"Wings are supposed to be a divine gift. Given to bloodlines the gods deemed worthy." I keep my touch as gentle as I can manage. "A goddess can't just take back a gift."
"She didn't take them. I offered them."
"So you made a bargain. Lost your wings. Lost even the mercy of numbing the pain." I shake my head. "And you still ended up trapped in Noktemore."
"That was a different bargain." His voice carries an edge of frustration. "And the cost of a debt is always steeper than the gain."
The words settle into me with an uncomfortable weight. I think of my own bargain. What I asked for. What I might still owe. A goddess saved my brother's life. In exchange, I'msupposed to help save an entire kingdom. The scales don't balance. They never have.
"Was it worth it?" I ask softly. "Whatever you bargained your wings for?"
He's quiet for a long moment. "I hope so."
"Will lifting the curse bring them back?"
"Lifting the curse won't bring back any of the lives lost." His voice is flat. Final. "I doubt it will restore what I gave up."
The words carve something hollow in my chest. In Lunaris, we speak of the curse in abstractions. The Shroud. The outsiders who flee here seeking safety. The rotting soil in distant Tenebris.
We never discuss what it means to live under that curse. What it costs the people who couldn't escape. The Council and Sages frame it as charity: they take in refugees from a broken kingdom. But we never hear from those kingdoms directly. We only know what we're told.
"Why are you still an apprentice?" The question cuts through my thoughts.
I huff a surprised laugh. "Have you been asking about me?"
"Yes." He glances over his shoulder, eyes gleaming. "Imagine my surprise when everyone described you as level-headed. Patient. A few students mentioned you were a harsh grader, easily annoyed, but otherwise?—"
"The students are obnoxious."
"They also said you were the most attractive professor in Lunaris."
I snort, adding more balm to his shoulder. "At least I have that going for me."
"No one could tell me why you're still an apprentice."
"That's because no one knows."
"No one?" His gaze sharpens. "Not even your friends? Your brother?"
"No one."
"Why?"
I'm quiet for a moment, choosing my words carefully. "In Lunaris, information is currency. And sharing certain things carries consequences I'd rather not invite."
He's quiet for a moment. "Will you tell me?"
I pull my hands away and meet his eyes. "If I tell you, you have to agree to wait until I'm finished before you unleash your wrathful judgment."
He raises an eyebrow. "Wrathful judgment sounds a bit harsh."
"Have you forgotten how you react every time the memory trade comes up?"
His eyes narrow. "I'll listen."
I give a nod and focus on the balm. "Do you have alatuses in northern Tenebris?"
"No. The surrounding kingdoms have similar creatures, but they call them pegasi."
