”
Paranoia was creeping in as I tried to decide if I thought she was telling the truth or not. She didn’t seem to be lying, but howcould I be sure I wasn’t hallucinating an entire person? I’d been in a life-or-death situation, after all.
Sighing, I sat down.
“His name was Cody,” I started.
By the following week,the entire castle had heard about my match with Ji-Han. I tried to play down the celebratory claps on the back, uncomfortable with how no one seemed phased that I’d hurt him. I knew Raicanya was a serious sport here, and Ji-Han was going to be okay, but I wanted them to stop talking about it. At meals, Isabella and I had suddenly become very popular to sit with—it was driving me crazy. Thankfully, Ji-Han returned to class the day after our match, and he was friendlier toward me afterward, despite my profuse apologies and guilt over the incident.
Commander Everson’s feelings toward me, however, didn’t improve. At times, he watched me like a criminal, his cold expression intense. I shuddered. Thankfully, I didn’t see him often and despite being convinced there was something in there that would explain what the hell was going on here, I knew it was best to wait. There was no doubt he’d have it patrolled after the awkward interaction we’d had—how was I supposed to know it was off-limits to all students?
For now, I’d have to wait.
Caelan and I continued our sparring matches during my daily Raicanya lessons. My strength grew every day, and after hours spent studying in the evening to keep up with my Valyrian and Forgotten Lore coursework, I slept hard every night.
Learning another language required me to be able to focus, so I usually started with my Valyrian coursework before movingon to Forgotten Lore. While time-consuming, Forgotten Lore was my favorite class. Professor Elara was an eclectic and whimsical woman in her mid-forties, spending most of our course lecturing on the assigned readings. Most recently, we’d read an old play translated from Valyrian about a man gone mad with passion who killed his lover so she couldn't be with anyone else. While haunting, Professor Elara spoke of themes such as passion that invoked such a powerful resonance that it corroded morality in the mind.
The discussion stayed with me long after the class ended. To love someone so much that the suffering of not having them could distort your own belief system—reading the play and witnessing what happened to this man was like watching a train wreck.
By Friday, my brain felt thoroughly used, and I was ready for the weekend. I was so exhausted that I nearly forgot about my private Aurkai training session. It was at the top of one of the towers: the Raven Room.
When I reached the top of the spiral stone staircase, I came upon a heavy oak door. It creaked open under my hand, revealing a space unlike any I’d ever seen. My breath caught in my throat as the air shifted around me, thick with warmth. The faint scent of smoke and wax lingered beneath the flicker of candlelight.
The room was circular, vast, and impossibly grand. The smooth stone walls gleamed, their surfaces adorned with dark, evocative paintings. Fierce ravens soared across stretched canvases, their wings spread wide as though they might leap from the frames. One particularly striking piece depicted a gushing waterfall against a starry night sky.
Arranged around the room’s ornately carved fireplace were rich black leather sofas, each softened by blood-red pillows.
My boots echoed softly against the polished wood floor until I stepped onto the rug in the room's heart. A beautiful circular table sat before the fireplace; the seating curved around it. Ornate carvings twisted along the table’s edge, spirals and feathers etched with impossible precision. Shifting shadows crawled along the floor and walls like living things.
Tall windows, framed by thick, dark curtains, revealed the breathtaking landscape of snow-capped mountains.
A shiver traced down my spine. Something about this place set me on edge. It was beautiful, but dark.
I forced myself to steady my breath, drawing my shoulders back as I waited. I wondered who was coming. I’d met four of the seven Aurkai—Roslyn, Caelan, Melanie, and her boyfriend, Blake.
Each of them was so different in personality that it made me nervous about who I’d meet today.
If their choice of meeting location said anything about them, today was going to be interesting.
Footsteps echoed softly from the far end of the room, drawing my gaze toward a shadowed archway. My heart quickened, nerves tightening in my chest.
A man emerged from the shadows.
