Page 15 of The Academy of Blood & Shadow

"What happens if they do?" I ask.

"Depends on the dragon."

"Helpful." Rhyven joins us at the railing.

The moment he looks toward the cliffs, something about him shifts. Not dramatically. His shoulders ease. Only slightly.

His expression remains unreadable, but his attention sharpens. Far above, an enormous black dragon moves between the clouds. Too distant to see clearly.

Rhyven watches until it disappears. I look from the sky to him.

"Yours?"

His eyes flick toward me. "What?"

"The dragon."

"No."

He turns away. Nothing else. No explanation. No invitation to ask. Fine.

The tour continues through the infirmary, the astronomy tower, the dueling galleries, the kitchens and a narrow corridor everyone calls the Throat because apparently the walls squeeze inward whenever too many students attempt to pass at once. Dax claims the corridor is alive. Maelis claims the original architect was simply incompetent. Both explanations seem equally likely.

By early afternoon, my feet hurt. Caelen somehow remembers every first-year who stops him. That surprises me.

A nervous wolf asks him where to submit a transfer request. Caelen walks him halfway to the administration wing.

A siren student thanks him for helping her sister last year. A professor asks him to supervise evening drills. He never looks impatient. Never acts important. People trust him. Not because of our family name. Because he has earned it.

I watch him laugh with a pair of second-years near the staircase. For a moment, I see him differently. Not only my brother. Someone here. A leader. I feel unexpectedly proud.

Rhyven steps beside me. "Your face is doing something."

I don't look at him. "What?" I ask.

"Something emotional." He says.

"Terrifying."