The stars above the Academy burned faint and cold, but Evelyn didn't feel the chill.
Not when the storm inside her was so loud.
She stood alone beneath the stone arch outside the infirmary, eyes fixed on the horizon. Every whisper of wind felt like a question she didn't yet know how to answer.
Who was she?
Why did they care?
Behind her, footsteps approached. Familiar, unhurried. She didn't turn.
"Still standing," Caelan said softly.
"I don't feel like sitting."
"You didn't flinch in front of Lady Cassandra. I think you scared her."
Evelyn gave a humorless smile. "I doubt that."
He came to stand beside her, hands in his pockets. "They're going to try to use you. These families. Your blood. Whatever secrets you don't even know you're carrying."
"Then let them try," she said. "I'm not some pawn. I'm not hers."
"She might disagree," he murmured, then added, "So might Alexander."
That name.
It hit harder now. Not with anger—but with confusion. Frustration. Ache.
"He's keeping something from me," she said.
Caelan was quiet for a long time. "He's used to carrying things alone. Doesn't mean he should."
"No," she said. "But he doesn't trust me with it either."
"Maybe he thinks protecting you means holding back."
Evelyn turned to face him. "You don't?"
Caelan's gaze didn't waver. "I think protecting you means standing beside you, even when it's messy."
That quiet honesty in his voice—grounded, true—made her chest tighten.
"I don't want to be a reason people get hurt," she whispered.
"You won't be," he said. "You're the reason people fight back."
Before she could reply, the Academy bells tolled once—loud, deep.
A summons.
Not for class. For court.
Alexander appeared at the far end of the path, his coat sharp against the wind, his expression like carved marble.
He looked at Evelyn—not through her. At her.
"There's no time," he said. "The Summit moved up. They're demanding a testimony from you."
"What kind of testimony?" she asked warily.
He hesitated. "About your bloodline. And… the incident at the gala."
Evelyn's breath caught. "They think I'm—?"
"They don't think. They suspect," Alexander said. "And that's enough to make you dangerous in their eyes."
"But I don't even know what's in my bloodline," she snapped. "What am I supposed to tell them?"
"The truth," Caelan said.
Alexander looked at him, cool but silent.
Evelyn squared her shoulders. "Then let's go give it to them."
As they walked into the looming halls where the Summit would begin, none of them noticed the cloaked figure watching from the shadows—
Or the sigil they clutched: a serpent coiled around a burning sword.