I tried to remember if Caelan had said where he was from and places in the world where recent conflicts were brewing. I didn’t want to be rude and pry about such a sensitive topic, so I didn’t ask. He sounded so old-fashioned and like he’d lost people.
“That’s…awful,” I muttered, unsure what else to say. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he said. “We are strong. Besides, that is why I am here. I am certain there is a way to bring my people peace.”
I smiled faintly. “What about Saryna? Is she from your city?” I asked. “Isabella likes her.”
Caelan glanced at her, and his expression softened. “Saryna is from a much larger region. She is talented. I think you both will get along well.”
I caught his eye and lowered my voice. “You have feelings for her, don’t you?”
Caelan turned toward me slowly, his pale blue eyes searching mine.
“I have known her for some time,” he said. “It is not meant to be.”
“Why not?”
He shrugged. “Different circles, I guess.”
“But you’re both Aurkai, and you’re both here now,” I said. “How is that a different circle?”
Caelan’s expression grew tight, and he gave me a side glance.
“You ask a lot of questions,” he said.
“Well, this is a pretty weird place,” I said.
He pressed his lips together in acknowledgment. “I have to admit that I agree.”
I sighed. “I think I’m going to head to my dorm. I don’t know that this is my scene.”
Caelan looked at me oddly. “Scene?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Like, it’s not my kind of social atmosphere.”
He made a silent “oh” with his lip. I chuckled under my breath.
“And for what it’s worth, from where I stand, you and Saryna don’t seem to be in different circles at all,” I said.
Caelan’s expression was unyielding as he watched her. She was alone now; Isaac and Isabella having wandered off. Maybe he’d go talk to her.
I slipped away, leaving him to his thoughts. I had a million questions, like where he and Saryna were from, that they were in such vastly different social circles that he couldn’t ask her out. But now wasn’t the time. For the moment, they were letting their guard down a bit. Start bombarding them with questions, and it would be right back up.
I moved through the rooms, scanning for Blake and Melanie. Something was going on between them, and I’d been itching to know what it was ever since my first day at Nightfall.
In the distance, I heard the haunting sounds of Isaac’s violin. The deeper into the rooms I ventured, the darker it got. Fewer torches were lit, and a sweet, hazy smoke hung in the air. My footsteps grew gentler. The stone floors became uneven, with small rocks scattered about.
A couple embraced, their forms shrouded in shadow. Hidden in the corner of the room, they were in another world. I moved on, entering an empty room.
I gasped.
It was an intact dungeon cell.
The door of the cell curved into an arched peak, the iron, thick and elegant. My fingers grazed across the bars of a darkened cell. It shifted under my hand, creaking.
I paused.
Seeing cracks in the stone wall, I slipped past the barred door of the old cell.
