Page 451 of The Academy of Blood & Shadow

We sit quietly. He finishes repairing the harness. I finish my knives. No one says anything about Elarion. The Hollowborn. The Heart. Deployment. Maybe that's why tonight feels important. For two hours, Rhyven is allowed to be something other than the person everyone waits on and I'm allowed to know him without needing anything from him.

Eventually he stands. Picks up the harness. Tests the strap I gave him. Once. Twice. Perfect. "Good."

I smile. "Are you complimenting my ability to select leather?"

"Don't ruin it."

"Never." I pack my weapons. Rhyven carries the harness toward storage. At the doorway, I stop. "Rhyven."

He looks back. "What."

I consider the question. Then ask it anyway. "When everyone is waiting for you to be right..." He waits.

"Who do you wait for?"

Silence. Longer than I expected. Rhyven looks at the harness in his hands. Then back at me. "No one." The answer hurts more than it should.

I don't tell him that's stupid. Or unhealthy. Or lonely. He knows. Instead, I nod toward the strap. "Not entirely true anymore." His eyes drop to it. Then rise.

Oh. I probably shouldn't have said that. Too late.

Rhyven doesn't answer. Not for several seconds. His eyes slowly find mine again. "No." Quiet. Almost thoughtful. "Maybe not." My heart does something deeply inconvenient.

I smile. Not smug. Just enough. "Goodnight, Corvell."

"Night, Vaelith."

I start climbing upstairs. Halfway there, Rhyven does too. At the third-floor corridor, Room 304 and Room 305 wait across from each other. Caelen is already asleep. I can tell because his snoring is faintly audible through Rhyven's door. I look toward it. "That's awful."

Rhyven looks offended. "I know."

"How do you sleep?"

"I consider murder."

"Reasonable." I reach my door. Rhyven reaches his.

For a second, neither opens. Not tension. Not like before. Something easier. Maybe worse.